SINGAPORE: It all started with a fever that would not go away.

After returning from a school trip to Thailand over the June holidays, Wee Han Jing, then in her second year at Nanyang Junior College found herself running a temperature. It turned out to be lupus, an autoimmune disease that results in symptoms like fevers, joint pains, fatigue and a recurring skin rash.

Just one-and-a-half months earlier, her father had been diagnosed with lung cancer.      

“It was a highly distressing time for my family and we didn’t know what to do,” she recalled. “Everything had just fallen apart so suddenly and I had to take my A-Levels in a few months.”

“I felt so frustrated because out of everyone this could have happened to, it had to be my family.”

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES                                                 

The next few months were not easy for Han Jing, now 19. She missed her school’s mid-year exams because she was in the hospital at the time and had to take them when she returned. This meant staying back after hours and returning on weekends, all while juggling regular school work and her fortnightly medical appointments.

To make matters worse, her condition meant she was more fatigued than usual. “Sometimes, I couldn’t complete what I wanted to in a day,” she said. “The side effects of the medication also gave me mood swings, which was very frustrating.”

She admitted that there were times when she felt like giving up. “When I was all alone in the hospital, it just felt like everything was too much and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to withstand the pressure,” she said.

But despite having the option to delay her A-Levels for a year, she chose to persevere.

“I studied so hard for 12 years, and I don’t want lupus to be a barrier to completing my A-Levels in time,” she said. “I also didn’t want to let down the people who had trusted and had faith in me.

“So I wanted to show that even though there are challenges, you can get over them and emerge a victor out of it.” 

NO SPECIAL TREATMENT

Han Jing credits her friends and school community for rallying around her when they found out about her situation. One of the school’s vice-principals visited her while she was hospitalised, and kept tabs on her when she returned to school. Her teachers also paid her special attention, she said, making sure that she was able to keep up with her studies, and often checking if she needed emotional support or a listening ear.

She was also buoyed by the strong camaraderie of her close friends.

Han Jing with her close-knit group of friends. (Photo: Lianne Chia)

“When I had to take my exams on a Sunday, one girl stayed behind after her paper to study with me,” recalled Han Jing. “I was so touched, because no one would want to stay in school, especially on a Sunday.”

Her friends in turn, marvelled at her independence and unwillingness to be given special treatment.

“Han Jing took her exams in a special room because she’s on medication. So when she feels tired or her attention span is wandering she can take a break,” said her friend Renie Low. “But she didn’t even use that ‘privilege’ at all.

“She wanted to take the exams like the rest of us.”

NEXT STEPS

Han Jing admitted that she was not in the best condition when she took her A-Levels and that she is “ambivalent” about her results. But she has no regrets.

“Regardless of the results, I feel quite proud of myself for completing the journey, because there are a lot of obstacles that I had to overcome in order to take the exam and finish it,” she said.

Her civics tutor Oon Su Ping added that in her eyes, Han Jing has done very well. “Despite the setbacks, she told herself that she wanted to go through the entire process and that she didn’t want to back down. I think that’s highly commendable.”

And Han Jing is not looking back. Moving forward, she said she has two career options in mind: To become a teacher, or work in healthcare.

“I’ve met inspiring teachers along the way, and I want to inspire future generations and make them become better people,” she said. “And as for healthcare, I’ve met with so many healthcare-related problems that I really want people not to take their good health for granted.”

“I hope they can be grateful for their body and what they have.”

SINGAPORE: A 17-year-old male died after he fell four storeys at Orchard Central mall on Orchard Road on Friday (Feb 24).

“This afternoon, a member of the public vaulted the railing of the level 4 linkbridge between Orchard Central and Orchard Gateway onto a ledge and subsequently fell to the atrium. He was rushed to the hospital. We are deeply concerned and are currently assisting the police with their investigations of the incident,” said Ms Mavis Seow, chief operating officer of the Retail Business Group at Far East Organization.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed that a man was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. It added that it was alerted to the incident at about 4.05pm. 

Police said the man was found lying motionless on the ground when their officers arrived at the scene. He subsequently died in hospital. Police said they are investigating the unnatural death.

Blood seen on the ground where the man fell.

Hole in the fourth-floor ledge through which the man fell.

“A lot of people were trying to do CPR on him. They kept trying and trying for a good 15 minutes at least,” said Devi Rajaram who was at the scene. “He was just motionless.”

She added that there was “whitish” debris on the floor.

Another eyewitness, Mike Tan, told Channel NewsAsia that he was having coffee with a friend when they heard a scream and saw the man falling. He said he called for an ambulance at 4.02pm and was instructed to look for an automated external defibrillator. 

The SCDF said CPR was administered by its paramedics on the way to the hospital, which was on standby to receive him.

The area on the ground floor where the man fell has been cordoned off and a link bridge on the fourth floor is now closed.

The linkbridge leading to Orchard Gateway is now closed.

SINGAPORE: Folks on this sunny isle did not know what to make of a swirl of colours emerged from behind some innocuous-looking clouds on Monday (Feb 20).

Was it a UFO? A sign from the heavens, perhaps?

Most people, however, just marvelled at a unique optical phenomenon known as a circumhorizontal arc, or – to the layman – a “fire rainbow”.

Looking suspiciously like a Tycho album cover (it would have been nice had it appeared during Laneway), people gave it all sorts of names from Paddle Pop rainbow to the Southern Lights.

Oh, the wit. 

Speaking of optical phenomena, here are examples of the opposite: Sightings that are becoming familiar mainstays in various parts of the island to the point of boredom.

Rats (Bukit Batok), wild boars (Punggol), otters (Bishan, Marina Bay) and monitor lizards (no fixed abode) hardly elicit a second glance these days.

With that in mind, we though we’d go to the other end of the spectrum and showcase five rare natural world sightings that got us all in a tizzy.

DOUBLE RAINBOW DELIGHT

Two for the price of one. It’s a bargain few Singaporeans can resist. Which is why when a double rainbow appeared last September, many whipped out their phones and set social media alight.

The science: A double rainbow occurs when the light is reflected twice in a raindrop – leading to two different reflections, coming from different angles.

Believed by some cultures to be a sign of good fortune, double rainbows are not altogether once-in-a-blue-moon rare.

There was one in July 2015 – and also during the auspicious Chinese New Year period this year. But still, rare enough to cause a stir.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called on his Facebook fans to share their pics of the unique event during CNY festivities. 

WELCOME BACK MALAYAN TAPIR

“If that’s a wild boar, why is it wearing diapers?” the driver asked, squinting.

“Erm, I dunno dear … maybe it has a weak bladder,” said her husband. “Taking precautions I guess. It’s so hard to find a loo around here.”

We will never know for sure if such a conversation took place along Changi Coastal Road on a balmy June night last year.

But one imagines it cannot be far from the incredulous chatter that would’ve occurred upon the sighting of a Malayan tapir – one that looked as if it was on a late-night mosey after a particularly heavy supper. Hey, we’ve all been there!

The Malayan tapir’s biggest claim to fame here in Singapore is that it is among the first animals you will see upon entering the zoo in Mandai (on the left, after the gift shop). And as for a sighting in the wild? Well, you would have to go back all the way to 1986 – on Pulau Ubin.

Forget the double rainbow, or even unicorns – this is a rare sighting. Goodness only knows when the last wild Malayan tapir made it to our mainland. The International Union for Conservation of Nature says there are anywhere between 1,500 and 2,000 left in Malaysia.

And then after a fleeting glimpse, the Changi Malayan tapir vanished. Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) said it most likely swam back to Malaysia.

Well, till next time then. Jumpa lagi. 

WATERSPOUTING ABOUT

Do not be fooled by its innocent sounding name. Waterspouts can do some real damage and the video above can attest to its might.

Thankfully not much mayhem (apart from getting people all uber-excited) was caused when a larger-than-usual version turned up off East Coast Park in August 2016.

According to the National Environment Agency, there is an average of three waterspout occurrences reported over Singapore waters every year.

Singapore’s thunderstorm-prone climate makes it all the more susceptible to waterspouts, but one as massive as this is extremely rare. 

Still, if you are hanging about Bedok Jetty chasing fish and you see something similar heading your way, you best be on your skates sharpish. 

DOLPHINS, SWIMMING WILD 

An Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin spotted off St John’s Island in August 2015. 

Dolphins in captivity have been in the spotlight in recent years in Singapore, with questions asked about their living conditions. 

So when footage or photos appear of dolphins freewheeling with joy off Singapore’s shores, it definitely calls for beers all round.

The Wild Singapore site has, over the years, blogged about dolphin sightings in the vicinity of the Southern Islands. Wild dolphins were sighted off Raffles Lighthouse in 2006, and off St John’s Island and off Sisters Island in 2007. Dolphins were also seen near Singapore’s landfill island Pulau Semakau in 2009. 

The most recent sighting of wild dolphins came in Aug 2015 when four Indo-Pacific humpback pink dolphins were seen off St John’s Island. Joseph Chng, who spotted the dolphins while out at sea, said he had to perform an emergency stop to prevent his boat from running down the cute things.  

SUPERMOON

Nov 14, 2016: A date that will live long in infamy. That was when the moon was at its closest to Earth in nearly 70 years.

Why infamy? Well, because the supermoon was a damp squib for many of us. Although the moon was 35,400km closer, cloud cover that night meant there was very little big lunar action to be had.

Yet, from photos that did emerge, we know that there were plenty who lucked out and managed to snag photos of the swollen moon – except that it was early the next morning.

Most of us were still in bed. I was quite exhausted after spending most of the previous evening like a demented maniac, opening my bedroom window, peering out and then shutting it again every 10 minutes or so. 

Skygazers will not be able to see the moon this big again until Nov 25, 2034. At least there is some breathing space before we are all left disappointed again. 

SINGAPORE: During his summer holidays in 2013, Mr Low Wen Chun, then a second-year student at the business school of Singapore Management University (SMU), went on an internship in Mumbai.

The lure of working at Tata Capital – the financial services arm of India’s oldest and best-known conglomerate Tata Group – and the opportunity to spend nearly three months in one of Asia’s most culturally-rich countries was too good to pass up.

“I’d done several internships in Singapore so I wanted something different. Something that can give me more of an experience, beyond just skills for work,” the Singaporean said. “My parents were shocked but in the end, they told me to just go and enjoy myself. And I did.”

Apart from picking up the merger and acquisition (M&A) ropes during his internship, Mr Low threw himself into learning all about Indian culture. Despite being assigned a driver, he took the subway with his colleagues and ate local food. Inspired by the Bollywood film “3 Idiots”, he visited the Ladakh region in North India, and also travelled to New Delhi on sleeper trains where he met “unforgettable characters”, including a former army general who shared stories about his gun shot wounds.

Inspired by Bollywood movie “3 Idiots”, Mr Low Wen Chun travelled to Leh, the largest town in Ladakh, with his friends in 2013. (Photo: Low Wen Chun)

“It was an amazing cultural immersion. To learn all about the cultural nuances and build relationships in one of the world’s biggest countries felt almost like an adventure and I’m really glad I went.”

Last year, Mr Low had another call to do something new and the 27-year-old left his investment banking job at Standard Chartered to join local equity crowdfunding platform Fundnel. His knowledge of geographical and cultural nuances, skills to be independent and resourceful, as well as connections forged overseas have come in handy.

“I’m still in touch with my friends overseas. Sometimes they give me ideas when they tell me there is something similar to what Fundnel is doing in their countries, and I start learning about these other players,” he said.

Mr Low, 27, is now director of investments at local equity crowdfunding platform, Fundnel. (Photo: Tang See Kit)

With overseas opportunities and exposure being seen as an increasingly beneficial way to support Singapore’s economic future, the Global Innovation Alliance, outlined in the Committee on the Future Economy’s (CFE) report and the Budget, envisions more tertiary institutions and homegrown firms linking up with overseas partners in major innovation hubs and key markets.

Part of the initiative involves the setting up of an Innovator’s Academy, which will build on an existing programme in the National University of Singapore (NUS), to help more young Singaporeans to venture abroad for work. Launched in 2002, the NUS Overseas College (NOC) Programme has connected more than 2,100 students with start-ups overseas.

One of its graduates is Mr Foo Tiang Lim, who is now the operating partner of seed-stage venture capital firm SeedPlus.

In 2009, the second-year mechanical engineering major headed to Silicon Valley, where he spent a year attending entrepreneurship classes at Stanford University while interning for medical device manufacturer Second Source Medical.

The 31-year-old described his time in the United States as a “life-changing” experience that helped him develop Silicon Valley risk-taking values, as well as offering opportunities to attend lectures and rub shoulders with icons of entrepreneurship such as the founder of the “Lean Start-up” movement, Steve Blank.

“My most memorable class at Stanford is the E145 which has Steve Blank as the lecturer. He invited guest speakers like Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, who suddenly appeared at the back of the class when we were doing a case study on LinkedIn. You are literally at ground zero of entrepreneurship and that was super fascinating.”

“I was also interacting with people from different backgrounds and cultures,” Mr Foo added. “One of my teaching assistants was Ann Miura-Ko – a very smart woman who later joined Mike Maples to form Floodgate and was voted by Forbes as one of the most powerful women in start-ups. Seeing the evolution of someone’s career is a ‘wow’ moment and it inspires me. Maybe one day, I can be like that too.”

Mr Foo Tiang Lim described the NOC Programme as a “life-changing” experience for him (photo: Tang See Kit).

A school trip to the corporate headquarters of Apple also meant seeing Steve Jobs.

“As an Apple fan boy, the trip was a pilgrimage for me – and then we saw Steve Jobs! The news around that time was that he was on his last legs but there he was – tall, really gaunt but still going to work at 9am sharp. Any normal human being would take time off but he showed up. That left a very deep impression on me in terms of how passionate he is.”

After graduation, Mr Foo plunged into the start-up world, joining mobile payment firm Stream Media and note-taking app Evernote. While both stints have been “wild rides”, in particular his time at Evernote which saw him starting up the company’s Singapore’s operations in 2012 before shuttering it in 2015, he viewed them as learning opportunities that have been enriching.

“It’s definitely been a wild ride and it all started with the NOC programme. It’s life-changing. I shudder to even think about what I may be doing now without that experience,” he told Channel NewsAsia. “Maybe I’d be in a safe engineering job for five years before doing a MBA and joining a consultancy firm. That could work but if I’m going to spend 80 per cent of my waking moments on work, why don’t I do something that I find meaning in?”

Apart from NUS, SMU has its own Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which it started in 2009. The institute takes in 40 students a year and sends them overseas for internships. It also helps start-ups raise funds through its Innovation Sandbox and networking sessions, and has helped to incubate start-ups such as e-commerce platform Reebonz.

Its director, Mr Hau Koh Foo, said the institute plans to increase the location of its overseas internships to Jakarta, New York and Copenhagen moving ahead. As the Innovator’s Academy is expanded to other local universities, students will be able to “reap the benefits of scale” in terms of cost and the opportunity to interact with more people.

“This overseas programme allows our students to know how businesses are connected overseas, build their networks and connectivity fast so as to seed collaboration opportunities down the road. We see many of them coming back feeling inspired … so all these peer-learning is very important on top of the network they acquired.”

OVERSEAS MENTORS HELP LOCAL STARTUPS

Apart from the Innovators Academy, the Global Innovation Alliance also involves the establishing of Innovation Launchpads to foster cooperation between local and foreign start-ups, and Welcome Centres where Singapore firms can work with overseas partners.

The initiatives are “indicative of the need for an all-rounded approach to cultivate a vibrant start-up community”, noted Mr Lyon Poh, head of digital + innovation at KPMG in Singapore.

“The Global Innovation Alliance and Innovation Launchpads will provide co-located talent nodes in chosen locations, and allow the local start-up ecosystem to tap into the knowledge and resources of global start-up founders, investors and industry mentors,” he wrote in an emailed response to Channel NewsAsia, adding that these launchpads will likely spur a “more fluid exchange” of overseas mentors helping local start-ups with the discipline of running a business, as well as foreign start-ups choosing Singapore as the location for their Asian headquarters.

While the Innovation Launchpads will be useful for upcoming start-ups, Mr Prajit Nanu, co-founder and CEO of cross-border remittance start-up InstaReM, said the Welcome Centres are “the most exciting”.

“We are looking for partners who can help to not only expand the business, but also create a stronger ecosystem. To have access to a hub of other companies would cut down the time required to educate and raise the brand profile on a B2B (business-to-business) level.”

Mr Prajit added that the Innovators Academy will help to “groom the necessary skills of Singaporeans in the Infocomm and Technology fields”. This will benefit start-ups like InstaRem that have had challenges in finding the right talent.

Over at Fundnel where Mr Low is working as the director of investments, the crowdfunding platform has recently sent one of its interns on a work trip to Malaysia – an opportunity that the Singaporean said he was lucky to have when he was a student and hopes this can continue.

“As long as our interns show their capabilities, we are very happy to give them the opportunity to work overseas,” he said. “Many Singapore students are ingrained in grades and focused on finding a stable job – I fell into that hole once but going overseas to travel and work beyond what I was comfortable with, really opened up my mind.”

Follow See Kit on Twitter @SeeKitCNA