“I hated school.” This was one of the first things Raja Shahridah Raja Suhaini told me, shortly after being named one of four National Level winners at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University’s Caring Teacher Awards 2026.It is rare to hear a teacher admit this with such startling candour.But the 35-year-old, known to her students at Beatty Secondary School as Ms Shah, was dealt very different cards from most.Her father was incarcerated for the first five years of her life for drug use. And after his release, he joined her mother as a cleaner.The family lived in a one-room rental flat, worrying about basic survival needs, such as what to eat the next day. Shahridah’s parents could not afford to take care of her two younger sisters and had to give them away to relatives.Shahridah did not go to kindergarten. She spent her childhood trailing her parents to work.“I was that young kid running around Takashimaya without shoes while my parents were cleaning the area. Sometimes, I helped sweep the floor,” she told CNA Women.
Coming from an underprivileged background, Shahridah fell behind academically in her early years, causing her to dread school. (Photo: Raja Shahridah Raja Suhaini)
