I had been an intelligent, yet inconsistent student in primary school.
Three years in a Montessori kindergarten moulded my mind (and my siblings) to become very pro-American. I spoke mainly English. Bahasa Malaysia - my mother tongue - was foreign to me. There, I learnt many things, in fact, much more than I did in Standard One. However, shifting to a totally BM environment was a real culture shock for me. Everyone would easily score 90s and I’d be 80-something as I made the stupidest of mistakes by misunderstanding the language. Back to the inconsistency, of course in later years my Malay had picked up and school was to me what it was to anyone my age: likes and dislikes. However, in the six years in Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Damansara, I only achieved the elusive ‘First in Class’ once. And that too didn’t get me up on stage on Speech Day. Studies-wise, I was a front-runner, especially in Mathematics and English. I dreaded BM’s karangan (even to this very day). In my UPSR, I feared the Penulisan paper but surprisingly I made it through the rain.
Academia was my strong point. I hadn’t any achievements in sports and in co-curricular activities, I was just another boy scout. But still I was accepted into Kolej Yayasan Saad. That had other factors involved, such as the IQ test, Math and English papers, and a selection program that had many activities I had an interest in. In Form One, I was a real slacker. A record low was set, 35% for Pendidikan Islam. Quiet, anti-social, stubborn, loner. I mixed in very slowly with my classmates and others. Very slowly.
In 2003, things turned out very well for me. I was no more the loser. People paid more attention to me and I was more and more noticed and befriended. Even academically, I performed. Straight A’s for PMR. Something I have never, ever done for a very long time. (Standard Four, maybe?). Five years living with at least a B or two. Not your average 'top student, eh?' Now, in Form Four, I have achieved many of my targets here. I am comfortable with life, I feel accepted, I’m simply happy. The big mental block comes when the question “Wotcha gonna do after SPM?” comes to mind.
I had always loved drawing. Not colouring. And when I asked what could drawing lead me to, people always answered ‘architecture’. A short talk with my friend’s mom and another friend’s dad was enough to convince me that this was what I wanted. Flying and traveling were also fantasies of mine as a little boy. But fear of crashing and being held responsible for the hundreds of passengers stunted my indulging into piloting. As a child, I was very much embroiled with cousins and friends about the battle of the sexes. It struck me that, men can’t cook because they didn’t know how to. They can’t sew because they didn’t know how to. And they didn’t do housework because of their ego. So maybe I’d attest to that and learn, learn, learn. My dad worked as a part time chef once, and my mom and both grandmas are excellent cooks and seamstresses. Bingo. Conclusively, I like cooking. Sewing is just something I learnt so I won’t have to be too dependent.
(Adapted from my Post-SPM Study Route folio.)
Three years in a Montessori kindergarten moulded my mind (and my siblings) to become very pro-American. I spoke mainly English. Bahasa Malaysia - my mother tongue - was foreign to me. There, I learnt many things, in fact, much more than I did in Standard One. However, shifting to a totally BM environment was a real culture shock for me. Everyone would easily score 90s and I’d be 80-something as I made the stupidest of mistakes by misunderstanding the language. Back to the inconsistency, of course in later years my Malay had picked up and school was to me what it was to anyone my age: likes and dislikes. However, in the six years in Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Damansara, I only achieved the elusive ‘First in Class’ once. And that too didn’t get me up on stage on Speech Day. Studies-wise, I was a front-runner, especially in Mathematics and English. I dreaded BM’s karangan (even to this very day). In my UPSR, I feared the Penulisan paper but surprisingly I made it through the rain.
Academia was my strong point. I hadn’t any achievements in sports and in co-curricular activities, I was just another boy scout. But still I was accepted into Kolej Yayasan Saad. That had other factors involved, such as the IQ test, Math and English papers, and a selection program that had many activities I had an interest in. In Form One, I was a real slacker. A record low was set, 35% for Pendidikan Islam. Quiet, anti-social, stubborn, loner. I mixed in very slowly with my classmates and others. Very slowly.
In 2003, things turned out very well for me. I was no more the loser. People paid more attention to me and I was more and more noticed and befriended. Even academically, I performed. Straight A’s for PMR. Something I have never, ever done for a very long time. (Standard Four, maybe?). Five years living with at least a B or two. Not your average 'top student, eh?' Now, in Form Four, I have achieved many of my targets here. I am comfortable with life, I feel accepted, I’m simply happy. The big mental block comes when the question “Wotcha gonna do after SPM?” comes to mind.
I had always loved drawing. Not colouring. And when I asked what could drawing lead me to, people always answered ‘architecture’. A short talk with my friend’s mom and another friend’s dad was enough to convince me that this was what I wanted. Flying and traveling were also fantasies of mine as a little boy. But fear of crashing and being held responsible for the hundreds of passengers stunted my indulging into piloting. As a child, I was very much embroiled with cousins and friends about the battle of the sexes. It struck me that, men can’t cook because they didn’t know how to. They can’t sew because they didn’t know how to. And they didn’t do housework because of their ego. So maybe I’d attest to that and learn, learn, learn. My dad worked as a part time chef once, and my mom and both grandmas are excellent cooks and seamstresses. Bingo. Conclusively, I like cooking. Sewing is just something I learnt so I won’t have to be too dependent.
(Adapted from my Post-SPM Study Route folio.)
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