PADDLE POP YOUNG BUILDERS AWARD 2017 SETS UNITY THEME TO DRIVE ECO AWARENESS

 Dato’ P.Kamalanathan, Deputy Education Minister I, Ministry of Education at National Planetarium, Kuala Lumpur cheering with the students of SK SERI HARTAMAS during the launch of Paddle Pop Young Builders Award 2017.

Paddle Pop drives young students towards designing eco structures to promote unity as key to building a sustainable future




 Entering its fifth year, the Paddle Pop Young Builders Award was launched today with “Unity for a Greener Future” as its theme. The Paddle Pop Young Builders Award which is an annual national competition targeted at primary school children, promotes environmental awareness as kids design and build creative structures made from used and recyclable materials.


The Paddle Pop Young Builders Award 2017 is a platform to educate primary school kids on the various materials that can be reused, repurposed and recycled in fun and innovative ways. This year, the participants’ design must exhibit how the chosen structure is enhanced with local elements that promote unity within a school environment while promoting the message that a greener future is vital.


The award was officially launched by Dato’ P. Kamalanathan, Deputy Minister Education I, Ministry of Education and Mr Shiv Sahgal, Marketing Director, Foods and Refreshment of Unilever (Malaysia) Holdings Sdn Bhd at the National Planetarium, Kuala Lumpur.


Dato’ P. Kamalanathan, Deputy Minister I, Ministry of Education, said, “By incorporating the message to reuse, repurpose and recycle and motivating kids to nurture their artistic abilities, the Young Builders Award has successfully shaped an inspiring platform for a greener future for our next generation. This initiative with its powerful underlying messages on unity for a greener future will further encourage kids to develop greater environmental awareness in a more holistic manner.”

Last year, a record-breaking number of 1009 entries were received from schools across Malaysia, which was an increase of 400% as compared to the year before.


According to Mr Shiv Sahgal, Marketing Director, Foods and Refreshment, Unilever (Malaysia) Holdings Sdn Bhd, “The Paddle Pop Young Builders Award challenges young minds in the hopes of unleashing their creativity to bring a new lease of life to materials that would otherwise be thrown away thoughtlessly. We hope that this year’s theme where participants have to build a robot with everyday waste materials where the robot’s purpose is to monitor and keep the school environment green in a fun and innovative way. This will help drive the message of a greener future that goes beyond just the immediate participants but to the whole school as well.”


The Paddle Pop Young Builders Award 2017 seeks to find the most creatively crafted life-size robot structure fully made from used and recyclable materials that also represents local elements of Malaysia and the participant’s respective states in conjunction with the country’s 60th National Day.

Materials allowed include plastic bottles, plastic bags, plastic containers, aluminum tins, newspaper, magazines, Paddle Pop ice-cream sticks, ice-cream wrappers, and other materials that can be reused, recycled and repurposed.


The award is open to all national primary schools for kids in Standard 4 to 6. Schools can submit as many sketches of the robot they would like to build with the national and state’s identity in the design concept by 23 June 2017 to yba@paddlepop.com.my. The sketch must incorporate how the materials will be used. The top 20 designs will be chosen to build their life-size robot at a 3Day/2Night all-expense paid finale to be held in August at a venue to be determined at a later date.


Heading the panel of judges is famed local artist, Professor Jalaini Abu Hassan from Faculty of Art and Design, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam.


The main prize is RM6,000 cash to the winning school, 3 Day/2 Night LEGOLAND® Malaysia Resort Family Vacation which includes a travel voucher worth RM500, combo admission tickets and hotel arrangement for each of the four participants in the team and a certificate of participation each. The two consolation prizes include RM2,000 cash to the school, and 2 LEGOLAND® Malaysia Resort combo admission tickets for each team member. 


The Paddle Pop Young Builders Award programme is part of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) to make sustainable living more commonplace. USLP aims to remove environmental footprint from its growth and increase positive social impact. This includes addressing consumers’ health and wellbeing by improving nutrition. Paddle Pop ice cream variants are formulated to meet the nutritional criteria and abide by healthy nutritional guidelines specifically for calories, saturated fats and sugar. Through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) it is assured that the Paddle Pop kids ice cream range contain no more than 110kcal per serving, 3g saturated fat per serving and 20g of added sugar per 100g.


“As an iconic brand that has been a part of many kids’ childhood, Paddle Pop ice cream variants have been formulated to make it a healthier choice for kids today,” added Shiv Sahgal.


At the launch event, a life-size robot designed and created by the Art and Design faculty of UiTM team was unveiled to highlight Paddle Pop Young Builders Award 2017’s theme and be an inspiration to interested participants. The structure which was led by Senior Lecturer, Elliza Hashim described that the robot comprises of various used materials of plastics, paper based boards and some discarded fabrics. The robot, named Tuah, is meant to be stationed in schools to monitor the recycling habits of kids. It has a set of multi-terrain wheels which portray a very hardworking robot on a mission to scavenge waste materials and ensure that it is properly recycled. It has almost human-like arm function to pick up things and work productively. Tuah also has a set of gadgets like a blaster gun to recycle waste items brought to him by kids wanting to recycle. He will then reward the kids with Paddle Pop ice cream. Tuah is dedicated to help schools contribute to a greener future.


For more information or to download the contest form, teachers, kids and parents are encouraged to visit www.paddlepop.com.my.