LEARNING ABOUT BEANS, BEES AND TREES

What do beans, bees and trees have in common?

All of them spring to life in animation clips created by youngsters for N.E.mation!, an animation contest for secondary school students that forms the core of this year's Total Defence campaign.

The campaign, which is based on the themes of confidence, commitment and cohesion, was launched by Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean at the National Museum of Singapore on 14 Feb.

"The importance of Total Defence is most apparent in times of crisis," said Mr Teo. "But we have to prepare ourselves in times of normalcy so that when a crisis looms, we are ready and confident."

"Many of the clips in the N.E.mation! competition underscore the importance of staying united and working together to deal with uncertainties ahead," he added.

Organised by Nexus, the Ministry of Defence's agency for National Education, N.E.mation! aims to better engage students in Total Defence by giving them an outlet for their perspectives and opinions.

Nexus' director Colonel Tan Wee Ngee sees this "ground-up initiative" as an "interesting and appealing way to connect with the young".

From a pool of 124 entries, 10 animation clips were finally chosen after a rigorous selection process involving workshops on storyboarding and production.

Each clip, no longer than a minute, was brainstormed and produced by a team of four to five students.

"As most of the students have no background in animation, the challenge here is to help them understand their objectives and storyboard their ideas," said Mr Ho Wei Siong of Animagine, a two-year-old local animation school and joint organiser of the competition.

"Animation isn't just for entertainment," added Mr Ho. "It has 'edu-tainment' value and reaches out to all ages."

For 13-year-old Jana Andrea Pereira, participating in N.E.mation! proved to be an educational experience.

"What I've learnt may help me in the future, as I would like to be a fashion designer," said the CHIJ St Joseph's Convent student.

Professional judging and online public voting via www.nemation.sg will determine the winning clip, which will be screened on free-to-air television channels and in cinemas.

The winning team will get to visit the Tokyo-based Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation film studio behind such acclaimed movies as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.

Public voting has begun and will end on 28 Feb. The results will be announced in mid-March.