SPM

There it is. The lives of over a thousand students in Malaysia determined by a thin slip of paper.

I've always wondered how something so small - so fragile - can mean so much. You expect the power of deciding your future to come in the form of something greater, like an Oscar gold statue, or a block of carved ivory (nevermind the apparent animals' rights violations). And yet thousands of lives are changed with slips of paper everyday.

Sad, isn't it, the press coverage given to A1s and their importance in our society?

Okay, scrap that. I'm not going to turn this post into a ravaging critique of the Malaysian education system, or the fact that we have too many subjects, or the fact that we are developing a breed of young Malaysians who excel at taking exams and nothing else.

No, not talking about that. Though it is very tempting to do so.

I'm talking about my SPM results. I'm relieved with what i have, and i thank the big guy upstairs (God) for being with me in so many ways throughout 2006. Boy do i hate the SPM.

I got 8As, 1B, and 1C.

Of those, 5As were A1s (Math, Add Math, English, EST and Physics)

3A2s were History, Chemistry and Biology.

The B3 was unsurprisingly BM, and the C5 was for moral, which i duly accept with slight glee. I am a very immoral person, according to the Malaysian syllabus. I throw cans at dogs, kick old women down stairs, and laugh whenever i see a pedestrian knocked down by a speeding car.

On a more serious note, i'm feeling slightly detached, (as well as) relieved that i scored A1 for both physics and add math. I can now look Mr Lee (physics) and Aunty Oi Jun in the eye, with confidence that i did not let them down.

It's over. I can't believe that it's over. I'm not feeling anything raw. Is this apathy? I may never know.