Hwa Chong International Students Achieved Top In The World Awards (27 June 2011)

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Four Hwa Chong International School (HCIS) students achieved outstanding results in assessments recently administered by the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE).  The news was published in Lianhe Zaobao (LHZB) on 27 June 2011.

Below is a translation of the LHZB article.

In the 2010 International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examination, three Year Four students achieved top in the world award for Mathematics and Chinese language. Another student emerged overall winner in the 2011 Cambridge IGCSE Enterprise Competition from among six hundred and sixty entries from more than thirty countries.

Mr Koh Chin Nguang, principal of Hwa Chong International, noted that these achievements followed earlier honours obtained by HCIS students, including first placing in the 2007 and 2008 IGSCE Chinese First Language examinations.

He explained that according to the data released by the IGCSE Examinations Board, of the three Singaporean students who were ranked first worldwide for the November 2010 IGCSE Mathematics paper, two were HCIS students - Sarah Too Jia Yu and Nikhil Choudhary.

Also, in the June 2010 IGCSE Mandarin Chinese examination (taken by students for whom Mandarin is their second language), nine candidates emerged first worldwide, including Lam Aishyn of Hwa Chong International.

Born in Delhi, India, Nikhil was educated in Singapore from an early age. Having attended a Chinese kindergarten, Nikhil continued taking Mandarin in Radin Mas Primary School while learning Hindi privately as a second language. At primary six, he returned to India, accompanying his accountant father who was taking up a job in the country. In the three years there, Nikhil brushed up on his Hindi. In 2008, Nikhil came back to Singapore and enrolled in Hwa Chong International School, determined to master Mandarin. He sat for the 2010 IGCE examinations and obtained a A* for each of his eight subjects, including Mandarin Chinese. To this set of results was added the accolade of being placed first worldwide in the Mathematics examination. Presently a permanent resident in Singapore, Nikhil intends to take up full citizenship after enrolling in National Service.

Nikhil credited his outstanding performance in Mathematics to a lifelong passion for the subject instilled in him by his father. Also contributing to Nikhil's success was his Mathematics teacher in HCIS, Ms Tay Hui Hui, whose clear explanations, he said, helped clarify his understanding of the subject. Helping his schoolmates with mathematics also improved his grasp of key concepts.

Sarah Too Jia Yu and Lam Aishyn are both Singaporeans who enrolled in Hwa Chong International because of the international character of its student body. Both students attributed their academic success to the small-class sizes which allows for greater attention to be paid to individual students by teachers.

Another of Hwa Chong International student, Elisabeth Fong won the 2011 Cambridge IGCSE Enterprise Competition with her entry on Ms. Olivia Lum, the local founder of Hyflux. (Hyflux is a leading provider of integrated water management and environmental solutions with operations and projects in Singapore, Southeast Asia, China, India, Algeria, the Middle East and North Africa. Ms. Olivia Lum was the winner of the Ernst & Young world entrepreneur award 2011)

Elizabeth is currently in Year Four in HCIS.  Her entry was picked over six hundred and sixty entries from thirty countries. Mr Samuel Lim, Head of the Humanities Faculty of Hwa Chong International, said that the competition was exacting, requiring students to submit a written piece of less than two hundred and fifty words, explaining their choice of entrepreneur and analyzing the reasons for the success of their chosen personage. Students would also be required to include in the piece a question they would pose to their subject of study.

Click here for the Chinese news report.