Singapore-built AI oral examiner PSLEPrep analysed 12,459 answers in English and Chinese for its first Oral Practice Report.

Asked for a personal example, four in ten PSLE English oral practice answers give none, study finds

Key findings:

• When a question asked for a personal example, four in ten English answers did not give one.
• Asked for an opinion, 96 per cent of English answers gave a reason.
• In Chinese, 78 per cent of answers to personal-example questions gave one; the two languages are not directly comparable as the questions are different.
• More than a quarter of all practice sessions took place in the four days before the oral examinations began on 12 August.
• 8pm was the busiest hour for practice.

The main finding concerns questions such as "Have you ever..." and "Tell me about a time...". Four in ten English answers to them stayed general: what the child usually does, or what people should do, without describing a specific experience of their own.

The problem is not that children cannot explain themselves. Almost every opinion answer gave a reason. What went missing was the child's own experience, and that is part of what the oral paper assesses. In the PSLE English oral, the conversation section carries 25 of the 40 marks, and the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) lists expressing "personal opinions, ideas and experiences" among its assessment objectives. In August, SEAB said the oral assesses communication skills, and that pupils are "not expected to reproduce ... pre-prepared responses".

Here is the same question answered two ways. Asked "Do you enjoy eating at hawker centres? Tell me about a time you went", a general answer says: "Yes, I enjoy hawker centres because the food is cheap and tasty." A specific answer says: "Yes, because there is so much choice. Last month my grandmother took me to the Bedok hawker centre and I tried chee cheong fun for the first time. I did not like the sauce, so she laughed and bought me chicken rice instead." Both give a reason. Only the second describes a particular visit. The examples were written by PSLEPrep to illustrate the point; they are not children's transcripts.

"Children have learned to say 'because'. What they often leave out is the moment that makes the answer their own, and that is one of the things the examiner is listening for," said Paul Whiteway, founder of PSLEPrep. "The most useful question a parent can ask is a simple one: when did that actually happen?"

Practice also bunched up before the exam. More than a quarter of all sessions in the three months began in the four days before the oral examinations started on 12 August. The busiest hour of the day was 8pm.

"At 8pm on a school night, a child can practise answering aloud with a patient examiner, and get feedback straight away," said Mr Whiteway. "AI does not replace a good teacher. It gives children more chances to speak between lessons."

The analysis used de-identified transcripts and reports only aggregated findings; no child is named or identifiable. The children are a self-selected group, so the findings describe children practising on the platform, not Singapore children as a whole. The full report at https://psleprep.sg/findings sets out the method and limitations and carries a chart free for editorial use.

PSLEPrep was founded by Mr Whiteway, a Singapore-based parent who does not speak Chinese and began using AI voice practice to help his son with spoken Mandarin at home. Its AI oral examiner runs a full PSLE oral practice session in either language and gives feedback and a score on each session, explained in plain English. The oral paper carries 20 per cent of the PSLE English grade and 25 per cent of the Chinese grade. PSLEPrep was named in The Straits Times in May 2026 among AI tools for PSLE oral preparation.

Hashtag: #PSLEPrep #PSLE #PSLEOral

https://psleprep.sg/

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

PSLEPrep

PSLEPrep is a Singapore-built AI oral examiner for PSLE English oral and PSLE Chinese oral practice, operated by Studio P2 Pte Ltd. Primary 5 and 6 pupils practise reading aloud and stimulus-based conversation by speaking, and receive feedback on every session. The first ten practice sessions are free; a subscription is S$29.90 a month. PSLEPrep publishes findings from its practice data, free study guides and a public database of reported PSLE oral topics. Learn more at https://psleprep.sg.

** This press release is distributed by Media OutReach Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **

A Singapore inventor's search for a non-stick pan that didn't rely on a chemical coating led to Vera, a line finished with an engraved pure-titanium cooking surface. It debuts through a crowdfunding campaign.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 22 September 2026 – Morph Brand, a Singapore-based cookware company, today announced the launch of Vera, a line of cookware built around an engraved pure-titanium cooking surface rather than a conventional chemical non-stick coating. The line comprises the Vera Pan, Vera Wok, and Vera Soup Pot, and is being introduced through a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter that opened on 22 September 2026

Vera Pan's engraved titanium AeroGrid surface releases a fried egg cleanly — no coating, no oil needed

The idea began at founder Kenneth Li's own stove. Like many home cooks, he says, he kept replacing non-stick pans as their coatings wore down and began to wonder where that worn-away material was ending up. When his search for a pan that stayed non-stick on its own turned up nothing, he set out to engineer one himself.

"I wanted a pan with nothing to hide, where the non-stick comes from the shape of the surface itself, not something applied on top," said Kenneth, a Singapore-based inventor and entrepreneur whose product work, according to Morph Brand, has been recognized by the World Intellectual Property Organization and featured by Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore.

That idea became AeroGrid. Each Vera product is constructed with a three-ply aluminium body and a cooking surface made of pure titanium, according to the company. The titanium surface is engraved with a fine honeycomb texture, which Morph Brand calls AeroGrid — that the company says is machined into the metal rather than applied as a separate coating, and is designed to reduce the area of contact between food and the pan so that food releases with less oil.

Because the cooking surface relies on the engraved texture rather than an applied layer, Morph Brand states that Vera cookware is manufactured without intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and without polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, commonly sold under the brand name Teflon) or perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The company says this removes the coating layer that can wear over the life of conventional non-stick pans.

The launch comes as regulators in several jurisdictions move to restrict PFAS in consumer products. In the United States, Minnesota's prohibition on intentionally added PFAS across several product categories, including cookware, took effect on January 1, 2025, and other states and regulators have advanced their own measures. Morph Brand positions Vera as an option for consumers seeking cookware made without added PFAS.

The company further states that the titanium cooking surface is non-reactive and that the three-ply aluminium body is designed to heat evenly and resist warping. Morph Brand notes that non-stick performance and durability depend on proper use and care.

Vera is available to support through Morph Brand's Kickstarter campaign. Product specifications, pricing, and estimated delivery dates are listed on the campaign page.
Hashtag: #Morphbrand #TitaniumPan #VeraPan #AeroGrid #VeraCookware #EngravedNonStick #HoneycombSurfacePan #TitaniumCookware

https://instagram.com/morphbrand.official/
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/morphbento/vera-pan-aerogrid-titanium-for-healthier-non-stick-cooking?ref=bvgkcw

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Morph Brand

Morph Brand Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore-based product design studio founded by WIPO-recognised inventor Kenneth Li, creating original consumer products and launching them to a global audience. With 5+ Kickstarter campaigns across the US, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore, Morph designs in Singapore and ships worldwide, most recently with Vera Titanium Cookware and its patented AeroGrid™ technology.

** This press release is distributed by Media OutReach Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **