8-year-old Singaporean boy's National Day doodle to be on Google

The Straits Times, 9 Jul 2015

This is what all Singaporeans will see when they visit google.com.sg on National Day.

Created by Moh Journ Haydn, eight, from Beacon Primary School, this doodle was picked as the overall winner of the 2015 Doodle 4 Google Competition at an awards ceremony at Google Singapore's office on Thursday.

Organised to celebrate Singapore's 50th birthday, the competition was open to local students between four and 18 years old. They were asked to imagine Singapore in the next 50 years.

The entries were divided into five age groups: four to six years old, seven to nine years old, 10 to 12 years old, 13 to 15 years old and 16 to 18 years old. Google employees shortlisted 20 doodles for each age group. Guest judges narrowed it down to five finalists for each category. Winners were assessed on artistic merit, creativity and theme communication.

The doodles were put online from June 23 to July 3 to let the public vote for their favourite entries for each age group. Google said thousands of Singaporeans voted for the doodles, though it did not reveal an exact figure. The winning entry will remain up for 24 hours on National Day.

The overall winner was selected from the five group winners by Web designers from Google's doodle team.

Judge Winnie Tan, a lecturer at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, said: "I was particularly moved to see an eclectic array of whimsical expressions, full of innocence yet ambitious at the same time."

Another guest judge, artist Mas Shafreen, plans to "incorporate some of the students' ideas in his murals".

Besides having his doodle featured on Google Singapore's homepage, the eight-year-old also won a trip to visit Google's global headquarters at Mountain View, California, accompanied by his parent and his teacher.

In his winning entry, he said that Singapore will be powered by solar energy in the future. When he is not doodling with markers, Haydn likes to play Angry Birds on the phone.

Last year's National Day doodle featured the Singapore skyline, including landmarks such as the Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore Flyer.

View all the finalists at google.com.sg/doodle4google/index.html

8-year-old Moh Journ Haydn's doodle will grace Google's homepage for 24 hours on National Day. The inspiration behind Doodle 4 Google's winning piece: http://bit.ly/1SaN829(Photos: Calvin Oh)
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Thursday, July 9, 2015