Singapore – Two Singaporean women, an architect and an English teacher, have made it to Encyclopaedia Britannica’s 2022 Shapers of the Future, which lists outstanding individuals making their mark on history.
They are Konnie Kao, 33, an architect, and Moritza Lim Fang Min, 31, who teaches English at Serangoon Secondary School.
The Britannica releases an annual Shapers of the Future report highlighting individuals under 40 who are “shaping the world” with the aim of improving it, and making it more equitable.
It said in a media release: “Many of these people are yet to become household names; their areas of excellence are still unrecognised by society.”
These “shapers of the future” work in many fields and endeavors, embracing every corner and intersection of health and medicine, science and technology, and business and entrepreneurship.
Ms Kao and Ms Lim are among 200 “Shapers” revealed in January this year.
Konnie Kao earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture at the National University of Singapore. As an undergraduate, she participated in a project that imagined Singapore in 2050.
She has received a certification in green building standards from Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority Academy and another for building information modeling and building technology.
A licensed architect since 2019, Ms Kao maintains a strong interest in both environmental sustainability and socially-conscious design. She has received awards for her architectural designs from Habitat for Humanity and other organisations. Her work includes designs for a six-storey shopping mall, a six-storey office building, and a nine-storey apartment building.
Last year, Singapore Business Review magazine named Ms Kao one of nine “young architects to watch.”
Moritza Lim Fang Min, 31, teaches English at Serangoon Secondary School, and is especially concerned about dealing with learning impediments. She was worried that many of her students face challenges at home that impeded their learning ability and often resulted in absenteeism.
One of her students often fell asleep in class , she said, because her parents regularly fought at night. Another student faced a similar issue and ended up running away from home to live in a parking garage for several weeks.
Rather than disciplining students and potentially embarrassing them, Ms Lim started by asking the students who were struggling if she could do anything to help.
The isolation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic worsened the students’ difficulties. To help the students, she organised those who were at home and asked older ones to share their school and life experiences to help younger students prepare for the future.
She called this programme the “Student Interview Talk Show” and brought in students from across the curriculum.
“It was heartening to hear the students share the reasons for their interest in their subjects, their aspirations for the future, and the authentic advice they gave to their juniors,” she told the Ministry of Education (MOE).
Ms Lim also received the Outstanding Youth in Education Award (OYEA) in 2021, which honors young educators who show an exceptional passion for teaching and a commitment to inspiring and encouraging their students.
More information on the other “Shapers of Future” can be found here./TISG
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