THE Prime Minister recently called out to husbands to be more supportive of their wives.

And that inspired Pioneer JC student (PJC) Shahrul Nizam at last Friday's Be Yourself Day (BYD).

The 18-year-old went to school dressed as a house-husband.

His 'wife' for the day?

Classmate Lee Hui Yu, 17, who came as a high-flying career woman.

A total of 24 schools celebrated BYD on Friday.

The theme at PJC was future professions.

Shahrul said the two of them came up with the idea in response to the Prime Minister's National Day Rally speech.

He said: 'I wouldn't mind being a house-husband in the future if my wife's career is thriving. '

Other students were no less inspired.

Wellington Primary's Aloysius Thum, 12, decided to go back in time and dress up as a Chinese coolie.

Aloysius had recently gone on an excursion to the Singapore River where he was shown how the country's early migrants worked and lived.

Said the Primary 6 student: 'I learnt about the hard life coolies led and this gave me the motivation to study hard.'

BYD has raised more than $840,000 for the President's Challenge since its inception in 2002.

Catherine Lim and Kelvin Chan

This article was first published in The New Paper on Sept 2, 2008.