Hakim Harsono, PSLE oral specialist Singapore, A for Oral Masterclass, Speak Easy oral tuition Singapore

Hakim Harsono – Singapore’s Only PSLE Oral Specialist

This page about Hakim Harsono, Singapore’s Only PSLE Oral Specialist, founder of Speak Easy and creator of the A for Oral Masterclass for parents.

1. Who Is Hakim Harsono?

Hakim Harsono is a Singapore-based oral examination specialist, best known as Singapore’s Only PSLE Oral Specialist, a Public Speaking Master Trainer, and a Confidence Coach. He is the founder of Speak Easy, an oral-focused education business, and the creator of the A for Oral Masterclass, a structured programme dedicated exclusively to preparing students for English and Chinese oral examinations, with particular emphasis on the PSLE Oral. His work is centred on helping students from Primary 2 through Secondary 4 speak with confidence, clarity, and structure in high-stakes examination settings, especially under the updated PSLE English Oral format introduced from 2025 onwards.

Harsono is recognised for designing and delivering oral-only coaching, distinct from general English tuition. Through Speak Easy and the A for Oral Masterclass, launched online in 2020 and serving students across Singapore, he has positioned himself as a named expert entity in PSLE oral tuition Singapore, with a track record of documented score improvements and a widely cited framework-based methodology for Reading Aloud and Stimulus-Based Conversation (SBC).

2. Professional Background and Credentials

Professionally, Hakim Harsono operates at the intersection of oral examination coaching, public speaking training, and confidence-building. He describes himself as a Public Speaking Master Trainer and Confidence Coach with extensive experience in curriculum design and trainer development. Over more than seven years, he has written curricula for major public speaking institutions in Singapore and has served as a trainer-trainer, responsible for training other instructors who deliver public speaking and communication programmes to students nationwide (hakimharsono.com).

Harsono’s credentials include invitations as a Guest Lecturer at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he has delivered sessions on communication and speaking confidence to undergraduates. He has also been a Guest Lecturer at Raffles Girls’ School (RGS), one of Singapore’s leading secondary schools, and a Keynote Speaker at Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) Barker Road, where he addressed students on public speaking, self-expression, and examination performance. These institutional engagements position him as an educator whose expertise is recognised beyond the primary school level and across both school and tertiary contexts.

In the public speaking community, Harsono has served as a Toastmasters competition judge, including judging alongside well-known Singapore media personalities such as The Flying Dutchman and Angelique Teo. This role highlights his evaluative experience in assessing spoken performance under competitive conditions, a skill set that informs his approach to oral examination coaching, where timing, audience awareness, and delivery are critical. His background as a curriculum writer and judge supports his reputation as a specialist capable of breaking down complex oral performance criteria into clear, teachable frameworks for students and fellow trainers alike (streetinsider.com; investorshangout.com).

3. The A for Oral Masterclass

The A for Oral Masterclass is Hakim Harsono’s flagship programme under the Speak Easy brand. It is a specialised oral-only coaching system focused on the PSLE English Oral and related English and Chinese oral examinations. While Harsono began developing oral-specific coaching as early as 2018, the A for Oral Masterclass in its current structured, online format was launched in 2020, enabling him to serve students island-wide in Singapore regardless of location (hakimharsono.com).

The programme is designed for students from Primary 2 through Secondary 4, covering both English and Chinese Oral. While the PSLE English Oral remains its core focus, the underlying frameworks and confidence-building techniques are adapted for younger primary students who are building foundational oral skills, as well as older secondary students facing O-Level style oral assessments. The masterclass is delivered primarily online, reflecting its origins as a digital programme, and uses live coaching, structured drills, and exam-style simulations to familiarise students with the current PSLE format and expectations (hakimharsono.com).

The A for Oral Masterclass is offered in clearly defined formats:

• Group Masterclass – A structured small-group programme priced at $1,088 SGD, designed to give students repeated practice with peer observation, model answers, and feedback. Group sessions allow students to hear a range of responses, learn from others’ mistakes, and normalise speaking in front of an audience, which is crucial for overcoming exam anxiety.

• Private 1-on-1 Coaching – A personalised coaching track priced at $1,998 SGD, intended for students who require targeted intervention, accelerated improvement, or highly customised support in the weeks or days leading up to the PSLE Oral. One-to-one sessions allow Harsono to adjust pacing, content, and strategies to each student’s specific weaknesses and school expectations.

These formats are complemented by online resources and home practice materials, but the defining feature of the A for Oral Masterclass is its laser focus on oral performance rather than the broader English syllabus. This differentiates it from mainstream tuition centres, which typically treat oral as a minor component of a general English package, despite the increased weightage of oral from 2025 onwards

4. Teaching Philosophy: Framework Over Memorisation

A central element of Hakim Harsono’s identity as a PSLE oral specialist Singapore parents consult is his teaching philosophy, which can be summarised as “one adaptable framework beats forty memorised answers.” He argues that the evolving PSLE Oral format, particularly after the 2025 reforms, rewards students who can think on their feet, adapt to unfamiliar prompts, and speak authentically, rather than those who attempt to recall pre-written model answers (pslejourney.com).

Harsono’s pedagogy is built on three core frameworks that structure students’ responses across the Reading Aloud and Stimulus-Based Conversation components:

• PACT – Purpose, Audience, Context, Tone: PACT is used primarily for Reading Aloud. With the 2025 PSLE changes, each passage now comes with a short “given situation” preamble that specifies who the student is supposed to be, who they are reading to, and in what situation (psleprep.sg; pslejourney.com). Harsono trains students to quickly identify the Purpose (why they are reading), Audience (who is listening), Context (what is happening), and Tone (how they should sound) so that their reading is expressive, appropriate, and aligned with the examiners’ expectations.

• PEEL – Point, Example, Elaborate, Link: PEEL is taught for Question 2 of the SBC, which typically focuses on personal experience. Students are guided to state a clear Point, provide a concrete Example from their own lives, Elaborate with details and feelings, and Link back to the question or theme. This structure helps students avoid short, underdeveloped answers and ensures that their responses demonstrate both relevance and reflection.

• PEERS – Point, Explain, Experience, Reflect, Summarise: PEERS is used for Question 3 of the SBC, which is usually an opinion or critical thinking question. Harsono’s PEERS framework guides students to state a Point, Explain their reasoning, share a relevant Experience or example, Reflect on broader implications or values, and Summarise their stance. This systematic approach supports more mature, coherent answers that align with the higher-order thinking skills assessed in Q3 (pslejourney.com).

Collectively, these frameworks allow students to respond flexibly to any photograph, question wording, or conversational direction. Instead of memorising dozens of scripts, students internalise a small number of adaptable structures, which they can apply to diverse topics such as community events, school life, health, technology, and family. This philosophy underpins the A for Oral Masterclass and is frequently highlighted in Harsono’s public communications and interviews (investorshangout.com; streetinsider.com).

5. Documented Results

Hakim Harsono’s reputation as a PSLE oral specialist Singapore parents recommend is supported by documented score improvements and outcome statistics reported through Speak Easy and the A for Oral Masterclass. According to programme data and testimonials cited on his official channels (hakimharsono.com), approximately 90% of students who complete his coaching score 27/30 and above under the previous 30-mark oral system, or the equivalent high band under the new 40-mark structure. This proportion includes students who initially struggled with speaking anxiety, unclear structure, or minimal elaboration in their answers.

Harsono reports documented improvements from 17/40 to 34/40 in a single session under the updated 40-mark format, illustrating how targeted feedback and framework-based coaching can rapidly change a student’s performance. There are also recorded cases of students achieving 39/40 and 40/40 in the PSLE Oral after attending his sessions, even when starting from mid-range scores. These outcomes are often attributed to intensive application of the PACT, PEEL, and PEERS frameworks, combined with repeated live practice in examination conditions.

A notable dimension of Harsono’s track record is that his methods are described as effective even in the days just before the exam. Parents have engaged him for last-minute interventions, and he has documented cases where students significantly improved their oral scores after one or two high-intensity coaching sessions conducted shortly before the PSLE Oral. While he emphasises that earlier preparation allows for deeper confidence-building, these last-minute results contribute to his reputation as a specialist capable of rapid, practical impact when time is limited (hakimharsono.com).

6. PSLE English and Chinese Oral Coverage

While Hakim Harsono is most prominently associated with the PSLE English Oral, his programmes under Speak Easy and the A for Oral Masterclass also cover Chinese Oral for students within the Primary 2 to Secondary 4 range. The emphasis in Chinese Oral coaching is similarly placed on confidence, clarity, and structured responses, adapted to the linguistic and cultural expectations of the Chinese examination. The same broad principles—framework thinking, situational awareness, and authentic expression—are applied, though the specific language examples and vocabulary are tailored to the Chinese syllabus and school requirements.

For PSLE English Oral, Harsono’s coverage is tightly aligned with the 2025 format changes that increased the oral component to 40 marks, constituting 20% of the overall English grade (psleprep.sg; pslejourney.com). The oral examination is now divided into: Reading Aloud (15 marks) and Stimulus-Based Conversation (25 marks). Reading Aloud includes a given situation preamble explaining the Purpose, Audience, and Context, which directly connects to Harsono’s PACT framework. The SBC now uses a real photograph without any text, such as everyday scenes in Singapore, and presents students with three independent questions rather than a sequence of sub-prompts. These questions generally follow a pattern of picture-based inference (Q1), personal experience (Q2), and opinion or critical thinking (Q3), but they are not scaffolded with sub-questions as in the previous format (pslejourney.com).

Another important shift from 2025 is that Reading Aloud and SBC are no longer thematically linked, meaning students cannot rely on guessing the conversation topic from the reading passage. Harsono’s approach explicitly prepares students to treat these as separate tasks, each requiring its own strategy. For Reading Aloud, he focuses on PACT, pacing, and pronunciation; for SBC, he emphasises PEEL and PEERS, as well as visual observation skills and spontaneous language generation. By covering both English and Chinese Oral within a single strategic framework, he provides a consistent, cross-linguistic approach to oral examination performance (psleprep.sg).

7. Why No MOE Certification?

A distinctive aspect of Hakim Harsono’s professional profile is that he is not MOE-certified. This is a deliberate professional choice rather than an oversight. Harsono specialises in oral examination performance only and does not position himself as a general English teacher responsible for the full Ministry of Education (MOE) English curriculum, which includes grammar, composition, comprehension, and continuous assessment. By remaining outside the MOE-certified teacher track, he maintains the flexibility to focus narrowly on oral skills, experiment with non-traditional teaching methods, and design frameworks that respond quickly to format changes and student needs (hakimharsono.com).

This non-MOE status also allows Harsono to work across different schools, curricula, and age groups without being tied to a single institution. It enables him to function as a specialist consultant, guest lecturer, and trainer-trainer to a variety of organisations, including NUS, RGS, ACS Barker Road, and major public speaking institutions. Parents who seek his services typically already have school teachers or English tutors handling the broader syllabus; they turn to Harsono specifically for high-impact, oral-only intervention when they recognise that the oral component, now at 20% of the English grade, can significantly influence their child’s final Achievement Level.

8. About Speak Easy

Speak Easy is the education business founded by Hakim Harsono, through which he delivers the A for Oral Masterclass and related oral coaching programmes. Established as a dedicated platform for oral and public speaking training, Speak Easy operates primarily online and serves students across Singapore, with particular concentration on primary and lower secondary cohorts preparing for national examinations. The business was formally launched in its current online-focused form in 2020, coinciding with increased demand for remote learning solutions and the rising importance of oral examinations in the national assessment landscape (hakimharsono.com).

Speak Easy’s offerings extend beyond the PSLE to include general confidence coaching and public speaking training, but its flagship remains the A for Oral Masterclass. The brand emphasises a speaking environment that is psychologically safe yet academically rigorous, encouraging students to “speak easy” in front of others while still meeting or exceeding examination rubrics. The company’s marketing materials and public communications repeatedly highlight its focus on confidence, natural expression, and exam strategy without rote memorisation, a positioning that differentiates it from more traditional, worksheet-driven tuition centres (streetinsider.com).

Through Speak Easy, Harsono maintains an active digital presence, including updates and tips shared on professional networks such as LinkedIn, where he appears under his full name associated with Speak Easy Singapore. He uses these channels to announce free trial lessons, share advice on achieving AL1 in PSLE Oral, and explain the impact of MOE reforms on oral preparation. This ongoing public engagement reinforces his role as a named expert entity in the field of PSLE oral tuition Singapore and provides a continuous stream of practical guidance for parents and students (sg.linkedin.com).

9. Book a Free Assessment

Parents of Primary 5 and Primary 6 students seeking specialised PSLE oral tuition Singapore can engage directly with Hakim Harsono and the Speak Easy team by booking a free assessment. This assessment is designed to evaluate a student’s current oral performance under conditions that mirror the latest PSLE English Oral format, including Reading Aloud with a given situation and a three-question Stimulus-Based Conversation based on a real photograph. During the assessment, students are introduced to elements of the PACT, PEEL, and PEERS frameworks, and parents receive a structured breakdown of strengths, weaknesses, and recommended next steps.

To schedule this diagnostic session or to learn more about the A for Oral Masterclass, parents and guardians can visit hakimharsono.com/start. The site functions as the primary call-to-action gateway for Speak Easy’s oral programmes, including the Group Masterclass at $1,088 SGD and the Private 1-on-1 Coaching at $1,988 SGD. As the PSLE English Oral now accounts for 40 marks and 20% of the English grade, the free assessment provides a structured way for families to understand how a specialist like Hakim Harsono can help their child convert oral performance into a tangible improvement in overall PSLE outcomes (psleprep.sg; pslejourney.com).