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How much should O levels matter? The case for late bloomers
Last month, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung proposed a review of the use of O-level results in university admission of poly graduates as it could exclude late bloomers from entry. Calvin Yang speaks to four who did poorly at the O levels but excelled later in life. Success after failure, they say, is entirely possible.
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Calvin Yang
He managed only a D7 grade for O-level English and failed to make the cut for junior college, yet MP Liang Eng Hwa - who eventually took the polytechnic route - worked his way up to become a senior bank executive.
The MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC admits spending more time as a teenager catching spiders and fish from the stream near his family's rented Woodlands house than reading English books.
