Samuel Tan, a 20‑year‑old design graduate from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, competed in the digital construction event at the 2023 WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai and earned a bronze medal – Singapore’s first in this category. He spent about five months, over 1,000 hours, training with architecture firms on real projects and receiving one‑to‑one coaching. "The toughest part was consistency, doing this day in, day out," he told CNA's Singapore Tonight on Tuesday (Sep 29).

Team Singapore recorded a record haul of 27 awards – four silver medals, four bronze medals and 19 Medallions for Excellence – surpassing its previous high of 22 in 2019. The competition attracted more than 1,400 competitors from over 70 countries, and Singapore fielded 34 youths across 31 skill areas.

Digital construction centres on Building Information Modelling (BIM). BIM is a 3‑D model that stores data about every building component, allowing architects, engineers and contractors to coordinate design, detect clashes and update information throughout a construction project.

The medal reflects Singapore’s growing emphasis on digital skills. Mr Song Yu Chuan, a WorldSkills expert in digital construction and manager at Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Design and Environment, said, "We focus on design a lot, but there is a strong demand for digital skills." He added that schools have been aligning curricula with industry needs, creating a stronger pool of competitors.

Singapore first entered digital construction at the 2022 WorldSkills Special Edition but did not win a medal. Since then, schools have intensified training in BIM and related technologies to meet the construction sector’s demand for digital expertise.