The Star

PETALING JAYA: Assuming the mind of a tiger cub living in an endangered forest has won 14-year-old Lee Sze Ee a letter-writing competition organised by the United Nations.

Lee Sze Ee

She beat more than three million other youngsters from around the world who were asked to put themselves in the position of a wild animal whose habitat is threatened by environmental or climate change.

“I want to congratulate you all. Many of you have good education and live in your so-called world of modernisation.

“Does this mean that humans are civilised?” she wrote.

“Yet, why do humans still need to invade our jungle besides hunting us like in those primitive days?

“Dear People of the World, don’t burn our homes and occupy the area, our natural habitat. We have no other place to go.

“We are helpless. We depend on you – the People of the World to save us,” the letter concludes, winning unanimous praise from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) jury.

It is the first time that a Malaysian has won the international competition sponsored by the UN Universal Postal Union (UPU) since it began in 1972.

The jury said: “With her sensitivity and imagination, the young Malaysian successfully conveyed the urgency of the situation and sent us a message: we must unite to save our planet.”

For next year’s 37th competition, the UPU is inviting youngsters to write a letter explaining why the world needs more tolerance, a particularly relevant theme in an age of globalisation, migration and other trends bringing ever more people from different cultures into contact with one another.

“Creating a world in which all people live in harmony is a noble goal to which each of us can aspire,” the UPU said.

Predating the United Nations by seven decades, the UPU was founded in 1874, the second-oldest international organisation after the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).