Young journalists in the making: winners of Young Post's Summer Junior Reporter Awards
It was hard enough to choose the nominees for the Junior Reporter Awards, and even harder to name the best. But after some very long debates, we found our winners
Our champion of the day "steals" his title from Joy Pamnani (R), Junior Reporter of the Year 2014.Saturday’s Junior Reporter Awards were a day of fun at Ocean Park, but they were also a chance for Young Post to show appreciation for all the hard work our junior reporters have done.
The big winner of the day, Henry Lui, has been contributing insightful thoughts, beautiful photographs, searing commentary and tongue-in-cheek humour to Young Post for the past four years.
Henry wrote nearly 30 articles in 2015, and contributed to many others. He spent two weeks last summer as a cadet with fellow Sha Tin College students, pitching offbeat and serious stories, and producing some wonderful non-print content, too. His hard work has paid off, because on Saturday, Henry was crowned not only Best Photographer, but also Junior Reporter of the Year.
“I wasn’t really expecting it, to be honest. I’ve been caught up with the IB and other school things. I didn’t know I was going to win – there are lots of other talented people here,” he said after the ceremony.
A gifted writer, Henry says that reading lots and enjoying what he writes is key to creating thought-provoking pieces. This isn’t Henry’s first taste of success at the JRAs. In fact, he’s been a winner every year since Young Post started these awards, and has been nominated for many more.
In 2012, he was named one of the Most Enthusiastic Junior Reporters. The following year he won Best Photographer. Then last year, he took home the prize for Best Workshop Report.
Being a JR has primed him for a career as a journalist, but he revealed that he’ll be putting his sharp analytical mind towards a career in law. That said, he’ll keep writing for YP as long as possible, and offering his opinion on current affairs.
“I like my opinion pieces the most. They’re the ones I have the most fun writing,” he said. “I like to see how people react to them. I like pushing my opinions on others, so I’m very grateful that I’ve been able to use Young Post as my soap box.”
It’s something he has done since he was in Primary Six. Back then, he wrote a letter to SCMP’s editor, but it wasn’t published. He sent the same piece in again with his age removed, and the paper printed it. That determination and need to be heard has seen Henry take on high-profile figures, like ESF boss Belinda Greer – an interview he says was one of the toughest to prepare for.
“It required a lot of research,” he said. “I had to be very careful. It was very difficult to cut down a one-hour interview to 500 words.”
And it’s not just getting the right words on the page. As his awards show, Henry has a great talent for taking great pictures to tell the story.
Editor of Young Post Susan Ramsay says this was an important reason for Henry’s success this year.
“What makes Henry stand out is the complete package,” said Susan. “Henry always makes sure he gets good pictures.”
On top of taking great photos, Henry is also able to write well, whether it’s his op-eds or covering events like the HKDSE results release. This complete package helped him outshine other candidates. For Henry, though, that hard work is a labour of love.
“Keep writing, and actually enjoy writing,” is his advice to other JRs or aspiring journalists. “I don’t like how school has taken the fun out of writing.”
And the winners are ...
Best Cover
Miuccia Chan for “A summer tainted by lead”, a story about some of the children directly affected by last year’s lead-in-water scandal.
Best Feature
Joshua Lee for “He fought and lived to tell the tale”, an amazing account of his grandfather’s experience as a resistance fighter during Japan’s occupation of Hong Kong.
Best Op-Ed
Edward Mak for “Lessons from Greece: time to stop spending”.
Best Face Off
Rai Anna-L, arguing that traditional rituals aren’t relevant in modern life.
Best Workshop Report
Belinda Ng, who went behind the scenes with Hong Kong Airlines.
Most Enthusiastic
Christy Cheung, Veronica Lin, Sebastian Wong, Anushka Purohit, Snehaa Senthamilselvan Easwari, Miuccia Chan, Kristy Poon, and Ady Lam.
Were you at the Junior Reporter Awards on Saturday? We want to hear from you! Share your photos and videos from the day with us on social media @youngposthk using the hashtags #SummerJRA and #JRAswag. Our favourite social media post from the day will win a 3Doodler pen!