Mocked for failing exams, now top student from ITE
He fixes houses, plants trees and speaks his mind
They have different backgrounds and faced different challenges, but these award-winning students have one thing in common - they didn't just stay in class
By Liew Hanqing
May 28, 2008


HE was a poor student whom nobody believed would succeed.

But 22-year-old Lee Chee Hoe has proved his critics wrong, by graduating as one of Singapore Polytechnic's top students this year.


The electrical and electronic engineering diploma student scored 34 distinctions in his coursework, and was awarded the Tay Eng Soon gold medal, which is given every year to top students formerly from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).


But Mr Lee's academic performance wasn't always illustrious.


Recalled the former EM3 student: 'I used to be very stubborn. I was failing my exams but I didn't care.


'My parents kept pushing me to study and sent me for tuition but I just refused to study.'
Then, he overheard a teacher telling his parents that he would be better off dropping out of school and going to work.


His neighbours also mocked him and made disparaging remarks about him, telling his parents he would never amount to anything.


He said: 'I was tired of having people look down on me. I was determined to work harder. And when I finally started passing more tests in Pri 5, it felt good.'


He went on to graduate as the top Normal (Technical) stream student at Nan Hua High School, and graduated from ITE Bukit Batok with a perfect GPA of 4.0 in 2004.


When he joined the poly a year later, Mr Lee immersed himself in his schoolwork.


He said: 'I was overjoyed that I had managed to qualify for SP. It was a big achievement for an ITE student to make it to poly.'


In his first year, Mr Lee set aside about two hours every day for revision.


But once project work started, he found he had less time to study.


He said: 'I found that some of the other students were more efficient when they studied, because they understood most of the concepts while at lectures.'


To optimise his revision time, Mr Lee said he picked up study pointers from his peers.
'I wouldn't necessarily study for the longest time, but I would try to make the most of my study time.'


All this while, he was actively involved in community service.


He went on three trips to the Philippines with other students from his course, to do electrical wiring for houses in Concepcion province.


The son of a delivery man and sales assistant, Mr Lee said he empathises with the less fortunate, coming from a humble background himself.


He was also a founding member of the polytechnic's Mangrove Planting Club, which plants mangrove in Sungei Buloh and Pulau Ubin to prevent soil erosion.


In his free time, Mr Lee said he enjoys going for long runs, which help him relax.


He plans to pursue an engineering degree at either National University of Singapore or Nanyang Technological University, both of which have offered him a place.


MOTIVATED
He hopes to eventually become an engineer.


Mr Hui Wing Hong, 44, the lecturer who supervised Mr Lee's final-year project, described his former student as 'very motivated and independent.'


'He's not afraid to speak up when he disagrees with his lecturers. He is always firm in what he believes, and always backs up his views with facts,' he said.


Mr Hui added that unlike some of his other students, Mr Lee was able to interpret complex data with ease.


He said: 'I'd only have to explain the data briefly to him. He would just look through the data, and come up with different sets of good interpretations.'

**Bibliography:
The above-mentioned article was taken from: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,165927,00.html

7:17 PM
someone screamed here