By Eoin Ee, Tan Su Vien, Cheryl Julia Lee and Liew Hanqing

FIVE years ago, Muhd Roszaiman Rosli (above, left) fell into bad company, began smoking, and stayed out all night.

When his friends decided to break into a flat, he was nabbed and sentenced to three years in the Singapore Boys' Home.

But Roszaiman, now 18, has made a dramatic comeback, scoring As in Science, Computer Applications, Elements of Office Administration and Basic Malay, a B in English and a C in Mathematics in his N-Level (Technical) exams.

In the Boys' Home, Roszaiman attended counselling sessions, and he got a second chance to make good when he was accepted by Ang Mo Kio Secondary School.

"I never told any of my friends I was in the Boys' Home," he said.

The concern of his teachers helped him pull through. "My form teacher in Sec 1 and 2, Ms Rosemalina, was like a second mother to me," he said. "When she smelled cigarette smoke on me, she would repeatedly ask me to quit." He did, last year.

His form teacher, Mr Desmond Tong (above, right), 33, said: "Somewhere in the middle last year, he started putting in a lot of effort." And Roszaiman eventually became one of the top students in his class.

This article was first published in The New Paper on 19 Dec 2008.