ALUMNI
Chok Man Ming
Diploma in Civil Engineering with Business
Class of 2016
The Institution of Engineers Gold Medal Award
Singapore Concrete Institute Gold Medal
Institute of Structural Engineers Prize
Ever since I was a kid, I have always been curious and inquisitive of how buildings, transportation and water distribution system are planned and built. During art classes, the only thing that I could draw well was the building in the background of every drawing. Upon receiving my SPM results in Malaysia (O level equivalent), the first thing I did was to rush to complete my DAE for SP, in hopes to get into the course of my dream which I fortunately did. I have chosen SP as it is the only polytechnic in Singapore that offers a Diploma in Civil Engineering. What is even better is that it actually comes with Business modules!
Throughout my 3 years in SP, I have acquired not just technical knowledge, but also skills through the rigorous programme of study offered by DCEB. The assignments provided by the school had offered me the opportunity to experience the scenarios that may happen in the workplace together with my very own project team. For instances, the elements that required self-directed learning has developed my critical, analytical and problem-solving skills, whether it is in group or in individual. These are the skills that are truly valuable and useful when it comes to practicing our technical knowledge in the future.
In my third year, I was selected to participate in the Enhanced Internship Programme where each student is assigned a mentor to complete a proposed training programme prepared jointly by the school and the company. This is to ensure that we achieved the same targeted learning outcome during our internship. I was fortunate enough to be able to work for a reputable construction company - Teambuild Engineering and Construction Pte Ltd, as a planning engineer. Thanks to this programme, I had a fruitful experience during my internship and got a better taste of what my future workplace would be like.
Consider myself as an outgoing person, I definitely could not stand mugging my whole life away in the library. I had volunteered myself to tutor my fellow Year 1 juniors in hopes to get them adapted to the DCEB family. Furthermore, I had trained and taken part in tournaments under SP Taekwondo Club on a regular basis and even played the role of captain when I was in Year 2. During my free time, I was also involved in voluntary programme which required me to organize events for the intellectually-disabled people at MINDS, together with my peers from SPTKD. By taking part in these activities, I established a strong sense of responsibility and efficient time management to manage my hectic campus life while juggling with my academic studies.
SP had provided a great platform for students to experience a real-world exposure in the field of engineering. I had once participated in a week-long course trip to Beijing with my seniors and lecturer from DCEB, which was definitely a memorable experience for me. We also had interesting coursework which required us to go on site visits to places such as the LTA site at Bendemeer Station and Woodleigh’s Water Work. My friends and I were constantly encouraged to participate in competitions such as the BCA Productivity Race, Green Wave, Green Challenge and Cool Ideas for Better Living in HDB. Our Final Year Project prototype was even shortlisted for the Green Challenge as Merit Award Winner before it was featured in the annual Engineering Show. These experiences were great opportunities for us to put our technical knowledge into use, learning the points of view of professionals based on the feedback we received in each competition.
Studying in SP has transformed me into a well-rounded person where I was able to strike a healthy balance between excelling in my CCA and schoolwork while maintaining good relationship with my family, peers and lecturers. All of these were possible because of the culture in SP where we had caring lecturers and peers who will back you up when you are down. As I graduated from SP, I felt that I had achieved a lot of things which I thought I could not have done so in the past. If I could describe my whole experience with SP, it would be ‘With SP, It’s SO POSSIBLE’.