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The New York Times International Edition sent out an invitation in July 2018 for students in the Asia-Pacific region to join an annual writing competition. Each year, a new theme/topic is presented, and students are asked to write a 500-word opinion piece responding to the given question. This year’s competition theme is Digital Disruption, and over 900 students submitted their responses, marking the tenth anniversary of the competition. Three students from AISG submitted their opinion article to the New York Times; although they did not win, all three submitters were invited to the awards ceremony at the art center Mills Fabrica in Hong Kong.
The event included actor and TV host Richard Juan, academy founder Natalie Chan, and deputy editor of The New York Times International Edition, Jill Taylor, who all led speeches and panel discussions at the 2-hour New York Times event. They began the event by introducing the speakers, the editor-in-chief, the contributing team, and other native Hong Kong representatives.
Soon after, millennial celebrity Richard Juan took the podium to deliver his perspective on digital disruption and social media. He discussed multiple important and realistic scenarios where the internet has dominated a majority of modern-day life. As a normal kid who came from Hong Kong and the Philippines, his fame escalated as his name trended on Twitter and he was invited to perform on a Filipino talk show. Juan focused on the debate between whether or not digital resources have been beneficial or harmful to individuals. He ended the speech with one final note, asking the audience of parents and students about how digital media has affected their own lives.
A Q&A panel followed Richard Juan’s speech. Juan was joined with Hong Kong native representative Natalie Chan and deputy editor Jill Taylor on the stage, and the three conducted a lively discussion on the New York Times, the younger generation and digital disruption, and the impact of the internet on their personal (and eventually successful) lives. A few students in the audience asked questions relating to the digital disruption topics discussed. One significant question was “how can millennials or the younger generation find success through the use of social media and internet resources?” The panel speakers agreed that it took hard work and perseverance in any job or career to reach success, while digitally-speaking, content consistency (creating content that is relatable and valuable to the audience) was essential for online growth.
The event concluded with awards for the winner and runner-ups in the secondary and tertiary categories of the competition. The winner’s articles were featured on one New York Times edition.
Jenny L., who was one of the submitters that attended the event, commented on the overall experience. “Seeing other participants and speakers from other places around the world giving their opinions on the topic really expanded my knowledge about digital disruption.”
I believe that the New York Times Asia-Pacific Writing Competition is a great opportunity for aspiring writers to express their ideas on a worldwide topic and submit their opinion article to the newspaper for consideration. The event in Hong Kong provided students internationally with a chance to learn about the internet’s outreach and effect on the younger generation.
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