UPU letter writing contest receives 1.5 million entries, Da Nang female student wins first prize

On May 16, the Ministry of Science and Technology coordinated with the Ministry of Education and Training, the Vietnam Writers Association, the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam Post Corporation, the Young Pioneers and Children Newspaper, and VietNamNet Newspaper to organize the closing ceremony and award ceremony of the 54th UPU International Letter Writing Competition - 2025.

This year’s contest theme is: “Imagine you are the ocean. Write a letter to someone explaining why and how they should take good care of you.”

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Duc Long speaks at the ceremony. Photo: Le Anh Dung

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Duc Long, Head of the Organizing Committee, said that the UPU international letter writing competition has become an annual activity with profound significance for Vietnamese students over the past three decades.

“This year's theme not only stimulates students' imagination and writing ability, but also contributes to nurturing a sense of responsibility towards the environment - one of the urgent global issues today.

The good news is that the contest has received positive responses from students across the country with about 1.5 million entries - an impressive number, demonstrating the growing influence and interest of the young generation in global issues," said Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long.

The Deputy Minister also affirmed that these results are a testament to the effective and persistent coordination between the organizing units and the jury of the competition. In addition, teachers are also the ones who have inspired students - the future leaders of the country and the world - to participate in the competition proactively and creatively.

He hopes that in the coming time, the contest will continue to receive attention and cooperation to spread widely, becoming a healthy and useful playground for students. Through this, students will be trained in thinking, emotions, and propaganda of common themes of the world associated with social issues in Vietnam.

The organizing committee awarded the national first prize to Pham Doan Minh Khue, a student of class 10C2, Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted, Da Nang. Photo: Le Anh Dung

Evaluating the quality of the entries, journalist Do Thi Thanh Binh, Deputy Head of the contest's jury, said that this year's topic was quite broad, giving students the opportunity to demonstrate their diverse knowledge and understanding of the sea and islands and the role of the ocean in human life, especially issues of marine pollution, plastic waste, melting ice, rising sea levels, climate change, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, etc.

Through this, the articles have proposed solutions to protect the ocean, while honoring inspirational figures and warning people about their indifference and apathy towards urgent issues in protecting the marine environment.

“The letter deeply expressed the love, pride and concern for the homeland's sea and islands, sent to people holding important positions in international organizations such as the Secretary General of the United Nations, heads of state, influential people such as artists, singers, directors, writers, poets...

Another student sent a letter to tech billionaire Elon Musk with the message ' Before reaching for the stars, I hope you will pay attention to urgent ocean issues and apply technological achievements to ocean care and protection' , making a deep impression on the judges," journalist Do Thi Thanh Binh shared.

Poet Tran Dang Khoa interacts with award-winning students. Photo: Le Anh Dung

At the ceremony, the Organizing Committee awarded the national first prize to Pham Doan Minh Khue, a 10C2 student at Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted (Da Nang). Last year, Da Nang was also the locality with the highest prize-winning student in the competition.

The owner of the letter that won the national first prize said that he transformed into the Ocean, writing a letter to director James Cameron, the man behind the series of famous films such as Titanic (1997), The Abyss (1989), Avatar (2009)... The Ocean said that he was being destroyed by humans, writhing in pain that made his heart "about to stop beating". Therefore, the Ocean begged the famous director to make a film to awaken humanity.

Three students won second prize in the 54th UPU letter writing competition . Photo: Le Anh Dung

Five students won third prize in the 54th UPU letter writing competition . Photo: Le Anh Dung

Awarding prizes to students who won the Encouragement Prize. Photo: Le Anh Dung

In addition to the First Prize, the Organizing Committee and the Jury also awarded individual and collective prizes, including 3 Second Prizes, 5 Third Prizes, 30 Encouragement Prizes, 61 “Promising Writer” prizes; 10 “Source of Ideas” prizes; 10 collective prizes. The First and Second Prize winners of the contest were also awarded the “Creative Youth” badge by the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.

See the winning letter of the 54th UPU letter writing competition here.

Sample essay for the 54th UPU letter writing contest: 'The ocean and the fear of radioactive waste' The theme of the 54th UPU letter writing contest is considered quite interesting when the writer imagines himself as the ocean. VietNamNet would like to introduce a sample essay for readers to refer to.

16-year-old girl in Da Nang won first prize in UPU letter-writing contest By transforming into the ocean, writing a letter to director James Cameron to talk about the ocean's destruction and a plea to awaken humanity, Pham Doan Minh Khue won first prize in the 2025 UPU letter-writing contest.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/cuoc-thi-viet-thu-upu-nhan-1-5-trieu-bai-thi-nu-sinh-da-nang-gianh-giai-nhat-2401594.html