My Lost Glory in Academics

In the past before I entered university, I used to get excellent results in examinations. I obtained 9A+ 1A in SPM and 4A* in A Level. I also achieved straight A's in every single school and college examinations from October 2009 until August 2014, a 5 year record. In September 2014, I started studying MBBS at NUMed Malaysia. At that time, I was hoping that I could continue my academic excellence in university.

On 22 September 2014 which was my first day at NUMed, there was an English language proficiency test. During the test, we had to write an essay on "The advantages and disadvantages of shopping on the Internet". I felt that I did not write the essay well and therefore I thought I would not pass the test. When the results of the English language proficiency test was released, I was so surprised to find out that I passed it. Only 18 out 120 students in my cohort passed the test and any student who failed had to attend English language classes throughout the first semester. This was obviously a good start for me in the MBBS course.

For Stage 1 and 2 of the MBBS course, there are 3 forms of assessment which are Progress examinations, OSCE and in-course assignments. In order pass a Stage, we need to pass all forms of assessments. A good performance in one form of assessment cannot compensate for a poor performance in another. I was aiming for a score of 80% or above in every assessment because it felt like getting grade A, even though in NUMed there is actually no special grade for that.

It all went well at first. Many of the topics in the beginning of Stage 1 were quite similar to those I learnt in A Level. Thanks to my previous knowledge, I was able to understand those topics quite easily. On 3 November 2014, it was the Stage 1 Progress 1 examination which was the first assessment in the course. I felt that this examination was more difficult compared to A Level as many of the questions required a lot of thinking. There were also a few questions on anatomy which I found very difficult. Despite that, I successfully scored 84.5% in the examination and I was ranked the 9th in the whole cohort. It was really an excellent result and I was very happy about that. It also greatly boosted my confidence in studying MBBS. Many students began to know me as an excellent student. I definitely hoped to maintain the same results in the next examination.

However, things started going downhill from that point onwards. Immediately after the Progress 1 examination, I had to do the Assignment 1 and the submission deadline was just 3 days later. Due to the fact that I previously studied A Level which was fully examination based, I had no experience in doing assignments. As a result, I faced great difficulty in doing the assignment and I felt really stressed. Although I was able to complete the assignment in time, I had no idea whether or not I did it correctly. I was just hoping that I could pass the Assignment 1. After submitting the assignment, I decided to fully relax myself for a few weeks. During the few weeks, we started learning more topics on anatomy and there were several anatomy practical sessions. We were required to do some preparation before attending those sessions, but I never did so because I did not see a need for that. As a result, during the anatomy practical sessions I was often quite confused and could not contribute my ideas to the discussions. In fact, most of the time I could not understand anything. This also affected my personal image as an excellent student.

In early December 2014, the results of the Assignment 1 was released and my score was a borderline pass. This was the first time where I did not score well in an assessment. I was still quite satisfied with my results, considering that I didn't even know how to do the assignment correctly. I told myself that my strong point was the Progress examinations and I should just focus on getting excellent results for that. Around that time, I started my revision for the Stage 1 Progress 2 examination. While revising, I did not put in any effort to improve my knowledge on anatomy which I had identified as my weak point, because I had the impression that anatomy was not important since only a few questions on it appeared in the previous examination. Instead, I simply skipped a few of the more difficult anatomy topics. Later, there was 4 weeks of winter break. During the break, I did not do my revision wholeheartedly because I was in holiday mood.

Unlike the Progress 1, the Progress 2 examination had 2 papers. On 12 January 2015, I sat for Paper 1 and I felt that it was about as difficult as the Progress 1 examination. Once again, there were a few anatomy questions and I could not answer most of them. After Paper 1 ended, I went back to the university accommodation together with a few friends. During the journey, I discussed with them about the examination questions. They said that they did not find the anatomy questions difficult. Besides, there were a few questions which I was already very confident that I answered correctly, but my friends had different answers and they were also very sure that they were correct. That affected my confidence in Paper 1, and I felt I did not answer it as well as I did in the Progress 1. I was hoping that I could do better in Paper 2 to compensate for that. The really annoying thing was that one of my housemate kept saying that the anatomy questions were easy and that his "love on anatomy is beginning to grow".

However, it turned out that Paper 2 on the next day was much more difficult than Paper 1. Paper 2 had many questions on anatomy, most of which I could not answer. After answering Paper 2, I knew I could no longer score 80% or above in the Progress 2 examination. Worst of all, when my housemate (who said the anatomy questions were easy) knew about that, he mocked me by saying "How are you going to be a doctor when you don't know anatomy?" I was quite angry with him over that. Coincidentally, on that day I accidentally dropped my iPad on the floor which permanently damaged its SIM card reader, so 13 January 2015 was really an unlucky day for me. Eventually, I scored 72.9% in the Progress 2 examination. I was quite disappointed that my score had dropped a lot compared to the Progress 1 examination. This was also the first time where I did not get excellent results in Progress examinations which I always thought was my strong point.

I had to start doing the Assignment 2 immediately after the examination because 2 weeks later it would be the deadline for the submission. Just like the previous assignment, I found the Assignment 2 very difficult. In fact, this assignment was really tedious which caused me to be extremely stressed. I felt that even the Progress 2 examination was definitely easier than the assignment. Luckily, I was able to get a sample of the assignment from one of my seniors. With that as a guide, I could at least know how to complete the assignment. Once again, I scored a borderline pass for this assignment, but there was a slight improvement in my score compared to the previous assignment. Soon after completing the Assignment 2, I had to begin on the Assignment 3. Out of my expectation, this assignment was easier compared to the previous assignments. At that point, I also had quite some experience in doing assignments. Therefore, I was able to complete the Assignment 3 without much difficulty. This was the last assignment in Stage 1. After completing all the assignments, I decided to relax for one whole month.

In mid April 2015, I started revising for the Stage 1 Progress 3 examination. Initially, I aimed to regain a score of 80% or above in this examination. However, I soon realised that I had started my revision too late. There were a lot to revise for the examination since it would test on everything learnt in both semesters of Stage 1, and time was limited. The 2nd semester had quite many topics on anatomy but I did not have time to try to improve my anatomy knowledge. I felt very stressed and as a result, I had to give up on my target of getting 80%. The Progress 3 examination was on 26 and 27 May 2015. Paper 1 had many anatomy questions and I could not answer many of them. Paper 2 also had many questions on anatomy, but I was able to answer some of them. On 4 June 2015, the final results for Stage 1 was released. I scored 68.3% for the Progress 3 examination and 85.5% for the Assignment 3. I passed Stage 1 overall. Although I was a bit disappointed about my Progress 3 results, I was really happy with my excellent score in the Assignment 3, especially that it was a huge improvement compared to the Assignment 2. Since I had passed Stage 1, I decided not to think about my results anymore. Instead, I enjoyed myself throughout the summer break at that time.

On 29 September 2015, I began Stage 2 of MBBS. At that time, I felt that the 4 month summer break seemed to pass so quickly. I was still in holiday mood and I could not immediately get myself back to study. One day in October 2015, I looked back at Stage 1. I realised that in the beginning of Stage 1, I was an excellent student just like before I entered NUMed, but later on, my examination results had declined by a lot and thus I had lost my excellence in academics. The Stage 1 Progress 1 examination was the last time ever where I obtained excellent results. Although I scored very well in the Stage 1 Assignment 3, this wasn't the case for the Progress examinations which was supposed to be my strong point. Thinking about that made me feel sad. Then, I told myself that I must make a comeback by regaining my academic excellence. I set myself the target of scoring 80% or above in my next examination which would be the Stage 2 Progress 1 examination. That got me out of my holiday mood and back to study. I started my revision quite early, in late October 2015 which was more than 2 months before the Progress 1 examination.

It turned out that achieving the target was easier said than done, as vast majority of the topics in the 1st semester of Stage 2 were about anatomy which was my weak point. To address my weak point, I tried putting in my efforts to revise anatomy in more detail. I also made sure to do preparation before attending every anatomy practical session, not wanting to repeat the same mistake I made in Stage 1. However, the problem was that I found anatomy very boring. Anatomy largely had to be studied by memorising rather than understanding, but I really hated memorising things. I could not study anatomy for long hours, because I would get so bored that I had to stop and do something else. I kept trying to remind myself of my target in the examination, but this did not help. As a result, I was not consistent in my studies. Despite the early start in my revision, I was not well prepared for the Progress 1 examination, but I was still hoping that somehow I would be able to score 80%.

The Stage 2 Progress 1 examination was on 11 and 12 January 2016. To make matters worse, this examination was very difficult as it tested on a lot of fine details, much of which I did not cover during my revision. As such, I definitely could not answer well in this examination. On 18 January 2016, the results of the examination was released and my score was 71.9%. I did not reach my target of 80% and this meant I failed to regain my academic excellence. I felt quite sad and disappointed about my failed efforts. However, later on the same day, I heard of the news that the JPA scholarship had been suspended for Bursary students who would be entering university from January 2016 onwards. Although it did not affect me and other students who were already offered the scholarship, I felt sad for those students affected. Then, thinking of my own situation, I tried to make myself feel better by telling myself that my disappointment of not getting 80% in the examination was nothing if compared to the disappointment of those students who might be unable to further their studies due to the suspension of the JPA scholarship. I decided to be grateful of the fact that I still passed the Progress 1 examination and thus could continue the MBBS course under the JPA scholarship.

After the examination, I started doing the Assignment 1 for Stage 2. This assignment was not difficult as it was quite similar to the Assignment 3 in Stage 1. Thanks to my previous experience, I did not have much problems completing this assignment. However, compared to the previous assignment, the examiners expected us to demonstrate more knowledge and skills in this assignment. Therefore in this assignment, I did not score as well as I did in the Stage 1 Assignment 3, getting only 75%. Then, I began doing the Stage 2 Assignment 2. It was quite similar to the Assignment 2 in Stage 1, but I did not find this assignment too difficult due to the fact that I had quite a lot of experience in doing assignments. Eventually, I scored 75% in this assignment which was the same score as the previous assignment. This was the last assignment in Stage 2. Although I did not score 80% or above, I was still quite satisfied with my results considering that assignments used to be my weak point previously.

I initially planned to start revising for the Stage 2 Progress 2 examination early because I did not want to repeat the same mistake I previously made for the Stage 1 Progress 3 examination. However, I just could not get myself to revise for the examination while doing the assignments at the same time. It was only after I completed the Assignment 2 in late April 2016 that I could start my revision for the Progress 2 examination. At that point, there was only 5 weeks remaining until the examination. Worse still, this examination was considered by many to be the second most difficult examination in the entire MBBS course. Compared to the 1st semester, I felt that the topics in the 2nd semester of Stage 2 were easier because there was no anatomy. However, the problem was that the Progress 2 examination would test on topics from both semesters of Stage 2. In such a short time frame of 5 weeks, I had to revise so many topics including those tedious anatomy topics of the 1st semester.

Consequently, I felt extremely stressed throughout my revision and I was worried that I could not finish the revision in time. Amid the stress, I was definitely just hoping to pass Stage 2 and nothing more than that. I dared not even think about scoring 80% as I knew that would be impossible. The Stage 2 OSCE was on 24 May 2016. Due to stress, my performance in the OSCE was adversely affected. I was really worried that I might fail the OSCE. On 31 May and 1 June 2016, it was the Stage 2 Progress 2 examination. Luckily, after all the hard work I was able to answer reasonably well in the examination. The final results for Stage 2 was released on 8 June 2016. I scored 64.7% in the Progress 2 examination and got a borderline pass for the OSCE. I passed Stage 2 overall and I was so relieved to know that. Even though my Progress 2 results was worse compared to the previous examinations, I did not feel disappointed this time and I chose to be grateful of the fact that I passed.

I lost my excellence in academics during Stage 1 and my attempt to regain it during Stage 2 was a failure. However, I have since come to the realisation that whether I scored a borderline pass or 100% or anywhere in between, I will still be graduating with the same MBBS degree as my examination results will not be stated on the degree certificate, so academic excellence serves no real purpose. In addition, it is the clinical years from Stage 3 onwards. Unlike Stage 1 and 2, in the clinical years most of the learning is done at clinical sites and there is greater emphasis on critical thinking and self-directed learning, so the clinical years are more difficult. If I continue to aim for 80% or above in the examinations, that would just add to my stress unnecessarily and I definitely won't be enjoying the course very much if I feel too stressed. Enjoying the course is definitely much more important than academic excellence. Therefore, I will just aim for a pass in every assessment since then. I most probably will never regain my academic excellence, but that doesn't matter to me anymore now.

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

https://www.daniellimjj.com/2017/08/disasters-in-my-3rd-year-of-mbbs.html

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

My pickiness in eating

If you know me well, you surely know that I am quite picky when it comes to food. There are certain food that I don't eat. As a matter of fact, I have been a picky eater since childhood. Back then, my pickiness was actually far worse compared to now.

It didn't start off that way though. Since shortly after I was born, I had been living with my grandparents in Kulim, as both my parents were working in Kuala Lumpur. In the beginning, my grandparents fed me with many different types of food, and I always ate them without any issues.

When I was 1 year and 6 months, my grandparents brought me to Australia to visit my aunt and her family. There, I was often praised for being a good boy, especially that I never complained about or refused to eat any food that I was given. 

Subsequently at 3 years old, my grandparents planned to bring me to Australia for a second time. I had agreed to go and my grandparents had bought the flight tickets. My parents came to Kulim to bring me and my grandparents to Kuala Lumpur, where our flight would be departing from.

On the night before travelling to Kuala Lumpur, fatefully, I asked my father a question "How does an aeroplane fly and how does a rocket fly?" My father tried to explain it to me in a simple manner: A rocket flies straight up to the sky, while an aeroplane takes off horizontally before it slowly goes up to the sky.

However, I had a terrible misunderstanding about my father's explanation, particularly the "slowly goes up" part. I thought he meant that aeroplanes fly vertically upwards just like rockets, with the difference being that aeroplanes turn upwards gradually rather than going straight up from the start. That sounded so scary to me!

I started feeling very scared about taking a flight to Australia. Although I had previously flewn to Australia before, I had no memories of it due to my young age. I didn't voice out my fear to my parents or grandparents as I felt there was nothing they could do about it.

At that time, my parents who hadn't been living with me tried to persuade me to stay in Kuala Lumpur with them while my grandparents go to Australia. To avoid going on an aeroplane, I quickly agreed to stay in Kuala Lumpur with my parents.

No matter how my grandparents tried to convince me, I refused to go to Australia with them. They were of course very disappointed about that. I cannot remember exactly how long my grandparents' trip to Australia was, but my rough estimate is a few weeks.

In Kuala Lumpur, my parents took care of me for the first time. They pampered me a lot and I had a great time. However, there was an issue. The food my parents gave me was quite different from the food my grandparents fed me with, and I didn't like the change.

Seeing that I didn't like the food they gave me, my parents didn't force me to eat it. I only ate rice and soup, which were the only food in common with what my grandparents fed me with. That was the case throughout my stay in Kuala Lumpur.

After being pampered by my parents, I refused to return to Kulim with my grandparents after their trip to Australia ended. They still brought me back to Kulim, and I actually cried throughout the journey and refused to get down the car for 20 minutes after arriving in Kulim.

I then settled down in Kulim with my grandparents, but my eating was never the same again. My grandparents tried to reintroduce the food they fed me with previously, but I refused to eat it again after I stopped eating it for some time in Kuala Lumpur.

Literally, the only food I ate were milk, rice, noodles, soup, eggs, bread, biscuits and cakes. I refused to eat anything else, including any meat or vegetables. As you can see, my diet was so lacking in proteins, vitamins and minerals. Consequently, I was always quite thin. At one point, I became quite sick due to malnutrition, and my family GP had to give me some vitamins.

There were several occasions where my grandparents forced me to eat some meat and vegetables, but I always resisted violently. I particularly hated eating meat. In the end, my grandparents just couldn't change my eating habits.

At 6 years old, I became interested in trying pizzas. I had been seeing Pizza Hut's advertisements on the television and the pizzas looked so appetising. That was literally the first time in my life where I chose to try new food on my own will. Pizza Hut certainly did a very good job in advertising!

My grandparents were delighted and they brought me to the nearest Pizza Hut. I really liked the taste of pizzas. Since then, I had been eating it regularly. When I was in Year 1 of primary school, my grandparents would buy a pizza for me almost every Sunday.

Later, I had an issue with pizzas. One night when I was in Kuala Lumpur, my mother ordered Pizza Hut delivery for me. However, the restaurant mistakenly brought a pizza with stuffed crust rather than the standard pan crust.

A stuffed crust pizza has thick mozzarella cheese in its crust. I liked the cheese so much. After that experience, I kept wanting pizzas with stuffed crust. However, I soon became only interested in the pizza crust, not wanting to eat the other parts of the pizza at all.

My grandparents were so upset when they knew about that. They banned me from ordering any stuffed crust pizza for some time and made sure I ate the whole slice of a pizza every time. Thankfully though, the issue was soon rectified without major difficulties.

At 7 years old, my grandparents introduced me to KFC. Even though they knew it isn't very healthy, at least the fried chicken was a good source of protein for me considering that I wouldn't eat any other meat.

As the fried chicken looked quite appetising, I didn't resist trying it. Quickly, I fell in love with KFC's fried chicken. My grandmother forced me to eat KFC's mash potato as well. While I hated it in the beginning, I was liking it a lot before long. My grandparents wouldn't let me have KFC too often, only once every 2 weeks at most.

The real change came when I was 9 years old. I had begun learning about the importance of balanced diet in school. Instead of forcing me to eat like they did previously, my grandparents took a new approach by telling me nicely. I started eating fish, meat and vegetables regularly. 

Within a year, my weight went up from 23kg to 35kg. My teacher was quite surprised about that. Despite that, I was still very picky in eating. As I only ate some of the food my grandmother cooked, she often had to cook some separate dishes for me.

While I had started eating many different types of food, there were even more types of food which I didn't want to eat. I was always quite reluctant to try new food, unless if it's similar enough to something which I liked to eat. Over many years, I only tried a few new food.

After I got into Taylor's College and NUMed, peer pressure from my friends ocassionally resulted in me trying new food. Usually, I would end up liking the new food I tried. With that, I became more open to trying out new food. However, there are still certain food I really don't like and I refuse to eat, a good example being tofus.

Despite my pickiness in eating, the good thing is that in almost any restaurant, I can find a food item that suits me. Therefore, I almost never had any problems when going out with my friends. I am also able to eat very spicy foods, in fact I love eating them.

When I was in MBBS Stage 5 2018/2019, my group mates were asking me how do I generalise the food I eat and the food I don't eat. I couldn't think of a good way to explain it, but I tried to explain by saying that the food I eat generally has a well-defined taste. My explanation left my group mates even more confused and they got annoyed.

When I was a Teaching Fellow at NUMed, one of my friends who has a great interest in cooking stated that based on her observations, the food I eat are generally the more mainstream foods. I found her explanation quite accurate. I appreciate that she made an effort to get to know me better, unlike my group mates in Stage 5 2018/2019.

Now, after so many years, I am still picky in eating, though it has very much improved. I am eating a wide variety of food. I eat most of the food my grandmother cooks every day. There are still certain food liked by many people which I don't eat. I try out new food regularly, but only if I can be sure that I will like it.

Looking back, the whole issue that led to me becoming so picky in eating started all because of my misunderstanding about how aeroplanes fly. It's crazy to think how such a small incident would end up changing my whole life.

Why I Like College and University More Than School?

Personally, I think that college life and university life are much more interesting compared to primary and secondary school life. There are several reasons for that. One of the reasons is highlighted in this poem.

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The Little Boy
By Helen Buckley

Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside
He was happy;
And the school did not seem
Quite so big anymore.

One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make all kinds;
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats;
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make flowers."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And it was red, with a green stem.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at his teacher's flower
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over,
And made a flower like the teacher's.
It was red, with a green stem.

On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make something with clay."
"Good!" thought the little boy;
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make a dish."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.

But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at the teacher's dish;
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher's.
It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn't make things of his own anymore.

Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house,
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
This school was even bigger
Than the other one.
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
And he waited for the teacher
To tell what to do.
But the teacher didn't say anything.
She just walked around the room.

When she came to the little boy
She asked, "Don't you want to make a picture?"
"Yes," said the little boy.
"What are we going to make?"
"I don't know until you make it," said the teacher.
"How shall I make it?" asked the little boy.
"Well, anyway you like," said the teacher.
"And any colour?" asked the little boy.
"Any colour," said the teacher.
"If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colours,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?"
"I don't know," said the little boy.
And he began to make pink and orange and blue flowers.

He liked his new school,
Even if it didn't have a door
Right in from the outside!
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In the poem above, the boy's first school represents my primary and secondary school, while his new school represents my college and university. Hope you understand the poem.

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Why I have two Facebook accounts?

On 24 March 2016, I created my 2nd Facebook account. Why did I do so?

I created my 1st Facebook account in September 2009. Since then, I had been making a lot of friends on Facebook. I used to think that the more friends I have on Facebook, the better it is. Whenever someone sent me a friend request, I would always accept it, even if I didn't know the person. My family members also became my friends on Facebook. I never liked to let my family members know my activities on the internet, I prefer to keep it secret from them. Initially, I hardly posted anything on Facebook, so it wasn't a problem.

In August 2012, I took photos with a group of girls in my school. They then posted the photos on Facebook and tagged me. I thought my family members wouldn't be able to see those photos, as they were not friends with those girls on Facebook. It turned out that I was terribly wrong, as the photos that I was tagged in were visible to all of my Facebook friends. My family members saw all those photos and they asked me about it. That made me feel quite uncomfortable.

Since then, I added all my family members to the Restricted list of Facebook. Anyone in the Restricted list is unable see my Facebook posts, except for the posts that I set to Public. I thought that had solved the problem. In 2013, I became more active on Facebook and I posted on it more often. Occasionally, when I posted something that I didn't mind my family members seeing, I would set it to Public. In that way, my family members wouldn't suspect that I added them to the Restricted list, since they could still see some of my posts.

However, I later realised that while those in the Restricted list are unable to see my Facebook posts, they can still see if I liked or commented on someone's post that is set to Public by the person. Worse still, my family members added me to their Close friends list. As a result, whenever I liked or commented on a post, it would appear on top of their News Feed. Moreover, if I accidentally set a post to Public, they would automatically receive an e-mail notification about my post. The only way to stop this is to unfriend or block my family members, but then they would know about it when they try to open my Facebook profile.

Every now and then, my family members would say to me 'I saw your friend's photo that you liked', 'I saw your comment on that news article' and so on. I really disliked that and I told them to stop stalking me, but they would say 'I didn't stalk you, it just appeared on my News Feed!' Sometimes, after seeing my comment, they would tell me not to mind other people's business or waste my time.

In March 2016, I wrote a post on Facebook where I mentioned about my brother and cousin getting A+ for English in the SPM examination. Out of my expectation, my brother could see the post and he told my parents about that, even though I had blocked him on Facebook. It turned out that one of his friends was my Facebook friend which I didn't add to the Restricted list. He saw my post and showed it to my brother. That was the consequence of me accepting friend requests from everyone without even trying to find out who they are.

After that incident, I decided that the best way to stop my family members from seeing my activities on Facebook is by creating another Facebook account. In my 2nd Facebook account, I will only add my close friends. I won't add my family members or anyone I don't know personally. I created my 2nd Facebook account one day after my 21st birthday on 23 March 2016. The fact that I have now reached 21 years old justifies my decision to keep my activities on Facebook secret from my family members.

My 3 remarkable dreams in 1 night

One night in February 2016, when I was sleeping, I had 3 different dreams, one after another. They were not interconnected and were unrelated to each other. I can remember the dreams very well because I rarely have more than 1 dreams in 1 night, so they were quite remarkable.

On that night, I fell asleep at about 12:30AM which is quite early compared to usual because I was quite tired. Then, I had the 1st dream.

1st dream:

I was eating with my grandparents at a restaurant in SS2, Petaling Jaya. When eating, I thought of MyBurgerLab which is located not far away. I walked around to have a look at MyBurgerLab, but I was unable to find it. My grandparents then came to call me and said that I should not simply walk around without telling them. They took me to find MyBurgerLab after we finished eating, but we still couldn't find it. Later, as we were leaving SS2, I searched on Google Maps and realised that I was at the wrong place because MyBurgerLab was in another part of SS2.

(MyBurgerLab is a burger shop in SS2. I went there once on 4 June 2014 with my college friends and that was a very interesting experience.)

I woke up from the 1st dream at about 4AM. I continued to sleep. Then, I had the 2nd dream.

2nd dream:

I and my cousins went on a holiday trip to Pakistan (not sure which city) for just 1 day. At the airport in Pakistan, there was an education fair. There, a few students were promoting NUMed Malaysia, and they stated that they have received offers to study Medicine at NUMed. I was happy that NUMed is gaining popularity internationally. Then, I brought an SD card from a computer shop at the airport as souvenir. We had lunch at a restaurant and stayed in a hotel near the airport for a few hours. After that, we boarded the flight back to Malaysia.

(In reality, I have never been to Pakistan before.)

I woke up from the 2nd dream at about 7AM. Since I usually wake up around 8:30AM, I continued sleeping. I had the 3rd dream at that time.

3rd dream:

I and my parents were in Penang. My father decided that we take a submarine ride. I did not oppose his decision, but I was actually worried of a submarine accident. As the submarine descends rapidly into the sea, I experienced extreme ear pain due to change in pressure. For some reason, I was unable to swallow my saliva to relieve the ear pain and I almost fainted. Finally, the submarine reached the bottom of the sea and I did not faint.

(In reality, there is no submarine ride for tourists in Penang, and I have never taken a submarine before. In the past, I used to experience severe ear pain whenever I take a flight during take-off and landing, but it is not so bad now.)

I then woke up from the 3rd dream at about 8:15AM. I got up from bed to get ready to go to university.

Thinking back of the dreams, I came up with possible explanations for each of them, although I do not know exactly why I had them.

Possible explanations for the 1st dream:

- Now I am living in the hostel away from my family. Therefore, I do not have my family members, particularly my grandparents, guiding me in my daily life. Sometimes, I feel lost and do not know what is the right thing to do. Just like in the dream, I was looking for MyBurgerLab without realising that I was in the wrong place.

- I miss my college friends very much. Ever since I entered university in September 2014, I couldn't meet up with them very often. I particularly miss the time where I went to MyBurgerLab with them on 4 June 2014 and I hope that I can go there with them again in the future. This is probably why I thought of MyBurgerLab in the dream.

Possible explanations for the 2nd dream:

- In the past year, I became closer to my cousins compared to previously. We often have some interesting activities together whenever we meet. The dream about going on a holiday trip with them could be a representation of this fact.

- There are many students from Pakistan who read this blog. Some of them have contacted me personally for advice about education. I have even recommended NUMed Malaysia to those who are interested in studying Medicine. This may be why I had the dream about Pakistan.

Possible explanations for the 3rd dream:

Medicine course which I am currently studying is very challenging. I need to go through a lot of hard work and high levels of stress before I can successfully complete the course. I am also worried of failing the course. In the dream, the bottom of the sea represents success, the ear pain in the journey down the sea represents hard work and stress, while submarine accident and fainting represent failure.

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

https://www.daniellimjj.com/2017/05/my-dream-about-movie.html

Differences between CIE A Level and UK A Level

LAST UPDATED: 21 January 2017

For the A Level examination, there are many examination boards such as CIE, OCR, Edexcel, AQA and others. 'CIE A Level' refers to A Level by Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), while 'UK A Level' collectively refers to A Level by Edexcel, AQA, OCR and all other UK examination boards except CIE. Actually, CIE is also an examination board in UK, and it is a department of the University of Cambridge. CIE A Level is also considered a UK qualification. However, CIE A Level is not considered to be the same as UK A Level. Why is this the case?

The fact is that, CIE is significantly different compared to the other examination boards. UK A Level is intended for students in the UK, while CIE A Level is intended for students outside the UK. Public schools in UK are not allowed to offer CIE A Level, although private schools in UK are allowed to. Colleges and schools outside the UK can offer UK A Level, but majority of them offer CIE A Level. There are several differences between CIE A Level and UK A Level.

One of the differences between CIE A Level and UK A Level is that CIE A Level uses Percentage Uniform Mark (PUM), while UK A Level uses Uniform Mark Scale (UMS). Actually, the concepts of PUM and UMS are the same. Contrary to popular belief, PUM or UMS is not the raw mark or percentage you scored in the examination. Instead, PUM or UMS shows the position of your raw mark relative to the grade thresholds. PUM/UMS of 80%, 70%, 60%, 50% and 40% are defined as the grade thresholds for grades A, B, C, D and E respectively. The grade thresholds will change from one examination session to the next depending on the difficulty of the papers and the performance of candidates, but the definitions of PUM/UMS will always be the same. If your PUM/UMS is 80%, it means that your raw mark is equal to the threshold for A (you just scored the minimum required for grade A). If your PUM/UMS is 75%, it means that your raw mark is right in between the thresholds for A and B. If your PUM/UMS is 68%, it means that after dividing the range of raw marks between the thresholds for B and C into 10 equal parts, your raw mark is 8 parts above the threshold for C and 2 parts below the threshold for B. PUM and UMS actually work in the same way, but there are some differences between them.

Unlike PUM in CIE A Level, UMS in UK A Level is not in shown in the form of a percentage, instead UMS is shown as marks out of a total UMS where the total UMS may or may not be 100. For example, if your UMS is 80% and the total UMS is 600, your UMS will be shown as 480/600 rather than 80%. In CIE A Level, your results will state your PUM for AS Level only and for overall A Level (AS and A2 combined), but not your PUM for A2 only. In UK A Level, your results will state your UMS for AS, A2 and overall A Level.

PUM in CIE A Level and UMS in UK A Level are also different in their definitions of 90% and 100%. For CIE AS Level, PUM of 90% requires your raw marks to be right in between full marks and the threshold for grade A (there is no grade A* at AS Level), while for overall CIE A Level, PUM of 90% requires your raw marks to be equal to the threshold for grade A* (which is usually higher than the threshold for grade A by the same amount that the threshold for A is higher than the threshold for B). For both AS Level and overall A Level, PUM of 100% requires your raw marks to be full marks (this is very difficult to achieve). But in UK A Level, whether it is AS, A2 or overall A Level, UMS of 90% requires your raw marks to be higher than the threshold for grade A by the same amount that the threshold for A is higher than the threshold for B, while UMS of 100% requires your raw marks to be higher than the threshold for grade A by twice the amount that the threshold for A is higher than the threshold for B (this can usually be achieved without having to get full marks).

Because of this difference, PUM in CIE A Level and UMS in UK A Level have different meanings at above 80% for AS and at above 90% for overall A Level (they are the same below that). If your UMS in UK A Level is 95%, it means that your raw mark is higher than the threshold for A by 1.5 times the amount that the A threshold is higher than the B threshold. But if your PUM in overall CIE A Level is 95%, it means that your raw mark is right in between full marks and the threshold for A*. Therefore, PUM of 95% usually indicates and requires a better performance than UMS of 95%.

Another great difference between CIE A Level and UK A Level is their definition of grade A*. To get A* in CIE A Level, your raw marks for AS and A2 combined have to be equal to or higher than the threshold for grade A*. An excellent performance in AS can compensate for less excellent performance in A2, as long as your total raw marks for AS and A2 reaches the threshold for A*. This is advantageous since AS is easier than A2. However, to get A* in UK A Level, you have to get a UMS of at least 90% for A2 only, and also a UMS of at least 80% for AS and A2 combined. Regardless of the UMS you obtained in AS (as long as it is anywhere between 70% and 100%), you still need to obtain UMS of 90% in A2 in order to get A*, so it is not possible for less excellent performance in A2 to be compensated by excellent performance in AS. Therefore, it is definitely easier to obtain A* in CIE A Level compared to UK A Level.

In my opinion, CIE A Level's definition of A* is more accurate compared to UK A Level, because CIE A Level emphasises on excellent performance for AS and A2 in overall, while UK A Level emphasises on excellent performance for A2 only. For UK A Level, a student who obtained UMS of 70% in AS and 90% in A2 (thus a combined UMS of 80%) will get A*, while another student who obtained UMS of 99% in AS and 89% in A2 (thus a combined UMS of 94%) will not get A*. This clearly shows that UK A Level's definition of A* is less accurate and less fair.

Besides, there are individual units for each subject in UK A Level but not in CIE A Level. For every subject in UK A Level, there are 2 to 3 units in AS and another 2 to 3 units in A2. There are 2 examination sessions every year in June and in January, and students can take one or more units for each subject in each session, so it is possible to split the entire A Level into 4 separate sessions (2 for AS and 2 for A2). Students who wish to retake a subject can choose to retake only a single unit that they did not score well. For CIE A Level instead, there are also 2 examination sessions every year in June and in November, but since there are no individual units, students must take the entire AS or entire A2 for each subject in one examination session, so it is possible to split the entire A Level into only 2 separate sessions (1 for AS and 1 for A2). Students who wish to retake a subject must retake the entire AS or entire A2 (or both) of that subject.

Moreover, for science subjects in UK A Level, some of the marks are awarded for the quality of writing, which includes the ability to structure the answer logically, grammar, punctuation, spelling and others, while for science subjects in CIE A Level, no mark is given for the quality of writing. Therefore, students taking UK A Level have to take care of their quality of writing when answering the science subjects, otherwise they would lose marks. In my opinion, marks should not be given for quality of writing in science subjects because quality of writing should only be tested in language subjects.

Mathematics subjects in both CIE A Level and UK A Level require students to give their answers to 3 significant figures. In UK A Level, students are not penalised if their answers are given to 2 or 4 significant figures, but they are penalised if their answers are given to less than 2 or more than 4 significant figures, while in CIE A Level, students are not penalised if they give their answers to 4 significant figures or more, but they are penalised if they give their answers to 2 significant figures or less.

However, UK A Level has changed recently. The first step of the changes is that subjects in UK A Level no longer have individual units, so the entire AS or entire A2 for each subject must be taken in one examination session. Students wishing to retake a subject also have to retake the entire AS or entire A2 of that subject. In this aspect, UK A Level is actually becoming more similar to CIE A Level. One more change to UK A Level is that the January examination session has been abolished and there is only one examination session in June every year. Therefore, students can only take or retake examinations in June. CIE A Level is completely not affected by any of these changes and it will remain the same as it was. CIE A Level never had individual units in the first place, and both its June and November examination sessions will remain. Due to these changes to UK A Level, some colleges and schools outside the UK which previously offered UK A Level had made the switch to CIE A Level.

The second step of the changes to UK A Level is that AS Level becomes a separate qualification from A Level. AS Level has the same standard as before, but its results can no longer be carried forward to A Level. This means that students have to take the entire A Level, which includes both AS and A2 topics, for each subject in one examination session. Students who wish to retake a subject must also retake the entire A Level content of that subject. For some subjects, AS Level can be taught together with the first half of A Level, and students can take AS Level after completing the first half of A Level, but their AS Level results will not have any influence on their overall A Level results, and at the end of the second half of A Level, they still have to take the entire A Level (both AS and A2). Again, this change does not affect CIE A Level in any way. Students are still able to carry forward their CIE AS Level results to CIE A Level.

Despite the differences, CIE A Level and UK A Level are considered to be of equivalent standard by universities throughout the world. CIE A Level and UK Level have their pros and cons. For me, I definitely preferred CIE A Level instead of UK A Level, mainly because it is easier to obtain A* in CIE A Level. Previously, I took CIE A Level and I got 4A*. Thinking back, I am glad that my college offered CIE A Level.

P/S: All the notes and tips that I provide on this blog is for CIE A Level, not UK A Level.

My dream on 11 July 2015

On the night of 11 July 2015, I had a weird dream in my sleep.

In my dream, my Taylor's College friends organised a birthday party for me at my house. The party was held at the living room throughout the afternoon, while my parents mostly stayed at the dining room. At one point during the party, my friends told me that they had also planned a dinner for me at a restaurant on that night. I went to the dining room to tell my parents that I would be going out with my friends for dinner later.

However, my mother said "Your friends have been here for quite a long time, now it's time for them to leave," while my father said "Don't let them be here for too long." I was holding the air-conditioner remote control at that time. Annoyed by what they said, I threatened to smash it onto the floor. Then, my father angrily said "Your friends are so important to you right? You talk to them a lot, but you hardly even talk to me. It seems that I am worth less than your friends!"

At that time, I realised that my friends were watching the conversation. They began to leave my house, and I quickly walked out to stop them. Then, my friends told me not to enter my house until they tell me to do so, and some of them walked back into my house. I thought that they might be having a talk with my parents. I was feeling quite uneasy because of what my father had said. I walked around outside my house, waiting for my friends to call me in.

After a while, my friends asked me to enter my house through the back door. As soon as I entered, my friends surprised me with a cake and a birthday card with their messages. At that time, I noticed that my relatives from another city were coming to my birthday party as well. I went to my father and told him about that, and he just replied okay. He didn't seem to be angry over the earlier incident anymore, and that made me feel relieved.

Then, when I looked at the calendar on the wall, I was surprised to see that there had been a time jump to a year later. Once again, my friends were celebrating my birthday at my house. Out of sudden, my father walked out of the house. I had no idea why he did that, so I informed my mother about that. She told me that over the past year, my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and he often walked out of the house for no reason.

I was very sad to hear that, but I was also hoping that my father would have forgotten the incident which made him angry earlier. I and my mother went out to get my father back home. After we found him, my father said that he wanted to take me to a nearby city to celebrate my birthday. Not wanting to disappoint him, I agreed and my mother followed along.

When we were on our journey, I suddenly thought about my friends who were still at my house. I realised that I hadn't let them know my whereabouts, so they must have been waiting for me cluelessly for quite some time. Looking at me, my mother said "I know what you are thinking about," and she passed to me the birthday card that my friends gave me earlier. Then, I woke up from my dream.

This dream is really strange. I feel that it seemed to be reminding me of the importance of my family.

6 May 2014 Tragedy

6 May 2014 was a very devastating day for me. It was just a few days before my A Level A2 final examination started, so I was quite busy doing revision. At that time, I still have not received the offer to study Medicine at any university. About 2 weeks before that, I attended the interview for Perdana University. I felt that I performed quite well during the interview, so I was quite confident that I would be offered a place.

Actually, after attending the interview at Perdana University, I did not like the university and its location. However, I was still hoping to get an offer from Perdana University because that would give me the confidence to attend the interview for IMU and NUMed Malaysia later.

On that afternoon, I was revising the topic 'Complex ions' for Chemistry. I was able to understand and remember all the ligand exchange reactions for complex ions in the syllabus, and I felt quite happy about that. However, that happiness was short-lived.

At that moment, my mother just arrived home after work, and she came to my room like usual. However, her facial expression was a bit unusual on that day, so I believed that something must have happened. Then, she told me that there was a letter for me from Perdana University. It was highly likely that the letter was about the outcome of my application after the interview.

My mother had not opened the letter since it was for me, so she was a bit worried. At that time, I felt like telling her 'Don't be so worried. Most likely Perdana University is offering me a place', but I did not do so. Although I was quite confident, I still felt nervous about the contents of the letter. I opened the envelope and pulled out the letter quickly.

However, the first thing I saw on the letter was its subject which stated 'Rejection of Application'. I looked through the letter for more details, but all they said was that they decided to reject me, without giving any reason. Since my IELTS results and forecast A Level results that I used to apply to Perdana University were quite good, the rejection was definitely due to my poor interview performance.

I felt extremely disappointed about that. Earlier, when I was rejected by all the UK universities that I applied to, I did not feel disappointed because I knew that they were very competitive. However, the fact that I was rejected even by Perdana University which is not a high rank university clearly showed how poor my interview performance was.

My mother was just beside me at that time so I had to tell her that Perdana University rejected me. When she knew about that, she was also disappointed. Then, she encouraged me not to feel sad and try again with other universities. Actually, since when I first knew that attending an interview is required for entry into Medicine course, I have been worrying that I might face problems with that.

I would be attending the interview for IMU later on that month and then the interview for NUMed Malaysia on the following month. Since IMU is more competitive than Perdana, it was quite possible that IMU might also reject me because of my poor interview skills. NUMed Malaysia is even more competitive, so my chance of being offered a place was even lower.

After I was rejected by Perdana University, I did not know how my future would be. If other universities also rejected me, then I would not be able to study Medicine anymore. I was so desperate that I applied to SEGi University as a backup option, but even then I might not be offered a place. My greatest hope at that time was that I could receive an offer from IMU, and I dared not even dream of getting an offer from NUMed Malaysia.

I was already very stressful at that time because of my oncoming A2 final examination. Combined with my stress after being rejected by Perdana University, it was surely a hard time for me. However, I told myself that no matter how disappointed I was, I must not let it affect my performance in the examination. My focus on the examination did help me forget about that temporarily.

Luckily, it all went well in the end. I successfully passed the interviews for both IMU and NUMed Malaysia and received offers from them. Now, I am studying Medicine at NUMed Malaysia. Thinking back, I should not have applied to Perdana University, then I would not have to experience the stress of being rejected.

My 1st year of MBBS at NUMed

The 1st year of my MBBS course at Newcastle University Medicine (NUMed) Malaysia lasted for about 9 months from September 2014 to May 2015. In NUMed, 1st year is known as Stage 1. For me, Stage 1 was very interesting and I enjoyed it very much. During Stage 1, I lived in Horizon Residences, Bukit Indah which is university-managed accommodation. Here, I am writing about the 9 months when I was in Stage 1.

I applied to NUMed Malaysia in June 2014, which was rather late. The reason is that a personal statement is required for the application, which I started writing only after my A2 Level examination in May 2014. Before I applied to NUMed, I already received the offer to study Medicine at International Medical University (IMU). Later, I was offered a place by NUMed after attending the interview. I decided to choose NUMed over IMU because NUMed is the branch of a UK university while IMU is a local university.

22 September 2014 - 2 October 2014:

I started studying Medicine at NUMed Malaysia on 22 September. From 22 September to 24 September, there were induction programmes where Stage 1 students were introduced to the course and university. On 22 September, there was an English Language proficiency test which tested on writing. Those who did not pass it would have to attended English Language classes. I did not write the essay very well so I thought that I would not pass the test. Then on 23 September, Stage 1 students were introduced to the seminar groups. My seminar group is Group 7. My university began the teaching on 24 September. There was a Freshers' Fair on 26 September where Stage 1 students were introduced to the clubs and societies in the university. I joined the Chinese Society and Buddhist Society during the fair. On the same day, the results of the English Language proficiency test was released. Out of my expectation, I passed it and would not need to attend English classes. Only 18 students in the entire Stage 1 passed the test. On 27 and 28 September, there were a few orientation events organised by the seniors. I did not attend any of them since the attendance was optional and because of my bad experience during the orientation event when I entered Taylor's College previously. The university distributed the Assignment 3 which is the Family Study project to all Stage 1 students on 29 September. During that period of time, I was still getting to know how university life is like. Every night, I read the textbooks to prepare for the lectures on the next day. Although this could help me understand the lectures better, it was very time-consuming and tiring.

3 October 2014 - 6 October 2014:

There was no class on 3 October. However, there was a 1 hour feedback session on that day. During the session, we were asked about our experience at NUMed Malaysia for the past 2 weeks. After that day, there was 3 day break from 4 October to 6 October due to Hari Raya Haji. All my housemates went back to their hometown, but I did not because I wanted to go back only when there is a longer break. I stayed alone in Horizon Residences during that time. On 5 October 2014, my parents came to visit me. They took me out for lunch and bought me dinner.

7 October 2014 - 23 October 2014:

On 7 October, it was the first clinical skills practical session, where students were taught hand-washing. During the session, I made an embarrassing mistake by going to the wrong group because I was confused with the names of my group members. On 11 October, I attended a BBQ party which was held at the ground floor of Horizon Residences. Many students staying in Horizon Residences and some students staying elsewhere attended it. Then, I and my study partner visited our study mother for the Family Study project on 12 October. On 14 October, the university distributed the Assignment 1 to all Stage 1 students. I and my group mates went to Columbia Asia Hospital on 17 October for a health check-up. During our journey to and back from the hospital, I had a close conversation with my group mates and we took a group photo for the 1st time. This brought me closer to my group mates. My parents visited me for the 2nd time on 22 October. I settled down in Johor at that time and got used to university life. I no longer read textbooks to prepare for lectures because I felt that it is much more efficient and easier to just revise the lecture notes after the lectures since the lecture notes are quite complete. I also started doing revision for my oncoming Progress 1 examination and doing a part of the Assignment 1.

24 October 2014 - 26 October 2014:

From 24 October to 26 October, there was 3 day break due to Awal Muharam. This time, only 2 of my housemates went back to their hometown, and I again did not go back. My parents did not visit me because they had visited me on 22 October.

27 October 2014 - 2 November 2014:

On 28 October, there was a session for basic calculations. It was very easy for me and most students since we have learnt Mathematics. During that time, I was very busy revising for the Progress 1 examination. I stopped doing the Assignment 1 because I wanted to continue doing it only after the Progress 1 examination.

3 November 2014 - 6 November 2014:

The Progress 1 examination was on 3 November. It consisted of 100 multiple-choice questions. It was quite easy and I answered it well. I was confident of passing it and getting Green. After the examination ended, I still could not relax because I had to complete the Assignment 1 before its submission deadline which was on 6 November. From 3 November to 5 November, I was very busy doing the remainder of the Assignment 1. I found Assignment 1 difficult, but I was able to complete it at night on 5 November. Then, I submitted it on 6 November itself. I was not too confident of getting a pass for Assignment 1. The results of the Progress 1 examination was also released on 6 November. I got 84.54% which was Green and I was very satisfied about that.

7 November 2014 - 20 November 2014:

During that period of time, I felt very relaxed because I have completed and submitted the Assignment 1. On 7 November, an incident happened in the university made me feel unhappy. On the same day, a company came to our university to sell stethoscopes and there was a promotion. I brought my stethoscope at that time. I and my study partner also carried out our 2nd visit to our study mother on that day. Later on that night, I telephoned my grandparents. I became very emotional when I told them about the unhappy incident. On 12 November, all Stage 1 students had a visit to Hospital Sultan Ismail for the 1st time. There, I and one of my friend communicated with a patient for some time. That was the 1st time where I met and communicated with real-life patients. At the end of the visit, we were late to go back to the auditorium because the senior in charge of us lost track of the time and we were too interested in looking around the hospital. However, the lecturers were understanding so it was not an issue. Then, I had the 1st wet practical session on 13 November. It was about reading and interpretation of ECG. I attended the 1st class for TITAS and Hubungan Etnik which are MPU subjects on 14 November. On 17 November, there was a debate on ethics and genetics which involved every student.

21 November 2014 - 23 November 2014:

There was 3 day break from 21 November to 23 November because it was the Sultan of Johor's birthday. I and all my housemates did not go back to our hometown. On 23 November, my parents came to visit me.

24 November 2014 - 27 November 2014:

On 24 November, it was the 1st session on history taking. During the session, there were a few volunteers acting as patients. Because I had never done it before, I panicked when the lecturer chose me to be the 2nd person in my group to do it. The lecturer then agreed to let me be the 4th person to do it instead. I was able to perform the history taking quite well. On 25 November, there was a clinical skills practical session on CPR. I performed the CPR quite well and I felt that CPR is the easiest among all clinical skills. One of my group mate's birthday is on 26 November. I and my group mates celebrated her birthday on that day. The celebration was held at the Student Recreation Centre of our university. During the celebration, we had a close conversation and this definitely brought us closer together. Then, the university distributed the Assignment 2 to all Stage 1 students on 27 November.

28 November 2014 - 1 December 2014:

From 28 November to 1 December, there was 4 day break because it was the Hol day of Johor. Only one of my housemates went back to his hometown this time and I did not go back as usual. My parents did not visit me because they had visited me in the previous week.

2 December 2014 - 11 December 2014:

At that time, I started revising for the oncoming Progress 2 examination. On 2 December, the results of the Assignment 1 was released. I got Green for Knowledge and Amber for Skills. I was satisfied because I managed to pass it. There was another debate about ethics and genetics on 4 December. On the same day, it was the birthday of another of my group mate. I and my group mates again celebrated his birthday at the Student Recreation Centre. Later on that day, a few kids were brought to the lecture theatre of my university. Every student was given the opportunity to communicate and interact with the kids. However, because I did not know how to interact with kids, I just stood by the side to observe. Some students interacted with the kids very well, while others had the same problem like me. On 10 December, there was another session for calculations. Then on 11 December, I and my group mates celebrated the birthday of my another group mate. We first went to Tea Garden in Bukit Indah and had breakfast together, then we continued the celebration at the Student Recreation Centre of the university. That was the 1st time where I and my group mates had an outing.

12 December 2014 - 11 January 2015:

My university had a Christmas break which lasted 4 weeks from 12 December to 11 January. On 13 December, my parents and grandparents came to Johor to fetch me back to Subang Jaya. Then, I went back to Kulim on 14 December and stayed 1 week there. On 21 December, I returned to Subang Jaya and stayed for 2 weeks. I met up with my Taylor's College friends on 23 December and 30 December. I went to Taylor's College on 29 December to collect my A Level certificate. Then, I came back to Johor on 3 January. Even though there was still 1 more week of break, I did not want to wait until the last minute to come back since it would be the Progress 2 examination when the university reopens. My housemates came back on 4 January. During that period of time, I was very busy doing revision for the Progress 2 examination, so I did not really enjoy the break.

12 January 2015 - 29 January 2015:

That period of time was the most stressful throughout Stage 1. My university reopened on 12 January. The Progress 2 examination consisted of 2 papers where each paper had 100 multiple-choice questions. Paper 1 was on 12 January while Paper 2 was on 13 January. Paper 1 was quite easy and it was similar to the Progress 1 examination previously. However, Paper 2 was difficult as there were many questions on anatomy which I could not answer. Still, I was confident of passing the Progress 2. After the examination, I could not relax at all because I had to complete the Assignment 2 and prepare for the Mock OSCE. Assignment 2 was very difficult and boring, and I felt very stressed doing it. On 16 January, I and my study partner visited our study mother for the 3rd time. On 19 January, my university began the teaching for the 2nd semester of Stage 1. Two of my group mates have birthdays on 20 January. On that day, I and my group mates went to Hwa Mui Kopitiam in Skudai to celebrate their birthdays. The results of the Progress 2 examination was out on the same day. I obtained 72.86% which was Green. Even though my percentage was much lower than the Progress 1 examination, I still felt satisfied because I got a Green. On 22 January, it was the Mock OSCE. It consisted of 3 stations. I completed all stations without problems and I felt that they were not difficult. Then on 28 January, I finally completed the Assignment 2. I submitted it on 29 January which was the submission deadline. I was not very confident of passing it. On the same day, Stage 1 students were given assignments for TITAS and Hubungan Etnik.

30 January 2015 - 17 February 2015:

Although I still had to do the assignments for TITAS and Hubungan Etnik, I felt relaxed at that time because I did not consider those assignments to be very important. On 30 January, the results of the Mock OSCE was released. My percentage was 68.94% and I passed 2 out of the 3 stations. I got an overall pass for the Mock OSCE and I was satisfied about that. Then, my parents visited me on 1 February and took me to Johor Premium Outlets for shopping. I completed the TITAS and Hubungan Etnik assignments at night on 12 February. On 13 February, I and my group mates made a visit to Kiwanis Careheart Centre which was required for the Family Study project. After the visit, we had lunch together at Arabian Nights in Sutera Mall, Skudai. Later on that day, we went to the university to do a group presentation for TITAS and Hubungan Etnik. I submitted the assignments at that time. Then on 14 February, I and my study partner carried out our 4th and last visit to our study mother. My parents came to fetch me back to Subang Jaya on 17 February after class.

18 February 2015 - 22 February 2015:

The Chinese New Year for 2015 was on 19 February. My university had 4 days break from 19 February to 22 February. There was class on 18 February but I skipped it because it was the Chinese New Year's Eve. In the morning on 18 February, I and my parents went back to Kulim. We celebrated Chinese New Year there. My uncle, aunt and cousins also went to Kulim. On 22 February, my parents drove me all the way back to Johor. We arrived in Bukit Indah at midnight.

23 February 2015 - 11 March 2015:

My university reopened on 23 February. During that time, I was busy doing the Assignment 3 which is the Family Study project. Assignment 3 was lengthy compared to Assignments 1 and 2. However, Assignment 3 was more interesting and easier. Therefore, I did not feel very stressful doing it. On 3 March, the results of the Assignment 2 was out. I again got Green for Knowledge and Amber for Skills. I felt happy that I passed it. On 10 March, I finished doing the Assignment 3. Then, I submitted it on 11 March which again was the submission deadline. I was quite confident of getting a pass for it.

12 March 2015 - 27 March 2015:

I felt very relaxed at that time because I had completed the Assignment 3 and there was still quite a long time before the Progress 3 examination. On 15 March, my parents came to visit me. I drove from Horizon Residences to the university for the 1st time on 18 March. Previously, I either took the university's shuttle bus or followed my housemates. Then on 19 March, all Stage 1 students visited Hospital Sultan Ismail for the 2nd time. I and one of my friend had a long conversation with a patient there. We made sure that we would not go back to the auditorium late like the previous time. One of my group mate's birthday is on 22 March while my birthday is on 23 March. My group mates decided to celebrate our birthdays together on 24 March in AEON Bukit Indah. I drove 2 of my friends to AEON. That was the 1st time where my group mates sat my car. We initially planned to have dinner at Nando's, but we later changed our plan and we had dinner at Stonegrill instead. My group mates brought us a cake and made a birthday card for each of us.

28 March 2015 - 12 April 2015:

My university had 2 week Easter break from 28 March to 12 April. My parents came to Johor on 28 March and took me back to Subang Jaya. On 29 March, I went back to Kulim and stayed 1 week there. I returned to Subang Jaya on 5 April. During my 1 week stay in Subang Jaya, I met up with my Taylor's College friends on 7 April. Then on 11 April, I came back to Johor. During this break, I felt quite relaxed and did not study because I planned to start revising for the Progress 3 examination only after the break.

13 April 2015 - 20 May 2015:

On 13 April, my university reopened. The management of my university's cafeteria had been changed at that time. During that period of time, I was busy revising for the oncoming Progress 3 examination. I and my group mates had a visit to Klinik Kesihatan Sultan Ismail for the 1st time on 16 April. There, we observed the consultation between doctors and patients. After the visit, we initially planned to have lunch together at the Subway near our university, but it was closed. So, we decided to go to MH Beriani Tindih in Gelang Patah for lunch. I drove some of my group mates there. On 4 May, my parents came to visit me. The last lecture for Stage 1 was on 6 May. After class on that day, I and my group mates celebrated the birthdays of 2 of my group mates at Pizza Hut in AEON Bukit Indah. Again, I drove some of my friends there. From 7 May to 14 May, there were several revision sessions. Then on 19 May and 20 May, I practiced the OSCE with one of my housemate.

21 May 2015 - 27 May 2015:

The Progress OSCE was on 21 May. It consisted of 7 stations. I was able to complete all stations without difficulties and I was confident of passing it. There were 2 papers in the Progress 3 examination where each paper consisted of 100 multiple-choice questions. Paper 1 was on 26 May while Paper 2 was on 27 May. Paper 1 was difficult as I could not answer many of the questions on anatomy, while Paper 2 was easier. I was confident of getting a pass for Progress 3. On 27 May, I and my housemates had lunch together at the restaurant near Horizon Residences before the examination. After the Progress 3 examination, I had completed Stage 1.

28 May 2015 - 4 June 2015:

During that time, I felt a bit worried because the pass list for Stage 1 would be released soon. 28 May marked the beginning of the 4 month Summer break of my university. On 30 May, my parents and grandparents came to Johor to fetch me back to Subang Jaya. On 4 June, the pass list was released. I successfully passed Stage 1 and would progress to Stage 2. I was very happy and relieved about that. The results of the Assignment 3, Progress OSCE and Progress 3 examination were also out at the same time. For the Assignment 3, I got Green for both Skills and Knowledge. For the Progress OSCE, my percentage was 74.61% and I passed 6 out of the 7 stations. For the Progress 3 examination, I obtained 68.34% which was Green.

In conclusion, my 1st year of Medicine course at NUMed Malaysia had been very interesting. The course itself, as well as the time I spent with my university friends, made Stage 1 interesting. After completing Stage 1, I am certain that I made the right choice to study Medicine at NUMed Malaysia.

If you find this story interesting, you may want to read these too:

https://www.daniellimjj.com/2015/04/my-15-years-of-study-at-taylors-college.html

https://www.daniellimjj.com/2016/12/my-2nd-year-of-medicine-course-at-numed.html

Why is SPM more stressful than A Level?

If you ask any student who has taken both the SPM and A Level examinations this question "Between SPM and A Level, which one is more stressful?", it is highly likely that they will say that A Level is more stressful than SPM. I have also taken both SPM and A Level, but if you ask me the same question, I will say that SPM is definitely much more stressful than A Level. I am not joking about this, this is really what I think. Why is this the case?

I took 10 subjects for SPM, which are Bahasa Melayu, English Language, Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Information And Communication Technology, Sejarah and Pendidikan Moral, while I took 4 subjects for A Level, which are Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Biology.

First, consider the 5 subjects that I took in SPM but not in A Level. One of them is Sejarah. I consider Sejarah to be the most difficult subject to study in SPM, because I did not have an effective way to study Sejarah. I had to memorise every single sentence for every topic in the reference book, and I also had to memorise the same thing again many times to ensure that I would not forget them. This was extremely tedious and time-consuming, which was the main reason why I had to study long hours every day. In fact, I spent more than half of my study time during Form 5 just to study Sejarah. Therefore, Sejarah is the most stressful subject in SPM.

The next one is Pendidikan Moral. I did not have any problem memorising the 36 Nilai and their definition and answer the Nilai questions, but I felt that the KBKK questions were difficult. Usually, about 60% of the examination questions are KBKK questions, while the remaining 40% are Nilai questions. Often, the KBKK questions look easy and we feel that we have given a good answer, but the examiner may think otherwise and therefore not give us marks. So, there is a lot of uncertainty in this subject because we cannot be sure whether our answers would be accepted by the examiner or not. To help answer the KBKK questions, I had to go through and memorise everything in my teacher's notes, which was tedious.

Bahasa Melayu and English Language are the next two subjects. Compared to other subjects, language subjects are difficult because it is not possible to actually study and prepare for them. The only part of these 2 subjects that we can actually prepare for is literature. However, these is a lot to study for literature, and I feel that studying literature is very boring. Essay is the most important part of these 2 subjects because it carries a lot of marks, but it is difficult because we can't predict what essay title will appear. We can only hope that we will have the idea to write on the essay title that appears. Also, before the examination, the thought having to write a long essay definitely causes stress.

Another subject that I took only in SPM is Information And Communication Technology (ICT). The workload for ICT is quite low compared to other subjects, because there is not much to study and the examination questions are easy to answer. But despite this, very few students obtained A+ for ICT in SPM every year, probably because the minimum mark to obtain A+ is very high. The difficulty to obtain A+ for this subject caused me to feel stressed.

I took these 5 subjects in SPM but not in A Level, so the stress of these subjects are only experienced in SPM. The combined stress for these subjects is already very high, and there is still 5 other SPM subjects.

Now, consider the subjects that I took in both SPM and A Level, which are Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Biology. These subjects are more difficult in A Level compared to SPM because in A Level, we learn these subjects in greater depth, and many of the examination questions require application of what we understand. However, we have access to the actual mark schemes and grade thresholds for A Level, unlike SPM where these are made secret. Therefore in A Level, we can certainly know the requirements of each question. It is also possible to learn the mark scheme for certain questions that appear commonly. Besides, we can just aim for the marks that is required for grade that we want to achieve.

But in SPM, since the actual mark schemes are not available to the public, we can only refer to the mark schemes for the SPM trial examination. However, these may not necessarily be the same as as the actual mark scheme, and the mark scheme for the same type of question may differ depending on the state where the SPM trial examination is held. Therefore, we can't know for sure what are the requirements of each question. There is a lot of speculation about the grade thresholds for each SPM subject, but it is impossible to find out whether they are true or not. So, to be safe, we have to aim for as high marks as possible. As a result, even though A Level is more difficult for these subjects, SPM is still more stressful.

When I was in Form 5, during school days, I would study 7 hours, from 5PM to 6PM, from 7PM to 8PM, then from 9PM to 2AM; during holidays, I would study 10 hours, from 1PM to 3PM, from 4PM to 6PM, from 7PM to 8PM, then from 9PM to 2AM. During my study hours, I hardly took any break, even if I did, each break lasted for a few minutes only. I studied seriously throughout the year, except that I relaxed for one week after every school examination. However, when I was in A Level, during school days, I would study 5 hours from 9PM and 2AM; during holidays, I would study 7 hours, from 4PM to 6PM, then from 9PM to 2AM. During my study hours, I often took breaks whenever I finish revising each chapter. Depending on the situation, each break may be as short as 5 minutes, or as long as 1 hour or more. I studied seriously only one month before each examination.

During my SPM examination, I felt very stressful and did not answer very well for many of the papers, and I was only confident of getting 7A+ 3A. Although it turned out that I obtained 9A+ 1A, that was partly by luck. However, during my A Level examination, except for a few papers, I mostly had little stress and could answer quite well. I was confident of getting 3A* 1A, but it turned out that I obtained 4A*. Therefore, even though the amount of effort I put in studying for A Level was much lower compared to SPM, I still got better results for A Level.

Besides studies, there are some other factors which causes SPM to be more stressful than A Level. One of them is that the rules at my secondary school was much stricter compared to that at my college. For example, all students in my secondary school must attend the assembly on time every day, while there is no such rule at my college. Strict rules restrict freedom, so it also contributes to stress.

In addition, during secondary school, I almost never had any outings or interesting activities with my friends. This is mainly because my upper secondary class was very inactive and I was too focused on my studies. But during A Level, every day I had lunch with my friends at the restaurants near my college, and we had outings occasionally. Having activities with friends can help reduce stress.

With all these reasons, I can very surely say that SPM is much more stressful than A Level, and this is an undeniable fact. However, I also understand that different people have different opinion, study method and lifestyle, which is probably why many do not think the same way. So, I will just agree to disagree when others say that A Level is more stressful than SPM.

Why I took the SPM examination twice?

Most students take the SPM examination only once when they are 17 years old. However, I took it twice, once in 2012 when I was 17 years old and once more in 2013 when I was 18 years old. Why is this the case?

Way back in 2010 when I was in Form 3, I had been looking at the past year SPM papers for every subject so that I could have an idea on how the questions would be like. I observed that for the Chinese Language subject, the questions seemed very difficult, especially the Comprehension questions in Paper 2. Even for PMR, I felt that Chinese Language was one of the most difficult subjects. Therefore, I wondered whether or not I should take Chinese Language in SPM. Later, I heard about the Chinese Literature subject in SPM. At that time, for the Malay Language and English Language subjects in PMR, I felt that the easiest part of these 2 subjects is literature, because literature is the only part of language subjects that is possible to make full preparations for. Therefore, I thought that in the same way, Chinese Literature might me easier than Chinese Language. As a result, I thought of taking Chinese Literature instead of Chinese Language in SPM.

On 14 October 2010 after my PMR examination ended, all Form 3 students in my school were asked to choose the subjects that we wanted to take in Form 4, and we were told of the subjects that my school offered. Chinese Language was offered at my school, but Chinese Literature was not, so I could not take Chinese Literature. I decided to take Chinese Language, because I felt that as a Chinese I should do so. I also thought that if it turns out to be too difficult for me, I could still drop it later.

In the beginning of Form 4, I did not face problems with the Chinese Language subject. During the Form 4 1st Mid-term Examination in March 2011, I unexpectedly obtained 97 marks (A+) for Chinese Language. However, for this examination, the Chinese Language paper was not set according to the SPM examination format so it included only Summary, Continuous Writing and Idioms which are easier sections. My teacher also marked our papers quite leniently since it was the first examination in Form 4. Therefore, I did not feel overconfident about the Chinese Language subject. Later in that month, the SPM 2010 results was released. My teacher then told us that for that year, no one in my school obtained A+ in Chinese Language and very few obtained A. My friends and I were worried about that. Despite that, my teacher strongly advised us not to drop Chinese Language because Chinese Language will be useful in the future.

Then in May 2011, it was the Form 4 1st Term Examination. In this examination, the Chinese Language paper was set according to the SPM examination format. I expected that Paper 2 would be quite difficult, but it turned out that the Comprehension questions in Paper 2 were far more difficult than what I had expected. For most of the questions, the answers could not be directly found in the passage given, instead we had to fully understand the passage and then answer based on our understanding. I tried my best to answer every question by writing down everything that I understood, but I was not sure whether I answered correctly or not. Consequently, I was not even confident of getting B for Chinese Language in that examination.

That examination made me realised how difficult SPM Chinese Language actually is. I thought that I might be dropping Chinese Language in Form 5, because I did not want my overall SPM results to be affected by my poor result in Chinese Language. Later, during the 2011 mid-year school holidays, I saw on the newspaper that for that year, students who obtained straight A+ in SPM would be guaranteed the JPA scholarship. JPA had also made it clear that straight A+ meant A+ in all subjects taken, so taking 11 subjects and getting 10A+ 1A would not be considered as getting straight A+. Therefore, if I take Chinese Language but do not get A+, I would be disadvantaged in this. Since it was so difficult to get A+ in Chinese Language and I was aiming to get the JPA scholarship, I decided to drop Chinese Language in Form 5.

In June 2011, my teacher gave back the Chinese Language paper for the Form 4 1st Term Examination. Out of my expectation, my answers for many of the Comprehension questions were correct. I obtained 84 marks (A) for Chinese Language and my marks was the highest in the whole Form 4. However, I felt that I was just lucky in getting my answers right, so I did not regain my confidence to score well in this subject. Shortly after that, my teacher started conducting the oral test for Chinese Language which would contribute marks to the actual SPM examination. At that time, I heard from my friends that after taking the oral test, it would not be possible to drop Chinese Language later and we must take it in SPM, because we would be considered to have taken part of the examination. I asked the teacher in charge of examinations in my school about that, and she confirmed that it was indeed true.

I decided that I must drop Chinese Language straight away and not take the oral test. However, I was afraid to tell my Chinese Language teacher about that because she had previously reminded us several times not to drop Chinese Language. I told my friends that I wanted to drop Chinese Language and the news soon spread to my teacher. She asked me about that and I explained to her that I wanted to drop it only because I was aiming for straight A+ in SPM to get the JPA scholarship. Then, she agreed to not let me take the oral test, but she also advised me not to drop Chinese Language officially until Form 5. I promised her that I would continue to attend her classes and take Chinese Language in the next school examination.

At that time, some of my friends told me that JPA had announced that starting from the following year, the JPA scholarship would no longer be awarded to SPM leavers, instead it would only be awarded to leavers of STPM and other pre-university programmes. I did not know about that because I seldom read newspapers, and I did not believe what my friends said because I thought that they were just trying to persuade me not to drop Chinese Language.

I continued taking Chinese Language during the Form 4 2nd Mid-term Examination in August 2011. The Chinese Language paper was not set according to the SPM examination format in this examination, so it was not difficult and I managed to get 90 marks (A+). At that time, the SAPS (Sistem Analisis Peperiksaan Sekolah) was introduced for the first time and starting from that examination onwards, my school used the SAPS grading instead of the previous grading. As a result, the minimum mark for A- was increased from 70 to 75, although the minimum mark for A and A+ remained at 80 and 90 respectively.

Soon after that, it was the Form 4 2nd Term Examination. I knew that for that examination, Chinese Language Paper 2 would be very difficult since it would be set according to the SPM examination format. Because of this, in addition to the increase in the minimum A- mark, I was not even confident of getting A-, so I did not want to take Chinese Language in that examination. I told my Chinese teacher about that, but she advised me to continue taking it. She also said that she would make the Chinese Language paper easier in that examination, because at that time my school achieved the status of Cluster School for the first time and consequently there were rumours that students who did not obtain excellent results could be kicked out of the school. Despite that, I still decided not to take Chinese Language in that examination. I told the teacher in charge of examinations in my school that I wanted to drop Chinese Language officially and she agreed.

I still continued to attend Chinese Language classes after that, but I would no longer take Chinese Language in school examinations. After the Form 4 2nd Term Examination ended, my teacher gave back the Chinese Language paper and discussed the answers with us. I looked at the Chinese Language paper and I found out that it was not very difficult. I felt a little regret for not taking Chinese Language in that examination, but it was already too late. In November 2011, my school gave us the SPM 2012 registration form and we had to choose the subjects that we wanted to take in SPM. I maintained my decision not to take Chinese Language in SPM. It was still possible to change the subjects after that until May 2012.

When I started Form 5 in January 2012, I still wanted to attend Chinese Language classes. When my Chinese Language teacher knew about that, she spoke to me and gave me a suggestion. She suggested that I register for SPM 2013 as a private candidate and take only Chinese Language. By doing so, I would get an SPM certificate for Chinese Language which is useful in the future, and my SPM 2012 results would not be affected by my Chinese Language results, so it is a win-win situation. I felt that my teacher's suggestion was good so I agreed. Since then, I planned that I would be taking Chinese Language in SPM 2013 as a private candidate. Initially, I thought of taking it in June 2013. Later, I found out that only Malay Language and Mathematics are available in the June examination session, so I had to take Chinese Language in November 2013 instead. I would also take Chinese Language for every school examination in Form 5 as a practice, but since I had officially dropped Chinese Language, my results for Chinese Language would not be included in the SAPS system.

During the Form 5 1st Mid-term Examination in March 2012, I took Chinese Language, but I did not make any preparation for it because I did not take it too important. At that time, because it had been more than 6 months since the last examination where I took Chinese Language, I had forgotten how to write certain Chinese characters. However, the Chinese Language paper was not difficult since it was not set according to the SPM examination format, so I still managed to get 87 marks (A). In April 2012, the Ministry of Education announced that starting from that year onwards, students who obtained at least 9A+ in SPM would be offered the KPM Bursary. This meant that even if I take Chinese Language in SPM 2012 but do not get A+, I would still qualify for the KPM Bursary as long as I get A+ in 9 of the other subjects that I take. However, I still decided not to take Chinese Language in SPM 2012, because I felt that studying for the other SPM subjects was already very stressful so I did not want to further increase my stress by taking Chinese Language.

Then in May 2012, it was the Form 5 1st Term Examination. I again did not prepare for Chinese Language at all. For that examination, the Chinese Language paper was set according to the SPM examination format so Paper 2 was quite difficult, except that my teacher made it slightly easier by removing the Poems section from Paper 2. I still tried my best to answer the questions. Eventually, I got 78 marks (A-). During the SPM Trial Examination in August 2012, all papers including Chinese Language were set by the Kedah State Education Department according to the SPM examination format, so I expected that Chinese Language Paper 2 would be difficult. I did some revision for Chinese Language on the day before the test since no other subject was tested on the same day as Chinese Language. Paper 2 turned out to be easier than what I had expected. I managed to get 90 marks (A+) for Chinese Language, which was the highest mark in the entire Form 5.

After completing SPM 2012, I started studying A Level at Taylor’s College Subang Jaya on 14 January 2013. On 21 March 2013, the SPM 2012 results was released and I obtained 9A+ 1A. On 24 March 2013, I went to the Kulim Education Office to register for SPM 2013 as a private candidate. Initially, I wanted to take the examination either at SMK Sultan Badlishah or SMJK Chio Min, but both of them were not available for private candidates, so I chose SMK Kulim.

In June 2013, the Kedah State Education Department sent me a letter to inform me that my oral test for SPM Chinese Language would be held at Hotel Seri Malaysia, Alor Star on 3 August 2013. Luckily, my college had one week of holidays at that time so I could take the oral test. The oral test consisted of individual test and group test. The individual test was difficult, but the group test was quite easy. The examiners did not tell me my marks but I accidentally saw that they gave me 26/30 for the individual test. Since the group test was much easier, I assumed that I got higher marks for the group test. Only the higher of the marks for the individual test or group test would be taken into consideration.

In October 2013, I wanted apply to study Medicine at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). I found out that HKU requires all applicants to have obtained grade C or higher for Chinese Language in IGCSE or its equivalent (SPM is an equivalent to IGCSE). I was glad that I decided to take Chinese Language in SPM 2013, because otherwise I would not be able to meet the entry requirements for HKU. Later in that month, I received the timetable and statement of entry for SPM 2013. My examination would be held at SMK Keladi, although I chose SMK Kulim when I registered for SPM. Chinese Language would be tested on 3 December 2013. That was lucky because I had other examinations around that time and they did not clash with it. The SPM Chinese Language paper was just 4 days after the last day of my AS Level examination and 2 days before my IELTS Speaking test.

During my AS Level examination, I had 2 weeks break from 12 November to 25 November 2013. During the 2 weeks, I mostly revised for the remaining AS Level subjects, but I also spent some time revising for SPM Chinese Language. I was worried that I might have forgotten how to write many Chinese characters as it had been about 15 months since I last took Chinese Language in the SPM Trial examination, so I tried to remember every Chinese character that I came across in the reference books. On 3 December 2013, I took SPM Chinese Language at SMK Keladi. I decided to just take it easy. Paper 1 was not difficult, while Paper 2 was quite difficult but still slightly easier than what I had expected. I was able to remember how to write all the Chinese characters that I wanted to write during the examination. I was not sure what grade I could get for Chinese Language, but I hoped that I could get A+ or A or at least A-.

The SPM 2013 results was released at 10AM on 20 March 2014. I was in college at that time and I checked my results through online. I obtained A- for Chinese Language in SPM 2013. Although I felt a little disappointed for not getting A, I was still quite satisfied with my results. My Chinese Language results met the requirements for HKU. The Ministry of Education then sent my SPM 2013 results slip to my house. Finally on 7 June 2015, I got my SPM 2013 certificate at the Kedah State Education Department in Alor Star.

Looking back, I felt that I made the right decision by taking Chinese Language in SPM 2013 instead of not taking it at all or taking it together with the other subjects in SPM 2012. Even though I was eventually rejected by HKU, having a SPM certificate for Chinese Language would be useful for me in the future. Some of my friends think that if I took Chinese Language in SPM 2012, I might be able to get A or even A+, and I did not have to go through the hassle of taking SPM twice. However, in my opinion, studying for the other SPM subjects was already very stressful, so taking Chinese Language in SPM 2012 would make this worse. On the other hand, studying for the AS Level examination was much less stressful, so it was the right choice to take Chinese Language in SPM 2013 at the same time as the AS Level examination.