We have to relearn how to be sad?

In the modern world, where technology increasingly replaces human expression of emotions, we, both adults and children, need to relearn how to be sad, how to cry, and how to love.

Author Nguyen Hoai Phong (center) received the best award at the 8th Fairy Tale Flower Contest - Photo: T.DIEU

That is the message that student Nguyen Hoai Phong ( Tay Ninh province) - the winner of the excellent prize of the fairy tale writing contest called Fairy Tale Flower , shared about the message of the short story that helped him win this contest at the award ceremony on the afternoon of December 6.

Hoai Phong is currently a second-year student in the Faculty of Literature, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education. He was awarded first prize (Freedom category) and the best prize of the contest thanks to the fairy tale Application Turn Off Sadness.

Previously, Hoai Phong won second prize in the poetry writing contest and an encouragement prize in the folk literature research contest organized by the Literature and Arts Association of Long An province (formerly, now Tay Ninh province) when he was still a high school student.

Nguyen Hoai Phong said both adults and children need to relearn how to be sad - Photo: T.DIEU

Sadness deserves to be loved too

The application "Turn Off Sadness" is the first children's story Phong wrote, and it is also the first time he participated in the Fairy Tale Flower contest.

Hoai Phong said, the application Tat Buon was born one night by chance. That day, he came home late from school, threw himself on the bed and found the room so quiet. Suddenly, Phong remembered his house in the countryside, where there were grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and younger siblings, and felt so lonely.

Phong realized that all this time, he had been so absorbed in studying, worrying, and finding temporary joy on social networks that he forgot his loved ones and the true feeling of sadness. Phong cried. The tears opened the story of the Sadness Stop App .

Writer Le Phuong Lien (left cover) - Head of the contest's jury - awarded first prize to three authors - Photo: T.DIEU

The Sadness Turn Off App tells the story of a girl named Lien, who is installed with an app that helps her "turn off" all her sadness with just one touch. At first, it makes her life easier, but gradually Lien loses her ability to feel emotions and is no longer moved by the pain of others.

Only when she met the boy Mit - the one who "saved his sadness to tell the tree" did Lien realize: sadness is not a bad thing, but an essential part that helps people understand and love.

"I want to convey that: in the modern world , where technology increasingly replaces people in expressing emotions, we, both adults and children, need to relearn how to be sad, how to cry and how to love.

Because if we try to turn off all emotions, one day we may become "empty barrels", no longer able to be moved by life... Sadness is also worth loving, because it is what makes people grow up," Phong said.

You also realize that writing for children is not "teaching children", but letting children teach you how to look at life with clear eyes and a listening heart.

Second prize winners - Photo: T.DIEU

There are candidates who submitted 200 entries.

The Fairytale Flower Children's Story Writing Contest is an annual activity organized by the Bac Cau Fund, aiming to discover and nurture writers for Vietnamese children, while contributing to expanding the space for young literary creation.

In 2025, the competition continued to make a special mark with the highest number of entries ever, demonstrating the richness in themes and the depth in the way young authors observe and reflect the world.

The contest received 4,161 works from 1,604 contestants from 34 provinces and cities. nationwide, with the participation of Vietnamese authors living in Russia, UK, Germany, Korea, China, Netherlands and Japan.

Notably, there were 200 entries submitted by contestants, demonstrating the young generation’s strong passion for creation. In the end, 17 entries were awarded in three categories: Freedom, Primary, and Secondary.

In addition to Hoai Phong's first prize and best prize, two other first prize winners were: Truong Vo Ha Anh (born in 2015, Nghe An), with the work Xoi Dau Planet, Primary School category and Nguyen Thu Huyen Trang (born in 2012, Hanoi), with the work My Summer, Secondary School category.

In addition, the organizing committee also awarded 5 second prizes, 9 third prizes and 6 consolation prizes.

17 award-winning works are edited and illustrated in the anthology Fairy Tale Flowers - Vol. 8.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chung-ta-phai-hoc-lai-cach-buon-20251206211508483.htm