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Three outstanding Japanese university students were today (September 22) awarded a two-week study programme in a Hong Kong university to further enhance the cultural exchange between Hong Kong and Japan.
They were the top three winners of the Hong Kong Cup All Japan University Students English Speech Contest 2007 which was jointly organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Tokyo) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Daily Yomiuri in Japan.
The competition was also supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.
Response to the speech contest was most encouraging and it attracted 73 entries from different parts of Japan, ranging from Hokkaido to Okinawa.
An initial screening was conducted among the 73 entries. Fifteen were selected to compete in the final which was held today.
Addressing the speech contest, the Principal Representative of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Tokyo), Mrs Jennie Chok, said the speech contest was organised as part of a series of activities to mark the establishment of the 10th Anniversary of the HKSAR of the Peopleˇ¦s Republic of China.
"We hope, through the contest using 'Hong Kong' as the broad theme, to arouse more interest in, and foster deeper understanding of, Hong Kong among the young people in Japan," Mrs Chok said.
She said the aim was to promote friendship and goodwill, as well as stronger economic and cultural ties, between the two places.
"We chose to use English for the speech contest as it is one of the two official languages of Hong Kong, and the most commonly learnt and used second language in Japan," Mrs Chok added.
The panel of judges at the final today included Mrs Chok; Professor Philip Brown of Gakushuin University; General Manager Japan of Cathay Pacific, Mr James Woodrow; and Mr Shigeyuki Okada, Managing Editor of the Daily Yomiuri.
After a full day of keen competition, the champion was awarded to Miss Kimi Suzuki of University of Tokyo. The title of her speech is "The Fragrance of Hong Kong". The first and second runners-up were Miss Tamayo Suganuma of Hitotsubashi University and Mr Shuusaku Mori of Niigata University respectively.
Apart from winning attractive prizes including free air tickets, hotel accommodation and book coupons, they will attend a two-week exchange tour at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in early 2008.
Ends/Saturday, September 22, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:46
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