"I am writing this letter from the earth, where I am on a mission to make every road in the world safer for children ...", boy Dao Khuong Duy, a student of grade 6/1, Huynh Tan Phat Secondary School, Binh Dai district, Ben Tre province opened his letter like that when he transformed into a superhero S-24/7. With clear, simple but concise words, strong and full of love for family and fellow human beings, Khuong Duy's letter has surpassed more than 1,5 million entries from students across the country to win the first prize in the national competition.

Dao Khuong Duy and his mother at the 52nd UPU International Letter Writing Contest award ceremony.

With the logical thinking of a good math student, Duy's letter guides readers with specific examples and clever imagination to solve practical problems. Khuong Duy shared: "I really like Super Man and Thanh Giong characters with extraordinary strength, always helping people. When I saw that the contest topics related to superheroes and traffic safety were very close to children, I joined. The character is named S-24/7 because the letter S is the beginning of many beautiful words on earth such as Superhero (superhero), Sacrifice (sacrifice), Safety (safety) and that superhero is responsible for protecting children 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without a single minute of rest." 

Observe the surrounding life, see many people driving very recklessly, riding without helmets, so Duy's character often transforms to be one step ahead of the "traffic bad guy". Duy wrote: "Sometimes I am a traffic policeman, graciously taking a group of children across the street. Sometimes I'm the school guard, reminding parents to always wear helmets and seat belts for their children. Sometimes she is a janitor, stopping the broom to advise the child to walk orderly on the right side of the road. Sometimes I was the headwind, causing all vehicles to go below 30km/h when coming to an area with many children…”. I hope to be able to exchange and replace the very dangerous and wrong thoughts of people with the right and safe thoughts first. Hidden in Duy's letter are very important and meaningful messages to adults. That all children deserve to go home safely. The inspiration for Duy to write this special and emotional letter is not only superhero movies but also books about famous people, Vietnamese history and the book "Cricket adventure diary" that she considers as a close friend.

His family situation is still difficult, he has never known what it is to go to extra school, but Duy has won many times in intellectual competitions at school. All the knowledge I have gathered is from the lectures in class and the books my mother bought for me. His father is a worker at a small printing company near his house, his mother's health is not very good, so all income for the family revolves around a small restaurant. Huynh Thi Thao Tien, Duy's mother, shared: "Every day, Duy gets up at 5 am, helps his mother push the cart out, arranges tables and chairs before going to prepare for school. Duy was eager to learn from a young age, so he was very active in learning. Every time he has money, Duy spends it on buying books. I hope I have good health to take good care of Duy and fulfill his dreams with him."

When she received news that Duy won the first prize in the contest, Tien also thought that it was the same as many of the first prizes that Duy often achieved, but when she found out that it was a national contest and Duy's letter was also translated into French by the Organizing Committee for the international competition, she was very surprised. At the age of 12, with his soaring imagination, rich emotions and simple words, the coconut boy created a superhero full of love. 

Article and photo: KHANH HA