IT was a proud day for everyone – staff, students and parents, alike –
at the 2008 ITE Student Achievers’ Awards Presentation Ceremony
held on 29 May 2008 at ITE Headquarters. The stars of the event, all 36
recipients of the Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) Awards, deserve applause for
their dedication and outstanding performance.

Light Touch Brings Smiles
19-year-old Pang Anqi led members of the Community Service Club of
ITE College East to bring light, literally, to the children of
NongVietKham Primary School in Dong Dok, Laos, in 2007.

“There was smiling and clapping of hands all around when the lights
came on. The village head, who was also inside the classroom, had
an even broader smile on his face!” reminisced Anqi, a recipient of the
LKY Model Student Award. She had led her team-mates into putting
their electrical engineering know-how to good use by installing lights
and fans in the school’s dilapidated classrooms and corridors.

The Higher Nitec in Electrical Engineering graduate not only aced her
studies, but also excelled in sports and social entrepreneurship. She
is now pursuing a Diploma in Integrated Facility and Design
Management at Temasek Polytechnic.

The final product: an assembly of two assistive machines, the Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) machine and the Recumbent Bike into one. Through this innovative dual-function machine, a patient can strengthen his knee joints through an up-and-down motion of the motorised CPM, and as he gradually recovers, use his own physical strength to move the machine.

“After making several visits to hospitals to observe patients and get feedback from the physiotherapists, we believe our creation will be useful to them,” said team leader, Alfred Bay.

 

Conquering Self, Breaking Records
At the 16th ITE Sports Council Track & Field Meet held last year, the 3,000m and 800m records, both held for more than 10 years, were broken by 21-year-old Phua Hui Qin. The new record for 3,000m now stands at 11 minutes and 44 seconds, shaving off more than 20 seconds from the 1992 record. The 800m record is now two minutes and 32 seconds, four seconds faster than the record that was created way back in the ‘80s. All this happened because, in September 2006, Hui Qin had told her coach that she “is determined to break the ITE records”.

Hui Qin also helps coach the ITE College Central Cross Country team. “I hope to beat the 800m record of the current Inter-Varsity Polytechnic Games and represent Singapore in the 2011 SEA Games,” mused the LKY Co-Curricular Activities (CCA) Award recipient.

The Student Achievers’ Awards winners have demonstrated resilience in the face of tough challenges and have shown that no “mountain” is too high for them to scale. ITE salutes them!