SINGAPORE — When the Make A Wish Foundation gave Divesh Singaraju (pictured top right) a chance to realise one of his dreams, he asked to visit the cockpit of a SilkAir jet because of his love of planes. Diagnosed with lymphoma as a child, Mr Singaraju had his wish granted.

Soon, this young man will soar to greater heights when he pursues an aeronautical engineering degree at Imperial College London after being awarded an SIA-SINDA scholarship.

At the National Day Rally yesterday, Mr Singaraju, a polytechnic graduate, and ITE graduate William Tay (pictured right) were held up by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as “great examples of resolve, strength and character”. Although Mr Singaraju had qualified for entry to a junior college, he chose to enrol at Singapore Polytechnic to pursue his passion in aeronautical engineering. His fight against cancer had delayed his studies, but he recovered, returned to school and graduated top of his class this year. Mr Singaraju also co-founded Youth Comm, a platform that helps youth with cancer.

In his speech, Mr Lee also listed Mr Tay as an example. A graduate of ITE College Central, Mr Tay achieved a perfect GPA when he graduated last year with a Nitec in Info-Communications Technology. Despite losing his hearing at the age of four, he was undeterred and even clinched the Rotary-ITE Student Excellence Award this year.

At ITE, he was involved in the photography club and the dragon-boat-racing team. Mr Tay is now pursing a diploma in Infocomm Security Management at Singapore Polytechnic and is working with his lecturers to start a sign-language CCA club at his alma mater. Paul Lim