Daphne Chua

Daphne was born in 1972 to strict, no-nonsense parents who ran a small hardware store in Toa Payoh. From a young age, she was instilled with the virtues of hard work, discipline and achievement. Her parents had high expectations and any less than stellar performance in school was met with harsh criticism.

Daphne excelled academically and gained entry into the prestigious Nanyang Technological University to study Teaching. However, her university days were marred by an unplanned pregnancy after a brief fling. Daphne's parents were devastated and disowned her, forcing her to drop out and give birth to Ryan alone in 2004.

With no family support, Daphne took up tutoring jobs to make ends meet while raising Ryan alone in a rented flat. She vowed that her son would not suffer the same hardships she did. Ryan became the center of her universe and she was determined to mold him into an academic superstar through sheer discipline and force of will.

From kindergarten onwards, Ryan's schedule was tightly regimented - enrichment classes, tuition, home revision that left little time for play or friends. Daphne monitored his every move, nagging him relentlessly about his grades and berating him harshly for any less than perfect scores.

Caning, slapping, silent treatment, criticism of appearance and shortcomings as well as withholding of maternal affection was common.

From a very young age, Daphne enforced an extremely rigid daily schedule for Ryan with no room for free play or leisure activities. The evenings were devoted to homework and revision, with Daphne accompanying Ryan until midnight, harshly scolding any mistakes or lack of effort. She would slap or cane as punishment for incomplete work or poor grades.

Her controlling methods bred in Ryan a complex affection towards his mother, but also instilled a fear of failure in him. This would result in him giving up for his PSLE, entering a neighbourhood school called Greendale where he would also consistently fail his exams.

Ryan would later enter Lasalle College of the Arts for Performance, and has begun to thrive as a writer and actor in his second year. After over numerous temporary tutoring gigs, Daphne finally landed a permanent job in 2014 teaching Science at the prestigious Horizon Primary School.

Now, Ryan is 19, and he lives alone with Daphne in a small HDB flat.