AT 27, Mr Kenix Tok istwo years older thanmany of his universitypeers.

The project and facili-ties management gradu-ate spent two years work-ing as a full-time bar-tender, after he quitschool when he failedSecondary 3.

Then 16, he swoppedearly mornings at As-sumption English Schoolfor late nights at theSafra Town Club bar,picking the job “becauseit was cool” and paidmore than waiting ta-bles.

But meeting peoplefrom different walks oflife – from corporatehonchos to illegal bookmakers – got him thinkingabout what he wanted to do with his life.

Having the time to reflect after he enlisted for na-tional service helped too. He recalled: “People keptasking: ‘What are you going to do after NS?’ It gotme thinking about who exactly I wanted to be. Idon’t even have O levels.”

He then decided to pick up the books again, andtook his O levels as a private candidate at the age of20 – without personal tuition. To his surprise, hegot five passes and made it to Ngee Ann Polytech-nic. After getting his diploma in facilities manage-ment for business, he went on to the National Uni-versity of Singapore.

Yesterday, Mr Tok graduated with second upperclass honours.

His degree, like most of his polytechnic educa-tion, was paid for by scholarships, for which he isgrateful. His parents, a retired factory worker and acake shop cashier, are not well-to-do, said Mr Tokwho has two older siblings – one working as an in-surance agent and the other a systems engineer.

But he continued working as a bartender duringhis polytechnic days, to pay for his own living ex-penses.

Now a project executive with Keppel Land, MrTok said: “I learnt education is not something thatis a given, and you have to work for it.”MATTHIAS CHEW

By MATTHIAS CHEWand KEZIA TOH

AMONG the 260 National Uni-versity of Singapore (NUS) stu-dents receiving degrees at aceremony yesterday was a sea-soned veteran – former presi-dent S R Nathan.

Dressed in regal maroonrobes, Mr Nathan, 88, re-ceived an honorary doctor ofletters from President TonyTan Keng Yam, who is alsoNUS chancellor.

The honorary degree wasconferred on him to mark hiscontributions as the Repub-lic’s president, and his guid-ance to the university as itschancellor.

The university will set up a

professorship in social work inhis name, NUS president TanChorh Chuan announced yes-terday.

The professorship will belaunched later this year, in con-junction with the 60th anniver-sary of the Department of So-cial Work.

Mr Nathan was among thefirst cohort of eight to studysocial work at the Universityof Malaya – NUS’ predecessor– and obtained a diploma in so-cial studies in 1954 at the ageof 30.

“I have seen the confer-ment of top honours to othersover the past 12 years. Nowthat it is my turn to receivethe award, it is a more than or-dinary humbling experience,”

said Mr Nathan, who is formerchancellor of NUS and theNanyang Technological Univer-sity (NTU).

Addressing the audience,he noted that young people to-day live in times where therange of options open to themcan be “dazzling” but also“confusing”. His advice: devel-op “a sense of history” so theycould better make sense of theworld around them.

“Think about the conflict-ing priorities we have alwaysfaced – don’t accept uncritical-ly the comments that are some-times made about our socie-ty,” said Mr Nathan, who nowdivides his time between twothink-tanks, the Institute ofSoutheast Asian Studies andthe S. Rajaratnam School of In-ternational Studies.

Last December, NTU con-ferred an honorary doctorateon the former president.

At yesterday’s commence-ment ceremony, studentsfrom the Department of SocialWork received their degrees.They were joined by thosefrom the School of Design andEnvironment.

Paying tribute to Mr Nath-an, Professor Tan hailed his“dedication to service”, notingthat he had served in thelabour movement during thelabour unrest of the 1960s.

“Mr Nathan did not shirkthis heavy responsibility,knowing that the outcome of-

ten meant hope and betterlives for those he served.”

Yesterday marked the startof NUS’ commencement pro-gramme, the 100th time it isholding graduation ceremo-nies. In total, 9,913 studentswill receive their degrees overthe next seven days.

Seven degree programmes,including the Master of Sci-ence in Real Estate and UrbanEconomics, will graduate theirfirst cohort of students.

mattchew@sph.com.sgkeziatoh@sph.com.sg

THE first nurse to graduate from a PhD nursing-related programme in Singapore now earns theright to call herself “doctor”.

Dr Tiew Lay Hwa, 53, will receive her scroll to-morrow from the National University of Singapore(NUS) after 34 years in the profession.

Having a PhD is her way of passing professionalknow-how to the next generation of degree nurses,said Dr Tiew, who now works as a deputy directorof professional development and quality manage-ment at Jurong Health Services.

“Once you start on the road to a nursing degree,you need a pool of master’s and PhD nurses be-cause of the knowledge and skill sets needed to su-pervise and mentor the next generation of nurses.”

She started working as a nurse in 1978 at the Sin-gapore General Hospital, and later at Tan TockSeng Hospital.

She realised her calling at a tender age – at theage of four, when she was hospitalised with a kid-ney infection. It was during the race riots of the1960s and visitors to the wards were limited. “I re-call vividly that the people who took care of mewere the nurses, who gave me a lot of comfort inthose days,” she said.

In 1991, she took a bachelor’s degree in nursingat LaTrobe University in Australia, and, in 1994, amaster’s at Britain’s Leicester University. In 2006,when the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies atNUS started training undergraduate nurses, shetook up a part-time teaching position there. Twoyears later, she enrolled in the PhD programme.

Through the years, she said, the way people viewnurses has changed. “We are not just attending topatients’ hygiene needs. We use our clinical acu-men to examine skin, muscles and bones – knowingthe implications if something is wrong,” she said.

Dr Tiew, who is married to a businessman, hasanother reason to be happy. Her only child –25-year-old Amos Toh – will also graduate asvaledictorian of this year’s law faculty.KEZIA TOH

Mr Tok graduated fromNUS with second upperclass honours. Now, he isa Keppel Land executive.

PHOTO: KENIX TOK

Mr Nathan receiving his honorary doctor of letters from President TonyTan during NUS’ commencement ceremony at the University CulturalCentre yesterday. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Dr Tiew, 53, obtained a bachelor’s degree at LaTrobeUniversity in Australia in 1991, and a master’s at Britain’sLeicester University in 1994. PHOTO: TIEW LAY HWA

He quit schoolat 16, and yetgraduates at 27

University to set up professorshipin social work in Nathan’s name

NUS honorarydoctorate forformer president

First nurse toearn a PhDin Singapore

B12 HHOOMMEE F R I D A Y , J U L Y 6 , 2 0 1 2