To celebrate Europe Day, the European Union Academic Program in Macau (EUAP-M) and the Portuguese School of Macau (EPM) have jointly organized a creative writing competition under the theme “The European Union in 2016: Challenges and Opportunities.”
The competition involved 55 EPM students from years nine to twelve.
Executive program manager of EUAP-M Rui Flores told the Times that students who presented their works showed concern about issues related to human rights, the integration of minorities, the European crisis and the democratic deficit of the European Union (EU).
“I was very impressed as they showed awareness of interesting topics about human rights,” Flores said. “Concerns surrounding human rights were very much present in many of the works they presented,” he added.
The winners of the writing competition
Flores suggested that the students were “open-minded,” because contestants also wrote on the disparity between public opinion and the decision of the EU. He implied that the students were able to express their opinions and views about the theme.
Meanwhile Manuel Machado, director of EPM, identified the importance of hosting such contests, claiming that they are beneficial to the students.
“They can get to know the European Union better. Though they study [such topics] in history, geography and economics subjects, [in the competition] they are pushed to read more because they have to write about it,” he said.
A piece on the topic of the “democratic deficit of the EU” won the creative writing competition. The essay portrayed the lack of democratic legitimacy in the European Union’s governance.
Tiago Peyroteo and Kénia Nunes, the writers of the essay, stressed that the EU is also trying to “protect their interests and going against fundamental human rights.”
“Our work was based on the EU in general but more specifically about how it claims how it is important and how it preaches democracy,” stressed Peyroteo, adding that they also included the possibility of Turkey joining the EU and the current migration crisis.
When asked why they specifically addressed this topic, the winners answered: “Mainly to show that everything is not always as it seems, […] I think people should know about it.”
The winners of the competition were announced yesterday during the awards ceremony at the local school. The first place recipient of the contest was awarded MOP1,500, while the second and third placed students received MOP1,000 and MOP500 respectively.
The Europe Day marks a May 9 1950 speech by Robert Schuman, that is considered the birth of the EU. Staff reporter
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