'People didn't really like me': Despite new-found fame, geography whiz Max Zeng says he didn't always fit in
When asked to describe his boyhood, Mr Max Zeng, who has shot to social media fame for the expansive geography knowledge he displayed on a British quiz show, said that he had few friends, and preferred time spent alone to read and explore subjects he was interested in.
Speaking to TODAY from London via Zoom on Sunday (April 10) afternoon, he said: "I will say that as a teenager in general, I was a bit of a boisterous weirdo. I did have friend groups throughout school, though.
"At the end of things, I didn't know when to keep my mouth shut. I was very opinionated on things that I have since changed my mind on," said Mr Zeng, 22, whose full name is Maximilian Zeng.
Describing his schooldays, the Henry Park Primary Park School and Hwa Chong Institution alumni said: "I didn't really go out, outside of school to eat or whatever. I'll just go home and go back to school."
In this screenshot taken from the BBC television quiz show, University Challenge, Singaporean Maximilian Zeng (far left) is seen plotting out a map before answering a question.
The Singaporean biochemistry undergraduate from Imperial College London has been dubbed a "walking atlas" for his vast geography knowledge on the television quiz show University Challenge, an institution in Britain after first airing in 1962.
His team from the university staged a late comeback to defeat the University of Reading by 10 points in the final, which was aired by broadcaster BBC on Monday (April 4) night in Britain.
