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We all know that Dennis Chew has been studying at Ngee Ann Poly for the past two years.
But do you know that he’s totally thriving at school?
Last October, he was awarded the The Kongzi Culture Fund’s Pei Hwa Foundation Elite Scholarship, which Dennis shared was the “first ever scholarship” he ever received.
Well, look who has a new achievement to add to his list of accolades.
Last week, the 51-year-old Love 972 jock took to his Instagram to share that he had been presented the Edusave Certificate Of Academic Achievement 2024 from the Ministry of Education.
What’s more impressive is this is the second year in a row that Dennis has received the award.
“Thank you for always encouraging me. I’ve really worked hard over the past two years,” wrote Dennis, who’s currently pursuing his Diploma in Chinese Media & Communication at Ngee Ann Poly.
When 8days.sg reached out to Dennis, he tells us that the award is only given to the top 25 per cent of the cohort, and that he was overwhelmed when he received his first last year.
“Never in my life did I ever think I would receive something from MOE,” he says, adding that he did “wait in anticipation” to see if he would continue his winning streak this year.
“I worked hard for my second year, so I was really hoping that I could win again”
Dennis, who was in Malaysia filming Emerald Hill, didn’t know he had won the award until a classmate, whom he refers to as his “baby”, messaged him a photo of her cert, and said: “You should also have this.”
Dennis immediately called home and asked his brother to check the mailbox. He saw the cert, told Dennis, who was so happy that he started jumping around his hotel room.
Despite this achievement, Dennis says he’s “not very satisfied” with his grades and thinks he can do better.
He shares that he’s not the top student in his class though he’s on the Director’s List, which is only awarded to students who rank in the top 10 per cent of their cohort.
Dennis declines to tell us his GPA as it is “a very sensitive thing to reveal”.
Doing well in school is not something that Dennis is used to.
“When I was in primary school, I was so bad at Math that my parents were asked to come down to school. My teacher was so angry that I couldn’t do simple calculations and remember a simple formula. In secondary school, I was only interested in performing, so I scored very badly for O-Levels,” he recalls.
“I just went for an alumni dinner for my secondary school and my teachers were so happy to know that I’m studying again!” laughed Dennis.
We can’t help but wonder if Dennis’ classmates felt stressed by his presence.
After all, he’s a showbiz veteran and has an obvious edge over his much younger schoolmates, in terms of experience, expertise and also connections.
For example, which poly student can get Shawn Thia to star in their Final Year Project?
It also doesn’t help that everyone is graded on a bell curve.
“My classmates didn’t make me feel like they’re stressed with me around, probably because I’m very friendly and I’m like their father who gives them so much love. We’re like a happy family,” he says.
“I think maybe one or two may have felt the pressure at first, but once they got to know me, they know that I’m not there to stress them. I’m just there to do what’s on my bucket list, which is to get a cert,” laughs Dennis.
Dennis is clearly someone who fits in everywhere he goes. He’s equally well-liked at the company, where he’s now serving his internship: Song Fa Bak Kut Teh.
“I love what I’m doing. I love my office so much that every day I go in with a big smile. I want to do so much for Song Fa,” he says.
He jokes that his “very cool and good looking” colleagues were not starstruck when they first met him. Instead, he says they probably just thought: “He’s so short ah?”