Ready to Shine for Singapore

Nineteen Medal Hopefuls Gear Up for WorldSkills Competition in Canada

Nineteen young Singaporeans are in the final lap of their intense preparations for the ultimate challenge in technical skills – the 40th WorldSkills Competition (WSC), which will take place in Calgary, Canada, from 1 to 7 September 2009.

Battle of the Best

The biennial Competition, widely-billed as the “Olympics of Skills”, will see more than 900 Competitors from 51 countries/regions pitting their talents against one another in 45 skills areas. Team Singapore, which comprises 19 Competitors from ITE, Singapore Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic and Nanyang Polytechnic, will compete in 16 skills areas at the WSC (see Annex A in full Press Release for the list of competitors and skills areas). Singapore’s representatives hail from the crop of top Medal winners from the 2008 WorldSkills Singapore competition.

For Team Singapore to battle it out on the world stage, ITE, leader of the Singapore contingent, has arranged for the Competitors to undergo a five-day Lee Foundation Peak Performance Training Camp. It will culminate on 7 August 2009 with an Interaction Session, where Mr Bob Tan, Chairman/ITE, will meet with members of Team Singapore.

The Camp aims at empowering the Competitors with strategies to stay focused and achieve optimum results at the WSC. In the past seven WSCs that it has participated in, Singapore has always garnered commendable results. At the last WSC in Shizuoka, Japan, in 2007, Singapore was ranked 5th among 47 countries/regions in terms of Medal tally – its highest ranking to date – with a total of two Golds, one Bronze and six Medallions for Excellence. At the 2005 WSC in Helsinki, Finland, Singapore’s Competitor in IT – PC & Network Support, Viridis Liew, was conferred the Albert Vidal Prize, a special award given to the Overall Top Scorer in the whole Competition. Another Singaporean, Lo Min Ming, who competed in IT – Software Applications, came in as Second Top Scorer in the same Competition.

Invitation to Media Members

Members of the media are cordially invited to the Interaction Session to meet our 19 youth skills ambassadors and witness them in their final preparations for the WSC. Details of the session are as follows:

Date: Friday 7 August 2009
Time: 0930 hours
Venue: Function Room, ITE Headquarters,
            10 Dover Drive, Singapore 138683

The list of sponsors, event programme and location map are at Annexes B, C and D, respectively in full Press Release . Profiles of Team Singapore Competitors will be made available at the event.

To confirm your attendance or for further information/arrangements for interviews, please contact:

Ms Joycelyn Seet
Head/Publicity, ITE
Tel: (65) 6590 2027
Email: Joycelyn_Seet@ite.edu.sg

or

Ms Jamie Chan
Head/Media, ITE
Tel: (65) 6590 2026
Email: Jamie_Chan@ite.edu.sg

Released on: 5 August 2009

 SG Press Release Team Singapore