Students win prizes video, photo contest
HA NOI — The video entry entitled Letter to My Mother submitted by a group of Vietnamese students received the grand prize yesterday in a video and photo competition held by the Australian Embassy and the online newspaper VnExpress. The video was a joint entry by Trung Kien, Trung Nghia and Hung Anh, who are all studying in Australia.
Competition entries grabbed the attention of VnExpress readers, attracting over 2,300 reader comments.
"We are honoured to be recognised because the competition attracted many quality entries and the attention of readers, especially Vietnamese students studying in Australia," said Nghia. "The first person I thought after receiving the prize was my mother, who has sacrificed much to give us the opportunities we now have."
The entry impressed judges and readers with its engaging and creative story-telling of a young adult Australian's experience. The winning entry will receive a return trip to Australia sponsored by Tourism Australia.
The grand prize for photo entries was presented to Le Quang Phuc for his photo essay entitled Working Class Australian Helps Vietnamese Students. The jury applauded the entry for its empathetic portrayal of the warm welcome given by an Australian citizen to many Vietnamese students newly arrived in Australia. Phuc will receive an iPad 2 for his entry, sponsored by the Australian Trade Commission.
Winners were selected from among more than 110entries posted on VnExpress by the judging panel, which was comprised of Australian Ambassador to Viet Nam Allaster Cox, VnExpress editor-in-chief Thang Duc Thang, and journalist Diem Quynh.
"We were impressed by the quality and obvious effort which had gone into the entries," said Cox. "They reflect the warm and diverse people-to-people links between Australia and Viet Nam."
"The overwhelming impression from this competition.. is of obvious heartfelt warmth by many contributors for their ‘second homeland' in Australia," said Quynh. — VNS