As I recall, he did mathematics first and performed very well at it but, despite the efforts of the academics who knew him to convince him to become a mathemati

As I recall, he did mathematics first and performed very well at it but, despite the efforts of the academics who knew him to convince him to become a mathematician, he had to go to get a practical qualification (something in computer science I guess) and then return to Singapore to be prime minister. But that story does come from the maths department so is likely exaggerated a little.