Put on your thinking cap and craft a 50-word story about Singapore, and you may walk away with cash prizes.

Singapore turns 50 next year, and in celebration of her golden jubilee, Creative Horizons, an English-language enrichment school, has launched a writing competition called 50 Words For 50 years. Participants stand to win up to cash prizes worth up to $7,500 in total. The Straits Times Digital is the official media partner.

All you need to do go to the competition website and write a 50-word story based on a single-word title that will be randomly generated, such as "kindness" (not used in the actual competition).

The titles will be connected to Singapore's values and progress in the last five decades - in order to raise awareness of the Singaporean identity and strengthen the people's sense of belonging.

"As a Singapore-founded English enrichment school, Creative Horizons prides itself on sharing the joys of the language and how it can be used as an innovative tool for personal expression - even when it comes to patriotism. This competition will undoubtedly challenge participants but also let them have fun," said director Lindy Ong.

The competition is open to Singaporeans and permanent residents as well as all residents of Singapore including non-Singaporeans. The deadline is June 22.

Upon logging on to the website, participants will have one hour to write their 50-word story based on the assigned title before submitting it for judging.

Participants may submit more than one entry, but all stories have to be original and written without assistance.

After the first round of judging, online voting will be open to the public from July 7 to July 13 to choose their favourite story.

The top 10 entries within each category listed below will be shortlisted for a final round of judging by a panel. The judges include poet and Singapore Management University literature associate professor Kirpal Singh, playwright Stella Kon, and former editor-in-chief of Singapore Press Holdings, Peter Lim.

You can submit entries according to your age group:

Category 1 - 7- and 8-year-olds

Category 2 - 9- and 10-year-olds

Category 3 - 11- and 12-year-olds

Category 4 - 13- and 14-year-olds

Category 5 - 15- and 16-year-olds

Category 6 - 17-year-olds and above

Note: Age is based on age in 2014.

The champion from each category will receive $500. The runner-up from each category will receive $250. Up to eight merit award winners in each category get $50 each. All winners will also receive vouchers for two to three lessons on creative writing at Creative Horizons.

Winners will be announced at a prize presentation ceremony in August. Shortlisted participants will be invited.

Winning stories will be published in a booklet that will be distributed to all schools and public libraries.

To participate, go to: http://creativehorizons.com.sg/paper_planes/registration