AFTER reading several views about links between housing type, academic performance and financial wealth, I cannot help feeling indignant.

I disagree that children from wealthy families or those living in private property will most likely do better. I also do not agree that lower-income parents have lower aspirations for their children. As Ms Janice Teo rightly puts it: 'Which parent does not aspire for his child to succeed in life?' ('Who says HDB dwellers set lower targets for kids?', last Thursday).

I come from a humble background: My parents stopped schooling at secondary level. My father is a deliveryman, and my mother is a typical HDB housewife. I studied in Kheng Cheng School, which is not an 'elite' primary school, but one I have fond memories of. Although my family's income level was low, my parents did not compromise on my studies and their expectations of me, or my 'stress threshold'.

I agree with Ms Lim Chiu Mei ('Kids can excel with right strategy, says parent from working class', Forum Online, last Thursday), that parents need to devote time and effort to develop their children. In my case, my mother helped me in my schoolwork every day, in whatever way she could. When the syllabus became too difficult, she told me she would find a tutor for me, no matter how poor we were. This spurred me to do my best at school, and luckily for me, I managed to get into Hwa Chong Institution, then known as The Chinese High.

Thankfully, the Financial Assistance Scheme waived my expensive school fee of $200 a month. Subsequently, I took my A levels at Hwa Chong, and am now studying in Nanyang Technological University on a bank loan. I am now giving tuition while studying, as I have to earn pocket money. I was not once the top scorer in school, but I have never let financial difficulties hinder my learning.

Parents play a crucial role in shaping the child's attitudes towards learning, and his expectations of himself. This is regardless of income level and housing type.

In fact, richer parents may spend more time on work than with their children, which cannot be compensated for by huge sums spent on tuition. I think I can safely say that if a child does not show positive attitudes towards learning, tuition that costs $50 an hour is no different from tuition that costs $20 an hour.

Perhaps the conclusion I can draw from my own experience is that parents can, and must, help their child to perform, HDB dweller or not.

Jeremy Sng

This article was first published in The Straits Times.