All activities of the South China Morning Post Student of the Year Awards 2002/03 have been postponed till June due to concerns over the atypical pneumonia outbreak.
These include all semi-finals for Student of the Year and interviews for other categories of the award programme, with the exception of Student Visual Artist and Student Musician, the winners of which have already been selected.
'We do not think it is a good idea to ask people to travel and to gather people from different schools who would normally not get together,' said SCMP associate publisher, marketing, Amanda Turnbull.
'We are also not sure if students are able to perform at their best under the circumstances.
'The decision was made with great reluctance and lots of internal discussions, but it is better to be erring on the side of caution,' she added.
Until yesterday more than 320 cases of atypical pneumonia, also known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), have been confirmed, with 10 deaths, in Hong Kong. Fourteen students have been infected. All primary and secondary schools will be closed beginning tomorrow until April 6 (subject to change).
