Politicians have the power to impact change, and Tharman Shanmugaratnam did just that for one student fresh out of junior college.
The student, who has since graduated from university, recounted his experience with Mr Tharman in 2011.
He shared a series of wholesome emails between himself and the then-Deputy Prime Minister on Instagram.
Their correspondence began in June 2011 when Caleb asked Mr Tharman for a letter of recommendation.
Despite his grades, young Caleb secured an interview at Singapore Management University (SMU) thanks to the former DPM’s quick action.
On 30 Aug, Caleb went to Instagram to share his story about Mr Tharman Sharmugaratnam.
Although their interactions were over a decade ago, he felt that it was “relevant and timely” to share his story.
Caleb first wrote his email to Mr Tharman on 10 July 2011, titled “RE: Appeal for Admission into SMU”.
Source: Instagram
In his email, Caleb shared that his recent A-level results did not meet the prerequisites of most local universities.
“But I really wish to further my studies at the tertiary level, with SMU being my intended choice of school”, he said.
Caleb then revealed his grades in which he had scored two As, one B, one C and one E.
Promising to do his best, he asked Mr Tharman to write a recommendation letter for his appeal to SMU.
Besides his convincing email, Caleb’s parents also presented his case to Mr Tharman at a Meet-The-People session.
Their efforts were successful, as Caleb soon received a call for an interview with SMU, which he said “went as well as [he] could have managed”.
Mr Tharman also continued to keep himself in the loop, dropping Caleb the following email on 14 Oct 2011:
Dear Caleb, as you probably know, your interview went well. I’m really glad for you, and know you will shape up well in life. SMU will be in touch soon.
Three days after this email, Caleb replied, informing Mr Tharman that he received his acceptance letter into SMU’s Faculty of Social Sciences.
Source: Instagram
He thanked him for his attention and for giving him a shot, saying he was overjoyed and extremely thankful.
Mr Tharman replied within the same day with a simple note asking Caleb to “stay in touch”.
Fast forward a few years, Caleb decided to give Mr Tharman some updates, to which the latter replied warmly on 19 Aug 2013.
Source: Instagram
Mr Tharman, who was also Minister of Finance then, took the time to thank him for the “inspiring note”.
“I can see how you are growing, as a young citizen and leader, and will with your peers decide on your own directions for Singapore in time to come,” he said.
Mr Tharman ended his email with well wishes for Caleb’s future in SMU and everything else he aimed for.
In Caleb’s closing comments, he thanked Mr Tharman for seeing a future past the “fair limitations of the institutions”.
In doing so, he had given him a chance to succeed.
Caleb also said he has faith in Singapore’s future, having experienced first-hand the “walk behind all the talk” in politics.
For Caleb, the ex-DPM is already his president, even ahead of Polling Day on 1 Sep.
Also read: ‘We Both Whack Orh Nee’: Tharman Candidly Shares He & Wife Ate Yams & Had 4 Kids
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Featured image by MS News.
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