He had a rough childhood, a less-than-stellar academic record, was caned in school and saw his parents get divorced.

But one thing remained constant in Mr Tan Wee Kiat's life - his passion for drawing.

Today, the 22-year-old will graduate as the top scorer in his Diploma in Visual Communication and Media Design course at Singapore Polytechnic.

One of eight institutional medallists, he had a grade point average of 3.87 to show for his three-year course.

Mr Tan grew up a disobedient boy in an underprivileged home.

He scored only 145 points in the Primary School Leaving Examination, landing him in the Normal Technical (NT) stream in secondary school.

Even then, he continued his notorious behaviour, which led to four strokes of the cane and a risk of expulsion when he was in Secondary 1.

"There's that stereotypical remark that when you go to the NT stream and then ITE (Institute of Technical Education), it leads to nowhere and then you will struggle in the future.

"Moving to secondary school, I kind of gave up because I didn't see a way out," said Mr Tan.

However, a turning point came in Secondary 3, when he was mentored by his mathematics teacher, Mr Lee Yew Meng.

"That's when everything changed because I was a person who didn't really like maths, yet he was able to teach me in a way that I could understand," said Mr Tan.

He soon realised that if he put in the effort, he could excel in his studies.

Despite being affected by his parents' divorce when he was taking his N-level examination, he pushed himself to study and scored four points.

With his interest in drawing, Mr Tan enrolled in the Nitec in Visual Communication course at ITE College Central.

He graduated with a perfect grade point average of 4.0 by the end of the two-year course and made it to Singapore Poly.

There, he took part in many projects and competitions.

To hone his design skills, Mr Tan did an internship as a graphic designer at an award-winning boutique design agency.

He aims to get a scholarship to study at the London College of Communication after completing his national service.

Mr Tan feels a sense of responsibility to his juniors in the polytechnic, and would like to teach there after making a name for himself.

He is one of 5,621 graduates from Singapore Poly this year.

Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for National Development, who spoke at yesterday's graduation ceremony, said it was "a time of exciting transformation" for those entering the workforce.

He also encouraged the graduates to find their own ways to contribute to society, through their passion, or skills acquired during their time in the polytechnic.