13 February 2008, Hong Kong - With full support from the Education and Manpower Bureau and Hong Kong Parents Teachers Association, the one-of-a kind " Think Again" Awards documentary Making Competition 2008 - organized by the National Geographic Channel and Wiseman Education - was kicked off this year with remarkably positive feedbacks. A total of 1000 students, forming over 200 teams, have signed up for this year's competition. To fuel the already heated contest, the organizers received responses from almost 40 teams sent forth by some of the most prestigious schools in Shenzhen and Suzhou, China, in addition to the local and international schools submissions in Hong Kong.

The themes for the competition this year include a) Sports and Health b) Society and Culture c) Science, Technology and the Environment, with a mission to challenge students' language, thinking, and analytical skills, presentation, as well as cinematography and editing techniques. Over 50% of the teams who participated this year drew on the topic "Society and Culture", which reflects the students' awareness on different social and cultural phenomena. At the same time, it also shows us that liberal studies have already come to a new era. Some English teachers even regard this competition as one successful learning experience as students learn to work on the "Independent Enquiry Project" and they all look forward to larger-scale participation in schools next year. The competition encourages students to share their knowledge acquired through making documentaries, and it also cultivates student's awareness of the society and culture they are having, motivates them to search for answers through exploration and analysis.

The world we concern with
While many people consider watching English documentaries one of their most favorite pastimes, they probably would not know the amount of time and resources put in the behind-the-scene production. Students in Hong Kong, however, as driven by their passion to show us the world they concern with, have overcome all the language barriers, technical challenges and other difficulties and have successfully produced some insightful documentary stories of their own.

The team from Yew Chung International School chose "Green or Grey" as their documentary title and their leader Judy Chu says, "In order for us to get across the idea of air pollution in Hong Kong, we set off at around 5am for the shoot before the morning crowd appeared in Central. We would like to give everyone an idea on the pollution situation in one of the most hustle-and-bustle places in Hong Kong. We have also been to the Shing Mun River and the Victoria Harbour to collect water samples for pollution assessment and comparison. It is our hope that not only our project will receive wide recognition, but also that we can raise people's awareness of pollution through what we do.

On the other hand, students from Shun Lee Catholic Secondary School committed themselves to the topic " The Meaning of Life", which encourages us to think about different issues in life. Form 2 student leader Man-Ching Lau says, " There is newspaper coverage everyday on how and why people kill themselves, and that is exactly what inspires us to choose the topic "The Meaning of Life". We filmed the life of a teacher who suffers from cancer and tried to contrast his life with the existing suicide phenomenon. We hope to find out the cause behind these incidents and also to encourage everybody to rethink the meaning of life. What impressed me the most was the interview with Mr. Yung. Both his positive attitude and his experience stir my heart and refresh my views towards life."

Put the "Think Again" culture into action
Clement Chung, Chief Executive Officer at Wiseman Education says, " The aim of this competition is to encourage students to think out of the box, think globally, and inspire students to "Think Again" through exploration. The submitted entries allowed us to see and listen to the world through the eyes of these incredible students. Throughout the production process, students learn not only through researching, enquiry learning, filming, editing, narrating and presenting, but also through analyzing and working as a team. The quality of documentaries fully demonstrates their potentials, diligence and conscientiousness."

We feel proud of each one of you
Mr. K F Yeung, Senior School Development Officer at Education and Manpower Bureau says, " Making English documentaries could be quite a challenge for some of the secondary students, but I feel proud of the students who are courageous enough to take on challenges and have signed up for the competition. This kind of courage brings hopes to Hong Kong and all the generations to come."

Mr. Yeung also says, " The submitted documentaries we received last year were of high quality. And what's more exciting this year is that many students are able to learn from last year's experience and the chosen topics as well as the content have apparently become more mature. Meanwhile, all the submitted entries are passed to the judge panel for evaluation and the competition this year is filled with excitement."

Reflecting Students' Sensitiveness
Mr. David Gunson, Senior VP of Programming and Broadcasting commented, "Not only do we see many well scripted and well filmed documentaries, what made these films really great are the fact that many of them have an insightful story which reflects students' remarkable sensitiveness towards different issues."

Think Again Leadership Development Programme
In order to encourage more students to learn from our programmes, this year the organizers will launch the "Think Again Leadership Development Programme" adopting the theme "Shine On Stage". Potential candidates are to be recommended by schools and will be competing against over 60 students for the 20 leader spots. The selected leaders are expected to undergo a full course of leadership training. The winner list will be announced in mid-February.
For more details of the competition, please check out www.englishbuilder.hk/site/ThinkAgain/

If you have any questions, feel free to contact:
Wiseman Education
Miss Winnie Fung
Tel: 3188-2195
9323 8589
winnie.fung@wiseman.com.hk

We hope that students, parents and families would continue to carry on with spirit of "Think Again" even after the competition and devote themselves to building a better world for all of us.

The topics for the competition include a) Sports and Health b) Society and Culture c) Science, Technology and the Environment. Each team has to submit a 5-10 minute English documentary, explaining how they observe and analyze their concerned issue. This competition encourages students to think outside the box with a global perspective, interpret and reflect on the world in a deeper and more sensible way.

Submitted entries will be judged based upon their uniqueness of perspective, the ability to intrigue, amuse and entertain and their creativity. The 10 winning teams will be presented "National Geographic Channel -Think Again Awards" commendation certificates, while all the participating teams will receive certificates from the organizing parties. The prize presentation ceremony will be held in March 15, 2008 during which the winner list will be announced.

Organized and Inspired by:
Wiseman Education
Learning is an intellectual, emotional and social process. We develop courseware and programmes that teach for understanding, that develop confidence, and inspire thinking. We are educators and also students. We learn from our students and fellow educators, to ensure that each customised solution and implemented pedagogy is effective and quantifiable. Although we have extensive experience in educational technologies, we emphasise pedagogy over technology. Learning involves so many human elements so we provide continuous support and keep reminding ourselves that our students deserve the very best.

National Geographic Channel International
National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) invites viewers to re-think the way they see television - and the world - with smart, innovative programming. A business enterprise owned by National Geographic Television (NGT) and FOX Entertainment Group, NGCI contributes to the National Geographic Society's commitment to exploration, conservation and education.

Globally, National Geographic Channel (including NGC U.S. which is a joint venture of NGT and Fox Cable Networks Group) is available in 250 million homes (including day-part households) in 166 countries and 34 languages.