by Nurahayatie

Victoria School’s Muhammad Amirul Haqim Ghazali (picture) – who scored nine A1s in the O-level examination – emerged the top Malay student. He also scored a distinction for his second language which was Chinese.

Following in the footsteps of his two older siblings, Muhammad had taken Chinese since primary school.

Even after scoring a B3 in the June paper, the 16-year-old was not satisfied. So he decided to do away with tuition and relied solely on self-study.

“I do feel it’s quite a challenge for someone like me to do well in a subject which isn’t my mother tongue. But I do firmly believe that if an individual has the perseverance, your hard work will pay off,” he said.

Another challenge he faced was keeping his spirits up after his father’s illness last year. “When my dad had a heart attack, it adversely affected me. I want to realise my ambition to become a heart surgeon to not only help my family but other people stricken with this illness,” said Muhammad.