SINGAPORE'S top Malay student, Nadiah Nadhirah Abdul, grew up watching Chinese dramas, which might be why she decided to take Chinese as a third language when she was in Secondary 1.
The Riverside Secondary student scored A1s in English, Malay and Chinese, getting nine distinctions - seven A1s and two A2s - when the O-levels results were released yesterday.
With the encouragement of her parents and teachers, Nadiah, 16, chose the Chinese Special Programme, despite having to travel about an hour by train from Woodlands to Clementi Town Secondary twice a week, as her school did not offer the programme.
Nadiah also travelled to Bukit Panjang Government High twice a week for Higher Malay lessons.
By the end of Secondary 2, Nadiah had decided to concentrate on her Chinese studies, dropping Higher Malay.
'I found the Chinese lessons interesting, and I still have Malay to fall back on even if I don't take Higher Malay,' said the elder daughter of a finance supervisor and housewife.
But it was not easy picking up a language from scratch, she said.
'I didn't understand anything at all at the beginning. And while learning hanyu pinyin was okay, it was tough pronouncing the four tones. I keep getting them all wrong,' said Nadiah.
Eventually, she became one of only 13 students to complete the difficult course, from the original 80 students from various schools who took it.
'I can tell she enjoys it, even though she finds it tough,' said her mother Bibi Kahtoon S. Bahadur, 46. 'I'm glad she stuck with it.'
Nadiah's interest in Chinese and her ability to pick it up were certainly helped by her parents' love for Chinese TV dramas. From before she was born, her father Abdul Majid Hamzah, 50, and Madam Bibi would watch the shows, reading the subtitles.
When their daughters were born, the habit continued and the family still watch the TV shows avidly.
In order to help with her oral Chinese, Nadiah signed up for the Chinese Oral Proficiency Test offered by the Regional Language Centre Exams Bureau and received a distinction.
She also did well in her oral examination in school and said it was her friends who ensured the result.
'My Chinese friends refused to answer me in anything other than Mandarin in the weeks leading up to the exams, so I could improve my oral skills,' she said.
Her mum helps by buying newspapers in the languages Nadiah studies.
'At least now I'm more confident speaking in Mandarin,' said Nadiah, who hopes to enter National Junior College.
Her Chinese teacher at Clementi Town Secondary, Miss Woong Choy Wan, 29, said she is not surprised by Nadiah's good results.
'She always turns up for class and participates actively. Her pronunciation is not perfect but she is willing to speak up. That's important.'
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