Delegates pose for a photo with the robot cat Doraemon at the contest's launch (Source: cand.com.vn) Hanoi, (VNA) – A contest for the official slogan of the “Doraemon with traffic safety in Vietnam” 2017-2018 programme was kicked off on September 6.
Speaking at a press conference in Hanoi, Colonel Le Xuan Duc, Deputy Head of the Traffic Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security said that the annual slogan contest aims to raise children’s awareness about traffic safety and accident prevention. The best slogan will be used as the road safety slogan of the year and appear on posters hung at primary schools nationwide in the 2017-2018 school year.
The contest is open for Vietnamese and foreigners living in Vietnam. Entries should not be longer than 20 words, and serve the themes of “Be careful on the way to school” (targeting primary school students) and “For children’s safety” (targeting high school students).
Contestants could submit their entries by post or to the programme’s websites of www.antoangiaothong.com.vn and www.cgst.vn by October 31. An awarding ceremony will be held in January 2018.
Seimiya Katsuyoshi, Director of Global Business Division of the Mainichi Newspaper Co. Ltd, co-organiser of the programme said the contest was based on a similar one in Japan which has been underway for more than 20 years. He expressed his hope that as the contest was launched simultaneously with the beginning of new school year, it will popularise the message to protect Vietnamese children from traffic accidents.
Doraemon, a robot cat, is a famous Japanese animation character among children in Asia, including Vietnam, and has served as a symbol of traffic safety for decades in Japan.
In 2016-2017, the “Doraemon with traffic safety in Vietnam” programme was held in various primary schools with 35 extra-curriculums classes on traffic safety. More than 50,000 road safety handbooks and badges featuring Doraemon and the winning slogan of last year were presented to students at schools in Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Thanh Hoa and Yen Bai.
Japan first launched a traffic safety programme featuring Doraemon 30 years ago, when about 15,000 Japanese people were killed by traffic accidents every year. Japan is now one of the countries with the safest traffic network in the world, while its people have very good road sense. The number of traffic-linked deaths has shrunk to around 4,000 a year.-VNA
VNA
