RIFLE RANGE BOY

STPM: The last choice for non-bumiputras, the middle class STPM: The last choice for non-bumiputras, the middle-class & the poor, and the challenge seeker? Written by  Sofea Chok Suat Ling , the associate news editor of New Straits Times. The article was originally published at  New Straits Times.   And, it was also republished at the blog for  Pusat Sumber Bahagian Teknologi Pendidikan Negeri Sarawak   on 12 July 2012 . It has been called “ archaic ”, “ anachronistic ” and “ a remnant of the Stone Age ”. It is also known as “the hardest exam in the world”. Given a choice between wading chest-deep through crocodile-infested waters and sitting the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia examination, most students say they would choose the former. Indeed, it has been pointed out that only the extremely masochistic or one whose life provides no other options will attempt STPM or journalism. STPM is certainly not for the weak of heart and feeble of wil...

Still writing about 1981. A good year. After spending a good 3 months with Mama, it was back to life and back to reality. So there I was in Lower 6 at PFS, thinking I could conquer the world. Trying to act cool with the back-combed thick hair of the 80s. F6 was an eye opener. Over the Malaysian telly, 'Happy Days' was a hit among the teenagers. Every dude (yours truly included) was trying to 'act cool' and walk around with the hips and shoulders abducted slightly ala-Fonzarelli (The Fonz nee Henry Winkler) as if there boils were growing in the groins and armpit respectively! Suddenly all the Malay friends whom I had known had mysteriously disappeared. The scholarships and matriculation offers came a-knocking on their doors and they reluctantly and half-heartedly accepted them. We heard that a guy who could hardly speak English for nuts got a scholarship to learn English language in US. He had to go for elementary phonetic lessons before he could qualify for classes pr...