In school the head of student discipline chided him for being sloppy and looking bad, and did his best to make Hsu's life difficult. In contrast to Lee Teng-hui's early displays of musical talent and Peng Ming-min's genteel character, Hsu Hsin-liang frequently got failing marks for music and art. As a youth, he dreaded having to get up on stage to perform.
而和李登輝從小就有不錯的音樂素養，及彭明敏的仕紳格調比起來，許信良偏偏音樂美術常常不及格，更視上台表演為少年時的最大恐懼。