[Photo: Ming Da looking composed before the school named him as top JJC student.]

By Veena Bharwani

HE made history in his junior college by becoming the first student to score seven straight As in the A-level examinations.

Yet, while the vice-principal was lauding his achievement when the results were released yesterday, Tok Ming Da, 18, began to cry.

For his is a story of determination and resilience in the face of tragedy and adversity.

What should have been his happiest day was tempered by the sudden death of his father from a heart attack last September, just six weeks before he sat for the exams.

The Jurong JC (JJC) student found it hard to come to terms with the shock loss as his father had seemed to be in good health.

But rather than mope, Ming Da decided to use the memory of his father to motivate him for the exams.

When his touching story was told to his college mates yesterday, many of them were inspired by his success, but also red-eyed over his loss.

As vice-principal Chua Lek Hong put it, Ming Da is a testament to how anyone, no matter how old, can overcome all odds to achieve great success.

When Mr Chua mentioned his family tragedy, the boy couldn't help but shed a few tears, as his friend passed him a piece of tissue paper.

Ming Da topped the JC's previous record of six As by getting As in all his seven subjects - General Paper, economics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, project work and Chinese.

'I did it to make him proud,' said the soft-spoken boy, referring to his father, Mr Tok Khoon Hee. He was 55.

Recalling the tragedy, he told The New Paper: 'He woke up at 3am and started coughing non-stop. He complained that he couldn't see very well.

'We rushed him to the hospital but his condition worsened very quickly. His heart stopped but the emergency crew managed to get it pumping the first time. But it stopped again and we had to let go.'

His father had run an automation company. His mother is a housewife and his sister, 28, who had just become a teacher, became the sole breadwinner.

Said Ming Da: 'My father was the one with a true resilient spirit. He dropped out of school after O levels, did odd jobs here and there and made it to run his own company recently.

'Even though he didn't do A-level maths, he was a maths genius and helped me a lot with my homework.'

Close to dad

He said he was very close to his father.

'He attributes his own resilience to the man he loved most and modelled himself after.

It was this memory of his hard-working father that motivated him to focus on studying.

'He always had one motto, 'Do your best and leave room for no regrets'. I decided to give it my all and live by his motto,' he said.

He surprised his teachers when he returned just two days after his father's death and appeared calm and 'zen'.

His form teacher, Ms Peh Hwee Leng, said: 'I actually went up to him and told him he should take more time to recover.

'But he insisted that he wanted to come back and focus on his exams. That's Ming Da - a picture of calm in the face of calamity.'

Ming Da said the exams helped him numb the pain of his loss.

He said: 'I decided to immerse myself completely in my studies as it kept me from thinking too much about my father.

'Studying for the exams kept me grounded and focused. I did not allow myself to be distracted by sad thoughts.'

He hopes to get the Public Service Commission Scholarship and has been selected for an interview.

He wants to take up accounting and work for the Monetary Authority of Singapore some day.

Typically humble, he insists that his teachers and friends, all the way from primary school, are the ones who had a hand in his success.

His only regret: His father is not around to celebrate with him.

Free GO Guide a big hit with students

THE must-have for many students waiting for their results yesterday was the GO Guide.

The 40-page guide, which came free with The New Paper yesterday, aims to give A-level holders a real idea of what they can do to further their studies.

As they waited to get their results, many students pored over the guide which offers information on courses offered by various private schools in Singapore.

Among the schools featured were Lasalle College of the Arts, RTRC Asia, SMa School of Management, James Cook University, APMI Kaplan, MDIS, SIM, TMC Educational Group and Digipen Institute of Technology.

Said Sam Tan, 18, of Yishun JC: 'We are confused right now with all the choices. This guide helps us with the right information.

'There might be some choices that we were not even aware of.'

Added P Rajalatha, 18: 'The guide is very vibrant and has a host of important information for us.'

A-level results slightly better

THE A-level results released yesterday showed that the 2008 cohort did slightly better than the previous cohort.

Of the 14,463 candidates last year, 87.7 per cent obtained at least three H2 passes and a pass in General Paper GP or Knowledge and Inquiry K1, compared with 87.5 per cent in 2007.

The A-level curriculum was revised in 2006 with the first cohort taking the revised examinations in 2007.

Raffles Junior College was the top performing school, with three of Singapore's brightest students coming from it.

Wang Yong Jin, Milashini Nambiar, and Soh Ming Quan took 13 Academic Units (AUs) of subjects and received perfect scores for all of them. This is the heaviest workload that A-level students can take.

This article was first published in The New Paper.