C L A R I T Y

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

With 15 more minutes before I go prepare for SDLS, I can only type a very rough copy of what happened today.

First things first, I FAILED MY KARANGAN!!!!

I read the question wrongly, instead of kejujuran; I read kejayaan and wrote a karangan based on that!!! So its terpesong, and in other words, a big red zero.

Yeah, I might be kicked out from the class for this... I hope not though; after all, it's my first mistake and it's just a small test. At least, that's what I think. The Malay teacher was quite pissed at all of us mainly because all of us come at different times. In case I didn't mention it earlier, my Higher Malay classes consists of many people from different schools assembling at Anderson Secondary. As this class is outside our school period, lots of people miss it because of CCA (curricular activities), other classes and stuff.

Aside from that fact, I was LATE. My class ended at 2.15 and the Malay class started at 2.30. Within the fifteen minutes, I was to walk to the bus stop (5-10 minutes), wait for the bus (10-15 minutes) and actually wait for the bus to arrive. (another 10-15 minutes).

But I pleaded that she marked for me as she would if I wrote in the write context so that I know how badly I did whilst she just mark the zero into my record book. At least then I could evaluate myself and see how Singapore's standard applies.

Results so far:

English: 20/30

Malay : 18/30

Lit : -XXX/XXX

If that isn't bad, I don't know what is. I do hope that the MOE doesn't kick me out already and take in account that I'm still not completely accustomed to everything!!! And I still have to wait for my chem results along with my other Malay test.

Btw, I came back quite early today, about 6.00pm. I must also mention once again that I come back earliest on Tuesday and Thursday, at 4.00pm++. What a JOY, compared to 1.00pm. Heavy sarcasm implied.

The next post I'll probably write about my roommates and classmates...

7:26 PM

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Well..

Now it only means that I have to be extra tactful that I type, now that my class is in blogsphere and all... Anyway, today we finally got our English diagnostic test back. I got a 20/30 which was equivalent to a 66%...! Aside from that, I also did badly for my Higher Malay, an 18/30 and I failed my first Geography quiz. Very interesting way to start the year. Of course, I have to make allowances for the fact that I'm not quite orientated to everything yet..

Did a Chem test today as well.. I felt like a genius for a few seconds, getting the same answer with April.. And I didn't even copy!!!!

I hope I don't get addicted to the com, I've been using the com for five consecutive days in a row, only to stop before SDLS. And it's not as if I don't have homework or anything..

And even if I go online, there's not much for me to do and I basically sit down and stare at the screen. If only my ex-classmates would come online more often.. The people I talk to most often is KC and Fiona, and even then; not that often.

I've gotten an Apple Mac. I don't know if I already mentioned this or something, but it's second hand, and cost RM2300. It's only been used for a year and looks brand new though, I'm having trouble with art projects though... I hope that Jeshua would pass me all the programs I'll probably need to upgrade the things in the com..

I'm still trying to get used to it... There's quite a huge difference between Mac and Microsoft. Granted, they both are computers, but they have very different settings...

Tomorrow is Zhe Han (sp?)'s birthday. I just found out an hour ago. I thought he was the one whose birthday was on December. The rest were shocked that I didn't know.. It's weird how they expect me to keep every detail of the seniors I don't even talk to in mind... I guess it's somewhat my fault as I frequently pretend not to be able to tell them apart so that they don't give me a 'boyfriend' in boarding school.

I feel like I'm ten again, with all the boyfriend girlfriend jokes.. It can't be helped though, the man preparator is a 12 year old. And sometimes she just grates on my nerves with her obsession with the seniors and ultimately, her phone. April and I are planning on dunking her phone into the pond instead of her. The damage made would be greater..

7:05 PM

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

7:04 PM

Saturday, January 12, 2008

A few days of school has passed.. So I can now give my complete assessment of XinMin and its people...

For one thing, there is LITTLE school spirit. Singing of school songs, national anthems and all are even WORSE than Kepong Baru. And I had thought that impossible. Secondly, some of the people there are somewhat is severe need of Character Education (which is actually part of my subject syllabus) as they do not know the definition of QUEUING IN A STRAIGHT LINE. The situation goes like this: Crowds of people lining up... A group of girls approach their friend lining up in the middle and says, "HI! Long time no see!" and continues on chatting until they are virtually part of the line and buys food AS IF NOTHING is wrong. AND some of them are quite rude and have little tact.

But there are others who are really nice, people in my class for instance.... I made a few friends.... But we aren't that close yet, although it's pretty understandable. After all, we basically just met.

The syllabus here is actually quite easy... I used to pore over my books during whatever free time I had, thinking that the subjects were going to be extremely hard.. They're a little harder than in Malaysia but not so hard as to give me a bad time. Anyway, since it's just the beginning of the year, I can't really blame them. Besides, I think they're going slowly on purpose because they think us scholars and insipid. Of course, we occasionally haven't learnt some parts of the subjects yet, but I digress. They keep calling us foreigners, which though in a sense is true, is also quite true but annoying nonetheless as our countries are basically next to each other and we're almost the same. Should a Singaporean come in my old class in 3B I doubt I'd be referring him as a foreigner to every single teacher that steps foot in the class.

I have been thought as a Malay 99% of the time here. Being the only Malaysian student to take Higher Malay, and more importantly being the only MALAYSIAN automatically discounts my Chinese heritage. Of course, sometimes I don't say my surname when introducing myself and stuff.. It's a bit weird though, people sometimes even think I'm from Indonesia... My eyes are my bane...! But seriously, it's better than having mata sepet. So when meeting someone new, I've been stressing my surname quite often.

I'm in the school choir, a somewhat high tech one... They're having a musical this year, and competition next year. The musical is the Beauty and the Beast; and I'll probably be one of the dancing forks and spoons; if they even put me in the musical -considering that I'm new. The thing is, the musical is something the members have been preparing since the previous year.

And yeah, the wireless, the student card and the rest of the cash isn't here yet... Just so you know. I'm trying to save so I'll have enough kept away for emergencies and stuff. (By enough, I mean $100) It's so very inconvinient with all these problems.... And I left my water bottle in the Choir Room. It's either still there or at the lost and found section.. I just hope I can find it. As this are somewhat temporary problems I hope they all can be solved asap.

Basically, things are okay. They aren't as good as I expected but not bad anyway. I just hope things turn for the better soon..

That's it for now!

11:10 AM

Friday, January 4, 2008

We lost.

Really, it wasn't much of a surprise. Our dance, something copied out of a video on YouTube, was not original. Our team work-ness might be there, considering we had to dance in pairs but we definitely showed little enthusiasm. A drama team won, as expected. (Romeo and Juliet II, in which two men play the part and one of them wears a mini skirt with shorts underneath) It really was obvious that a drama team would emerge victor, though. After all, scripts were original and you made people laugh. I mean, you could very well make a person laugh by dancing; but that isn't necessary a good thing.

So... There was a Step Up movie screening and a New Year's party after that. I know a certain someone would chide me from not socializing BUT I was almost dead on my feet; having jumping around (something that plays a huge part in the dance) numerous times throughout the entire day. And the fact that we lost didn't exactly help much.

The next day was practically a free day, with nothing planned. We were supposed to recuperate and get ready for school. Instead, April, Joy, Camille and I decided to go to Coronation Plaza. Camille's parents came over (they come so often to the point I highly suspect they are working for her instead of whoever their true bosses are) and took us there. We hid the fact that we were going to Sixth Avenue after that, knowing that she would, as all mothers do, worry incessantly. April and Joy needed to go to Sixth Avenue to post their warranty cards. We took a bus from Coronation to Sixth Avenue and walked back.. Our locations were rather like:

Sixth Avenue HCIBS Coronation Plaza
XX XX XX

Frankly, we spent more time walking into the school that towards the school. It was just too big. The things there are relatively affordable, though 'dirt cheap' applies to the working Singaporean.

It was a rather uneventful day, with us with little to do..

The next day, school began.

Incidentally, it was Ivan's birthday... I smsed his brother, having lost his number as I switched sim cards, to ask him to wish him Happy Birthday for me. I don't know whether he got the message, however, I got a missed-call from an unknown 012 number when I was in school. I suspect it's him. Anyways, I would have wasted quite a huge amount of money had I picked up the phone..

Right, back to the school.

We woke up at 5, us two elder girls, showered and then woke the other two girls at 5.30. We rushed for breakfast and proceeded to the bus. The bus left five minutes earlier than scheduled, a large contrast from Malaysian buses - which made
us glad that we had, in fact woke up at 5.

I am in class 302. This is the first time that I have ever been posted to the second class. However, I'm pretty sure I was a member of that class because of my subject combination. The students in 301 seem to be taking less subjects though. And yeah, I forgot to mention that singaporeans speak in short forms. So instead of subject combination it becomes subject combi and other assorted words would be shortened to their initials - so there was a bit misunderstanding here and there.

I met quite a few nice people. Although most of them seem to have the opinion that they would be doing rather badly in comparison with us - much like any Malaysian student is, they treated us rather normally. There is the fact that I've been referred to as a Malay for many, many times due to my dark skin, 'large' eyes and my taking of the Higher Malay language. (This means I have to stay back after school and trail after the Indonesian students to Anderson Secondary School for my classes. Not a fun thing when there are no girls about)

English will definitely be a fun subject. The teacher is actually an ex-graduate, she really is the fun loving type. Additional Maths will prove to be a bit of worry, considering that the lady teaching wasn't the best of teachers. She spent the entire hour telling us of her system. A.k.a. when to pass up her books should we get homework at a certain time. My Physics teacher is Kevin Chan, a supposed alumni of SMK Kepong Baru. He looks slightly like Simon Siew, from the Kasturi tuition centre, for those who know what I'm talking about.

I'm going to join choir again, by the way. According to my Physics teacher (who will now pressure me because he doesn't want me to embarass the school name, in a nice way, of course.) to get into Raffles, you need 2 points. So if you got straight A1s, you still wouldn't be able to be admitted as straight A1s bring a total of 6 points. Higher Mother Tongue will take away two points, and an active CCA will take away another two. It'll be a pain trying to get into competitions in Choir though, as I have to prove myself again. Auditions are next Wednesday on three in the Choir room, wherever that is.

Today, I had a medical checkup.... So there really isn't much to say except that the queue was hell. We went to a private clinic to take urine and blood tests. However, we also needed to take an x-ray in which would have needed us to go to a Government Hospital just directly opposite. And you know how Government Hospitals are. Worse, it seems that an Old Folk's Home was doing a medical check up as well... (Though in that event, I managed to befriend a couple of kindly looking popos) I was continuously questioned on my pregnancy. Which is non-existent, by the way. It's because x-ray would cause radiation to pass into the body, and would have stimulaneously killed any embryos in the body - I guess.

So I didn't attend school the whole day.

Imagine! 8am - 12.15pm!! That was practically my entire school time for Fridays, excluding Mother Tongue; of course. Starting from next week, I'll have to go to Anderson Secondary for my Higher Malay courses... Bah.

The school isn't actually that big, but well-mantained. In fact, I think SMKKB is bigger than Xinmin. Of course, the fact that there are only four secondaries in Xinmin must also be considered.

Canteen food is GOOD. And CHEAP. Khye Chwin would be proud of me, I'm finally eating in school. Go me! And I found out that Camille was ACTUALLY THE PIANIST FOR THE CHOIR IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL TAUGHT BY MR. MULU IN THE GOLD UNIFORM. (the one where we got second. Incidentally, they got second as well..) She also mentioned that CBN won unfairly, and her teacher who knew the judges said a space was reserved for them even before the competition. Great, isn't it?

That's all for now, I guess...

Anyway, I hope noone is worrying about me at home. I'm learning how to eat spicy food - or at least endure it, wash my shoes and iron my uniforms and basically be as independent as I can be. I definitely won't do anything as such at home though. (It's my REST and RELAX time then!) I even took the bus back to HCIBS on my own! Tomorrow I'll be going to Bukit Timah Plaza... So yeah...

PS: It's pretty funny to see boarders rushing in whenever a seat is vacated... It's almost like an all-out brawl.

And I hope to hear more news of home and school, so please reply. Btw, tell me who's in what class...!

AND PAY LESS BOOKSTORE IS HAVING ANOTHER WAREHOUSE SALE IN SUBANG!!!! NO...!!!!!
PPS: Some keys of my laptop came out when a bottle of water crashed on my laptop from the rack above. Glued it back with SupaGlue. And some of my fingers too. It's temporarily fixed as of now... And I can always beg to use April's wireless if I can...
That's all for now, I guess.

6:18 PM