Two Singaporean students win Angus Ross prize

'Equally deserving' pair are the first joint winners of the Angus Ross Prize in 25 years

By Sarah Giam, The Straits Times, 12 May 2012

TWO Singaporeans have made history by winning a prize which has been given to only one person each year in the last 25 years.

The Angus Ross Prize - given to the best-performing, non-British candidate in the A-Level English Literature exam - is awarded by the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), a department of the eminent British university.

A panel of senior examiners from the department found Darren Wan, 18, of Raffles Institution (Junior College), and Nandini Jayanthinathan, 19, of National Junior College, 'equally deserving' of the prestigious award this year, said the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board yesterday.

Each year, about 10,000 students outside Britain attempt the exam.

Singapore has produced 23 winners since 1987.

Darren and Nandini will each receive a letter of commendation and $200. The two, who sat the exam last year, scored As for H2 English Literature.

They said they were surprised to have clinched the award as they thought they were average students.

Darren said it was one of the more challenging subjects for him in secondary school but he decided to stick with it in junior college.

'I don't regret it,' he said. 'I'll always remember how my literature teachers showed me the different shades of meaning that similar words have. They taught me to get more out of what I read.'

He also nailed As in geography, French and mathematics.

Nandini credited her literature teacher, Mr Donald Whitby, with bringing the subject alive for her, citing his ability in particular to 'walk the class through the landscape in Wuthering Heights'.

Mr Whitby hails from Yorkshire in England, in which the classic tale of love and revenge by Emily Bronte is set.

Both winners described themselves as voracious readers.

Nandini's passion for the written word was kindled by her parents, who read her bedtime stories when she was three.

Darren, who is serving National Service, said reading allows him to 'discover new worlds'.

Nandini recalled an incident which confirmed the calming effect reading has for her. ' Once, my friend shoved his new book under my nose when I was about to vomit after taking a malaria pill on an empty stomach, and I calmed down after inhaling its smell. Everyone thought it was hilarious,' said the former student council member.

While the two paid tribute to classmates and family for their achievements, they said a passion for literature is highly important - and not only for scoring high marks.

Said Nandini, who is headed to the National University of Singapore to study life sciences: 'Have a relationship with it - literature is not a subject; it's really life in a book.'