I recall a cartoon in my younger days.
The first caption showed a happy boy jumping up and down.
He couldn't believe he 'scored' two As in the MCE (Malaysian Certificate of Education, the forerunner to the SPM).
The next caption showed a sobbing girl, whispering sadly, 'I only got seven As'.
I was that boy with the two As.
And, both were A2s, not A1s. Even that was on the second try.
In the first try, I missed one exam.
I was studying for the Geography exam when my buddies cycled up to my house and yelled 'hey, why you never wait for us one ah?'
'Uh? Wait for you? For what?'
'After the exam finish time ah, why you go home so fast? Aiyoh... you...'
I dashed inside my house and grabbed the exam schedule.
Dei... dei... dei... I slapped my forehead... how can I miss today's exam?
Turned out that I misread the calendar.
But I was so happy I flung my Bahasa that year.
And even more happy to see so many of my buddies failing Bahasa too. Yeah!!
The whole bunch of us retained for one year.
I was never good in school. And also in sports.
Used to go green when other boys go up on stage to collect their trophies for winning essays and the 100-meter dash.
When I got my PhD in business administration from Nagoya University, my college (Sultan Abdul Hamid College, Alor Star) mates were appalled.
When I landed the job in the university, they went berserk.
My former colleagues at the airline were exasperated, saying, 'now, even monkeys can get PhDs and become university lecturers'.
Gardening, photography, food, fishing, traveling, scuba diving, life in Japan, plus of course, news and views of being away from home...
They're just jealous? :]
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of my former schoolmates and college mates are shocked that I'm a lecturer now. But who cares what they think? :p
Dear Scarfer, actually they are good friends. No jealousy involved lah. Just that, most of them find it unbelievable but they are happy for me just the same. Thank god for that. Will comb through your blog... looks interesting eh...
ReplyDeleteerm..you are a lecturer? wow... wat r u teaching? in which uni?
ReplyDeletei hav a cousin who's under JPA scholarship bound to study engineering in Japan. She's doing her second year of pre-U and if things turn out well, she'll be flying to Japan next year... =)
Looking at your post, reminds me of my schooldays...
ReplyDeleteI became a prefect, Reason ? SKIP CLASS
I join clubs, Reason ? SKIP CLASS
I perform / join competitions, Reason ? SKIP CLASS
Any slightest chance of SKIPPING CLASS, You'd find me a willing supporter ! Hehe..
One month before SPM, i openend my books.. and teachers were doing "revision". So i decided to play "hardworking" and decided to ask my physics teacher, "Teacher ! I was doing my revision and i had only one question, what is jirim ? Dont worry teacher the others i understand, only Jirim i dont la.."
She came to me.. Opened my Form 4 physics book, and she said " PAGE ONE... Talks abt JIRIM !"
I tell.. the whole class was laughing la..
Now when my teachers look at me... they say " Eh ..what happen to you" - They can't believe la...
That's a very motivating thing to read!
ReplyDeleteDracolshian... Yeap.. lecturer at Kagawa University. Used to belong to the Economics Dept until about two years ago... moved to International Student Center... now less teaching becos this position is more like Foreign Student Advisor... am enjoying the job so much... still teaching a class called Cross Cultural Management in the Graduate School of Management... your cousin doing engineering? I catch no ball in engineering... worst subject in school was physics along with biology and chemistry...
ReplyDeleteKrishna... also became a prefect in Form 6... the reason was, most probably there were no one else... all cabut somewhere or they got grade 4 in MCE... physics ah? Waah, run alreadeaa...
5xmom... yeah, story of a rather low IQ kid... was in Form 4F and Form 5E... the so called Double Credit class. Neither here nor there lah… most terror position was number 2 in form six class... then relaxed so much, play here play there, next term, dropped to number 18... father almost pengsan...
Hehe ..
ReplyDeleteI tak sampai Form 6 la.. but if i went, i would have definitely become prefect also la.. and since i was one of the rare species of prefects from form 5 who end up in form 6 , might end up as school captain ! Fuyoo... imagine all the skipping of classes that i could have done hehe...
but in the end .. i was shocked at my own SPM results hehe...
I still think the examination board did a mistake.. i should have flunk ?
One more thing to add..
ReplyDeletei guess when were pushed down to the hardness , people actually excel better...
as ur story with number 2 in form six ! for a double credit class in form 5 !
hardness makes u excel i believe..
When we were in secondary schools, some of us may feel exactly what we want in life, while there are those that just do things spontaneously. One thing I've learned is that life isn't like a schedule book where we can make it exactly happen because if things were like that, then how could we appreciate the minor accomplishments in life? After reading that article about you, I have to say you've shown me that there are still many ways to shine from the rest and to enjoy the ride of the bumpy road of life. ^_^
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, congrats on becoming a lecturer. ;)
Are you sure monkey can become lecturer? But it really depends on the university i think, some local lecturer really sucks, especially those part time one.
ReplyDeleteKrishna... you are a lucky man. Did you go straight to uni after Form 5? Indeed, if pushed to the wall, even the normally manja pussycat will claw back also...
ReplyDeleteDennischee...while Kagawa is not really 'paradise', it is pretty close... slow moving, relax maximum, fresh fish, few traffic jams... I dream of heading to the southern island of Okinawa, near Taiwan, which in my opinion, is a bit closer to paradise...
Azimi... thank you... sometimes I think I am an 'escapist' while growing up... not doing the real thing that I should be doing... but after reading your comment about having multiple ways to shine and to enjoy the ride, it just hit upon me the my 'escaping' could be a process of searching for the 'fit'... many of us, I would say, are unsure of what we can turn out to be... the ones who know, will keep pushing along that chosen track... goondoos like me keep turning here and rolling there... puff puff...
Mr Kiasu... actually, my nickname among my goondooo airline buddies is 'lau kau' (monkey). Thanks to my somewhat long hands and my way of walking... zcchh zcchh...
Dracolshian... most welcome leh... while I cannot claim to be an expert in Japanese culture, I remain fascinated by it even after all these years... will keep this in mind for future posts... but your drawings ah... seepek maximum good ah...
Buddy... got into uni .. dropped out..cause i realise my first day of class was last day of semester ! (Will post on my blog more on this ..hehe)
ReplyDeleteEnded up doing computers.. during school days i always said to myself.. Damn ! Studying Computers ! These are for geeks who dont have anything else to do !
Hehe.. Here i am today .. entangled in the web of the computer world.. and i must say .. i enjoy it la.. not bad also..
yet another inspirational piece..... i hope i can survive through life here in japan and not return home being an anti-japanese... wish me luck!
ReplyDeleteAh yeh,congrats on been an academician. The way you put it it looks so easy but I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteAnGeL... sure you can survive through Japan... this is my 19th year, and I am still fascinated with living here... I love it... the key, as everyone knows, is to get to know some local friends, young and old, boy and girl, and if possible, make some real good friends in these people... if you do that, I assure you, you will cry when you leave Japan
ReplyDeletethquah... there were downs, of course... imagine me shedding tears (secretly lah) when the professor threw out my paper... Not the worst case, I have seen other students wept openly in class... then, there was a Japanese graduate student who decided that he couldn't take it anymore... one late afternoon, he jumped down from the forth floor of the faculty building, head down first (he probably wanted to make sure), literally splashing his brains all over the ground...
geen... thank for dropping by...'What doesn't kill you, strenghen you'. How true. On a similar line but on arguments or fights, there's a Spanish saying 'If I die, I forgive you. If I don't, let's see.'
ReplyDelete