By Crystal Chan

WHEN he was 14, he quit school and worked as an electrician, earning less than $10 a day.

Today, Mr Patrick Tan is 42, drives an Audi A4 and earns more than $10,000 a month as a sales manager for a parallel importer of cars.

On Saturday, Mr Tan spoke to 25students at NorthLight School, hoping to inspire them.

NorthLight School takes in students who are less academically inclined and have failed their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) repeatedly.

Mr Tan was one of 20 members of local car club SGMerc, which was invited by Youth Challenge to conduct an outreach session at the vocational training school.

The club's members also gave presentations on the history and engineering of Mercedes-Benz cars.

Mr Tan told The New Paper that when he dropped out of school, he never considered the consequences.

He said: 'I was the eldest of three sons, and my parents were very upset. But they saw no point in dissuading me because I had lost interest in studies.

'I couldn't cope with lessons and at that point, I just wanted to work.'

After leaving school, Mr Tan took on his first job as an apprentice electrician at a construction site.

He recalled: 'I took a year to learn the skills and I often worked from 9am to 10pm to earn overtime wages.'

Friends later recommended him for sales jobs in different industries and he sold everything from jewellery to Electrolux vacuum cleaners.

In the 1990s, he helped out at his cousin's souvenir shop in Orchard Hotel and received big bonuses.

The success spurred him to open a similar shop in Harbour View Dai-Ichi Hotel (now M Hotel) and he bought his first car, a Daewoo GTI, but the Asian financial crisis forced him to close the shop in 1997.

Mr Tan said: 'I owed my suppliers about $140,000 and I had to downgrade from a five-room to a four-room flat.'

He then got a sales job with a telecommunications company.

He worked hard and became one of its top sales staff.

Last month, he switched lines and became a sales manager for First Automobile.

He said: 'After being in the corporate world, I felt I needed a job which I also have a passion for, and I love cars.'

His boss, Mr Martin Ong, said Mr Tan was hired for his passion and track record in sales. He said: 'Although Patrick isn't very educated, he presents himself well and at work, he always strives to improve himself.'

NorthLight's principal, Mrs Chua Yen Ching, said: 'Our students tend to have low self-esteem because many of them failed their PSLE.

'The presentation showed how Mercedes-Benz became a premier brand and through that, it redefines success for our students.'

Students who heard Mr Tan's story were suitably inspired.

One of them, Leong Tung Seng, 14, said: 'His story shows us we must not be afraid of failure. As long as we work hard, we can also be successful.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on 13 Nov 2008.