More than 400 secondary and university students took part in this year’s Greater Bay Area (GBA) essay competition, with organisers encouraging young people to align their career aspirations with the region’s future development during an award ceremony and youth forum.
The awards ceremony was part of the “7th Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Development Forum”, organised by the Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Development Association held at the public Macao Polytechnic University (MPU) in Zape yesterday.
Addressing the ceremony, Macau Youth Greater Bay Area Development Association President Harry Lai Meng San said that this year’s essay competition adopted the theme “My Ideal Career in the Greater Bay Area”, aiming to encourage young people to consider how they can integrate their personal strengths with the region’s development opportunities.
Lai said that the competition received more than 400 entries across junior secondary, senior secondary and university categories, adding that the association hopes to help Macau’s youth seize opportunities arising from the nation’s development plans while contributing to the city’s economic diversification and the GBA’s high-quality development.
Senior secondary school champion Fung Hei Lam from the Premier School Affiliated to Hou Kong Middle School said that the competition changed her perspective on pursuing literature. “For me, what is more precious than winning an award is the change that this creation has brought to me. I clearly realised that literature is not a useless point, but a bridge between tradition and modernity, Macau and the Greater Bay Area, technology and people”, Fung said. Drawing inspiration from Chinese culture and social media experience cards*, Fung said her essay explored the possibility of becoming a cultural ambassador in the GBA, encouraging fellow students not to be constrained by stereotypes. “A career is not defined by a label, but by action”, Fung said.
Meanwhile, university category winner Chan Yun Ting from MPU said that writing the essay prompted her to reflect on Macau’s role within the GBA. “Macau is not only a geographical concept, but also a stage with infinite possibilities”, Chan said, noting that integrating with the GBA is “a real-life topic” closely linked to young people’s studies, careers and future choices.
Chan added that Macau’s “1+4” strategy for appropriate economic diversification provides a clear direction for career planning and pledged to contribute to the country’s future development.
Organisers said they will continue promoting youth exchanges and development opportunities, helping Macau’s younger generation play a greater role in the GBA while supporting the city’s long-term economic diversification.
The competition was limited to Chinese-language essays.
*A social media experience card is a standardised web component designed to display dynamic previews of web pages when a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is shared across social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and X. – Gemini
Greater Bay Area (GBA) essay competition senior secondary school champion Fung Hei Lam from the Premier School Affiliated to Hou Kong Middle School (up) and university category winner Chan Yun Ting from the Macao Polytechnic University (MPU) address the awards ceremony on the public university’s campus in Zape yesterday. – Photos: Khalel Vallo
