Hanoi (VNA) – A first grade pupilfrom Hanoi has won the special prizeof a slogan contest for the “TrafficSafety in Vietnam with Doraemon” 2018-2019 programme.

Doan Nguyen Thuy Chi, currently studying at Ngo Thi NhamPrimary School in Hanoi’s Hai Ba Trung district, obtained the award at aceremony held on January 17 for her slogan “Doi mu bao hiem, an toan cho ban,tranh xa tai nan, ca nha cung vui” (Wearing a helmet, safety for you, preventingaccidents, happy family).

These words, as the new road safety slogan of the year, will appear on posters in primary schools nationwide during the 2018-2019 academic year.

Awards were also given to the top 20 slogans selected from a total of 101,219 entries.

The contest, open to both Vietnamese and foreigners living in Vietnam,specified that entries should be nolonger than 20 words and work under the theme of “Wearing helmets while on motorbikes and electric bikes” forparticipants from 6-10 yearsold, and “Wearing helmets for yourselves and others” for those from 11 yearsold.

The best among the top 10 winning slogans of the 6-10 yearold group was submitted by Dinh Nguyen Minh Hai, a four grader from the LongBien Primary School in Hanoi’s Long Bien district. His winning slogan is “Mubao hiem, ban dong hanh, suot chang duong, em toi lop” (My helmet, a companion,along my way to school).

Of the top 10 slogans by the 11 years and above group, “Giaothong hiem hoa kho luong, doi mu bao hiem ra duong binh an” (Traffic risks areunpredictable, wear a helmet for safety) by Pham Thi Huong from Hai Duong waspicked as the most excellent.

The organising board said they received a relatively equalnumber of entries for the two categories, with the submissions from the 6-10years old showing greater creativity and a more flexible use of language.

Speaking at the event, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam UmedaKunio noted that this is the third year the “Traffic Safety in Vietnam with Doraemon” programme has been held inthe country with warm welcome from locals.

He said he would like to see Vietnamese students wearinghelmets, bearing the image of Doraemon,so they can travel to school safely.

The programme is co-organised annually by the Ministry of Public Security’s Department of Traffic Police and Japan’sMainichi Shimbum.

In 2017, theprogramme had 26 extra-curricularcourses, with 30,000 roadsafety handbooks and badges given to primary students in 13 localitiesnationwide.

Doraemon, thefictional robot cat, is a famous Japanese animation character popular amongchildren in Asia and around the world. It has served as a symbol of trafficsafety for decades in Japan.

Japan firstlaunched a traffic safety programme featuring Doraemon 30 years ago when roadsafety in the nation was a much bigger issue, with some 15,000 people killed bytraffic accidents each year. –VNA