Press Releases > 2017 > October 19
Outstanding students commended for their achievements in Chinese learning
About 60 students were commended at the Chinese Essay and Handwriting Competition 2017 award presentation ceremony yesterday (October 19) for their remarkable achievements in Chinese learning.The ceremony was held at Ashfield Public School. Officiating guests included the Acting Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) Ms Winnie Chan; the Chairman of the National Chinese Language Education Council of NSW Inc. (CLEC), Dr Zhang Xuefeng, and former Member of Legislative Council, Parliament of New South Wales, Mr Peter Wong.
The Chinese Essay and Handwriting Competition 2017 was jointly organised by HKETO and CLEC, with the aim of promoting Chinese culture among local students and enhancing their understanding of Hong Kong.
In recognising the outstanding performance of the winners, Ms Chan said their winning entries were full of creativity and their efforts in learning Chinese language were indeed impressive.
“I am sure you would all agree with me that learning another language, in particular mastering Chinese language, is never easy, especially for those who are non-native speakers of Chinese,” Ms Chan said.
HKETO and CLEC first co-organised the Chinese essay writing competition last year. This year’s competition introduced handwriting event with the aim to attracting more students to join.
“We are so glad that the competition was well-received with over 240 students joining us, which is encouraging,” Ms Chan said.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The competition was one of the celebration events held in Australia. Elements related to the 20th anniversary celebration and Hong Kong were included in the topics of the essay and handwriting.
“We hope the competition will arouse students’ interests in learning more about Chinese culture and Hong Kong,” Ms Chan said.
Dr Zhang said, “It is really rewarding for us, the Chinese language educators to see so many young people have successfully learnt Chinese in Australia. Several participants are from non-Chinese background. We believe that, like our annual Chinese Eisteddfod, the Essay and Handwriting Competition will also grow to be a major event of Chinese language education in Australia.”
Both the essay writing and handwriting competitions were divided into five groups based on the age of the participants, with the youngest group from nine to the eldest of 19 years old. It was held at Ashfield Boys High School on September 16. Winners were selected by a judging panel comprising members of CLEC and HKETO.
19.10.2017
