Zaky’s Saturday Morning

Zaky had his braces since September 2024. It had been 1 year 9 months and he had been looking forward to them coming off. We thought that would happen the last appointment a month back and I even took a picture to commemorate. 

It didn’t…. The dentist said that something else needed to be tightened/ corrected. That means another month to go. 

The time has finally come! Or so I hope. 

Indeed it has. The braces came off, his teeth cleaned and new x-rays taken. 

The payment had been in instalments, after a lump sum in the beginning. Then, it had been $200 every visit. Yday, we paid the balance, the dental procedures and the new retainer, that he is supposedly to wear forever. His parents were $1k poorer. 

Zaky said that it felt so different; something is missing. 

His smile looks different too. He happily flashed me his pearly whites. 

After the dental, we hopped down to Singapore Polytechnic. Four years ago, he was offered a space in SST, and we know that almost half of their students eventually opted for Poly. These are smart (or at least academically inclined) students who achieved 10 or 11 points during their PSLE, often dragged down by their language ability. Many of them are attuned to the Poly route, bcos of how SST scopes their curriculum, often favouring project work and discard the conventional way of teaching. Zaky rarely needed textbooks; the ones passed down from Nana were mostly untouched. 

In the early years, he would still comfort his dear mother’s heart and tell me that JC is his preferred route. SST has an integrated program with Ngee Ann Poly and students in the program skipped O levels and progressed to Poly year 1 after Secondary 4. Zaky didn’t opt for that in Secondary 3 then, and was still telling me that he would go to JC. 

I duno what has changed but earlier this year, he had a changed of mind and started telling me that he is considering going to Poly after the O levels bcos Poly would suit his way of studying a lot more. My heart broke. Since then, every now and then, we would try to convince each other that the other route is better. 

I don’t think any parents can win against their kid. There are many more universities in Singapore now compared to our times and getting into “an” university in Singapore after Poly isn’t as tough as before. There will definitely be an university that he can go to. I was also convinced that he would struggle mad in JC after the mugging that we had done for Chinese O levels. 

Anyhow, he did his own research, and thought of  Mechatronics Robotics Engineering in Singapore Polytechnic. SP has an opened house bcos the application for the EAE (early admission) is around the corner. Those offered would be guaranteed a spot so long as they cleared O levels. 

At least he gets an exemption of up to one year if he goes into a relevant course in University. I am not sure if Zaky would apply but seriously, even if he doesn’t get in via the EAE, I am confident that he would get in via the O levels route. The COP for the course is 13 for L1R4 and I think that is highly achievable for Zaky. 

The funniest thing? Zaky pointed out that all teenagers dressed the same way now. Indeed! Every teenager boy was in grey sweats and black tee. Why did they go Poly to escape uniform but created their own uniform? lol. 

Mummy Lim