There is no love lost between business manager Leon Khoo and the Chinese language.

Having consistently failed the subject in secondary school, he did not even bother to turn up for his O-level Chinese paper.

And despite scoring As and Bs for his other subjects, he chose to further his studies at Monash University in Australia - a move which cost his family about A$56,000 for the four years he was there.

Today at 29, Mr Khoo still remembers his nightmarish years learning the language at the now-defunct St Thomas Secondary School.

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'The teachers were very old-fashioned and everything was done using memorisation,' he recounted. 'It wasn't logical. They never went into the meaning of the Chinese words and I could never relate to it.'

In frustration, he copied from his classmates during ting xie (spelling tests), refused to do his homework and did not even bother to take out his Chinese textbooks during classes.

'I hated every minute of it, and it showed. I was so rebellious that I think I was partly responsible when my teacher suffered a stroke,' he said.

Despite his bad experience, he felt compelled to give his mother tongue a second chance after returning from Australia.

He began attending a business Mandarin course at the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry - but lasted just a few lessons before giving up.

'I know there will be more career options if I could speak the language, but I still have a mental block when it comes to Chinese.'

On Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's recent call for teachers to make the learning of Chinese more fun, he said: 'It's good to know they are trying to do something about it, but it's too late for me.'

Ironically, Mr Khoo is in China this weekend for a business trip.

He has vowed to avoid speaking Mandarin and said he will count on his colleagues to do all the talking for him.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.