A contest for the official slogan of the ‘Doraemon with traffic safety in Viet Nam’ 2017-2018 programme was recently launched.

Delegates pose for a photo with the robot cat Doraemon at the contest's launch (Source: cand.com.vn)

Speaking at a press conference in Ha Noi, 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.  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 ongoing 2017 - 2018 academic year.

The contest is open to Vietnamese and foreigners living in Viet Nam.  Entries should not be longer than 20 words, and serve the themes of ‘Be careful on the way to school’ (targeting primary school pupils) and ‘For children’s safety’ (Targeting junior and senior high school ones).

Contestants could submit their entries by post or to the programme’s websites at www.antoangiaothong.com.vn and www.cgst.vn by October 31.  An awards 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 that 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 academic year, it will convey a meaningful message of protecting Vietnamese children from traffic accidents.

Doraemon, a robot cat, is a famous Japanese animation character among children in Asia, including Viet Nam, and has served as a symbol of traffic safety for the past decades in Japan.

In the 2016-2017 period, the ;Doraemon with traffic safety in Viet Nam’ programme was held in various primary schools with 35 extra-curriculums classes on traffic safety.  A total of more than 50,000 road safety handbooks and badges featuring Doraemon and the winning slogan of last year were presented to school pupils in Ha Noi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, and the provinces of 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.

(Source: VNA/ DA NANG Today)