SELAYANG, Nov 26 — Hon Ye may have taken his life after finding out he would never achieve his burning desire to earn a scholarship to university after the Additional Mathematics 1 paper on Tuesday proved just too tough for him.  

The 17-year-old student, described as nothing short of brilliant by teachers and friends, was also probably dejected that this would mean placing an additional burden on his mother who was a single parent.

Relatives said he was a responsible son who was hoping to ease the burden of his mother who was supporting him and his older sister.

“He knew that his mother who works as a promoter in a shopping mall would have had to struggle to put him through university,’ a relative who declined to be named told Malay Mail.

The relative said although his mother had not pressured him to perform, he had taken it upon himself to ensure that he did well to qualify for the scholarship. 

“We think he was terribly depressed when he was unable to finish the paper on Tuesday,” he said. 

An uncle, met at Selayang Hospital where Hon Ye’s body has been sent for a post mortem, said his nephew had always been a bright student. 

“Having scored nine As and one B in the SPM trial examination, he was probably too stuck on improving his result.

“He might have put too much pressure on himself to perform as he wanted straight As in his SPM,” he said. 

He said Hon’s mother was heartbroken by the loss of her son on whom she had great confidence to do well in life.

The wait at the hospital where the body had been taken for an autopsy yesterday morning proved too painful as she fainted several times.

Hon will be cremated at the Kepong crematorium in Taman Desajaya today.