For the second time in a row, Temasek Polytechnic has won the S R Nathan Cup. And for the second time in a row, a blocked penalty kick sealed the deal.

TP faced RP in the finals of the Institute Varsity Polytechnic (IVP) league at NYP on Friday, 10 Feb. During the preliminary league matches, RP’s only loss was to TP, and TP remained undefeated. RP was, however, the POL-ITE gold medalists, while TP won silver. There was potential, therefore, for this to be quite the grudge match.

By the way some of the players between the two teams greeted each other though, that clearly wasn’t the case. Both teams have members from the Young Lions squad (RP had 7, we have 2), which did go some way in bridging our two teams together. And though the first yellow card (to RP) came a short 1 minute after the whistle was blown, it was a case of a misjudged tackle rather than a malicious intention.

In fact, this professionalism surrounded most of the match. Both TP and RP played hard – our boys dominated the first half and RP returned the pressure in the second – and chance after chance showed itself. More than once, an RP striker would find himself on a one-on-one with the keeper. More than once, our boys would outpace 3-4 defenders for a shot on goal.

Unfortunately, and at times frustratingly, both teams just couldn’t convert. Shots went high and wide, or were easily caught and blocked by the keepers. It might have been because the formations were kept tight, but both teams held each other to a goal-less draw.

So it was, at the 93rd minute, that the penalty shootout was announced.

There’s no two ways about it – a penalty shootout is easily one of the most nail-biting things to watch. Our coach, Steven Tan, had very few words for his boys. “Listen, for penalty shootout, just focus on one point and shoot. Don’t change your mind.” Focus and fire.

Our captain takes the first shot and scores. RP steps up, and shoots.

Our keeper just misses it. 1-1.

Then 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4. With each penalty taken, the tension mounted. Would someone buckle under pressure and miss entirely? Would the keeper pull off a heroic save? We bit our nails and pulled our hair. And then it happened.

Our keeper, Dharvin, dived correctly to the left to block RP’s 6th shot. He didn’t cheer, yell or punch his fist in the air. He simple stood up, and with a bright smile on his face, walked coolly (like a boss) towards his team.

A team that was doing all the cheering for him.

The TP Soccer Team charged across the field yelling and screaming and smothered him onto the ground. Our supporters were up in arms, beating their drums and waving our flags. With the release of the tension, our Registrar amusingly quipped, “Maybe next time we should just skip to the penalty shootout.”

Though our keeper was the man of the moment, he wasn’t the only one who did a good job.

We’re proud of you, TP Soccer Team – you showed determination, professionalism and cool-headedness. Congratulations on a well-earned win, and a mightily entertaining match indeed.

Want to see more of the match? Check out our other photos on our S R Nathan Challenge Trophy Soccer Final Flickr page and this highlights reel from VOXSPORTS (if you want to see the blocked penalty, it’s at 2:15).

We started looking for alumni who met their spouse, or in one case spouse-to-be, while they were in TP and shared their stories. Some of them got married soon after graduation, others much later. But either way, it was at the crossroads that was TP that they found love – and they held on to it tightly. While we’re on this journey to learn more about life, we sometimes begin to learn about love.

For those of you who didn’t see their stories, here they are. We asked them a few basic questions about their relationships, and you really need to read all the answers to “How did you know he/she was ‘The One’” – they’re all incredibly sweet and grounded.

Michelle Jean & Michael De Roza

How long have you been married?
6 years.

Which course were you from?
Both were from CMM; he was my junior

Who made the first move?
We hung out a lot in the MediaBiz studios, and one day found that we were the only ones in the studio during lunchtime so we went for lunch together at Mensa (SALAD BAR FTW).

It was in preparation for MediaBiz Awards presentation and ceremony (again stuck in the studios over many late nights) that “sparks flew”. A little bit of ICQ/MSN later and we went on our first date.

How did you know he was “The One”?
Maybe ‘cuz every relationship I was ever in, I always felt that I was floating on Cloud 9… And he was the first person who made me feel that love was actually possible on the ground.

How have your views on love changed since poly life?
Poly was crazy, who didn’t we have a crush on? The thing about love is it’s a really deep feeling that pours out of your heart, you can’t keep a lid on it. It shows in the little things you do, it shows in the decisions you make, it shows in the unspoken gestures in everyday life.

Ratna Sarif & Mohd Jufri

How long have you been married?
7 months.

What course were you in?
I was in Law & Management, Class of 2003. Jufri was from Electronics, Class of 2001.

Who made the first move?
Jufri made the first move by calling me at home to ask me out. He got my contact number from my friend.

We knew each other through an online chatroom 10 years ago when we are still doing our diploma. He was 3 years my senior in TP.

How did you know he/she was “The One”?
When he got into a motorbike accident many years ago while we were dating, i knew I couldn’t live without him.

How have your views on love changed since poly life?
A lot has changed. We had more freedom to go out after we graduated and had more money to go on dates since we started working already. In poly, we usually have our dates either at the canteens or at Bedok Reservoir after class. But it was still quite romantic.

Jo Koh & Edmund Tan

How long have you been married?
1 year 4 months.

Which course were you from?
I am from Hospitality & Tourism Management, Edmund was from Computer Engineering.

Who made the first move?
I made the first move. He was the cool dude in school and probably didn’t know about my existence. We got to know each other though camps. One day, we played a guessing game. He asked me questions, I had to answer and vice versa.

Through the game, he realised that I like him. But we never got together until we left school after knowing each other for 2 over years.

How did you know he was “The One”?
The moment he dropped his work just to spend a weekend with me @ Bangkok whilst I was working there, feeling lonely. I made a phone call saying I wish he was here and he really came down the very next day. That day, I knew that I was the most important person in his life.

How have your views on love changed since poly life?
Love life in Poly days were more playful and fun. After working and meeting more people in life, loving someone is all about compromising, learning each other strengths & weakness, enjoying the differences you have and learning life’s experiences together.

Smith Leong & Chris Goh

They just got engaged after a 10 year relationship! Congratulations guys!

What course were you in?
We were both from ETCM/Computer Engineering and we graduate in year 04.

Who made the first move?
My wife to be was the only girl in the class. We became close friends shortly after we met thanks to another guy. She made the first move in asking for my number but her reason was she wanted it cause she need to ask me about something. It’s interesting how 3 of us always plan to go out together but the other guy just ended up having something on and leaving just two of us.

There was once she forward me one of those joke Chinese SMS which says that she ran out of rice at home and if I give her some rice or $5000 she will fall in love with me.

So on her birthday I got a nice heart shape bottle filled with rice and gave it to her to express my love and I told her sorry, I only got rice and love but no money and poof! We were officially in a relationship since then.

How did you know she was “The One”?
No, I didn’t know. It just felt right well we hang out and it just goes on and on. Like the quote says it’s not about finding one that you can live with but finding one that you can’t live without.

How have your views on love changed since poly life?
Quite a bit in fact. When things 1st started, because we were classmates and we will spend a lot of time together. We always thought that that’s how love should be and we even did holiday assignments/jobs together, attachment together and FYP together as well but as time goes on it felt just as good or in fact better when we give each other the space we need to do the things we need to.

Posting Results Day

What you will now know:

• The course you’ve been posted to
• This year’s cut-off points of all the courses

The Enrolment Package and Accepting the Course Offer
At a later date, you will receive an enrolment package from TP through mail. You will receive 2 if you successfully enrolled into 2 courses through the JAE and JPSAE.

To accept a course, you will need to complete the enrolment process described in the package. If you have 2 packages, you need to choose between which course you’d like to accept and proceed with that course’s registration.

JAE Appeals
If you don’t want the course you’ve been offered, you can appeal.

• To be eligible to appeal for a course, you must first meet the course’s 2012 Cut-off Points. You can then access the JAE Appeal system and register your appeal choices.
• This official appeal process is, like the JAE itself, based on merit. Once the appeal process has been completed, students will be posted based on their results.
• Students who successfully appeal into a new course will NOT have the option of going back to the course they were first offered. In other words, do not appeal unless you really do want a change.
• Students who do not successfully appeal will still be able to accept their previously-offered course. In other words, an unsuccessful appeal will not leave you without any course.

Many do ask us how high a chance they might have of appealing into a course. We can’t actually predict, so what we can do is to describe the process in simple terms to help you understand it a bit better.

Let’s assume that Course XYZ has an intake of 100 students.

Out of them, 85 students accept the offer. 15 other students do not, either because they’re offered another course via JPSAE or because they want to appeal into a different course.

This, technically, leaves 15 places available for appeals. 30 applicants try to appeal into XYZ, and the system chooses the best 15.

Remember that this is a simplified explanation of the process, but this should at least let you know that, yes, there’s a chance for your appeal to be successful.

Hope that helps! Do let us know if you need anything else.

A number of common questions we get are:

• What if I didn’t meet last year’s COP?
• What’s the likelihood of me getting into the course?
• If I place Course X as 1st choice but don’t get it, will my 2nd choice have a lower priority compared to someone else’s 1st choice?

We’ll try our best to clarify. Let’s first start with some general points about the JAE.

It’s important to note that the Joint Admissions Exercise assigns courses to students first and foremost based on grades. We’re going to be coming back to this point a lot.

This refers to your aggregate ELR2B2 after CCA bonus point deduction. If you scored A1 or A2 for your CCA, you can deduct 2 points off your overall aggregate. If you scored B3 to C6, you can deduct 1 point. The aggregate shown on your Form A is before CCA point reduction.

Now let’s look at how COPs are derived.

The COP for any given year is calculated once the JAE posting results are out. They act as both a benchmark for JAE appeals and as a gauge for how popular the course is among students. For example:

• Course X has 100 slots. 150 students apply for the course, and the best 100 are selected.
• The COP is the highest grade of the students who joined in, indicating at which aggregate does this course “cut-off” at.
• Let’s assume that there are 99 students who scored between 14 – 16 and 1 student who scored 17.

The COP therefore is 17.

But how are students for a course selected? Remember that the JAE selects students based on merit. Once again, we’re going to give a simplified example.

• Bobby chooses Course X as his 2nd choice. He scored an aggregate of 13.
• Amy chooses Course X as her 1st choice. She scored an aggregate of 15.
• After MOE processes the applications, Bobby doesn’t make the cut for his 1st choice, but makes it for Course X.
• Amy, unfortunately, doesn’t get this course, as her grades are not as good enough as the others who placed that choice down.

The priority the Ministry of Education gives to course placement lies with your grades, not with your course selection ranking. So even if you place a course as 2nd or 3rd choice, it doesn’t lower your chance of getting into the course compared to someone else who placed it as 1st choice.

This is why we tell people to choose based on their passions and interests.

When choosing your courses, always choose the ones you WANT first, even if you might miss last year’s COP by a bit. This is because there’s always the chance of a COP adjusting in your favour.

After your first few choices, place safer courses. Try to look for ones that are still related to your interests.

This ensures that if you don’t get your first few choices, MOE will still assign you to a course that you’d be interested in.

Your choice placements tell MOE, “These are the choices I have based on my interest in them. I’m most interested in Choice 1, rather interested in Choice 6 and sort of interested in Choice 12.”

MOE then says, “Okay, based on your results, we will assign a course to you accordingly.”

So in summary, you can’t control what other people choose, but you can control your own options. So if you like, say, TP’s Diploma in Early Childhood Studies – go ahead and put it down as your first choice. Even if you don’t get it when the posting results come out, it won’t “kill” your other options either.

Hope that helps! We’ll be more than glad to answer any of the questions you have, so please feel free to ask us anything.

From tomorrow onwards, we’ll open our doors (and gates and bridges) to everyone and anyone who’s interested to find out more about our Poly. And now that MOE has announced that the O level results will be released on 9 January 2012, well, we know there’ll be a lot of questions during the Open House.

So whether you’re an O level graduate, an ITE graduate, a student or event a parent, we figured that we could give some quick and easy advice on making the best of your visit to our Open House.

1. Think about your areas of interest

Do you like science? Or perhaps you’d like to work in the mass media industry? Have a passion for fashion?

Wandering around the Open House might be fun, but doing that after you’ve checked out specific areas of interest will increase your chances of finding courses that suit you. Shortlist your interests and seek those out first.

2. Go beyond the course name

Alright, we’ll confess – we try our best to make our course names sound awesome. But that shouldn’t stop you to ask more about the courses we offer.

If a course interests you, ask about the modules they offer. Go for the details – what’s taught? How is it taught? What will I learn at the end of the day, and how is that relevant to the industry?

You can also ask about other special opportunities that the course might give you. Many of our courses have interesting internship opportunities, additional certifications, special training or even competitions you can participate in. It’s all part and parcel of a poly education, so ask, ask, ask.

3. Collect brochures and other handouts

Our brochures and other handouts are FREE and have a LOT of information on our courses and opportunities. Don’t be shy, take as many as you want! More information to make your decisions is always a good thing.

4. Observe our students and lecturers

The Open House isn’t just to showcase our courses or facilities. It’s a chance for you to get to know our students and lecturers better as well.

Believe me, you will see all *sorts* of people here. From the cheering and singing iGuides (who will be the first to welcome you) to the students manning the course booths (they’ll answer your questions!) to the TP student walking to a lecture – take a look at our school culture, our enthusiasm, our life.

While you understand our courses best by asking, you’ll understand life at TP best through its people. Oh, and don’t worry – we don’t cheer *everyday* of school here. It’s to make you feel welcome. Plus, it’s a lot of fun. =D

So these are some of the things you should consider when you’re visiting us tomorrow (or Friday, or Saturday), and we hope they’ll help make your visit to TP that much more fruitful.

Welcome to TP folks!

From 5 – 13 Jan, you can log on to the TP Chat page and start chatting with graduated TP students. As alumni, they’re particularly well suited to answer questions regarding courses, admissions and student life in TP.

And to put things into perspective, over 30 (!!) chat operators will be manning their computers over those 9 days, together with many TP staff as well.

I sat down with 5 of the operators to ask, well, why did they come back?

“I loved TP, and wanted to help other students understand our school better.”

This sentiment was echoed by everyone. Meihui, Jing Yi, Leonard, Celeste and Jennifer might’ve come from different courses and graduated at different times, but their love for the school was their unifying factor.

In fact, this is Jennifer’s second time as a chat operator. She enjoyed the experience so much in 2011 that she jumped at the chance again this year.

“I loved the experience because I felt I was doing something that was really important and helpful to the O level students.” She added she really understood how a student freshly graduated with an O level cert felt – excitement and worry rolled into one – and was glad to act as a mentor to them.

They also recounted some of their most significant memories during their early days of visiting or studying at TP.

“The Orientation and the lecturers,” said Leonard. “The cheering of the Open House!” chimed Celeste. The group brought up many other things, ranging from friends to school life to their learning experience.

And it’s these experiences, and more, that our chatters will be bringing to the table when the TP Chat starts this Thursday. It’s free but most importantly, manned by people who’re genuinely interested in helping.

The 5 TP Chat operators also gave some advice on what you can think about before you chat with them, or before you come down to our Open House this week:

• What do you want to be in the future?
• What modules does this course offer? Do they interest you beyond the course name?
• What subjects or topics were you interested in back in school?

If you’re a visiting student or school leaver coming down to TP’s Open House next week, you stand a chance to win 1 of 2 HTC Sensation XEs in our simple contest, the Button Quest.

Here’s what you need to do:

1) Collect all six of the badges shown below during the TP Open House:

You’ll be able to find a badge at each of our 6 schools, namely the Schools of:

• Applied Science
• Business
• Design
• Engineering
• Humanities & Social Sciences
• Informatics & IT

2) Pin them on the TP Open House goodie bag like so:

and then take a picture of yourself with the bag and badges.

3) Send that photo to admin@temasekpoly.sg and include:

• Your Full Name
• Your IC number
• Your Phone Contact number
• The school or ITE that you are from / graduated from
• A short caption on what you felt about the TP Open House

4) You have until 5pm each day to submit your photos.

Photos sent after 5pm will be uploaded with the batch the following day (except for the last day of our Open House, where we will close submissions by 5pm sharp).

5) At 6pm, the day’s photos will be uploaded onto the Temasek Polytechnic Facebook page. You will then have 24 hours to gather as many Likes as possible.

6) After 24 hours, the total no. of Likes will be calculated.

Any Likes after that will not count towards the total.

7) The top 2 photos with the most number of Likes will win a HTC Sensation XE!

In the case of a draw, the one with the better caption will win.

This is just our way of saying – welcome to our Open House. So, go go go – tell your friends about the contest, and all the best!

Frayon: Fanning! FANNING! Quick, we’re on! *Ahem*. HELLLOOOO everyone!

Fanning: … Frayon, you’re looking in the wrong direction.

Frayon: What? Oh. Right. *turns around* HEL-

Fanning: SHUT UP. … … Wow. It certainly feels good to be able to say that to you again.

Frayon: Still as grumpy as ever, eh? Some things don’t change.

Fanning: Considering how you’re posing like a monkey as you talk, clearly some things don’t.

Frayon: I’M FLEXING.

Fanning: You’re lifting up your arms with a constipated look.

Frayon: The army has helped me refine my highly toned physique into a well-oiled and lean machine of manliness.

Fanning: You got skinnier and you got a tan. That’s all I see. AND WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP “FLEXING”?

Frayon: You can no longer hurt me! I’m tougher and stronger and bigger than I ever -

*THWACK*

Frayon: AAAAH MY TOE!!!

Fanning: Oh how I missed the joy of bringing you pain. I guess this will work out for us again after all.

Frayon: *whimper*

Fanning: Oh for crying out loud… MAN UP.

—

Hello folks, how’ve you been? TP sure has changed a lot since we’ve graduated earlier this year. The Open House is coming really soon, and since Frayon and I are subject matter experts on Temasek Polytechnic, we got called back to do a series of posts on our dear alma mater.

Today we’re gonna talk about the Beyond O Level Seminar (for short, we call it the BOL Seminar). It’s happening on 7 January 2012 (Saturday) at 10am and is totally free-of-charge.

As a simplified way of describing the Seminar, you can think of it as consisting of 3 “parts” – the sharing sessions, the Q & A and the school tours.

Sharing Sessions

There will be a total of 3 sharing sessions during the BOL Seminar. TP Registrar (the staff in charge of all administrative work regarding admissions), an alumnus (a graduated student like us) and a group of current students will be sharing information based on their respective areas of expertise.

Our Registrar, Ms. Sharon Soh, will help to shed some light on the various admission exercises and procedures.

The TP alumnus, Victoria Li, will share about her life in TP to give you a “beyond the O levels and beyond TP” look on life.

And finally, Mrs Mary Thomas, a senior lecturer with our School of Business will facilitate a “talk-show” session with a couple of TP students to give you some first-hand accounts on what it’s like to study in Temasek Poly.

Frayon: I’d share about how TP is awesome by sheer virtue of the fact that I studied there.

Fanning: I’d share the pain of knowing you, but then it’s plain to see.

Q&A Session

The BOL Seminar will be fielding a panel of staff that will take questions from the audience. You can ask anything you’d like regarding our courses, admission requirements and student life!

Frayon: You know, I never understood why they didn’t ask me to be in that panel. Besides being an expert in all-things-TP, I’m also ruggedly handsome.

Fanning: The only thing you’re an expert in is being delusional.

School Tours

Attendees will then be brought on a guided tour to a school in TP of your choice – Applied Science, Business, Design, Engineering, Humanities & Social Sciences or Informatics & IT.

This tour will focus on showing you the facilities and opportunities available at those schools, and if you still have any unanswered questions, you can ask the facilitators at the tours.

Of course, since our Open House is still ongoing on that day, after the tours you’re free to roam around TP to discover more about the rest of our school!

Fanning: I was once a guide for the school tours, and I must say it’s great fun seeing visitors explore TP for the first time.

Frayon: I’m surprised they didn’t just run away, screaming in horror when they saw you.

So if any of you wish to register for this Seminar, simply head on over to http://www.tp.edu.sg/events/bol – see you in TP!

For one, the TP Open House is coming soon. Like, really, really soon. In less than a month.

From 5 – 7 Jan, we’ll be opening up the school to, well, everyone. There’ll be course information and advisory booths, school and facility tours, CCA showcases and of course, TP students cheering loudly.

The Open House started many years ago to give potential students a glimpse into what education in a polytechnic is like, but over the years it’s evolved into much more. Now, it not just offers course advisement, but also shows visitors the culture and attitude of our students. “This,” we tell everyone, “is what it’s like to be part of the TP family.” It’s a celebration, you could even say.

You can find out more at the TP Open House website.

But the Open House is not the only thing we’re organising. Away from the hustle and bustle, the Beyond O Level Seminar is an event where students and their parents can come, listen to in-depth sharing from staff and students of TP on admission procedures, life and experiences in TP. We will be sharing more information about this Seminar later in the week.

Actually, “we” won’t be, at least not the usual suspects that write for temasekpoly.sg.

You see, before this blog existed for TP there was… another one. Our freshies will probably not know who they are, but our seniors will.

I’m talking about Frayon and Fanning from TP4ME.

They were 2 student bloggers that blogged for TP for a while (actually, for nearly 3 years). We say “were” because Frayon and Fanning have actually graduated (earlier this year, in fact). Frayon’s in the army now, while Fanning’s been working. Many still remember Frayon’s big-headed delusions, Fanning’s less-than-peaceful temper but most of all, their entertaining bickering and squabbling.

We’ve had times where people would ask us, “Just who are Frayon and Fanning?” Well… We still can’t answer that question for you (our agreement to keep their identity a secret lasts for 99 years), but we can tell you one thing:

They’re coming back.

I got in contact with them recently about the possibility of blogging for us again, and they were more than happy to. So, in the next couple of weeks, Frayon and Fanning will be lining up some blog posts for the Open House, Beyond O Level Seminar and more. We’re really happy about having them here again… if somewhat afraid.

So here’s to this year, which brought us all some ups-and-downs. 2012, here we come.

Also, as promised we’ll be contacting a number of people who contributed to this MiT for a photography workshop with Juff. Check your emails soon!

One our Cliquers involved with TPRAWKS had this shot taken of her with celebrity George Young (and is still proud of the shot). Sent in by Elizabeth Tang.

The Goodfellas opened the TPRAWKS Jam & Hop with “Dynamite”, and likewise blew up the stage with amazing music. Sent in by Elizabeth Tang.

The Million-Dollar Retailer’s Challenge – one of the many activities Rawkers got to enjoy at TPRAWKS – was organised by students from our Diploma in Retail Management.

This group shot was taken when Glamish Purple came by. Sent in by Valarie Ong.

It wasn’t just us who were snapping pictures during TPRAWKS. George Young also took a picture of the Rawkers, which he shared on his Facebook later on.

This shot was sent in by Alexandra Teng, who accompanied us to shoot for the Mediacorp artistes’ visit. You can find more of her shots in Alex’s TPRAWKS Flickr set.

“This is my class, 1R04, from biz school RMT course ”

Photos keep memories alive, and class 1R04 from the Diploma in Retail Management would like to keep as many of them fresh as possible. Sent in by Ching Si Min.

In between takes, some of our Communications & Media Management students decide to have a bit of fun. Sent in by Alexandra Teng.

She walked for rice… and left her shoes behind. Sent in by Anonymous. (If you’re the person who shot and sent in this picture, please let us know! We’d love to give you proper credit).

Walk for Rice drew large groups of walkers from all over TP. Kai Jun took part, and took some shots while he was at it. Sent in by Lee Kai Jun.

“I’m sharing with you as it brings memories of Temasek Poly to me as I’m graduating soon. This photo shows the first memory I had regarding the school even before I came as a TP student.”

Sent in by Zulhairi Anaqi.

Clouds gathering over the horizon on one of the many days it was raining. Sent in by Dian Sofia, Interactive Media Design Year 1.

Though the rain sometimes makes us forget how bright the sky can be, perhaps all we need to do is look up. Sent in by Muhd Aidil.

It’s been a rainy November, and this shot was taken outside the library after a long rain. Sent in by Christopher Tan.

The setting sun accompanies our students home. Sent in by Michelle.