By Jane Ng

HER friends have told her that she's crazy but Chia Poh Hian is turning down a place at Raffles Junior College in order to follow her dream.

Choosing to take up a place at the School of the Arts after her O levels, Poh Hian isn't bothered that she'll be repeating Secondary 3 - all she wants is to become a ballerina.

'I'm happy because I can finally do what I want. Giving up two years of academics is not much of a sacrifice as long as I know I'm improving in dance,' said the former St Nicholas Girls' student.

The 16-year-old will join a Secondary3 class because the School of the Arts, which opened this year, does not offer higher-level classes yet.

It runs an integrated programme where students skip the O levels and go straight on to take the International Baccalaureate at the end of six years.

The decision to go for an unconventional route wasn't an easy one and was taken only after her father, an engineer, died in August.

'Daddy emphasised having a proper education, the conventional way. I was pretty sure I wanted to dance but he told me to try for a junior college first,' said the youngest of three siblings.

Her eldest sister is doing her PhD at Stanford University and her brother is an engineering undergraduate at the National University of Singapore.

So Poh Hian applied through direct school admission for both Raffles Junior College and the arts school and got offers from both after her auditions in June.

She also visited the School of the Arts in June with her parents.

When RJC wanted an immediate answer from her, she decided to take up its offer as it was 'a safe choice, a decision that any normal secondary student would go for'.

'I felt Dad would support me whatever I chose but that he would be happier if I chose RJ,' she added.

Unknown to Poh Hian, her father told her mother before he died that he had decided to let her go to the School of the Arts as he could tell that she truly loved ballet. He had also spoken to her elder brother, who was against the choice, to make sure he gave the support as well.

He was planning to wait until after her O levels to break the news to her as he was afraid she would not want to take her exams if she knew about it.

When he died in the middle of a liver transplant operation in August, Poh Hian was shattered as she thought her father had died without giving her an answer as to whether she could pursue dance.

'It was only later that my brother and sister told me, 'Daddy will support you wherever you decide to go',' she said.

Her father's unwavering support for her passion led him to convert a balcony in their semi-detached house in Ang Mo Kio into a dance studio for her as a Christmas present a few years ago.

Said Poh Hian, holding back tears: 'Physically he's not here any more but mentally I'll always think he's next to me, holding my hand, watching me when I perform on stage.'

Her mother, Madam Fong Woon Fun, 52, said she realised Poh Hian enjoyed ballet even as a toddler.

'She didn't want to watch Sesame Street, preferring to watch videos of ballet performances while I did my housework,' said the housewife.

Poh Hian asked for ballet classes when she was three and continued with her lessons throughout her primary school years in St Nicholas' Girls.

She switched to the Singapore Ballet Academy for lessons when she was in Secondary 2 and that was where her interest became her passion.

'Lessons were twice a week but I'd always go for extra classes,' said the articulate girl whose face lights up when she speaks about ballet. 'I love everything about it, from learning the technique to performance, to classes.

'Once you have a taste of it, you just never want to stop,' she said, adding that she especially enjoys adagios or slow dances.

Miss Celine Tan, 28, a dance teacher at the School of The Arts who auditioned Poh Hian, said she not only managed the combination of dances she had been given well, but was able to 'perform' too.

Poh Hian said: 'I want to make full use of the many opportunities, have a better dance foundation and do a dance degree in future.'

Gifted children to get one-to-one arts coaching

AFTER gruelling rounds of interviews and auditions, the School of the Arts has accepted 152 students for Secondary 1 next year.

Preparing for its second year of operation, the school received over 600 applications for Secondary 1. The school has also accepted eight students who have transferred from other schools and who will be in Secondary 2 next year.

About 10 per cent of applications to the school came from overseas pupils in countries such as Russia, South Korea, China and India.

Its students study various art forms, including visual arts, dance and music, in a six-year integrated arts and academic curriculum leading to an International Baccalaureate diploma.

The School of the Arts will also begin a programme grooming talented children with one-to-one arts instruction and small group classes for academic subjects.

The programme, which starts next year, is for the top 5 per cent of students in the cohort, who are selected first on the basis of artistic talent and then, academic results.

So far, six Secondary 1 and four Secondary 2 students have been selected for the scheme, called the Artistically Gifted Programme.

'We want this group of kids, who are very talented, to move faster. We will teach them in a more in-depth way,' she said.

'They will get individualised coaching for their art form and very small group classes for academic subjects.'

Students who are interested in entering the school have to pass an audition.

The dates for auditions for the 2010 school year are March 19 and 20 and June 24, 25 and 26.

Online registration for the auditions starts on Jan 2. For more information, go to www.sota.edu.sg

janeng@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 24 Dec, 2008.