The China Daily Hong Kong Edition snatched the 1st runner-up in Best News Writing (English) at the annual Hong Kong News Awards, organized by the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong.

The newspaper's feature writer Nicole Wong was awarded the prize for her story about the work of Chi Heng Foundation, a Hong Kong charity dedicated to sponsoring the education of children who lost their parents to AIDS on the mainland.

The story features the profile of To Chung, the foundation's chairperson. The former banker quit his lucrative profession to devote himself to humanitarian work, after he witnessed the plight of AIDS-impacted villages around the mainland.

The article also traces the stories of several AIDS orphans, who suffered horrid living conditions and were at risk of dropping out of school. With the help of Chi Heng, some of these students have finished tertiary education and returned to the foundation as volunteers.

The newspaper's photographer Edmond Tang also received honorable mentions at the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association's "Focus at the Frontline 2007" contest for two of his works in the "Nature and Environment" section.

The first image shows an advertising billboard fallen into disuse outside a broken village house at a countryside in Tai Po. The colorful model on the billboard stands against the vast green of the hillside, and is in sharp contrast to a grey abandoned house.

The second image, featuring a guard standing on Lee Tung Street, which is situated in Wan Chai and known as the Wedding Card Street by the locals, shows the demolition of the street in progress.

Soon to be executed by the Urban Renewal Authority, the project is seen by many locals as an irretrievable detriment of the cultural heritage of Hong Kong.

(HK Edition 03/12/2008 page1)