Exam fever strikes again

Exam fever strikes again

For the last three years, Mr Lim Weixiang has been taking photos of his school's examinations for a video for the students' graduation day.

So when the teacher at Serangoon Junior College learnt about last week's Big Picture contest theme "Exam-nation", he sent in his photo of students taking their Economics promotional exam in the school hall last Wednesday.

"I have been getting overview photos of the examinations for the last three years. The students are amused when they see themselves doing the examinations because they don't know what it looks like," said the 31-year-old.

This photo was picked as the $500 prize winner for last week's Big Picture, which called for images showing how students, parents and teachers coped with the annual end-of-year examinations.

While the three judges each picked a different winner, Mr Lim's photo received the most number of picks to clinch the weekly prize for this year-long contest organised by The New Paper and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth to encourage Singaporeans to document everyday life in the city.

Judge Chong Jun Liang picked the photo to win because of its composition.

"This photo of students focusing on their scripts conveys the intense mood of exam fever. The body language of the invigilator, with folded arms, brings the mood to a fever pitch," he said. Another judge, Mr Desmond Lui, picked Mr Lim's photo as his runner-up, praising its fresh take on the contest theme.

His top pick was a photo by Mr Goh Koon Boh of his wife preparing their daughter for an upcoming English examination.

Said Mr Lui: "There is an element of human connection present in this photograph that sets it apart from the rest. While the photograph successfully captures a good moment, a better technique in tonality will help to improve it."

The third judge, Miss Sit Weng San, felt Mr Suhaimi Abdullah's photo deserved to win.

She said the image of a store at Bras Basah Complex selling photocopied examination papers captured details that represented Singapore's education system.

tnp@sph.com.sg


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