Hard Work Pays Off
Congratulations to 16-year-old North East students, Bryce Zeng and Wong Yeang Cherng, who are among the top six top ‘N’ Level students of 2005. Bryce from Damai Secondary School, and Yeang Cherng, from Hai Sing Catholic School, both scored an aggregate of six in the recent exams.
For Bryce, who’s dyslexic, it’s an especially sweet victory. He always loved reading even though he had problems, but with professional help, he not just overcame the problem, but
excelled. He credits his success to hard work, understanding the material and listening in class. He says listening accounts for 50 percent of his studying.
Yeang Cherng, who did well in her prelims was surprised because she didn’t complete her social studies paper. She studied hard “mostly at home as it’s quiet and I can concentrate,” but also found time for friends and computer games “but not that much because the computer’s in my older brother’s room, as he needs it for his studies.”
What’s her advice? “Plan your time well and balance work and play. If you study too much, or too little – both ways you get stressed out.”
The Only Gold
Wining Singapore’s only silat gold medal at the Manila South-east Asian Games recently was a dream come true for Nanyang Polytechnic under- graduate, Mohammed Imran, 22.
A student of sports and well-ness management, he says he was “very, very hungry for it” despite already having about 11 other gold medals from previous competitions including the 2004 World Penchak Silat Championship in Singapore. “It was my big chance. If I lost, I wouldn’t know when the next chance would come along.”
Mohammed, who studied silat as a child and now coaches at Eunos Community Centre, says even though he knew that his game had improved, he was taken by surprise, especially to beat the Vietnamese, who excel in the sport.
He now treasures the memory of standing on the podium listening to the “Majulah Singapura” as the Singapore flag was raised. “I cannot describe the joy. It’s like whoa, immense!”
