Not many people can claim to have earned the title World Champion, but that is what this born leader, Loke Lup Peng, has achieved.

In 2007, Lup Peng brought glory to Singapore and TP when he won the title of World Champion in Microsoft Word 2003 at the Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office in Florida, USA.

Lup Peng, whose father works in the aircraft maintenance industry and mother is a housewife, knew for sure that he wanted to take the polytechnic route as it would best equip him with the necessary skills and technical knowledge to enter the job market. The O-level 8-pointer was set on studying Information Technology at TP to pursue his interest in the field.

It proved to be precisely the right move. Lup Peng was on the Director’s List of top students for two consecutive years. Today, he graduates with 18 distinctions, a remarkable Cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.93 and a diploma with merit. While at TP, he also acquired a range of professional IT certifications which include the Sun Certified Java Programmer Certification, the SAP Consultant Certification and the Microsoft Office Specialist Certification.

His list of achievements does not stop there. In 2007, Lup Peng was one of the semi-finalists in the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2007. He also emerged first runner-up at the Motorola MOTODEV J2ME Developer’s Competition in 2006. This year, he paired up with a classmate and participated in the Polytechnic Student Research Programme. They worked on developing an application that allows ordinary light sources and laser pointers to control objects on a computer screen. Lightdraw was selected as one of the top projects from TP.

Beyond academia, Lup Peng has excelled in his CCA. He is a Cadet Inspector with the National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) and was awarded the Commissioner of Police Commendation Award in 2007 for his dedication, exceptional performance and invaluable contribution to the vocation. During his three years at TP, he spent Friday afternoons and school holidays at Ngee Ann Secondary School, his alma mater, where he tirelessly helped out with the School’s NPCC unit.

As a self-proclaimed “IT evangelist”, he was the first president of his diploma’s Special Interest Group and the Temasek Polytechnic Lead in the Microsoft Student Partners Programme.

Lup Peng lives life by the thought-provoking motto: “You must do the things you think you cannot do”. Such is his determination and desire to challenge himself.

Lup Peng has been offered a place at the National University of Singapore to do a degree in Computing and at the Nanyang Technological University for the NTU-Georgia Tech Integrated Programme in Computer Science. He hopes to become a chief information officer or chief technical officer for an IT-based company and eventually return to teach in TP. Given his track record, there is no doubt that Lup Peng will achieve his dreams!