Truong Hai Nam, an eighth grader from Le Huu Lap secondary school in central Thanh Hoa province, won the 44th Universal Postal Union (UPU)’s International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People in Vietnam.

Nam surpassed over 9,000 candidates in this year’s UPU competition, themed "Tell us about the world you want to grow up in".

In his letter, Nam took the role of the little match girl in Hans Christian Andersen’s famous story “Little Match Girl” and wrote to the author expressing wishes to grow up in a caring world where the girl’s tragedy would never happen.

The coherent and moving letter has been translated into French and submitted to the UPU in Switzerland as the only Vietnamese entry to the contest’s international stage, according to the competition’s management board in Vietnam.

At the award-presentation ceremony held in northern Hai Duong province on May 9, three second prizes, five third prizes and 30 consolation prizes were also presented. An additional of 10 sub-prizes came to ethnic and disabled young writers.

Four students claiming the first and second places received the “Creative Youth” medal from the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.-VNA