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Victoria Harbour, shopping and delicious food are trademarks of Hong Kong. In the eyes of local students, Hong Kong not only has Ocean Park, Disneyland and mega buildings, but is a place with children's beloved food like cart noodles, fishballs, mock shark's fin soup, egg puff, beans pudding and the mixed culture.
The Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has organised a series of activities to celebrate the "4.23 World Book Day". To mark the 10th Anniversary of the Establishment of HKSAR, the library took "Hong Kong ― My Home" as the theme for the creative writing competition of "4.23 World Book Day" for students to express their views on Hong Kong.
As a support to the World Book Day, the HKPL has, since 2004, organised diverse extension activities including competitions and seminars to enhance the interest in reading among students and the community at large.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony of the creative writing competition, the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Mr Thomas Chow said with "Hong Kong ― My Home" being the theme, the competition aimed to help contestants gain a better understanding of society and further to strengthen their sense of belonging to the country.
The competition consisted of three types of entries. For the Junior Primary (P.1-3) category, participants had to design a postcard in the form of drawing and text to introduce Hong Kong while in the Senior Primary (P.4-6) and the Junior Secondary (F.1-3) categories, entries were based on a chosen related photo or picture and a written essay to express their own views and feelings of the theme. Participants in the Senior Secondary category were required to write a book report on a chosen book on the history or culture of Hong Kong or China.
More than 1,300 entries from more than 100 schools were received this year. Winning works from the competition are on display at the Exhibition Gallery of the Hong Kong Central Library (HKCL) from now to April 25 or at the HKPL's website: www.hkpl.gov.hk. A roving exhibition will also be held at 15 district libraries from May to September.
To tie in with the HKPL's celebrating activities on "4.23 World Book Day", the Shenzhen Library also held a writing competition on "Hong Kong Impression" in March to promote reading activities among Shenzhen residents. It is also one of the co-operative exchange projects between libraries of Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau.
The winning works from Shenzhen are being displayed with the Hong Kong winning pieces at the HKCL. As a cultural exchange, the Hong Kong winning entries will also be displayed at the Shenzhen Library in May. Hong Kong authors will be invited to hold seminars at the Shenzhen Library.
Readers who borrow library materials from the HKPL tomorrow (April 22) will receive a souvenir while stock lasts.
"Meet-the-author" talks are being held to herald the World Book Day, among which, local authors Chan Wai and Lawrence Pun shared their experiences on reading today at the HKCL, while Xiu Shi will have a talk at 2.30pm tomorrow (April 22) at the Tseung Kwan O Library. Both talks are conducted in Cantonese and admission is free.
A "Paired Reading Workshop", which aims to enhance young children's reading interest as well as promote parents' participation in interactive reading ―related activities, will be held at 2.30pm tomorrow at the Tuen Mun Public Library.
The HKPL has also participated in the "Children Reading Festival" organised by the Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong to help promote reading among youngsters.
Ends/Saturday, April 21, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:34
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