From struggling students to top NTU graduates

SINGAPORE — One student was doing so badly in his studies that he was rejected by a tuition centre, while another was prepared to drop out of school if he continued to do poorly.

Defying expectations, these two former Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students are graduating with First Class Honours from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) this year.

Mr Hoong Seng Keng and Mr Amos Goh Zhi Zhong, both 27, are from the Electrical and Electronic Engineering course.

Nearly 9,600 students from the university’s class of 2017 — its 26th batch of graduates — are having their convocation ceremonies over a week, starting yesterday.

Both Mr Hoong and Mr Goh said that they have their teachers to thank for turning their lives around.

Mr Hoong recalled that when he was in Primary 3, a renowned tuition centre rejected him after just one session.

“If you are too lousy, they will just return you your money and tell you they cannot teach (you) at all,” he said. “(My parents) had already paid for one month’s tuition fees, but (the centre) refunded them after my first lesson and told them to look for a better tuition centre.”

At the time, he was getting single-digit scores out of 100 for all subjects in Zhangde Primary School, and was in the EM3 stream for students who are less academically inclined. Then in Primary 5, his form teacher, Mr Leong, arranged to have extra lessons with him after classes, and slowly, his scores began improving with every mathematics and science test he took.

Calling Mr Leong a “really good teacher”, Mr Hoong said that they would have regular one-to-one chats. “He told me that the way to a polytechnic is not only through (one path) ... He told me that I can go through ITE, then poly. I think that was the most important point (that hit me).”

Mr Hoong was first in his class in the Primary School Leaving Examination, and went on to the Normal (Technical) stream in Henderson Secondary School.

He continued his education in Yishun ITE, and then to Singapore Polytechnic, where he studied in the School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering. He was placed on the Dean’s List for every semester in the last two years there, and graduated with a diploma with merit.

Fellow NTU graduate Mr Goh also credited his teacher, Ms Neo Chee Eng, for helping him to be more confident when he was studying Electronics, Computer & Communications Engineering at Nanyang Polytechnic.

He struggled in the first few weeks when he had to take up Additional Mathematics.

“If I failed one of the modules, I needed to repeat it. So that discouraged me and I was quite demoralised. Initially I told myself, I would try my best, but if I really failed in the first semester, I would quit poly. I didn’t want to retake and retake,” he said.

Ms Neo, his math lecturer, came to his aid. “She encouraged me, coached me and gave me extra lessons,” he said. He surprised himself when he scored well that semester. “That really motivated me ... because I knew that if I studied hard, I could do well,” he said. “That was the point when I thought, ‘Yes, I want to study’.”

From then on, he scored straight As for almost every module, placing him on the Director’s List for five consecutive semesters.

Mr Goh has started working at ST Electronics as an engineer specialising in the area of Internet of Things.

Mr Hoong has secured a top job at a multinational technology firm Micron Technology, where he will focus on areas related to solid-state devices.

Mr Hoong said: “Whatever you did wrong in the past, you can’t change it. So aim high and don’t look back.”