“Jie, Joanne got 9A1s and 2A2s.”
“Crazy! We have crazy cousins! :D ” [two years ago, our twin cousin sisters got 10As in their SPM]
“Dang. I’m such a stupid girl.”
“For some reasons, the stupid girls are sisters. LOL.”
Added on March 22nd:
For the benefit of my non-Malaysian (and non-Asian) visitors and readers, for some reasons, a student is judged by how good s/he is by the number of “A”s (as opposed to Bs and Cs) s/he gets in our nationwide examinations — and trust me when I say that an average Malaysian sits for 4 of those midnight-oil-burning and sleep-depriving and hair-tearing examinations.
I have always disliked the idea of measuring a student’s knowledge and intelligence and capabilities by how well s/he does in examinations. Maybe because I was never one of those students who performed very well in tests and exams, and despite that, I did not think of myself as a “poor student”.
Now that I am actually on my way to obtaining a Ph.D., I am sure many of my former classmates and schoolmates would be wondering, “Huh? That Pelf who always almost failed her A Levels Math and Biology is now doing her Ph.D.?!” I’d love to see THAT expression. LOL.
Truth is, my friends, it takes more than just a string of “A”s to succeed in life.
waaah!!! i also feel a bit st*pid…
Tell me about it… my cousins are always making me look dumb. But I’m better looking… LOL
Entirely agreed with your observations. Education is a process of learning to learn. Learning is in turn a lifelong process. Quite how you do in your examinations has no relationship with how you have learnt to learn throughout your life. Unfortunately, modern education systems have gone over to the examination, grading and competition route much to the detriment of preparing students to learn the joy of learning per se. I am not at all surprised that you have obtained your PhD despite poor grades in school. You have learnt how to learn despite the st*pid system. My congratulations to you.
I don’t mean to offend anyone in particular but I have came across so many MANY so-called educated people back in Malaysia 1) who think that sharing knowledge be it on a forum or in a blog is showing off, 2) ask the silliest of questions (one recent example is when a doctor mentioned “regular sex” for this lady who was trying to get pregnant and her next question was whether it mean unprotected or protected sex) and lastly 3) that education stops when you graduate from uni/college.
Another bunch of people also think that learning must revolve around the academic or professional field but they don’t realize that life skills like cooking, crafts, housework, even socialising and people skills are equally important. You aren’t born with skills, you pick them up. To be honest, call me old-fashioned but what’s the point of having a Masters or PhD when you don’t even know how to boil water or cook rice for your children/husband?
There has to be a balance to everything, even learning. :)
Exactly, Mei! You just hit the bull’s eye!
Because I have been through uni and I realized that getting all “A”s doesn’t mean anything, I have been telling juniors to pick up more skills that cannot be attained from the classroom. I tell them that getting a 4-flat isn’t everything. I tell them that being a smart student in class doesn’t mean that you will land yourself that dream job if you didn’t know how to carry and present yourself well.
I don’t know how much of those advice went into their heads, but one thing is for sure — they will one day realize the truth behind those words :)