What’s your PSLE score?
That’s not a question many Singaporeans get into their adulthoods, but the cast of Chinese drama Born To Shine was asked just that in an Instagram Reel uploaded on Mediacorp Channel 8’s Instagram page on March 14.
The show follows three dads (Andie Chen, Darren Lim and Zhang Yaodong) teaching their PSLE-aged kids according to their different parenting styles based on animal metaphors (eagle, rabbit and sheep dads respectively). When this leads to discord, the dads must forego those metaphors and mend their relationships with their kids.
Some cast members did not remember their PSLE scores — Mindee Ong said hers was likely “at least 200” while Meixin said hers should have been “not bad”. Yaodong, who’s from Malaysia, shared that he got four As out of six subjects for his Primary School Achievement Test (USPR), their PSLE equivalent.
Andie, however, recalled his exact score: 219.
“My brother always had very good results,” the 38-year-old added. “I was the PSLE failure in the family. It was so unfair!”
When it came to their worst subject, Mindee, Meixin, Darren and Priscelia Chan all picked maths.
“All of them were bad,” Andie said. “I remember my Chinese was okay, but the worst should be maths.”
Only Yaodong, 46, had a different pick — Malay. His best subject was Chinese.
Andie shared more anecdotes about his time in school in a follow-up video posted on March 19.
Without preamble, the video starts with him saying: “I failed my English and my mum… she went crazy until she used the cane. She was pulling while spanking me, pulling me to the door and pushing me out of the house.”
He also shared that he had “definitely” forged his parents’ signatures on a report card, while Meixin, 37, said that she was too “paranoid” of a person to do so and would “just suck it up” and show her parents her results.
Mindee, 44, also never had to resort to forging signatures: “My parents and elders didn’t really care too much. They wouldn’t scold me unless my results were really bad.”
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‘Fear of Reading’
Andie has previously opened up about having dyslexia. His wife, Taiwanese actress-host Kate Pang, also discussed the difficulties he faces while learning his scripts in a January interview with 8World.
“He would read them over and over at home every day, until one day I really couldn’t stand it anymore and asked him, ‘Why do you have to read a scene hundreds of times?'” the 41-year-old said.
“It turns out that he has dyslexia and a very bad memory, so it would take him three days to memorise something that someone else would take an hour to memorise,” she shared.
Nevertheless, she commended his resilience: “From the age of 13 until now, his only ambition in this life is to be a good actor, and he has never wavered.”
Andie also said, due to his dyslexia and “having no role model”, he only started reading properly at the age of 33.
“Close your mouth, I know it’s late. Well, better late than never,” he shared in an Instagram post back in August 2021. “I only overcame my disdain for reading after finding audiobooks! The knowledge I got from listening pushed me to overcome my fear of reading.”
He also wished he had “someone who made reading a fun experience” when he was young.
“So this is what I am ‘gifting’ my kids. Reading something they want for them or with them every night before bed,” he added.
Looking back, Andie shared some words of wisdom with his younger self in the recent Instagram video: “Results are not everything.
“Don’t compare yourself with others, you’re doing great!”
Born to Shine airs on Channel 8 at 8pm on weekdays and can be streamed on mewatch.
This article was first published in AsiaOne and republished on theAsianparent with permission.
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