Press Releases
Singapore Team Ranked 1st at the 8th International Geography Olympiad
The Ministry of Education (MOE) congratulates the Singapore team for their stellar performance at the 8th International Geography Olympiad (iGeo) held in Taipei, Taiwan from 29 July to 4 August 2010. Singapore was placed 1st in a field of 105 students from 27 countries.
The Singapore team received two Gold medals and two Silver medals at the iGeo. This marked a significant achievement for Singapore since it was the country’s first time participating in the competition.
The Gold medalists are Wan Jian Yong Darren and Lim Yuan Zhi Martin from Raffles Institution (Junior College) [RI (JC)]. The Silver medalists are Koh Lock Leong and Kweh Ren Hao Clement, also from RI (JC). The team was led by Mrs Ong Wai Ling, Subject Head (Geography) at RI (Secondary) and Mdm Delphine Tan Su-Ling, Curriculum Planning Officer, MOE.
The iGeo consisted of written, multimedia and fieldwork tests. Students were expected to have good knowledge of topics ranging from physical to human geography. The team was also required to apply their geographical knowledge in new and unfamiliar contexts such as carrying out fieldwork on vegetation and water management in the Guandu Nature Park.
Background on iGeo
The International Geography Olympiad is an annual competition which is organized under the auspices of the International Geographical Union. It is a competition for the best 16 to 19 year old geography students who are selected from national geography competitions in their home countries. The RI (JC) team was the champion team of the National University of Singapore Geography Challenge in 2009. With the support of MOE, the team represented Singapore at the iGeo for the first time.