My name is Michael Koh, co-founder and owner of Caratell, a luxury jewellery brand in Singapore.

Michael talks about growing up with dyslexia, pursuing his passion for the arts, and the rocky path to creating masterpieces with precious gems.

I'm a jewellery designer, an artist, and the inventor of a method to identify precious stones through their 'DNA'. I never knew I had dyslexia and mild ADHD until my son was diagnosed.

My younger days

During my childhood, dyslexia was non-existent as kids who did not perform well in academics were unjustly labelled as lazy or stupid.

I did not do well in school; eventually, when I failed primary 6 and 7, MOE placed me in a Vocational Institute (VI), which housed many other kids like me. However, even in VI, I felt very lost and decided to drop out after a year. In the end, I found myself hanging out with the boys in the void deck and joining the secret society.

At 14, my life changed. I got arrested by the police and was given a strong warning not to hang out with these individuals. But then, what hit me the most was the death news of my most beloved brother; he was killed in a fatal car accident while on his honeymoon. It was a big wake-up call.

I finally realised the fragility of life and did not want to waste my life away.

Therefore, my first step was to pursue further education and perhaps try and rekindle my passion for arts again. I loved drawing as a kid and even attended art classes in Yamaha.

Unfortunately, my journey to attain a higher education was not always smooth sailing, as I lacked an O-Level certificate, making me ineligible to apply to many private art colleges.

These art colleges denied me an opportunity to prove myself with my portfolio before promptly rejecting me. I often wondered, what does an O-Level cert have anything to do with art?

My time at LaSalle

LaSalle, just like the other colleges, had a minimum entry requirement, but I was fortunate enough to be granted an interview with the Dean. By coincidence, the late Brother Joseph McNally, the principal, happened to walk past and saw me at the interview. He wanted me to prove my love for the arts before accepting me as a student of LaSalle. In order to build up my portfolio, I became an understudy to a Singapore artist, Mr Lim Poh Teck, through my cousin’s connection.

Eventually, under the grace of Brother McNally, I was accepted into the school. But the condition was that upon graduation, I could only attain a certificate of attendance as I did not meet the entry requirements.

However, this did not faze me, as I needed to seize every opportunity and move on.

I decided to major in jewellery design after much encouragement from my dad who was a jewellery manager at that time. I incorporated fine arts into my design. I treated every creation like a miniature sculpture.

“LaSalle has made me more sociable, improved my communication skills, and cultivated a positive attitude towards all things.”

While enrolled at LaSalle, I took things seriously to prove my aspiration in arts by taking part in numerous competitions. Ultimately I won the Diamond of Distinction Award from De Beers International in 1988 and the Singapore Trade Development Board’s Young Designers Award in 1990. My constant efforts finally paid off when I received my diploma with merit.

LaSalle was not just a school but a home. Lecturers like Desmond Chin created a homely and caring environment. School never felt boring. My classmates and I would constantly support and encourage one another. We had birthday parties and barbeques, and even overnight camps in school to complete projects.

After my diploma, I continued to pursue a degree in silversmithing. I struggled to complete my thesis back when there were no tools like Grammarly or voice-to-text to help dyslexic people. I only discovered I had dyslexia after my son got diagnosed in primary school.

To this day, I struggle with some numbers and words. I would get confused between the words “Israel” and “is real”. It is interesting because I tried different ways to discover reading or understanding a paragraph, using visualisation techniques or phonics.

Advice to the younger ones and to parents

I often saw myself in my son, and I understand how he struggled in school. My advice to my younger self would be the same advice I give to my son: "‘When you are picking a subject, choose one where your skills cannot be easily replaced, create something unique.’

“For parents, allow your children to discover their passion, give them the right advice, and constantly encourage them along the way.”

More importantly, understand and empathise with their struggles and build on their confidence.

Do not live vicariously through your children. Do not project your unfulfilled dreams onto your child.

My entrepreneurship journey

Upon completing my degree, I was fortunate enough to borrow $3,000 from my parents to start a jewellery workshop with a partner. We rented a small place at Telok Kurau and transformed it into our studio by buying secondhand machines from retired craftsmen.

We started off by knocking door to door of large jewellery stores along Orchard Road, trying to impress them with our design and hoping to get commission jobs. We were declined multiple times, with many doors slammed in our faces.

As a new business, we had to keep to a tight budget and were unable to afford a security guard. Hence, we resorted to adopting stray dogs to guard the studio! When our funds ran low from not securing any jobs, feeding ourselves and our dog became a challenge.

“I recall sharing Khong Guan biscuits with our dogs for months.”

We could have dissolved everything and returned home, but we persevered. Our only thought was to prove ourselves to the world.

We got our first breakthrough when we got a commercial project to create Disney Mickey Mouse silver charms. We also did some work for a large jewellery chain. With the cash we had earned, we could then raise funds to buy more raw materials and secure more projects along the way.

As our business slowly started advancing, I learned how to create different departments in the company and how to manage them. It was a tremendous learning curve as I was not a business person.

Just as I thought I was beginning to save enough money to expand my business, I lost most of my life savings to a business acquaintance whom I trusted. He asked me for a favour to urgently produce three pure gold Ganeshas over the weekend.

After a week without payment, I became suspicious. I never got my money back despite multiple attempts to contact him. To add to our struggle, we were also expecting our first child. It was the toughest time of my life but luckily managed to pull through with the help of our family members.

“Together with my wife, we later founded Caratell, which means “carat can tell”. Our vision was to create jewellery pieces with stories to tell.”

Nonetheless, it seemed like fate still had troubles in store.

Not long after our shop's grand opening in United Square, we were hit by SARS. There was hardly any foot traffic in the mall. People were avoiding all the shopping malls near Tan Tock Seng Hospital. We faced cash flow issues and my wife had to surrender her insurance policies prematurely to tide us over.

We needed a solution immediately. Thus, we decided to reposition ourselves as a bespoke jeweller with an in-house, local workshop. We started by redesigning and revamping old jewellery from customers.

We started to promote sustainability to our customers, using their old pieces and materials to create a new, avant-garde design.

Soon we found ourselves in a niche position, and our company was spread via word of mouth. And to prevent the spread of SARS, we delivered their jewellery to their front door.

“Perhaps having dyslexia and ADHD helped support my business. I had to constantly find a new direction and think of a way out.”

Be it an attractive design to entice our customers or reach out to our customers without them physically visiting our store. Till today, the secret to our success lies in how we push ourselves for our business.

We stay away from the mainstream market and move away from a possible price war. For example, we use our abilities to search for the best or special cut diamonds. We would also venture into remote mines of Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Vietnam to source uncommon gems for our clients.

We constantly plan ahead and look for new opportunities to differentiate ourselves.

After I left LaSalle, I thought of being a lecturer. However, I believed it was paramount that I gained commercial experience before teaching others. In the end, I taught part-time at NAFA for a few years.

Due to my dyslexia, I was more inclined to use my hands and view images rather than read or write. Hence I adopted this style into my teaching.

I conducted many class experiments to engage with students. One of which involved a black opaque bag containing an object that you can only feel using your left hand while drawing with your right hand.

Conducive work environment

I function best when I have total silence.

Working conditions make a big difference for me. I start working after dark, when my staff has gone home, after my family dinner, and when there is no excessive noise.

Music also plays a big part in my job. It keeps me calm while setting up the appropriate mood for designing.

Hopes and dreams for the future

Encouragement and patience are vital. I wish society will develop a better understanding of dyslexia and ADHD. People with these conditions can be high functioning adults, which can be achieved through constant encouragement and patience.

“Our society needs to better support the young with dyslexia and ADHD, and look past their social immaturity instead of discriminating against them.”

Perhaps, our society can do better by being more inclusive of individuals who have different learning journeys. We just want some room to learn and grow. Everyone has their potential.

We are born to think differently to fill in some missing gaps. All we need is the chance to search for it and we will be able to contribute in our own ways.