
AsianScientist (Aug. 28, 2015) – The Asian Scientist Writing Prize (ASWP) was launched to promote science writing and highlight scientific issues relevant to Asia. Co-organized by Asian Scientist Magazine and the Science Centre Singapore, the inaugural year saw over 300 entries from participants all across Asia.
The winners, announced on July 27, 2015, were Drs. Law Yao Hua (LYH), Jonathan Leong (JL) and John James Wilson (JJW), clinching the first, second and third prizes, respectively. In this interview, the three winners share about their motivations for joining ASWP and their advice for other aspiring science writers in Asia.

1. What motivated you to join ASWP?
LYH: As a budding science writer, I am always looking to hone my skills and establish my credentials. The ASWP offered just that. I also thought that ASWP provided a platform for the winning writers to direct attention towards a topic important to Asia. I couldn’t reject such a chance.
JL: Writing, along with science and inquiry, has always been a passion of mine–after becoming an engineer, and later, an academic, I realized the importance of both proper writing skills and technical knowledge. The ASWP was a venture into a marrying the two traits together, and even more so as they are stereotypically perceived as mutually exclusive. Perhaps this goes even more for my field, where people tend to think that engineers cannot read or write!
JJW: My research projects over the past two years have involved several fields–aquaculture, biodiversity, ecology. One very interesting thing I noticed was that whatever experiment I was running, the same fly species [oriental latrine fly] kept cropping up.
It was the fly species my student was using to develop a sustainable fish food, it was the fly species another student was using to obtain mammal DNA for biodiversity monitoring, and it was one of the species recovered during a study of pollinators another colleague was conducting.
That the same fly species kept cropping up in all these different research areas, I just though it is so intriguing and I wanted to write an article about it. When I saw the advert about the writing competition, I thought this is the motivation to finally put “pen to paper” and start this article and complete it in a reasonable time frame.

2. Why did you write about the topic that you have chosen?
LYH: I wrote about the dangers of asbestos, a mineral that is highly prized in the construction and manufacturing industries but which also poses great public danger because of its latent and deadly health impact. The consumption and production of asbestos has shifted from developed countries to developing countries, mainly in Asia (China and India). I wanted to write about an issue that Asians should really stand up and be alerted of. In May, I was deciding between diabetes and asbestos–both are time-bombs likely to blow up Asian healthcare–but I chose asbestos simply because it was less featured in the media compared to diabetes.
JL: I wrote an article on tribology, the study of friction, how it has spanned our history, how it is relevant to us (and particularly in Asia, where manufacturing and machination/automation is taking society by storm), and what we might need to look at in our future. This was my original area of research during my PhD, which I feel is becoming even more relevant today for the aforementioned reasons.
A second reason, which was part of the challenge to me, was to attempt to communicate the necessity and importance of the discipline in terms where everyone could understand, instead of the usual technical terminologies that we are used to as academics. This has been a particularly useful skill, especially when interacting with undergraduate students, so that we can approach them on their terms.
JJW: I’m interested in the relationships between insects and plants. I’m worried about food security and the human population’s dependence on meat. I’m seriously concerned about the loss of biodiversity as we enter the sixth mass extinction event. Writing about this fly [oriental latrine] enabled me to write about all of these things in one article.

3. How do you wish to influence your readers with your article?
LYH: I wish that my article would help readers understand the history and threat of asbestos, and that actions today lead to future consequences. I excluded explicit call-to-action in my article–I hope that readers would be intrigued enough to explore the issue more on their own.
JL: I think the public perception is that tribology is an unnecessary specialization–why bother with customized treatments when there is a faster, cheaper, standardized way to reduce friction and the related costs?
But the reality may be a little grimmer than that. With customized machinery, nanotechnology, and newer, more unique features in each mechanical component, along with novel materials emerging in the market. A proper analysis must be made to find effective methods to mitigate and control friction on these surfaces, by taking into account new considerations that might emerge along the way.
Already in the nano-technology front, we are repeatedly discovering new factors that influence tribological conditions! Consider that the “standardized” methods we know of today are a result of decades of experimentation and practical implementation with our ancestors and earlier generations. It is not something that appeared overnight in a textbook. If we fail to move forward with technology, at the pace it has set for society (or with society itself), we run the risk of rendering ourselves and our knowledge obsolete, and end up having large inefficiencies in the process, for an extended duration!
In part, my article then hopes to raise this critical issue into awareness, and perhaps marry another two areas together—industrial practicality and experimentation, with academic research and investigation.
JJW: I hope that it opens people eyes that insects can have very beneficial roles for humans. This one species of fly plays several roles and it is just one species out of literally millions.
4. What was the biggest challenge you faced while writing the piece?
LYH: I struggled to find a strong, interesting narrative on which to hang the science and history of asbestos. I was fortunate to meet and speak to BaoChoo just weeks before the deadline. Another challenge which I failed to overcome was to dedicate time to acquire the opinions of pro-asbestos groups. As a result, my article did not feature pro-asbestos arguments, and that’s a terrible flaw of the article.
JL: The biggest challenge, which ironically also happens to be the most fun part for me, is in crafting the story in a way that keeps it entertaining and engaging, without involving technical jargon. Furthermore, I did not want to cheapen the scientific processes and technical understanding behind it. This is an art and a skill that I have yet to perfect! Da Vinci had a quote that I try to remind myself from time to time – “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. This also happens to be the most enjoyable aspect in both reading and writing!
JJW: I wrote the article while spending six weeks in China for fieldwork. One of the challenges I faced was searching for scientific articles without access to Google Scholar search. Also, there were problems accessing some content behind paywalls.

5. Which aspect did you enjoy the most while writing the piece?
LYH: I enjoyed laying out the structure of the story the most. This is the first time I used a complication-resolution method to write a story (remember, I’m a budding science writer!) and building that complication-resolution proved very challenging and every bit as satisfying. I remember the relief and joy that washed over me the moment I wrote the structure on paper.
JJW: Maybe I’m unusual, but my favorite part of writing is tweaking and fine-tuning the text. Just reading and re-reading a sentence and seeing how changing the order of certain phrases, substituting one word for another, can make the sentence easier to understand and more “readable”.
6. What would you advice would you give to young aspiring writers wanting to explore writing as a career?
LYH: I have just embarked on writing as a full time career, so I don’t want to jeopardize others’ career by pretending to dish out wisdom. That said, even before I switched from a promising and secured employment into freelance science writing, I had built a solid financial plan to hedge against the very likely scenario of a personally-enriching but financially-disastrous writing career. As for honing the craft, well, I follow what most, if not all, craftsmen did: learn from masters of the craft, practice, practice, and practice. Oh also, write excellent pitches and then pitch to editors without shame.
Click here to read the other top winning entries.
See the photos or watch the video highlights of the prize presentation ceremony held on July 27, 2015.
Also, look out for the other winning entries to be published in The Best of Science Writing from Asia 2015 coming out later this year.
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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.