Senior Minister of State for Trade & Industry and Education Mr Chee Hong Tat officiated at the N.E.mation! 2019 awards presentation ceremony at the School of the Arts, Singapore this afternoon, where he presented prizes to the winning teams from the Student and the Youth Categories.

Demonstrating a deep understanding of what it takes to build a strong and secure Singapore, participants of N.E.mation! 2019 submitted clips with themes that ranged from the legacy of our forefathers and Singaporean culture, to strength in unity and guarding against new threats from the digital domain. Team Why so cereals from CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School emerged as champions in the Student Category with their clip, "Packages of Legacy". Inspired by a collection of stamps, their clip depicts how the Pioneer and Merdeka generations overcame challenges to build the Singapore we know today. The dream team from CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School and DNA.RNA from Singapore Chinese Girls' School clinched the first and second runner-up awards respectively.

In the new Youth Category for participants aged 17 to 25 years, Team ATT from Nanyang Polytechnic produced the winning clip “There is a day” which encourages Singaporeans to play their part for Singapore beyond special occasions like Racial Harmony Day or National Day. Teams Dungeon Dreamers and N.E.Thing is Possible from Nanyang Technological University walked away with the first and second runner-up awards respectively.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Mr Chee commended the participants for their hard work and efforts to show what Singaporeans can do to keep Singapore strong. He said, "N.E.mation! is not just a competition. The competition is part of it but it is not just a competition. More importantly, it helps to raise awareness amongst our young people on the importance of Total Defence through a fun and interactive format, by giving them a platform to express their creative ideas."

Mr Chee also highlighted the importance of Digital Defence to protect our nation from threats from the digital domain. He highlighted two clips, "Gone Phishing" and "Digital Defenders", which depict the perils of being phished and teach audiences how to identify online threats like cyber scams and fake news. Mr Chee said, "Digital Defence reminds Singaporeans that we need to play our part to be alert and responsible online, to defend and protect ourselves against digital threats like cyberattacks, fake news and cybercrimes." 

N.E.mation! is an annual digital animation competition organised for students and youths to express their thoughts about Total Defence. N.E.mation! 2019 included a new Youth Category to reach out to youths from various pre-university institutions, where youths aged 17 to 25 years old were asked to produce a 30-second animation without supervision. This year's competition received over 700 entries and had over 1,300 participants. The champion team from the Student Category will attend a fully sponsored overseas learning visit to a renowned animation studio in Japan, while the champion team from the Youth Category will receive $1000 per participant and an internship at Big 3 Media or CRAVE FX in Singapore.