On January 18, 2020, the Final of the “21st Century Cup” National English Speaking Competition, hosted by China Daily Asia Pacific and VDO English, was held at Kowloon Shangri-La, Hong Kong. After some intense competition, a winner from each of the five categories emerged. They were:
NG Nok Hin - Junior Primary School Category winner
Zhou Hanyi - Senior Primary School Category winner
Sham Pui Yan - Junior Secondary School Category winner
Chan KaLo Carol - Senior Secondary Category winner
Cheung Ho Yan - University Category winner
Together they will represent Hong Kong in the National Grand Final, to be held in March this year.
(L-R) Cheung Ho Yan, Ng Nok Hin, Zhou Hanyi, Represent of Shan Pui Yan and Chan Ka Lo the winner of 21st Century Cup Hong Kong has a group photo during the 21st Century Cup National English Speaking Competition 2020 at Tsim Shatsui on 18 Jan 2020. (Parker Zheng/China Daily)
Awards were presented to the winning students by distinguished guests: Mr. Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, JP, Secretary for Education, Mr. Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, JP, Former President of the Legislative Council, HKSAR, Ms. Winnie TAM Wan-chi, JP, Chairman, Communications Authority and Former Chairman, Hong Kong Bar Association and, Mr. Zhou Li, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, China Daily, and Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of China Daily Asia Pacific. Over 200 students, teachers, principals, parents and guests attended the ceremony.
Yeung Yun hung the Secretary for Education has a speech during the 21st Century Cup National English Speaking Competition 2020 at Tsim Shatsui on 18 Jan 2020. (Parker Zheng/China Daily)
Mr Yang said in his speech that public speaking skills are essential in the 21st Century and extended his warm wishes to all the contestants, all of whom demonstrated brilliant public speaking qualities. “It is indeed encouraging to see that over the past years, a steadily growing number of Hong Kong students have taken part in the 21st Century Cup’ competition.”
“We, China Daily, have taken it as our mission to help prepare young people for the future. We have always been committed to promoting English language education,” said Mr. Zhou. “We wish all of our champion speakers good luck and great success in the forthcoming competitions and in achieving all their dreams in the future.”
(L-R) Yeung Yun hung the Secretary for Education, Cheung Ho Yan, Ng Nok Hin, Zhou Hanyi, Represent of Shan Pui Yan, Winnie Tam the chairman of Hong Kong Bar Association, Chan Ka Lo and Zhou Li the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China Daily has a group with the winner of 21st Century Cup Hong Kong has a group photo during the 21st Century Cup National English Speaking Competition 2020 at Tsim Shatsui on 18th Jan 2020. (Parker Zheng/China Daily)
In 2017, the “21st Century Cup” National English Speaking Competition (Hong Kong region) was officially opened, providing a stage for local students to demonstrate their English proficiency. It also established a platform for youth exchanges between Hong Kong and the mainland. In March 2019, the Hong Kong Region Secondary School champion won the national championship, showcasing Hong Kong students’ mastery of English. This year, the Hong Kong Region added Primary School and University Categories to the competition, to comprehensively cover students of all age ranges.
This year’s competition saw a record number of enthusiastic participants, attracting thousands of students from universities, primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. Students were selected from their online applications to qualify for the preliminary competition.
Group photo of the 21st Century Cup National English Speaking Competition 2020 at Tsim Shatsui on 18 Jan 2020. (Parker Zheng/China Daily)
Around 50 judges have taken part in the competition in total, from the preliminary stages through to the final. They came from institutions such as the Education Bureau, the English Speaking Union Hong Kong, the British Council, Hong Kong Baptist University, Education University of Hong Kong, and the Open University of Hong Kong.
The winner of the University Category, 22-year-old Cheung Ho Yan from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said she was a little nervous before giving her speech. But she still was able to perform well. “The question in the impromptu speech made me feel comfortable, as I feel connected to the topic of ‘princess movies’.” Her confidence has grown since participating in this competition and now she hopes to be able to bring honor to herself and Hong Kong.
Chan Ka Fai, principal of the Bethel High School, said the competition has provided an excellent stage for young people to showcase their talents, and this sort of event could also significantly improve the public speaking skills of Hong Kong students.
The “21st Century Cup” National English Speaking Competition hosted by China Daily, was established in 1996. The contest aims to improve students’ English speaking ability and to cultivate a pioneering and innovative spirit among students. It has a range of divisions in major cities in China, and the total number of participants last year exceeded 1 million, making it one of the largest-scale English-speaking events in the country. In the meantime, it also acts as an annual qualifier for the International Public Speaking Competition in London, and the winner will represent China.
VDO English is an online English education platform that operates through a mobile app and website, as well as YouTube and Facebook accounts. By allowing users to “Watch movies, Learn English”, it has provided students and English lovers with a brand new learning experience. The newly released Panda Challenge course makes learning even more fun, so students can master their exam skills in less time. VDO English also organizes rich offline activities, such as school activities, an English Speaking competition, training courses and overseas study tours.
