Having failed his O-Level examinations once, the then 17-year-old Mr Raulinder Singh was motivated by his father to work harder the second time round. Just a month and a half before those examinations, however, his father succumbed to his second heart attack.
Barely having time to grieve, Mr Raulinder plunged deep into studying.
“I had to just zone in. I couldn’t grieve,” he said.
Now at the age of 28, Mr Raulinder is among 13 students awarded the Lim Kim San Memorial Scholarship by SPH Media. Awardees were invited to the SPH Media News Centre at Toa Payoh on Aug 7.
Offering financial support to outstanding students from modest family backgrounds, the bond-free award has benefited more than 190 recipients since its launch.
Launched in 2006 in memory of the late former Cabinet Minister Lim Kim San, the scholarship seeks to honour his legacy by nurturing education and leadership among Singapore’s youth.
On top of having their tuition fees fully covered, recipients also receive S$2,500 living allowance and S$500 book allowance yearly. They may also opt for internship opportunities with SPH Media.
Receiving the scholarship has eased Mr Raulinder’s family’s financial strain. “It covers my fees for the year, which is huge for us. And it might open doors I didn’t even know existed,” he noted.
Initially, being unable to secure a bank loan due to the lack of a suitable guarantor, Mr Raulinder had been relying on his second oldest sister’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings to pay for his university fees.
With two older sisters, Mr Raulinder, the youngest child and only son, stepped into new responsibilities.
“In our culture, there’s this idea that the man is the big emotional support. I had to take that on, even though I was younger than my sisters,” he said.
Looking back, Mr Raulinder credits his father’s wisdom for guiding him through loss. “He once told me that everyone has their time, and when it comes, you have to let them go. Remembering that helped me carry on.”
In a sharp contrast to his earlier days of spending hours in gaming cafes playing League of Legends, Mr Raulinder is now running errands, helping around the house, and is a steady source of support for his mother, now 68 years old.
“My father’s death made me realise life is really short. I used to take things for granted, but not anymore,” he said.
With the grades he received from his second retake of his O’Levels, he managed to secure a place in Republic Polytechnic for a diploma in Mass Communication.
Although still amicable and sociable with friends, Mr Raulinder maintained his academic focus while in polytechnic. “I was still having fun with friends, but I knew I had to keep doing my work,” he said. Eventually, he went on to score 3.46 out of 4.
Now, Raulinder is in his final year of a History degree at the Nanyang Technological University. He is already teaching English part-time at a tuition centre, and will soon head to the Netherlands for an exchange programme.
“It’s rewarding work. I used to work in a bar – fun, but not fulfilling. Teaching is different. Even the annoying kids make it worth it,” he quipped.
As for the future, he’s open to possibilities – teaching, media, even radio. “Friends tell me I should try being a radio DJ. I like the idea of talking about anything – from world events to minority experiences in Singapore. I’m the only minority among this year’s scholarship recipients, so that’s something I care about.”
