Un i v e r s i t i M a l aya : O n Fa n t a s i e s & R e a l i t i e s
By asking people to think about post-COVID futures, the organisers of this competition provided a space in which they could express themselves about their best hopes and their worst fears, their fantasies and their realities, both positive and negative. Many dealt with the increasing prevalence of digital technologies in our lives, pushing it into the future by imagining dystopias where drones hunt you down if you cough, or utopias where AI creates a seamlessly integrated, safe environment. Some also tied the idea of AI in with the increasing isolation felt by many: in these stories, lonely individuals find themselves relying on AI to provide companionship and emotional support. Food security, too, was uppermost in many writers’ minds, with their stories focusing on the creation of urban gardens and the neighbourly sharing of produce. Writers also tackled the idea of class divisions—which in these stories devolved into a chasm between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, with the latter often living feral, desperate lives outside the pristine domes under which the more privileged live. Significantly, COVID has been showcased as the root for great social and cultural shifts, providing reimagined futures for human experiences, and heightening the focus on humanity’s resilience.
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