It Pays to IMAGINE Things

(Daddy brainstorms)

For my monkies, going to Changi Airport means more than just taking a flight out of Singapore and going for a holiday. Of course, going overseas will no doubt see them bounce from wall to wall. But over the years, the wifey and I have been bringing them to Changi Airport during the weekend when we either ran out of places to go or just wanted to avoid the maddening crowd in town.

Besides the vast spaces for them to run and expend their energy, there are ample playgrounds (and air-conditioned, at that!) and food & beverage outlets to make an outing to Changi Airport a relatively fuss-free one. And come 2018, there will be a 10-storey mega development that will arise on the surface car park site fronting Changi Airport Terminal 1.

Code-named Project Jewel, the dome-shaped development will offer a range of facilities for airport operations, retail offerings and leisure attractions, including a large-scale, lush indoor garden with a central waterfall of about 40 metres in height!

But before any of that can happen, Project Jewel is inviting members of the public - even those aged between 5 and 12! - to share their vision for the iconic development through IMAGINE. As long as you are aged 5 years and above and residing in Singapore, you can turn your figments of imagination into reality via art, in the form of any two-dimensional medium (photographs, drawings and sketches).

What to draw or design? Basically, anything goes! It does not have to be related to Changi Airport, just something heartfelt and real. Here are what some others have come up with so far.

Submitted by Ho Ying Shyn, 6

Submitted by Chew Wei Dong, 8

Submitted by Alosius Peter, 37

And for your troubles, a total of fifteen winners will be selected to win the following prizes in the respective category:

• Top 10 from Open category (13 years old and above) – $1,000 Changi Vouchers each
• Top 5 from Junior category (5-12 years old) - $500 Changi Vouchers each

And even if you don't win, there is still a chance that your submission might be displayed for all to view as submissions will be curated into larger-than-life creative interpretations, and reproduced as art on Project Jewel’s 800-metres of hoarding during its construction. But that's not all, the submissions may also be developed into art exhibits for display in Changi Airport itself, or produced into memorabilia as souvenirs for overseas visitors!

So what are you waiting for? You have until 31 March 2014, 2359 hours to submit your works via www.imagineprojectjewel.com/artist_form. Do note that only 2-dimensional submissions are allowed, and these include photographs, drawings and sketches. Multiple submissions per person are allowed. For more information, visit www.changiairport.com/at-changi/project-jewel.

As for the monkies, the prospect of seeing their works being plastered onto Project Jewel's hoarding is all the incentive they need so you can be sure that the next few weekends will see them brainstorming on their IMAGINE designs. So stay tuned, or as Ayd will have you know...

Well, almost. You get the idea.