Essay Competition

1. Eligibility requirement: Upper Primary and Secondary students from registered schools in Hong Kong under the 2025–26 school year are eligible to participate in the Essay Writing Competition. The details are as follows:

2. Entries must be original, no generative artificial intelligence(AI) was involved and never have been published or participated in any other competition. If plagiarism, copyright infringement or non-original work is discovered, the participant will be disqualified. Awardees must return any awarded prizes to the organizer. Participants shall bear full responsibility for any plagiarism or copyright infringement. The organizer reserves the right to disqualify any entries that do not comply with the rules.

3. Each category in the essay writing competition offers two topics to choose from. Students can only select one topic for their submission. Please fill in the personal information and entry number on the Appendix 2: Student Information and Draft Paper, and indicate the word count (including punctuation).

4. Students can submit their entries through handwriting, printed copies, or Word files. However, all submissions must use official draft paper.

• If submitting a handwritten essay: must be written on the official draft paper using a black or blue ball pen and be legible
• If submitting a printed essay: must be printed on A4 white paper with a 12-point PMingLiU font

5. Once an entry has been submitted, no changes will be allowed. Entries will not be returned after submission. Students and teachers are encouraged to keep a copy of their work for their records.

6. Shortlisted candidates may be invited to participate in an interview, where they can present their creative inspiration and insights to the panel of judges.

7. 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.

8. The organizer reserves the right to interpret, amend and change the participation rules without prior notice. 

1. All entries must be submitted by school teachers. Students can only select one topic for their submission.

2. Appendix 1: List of Participants (for Teachers) and Appendix 2: Student Information and Draft Paper (for Students) can be downloaded accordingly:

3. Please fill in Appendix 1: List of Participants (for Teachers) and send the EXCEL 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_學校名稱as the subject of the email.

Important Note:

I.    If a school is participating in both Junior and Senior Secondary School Categories, a separate Appendix 1: List of Participants (for Teachers) must be submitted for each category.

4. Entries can be submitted in the following ways:

• Email: Send to [email protected] (If teachers would like to upload the entries to cloud storage, please email the link to [email protected] and change the settings to "Anyone with the link can view”) /
• By Post: Send to YHA Mei Ho House Youth Hostel, Block 41, Shek Kip Mei Estate, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong by post. 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_學校名稱 on the envelope/
• In Person: Deliver directly to YHA Mei Ho House Youth Hostel, Block 41, Shek Kip Mei Estate, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Important Notes:

I.    Please ensure the Appendix 1: List of Participants (for Teachers) is fully completed and emailed to the organizer as an EXCEL File;

II.   For physical submissions, entries must be arranged in sequence based on the entry numbers listed in the Appendix 1: List of Participants (for Teachers);

III.  For electronic submissions, please use the entry numbers listed in the Appendix 1: List of Participants (for Teachers) to name the file names (e.g., 001, 002, 003, and so on);

IV.  Digital entries from the same school cannot be combined into a single PDF file; each student's essay must be saved as an individual file;

V.   If uploading via cloud storage, all entries in the same category should be uploaded to the same cloud space. Teachers should not provide more than one link.

5. Upon successful email submission of the List of Participants, teachers will receive an automated confirmation email. The organizer will review the entries and the List of Participants, and notify teachers by email within one month after the deadline of the competition so as to confirm entries have been successfully submitted.

6. Please contact the organizer in 37283510／37283512 or WhatsApp 97233465 if unable to receive any notification one month after the deadline of the competition.

All entries must be submitted by April 29, 2026 (Wed). (For mailed submissions, the postmark date will be taken as the submission date.)

Entries will be evaluated based on the following four criteria:
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1. If I would like to take part in the Essay Writing Competition, can I submit the essay without going through my school?

Entries must be submitted through schools. Submissions made directly by students or parents will not be accepted. Students interested in participating should contact their teacher to complete the List of Participants and submit it along with the entries.

2. Each category offers two topics to choose from. Is it allowed to write an essay for each topic and submit them both at the same time?

Students can only select one topic for their submission and must submit only one essay.

3. Can I use the draft papers from my school for the Essay Writing Competition?

Students can submit their entries through handwriting, printed copies, or Word files, depending on their writing preferences or school requirements. However, all submissions must use Appendix 2: Student Information and Draft Paper. Other formats will not be accepted. Entries that are written in other draft papers will not pass the assessment procedure.

4. If mistakes are found after submitting the entries, is it possible to make changes?

Before submission, teachers must confirm that the student names and other personal information on the List of Participants and Draft Paper are correct and consistent. Once an entry has been submitted, no changes to the information will be allowed.