GEORGE TOWN: Creativity was not enough. The children had to show that their elaborate dragon boat models could float too.
Ten pupils placed their creations in the water for the final round of the Dragon Boat Model Challenge with dragons fashioned from egg trays, plastic bottles, spoons, cups, chopsticks, cotton buds and discarded packaging.
Some boats carried tiny drummers made from eggshells, while others had paddles cut from plastic spoons. Bottle hulls, cardboard frames and brightly coloured dragon heads completed the miniature fleets.
The young builders then showed how well their creations stayed afloat in the children’s pool of Shangri-La Rasa Sayang in Batu Ferringhi.
But one boat immediately keeled over and sank, and the schoolgirl who built it was clearly dismayed. Another made by a schoolboy sank after floating for a few seconds.
Eleven-year-old Lim Rui Yang emerged champion with a model he spent a week building with his mother, Amy Teoh.
Their boat used plastic bottles for buoyancy, with an egg tray forming the deck.
Eggshells served as paddlers, ice cream sticks were oars and a plastic cup and cotton buds formed the drum.
“The tail was made from chopsticks to provide stability,” Rui Yang said.
Teoh said some of the bottles were picked up from roadsides while the other materials came from their home.
Mother and son first used a glue gun but after it burned their hands, they switched to another adhesive.
“We tested the dragon boat in a baby bathtub to see whether it was stable and could float,” Teoh explained.
She added that the project gave them time to brainstorm, watch videos, design the boat and assemble it together.
Andrew Lee took second place, followed by Choo Lok Hin in third place. Lim Teng Hong finished fourth while Reana Peh came in fifth.
The challenge involved 53 Year Four, Five and Six pupils from SJK(C) Pai Chai, with 10 entries selected for the floating test and final judging.
The boats were assessed on buoyancy, stability, creativity, originality and presentation.
The programme was held in conjunction with the Dragon Boat Festival yesterday.
Present were SJK(C) Pai Chai assistant headmaster Lim Ee Shuang and Shangri-La Rasa Sayang and Golden Sands Penang communications director Datuk Suleiman Tunku Abdul Rahman.
