We are proud to announce that our Secondary 3 student, Grace Lu, has attained first place in the 2025 “21st Century Cup” National English Speaking Competition. Grace captivated the audience and judges alike with her creative speech on the importance of mental health, delivered with a unique twist — as a gameshow host. Her out-of-the-box approach, confident delivery, and thought-provoking message carried her through the preliminaries, semi-finals, and finals to achieve this brilliant result.

Grace stood out among more than 1,500 participants from nearly 300 schools and was one of ten finalists in the Junior Secondary Category, demonstrating incredible skill, creativity, and determination throughout the competition.

The awards ceremony, co-organized by China Daily Hong Kong Edition and its educational platform, VDO English, was attended by some 400 representatives from the education, business, and media sectors. This year’s theme, “Let the world hear you,” encouraged participants to use their voices to share meaningful stories and ideas with the world. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin, who spoke at the event, highlighted the importance of public speaking and communication skills for young people, urging them to amplify their voices as global ambassadors.