The "Road Safety Putonghua Recital Competition", jointly organised by Traffic Hong Kong Island (T HKI) and Road Safety Patrol (HK & Islands) Region and sponsored by the Tung Seng Company Ltd, came to a successful conclusion after Senior Superintendent Chiu Kai-ting from T HKI had pronounced the slogan "Zero accident on the road, Hong Kong's goal" in eloquent Putonghua.

Mr Chiu said: "Traffic accidents involving pedestrian casualties for the period from January to September 2007 totalled 2,395, a small increase of 6.5 per cent compared with the same period last year. Although the number of fatal accidents has dropped from 18 to 12, the overall traffic accident situation remains a cause of concern, requiring the full co-operation of every road user. It is only when everyone heeds the slogans 'Road Safety: Everyone's Responsibility' and 'Smart Driving with Courtesy' that we can achieve our vision of 'Zero accident on the road, Hong Kong's goal'."

The competition, held at the Police College on October 7, attracted 35 participants from 12 secondary and primary schools on Hong Kong Island, reflecting the growing popularity of Putonghua in Hong Kong.

Officiating at the competition were Mr Chiu; Mr Liu Kai-ming, Regional Commander of the Road Safety Patrol (HK & and Islands) Region, and Mr Yu Man-kam, Managing Director of the Tung Seng Company Ltd.

Sergeant Yim Ming, 1st runner-up at the 6th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Putonghua Contest held in Guangzhou, and Miss Chan Ngar-fong, 1st runner-up (Secondary Section) at the 18 Districts to Celebrate Hong Kong's Return to the Motherland - Putonghua Competition, acted as comperes.

The judging panel for the competition comprised Ms Lu Ruozhi, a veteran Chinese teacher and consultant for the competition; Ms Xie Yulin, Chairperson of the Putonghua Teachers' Joint Association; Ms Li Xiaojun, Vice-chairperson of the association, and Ms Tang Liyun, Senior Editor of TVB Financial News and Information Section.

Intense competition saw To Yuen-lam from the Taikoo Primary School claiming the Primary School (Junior) Section Champion title; Chan King-man from the Singapore International School, the Primary School (Senior) Section Champion title; and Lau Tin-kei from the same school, the Secondary School Section (Form 1 to Form 3) Championship.

The Putonghua contest draws a good response from students