17A1 it is...
What’s the secret of your success? That’s the usual question the reporters ask a person who has achieve something whether in life or in his or her study. Yesterday (9 March 2005), the news was about a girl who has achieved 17A1 in her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). What did she say? I quote: -
“Saya akan pastikan agar kerja rumah saya selesai sebelum saya mengulangkaji pelajaran sekurang-kurang nya empat (4) jam sehari”
Her mother says:
“Saya dah nampak kebolehannya sejak tadika lagi”
So, being a smart and/or gifted person plus hardwork. That’s the conclusion. So, what motivates her to achieve 17A1? She said again: -
“Saya baca dalam surat khabar ada pelajar yang dapat 15A1 dalam SPM, jadi saya cabar diri saya, jika orang lain boleh buat kenapa saya tak boleh buat”
That’s the spirit which brings me to where I am now. If other people can do it why can’t I? I didn’t achieve 17A’s but my achievement is enough to land me several offers for me to pursue my study at the institute of higher learning and to be what I am today. Jotting down my journey throughout my secondary school, my school was not the best school in Malaysia. Few of us know my secondary school and being a sekolah pondok (well it is known as Sekolah Agama Rakyat) my future was not clear according to some people.
One of my aunts says: -
“Esok nak jadi apa lepas habis sekolah? Paling tinggi pun jadi Ustaz (which is not a bad profession as you teach people about religion and way of life and it is among the thing which will accumulate rewards for you once you kicked the bucket) kat sekolah kalau tak pun balik Sungai Petani kerja kilang (since Sungai Petani is the capital for kilang in Kedah)”
Adding to that discouragement I got from my aunts, my school was not equipped with the latest state of the art equipments and most of the time I didn’t have proper teachers. For example, during my form 4 periods, I have no English teacher and no Science teacher. Our science lab was so bad we can’t even used it as a science lab. I use the lab to experiment my creation (Mostly with explosive materials and/or chemicals). Other than that it was just another class room.
My friends told me “rugi hang tak keluark dari sekolah tu. Tak dak masa depan”
But all of the statements and discouragements do not stop me from going after what I want as I was among the achievers in my school. I did well in my Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (SRP) and most of my friends (those who did well in SRP) left the school for MARA Junior Science College (MRSM), Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah (KISAS) and other boarding schools which according to the Malaysian view, are the better place to study.
I told myself “if those idiots in proper boarding school can make it, why can’t I?” of course I didn’t have proper syllabus or proper guidance for my SPM or any other exams. The teachers work hard to teach us what they know and what they read from the book. I thank them very much for their hard work and nothing in this world can pay what they have done for me and my friends. All I did was read from the books my parents bought me (I remember there were from different publishers such as Sasbadi, Preston and Adabi, no wait, that’s the Kari Powder Company) and my friends spent hundreds of Ringgit paying the tuition classes just to get to know what is taught in the other government school. I didn’t go to any tuition (that’s another issue) classes like my friends but the struggle was there.
I am not showing that we are smart people but rather the way we worked and how hard we worked compared to the students in normal government school. We survived and most of us in the class of 94 left school with honours not because for what we achieved but for what we’ve gone through. Now I am an advocate & solicitor, and I heard my friends have made it as well. One of them is a Captain in the Royal Malaysian Air Force piloting a Nuri (well we could have another helicopter according to some quarters but believe it or not, the United States of America still uses the same model as Marine One). The other is an engineer with Malaysia Airlines and there are some of them who serve the Malaysian Government as well.
Thus, I humbly think that we especially “anak-anak melayu” should have taken the way that Nur Amalina Che Bakri has chosen and the way me and my friends have chosen. It is: -
“…if those idiots can do it, so can we…”
It is all in our state of mind. If you think you are a failure. A failure shall you be and if you think otherwise, the sky is your limit. We were born the same. Some of us are a little lucky because we are a little smart compared to the others but if we look at the old malay proverb says “Belakang Parang Kalau Di Asah Akan Menjadi Tajam (or something like that)”.
“Saya akan pastikan agar kerja rumah saya selesai sebelum saya mengulangkaji pelajaran sekurang-kurang nya empat (4) jam sehari”
Her mother says:
“Saya dah nampak kebolehannya sejak tadika lagi”
So, being a smart and/or gifted person plus hardwork. That’s the conclusion. So, what motivates her to achieve 17A1? She said again: -
“Saya baca dalam surat khabar ada pelajar yang dapat 15A1 dalam SPM, jadi saya cabar diri saya, jika orang lain boleh buat kenapa saya tak boleh buat”
That’s the spirit which brings me to where I am now. If other people can do it why can’t I? I didn’t achieve 17A’s but my achievement is enough to land me several offers for me to pursue my study at the institute of higher learning and to be what I am today. Jotting down my journey throughout my secondary school, my school was not the best school in Malaysia. Few of us know my secondary school and being a sekolah pondok (well it is known as Sekolah Agama Rakyat) my future was not clear according to some people.
One of my aunts says: -
“Esok nak jadi apa lepas habis sekolah? Paling tinggi pun jadi Ustaz (which is not a bad profession as you teach people about religion and way of life and it is among the thing which will accumulate rewards for you once you kicked the bucket) kat sekolah kalau tak pun balik Sungai Petani kerja kilang (since Sungai Petani is the capital for kilang in Kedah)”
Adding to that discouragement I got from my aunts, my school was not equipped with the latest state of the art equipments and most of the time I didn’t have proper teachers. For example, during my form 4 periods, I have no English teacher and no Science teacher. Our science lab was so bad we can’t even used it as a science lab. I use the lab to experiment my creation (Mostly with explosive materials and/or chemicals). Other than that it was just another class room.
My friends told me “rugi hang tak keluark dari sekolah tu. Tak dak masa depan”
But all of the statements and discouragements do not stop me from going after what I want as I was among the achievers in my school. I did well in my Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (SRP) and most of my friends (those who did well in SRP) left the school for MARA Junior Science College (MRSM), Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah (KISAS) and other boarding schools which according to the Malaysian view, are the better place to study.
I told myself “if those idiots in proper boarding school can make it, why can’t I?” of course I didn’t have proper syllabus or proper guidance for my SPM or any other exams. The teachers work hard to teach us what they know and what they read from the book. I thank them very much for their hard work and nothing in this world can pay what they have done for me and my friends. All I did was read from the books my parents bought me (I remember there were from different publishers such as Sasbadi, Preston and Adabi, no wait, that’s the Kari Powder Company) and my friends spent hundreds of Ringgit paying the tuition classes just to get to know what is taught in the other government school. I didn’t go to any tuition (that’s another issue) classes like my friends but the struggle was there.
I am not showing that we are smart people but rather the way we worked and how hard we worked compared to the students in normal government school. We survived and most of us in the class of 94 left school with honours not because for what we achieved but for what we’ve gone through. Now I am an advocate & solicitor, and I heard my friends have made it as well. One of them is a Captain in the Royal Malaysian Air Force piloting a Nuri (well we could have another helicopter according to some quarters but believe it or not, the United States of America still uses the same model as Marine One). The other is an engineer with Malaysia Airlines and there are some of them who serve the Malaysian Government as well.
Thus, I humbly think that we especially “anak-anak melayu” should have taken the way that Nur Amalina Che Bakri has chosen and the way me and my friends have chosen. It is: -
“…if those idiots can do it, so can we…”
It is all in our state of mind. If you think you are a failure. A failure shall you be and if you think otherwise, the sky is your limit. We were born the same. Some of us are a little lucky because we are a little smart compared to the others but if we look at the old malay proverb says “Belakang Parang Kalau Di Asah Akan Menjadi Tajam (or something like that)”.
posted by Kampong_Boy at
4:47 pm
2 Comments:
Words are very powerful tool. They can break us or they can strengthen us. In your case you took the negative words from people around you and turned them into a challenge and motivation.
Some of us are not very fortunate where they accept and swallow every negative words that thrown into their paths.
i got that since i was small. my father told me not to let anybody say that you can't achieve something.
no matter who you are, you can i you believe strong enough.
so, i always tell myself, "Yes I can" and always give me a pat on my back if i have achieve something.
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