SINGAPORE – He was just 15 years old when his parents separated. Having to care for an ailing mother and younger sister while juggling his studies, Mr Sathish Kumar had to grow up quickly.

Driven by a strong passion to serve the community and a thirst for learning, he managed to overcome the odds to graduate with flying colours from Temasek Polytechnic (TP).

The engineering graduate joined 10 others at a presentation of top graduates on Tuesday, when he received the Lee Kuan Yew Award for mathematics and science.

The annual awards presentation precedes TP’s graduation ceremonies from May 2 to 10, held over 18 sessions, for a total of 5,843 graduates.

Mr Kumar credits his mother for her sacrifice and being his pillar of support and source of motivation during his academic journey. After her separation from her husband, she chose to stay in Singapore instead of returning to her family in India.

Said Mr Kumar, 21: “I feel like I need to make her proud, give her love and let her know that her sacrifices were not for nothing. I want to prove to her that, ‘Mum, you made the right decision, I’m going to go high.’”

After topping his cohort at at Loyang View Secondary School in the N-level exams in 2018, Mr Kumar took up a scholarship at TP under the Polytechnic Foundation Programme to study engineering.

He also began training for the WorldSkills Competition, a global competition of vocational skills dubbed the “Olympics of Skills”. It became a catalyst for his thirst for learning when he realised the gap between what he knew and all the information he had yet to learn.

Driven by this newfound passion, Mr Kumar joined the Engineering Makers Group, a student interest group, as head of programmes in Year 2 and became its president in Year 3. He organised 32 workshops for secondary school students to teach them engineering skills such as soldering and 3D printing.

Things came full circle when he volunteered at a Meet-the-People Session under the ENGenius Programme – a talent management programme offered to high academic achievers in the School of Engineering. He did not know that his mother had received help and support through the session since 2015.

Now, he regularly volunteers at Hao Ren Hao Shi (Good People, Good Deeds), a ground-up movement set up in 2018 that distributes monthly provisions to the needy.

Mr Kumar dreams of one day starting his own robotics research centre, with the aim of improving a mechanical exoskeleton that helps people like his grandparents move better and have a better life.

Another Lee Kuan Yew Award recipient, Ms Clara Yang Ting, 20, said she always took it easy and never had any big dreams when she was in secondary school.

It was only when she had received B3 grades for chemistry and biology in her O-level examinations that she decided to shed her “easy-going attitude” and make a fresh start when she enrolled in the Medical Biotechnology course at TP. 

“I took the four months (before the start of the semester) to think about what I wanted to achieve out of my poly experience,” she said.

“Coming from a school (where) not many students go to poly, I didn’t want to be the me that I was in secondary school. I wanted to be someone who was very driven towards my goals.”

To push herself outside her comfort zone, Ms Yang joined TP’s student union, where she eventually became its president.

As assistant social secretary, she organised a week-long programme that included activities such as art jamming and a movie screening to promote mental health among students.

To manage her commitments, Ms Yang kept a disciplined and organised schedule, allocating different hours of the day for studies, student union meetings and personal time.

She also received unwavering support from her friends and family, who were very understanding of her busy schedule, especially her mother.

“I used to cry to her the night before exams,” said Ms Yang. “But she always told me, ‘It’s okay, just try your best,’ and that’s how three years flew by.”

Ms Yang is now taking things one step at a time and hopes to enter medical school to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor.

Asked what the Lee Kuan Yew Award means to her, she said: “To my younger self, it’s something I never would have even imagined. Receiving the award is a testament of how I will continue to push myself to achieve my goals.”