Han Ximin

ximhan@126.com

A TOTAL of 15 students, including two foreign students, won prizes in the “Shenzhen Police and I” story-writing competition that was revealed Saturday to mark the 15th Police Open Day in the city.

The story-writing competition, jointly organized by the Shenzhen Police Public Relations Department, Shenzhen Evening News and Shenzhen Daily, attracted more than 1,000 submissions, including some written by foreign students and students from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao living in Shenzhen, since it was initiated a month ago.

The student writers, based on their experience, shared their stories about Shenzhen police.

Around the theme of “Making an Appointment Between You and Me: Bringing Together Police and People,” this year’s event focuses on Shenzhen’s resident youth.

According to Lu Xiao, deputy chief of the Public Relation Department of Shenzhen Public Security Bureau, the open day not only shows the public the image of the Shenzhen police, but also sows the seeds among students towards the police profession.

At the inauguration ceremony, Qiu Muchen, a Grade 6 primary school student at Shiyan Shangwu Primary School in Bao’an District, won a special award for her story “The Pride of My Family.”

In the story, the 11-year-old girl describes her aunt Liu Haibo, a forensic doctor who was responsible for confirming the identities of those who were killed in the Feb. 11 fire in 2007 in a Pingdi factory in Longgang District. As a key member of the team, Liu was tasked to complete the body-identification work before the Spring Festival. However, before she could finish, she was unfortunately killed in a traffic accident.

“In my mind, my aunt is my idol. I don’t have many chances to learn about police, but I know Shenzhen is safe just because there are many police officers out there, like my aunt, who are protecting us,” said Qiu.

While writing the story, Qiu and her mother were in tears several times, not only because they missed Liu, but because they were afraid that she would be forgotten.

“I attend this competition just because many heroes like my aunt should be remembered,” Qiu said.

Among foreign writers, Kuprekova Ekaterina, a first-year student from MSU-BIT University in Shenzhen who came to Shenzhen from Tomsk, a small town in Siberia, three weeks ago, submitted a story about Shenzhen police.

“Before my departure, my family and friends were worried about my safety in a foreign country, because everything in the world is unstable, but this is not true for Shenzhen,” said Ekaterina.

This modern city has greeted her with warm weather, friendly smiles and absolute safety.

“There are cameras everywhere and police patrol points, and I had never been in contact with the police in other places as often as I am in Shenzhen,” said Ekaterina.

“Shenzhen has a modern, very comfortable and clean metro. It is distinguished by its safety, because each train has safety inspectors. In case of any problems, you can always contact them for help,” said Kuprekova.

In her story, Tanya Mazet, a Grade 2 student with Shenzhen Shekou International School who comes from Germany, was surprised that police officers arrived at the scene efficiently after her family got in a car accident on Wanghai Road a few months ago.

After the bump, her father moved the car to a roadside and waited. She was surprised when she learned from her mother that police easily found their location through the use of location-marking numbers on street poles.

“I think they are very smart. A policeman arrived with his big motorcycle, took pictures of our car and my father’s driver license, and let us go. It was really very efficient,” said Mazet.

The story-writing contest was just one of the events that marked Police Open Day. The special award winner received a 3,000-yuan (US$426.60) cash reward. Two first-prize winners each receive a 2,000-yuan reward. Four second-prize winners each received a 1,000-yuan reward, and the third-prize winners received a 500-yuan cash reward. Excellence-prize winners got a gift.

All the winners were also awarded with limited edition souvenirs and honorary certificates at the ceremony.