A year ago, Mr Muhammad Rilwan Mohamed Haniffa would not have dared to dream that he would receive a scholarship to pursue information systems at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
But yesterday, the 20-year-old was one of 138 recipients of this year's Singapore-Industry Scholarship (SgIS). He received a full-term SgIS with Singapore Press Holdings (SPH).
Established in 2012, the SgIS is offered by key industry enterprises in Singapore, in collaboration with the Government.
It is a multi-industry undergraduate scholarship which aims to groom future leaders in sectors the Government deems critical for Singapore's growth. They include aviation, social services, electronics and the arts, among others.
This year saw the largest cohort of scholarship holders for the SgIS.
The presentation ceremony was held at the University Cultural Centre of NUS, with Second Minister for Education, Ms Indranee Rajah, as the guest of honour.
"I wasn't an IT or tech-savvy kind of guy," said Mr Rilwan, a sports-loving, kompang-playing, national serviceman, who used to think that sitting in front of a screen, learning about software systems and typing codes was mundane work.
But he noticed that computing was increasingly popular with his friends and decided to pursue it.
He began reading up online and taught himself the coding language, Python. When the code he programmed from scratch ran successfully, he relished the moment.
Mr Rilwan decided to apply for the SgIS because of the "real work experience in the industry" it would provide.
"I look forward to the mentorship too. I think a mentor to guide you when you're starting out in the industry is very important," he said.
As part of the SgIS Scholars' Development and Engagement Programme, sponsoring organisations provide internships and mentorships for the scholarship holders to gain industry knowledge. They also get to join forums involving various leaders from the public and private sectors, exposing them to the broad issues facing key industries here.
Mr Rilwan will begin studying at NUS in August next year. Upon graduation, he will work at SPH as a software engineer.
Another recipient, Mr Lim Zhi Feng, 26, received a full-term SgIS award with SP Group and will begin studying electrical and electronic engineering at the Nanyang Technological University in August.
Mr Lim credits "patient and encouraging" lecturers at the Institute of Technical Education and Singapore Polytechnic with his success.
