Awarding ceremony of the 54th UPU Letter Writing Competition - 2025

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.

With the global theme: "Imagine you are the ocean. Write a letter to someone explaining why and how they should take good care of you", this year's contest has strongly aroused the imagination, sense of responsibility and love of nature in the young generation.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Duc Long, Head of the contest's organizing committee, commented: "The contest is not only a playground to develop writing skills, but also a bridge to help students deeply understand environmental issues - one of the biggest global challenges today."

Therefore, the leaders of the Ministry of Science and Technology hope that the UPU Letter Writing Contest will continue to be a healthy and useful playground for Vietnamese students, from which they can practice their thinking and emotions and contribute to promoting humanistic values ​​associated with global issues.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Duc Long spoke at the award ceremony.

The 54th UPU International Letter Writing Competition attracted about 1.5 million entries from students across the country - an impressive number, demonstrating the wide reach of the competition as well as the growing concern of young people for ocean protection.

Sharing about the quality of the entries, journalist Do Thi Thanh Binh, Deputy Head of the Jury, said that the students demonstrated a rich understanding of the sea and islands, the essential role of the ocean in human life, as well as urgent issues such as plastic waste pollution, climate change, coral bleaching, rising sea levels, etc.

The 54th UPU International Letter Writing Competition attracted about 1.5 million entries from students across the country - an impressive number, demonstrating the wide reach of the competition as well as the growing concern of young people for ocean protection.

"Some students wrote letters to the Secretary General of the United Nations, some sent letters to Elon Musk with the message: Before reaching for the stars, please pay attention to the ocean - which is crying out for help every day... bold, authentic and humane ideas have deeply moved the judges," said Ms. Thanh Binh.

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.

This year's First Prize was awarded to Pham Doan Minh Khue, a 10C2 student at Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted (Da Nang). In the letter, she transformed into the Ocean, sending a heartfelt message to the famous director James Cameron - who has made films about the deep sea and nature, such as: "Titanic", "The Abyss", "Avatar"...

Minh Khue wrote about the heart of the ocean that is writhing, in pain, about to stop beating and a plea to an influential person to make a film that will awaken the whole world... With this creative and emotional expression, he conquered the entire jury.

In addition to the First Prize, the Organizing Committee also awarded 3 Second Prizes, 5 Third Prizes, 30 Encouragement Prizes, 61 Promising Writer Prizes, 10 Source of Ideas Prizes and 10 Collective Prizes. In particular, the First and Second Prize winners were honored to receive the "Creative Youth" Badge from the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.

Students come from all over the country.

Poet Tran Dang Khoa, who participated in the exchange at the ceremony, expressed his emotion at the children's sensitive souls and deep awareness of nature and the country. "When you write letters, you are also writing the future, arousing conscience and responsibility as global citizens."

The students who won the contest were diverse in age and region and deeply expressed their thoughts and emotions.

Pham Ngoc Binh Minh, a 9H student at Dang Thai Mai Secondary School, Vinh City, Nghe An Province - one of the students who won the 54th UPU letter writing competition, but for personal reasons, he could not attend the award ceremony in person. He emotionally shared: "Although I could not attend the award ceremony in Hanoi, I was extremely happy and proud to know that I won the prize in this year's UPU letter writing competition. When I received the results, I was really surprised and happy. I felt like I had listened to the voice of the ocean, with both reason and heart. Through the letter, I wanted to express the pain of the ocean and express my own promise: to always love and protect the living environment around me, starting from the smallest things...".

Poet Tran Dang Khoa interacted with students and shared many interesting things about the UPU International Letter Writing Competition.

For Ngo Bao Minh, class 9A9, Gia Thuy Secondary School, Long Bien, Hanoi, receiving the award was also an extremely memorable memory. Minh shared: "This is the first time I have received such a big award, I feel nervous but also very proud. Standing in the middle of the hall and hearing my name called, I feel that all the efforts in each word I wrote have been duly recognized. Going to receive the award, I met many students from all over the country, who also share the same love for nature and the desire to protect the ocean, so for me it is a very special happiness".

Source: https://nhandan.vn/trao-giai-cuoc-thi-viet-thu-upu-lan-thu-54-nam-2025-post880108.html