Results are in!

Dear Reader,




Kindly refer to the title above. Yes, the results are, in fact, in.


"What results?" you ask, scratching your head in confusion.


Ah, my silly and scatter-brained reader, don't you remember? I told you all about this in one of my posts, dated 22nd of February 2009, under the title of 'Birthday Girl'.


Still not ringing any bells? Very well. I'll just have to come out and say it. No use prolonging this ridiculous situation any longer; you don't know what I'm talking about, I won't let you know what I'm talking about. Just a waste of time, really. I mean, you must be absolutely dying of curiosity by now.


Ahem.


The results in question are my SPM examination results. And they are in; as in, they are out. Officially out. They came out on the 12th of March, actually. But due to my acute tendency to procrastinate, I have postponed the announcement of them until today. The 12th of March fell on a Thursday. An ordinary, average, garden-variety Thursday. Remarkable only in the degree of how extremely ordinary, average and garden-variety it was. Oh, yes, and that was The Day, The Dreadful Day, when my results came out, of course. The results that determine my future, my career, and my standing in the eyes of society.


I bet you want to know how I did, don't you, my inquisitive reader. Well, I did okay. Just okay. I didn't get straight A's, but at least I passed.


I shall proceed to deliver a severely detailed and extremely specific report of my aforementioned results. Please find it in your heart, my dearest reader, to stay awake for the entire duration of this mind-numbingly boring post.


But first, I shall acquaint you with the Malaysian SPM grading scheme. We do things by grades here. A1 is the highest grade: 100% to 85%. Next is the A2 rank: 84% to 76%, I think. And then there's the B3: 75% to 64%. Or something like that. Then there's the B4, C5, D6 and so on and so forth. I'm not really sure about the marks allocated for each grade...I've quite forgotten by now.


Overall, I received 8 A's (6 A1's and 2 A2's) and 3 B3's. There are actually just 10 compulsory subjects for SPM, but students are allowed to take on as many extra subjects as they feel they are able to handle. I took one extra subject: Bible Knowledge, mainly because it's easy; a guaranteed A.


Now, on to the good stuff.


English: I received an A1. Hardly surprising; English was always my best subject. And Malaysia's standard of English is a bit...mediocre. It's to be expected, of course, in a country where English is not the national language.


EST: This harmless-looking acronym is actually a curse in disguise. It stands for English for Science and Technology. Basically, it's a waste of time. We are forced to take this subject because our Education Ministry feels that the separate subjects of Chemistry, Biology, Physics and English aren't enough. We need another burden, another subject to study, which is just the combination of these four subjects, but with a different set of rules and format to memorise.


I got an A1 for it. My essays were mostly crap anyway. I discovered a long time ago that as long as you write crap with a serious enough tone and with good enough English, you'll get good marks for it. That's the only good thing about EST; the teachers that mark the papers are English teachers, not Science teachers.

Bahasa Malaysia: I got an A1 as well. This was actually quite a surprise. I expected a B3 or maybe an A2. I never got anything higher than an A2 in my normal school exams. Thank goodness for the bell curve, I guess.

History: Another A1. Like with my Bahasa Malaysia, I was expecting an A2, at the highest. But I vaguely remember making an actual effort to study. Maybe that's what did it. Or it could just be the bell curve again.


Mathematics: I got an A1 for it. Math, compared with Additional Mathematics, is so much easier. There is definitely an imbalance in the curriculum they teach in Malaysian schools. Classes in Malaysia are divided into two 'streams' after Form 3--I guess that would be Grade 9--Science stream and Arts/Commerce stream. I was in the Science stream. Students in the Science stream are required to take Math as well as Add Math. However, for students in the Arts/Commerce stream, Add Maths is not compulsory. There's too big a difference between the subjects. I mean, the stuff we learn in Math is just another English lesson, but with numbers and 'mathematical reasoning'.


Biology: Shockingly, an A1. I was expecting something much lower. I think the highest I ever got for Bio was an A2. But Bio was always my favourite science subject. And I think I managed to get some brownie points because Bio is really all about remembering and explaining the biochemical processes that occur in living organisms. Yup...I'm really good at taking a little bit of information and just elaborating on it into as many sentences as I can, like thinly-spread butter on toast.


Pendidikan Moral: Translation-->Moral Education. I got an A2 for it. Man, I hated Moral. We had to memorise, word-for-word, the definitions and key-words of 'virtues'. And there were also a number of incredibly pointless and confusing formulae for answering questions; there were at least two different ones for the subjective questions, depending on the marks allocated. And there was one for answering essay questions. Needless to say, it was extremely frustrating to get penalised for something as pathetic as writing an 'and' instead of an 'as well as', or leaving out one single adjective from an already over-descriptive, long-winded sentence. Speaking of long-winded...


Bible Knowledge: An A2. Exactly what I expected. I remember thinking as I sat for the paper, 'it's gonna be an A2, at least.' And I was right. I could've gotten an A1, but, as is the norm with me, I left the studying til the last possible minute.


Chemistry: I got a B3. I hate Chemistry. It sucks. I respect all those people who actually 'get' Chemistry, seriously. I doff my hat in humble adoration and homage to all you Chemistry geeks; you may be the socially-inept nerds of today, but you will be the leaders of tomorrow. Remember, the geek shall inherit the earth...or something like that.


Physics: Another B3. Yeah...I'm not a numbers kind of person. I am fated to fail in any field of study, area of interest, or branch of learning that is based solely on counting, calculation and mathematical formulae.


Additional Mathematics: Yet another B3. Refer to paragraph above. 'nuff said.


So, my dear reader, you may awake from your deep and, I trust, restful slumber now. I am finished. Well, almost. I haven't told you how I feel about the outcome of my SPM yet. To be honest, I feel torn. Ripped in half. Divided. I can't decide whether I'm happy and relieved to have passed every single subject, or disappointed and a bit regretful that I didn't get straight A's.


I know, I know, I should be feeling grateful that I managed to even pass my stupid SPM. And if I regret not getting all A's, I only have myself to blame for not studying hard enough. Or often enough. Or long enough. But still...I wish life had a reset button.


It's no use dwelling on the past, I guess. How can you move forward if all you're ever doing is looking behind you?


Well, I believe I have taxed your patience quite enough, dearest reader, and I shall leave you to continue your nap in peace. Til next time, adieu.






Yours,



Figgy the Fractured