Washington, D.C. – Kyisar Ludrup from the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala is the first prize winner of this year’s Light of Truth Essay Contest organized by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT). The second place is taken by Adruk Konchok of Kirti Monastery in Dharamsala while the third place goes to Sogshod Dhargye of Norbu Lingka Institute, also in Dharamsala. All three essays are in Tibetan.
Each judge received copies of the essays from which the names and identifying information had been removed. The judges rated each essay from 1 to 5.
This is the fifth such contest since 2002. This year ICT received 56 entries – 43 in Tibetan, and 13 in English. Out of the 56 entries, 14 exceeded the word limits or were not to the topic and have been disqualified. Entries were judged on the basis of content, responsiveness to the question and for leadership qualities.
“This essay gets to the heart of the issue and insightfully singles out the key aspects of the environmental challenges – the slow insidious nature of environmental degradation, the conflict between economic development and conservation, and so on,” said Dr. Thupten Jinpa, one of this year’s judges, about the first prize winning essay. “The piece is particularly strong in its suggested solutions, recommending ways in which we can actually do something about the pressing issue right now,” Jinpa added.
The First prize winner gets US $1,000, the second prize winner gets $500 and the third prize winner gets $250.
“The International Campaign for Tibet hopes the contest is stimulating a public debate among Tibetans on the deeper issues related to the future of Tibet,” said Mary Beth Markey, Executive Director of the International Campaign for Tibet. “Anyone concerned about the future of Tibet needs to reflect on the fundamental issues Tibetans inside Tibet face,” added Markey.
This year essays were invited on the following topic:
“The Tibetan Plateau is rich in natural resources, including wildlife, and is the source of the major rivers in Asia. Tibet provides water resources to a major portion of the world’s population. Based on this situation, what impact can Tibetan natural resources have in the social and economic development in Tibet and in the world? Within the reality and limitations of the current Chinese government regulations, what can Tibetans do to protect the water resources, wildlife (including the prevention of illegal trade), and other natural resources of Tibet?”
“The response to the topic this year was encouraging and reflected the fact that we Tibetans need to have deeper understanding of the ground situation in Tibet on issues like socio-economic development and natural resources,” said Rinchen Tashi, ICT’s coordinator of the Essay Contest.
Since its inception, the essay contest has generated good response from the Tibetan community and, despite practical and political problems, Tibetans inside Tibet have also provided feedback on some of the past topics.
This year’s distinguished judges were:
* Mrs. Pema D. Gorap, Journalist at VOA, USA
* Dr. Thupten Jinpa, Scholar, Canada,
* Mr. Tashi Phuntsok, head of Tibetan Homes Foundation, Mussoorie, India
* Mr. Lobsang Shastri, Chief Librarian of Manuscript Department at Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, India.
ICT wishes to congratulate the winners, thank the judges, and thank everyone who submitted essays. The winning essays will be placed on this website and ICT will make them available to the Tibetan language media for publication.
