24 January 2008 Tragedy

This tragedy happened just 3 weeks after I entered secondary school. It is also known as the 'bottle cover tragedy'. At that time, the school lessons were in the afternoon.

In the morning on 24 January 2008 (Thursday), there was a cross country competition in my school. At that time, I had the habit of not paying attention to what my teacher said in class. Therefore, I did not know that there would be a cross-country competition until the day before that, when one of my friends told me about it. Still, it was not too late. I went to school on that morning and took part in the cross country competition. I was not good at sports but I still tried to run as fast as I could, hoping that I could win the competition. At last, when I reached the finishing line, the teacher in charge said that I finished the 25th. I heard that the top-50 runners would be taken into consideration.

I was very happy because I thought that I had won the cross country competition, so I told one of my friends about that. However, he said 'This is just a rehearsal. Let's see if you can win the actual cross country competition on Saturday.' I was disappointed to hear that. I did not know that the cross country competition on that day was just a rehearsal because I did not pay attention to what my teacher said. Still, I told myself that if I could get the 25th in the rehearsal I might be able to win the actual competition as well. Although I did not hear my teacher saying that the actual cross country competition would be on that Saturday, my friend had mentioned Saturday so I assumed that it was true.

At that time, I had a few friends in secondary school. However, I had some problems with the girls in my class. For some reason, they liked to tease and disturb me. They often called me 'the steel rod dancing girl'. I did not know what that meant exactly but I knew that they were calling me a girl. They also called me a dog. Sometimes, they would use a broom to hit my leg. They also disturbed me in some other ways. I had told my grandparents about that but they could not do anything. Therefore, I hated those girls very much and I took revenge against them. I often used the sharp end of a set-square to poke the cover of their water bottles. However, that did not cause any damage so the girls just ignored what I did.

On the night before 24 January 2008, my grandfather said that I really behaved like a girl so that's why the girls in my class called me a girl. He claimed that I liked to drag on my words when I spoke and make sounds like 'Eh!', which in his opinion were what girls like to do. My grandmother also said that when I was in primary school, I often sat with girls while eating in the canteen. It was not true so I denied, but my grandmother just ignored and continued saying. Then, my grandparents said that if I wanted the girls in my class to stop teasing me, I should change my behaviour first. I definitely did not agree with them, because it was wrong for the girls to tease me and there was no excuse for that. However, I did not want to argue with my grandparents.

After the cross country competition on 24 January 2008, I went home for a while. I had to go to school again because there would still be school lessons in the afternoon. When I was at home, my grandmother cooked a plate of roasted chicken for my lunch. I told my grandmother that I could finish the whole plate of roasted chicken, but she replied 'Eh!'. So, I asked her "Why did you say 'Eh'?" My grandfather who was sitting beside heard that and immediately he said "There, you are behaving like a girl again, you said 'Eh!' This is why the girls in your class like to tease you." I answered 'Because grandmother said 'Eh!', so I wanted to ask her why she said so.' My grandfather said 'Grandmother did say that, but you should not follow.' I replied 'No, she was the one who said that, I did not.' Then, my grandfather said 'I heard you saying.' I argued 'No, I didn't.' Then, he said 'If you would not listen to my advice, the girls will surely continue to tease you.' I did not answer him back.

Later, when I was in school, I thought of what happened earlier. Actually, I did not say 'Eh!' intentionally, instead I was just asking my grandmother why she said that. However, my grandfather insisted that I said it. He should have tried to find out the truth before making such a conclusion. Also, it was wrong for my grandfather to say it was my fault that the girls in my class teased me. The girls were definitely wrong no matter what. I was unhappy that my grandfather did not support me. On that day, the girls teased me again. This, in addition to what my grandfather said earlier, made me feel very angry with the girls.

I once again used the sharp end of my set-square to poke the cover of one of their bottles and I poked harder this time. Suddenly, that end of my set-square broke off. The girls saw that and laughed at me. I got even angrier. The broken parts of the set-square was very sharp, so I used it to scratch the cover of the bottle. As a result, there were 2 scratches on the bottle cover. Looking at that, the girl who owned the bottle started crying, so I stopped scratching. She told her friends about that and they all blamed me. A girl KYF advised me to apologise to that girl, but I insisted that she should apologise to me first because she teased me first.

Then, I realised that a girl TJW also knew about the incident, and at once I knew that I would be in trouble. TJW was from the same primary school with me. During primary school, she sat in my car to go home after school every day since her house was located near my house. She often used that opportunity to make reports to my grandparents whenever I did something wrong in school, and because of that I often got scolded by my grandparents. On that day, I knew that TJW would definitely report to my grandparents that I damaged the cover of the girl's bottle. In fact, that girl asked TJW to tell my grandparents about that. She promised the girl to do so and she planned to take her bottle to show my grandparents as a proof. I began to feel scared. It was already 5:30PM at that time and the school would be over one hour later at 6:30PM. If TJW saw my grandfather at the school gate later, she would surely tell my grandfather about that straight away.

I told myself that I should walk out of the school and enter the car quickly before TJW reached the school gate. However, even if she did not see my grandfather later, she might telephone my grandparents or come to my house at night to tell them about that. There was a possibility that her mother would stop her from doing so, but I could not be sure about that so I would surely be worried all the time. Then, I thought of turning off the door bell of my house and disconnecting the telephone, but then she could still call my grandparents in front of my house. I realised that I could do nothing to stop her. I decided to ask KYF for help. I asked her to tell the girl that I was willing to apologise to her, as long as TJW would not report to my grandparents about the case. However, KYF said that there was nothing she could do because it was already too late. I tried to think of some other solutions but there were none. Finally, I decided to tell my grandfather about that myself, hoping that he would not scold me.

When the school was over, I quickly walked out of my school. When I walked down the stairs, I saw that TJW was still above the stairs, talking to someone. I thought that she could not catch up with me and I quickly walked to the school gate. At the gate, I waited for a few minutes before my grandfather arrived. I was prepared to tell my grandfather about that and I thought TJW was not there. Out of my expectation, when I walked towards the car, TJW ran towards me. I tried to stop her and I entered my car. However, when I tried to close the car door, she pulled the door and said 'Wait!'. My grandfather saw that and he asked TJW what happened. She told my grandfather everything. Then, my grandfather asked TJW to tell the girl not to cry and promised that he would pay for the bottle cover. My grandmother was not in the car at that time as she stayed at home.

After that, I told my grandfather that I actually wanted to tell him about that myself. At first, he did not scold me. He said that it was just a small matter and asked me to give that girl the money for the bottle cover. He also asked me to apologise to her and I agreed. Then, my grandfather talked about the cross country competition. He said that the students in his tuition centre told him that the actual cross country competition would be held on that Saturday. Since my friend had also said that it would be on Saturday, I was very sure that it was true. However, I lied to my grandfather that I knew about that from my teacher, because I did not want my grandfather to know that I did not pay attention to what my teacher said.

I thought that I had escaped from my grandfather's scolding. However, somewhere on the way back home, my grandfather suddenly said that it was not good for me to do that to the girl. I agreed that he was right. My grandfather added that previously he had always advised me not to find trouble with other students but I would not listen. Then, I said that I knew that I was wrong and I would not do that again. However, my grandfather said that there was no use for me to know that I was wrong since I already did it. He even said that the girl might tell the teacher that I was actually trying to hit her and she used her bottle to block and thus the bottle cover was damaged. Then, my grandfather started scolding me.

When we reached home, my grandmother was already waiting at the door. Immediately my grandfather told my grandmother about that. She was very angry to know that. My grandfather decided to telephone TJW to ask her more about the incident. TJW told my grandparents that I had been scratching the cover of that girl's bottle and another girl's bottle since a few days ago, which made my grandparents even angrier. They scolded me badly for a long time on that night. They said that I had done something wrong just 3 weeks after entering secondary school. In the morning on the next day 25 January 2008, they continued scolding me. At last, they told me not to repeat the same mistake in the future.

After my grandfather came home from his tuition class on that afternoon, he told me that his students said that the actual cross country competition would not be held on that Saturday but on some other day instead. He asked me if I was sure that it would be on that Saturday. Actually, I did not hear my teacher saying about that but I assumed that it was true since my friend and my grandfather's students in his previous class had said that it would be on Saturday. So, I lied to my grandfather that I was sure that my teacher said Saturday. My grandfather then said that if I go to school on Saturday and found out that there was no cross country, I could just go home and it was just a small matter.

At that time, one of my friend TWS telephoned me to ask me something. I used that opportunity to ask her about the cross country competition. She said that the actual cross country competition would be held on the next Saturday, not on that Saturday. When I told my grandparents about that, they asked me why I did not listen properly to what my teacher said. I told them that they should not blame me because my teacher said Saturday but he did not say 'next Saturday'. They said that they were not blaming me, instead they were advising me to listen properly to what my teachers say in the future. I insisted that I did listen properly and my teacher really just said Saturday. I argued that my grandfather's students in the previous class also said that it would be on Saturday.

Then, my grandparents got angry. They said that my teacher definitely said 'next Saturday' and I did not listen properly. I again told my grandparents not to blame me for such a small issue. I did not tell them the truth that I actually heard it from my friend because they might get even angrier. Then, my grandfather said 'Even if we blame you, there is nothing wrong about that, because you are the one who made the mistake'. My grandmother also said 'If you did not damage the girl's bottle cover, if you did listen properly to what your teacher said, nobody is going to blame you.' As I expected, my grandparents mixed up the two issues. They scolded me again, for damaging the girl's bottle cover and for not paying attention to what my teacher said. They also said that it was embarrassing for me to ask my friend about the date of the cross country competition.

On 27 January 2008, I asked that girl about the price of her bottle cover because I wanted to pay her back. However, she said that she still had not bought a new one so I did not have to pay her yet. On the following day 28 January 2008, my school reallocated the students into different classes. I was hoping that I would not be in the same class with those girls again. However, it turned out that I and the girls were in the same class again. I was unhappy about that but there was nothing I could do. A few days later, that girl claimed that I damaged the curtain of our class. She said that I did not have to pay her for the bottle cover anymore, instead I had to pay her RM5 for the curtain, since she was in charge of the decorations of my class. So, I paid her RM5.

Thinking of the incident makes me feel unhappy. All I did was scratching the girl's bottle cover and I feel that it was just a small issue. My grandparents had overreacted by scolding me. I am sure that if my teachers were to know about the case, they would not have scolded me, instead they would just ask me to apologise to the girl. I was also very angry with TJW. Because she reported the case to my grandparents, I got scolded. In fact, she had done that many times back in primary school and I always got scolded by my grandparents. She even blackmailed me by saying that she would report something to my grandparents if I refused to follow her instructions.

Due to this incident, I decided to consider TJW as my enemy and I never talked to her again. I also told some of my friends about the incident. Now, it is already more than 5 years after the incident. I do not hate TJW as much as I did last time, but I will never forget that incident, so I still consider TJW as my enemy.

After the incident, those girls seldom disturbed and teased me. At first, I still hated them. Later, I realised that they were not that bad and the only person that I should hate was TJW. So, I stopped hating them. Towards the end of 2008, I began talking to those girls. By April 2009, I had considered them to be my friends. I also invited them to my birthday party on 4 April 2009. Later, they told me why in the beginning they called me 'the steel rod dancing girl'. It was because on the first day of secondary school, I kept holding onto the steel columns outside the school hall and twisting my body around it, which made me look like a girl who was dancing. They also apologised to me about that. After 2010, I was separated from them because we were no longer in the same class. Therefore, I often missed them.

This tragedy was the greatest tragedy throughout my 5 years in secondary school. It actually involved two incidents, and it did not benefit me at all.

If you liked this story, you may want to read this too:

https://www.daniellimjj.com/2014/09/august-2009-tragedy.html

18 October 2012 Incident

NOTE: This story has implied meaning. However, as of December 2013, it no longer has any significance for me.

On 18 October 2012, I went to school as usual. At that time, many of my friends often skipped school because it was close to SPM. But on that day, most of my friends attended school. I was happy about that. However, starting from the 2nd period onwards, I began to feel very tired. It was most likely because on the night before that, I studied Sejarah until 3:30AM. It was the 1st time I ever studied so late. I was so tired that I could not even talk to my friends. At last, I had to sleep in the class.

I slept throughout the Chemistry period. Then during recess, I felt better and I could go to the canteen to eat. But after recess, I felt very tired again. I again had to sleep in class during the Biology period. After that, it was Additional Mathematics period. At that time, I was not so tired anymore so I woke up. I could do the questions given by my teacher and even teach my friends on the questions. That was the last two periods in school.

After returning home, I thought of what happened in school on that day. Ever since the 11 July 2012 incident (Read about that incident here: http://daniellimjj.blogspot.com/2013/01/11-july-2012.html ), I had always wanted to treasure every moments with my friends in school before leaving school, so every single day in school was very important for me. However, I realised that I had wasted that day in school. Many of my friends attended school on that day, but I could not talk to them because I was too tired. Thinking of that made me felt unhappy. I regretted studying until so late on the previous night.

Then, I suddenly realised something: That day was not the only day I had wasted in school. Actually, I had also wasted 3 days on the week before that. I recalled what had happened one week earlier.

One week before that, it was the Kem Pelajar Gemilang SPM 2012 organised by JPN Kedah in Alor Star. Most students in my school who got straight A's in the SPM trial were chosen to attend that. However, I was not chosen to attend the program even though I got 9A+ 1A for the SPM trial. The teacher in charge told me that it was because my results were very close to straight A+, so my chance of getting straight A+ in SPM was very high, therefore I did not need to attend the program. I was very unhappy about that because I actually qualify to attend the program.

The program lasted for 3 days. During that 3 days, I attended school as usual, but I was unhappy because I wanted to attend that program. Many of my classmates did not attend school during that 3 days, they were either absent or attended the program. At that time, I still considered some of my friends as 'Important' and others as 'Unimportant'. Most of my classmates who did attend school during that 3 days were my 'Unimportant' friends. Because my 'Important' friends were not in school, I felt boring and that made me feel even more unhappy. I thought that if I could attend the program, it would be much more interesting.

I did not talk much to my classmates in school during that 3 days, instead I was often in bad mood. Because of that, it also affected my productivity. I remembered how I was unable to answer many of the questions in the Terengganu Trial Biology Paper 2 and MRSM Trial Mathematics Paper 2 given by my teachers, even though it reality they were not very difficult. I also wrote a poor essay when my English teacher gave us a Directed Writing question. So, I had wasted that 3 days in school.

When I thought back of all those, I realised that could actually make the most out of that 3 days, rather than just wasting it. I should not have ignored my friends who attended school during that 3 days just because they were my 'Unimportant' friends. Instead, I should have talked more to them and treasured the moments I had with them in school. Then, I would not have felt boring and unhappy in school, therefore the 3 days would not be wasted.

At last, I understood something. It was wrong for me to classify my friends into 'Important' and 'Unimportant'. All my friends are important and I should treasure all of them. I told myself that from that day onwards I should change. The whole incident became my "18 October Revolution". Unfortunately, it was a bit too late. Less than 2 weeks later, it was the SPM and after SPM, I had to separate with my secondary school friends. But I did learn an important lesson from that incident, so I will not repeat the same mistake now.

11 July 2012 Incident

NOTE: This story has implied meaning. However, as of December 2013, it no longer has any significance for me.

Looking back at year 2012, I had a lot of memories, both good and bad, in that year. There were several important dates for me in 2012. One of them was 11 July 2012. Why was this date important for me? The simple answer is, my '7-11 Revolution' started on that day. '7-11 Revolution' was actually a significant change in my thinking, attitude and character. Note that '7-11 Revolution' was completely not related to the 7 Eleven store.

I had been thinking of the day 10 July 2012 for a long time before it came. Earlier, I heard the rumours from many of my friends that the list of students selected to take part in the PLKN (National Service) would be out on 10 July 2012. I did not want to be selected for PLKN, because the training is very tough and the program lasts for 3 months. Therefore, a few days before 10 July 2012, I began to feel worried. In fact, on 8 July 2012, one Chinese boy in my school lied to me that he had seen the PLKN name list and my name was in it. However, it turned out to be not true. The were no news about PLKN on 10 July 2012. The PLKN name list would later come out on 26 July 2012, and I was not selected for PLKN. However, there was an incident on 10 July 2012 which led to my '7-11 Revolution' on the next day. Here, I will explain in detail about the whole incident.

On 9 July 2012 (Monday), I went to school as usual. During the assembly, our teacher told us that there would be an aerobics exercise on the second day in school. All students of SMK Sultan Badlishah were involved. Therefore, all students were required to wear sports T-shirt and track bottom to school on the next day. Then, the teacher also asked all Form 5 students who got top-40 in the whole form for the previous exam to stay back after the assembly. I was one of them, since I got 2nd in form for the May exam. After the assembly, our teacher told all the top-40 form 5 students that we did not have to wear sports T-shirt on the next day, instead we could wear school uniform as usual. The reason was because there would be a special program for us on the second day. Meals would also be provided for us. I was happy because I did not have to attend the aerobics exercise which I disliked.

On the next day, 10 July 2012 (Tuesday), I went to school in my school uniform. Then, I knew that the 'special program' was actually the First Solar Environment Outreach Program organised by First Solar company. First Solar Company is a company located in High-tech Park, Kulim that sells solar panels. The company had cooperation with my school since 2 years ago. They had once organised a program at my school 2 years ago to introduce their company to students. All Form 5 top-40 students would be watching the program. I also heard that we would be given KFC for lunch. During the First Solar Environment Outreach Program, there would be 2 competitions. One of them was the poster designing competition for lower secondary students, and the other competition was the presentation titled 'Solar Energy Makes Our Environment Cleaner and Healthier' for upper secondary students. Then, I knew that a group of 4 Malay girls in my class were taking part in the competition. The aerobics exercise which was held on the same day started on 7:30AM, but the First Solar Environment Outreach Program started later at 8PM. The aerobics exercise was held at the school field, while that program was held at the Dewan Samsudin of my school.

Before the First Solar Environment Outreach Program started, I stayed in my class. Then, the 4 Malay girls in my class who were taking part in the competition asked me if I could help them. They said that during their presentation, they would choose one student from the audience and ask a question 'What do you know about solar energy?'. However, they were not sure how that student would answer and how they should reply to that. So, they planned to do something. They choose me to answer their question. Then, they wanted me to answer like this 'Maybe it is the energy from the sun'. Then, they would reply 'Well, the answer is not very accurate but it is still correct' and also give me a bag with a present in it. But, actually, the bag did not contain anything in it but only a laptop charger. They wanted to do that to show that their group had interaction with the audience, which might help them win the competition.  I agreed as I was willing to help them because they are my good friends and it was an easy task.

At about 7:45AM, I entered the hall. At first, I sat at the back with one of my friend. At 8:15AM, we were given breakfast. I was disappointed because nothing was tasty except the bread with butter. Luckily I have taken my breakfast at home before I went to school. After that, I moved to the front seat. The program still had not yet started and we had to wait for a long time. At 9:00AM, the aerobics exercise had ended, but the First Solar Environment Outreach Program had not yet started. Finally, at 9:30AM, the program started officially. Some workers from First Solar company came to my school. One of them gave a speech. He said that the purpose of the program is to raise awareness among students on the importance of environmental protection. After that, the 'Solar Energy Makes Our Environment Cleaner and Healthier' presentation started. A total of 9 groups took part in the competition. The groups were named Solar 1, Solar 2 and so on until Solar 9. Each group were given a maximum of 15 minutes to present on the stage. There were 4 judges, 2 were my school teachers and the other 2 were workers from First Solar company.

I watched the presentation by the first three groups. There were 4 members in each group. They all used PowerPoint in their presentation and they added some drama in their presentation. In my opinion, their presentation were average only. Their explanation was detailed but their presentation were not very interesting. Then, the 4th group, Solar 4 presented. Unlike other groups, that group only had 2 members. This group's presentation was more creative. They made a scene at a science laboratory where a university student entered and talked to the professor about environmental pollution and solar energy. They did not use PowerPoint but instead they used a small handheld device to present the information. However, their presentation was a bit boring and their explanation was not very detailed so I did not like it.

Next, it was the 5th group, Solar 5 presenting. This group's presentation was the most interesting. There were 3 members. The presented a drama. In the drama, 2 persons were given a task by their boss to obtain some information about solar energy in order to help save the environment. They then flew in an aeroplane to the headquarters of First Solar company. They made drama was so real that even the sounds of the aeroplane taking off and landing could be heard clearly. After they arrived at the headquarters of First Solar company, they entered the building secretly and hacked the company's computer system. The managed to steal and open a PowerPoint file containing information on solar energy. They reported to their boss about information on solar energy they found in the PowerPoint file. They contents of the PowerPoint file was shown on the screen. Suddenly, the security alarm sounded. Immediately, they run out of the company's building and escaped using their aeroplane. However, First Solar company chased them using several aeroplanes. The 2 persons reacted by shooting down the aeroplanes chasing them. The shooting sounds could be heard too. Finally, they returned safety and their boss was very satisfied with what they have done. Then, the drama ended. The drama was very interesting but it lasted for almost 15 minutes until the members of Solar 5 were given the 'last minute remaining' warning.

After that, I watched the presentation of the groups Solar 6 and Solar 7. Again, their presentation were average. I waited for the 4 Malay girls to perform but none of the groups were theirs. At last, the 8th group, Solar 8 presented. Solar 8 was the group of the 4 Malay girls in my class. I was ready to do what they had told me to do. In their presentation, they first showed a video they had taken near a polluted river. After that, they asked the audience a question. As they planned, they asked me to answer. I just stood up and did exactly as what they wanted me to do. Then, they gave be a bag as a present. Actually, the bag contained nothing other than a charger for their laptop. Next, they explained about solar energy in detail. They also showed a model of a city that used solar energy entirely. Finally, they asked all the audience to stand up and sing a song on environmental protection together. Their presentation was interesting, and they also had interaction with the audience. I hoped that they could win the competition. Next, it was the last group, Solar 9 presenting. Their presentation was also quite interesting. They made a drama where a girl went to the future and told the people in the future about the importance of protecting the environment.

Then, the presentation on 'Solar Energy Makes Our Environment Cleaner and Healthier' ended. We were asked to wait 30 minutes before the results of the competition were announced. Our teacher told us to wait patiently because the judges needed some time to determine the winners as all the groups performed quite well. All students in the hall were also given a coupon in order to get the KFC later. The posters designed by the lower secondary students who took part in the poster designing competition were displayed on the notice boards behind the hall. After 30 minutes, the results of the competition were announced. They announced the results of the poster designing competition first. A few winners were selected and they were given some money as a reward. After that, they announced the results of the 'Solar Energy Makes Our Environment Cleaner and Healthier' presentation. Among the 9 groups, they would choose 5 of them to be the winner. They would announce the 5th place first, followed by place and so on and finally the first place. I hoped that Solar 8 would be the first.

Solar 3 got the 5th place. I thought that it was reasonable because their presentation was average. The 4th place turned out to be Solar 8. I was a bit disappointed because I wanted them to get the 1st but I was still happy as they still managed to win. The 3rd place was Solar 4. I was unhappy because I disliked the group Solar 4 and I thought that Solar 8 performed better than Solar 4. Solar 7 got the 2nd place. I expected that the 1st place would be Solar 5. At last, I expectation turned out to be true. Solar 5 got the 1st place. Being the 1st place, Solar 5 group was given RM800. The 4th place and 5th place were given RM100 each. So, Solar 8 got RM100.

Then, the First Solar Environment Outreach Program ended. At that time, it was 1:15PM while the school ended at 1:45PM. They gave all of us a recycle bag, 2 pens and 2 pencils made of wood as a present. We were also given a box of KFC for lunch. We had to show our coupon given to us earlier in order to get it. The box of KFC contained 2 pieces of fried chicken and a whipped potato. Many students finished the KFC in school. But, I decided to bring the KFC home to eat. After that, I walked back to my class. The last period on that day was Additional Mathematics and it still had not ended yet. I told my other classmates about my experience during the program. Then, the 4 Malay girls came to the class to take their bags. I asked them if they were satisfied with what I had done. They said that I did it quite well. However, they did not say much and they went home. On my way home, I told my grandparents about the program. My grandmother said that she had cooked chicken rice for lunch. However, I was given a box of KFC so I wanted to eat KFC for lunch and eat the chicken rice at night for dinner and my grandmother agreed. My grandfather was interested in solar panels and wanted to install one at our house in the future.

At home, I thought of the things happened during the program. I was not sure if they Malay girls were satisfied with what I did, nor I was sure that what I did really helped them. On the second day, 11 July 2012 (Wednesday), I went to school as usual. I asked the Malay girls if they were really satisfied with what I did one day earlier. They said that they were very satisfied with me and that I indirectly helped them to win the competition. I was very happy to know that. Still, I realised that I only gave them a little help and the main reason they won the competition was because of their own efforts. On that afternoon, I had Additional Mathematics and Mathematics tuition. During the tuition, I told my friends at the tuition about the program.

After returning home from tuition and taking my bath, it was 7:45PM. Usually, I would sleep in the afternoon every day because I used to sleep late and wake up early every day. However, I could not sleep in the afternoon every Wednesday because I had tuition. As I normally had dinner at 8:30PM, I could still sleep for about 45 minutes after tuition. Because 45 minutes is not a long time, I could just lie down but not really sleep. But, since I was tired, I was in a drowsy state, and this caused my brain to think of strange things. On that day (11 July 2012), when I was lying down, I started thinking of the First Solar Environment Outreach Program that happened a day earlier on 10 July 2012, especially what I had done on that day.

I realised that it was the first time that I actually helped my friends to do something. I remembered that a few months earlier on February 2012, our school principal wanted to change the English teacher of our class because she wanted to let her teach the Form 3 classes. Because we liked our English teacher, we did not want our teacher to be changed. So, I and 2 friends decided to talk to the principal about it. However, I was so scared of the principal that I said nothing other than 'Good morning, teacher!' and 'Thank you, teacher!'. Our principal refused to retain our teacher, giving the reason that the Form 3 students need that English teacher more than us. At last, our mission failed, and I knew I was partly the cause of the failure. My friends were disappointed with me and I was disappointed with myself too. But, this time, during the First Solar Environment Outreach Program, I managed to do something that made my friends satisfied and impressed for the first time, even though it was only a very simple task. I was very happy thinking about that. So, I told myself that in the future I must try to do more for my friends.

Suddenly, I realised something that made me shocked. How much time do I still have? There were only 4 more months left before the SPM on November 2012. After the SPM, I would be leaving my school and furthering my studies in universities. In other words, I only have 4 more months to be together with my friends in SMK Sultan Badlishah. After that, I and all my friends would be separated, and Facebook would be our only means of communication. Realising this truth made me feel very sad. Earlier, one of my friends had told me that she only took most of her friends as 'passer-by', and after the SPM she would forget them all. I never agreed with her. For me, I can never take my friends as 'passer-by', because they mean much more than that for me. I got up from my bed and walked towards my table. I looked at the calendar. The SPM Trial examination would be in 5 weeks, and after that there were 6 weeks before the SPM. This meant that I only have about 11 weeks to be in my school with my friends.

Before that, I never thought of this. Ever since June 2011 when I set the target for myself to get 10A+ in SPM, I was only concerned about my studies. Every day when I went to school, I only thought of exams and studies and nothing else. I never cared much about my friends. Although I had many friends in my class, as well as other classes in school, I did not talk to and interact with them very often. I often talked to only a few of my friends who were closer to me. Sometimes, when my friend asked me on a particular topic of a subject, I would just give them the answers directly, without explaining anything or showing them the workings. As a result, they could not understand. Besides, I disliked some of the lessons in school, especially Bahasa Melayu and Sejarah because I thought that they were boring. So, I often tried to find chances to skip class. I also never treasured my school life. Every day I would be preparing for the next exam and just let the time past like this. Also, I always longed for an exam to end, because only that time that I could relax myself for a few days. I often relaxed by playing computer games and surfing the internet, and I used to take that as a luxury. Now, for the first time I knew that I was not right to be like that. School life is not just about exams. I knew that exams and studies are important, but other things such as friendship are also important. I realised that I need to make a change, as I did not want to regret for not treasuring my school life and friendship after graduating from secondary school. This started my '7-11 Revolution'.

The aim of the First Solar Environment Outreach Program was to raise students' awareness on the importance of environmental protection, but it did not have effect on me. The reason is since a long time ago, I have realised the importance of protecting the environment, so I will always try to protect the environment, even if I did not attend the program. Instead, that program indirectly 'raised my awareness' to treasure my school life and friendship.

Starting from that day onwards, I changed. I start to talk and interact more with my friends in my class, including those whom I was not very close to. I treasured every moment when studying in SMK Sultan Badlishah with my friends. I also would go to school every day and not skip even one day of school. And I would always try to so something.for my friends. Whenever my friends ask me on a particular topic for a subject, I would try to explain to them so that they understand. Consequently, more of my classmates would come and ask me when they did not understand something, especially after the SPM trial examination. Whenever I did my homework on Mathematics and Additional Mathematics, I would write down the complete workings on the test pad so that I could lend it to my friends. This later caused 2 girls in my class to compete with other to get my workings. I also treasured the lessons thought by all my teachers and would never skip class again. Besides, I now knew that my real luxury was to be with my friends in school, instead of surfing the internet. After the '7-11 Revolution', I felt that my school life became more interesting and I felt happier. At the same time, I treasured my every moment staying in Kulim with my grandparents. Still, I never neglected my studies, and I would always try my best to achieve my 10A+ target in SPM, because I knew that was important for my future. I would continue to study very hard, while at the same time treasure my school life and friends.

Unfortunately, despite treasuring every moment I had in school, time still passed very fast. Soon, I finished my SPM and had to separate with my friends in secondary school. Time would never go backwards and I felt so sad about that. I thought that the '7-11 Revolution' came a bit too late. How I wish that it had happened earlier. Still, I was glad that it happened. Without that, my remaining secondary school life would not be interesting and I would probably regret a lot for not treasuring my school life. Thanks to the First Solar Environment Outreach Program which led to my '7-11 Revolution'. So, in conclusion, 11 July 2012 was indeed an important day for me, isn't it?

Form 5 School Examinations Diary

When I was in secondary school, I sat for many examinations. In Form 5, other than my SPM examination, I also sat for three school examinations before the SPM. The three examinations were the First Mid-Term Examination, First Term Examination and the SPM Trial Examination. I finished Form 5 a long time ago, but I could still remember clearly everything that happened during each examination in Form 5. Of the three examinations, the Form 5 First Mid-Term Examination and SPM Trial Examination were the most interesting. Here, I am sharing my diary during those two examinations.

Form 5 First Mid-Term Examination (4 March 2012 - 8 March 2012):

3 March 2012 (Saturday): The Form 5 First Mid-Term Examination would start on the next day. Although it was Saturday, I had to attend school because there was school replacement on that day. At home, I was busy studying Tatabahasa Bahasa Melayu, English Literature (Poems) and English Directed Writing because these would be tested in the exam and need studying. I did not need to study for Bahasa Melayu Karangan and others as the examination was half-format. At night, I only studied Chinese Writing a little because I would be just taking the Chinese exam but the marks would not be included in the SAPS.

4 March 2012 (Sunday): It was the first day of examination. The subjects tested on that day were Bahasa Melayu, English and Chinese. The Bahasa Melayu exam was moderately difficult. I was confident to get A but not A+. English was easy but not very easy. I was confident to get A+. Chinese was not difficult because only Paper 1 was tested but I had not enough time and had to rush. I did not care much about it but still I thought that I could get A. After returning home, I studied for Physics and Sejarah. I spent most of my time studying Sejarah because there were a lot of facts to memorise and I already studied Physics earliar. At night, I studied Physics a little.

5 March 2012 (Monday): The subjects tested on that day were Sejarah and Physics. Sejarah was quite difficult although I did a lot of revision because a lot of KBKK questions were tested. I was worried that I could not get A+. Physics was rather easy but the essay questions were a bit confusing. I was confident to get A+. At home, I studied Biology. Although only Form 4 Chapter 7 and Form 5 Chapter 1 were tested, I still had to spend a long time studying because Form 5 Chapter 1 was long. I did not study for Mathematics because it was easy.

6 March 2012 (Tuesday): Mathematics and Biology were the subjects tested on that day. Mathematics was very easy and I was very confident of getting A+ and even 100 marks. However, Biology was quite difficult. The questions were tricky. I had to write long answers and I had to rush due to insufficient time. I was worried of not able to get A+. After going back home, I studied Chemistry. It was rather relaxing because only Form 5 Chapter 1, which is an easy topic, would be tested. I finished studying it quite early, so I used the remaining time to study Additional Mathematics.

7 March 2012 (Wednesday): On that day, Additional Mathematics and Chemistry were tested. Additional Mathematics was very easy. I was very confident to get A+ and even 100 marks. Chemistry was also quite easy. There were only Objective and Structured questions but not Essay questions. I was very confident of getting A+. After returning home, I studied Pendidikan Moral and Information & Communications Technology (ICT). I was quite busy because I had to study for 2 subjects. I studied Pendidikan Moral in the afternoon and ICT at night.

8 March 2012 (Thursday): The subjects tested on that day were Information & Communications Technology (ICT) and Pendidikan Moral. The ICT exam turned out to be more difficult than I expected. For the first time, the exam questions were not taken from the ICT exercise book. Still, I was confident of getting A+. However, Pendidikan Moral turned out to be easier than I expected. Many of the KBKK questions were taken from my Form 4 teacher's notes. I was confident of getting A+. At home, I started relaxing because the examination had ended. After that, there was a one week school holiday until 17 March 2012.

9 March 2012 (Friday) - 17 March 2012 (Saturday): It was the March school holiday which lasted for 1 week during that period of time. Because the examination was over, I spent that week relaxing. I played computer games, surfed the internet and watched television. Still, I also studied some of the SPM subjects. Because I had not get the results for my exam, I was a little worried about it, especially Bahasa Melayu, Biology and Sejarah.

18 March 2012 (Sunday): The school reopened on that day. I got the exam results for Pendidikan Moral first. I was a little worried. I was so happy when I got 93 marks for Pendidikan Moral. Next, I got my Bahasa Melayu paper. My marks was 88. I realised that my teacher gave me 29/30 for Rumusan although I did not make any mistakes because she did not want to give full marks. I asked her to add 1 mark for my Rumusan so that I could get A+ but she refused and told be to try again in the next exam. Next, it was Additional Mathematics and my teacher gave back the exam paper. I got 100 marks for Additional Mathematics. I was very happy because I never got 100 marks before.

19 March 2012 (Monday): I got my results for several subjects on that day. For Physics, I got 97 marks. I was happy because it was better than I expected. I got 100 marks for Sejarah. I was surprised because I never expected that I could get 100 marks. My Mathematics marks was 100. It was the 3rd time in a row that I got 100 marks for Mathematics. For Biology. I got 96 marks. I was the only person in my class to get A+ in Biology. I got 98 marks in Chemistry. Many students scored quite well for Chemistry because it only tested on Form 5 Chapter 1 which is an easy topic. For Information & Communication Technology (ICT), my marks was 97. However, many students did not score well in ICT because the questions were difficult.

20 March 2012 (Tuesday): The only subject that I still did not get the exam results was English. There was English period on that day, but my English teacher did not go to school. She said that she would return our exam papers either on Wednesday or Thursday.

21 March 2012 (Wednesday): The results for SPM 2011 was released on that day. The teachers in my school were busy analysing the SPM 2011 results. Therefore, my English teacher was not free and she could not give back our English papers on that day.

22 March 2012 (Thursday): Finally, I got my exam results for English on that day. I got 91 marks for English and I was quite satisfied with it. I was the only student in my class to get A+ in English.

SPM Trial Examination (14 August 2012 - 11 September 2012):

13 August 2012 (Monday): The SPM Examination would start on the next day. I went to school because there was school on that day. After returning home, I studied Information & Communications Technology (ICT). I did not need to spend a long time studying as I already starting studying ICT since a few days ago.

14 August 2012 (Tuesday): It was the first day of examination. The subject tested on that day was Information & Communication Technology (ICT) only. Before the exam started, I discussed with my friends. I was excited. The exam turned out to be easier than I expected although none of the exam questions were similar to the questions in the exercise book. I was very confident to get A+. At home, I studied some Sejarah in the afternoon although Sejarah would be tested after the school holidays because I still had not finish studying it. At night, I studied for Chinese, especially the Idioms.

15 August 2012 (Wednesday): The subject tested on that day was Chinese Paper 2 only. I did not care much about it because I would just sit for the exam but the marks would not be included in the SPAS. The exam, however turned out to be easier than I expected. In fact, for the Classical Text Comprehension, it was similar to the PMR level only. I was not sure how many marks I could get for Chinese because I still had to sit for Paper 1 after the holidays. After the exam, I had some time in school so I took some pictures with my friends. On that afternoon, I had Mathematics and Additional Mathematics tuition. At night, I started studying for other subjects.

16 August 2012 (Thursday) - 25 August 2012 (Saturday): There was a one-week school holiday for Hari Raya Aidilfitri during that time. I spent that week studying for the subjects that would be tested during the following week such as Sejarah, Biology, Chemistry and Pendidikan Moral. On 18 August 2012 (Saturday) holiday, I attended my mother-side-grandfather's birthday celebration dinner in Penang. On 24 and 25 August, I studied Bahasa Melayu only because it would be tested on the first day when the school reopened.

26 August 2012 (Sunday): It was the first day after the school reopened. The subjects tested on that day was Bahasa Melayu Paper 1 and Paper 2. Bahasa Melayu Paper 1 was a bit difficult, especially for the Karangan Bahan Rangsangan. For Karangan Respons Terbuka, I chose question 4, which was Karangan Dimensi Global. It was not difficult for me, but none of my friends chose it, and many said that it was the most difficult question of all the 5 questions. That caused me to feel worry. I was confident of getting A but not A+. At home, I studied for English, especially English Literature in the afternoon. Then, I studied Sejarah a little at night.

27 August 2012 (Monday): English Paper 1, English Paper 2 and Sejarah Paper 1 were the subjects tested on that day. English Paper 1 was rather easy because I had memorised an essay earlier. English Paper 2 was also not difficult. I was quite confident in getting A+ for English. Sejarah Paper 1 was also quite easy. However, I was not sure if I could get A+ for Sejarah because I still had Paper 2 on the next day. After returning home, I had to study Pendidikan Moral. I studied Pendidikan Moral a little first, then I studied Sejarah. I only went through the topics that our teacher told us to focus on because I had no time to study all the topics.

28 August 2012 (Tuesday): Sejarah Paper 2 and Pendidikan Moral were tested on that day. Before the Sejarah Paper 2 exam, I was worried that the topics that our teacher told us to focus on might not appear in the exam, even though our teacher was very sure. In turned out that all the exam questions tested on those topics, except for 1 essay question. Still, I chose that question because I was able to answer it and it was easier. However, Sejarah Paper 2 was still quite difficult because of the KBKK questions. I was worried that I cannot get A+ for Sejarah. Pendidikan Moral was slightly easier than I expected. I was confident to get A+ in Pendidikan Moral. At home, I had to study Chemistry for the whole day. I studied the experiments  before the others.

29 August 2012 (Wednesday): The subjects tested on that day were Chemistry Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3. Chemistry Paper 1 was quite easy. Chemistry Paper 2 was easy but not very easy. Chemistry Paper 3 was a little difficult, and I usually could not score well in it. I was confident to get A+ for Chemistry. After going back home, I had to study Biology until late at night. I studied the experiments first, then the others.

30 August 2012 (Thursday): The subjects tested on that day were Biology Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3. Biology Paper 3 was quite easy. Before the exam, I expected Paper 1 to be easy and Paper 2 to be difficult. Biology 1 turned out to be more difficult than I expected. However, Biology Paper 2 was easier than what I expected. I was confident to get A+ in Biology. After the exam, I could relax because the remaining subjects were not difficult.

31 August 2012 (Friday) - 2 September 2012 (Sunday): I had no exam during that period of time. I spent most of my time studying Physics, especially for the essay questions and experiments. I also studied Additional Mathematics and did exercises on Mathematics and Additional Mathematics. I did not go to school on 2 September although it was a school day because many of my friends would not be going to school.

3 September 2012 (Monday): Chinese Paper 1 was the only subject tested on that day. It was not difficult and I had enough time to finish answering it. I was confident to get A- or A for Chinese but not A+. After returning home, I again studied for Physics.

4 September 2012 (Tuesday): There was no exam on that day. I did not go to school even though it was a school day because many of my friends did not go to school.I studied some Physics and Mathematics. I also did some exercises for Mathematics.

5 September 2012 (Wednesday): Mathematics Paper 1 and Paper 2 were tested on that day. Both papers were very easy. I was very confident to get A+ and even 100 marks for Mathematics. On the afternoon, I had Additional Mathematics tuition. At night, I studied Additional Mathematics.

6 September 2012 (Thursday): The subjects tested on that day were Additional Mathematics Paper 1 and Paper 2. Additional Mathematics Paper 1 was very easy. Additional Mathematics Paper 2 was easy but not very easy. I was confident to get A+ for Additional Mathematics. However, I knew I could not get A+ because later I realised that I had made a mistake. After returning home, I studied for Physics entirely.

7 September 2012 (Friday) - 8 September 2012 (Saturday): There were no school on that 2 days. I only studied for Physics, especially the experiments.

9 September 2012 (Sunday): The subjects tested on that day were Physics Paper 1 and Paper 3. Physics Paper 1 was very easy. Physics Paper 3 was also quite easy. I was quite confident to get full marks for Physics Paper 1 but not Paper 3. However, I was not sure how many marks I would get for Physics because I still had to sit for Physics Paper 2. At home, I continued studying Physics.

10 September 2012 (Monday): There was no exam on that day. I studied Physics only, especially the essay questions.

11 September 2012 (Tuesday): It was the last day of examination. The only subject tested on that day was Physics Paper 2. It was moderately difficult. The structured questions were easy but the essay questions were difficult. Still, I was very confident of getting A+ in Physics. The exam ended on 10:30AM. After that, I had some time at school to relax. On that day, I also got my Physics Paper 1 and Paper 3. I got 50/50 for Physics Paper 1 and 40/40 for Physics Paper 3. My teacher also tried to mark my Physics Paper 2. However, there was not enough time so he marked only a few structured questions. I managed to get full marks for those questions. This made me even more confident in Physics. At home, I started relaxing.

12 September 2012 (Wednesday): The exam had over, so it was time to get my results. There were Bahasa Melayu and Mathematics periods on that day, but my teachers did not come to school so I did not get my exam papers for those subjects. After recess, it was Information & Communications Technology (ICT) period. I actually got 99 marks for ICT but my teacher wrote 100 marks. Still, I told my teacher to record my marks as 99 in the SAPS. Next, it was Additional Mathematics. I only got Additional Mathematics Paper 1 and my marks was 80/80. I was very happy. After that, it was Pendidikan Moral. I was very worried because my teacher said that very few students got A+. I turned out to get 96 marks so I was very happy. Then, it was Chinese period. Nobody including me got A+ for Chinese. I got 89 marks, which was the highest marks among all students. At home, I continued relaxing.

13 September 2012 (Thursday): For the first 3 periods in school, there was a celebration for the end of Merdeka month and someone gave a long speech. As a result, there was only 1 Chemistry period left instead of 3. I only got Chemistry Paper 1. I was disappointed that I got 49/50 because I expected to get 50/50. After recess, it was Biology. I got Biology Paper 1 and Paper 3 first. I was happy to get 48/50 for both the papers because it was better than what I expected. Then, my teacher gave back Biology Paper 2 for some students. I was surprised and very happy when I got 100/100 for Biology Paper 2. My overall marks for Biology was 98.

14 September 2012 (Friday) - 16 September 2012 (Sunday): There were no school during that period of time. Because I had finished my examination, I spent that 3 days relaxing. I played computer games, surfed the internet and watched television. However, I was a little worried of my examination results, especially for Bahasa Melayu and Sejarah. There was no school on 16 September 2012 because it was Malaysia day.

17 September 2012 (Monday): The first period in school was Physics. I was disappointed that I only got 89/100 for Physics Paper 2, which was worse than what I expected. The reason was because I made a lot of mistakes in the essay questions. Overall, my Physics marks was 94. However, my teacher gave every one 2 marks as bonus, so I got 96 marks. Then, it was Bahasa Melayu period. I was very worried, especially of Bahasa Melayu Paper 1. However, my teacher only gave back Bahasa Melayu Paper 2. I was disappointed because it got only 91/110. Later, I realised that my teacher counted my marks wrongly and I actually got 93/110. Still, I was disappointed. After recess, it was Chemistry period. I got Chemistry Paper 2 and Paper 3. My results were 97/100 for Paper 2 and 45/50 for Paper 3. Overall, I got 96 marks for Chemistry. Next, it was Sejarah. I got 39/40 for Sejarah Paper 1. Still, I was worried of Paper 2. At last, I got 95/100 for Sejarah Paper 2. My overall marks for Sejarah was 96. At home, I still relaxed.

18 September 2012 (Tuesday): The only subject I got on that day was Mathematics. I got 40/40 for Paper 1 and 100/100 for Paper 2. In other words, my overall Mathematics marks was 100. I was very happy, because for the 5th time continuously I got 100 marks for Mathematics. My teacher also gave me RM20 as a reward. At home, it was the last day for me to relax after my SPM Trial Examination.

19 September 2012 (Wednesday):  The first period on that day was Bahasa Melayu. My teacher gave back the Bahasa Melayu Paper 1. I was very worried that I might not get even A. I was satisfied when I knew that I got 111/130. My oral marks was also added in the examination. My overall marks for Bahasa Melayu was 86. After recess, it was Additional Mathematics period. I got Additional Mathematics Paper 2. My score was 97/100. My marks for the Additional Mathematics Project Work was added in the exam. My overall Additional Mathematics marks was 98. After returning home, I started studying for SPM.

20 September 2012 (Thursday): The only subject that I still did not get my results was English. There was no English period on that day, but my teacher promised to give back the exam papers after recess. During recess, I noticed that my English teacher was sitting in a booth near my class and some of my classmates were there. I walked there and knew that my teacher was giving back our exam papers. I was so disappointed when I got only 88 marks for English. The reason was because I did not score well in Literature (Novel) and Continuous Writing. I asked my teacher if she could add marks. She agreed to add 1 mark for my Continuous Writing. My English marks became 89. Since I only needed one more mark to get A+, I asked my teacher to give me 1 bonus mark. At first, she refused. However, a Malay girl in my class also got 89 marks for English. She also asked the teacher to add 1 mark for her, saying that it would be a motivation for her. Finally, our teacher agreed to give both of us 1 bonus mark so that we could get A+ for English and told us to do our best for SPM. My marks for English became 90. So, my overall result for SPM Trial Examination was 9A+ and 1A. At home, I continued to study for SPM.

(THE END)

Install Windows 8

Here, I am going to write about how to install Windows 8 on your conputer. Windows 8 is the new version of Windows operating system after Windows 7. Windows 8 was released on 26 October 2012. I am been hearing about Windows 8 since year 2010. At the end of year 2011, a few preview versions of Windows 8 were released, which were Release Preview, Developer Preview and Consumer Preview. They could be downloaded and installed for free. I was interested to install Windows 8, but I did not do so because the Windows 8 preview would eventually expire and the computer hard disk must be formatted in order to revert to Windows 7. Later, because I was busy studying for my SPM examination, I did not pay attention to the release of Windows 8. However, at November 2012, I often saw advertisements about Windows 8 on the television. Therefore, after my SPM ended, I decided to upgrade my Windows 7 computer to Windows 8. The upgrade was successful, although I faced some problems during the installation. Here, I am going to share with you on the procedure to install Windows 8.

There are 4 different methods to install Windows 8:
1. Upgrade: This method will replace the current version of windows with Windows 8. All the files, settings and programs in your computer will be kept. This method is the easiest of all. However, some programs may not work properly after the upgrade, and the computer performance may decrease.
2. Clean installation: This mehod will delete the current version of Windows and delete all files, programs and settings on your computer, then install Windows 8 on your computer. Therefore, you have to backup your files and programs before installing Windows 8.
3. Dual-boot: This method will install Windows 8 alongside the current version of Windows. All your files, settings and programs will be kept. It allows you to have 2 different versions of Windows on your computer at the same time. You can choose to use either one whenever you start your computer. However, this can destroy all files on the computer if it is done wrongly. Also, your computer hard drive must have more disk space to do so.
4. Virtual machine: This method will install Windows 8 on a virtual machine. It won't affect your current version of Windows or any files and programs on your computer, even if it is done wrongly. You can use Windows 8 inside the current version of Windows. However, the performance of Windows 8 may decrease if you use this method. Also, your computer hardware specification must be high.

Before you install Windows 8, you must make sure that your computer hardware meets the system requirements of Windows 8. If your computer does not meet the requirements, you must upgrade your computer hardware first. If you are installing Windows 8 in a virtual machine (Method 4), your computer must have RAM and hard disk space that is double the system requirement. The system requirement of Windows 8 are as follows:
1. Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with support for PAE, NX and SSE2
2. RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
3. Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
4. Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

You are also advised to run the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant software on your computer to see if the software and hardware you use are compatible with Windows 8. You can download Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant for free at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-MY/windows-8/upgrade-to-windows-8 . If it detects some problems, follow its instructions to solve the problems. If you performing a clean installation of Windows 8, you should also back up all your files on a pen drive, external hard drive, memory cards or others. If your computer is currently running Windows ME or older, your computer is probably very old and therefore you should not attempt to install Windows 8 on that computer.

If you are ready to upgrade to Windows 8, you have to buy a Windows 8 DVD. Note that Windows 8 is not a free software. The price is around a few hundred ringgits. Windows 8 have 2 editions, Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro. Windows 8 Pro is more expensive than Windows 8, but has more features. There are 2 versions of Windows 8, which are 32-bit and 64-bit. 64-bit Windows 8 is faster and better than 32-bit Windows 8, but needs higher system requirements (Refer to the system requirements above). Note that 64-bit Windows 8 can run both 64-bit and 32-bit programs but not 16-bit programs, while 32-bit Windows 8 can run both 32-bit and 16-bit programs but not 64-bit programs. You can purchase Windows 8 DVD at computer stores.

The steps to install Windows 8 depends on the method you are using. Here are the steps:

Method 1: Upgrade
(Note: You can keep all programs and files if you are currently using Windows 7. If you are using Windows Vista or XP, you can keep files only but not programs. This method does not work with Windows 2000.)

1. Start your computer and log into the current version of Windows.
2. Insert the Windows 8 DVD into the CD drive, then go to Computer to open it.
3. Open setup.exe .
4. Wait until the setup preparation is complete.
5. Key in the Windows 8 Product Key and click Next. The product key can be found on the box of the Windows 8 DVD.
6. Tick I accept the license terms and click Accept.
7. Select Keep Windows settings, personal files, and apps and click Next.
8. Wait for the system checking to complete.
9. When it says ready to install, click Install.
10. Wait for the Windows 8 installation to complete.
11. After the installation is complete, restart your computer.
12. You have successfully installed Windows 8.

Method 2: Clean Installation
(Note: This method will delete all files and programs on your computer. Make sure that you backup all your files before you begin.)

1. Start your computer.
2. At the start screen showing your computer's manufacturer which appears before the starting windows screen, look for something like Press F2 to enter BIOS Setup or similar.
3. Press the key displayed to enter BIOS Setup. Usually the key is F2, DEL, F1 or ESC.
4. In the BIOS Setup, look for an option named Boot Device Priority or something similar and go to that option.
5. Rearrange the devices so that the CD or DVD Drive is arranged before the hard disk drive.
6. Save the settings and exit. To do so, usually you have to press a key displayed on the screen.
7. Insert the Windows 8  DVD into the CD drive, then restart the computer.
8. When the screen says Press any key to boot from CD or DVD. , press a key on your keyboard.
9. Wait while the Windows 8 setup is loading.
10. Choose the language for Windows and set Keyboard or input method as US.
11. Click Next and then click Install Now.
12. Wait for the Windows 8 setup to start.
13. Key in the Windows 8 Product Key and click Next. The product key can be found on the box of the Windows 8 DVD.
14. Tick I accept the license terms and click Accept.
15. Select Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).
16. Select the hard disk partition that you want to install Windows 8 on. Usually it is Drive 0 Partition 1, which is the C: drive. All data in that partition will be erased to install Windows 8. If you see an error message, try selecting other partitions.
17. Click Next.
18. Wait for the Windows 8 installation to complete.
19. When your computer restarts, remove the Windows 8 DVD from the CD drive.
20. You have successfully installed Windows 8.

Method 3: Virtual Machine
(Note: Your computer must have RAM and hard disk space that is double the system requirement of Windows 8. Refer to above for the Windows 8 system requirements.)

1. Download VMWare Player from http://www.vmware.com/products/player/ then install it.
2. Open VMWare Player.
3. Click Create a New Virtual Machine.
4. Insert the Windows 8 DVD into the CD drive of your computer.
5. Click Installer disc, select your CD drive and click Next.
6. Select Guest Operating System as Microsoft Windows and version as Windows 8.
7. Key in the Windows 8 product key and your name, then click Next.
8. Click Next.
9. Ensure that the Maximum disk size is 100GB and store virtual disk as a single file is selected, then click Next.
10. Click Finish.
11. VMWare will automatically install Windows 8. Follow the on-screen instructions on continue. About 30 minutes is needed to install Windows 8.
12. After Windows 8 has finished installing, the virtual machine will automatically turn on.
13. On the bottom, there should be a bar about VMWare Tools. Connect to the internet and click Download Tools or Update Tools.
14. Wait for the download of VMWare Tools to complete.
15. In the virtual machine, open My Computer and double-click the CD drive with the name of VMWare Tools.
16. Install VMWare Tools in the virtual computer.
17. You have successfully installed Windows 8 in VMWare Player.

Method 4: Dual-boot

The process to set up dual-boot is rather complicated and can destroy the current version of Windows and all data on your computer if done incorrectly. It involves creating a new hard disk partition for Windows 8. Note that a hard disk can have a maximum of only 4 partitions. If you create a 5th partition, your hard disk will be converted from Basic disk to Dynamic disk. This can cause serious problems to your computer and Windows 8 cannot be installed on Dynamic disk . Additionally, Windows 8 must be installed AFTER the earlier version of Windows has been installed, not the other way round, otherwise it can cause your computer to be unusable. I have tried to set up dual-boot before but it failed, so I won't write about the steps to set up dual boot here. If you want to know more, you can search on the internet.

Whatever method you use, you may have to activate Windows 8 after installing. You will be notified by Windows to activate it. To activate Windows 8, just follow the instructions given at the notification windows. Activation is completely free, but requires internet connection. If you install Windows 8 on more than 1 computer using the same product key, you can only activate it successfully on either 1 computer. If you do not activate Windows 8, certain features such as Personalization will be disabled and you will be periodically notified to activate. Unlike Windows Vista and Windows 7, there is no 30 days grace period for Windows 8 and Windows 8 will not enter Reduced Functionality Mode if you do not activate it.

My Primary School and Secondary School Life

What do you do every day, other than going to school? For me, my activities are almost the same every day, but it changes from time to time. For example, my daily life changed when I entered Form 1 from Standard 6. I can remember my daily live from the year 2007 until now.

At the year 2007, I was in Standard 6. I was studying in SRJK(C) Chong Cheng. The school started at 7:25AM and ended at 1:05PM. Every day, I woke up at 6:45AM. I did not take my bath early in the morning, but I only brushed my teeth and washed my face. After that, I would have breakfast and then go to school. My grandfather took me to school with his car. Usually, I was just in time for school, but sometimes I was late. After coming back from school, I would have my unch. After that, I would take my bath. Then, I would do my homework and study. I usually do not sleep in the afternoon. From 6PM to 7PM, I would watch the drama series "The Spirits of Love" shown on Astro AEC every Monday to Friday. At 8PM, I would have dinner. After dinner, I would continue to study or do homework until 11PM. Then, I would take my bath and go to bed.

After I entered Form 1 in SMK Sultan Badlishah, I attended school in the afternoon. The school started at 12:30PM and ended at 6:30PM. I woke up at 9:30AM every day. After that, I would have breakfast. I did not take my bath at this time, I just brushed my teeth, washed my face and changed clothes. Sometimes my grandparents would buy home breakfast for me while sometimes I would follow them out to eat. After breakfast, I would study or do yesterday's homework. At 11:30AM, I would take my bath and then eat lunch. After that, I would go to school. Again, usually I was just in time for school, and sometimes I was late. After coming back from school, it was already 6:45PM. The drama series "The Spirits of Love" was still showing when I was in Form 1 and ended at 30 December 2008. Every day it showed from 6:00PM to 7:00PM and it repeated at 12:00PM to 1:00PM on the next day. Because of that, I could watch only 2 episodes per week on Friday, while for the others I could watch only a little part after coming back from school every day. After watching that little part, I would take my bath. I would eat dinner at 8PM. Then, I would do homework and study until 11.30PM. After that, I would brush my teeth, wash my face and then sleep.

When I entered From 2, most of my daily activities were the same as when I was in Form 1. I also attended school in the afternnoon. However, there were some changes. I took my bath in the morning every day when I woke up. Because of that, I could study until 12.00PM every day, then I would eat lunch and go to school. When I was in Form 2, the drama series "The Spirits of Love" had already over, and I did not have any new shows to watch, so I seldom watch TV. After coming back from school every day, my activities were basically the same as when I was in Form 1, except that I slept daily at 12AM, not at 11:30PM.

During the Ramadhan month when I was in Form 1 and From 2, the school started at 11:45AM and ended at 5:30PM every day. I woke up at 9AM every day, half an hour earliar than usual. I had to eat lunch early every day, which is at 11:15AM. When I was in Form 1, I could watch "The Spirits of Love" every day because it was only 5:45PM when I came home from school.

When I entered Form 3 on 2010, I have to attend school in the morning, as when I was in Primary school. The school starts at 7:20AM and ends at 1:10PM. For Sunday and Monday, it ends at 1:45PM. I wake up at 6:30AM every day. I do not take my bath because it was too early. I only wash my face, brush my teeth and change clothes. I eat breakfast and then go to school. I usually arrive at school very early. After coming back from school, I will eat lunch and then take my bath. Sometimes, I will take my bath before I have lunch. After that, I will sleep for an hour. After I wake up, I will do homework and study. Now, I have a new drama series to watch, which is "My Family My Love". It is shown on 8TV from 6PM to 7PM every Monday to Friday. I watch it every day. I have my dinner at 8PM every day. Then, I will continue to study and do homework until 11.30PM. After that, I will take my bath and sleep.

Every Friday and Saturday, I have no school. My daily activities are basically like other days and are the same from Standard 6 until now, but there are some differences. I usually wake up at 9:30AM every day. After waking up, I will follow my grandparents outside to eat breakfast, either in Kulim, Bukit Mertajam or even Butterworth. During Standard 6 and Form 1, I usually take my bath at 1:00PM but from Form 2 onwards until now, I take my bath when I wake up in the morning. During Form 1, I watched "The Spirits of Love" every Friday at 12PM to 1PM and at 6PM to 7PM. At every Saturday, usually I have no show to watch. At Standard 6 and Form 1, I usually sleep at 11:45PM while at Form 2 and Form 3, I sleep at 12:15AM.

Starting from June until one week before my PMR exam, I had to attended night classes at school every Sunday to Wednesday. My daily activities are basically the same like normal school days. However, I every afternoon I sleep only until 4:30PM. After that, I will do homework and study until 6PM. From 6PM until 7PM, I will watch the drama series 'My Family My Love'. After that, I will get ready to go for the night class. At 7:15PM, I will have dinner. I went to the night class every day at 8PM. The night class started at 8:15PM and ended at 10:15PM. My grandfather took me to the night class and back home every day with his car. When I reached home from night class every day, it is 10:45PM. At that time, I will take my bath. After that, I will do homework and study until 12:15AM, then I will sleep.

During exam, my daily activities also changed. I studied the whole day. Usually, I do not watch my drama series. At Form 1 and 2, I wake up at 8:30AM daily. At Friday and Saturday during From 3, I also wake up at 8:30AM daily. At night, I will study until 12:30AM. These will ensure that I have more time to study for my exam. However, in the afternoon I still sleep for an hour.

After my PMR exam, I spend most of my time enjoying myself, rather than to study. I used the usual studying time to play computer games, surf the internet and carry out other leisure activities. Of course, sometimes I would study for the Form 4 topics. Also, I will attend school every day and will not play truants.

When I was in Standard 6, I liked the Standard 6 life and was worried about Form 1 life. Then when I entered Form 1, I found out that it was quite good. However, at that time I disliked afternoon school, and I preferred morning school. Then when I was in Form 2, I began to like afternoon school. However, soon I had to study in morning school when I entered Form 3. Form 3 life is good, but I feel that Form 1 and Form 2 life is better, because I preferred afternoon school. I am hoping to go back to Form 1 or Form 2, but I know it is impossibble. The after PMR life is the best.

I entered Form 4 on 2011. My daily life is basically the same as my Form 3 life, but there are some differences. The school starts on 7:20AM and ends on 1:45PM daily. On Sunday and Monday, the school starts on 7:20AM and ends on 2:20PM. However, the Chinese class is held after school hours on certain days. Since I took Chinese for Form 4 so I had to attend the classes. In the beginning, the Chinese class was held every Thursday from 2:15PM to 3:15PM. Every Thursday after the school ended on 1:45PM, I would have lunch in my grandparents' car. My grandmother usually bring food for me. I would go home at 3:15PM. However, the time for Form 4 Chinese class had changed since June 2011. The Chinese class is held every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:45PM to 2:15PM. Therefore, I no longer need to have lunch in the car but I had to go home everyday at 2:15PM except every Wednesday. Later, I decided to drop Chinese but I still attended every Chinese class and will continue to do so.

At July 2011, my favourite drama series 'My Family My Love' comes to an end. The new drama series 'Family Harmony' replaced it. I liked the drama series 'Family Harmony' as well. So, every Monday to Friday from 6:00PM to 7:00PM, I would watch the drama series 'Family Harmony'. Since Form 4, I attended tuition classes for Malay, Mathematics and Additional Mathematics subjects. The Malay tuition is held every Friday from 8:30AM to 10:15AM. Every Friday, I had to wake up early at 7:30AM. I will have breakfast before going for the Malay tuition. The Mathematics and Additional Mathematics tuition was held every Wednesday from 3:15PM to 6:45PM and every Saturday from 2:30PM to 6:00PM. After returning home from school every Wednesday at 1:45PM, I will have lunch and take my bath. After that, I will go for Mathematics and Additional Mathematics tuition at 3:15PM. I cannot watch the drama series 'Family Harmony' every Wednesday because it usually ends before I return home from tuition.

After I finished my Form 4 Year-end examination which was held from 9 October 2011 to 20 October 2011, I had the chance to experience the life similar to my 'After PMR life' once again. I spend most of my time enjoying myself, rather than to study. I used the usual studying time to play computer games, surf the internet and carry out other leisure activities. Of course, sometimes I would study for the Form 5 topics. Also, I attended school every day although most of the other students would skip school sometimes.

I entered Form 5 in 2012. My Form 5 life was almost the same as Form 4 life. However, in Form 5, I was busier than when I was in Form 4. I spent most of the time studying for the SPM. The time for Form 5 Chinese Class also changed. It was held every Wednesday and Thursday from 1:45PM to 2:15PM. I no longer took Chinese in Form 5, but I continued to attend every Chinese Class. The Malay tuition also changed time. It was held on every Friday from 8:00AM to 9:45AM. Every Friday, I still woke up at 7:30AM. I always went straight for the tuition without taking breakfast. After the tuition, I would have breakfast with my grandparents.

After I finished my SPM which was held from 5 November 2012 to 27 November 2012, I spent most of my time enjoying myself. My 'After SPM life' was much like my 'After PMR life' and 'After Form 4 Year-end Exam life'. I spent my time playing computer games, surfing the internet, watching television and carrying out other leisure activities. Sometimes I would also read some of the Form 6 topics. Although I do not plan to enter Form 6, the Form 6 topics are similar to the topics in A-levels and Matriculation. I also started learning how to drive a car.

When I was in Form 4 and 5, I liked my form 4 life and form 5 life. I did not miss my form 1 to form 3 life. In fact, after an incident happened on 10 July 2012, I treasured every moment of my form 5 life. (I will write more about the incident on 10 July 2012 on this blog soon) That incident also made me miss my form 4 and form 5 life so much after my SPM. My after SPM life may be relaxing but I still preferred my form 4 and form 5 life much more.

My 2011 Year-end School Holiday

The 2011 year-end school holiday started on 18 November 2011. But for me, it actually started on 20 October 2011. The reason is that 20 October 2011 was the last day of the Form 4 year end examination. The Form 4 year end examination started on 9 October 2011. Compared to the previous years, the examination started very early because the deadline to key in the examination marks to the Sistem Analisis Peperiksaan Sekolah (SAPS) was at 2 November 2011. I remembered how hard I had to study to ensure that I could finish revising all the topics before the exam. Therefore, I wanted to relax after the exam ends. On 20 October 2011, one teacher in my school retired. After the exam ended, a celebration was held at the school hall.

There was actually a one-week school holiday from 21 to 29 October 2011 for celeberation of Deepavali. I used that week to relax myself. I did not go anywhere and I just stayed in Kulim. I spent my time surfing the internet, playing computer games and watching television. My parents also came back from Kuala Lumpur to visit me. I also bought some Form 5 revision books to read. I was a bit worried of my examination results, especially for Bahasa Melayu, because I did not get any the results yet.

The school reopened on 30 October 2011. During that week, I got my examination results. The first subject I got was Bahasa Melayu, which was the subject that I worried the most. Before my teacher gave back the examination papers, she was very angry because 2 students in my class played truant. Later, I was quite happy when I knew that I got 88 marks for Bahasa Melayu. Even though it was not A+, I expected to get only A-. I also heard that many students could not score well in Pendidikan Moral because the teacher was strict. I was quite worried about Pendidikan Moral. Later, I was so happy when I got 94 marks for Pendidikan Moral. Our teacher also agreed to give 2 bonus marks to all students. A few of my friends borrowed my exam paper to help them claim for extra marks from the teacher. Soon, I knew the results for all the other subjects except Biology and managed to score A+ for all the subjects.

I considered 2 November 2011 as an interesting day. Our Chemistry teacher let us carry out an experiment because although the exam was over, we did not finish our PEKA. The experiment was on neutralisation reaction between hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. However, our teacher was not free and she asked another Chemistry teacher to take over. A few boys in my class arrived late at the laboratory. They explained that another teacher was in the class and stopped them from going to the lab. This resulted in a quarrel between the boys and the teacher. The experiment was carried out in groups with 2 students in each group. My group partner was my friend, NBL. The experiment was quite successful, except that our teacher mistaken HCl to be NaOH and NaOH to be HCl. After the experiment, it was Biology. I knew the marks for Biology Paper 1 and Paper 2 on that day. I was quite confident in Biology but was disappointed when I knew that I got only 80/100 for Paper 2. Later, I found out that my teacher counted wrongly and I actually got 84/100. My teacher said she would be giving Biology Paper 3 only on the next day. I was very worried because I need at least 47/50 for Paper 3 in order to get an A+. On the next day, I was so disappointed to know that I only got 44/50 for Paper 3, which means that I only got 88 marks (no A+). But I could actually get 1 more mark for Paper 3 due to marking errors, so my teacher added 1 mark for me and my marks became 89. Since I was just 1 mark away from A+, my teacher finally agreed to give me 1 bonus mark so that I could get 90. I got A+ for Biology successfully. What a narrow escape! So, overall I got 9A+ 1A, A for Bahasa Melayu.

After that, there were 2 more weeks before the year-end school holidays started. During that 2 weeks, I went to school every day. However, there were no more lessons, even though our teacher had not finished the topics for many subjects because the exam started too early. In school, I played with my friends. I learnt for the first time how to play poker and I enjoyed playing it very much. Our teacher asked the Form 4 students to move to the Form 5 classrooms because the Form 5 classrooms are just opposite the staffroom and they could monitor us easier. It was very much like year 2010 after the PMR ended.

11 November 2011 should be a special day because of 11/11/11. I was waiting for 11:11PM. However 11:11PM of 11 November 2011 turned up to be very frightening. At that time, I was doing some exercises on Chemistry and it was raining very heavily. I heard a lot of thunders. I was afraid that the main switch of my house might cut off the electricity. Suddenly, I heard a very loud thunder. It seemed that the lightning struck directly in front my house. Strangely, the electricity was not cut off. But on the next day, I knew that the roof a house located near my house had a big hole broken, caused by the lightning.

However, 14 November 2011 was a sad day for me. My mother telephoned me and told me that my mother-side-grandmother living in Penang had passed away on the night before that. My grandparents and I attended her funeral on 16 November 2011. My parents also came back to Penang from Kuala Lumpur. The SPM 2011 also started on 14 November 2011. On the 15 November 2011, all students throughout Malaysia received RM100 from the government. My grandparents did not go to school to take it so I took it myself. 17 November 2011 was the last day of school. The Konferensi Waris of my school was held on that day. My grandparents also did not attend it.

The 2011 year-end school holiday officially started on 18 November 2011. For the first 2 weeks of the school holidays, I stayed in Kulim. For the 1st week, I just relaxed. I surfed the internet, played computer games and watched television. However, for the 2nd week, I began studying. I revised the Form 4 topics instead of studying Form 5 topics because my teachers did not finish the last few topics for every subjects.

2 weeks later, I went to Kuala Lumpur on 4 December 2011. My parents came back to Kulim on 3 December 2011 to fetch me. There, I stayed in my parents' house in Subang Jaya. I went shopping at many shopping malls.

On 12 December 2011, I went to Singapore with my parents for holidays. We went there for 3 days and 2 nights. We did not plan to visit Singapore this year because we went to Singapore during year 2010 and 2009. However, my mother-side-grandfather had booked plane tickets for our family to go to Singapore and therefore we had to go. We flew there in a Silk Air aeroplane. In Singapore, we stayed in Meritus Mandarin Hotel, which was the same hotel we stayed when we visited Singapore in 2009. We did not visit any places in Singapore because the trip was short and we already went there twice. We only went shopping in shopping centres near the hotel. We went back to Kuala Lumpur on 14 December 2011.

Two days later, at night of 16 December 2011, my father drove my family and I back to Penang. According to the Chinese custom, we had to pray to my mother-side-grandmother who had passed away. Early morning on 17 December 2011, we went to Kek Lok Si Temple in Penang to pray to my mother-side-grandmother. After that, we had lunch in Penang. After lunch, we went back straight to Kuala Lumpur. We did not go to Kulim.

I spent another week in Kuala Lumpur. On 25 December 2011, my father drove me back to Kulim. There was another week before the school reopened. During that week, I spent my time studying. I still revised on the Form 4 topics and did not read any of the Form 5 topics. A few days later, at night of 30 December 2011, my parents came back to Kulim again. We had to pray to my mother-side-grandmother again. Early morning of 31 December 2011, I and my parents went to Kek Lok Si temple in Penang. After that, we stayed in Penang for a night at Vistana Hotel. On the next day 1 January 2012, we had lunch at Equatorial Hotel in Penang. After lunch, we went back to Kulim. That night, my parents returned to Kuala Lumpur.

The school reopened on 3 January 2012. Actually, all students in my school were required to go to school on 1 January 2012 for 'gotong-royong', but I did not attend it because I was in Penang. I also heard rumours that the school would rearrange all students into different classes. I hoped that the school don't do that because I did not want to part with my friends. At last, it turned up to be not true.

3 January 2012 marked the end of the 2011 year-end school holiday.

My Greatest Enemy

I have many friends, but I also have a few enemies. Among my enemies, the one I hate the most is Thinnesh Kumar. He was once my good friend, but later became my enemy. There are several reasons why I hate him. Here, I will be explaining about that. Before I talk about why we became enemies, I will first talk about how I knew him.

This dates back to year 2008. In 2008, I started studying at SMK Sultan Badlishah. In the beginning, I did not know many students in school. However, many of them started talking to me by asking questions about me and my family. Thinnesh Kumar was one of them. He was not in the same class with me. Whenever he met me, he liked to ask me the question 'You are not working?' in Hokkien Chinese. He learnt that sentence from a Chinese friend. I wasn't quite fond of his act, as he couldn't pronounce the sentence properly, but I still became friends with him. Then, in March 2008, it was my first Moral lesson which was held in my class. As there was no other vacant places, he sat beside me. We talked to each other a lot and we started becoming closer.

After that, I would sit beside Thinnesh Kumar during every Moral lesson, as our classes would always have the Moral lesson together. Although we were friends, he liked to disturb me, such as by taking my things and poking me. There was another boy who also liked to disturb me. Thinnesh was behaving quite randomly. Sometimes, he would join that boy in disturbing me, but at other times, he would support me by stopping that boy from disturbing me. Occasionally, I quarrelled with Thinnesh, but that didn't affect our friendship. The same went on in year 2009.

However in 2010, Thinnesh seldom sat beside me during Moral lessons. He had many other friends at that time so he didn't want to sit with me anymore. As a result, we no longer had a very close relationship, but he was still my friend. After the PMR exam later that year, there was a lot of free time in school and we played chess together sometimes. In the following year 2011, we were initially in different classes. Then in February 2011, the school reallocated some students to different classes. As a result, Thinnesh joined my class. When I first knew that, I was quite happy, thinking that I would have one more friend in my class. He sat behind me, but he would come and sit beside me whenever the student beside me was absent. I often talked to him and we became quite close again.

However, starting from April 2011, there were serious conflicts between me and Thinnesh Kumar. Even before that, there are several reasons that made me dislike him. First, he liked to tease me very much. Once in October 2010, a teacher asked us to create a gadget. I jokingly pronounced the word 'gadget' wrongly. Since then, he kept finding the opportunity to tease me for not pronouncing something properly. Often, when I said something in class, he would repeat it in a strange way. Thinnesh also had the habit of looking down on the Chinese. He liked to make fun of a culture commonly practiced by the Chinese because the Indians don't practice that culture. Besides, he kept saying that Chinese people are useless and selfish. During History lessons, he also said that he hated the Chinese Civilization and the religion of Buddhism. I was very annoyed with him over that.

Thinnesh was a restless person. He kept moving about all the time, even when he was being punished by a teacher. His behaviour was just like someone with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Besides, he liked to talk very loudly. He was interested in a girl in my class, and whenever he was talking to the girl, there was nothing else that he would care about. I really disliked it when he talked so loudly as that was really rude. He also liked singing very loudly.

Thinnesh liked to tease me, especially since April 2011. Very often, he would call me 'big head' or 'kepala besar'. My Biology teacher had once told him that it is actually a good thing to have a big head with a lot of knowledge, but he just ignored that. He also did not respect the teachers very much. He seemed to be treating the teachers like people of the same age with him. There were many occasions where he challenged me for a fight in the field and threatened to smash my glasses with a football. Moreover, he liked teasing the students who took the ICT subject because he took Prinsip Perakaunan instead. He kept saying that the ICT subject was useless compared to Prinsip Perakaunan.

In addition, he liked to disturb me, such as by touching me and taking my things. Once, he took my name card. I didn't want to give it to him so I insisted that he return it to me. When he finally handed it back to me, he tore off a part of the name card. He was a close friend of another naughty boy. At first, that boy seldom disturbed me, but after Thinnesh came to our class, the boy joined him in disturbing me. Thinnesh also liked to disturb the girls in my class, especially those who were close to me. His intention was to make me angry.

In April 2011, Thinnesh started becoming my enemy. The immediate reason was that on 19 April 2011, a girl transferred from another school to my school and joined my class. I wanted to be her friend, but I was quite shy to start a conversation with her. When Thinnesh knew about it, he purposely stopped me from being friends with that girl. He said to the girl that I was a "psycho", which ruined her impression towards me. As a result, it became even difficult for me to be friends with that girl. I was so angry with Thinnesh that I stopped being friends with him and started considering him to be my enemy. Initially, I planned to continue being friends with Thinnesh after I managed to get the girl to become my friend.

After that incident, the conflict between me and Thinnesh intensified. He disturbed and teased me even more than before. One day, I returned to my class after break time. It was Physics lesson after that and we had to go to the lab. I took out my Physics books from my bag. Suddenly, Thinnesh came and took away one of my books. I tried chasing him to get back my book. However, he kept running and I could not run after him. Worse still, some other boys in my class supported Thinnesh. Thinnesh then ran to the Physics lab. When I got to the lab, I told the Physics teacher about the incident. However, Thinnesh denied taking my book. Having secretly put my book back on my table, he told the teacher that I was accusing him. Luckily, the Physics teacher didn't believe him.

One week after the girl entered my class, I finally started a conversation with her, thanks to the help by a few other girls in my class. I then started becoming friends with the girl. Earlier, I was planning to continue being friends with Thinnesh when that happens. However, due to Thinnesh's consistent teasing and disturbing, I decided to continue taking him as my enemy. After that, many other incidents happened.

Once, Thinnesh sprayed my hair with a liquid. I didn't know what the liquid was but the container of the liquid had the words 'Flammable'. Since it was a flammable liquid, there was a possibility that my hair could catch fire. So, I took revenge by throwing the things on his table onto the floor. Thinnesh almost started a fight with me because of that. One day in May 2011, the seat beside a girl in my class was empty because the girl sitting there was absent. Since the girl was my close friend, Thinnesh deliberately sat there. I told Thinnesh to go away but he refused to. Instead, he placed his hand behind the shoulder of the girl. One day in June 2011, I said to someone that Thinnesh was smelly. Previously, Thinnesh had teased me several times by saying that I was smelly, so I was just taking revenge. When Thinnesh knew about that, he wanted to start a fight with me, denying that he had ever said I was smelly.

On 7 July 2011, a fight broke out between me and Thinnesh. At that time, the Mathematics lesson was just over. Thinnesh deliberately knocked me when walking, so I knocked him back. He then knocked me very hard. I was very angry so I pushed him. He then shouted at me and challenged me to fight with him. I replied 'Come on!' and I tried to hit him. However, he pushed me back and punched my face. I tried to defend myself but I failed. My glasses fell off to the ground. Luckily, it did not break. The other boys in my class then came to stop the fight. They told me that I should punch Thinnesh instead of just defending. I then said that I didn't do so because I would be punished by the school if Thinnesh got hurt by that. Later, another boy in my class intentionally threw a glue-stick on me, giving me a 'second defeat'. Due to this incident, I posted on Facebook 'I HATE THINNESH KUMAR!'.

On 14 August 2011, another incident happened. At that time, I was collecting the class funds since I was the treasurer of my class. A boy paid the money but he said that he didn't trust me. He wanted to tick his name on the name list by himself, so I gave him the name list. He took my name list and walked to the front of the class. Later, I asked him to return the name list. However, he said that he did not have it. I pulled on his hand, trying to force him to return the name list. He didn't fight back, but he insisted that the name list wasn't with him. Then, another boy came and helped the boy escape from my grab. It was English lesson after that and we had to go to the multimedia room. The boy then ran to the multimedia room. I went there and told the English teacher about that. After the English lesson, the teacher asked the boy to return the name list to me. However, he still denied that he took it. After I followed him back to the class, I once again forced him to return it. He then said that Thinnesh took the name list and told me to get it from Thinnesh. Since he was the one who gave the name list to Thinnesh, I insisted that he had get it back from Thinnesh. It was ICT and Prinsip Perakaunan lessons after that. The other boys in my class then told me that Thinnesh would return the name list to me when the Prinsip Perakaunan lesson ends. They said that Thinnesh had to pay attention during the Prinsip Perakaunan lesson so I had to wait until the lesson was over. I insisted not to wait because the name list belonged to me so I had the right to get it back immediately. The boy then ran to the ICT lab and I followed him there. I told the ICT teacher about the incident and the teacher then asked another boy to get the name list back from Thinnesh. Thinnesh had no choice but to return it to me immediately. After the incident, the boy explained to me that he actually did not give the name list to Thinnesh but instead Thinnesh snatched the name list from him. So, I chose to forgive the boy and concluded that it was all Thinnesh's fault.

One day in September 2011, I quarrelled with Thinnesh again. It was Physics lesson at that time. Our Physics teacher asked us to copy some notes. However, he forgot to return a boy's exercise book. Therefore, the boy had to write the notes on a piece of foolscap paper. He did not have foolscap paper so he borrowed my test pad. When copying the notes, Thinnesh could not see a part of the blackboard, so he asked that boy for help. The boy gave Thinnesh my test pad so that Thinnesh could copy what he had written. I did not want Thinnesh to have my test pad after my experience with the 14 August incident earlier. I tried to take back the test pad from Thinnesh but he would not let me. I then took his book in revenge and he angrily hit his table. This was so unreasonable since it was him who took my test pad first. I threatened to tear his book and as a result, he challenged me for a fight. I scolded him 'stupid' and immediately, he stood up and wanted to start a fight with me. The Physics teacher saw that and he stopped us from fighting. The Physics teacher was unhappy with both of us because of this incident.

In year 2012, I did not have conflicts with Thinnesh Kumar that often because I always tried to avoid him. I did not want my friends and teachers to have bad impression towards me because of the conflicts. However, towards the end of 2012, an incident still happened. On 11 October 2012, there was a Biology lesson but my teacher left the class early because she had work to do. At that time, Thinnesh Kumar claimed that on that morning a girl in my class asked me a Mathematics question and I rudely answered her 'Macam ni pun tak tau ah?' ('You don't even know such a simple thing?') which made the girl feel very sad. Thinnesh announced that to the whole class and said that he would help the girl teach me a lesson. In reality, he was just making up a fake story and I definitely did not say those words to the girl. However, the other boys in my class believed Thinnesh and they started condemning me. I denied the whole case, but they refused to believe me. In fact, one of the boys insisted that I was wrong. I shouted back at him, denying the allegations. He then warned me not to raise my volume at him, threatening to punch me. Luckily, the girls in my class believed me. Finally, the girl clarified that the whole case was just a misunderstanding. Because of this incident, I decided to take Thinnesh Kumar as my enemy forever.

These are the reasons why I hate Thinnesh Kumar so much. We often had conflicts in school. The teachers did not intervene because they felt that we were mature enough to solve the conflicts between us. Some students suggested that I move to another class but I never agreed with that. Why should I leave my class when Thinnesh was in the wrong? Instead, the person who should move to another class was Thinnesh. It is impossible to resolve my conflicts with Thinnesh Kumar and I will never be friends with him again, not now, not in the near future and probably never will at all. Now, I have left secondary school, but I will never forget what Thinnesh had done to me. He will be my enemy forever.