SINGAPORE — A month before his Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), Kingsley Bai Wen Yong, 12, came home from tuition and learnt that his father had died. 

The news shocked the boy as he recalled that his father Ronald Bai, who was only 38, had not shown signs of illness. He had suffered a brain aneurysm, which is a bulge or ballooning in a blood vessel in the brain.

Speaking to TODAY at St Andrew’s Junior School, Kingsley said: “I didn’t really see him much because he was always busy with work. But sometimes, he would make time to help me with homework, especially maths.” 

Although Kingsley was a boy of few words in front of reporters, he penned a heart-felt tribute to his father in a public Facebook post on July 1. 

He wrote that his father used to tell him: “Study, study, study, Kingsley, PSLE is coming. Please do it for me and mummy to make us happy.” 

Kingsley admitted in his post that he never listened to his father. “But you still paid for all my tuition and spent your hard-earned money to take care of the family.” 

His post concluded: “I love you. I promise you that I will do well for PSLE.”

Kingsley attained an Achievement Level score that qualified him for taking a General 2 (G2) suite of subjects under the new full subject-based banding, which will be rolled out to 120 secondary schools here from next year. 

He was among more than 38,000 students who took the PSLE this year and collected their results at 11am on Wednesday. 

The Ministry of Education and the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board said in a press release that 98.4 per cent of the 38,088 students were eligible for secondary school. 

After his father’s death, Kingsley's uncle, Mr Ethan Peh, 37, willingly stepped up to serve as a stand-in father figure as the boy studied for the PSLE, a crucial period of every Primary 6 pupil’s life.

After the death of his brother, Mr Peh would make it a point to meet Kingsley on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and over the weekend to help him with his studies. 

“Kingsley had mastered most of the foundation. He just needed someone to instil discipline so that he would stick to his study schedule.” 

Mr Peh, a banker, said that it was tiring to switch his schedule to accommodate Kingsley’s needs, but he did not mind it because he and Kingsley were close. 

“Kingsley always saw me as the ‘fun uncle’, so when I suddenly had to be strict with him, it was tough for him to get used to it. But eventually, things worked out.” 

Kingsley aspires to be a policeman, but for now, he is content knowing that he is eligible to enter the secondary school he wanted, St Andrew’s Secondary School.  

Another pupil now able to enter the secondary school of her choice is 13-year-old Alya Qaireena Mohamed Rafi from Xingnan Primary School.

Due to her talents in visual arts, she secured a Direct School Admission offer for Jurong West Secondary School, which provides an Enhanced Art Programme (EAP) to artistically gifted students.  

Her success did not come easy. Alya was forced to repeat her Primary 6 after failing mathematics in PSLE, which meant that she had to retake the exam this year.

She struggled to accept her failure at first, as she was overwhelmed with feelings of pessimism, embarrassment and anger. 

“All my friends were going to secondary school, but I had to tell them that I wouldn’t be leaving (primary school) with them," she told TODAY.

"Even during the school holidays last year, I kept thinking about my results and making sad jokes about how I wasn’t leaving primary school,” she said. 

As Alya has dyslexia, studying mathematics was doubly hard for her, even with a private tutor, because she would see numbers “jump around” on the pages. 

“I didn’t understand the basics well enough, and I did not understand the questions,” she said, adding that she had constantly received low scores since Primary 1.

She had little self-confidence and did not see the need to push herself further because she believed that “there was no way” her marks could get higher. 

However, all was not lost for Alya. Meeting her new form teacher, Ms Nur Azlindah Azlan, this year changed her life.

After reviewing her previous exam scores, the 36-year-old educator was convinced that Alya was not living up to her real potential. 

So, she asked the principal for the teenager to be transferred to her class. “I wanted Alya in my class because I got the sense of her limits, and I was confident I could help her pass PSLE.” 

Ms Azlindah said that it was not easy at the start, but Alya eventually warmed up to her and her new classmates.

“I have to thank my other pupils because they were nice and gracious. They didn’t make her feel awkward.”  

Throughout the year, Alya and Ms Azlindah had their fair share of “clashes”, but they could hash things out through clear and open communication. 

On Wednesday, Alya scored an A in foundation mathematics. Her Achievement Level also qualified her to take the G2 suite of subjects under the new full subject-based banding in secondary school next year.

“We both worked very hard. Today is an extremely happy day for us,” Ms Azlindah said.