UM: Ujian Kelayakan (Engineering)

I wasn't sure whether 94s were the first batch to sit for a qualification test before interviews, but it certainly seemed so. Anyone who applied for engineering course in UM needed to sit for an ujian kelayakan. It was announced only one week before the test, and it provided no information whatsoever pertaining to what we would face, what we would be tested, and what format would be adopted.

I asked around, and nobody knew. They said we were the first batch.

Not that I cared, but expecting a proper reaction to something so sudden is a little aggressive.

So I didn't care. Together with my friends, we went to Alor Setar. After getting a hotel and settling down, we slept, and the next day we woke up and went to Regency Hotel.

As expected, we saw tons of people literally squeezing into the hotel. We saw several familiar faces, expectedly, and without much delays and with a tad anxiety, we walked to where we should go. After we sat down in the hall, we were instructed to leave the hall until the doors were opened for us.

So out we went. And as expected, since punctuality was one Malaysians lack of, everything got delayed.

And finally we were told to get in. We sat down, and we were tentatively instructed to fill the objective papers.

Then we were allowed to see the question papers. Oh yes - UM were testing us on STPM Maths, Physics and Chemistry.

The questions were extremely easy. The only reason we complained hard is because we had no touched anything STPM related stuffs for half a year, and expecting us to ace the exam when we were given last minute information to prepare was quite impossible.

Maths was okay. Rather simple if you can remember the formula. Chemistry was okay, only balancing equations and finding moles. Physics was ok though I couldn't be sure. PA was downright weird.

And then, we ended our ujian kelayakan. Quite flabbergasted, but relieved.

Alor Setar: Hotel and Relax

It was suddenly announced that on a Friday, the result of our online university application will be released. I checked the website every minute and yet there was nothing, until several hours later it was announced that the result will only be made available at 3pm on the same day.

So I waited patiently and I got my result: I got an offer to interview for Civil Engineering course in UM on next Saturday. The first thing it came to my mind was: are you crazy? You released the result today, and you expected me to go to Alor Setar by next Friday without providing accommodation, advanced notice (I don't consider a week early as 'advanced'), and transport?

I say, okay. Maybe it's the way it's supposed to be. I would bear with it. 

And there was an 'ujian kelayakan' (qualification test). What would be tested and what should we expect were never told. 

I began to find friends who were going as well, and got many response. Eventually, I followed two friends - Wei En and Eric - there to Alor Setar on Thursday evening.

Before we departed to Alor Setar, we stopped by at Sunway Carnival to buy the necessary attire. It took a moment for my friends to lay eyes on those they desired, and it took some time later when we arrived Alor Setar.

You see, Alor Setar is a city where Malay's the majority. Hence, there bound to be cultural difference as there in Penang. In a deeply Islamic city, dress code tended to be strict, and nightlife were therefore somehow limited.

We went to search for Regency Hotel first, as there was where we would have our interviews and exam, and later, through the poor attempt by GPS, we began to search for hotels nearby that would be conveniently close and financially affordable. 

Of course we found one, it's Hotel Koperasi. It looked neat, grand, and at least well managed, but alas there was nobody at the reception and therefore we forwent the hotel. Then there was one very close to the hotel - Hotel Sri Gemilang - and it looked rather dilapidated and dirty. I said we shouldn't judge the hotel by its looks and told Eric to give it a try.

So we ascended the stairs and entered the lobby, and we were rather greeted with a cold, a little intimidating and indifferent receptionist. We requested to have a look at the hotel first before we booked, and there he offered. He opened the door, and the first sight I caught was a flying cockroach in front of a rather dirty, perhaps musty, toilet with yellow stains.

We fled.

My friends then use GPS and found Fuller Hotel, one that appeared to have received appreciably positive comments. So I called in desperation, fearing the hotel would be fully booked as I expected lots of people swarming into Alor Setar looking for accommodation. To my surprise, there were still rooms available, at RM108/night.

Again, we fled, only this time rather happily.

So we arrived at Fuller Hotel, after a momentary wait, we managed to get a hotel room. The hotel room was rather clean, though the floor was sticky. The bed was extremely comfortable, the toilet resplendent, and the decoration was beautiful. It was the right call to stay here.

It was around 9.30pm and therefore we went out in search for dinner. There were a number of cafeterias and pubs below but the cafeterias catered for the rich and the pubs for serious drinkers, so we strolled further and after bending a corner, we were greeted with a street of hawker centres. 

Oh yes, there was indeed a great location! 

However, food at Alor Setar, despite we tried to be positive, were rather bland and unsatisfactory. Perhaps we were to use to eating Penang food, but food in Alor Setar tasted rather stale.