PASSION FOR FASHION: Ms Rozeryna says her dream is to have her own clothing line. -- ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG

But at clothing store Topshop, she discovered her passion: fashion. Swiftly, she moved up from sales assistant to specialising in displaying the store's clothes. Still, she felt unappreciated.

When she raised it with a supervisor, he told her: 'Maybe you're young, and you don't have a certificate.'

She retorted: 'I'll do anything to get where I want to go.'

That 2005 incident lit a spark, and last night, Ms Rozeryna's grit, talent and promise won her a top award for Malay- Muslim youth.

She was one of five to receive the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at Mendaki's 25th anniversary celebration.

First given in 2005, the award is for students doing diploma and degree courses in the creative, artistic and sporting fields.

Ms Rozeryna is a second-year student at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa), and with three other merit winners, received $10,000 each to pay their fees.

The sole winner of the $50,000 distinction award, given for overseas study, is Mr Muhammad Iskandar Mohd Rashid, 23, who is studying music in the United States.

At Nafa, Ms Rozeryna is pursuing a three-year diploma course in fashion merchandising marketing.

It is an uphill climb.

Her parents divorced when she was 16 and money is always short for her mother, a foot reflexologist.

A bursary and her Central Provident Fund savings helped pay her $3,500 fees in the first year.

She works at a clothes store on weekends for pocket money and on weekday evenings, when her mother is at work, she is nanny to her four-month-old stepsister at their two-room HDB home in Bukit Merah.

But her passion has seen her designs make it to four runway shows. Her dream is to have her own clothing line and 'hopefully, inspire others to follow their passion', she told The Straits Times.

Like Ms Rozeryna, Mr Muhammad Iskandar found a second chance. He dropped out of Nanyang Polytechnic because he preferred music over his digital media design course.

He joined the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and today, is a second-year student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He is doing a four-year degree course in percussion performance.

He said: 'Besides contributing to the music scene, I want to motivate young people to pursue their passion, beyond just academic studies.'

Stories of other young achievers are featured in a new coffee-table book, launched yesterday.

Published by Mendaki, it profiles young Malay-Muslims who excel in doing what they are passionate about.

Mendaki hopes it will give pride to, and inspire, Malay-Muslims here to do well in whatever they pursue.

However, academic achievements took centre stage last night. A record 287 students received Mendaki awards for excelling in their respective examinations, ranging from Primary School Leaving Examination to university.

Among them was Ms Renee Yuanna Sulaiman, 23, who received first-class honours in education from the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University.

Said the primary school teacher: 'This award is a reminder that I should contribute more to the community and to education, which I am passionate about.'

zakirh@sph.com.sg