SPH's CATS university fair posts strong turnout

20,000 visitors converged in Suntec Singapore.

Singapore Press Holdings' (SPH) CATS Classified held the CATS Recruit Scholarship & Top University Fair today from 10am to 6pm at Suntec Singapore, Level 3, Summit 1 & 2. About 20,000 scholars-to-be and their parents turned up for the exhibition, the only event of its kind in Singapore.

"This year, the CATS Recruit Scholarship & Top University Fair featured almost 40 universities and 18 scholarship boards. It was targeted at candidates of outstanding calibre who were seeking scholarships to further their education overseas at prestigious universities from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia," said SPH.

SPH added that the seminar areas were packed with eager students and parents listening to presentations from representatives of various countries. One of the visitors, Mrs Leong, 49, whose daughter studies at Temasek Junior college, said that Australia's close proximity to Singapore was one of the reasons why she was at the Australian Trade Commission booth to make enquiries. She added that she was there to support her daughter and was still looking around for options.

As Australia is known to be a key hub for research and technology, the Australian Trade Commission booth and seminars were popular with the crowd.

Scholarship Boards present included the APB Foundation, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, Housing & Development Board, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, Ministry of Home Affairs, MOH Holdings, SPRING Singapore, Yale-NUS College, and many more. These establishments were keen to attract the brightest and most talented candidates for their organisations.

The Top University Fair included five out of the eight Ivy League universities from the United States. They were Brown University, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania and Yale University. Along with the University of Warwick, the University of Nottingham, Carnegie Mellon University, and many others, these universities were well received.

Among the strong crowd observed at the booths of the UK and US universities was Mr Issac Kuan, 19. He is thinking of studying medicine in the UK as it is a five-year course, as compared to Australia, which offers six-year medicine courses.

Ms Velvetina Lim, 18, from Anglo-Chinese Junior College, was also considering her options in the UK. She said: “I am a fan of UK theatre and I enjoy their way of life. I am interested in the University of Oxford, but I am also looking at the various UK universities here.”

Ms Lim also added that she spent some time looking at the scholarship options offered by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, People’s Association and the National Arts Council, as she is interested in theatre management.