It is 11.30pm when Mahatir Faizal hits the sack.

He wakes up at 6am to board a private van which gets him to school by 7.30am.

His school day culminates with supplementary classes but they are followed by tuition or sports training.

Mahatir, 11, has tuition for all four of his core subjects - Malay, English, Maths and Science.

When he gets home to a terrace house in Pasir Ris, he has dinner before grappling with homework until bedtime.

Is 6-1/2 hours of sleep enough for this active boy?

No, said the Primary 5 pupil at Gongshang Primary School in Tampines, although he said he does not feel very tired in school.

But he said: 'I feel stressed with all the homework and assessments I have to do.'

His father, Mr Faizal Salleh, 40, a fleet manager at Singapore Airlines, tries to organise the boy's tuition on alternate days so as not to overload him.

He said Mahatir rarely has problems waking up in the morning.

'We always reason with him over the importance of studying hard,' he said.

'He knows that if he is not responsible enough to wake up on time, he will miss his transport.'

His mother, Madam Norsham Noh, 40, a primary school teacher, also helps with his homework.

Mahatir sometimes enjoys a brief respite before bedtime: a game of carrom with his family.

'I love playing games with my family and talking to my parents at the end of a long day,' he said.