2023-24 “Affection Across Generations” Essay Competition
Purpose
Mei Ho House, formerly part of Shek Kip Mei Estate, was the first batch of resettlement blocks, which marked the beginning of Hong Kong’s public housing policies, the evolution of local community and folk life. While other buildings of the estate dating from the 1950s have been demolished and were replaced by new ones, Mei Ho House was preserved as a record of Hong Kong's public housing development. Under the Revitalising Historical Buildings Through Partnership Scheme introduced by the Hong Kong Government in 2008, this Grade II historical building was declared to be used by the Hong Kong Youth Hostels Association (HKYHA) as City Youth Hostel and museum, Heritage of Mei Ho House (HMHH). HMHH is established to promote community-led conservation of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage, traditions and enthuses of Mei Ho House and Hong Kong through the collection and preservation of artefacts, research, oral histories and exhibitions of Hong Kong’s community development, living environments and aspects of social life from 1950s to 1970s.
The purpose of oral history is to document history through the interaction between interviewer and interviewees. In order to further promote cross-generational exchanges, students are encouraged to interact with the elderly members of their families through the “Affection Across Generations” Essay Competition conducted by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Project Grant: Mei Ho House Hong Kong Spirit Learning Project. Students get to know what it was like to live in the public estate in the past from a first-person perspective. The stories shared by the elders present the strong bonding between neighbors and Hong Kong Spirit of perseverance, which reinforce the sense of positive values and attitudes on students.
Competition details
1.〈我和父母的一個約定〉/
2.〈那一刻，我長大了〉
300 to 600 words, any writing style is acceptable.
1.〈父母的花樣年華〉/
2.〈樓下有情〉
500 to 1000 words, any writing style is acceptable.
1.〈上鎖的抽屜〉/
2.〈城中奇緣〉
800 to 1500 words, any writing style is acceptable.
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Prizes for each category
The list of winners will be announced and uploaded to the website in early August, 2024. A notification email will be sent to the awarded schools accordingly. The top three awardees in each category will be invited to attend the Award Ceremony in late 2024.
Dr. Joseph Ting, Dr. Rebecca Chan, Dr. Yui Tong, Mr. Ho Chiu Wong, Dr. Michael Wong
Instruction
P4 – P6 and F1 – F6 students from registered schools in Hong Kong under the school year of 2023-24 are eligible to participate in the Essay Competition.
- All entries must be submitted by schools.
- Appendix 1: Candidate List (for Teachers) and Appendix 2: Candidates Information and Draft Paper (for Students) can be downloaded accordingly:
- Schools must fill in Appendix 1: Candidates List and send the WORD file to [email protected], addressing 「香港賽馬會社區資助計劃：美荷樓香港精神學習計劃」徵文比賽 as the subject of the email.
- Each candidate can only submit one essay. All essays must be written on the official draft paper. Candidates must put their personal information on each draft paper in case additional paper is used. Handwritten essays can be submitted to (YHA Mei Ho House Youth Hostel) Block 41, Shek Kip Mei Estate, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong by post or in person. Please indicate「香港賽馬會社區資助計劃：美荷樓香港精神學習計劃」徵文比賽 on the envelope. Digital essays can be submitted through email or uploaded to cloud and must share publicly with anyone who has the link.
- Digital essay should be input in the word file provided. All required information should be filled in before submission.
- Schools will receive a confirmation email from the organizer within two weeks after submission. Please contact the organizer in 37283510／ 37283512 if unable to receive any notification.
Essays will be evaluated based on the following four criteria:
Reflects the spirit of Hong Kong and the essence of Mei Ho House, or conveys positive values; thematic ideas and emotional expression.
Use of vocabulary, sentence structure, and rhetorical techniques.
Paragraph proportion and transitions, development of ideas, relevance, and coherence.
Adherence to word count requirements, presence of typos, and use of punctuation.
- Entries must be original and never have been published or participated in other competitions. If plagiarism, copyright infringement or non-original work is discovered, the candidate will be disqualified. Awardees must return the award to the organizer. The candidate must be responsible for plagiarism or copyright infringement.
- Each candidate must submit only one essay. Please fill in the personal information on the Appendix 2: Candidates Information and Draft Paper (for Students). If additional paper is used, please fill in the student information on top of each page and submit to the organizer by school.
- Please indicate the word count (including punctuation) and page numbers in your submitted entry. All entries should be written, printed or typed on the official draft paper. If submitting a handwritten essay, it must be written on the official draft paper using a black or blue ball pen and be legible. If submitting a printed essay, it must be printed on A4 white paper with a 12-point PMingLiU font.
- The winning entries will be uploaded to the website of " The Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Project Grant: Mei Ho House Hong Kong Spirit Learning Project". The organizer has the right to use the winning articles in promotional activities of the project, YHA Mei Ho House Youth Hostel and Heritage of Mei Ho House.
- The organizer reserves the right to interpret, amend and change the participation rules without prior notice.
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