2010-07-21 2 comments By: asdf0123

Stupid Senior Page!

  Honestly, I really don't understand how they handle the senior page problem.

  Last year, we had decided not to buy extra pages, by majority vote. Some people who like to take photos were quite disappointed. I wonder if what happens now shows their revenge.

  Few days ago, someone came in and offered us 2 choices - RM260 for one Black & White Page and RM500 for one Color Page plus one Black and White Page. AS IF IT'S COMPULSORY. I did contact that guy and he said it's compulsory. But in fact it's not.

  OK, some friends and I were looking forward to the further discussion of this, however those people in charge showed a very passive attitude and didn't take this to discussion. Fine. But guess what happened today?

  Our class monitor suddenly announced that EVERYBODY HAS TO PAY RM10 for the senior page, THE RM500 PLAN WAS CHOSEN. What the heck? Discussion was never made but the decision had come out. I asked him personally after that, what he told me was, he thought there would be no problem making that decision. But I emphasized, have you even discussed with us?

  I am quite sure his friends and he were trying to avoid the discussion, for not failing to make the senior page, again. My friends and I were really upset. They take a group's decision as the class decision? The like-to-take-photo group says it all, we just need to listen. They make the decision, and we just be ready to pay for the decision. So they're the class member, we're not. We're totally irrelevant to the discussion.

  This burned us up but we didn't have enough time to deal with them. The peak was after recess, when everyone's in class. But teacher came in early, and those who're not resiting MUET had to move to the other class. However, after that period, the class monitor told us that the decision had been made through votes, during the MUET period. We're not needed to vote because majority voted for RM500, with 2 classes sharing the pages. What the heck again? You all voted and made decision when we're not around? We're not involved in the discussion again?

  I tell you, I am extremely unsatisfied with what they've done. They're saying that we're not a part of the class. They say, they do, they decide. We just listen and support them financially. Just like how a dog treats its master. You like to take photos, but that doesn't mean we like too. You're willing to pay even if it costs RM20++, but we don't! Do you think we have a lot of money, to spend on such a lame thing? Do you realize, in average we pay more than RM10, or perhaps RM20 for school stuff each month? If it's for academic use, we're OK to sacrifice. But for things we really don't care, it's a poke.

  You have so much to spend. But I don't have any extra to pay for your fun. I teach tuition at home, obtaining a salary of RM100++ a month. That's all I use to spend on transport (RM4 for each tuition class), food (to not be too hungry in school), mobile phone, stupid school "fees", saving and the others. For food, I try not to eat if the lessons end earlier. If there are some co-curricular activities, I would go back home to eat and come back to school again, in roughly 30 minutes. For mobile phone, I rarely use it when I don't need to use. And saving is essential, because I don't have much cash, and I have to prepare the money for the time I stop teaching tuition 1 or 2 months later, to give myself more time for STPM.

  Talking about school "fees", that's what irritates me the most. The class fund should be RM1 (or RM2) per month. But every time when the treasurer sees me (more than once in a month), the debt has accumulated to a few bucks, but some are not for academic use. And more and more are coming, as teachers said STPM is near, we have to spend on stuff like past year questions.

  Some people just don't have the sensory nerves. They're always thinking these are one-time payments. But do they see the real trend? How much do we pay every month, in average? There are too many one-time payments which are unnecessary. They appeared to be a few bucks, and those people just don't realize the money actually flows. Just like a leach sucking your blood, little by little, but you don't know you are losing your blood at such a rate. Please, be clear that this has to stop, not for the sake of stingy or selfishness.

  I know you like to take photo, even at RM25 you would be willing to pay. But you still feel pain when you take out RM10, right? Or even after being subsidized, RM6. Could you all please think for us, who have zero interest in such thing? Don't we feel even more pain? Photos can be taken in so many ways, if you like that way so much, then share the price among yourselves, don't involve us.

  Oh yeah, almost forgotten. You all don't want to involve us in discussions, but we're involved in paying. Clever. Thanks so much for your weightless respect. Now I know we're not a part of this class. So I don't have to pay for this class members' joy. See you in the low-price senior pages - 40++ faces fitting into a single page would be interesting and meaningful enough. Regards.

  I just speak my mind. Offenses are toward the acts, not the persons. Cheers.
2010-07-09 0 comments By: asdf0123

The MUET Result

Yesterday was a pleasant day, overall.

If you have read my previous posts, I bet you already knew the reason why I care so much about my MUET result. I was high Band 2 when I came Form 6, and I wish to go out with at least Band 4.

I was supposed to get the result on Thursday, but what happened was, I couldn't find my uniform in the morning, so I didn't go to school for class. After that I switched on the washing machine to get my cloths clean but my mother somehow found the red shirt that I should wear on Thursdays. It couldn't make any changes anyway, because the lessons had already started.

So I went to school after the class, to get the result and attend a meeting and a co-curricular activity. When I saw the teacher, she refused to give me, instead, she asked me to see another teacher and explain to her why I was not in school. I tried, but unfortunately the teacher was not there, so I came back to attend the meeting. Right after that I went for the co-curricular activity mentioned.

When everyone was ready to leave, I met the teacher again, and what she told me was "It's inside there, I'm not going to take out. I remember yours is a BAND 3. Erm, yeah, BAND 3." Haiz, what to do? Have to wait until Friday (yesterday).

However, I still tried to check via internet to get the result. After a couple of times trying, finally the page loaded. It showed some simple information, that are my IC number, name, index number and my band, of course. What it showed was different than what teacher told, which was a Band 4. Not much surprised however, because somehow I felt teacher might be correct.

On the following day, the first thing I did when I reached school was... Yeah, you're right. Finally I got my result officially. And here came a glad news, I was lucky enough to get Band 4, here's the detail.


Test Component
Maximum Score
Obtained Score
LISTENING
45
32
SPEAKING
45
30
READING
120
88
WRITING
90
55
AGGREGATED SCORE
300
205
BAND ACHIEVED
4

Why I said I'm lucky, it's because the test was so much harder than expected. According to my friend, there were a total of 12 students who got Band 2. 1 of the students even got Band 1. Another proof is, two students who should have got Band 6 only got Band 5, and they're the only two who got higher than Band 4. The rest are mostly Band 3.

Another lucky thing is, my score is slightly higher than my friend's. Guess how much higher? He got 204. Haha, there's a 1 mark difference, considered win? I told him I WILL retake if I can't beat him. By the way, I was not the only lucky person. There were some students who just crossed the border to get Band 4, congratulation, you're not going to resit the test anymore.

However, on the other side, some people were extremely unlucky. They got Band 2, with just 2-5 marks more to reach Band 3, which is the primary requirement to get into university. I heard that one of them broke down badly. It could be understood, since he could get a 4.0 CGPA but his MUET is crucial. It's just like everything is well prepared, but you can't get the key to open the door.

So, the next question will be whether to resit the paper. Band 4 is probably enough, but it's just slightly higher than the primary requirement. Could I get a higher Band? I need to get 15 marks more. I can, only if I am able to maintain the marks, with some improvement in speaking and writing, especially for writing. How hard it is, don't know, but probably the second test will be easier than this one. Should I spend another RM60? My decision is still processing, I'm going to think until my brain juice comes out.

Erm, there's nothing more to say. Cheers. Have a nice day.

___________________________________________________________

In case you don't know anything about MUET...

It's basically an English test which is ONLY recognized in Malaysia and Singapore, and it comes with an EXPIRY DATE as well. (Don't laugh!) The best thing about MUET is the price. The "Band" description is as follow:


AGGREGATED SCORE
BAND
260 – 300
6
220 – 259
5
180 – 219
4
140 – 179
3
100 – 139
2
< 100
1
2010-07-06 0 comments By: asdf0123

Are They Really Stars?

   If you ask, what is the most romantic thing to do. I would definitely answer, "Watching stars." Yeah, I do love stars, but sometimes I get confused. Anyway, stars are not just about blinking, they also lie in the blue blue sky, at night, which makes them even more romantic.

   Imagine. You're laying on a land of grass. And you're looking at the sky. That's the time you hug the whole beautiful atmosphere. The stars are yours. They're so beautiful, lovely, but also very far away.

   But I get confused when I try to reach the stars. Impossible, right? That's not the point. The truth is, they're actually enormous fireballs, just like the sun. That's nothing romantic, just an extremely high temperature, and some blast that's ready for you. It's similar to friendship and love. They aren't the same as can be seen, in fact, they're so much uglier. What I want to say, I'm just a fool, just realized.