The winners were selected from more than 116 entries posted on VnExpress. The judging panel was Australian ambassador Allaster Cox, VnExpress Editor-in-Chief Thang Duc Thang and the famous MC, Diem Quynh.

“Letter to My Mother”, a collaborative entry by Trung Kien, Trung Nghia and Hung Anh, impressed judges and viewers with its engaging and creative story of a young adult telling his Australian experience to his mother living in Vietnam. The winning entry received a round trip to Australia sponsored by Tourism Australia.

On being awarded the prize Nghia said, “We are honoured to be recognised because the competition attracted so many quality entries and the attention of viewers, especially Vietnamese students studying in Australia. The first person I thought about after receiving the prize was my mother, who has sacrificed so much to give us the opportunities we now have.”

The grand prize for photographic entries went to Le Quang Phuc for his photo essay entitled “Working Class Australian Helps Vietnamese Students”. The judges applauded the entry for its empathetic portrayal of the warm welcome an Australian citizen has given to many Vietnamese students newly arrived in Australia. Phuc received an iPad 2 for his entry, sponsored by the Australian Trade Commission.

Competition entries featuring urban and rural life in Australia grabbed the attention of millions of viewers, attracting more than 2,300 comments. Judges and readers were impressed by the quality of the entries as well as the obvious warmth entrants felt about their Australian experiences, whether studying, working or travelling.

Ambassador Cox said: “We were impressed by the quality and obvious effort which had gone into the entries. They reflect the warm and diverse people-to-people links between Australia and Vietnam. I was particularly pleased to see many entries featuring student life, representing the almost 25,000 Vietnamese students studying in Australia.”