Disappointed? Who, ME??

I have  to say, I have been avoiding this topic for quite awhile.I am an SPM leaver (finally) and the fact is that I didn't do as well as I should have. Am I disappointed? No. Hardly. Never. Nuh uh. Well, a bit. Why, because I know I could have done better. As a normal student would do, I blame other's for my shortcomings even though I know that the blame resides totally in me. I had the time to get my grip together and produce miracles that would amaze people around me including myself. I have done it before. In my third form, I was in a state where the teachers never even for a bit believed that I was actually studying properly. I don't think I was myself. But towards the end I manged to produce a straight aced result that I was kinda expecting and I made it to become the only kid in school that accomplished that result in that year. Lack of modesty, you ask? I lie to you not. I really was, the ONLY person in that school, THAT year to actually ace the exams.

But it never really bothered me. Now that I think back, it really should have. The school that I went to was lax when it came to seriously educating a person. Why? Because the place had a reputation for being the deadbeat school. No one there was taken seriously, for their education anyway. Why was I there? That was the place where all my mates that I knew from primary were. I was safer there, in an odd sense. Despite the reputation of the school being as it was, I had more friends there. I should have pushed to get to a better school (there was one down the road), but I didn't. No use talking about it now.

For 4 years (and a half) I stuck to this school. I got my 7 A's for the public exam. Then, the mistake. In my own opinion at the time I expected myself to be able to cope with the syllabus that was form 4 and 5. I couldn't. My teacher's were, if anything, great people, but were not just that good enough to get me to do better. The subjects required someone who could explain. No one could there. When we moved down to Malacca, I could hardly keep up with my new friends, despite me thinking I could. I'm sorry, disappointing Mr. Chay and all but that is how it worked out.  The lot over there were smarter, intelligent and all the thing's I needed to surround myself in the beginning. I suppose, coming to Malacca, I had more fun with them that my studying was neglected, I dunno. Something was lacking in me.

That was then, This is now. SPM is over. My life in public school is over. I don't regret not acing that exam. I admit that I could have done better, much better in fact IF I had been ready, but it was not to be. I got my 6 A's, 3 B+ and I am a happier person for it. Truly, I can say to myself that acing an exam is not all what it is cranked up to be. Sure there are benefits, but they don't benefit everybody, as people will tell you.

As a warning to all people whom are in public schools, don't adapt yourself to the lifestyle of memorising and expecting teacher to give the answers for everything, When you get to the outside world, you will suffer. I know. I'm going through it now.

Assassin's Creed Revelations: E3 2011 Trailer [HD]

The Last Year

The point of this story, article, or essay is to highlight the fact that St. David’s high is one of the greatest schools. Period. Now, you may think that being only about a year and a half in the great (by great I mean majestic) compound of the school I don’t have much of a say in many of the  great achievements that we have, well, achieved…

Now then, despite how long I may have been in school, I have the utmost confidence in saying that St. David is the best school I have ever been to in my entire life. I am sure that many (if not all) of my classmates and form mates would agree with me very enthusiastically. The reason? Well, simply put, St. David’s gives you a sense of being in a great big happy unconventional family. Almost as soon as I entered I was greeted very enthusiastically by Mr. Chay himself, who was very, impressed, shall I say, that I was from another missionary school (St. Theresa’s, Kedah). He offered to put me in Science 1 and told me to work hard to keep in that class (great advice, not that I followed it, sorry to say). I remember that that day was the 4^th of August and the AH1N1 outbreak was rampant, everyone was in a mask. Scary really, but I soon warmed up. Mr. Chay, being the friendly dude( I can say dude, right?) he is called up two of my now new classmates Amir Izzat (moved away the same year) and Suraj Arvind, whom I must say, is one of the most entertaining characters I could have ever met and thankful for it. They showed me around and I was taken to the hall where 4 Sc 1 was based. Floating class, see.

In class, it was BM period, and Pn. Noorul Ain was being her usual ‘chilled mama’ self and the class was writing an essay, if I’m not mistaken. I was given a place in the front next to Amir and Suraj and everything returned to normal. After that, I was ‘accosted’ by the two Matthew’s (Pang and Yap) and we kicked off immediately. Matt Pang became one of my confidante and Matt Yap (or Yap) as I liked to call him I found to be another ‘petrol head’ as I was. Just like that, I became part of the St. David’s family. The year passed and the next came and passed just as fast as the last. I was never, embarrassingly, a good student in class; I took things too easily and was usually bottom in class positioning. Never really bothered me actually. I was having too good a time with my new friends. In the end, I didn’t do that bad, although I could have done better, I must say. To be frank with you, and with all modesty, I never have any regrets that could keep me down to the ground. But, my one regret that I don’t think that I can ever come to terms with is the fact that I didn’t get the chance to start my secondary education in St. David’s. I didn’t get a chance to grow up in the environment that I spent less than a year in. But what can I do, lives are like that. I am happy that I got the chance at all. I had a stellar team of dedicated teachers and even better class of friends in my form and the memory will stay with me forever.

My uncle was a St. Franciscan. He used to label our school as the Buffalo School. That is what we were known as in the old day. To tell you the truth, I still think that we ought to be called that. The Buffalo’s. It has a certain charm to it. Stubborn, willful creatures and not afraid to get dirty and we like our fun. We’re all-rounders. We are St. Davidian’s.

Think...think...

Writing a blog isn't as easy as it seems you know...It takes alot to come up with ideas to write and to write well...So until I do get a few...Its gonna take awhile to see new postings from me.

Absolutely, indescribable nonsense...

It's been going on for some time. Not a particularly new topic in any case, but the fact that parents and teachers and the Education Ministry are still at each other's throats for the changing of the medium of language in schools to Malay from English then to English again only to be changed back to Malay once again. It's pathetic really. What 'some' people don't seem to see is the quality of English in the country is, like, totally bad. I'm not saying that Malaysian's are totally incompetent when it comes to speaking in English but the fact that we seem to overlook the small errors when speaking to each other is fascinating.

Malaysian's are famous for their adapted version of English, Manglish and like the Singaporeans with their Singlish? Which begs you to wonder, does the Indian version become Inglish? Anyway, the Manglish is a fine way to communicate amongst fellow Malaysian's but PLEASE guy's don't use it when in a place of business or  when talking to a foreign person. Its hard enough for a person to understand a foreigner let alone him not understanding you. With all the 'lah's and got o' not and sure wan ah, it is one sure fire way of leaving a person not familiar to the creole to be left in a daze wondering what in the name of blue blazes were you talking about in the first place. But see, the fact still remains that despite the creole being there at all, other people have actually learned to write in English properly.

Many people will argue that National Pride is absent in me. I am promoting the language of the conquerors that have suppressed the fine progress of the country by conquering it and then looting it. My dear mugwumps, English is the most widely spoken language in the world. Why are we being so blinded by the 'pride' of our own language that we forget to look beyond. The lingua fanca olden days was in fact Bahasa Malaysia but realise, that we are not anymore during the 10th century where the Malacca sultanate was at its prime. That was years ago people. Thing's change. we should learn to go with the flow of things. English is top, so learn it. How do we expect the country to flourish if we don't grasp the medium to which we can communicate, which is perhaps the most vital thing in the world. Even sign language is based on a LANGUAGE. Can we really expect people who trade with us to learn BM when other's are more than happy to learn English.

 The standard of English levels is amazingly low.Me being a school leaver not more than a year now, I can without a doubt say that English test's in this country has a standard so low its frightening. In total contrast BM is tough and it is a compulsory subject to pass whereas English is not. There are questions that my little cousin who is 9 can answer and we are talking Form Five exams here. Yet, amazingly, there are a lot of people who can not even manage to get a 'B' for the exams. These people are mostly the lot who come from schools of different mediums. Chinese schools, Tamil schools, religious schools have educations systems that base their syllabus on their mother-tongue (Chinese and Tamil medium). I can't say about religious schools. Never been to one. I am all for learning your mother tongue, I can speak my own and hopefully once I get the time I can start to write. But when you are learning English, set the bar high and TEACH the student's to reach that bar. What is the use of a teacher if he/she is not dedicated to helping a student reach a high bar. I know its not easy and as for the students, buck up you useless lot and learn on your own. Don't expect to be spoon fed.

There...I said it...

Nephrotic Syndrome

Dear all,

I have an announcement to make. I have nephrotic syndrome. What is it? Well, its a disease that affects the kidneys and causes protein to be expelled from the body instead of being retained. In contrast, water that should be expelled will be retained in the body causing me to bloat up like a baloon filled with water. So, what does that look like? Imagine me right? All handsome and good looking as I am, and then, imagine me with my eyes puffy, my stomach bloated, unsmiling (not normal innit). That is the effects. If you want me to explain more, I can't. I don't want to get too detailed.

I've been suffering (not much) from the early age of 1 year and 3 months. The only available medication is steroids, prednisilone, which has cause some rather funny effects on my anatomy. For one, I have a rounded profile, I am hairy, shorter than normal. So, if you think that I am a person that has an indefinite passion for food, your not entirely wrong. Its just that most of my, um, rounded physique is not entirely food begotten. I am not trying to get sympathy, just letting you know. Jokes about me is perfectly fine. I am happy to have inherited my families diverse sense of humor...

So for you future doctor's out there, get a remedy quick. You could name it after me.

 

The Art to be a student...

Everything is artsy...how you drive, talk, walk, write, bite and so on. So what is the reason that  being a student of something cant be an art? Especially if you are that of a law student like myself. Though I doubt that I qualify in the category as my way of doing things may more often than not cause chagrin in the eyes of more hardworking people. Yes, I am not a fan of hard work. I get urges, drives if you may, to do something but that usually lasts for about, I dunno, 4-5 months depending on how I fuel that passion. Which is probably why I can't really, honestly tell you that Law would be the career choice that I had planned ages ago. Its not that I can't, more of a I like it but not a 100% sure.

But then again, being a student is the more 'exciting' time that one goes trough. I dunno about those of you that study abroad that may come across this, but in Malaysia, the same routine applies to all students in general (save the few that just have to do thing the other way). Waking up time if your a primary lil' tot is about say 6-6.30. Now remember that I am basing this on my own experience and usually it is the most common way. Then, with the feeling of dread that I am sure all of us have felt, we trudge towards freshening up and having breakfast. See, this was a staple in my house, growing up. My mother would not let me or my sister (when she came along) to go to school on an empty stomach, and I am most thankful for it. THIS IS THE ART I'm talking about.

See, most commonly, a lot of students, don't take breakfast before going to school and it takes its toll on them. So usually during assembly period solid 'thump's' can be heard in all directions. So, imagine this. Assembly, singing the national anthem, dude raising flag, hasn't had breakfast, his head is pointed upwards and theeeennnn....Kederplonk...He's on the ground. The best part is that all the teachers are all so used to things like this that if someone does fall, they're like, "Oh, there goes another one"...PE was a time almost equivalent to that of being on drugs, but minus the negative effects and you also get a work out. I can say that I wasn't the most fit person in the school. I regret that I didn't force myself to become fitter as I grew up. I always found excuses to not exercise or play football with my friends and when eventually I did, it was too late. So, anyway...Football, the staple game for all male students in school no matter what age or form, they would literally go crazy at the sight of a rubbery, bouncy, spherical shaped item that caused endless moments of pleasure till the period bell rang....(to be continued)

Right...lets get started...

So this is blogging life eh...This is how people get their thoughts out...Now, this is my chance to get mine across, because as far as I can see, if I don't get these across, I might just go mad...a lot more than usual...Actually, this is my chance to write stories that I always wanted to that I never got to in class...English classes were always my favorite in school...It was the class that I was (immodestly) the best at...I want to thank my mother and father for that...

So what to expect in the post's that I post (look, I made a joke)...I am expecting a flow if stories that have always been locked in my head...or maybe my anger at public for the crap that we listen to or watch on tv...or just a story that I came up with randomly...please, if the lot that read what I write find that the story is too depressing for them, don't jump to conclusions and think that I'm suicidal or anything...that's because I got a wide imagination...