WHEN Ao Chengkai arrived in Singapore from Shanghai two years ago, he could not make a complete sentence in English.
But through sheer hard work, the Secondary 4 student from Yio Chu Kang Secondary has mastered English and now speaks it fluently and received a Grade 1 for it in this year's N-level exams.
Chengkai, 18, was named the top Normal (Academic) student this year with a perfect score of six points for English and his five best subjects.
The 18-year-old also picked up Grade1s in Chinese, Combined Humanities, Additional Mathematics, Science and an A1 for O-level Elementary Mathematics.
A total of 17,848 students sat for the N-level exams this year.
Of the 6,028 Normal (Technical) students who took the exams, 97.2 per cent passed.
Among the larger cohort of 11,820 students who sat for the Normal (Academic) exams, 99.2 per cent passed and 73.2 per cent or 8,653 of them qualified for the Secondary 5 N(A) course.
About 1,300 N(A) students did well enough to progress to the Secondary 5 N(A) course without taking the N-levels. They were selected based on their performance in school.
Chengkai will be advancing to the Secondary 5 N(A) course and will sit for the O-levels exams next year.
He said the secret to his success was his drive to master English.
He knew that a good command of the language would allow him to do well in other subjects, like humanities.
'There were times when I would start a sentence but could not finish it, and sometimes my friends laughed when I used the wrong words,' he said.
'But I knew I should not be shy. I should continue practising if I wanted to speak English well.'
He read books, like those from the Harry Potter series, and checked the meaning of words which stumped him using an electronic dictionary. He would also note down difficult words in a notebook.
Chengkai said he owes his rapid improvement in English to encouraging teachers who often called on him to speak up in class and friends who spoke to him in English so he could practise.
His confidence in speaking the language was evident during the interview.
He responded in English when questions were posed to him in Mandarin and even speaks with a slight American accent which he probably picked up from watching American television shows like Heroes.
Chengkai's parents are divorced. His father still lives in Shanghai.
An only child, he moved to Singapore with his mother two years ago after she got married to a Singaporean.
His stepfather works as a baker and his mother is a medical assistant in a traditional Chinese medicine clinic. They live in a three- room flat in Lavender.
His principal, Mr Saminathan Gopal, said he was keen to admit Chengkai into his school because he could 'feel' that he was determined to do well.
'The parents spoke only Mandarin which I don't understand and Chengkai did not speak English well,' said Mr Saminathan.
'But from their body language I knew they were genuine about wanting him to do well in his studies. From that moment, I knew I should give the boy a place in the school.'
Chengkai wants to go on to a junior college and eventually study medicine at the National University of Singapore.
'It would be great to be a doctor because I would like to work in a job which helps people,' he said.
'I don't know if I can qualify to study medicine in university, but I will work hard.'
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