34 young people gear up to represent Singapore at ‘Olympics of skills’ in Shanghai

Brandon Yap, a 21-year-old Singaporean with aspirations in engineering, will represent his country at the prestigious WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai. Despite missing the N-level cut-off for polytechnic admission by one point, Yap turned his academic struggles into motivation and pursued a Diploma in Electrical Engineering at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. He also joined an international competition in mechatronics, a branch of engineering that combines mechanics, electronics, and programming for automated systems.

Yap is among 34 young individuals from ITE and polytechnics who will compete in 31 categories at the WorldSkills Competition, a record for Singapore. Organized by WorldSkills International every two years, the event aims to advance technical and vocational education and is considered the world’s largest skills competition. It will take place from September 22 to September 27 and bring together over 1,400 competitors from more than 70 countries and regions.

Yap, who has won gold medals at both local and regional WorldSkills contests, will participate in the mechatronics category as part of a two-man team alongside Cedric Yau. They will be tasked with designing, assembling, programming, and maintaining automated industrial machinery. Team Singapore will also compete in three new skill areas: rail vehicle technology, software testing, and unmanned aerial systems.

In a recent send-off ceremony, Senior Minister of State for Education Janil Puthucheary emphasized the importance of skills mastery in the face of rapid technological changes. He highlighted that WorldSkills reflects Singapore's belief in the enduring value of these skills, as they cannot be fully replicated by technology. Singapore placed seventh in the 2024 competition, with China emerging as the top performer, followed by South Korea, Switzerland, France, Taiwan, and Japan.