Art contest fosters global harmony

The 2025 National Treasures Drawing Competition and International Cultural Exchange, organized and launched by the Hong Kong Shine Tak Foundation in April, has begun online registration and is now accepting submissions until December 31.

As their first program to engage young generations from overseas, the competition has gained 14 diplomatic missions, includ-ing Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Belarus, Pakistan, Senegal, Kazakhstan, Zambia, Guyana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar. 

Joined by organizers from Laos, Vietnam, and Indonesia, the foundation held a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony at the Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel on Saturday.

After the application period, the com-petition will hold a preliminary judging and first result announcement in January 2026. The final judging and result announcement will be done in February followed by a national treasures carnival and award cer-emony in March.

To commence the MOU signing cer-emony, Lam Kwok-hing, chairman of the Shine Tak Foundation, said the com-petition will match with the foundation’s newly added diplomatic dimension – to help young people broaden their horizons, expanding their thinking and enhancing their international perspective, and to edu-cate them on respecting different cultures and ethnic groups, which will allow them to see common ground while preserving their differences.

Lewis Chan, vice chairman of Shine Tak Foundation and chair-man of the National Treasures Organizing Committee, said that in fostering diplomacy, the com-petition will gather all young people from Hong Kong and around the world to exchange ideas, thereby expanding their horizons.

With more countries coming to support the competition, Chan believes the founda-tion’s goal of promoting universal values – including peace, friendship, and harmony – to young generations through the competi-tion will soon be achieved.

Believing art is a universal language that transcends borders – fostering dia-logue, empathy, and solidarity among nations – Soukphaphone Phanit, the com-petition organizer from Laos and founder of the Learning House for Children Centre, said the competition symbolizes the country's joint effort to promote cultural exchange, friendship, and understand-ing among young people worldwide.
Describing Laos??national animal, the elephant, as a representation of the country’s heritage, unity and resilience, Phanit hopes the event will deepen youngsters’ intercultural appreciation.

Similar to Phanit’s expectation, Nguyen Bao Anh, one of the organiz-ers from Vietnam and chairman of SPO International Hong Kong Music & Fine Arts, believes the competition will encourage young people’s love for the country by telling its story to the world.

“Most of the young people only focus on their phones nowadays, so the competition is important in helping youths in Vietnam to go back to the basic values, using their own hands to create,” he said.

Another organizer, Bui Cong Hoan, founder and CEO of Katicomics, agrees.

“With our country full of youth now, this is a good opportunity for the young gen-eration to participate in such an international competition,” Bui said.

Among the four animals – dragon, bird, monkey, and buffalo – that represent Vietnam’s heritage value, Nguyen said the most beloved animal is the buffalo. It is considered the biggest investment of a household in Vietnam for being able to help farming.

To commemorate the collaboration between Vietnam and other countries in the competition, Bui said 12 words in Vietnamese to mark the collaboration as China and Vietnam both have 12 animals to mark the zodiac year: “col-laborations future, develop firmly, and forward to the future.”

Apart from the Komodo dragon, an animal uniquely from Indonesia, the country has many national animals to represent its different regions based on their culture, said Clemens Triaji Bektikusuma, consul for information and sociocultural affairs of Indonesia’s Consulate-General in Hong Kong.

“For example, we have Komodo, a reptile from the Komodo Island; in Borneo, we have Orangutan, a unique species native to the rainforests of Indonesia; and in Papua, we have the Chandrawasi bird, also known as the Bird of Paradise,” he said.

By giving youths in Indonesia exposure to the international society, Bektikusuma said the competition helps to shape Indonesian youths’ future.

“They need to get to know other parts of the world, they need to know other cultures and other civilizations in order for them to be able to live in harmony and shape the future,” Bektikusuma said.

“I believe this collaboration brings together sparks that ignite significant efforts to contribute to shape the future of the world, so I think it is a modest attempt. It is an ordi-nary attempt with an extraordinary impact for the world.”