Dad and son graduate from poly, a week apart

The Lim family believes strongly in lifelong learning. Mr James Lim and his son Andrew attended Ngee Ann Polytechnic at the same time, graduating a week apart. Earlier this month, Mr Lim received a diploma (conversion) in digital media design while h
The Lim family believes strongly in lifelong learning. Mr James Lim and his son Andrew attended Ngee Ann Polytechnic at the same time, graduating a week apart. Earlier this month, Mr Lim received a diploma (conversion) in digital media design while his son got a diploma in mass communications. Mr Lim's wife Lilian, who was a housewife for nearly two decades, took a short course in 2015 and is now a pre-school educator. Mr Lim has two other sons aged 12 and 15. ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG

Their time together as Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) students brought the father-and-son pair closer.

Mr James Lim, 61, and his son Andrew graduated a week apart. They received their diplomas earlier this month.

Mr Lim received a diploma (conversion) in digital media design, while his 19-year-old son graduated with a diploma in mass communications, a three-year programme.

Mr Lim, who runs a training and consulting firm that helps businesses with their management systems, took a year to complete his part-time course, attending classes every Saturday.

The younger Mr Lim, who is waiting to enter national service, said: "We would talk about our lecturers, and there were times when he shared his work from class."

He added: "We did not have the same lecturers nor did we attend classes together, but mentioning that my dad was also studying at NP was a great conversation starter. Friends would be curious and want to know what he was studying."

The Lim family believes strongly in the idea of lifelong learning. Mr Lim has two other sons aged 12 and 15. His 51-year-old wife Lilian, previously a housewife for nearly two decades, took up a short course in 2015 and is now working as a pre-school educator.

Mr Lim said he wanted to acquire knowledge in social media marketing to better reach out to his clients.

"Every facade of our life is in constant flux," he said. "To maintain a decent livelihood, one must stay relevant by unlearning our old skills and relearning new skills."

The younger Mr Lim, who is now doing online courses in computer science while waiting to enlist, took up the mass communications programme as he was interested in picking up multiple skills, from marketing to film-making.

On his father's efforts to upgrade and pick up new skills, he said: "There is no age limit to learning. Anyone can start picking up a new skill any time he wants."

Calvin Yang

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 29, 2017, with the headline Dad and son graduate from poly, a week apart. Subscribe