UM students increase awareness of fraud through creative videos

The Communication Society and the Student Affairs Office of the University of Macau (UM) jointly organised the first Social Current Affairs Video Shooting Competition to encourage university students to care about society and learn about current affairs. Nearly 300 UM students participated in the competition and created short videos based on the theme of ‘Fraud Prevention’, with the aim of increasing awareness of fraud. Of the 16 teams in the competition, eight entered the final. The final of the competition and the awards presentation ceremony were held at the theatre of UM’s Student Activity Centre.

Chiu Chu Wai Man, head of the Community Policing and Public Relations Division of the Judiciary Police, said in her opening speech that the competition provided a platform for young people to showcase their talents, learn about new media, and contribute to society. The short videos created by the participants vividly illustrated the characteristics and dangers of fraud and gave helpful advice on how to prevent fraud. The award-winning videos will be available for viewing across Judiciary Police’s social media platforms. Ieong Leng, coordinator of the competition and president of the Communication Society, noted that short videos have become one of the most popular communication tools today. She added that the short videos created by UM students received nearly 30,000 likes, shares, and views in total on various social media platforms, and it was beyond expectations. She also thanked the university, the Judiciary Police, and the community for their support.

The whole competition lasted more than four months. During the preparation period, officers from the Judiciary Police were invited to give a talk on common types of fraud and ways to prevent them, so as to enable the participants to better understand the theme of the competition. In addition, the co-founder of PlasticGuys, a local social media channel, was invited to conduct a workshop on how to convey messages in a creative and vivid way through short videos.