Why bother writing when the current world is diluted with Artificial Intelligence which could produce a piece of writing much faster and more efficiently than yours truly. Is our human voice still worth reading?

In the information overload era, we are exposed to endless digital content which is enhanced with democratisation of information. False information is crafted to be eye-catching and emotionally appealing.

Differentiating between real news and fake news requires a lot of energy and intelligence as there are thin boundaries between these two areas.

The feeling of being buried in data and blurred converging contexts adds to stress and anxiety.

The need to constantly be at our best behaviour under the scrutiny of CCTVs and smartphone cameras often make the adults go berserk. Imagine the pressure on young people today.

Luckily, after COVID-19, our mental health awareness has increased. However, the 2023 Malaysian Youth Mental Health Index reveals that six in 10 Malaysian youths suffer from mild to severe depressive symptoms.

In addition, three in 10 Malaysian youths experience moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, one in every 10 Malaysian youths has suicidal ideation. We still have many young people struggling with mental health disorders.

Creative writing

I believe that creative writing is necessary to voice our stories. Amid abundant voices, there is one voice and story that is being ignored. We forget to share our stories.

Creative writing can be in the form of poetry, drama, short story, comics, speeches, song lyrics, travel stories, creative non-fiction and any other hybrid forms.

They can be presented in traditional and digital forms such as newspapers, magazines, websites, social media sites. Research shows that creative writing can help teenagers cope with grief and assist their developing needs (Pane & Komala, 2024).

Moreover, creative writing aids in the recovery of mental illness patients (Mundy et al, 2022). Creative writing has many benefits such as reclaiming our voices, acting as empowerment tool, and allowing us to process and express emotions.

Creative writing is an act of reclaiming oneself. Sometimes after years of listening to other people or burying ourselves in other stories, we tend to forget our voices and our stories.

The repressed anger can be turned to positive energy in the form of poems and comics. The stories of our past, present and future can be colourful anecdotes to our future generations and can be significant memorabilia for reunions and family gatherings.

The insights of senior citizens can be documented treasured wisdom for the country. Furthermore, the input that we receive from rich information environments need to be churned out in creative and constructive ways.

Creative writing can be a powerful empowerment tool for people to advocate social issues such as Support for Gaza and Justice for Zara.

Song lyrics are written and sung to advocate these social issues which connect and enhance engagement with other advocators regardless of race, religion and location. It highlights our vulnerability and strengths as humans.

Creative writing provides writers safe spaces to express the emotions. For instance, when a writer writes a story of workplace bullying, the writer also shows how the protagonist redeems herself by overcoming the problem.

In writing the story, the writer needs to confront and resolve the issue. In doing so, he or she indirectly expresses his or her feelings and shares such experiences with the readers. Apart from being able to process and express his or her emotions, his or her writing allows other to process their emotions.

In creative writing, persons can experiment responsibly with myriads of identities which are handy for young people and, at the same time, learn to be responsible for their writing.

Time to write

A young writer can assume and shift from young to mature identities effortlessly in his or her poems but assume responsibility for his or her writing. A writer must be responsible for his or her readers.

AI can portray the collective wisdom of other humans, but it can never represent our unique voices and stories. If we lose our voices and stories, then we will lose our humanity.

It is time for us to write our stories!!!

It is time for us to listen to your voices!!!

-- BERNAMA

Assoc Prof Dr Latisha Asmaak Shafie is with the Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis Branch.