Fun science helps inspire needy students

Thirteen-year-old Dennis Lee learnt how to make water 'jump' yesterday.

He was in a lab where a physics instructor showed him how, by rubbing against the sides of a brass bowl filled with water, he can make the water 'jump'.

Dennis, a Secondary 1 student from Assumption English School, is one of 83 students on a scientific research programme called In-Cube.

It is a tie-up between the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC).

Targeted at Primary 6 to Secondary 2 students from low-income families, it aims to help them develop their interest and potential for scientific research.

The first of three stages saw them attending a workshop at the Faculty of Science premises in NUS on Friday and yesterday.

Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong, executive director of CDAC and MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, said the programme will allow these students to participate in enrichment programmes without being affected by financial constraints, especially in the downturn.

At the official launch of the programme at the NUS Faculty of Science yesterday, guest of honour Rear Admiral (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, said it will enable them to 'learn about science in a different way than their tuition classes. I hope the students will take full advantage of this'.

Secondary 1 student Joey Tay certainly did - she recorded all the experiments with her mobile phone.

'They are very amazing. I want to record them so I can take them home to show to my parents and siblings,' she said.

The programme is expected to benefit at least 1,000 students in the next four years.

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NUS camp cut short after two get H1N1

MORE student activities have been affected by the spread of the H1N1 virus.

Yesterday, it came to light that a National University of Singapore (NUS) orientation camp for new students had to be cut short after two students tested positive for the H1N1 virus.

The camp, attended by 200 participants from the School of Design and Environment, began on Monday and was due to end yesterday, but most students were sent home on Wednesday night, after being confined to a hostel for most of the day.

Others who ran a fever or showed flu-like symptoms were taken for tests.

So far, seven students from NUS, including four on foreign exchange, have come down with the flu.

Two have since recovered.

Meanwhile, more students from Republic Polytechnic were ordered to stay away yesterday.

On Wednesday, the poly had ordered some 4,500 students - its entire first-year cohort - and 16 teachers to stay away.

Yesterday afternoon, about 100 second-year hotel and hospitality management course students and 19 teachers were asked to stay away from school.

The poly said that as of yesterday, 18 students have tested positive for the H1N1 virus.

Elsewhere, more cases - both confirmed and suspected - continue to emerge.

At Ngee Ann Polytechnic, one student has been hospitalised with the flu.

He had gone to the Butter Factory last Wednesday and was admitted on Tuesday.

Ngee Ann Poly said close contacts have been advised to stay at home and monitor their health.

The poly is currently on a two- week break, and classes will resume on Monday, as scheduled.

A Temasek Polytechnic student was also diagnosed with H1N1 during the school holidays. He is currently on medical leave.

Institutions of higher learning The Straits Times spoke to said contingency plans have been put in place in case a student or staff member falls ill with the flu.

Nanyang Polytechnic, for example, will conduct classes via the Internet when school reopens next week, although it has no confirmed cases.

Its spokesman said this exercise, which will last a week - is to test the polytechnic's ability to function if the flu situation worsens.

At Republic Poly, which has seen the widest disruption to classes so far among all schools, several students expressed worry about their health.

Said one second-year student in the aerospace course: 'It doesn't make sense to ask only the year- ones to stay away.

'The infected person would have have walked around the polytechnic, and we should just close down for a week and sterilise the surroundings.'

The students said they preferred to learn via the school's e-portal, which they termed 'part of everyday life'.

One student, meanwhile said he had trouble getting to school yesterday.

The 19-year-old second-year on the hospitality course, who did not want to be named, said: 'This morning, I was rejected by two cabs.

'Both flatly refused to take me once I told them I want to go to RP.

'The third cab dropped me off at the traffic light and refused to go into the school! I can't believe it!'

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$20m centre at NUH to start clinical trials

A $20 MILLION centre to test new drugs, medical procedures and devices on people opens today at the National University Hospital (NUH).

The focus of this centre, the Investigational Medicine Unit, will be on the early phases of human testing, shoring up Singapore's ambition to become a clinical trials centre for the region.

Data from early-phase clinical trials helps drug companies make critical business decisions on whether to go ahead with developing a drug - a process which generally costs $1 billion by the time it reaches pharmacy shelves.

The new unit is the second public centre here to focus on early-phase clinical trials. The first, under the SingHealth cluster of hospitals and polyclinics, opened last month.

In Buona Vista, the Singapore Clinical Research Institute (SCRI) focuses on later phases of clinical trials.

These three public institutions form a critical part of Singapore's biomedical sciences push to get novel treatments developed in the laboratories out to patients.

There is growing data that shows Asians and Caucasians develop different diseases and respond to drugs differently. With Asia's growing population and affluence, major drug companies now have their eye on Asia.

Drug companies say Singapore is a favoured choice because of the strict adherence to regulations, safety, ethics and intellectual property protection, and several have their own private clinical trials facilities here.

While the Republic does not have the numbers required for late-phase trials, the SCRI serves as a link to other hospitals in the region.

The new unit at NUH currently has a database of 600 volunteers, whose varied racial make-up mirrors that of Singapore's population, said the unit's deputy director, Dr Gerard Wong.

'So drug companies who want to test how their drugs work in different ethnic groups which are representative of the different Asian populations in the region can come to us,' he said.

The $20 million is being pumped in over five years by the Ministry of Health's National Medical Research Council and the National University Health System. The funds will cover manpower and equipment cost, said the director of the new unit, Associate Professor Goh Boon Cher.

He hopes to grow the database to 1,000 people. The unit is currently running about 40 to 50 clinical studies, mainly drug trials by major drug companies.

Said Dr Goh: 'In the past, various research groups were working in isolation and were therefore ineffective in the use of their limited resources.

'Now, we can share and better manage resources and increase the speed and efficiency of clinical research.'

By 2011, the unit will move across the road to a new building under the medical school.

Besides testing new drugs, it will consolidate research at the National University of Singapore and NUH in areas such as infectious diseases, cancer, metabolic diseases and eye diseases.

It will also look at how diet affects organ function and how different races develop diseases and respond to medicines.

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Small outfits gain a foothold abroad with study trips

A GOVERNMENT-LED training initiative for business owners and executives is beginning to help more small- and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) here gain a foothold in emerging markets abroad.

Trade agency International Enterprise (IE) Singapore said its International Business Fellowship (iBF) was designed as a scheme to educate entrepreneurs about doing business in various overseas markets.

But participants got an unexpected bonus, in the form of business opportunities after they took part in the programmes in the various emerging markets.

'The iBF executive programmes provide SMEs with an insight into the business practices, culture and systems of key overseas markets,' said Ms Khoo Wee Lin, deputy director of capability development at IE Singapore. 'And while the initial aim was educational, we have had participants who obtained business leads from the programmes.'

The iBF supports all Singapore- based companies in executive training, particularly in the development of business networks in overseas markets. The programmes offer training stints for business owners or their executives at top training institutions in Central Asia, China, India, Latin America, the Middle East and countries like Vietnam and Russia.

Ms Khoo said that through the programmes, SMEs can also learn from other Singapore firms which are already doing business there and engage with local business leaders and government officials. She believes that despite the downturn, Singapore SMEs - which typically possess strong fundamentals - are in a better position to capture opportunities in emerging markets.

'In this economic climate, it becomes even more relevant for SMEs to look to overseas markets to diversify their supply and customer bases,' she added.

'For SMEs, emerging economies such as Qatar and Brazil are abundant with opportunities, yet a lack of knowledge about these markets is preventing SMEs from entering them.'

IE Singapore believes that structured and market-specific short-term courses like the iBF executive programmes can provide a systematic introduction to new markets globally.

The programme is open to Singapore-based companies with headquarter operations here but which are planning to expand abroad. Also, participants in the iBF executive programmes can enjoy up to 70 per cent of support in course fees from the government.

Business owners like Mr Edwin Chan, the founder of language school Cambridge Institute, say iBF executive programmes have helped open doors for his firm's expansion into Vietnam. He said: 'By going as a group with IE Singapore, we were able to get in touch with other like-minded businesses and leaders from the local business community and that helped pave the way for us to set up our business there.'

Besides attending the iBF executive programme to Vietnam, Mr Chan also sent two staff on the Middle East and Latin America programmes as well.

'With the contacts we have made, I am now planning to venture into the Middle East,' he added.

Aside from executive programmes, the iBF also has a postgraduate scholarship component for people to pursue full-time or part-time business- related master's programmes, as well as give local undergraduates immersion experiences in the supported markets.

IE Singapore says participants in iBF executive programmes this year can look forward to study trips to Sao Paolo in Brazil, Chinese cities like Beijing and Nanjing, and Pune and Mumbai in India.

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Nan Hua and other schools ready with online lessons

TEACHERS at Nan Hua Primary are ready for work on Monday to make sure that about 25 pupils who will not return to school will not be left behind.

That is the number the school reckons would have returned from flu-stricken areas on and after June 22, according to travel declaration forms handed in before the mid-year holidays.

They will be given seven days leave of absence, as announced by the Education Ministry, in an effort to slow down the transmission of the H1N1 virus.

The pupils will not be taking it easy at home. They will need to log on daily to the school's e-  learning portal and blog to complete multiple-choice assignments and read Chinese poems, idioms and passages.

Said Madam Jessie Ang, head of the mother tongue department: 'The teachers have been busy preparing. We will meet on Friday to approve materials and come up with clear instructions for the kids so they know what to do.

'The uploading will be completed over the weekend so everything will be in place on Monday.'

At least 17 primary and secondary schools, and junior colleges The Straits Times spoke to said they have been gearing up for home-based learning since the Sars crisis in 2003.

They can vary the combination of approaches and channels to take, according to the age and profile of their students.

For students who do not own computers or have Internet access, schools will either deliver materials through snail mail, or lend them laptops.

For e-learning, teachers can upload reading materials or assignments onto an e-portal for students to either revise or learn a new topic. Hyperlinks to learning websites can also be shared.

Students then access the portal based on schedules which stagger log-in times so the system will not crash. They submit their assignments online and their log-ins are tracked.

Grading for certain assignments such as multiple- choice questions is automatic while teachers will mark open- ended responses like essays. Students can clarify doubts with teachers through e-mail or instant messaging services.

To familiarise staff and students with home-based learning, schools have been organising 'e- learning days' every year, where students work from home, doing quizzes and assignments online.

Besides using the e-portal which has a limited bandwidth, schools such as Junyuan Secondary are considering new avenues like Google Documents and Yahoo to host lesson packages online.

Nanyang Primary will send its materials to Primary 1 pupils by post.

The school spokesman said the feedback from its IT heads was that the youngest pupils were not ready to work online.

'We have prepared thousands of envelopes and stamps...We even advised the woman who does the photocopying not to take leave next week,' the spokesman said.

Schools are well aware that home-based learning cannot replace learning in schools.

Mr Michael Lau, vice-principal of Nan Hua High School, said that e-learning cannot complement the curriculum fully and there will be a need to catch up once school resumes.

Administrative executive Jasmine Chia, a mother of three school-going children, agreed, saying: 'Not all parents are computer-literate or can supervise their children at home the whole day.

'Children need someone to guide them or they can't focus when they use the computer.'

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