Merdeka!

Today marks the 54th anniversary of Merdeka!

54 years ago we were conquered by the British, and after a long struggle we finally managed to build our own nation and gain independence!

Hope all Malaysians work in harmony to prevent our country from being conquered by foreign countries again, and do remember what led to our country's independence: harmony and tolerance among three races that are so unique it bring about respect from other countries.

Let's appreciate our uniqueness and celebrate Merdeka together!

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!

To all Muslims all over the world, especially Malaysian Muslims (okay, I'm a bit biased :P) :

Hope you all have a great and prosperous future, and of course, may your wishes come true~~ !

Percubaan SPM, Day 2

The school didn't set a time for the exam, therefore we were left wondering when would the exam start. One thing we were sure was that exam would only start after the assembly. Well, the first paper for the day would be English paper 1. Formal letter came out, and thanks to Jeff I wasn't caught off guard by the unexpected and surprisingly unpopular format of question. As for the second part, I chose question 4 and now I'm worried I had written the essay wrongly. Actually, I think I did write it wrongly - slightly out of topic. Never mind, forget about that for now. Second paper for the day: Chinese paper 2. I spent 15 minutes finishing the first part and 45 minutes finished off the second part, and hence I had 45 minutes left for me to fidget in the class. I realised I was the quickest to finish the paper, and that notion hit me like a hammer because I didn't expect it. Either I was too smart or I was being lackadaisical, but I guess it doesn't matter much. For now.

Percubaan SPM, Day 1

Time's too short for us to revise all the topics that our teachers have taught. Nevertheless, we still have to sit for this exam, even if we've foreseen our results would be appalling. Okay, here goes. First paper for the day: Malay paper 1. We've to write 2 essays and we are given 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete them. For part A the essay I wrote was a bit lengthy, but not too verbose yet I assume. The second essay was fine, but I used only a few peribahasa. Second paper for the day: Sejarah paper 2. Despite being given the scope (which seriously narrow down the scope we need to read for the exam), many of us were still unable to answer all the questions because, well, like I said, time's too scarce for us to read. Anyway, day 1 was fine. The real horror will only begin after Raya.

Trial

Tomorrow marks the beginning of pure horror for most form 5 students. Percubaan SPM will officially begin tomorrow. Its presence can already be felt a few days ago, and the terrors it brings can be clearly seen on all and sundry's visage. Well, the truth is, the horror hasn't begun, and it'll only begin tomorrow. And what else would you anticipate? I say I'll see more weary eyes surrounded by balls of blackness, an expression of exhaustion that suggest sleeping is lacking, and a curved back with their eyes invisibly glued to books. Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Near to Inferno

CSG will certainly have a pleasant memory of our class. Today, she gave us her permission to conduct experiments. We had to investigate the reactivity of diffferent metals with carbon, then from the results we were required to construct an electrochemical series that should be spot-on if the experiments were not bungled. Therefore, we took different chemicals to conduct the experiments.

The chemicals were carbon, aluminum oxide, copper oxide, zinc oxide and magnesium oxide.

Then, because time was short - okay, we should partly be blamed for this unforeseen incident - everybody tried to rush off by throwing all heated chemicals into the garbage bin after the experiments. Okay, it's very imprudent of us to throw the chemicals into the garbage bin while they were piping hot, especially since we learn chemistry and we should realise the consequences of reacting two hot metals together in unprotected condition and around combustible materials.

And worse still, different metallic oxide and carbon were thrown into the garbage bin. Out of the blue it just caught fire and the garbage bin lit up with a bright flame. The flame was small, but growing bigger with time and spreading rather rapidly. CSG was caught off guard and was rather surprised by the incident, and so were we. But, luckily, Jacky who composed himself at the moment immediately took one of the two beers (umm....I don't know the specific name) filled with sands and tossed them into the garbage bin, temporarily cutting off oxygen supply and extinguishing the fire.

But, alas, the fire was only temporarily extinguished and it was actually caused by chemical reactions. But since the other class's students were trickling in, we had to figure out a way to solve the problem without disturbing them. Even though completely sealed, the fire remained obdurate and refused to die off. The plastic bag that sealed it began to break by the extreme heat.

For about 10 minutes we were trying to figure out ways to solve the problem. Then, the second batch of flame began to arise, but we managed to control it without any fire really burning. Then, a brilliant idea by TKC - he suggested us to spread all the garbage on the floor until whatever that was burning settled down and cooled, only then no chemicals could possibly react.

And did we so. There were few stubborn flame which required us to stomp on them a few times. One thing we found that was quite shocking was two correction tape that caught fire and someone did feel glad no liquid paper was thrown into the bin, or else explosion might go off.

Anyway, the fire was successfully ceased to burn after 30 minutes. CSG certainly felt relieved because she thanked us profusely - not the usual her.

Terrifying Approach

Okay, if you cross out the days on the calender everyday, and if you've marked a very, very big and very, very loathed zero on 25th of August, you'll realise time isn't ample anymore, it's now scant. Every minutes from now on shall be treasured and grasped firmly. But, in my book, this coming examination will not be able to test a student's full ability, because it follows almost immediately after the second class test. But anyway, my teachers are teaching very quickly, and they even neglect and forgo some topics to finish the syllabus like a bat out of hell, leaving us hanging very loosely at the base of all greasy knowledge, try to stuff more knowledge and all hell breaks loose - either you mentally collapsed or you mentally go haywire, some will go berserk, some will simply go and sleep and forget all the things. Well, in short, this coming exam brings more harm than good as students tend to do things which are supposed to help them to study but in fact are deleterious. What have I been doing? Well, I'm doing my best to revise all the topics I've learnt, but I prefer not to stress myself. Let me get this clear: I do experience stress and pressure, but I try to overcome them.

Tolerance

Sometimes, tolerance is the answer for everything.

When you're caught in a middle of a feud, the urge of attacking back is simply overwhelming. Upon the time you snarled back at the person, the sudden proliferation of satisfaction will just arise and it amazingly hides all other emotions while you'll sit on your chair, anticipating for a reply. But at the end, you'll realise you gain nothing because the feud will just drag on, and it seemingly has no boundary.

Well, sometimes, tolerance is the way to end a feud, although the result is usually biased and unfair to a particular party or both.

Personal experience tells me arguing with someone really doesn't bring benefit.

Two weeks of argument with a friend and I realised I don't really win anything. I emotionally suffered quite horribly as his presence somehow haunted me and the notion of avoiding him kept playing in my mind.

After that I realised tolerance is really the key to everything. People are different, and although you hate some part of them, tolerance is simply the way to maintain friendships.

There's no infallible person in the world. Everybody has their disadvantages and we simply need to live with it. For instance, mine disadvantage is that I dare not take risks - a very big disadvantage I endeavour to overcome.

Well, during a feud, being rational opens the pathway to success and answer. Sometimes, tolerating with someone for an unfair result brings more joy than sadness and dissatisfaction.

Sometimes, tolerance wins everything.

Ponder

Have you ever struggled about the path you're about to choose for your future? I'm struggling with it now, with desperation and exhaustion, annoyingly. It's really troubling when you do not know what career you decide, but then you know time is scarce and you've to make a decision fast. So far, the path I choose is something that has connection with biology or chemistry. If it's language, it'll be English, but I highly doubt I'll dump my Science for English. Although we can keep ourselves up to date by sheer interest, we'll still somehow lose behind if we do not really study about it. I guess it doesn't matter much to most of you, but it does matter for me.

Anyway, this is one of the reasons I'm taking form 6. No matrikulasi, but form 6. I'll not take Physics as a choice of career because I suck at Physics. Physics is a subject that warrant imagination and you've to be able to visualise how it works, and you've to know the concept of it and apply it in our daily lives. Besides, Physics is about something that we cannot touch and feel, but only imagine and understand. For those reasons I've stated above, I can't take Physics. Therefore, I take up Biology or Chemistry.

As for English. Well....I'm considering studying TESL, but I highly doubt I'll take it, not especially when I've an English level that is beneath what is acceptable for second speakers.

Class Test 2, Day 4

The first paper for the day: English. And guess who set the paper? The infamous TESL teacher Mr. PH. He's notorious for setting papers that would crush the students under piles of highfalutin languages and bombastic vocabulary. And he continues his tactic again by setting questions that could be never be found anywhere in Malaysia. But because Biology paper follows after the English paper, most people do not bother discussing about - or if you prefer, squabbling over - the paper. Biology paper is another piece of shit. Most of the questions test us on facts that take on infinitesimal places in the textbook. Most of them are trivial and actually shouldn't be emphasised on. Third paper for the day: Sejarah. If you think 40 objective questions are easy, you're wrong. Try to thumb through the paper and peruse the questions, you'll realise what you see can actually deceive you.