I like VivoCity. It’s really huge, literally. After all it’s not the biggest shopping mall in Singapore for nothing. Hence great shopping’s a given, considering that visitors to the mall are simply spoilt for choice both in terms of shopping and dining. Though I’ve got to admit, I’m still fascinated by the giant statue of the Freedom Gundam from Gundam Seed at Toy’s R Us.

With my cam-whoring bunch of friends taking random pictures of themselves whenever the opportunity arises, like that girl you see chugging down a donut in the picture at the Ben and Jerry’s, VivoCity’s arguably one of my favourite places to hang out with my peers in on this tiny island.

And it’s in that context (the photo taking one) that I think it’s a great idea that VivoCity’s decided to organise a competition entitled, “My VivoCity Photography Competition” which runs from now till June 30.

Plus, with the competition consisting of 3 categories:

* Professional (opened to all Singaporeans and Singapore residents)
* Amateur (opened to all Singaporeans and Singapore residents)
* Student (opened to full-time students only)

It’s like the saying that keeps ringing in my head, “There’s something for everyone.”

According to the organisers, the competition allows established photographers, Peter Parker wannabes, and cam-whores in general to take pictures of their “favourite VivoCity moments and location” with entries relevant as long as it fits the theme “VivoCity- My Place, My Vivo Moments”.

In that sense, the entry for amateurs could even be you attempting to plant a kiss on any of the Marche cow’s on the 3rd floor, or in my case, just a photo of the Freedom will do nicely.

The finalists of the competition will be judged by a main panel of 3 judges which includes celebrity photographer Mr Russel Wong.

The top 3 prizes in the Professional category will see winners walk away with a total of $18000 in cash. And that’s not all, the top winner will even get a chance to have his own personal work exhibited fully sponsored courtesy of VivoCity.

And in the Amateur and Student categories respectively, winners stand to win great prizes from Olympus, with the top winner from both sections receiving the Olympus E510 camera worth $1499 and $1000 in cash!

But don’t be disheartened though if you can’t take quality pictures, because you can stand a chance to win attractive prizes as well.

20 lucky people stand a chance to win an Olympus FE230 camera worth $399 each. All they have to do is SMS their choice of the 60 short-listed works, pre-selected by another panel of 3 judges that will be on show at VivoCity from Jul 13-21 to see if it coincides with the main judges’ favourites which will be announced on Jul 22.

Alas, instead of choosing to reminisce about my lost youth in a decade’s time, provided no virus wipes my computer’s memory clean. I think I’ll be sending in some of my photos for judging under the student category in hope of wining the top prize.

After all, with that $1000 cash prize and new camera, shopping and cam-whoring at VivoCity will be an entirely different experience.

For more information on the competition, please go to http://www.vivocity.com.sg/home2.html.