Singapore Student with JRA receives the prestigious Toh Chin Chye Gold Medal

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She is doing grandma proud: JC dropout wins Lee Kuan Yew Award

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/60081.asp

FOUR years ago, Dian Farziana Mohd Farid was skipping classes at

Anglo-Chinese Junior College.

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Yesterday, she became the first Malay student to win the prestigious Lee

Kuan Yew Award, which is given to the top graduates from mathematics or

science-related courses at secondary, pre-university and polytechnic levels.

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The 20-year-old Singapore Polytechnic (SP) graduate also won a Public

Service Commission (PSC) Merit Scholarship from the Ministry of Education,

after bagging 38 distinctions during her three years at SP.

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Dian dropped out of junior college after her first year to enter the

polytechnic and quietly worked her way to the top of her cohort. Her family

members did not even know.

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Said her paternal grandmother Madam Salmah Rahman: " I was shocked. She had

distinctions all the way from Year 1! "

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Dian cites her late maternal grandmother, whom she lived with, as her

inspiration.

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She recalls visiting her often at her workplace at the then Kandang Kerbau

Hospital.

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It was there that Dian developed an interest in medicine and biology.

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Said the graduate: " To me, my late grandmother epitomises what a woman

should be.

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" Not only was she successful in her career as a head nurse, she was also a

mother of four, my mentor, guide, friend and 'mother' all rolled into one. "

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However, Dian is not planning to be a nurse.

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She wants to get a degree in biomedical science, then teach biology and

chemistry in a secondary school.

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Another winner at the awards ceremony was Han Zhihang, who was given the Toh

Chin Chye Gold Medal - one of the polytechnic's four top institutional

awards.

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Despite suffering from juvenile arthritis since he was 15, Zhihang topped

his Computer & Technology course.

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The 22-year-old wants to get a degree in Computer Engineering at the Nanyang

Technological University and, like Dian, plans to teach once he graduates.