“I remember shaking pretty badly after tearing apart my result slip and then I started to cry when I found out all my friends scored higher than me and could all make it through affiliation to our secondary school. And then I started to cry even more when I showed my mom my results. I believe my parents were disappointed but they didn’t show it then. Also cause my elder brother and all my elder cousins did so well for theirs. I felt like a let-down. But you know, at 12, it shouldn’t be like that. And that’s when I grew up a little, I guess? My results couldn’t qualify me for St Nicholas Girls but my name was on the list of appeals. I attended another neighborhood school for the first two weeks of school and loved it there! ’Cos I was the top student and I remember feeling so motivated. I was made prefect within week one and I’ve never even been a monitor before. So when my appeal got through and I went back to SNGS, it was a mini roller coaster ride ’cos I went from being top in my cohort to bottom. Last. And I honestly didn’t like that. But then I remember giving myself a pep talk and telling myself to work so hard ’cos it doesn’t matter that I had the lowest PSLE score. I interacted with students with much lower scores than mine and I absolutely loved them. I mean we were all only 13. There wasn’t any judgment at least, not from my end. I just wanted to do well to make my parents happy. It was pretty simple. But being last in class then, really doesn’t mean you’re last forever. It was such a huge hit for me then but now looking back, it really seems like I simply tripped on this little pebble in my journey of life. And with determination and people who believe you, nothing is impossible.”

“It's a blessing I could score above 200 ’cos I don’t remember studying much for it (laughs). It was a total stress-free period for me unlike the students preparing for PSLE now. I was pretty stunned when the results was out. I got AABB — A for English and Chinese and B for Science and Maths. I thought I would go to Normal Stream.”

“Honestly, I think it's better than I expected? But I cried a lot though ’cos I was really bad at Math and Science, which was why the entire aggregate score got pulled down.”

“It was okay... My mum wasn't mad at me. I didn't think much of it. It was an okay score. PSLE like any big exam is stressful.  I don't remember my feelings then, but I'm sure there was pressure.”

“I just made it to the special stream. I was supposed to do better and was disappointed with myself for having exam nerves then. [My score] was below my normal standard — I was looking at getting 260 maybe (laughs). I was disciplined and studious… okay, kiasu when I was very young. I always made sure I made the top 10 in class. I was stressed and I couldn’t sleep before the papers. I peaked too early and when I grew older and went to JC, I thought I was smart and started to get lazy and I didn’t put in enough effort. My mum didn’t have to run after me with a cane to make me learn my spelling and complete all my homework on time. I was quite a model student back in primary school, but probably only in primary school (laughs).”

“I think my score was less than perfect? But seriously, coming from a neighbourhood school, that was pretty decent. It was enough to get me into a very good school. I remember that there were a lot of assessment books. Oh my god, I did so many of them. I used all my allowance to buy assessment books — I was that type of annoying kid. I never had the money for tuition, but times were much simpler back then. You could do well just by getting the facts right. It is a lot harder now.”

“I was very surprised when I got my results because I didn't do as well for my prelims. It surpassed my expectations though I wished to have good grades. I remember during my era, we had to choose our schools first then receive our results. So many of my friends were very disappointed and some even cried when they received their results because many of them applied for schools that needed grades that were higher than what they got. Our parents were also standing outside our class so they were all looking at our faces to gauge how we fared. It was really quite stressful. I thought the change to getting grades then choosing the schools was a good move.”

“My PSLE results sucked! (Guffaws) It was only after army that I realised the importance of studying. Recently, I went out with my primary school buddies and they told me that I’ve been a performer since [primary school] and that I was only interested in Chinese, which was my best subject in Primary 6.”

“I was three points shy of getting into SAP. I remembering feeling disappointed with an empty feeling in your stomach kinda way. My mom was relief teaching at my school at that point so she found out first and came to tell me. Apparently when she did, my response was “You're kidding right.” She then told me that I didn't study very much so what did I expect? In the end, things turned out as they should. Think if I had gone to SAP, I probably would have died with the higher Chinese (laughs).”

“I was obviously not the best student in primary school. To be honest, I've no recollection of me studying then because my parents are more relaxed when it comes to academic excellence. They gave me 100% freedom, in terms of choice of school, CCA, choice of course. Without the pressure from them, I couldn’t judge whether I did well or not. I only knew "Yay, I made it to the next level!" (Laughs) What I remember most of my primary school life are the times I was hanging out with my friends. I'm still in contact with my band of brothers from primary school. We were the PA [system] boys who played the national anthem every day, and we would wrestle when the entire school is singing the anthem and taking the pledge! We represented our school for basketball. We travelled together. In fact, I travelled with my Taiwanese classmate to Taiwan, Hong Kong and China to visit his family for two weeks right after PSLE! Yes, I was only 12 and my parents gave me 100 per cent trust and freedom.”

“(Laughs) I seriously cannot remember! But I know not bad one… definitely passed the 230 mark! I was the kind who would burn the midnight oil (laughs).”

“I wasn’t happy about it but I knew I had myself to blame ’cos I didn’t really put in the hours for better results. Also I knew I wanted to get back to Marymount Convent and it was pretty much a given back then since I was from the primary school. My friends all scored better and I’m sure some of them, teachers included, looked at me and thought I would be a bum in the future. Well, suck it you guys. And once I was in sec school, those PSLE results didn’t matter at all. It never once defined me. So I’m glad I didn’t waste time being sad about it and pursued everything I loved. Athletics, and radio! (Laughs)”