For the first time, an accolade at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) biennial alumni awards has been presented to a team rather than an individual.
Co-founders of e-commerce platform Carousell Quek Siu Rui, Lucas Ngoo and Marcus Tan received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award as a team yesterday at the NUS Alumni Awards ceremony, where a total of 15 alumni were honoured for their outstanding contributions to their alma mater and society.
The award recognises the trio's stellar achievements and entrepreneurial spirit. The entrepreneurs had stumbled upon the idea to create an application for people to sell their used goods in a simple way, after a stint in Silicon Valley under the NUS Overseas Colleges programme.
Carousell, launched five years ago, is now one of the world's fastest-growing marketplaces.
Mr Tan, 34, who graduated in 2011 with a business administration degree, said the accolade is "a validation that the problem we are solving is a meaningful one that impacts many people, not just in Singapore but around the world".
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Award recipients
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NUS EMINENT ALUMNI AWARD
•Mr Wong Ngit Liong Chief executive officer and chairman of Venture Corporation; former chairman of NUS Board of Trustees
NUS DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI SERVICE AWARD
•Mr Peter Seah Lim Huat Chairman of DBS Group Holdings, DBS Bank and Singapore Airlines
•Ms Chew Gek Khim Executive chairman of The Straits Trading Company
•Professor Chua Nam-Hai Andrew W. Mellon professor and head of laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology, The Rockefeller University; deputy chairman of Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory
•Ms Lim Hai Yen Playwright and artistic director, The ETCeteras
•Emeritus Professor Louis Chen Hsiao Yun Founding director of Institute for Mathematical Sciences
NUS OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD
•Dr Azariah Tan Peng Chay Pianist
•Ms Betty Tsai Associate research scientist at Procter & Gamble International
•Mr Jeffery Tiong Jee Hui Founder and chief executive officer of PatSnap
•Mr Mohamed Fairoz Ahmad Founder and executive director of Chapter W
•Dr Neo Mei Lin Research fellow, St John's Island National Marine Laboratory and Tropical Marine Science Institute, NUS
•Dr Sin Yong Doctor and magician
•Mr Quek Siu Rui, Mr Marcus Tan Yi Wei, Mr Lucas Ngoo Cheng Han (team award) Co-founders of Carousell
Mr Quek, 29, graduated with a business administration degree in 2012, while Mr Ngoo, 29, received his engineering degree in 2013.
Six other alumni also received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award at the ceremony. They include Dr Neo Mei Lin, a prominent marine biologist, and Dr Sin Yong, a doctor who uses magic as a tool to spread the message of hope to patients.
Five individuals, including DBS Bank chairman Peter Seah, were presented with the Distinguished Alumni Service Award, which recognises alumni who have distinguished themselves in rendering excellent service to NUS.
Mr Seah encouraged NUS graduates to share their experience with students, "to help mould them to make impactful contributions to their chosen industry".
The highest honour for NUS alumni, the Eminent Alumni Award, went to Venture Corporation chief executive Wong Ngit Liong, who was chairman of the NUS Board of Trustees from 2004 to last year.
Past recipients of the award, given to alumni who have distinguished themselves nationally or globally for their exceptional contributions and achievements, include Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh.
Under Mr Wong's leadership, NUS was transformed from a respected local teaching institution into a leading global university.
The 76-year-old said it was a privilege to "answer the call to serve NUS and Singapore at the time when the Singapore Government was making the bold and wise move to corporatise NUS and operate as an autonomous university".
