05 June

Union Minister for Information Dr Pe Myint attended the first coordination meeting of the 2019 National Literary Award Selection Committee which was held online yesterday. 

The Union Minister first delivered a speech where he said this meeting was held in two separate locations, from the Central Press office on Theinphyu Road and from the MRTV office on Pyay Road in addition to some experts joining online from their homes.

He said while the committee's meeting is a month later than it's used to being held this year due to COVID-19, the usual date for the National Literary Award on Sarsodaw Day on the 1st Waxing of Nattaw will be held on 15 December which is only 10 days late. He said the six months will be enough to properly plan for the event.

The National Literary Award is a valuable honour bestowed by the nation and is respected by both the literary circle and members of the public. International writers acknowledge the award and this value depends on the foresight and fairness of the selection committee, said the Union Minister.

He said the integrity and value of the award will be affected if it is criticized because of unnecessarily feeling embarrassed for inconveniencing someone or compliance.

The Union Minister urged committee members to pay great attention to their tasks and while committee members already know this, he felt it necessary to bring it up at the committee's first meeting.

Next, the National Literary Award Committee Chairman Sithu Dr Thaw Kaung and Vice-Chairperson (1) Dr Khin Aye (Maung Khin Min-Danupyu) delivered addresses through the videoconference.

The Acting Director-General of the Printing and Publishing Department U Ko Ko Naing explained the arrangements of the literary award.

This was followed by committee secretary U Than Ohn (Maung Zayar) explained the selection process of the National Literary Award.

Afterwards, meeting attendees discussed details of the award selection and organization and the Union Minister responded to their discussions before delivering the closing speech. The 2019 National Literary Award Seletion Committee was formed with Order 2-6(3)/2020 issued by the Ministry of Information on 4 March 2020. The committee is comprised with Sithu Dr Thaw Kaung as chairman, Dr Khin Aye and U Khin Maung Soe (Maung Paw Tun) as vice-chairmen with 54 members in total.

With the support of the Ministry of Information, private book collectors, large printing houses, and libraries are assisting in forming smaller groups for different genres for the award selection process in line with National Literary selection policy. 

MNA  (Translated by Zaw Htet Oo)