Graduation Giving SP Pendant - Singapore Polytechnic

forewordContactsValerie KohAlumni Communications ManagerAlumni Relations OfficeTel: 6772 1796Email: koh_zhenlin_valerie@sp.edu.sgaSPire is produced bi-annually for the SP Alumni Relations Office bySirius Art Pte LtdA gift that gives back ispriceless...to keep or to shareThe year so far has been fraught with challenges.As we acknowledge the difficulties others face, andtake comfort that we are in a more fortunate position,let us do our bit to remember, help, contribute andinspire those around us, near or far.This issue announces the launch of two inauguralevents that this year’s new graduates were the first toparticipate in – the SP Pendant and the GraduationGiving Campaign.The SP Pendant is made more significant as it isdesigned by SP’s very own students the SP DesignSchool. The Graduation Giving Campaign is a way ofshowing the SP spirit of caring and sharing amongstour graduating students, so that our less fortunatejuniors stand a chance to complete their education.On a happier note, we congratulate the Class of2011 who graduated in May and we wish them everysuccesscontentsin their coming endeavours.02 SPecial Highlights04 SPotlightGraduation GivingSP Pendant10 inSPiring Alumni85 Playfair Road, #04-02 Tong Yuan Industrial BuildingSingapore 368000Tel (65) 6488 0150 l Fax (65) 6282 6706Printed by14 Around SP16 SPectacular20 aSPiring Alumni22 SPlendidYour innovative and trusted partner.Times Printers Private Limited l 16 Tuas Ave 5Singapore 639340Tel (65) 6311 2888 l DID (65) 6311 2794 l Fax (65) 6311 2801 l HP (65) 9007 2014www.timesprinters.coma member of Times Publishing Limited26 Alumni RelationsOffice InfoSN 36 July 2011 SP Alumni Magazine 1Disclaimer:aSPire is mailed free to all alumni of Singapore Polytechnic.Letters, articles and messages from alumni are most welcome. The views and opinions of the authorsare not necessarily expoused by Singapore Polytechnic, nor can the Polytechnic be held responsible for the claims made in the advertisements.

ecial HighlightsMy Cup RunnethOver with LOVECoffee fans, take heart. There is now a perfecthangout for you at SP.Part of the Kaffee Kultur Group, School of Coffeeis the latest addition to the list of F&B facilitieson-campus. The cafe’s selection of full-flavouredcoffees uses a fine selection of coffee beansroasted daily in small batches by the RoastMaster to meet precise roast profile, and toachieve freshness and taste in every serving.life of roasts. Ongoing research like food pairing(what coffee best compliment what food) is alsoconducted with the School of Chemical and LifeSciences students.So, when your energy runs low, or when you justcrave a hot aromatic cuppa, head on down to thenew School of Coffee for an instant pick-me-up.Established in 2006, Kaffee Kultur Group is a growing,dynamic and creative organisation geared towardshelping clients succeed in the highly-specialisedcoffee industry.Its partnership with SP aims to promote high coffeestandards and practices through education, andto improve coffee-related issues like beans storageand packaging methods, so as to prolong the shelfMembers have their Special PrivilegesSP Alumni CardThe SP Alumni Card is your continuous affiliation withyour alma mater. Not only does the card identify youas an Alumni member, it offers you many privileges, offand on-campus. 20% discount on SP Library membership fees.Applicable to new members for first year annualfee and also applicable for subsequentmembership renewals. 10% discount on ala carte items at theFood Haven Staff Centre Restaurant. Complimentary off-peak use of the gymnasium,Mondays to Saturdays, 1pm to 5pm. Access to Student Hub@Moberly. Access to running track at the Sports Complex. Discount on notebooks purchase (selected models). Discount on products and services fromSTARBUCKS, POPULAR Bookstore,and many more!For card application, information and latest updateson privileges, please refer to the alumni website atalumni.sp.edu.sg.

Brighten up to these perks as an SP Alumnus!Present your SP Alumni Card to enjoy the following benefits…Company Website Valid Until Details of DiscountAbsolutely Parents absolutelyparents.com 31 December, 201325% off educational print publications such asEduGuide, PSLE Guide, Kids’ Health Guideand Kids’ Dining Guide.Body Wellness bodywellness.sg 31 December, 2013Olinda customized facial now at S$18.(U.P $228).Food Haven TheRestaurant Pte Ltdfoodhaven.com.sg 31 December, 201310% off InternationalBuffet and Ala Carte items.Valid from Mon to Fri, for dine-in only.I Heart Board Games! iheartboardgames.com 31 December, 201310% off purchases atiheartboardgames.com/buygames.KettlebellHIT kettlebellhit.com 31 December, 2013 15% off from membership packages.POPULAR Bookstore popular.com.sg 30 September, 2011$4 off POPULAR 3-Year Adult Card Sign-up*Now: $26 (U.P. $30)*Valid for NEW sign-up only. T&C applyRoyal Lifestyle Pte Ltd royal-lifestyle.com.sg 31 December, 201320% off new purchases.Not applicable with other promotionSchool of Coffee - 31 December, 201315% off all menu items.Not applicable for promotional items.Starbucks starbucks.com.sg 31 December, 201310% off all food and beverages.Not applicable for merchandise orwhole beans.Discount valid only atStarbucks Singapore Polytechnic.Stirring Hearts Pte Ltd stirringhearts.com.sg 31 December, 201310% off handmade greeting cards, notebooks,boxes and creative workshops. Valid at InnoVillage,Singapore Polytechnic or online store www.StirringHearts.com.sg (use coupon code “spalumni”).Supreme Lion MarketingPte Ltdsupremefloors.com.sg 31 December, 201315% off regular retail prices.Not valid with other promotions.SP Library - 31 December, 201320% off library membership annual fees for new &renewal of graduate library membership.Transinex Pte Ltd/SPICE Traveltransinex.com.sgspicetravel.com.sg31 December, 201310% off for free & easy packagesin Vietnam, Phuket, Bangkok,India & other destinations.*Package 13D2N Free & Easy to Phuket, stay@Mercure PatongPhuket, from S$119/per person*Package 23D2N Free & Easy to Ho Chi Minh,stay@Liberty 3, from S$117/per person*Travel Packages stated above exclude airfares/taxes/fuel surcharge. Promotion valid till 30 Sep 2011.The information is correct at time of print. For the latest list of merchants and updates on privileges, please refer to the alumni website at alumni.sp.edu.sg.Offers valid until December 2013, unless otherwise stated.SN 36 July 2011 SP Alumni Magazine 3

otlightGraduation Giving CampaignA Gift that Counts2011 marks the joyous graduation of the Class of 2011 SP graduates, as well as thelaunch of the first ever Graduation Giving Campaign.The meaningful drive encourages graduating students to give to the School NeedyFund. By way of their giving, the SP juniors in need of financial assistance will begiven valuable opportunities to complete and excel in their academic pursuit.For some of the needy, their hopes, aspirations and future lie not onlyupon themselves, but in support of their families as well. For others, they findthemselves caught in unforeseen situations facing financial difficulties and thusbeing unable to pay for tuition fees.

SP is extremely proud that 1,957graduates made a tremendous differenceto help their juniors by coming togetherwith their generous contributions.As such, those who benefited from thecampaign now stand to realize theirdreams and fulfill their potential.And those who contributed prove onceagain a strong and committed spirit ofsharing and giving.When my dad developed heart problemsand stopped work, my mum became thesole breadwinner. It was difficult for us aswe were trying to make ends meet. I amvery thankful that I received the SingaporePolytechnic Alumni Student Scholarship thathelped to finance my tution fees and otherexpenses so that I could concentrate onmy studies. With the financial burden beingalleviated from my parents, my dad was ableto spend on his medication.The financial aid meant so much to us.I am grateful for SP’s help.- Zhang ZhiXian, School of Mechanical andAeronautical Engineering, 2nd Year StudentHow to give?Make an online donation at glad2give.sp.edu.sg.When you give, you also receive.All graduating students who donate to the GraduationGiving 2011 will be acknowledged on the Donors’ Rollat www.glad2give.sp.edu.sg.Every donation – large or small – will empower SP togive the best to our students, who are our top priority.For more information, visit the Glad2Give website atglad2give.sp.edu.sg.For further enquiries, please contact the Alumni RelationsOffice at 6772 1342 or email alumni@sp.edu.sg.SN 36 July 2011 SP Alumni Magazine 5

otlightPurple Pendant of PrideInaugural Launch of SP PendantSingapore’s firstPolytechnic is adding yetanother feather to its cap of achievements.A first amongst all other polytechnics in Singapore,Singapore Polytechnic has collaborated with renownedjeweller, Lee Hwa Jewellery to design and produce anexquisite pendant, aptly named The SP Pendant, for therecognition of the SP Alumnus.The SP Pendant will soon become a significantand treasured commemorative artifact for every SPgraduate, now and for the years to come. Launchedin April 2011, this year’s graduating students are thefirst batch of graduands to own this proud piece of theschool’s history.The SP Pendant is available in four fine and well-crafteddesigns, produced with SP Design School’s studentsRaffi’s and Siew Teng’s creative ingenuity, and lovinglyfinished in stately silver coated with white gold or Lee Hwa’siconic Purple Gold*. The pendant comes in a handmadedecorated box by young alumni start-up, Stirring Hearts.All alumni can now place orders online at go.to/sppendant.Alumni can collect the pendants from the Alumni RelationsOffice located at InnoVillage, SP.What’s more, with every purchase of the SP Pendant, youwill be lending support to your juniors as nett sales for thispendant will go into the Student Support Fund, that helpsneedy students fulfill their education at SP with scholarshipsand bursaries.At the start of the academic year in April 2010, SP received 595 Financial Assistance applications. However,we could only help less than half of these applicants due to lack of funds and re-channel them to externalFinancial Assistance schemes. Amongst these awardees, there is a substantial number who had to apply foradditional financial aid so that they could pay their annual tuition fees.

*About Purple GoldA world-first that is rare, unique and exquisite, theLee Hwa Purple Gold is a remarkable 19k solid purplegold alloy that establishes itself quickly as a treasuredand highly-regarded jewellery since its launch in 2000.This innovation is part of the Aspial-Lee Hwa Jewellery Groups’scontinuous quest for reinvention, and proudly represents thebrand’s proud heritage of style, quality and craftsmanship.Marking a significant milestone in the jewellery industry,Purple Gold was conceptualized and created by SingaporePolytechnic’s metallurgist and former SP lecturer, ProfessorLoh Peng Chum. After numerous years of tedious researchand development, the unique amalgam of gold and other metalcomponents was eventually perfected and suitably shaped intofine jewellery creations, inspiring and pushing fashion andtrends to new boundaries.Composed of 80% gold and 20% of metal componentsincluding palladium, and is nickel-free. Although it has beenaround for decades, the alloy is too porous and brittle and notmalleable for making jewellery.The breakthrough came when the metal composite wasdeveloped into something strong enough to withstand thecrafting and shaping of jewellery pieces, while being lessreactive to contaminants in the process.The SP PendantStudents are SP’s top priority and we want to provideUnconditional support to help students pursue theireducational Dreams.Unconditional Silver (Female) - $138 nettDreams Silver (Male) - $138 nettUnconditional Purple Gold (Female) - $238 nettDreams Purple Gold (Male) - $238 nettSketches from SP Design School’s students, Raffi and Siew TengSimply visit go.to/sppendant to place your orders for the pendants. Payments by cash or chequeonly. All cheques to be payable to “Singapore Polytechnic”; to include name, NRIC, contact number,pendant model, quantity on the back of the cheque and send it to the Alumni Relations Office,attention to Ms Valerie Koh. Cash payment is accepted at the Alumni Relations Office located atInnoVillage, SP.For enquiries, please call 6772 1342 or email alumni@sp.edu.sg.SN 36 July 2011 SP Alumni Magazine 7Actual design may vary from the designs shown here. Silver pendants are plated with White Gold. Each pendant comes with acomplimentary silver chain.

iniring AlumniTwo great minds bring hopeto fight life-threatening plagueDeemed moderatelycontagious, Hand,Foot and MouthDisease (HFMD) hasbeen roundly plaguingchildren, registering morethan 28,000 cases inSingapore this yearalone, due largely toour dense population.But because of the hardwork of SP Alumnus andLecturer Dr Tan Eng Lee,and the resourcefulnessof another SP AlumnusMr Paul Tan, in aboutnine months time, theworld’s first HFMD Kitwill enable those infected(children and adults) toseek early treatment andalleviate worsening of theirconditions.Dr Tan designed andcreated this HFMD kit todetect enteroviruses, andable to simultaneouslyidentifying the more fatalEnterovirus 71 (EV71) in2 hours. It took him 2months to develop the kit,with substantial studiesand research invested inthe disease since 2003.Creating the kit wascertainly no easy task.“It was a challengedesigning the kit as I hadto consider the mutationrates of the enteroviruseswhile ensuring thatsensitivity and specificityof the kit was notcompromised.With this kit, youngchildren’s lives won’t beput at risk with severecomplications andwould be able to leadlife normally upon earlydetection,” says Dr Tan.The detection kit sooncaught the attention ofUS-based biomedicalorganization, MPBiomedicals (MP Bio),whose Asia Pacificheadquarters hasMr Paul Tan as theirVice President.Working closely together,Dr Tan and Mr Paul Tanwill be establishing animportant partnershipbetween SP and MPBiomedicals by linkingtwo licensing agreementsand with a memorandumof-cooperation.With this partnership, MPBiomedicals and SP’s

later in 2007. In 2008, his success story was made into a TVdocumentary that was aired on Channel U. This was followedby radio interviews in Singapore and Canada.As a lauded and recognized artist now, Marcus remainshumble, never takes his success for granted, and continuesto hone his craft, even when travelling in the MRT.He cheekily remarks, “I get free new models to draw with,every few minutes”.The next time when you see a man sketching people in theMRT carriages, do say hi to our proud graduate from SP,Marcus Lim.“I paint not only to help people to create magnificent portraits for themselves or their loved ones, but toremind us of her undying spirit and personality, and to deliver her message of charity to her loved onesand her community. I am deeply proud to have this artistic gift to do this for other people and my society.”– Marcus’ answer to His Excellency President S.R. Nathanat the Remembering Venerable Ho Charity Lunch on 28 January 2007.Awards2010 Heritage Ambassador, Asian Geographic Society2009 Asian Geographic Cover Art of the Decade2006 Finalist, Salon International 2006 by the International Museum of ContemporaryMasters of Fine Art, USA2005 Letter of Commendation, 2nd International ARC Salon Competition, USA2004 First Place, SPCA Animal Art CompetitionSN 36 July 2011 SP Alumni Magazine 13

AroundCapturing Your Sweet Memories at SPFor newlyweds alumni Zhaoli and Li Ping, having their wedding photos takenon campus is a sweet and special way to commemorate their SP days.

SN 36 July 2011 SP Alumni Magazine 15

ectacularComing to a SPace near you…The Green AppealHere at SP, we take the Green Movement further,and yet closer to home.The Department of Estates and Development isworking hard in turning some of the social spaces oncompound into dynamic and green plots.Some of their established efforts include the biostreamalong Commonwealth Avenue West, the herb gardensbehind Moberly, and various gardens on campus.

SP Aces go PlacesStudents make their marksDr Jonathan Loh, Daniel Poh, Mentor Dr Keith Pardee and Jaslyn Ng (From left to right )Singapore Polytechnic (SP) students continueto make their marks, winning prestigious scholarships,internships and accolades in the professional fields.In 2010 alone, eight internship programmes weresecured at the prestigious Harvard Medical School,Yale University and Stanford University, giving theSP students a taste and first hand experience of thedemanding world-class academic rigour.These internship opportunities are rare and serve asexcellent training to prepare and equip the studentsinvolved with a strong academic foundation, analyticalskills and practical experience.SP alumnus Dr Jonathan Loh, currently on aresearch stint with the Harvard Medical School, isan A*Star scholar who also won the Young ScientistAward in 2009 is one such beneficiary of therigourous SP program.“An education in SP entails practical learning andproblem solving; this has benefited me tremendouslyin my chosen field of scientific research. Over theyears, though my work has grown in both scopeand sophistication, my SP training has remainedthe bedrock from which I approach issues that Iencounter in research,” says Dr Loh, who has reapedmany benefits from his SP education.Daniel Poh, one of the two students in Harvard fortheir 10-week internship was personally mentoredby Dr Loh. Mr Poh. an ITE graduate and Diplomain Biomedical Science (DBS) student, earned arare internship with Children’s Hospital Boston, atop paediatric hospital in the United States with hisexcellent results.Another DBS student Jaslyn Ng interned at HarvardMedical School’s Wyss Institute. Her mentor Dr KeithPardee said, “Jaslyn worked on a diverse rangeof projects and demonstrated understanding andcapability well beyond her years. She has done anexcellent job of representing SP and we look forwardto working more with SP in the future.”These lauded achievements sync well with SP’s aimto nurture students to be work-ready, life-ready andworld-ready.SN 36 july 2011 SP Alumni Magazine 19

TheAlumni OfficePaying it forwardDon’t just return a kindness, spread it around.The process cannot be simpler: when someonedoes something nice for you, keep it going by doinggood for another person. As an alumnus who hastasted the fruits of success, you too can help pave theway for the next generation of SP graduates, givingthem the opportunity to excel as you did.Your support will allow SP to continue giving deservingstudents and alumni a chance to realise their dreamsand reach their fullest potentials.Staying in touchWe are on FacebookThe Web is the new place to get together.Check out the SP Alumni Groups on Facebook.Don’t be left behind.Join us now on Facebook atfacebook.com/spalumni !Update you particularsWe want to stay connected with you.Update your personal particulars online atalumni.sp.edu.sg or fill in the update formon the following page and fax / mail it back to us.Your generous support will help fellow alumnuscontinue their education at local universities, currentstudents to continue their studies at SP, encourageexisting SP students to conduct research on ways tobenefit society and many more ways.If you wish to make a difference today, you could do soat glad2give.sp.edu.sg.Contact UsContact the SP Alumni Relations Office @InnoVillage, Singapore Polytechnic500 Dover RoadSingapore 139651Tel: 6772 1342Fax: 6870 4616Email: alumni@sp.edu.sgWebsite: alumni.sp.edu.sg

Please fold and glue the sides together before mailingFold here.Fold here.BUSINESS REPLY SERVICEPERMIT NO.08654Singapore PolytechnicAlumni Relations Office500 Dover RoadSingapore 139651

Alumni Relations OfficeSingapore Polytechnic, InnoVillage500 Dover Road, Singapore 139651T: 6772 1342 | F: 6870 4616alumni.sp.edu.sg | alumni@sp.edu.sg