The Department of Portuguese under the University of Macau (UM) Faculty of Arts and Humanities (FAH) yesterday (15 November) held the 16th Portuguese Speech Contest in the Lecture Hall of the Anthony Lau Building. Students from four local tertiary institutions, namely Macao Polytechnic Institute (IPM), the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), and UM, participated in the contest. The event also attracted hundreds of teachers, students and prominent figures in the local community.
The contest was divided into two parts. In the first part, each participant was required to deliver a speech on the topic ‘Uma grande caminhada começa com um pequeno passo" (A journey of a thousand miles begins with a small step). The panel of judges then selected the top six candidates according to the contestants’ overall performance for individual interviews, from which four winners were selected.
The panel of judges consisted of prominent public figures, including Ms Clara Oliveira, director of the Portuguese Language Centre of the Portuguese Oriental Institute (IPOR); Mr José Rocha Diniz, director of Jornal Tribuna de Macau; Mr Manuel Machado, principal of Macau Portuguese School; Ms Rosa Serrano, a journalist from Teledifusão de Macau (TDM); and Mr Rui Simões, a representative of Casa de Portugal em Macau. To ensure fairness of the contest, the institutional information of the participants were revealed to the judges only after the four winners were determined.
An annual event organised by UM’s Department of Portuguese, the Portuguese Speech Contest aims to promote Portuguese language studies and encourage college students from Macao to showcase their Portuguese language skills.
At this year’s contest, UM students swept the top three prizes. They are Huang Rui (first prize), Gong Wencheng (second prize), and Hu Tianran (third prize). Ge Yichang from the IPM won the fourth prize. The prizes were presented by Mr Paulo Cunha Alves, consul general of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong; Prof Hong Gang Jin, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at UM; Ms Ana Paula Cleto, coordinator of the Oriental Foundation in Macao; Mr José Rocha Diniz, director of Jornal Tribuna de Macau; and Prof Maria José Grosso, coordinator of the Organizing Committee for this year’s contest.
The prizes were sponsored by local donors, namely the Macao Foundation (first prize), the Tribuna de Macau(second prize), Oriental Foundation (third prize), and Banco Nacional Ultramarino (fourth prize). The gifts for all participants were sponsored by the Macao Government Tourism Office and Macao Post.
