Singapore Institute of Management

SAMUEL Tan started playing arcade games when he was only five years old.

He graduated to computer gaming a few years later and has not stopped since.

And so, when it came to choosing a degree programme, it seemed only natural that he chose a computing degree which specialises in multimedia and game development.

A former student from Pei Cai Secondary School, Samuel, 17, said that he spends about 12 hours a day in front of the computer.

Samuel, who has a collection of over 100 computer games, has been an avid online gamer since he was 9.

The youngest of three boys, Samuel's father oversees the IT department of a public-listed company and his mother is a homemaker.

Samuel said that he took the University of Wollongong (UOW) programme offered by SIM, as he could specialise in game development.

The IT programme is one of three such UOW programmes run by SIM. The other two are a Bachelor of Computer Science (Digital Systems Security) and a Bachelor of Information Technology (Computing).

To qualify for the programme, students require four O-level passes including English & Mathematics.

They have to pass a half-year foundation programme before they move on to Year 1 of the UOW degree programmes.

Samuel said that it helped that he did not need to do his A levels to get into the programme, which means he will complete his degree in a faster time.

Ms Selene Tan, SIM's programme manager, said that it is in the third year of their degree course where students in the UOW IT programmes will study their specialisation.

She added that any time the SIM students want to transfer their credit points to study in Woollongong - one of the top-ranked universities in Australia - they can do so.

As for Samuel, his dream is to be able to come up with the ultimate computer game.

"I have been a gamer and I think I know what other gamers want.

"I want to write a game which people will not get bored of."

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