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By Angelina Dass
She could have entered the Express stream after her Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE), but Kwa Yan Hui opted for the Normal (Academic) stream instead.
Her decision proved to be the right one, as the 16-year-old emerged as the top student of her school - Hai Sing Catholic School - and as one of Singapore's top Chinese students in this year's N-level exams.
Yan Hui's PSLE T-score then was 195, which barely made the cut-off for the Express stream.
She explained to AsiaOne that she did not choose to enter the Express stream so that she could have a longer time to focus on her studies.
"I was not a very fast learner in primary school. I found that five years will be better for me to pick up slowly and understand better", said the eloquent Gongshang Primary School alumnus.
She also shared that another reason why she decided to take the N(A) route because her mother encouraged her to.
Doubted by friends and classmates
Despite her aggregate of seven at the N-levels, Yan Hui was not always on route to becoming a top student.
In fact, she barely did her homework nor studied in primary school.
However, there was drastic change when she moved on to Hai Sing Catholic School, where she became driven to do well in her studies.
The real push for her came when a few of her fellow classmates and friends doubted she could do well enough to move on to the Express stream.
They had judged her simply based upon her PSLE results.
Determined to prove them wrong, Yan Hui decided to study hard and did well enough in her Secondary 3 exams to emerge as top student of her cohort.
However, self-doubt began to creep in during her Secondary 4 preliminary examinations.
Thinking she did not prepare enough for her Combined Humanities exam, she broke down one day and cried in front of her mother, who managed to calm her down and encourage her.
Looking back, Yan Hui told AsiaOne that it was the stress that affected her.
Fortunately, she bounced back to pick up A1s in Combined Science, Additional Mathematics, O' Level Mathematics, Food and Nutrition and A2s in English and Combined Humanities at the national exams.
Yan Hui said she owed her results largely to her teachers' and school's encouragement.
Her secondary school was also quick to commend its top student for her dedication.
"She commanded high level of respect from her peers and is very consistent," said Mr Charles L. Surin, principal of Hai Sing Catholic School.
"She is a very humble and modest girl."
| Teachers as school's success |
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Hai Sing Catholic school has produced five top N-level students since 2004 and has won the Lee Kwan Yew award for outstanding Normal course students twice.
Mr. Charles L. Surin, principal of Hai Sing Catholic School, singled the school's teachers out as being key to the school's success.
He recounted to AsiaOne how one of his teachers voluntarily gave supplementary lessons at a student's home twice a week for two months.
The student could not travel down to school due to an illness, he explained.
"The time and effort spent by the teachers is immeasurable."
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