TRIBUTE CLIP TO SAF WINS TOP PRIZE AT ANIMATION COMPETITION

An animation clip to show appreciation for the men and women in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) won the top prize at the ninth N.E.mation! competition.

Produced by team Millennium Dragons from CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School, the clip was made with a mix of digital and traditional methods - they created a handmade 3D pop-up book in which a model of a different military asset would pop up with every flip of a page.

The innovative clip titled Thank You SAF won the nods of public voters and a judging panel which comprised industry professionals and academics. A record 48,052 votes were received from members of the public.

This edition of N.E.mation!, organised by Nexus, the central coordinating agency for National Education, started in May last year.

The top 10 teams were shortlisted from over 1,700 students who submitted 735 story ideas. The shortlisted teams then spent close to a month during their school holidays to produce clips centred around the theme Believing in Singapore: Because This is Home.

Ms Kay Yeung of Millennium Dragons said one of their inspirations for the clip came from their elder brothers who had served National Service. "(They told us about their NS journey)...and we would like to share with the public how much the SAF does for our country and our people."

For their efforts, the team of four will go on a fully-sponsored learning trip to renowned animation studios in the United States. They received the award from 2nd Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing in a ceremony held at Golden Village cinema at VivoCity on 15 Feb.

Speaking to the N.E.mation! participants, Mr Chan highlighted the role of pioneers in nation-building and commended the students for producing clips that reflected the spirit of these pioneers and their contributions.

"The most powerful weapon that Singapore and the SAF have is... the desire and the willingness to fight for our independence, to remain independent so that we can determine our destiny for years and generations to come," he said.

"Your effort produced not just the animation clips Your collective effort is also a demonstration of your commitment to set aside your individual desires (and) put something above your own interests to answer to a higher calling, to do something for this country of ours that we call home."

Second runner-up team Chunky Monkeys from Singapore Chinese Girls' School produced a clip titled The Pioneer Connection to tell the story of, among other pioneers, Mr Lim Boon Keng, the philanthropist who founded their school to provide education for girls.

First runner-up team HigherThanYou from Cedar Girls' School turned to an interesting approach to narrate the Singapore story. The team of girls used mathematical concepts such as "integration" in their clip titled The SG Equation to illustrate the formula for Singapore's success.

Explaining their idea, team leader Isabella Lok, 16, said : "In Maths, we have to put our faith in the formula Similarly for Singapore, we have to apply our SG formula - which is our people and our determination to help Singapore progress even further."

To view all the top 10 clips, visit www.nemation.sg.