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Primary school students participating in the 4.23 World Book Day Creative Competition expressed their gratitude to family members in drawings and messages full of love and youthful naivety. Reflecting their greater maturity, secondary students in the competition wrote stories or essays with thought-provoking ideas and in-depth analysis exploring family values.
The competition, organised by the Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, was held to celebrate 4.23 World Book Day. With this year's theme of "Love and Affection in the Family", the competition aimed to encourage children and youth to broaden their horizons and enrich their lives through extensive reading as well as to express their love to their families. They were also encouraged to develop and further extend their concern, gratitude and love to other people in order to help build a harmonious community.
The winning entries featured a rich variety of topics. Here are the some of the thoughts of several students:
"Dad, I think I am much luckier than Lily (from the book "The Incredible Present"). You chat with me every day... Dad, I love you for eternal joy and your unconditional love," wrote one student.
"Friends come and go, but family is forever. We should be thankful for our family..." a student wrote after reading about the sisterly love shown between Jane and Elizabeth in the book "Pride and Prejudice".
"What my grandparents have demonstrated in my childhood was basically the beauty of patience and heritage. But how far are these core family values being practised in my daily life?" wrote another student.
Speaking at the prize presentation ceremony today (April 20), the Under Secretary for Home Affairs, Ms Florence Hui, stressed that reading at an early age is important to children. Reading not only helps to enrich children's knowledge and broaden their horizons, but also fosters their intellectual development and exerts a favourable influence on their character.
She said the family is a cradle for young children. The family is always the place where children begin to learn about the world.
"The competition this year carries the theme of 'Love and Affection in the Family'. It aims to encourage youngsters to express their family affection through writing and drawing, and to further extend participants' love and caring to other people as part of a harmonious and pleasant community", she added.
Other guests attending the presentation ceremony included the representatives of educational bodies who formed the competition's adjudication panel: Senior Curriculum Development Officer of the Education Bureau, Ms Yvonne Lam; the President of the Secondary Students' Best Ten Books Election of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, Ms Lisa Lo; the President of the Hong Kong Teacher-Librarians' Association, Ms Karen Ip; and the External Affairs Secretary of the Hong Kong Reading Association, Ms Wincy Chau. Winning students from Hong Kong and Shenzhen also shared their reading experiences.
Promoting reading is one of the major missions of the HKPL. In support of World Book Day, the HKPL has, since 2004, organised the 4.23 World Book Day Creative Competition with a specific theme each year to broaden students' reading and develop diverse perspectives.
The winning students received special gifts this year, including "super passes" to the Hong Kong Book Fair 2013 presented by the supporting organisation, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The "super passes" give students free admission to the Hong Kong Book Fair.
An enthusiastic response was received, with almost 1 200 entries and more than 200 schools participating this year. The competition consisted of four categories: drawing with coloured pencils to share experiences and feelings of helping with housework (junior primary students); letters to family members to express love and concern (senior primary students); book reports on reading materials related to gratitude and love in the family (junior secondary students); and projects on a self-proposed topic related to the stories and memories of elderly family members to explore family values (senior secondary students).
Adjudicators selected the best entries in each category: 25 for junior primary, 15 each for senior primary Chinese and junior secondary Chinese, 12 for senior secondary Chinese, eight each for senior primary English and junior secondary English, and five for senior secondary English.
Winning works from the competition are now on display at the Exhibition Gallery of the Hong Kong Central Library (HKCL) until May 8. A roving exhibition will be held at 18 public libraries from May 15 to August 31. These winning works will then be shown at the upcoming Hong Kong Book Fair for the public to appreciate. They will also be uploaded to the HKPL website.
Over the past five years, this creative competition has formed part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong library collaboration and exchange programme. The Shenzhen Library, the Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province and the Macao Central Library have joined the event this year by organising their own competitions on the same theme of "Love and Affection in the Family". Some of the winning works from these regions will be on display in Hong Kong at the HKCL and 18 public libraries from tomorrow (April 21) till the end of October, while Hong Kong's winning entries will be shown at the respective collaborating libraries in Shenzhen, Guangdong and Macau afterwards.
A meet-the-authors talk was also held today at the HKCL for World Book Day. In the talk, part of a series entitled "The World and Me: Growth in Holding Truth and Principles", the writer Mr Lee Yee explored the past, present and future of reading to mark the anniversary of the death of American writer Henry David Thoreau 150 years ago.
Readers who borrow library materials from any HKPL from today to World Book Day (April 23) will receive bookmark souvenirs on a first-come, first-served basis while stocks last.
For programme enquiries, please visit the HKPL website, www.hkpl.gov.hk/english/ext_act/ext_act_ra/ext_act_ra_wbd/423WBD2013.html, or call 2928 4603 or 2921 2660.
Ends/Saturday, April 20, 2013
Issued at HKT 13:54
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