SHE scored an F9 in Chinese Language for her A levels.

And now she's playing a Chinese language teacher in her next Channel 8 drama, My School Daze.

The New Paper's Babe Of The Year, Rui En, seems to be doing the impossible these days.

She edged out Jeanette Aw, a hot favourite after the huge success of The Little Nyonya, to claim the coveted title.

The 28-year-old actress attributed her win to her 'maturing' fan base who 'read The New Paper'.

She said: 'The only other thing that I can come up with is that people appreciated my honesty when I gave that confessional interview.

'And that maybe my story made an impact on them.'

She was referring to an interview that she did with The Straits Times last year in which she opened up about her parents' divorce, her delinquent days and her dabbling with cigarettes and alcohol.

'Tell all'

Rui En admitted that she made the decision to 'tell all' to make peace with herself.

'I wanted a very public confessional because I wanted to prove to myself that I had moved on from all those bad experiences in my life.

'I'm a lot at peace with myself right now. I never used to be able to feel happy with the small things in life but now I can.'

The pretty lass confessed that she hardly considers herself a babe.

She revealed that she's actually a 'kopitiam girl' at heart.

'Wait till you see me without this get-up (referring to her make-up and attire).

'Basically I'm the shorts and T-shirt and slippers kind of girl. I'm the just-wash-my-hair and go to the kopitiam and buy kopi type,' she said.

Most of the time, she said, she opts for the kopitiam instead of those 'restaurants where they give you those small portions with a dribble of sauce'.

'I'm the kind of girl that feels that non-hawker food is not real food.'

With My School Daze hitting TV screens in April, Rui En said she wondered if her junior college teachers would be shocked at her role as her grasp of the 'Chinese language was very bad'.

As the interview drew to a close, the actress had just one question.

She asked with a laugh: 'Are you sure you guys counted the votes correctly?'