Slightly more than a week ago, the much anticipated Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia 2006 results were released nationwide at 10 a.m. Some candidates who managed to secure 13 1A’s and above were pulled to the limelight on major local dailies, thereby sharing their success and jubilations with all other excellent candidates all over Malaysia. The Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE), however, did not reveal the best overall SPM candidate for the year 2006, stating that such an act is inappropriate as each candidate has its own strengths and weaknesses in certain subjects. Instead, the MOE reveal the top 105 SPM 2006 candidates.
In case you don’t know, I've also sat the SPM examinations held last year, in the month of November and December for three consecutive weeks. I took 11 subjects, mainly Malay Language, English Language, Moral Studies, History, Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, Commerce, Chemistry, Physics, Biology and English for Science and Technology. Of all the subjects undertaken, I managed to achieve 10 1A’s and 1 2A. Aside from that, my English 1119 (GCE-O) also scored another 1A.
As a matter of fact, I was very disappointed with my results as I thought I could achieve a string of 1A’s. Sadly, that was not the case because my Moral Studies has earned me a 2A, instead of a 1A. My parents were unsupportive and didn’t even make an effort to congratulate nor advice me to move on in life. Who are to be blamed? The country’s education system has been emphasizing greatly on the importance of 1A’s that to a certain extent, it has failed to nurture good all-rounder to fill the so-called human capital of our nation. Grab a few straight 1A’s scorer, and don’t you be surprised if they can’t even converse coherently and eloquently.
Naturally, if a candidate scored a 2A for any subjects, chances of securing a government scholarship (the coveted PSD scholarship) is almost negligible. Did I ring any bell? Of course, it’s apparent that I’ll likely fail to secure ‘that’ scholarship giving the fact that I have a 2A for Moral Studies. At first, I fret about my results, day in day out for 2 months only to be disappointed by my moral subject. Nevertheless, I’m not giving up without trying; perhaps the government might take into account my outstanding extra-curricular achievements
Generally, there are many types of student in the country. This article will simply emphasise on the 2 major groups that will shape our society as we embrace vision 2020 with full enthusiasm. Alright, that sounds entirely robust. The two main categories of student are smart individuals and clever individuals. It is clear to me as I hope it is clear to you that many outstanding students are mostly clever individuals. What defines clever individual? Clever individuals are students who are academically inclined and have been achieving outstanding results in all examinations, be it school-based or major public examinations. In other words, they are bookworms or geeks who simply can’t interact well with others and have amazingly low self-esteem. However, they are not nerds as the term ‘nerd’ is defined as a person who is boring, stupid and not fashionable (according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Compass). They may be boring to hang around with, or have a disastrous fashion sense, but are certainly clever enough to interpret even the toughest science theories or solve the most complex mathematical equations of all time.
What about smart individuals? Aren’t they the same as clever ones? The answer is, HIGHLY UNLIKELY. Smart individuals may not be scoring all the intended 1A’s but they are armed with soft skills that are relevant to meeting our current and future job requirement. Do you think a multinational company will hire a candidate who can express themselves well or someone with an impressive scholastic achievement that intoxicates the interviewee with technical terms? It’s obvious that all companies will choose to hire a candidate that’s both appealing in terms of academic and leadership skills, but how many such people exist in this world? Alternatively, companies are always on the look-out for bright individuals that are able to stand out and express themselves well with a good academic record (not best academic record, mind you!).
Bottom line is, never give up if you (SPM candidate readers) didn’t manage to secure a string of 1A’s in your exam. Spend some time to reminisce all the activities that you’ve taken part and the leadership positions that you’ve uphold in school. As my brother once said, “You might not be studying overseas, it doesn’t mean you can’t work overseas”. Acknowledging that I’m categorised under clever individuals group (well, to a very great extent), I'm now taking initiatives to make improvements on my soft skills ability (e.g. Speaking publicly, making presentation, communication skills etc. etc).
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