Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew Visits Nanyang Polytechnic

“Did you pass your Mandarin in secondary school? What was your grade?” Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew asked third year Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) Digital Media student, Syarah Li Ping Mahmood. MM Lee was pleased to learn that Syarah who is of Chinese-Malay parentage, got a B3 grade for the subject.

	Syarah had just presented to MM Lee her group’s final year animation project titled ‘Story of I’ - a self-initiated 3D animated short film about a girl who is in search of her identity. “I’ve only seen MM Lee on television or read about him in the papers and in the history books. I was a little nervous but excited to present my project to him. This is surreal,” she said.
Her group’s project was one of several presented to MM Lee during his visit to NYP’s School of Interactive and Digital Media and School of Engineering on 5 January 2009.

He also had a very animated and interactive session with a group of 10 students.

This is MM Lee’s first visit to NYP, and to any polytechnic in 30 years when he opened Singapore Polytechnic's Dover Road campus in 1979.

Throughout the visit, MM Lee not only quizzed the students about their projects but also on their family backgrounds, schools they came from, why they chose a particular course and their future plans.

Speaking to the media, MM Lee said that these students are a crucial part of the diverse talent pool that Singapore needs.

“Some people are good with their hands, and an economy needs all kinds of talented people. It's diversity that we now require. We have to become a more diverse economy and we have to provide our students with different outlets that fit their particular strengths, their particular profile.”

And he feels it's not just scoring in examinations that would give people a good life. “Some people are good with their hands, some are good with thinking out problems, and an economy needs all kinds of talented people.”

What is more important, he said, is to tap into the diverse pool of talent that the education system has been able to identify.

"That's the concentration that we should give because people who go to university make up about 25 per cent; poly - about forty plus per cent; and you have special schools, arts, sports schools and so on. We got to go in that direction."

NYP too has expanded its number courses to 45 from 33 now. It now offers 10 new diploma courses, three enhanced diplomas and a brand new Scholarship programme.

The 10 new courses, offered by five academic schools, will equip students with specialist skills to prepare them for careers in Singapore’s Aerospace, Biologics, Fund Management, Digital Media, Green Technology, IT, Nanotechnology and Telematics Industries.

NYP’s School of Interactive & Digital Media has also launched three newly enhanced courses in Animation, Games and Interaction Design, to meet Singapore’s growing manpower needs in the media industries.

Also from this year, new students with outstanding academic results, who are active in co-curricular activities, and show leadership qualities will be awarded the NYP Scholarship.

Over the last four years, more than 90 per cent of NYP’s graduates found jobs upon graduation within 6 months upon graduation.

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