When Xu Bin was still living in China, his parents gave him a head start in his education by enrolling him in school two years earlier than his peers. But when he turned 11 and entered middle school, his mum decided that it was time for change.

“My grades were bad so my mother was thinking for my future and hoped that I could continue my studies in a better environment,” said the 32-year-old actor on how he ended up moving to Singapore in this week’s episode of Quan Yifeng's talk show Hear U Out.

“She told me that we would be visiting my aunt who lives in Singapore, so we left China on May 20, 2001 at 8.20pm.”

It was the first time that Xu Bin had ever been on plane and the bird’s eye view of Singapore from the window made him very excited.

“When we got to my aunt’s place, they told me to get ready and go to bed because I had to go to school the next day, recalled Xu Bin. I felt like I was on the verge of collapsing [when I heard that but] my mum talked to me after that. She told me that it was for my own good (…) I don’t know why. It could be because I was mesmerised by how beautiful Singapore was and told myself that it was definitely a great place so I decided to give it a try.”

The next day, Xu Bin sat for a placement test, which comprised of Math, English and Chinese papers, at his primary school.

“I only knew A, B, C, D, E, F , G but I was given an exam paper, said Xu Bin. I knew that I was in trouble but thankfully, there were multiple choice questions and so I picked answers at random. I got my results on the same day and I scored nine out of 100 [for my English paper].”

According to Xu Bin, he scored those nine marks out of pure luck. His application, however, was rejected.

“My mother was very sad and the both of us felt very dejected as we walked out of the school. That was when we bumped into the first person who would change my life for the better,” continued Xu Bin. “Madam Lim, [who was] principal of the primary school. We didn’t know that she was the principal… I don’t remember exactly what happened but we had a short chat. She said to my mum, ‘I feel that this little boy is exceptionally smart after looking into his eyes.’”

“She asked me if I knew any English words so I said 'TV', 'fridge'. Perhaps our interaction made a difference, and I wanted to do my best after seeing how sad my mum was. I wanted to prove myself to the principal, and even though I wasn’t fluent, I was confident when speaking to her [in English].”

Mdm Lim then decided to give Xu Bin a chance, perhaps because he did “not too badly” in the other two subjects.

So Xu Bin was placed in primary four and was a year older than his classmates.

“I had a hard time and it was really painful for me,” shared Xu Bin about his early days in primary school. “I had a blank expression in class because all the words that I was hearing sounded nothing more like buzzing to me.

I didn’t understand what others were saying so I blanked out. The teacher asked a classmate who was fluent in Chinese and who did so well in the other subjects to sit next to me. That classmate would translate for me, Xu Bin said. Perhaps it was because the principal told the teachers that I had potential and asked that I be given a bit more help. That’s why I’m very grateful to her.”

Under the watchful eye of his aunt and uncle, Xu Bin memorised 30 new words a day, kept a daily English journal and tested himself every Sunday on what he had learned in school that week.

“They watched me like a hawk with a cane in hand. During that period of time, I had no time for anything else.”

After a year, he started passing his English exams and also began making friends as he was able to communicate better with his classmates. It also helped that he picked up basketball, which further boosted his confidence.

After two decades in Singapore, Xu Bin still considers Madam Lim the most pivotal person in his life.

“I regret not keeping in touch with her after graduating,” he said. “I didn’t think about it and it was only recently when I became less busy that I started to reminisce about it. I keep reminding myself to look for her but I never got round to it.”

Thanks to the Hear U Out team, Xu Bin doesn't need to search high and low for Mdm Lim.

At the end of the episode, Yifeng handed him an envelope with Madam Lim’s contact details, urging the actor to call his former principal who still remembers him after all these years.

Here's the video for Part 1 of Xu Bin's interview on Hear U Out:

And here's Part 2:

Xu Bin's interview on Hear U Out is now available on meWATCH. Click here to watch Part 1 and here to watch Part 2.

Photos: Mediacorp, Xu Bin's Instagram