SP DRAGONBOAT: POWER ROWERS - Singapore Polytechnic

OCTober2012Singapore's 1st PolySP DRAGONBOAT:POWER ROWERS✚ Made in SP: The fastest solar car in Asia ✚ A bountiful scholarshipharvest ✚ Heart to serve: SP SIFE, Go Serve and the humanitarianmission ✚ Overseas in Korea, Taiwan and Sarawak.

DIPLOMA INENGINEERINGSYSTEMSBrand New Coursefor 20138REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD STUDYENGINEERING SYSTEMS1 ONE AND ONLYA unique combination of ENGINEERING,MANAGEMENT and SOCIAL SCIENCES –the key ingredients for the future.2 A SYSTEM POINT OF VIEWRev you up to think and see issuesfrom a system point of view.3 STUDIO-BASED LEARNINGLearning is conducted through activeengagement of students in a specialisedstudio setting. Studio learning willenable you to:• Learn in teams• Master the fundamental knowledgethrough sharing and inquiring• Develop problem-solving skills andanalytical thinking• Apply the knowledge to the real worldapplicationsThe curriculum is developed incollaboration with Olin College ofEngineering, USA.4 CONCEIVE-DESIGN-IMPLEMENT-OPERATE (CDIO)CDIO learning, developed bythe Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (MIT) and adopted byIvy League institutions worldwide,is applied to this course.5 INDUSTRY ENDORSEMENTRenowned companies such as IBM,Siemens, SMRT and ST Kinetics havegiven their strong support for thiscourse. You’ll get opportunities to beattached to these companies eitherlocally or overseas during thefive-month internship or capstoneproject in the final year.6 SCHOLARSHIPSOutstanding ‘O’ level graduatesenrolled in this new course canapply for scholarships offered bySP or external organisations.7 UNIVERSITYYou can pursue a degreeprogramme (engineering orother disciplines) after thiscourse in local and overseasuniversities. If you do verywell, you could earn auniversity scholarship too!8 WORLD-READYWhen you graduate, you willunderstand the real-worldsystems in their social, ethicaland environmental contexts andready to tackle system-levelproblems using technical andmanagement skills.Scan this QR codefor more informationFollow SP on:facebook.com/singaporepolytechnictwitter.com/singaporepolyyoutube.com/singaporepolytechnicSCHOOL OFELECTRICAL &ELECTRONIC ENGINEERINGSCHOOL OFMECHANICAL &AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

PowerRowersNEWSFLASH!SP Dragonboat (Men)clinched the championshipin the Tertiary (Men),Open (Men) and thePremier (Mixed Team) atthe SAVA Games2012.The best Dragonboat Team amongthe polytechnics two years in a rowand champion in Hong Kong too!Row, row, row your boat.Slowly but steadily, these boys graduate to almightydragonboaters that are now the best among thepolytechnics and ITEs. This year, they even poweredthemselves to victory at an international meet.speaks with the SP Dragonboat boys and girls tofind out what motivates them to perform.Every Sunday morning, a team of tannedSP hunks could be spotted flexing theirarm muscles at Kallang Basin. After somewarming up exercises, they would climbinto a boat and row up and down the waterstowards Marina Barrage and back.This is the Singapore Polytechnic (Dragonboat(SPDB) team in action. Under the hotsun, the training routine could be a mentaland physical torture. However, with theteam’s motto, One Stroke One Heart, not asingle complaint is uttered. They are doingit as one united body.Besides the water training on Sundays,they are put through weekly land trainingthat comprises endurance exerciseslike running, weight lifting and chin-ups.When a competition draws near, bothwater and land training become almost adaily routine.Hard work and perseverance during thesegruelling training sessions have paid offhandsomely for them. Besides being thereigning champion two years in a row atthe POL-ITE Games, an annual competitionfor the polytechnics and ITE, they are alsocrowned a regional champion. Not too longago, the boys rowed in first at the 8th ClubCrew World Championships held in HongKong for the 200m event. They competedin the 18-23 Racing Class open division,against formidable teams who are olderand more experienced.Team captain Daryl Ng, from theDiploma in Engineering with Business(DEB) and a former student of TemasekSecondary, credits success to the collectivesacrifices each member has made.“Dragonboat depends very much onteam spirit. If all of us can’t agree on acommon goal, there is no way that wecould achieve success. We have conditionedourselves to be very focussed onour goals,” says the 19-year-old.Vice-captain Ling Hsih Hwa, 20, from theDiploma in Electrical and ElectronicEngineering (DEEE) who joined SP fromCommonwealth Secondary School, adds:“Even outside of training, we wouldhang out together to eat, study and play.We might have missed out on the otherfun things that others do but there’sno regret. We can indulge in what wemissed out after we graduate from SP.It’s only three years, so why not makethe best out of it?”Both Daryl and Hsih Hwa joined SPDBwhen they were in their first year.Hsih Hwa, who has put on poundsof muscles ever since he became adragonboater, joined the sport becausehe was influenced by his brother whowas a dragonboater.For Daryl, he was almost a reluctantmember. He leaned more towards trackand field, as he was a sprinter when insecondary school. He was persuaded intothe sport by course mate Dominic Tan,who joined SPDB first. He had heard thatthe training was tough and both wanted tosee if they were fit enough to pull through.Soon, he was hooked into it and evendisplayed leadership ability that saw himrise to the rank of captain in his third year.Dominic became the team’s treasurer.Both Daryl and Hsih Hwa plan to studyeither business or engineering after theirnational service. With just one moresemester to go before they graduate,and two key competitions lined up, they,together with the rest of the graduatingsenior team members, are all geared up todo their best and create for themselves alegacy in SP.Training can go up to six times a weekif they are preparing for a competition.Otherwise, the regular routine is three sessionsof land and one session of sea trainingevery week. Land training is dividedinto strength and endurance sessions.Endurance consists of running up to 3km,20 minutes of pull-ups and weightliftingin five stations. Strength training is similarexcept that the focus turns to building up,well, strength in core muscle areas. OnWednesdays and weekends, they are atKallang Basin for sea training, usually forabout two hours including warm ups.When a competition is round the corner,training takes place daily except on Fridayfor about two months. It starts in themorning for an hour from 6.30am andresumes in the evening for another hour.Daryl admits that the toughest part aboutdragonboating is keeping the commitmentto training frequency. “To be present forevery single session is already not an easyfeat for normal people. Therefore, we conditionedourselves to be committed andsacrifice our social lives. We try not tokick people out and will try very hard tohelp everyone up to level.” No one understandsthis better than Daryl because, ashe lets on, he was quite behind in trainingduring his first year: “Inthe end, I couldn’t bearto leave them because Iwill think about the training,I think of the team.”The members that go forcompetition are seniorsfrom the same year. Theyhave been together sincefirst year and have built upa solid team spirit. Theyconsider the POL-ITEGames as more pressurisingbecause it is “therace” in dragonboat calendar,even though the HongKong tournament is morecompetitive. The next importantrace for this yearis the SAVA Games takingplace this month.SP Dragonboat captain Daryl Ng(right) and Vice-captain Ling Hsih Hwa.If you think the punishing schedule forSPDB guys will affect their studies, thinkagain. Daryl is proud to announce thatmost of the members have consistentlygood GPA scores. “It all goes back to trainingagain. We train and study in a very disciplinedmanner. We don’t procrastinate,”reveals Daryl who, like many of the seniormembers, plans to advance his studies inthe universities after his national service.Baring no distractions, they are keen tocontinue paddling for the university theyare in. “This means we might be competitorsin the future,” laughs Daryl.For now, they are savouring every momentof camaraderie soaked in their blood.The Medals★ 1st in 800m (Men) at POL-ITEGames 2011 & 2012.★ 1st in 800m (Mixed) at POL-ITEGames 2012.★ 2nd in 800m (Women) in POL-ITEGames 2012.★ 1st in Under 23 200m (Men) in8th Club Crew WorldWorld Championship 2012★ 2nd in Under 23 500m and 2,000m (Men)in 8th Club Crew World Championship 2012.05

NEWSFLASH!SP Dragonboat (Women)clinched the championship inthe Tertiary (Women), Premier(Mixed Team) and 1st RunnerUp Open (Women)at the SAVA Games2012.girlPowerfrom small dragon boats with 10 paddlers upto the traditional boats which have upwardsof 50 paddlers, plus drummer and coxswain.The pulsation of the drum beats producedby the drummer is considered the heartbeatof the dragonboat. He leads the paddlersthroughout a race using the rhythmic drumbeat to indicate the frequency and synchronicityof all the paddlers’ strokes. Commandsare given through a combination ofhand signals and voice calls. The coxswainnavigates and steers the dragonboat with asweep oar rigged at the rear of the boat.Although it was not a gold medal, it certainlyjustifies a big celebration when the SPDragonboat women’s team clinched a silverat the POLI-ITE Games this year. A win hasbeen eluding them for as long as the teamwas around.Like the men’s team, Team Captain TanHui Yim from the Diploma in Optometry(DOPT) credits the win to the feisty teamspirit that spurred them to give their best.However, the team insisted that withoutthe guidance from their coach, John Goh,it might not have been possible. John tookover the coaching of the 23-strong women’steam only this year.“Coach John has a very strong presence.He not only guides us in dragonboat mattersbut also life issues. He counsels us whenthere are discipline problems and I learn alot from him in managing the team,” saysHui Yim. To the team, John is almost likeanother father. “He is always there duringour most difficult hard days to encourageand motivate us. He not only trains how torow well but also teaches us personal skillslike self-discipline and how to develop astrong mentality.”The SP Dragonboat women’s team. Team captainTan Hui Yim is standing in the middle, back row.“That’s why team bonding is very important.When we recruit, we don’t sell dragonboatbut the teamwork, team spirit and teambonding. Our spirit is “All for one and onefor all!” declares Hui Yim, a water sportslover who was in the canoeing team duringher days with Damai Secondary School.Coming up next for the girls is the IVP Gameswhere they will compete not just with the polyand ITE teams but the stronger ones from theuniversities as well. Their goal for 2013 is toretain a medal and bring up the name for theSP women’s dragonboat team.The team is also thankful for the strongsupport and encouragement from the men’steam whom they regard as brothers. Withboth teams seeing each other so frequently,it’s not unexpected that love blossoms.There’s already a dating couple amongthem.The DisciplineMasterJohn Goh has been the coach for SP’s men’sdragonboat team for about four years andonly started with the girls’ team this year. Inno uncertain terms, he played a significantrole in leading the men’s team to win thePOL-ITE Games championship two years in arow (2011 and 2012). Not only that, the teamalso won three medals, including a Gold, atthe 8th Club Crew World Championships, aninternational meet held in Hong Kong wherethey competed with stronger and more andexperienced teams such as Canada.A former national canoeist and dragonboater,John has nothing but praises for his charges.“The boys are very committed. They trainedand pushed themselves very hard to winthe POL-ITE championships. The team hasgood sportsmanship; I consider them adream team. One advantage they have isthat a big team of rowers are from the sameyear. Generally, a team will do pretty well ifthey are from the same batch of training, asthey progressed from year to year together,therefore maintain the same exacting standards,”says John.History ofDragonboatDragonboat is a human-powered watercrafttraditionally made of wood in variousdesigns and sizes. It has its roots as part ofreligious ceremonies and folk customs inSouthern China but has emerged in moderntimes as an international sport, beginningin Hong Kong in 1976. Dragonboat racesare traditionally held as part of the annualDuanwu (or Dumpling) Festival, which iscelebrated in many Asian countries such asSingapore, Malaysia, Hongkong and Taiwan.The standard crew complement of a contemporarydragon boat is typically 22, comprising20 paddlers in pairs facing toward thebow of the boat, one drummer at the bowfacing the paddlers, and one coxswain at therear of the boat. Dragonboats vary in lengthand the crew size will change accordingly,The paddlers sit facing forwards and use aspecific type of paddle. The leading pair ofpaddlers, called “pacers,” “strokes” or “timers,”set the pace for the team. It is criticalthat all paddlers are synchronised. Each paddlershould synchronise with the stroke orpacer on the opposite side of the boat.The Singapore Dragonboat Association(DBA) is the national body that organises,promotes and co-ordinates all dragon boatactivities here. At the international level,dragonboat racing is organised by the InternationalDragon Boat Federation (IDBF). Itrecognises two types of dragonboat racing,namely sport racing and festival racing,which are the more traditional and informaltypes of races.Sport racing distances are normally over200m (or 250m), 500m, 1,000m and2,000m. A festival race is typically a sprintevent of several hundred metres, with 500metres being a standard distance in manyinternational festival races.Recruiting members is an uphill task, sheIf you wonder how guys look at femaleadmits. “We are often portrayed as tanneddragonboaters, Hui Yim offers this answer:and muscular. Most girls don’t want to join“I know there are also guys who think wedragonboat as they are worried of beingare not feminine…The girls’ team came in second at the POLunderthe sun for long hours.haha…I think it allITE Games, a major achievement consideringthat they had never won a single medalTherefore, it will be hard to persuade thedepends on thevery feminine type who hates the sun toindividual’s taste.in the past. So grateful are they to John thatjoin us. Those who are with the team haveThere are definitelythey nicknamed him “Papa”. “Luckily for thea genuine interest for dragonboat and theirguys who think we aregirls, they have a team of ten from the samepersonality suits that of a dragonboater,”tanned and muscularyear, so that was an advantage,” says John.says Hui Yim. After getting them on board,but there are alsoretaining members can be a tough jobthose who think we areThe affable coach, who is stern-faced attoo. Hui Yim shares that when trainingshot!” she quips. “Buttraining, stresses that team commitmentget tough, some of them will leave theif the guys look intois key to a success. “If they are able toteam. Like the boys, training sessions areour personalities, theycommit, then they can go through strengthconducted three to four times a week andwill realise that we areand endurance training. Such team commitmentwill be useful even when they go on toalternate with land and sea training and thedifferent from the otherfrequency increases when a competitionsgirls out there!”university or start work; it’s a value that willlooms near. 07work well for them.”

No pain,no gainwriter Nicholas Lam checks out the raw truths behind thesmiles and the reality of sweat, bruises and sacrifices of Gusto!,SP’s Cheerleading team.The Rough RealityPop culture, movies and modern media in general have portrayedcheerleaders as a group of smiling, happy people (mostly girls,of course) who would do seemingly simple stunts and tricks,and wow the crowd with uncanny ease. However, the hardshipsduring training and even dangers that these cheerleaders haveto endure are often unreported. To get an idea, cheerleaders areas active as any sportsmen. Yes, this means they are not justpretty faces or handsome hunks. They endure the same amountof rigorous training as you would expect a sprinter, swimmeror mixed martial arts fighter; from physical conditioning to thedangers of twisted ankles, torn ligaments and bruises.The Strength Of Gusto!The captain (President) of Gusto!,final-year student Loh Ming Yao,reveals the team’s routine - trainingsessions are held every Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday and sometimeseven Saturday. They would start withthe basics - physical conditioning. Toget an idea of how strong an averagecheerleader is, you take into accountthat each girl weighs at least 40kg, andthat is already on the lighter end of thescale. Otherwise, it is closer to 50kg.This simply means someone, usuallyfrom the guys, has to support thatweight for a certain amount of time.The guys usually get to toss the girls,called ‘flyers’, up to complete a stunt.Then, others will form a base, called a‘basket’, to catch a falling 40kg girl!The Guts In Gusto!Gusto! members are the brave ones.Imagine being the flyer. Her squadmate tosses her up in the air, and shehas to rely on him and her own skillsto land on top of a pyramid. Scary?How about being part of the basket?The flyer needs to land into stretchedoutarms to get down safely. Theresponsibility itself of those formingthe basket is crippling. There has tobe 100 per cent trust in each other.The girls start from low heights,gradually gaining more confidence tobe tossed into higher levels.The Gusto! StaminaIf that is not enough, these crazy but fun-loving folks have to do thesame routine for extended periods of time, all the while keeping asmile firmly planted on their face. They act as if their arms are notburning, their legs are not wobbly even though they are perspiringcrazily even with the setting sun. Top-form physical condition is amust before executing difficult stunts. Strength is an advantage butmore important is the proper use of it.What Goes Up Must Come DownIs cheerleading a dangerous sport? Put it this way – every sport has itsown dangers. But there are always safety precautions to minimise orprevent possible dangers. Strained muscles are common occurrences.A little bruise here and there is proof that they attended trainings. TheSP Gusto! Winner of the Singapore National CheerleadingChampionship 2011 and 2012. Some of them are also membersof Team Lions, the national cheerleading squad that won threemedals, including a first for Group Stunts, at the CheerleadingAsia International Open Championship.Cheerleading Is …..Think cheerleading and the image ofbeautiful girls with pom-poms and Colgatesmiles comes to mind. They dazzle thecrowd and cheer on their team. They willflip, drop and practically fly in all directionsto wow the crowd. The guys are all hunkydoryand always arms-stretched to catchthe falling girls. The choreography seemsamazing. It also seems all too easy, carefreeand even fun to be a cheerleader. But thereality couldn’t be more wrong. Gusto!, SP’sCheerleading Team, tells you why.09

show has to go on, especially when all eyes are on them to keep thechampionship title won in 2011. And they did - at the Singapore NationalCheerleading Championship 2012.The Extra MileLike all true sportsmen and women, cheerleaders will go the extramile to improve their performances - to be faster, smoother, and moreprecise. The satisfaction of perfectly nailing a stunt or pulling off adifficult routine is enough for them to go against the hardship andpersevere through the pain, fears and exhaustion. They work togetheras a single unit and have created strong bonds of trust betweenthemselves. They train together, work together and play together.Outside of training, they are like your normal group of everyday friends.They watch movies, stuff their faces at buffets, chill out and gossip.Meet The PresidentCheerleading was not even his first choice of CCA but heended up becoming its captain (President). Loh Ming Yao, afinal-year student from the Diploma in Aerospace Electronics(DASE) reveals that he did not want to join Gusto! at first.A friend nudged him to go for the training and he went aftera few rounds of persuasion. The former Nan Hua Secondary(High) School student liked what he saw and got hooked.As leader of the top polytechnic team in cheerleading,he shoulders a heavy burden. “I have to lead andmotivate the team. This is very much a team sport; if Ican’t motivate, that’s it.” says Ming Yao. He took overthe previous President, Sen Poh Kang, whohas graduated and now in national service.“He has set very high standards and I have tomaintain it. My target for the team is to win thechampionship again next year,” he adds.HistoryofCheerleadingathletic events. During the 1880s, students at PrincetonUniversity formed an all-male student “pep club” to lead“cheers” (unified chants and yells) in order to providesupport to their team, as well as create a high energysport environment.Although women participated as cheerleaders in variousparts of the USA, it wasn’t until the 1940s that womenbecame the majority of cheerleading’s athletes during anera when the university men students left the country tofight in World War II. Today, women comprise of morethan 90% of the world’s cheerleaders.The 1920s saw cheerleaders adding enhancedtechniques and skills to improve their ability to leadand energise the crowd at games, witnessing theaddition of various athletic skills, some tumbling, fightsong team dances with arm movements and acrobaticsto their routines.Pulling, stretchingand tossing -the basics incheerleadingtraining.The Glory Beyond SingaporeCheerleading has become a competitive sport worldwide, especiallyduring the past two decades. Gusto! has numerous awards under its belt.They were the champions in 2011 and 2012 at the National CheerleadingChampionship organised by the Singapore Sports Council. Members fromthe various tertiary teams in 2012 were grouped together to form TeamLions. They were tossed to Japan for the Cheerleading Asian InvitationalOpen 2012, with Gusto!’s Captain, (Sen Poh Kang who graduated thisyear), selected to lead the national squad. They returned with three medalsfrom the Land of the Rising Sun.Gusto! has earned a reputation for itself for their stunt-work among theSingaporean cheerleading circuit. Invitations pour in frequently to perform,such as the recent show at Gardens By The Bay on National Day.Gusto! is now almost 70-member strong. Whenhe first joined three years back, it had only around30 members. He believes the limelight givento Gusto after winning the POL-ITE Games lastyear and the frequent performances at SP eventshelped to boost up the numbers. They are aclosely-knitted bunch, especially those from thesame year. “The fun part of cheerleading is executingthe stunts in front of an appreciative audience.It feels so good after having gone throughmonths of hard training.”His message to those who want a part of the action:“Cheerleading is a fun sport; it’s good for bonding. We arenot out to kill our competitors,” says the 19-year-old brawnand-brainchap who has amassed an almost perfect GPAscore to date. After SP, he plans to study engineering in theuniversity and hopes to become a pilot in the future.This month, 20Gusto memberswill be in Taiwan totrain with Monsters,the number1 team there. SPiritwill bring you areport of the trip inthe next issue.Update: The new Presidentfor Gusto! is Terence Yew,second-year student fromthe Diploma in Bankingand Financial Services.New Captain for theteam is Kenneth Huang,second-year student fromthe Diploma in Event andProject Management.Cheerleading is a physical activity andsometimes a competitive sport. It is basedon organised routines, usually ranging fromone to three minutes, which contain themovements of tumbling, dancing, jumping,cheering and stunting to an audienceto cheer on sports teams at games or toparticipate in competitions. The participantinvolved is called a cheerleader.Cheerleading originated in the United States. The growing presentationof cheerleading as a sport to a global audience has been led by the 1982broadcast of cheerleading competition by the ESPN channel in the UnitedStates. The worldwide release of the 2000 film Bring it On popularised itfurther. There are now an estimated 100,000 cheerleaders around the restof the world in countries including Australia, Canada, China, Finland, France,Japan, New Zealand and of course, Singapore.The birth of cheerleading is closely tied to the history of sports in the UnitedStates (i.e. American Football, Basketball and even Rugby), its sporting venues,as well as the historical development of overall crowd participation at manyIn 1961, the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA)was formed in the USA and hundreds of thousandsof cheerleaders were trained. During the 1900s,cheerleading could be found in virtually every high schooland grade school across the USA. In 1974, the UniversalCheerleaders Association (UCA) was formed and thismarked the beginning of modern day cheerleading.Cheerleading specific skills such as partner stuntsand pyramids were introduced to make cheerleadingmore entertaining. The following year, UCA combinedcheerleading skills with music. This marked the birth ofthe cheerleading routine.In 1982, UCA hosted the 1st Cheerleading NationalChampionship which was shown on ESPN. Fiveyears later, the American Association of CheerleadingCoaches and Administrators (AACCA) was formedto teach, as well as safe-test cheerleading coachesaround the world. In 1988, UCA introducedcheerleading to Japan.Today, cheerleading is seen not just at sports events butalso at other activities such as New Year celebrations. In1996, cheerleading was a highlight at the 1996 SummerOlympic Games held in Atlanta, USA.In 2009, the non-profit United States All StarFederation (USASF) and the International All StarFederation (IASF) were formed to support InternationalClub Cheerleading and the World Cheerleading ClubChampionships. The following year, the USASF/IASFhosted the 1st World Cheerleading Championships atthe Walt Disney World Resort.In 2007, the IASF formed the International CheerUnion (ICU) to enhance efforts in supporting worldchampionships for national teams, world recognitionefforts by international sports authorities, and tosupport the safe development of cheerleading aroundthe world. ICU has since grown from 19 to 35 memberfederations. By 2009, the number ballooned to 76member federations.11Source: Wikipedia

Scholarly PerformanceFreshly Minted SP ScholarsOne of the highest honours that an SP student can claim is beingnamed an SP Scholar. Each year, an outstanding group of studentswill be awarded the SP Scholarship and the SP EngineeringScholarship. The qualifying criteria include excellent grades fortheir GCE ‘O’ level results and CCA records, strong leadershippotential and exemplary character. They also have to prove theirmettle at the test and interview rounds.This year, 65 of the 80 scholars are freshmen, while another15 second-year students who have proven themselves during theirfirst year made the grade too.A percentage of the SP Scholarship isalso awarded to outstanding graduatesfrom the Institute of Technical Education(ITE) who had joined SP. In addition,another group of students are awardedthe SP Sports Scholarship and the SPMusic and Arts Scholarship for theirsignificant achievements in sports,music or arts.Membership has its privileges. The SPScholars and SP Engineering Scholarswill receive a bond-free sponsorship of$2,500 per year. To earn a renewal, theyhave to maintain good academic andCCA records. There’s also a one-timesubsidy of $1,000 to buy that covetedlaptop. Best of all, they get to attendspecial programmes organised underthe SP Outstanding Talent (SPOT)scheme. The SP Sports Scholars and SPMusic and Arts Scholars will receive anannual sponsorship of $2,000.SPOT is a talent development andenrichment programme designed togroom our students into well-roundedleaders. Besides taking up a customisedmodule on current affairs, they will alsowork on social innovation projects andparticipate in high-key events such as theannual Poly Forum and dialogue sessionswith our key government leaders.A much coveted programme that is specialto SPOT, and SP, is the United NationsConference held at either Harvard orPrinceton universities in the United States.At the conference, which is attended byundergraduates from all over the world,participants will undertake the role of agovernment leader of a country to debateon relevant issues.All of these programmes will sharpentheir skills in critical thinking, publicspeaking, decision-making andpresentation.13

Scholarly PerformanceAt the SP Scholarship Award Ceremony, Jessica Lee, a fresh graduatefrom the Diploma in Accountancy (DAC) and former SP scholar,delivered an encouraging speech to the new batch. She is nowpursuing her degree in Accountancy at the Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity under the Nanyang Scholarship.CongratulationsSP Scholars 2012School ofArchitecture and theBuilt EnvironmentHu AnniSamantha TanWong Chi KhayNatalie PhoonIndra Faridzuan Bin RunziAgnes LauNick KohChew JunlingPoh Tian HanSP Business SchoolIvan ChanChia Wei HaoGlenn FangLee Shu HooiOh Bing QuanSheena LeeSuan YechinJasmine YeoLoh ZhiwenSchool of Chemicaland Life SciencesErica LeeNeo Feng YiPavittar KaurSyafiqah Bte mohd ShahrilTan Fong XinTan Xiu ZhenToby TanWong Si YuanYeo Yi PingDanial Said AbdatHariz Bin Mohd YousufHussein Ahmad Madhni Bin AliLiu YizhaoDickson SoonLim Xue TingPhoebe Germaine TanRachel TanMiko YeoSchool ofCommunication, Artsand Social SciencesAndrea KeePrisia OngPoh Jek KeeSim Xi ZheYuan YeLim Zhao YiSP Design SchoolCasper ChuaTan Kai LiBeatrice ChoSchool of DigitalMedia and InfocommTechnologyBryan Mitchell ChiaChen JianliangLim YizhengOng Jin JieSchool of Electricaland ElectronicEngineeringCaleb FooChua Shao WeiDaniel GohIkhwan Muzzammil Bin Muhd AzniKenneth ChengLee Jian WeiMuhd Syafiq Bin AbasTimothy TangYoong Jia HuiJerry QuekSchool of Mechanicaland AeronauticalEngineeringAng Wan LingBoo Kwok YingChin Guan WeiXavier ChuSamuel DoEugene GwanGoh Jia HuiJason AngJoshua GohLee Hong WeiLim BoxianLim Wei HeongMuhd Fahmi Bin ZakariaNg Han RongNg Li TingWallace TanDivesh SingarajuNicholas LookSingapore MaritimeAcademyLeong Wan ShanNery KohSun BowenSP Sports ScholarshipBasil Low – Diploma inBanking and FinanceErnest Chua – Diploma inBiomedical ScienceAbel Lim – Diploma inAeronautical EngineeringTimothy Lee – Diploma inAeronautical EngineeringAudrey Yong – Diploma inHotel and Leisure FacilitiesManagementSP Music and ArtsScholarshipGabriel Hoe – Diploma in Musicand Audio TechnologyJacob Koh – Diploma in InfocommunicationEngineeringand DesignWong Wai Huin - Diploma inMusic and Audio TechnologyBeth Yap - Diploma in Musicand Audio Technology“It is indeed my privilege to be able to join you atthis joyous occasion. Let me congratulate all ourscholars on receiving the various SP scholarships.With these awards, you are about to walk the pathof countless opportunities that will help you unlockyour true potential.Like most of you, I was very excited then toreceive this scholarship as it not only helpsus to cover our tuition fees, but also providessome pocket money for various study or trainingactivities. But the real value of our scholarshipgoes beyond the monetary sum that we arereceiving. It lies within the opportunities forexposure and development we get over the nextthree years, either through the SP OutstandingTalent (SPOT) programme, leadership trainingprogrammes or competitions – locally andoverseas.Communication, Leadership and Teambuilding– these are a few very important soft skills thatthese developmental programmes have equippedme with. And I am very thankful to SP, as well asmy lecturers for imparting me with such skills.By now, most of you would have attended theLeadership Training Camp at Telunas, Indonesia.I recall how I laid in a hammock in the junglethat night, trying very hard to fall asleep. I know Ineeded rest to prepare my body for the challengesof hiking down the next day, but I was wideawake as scenes of how I nearly lost my balanceand fell into a waterfall earlier that day made meworry that I would not be able to get down themountainous track the next day. Fortunately, myworries proved to be unfounded as I eventuallyovercame that obstacle. And how did I do that?Simple, I learnt to trust, not just in others, butalso in myself. So here’s what I lhave earnt atthat SPOT camp - Believe that you can, and youwill. Seize every opportunity you have over thenext three years to build your inner confidence,determination and perseverance. With that, Iam sure you will find great satisfaction in yourachievements.My life in SP has been a colourful one. I hadtwo core CCAs, the DAC Chapter and the SPArchery Club, of which I was the Presidentand Treasurer respectively. I have to admitthat it was rather demanding to maintainmy grades while I juggled between myresponsibilities in the CCAs. A particularlystressful period I had was when I startedjoining competitions as well as an overseascommunity involvement project (OCIP)when I was in my final year – the busiestyear of all. I broke down for the first time inmy life as I felt overwhelmed by the variousresponsibilities, deadlines and expectationsthat I had to meet, especially the highexpectations I had of myself.I remember how I had to stay back latealmost every day for trainings, CCA campmeetings, pre-OCIP-trip activities and nightlessons, on top of my usual lessons. Manythings were on my mind throughout the dayand when these activities became morethan I could handle mentally and physically, Ifinally collapsed.Fortunately, I managed to pull myselftogether, with great determination andthe support of my friends as well as thepeople around me. It was through suchan experience that I learned how to bettermanage problems. Sometimes, we need totake a step back and tackle problems oneat a time, rather than look at them as anoverwhelming whole.My advice to all of you - if you everfeel that you cannot go on further, takea break but don’t give up. Go get abreather to refresh and recharge. Alwaysremember that when there is a will,there is a way – stay strong.Always remember to appreciate thepeople around you and the thingsthat you have. Build up a network andtreasure the relationships that you haveforged, as they can become mutualpillars of support to fall back on in timesof need. Be grateful and remember tothank and acknowledge the people whohave helped or supported you in anyway.Let me share with you my life motto.“First say to yourself what you wouldbe; and then do what you have to do.”Looking back, this was what kept medriven throughout my three years inSP - the goal of furthering my studies ina university. Goals are important in life.So set a goal, work hard towards it andenjoy that feeling of achievement whenyou have attained your goal.Once again, congratulations on receivingthe scholarship. I wish you the best asyou embark on your journey as an SPScholar.15

Scholarship PartnerScholarship PartnerPhoto courtesy of Singapore Press Holdings.SP students receivingthe LKY-STEP Awardare (front row from left):Ivan Chan, Yvonne Goh,Darshini, Muhd AsrafBin Mohd Amin, ChenJianliang, (back row fromleft) Goh Jia Hui, Ang BoJia and Kenneth Cheng.No doubt about it. SP is the mostpopular polytechnic among outstandingInstitute of Technical Education (ITE)graduates. Among the 15 who wererecently awarded the Lee Kuan YewScholarship to Encourage Upgrading(LKY-STEP) Award, eight of them arenow with SP. The Scholarship comeswith a one-off cash quantum of $3,500and waiver of tuition fees for theduration of the course of study.Of the eight, four of them alsoreceived the Sultan Haji Omar AliSaifuddien Book Prize. This prizerecognises LKY-STEP recipients whoNote: The Lee Kuan Yew Scholarshipto Encourage Upgrading (LKY-STEP) Award was establishedfrom donations received from theformer Minister Mentor Lee KuanYew through the sale proceeds ofautographed editions of Volume 2of his Memoirs. The objective of theaward is to encourage upgradingand lifelong learning.The Next Stepto Successhave achieved the most outstandingacademic results at ITE. Up to sixawards are given out each year and SPstudents clinched four of them.The outstanding eight are Ang Bo Jia*,Kenneth Cheng*, Chen Jianliang*,ITE graduates shineFive outstanding graduates from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) now studyingin SP are among 11 polytechnic students who recently received the Tay Eng SoonScholarship (TESS). They are Nguan Jia Hui (Diploma in Aeronautical Engineering),Mohd Fadhil Bin Mohd Soffe (Diploma in Electrical and Electronic Engineering),Eric Pui (Diploma in Infocomm Security Management, Diaz Shirannie Barquilla(Diploma in Integrated Events and Project Management) and Aldric Fong(Diploma in Maritime Business). They will receive a one-off cash award of $3,000.The TESS wasestablished in 1993 fromdonations received fromcompanies, individualsand staff of ITE and thepolytechnics, in memoryof the late Dr Tay EngSoon, former Chairmanof ITE and Minister-in-Charge of polytechnicand technical education.Muhd Asraf Bin Mohd Amin*, GohJia Hui, Yvonne Goh, Ivan Chan andDarshini (those in * are also recipientsof the SHOAS Book Prize). Theyreceived their awards from Ministerof State for Education Mr LawrenceWong at a ceremony last month.Recipients of Tay Eng SoonScholarships: (from left): Aldric Fong,Mohd Fadhil, Diaz Shirannie andEric Pui. Not in picture: Nguan Jia Hui.Scholarships ForBusinessDesign ThinkersIn a first of its kind collaborationbetween a polytechnic and a ministry,five SP students from the pioneercohort of the Diploma in BusinessInnovation and Design (DBID) willreceive a total scholarship sum of$75,000. This is made possible by agenerous grant from the Ministry ofNational Development (MND) whichrecognises the importance of infusingDesign Thinking as the new approachto improve business processes for thefuture.The scholarship will pay for their threeyeartuition fee at SP and expensesfor the two-week long Boot Camp atRotman DesignWorks in University ofToronto, Canada – which is one of thehighlights for this new diploma course.Rotman School of Management is oneof the world’s best business schoolsand a global leader in business design.The scholars will in turn serve a 15-week internship and two-year bond aftergraduation at a MND agency of theirchoice.The five students – Vivian Ang, KaoHwee Ling, Aaron Lim, Michelle Limand Valetta Teo were selected fromamong the pool of applicants after tworounds of interviews and a papersubmission with the topic, “What arekey challenges Singapore faces and howit should respond to the challenges”.The scholarship deal was inked betweenMr Tay Kim Poh, Deputy Secretary(Development) of MND and Mr TanHang Cheong, SP Principal. Said Mr Tan:“The Diploma in Business Innovationand Design course is the first of itskind in the tertiary arena and it takes aradical approach to business education.We want to inculcate SP studentswith a mindsetfor innovation inthe fast-changingeconomicenvironment.“The ministry hopesto attract youngtalents from theinaugural batch andtap their knowledgeof Design Thinkingto help improveservices to the widercommunity.The scholars willalso be giveninternship and workopportunities atMND and its statutory boards andagencies that include the Agri-Foodand Veterinary Authority, Building andConstruction Authority, Council forEstate Agencies (CEA), Housing andDevelopment Board, National ParksBoard and Urban RedevelopmentAuthority. The five of them receivedthe scholarships from Mr KhawBoon Wan, Minister for NationalDevelopment, at the MND-EDGEBusiness Innovation and DesignScholarship Ceremony held in July.SP Principal Tan Hang Cheong (right) and Mr Tay Kim Poh, Deputy Secretary (Development),Ministry of National Development signed a deal that paved the way for SPstudents to receive scholarships and internships from the ministry.Pioneer studentsfrom the Diplomain Business Innovationand Designstudents receivethe MND (from left):Vivian Ang, ValettaTeo, Aaron Lim,Kao Hwee Ling andMichelle Lim.19

Strategic PartnerSmart PhoneRise Of TheApp KnightsA new internship programme along theline of SP’s authentic learning approachis in place for students interested in abanking career. In an exclusive tie-up,OCBC Bank and SP jointly launchedthe FRANK by OCBC – SP InternshipProgramme, in conjunction with theopening of its fourth FRANK Store at SPcampus in July. This is the first FRANKStore in a polytechnic.Through this 12-week internshipprogramme, SP students will learn howto manage the FRANK by OCBC bankingprogramme, and develop and implementnew business ideas to differentiatethe programme for the SP studentpopulation. The first batch of internswill start their internship later this yearand OCBC expects to train up to 30 SPinterns every year.All interested students have to submittheir resumes to the bank and shortlistedones would attend two rounds ofSP students packing punches at the launchof FRANK Store at SP.FRANKlySpeaking, Thisis Excellent!interview. This process will give thestudents a real sense of what it is like tolook for a job. Selection is based on theirlevel of interest, personality, attitudeand ability to strategise, plan, implementprogrammes and work in a team. Theinterns will be assigned to the variousconsumer banking units at OCBC Bankand work alongside the Frank by OCBCteam - marketing, credit and debit cardsbusiness operations and merchantacquisition, and branch banking. Eachintern will be mentored by a designatedOCBC Bank manager who will provideguidance and supervision throughout theinternship period.Each cohort of interns will also be given abusiness objective to deliver. They can beasked to develop and implement strategiesto get more Frank by OCBC bank accounts,come up with more product ideas andexecute campaigns on various engagementplatforms. Like a business project, theinterns will have to research, conceptualise,FRANK Store is conveniently located at Foodcourt 5, apopular student haunt at SP.test, implement and review their marketingand sales ideas, together with the Frank byOCBC team and their mentors.Mr Ching Wei Hong, Chief Operating Officerof OCBC Bank, said: “FRANK by OCBC is abanking programme based on relevance tothe youths. With this internship programme,the youths from Singapore Polytechnic canshape the FRANK by OCBC experience thatis unique and relevant to the entire studentpopulation.”Mr Tan Hang Cheong, SP Principal, isdelighted to have a FRANK Store within thecampus. He said: “FRANK by OCBC is agreat concept. As a strategic collaboration, itis more than just a store. Through a series ofengagement initiatives, we want to educateour students about money management.We believe they will be able to applywhat they have learnt in class and mostimportantly, be armed with practical skillsthat can be applied when they start theircareer. This collaboration will certainly valueaddto SP’s internship programme and willalign well with our emphasis on providing theauthentic learning experience.”OCBC FRANK Store in SP is located atFoodcourt 5, a popular convergence areafor SP students with Starbucks, Cheers,Popular, Kentucky, Subway, swimming pooland the gym all located in the same area.It offers an array of banking services witha special focus on youths’ banking needs.Besides counter services such as depositaccount opening and loan application, youcan also apply for debit and credit cardsand drop off your cheques.FRANK Store at SP’s opening hours arefrom 9am to 4.30pm (weekdays) and 9amto 11.30am on Saturdays.You will check FRANK out, won’t you?Diploma in Information Technology(DIT) student Brandon Tan is reaping thebenefits of turning what he has learntfrom his course into reality. The finalyearstudent, who is taking the GameDevelopment Option, took part in theNokia Knight Program and walked awaywith two major prizes. Operating as aone-man-team, he won a prize in theStarter Category for being one of the first10 teams to have three apps publishedusing the Windows 7 platform andanother prize in the Hero Category forscoring the highest download rate amongthe published apps.Besides Brandon, another team of20 second-year DIT students callingthemselves the La Familia Games Team,mentored by lecturer Alvin Tang, wonthree prizes in the same competition. Inaddition to winning the prize for beingone of the first 10 teams to create threepublished apps, they also won prizesfor the Team with the Most Number ofPublished Apps (19 created in total) andTeam with the Best App (Flag Raiser).The DIT students fought hard againstcompetitors from other institutions likeBrandon Tan, the risingapp knight.Nanyang Polytechnic, NanyangTechnological University andthe Institute of TechnicalEducation. The 20 studentsare Edgar Wong, Eugene Tan,Leslie Lau, Benjamin Tan,Muhd Hilmi, Jeric Yim, CheungWai Tung, Koo Chin Chye,Wong Zheng Yang, Muhd Azharuddin,Mohd Nashrulhaq, Muhd Nur Randy,Khiew Jian Bin, Marcus Ho, Song JunQuan, Ang Jun Yao, Lin Chun Yi, DicksonAng, Lim Ta Eu and Chee Zhong Xian.Brandon won himself a Nokia Lumia710 smartphone and a cash prize ofUS$3000. As for the La Familia GamesTeam, they reaped US$6,000 and aNokia smartphone.Nokia Knight Program is a competitionfor students and lecturers to flaunt theirmobile application development andcreative thinking skills by competingamongst themselves and gain recognitionas a Nokia Knight.Brandon’s winning streak also extendedto another competition that he took partin – the #LumiaAppsChallenge by Nokiawhich required participating teams todevelop three apps approved by Nokiain three months. Five SP Teams, allcomprising DIT students, were amongthe 50 proposals accepted for thiscompetition. The five teams were led byBrandon Tan, Nicholas Lee, Ong Jin Wen,Felix Foo and Christopher Choo – all finalyearstudents.The current final year cohort of 31 DITstudents taking the Game DevelopmentOption is a bunch of prolific appdevelopers. Within just one semester,they have developed and published morethan 10 games. Through working in smallgroups, they leveraged on each other’sbest skills ranging from programming toart to game design. Their apps, coveringa wide genre from casual games to 3Dshooters, are available as free downloadson the Windows Phone Marketplace.Kudos to lecturer Alvin Tang, mentorof these future game developers, forpatiently guiding them over the years.Alvin himself is an avid developerand was amongst the first to havehis app idea approved for Nokia’s#LumiaAppsChallenge. His first app,Blast Bunnies! received more than 3,000downloads in two weeks!Some of the published game apps developed by SP students for the Nokia Knight Program.SP student winners at the Nokia Knight Program withlecturer Alvin Tang (fourth in front row).21

Solar PerfectionTeam SUNSPEC fromleft to right: Frontrow: Ng Han Sheng,Lim Liang Yuan, NgYe Xun, Daniel Yee,Kenet Chua, LimXiao Ming; Backrow: Sukumar S/OM Tanda Erapanni,Lur Bing Huii, Ng YeHan, Austen Cheah,Chua Bing Sheng(TSO), Lawrence Ng(Senior Lecturer),Than Keng Hwa(Senior Lecturer), PehKing Sing (SeniorLecturer) LeongFai Choy (SeniorLecturer), Lam Yi Kee(Senior Lecturer), LeeJie Xin, Adlin Ng,Doris Hoe, Wang Lu,Md Azizul Hakim BinM Rusli, Dennis Tangand Abdul HakimBin Abdul Wahid;Inside the car: KohYong Tat; Not inpicture: Foo FangSiong (Lecturer),Steven Chew (SeniorLecturer) andDanny Quek (SeniorLecturer).At the send-off in Sentosa.First in PrototypeSolar category:8 gold medals, atrophy and US$2,000cash prize.And the winner is….Singapore Polytechnic SUNSPEC!Vroom Vroom To VictoryThey are barely 20 yearsolds but yet capable ofdesigning a vehicle thatroared to victory at theracing track. A teamof students from theDiploma in Clean Energy(DCEG) and Diploma inElectrical and ElectronicEngineering (DEEE),with guidance from theirlecturers, designed asolar car that came infirst in the Prototype Solarcategory at the ShellEco-marathon Asia 2012.The race took place inthe Sepang InternationalCircuit in Kuala Lumpur.The annual event, which SP took partin for the first time, challenges studentteams from around the world to design,build and test ultra energy-efficientvehicles that will inspire future engineersto turn the vision of sustainable mobilityinto reality. It is held across several continentsin that include the Americas, Europeand Asia with two main categories- the Prototype Solar focuses on maximumefficiency while the Urban Conceptencourages more practical designs.There were 87 and 43 teams in thePrototype and Urban Concept categoriesrespectively. To win the Prototype raceat Sepang, the SP Team had to completethe race with the least possible amountof energy, cover a distance of 11 kilometresand clock in a time not exceeding21 minutes. The air was tense as thecircuit was filled with more than 130student teams from 18 countries suchas Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia, inaddition to other Singapore teams frominstitutions including Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity, National University ofSingapore, Ngee Ann Polytechnic andthe Institute of Technical Education.The SP solar car was christened SUN-SPEC (Sun Singapore PolytechnicEngineering Cluster), a lightweight,energy-efficient, and reliable vehiclepowered by solar panels and batteries.The development team comprised 30staff and students from the Schools ofMechanical and Aeronautical Engineering(MAE) and Electrical and ElectronicEngineering (EEE). Leading the teamswere senior lecturers Lawrence Ng KiamYam and Leong Fai Choy. Both are membersof a SP solar car racing team thatwas formed in 2010 by the EngineeringCluster with the aim of giving students aholistic learning experience by combiningcutting-edge engineering with automobilesto help save the environment.Getting ready for the race.All cars raring to go...“We were really excited because this was the first time weparticipated in a regional competition. At the Singapore send-offevent, we had comments that our solar car was impressive and itwas of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) standard,” saidLawrence. “After executing a smooth demo, we were confident thatthe car would do well at the competition.”Fai Choy added that that the students worked veryhard, including over weekends, to get the car ready forcompetition. “Seeing the students feeling proud andexcited over their car was tremendously satisfying.The project is one way for the students to build theircapabilities in SP before they start work.”Participation in the Shell Eco-marathon is the secondstage of a three-year project plan. The team is gearingup for the World Solar Car Challenge which will be heldin Australia next year. The KL event was a good warmupfor the World Solar Challenge where teams haveto depart from Darwin and compete to arrive first inAdelaide, some 3,000km away.Winning aside, what counted was the learningopportunity. Said Team Manager Lim Xiao Ming, a finalyearclean energy student: “We learned how to listento each other’s idea and opinions. Everyone shouldhave a chance to share their thoughts and contributeto the team. One person’s idea might be wrong, butmany wrong answers could lead to brilliant discoveries.Therefore, every voice should be heard.”Post event exhibition atShell House.23

Social ProgrammingInfocommWhiz KidsSentimental PleasuresFor one week in August, visitors to Bugis+ were challenged toreassess their beliefs about happiness through nine art installations.Collectively known as “The Happiness Machine”, the installationswere created by 19 final-year students from the Diploma in VisualCommunication and Media Design (DVMD). These works werecurated as part of their New Media Design module.An SP team from the School of Digital Media and Infocomm Technology (DMIT) wonthe first prize at the Now You Can Leadership (NYCL) Series Season 2, a competitionorganised by Grid MMS Pte Ltd that encourages youth from 16 to 24 years old todevelop ideas to improve people’s lives or the environment. Team Storyboard, ledby Jonathan Toh Jun Hong, was the champion in the Helping Humans category. Theteam of four, all final-year Diploma in Information Technology (DIT) students, tookhome $2,000 cash.Jonathan shares his team’s journeyin the making of their winning project- MediJournal - a medication reminderiPhone app that is intuitive, fast and usefulfor all ages. It enables a user to grab theirmedication info from the hospital’s serverand automatically schedules the remindertimings with only one touch of a button.“My team took part in five competitions,including the NYCL Series, and we madeit to the finals for most. It was a long butfruitful one-year journey. MediJournalwas developed based on a codingprogramming language that wasn’teven taught in school. Nevertheless,the foundation that DIT gave us wasa great advantage to pick up anotherprogramming language easily.Team Storyboard: (from left) BrandonTan Jian Sin, Francis Cheng, JonathanToh Jun Hong, and Nicholas LeeIt was a very difficult journey that causedmany sleepless nights but they were allworthwhile. In the end, what mattersmost to us is making a difference -helping people and making their liveseasier using information technology,”says Jonathan.Another SP team, Team AWE4SOME,took the runner-up position in the Dreamis Green category. The team comprisedstudents from both DIT and Diplomain Infocomm Security Management(DISM): Team Leader Terence Lam (DIT,first-year), Clarence Lam (DIT, finalyear),Timothy Tan (DISM, first-year) andBernard Tang (DISM, final-year). Theirproject is titled Recyclops, a smartphoneapp to help users recognise recyclableitems and nearby recycling bins, wonthem a trophy and $250 voucher.Here’s another winStudents from the School of DigitalMedia and Infocomm Technology reapeda bountiful harvest this year. They havescored victories in several competitionsand some teams would be headingoverseas to prove their mettle in theinfocomm technology arena.Besides winning a top prize at theNow You Can Leadership Series (mainstory), Jonathan Toh also captured theBest Presenter Award at the SingaporeInfocomm Technology Federation Awards.This is not all. A team comprising freshDIT graduates Kugan Kobalakrisna (TeamLeader), Muhd Nazrul Nizam MohdKhamis, Jayaprakash Amresh Kumar,Lau Huiting, and Muhd Izzat Ridzuan tookthe Gold Award for their project LifelineMobile Application in the Tertiary category.Kugan and team mates will be takingthe project to compete at the Asia PacificICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards to be heldin Brunei in December. APICTA is aninternational awards programme thataims to increase infocomm technologyawareness in the Asian Pacific community.Jonathan Toh(left) and KuganKobalakrisna – bigwinners at the SiTF2012 Awards.Photo courtesy of Singapore Press Holdings.A mock-up of a$50 bill asks thequestions: Have youspent money wiselyand has moneybrought real joy toyou or the peoplearound you?Don’t Worry,Be Happy From left: Hazel, Sui Kee and Melissabring back old memories under theirGood Memories umbrella.Several of the installations creatively recombinedimagery from familiar environments. The “Big50!” (left picture), for example, is a pixelatedimage of a $50 bill made from hundreds of smallpaper squares. Created by Cheryl Wong Qiao Liand Hasziela Binte Ali, it shows the differencethat a $50 bill could make in one’s life. If splurgedthoughtlessly, it can become a materialisticbaggage. However, it can also bring real happinessif spent on something meaningful, like one’s lifelongyearning or a gift for a loved one. The arduous taskof joining together the pieces of paper to create thegiant note gives a hint of the amount of hard workthat goes into earning $50.Another installation named “Good Memories”focused on bygone childhoods. Created by EngSui Kee, Hazel Yu and Melissa Zee, it is a collectionof 32 tin cans, with each containing a nostalgicchildhood source of joy in the form of games,sounds or smells. The cans contain things like fivestones, a childhood game; Tiger Balm ointmentwhich emits a strong signature scent; and soundrecorders that play sounds like the traditional schoolbell ring and shouts of karang guni. The WhiteRabbit milk candy is in one of the cans. Suikeesaid: “Our installation is like a shelter where peoplecan relive their childhood memories, look back, behappy and remember joys of the past.”Lecturer David Tan Yang Tow from SP DesignSchool shared about the exhibition’s aim:“Through this project, we hope to get the visualcommunication design students to probe into thehearts of our residents and rediscover the richheritage and cultures of old or contemporary times.From there, they can develop interactive artefactsto remind the public of what makes them happyand even proud to be a homegrown Singaporean.”Interactivity: visitors at the Happiness Machine exhibition pendown their thoughts on what they are grateful for.25

Seoul PresenceSouth Korea is now a hotspot for two reasons – K-pop groups andcosmetic surgery. But these are not the primary reasons why agroup of students from the Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA)at SP were there not too long ago.A Taste Of University Life InK-Pop LandMaritime Businessstudents made aninaugural visit toChung-Ang University inSouth Korea.Eugene Lim, a final-year student fromthe Diploma in Maritime Business(DMB), landed in Seoul recently with 18fellow course mates and senior lecturerCaptain Sahwan Osman to visit Chung-Ang University (CAU), one of the topuniversities in Korea. The trip allows DMBstudents to explore the possibility offurthering their maritime studies offered byCAU, after seeing the campus with theirown eyes.Besides a tour of the entire campus whichincluded visiting the library and hostel,they also attended a special lesson on portautomation by a British professor. CAUwas established in 1918 and the universityhas gone through extensive rejuvenationand many new buildings have been addedin recent years. An interesting landscapeof old and new buildings fill the campus.Best of all, the Korean government isbuilding a seaport nearby which will addEugene (second from left) and coursemates having fun sightseeing andeating in the land of K-Pop.ease in providing hands-on learning forthe undergraduates there. The group alsovisited the Incheon Free Economic Zone(IFEZ), a hub for logistics, internationalbusiness, leisure and tourism, and theIncheon Port.Eugene recalls his visit to Incheon Port:“It was really an eye opener. The visitgave us a real feel of the port facilities.From the academic viewpoint, I felt reallyprivileged to be able to step into the portas this is usually not opened to the public.We also had the opportunity to see thelock system, a device that allows waterto be raised for vessels to sail in so thatcargo can be loaded and discharged. Thisis not used in Singapore and we onlylearned about it through our module notes.So seeing a real system reinforces mylearning about its usage and is entirelydifferent from just reading about it fromour notes.”The group stayed in a hotelabout 45-minute drive fromIncheon Airport in Seoul.Besides exploring all of CAU,they had a little bit of timeto discover Korean culture.One of the more interestingrecreational lessons waslearning how to make kimchiat the (what else!) KimchiSchool! They had also sometime to shop at some of themost popular tourist belts likeMyongdong, Itaaewan andNandemon.“What I like about Koreais that the people seem tobe respectful to each other,especially towards the eldersand teachers. The food wasgreat but a major problem isthat most restaurants onlyhave their menu in Korean.Their barbeque meat isespecially delicious! And experiencing atemperature of almost -8 degrees is nojoke for us so used to the hot weather.We brought winter clothings but they stillcouldn’t keep us warm,” says Eugene.Eugene has not yet decided whether hewants to study in CAU but he is pretty sureof getting a degree after his diploma. Nosweat for this guy to advance his studies,with his current almost perfect GPA score.Note: In a recent collaborationbetween Singapore Maritime Academyand Chung-Ang University, graduatesfrom the Diploma in Maritime Business(DMB) can pursue the Bachelor ofBusiness Administration (InternationalLogistics) at CAU, a two-year degreeprogramme conducted in English.Every year, about 200 students from various SPschools and other partner educational institutionsattend the Maritime Experiential Learning (MEL)Camp, a special learning programme on boardStar Cruise Virgo. Started in 2004, the camp is acollaborative programme between the SingaporeMaritime Academy at SP and Star Cruises for studentsto experience learning on a floating campus.During the four-day return cruise to Penangand Phuket, in addition to the experience ofliving aboard and witnessing the operationsof a large well-run cruise ship, the studentsalso learn about the global shipping industryand Singapore’s role in the maritimeindustry. There are also motivational talksby adventurers sharing their experiencesin dealing with various challenges, such asclimbing Mount Everest, trekking the Northand South Poles and swimming acrossMalacca Strait.Ko Kar Meng, a final-year Diploma inMaritime Business student, joined the campduring his second year. He enjoyed it somuch that he volunteered for a second runthis year, this time as a student helper.“This time round, besides SMA students,we also had SP students from theDiploma in International Business (DIB),undergraduates from Korea’s Chung-AngUniversity, Japan’s Toba College of MaritimeStar ProgrammeKar Meng (left) andcourse mate taking abreak on Phuket Island.Floating CampusTechnology and students from the Institutionof Technical Education (Yishun). It was agood mix of local and foreign participants. Myduties include co-ordinating the workshops,ensuring safety, taking photos and hostingour friends from Japan,” says Kar Meng.Activities on board included workshopsby Star Cruise’sCaptain Rodshortwho shared hisexperience ofhis career asa ship captain.Professor EhsanMesbahi fromthe NewcastleUniversity alsogave a lessonabout ballasttanks. Wellknown motivational speaker Jeffrey Gohalso delivered a hilarious talk to the youngaudience.“One of the highlights was visiting areasin the ship that are not opened to thepublic, such as the engine room, thenavigation bridge and the galleys wherefood is prepared. We had stops in Penangand Phuket and all of us spared no timeto visit places of interest within the shorthours given. The students had to givepresentations on the last day on what theyhad learnt from the camp. It would end witha gala dinner hosted by the captain,” saysKar Meng.Two times in MEL Camps is seeminglynot enough for Kar Meng. He will be goingto Nagoya in Japan for another overseaslearning trip this month. This time round,he will stay in the homes of the Japanesestudents who had a home-stay in his housewhen they were here on a study trip earlier.Ka Meng plans to further his studiesat Plymouth University in the UnitedKingdom to study maritime businessafter his diploma.Kar Meng with Star CruiseVirgo’s Captain Rodshort.The MEL Camp 2012family photo with thecrew of Star CruiseVirgo.27

Saving PlanetThe SPEnvironment Clubat work for the3R CommunityCollection Drive.My Journey AsA YoungEnvironmentalistElaine Sam, a final-year student from the Diploma inEnvironmental Management and Water Technology (DEWT)course, recently took a trip to the tropical forest in Borneo to studyenvironmental issues. The trip was her prize package as one ofthe five winners at this year’s HSBC/NYAA Youth EnvironmentalAward. She also received a plaque and a $500 voucher. TheAward was started in 1988 to recognise youth between theages of 14 and 25 for their outstanding contributions towardsenvironmental protection and nature conservation and topromote support for young environmentalists.Elaine certainly deserves the win. It was through her diploma course that she metlike-minded course mates who led her to join the SP Environment Club which sheis now leading as Club President. But her emotional attachment to the environmentstarted even way earlier.“I’m fascinated with nature since young and it has always been my dream to visit all thenatural wonders of the world. I was not only watching cartoons like any normal kids butlaine Sam set foot in Borneo. Left: Elaine (middle) with the winnersof the HSBC/NYAA Youth Environmental Awards 2012.also documentaries that had creatureslike the beautiful tree frog or other wildlife animals. During my secondary schooldays, I realised that my peers are notreally environmentally conscious. Thisactually motivated me to post articleson the environment and recycling onpopular social networking sites. I believea new belief can start with small habitsin our daily lives. Soon, I got together agroup of friends to volunteer at the TzuChi Foundation’s recycling centre wherepeople bring their own recyclables andhelp to sort out the different materials,”recalls Elaine of her early days inenvironmental work.With the SP Environment Club,Elaine participated in activities likethe mangrove salvation at SungeiBuloh, Amazing Green Race and EarthHour. She also initiated a field tripto Landscape Nursery to inculcatehorticultural knowledge, promotegardening interest and introducehydroculture technology in gardening.Together with NParks, she organisedEarth Day @ Pasir Ris Park. In 2011,she represented SP at the WorldLeadership Conference where delegatesfrom the region gather to discussenvironmental issues. More recently,the Club embarked on a nine-month 3RCommunity Collection Drive to educateresidents about the importance of“reduce, reuse and recycle.”Elaine’s trip to Borneo kicked off witha send-off where each winner waspresented with research kits, as a symbolof being given the opportunity to goto Borneo’s tropical rainforest to gainfirst-hand information and groundworkexperience in scientific research. Guidedby scientists from Universiti MalaysiaSabah and a senior scientist from theSoutheast Asian Rainforest ResearchProgramme, they would assess andmeasure soil moisture levels, test andanalyse slope angle and position, plantseeds and study vegetation structureand density to understand soil erosion,fragmentation and climate change thatoccur in the rainforest of Borneo.The Borneo trip seemed surreal to herinitially: “Winning a trip to the heart ofBorneo was really a dream come true forme as I have always wanted to explorethat part of the world which is rich inbiodiversity. Borneo is the third largestisland (shared by Malaysia, Indonesiaand Brunei) in the world and much of itis covered with tropical rainforest whichhas the most diverse ecosystems in theworld. They are home to thousands ofplant species, countless types of insect,a vast array of birds and some of theworld’s most iconic and endangeredmammals like the Sumatran rhino,clouded leopards and pygmy elephants.”Drinking fresh vine water and doing leaf count.The journey there, inher own words, waslike a scene fromIndiana Jones. Thegroup descendedin Danum Valleyfield centre, about athree-hour drive fromLahad Datu Airport,after a bumpy ride onrusty laterite roadswith countless bendsand slopes. Theplace was set up forresearch, educationand wildernessrecreation and hassuitably rustic,simple but sufficientinfrastructures for the researchers. Theywere joined by self-funded Earth Watchvolunteers from Australia, Britain and theUnited States.Their project aimed to understand howlogging and land use change haveimpacted forests and how resilientlythese rainforests react to climate change,especially severe droughts. Togetherwith a team of scientists and researchassistants, they assessed the structureof the rainforest, analysed how plantsand animals have been impacted by thelogging and fragmentation, and how thisdisturbance has affected soil moisture,decomposition and soil erosion.Although Elaine did not know her fellowteam members well, their commoninterest bound them together. “Thefield project was done in groups,so teamwork is a key element. Thescientist would pick the land plots andwe had to meet targeted daily datacollection for leaf count, herbivoredamage and light intensity.The forest was not second nature tothe young urban dwellers, so theywere also taught some basic junglesurvival skills. They had to stay alertall the time and look out for signs offatigue among team members. Therewere also volunteers who came fromtemperate climate regions who had tokeep themselves hydrated all the timeas the humidity was very high in thejungle and they might not have adaptedwell initially. Everyone learned someBreak time in the forest with the locals and the Earth Check scientists.tips on recognising heat illness due toacclimatization, burns, harmful insectsand hazards in the forest. One importanttip that Elaine picked up was recognisingdead tree stumps and not to hold on tothem.Her summary of the trip: “I’ve learnt a lotabout the importance of forest biodiversityand its beauty. I made the most out of mytime there and enjoyed nature to the fullest.Away from the hustle and bustle of city life,the experience of tranquility is priceless. Outin the forest, we got to experience wildlifesightings of hornbills, listen to the sound ofthe barking deer, monitor the tracks left byclouded leopards and look out for signs thata rogue male pygmy elephant was in thevicinity.”Elaine has this word of advice for youngaspiring environmentalists like her:“What’s most important is taking the firststep in volunteerism. The SP EnvironmentClub, for example, is a great platform. Youcan start as a green guide for secondaryschools students to tell them more aboutour SP green features like the InnoVillageor even initiating outdoor environmentcamps.”After her graduation, Elaine hopes to clincha scholarship to study EnvironmentalEngineering or Environmental Science atone of our local universities. But her journeyas an environmentalist does not stop afterSP. She intends to continue her passion inraising awareness on environmental issuesand hopes to inspire future green leadersto take the first step forward in making thedifference.29

String PerfectionSarawak ProjectThe SP String Ensemble learnsfrom the best in Taiwan.University, for example, exposed herto the Baroque symphony which usesdifferent instruments and techniques.The group also attended lecturesconducted by the National TaiwanUniversity where they learned aboutstage management and structuringof songs. A concert by the NationalSymphony Orchestra was alsoincluded in the itinerary.师 父 (Shifu), PleaseShow Me HowIn the imaginary world of swordfighting novels, we hear of young menwho would travel to the mountainsto seek masters or shifu who wouldteach them martial arts.A group of 19 young musicians fromthe SP String Ensemble did thesame, albeit in a more comfortablesetting. They flew to Taipei to seekout the masters among the orchestramusicians there, hoping toimprove their performanceskills while slurping oystermee suah in Ximenting,a popular youth shoppingdistrict.The one-week trip wasmade possible by JohnnyOng, a manager from theDepartment of StudentDevelopment who was oncean undergraduate in Taiwan.Through his network withthe music industry there, hehooked up with the Taipei SymphonyOrchestra which kindly accepted hisrequest to conduct master classes forthe SP string musicians.For Liow Ying Xuan, a fresh SPgraduate from the Diploma in FoodScience and Technology (DFST)who went on the trip, it was a veryfruitful and educational trip for her.The visit to the Chinese CulturalOur string musicianslearning how to choosea good cello fromMr Chen Yu Han, acellist from the TaipeiSymphony Orchestra.The eye-opener was a special masterclass conducted by Mr Roger Chiang,the Concert Master for the TaipeiSymphony Orchestra who patientlylistened to our young musicians andpointed out how they could improveon their skills.How could a visit to Taipei end withouttaking in the sights? Besides visitingTaipei 101, the tallest building inTaiwan, the ensemble also found timeto visit cultural gems like the YingGe Pottery Museum and the TaipeiArts Museum where they admirednative art forms. They also took adip at a hot spring in Yang Ming Shanand visited Danshui old town and themust-see-and-eat Shilin Night Market.Ying Xuan sums up the trip: “Althoughit was only one week, I learned somany things that I can apply in mydaily practice. Other than that, Ibonded much closer with the groupand our relationship has strengthenedso much more after this trip.”Editor’s note; The SP StringEnsemble will be putting up theirRenaissance series concert thisyear under the SP Arts Fiesta inNovember. Watch out for it!Sleeping With LizardsAnd BugsNot even 20 years old and thrown in aforeign land to produce a documentary.That was the scenario that final-yearstudents from the Diploma in CreativeWriting for TV and New Media (DTVM)faced for one of their projects. No bigdeal. Just make friends with the bugs,hop on a boat, talk to villagers and laugh alot. At the end of it, they delivered!The entire final-year cohort of 43 studentsspent four days and three nights inSarawak, Malaysia for a filming project.Accompanied by five lecturers, they hadto complete a documentary assignmentunder the module called ‘On-LocationProduction’. The idea was to train them toproduce a compelling story in unfamiliaror even unfavourable conditions within atight deadline. This is what SP educatorslove to call it – authentic learning. After all,the aspiring creative writers would haveto deal with such work environmentsin the future. This is the best way forthem to learn – do what the mediaprofessionals do. Not a single complaintfrom them. After all, this is in lieu oftaking exam papers!Teamed in groups of six, they weregiven a choice of three destinations - afishing village called Kampung Buntal,the Sarawak Cultural Village and anothervillage at the foot of the majesticSantubong mountain. Many hours werespent under the hot sun interviewingthe villagers, filming their daily activities,attending briefings and discoveringmyths and legends. There was alot of hard work. It was not exactlypleasurable just waiting for the rightshot. Getting the interviews right wasexcruciatingly difficult.But there were fun moments. Homewas right smack in the rainforest with nopillows and bolsters. They woke up not tothe blasting of car horns but chirping birdsand had visits from friendly neighbourslike the lizards and bugs. There wassome time to play beach games and evenshopping. Some of them even realisedthat life without their mobile phones wasa lot better!What matters most to them howeverwere the end results - stunning visualsand enlightening sound-bites. It wasan exhilarating experience that wouldbe a highlight in their resumes. Theirdocumentaries would be exhibited duringtheir graduation show next year. Best ofall, they would also compete amongstthemselves for the DTVM Awards, thehighlight of their graduation show.31

Splashing PleasuresWater PleasuresIt was splashing good times once more as SP staff and students,together with partners from the secondary schools, occupiedMarina Barrage on a sunny morning in June for the annualSingapore International Water Festival (SIWF). Organised jointlywith the Public Utilities Board in collaboration with the SingaporeInternational Water Week, the event serves to educate youth onthe importance of water conservation.Since last year, SIWF has alsobecome a family day event for SPstaff where family members of the SPcommunity have a fun day engagingin activities such as kite making, artcompetition and riding on the rivertaxis. The turnout of SP studentswas also the highest in the historyof this fun yet educational event, awell-deserved record after monthsof campaigning by the SIWF studentambassadors appointed to promotethe event. In all, more than 5,000people soaked in the wet and wildenvironment.Mr Chan Chun Sing, Acting Ministerfor Community Development, Youthand Sports, officially launched thisyear’s SIWF. Two cheques werepresented at the ceremony. The sum of$90,000 was presented to President’sChallenge to help beneficiaries underthis programmewhile another$$75,635 wasdonated toMercy Relief toaid humanitarianmissions worldwide. The monies werecollected by SP freshies during thisyear’s Flag Day.If you missed out on the action, SPiritbrings you the highlights in pictures.SP students and ourpartner institutions pittheir skills in the Raft,Telematch, Canoe andDragonboat races.The Raft Race wasparticularly interestingas teams had to buildrafts using recycledmaterials.33

Sight ProgrammeOptometry final year students (from left) Santi Tang, Kodi Goh, Syafiq Asyraf and Jian Bin have the best of both worlds after theygraduate – they can choose to start work as optometrists and draw a good starting pay or pursue a two-year degree programmeoffered by University of Manchester and conducted in SP.A spanking new Optometry Centre to train future optometrists.From left : Santi Tang, Kodi Goh, Syafiq Asyraf Bin Kusni and Ge Jian Bin.PerfectSightFor TheFutureTaylor Swift sings “Keep your eyesopen…..” in her hit song Eyes Open. Thenext time you pass by the OptometryCentre, you have to really open youreyes. The almost 20-year-old Centre hasbeen given a major eye lift (pardon thepun!) to equip optometry students withthe latest eye care equipment and anupgraded retail space that can rival anyof the optical shops downtown.SP has been offering the Diplomain Optometry (DOPT) since 1994.Over the years, it has trained thousandsof optometrists who enjoy one of thehighest starting salaries among diplomagraduates. The most recent employmentsurvey of polytechnic graduate showsthat Optometry graduates can earn closeto $2,500 (for those who have completednational service). This is certainly one ofthe key reasons why DOPT has been avery popular course among GCE ‘O’ levelschool leavers.However, since 2010, there is anothercompelling reason to study Optometry.After completing their three-year diplomacourse, the graduates can proceed tocontinue with a degree in Optometryconducted right here in SP campus.The two-year degree programme isoffered by the University of Manchester(United Kingdom) and is among the mostreputable in the world. It is also approvedand heavily subsidised by the Ministryof Education.Final-year student Ge Jian Bin was seton taking Optometry at SP three yearsago even though he stays in Bedok,some distance away from SP. Hisreason: “SP is so accessible with theDover MRT Station. To be honest, Ijust love everything about this coursewhich includes the modules, lecturersand facilities. Probably because I’m justinterested in Optometry, thus I enjoyedeverything.”His classmate Kodi Goh, who joined SPfrom Dunman High with an aggregatescore of just five points, says: “Throughinteracting with people, optometristsdirectly help to improve their qualityof sight, whether by early detection ofdiseases or simply prescribing a pairof spectacles. It gives me a sense ofsatisfaction whenever we are able tosolve their vision problems. The careerpath is a challenging but fulfilling one.”No regrets for both of them as they arenow among the top performers for thiscourse.In case you didn’t know, SP OptometryCentre is also open to the public (whichof course include all school students) foreye checks and purchase of prescriptionand contact lenses. Opening hours arefrom 10am to 5pm from Mondays toFridays, except on Wed from 10am to1pm; and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays.I Care. Eye CareJune marks the graduation of the second batch of students from the Universityof Manchester (UM) Optometry Degree Programme conducted in SP. Addingcheers to the happy occasion was the news that 70 per cent of the graduateshad already been offered full-time employment even before they graduated,with high starting salaries to boot!First started in 2009, the two-year full-time degree awarded by UM caters speciallyto Diploma in Optometry graduates in Singapore.Tan Li Ying, one of the top graduates from the latest batch, initially planned to studyoverseas after completing in 2008 her optometry diploma in SP with a GPA of3.831. However, she held back her plans due to financial constraints and thereforeit was a godsend that the UM degree programme materialised. With her newqualification, she hopes to deliver quality primary eye care or specialised servicessuch as in contact lenses or paediatrics, just like in the United Kingdom, Australiaand United States. To reach that stage, I will need more training and experiences,”says Li Ying who is now working with a public healthcare organisation.Another top graduate is Lim Hui Ying who completed her SP Diploma inOptometry with a GPA of 3.895. “Furthering my studies with UM was anopportunity for me to upgrade my skills and knowledge on optometry toa higher level. The degree programme came with many hours of practicalsessions in hospitals and clinics which gave us a more sophisticated and indepthlearning of eye diseases,” says Hui Ying, now employed with ChangiGeneral Hospital. She also had the chance to witness one of the best eye caremodels in the world when she did her internship at the State University of NewYork (SUNY), College of Optometry. Hui Ying is not stopping at a degree. Inthe long run, she hopes to get her doctorate and become a lecturer to educatefuture generations of optometrists.Only the best and the latest eye care equipment is stocked at Sp Optometry Centre.Lim Hui Ling (left) andTan Li Ying graduatedwith 1st class honoursin Optometry fromthe University ofManchester.37

Sneak PreviewA Brand New View From DoverA new look will soon take shapeat the Admin Block.Spacious entrance to levels 1and 2 of Admin Block.Reception area.The SP skyline from Dover Road will see amajor transformation come end 2013. Thealmost 40-year old Administration Block andThe present façade ofAdmin Block. the adjacent buildings will soon undergo majorredevelopment works that will turn the groundfloor area of both buildings into vibrant social and learning spaces.Workshops will gradually begiven a new exterior.A new entrance for Gate 1 alongCommonwealth Avenue West.Social and study spaces onLevel 2 of the new AdminBlock facade.A warm and cosy reception area willwelcome visitors where they willalso get to view some of the best ofworks by SP students. Natural lightingaccentuated by warm lightings willenhance the ambience of this socialspace. One section of the area will bedeveloped as a study area.For visitors going towards the Libraryand other areas of SP, their walk willbe given a little more comfort with theaddition of escalators. A sheltered dropoff point will let visitors stay dry on awet day.This re-development project is thelatest among a series of campusrejuvenation programmes rolled outsince two years ago. Completedprojects include new study areas likeSPectrum at T16, iCAFE at the StudentService Centre, the lobby area at theAuditorium, eleven2 and various greenspots including EcOasis and Sanctuary.Upcoming works include renovationof the Auditorium’s interior, anew entrance for Gate 8 alongCommonwealth Avenue West and anoverhead bridge adjacent to it.SPirit brings to you the artistimpressions of these exciting newprojects that will certainly inject a lotmore vibrancy to the SP environment.39

Serving PeopleAt the launch of Go Serve, a group of studentsdelivered an emotional presentation on theircommunity service trip in a remote village inSichuan, China. The trip has changed theirperspectives of how they view the world.Shannon Lim, a final-year Diploma in Mediaand Communication (DMC) student andone of the presenters, spoke on how theexperience has humbled him. Having lived ina very sheltered environment, the trip showedhim the true face of poverty. Says Shannon:“The trip made me treasure the little thingsaround me; to us these things might beinsignificant but they mean the world to ourunderprivileged friends in China. After thetrip, I became more careful in managing mymoney and took my education more seriously.I learned to appreciate the love that my familyhas given me.“If given the opportunity, I would likeShannon Sim (extreme left back row),Lydia Lim (extreme right front row) and fellowSP mates Jackson Lee, Ryan Loh, Ash Ang,Wong Wei Foong, Teo Kae Lin and AmeliaPoh showcasing the hand-sewn handicrafts, asocial enterprise project that was spun off fromtheir community service trip in China.Go Forth And Serveto return to the same place for anothercommunity service trip project. Although itwas only a short two weeks, the work wedid had impacted the local community. Weencouraged volunteerism among the youththere and also drafted a business proposal forour handicap beneficiaries. I very much like togo back to see the progress of our work donethere,” adds Shannon.The trip has also jolted Shannon to start asocial enterprise with Lydia Lim, a final yearDiploma in Integrated Events andProject Management (DEPM) student.They work with the Sichuan villagers toproduce hand-sewn handicrafts which theyhope could be used as SP’s corporate gifts.To know more about the various local andoverseas community and social innovationprojects SP students have undertaken, visitgoserve.sg.Having a heart toserve is a core valuethat SP hopes to instilin all its students. Withthis in mind, the GoServe programme wasrecently launchedas part of SP’s holisticeducation framework.The programme hopesto imbue a heart ofcompassion and a spiritof social innovation andentrepreneurship amongstudents and staff to servethe people and society.As a winner of thePresident’s Social ServiceAward in 2011, SP willspare no efforts to deepenour commitment to servethe community.Shannon sent this message of love to hisfamily whilst in China, something he hasnever done before.The two-year Diploma Plus course isa joint initiative by SP and MR in aneffort to mould the next generation ofhumanitarians in Singapore who wouldplay a proactive and effective part inserving the region’s humanitarian needs.This is essentially crucial with Asiawitnessing and experiencing an increasein the occurrence of natural disasters overthe last decade.Serving PeopleThe first batch of trained SP humanitarians receiving their certificatesfrom Deputy Prime Minister Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam.The course was launched to providepractical, hands-on training to students andprofessionals about the multi-disciplinarynature of humanitarian assistance andinternational relief and development.MR’s Chief Executive Mr Hassan Ahmad,is grateful to partner SP in this programme:“We found a priceless partner in SP for thedevelopment and running of the coursewhich was set out to groom the nextgeneration of humanitarians who wouldbe able to meet the growing demands andchallenges. It is useful to have a partnerwho shares this vision and conviction.”Mr Hassan also lectures in this diplomacourse and often shares his personalexperiences in humanitarian missions.The three-module course focuses onGet Set ForHumanitarianMissionsFor 34 SP students, completing and receiving their Diploma Plus Certificate in Humanitarian Affairslast month marked a new beginning. With formal training in a very specialised area, they are nowready to serve countries that need help when a disaster strikes. The group received their certificatesat the observation ceremony for the 4th World Humanitarian Day organised by Mercy Relief (MR), ahumanitarian organisation that has touched lives and hearts in more than 18 countries in Asia suchas Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China and India. Deputy Prime Minister Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnampresented the certificates to the pioneer cohort.the principles, philosophies, mechanics,dynamics, expectations and challenges ofthe humanitarian sector. It also includesoverseas practical assignments forsustainable development, disaster riskmitigation and post-disaster relief works.The three best-performing studentsreceived Mercy Relief Book Prizes.Kohgilavani d/o Selvakumaran, a final-yearstudent from the Diploma in Tourism andResort Management (DTRM), graduatedas overall top student and also the beststudent for Module 1. Choo Si Ling andWhitney Tan, both from the Diploma inInternational Business (DIB) toppedModules 2 and 3 respectively.Kohgilavani shares that apart from themany essential lessons and topicsdiscussed, the course has given her alasting reminder to exercise her objectivityby emphasising the need to reflect,question and ponder. “In the humanitarianfield, it is crucial to see the bigger picture,without being blinded to the small details,”she says.Deputy Prime Minister Mr TharmanThe pioneer batchon their firsthumanitarianmission in NorthLuzon, Philippines.Shanmugaratnam praised the younghumanitarians in his Facebook page. He wrote:“This was the first batch, 34 of them. Theyhad done it in the evenings - three modules,180 hours, over two years - on top of their dayclasses in their various diploma courses. Plusa few weeks overseas, working in disasterstrickenor impoverished communities. Theyvisited those affected by Typhoon Ketsana inCentral Luzon, Philippines, where they learntto plant mangrove and prepare sand-bags; anddid a study to understand the plight of urbanslum dwellers in Tondo, Manila.They were from different fields in SP -business, engineering, tourism studies andso on - but had all chosen to add on this newprogramme in humanitarian work. Why? Sometold me it was because they “felt privileged”in Singapore. They spoke from the heart.Some others were interested in switchinginto careers in social work, and wanted theexposure. I’ve given out many academicscrolls, but this group had something extraas they bounced onto the stage. They hadidealism. They were doing something out ofinterest, not because it was required of them.More like them are coming up now, in a newgeneration. A real plus for Singapore.”41

Social ProtectionReach Out And TouchSomebody’s LifeSIFE IN SPStudents In Free Enterprise (SIFE) is an international non-profit organisation that works withbusiness leaders and tertiary institutions to engage university students in social enterpriseprojects and teach them to become socially responsible leaders in their communities.Student teams are formed in various countries where they develop projects that willimprove the quality of life and standard of living for people in need. The SIFE World Cup isa platform for their projects to compete first on a national level and then advancing to theinternational finals. Projects on both levels are judged by business leaders.SP first participated in SIFE in 2008 and has been crowned the national champion inthe years that they were took part - 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012 - beating teams fromthe other tertiary institutions. With their recent win at the national finals, the SP SIFETeam will represent Singapore at the SIFE World Cup in Washington DC, United Statesthis month.This year, the SP SIFE Team embarked onthe Project Sukka Valli in India. It involvesgenerating income for the villagers throughselling goats, commercialising readilyavailableherbs that grow in the area andusing coconut leaves to make roofs andfences. President for SP SIFE Team 2012,Beatrice Ho (Diploma in EnvironmentalManagement and Water Technology) andteam members Chua Xiu Fang (Diploma inInternational Business) and Marcus Seah(Diploma in Biomedical Science) sharetheir experience in this social enterpriseundertaking. The trip to India took placein April this year and immediately after,the presentation team swung into actionto make their pitch at the national SIFEchampionship held in June.Beatrice, how and why did youchoose to get involved in thisproject? Were you involved in thepast two years?Beatrice: I became involved in SIFE onlyfrom the end of last year. I felt that I couldapply what I have learnt from my course tohelp others as well as to learn from the othermembers in the team.Knowing that the SIFE team has wonthe national championship threetimes, how did the new team copewith the pressure of maintaining thestandard?Beatrice: There was definitely a lot ofpressure during the preparation stage aswe wanted to succeed and show everyonewhat we as a SIFE team had been doing.We coped by working as a team; wesupported, encouraged and pushed eachother to do our best.SP SIFE Team in action in Sukka Valli village, India.How much confidence did youguys have in winning the nationalchampionship?Beatrice: Honestly, we were ratherconfident as we put in a lot of time andeffort into our projects and shaping ourpresentation. However, we were well awareof the tough competition coming from theother tertiary institutions and felt a littlenervous. But more importantly, winning ornot, we saw the national championship as aplatform to showcase our projects and thereal needs of our beneficiaries to the worldand share our stories in the belief of a bettertomorrow.Xiu Fang, what were some ofthe biggest challenges in theweeks leading up to the nationalchampionship?Xiu Fang: Strangely, our biggest challengewas finding a common time for us tomeet and discuss. Our team is made up ofstudents from different courses and projects.We needed time to bond as a team andadapt to each other’s working styles.Can you describe Project Sukka Valliand how this project was chosen?Xiu Fang: When we embarked on anevaluation trip for the previous SP SIFETeam project in India (Project DKSHA),we were introduced to Sukka Valli bythe director of DKSHA. Sukka Valli is anomadic settlement which has existed forgenerations without proper infrastructureand adequate supply of water. Thevillagers’ earnings were barely sufficientto feed an average family of seven. Thus,there was malnutrition everywhere. Thevillagers also incurred medical and financialdebts, causing a vicious cycle. In orderto supplement their income, the villagersresorted to illegal logging which damagedthe balance of the ecosystem. Afterconducting a needs analysis, we realisedwe could help the villagers generate incomeby doing three things: build infrastructure,pay debts and reduce malnutrition. Wediscovered that the villagers’ income couldbe supplemented with social businesses bymaking use of readily available resourcesin the area, such as fallen palm leaves.After some discussions, we came upwith three initiatives: herb picking, leafweaving and goat rearing. While helping thevillages, these initiatives also tackle someenvironmental problems.What were the earlier projects bythe teams in 2010 and 2011 about(Projects DKSHA and Savapur)?.Xiu Fang: DKSHA is an orphanage and inorder for it to be sustainable it took on therole of a central negotiator in the moringa (aplant) trade. DKSHA earns revenue as themiddleman by matching buyers to the 46farms that are partnered with them. We alsointroduced the cultivation of hybrid moringawhich grows faster than the local breed. Thefarmers were also taught how to make organiccompost which, in the long term, is better forthe environment. We also set up an educationcentre consisting of a tailoring hub and acomputer centre. One of the staff at DKSHAwas taught basic administrative skills so thatshe could teach courses at the computercentre. The fees for the courses were markedbelow city price to make them affordable forthe villagers; this in turn help them get betterjobs. The tailoring centre was for women tolearn how to tailor clothes. They have started tomake uniforms for nearby schools.At Inba Seva Sangum, an orphanage inSevapur, the earlier SP SIFE Team built agreenhouse to grow saplings that werechosen due to their ability to adapt to thesemi-arid conditions. They were cultivatedin a greenhouse to increase their survivalrate in the semi-arable land. A compostproduction facility was also installedThe complete team of studentsand staff for SP SIFE 2012.to make organic fertilisers that wouldrecuperate the land damaged by the use ofchemical fertilisers. These products werethen sold to the villagers below marketrate so that they could afford it, and inturn, also build up their farming capacity.This enabled the orphanage to earn a profitfrom the sales. An education centre wasalso set up with computers donated by SPand our students trained the trainers.Marcus, what were the biggestlessons / takeaways from thisproject?Marcus: I learned to be grateful for whatwe have. In the communities we reachedout to, they have so little to live on and yetremain happy. Many of us here just can’tseem to find contentment with all that wehave. Life is more than just studying andliving it out, it is also about seeing a needand doing your best to meet that need forsomeone who cannot repay you.What did you think were thestrengths that helped the SP SIFEteam win the national competition?Marcus: Definitely our drive andcompassion. We didn’t join SP SIFE to winthe competition. We joined to help people.This competition gives usthe opportunity to givesthese communities a voiceby speaking up for them. Wego to these communities tocreate sustainable change.We implement long termsolutions which will benefitthem in the long run. Weensure this by going downand talking to the people andunderstanding what theyactually went through.How are you guys preparing for theWorld Cup?In between projects and exams, we haveweekly meetings to keep the ball rolling inpreparation for World Cup. We are makinganother trip to India soon to follow up on ourproject and look into potential projects for2013.After SP, do you intend to continuewith social enterprise work, maybein the university or maybe start onyour own?Marcus: SIFE has helped me understandmore about social enterprises. Above that, Ihave also learnt how to give back to societyin other ways, and not only when I’minvolved in social enterprises. I will definitelycontinue to try and make a difference inpeople’s lives. It might not necessarily bethrough social enterprise though.Who are the people that the teamwould like to thank for the successin the SIFE national championship?Xiu Fang: We are thankful to our teachersand supporters who helped us throughoutour journey - Ms Evelyn Louis, Ms Lee YokeLing, Dr Elangovan, Mr Song Nay Hay, MsIsmawanty, Ms Valerie Wong and of courseour SP SIFE alumni. We are also grateful toall other SIFE members who have helped usso much but couldn’t be on stage with us.The SP SIFE team that presented at the SIFE National Championship (from left):Aliff Aqid, Thamizhanban Manoharan, Chua Xiu Fang, Marcus Seah, Beatrice Ho, IgnatiusMario Doli Sentosa and Loke Zheng Hao.43

Social ProjectGood StartFor NowAnd The FutureWhat are you doing now Keith?After national service, I joined NationalUniversity of Singapore (NUS) as anarchitecture student. But even beforejoining NUS, I was also busy with a newstartup called StartNow which I startedwith an old friend Ivan Chang.Yeah, we heard you won some goodmoney with StartNow.Haha…yes. We came in first for the newSocial Enterprise / Cooperative categorywhich came with $15,000 cash prize. Wewere named second overall for the OpenCategory that gave us another $7,000,and then another $1,000 for the People’sChoice of the Day. Most recently,we won $10,000 in seed grant at theSingapore International Foundation’sYoung Social Entrepreneurs Programmewhich mentors and seeds young socialenterprises.That’s a cool $33,000 in all. So whathave you guys done to the money?We re-invested it back into our start-up.catches up with Keith Tanwho was a member of the veryfirst SP Team that won the StudentIn Free Enterprise (SIFE) NationalChampionship in 2008. He graduatedfrom the Diploma in BusinessAdministration (DBA) in 2009. Hewas in the headlines lately afterwinning awards at the StartUp@Singapore Competition for Start-Now, a social enterprise that hestarted with a friend.Keith Tan now (left picture) and back in 2008 when hewas a member of the SP SIFE Team.How did StartNow come about?We started with a desire to growvolunteerism here in Singapore and inAsia. StartNow is a social enterprise fornon-profit organisations and they are atthe core of what we do. We also providean enterprise solution for businesses thatseek to leverage the power of corporatevolunteering to build their brands andcreate deeper employee engagement.Our platform allows businessesto connect their employees withvolunteering opportunities and also trackand assess the impact of volunteeringactivities across their organisation.That sounds like a really cool idea.How did this volunteerism thing comeabout in you? Did your involvementwith SP SIHE play a part?I was involved in the marketing for theSP SIFE Team during my SP days andthat was in itself a form of volunteerismin the social enterprise arena. Ivan and Iwanted to focus this area because whenwe looked at the social sector here,we saw a lot being done in the area ofStart Now was started by Keith(right) and an old friend, Ivan Chang.donations and micro finance but littleto grow volunteerism, which is equallyimportant, if not more important. Infact, in 2010, the value of volunteerismin Singapore was valued at some $1.8billion, surpassing the $1.06 billion thatwas donated in the same year. The SIFEexperience was a game changer for me.It created the realisation that we couldutilise business tools to effect socialchange. This realisation started me onthe path of social entrepreneurshipwhich led to the creation of Start Now.What about your BusinessAdministration diploma course? Didthe modules play a part in how youshape this startup?The StartNow team visited rural villages in Thailandand also studied the different social enterprises thereas part of the Singapore International FoundationYoung Social Entrepreneurs Programme (SIF YSE).I’ve always been a strongadvocate of how valuable myBiz Ad diploma has been. Theanalytical skills gleaned fromthe rigours of project workimbued in me a sharp businesssense. The course has beeninstrumental in implementingthe StartNow social enterprise.I was also fortunate to bepart of the EntrepreneurshipConcentration programmewhich was responsible forigniting the entrepreneurshipspirit in me.How do you plan to grow thisbusiness further?Moving forward, StartNow isre-evaluating our position andthinking of a major revamp inthe next few weeks. We will bedropping our scope which fornow limits us to volunteerismand instead be expandingour focus to the general “social good”while retaining our existing volunteeringplatform as one of the key prongs.After all, our vision is for people toStartNow and get involved in solving thechallenges of our time. Volunteering isone of the ways but we think there aremore ways we can help and we must.How much money did you and Ivanpump in to start this?We got a nice funding of $50,000 fromSpring Singapore and a matching amountof $13,800 was also injected into itat the beginning. We have been veryfortunate also to be able to raise fundsfrom several business plan competitions.Apart from the recent winning atStartup@Singapore competition,StartNow was also nominated byIS Magazine as one of 2012’s MostPromising Startups. We also got aSpecial Mention at Mediacorp’s YoungEntrepreneur Awards 2012 and was the2nd Runner Up at Penn Olsen’s Startupsin Asia Startup Arena Challenge earlierthis year.Wow… that’s quite an achievement!Who have come on board StartNowso far?We are working with organisations likeSingapore Gymnastics, Singapore Anti-Narcortics Association, Blessings in aBag, Apex Harmony Lodge and ClaritySingapore. Most recently, NationalKidney Foundation, Cat Welfare Society,Young NTUC and Rotary FoundationSingapore have also signed up. Theseare among more than 120 non-profitorganisations on our platform.Ten years from now, where do yousee yourself? An entrepreneur?Most definitely. Ten years from now,I hope to see StartNow as the leadingplatform for volunteerism and socialgood in Asia, and perhaps myself stillplaying a key role in that organisation.And of course, I hope to be a goodarchitect who can also build socialcauses and not just buildings.For information on Start Now,visit startnow.sg, facebook.com/startnow.sg or contact keith@startnow.sg.Another visit by the team to a rural village in Buriram,Thailand, to understand how micro finance under theVillage Development bank program was implemented.45

Stunning PicturesYou chose SP as your first choice afteryour ‘O’ levels. Why was that?(Laughs…..). I tell you the truth. I wasn’tsure what I wanted. But the peoplearound me all kept telling me to join SPbecause they said it’s the best poly. Myparents, uncles, aunties, friends…. Mysister is now in SP doing Creative MediaDesign (Editor: now renamed VisualCommunication and Media Design).Okay, they gave you very good advice.Then why choose the Diploma in DigitalMedia DDM)?Simply because I just didn’t want anythingthat has a lot of textbooks. I don’t exactlylike maths and science, or textbooks. Notthat I failed those subjects; I passed them.But I didn’t want to study them again. Iread about DDM from the website andit seemed like a buffet spread. It offeredstuff like 3D, filming, programming,website design. A lot of job options.You did pretty well in the end, scoring arespectable GPA.Well if you look at my results, I scoreddistinctions and As for those subjectsthat I really liked, such as Storytellingand Storyboarding, Visual and AudioFundamentals, Digital Composing andMatting and CG Effects Studio. I evenscored a perfect GPA for my second yearbecause I had an interest in the modulesoffered. But when they threw in things likemedia law and maths, I suffered…haha…So what was memorable in your threeyears at SP?The third year – working on the final-yearproject with my team mates. We learneda lot about team work. For the first time,we had to really get out there in a teamto get the work done. It was due to teamwork that we produced a good short filmand I got nominated and then selectedfor the first Sony-SP I.C.E Award.(Editor’s note: This annual Award isgiven to graduating students who showgreat potential. The two winners in 2011earned an all-expenses paid trip to attendthe National Association of Broadcasting(NAB) Show in Las Vegas.If Alvin Lee had been a straightAs student back in his days in ChungCheng High School (Yishun), hewouldn’t have become the buddingfilm-maker he is today. catchesup with the Diploma in Digital Mediagraduate and current national serviceman who in one year won two majorAwards for his works.Start Short,Aim LongThe vibrant blue scarf and purple top caught Alvin’sattention in the dark wet market in Kintamani, Bali. Hewas actually chasing another lady for a shot until herealised that she was laughing just beside me, so heshot her. (National Geographic Young PhotographerAward Trip, Bali).What did you gain at the NAB?I actually enjoyed more than I learned….haha! But it was really cool stuff, thelatest videography technology andequipment. Big name film companiesshowcased their upcoming works. I alsoattended some talks on the technicalaspects of filming.You also won an award at the VeryShort International Film Festival(VSIFF) this year?Yeah, it was for Timeline, my threeminuteshort film. I won the top prize,the Grand Prix Award at the VSIFF inSingapore. After that, Timeline was theonly Singapore short film selected forcompetition at the Festival Internationaldes Tres Courts in France. I came in 4thfor Audience Award. I just got anotherpiece of good new recently. The filmwas also shortlisted for the prestigiousSapporo International Short FilmFestival and I will be flying there soon.Another film called “I Can’t Hear” alsowon a merit prize at the Sound Out:60-second Video Contest.You also won a big award for yourother love, photography.I have been meddling with photographysince my SP days. In the past, I loveto shoot in colour and still objects.But now I prefer to shoot people inblack and white. I was one of thetop eight winners in the NationalGeographic Young Photographer Awardthis year. The winners went to Balifor a photography trip with Jino Lee,the resident photography instructorwith Canon. I prefer black-and-whitebecause of the “primal” feel to it; and Ican also isolate the expressions of mysubjects better.Let’s go back to films. Who are yourmovie heroes?Someone once told me that there arethree kinds of film directors. The first arethose who are very creative and stylisticlike Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs,Pulp Fiction). The second are the epictypes who direct blockbusters like PeterJackson (Lord of the Rings, King Kong).The third group puts a lot of emotionsin their films, like Martin Scorsese(Gangs of New York, The Departed). Myfavourite is the late and legendary AkiraKurosawa. To me, he is a combinationof the three. He is simply great in allaspects of film directing, from cameramovement to cinematography.What are some of the good films youwatched recently?My recent favourite is Flowers of War byZhang Yi Mou. It has a very intense feelto it.We all know film-making is a struggleat the beginning, are your parentssupportive towards your passion?Oh yes, they are very supportive and I’mreally thankful to them. I always bringthem along to my screenings and thosefilm competition ceremonies. Family ismy first priority and I want them to be apart of the whole journey.Chinese opera,a subject thatoften intriguesAlvin.Will you do commercial or art-housetype movies?It’s okay to do some commercial filmsfor money, and then we can invest themoney in films that you really want tomake. The money spent on film-makingis not the most important;it’s the dedication andpassion for the subjectyou are working on.Screen shot ofAlvin’s winningshort film,Timeline.What are your plansafter national service?I will be applying to studyfilm directing at the BeijingFilm Academy. It’s notgoing to be easy becauseevery year about 100,000people will apply and they only takein 600. Otherwise, I will start workingin film production and learn from theexperienced directors. I will continueto make more short films to gainexperience. In the long run, I definitelywant to produce my own full lengthfilms.Little boy withhis balloon inChinatown.Note: The modules in Diploma inDigital Media are now offered intwo separate courses – Diplomain Digital Animation and Diplomain Visual Effects and MotionGraphics. Visit www.sp.edu.sg/schools/dmit for details.Turning thepraying wheelin the temple.47

SP. NewsSingapore's 1st PolySP. News02Singapore Polytechnic 500 Dover Road Singapore 139651 Copyright © 2012 All Rights Reserved.SP Students Win 32 Out Of 45BCA ScholarshipsWong Weiyu is one of the pioneer recipients of the newBCA-Industry Built Environment Diploma Scholarship forpolytechnic students.The first batch of LTA EngineeringAward recipients are (clockwisefrom extreme left): Wong Weiyu,Leong Hei Kern, Muhd Khairul,Winston Seetoh, Tan Kah Xuan andElaine Tan.A whopping 71% of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA)-Industry Built EnvironmentScholarship launched last year was awarded to current SP students. Of the 45 recipients, 32 of them arenow current SP students.The scholarship aims to nurture outstanding youth who aspire to lead and shape the future ofSingapore’s built environment. Under this scheme, the 32 students will get their course fees waived andalso receive a monthly allowance of up to $900. After they complete their studies, they can also opt for apost-diploma development phase which comes with on-the-job training and further study opportunitieswith the companies that sponsor them.Says Wong WeiYu from the Diploma in Civil Engineering: “It has always been my ambition to bean engineer, to build structures that are safe for people to live, work and play in. This scholarship notonly provides me with financial incentives but more importantly an opportunity to gain engineeringexperiences at Swee Hong (a leading civil engineering firm founded in 1962).The 32 scholarship holders come from five diploma courses that are key to the built environmentindustry – Architecture (DARCH), Landscape Architecture (DLA), Civil Engineering with Business(DCEB), Hotel and Leisure Facilities Management (DHLFM) and Mechanical Engineering (DME).The winners of the BCA-Industry Built Environment Scholarship 2012 are:From DARCH: Abdullah Bin Hashim, Aslam Bin Salim, Barcome JBrien Cezar, Joseph Samuel Chan,Chey Yi Ting, Chung Er Pei, Derrick Chua, Evangelina Ong, Joy Heng, Ho Cheng An, Ho Ming, HuAnni, Lin Ken Yin, Ngan Cheuk Heng, Nick Koh, Ong Zhen Hong and Tan Se Yong.From DLA: Indra Faridzuan Bin Runzi. From DCEB: Alexandra Larissa, Chan Jing Ting, Lee MeiShuang, Prissy Poh, Wang Meihong, Wang Zhen Min, Wong Weiyu. From DHLFM: Ho Xin Ping, LeeXue Ting, Jasmine Ngoh, Tay Zhi Qian, Jeremy Teo Zhen Kang and Yesmeen Yeo.From DME: Muhd Yasier Bin Mohd Sahair.PioneerLTA AwardRecipientsThe Land Transport Authority has generously sponsored$12,000 to recognise top engineering students in SP. Called theLTA Engineering Awards, they were given out for the first timeby the organisation and exclusively to SP. Each award comes witha cash prize of $2,000 and an industrial attachment opportunitywith the LTA.Two students each from the Diplomas in Civil Engineeringwith Business (DCEB), Electrical and Electronic Engineering(DEEE) and Mechanical Engineering (DME) who excelled in theircourse of study have been selected for the inaugural awards. Theyare Wong Weiyu and Elaine Tan from DCEB, Winston Seetohand Tan Kah Xuan from DEEE and Muhd Khairul Bin Jamiland Leong Hei Kern from DME. They were the top first andsecond year students from their respective courses during for theacademic year 2011-2012.The awards were given out at the School of Architecture andthe Built Environment (ABE) Prize Presentation Ceremony. Atthe event, outstanding ABE students were also presented withawards and scholarships offered by external organisations thatinclude Hilton, Public Utilities Board and Kumpulan Architects,in addition to those sponsored by the School.Tan Sze Mengand Terence Teo,winners of theMotorola Scholarshipsfor 2012.Recognition By MotorolaTwo second-year students from the School ofElectrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) - Tan SzeMeng (Diploma in Engineering with Business - DEB)and Terence Teo Boon Chiat (Diploma in Electrical andElectronic Engineering - DEEE) are the new recipients ofthe Motorola Scholarships. The scholarships are givento students who have achieved outstanding academicresults and are also active in CCA and communityservice.Sze Meng is a key member of the SP Red CrossYouth Chapter and she has volunteered her services forcharities like the Red Cross Home for the Disabled andthe St Lukes’ Elderly Care Centre. In EEE, she is anAssistant Class Leader and a Group Leader for studenthelpers for her School’s Orientation Programme thisyear. She also played a key role in the InternationalStudents’ Freshmen Orientation Programme.Terence loves sports and is the Sports Secretaryfor SP Daiko Drummers. Besides performing with theDaiko group at several SP events, he also helps to organise sports activities for the members to build team spirit as well as stamina for performances. Terence alsocontributes to his School by participating in the SP Engineering Show 2012. He also volunteered his services in a recycling project to raise money for the EEENeedy Fund.The bond-free Motorola Scholarships is worth $2,500. As recipients, Sze Meng and Terence have a competitive edge when they seek employment withMotorola as their achievements are already in the technology giant’s Talent Search Database.Rewards ForSporting ExcellenceFor their excellence in sports, four SP students have been awarded the Peter LimScholarships. They are Illyas Lee (Diploma in Aerospace in Electronics and footballer),Muhd Amirul Asyrat Bin Abdul Aziz (Diploma in Mechatronics and Robotics andhockey player), Ernest Chua (Diploma in Biomedical Science and fencer) and YeuCzech Den (Diploma in Mechatronics and Robotics and handball player). They wereawarded under the Tertiary category which comes with a $3,000 value. Diploma inHotel and Leisure Facilities Management student and sailor Audrey Yong received $10,000 for her scholarship under the High Performance category.Audrey and Ernest have much in common. Both of them received the Peter Lim Scholarship for the second time and were also crowned SP SportsScholars for 2012. Coincidentally, both of them also won secondplacing in their respective sporting event at the last SEA Gamesheld in Indonesia. Over the past years, they have competed innumerous overseas competitions that brought them to places likeBangkok, New York, Seoul, Perth and Pattaya.Established in 2010, the Peter Lim Scholarship aims tohelp promising young athletes achieve their goals in sportsperformance by supporting their pursuit in sports.Business Students Clinch Dairy Farm AwardsXing Yi (left) and Rachel will start their careerswith Dairy Farm right after graduation.Ernest (left) and Audrey are recipients of both the SP Sports Scholarship and the Peter Lim Scholarship.A management career with one of the biggest companies in retailbusiness right after graduation would be a dream come true for two finalyearDiploma in Business Administration (DBA) students.Lim Xing Yi and Rachel Soon have been awarded newly commissionedscholarships by the Dairy Farm Group, a listed company whose retailoperations include well-known brands like Cold Storage, 7-11 andGuardian. They will receive a cash award of $5,000 and will go through atwo-year management trainee programme. Both will have to serve a oneyearbond with the company.Xing Yi’s specialisation in her Business Administration course is inRetail Management and International Trade and Business, while Rachelchose the Tourism and Public Relations and Advertising option.

03SP. News04Wiping Out DrugsA mosaic wall made with phone wipes wasthe centre of attraction at the launch of theAnti-Drug Abuse Campaign 2012 at The CathayCineleisure. The annual event is organised tocommemorate the International Day againstDrug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, also knownas the World Drug Day.The idea was conceptualised by final-yearSP students taking the Diploma in IntegratedEvent and Project Management (DEPM). Theyled eight other schools, altogether numbering260 student volunteers, to distribute the phonewipes to the public over three days. These werethen mounted on a wall at the launch.This was the second year that SP’s DEPMstudents collaborated with the National CouncilAgainst Drug Abuse (NCADA) and the CentralNarcotics Bureau (CNB) to put togetheractivities for this year’s campaign. Besides thelaunch event, the students also organised roadshows at public venues to spread the anti-drugmessage which carried the theme “Life DoesNot Rewind. Make The Right Choice’.SP Students Publish Paper InInternational JournalKenneth Lim and Daphne Low with DrHandojo (middle) jointly published apaper in an international journal.SP’s event management students and lecturerin-chargeposing in front of the backdropformed by thousands of phone wipes.Earlier this year, SPirit last reported thattwo SP civil engineering graduates from Classof 2011 published a paper in an internationalscientific journal. Hot on their heels are two freshSP graduates from the Diploma in EnvironmentalManagement and Water Technology (DEWT) whopublished a journal paper in the internationalJournal of Water Sustainability (Vol. 1, Issue 3,Dec. 2011: 313- 322).Daphne Low and Kenneth Lim, together withtheir lecturer Dr Handojo Djati Utomo, publishedthe paper titled “Correlation between Turbidityand Total Suspended Solids in Singapore Rivers”.The paper started with a compilation of threeyears of class assignments in the water supplymodule that culminated in a poster presentationcontest at the 4th International Conferenceon Challenges in Environmental Science andEngineering held in Taiwan last year. Thereafter,they were invited to propose a full article forpublication in the Journal which was foundedby University of Technology, Sydney and theXi’an University of Architecture and Technology.After peer review and amendments, the paper wasfinally published.As research papers in international journalsare usually published only by university professorsor post graduate students, SP students have scoreda major coup for having published papers in threeinternational journals.Digital Media students behind the Virtual Choir and socialmedia campaign (from left): Jackie Tan, Jasmine Bay, TracyYu and Geraldine Tan; Not in picture is Wong Kok Fai.SP students in action atMusic Matters Live 2012.Working BehindThe Scenes For NDPMusic MattersTo ThemWhat more could they ask for? Students from two diploma coursesunder the School of Digital Media and Infocomm Technology had therare chance to work with international music professionals at MusicMatters Live 2012, an event under the All That Matters Music andDigital Conference held in Singapore. Dubbed as Asia’s celebration oflive music, the three-day event at Clarke Quay brought together morethan 40 international and local music acts.The 47th National Day Parade(NDP) came and went but memoriesof it will remain for a long time in theminds of students from the Schoolof Digital Media and InfocommTechnology. Skills learned fromtheir modules were put to the test inseveral projects.Five students from the Diplomain Digital Media (DDM) were taskedto develop and manage the webportal for the LovingSG: One Heart,One Voice project. It involvedsplicing the videos of Singaporeanssinging the national anthem intoa harmonious virtual choir whichpremiered on the parade day itself.Calling themselves MediaGenix,they were also in charge ofdeveloping the web portal for thisproject and running a social mediamarketing campaign to promote it.It was no easy task, as studentJackie Tan put it: “It was a challengegetting people to submit videos ofthemselves singing the national anthem online as Singaporeans tend to bemore camera-shy compared to the rest of the world. But we had a fun timedoing the project and also a great way to experience the industry in thismanner.”Another team of students also from the Diploma in Digital Media wastasked to heighten awareness and garner support for a new NDP initiative- Building a LovingSG, which is also a donation drive. They created ananimation video that was aired on national TV and also the web pages forthis project.Team leader Tan Swee Min shared, “It was a very good experience ofthe real world. As a lot of people from different companies were involved,we had to obtain approval from many parties before executing our plans.Through this, we learned how to work with people.”You can still watch the creations of these DDM students on the NDPOfficial Website at www.ndp.org.sg.Thanks to a partnership with production company The Deck, SPstudents from the Diploma in Visual Effects and Motion Graphics (DVEMG)delivered live video recordings of the event via YouTube, the Official FestivalBroadcast Partner, to thousands of viewers around the world.Second-year DVEMG student Shawn Ang recalled the experience:“Kudos to the cameramen who sweat it out amidst the crowd ofphotographers and media, as well as struggling with crazy fans out thererooting for the Korean performers.”Another team of students from the Diploma in Music and AudioTechnology (DMAT) produced an audio recording and dedicated broadcastmix of the performances, supervised by their lecturer, Geoffrey Low.“It was really great! I got first hand insights into my future workingenvironment. I experienced the broadcasting side of major music festivalworks and also learned from the people from DVEMG which I enjoyed verymuch. Now I know this could be something I might possibly be doing a fewyears from now,” said Bryan Tsao, a second-year DMAT student.And nothing beats being recognised for their efforts. The students werecredited in the Music Matters Live press release which stated “A big shoutout goes to the students of Singapore Polytechnic for their assistance inproduction – a first for Music Matters Live!”

05SP. News06They ThinkAnd TheyWinThree recent graduates (Chua Si Hao, KennethHo, Jason Sim) from the Diploma in InformationTechnology (DIT) and another (Nicholas Toh) fromthe Diploma in Infocomm Security Management(DISM) teamed up to take part in ThinkQuest, aninternational competition that challenges studentsto solve problems using technology. The teamsubmitted an entry in the Application Developmentcategory.They could only try their best and dared notthink of winning as they had to compete withnearly 5,600 other entries from students all overthe world. Their entry titled Frevol Friends (shortfor Friends Volunteer Friends) is a web and mobileapplication that harnesses social media technologyand peer influence to connect volunteers withorganisations and provide a convenient way forfriends to encourage other friends to participate incharitable work together. It impressed the judgesenough to award them the second prize.Team member Jason explains why they built thisapp: “As a regular volunteer with an organisationcalled FaithActs, I realised that there is always aChua Si Hao(DIT), Kenneth HoChee Chong (DIT), Jason Sim MengKiat(DIT), Nicholas Toh Zuan Jie(DISM) with lecturer Low Jin Kiat.shortage of volunteers. Hence, we did some research and realised that this is one of the major problemsfaced by many voluntary welfare organisations in Singapore. Now, with just a smartphone or computer, wecan rally friends to volunteer anytime.”Their prize package consists of a laptop and a trip to the United States to visit ThinkQuest Live, a fivedayevent hosted by the Oracle Education Foundation in the San Francisco Bay Area. The event includesworkshops, social events, sightseeing excursions and a ThinkQuest Awards Dinner. Lecturer Low Jin Kiat,mentor for the group, is also invited to the trip.Another SP team clinched the third prize in the same category and walked away with a laptop.Their entry EL-Green is an automation and energy management system that helps households toreduce electricity consumption and minimise energy wasted due to human negligence.This team comprises DIT fresh graduates Teo Jin Yuan, Chi Kok Pin, Lim Jun Yi, Linus Lim, Ong WeiXiang and Wu Chia Sheng (Diploma in Electrical and Electronic Engineering - DEEE)Understanding Geospatial TechnologyFervent Studio members are (fromleft): Letitia Justina Leong Si En, WeeGui Jun, Emily Lim, Lim Yi Kai andWong Tse Kang.Two SP teams of final-year students from theSchool of Digital Media and Infocomm Technologyreturned from the Spatial Challenge competitionwith two major Awards. Organised by the SingaporeLand Authority, the competition aims to encouragethe use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS)in schools and raise awareness on geospatialtechnology among students.The Fervent Studio team comprising fivestudents from the Diploma in InformationTechnology (DIT) clinched the Excellent Reportand the Best Presentation Awards in the TertiaryGIS Application category. For their excellence, theywon a total of $3,000 in cash prize. Their entryinvolves an interactive iOS application that allowsusers to view the history and culture of Singapore.Another team named SP Gissers won $2,000 forclinching the Outstanding Data Collection Awardin the Tertiary GIS Analysis category.At the same competition last year, fresh DITgraduate Gordon Lee and his team mates won theTop Prize in the Tertiary Category. The competitionhas piqued his interest in GeoSpatial Informationand Technology and he is now interning withQuantum Inventions, a company that provides nextgeneration dynamic navigation systems.Team Orion from SP (from left): GoKee Chin, Jeremy Heng, Yang Xudongand Han Xingjie.Cyber Defence ChampionAt the Cyber Defender Discovery Camp (CDDC) organised by the Ministry of Defence, a SPTeam emerged champions in the Institution of Higher Education category, beating a combined teamfrom National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University into second place. Theparticipants were given 12 hours to identify loopholes in a fictitious company’s servers and devise solutionsto plug those gaps. While this was on-going, their scores would be flashed on screens set up in a hall in theSingapore Science Centre, where the camp was held.Calling themselves Team Orion, the four final-year students from the Diploma in Infocomm SecurityManagement (DISM) - Yang Xudong, Jeremy Heng, Goh Kee Chin and Han Xingjie, had a roller coasterride to reach the top. At one point, they ended up with a negative score and were in the second last position.With an adventurous spirit, a mixture of luck, experience and skills, they fought till the end and walkedaway with $10,000 of shopping vouchers.Altogether, three SP teams took part in the competition. Although the other two teams did not win,their cyber-fighting spirit was commendable. They were Team Lynx (Tan Jun Xiang, Edmund Teo, GabrielLi and Ian Tan) and Team Octans (Chua Wei Kiat, Goh Xue Yu, Maverick Yong and Lim Jun Liang).Vivian Wee and Low Li Quan withtheir lecturer and supporter.CompetingWith PhDCandidatesTwo second-year students from the Diploma inMaterials Science (DMLS) repeated the winning feat atthe annual Young Persons’ Lecture Competition Singapore(YPLCS) by clinching the 1st and 3th runner up prizes. Thecompetition, open to students and professionals below theage of 28, is organised by the Institute of Materials (EastAsia). Participants, ranging from polytechnic students toPhD candidates, had to deliver a short lecture on a materialsrelatedsubject.Low Li Quan won the 1st runner up prize with her topicCarbon Nanotubes in Sports (Badminton) while Vivian WeeHui Wen came in 4th for her presentation on Materials forSpectacles Frames. In 2011, Melvyn Ang and Melvin Ng, also DLMS students, both emerged third placewinners at the same competition.The total prize money of $400 was small when compared to the invaluable experience gained. “Thecompetition gave me a positive experience about research and presentation which will be useful for myfuture projects,” said Li Quan.“We started from zero and it was a really difficult process getting a lecture presentation done.Nevertheless I enjoyed the journey throughout and it has become my most memorable experience I had inSP so far,” added Vivian.MedalsFor SkillsSP engineering and design students clinchedtwo Silvers, four Bronzes and two Medallions forExcellence at the recently concluded WorldSkillsSingapore2012. The competition is held bienniallyto discover the best in talents among the Singaporeyouth. Billed as the Olympics of Skills, the eventsymbolises the pinnacle of excellence in skilledtrades and technologies training.The winners competed in the categories ofElectronics, Mechanical Engineering Design– CAD, CNC Milling, Industrial Control andGraphic Design Technology. A big round ofapplause for the winners!Silver Medalists:• Lee Zheng Hao, Diploma in AerospaceElectronics• Tan Huang Jie, Diploma in MechanicalEngineeringBronze Medalists:• Belvin Tan, Leonard Hoe and Xu Weijie -Diploma in Mechanical Engineering• Norpurwanti Bte Susanto, Diploma inElectrical & Electronic EngineeringMedallions for Excellence:• Darius Ou, Diploma in VisualCommunications and Media Design• Goh Min Qin, Diploma in MechanicalEngineeringWorldskills 2012 Silver and Bronze winners: Front rowfrom left: Norpurwanti, Lee Zheng Hao, Tan Huang Jie, TanWei Liang Belvin; Back row from left: Leonard Hoe Jin Hanand Xu Weijie.

07SP. News08Video production is not a module for students taking the Diploma inDiploma in Integrated Events and Project Management (DEPM), but thatdid not stop some of them from competing in a video competition.Two teams of DEPM students won the first and second prizes at theShort Film (Tertiary) category of the National Climate Change Competition(NCCC), an initiative by the National Climate Change Secretariat’s (under thePrime Minister’s Office) to raise awareness and to encourage individual actionon climate change among youth. They had to submit videos that reflect on theGreen Coffee BoysThe name Coffee Boys sounds like a boyband but they are capable ofmore than belting out pop tunes.Lim Chin Haow, Saw Kay Heng and Fu Jia Jun, all final year studentsfrom the Diploma in Environmental Management and Water Technology(DEWT), have come up with a winning idea to recycle rain water.At the Green Engine competition, they won the first prize of $1,000 fortheir solution to remove metal ions in rain water using coffee residue and mixedfiltration so that the water can be recycled for other use. The competition isorganised by the Environmental Science and Engineering Department in theNational University of Singapore. Through the competition, the organiserhopes there will be new ideas for innovative water or waste-water managementmethods that will ultimately enhance the quality of life of Singaporeans.Besides Coffee Boys, another two all-girl teams of DEWT studentscalling themselves Aqua Gaia and Duo Pooh clinched the second and thirdprizes of $250 each at the competition.Winning teams: Front row: Coffee Boys members (from left) Lim Chin Haow, Fu Jiajun andSaw Kay Heng; Back row (from left): Aqua Gaia members Brenda Ong, Elaine Sam, JocelynLim and Alice Kho; Duo Pooh members Ong Xi Chun and Sophia Lin.Winning teams: Left picture: First prize winners (from left) Irni Susiyanti Bte Jamal, Noor Arinah Bte Ahmad, Sofiana Bte Ramliand Laurina Tay; Right picture: Second prize winners (from left) Mok Cui Tian, Daphne Ho, Rebekah Toh and Lee Ru Ting.Our Green Videostheme ‘Singapore: A Climate Change Resilient City’ and also explain the causeand effects of climate change, and how individuals could fight climate change byreducing their carbon footprint.There were altogether 126 entries from students who competed in fourcategories determined by educational levels. The winning SP teams received theirawards and prize money ($2,000 for first prize and $1,500 for second prize) fromDeputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean at the National Climate Change YouthConference held recently.Screen grabs of the two winning videos produced by SP students.Gang Up ToMake VideosDiploma in Creative Writing for TV and New Media (DTVM) studentsKenneth Wong, Josiah Tan, Nathaniel Hong, Liu Zhengteng and GayathiriChandramohan have never gotten involved in gangs but they sure know howto dissuade other youth from doing so. They ganged up to submit an entrytitled It’s Not Worth It for the Say No To Gangs video competition organisedby the Clementi Police Division, National Crime Prevention council and DeltaLeague. Their convincing script won them the Best Storyline prize of $1,000.The video started out as a school assignment but the team thought it was goodenough to join the competition.Another team comprising students from the Diploma in Business InformationTechnology (DBIT) won the Viewer’s Choice Award for their entry Uncle Gabbyin the same competition and walked away with $500 in cash prize. They areKhine Phoo Wai, Lee Chern Chow, Del Mundo Lara Patricia Silang, JeremyEng and Nurellisya Bte Mohd Sahdon. In case you wonder how IT studentsknow about video making? Well, thanks to the Audio and Video Fundamentalsmodule that they took.You can catch the short videos on Youtube (search under TheDeltaLeague).BusinessManagementChampsForgive the SP Business School if they have lost count of the number oftimes their students and alumni have won the championship for the annualNational Management Competition organised by the Singapore Institute ofManagement (SIM). It is designed as a management game to provide businessstudents the chance to practise corporate planning and managerial decisionmaking.Participants were put in as-good-as-real business scenarios and theyrepresented their “companies” in making key decisions.Three teams comprising current students from the Diploma in Business andFinance (DBF) and another two teams made up of recent graduates from thesame course pitted their business skills against more than 50 teams from othertertiary institutions.Topping the business strategy competition was a DBF 2010 alumni teamled by Tan Zhong Jie while another alumni team led by a DBF 2012 alumniLow Zi Jie took the third prize. This is the third consecutive year that a DBFThe SP student and alumni teams won five prizes, including the top prize, at theNational Management Competition. The winning team is led by SP alumnus Tan Zhong Jie(front row, second from right).alumni team has won the open business strategy competition.For the record, DBF student teams had won the tertiary category six yearsin a row from 2004 to 2009 before SIM combined the tertiary and corporatecategory into an open competition in 2010.Zhong Jie and team members won a cash prize of $6,000 and will representSingapore in the Asian Management Game to be held in Hong Kong.ConsecutiveWin AtFedexCompetitionDiploma in Business Administration (DBA) students Yap Jun Yuan(left in picture) and Rusli Yanto repeated the feat of their seniors bycoming in first at the annual FedEx International Trade Challenge2012. As champs, they won the right to represent Singapore at theRegional Challenge to be held in Hong Kong soon.They scored winning points with an interesting idea of convertingshipping containers to earthquake-safe houses in high-risk area inTaiwan. To make these containers attractive to the locals, the teameven added feng shui elements to their design.Said Rusli, “Jun Yuan and I spent many sleepless nights to finaliseour proposal and presentation. I cherish very much this uniqueexperience of tackling the challenges for this intense competition. Weare proud to be able to represent SP at the regional competition!”Team mate Jun Yuan added: “I still find it unbelievable that wehave made it to the top three.This entire experience is just awesome! It was definitely a greatexposure for us, uniquely different from what we have experienced inschool.”Last year, Darren Ong and Lee Qi Ni, also from DBA, paired upto win the national title and emerged second at the regional finals.Both of them graduated this year and have secured places in localuniversities. Qi Ni has even clinched a scholarship for her businessdegree at Nanyang Technological University.

09SP. News10Rising To The ChallengeEach year, SP freshies raise a substantial sum of money for the President’s Challenge at theannual Flag Day. We did more this year. A team of students produced a video to raise awareness andpromote volunteerism for the President’s Challenge Volunteer Drive 2012. The challenge to producethe video came from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). Thevideo, sponsored by SMRT, is now shown on iViewSMRT screens at all MRT stations.The team comprised project leader Muhammad Ridhwan Bin Mahadi and Mohamad KamalShah Bin Mohamad Ali, both final-year students from the Diploma in Computer Engineering(DCPE) and SP Videography Club; Lee Han Jie, a second-year DCPE student and Quek WeeKeong, second-year, Diploma in Business Information Technology (DBIT) student, from the SPInteractive Media Club.They faced a big challenge in selecting suitable content from a massive collection of videofootages and photos of past events. As the video was only one minute long, the team had to pickand choose quickly and yet keep a creative eye for visuals that would capture the hearts of viewers.Nevertheless, the project was great exposure for them as experiential learning came into play andthey applied their know-how from their course modules. Being a real-life project, there certainlywas pressure for them to deliver and meet the client’s expectations.The video was much-liked by MCYS which further commissioned them to produce an extendedversion which will include shots of volunteers in action. This version will be screened at theupcoming President’s Challenge “Thank You Reception” at the Istana this month.SP students responsible for developing the President’s Challengevideo (from left) Lee Han Jie, Quek Wee Keong, Muhd RidhwanBin Mahadi and Mohd Kamal Shah Bin Mohamad Ali.A Clock On A WatchFinal-year Diploma in Experience Product and Design (DXPD) studentEllvixson Yap was named the winner in the Azimuth Watch Design competition.This is the second year that the luxury watch manufacturer organised this eventwhere members of the public and tertiary institutions submit designs of awatch to commemorate Singapore’s 47th national day. Entries had to depictthe significance of the Singaporean identity – on a personal and national level– and combine this significance together with Azimuth’s tradition of avantgardedesigns in their submissions. The competition was supported by theDesignSingapore Council.The ‘Singapore Heritage’ watch designed by Ellvixson stood out frommore than 40 entries in the tertiary category. He won based on the design’ssimple nationalistic concept and design attractiveness. For that, he bagged acash prize of $500 and an Azimuth Round-1 Back In Time watch worth $2,300.He also bagged SGD 1,000 for SP Design School, Azimuth’s way of rewardingthe school for its support in cultivating budding design talent in Singapore.47 pieces of Ellvixson’s winning design will be manufactured and sold as anAzimuth limited edition National Day watch in Azimuth boutiques, retailing ata price of $2,012.Digital game wizards Marcus Lee (left) and Lee Yang receiving theirtop prize from Mr Moses Lee, Commissioner of IRAS.Winning MoneyFrom The TaxmanThe recent Inter-school Online Game DesignCompetition, organised by the Inland Revenue Authorityof Singapore (IRAS), found a winning team made up oftwo recent SP graduates. Lee Yang and Marcus Lee, bothfrom the Diploma of Information Technology (DIT),were encouraged by their lecturer Mr Ronnie Peh to enterthe competition, as the school believed the competitionwas a good opportunity for them to apply what they havelearnt.The competition hoped to promote awareness oftaxation among the youth while allowing students toshowcase their creativity and programming skills.Said Lee Yang, who specialised in game developmentfor his course: “We developed the game based on theexperience we gained from our DIT course. For example,the inspiration for the game design originated from ourfinal-year project.” The duo won a $5,000 cash prize forthe excellent effort.The winning games were launched on the IRAS’ 20thAnniversary Microsite and you can play them at iras20th.sg/online-games.Ellvixson’s watch design was inspired by the old clock hanging at the Tanjong Pagar RailwayStation (below).Ellvixson revealed that his design inspiration came from the now defunctTanjong Pagar Railway Station: “I was inspired by the roman-numeral clockthat can be seen on the exterior of the building. The beautifully oxidizedclock no longer functions but still stands on the edge of the building. It bearssentimental value along with the combination of European, Islamic andOriental architecture. Such artistic value should not be lost to oblivion.”Adhianto Suherli Lie, Vithya Krishnan, Nur Syazwani Binte Mohd Salimand their project supervisor, lecturer Woo Wee Hong.Space ResearchWins AwardThree final-year Diploma in Biomedical Science (DBS)students won $2,500 at the Singapore Space Challenge2012 Award in the Biomedical Science category for theirproject Effect of Microgravity in Tissue Regeneration.The competition was organised by the Singapore Spaceand Technology Association to inspire interest amongsttertiary-level students in space-related issues. Throughthe competition, the participants explored engineeringconcepts and designs when coming out with solutions tospace challenges.The team was thankful that they chose the BiomedicalResearch option that exposed them to a broad range of topicsin research areas and also critical analysis of journal articles.Their research skills helped them to find answers independentlyin a more complete way. For this competition, they exploredseveral ideas on how experiments in space can be relevant tohealthcare. The weekly oral presentations in their second-yearcurriculum also helped tremendously in giving them confidencewhen they presented at the competition.AmazingExhibitDiploma in Electrical and Electronic (DEEE) studentsPark So Yeon, Alvin Koh and Ahmad Fareed received aSpecial Mention prize at the Amazing Science-X Challenge2012. Organised by DSO National Laboratories , NationalUniversity of Singapore and Science Centre Singapore, thecompetition saw more than 140 teams from local tertiaryinstitutions competing for top recognition for their ideasof a scientific exhibit. Participants had to design and builda stand-alone science exhibit that best explains a physicalscience phenomenon. Calling themselves Team InSPire, theteam took home a $400 cash prize and medals.The team of final year DEWTstudents with their lecturer,Dr. Handojo (far right), at theRoyal Automobile Club of Victoria,venue for CESE 2012.Pursuit Of Water PurityIn September, eight final-year Diploma in Environmental Management and Water Technology(DEWT) students went with their lecturer, Dr Handojo Djati Utomo, to participate in the 5thInternational Conference on Challenges in Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE 2012).Held in Melbourne, Australia, CESE 2012 was attended by approximately 200 participants,including professors, researchers and PhD students. They won a Group Special Award for theirpresentations on the theme of Sustainable Catchment Management (i.e. research dealing withwater treatment and catchment methods such as reservoirs).Student Sophia Lim said: “One year of hard work totally paid off. All those groupdiscussions till nearly midnight, rushing of reports and power point slides, returning to schoolevery single day during the holidays to complete experiments... It was really worth it!”Kay Heng added: “This conference gave us the opportunity to see what the industry isfocusing on. These are experiences that we could not get from the classroom. I’m really happythat we won something and that our hard work was recognised. Special thanks to Dr Handojowho put in an enormous amount of effort to prepare us for this conference.”The students also got the chance to visit Melbourne universities and tour Bendigo, a nearbymining region. They also witnessed the inner workings of the water treatment industry byvisiting the Sandhurst Water Treatment Plant and the Epsom Water Recycling Factory.Park So Yeon and Alvin Koh showing off their Special Mention medals

11SP. News12Budding entrepreneurs (from left)Shawn Tay, Sheena Gan, Eunice Cho,Han Yi Xiu and Lim Jun Hao.Young And BrightEntrepreneursCrowbar AwardsGold winners at the Crowbar AwardsChloe Ong (left) and Sng Jiarong. Notin picture: Shina LeeA creative and marketable idea by a team of BusinessSchool students won them the second prize and the Bestin Digital Marketing and Social Media title at the YouthEntrepreneurs Competition. Organised by the SingaporeDiscovery Centre (SDC), the competition aims to instillateral thinking amongst youth to turn challenges intoopportunities. Participants also have to demonstrate how toharness on digital marketing and social media to generateinterest and sales for their products and services.Space Team is made up of five second and third-yearstudents from the Diploma in Business Administration(DBA). They are also members of the SP’s Business School’sEntrepreneurial Leadership Club. Their business idea wasto use beads to make attractive hand-made accessories suchas keychain, fridge magnets and photo frames. They madeabout $1,540 in sales, which included a $750 seeding fund asa finalist. All the money was donated to charity through theSDC.Team Han Yi Xiu spoke about the experience, “We wereinitially stumped for ideas before someone started on thetopic of beads. From there, it was a flurry of activities fromdiscussing pricing details, to brainstorming design variationsand sourcing for materials. However, we believed the idea wassold because it was also a creative platform for children.”They competed with almost 20 other finalists frompolytechnics, junior colleges and the ITEs. Besides gettingmedals, the team also won a laptop for their School.It was a great harvest at the Crowbar Awards 2012 – the annualplatform for young creative minds to showcase their best works andlearn from their peers. Organised by the Association of AccreditedAdvertising Agents Singapore (4As), the event is a rich huntingground, for fresh talents and winners are much sought after andquickly hunted down by prospective employers. It is open to all fulltimestudents currently enrolled in any school, or those who graduatewithin the year 2012. The works must be original and produced solelyby the student.SP’s design and digital media students plucked 1 Gold, 2 Silversand 2 Bronzes for their entries. The Gold for the Advertising (DirectMail category) was won by a team of 3 final year students (SngJiarong, Shina Lee and Chloe Ong) from the Diploma in VisualCommunication and Media Design (DVMD).Jiarong and Chloe are currently the Art Director and Designerrespectively at The Student Agency, a student-run advertising agencyunder the SP Design School.The Silver and Bronze medals were reaped by students from theDiploma in Digital Media.Rachel Choo and Jocelyn Ongtook a Silver for their 2D Animationwork titled Snatcher while a 3DAnimation titled Robot Revolutionby Ge Jian Han, Lim Jia Ying andZhao Meng Lin took the Bronze. Theshort-film entry Homecoming tooktwo prizes: Silver for Jake Koh for hisSoundtrack and Music; and a Bronzeto Lim Cheng Yi, Eugene Cheong,Jake Koh, Lenson Sim and NicholasLye for the short-film itself.Winners from the Diploma in Digital Media (from left) Lim JiaYing, Ge Jian Han, Lim Cheng Yi and Li Guan Ting.Be it the sky or the sea, he is ready to challenge either. As aDiploma in Aeronautical Engineering (DARE) student, he is alsoprepared for a career in the sky. The water is familiar territory tohim as he takes frequent dives.Meet Timothy Lee who recently did Singapore proud byfinishing first in two categories at the Macau International DivingInternational - the Open Men 3m Springboard and the Open Men3m Synchronised Springboard. The latter was achieved with histwin brother, Mark. This achievement adds to Timothy’s stringof successes this year at other diving competitions that includethe 1st Southeast Asian Swimming Championship, the ThailandOpen and the 2nd International School Diving Championship.Not bad for this young lad who dived (pardon the pun!)into diving only in 2009. Now, he is aiming to be the best in hisleague. He makes clear his intention: “I aspire to compete well onthe international platform, against better and more experienceddivers. I want to achieve the highest possible level of excellencein the sport.”A big and tough call as he has to undertake at the same timehis role as an SP student. Without doubt, it is another challengehaving to juggle diving with studies as it means making sacrifices. “I’ve learnt to be really disciplined with my time and makesacrifices. I’m really thankful that my teachers and friends in SP have been very supportive each time I go away for overseascompetitions. They help me catch up with my school work every time after I get back,” says Timothy, whose older brotherNicholas recently graduated from SP with a Diploma in Aeronautical Engineering.We may hear more good news from Timothy as he prepares for two more regional meets – the Fina World JuniorsChampionships in Australia and the 9th Asian Diving Championships in Dubai. All the way Tim!Dikir Barat At Its BestThe SP Teams once again scored an impressive victory at Suara SerumpunIV 2012, the annual inter-polytechnic Dikir Barat competition. This time round,both the Boys and Girls teams won top honours, in addition to individual prizes.The Seri Thera (Girls’ Team) won the top placing while the KeturunanPuthera (Boys’ Team) came in second. The Boys Team also did SP proud byclinching two individual trophies: Best Awok-Awok and Best Singer, on top ofreceiving the 1st Runner-up Awards for Best Lyrics and Best Percussion. Thevictory was especially commendable for the Girls’ Team as they did not win anyawards last year.The teams have made a name for themselves since winning the awards lastBest in their class: SP’s Dikir Barat boys and girls.Dive For Successyear. They were invited to perform at various prestigious events including therecent opening of Gardens By The Bay.Team leader for the Girls’ Team, Nurul Fatin Osman, a third year studentfrom the Diploma in Human Resource Management with Psychology (DHRM),said: “Our strength came from the whole team wanting to redeem our dignityby compensating last year’s defeat! That became our top motivation, be it fromthe awok-awok, singers and the percussions. We trained very hard and had asolid two weeks of intensive training to prepare for the competition. Togetherwith the guidance and support from our instructors from Wahana Deksu, theBoys’ Team and the SP Malay Language Society, we did it!”

13SP. News14Photo courtesy of Singapore Sports Council.Photo courtesy of Singapore Press Holdings.Sprinting from SP to LondonBasking InOlympics 2012How many among the seven billionpeople on earth can say they have hadthe greatest sporting experience in theirlifetime? SP alumnus Gary Yeo cancertainly make this claim. The Diploma inInformation Technology (DIT) graduatefrom the Class of 2007 was a member ofthe Singapore Team that participated inLondon Olympics 2012.Gary was a former SP Sports Scholarand was a very active member of thetrack and field team. He took part inseveral meets in Singapore and overseasand won numerous medals. At the InterSchool Track and Field Meet in 2006, hewon Gold for both the 100m and 200msprint events. Other events he competedin included the Institute VarsityPolytechnic Games and competitionsin Hong Kong and Thailand. For threeconsecutive years, he was awarded theSports (Honours) Award at the annual SPExcellence Awards. He is now pursuinga business degree at the SingaporeManagement University.Although Gary did not bring homea medal from the Olympics, he brokehis personal best with a 10.57 secondstiming during the preliminary roundsand clocked 10.69 seconds in the heatsfor the men’s 100m. At the SEA Gamesin Palembang last year, Gary broke a10-year medal drought by clinching thesilver.He said after his Olympics run: “Itwas good to have come here and donea personal best. I’ve done my best sothere’s nothing to feel bad about.” Uponhis return from London, Gary took thegold in the 100m event at the SingaporeOpen Track and Field Championships.Gary (extreme right) in action with the world’s bestsprinters at the Olympics.TanyaWins BigTimeWithout a doubt, she is definitely oneof Singapore’s most accomplished musicexports. Tanya Chua, a SP alumna, scoreda major victory recently by winning for thethird time the Best Female Singer title at theGolden Melody Awards held in Taiwan for herlatest album Sing It Out Of Love. Dubbed theGrammy Awards for the Chinese music scene,she is the only singer to have won this threetimes since it debuted in 1986. She won thesame award in 2006 and 2008 for her Mandarinalbums Amphibian and Goodbye and Hellorespectively.Tanya graduated from SP with a Diplomain Business Administration (DBA). She countsher involvement as a member of the SPAmbassador Relations Corps (SPARC) as oneof her more memorable moments in SP.After her win in Taiwan, she came hometo receive the Artistic Excellence Award atthe 17th Composers and Authors Society ofSingapore Awards.Photo courtesy of Singapore Press Holdings.Stunning PicturesAndrew finds passion in communicatingvia photography.Andrew Yee, a Diploma in Media andCommunication (DMC) graduate from the Classof 2008, has scored a major victory at the 4thSingapore Young Photographer Award (SPYA) 2012organised by City Developments Limited (CDL).The 23-year-old, who is now an undergraduateat Wee Kim Wee School of Communication andInformation at Nanyang Technological University(NTU), was named the Overall Winner for theYouth Category.Held biennially since 2006, the SYPA - anationwide photography competition, aims todiscover and nurture young photographic talentsbetween 13 and 25 years old. More than 1,600entries with almost 10,000 prints were received thisyear for the various categories.For Andrew, his winning submission included amix of landscape and portraiture that were highlycommended by the judging panel for its depthin composition and uniqueness. The self-taughtshutterbug picked up photography as a hobby, butlater became serious about his craft. To improve, helearned from photographers whom he admired and travelled widely to explore new shooting opportunities.He has a particular interest in subjects related to the beauty of nature, people and form because theseare aspects that resonate within every human being. “My photographs seek to pursue and represent thetrue beauty of life in several ways and I hope that my images can touch the hearts of many across theworld,” he said.For his excellent photographic works, Andrew received S$5,000 and a valuable opportunity to bementored by experienced photographers.Cheng Rui Ting received theAward from Mr Lim Swee Say,Minister in Prime Minister’s Officeand NTUC Secretary-General.Award ForExcellentYouthVolunteerismJust a month before Cheng Rui Ting graduatedfrom SP, she achieved another feather in her cap.The Diploma in Events and Project Management(DEPM) graduate is one of three youths whoreceived the EXCEL Award at the second nEbOSpirit of Youth Awards organised by the NationalTrade Union Congress.The award honours young people who havemade significant contributions to the success ofthe youth community and its programmes. TheEXCEL Award is a top award given out to youngindividuals for being outstanding, committed,leaders who have inspired other members whilejuggling their many commitments.Rui Ting, 20, started out as an intern at nEbO,a junior recruitment arm of NTUC, in 2010. Shebecame a member later on and developed a stronginterest in volunteer work, after taking part innEbO’s social care events. An active, mature andpassionate nEbO champion, she is now one ofthe main committee members in nEbO’s Carecommunity, leading and guiding other youths tocontribute and give back to society.Rui Ting is now pursuing a degree in SportsScience and Management at the NanyangTechnological University.

15SP. News16Triple Dosage OfEngineering In The FamilyTwins Ashleyna (left) and Angelina, withyounger sister Faith between them, haveclinched scholarships from the RSAF topursue engineering masters’ programmesin the United States.As kids, twins Ashleyna and Angelina Foo were fascinated by aircraftrelateddocumentaries. One fine day, their dad brought them to the Republicof Singapore Air Force (RSAF) career exhibition. They were hooked by whatthey saw, and decided that they would want a career with the air force. Aftertheir ‘O’ levels at Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School, both of them picked SP’sDiploma in Aerospace Electronics (DASE) as their first choice under the thenJoint Polytechnic SAF Diploma Scheme (JPSDS)*.Fast forward to 2012. The twins have graduated and are gearing up foran exciting journey to the University of York, United Kingdom, where theywill pursue a four-year Direct Master’s programme known as the IntegratedMasters of Engineering in Avionics. They are fully sponsored by the SingaporeArmed Forces under the SAF Academic Scholarship, and are sure glad tohave this opportunity to further their studies without burdening their family’sfinances too much.Ashleyna and Angelina are hopeful that more young women will be willingto pursue engineering as a course of study if they have the interest. SaysAshleyna: ‘“Our schools need to challenge and inspire young women to achievetheir fullest potential as engineers. They also need to provide opportunities todevelop them as leaders in order to bring out that confidence that can help themsucceed. We need to show that engineering and technology are truly fascinating,and that they can look forward to a good career.”The twins have a younger sister named Faith who graduated from DASEthis year and is now studying in NUS.*The JPSDS is now known as the MDES Study Award (Diploma) for thosewho wish to embark on a career as a Military Expert. Details on the range ofscholarships and sponsorship opportunities offered by the RSAF are available atwww.careers.rsaf.gov.sgStar DonationRecipients of the LKY-STEP Awardsfor outstanding polytechnic graduates(from left): Desmond Thiam, Koh ShiMin and Tan Keng Hwee.Thanks to the generous donations from companies and organisations, SP studentsnow have even more opportunities to secure scholarships and receive financial aid.One recent example is a generous second-time donation of $20,000 from Star ControlsEngineering to the School of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering (MAE). MrCalum Chan, the Business Development Director of the company who presented thecheque, is also a graduate from the School.The donation will see four MAE students receiving Star Controls EngineeringScholarships worth $2,500 each. Another $10,000 will be disbursed for book prizes,student awards and student support programmes.Mr Calum Chan (right), an alumnusfrom the School of Mechanical andAeronautical Engineering, presenteda $20,000 cheque on behalf of hiscompany to the School’s Director DrNg Eng Hong.Three SPAlumni WinLKY-STEPAwardsThree outstanding SP graduates received the LKY-STEPAwards for Polytechnic Graduates. They are Desmond Thiamand Koh Shi Min who are now pursuing a medical degree atthe National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin Schoolof Medicine; and Tan Keng Hwee who is doing his degree inengineering at the Nanyang Technological University.They were selected based on their outstanding academicresults, excellent CCA Activities records and strong leadershipqualities and potential. The bond-free award comes with a$3,500 one-time cash award and waiver of tuition fees if theyare currently not holding any other scholarships.Top StudentsIn UQTheir academic excellence continues to shine even after SP. Ofthe 110 SP graduates now enrolled in University of Queensland(QT), 22 of them recently received the distinguished honour of aDean’s Commendation for High Achievement, receiving an overallsemester Grade Point Average (GPA) of 6 or higher, out of apossible 7. They are pursuing different degree programmes rangingfrom engineering to biotechnology to journalism at QT, one of thetop five universities in the world.Mckin Wong, who graduated from SP with a Diploma inChemical Engineering (DCHE) in 2007 and is now pursuingjournalism at QT, speaks favourably of his Australian experience.“I didn’t know what to expect from studying in Australia. I’dheard about the laid-back, chilly, afternoon sip-a-coffee kind oflife that could welcome me when I arrived. When reality hit, thosedescriptions actually were true, but by choice. You take charge ofyour studying habits, your lifestyle, all in all, yourself. The changein environment was refreshing nonetheless.“Journalism taps into my creativity, knocks on my inquisitiveinstincts, and takes me through hours and hours spent onradio, print, and production assignments. To write for NationalGeographic magazine would be an epiphany in itself, with myreporting and writings skills much harnessed in university. Ofcourse, my journo education is more than just writing, withmodern journalists now expected to be proficient in editing videosand various editing software as well.”

17SP. News18Eco-Friend Award By MEWRSP Principal Mr Tan Hang Cheong receiving theEcoFriend Award from Ms Grace Fu, Ministerin the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Ministerfor the Environment and Water Resources andSecond Minister for Foreign Affairs. Watchingon is Mr Khoo Seow Poh, Deputy ChiefExecutive Officer, Policy and Planning Group,National Environment Agency.SP Principal Mr Tan Hang Cheong has been named as one of the 12winners in the inaugural EcoFriend Award. He received the award fromMs Grace Fu, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for theEnvironment and Water Resources and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs. MrTan is recognised for being the driving force behind numerous environmentalinitiatives in SP such as the Car-Free Day, the online carbon footprint calculatorand the Green Buddy Awards. He also formulated a five-year Green MasterPlan to transform the polytechnic into an eco-friendly and green campus.The latest award adds to the list of accolades that SP has achieved overthe past three years. These include the President’s Award for the Environment(the highest achievement for environmental sustainability in Singapore), theSouthwest Environment and Community Award and the Green Mark PlatinumAward (for InnoVillage).Said Mr Tan: “This award is made possible through a team of verydedicated and passionate SP staff who are constantly mapping out newinitiatives in environmental sustainability. And when we roll out theseinitiatives, the entire SP community is mobilised, from staff to students andsometimes our alumni too. We aspire to make the SP campus even greenerin the years to come and also work with our partners such as the secondaryschools, to develop and implement green projects.”Running In A BunchTheBiggestSITBuildingThe ground was broken to make way for a stateof-the-artSingapore Institute of Technology (SIT)building at SP. Located at the former tennis courts andadjacent to the Department of Student Development, itis expected to be completed by 2014.The SIT building will certainly not be just anotherbuilding block. With a total floor area of 3,400 sqm,it will be the biggest SIT building among the fivepolytechnics. The building boasts a grand front entranceand the upper floors command a priceless view of thescenic Dover greenery.The SIT building at SP will host degree programmesoffered by three prestigious overseas universities –Technical University of Munich (TUM), University ofGlasgow (UOG) and Digipen Institute of Technology.SP Principal Mr Tan Hang Cheong (extreme right) receiving the cheque from the KeppelCare Foundation, witnessed by (from left) Mr Choo Chiau Beng, CEO of Keppel Corporation;Dr Lee Boon Yang, Chairman of Keppel Corporation; former President of SingaporeMr S R Nathan; and Mrs Alice Chua.As DigiPen’s degree programmes require industrystandard classrooms, studio facilities, along with actingand animation studios for game development, areincluded in the architectural plans.In line with SP’s quest in using sustainableresources within the campus, the SIT building designWitnessing the ground-breaking ceremony of the SIT building at SP were (from left) SPPrincipal Mr Tang Hang Cheong; Mr Tan Chek Ming, Deputy President (Operations), SIT;Prof Ting Seng Kiong, Deputy President (Academic), SIT; Prof Tan Chin Tiong, President,SIT; and Mr Bill Chang, Chairman, SP Board of Governors.will include a slew of design measures that will meetthe Green Mark Platinum standards. These includebuilding class rooms with optimum room depth toachieve ideal daylight and the generous introductionof naturally ventilated study areas.The community of SP runners clinched thetop prize in the Schools Challenge at theSAFRA Bay Run 2012.Once again SP staff, students and Alumni gatheredin force to participate in the SAFRA Bay Run andthe Army Half Marathon held last month. The eventattracted more than 70,000 participants this year,with almost 500 from the SP community (comprisingstaff, students and alumni). Decked in Team SP teessponsored by the Alumni Relations Office, the SPteam took the top position in the Schools Challengefor the second year in a row, clocking a total runningdistance of 7,661 kilometres!Dr Carlos Acosta, a lecturer from the School ofElectrical and Electronic Engineering who took onthe competitive 21 km run, said: “Running is a greatsport and taking part in such events helps people withcommon interests to exercise together. That gives youan additional motivation to continue.”Senior Manager Dennis Sim from theDepartment of Student Development received theSchool Challenge winner’s trophy on behalf of SP. Heexplained that the initiative to get the SP communityto participate together started as part of the SPHealthy Lifestyle programme and a collaborationbetween DSD, Alumni Relations Office and HumanResource. He added that all three departments foundthis a good opportunity to get students, alumniand staff involved in keeping fit, though they neverintended to win any awards.More ScholarshipsFrom KeppelSP has received a generous cheque of $500,000 from the newlylaunchedKeppel Care Foundation. The money will be channelled intothe Chua Chor Teck Memorial Fund that provides scholarships andfinancial assistance to students with the desire to work in the maritimeindustry.With the fresh funds, SP students will not only get to enjoy morescholarship opportunities, but also see an injection of new programmesand improvements to existing ones in the advancement of education,particularly in the strengthening of the marine industry throughknowledge-sharing as well as building competencies to better serve thissector.The cheque presentation to SP was held at the launch of the Foundation,witnessed by the former President of Singapore and Mr S R Nathan.Art for the community– a SP studentvolunteer painting anew artwork for a preschoolin Boon Lay.Adding CheersWith ColoursNew colours now adorn the walls of a pre-school at Block 207 in BoonLay, thanks to a group of about 50 SP students who were roped in underthe Let’s Paint Homes! South West programme. They were led by MarcusLim, an SP alumnus, heritage painter and active Southwest resident.The on-going programme aims to strengthen community ties and bringcheers to the homes of the elderly and needy residents with meaningfulpaintwork for them to enjoy and appreciate. Senior Minister of State forEducation, and Communications and Information, joined the students inthe painting.To date, the programme has seen a total of 55 void decks and over 70rental flats in the district painted by over 1,500 volunteers and communitystakeholders. SP staff also helped to facilitate and teach arts workshopsessions for children under this programme.

19SP. News20SP Principal Mr Tan Hang Cheongreceiving the award from NParksChief Executive Officer, Mr PoonHong Yuen.Making SenseOut Of MoneyThey all say money makes the world go round. But it can also make you go crazy if money islost in unwise investment. Help is on the way. The MoneySENSE-Singapore Polytechnic Institutefor Financial Literacy was recently set up by SP and MoneySENSE, which is spearheaded by thepublic-sector Financial Education Steering Committee, to educate the public on money matters.This include areas such as basic money management, financial planning and investment knowhow.Led by Dr Alex Lum with an experienced team of 11 full-time staff, the Institute aims toprovide financial education to as many Singaporeans as possible, especially low-to-middle incomeearners, to make sound financial decisions. It will work with financial industry associations,consumer and investor associations to develop the content for its programmes. For a start, a seriesof lectures and workshops, provided free of charge, will be conducted in October 2012. Topics inthe kick off series include “Making the most of your money”, “Are you borrowing too much” and“Do I need every type of insurance”.Both parties possess strong credentials to meet the Institute’s objectives. SP has been offeringthe Diploma in Banking and Finance(DBF) course since 1988 and withthat, it has the strong foundation tooffer financial education. Thousandsof young SP graduates have sincegraduated and moved on to pursuesuccessful careers in the bankingand financial planning industry.MoneySENSE has the experience ofraising basic financial literacy levelsin Singaporeans for almost ten yearsthrough large-scale events and mediaprogrammes.For more information on theInstitute and the programmesavailable, visit www.finlit.sg as well asits facebook page: www.facebook.com/finlit.sgDr Alex Lum, Director of the newMoneySENSE-SP Financial Literacy Institutethat will provide financial education toSingaporeans.A Platinum GardenLet a thousand flowers bloom in SP. It’s no fluke that SP prides itself asa very green campus. Years of deliberate efforts to beautify our campus withflora and fauna have paid off. SP was recently awarded by NParks the PlatinumBand at the Community in Bloom (CIB) Awards 2012 - the highest accoladegiven out to organisations and companies for excellence in gardening efforts.Established in 2005, the biennial awards recognise excellence in gardeningefforts by community groups in public and private housing estates, educationalinstitutions and organisations. SP is the only tertiary institution to win theaward this year.The SP Community Gardens initiative was first mooted in 2008. Whatstarted as a pilot garden adopted by the School of Communication, Arts andSocial Sciences was gradually extended across all SP schools and departments.To date, there are 11 Community Gardens in SP managed by the SP community.Each garden has its own identity with thematic design and the freedom to planta variety of flowers, herbs, species, vegetables and fruit trees. Through thisinitiative, it is hoped that a a gardening culture can be fostered among all SPstaff and students where they can gather to plant, care and share ideas on howto provide green areas for all to enjoy.LatestTechnologyFor GameDevelopmentStudentsSP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)with Unity Technologies, the provider of the Unity multiplatformengine and development tools for creating3D video games or other interactive content such asarchitectural visualizations or real-time 3D animation.The company won the Wall Street Journal TechnologyInnovation Award in 2010 and one year before that, it wasnamed one of the Top 5 Game Companies by Gamasutra’s,the leading website for video game development resources.Under the MOU, SP would incorporate Unity as theprimary game engine for students to create and developdigital games. A Centre of Excellence will also be set upto teach the visualisation and simulation capabilities ofthe Unity game engine. The tie-up will expose SP studentsto the essential tools that will take their game creationsto the next level. For Unity, the collaboration reinforcesits commitment to education in supporting the growth ofgame developers in the region.The MOU was signed by Mr Lim Peng Hun, SP’sDeputy Principal of Technology and Industry, andUnity’s General Manager, John Goodale. Visitors andmedia who witnessed the MOU signing also visited SP’sGames Resource Centre located at InnoVillage.NewWaterTechPartnerThe School of Architecture andthe Built Environment (ABE) signed aMemorandum of Co-operation (MoC)with AgPlus Technologies Pte Ltd, astart-up company that specialises inwater technology. The collaborationwill see both parties conduct jointresearch projects, test-bedding,commercialisation and production ofnew and novel water solution. Underthe MoC, both parties will also exploreand secure external funding for researchand development works.AgPlus will also support students’final-year projects, provide internshipopportunities and sponsor scholarshipsand prizes to ABE students.ABE offers the Diploma inEnvironmental Management andWater Technology (DEWT).Students learning watertechnology will benefitfrom the collaboration withAgPlus Technologies.More OpportunitiesFor Maritime StudentsMaritime graduates will benefit fromthe partnership with Shell.Thanks to the signing of a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) between the SingaporeMaritime Academy (SMA) at SP and the DalianMaritime University in China, two groups of SMAstudents had the opportunities to visit the premiermaritime institute in Asia. The memorandum pavedthe way for both parties to collaborate in areas suchas institutional visits, student exchange, joint researchprojects and course development.Separately, SMA also signed a StrategicMemorandum of Cooperation and Understandingwith Shell Marine Products this year. The co-operationwill see Shell providing internship for SP students whilethe energy giant will use SMA facilities for lubricationtraining. Shell products will also be used for SMAlessons and workshops. In the pipeline is the setting upof a Tribology Centre by Shell Marine Products, SMAand a bearing manufacturing company for research inmarine lubrication.

For the latestSP happeningsFor the latestSP happeningsFacebook.com/singaporepolytechnicFacebook.com/singaporepolytechnicTwitter.com/singaporepolyTwitter.com/singaporepolyYoutube.com/singaporepolytechnicYoutube.com/singaporepolytechnic Daniel Chan3rd YearDiploma in Mechanical EngineeringSP Track and Field Team Tan Li Yan2nd YearDiploma in Hotel and Leisure Facilities ManagementSP DanceSport Member

OCTober2012SP CHEERLEADING:NO PAIN NO GAIN✚ Made in SP: The fastest solar car in Asia ✚ A bountiful scholarshipharvest ✚ Heart to serve: SP SIFE, Go Serve and the humanitarianmission ✚ Overseas in Korea, Taiwan and Sarawak.