4. Two Swords of Honour

"Your elder son has got the Sword of Honour in the Officer Cadet School (OCS)?" I asked the matronly Malay receptionist at Juliet's office when she said that her son had an army scholarship to study business and finance in Australia.

A Sword of Honour is awarded to only one officer cadet --- the best of the cohort during National Service full time in Singapore.

"Yes," the mother beamed. "My son also got a 'Sword' at Sandhurst Military College."

I presumed she meant it was a Sword of Honour as I am unfamiliar with Sandhurst's military practices for best performing soldier. A single parent deserves to be proud of a son with one sword of honour and a military undergraduate scholarship. Two swords of honour are indeed exceptional.

"He does not want to study in any Australian University," the mother said. "He did research and had chosen a reputable university to study Business and Finance. The army had given him a lump sum to study there on no pay leave. He has to serve the army after graduation."

She had jested that she wanted to work in my Veterinary Surgery today but had never talked about her sons. "But there are dogs in the Surgery and your religion may not permit you to be near dogs?" I asked.

"No," she said. "I will adopt the religious recommendations regarding dogs. I wore gloves when I worked in a non-halal restaurant part-time to support her two sons.

The mother had been depressed when the marriage broke down when the elder son was in Secondary Two. The father had taken a second wife.

But this boy was said to her "We can make it in life". He was already top in the Primary School Leaving Examination. Soon he went to a top Junior College in Singapore. "Must pay $200 per month," the mother said. At autonomous independent junior colleges, the school fees were higher.

"But it is worth all my sacrifices," she recollected having to rush from her present job to the second job at the restaruant as she had to support her two sons. "Didn't you get help from the extended family?" I asked.

"No relatives would help."

She had a second son. He went to polytechnic and would be going to National University of Singapore soon. He must have topped the 10% in the polytechnic to qualify. This second son could have gone straight to the 2nd year in an Australian University, saving one year of study, if only his mother had the money. Singapore's Universities do not grant 1 year exemption for polytechnic students.

The boy with the 2 swords of honour confirmed my belief that very difficult times in the family mould a person to excel or perish.

I am sure his mother had never received any phone calls from the boy's teachers complaining about sleeping in class and poor academic results! This is all too common.

If the boy had no fire in the belly to make a better life for himself, his mum would have had sacrificed for nothing. Now his job is to get "8 As", the mother told me.

"Do they still grade "As" in Australian University?" I asked her.

"I mean, 'HD'" she said. "High Distinction."

I was thinking. There are many Singaporean parents who cannot afford to send their sons overseas. They may not be able to get into a local university to study what they want because of the intense competition for places such as Business and Finance. If the youth does not get 4As or straight As in the A levels, there is no hope of getting interviewed for a scholarship.

Yet I know of one boy who was in Singapore's premier top Junior College. He rejected studying overseas on a veterinary scholarship because his girlfriend was studying in Singapore! It seemed he wanted to be a veterinarian. Being his father must be very challenging.