From Normal stream to Parliament

After scoring 110 for his PSLE, Mr David Hoe found himself in the Normal (Technical) stream at Beatty Secondary School.

- Jane Ng

He describes himself as "a problematic kid who was academically not strong at all in primary school". His parents divorced when he was in pre-school and he lived with his mother, who became blind after a cataract operation. His daily routine after school was to sell tissue paper with her at hawker centres and coffee shops.

"I didn't know many playgrounds, but I was familiar with many hawker centres," says Mr Hoe, an MP for Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC.

Life was about making ends meet and studying was the furthest thing from his mind.

Today, Mr Hoe, who is director of philanthropy at charity The Majority Trust, says his childhood and educational experiences have shaped who he is.

"I've come to accept that my family is not perfect, but I know my parents cared for me and that's good enough," he says. The 37-year-old is married to an educator, and they have a three-year-old daughter and a three-month-old son.

Mr Hoe, who ran in the general election for the first time in 2025, is the only politician from N(T), but not the only one from Normal stream.

Others include Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC MP Hany Soh, Jalan Besar GRC MP Wan Rizal Wan Zakariah and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh, who declined to be a part of this feature.

Secondary schools today no longer offer the Normal or Express streams. In place of streaming, they have implemented full subject-based banding, where students take subjects at different levels depending on their interests and abilities.

WIDER SOCIAL CIRCLE EXPANDED WORLD VIEW

Getting to know friends from the Express stream from his co-curricular activity of Boys' Brigade and the Student Council changed him, says Mr Hoe.

"My experience taught me the importance of social mixing, as it helped me to realise different realities and broaden my aspirations," he says.