Pang Aizhen Pamela

Pamela graduated with a first-class honours Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies at the Nanyang Technological University. She belongs to the pioneer cohort of Temasek Poly’s Communications and Media Management (CMM) course and has always been a go-getter.

An “A” student in TP, she graduated with a CMM Diploma with Merit in 2004, having scored a string of distinctions throughout her three-year course.

Pamela majored in broadcasting and had a technical bent, which she used to her advantage by taking on a wide range of projects within and outside campus. These included a series of freelance projects for the Singapore History Museum, where she designed and produced Macromedia Flash microsites for several exhibitions in 2004 and 2005.

Earlier, in 2002, she was part of a team that designed and produced an interactive Macromedia Flash corporate informational demonstration. In 2003, she created a Flash version of Communications and Media Management website.

For three consecutive years, she was the co-coordinator and director of a television studio team, which demonstrated the making of a news programme to visitors to Temasek Polytechnic’s open house.

She was also one of the producers of a series of 5-minute radio documentaries on doing business in China, titled “Entering the Dragon’s Gates”. They were broadcast on News Radio 93.8FM in 2004.

Pamela also honed her journalistic skill by first contributing to the campus newspaper, Stop Press and later doing her internship at MediaCorp’s Today newspaper in 2003 where she won the confidence of her editors.  Subsequently she did editorial and photography work for the June/July 2004 issue of “Sharing’’, Alexandra Hospital’s in-house newsletter.

She had also worked full-time as a programming executive with Star Hub Cable Television from 2004 to 2005, where she was involved in the operations and content development for interactive TV channel, Hub TV (Channel 26). She had also held temporary positions as an administrative clerk, clinic assistant and sales assistant.

Melody Zaccheus

Melody Zaccheus, CMM Class of 2008, was presented the Singapore Press Holdings Scholarship award on 17 July 2008 by SPH Chairman Dr Tony Tan.

Of the seven recipients this year, Melody is the only polytechnic graduate to be selected for the scholarship. The SPH Scholarship is traditionally awarded to ‘A’ Levels graduates with academic and CCA excellence to pursue a university education either locally or overseas. Melody is the second polytechnic graduate selected to receive this award (the first was a TP School of Design graduate).

Melody gave credits to the knowledge gained in the diploma and the 24-week-long internship at SPH in an interview with CMM-produced campus newspaper, Stop Press. Melody interned with The Sunday Times where she had the opportunity to interview people from all walks of life including dignitaries. All the CMM lecturers speak with pride of having read her articles that were published in the national paper during her internship.

She had won the commendation of senior editors at SPH during her internship and in a sense was “talent-spotted” for the scholarship award.

Melody, who is currently attached to The New Paper, will be pursuing a Bachelor of Arts & Social Sciences degree at the National University of Singapore and is sure that her training at CMM will put her in good stead.

Brenda Chew

Brenda Chew achieved a “miracle” in Perth, Australia, when she landed a permanent, full-time job as a journalist with a community newspaper firm while still in her final semester in university.

“It is highly unusual for a local newspaper company to hire non-residents, let alone someone who is still a student!” she explained.

In mid-2007, Brenda joined the Examiner Newspapers – a community newspaper company that covers the south-east area of metropolitan Western Australia. She’s in charge of reporting and sub-editing for two newspapers – the Canning Examiner and Victoria Park Examiner with a circulation of about 46,000.

“I would definitely say that CMM was the pivotal factor that got me employed,” said Brenda, adding that her editor was impressed with the CMM diploma and her internship with Today newspaper. He had said that media personnel now need to be equipped with different practical skills in order to grasp a position swiftly.

Brenda agrees: “Polytechnic education has armed me with an arsenal of practical industry skills. This could be why I was lucky enough to be employed and promoted as a non-resident when the citizens here (in Perth) are having difficulty breaking into the media industry.”

Juggling her journalism studies at Murdoch University and working full-time in the industry meant a really tough final semester for Brenda. Besides her journalism subjects, she had to tackle two economics subjects.

Just like in Temasek polytechnic, her online journalism subject was a practical one, requiring the students to run an online newspaper by providing content covering both campus and state news. She was resourceful enough to interview local ministers and officials for her stories. So out of the many international students, she was the only one to have all of her four stories published on the news site.

“I have always been interested in print journalism. The ability to experience an event before condensing the description of the situation into a well-written article of choice words fascinates me,” says the CMM graduate-turned-Australian journalist.

Tay Joo Ann

Tay Joo Ann, who graduates this year (2008), can be described as a quite achiever.

While doing her diploma, the young entrepreneur founded Moods Management, an event management and modelling agency.

Moods has built up an impressive database of over 200 girls, ranging from promoters, talents and models. About a third of them are polytechnic students who are able to take on assignments due to their flexible timetables.

Joo Ann, who plans to go full-time running the agency, aims to be the biggest player in trade.

Her inspiration is her mum who manages three separate businesses.

Joo Ann’s foray into business began with selling imported items on websites such as eBay and Yahoo! Auctions.  Later, she set up an online shop selling her own handmade jewellery. She also sold her wares on a rented pushcart on campus.

She stumbled on the model agency business idea after a friend had charged her a referral fee for a one-time modelling job.

One of her most challenging and lucrative project was the Super Import Nights held at Changi Expo in November 2007. Moods provided models and outfit design services to MBMotors Performance which had the biggest booth at the event.

Joo Ann’s other clients include big industry names such as Cannery, Tiger (Asia Pacific Breweries), Gatsby, Lucido-L, Sony Walkman, Sony Vaio and Singtel.

Looking ahead, the altruistic CMM student wants to be a mentor to other young student entrepreneurs. As for her own business, she wants Moods to have a stronger positioning in the fashion trade overseas.

Her agency has come up with its own catalog shop to sell apparels and plans to direct you-tube videos and explore new media & broadcast options to sell its clothes.

Having specialised in the marketing option of CMM diploma, Joo Ann should be in a good stead to reach her business goals.

Ariel Yak Sin Nee

Ariel Yak Sin Nee is pursuing an Economics degree at Northwestern University in Illinois - one of top 10 universities in the United States.

She’s the first CMM graduate to gain admission there and despite majoring in a non-Communication field, the university has accepted a transfer of 22 credits - nearly half of the 48 credits she needs to graduate.

Her transferred credits from CMM go towards fulfilling her elective requirements and if she had continued with her Communication studies more credits would have been allowed.

Ariel is doing very well in her undergraduate studies at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, scoring a perfect 4 for her second-quarter Grade Point Average and getting a place in the Dean’s List.

She’s active on campus, holding leadership positions in various clubs, namely, Publicity Chair of Taste Asia (Asian Food Festival on campus), Secretary of Northwestern University and Friends Club.

Above all, Ariel is also Founder and Vice-President of Operations of NUTutors – a student-run tutoring service she started with two university mates.

They received funding for this business after two months of hard work, writing and refining business plans, conducting research and various round of presentations to the University Board, Kellogg Business School Professors, Industrial Engineering Professors and Venture Capitalists.

NUTutors serves the Northshore, Chicago area where elite Northwestern Undergraduates would tutor middle and high school students.

Ariel says: “Working with my two partners on this has been a great experience. I love the international feel. I have learnt much more about the nuances and working styles of different cultures, and I certainly look forward to gaining more global exposure in the future.”

Thinking of joining her family’s textile business in the future, Ariel opted to do a relevant university course. She was a top student even in CMM and had also excelled during her internship with Shell.

Over at Northwestern, she has accepted an offer from Goldman Sachs to pursue an internship with the Investment Management division in Chicago, this summer.

She expects to graduate from Northwestern with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in March 2010.

Koh Xian Wei, Andrew
Director, Events Architects

Andrew founded his events management company towards the tail end of his diploma course in communications and media management. The year-old company, Events Architects that he started with his former junior college mate, has already surpassed $100,000 in turnover.

The idea to strike out on his own came to Andrew after he had worked in an events management company as an intern.

While subsequently specialising in CMM’s marketing option, Andrew was running his business out of his parent’s private apartment.

In December 2005, his company moved to an office at The Riverwalk in Upper Circular Road.

Events Architects first major client was L’Oreal group and has since serviced other big names such as Panasonic, HSBC Insurance and SingPost.  Among the project it has taken on are product launches, dinner and dances, and family day events.

At age 21, Andrew, who has been a part-time IT trainer and top sales promoter, has a rather mature approach to his business, which he attributes to his training at Temasek Polytechnic.  

Andrew has always been a go-getter and someone who’s ready to take on a leadership role. He was the Managing Editor of Temasek Polytechnic’s campus newspaper, Stop Press.  He was also President of the Chinese Orchestra in Maris Stella High and Nanyang Junior College where he spent a year before deciding to opt for a polytechnic education. He was also in Maris Stella’s debating team, which came in tops in 1999.

As a young entrepreneur, Andrew has caught the media attention. He was featured on News Radio 93.8 “Morning Talkback” show, as well as in articles in the Straits Times and Lian He Zao Bao.

Eveline Gan
Journalist, Today (MediaCorp Press)

Eveline made her mark as a journalist when she was just an intern with MediaCorp’s Today newspaper.

She scored a front page scoop for the paper with an article headlined “Designer Babies” - a story about Singaporeans going across the causeway to seek medical help in having babies with desired features. Subsequently, she went on Channel News Asia’s primetime news programme to feature the story for television viewers.

With a good track record during her six-month internship, Today newspaper was impressed enough to offer her a freelance stint before eventually taking her onboard as a regular staff,

She has since gone on to earn may bylines as a reporter with the paper’s special projects department, which focuses on advertising features and special supplements. She’s covered a broad range of lifestyle features during overseas assignments in France, England, Switzerland and Australia.

When Eveline joined Temasek Polytechnic, after one year in a junior college, she had set her mind on journalism. She was the News Editor of the campus newspaper, Stop Press (2004 – 2005). She graduated with a Diploma in Communications and Media Management in 2005, majoring in journalism.

As for her other working experiences, Eveline was a full-time private tutor for two years, from 2000 to 2001. She also did relief teaching at various secondary schools during the period.

Cheng Hui Min (Clyde)

Clyde, who graduated in June 2006, has won a Media Development Authority (MDA) scholarship.

She is now pursuing a Bachelor in Film and Television at the Victoria College of Arts in Melbourne.

The scholarship is offered under MDA’s Media Education Scheme, is aimed at building and nurturing the talent pool in the media industry. It targets Singapore citizens and permanent residents who wish to pursue full-time tertiary education in media-related courses at recognized overseas and local universities.

Clyde has qualified for the Media Education Scheme (Overseas) that covers tuition fees of up to S$40,000 per year, or subject to a maximum of S$100,000. The scheme has a two-year service commitment to Singapore. Upon returning from their studies, recipients will have to fulfil the service commitment and are required to work in media-related companies. As international exposure and experience is desirable and encouraged, students need not start their service commitment immediately upon graduation, but can choose to do so over a five-year period.

Clyde may also be required to give talks or workshop arranged by MDA during school breaks or after completion of her studies.