TNP readers offer to help resilient PSLE pupils

She overcame tough odds and did well enough in her Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) to make it to the express stream, and C. Abirami's story in The New Paper last Saturday has moved some readers to step forward and offer the 12-year-old help.

Madam Adelene Lim, 48, wants to donate a laptop, after making a connection with the teen.

Queenstown Primary School pupil Abirami had to balance her revision work while caring for her cancer-stricken father and two younger siblings and Madam Lim recalled how she too had to take care of her father, who had been bedridden for four years before he died just before her O-level examinations.

"Losing my father two weeks before the O levels was very painful," said the housewife.

"I think Abirami is remarkable. She is mature and knows what needs to be done."

Ray of Hope Initiative (ROHI) - a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping local individuals and families going through hardships - has also reached out to Abirami.

Executive director of ROHI Sharmin Foo said: "Abirami's resilience, community spirit in school and positivity struck us. Her selflessness is something we can all learn from."

They have contacted the family to discuss the kind of help needed.

Abirami collected her PSLE result last week and had a T-score of 241 points, making mum, Madam Umadevi Balakrishnan, 44, proud.

The locum nurse is the family's sole breadwinner, and she said: "Abirami sacrificed a lot for her father and it is not easy to be in her shoes. I want to help her as much as I can to honour her."

Abirami was touched by the generous offers of help.

'SMALL STORY'

She said: "I thought it was going to be small story... I am so happy and touched."

Angel Ling, whose father suddenly died last year during a cycling trip in Taiwan, was also featured in TNP after showing her resilience by going through the PSLE despite the tragedy.

The Fairfield Methodist School (Primary) pupil, who had a T-score of 246,received a bursary offer from the Ong Angie Memorial Fund.

The founder of the fund, who declined to be named, set it up to help needy children with their education in memory of his daughter, who died when she was 18 months old after a short illness in 2001.

The bursary has also been offered to Abirami. Angel and her mother are "thrilled and grateful" over the bursary.

The founder said of Angel: "It is not easy losing a parent, so I wanted to help where I can."