23 Trophies Up for Grabs at Malaysia's Telenovela Awards on Saturday

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 (Bernama) -- Twenty-three trophies will be up for grabs by local artistes at the Telenovela Awards which will be held at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here on Saturday. Among the categories to be contested at the event organised by the National Book Development Foundation (YPBN) are Popular Novel, Popular Telenovela, Best Novelist, Best Script Writer, Most Popular Telenovela Broadcasting Station and Best Actor. YPBN chairman Hasan Hamzah said the award was held in conjunction with the Creative Industry Festival to be held from Friday to Sunday, and was aimed at recognising the creativity of authors and book publishers as well as production crew capable of processing printed material on the silver screen. "This recognition is expected to act as a catalyst for writing novels, for scholarly and literary films as well as to develop the book and creative industry of the country,” he told Bernama Wednesday. He said telenovela would also be expanded to other ASEAN countries and hoped the recognition would be the benchmark for the dramas selected to be contested at the ASEAN level later. “YPBN plans to make Malaysia a telenovela hub in the region, hence it will further boost the country's economy and become a pull factor for tourism,” added Hasan, hoping the telenovela could restore the wave of Malay support. In addition to the awards night, he said a Book-to-Screen (Book2Screen) Forum had also been organised on Saturday at the same location. -- BERNAMA