Lee Kuan Yew Award winner, Viyshnatulasiy Manivannen, was unfazed when she couldn’t get into NUS after her A-levels. She took a gap year, then started the Biotechnology course in TP. Her many opportunities both in and out of the classroom, her rich internship experience at A*STAR’s Immunology department and her perfect CGPA, not only confirmed her love for science and research, but has also landed her a spot in her dream course, Life Sciences in NUS.

Passionate about marine science, Lucas Chew snagged his dream internship at the St. Joh’s Island National Marine Lab, by winning the EXPLORE – Young Marine Scientist Research Award. There, he worked on a climate change investigation on how ocean acidification would affect giant clams. Fun fact: he has also co-authored a book, ‘Just Being Nosy: Everything you need to know about your dysfunctional nose and how to fix it’! A true all-rounder, Lucas was also in TP’s swim team, captain of TP’s life-saving team, and is in the national fin swimming team. Lucas will receive the CapitaLand Award for All-Round Excellence.

Tay Eng Soon Gold Medal recipient Josiah Tham had his heart set on joining TP via the Polytechnic Foundation Programme, so when he did not qualify for it, his world collapsed. Yet, so focused was he on getting into TP, that he pursued the Higher Nitec at ITE, and through sheer grit and hard work, Josiah achieved his dream of entering the Electronics course in TP. His excellent performance in TP has earned him admission into the Electrical and Electronic Engineering course at Nanyang Technological University.

Born premature, Alina Seow was diagnosed with diplegic cerebral palsy affecting both legs. In spite of her physical struggles, she feels that she is no different from anyone else and only needs to find different ways to get the same results. Her breakthrough was horse-riding! It has boosted her confidence so much that she feels nothing is impossible! She was active in CCA, went out for internship, and keeps learning as she awaits to enter university. For her amazing “can do” spirit and achievements, Alina receives the Ngee Ann Kongsi Most Outstanding Overcomer Award.

Each of the top poly-level award recipients has their own unique stories to tell. Four of them will receive the Lee Kuan Yew Award, three will receive the Lee Kong Chian Award, one will receive the Tay Eng Soon Gold Medal, two will receive the CapitaLand Award for All-Round Excellence and one will receive the Ngee Ann Kongsi Most Outstanding Overcomer Award.

The 11 recipients will be presented to the media in the ‘Presentation of Top Graduates’ event on Tuesday, 27 April 2021 at 11am.

This event is also a time for our top graduates to say thank you to the special people who helped them through their journeys of success i.e. their families, secondary school principal and teachers, their ITE lecturers and their poly lecturers and care persons.