Asia-Pacific students mic up on coexistence of civilizations

A crowd of education authorities and specialists was revved up as 27 young voices from Asia-Pacific shared their perspectives on the coexistence of civilizations in a regional English-speaking competition in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday.

Now in its second year, the MicUp! English Speaking Competition cum Belt and Road Youth English-Speaking Competition (Thailand) reached new heights, bringing together 600 committed young orators from local secondary schools and universities since the competition's kick-offs in Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Nepal earlier this year and rounded off by a rousing regional final held at Chulalongkorn University.

Thanh Theerapasiri, a Thai student from Regents International School Pattaya, and Myat Noe Phyu of MCTA: RVi Academy Mandalay in Myanmar were crowned champions of the junior and youth categories, respectively. The winners from each participant country will move on to the next leg of their competition journey – the Global Final to be held in Wuxi, China, in October.

With multiple global challenges hitting a tipping point – from extreme weather in full swing to geopolitical conflicts on the edge – this year's speech topic Civilizations: Clash and Coexistence was applauded for being a vital stimulus for young talents to reflect on varied global trends, and for allowing them full rein to advocate closer bonds of friendship and multilateral cooperations.

Grabbing the room's attention with an elaborate aqua ensemble consisting of a top inspired by traditional Chinese qipao and a dress piece made of Thai silk, Roongpraew Wiwatkamolwat, a 16-year-old student of Ekamai International School in Bangkok, noted that it was her genuine affection for her Chinese roots and belief in cultural inclusiveness that motivated her to get into this competition and strive to excel.

"My costume echoes today's topic — civilization, which is an ongoing process of exchanges and fusion," she said, adding that her great-grandparents were from Beijing and her grandparents lived in South China's Guangdong province.

"I'm a generation of such culture fusion, a mixture of Thailand and China. The culture, common values, and many other connections, such as cuisine, are bridging the two nations closer than ever before," said Roongpraew.

Nan Suriya Khattiya, the first runner-up of the junior category, also expressed great appreciation for the rare opportunity to engage in close and direct dialogues with many of her peers from other Asian countries.

Nan noted that the event dovetail with the Silk Road spirit, which is highlighted in many of today's speeches as an embodiment of coexistence and mutual learning among civilizations. "The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China links countries from the past to the future. It's not only the exchange of goods but also people-to-people interaction."

This upbeat note, shared among contestants, also struck a chord with their Chinese counterparts. In a sharing session with the finalists, Luo Ying, the national second runner-up of the 2022 "21st Century Cup" National English Speaking Competition who is currently a postgraduate student at Peking University, appealed for a step-up in international communication among youths.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is about connecting the dots between people, cultures and nations," she said. "The experience we share and the relationships we build are the lines that connect the dots, forming a path toward a more inclusive and understanding world."

The competition, initiated last year by VDO English, the educational arm of China Daily Hong Kong, and the RVIPS, the publishing arms of the RVi Group, which is a social enterprise dedicated to international education based in Singapore, aims to hold forth an annual regional celebration of linguistic prowess, take the pulse of the young generations, and inject impetus for the integration of fresh voices into cross-cultural dialogues.

"Since its launch in 2019 as one of our major undertakings capitalizing on the Belt and Road Initiative, the competition has been aligning itself with the Initiative's goals and missions, committed to promoting cultural diversity and exchanges," said Tan Yan, deputy general manager of China Daily Asia-Pacific and director of VDO English.