By Amelia Tan

REMEMBERING his late father's toothless grin was what inspired a 23-year-old polytechnic student to fight his way into one of the toughest university courses here.

Mr Chua Koon Ting is the first such student to enter the National University of Singapore's (NUS) school of dentistry.

He managed this feat while juggling several jobs to put himself through school and support the family after his father died when he was 12 years old.

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