I got 16 points for L1R5, nowhere near the top and even go JC
i'll only be able to get into the bottom few but because of the
poly route, i managed to get into uni and now doing my 3rd yr. The
education system is very different so you cannot rule out someone
being more suitable for the modular base approach and being able to
do well compared to the JC style. I believe there are JC students
who did well in A's but still don't manage to do well in uni style
of education.
I won't deny the 2 yrs in NS will affect poly students but for
technical courses esp, poly focus more on hands on, practical etc
which is alot harder to forget than the theory stuff. I started uni
without remembering most of my theory stuff but i was very at home
in the lab while all my fellow JC classmates seems like they been
into a new world.
The direct 2nd yr has its disadvantage of cos but unlike JC
content that covers only 1st yr stuff mostly, poly content can
touch on some of the contents taught even in yr 2 n 3 of uni (at
least for my case) so we have an easier time than some of my
JCmates.
Personally as a current undergrad, I would say the main
competition is not between JC or poly grads but both lossing mostly
to foreigners who are mostly topping the modules and earning the
As.
Fyi, YJC has a modular system for maths ;)
but I do agree that poly students will be very at home with
lab... I saw it with my own eyes... 
I just grad about a year ago only, so I don't think the system
has changed much. But because year 1 modules were easier, I cleared
extra supplemetary modules such that by year 4, I had only a few
modules left, leaving me much more time to focus on my FYP, on top
of having gone on student exchange and industrial attachment. For
my friends who didn't go for attachment, they had only like 2
modules left for 4th year, leaving much more free time to
concentrate on their FYP.
You can't do the same if you are from poly, because one year on
easier modules has been lost on loading up extra modules (I maxed
out in the first year). Also, you don't entirely skip the whole 1st
year syllabus. So to me, it's not exactly fair to poly students,
and it creates an unfair ground between poly and jc students, which
to me, is of a disadvantage to poly grads. I mean, you are really
drilled very deep in calculus and physics in jc, and most of these
are repeated in uni first year maths and physics, and even 1 of
EE's 2nd year module. In fact, I didn't even spend much time on
both maths and physics in my first year, rather re-learning
everything before class by giving tuition to A level students in
these 2 subjects. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone ")
Anyway, foreigners do score As, I agree. But me and a number of
my friends in uni still can equal them. ;) It's not as hard as you
think when you understand the system; you can score more while
doing less
