07 April 06

Penny Tan Yi Hui, 21, who graduated in 2005 with a Diploma in Biomedical Science, was awarded a Ngee Ann Kongsi scholarship of about $250,000 to pursue a five-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery course in the University of Leicester.

"I've always wanted to do medicine, so this is like a dream come true," she said.

This might be the first time in Singapore's history that a polytechnic graduate was given a place to pursue medicine without a biomedical science degree.

"That is rare...in the past four years, only five to six students from Ngee Ann have gone on to do medicine," said Dr Sushila Chang, Director of the School of Life Sciences & Chemical Technology.

"Penny is the first to bypass this (biomedical science degree) to do a degree in medicine."

This is not the first award this stellar high flier has won - she also bagged the Lee Kuan Yew Award, Ngee Ann Kongsi Gold Medal, NUH Gold Medal, Genecet Biotechnologies Prize, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Prize, Singapore Association of Clinical Biochemists Prize and NP's Japan-Asean Exchange General Fund Scholarship during her three years at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Her outstanding results (have we mentioned her 15 distinctions and seven As?), numerous awards and experience as a laboratory officer at the Oncology Research Institute at the National University of Singapore had probably helped her land a place in the university.