Born blind but he’s got the HOTS
Visually impaired Kenzon is SMK Georgetown’s top SPM achiever
Born blind, he idolised Stephen Hawking, Thomas Edison and Helen Keller. Now, Kenzon Yeoh can aspire to be among the legends. He was the top SPM scorer at SMK Georgetown in Penang, scoring 5A+ in Bahasa Melayu, English, History, Science and Commerce and 2A- in Moral Studies and Mathematics.
Education director-general Datuk Dr Amin Senin said 66% of SPM 2017 candidates have answered Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions well.
This year’s SPM results will be used as a benchmark to determine whether students have successfully grasped answering HOTS questions.
GEORGE TOWN: Despite his disability, visually impaired Kenzon Yeoh emerged top scorer from among 114 candidates at SMK Georgetown in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.
He scored 5A+ in Bahasa Melayu, English, History, Science and Commerce and 2A- in Moral Studies and Mathematics.
The 18-year-old, who was born blind, plans to study Computer Science so that he can develop software to help the blind and deaf.
“I want to become a computer programmer after I took part in the annual information technology camps six years ago.
“My ambition at first was to be an inventor, but I realised it would be impossible as I would not be able to do so physically.
“That’s when I decided to learn programming. It’s something that interests me,” he said when met at the school yesterday.
Kenzon, the youngest of three siblings, said he would study daily with calm music in the background to help him concentrate better.
“My friends and I would also conduct con- ference calls via Skype when we study.
“I am so grateful to all those who have helped me; my family, schoolteachers and the instructors at St Nicholas Home Penang.”
Kenzon also said he idolised several nota- ble figures including Stephen Hawking, Thomas Edison and Helen Keller, just to name a few.
Accompanying him at the school was his father Yeoh Chin Yeau, 56, and mother Thee Suh Pyng, a 53-year-old housewife.
Chin Yeau, a businessman, said they stay in Bukit Mertajam and he would drive for 45 minutes to send his son to school on the island.
“My son said he wanted to study at SMK Georgetown as he has friends in that school,” said Chin Yeau, who beamed with pride upon learning of his son’s achievement.