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Every year we will feature some graduates with outstanding achievements.
However, it does not come easy for everyone. Read on to find out why these
graduates are simply outstanding.
Lee Cheng Wei
Board of Governors Award 2010
Diploma in Materials Science (with distinction)
School of Applied Science
Student, businessman, tutor – it is hard to classify Lee Cheng Wei. One thing is clear though, he makes juggling all three look like one of the magic tricks he is so good at – simple, effortless and amazing. He has won awards every year for his course work, and he performed so well during his internship at Sony, they wanted to hire him on the spot!
 How he manages to squeeze in all he has been accomplishing during his three years at RP is equally baffling, seeing that he has to spend a lot of time on the road, as he travels in for classes from Malaysia every day.
He puts it down to sheer hard work, saying: “Nothing beats learning what you like and getting tangible rewards as a result. Although travelling daily to RP from Malaysia is troublesome, I enjoy learning the subjects in my course and practising magic with like-minded friends.”
The 22-year-old, who hopes to eventually run a string of businesses, has already started on realising that dream. He opened his own magic school, Asten, in 2010, to fill a void of magic teachers. He has been performing magic since he was 10 years old and giving private lessons in the skill for some time.
It is not the only area in which he conducts classes. He tutors classmates who are retaking their O levels and even organises small workshops for international students at RP, offering tips on how to score in class.
Scoring high is something he has got down to a fine science. In his first year alone, he picked up six awards for the modules he was doing. He followed it up with more in his second and third years.
Cheng Wei got his first job offer after his attachment to Sony. When the electronics giant learnt he was about to graduate, it made a pitch for him again. Unfortunately for the multi-national company, it will have to wait. He has secured a placement to pursue a degree in Material Sciences at Nanyang Technological University.
Karthik Mohan
Board of Governors Award 2010
Diploma in Communication and Information Design (with distinction)
Centre for Culture and Communication
Karthik Mohan, RP’s top Indian student, has a way with words. Whether it is penning an essay on communications, or giving a commentary on sporting events, he has nailed it. When a student moderator was needed for the National Education dialogues with Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Balaji Sadasivan, RP called on his services.
 His ability to make a point is not his only strength. The 20-year-old, who has a deep interest in politics and foreign affairs, is also an A student. In 2009, he did so well in class; he won the Phoenix award for academic achievement.
In his final year, he was one of only three in his cohort of 90 who secured an A grade for both his Final Year Projects. His team also had the most number of A’s for their FYPs in both semesters.
Little wonder then that he is the valedictorian this year for his school, the Centre for Culture and Communication, and will be making the farewell speech for his year mates.
Karthik had a taste of commenting on sports when he covered the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 for radio station 93.8 Live. He was in his first year at RP then. He took on a more low-key role for the 2009 Asian Youth Games, which was held in Singapore. At that, he worked on updating the AYG’s official website.
Sports is a passion with Karthik, who loves football and plays the game. His goal is to become a sports journalist, travelling to major sporting events and interviewing the big names in this field. With this in mind, he plans to do a degree in mass communications after his National Service.
Oh Zhi Hong
Diploma in Integrated Events Management (with distinction)
School of Hospitality
 You could say that Oh Zhi Hong has been on a roll, more specifically, RP’s Roll of Honour. He has done so well in his diploma programme that his name has been on the list for five semesters.
As the president of JIVE interest group, an events management group in RP, he
has organised various event-related external events. Some completed projects include Yellow Ribbon Carnival, Singapore International Water Week, HarmonyWorks! Conference, Canberra CC National Day Dinner, STB F1 Ambassador at F1 Night Race and Narpani Pearavai Family Day at the Zoo.
And his academic achievements have not stopped there. The 21-year-old has managed a rare feat – he has secured a coveted place at Nanyang Technological University to study accountancy, breaking a three-year drought of polytechnic graduates qualifying for the degree programme.
While he has been busy chasing high grades, the son of a housewife and a newspaper distributor also found the time to reach out to others – he has been volunteering his services to help coach badminton players for the Special Olympics.
With all this going for him, it seems only natural that the Singapore Tourism Board scholar should be chosen as the valedictorian for his school.
Jesper Soh Zhi Hao
Diploma in Environmental Science (with distinction)
School of Applied Science
It is hardly surprising that Jesper Soh was president of the Conservation Interest Group. He has been so involved with environmental matters that he has won two awards for his efforts in this area. One of RP’s biggest projects to educate people about going green was proposed by him.
 He suggested collecting plastic bottles to mark Earth Hour 2009. To spread the green message about the need to reduce, reuse and recycle, neighbourhood schools were invited to take part in a competition to see who could collect the most bottles.
The target was 100,000, but the final count exceeded this by more than 33,000. The bottles were arranged in a 30m by 21m mosaic and the effort went down in the Singapore Book of Records.
The idea won him the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Competition and a trip to Germany. The 20-year-old also received the HSBC Youth Achievement Award.
The German trip was not the environmental crusader’s first. He was in Cambodia too on a service-learning exercise, helping a village with providing basic healthcare.
Jesper, who is currently working at Alexandra Hospital as a medical records officer, has applied to study Environmental Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, and hopes to purse a PhD on waste water treatment.
He is the valedictorian this year for his school. No prizes for guessing what his speech will probably be about.
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