Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Law and Home Affairs
Mr Callistus Chong, Director for ITE College Central
Mr Sin Kim Ho, Deputy Director for Ministry of Education
Ms Barbara Wong, Chief Executive Officer for Recording Industry Association Singapore
Mr Charles Yeo, Executive Producer for VividThree Productions,
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Good Afternoon.
1. Welcome to this afternoon’s award presentation to mark the closing of the IP Champion Camp in its 6th successful year running. I am happy to be joined by so many young talents in this annual event organised by iperckidz, a public outreach initiative by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS).
2. The annual IP Champion Camp is IPOS’ educational initiative targeted at students from secondary schools. It is an enriching learn-and-share programme that aims to impart IP knowledge to participating students and equip them with essential skills to share their IP knowledge with their fellow school mates.
3. In school, while students use the copyrighted works of others, they also create their own copyright works through drawings, essays and poems. While teachers are concerned with the legitimacy of students’ use of resource materials, students should also be aware of the value of their own creations.
4. Hence, the theme for this year’s camp is ‘Create Your Own IP!’ The objective was to give students an opportunity to create their own works while learning about copyright. Through the camp, IPOS also wants to showcase the students’ creativity and IP in their artwork and create educational materials for their peers. Since 2006, the IP Champion Camp has provided this learning opportunity and platform to students.
5. To the students, I hoped that you have further developed your creativity, drawing and writing skills during the past three days. You were also taught comic illustration and storyboarding skills. I am proud that all of you have developed your very own comic strips with these newly-acquired skills and knowledge. The judges are impressed with your works and your involvement in the IP creation process.
6. This year, a record total of 185 students from 51 schools participated in the Camp. This is a three-fold increase in the number of participants since the inaugural IP Camp in 2004. This year’s camp has also attracted first-time participation by 26 schools.
7. I am delighted to announce the introduction of the ‘Minister for Law Challenge Trophy’ to be awarded to the school represented by this year’s IP Champion. The IP Champion is the winner of the Creative Comic Strip Competition which is the highlight of the camp. The Trophy will bring greater prestige to the IP Champion, thus making it an event that all secondary schools will not want to miss.
8. Last year, the winner Tan Wiphaporn from Ahmed Ibrahim Secondary School was offered a 2-week internship at VividThree Productions, one of our local animation companies where she learnt to produce her own 30-second animation clip, which we will be screening in a short while.
9. Similarly, this year, the IP Champion will also be offered a 2-week internship at VividThree Productions, to produce his/her very own animation clip based on the winning comic strip. This is a wonderful opportunity to work with creative professionals in the industry. IPOS will use the animation clip for future publicity campaigns as well as compile a selection of this year’s entries to be used as an educational resource for students.
10. With your continued support, we will be able to reach out to more students and teachers to equip them with the essential IP knowledge that they can share with their fellow school mates and encourage them to value, develop and learn to exploit IP in the correct manner.
11. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our valued supporters and partners, namely the Ministry of Education, ITE College Central, Singapore Discovery Centre, VividThree Productions, Lee Foundation, Entertainment Software Association, Motion Picture Association and Recording Industry Association Singapore, who have helped to make this camp a success.
12. Last but not least, my heartiest congratulations to the winners and all participants for their commendable efforts. Good job and thank you!