Vietnamese student won second prize in the 54th UPU International Letter Writing Competition

The letter to the 54th UPU International Letter Writing Competition (2025) by Pham Doan Minh Khue, class 10C2, Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted, Son Tra District, Da Nang City, won the International Second Prize.

This information was announced by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) within the framework of the Closing Ceremony of the 28th Universal Postal Congress in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on September 19, 2025.

The 54th UPU attracted more than 1.6 million letters sent from 65 countries around the world. The First Prize (Gold Medal) was awarded to a female student from Türkiye. The Second Prize (Silver Medal) was awarded to Pham Doan Minh Khue from Vietnam. The representative of Burkina Faso (a country in West Africa) won the Third Prize (Bronze Medal) at the Competition.

The letter to participate in the 54th UPU Competition by Pham Doan Minh Khue, class 10C2, Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted, Son Tra district, Da Nang city, won the International Second Prize.

This is the 19th time Vietnam has had a student win the International Prize of the UPU International Letter Writing Competition after 37 years of participation. Previously, Vietnam won 2 first prizes, 2 second prizes, 8 third prizes and 6 consolation prizes.

The 54th UPU World Oceans Day was organized by the UPU with the theme "Imagine you are the ocean. Write a letter to someone explaining why and how they should take good care of you".

Mr. Masahiko Metoki, Director General of UPU and Mr. Marjan Osvald, Deputy Director General of UPU awarded the First, Second and Third prizes to the winning students.

With a letter about the movie script called "The Ocean's Plea" to the famous director James Cameron, Minh Khue transformed into the ocean to tell her own story. The heart of the ocean is writhing, in pain, about to stop beating because of indifference, destruction and begs an influential person to make a movie that will awaken the whole world.

Minh Khue's letter surpassed more than 1.5 million entries from students nationwide, winning the National First Prize at the 54th UPU Competition in Vietnam.

Born and raised in the coastal city of Da Nang, Minh Khue said she was particularly impressed with this year's Contest because of the theme closely related to her homeland's land and sea, and her concerns when witnessing the impacts of humans on the life of the ocean. In the letter, the image of the "healthy" ocean of the past and the "exhausted" ocean of the present appeared realistically and vividly, gradually leading the reader to follow the complete script of the meaningful film about "The Ocean's Request".

Mr. Masahiko Metoki, Director General of UPU and Mr. Marjan Osvald, Deputy Director General of UPU awarded the Second Prize to Pham Doan Minh Khue.

Through the letter, I want to express the voice and responsibility of the young generation to spread the message of ocean protection through small but practical actions. "I believe that conveying this message through movies, a media that is easily accessible to today's youth, will help raise awareness and responsibility of everyone in protecting the ocean," Minh Khue shared.

Center for Science and Technology Communication

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/hoc-sinh-viet-nam-gianh-giai-nhi-quoc-te-cuoc-thi-viet-thu-quoc-te-upu-lan-thu-54-197250922213406465.htm