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Scholar masters computer basics
in 2 days
By AMY CHEW
The odds were against him and yet he made it. It was for the
much sought after scholarship from the Defence Science and
Technology Agency (DSTA), which provides the best training
in science and engineering.
The winner of that scholarship
can study in universities overseas in the US and UK.
And this year, there was stiff
competition for this prestigious two-year-old scholarship.
Out of the 5000 applicants, only
40 managed to make the cut.
And Lionel Heng, 18, (above right), is one of these 40.
EXCEPTIONAL
But emerging the winner isn’t
the only thing that makes him exceptional.
Lionel is the first hearing-impaired
scholar accepted by the DSTA.
The 18-year-old won the $500,000
scholarship to pursue a Computer Science degree at the Carnegie
Mellon University in the US in 2003.
And being shortlisted for the
interview was just the beginning.
He said “I was nervous because
I didn’t quite know what to expect.”
Not wanting to assess him on interviews
only, the DSTA, for the first time, put Lionel on a one-week
hands-on-job assignment on what he was good at – computer
science.
And boy, did he impress them.
He earned good reviews for his performance in the written
tests and in practical programming assignments.
“I did a few programming
problems, set up a web server and even learnt how to look
out for traces of hacking,” said Lionel.
The hardworking teen, who calls
it an “enlightening experience”, borrowed books
and taught himself the basics of programming languages in
just two days.
But success did not come easily
for this teenager.
As a child, he said he often felt
isolated at school – St Anthony’s Primary –
did not know how to deal with his classmates.
He said , “I felt rather
afraid and lost at first, as if I was all alone in a dark
forest.”
But he overcame his fears when
he enrolled in St Joseph’s Institution and National
Junior College.
GAINING CONFIDENCE
In fact, Lionel became so confident
that he applied for the scholarship.
He said, “I wanted to achieve
my goals in life and knew that a prestigious scholarship would
blaze the path for me to achieve them.
“Instead of sitting and
doing nothing, I had to do something even though it seemed
hopeless.”
And this effort was not lost on
the DSTA.
According to Mrs Lee Seow Choo,
senior manager (recruitment and scholarship) at the DSTA,
Lionel was first shortlisted on the basis of his academic
results and co-curricular activities:
- Seven distinctions for O levels
- Four As and good results in two Special Papers at A levels
- He also represented his college at the National Schools’
Bowling Championships.
Lionel’s father, Mr. Patrick
Heng, 44, is a businessman. His mother, Madam Emilyn Sim,
43, helps with the business.
He has a 14-year-old brother and
an 11-year old sister.
Said Madam Sim: “I am very
proud of him. We were prepared to send him overseas. But he
didn’t want to use our money.”
Said Lionel: “I defied people’s
expectations by becoming a DSTA scholar.
“I proved that someone very
focused on his goals could achieve them easily through hard
work.”
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