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Generation Grit

Military detention stint strengthens his resolve to finish studies

When his family ran into financial difficulties, Mr Lee Rui Xuan dropped everything to help out. He quit school to work, and even faked illness in the army to do part-time jobs. But he was caught going absent without official leave and sentenced to a stint in the detention barracks. His time there made him more determined to succeed, and go back to school after a five-year hiatus.

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Cara Wong

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Once a star student in school, Mr Lee Rui Xuan felt he hit rock bottom in 2017, when he was thrown into the army's detention barracks for going Awol (absent without official leave) from camp during his national service (NS).
There, he discovered that some of his secondary school classmates were his wardens, as they were serving their NS as military police.
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