Students from the City University of Macau, The International School of Macao, the Macau Anglican College and the Premier School Affiliated to Hou Kong Middle School have won this year’s English Essay Competition.
Apart from these four, who won the first prizes in four different categories separated by levels of studies, 64 other students attained honors as well. In addition, two group awards – the Empowerment Award and Best Achievement Award – went to the Premier School Affiliated to Hou Kong Middle School.
Dubbed the first Macau-wide event of its kind by the organizer, the Macao Speech Professionals Association (MSPA), the competition attracted as registrants more than 1600 students from 53 local schools. The selection process was conducted in a blind fashion, the organizer emphasized.
The winning essays will be compiled into an essay collection, the first of its kind published in Macau, in an aim to allow more stakeholders in the community to learn the younger generation’s thoughts on the crucial issues and build a sustainable community together.
As the competition is geared towards promoting the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, students are encouraged to strengthen their English writing skills while learning about global topics.
Chair of the Macau-wide English Essay Competition, Sandy Leong, noted that the theme, “The Change I Want to Make,” was designed to initiate conversations in the community about the power people have to create a better future. Through learning about the Global Goals – a set of 17 commitments made by 193 world leaders to end extreme poverty, inequality, and climate change by 2030 – Macau citizens can all appreciate the importance of sustainable development and bring positive change to the world.
The competition has invited Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Youth Hong Kong to act as the supervisor and the United Nations University Institute in Macau to act as the advisor for the competition.
The MSPA describes itself as consisting of professional speakers and public speaking enthusiasts, bringing together Macau’s talented speakers, including international and national public speaking competition winners, national public speaking coaches and trainers, as well as large-scale public speaking event organizers and judges.
