Singer-guitarist of The Sam Willows, theatre actor, YouTube celebrity, model, radio personality and all round accomplished individual Benjamin Kheng is living proof that PSLE results — or any other academic benchmark — never determines your success in life.
He should know; he flunked his examinations.
Having lost his mother to cancer just days before the Primary School Leaving Examinations, he failed “way below expectations”, but still managed to get into Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) through direct school admissions, and he represented the school’s swim team.
Nonetheless, his track record for failing everything “that isn’t Art or Literature” continued on for the next five years. Any teacher would have been horrified at young Kheng, who just couldn’t make it academically.
“I switch schools, spend my next half a decade fighting to make sense of a system that I know would absolutely cripple a middle-aged, neurotic arts-centric me,” he wrote in a viral Facebook post. That all changed when someone gave him a chance to speak and write for radio — and from there, he bloomed into the Benjamin Kheng that everyone knows and loves.
His message is one that’s sorely needed after local primary school students received their PSLE results on Thursday. With kiasu parents across the country chastising their children for not getting high enough aggregate scores, a rising tide of sentiments has been quickly brewing, determined to eradicate the assumption that low scores = shitty future.
If anything, look to Kheng — his current success wasn’t hindered by mere grades and numbers on his papers.
“To every prestige-seeking parent, have a little faith that your son and daughter will be the best version they can be in an environment that doesn’t necessarily help you pomp your cred,” wrote Kheng.
“To every kid fearful of the road to school or back home, finding it hard to breathe, because of 3 stupid digits — the world loves you. You are deeply loved, and you are more than this”.
