Starchild: Malaysian children share about their favourite emojis

Lim Jo Ern, 7

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ITEM: Friends are one of life’s best gifts. They are there during good times and bad times. Some of us meet our best friends in school. For others, their parents are their lifelong best friends. Starchild wants to know more about your best friends.

Tell us why they are so special to you. Don’t forget to send us a drawing too!

E-mail your contributions to [e-mail] by July 30. Please put “STARCHILD: My Best Friend” in the subject line of your e-mail.

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Many of us love using emojis whenever we send messages to our friends. Emojis are fun and they can help us express how we feel – happy, sad, angry, disgusted, ill or confused, for example. There are also emojis depicting food, objects and popular landmarks.

Japanese artist Shigetaka Kurita created the first emoji in 1999 for mobile phones and pagers. According to brandwatch.com, some of the most popular emojis include the emoji with rolling eyes, smiling face with heart eyes and face with tears of joy.

Which are your favourite emojis?

Here’s what Starchild readers had to say on the topic, Emoji Day.

“I like funny and smiley emojis. But during the pandemic, I’d like to create an emoji wearing a mask because I hope people will always be reminded to protect themselves,” writes Lim Jo Ern, seven.

Six-year-old Adelyn Hui-Ling Yeo’s favourite emojis are the smiley emojis with different expressions. “My top favourites are the cool emoji with sunglasses, sad face emoji and happy emoji. If I could create my own special emojis, it would be heart emojis with hands and legs. Emojis allow me to express myself further beyond facial expression.”

Nadia Asha Solomon, 5

“I’ve created a dragon emoji spitting out fire to show how fierce someone can be!” writes Nadia Asha Solomon, five.

Asher Wang Qi Chuen, 3

My favorite emojis are the purple ones. If I can create one emoji, it would be a purple dinosaur-shaped emoji, which I will call Dinoji,” says Asher Wang Qi Chuen, three.

Bethany Wang Qi Syuen, 6

Older sibling Bethany Wang Qi Syuen, six, likes all kinds of emojis. “They are interesting and useful to convey different feelings that are hard to express with words. They can help cheer up people too.”

Chloe Leong Xizhen, 8

Eight-year-old Chloe Leong Xizhen is a big fan of emojis because they are funny and make her laugh. “I have drawn several emojis. These includes emojis with star-shaped eyes, a flower, a cute cat, a bird and a cute bunny. I had so much fun drawing these emojis.”

Iris Cheang, 7

Iris Cheang, seven, writes: “The smiley face emoji is cute. I like flowers and that’s why I am a fan of the sunflower emoji. The ice cream emoji is one of my favourites because I like to eat ice cream.”

Jodie Tan Li Juen, 12

Jodie Tan Li Juen, 12, says: “When I chat with my friends mostly I will use emojis because sometimes words cannot describe my thoughts and feelings. I usually use a set of emojis like lollipop, muffin, dance and reading which represent what I’m doing during my leisure time.”

Jayden Tan Li Sheng, 8

Younger sibling Jayden Tan Li Sheng, eight, likes many types of emojis including the angel, angry face, and bugs. “My most favourite emojis are the characters from Among Us, an online game. The emojis of an angry face and exploding head are used to express my exhaustion after I have attended my online Maths lesson.”

Debria Preethi Jeyarajah, 10

Debria Preethi Jeyarajah, 10, likes the emoji with a halo. “If I were to design an emoji, I will make a smiley face and the eyes will be shaped as diamonds. I’ll use this emoji to describe my feeling of happiness and joy.”

Thieyana Ramachandran, 9

“Instead of typing long messages, I prefer to use different sorts of emojis to represent my feelings and thoughts,” says Thieyana Ramachandran, nine.

Claire Yap Jyn Wei, 6

Six-year-old Claire Yap Jyn Wei writes: “If I could create emojis, I’d create those depicting funny faces, food, unconventional leaves, and shapes. My funniest emoji would be a dog chasing the bone, and Mummy and baby paint ‘splat’. I’d create an emoji in the shape of a tortilla chip with the word: “strong”. – Compiled by Sheela Chandran

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