So there we were. Attending a ceremony to which we were only invited to two days prior. Mom was worried we wouldn't make it, with MPM's Form 6 facility being all the way in Bandar Baru Selayang, and she and Dad only had half-day leaves.
But after all of that, in the end, praise God, we made it! And the event so perfectly ended just in time for them to make it back to work.
So what was the event? Well, I only found out when I got there. It's the big event where the MPM chief announces the nationwide performance on STPM. There were a lot of press present. The guy read this whole press statement and all. It was an invitation-only thing. 11 STPM candidates got invited, myself included, not just for the announcement, but for a little something extra. Namely, a plaque, a cert, and a thousand bucks each.
You read that right, a thousand bucks each.
Six of them received awards for scoring a salute-worthy 5As for STPM. (Officially, there are 12 of them, but I guess only these guys got invited. MPM chief says the others will receive theirs at a later date) Three of them were special needs students who achieved remarkably well. And finally, the last two, myself and another student were there on account of our top marks for MUET.
That's her on the left. Well, your left, not mine. I wonder who'd come out on top if we were to go against one another.
Then there was also the press to talk to. They focused more on the special needs and 5As guys, leaving us two MUET kids quite relaxed. 'S okay with me, I say they deserve it. They very much deserve it. MPM guys say that's the way things work anyway.
They also said that kids like us will get rich before our time, once we start getting invited to do talks and motivational sessions.
MPM guys also joked that we should buy all of tomorrow's papers. Maybe frame them all up and hang them on a special spot on the wall or something. Speaking of the news, five papers have their articles up already.
I'd say there are more, but I don't know how to type my name in Chinese, so I can't be sure.
Interestingly, in those articles, the other recipients weren't mentioned by name. Only Joy and myself were somehow so fortunate as to have our full names spelled out.
So now I can Google myself, and something will show up!
And since it was MPM after all, I had the privilege of knowing my results early. And then I had the privilege of knowing the two 4.0 scorers early. And so, in one of my best acts of "kindness", I kindly gave them the information on FB. One whole hour early.
I think they took it well.
Very well if you ask me.
After the festivities, my parents had to rush back to work. So I followed Pn Shamsiah back to school after lunch, which by the way, was... actually very good. Alas, I didn't get to finish my peach pudding... :( Well, anyway, I made it back just in time to see everyone snapping a group photo. And suddenly I was the centre of attention again. Well, it's kinda hard not to be when you're lugging around a large mock cheque for a thousand bucks.
RTM Mandarin was there, so, obligatorily, I got interviewed. And so my ABC-ness was on national TV, for everyone to see.
But who cares? A thousand bucks yo!
That was from Mandarin News, 8.00 pm on TV2. The announcement event was also broadcast at the same time on TV1 and TV3, award giving included.
Which means I was on TV!!! And on multiple channels!!!
PPU Senior Assistant Pn Tan got most of the screentime.
Funnily enough, during my interview, when they asked me about my results, I told them I haven't gotten them yet. So they followed me and recorded all the way. Along the way I had to hold off others' questions because, well, I kinda want to get my results slip.
I heard the cutoff point for "cemerlang" was 3.75. So, for all intents and purposes, I made it.
I left the mock cheque at school for them to keep. I didn't really wanna lug a huge mock cheque on the way home, plus there's really no place for it in the house. I figured I'd just let the school keep it.
I got other treasures anyway.
The other thing I was really looking forward to today was the school yearbook. Because at long last, after 4 years of trying, I finally got one of my designs chosen as the front page cover!
It sorta helps when you send in 13 entries...
Not only that, but the Editorial Board even asked me to pretty much just do their graphic design, since "I was the only one who understood the theme," in their words. So you'll have my fingerprints on pages like the divider, and the header and footer on each page:
Ah, yes, the school captain's page. Wish I had a better hairstyle that day.
And over in the artwork gallery, I got an entire two pages dedicated to my work!
Well, almost. The clock-motif cover design wasn't mine.
And finally, the back cover! Instead of the usual ad from Pusat Tuisyen Kasturi, I got to design this one too!
Bad move, Kasturi. In my book at least.
There's also the usual short stories and poems, multiple of each of course, and then my photos in the news section, of which there are quite a few. School captain after all.
Man, am I all over this year's school magazine. Just like how I was all over school last year, I guess.
Well, that's it. Thanks, everybody, for everything. Thanks to everyone who made this day possible. Thanks to my family at home, and my big Cochranean family. Thanks to all of you for all the parts you have played in my life up to this point. Thanks for all the prayers, the wishes, the blessings, and the belief. Thanks for all your wishes of congratulations. And above all, thanks and praise to God for this most momentously wonderful reason to celebrate!
I didn't get 4.0, but you know what? This is so much more better! The Lord be praised!
Thank you. All of you. For all of this.
Here's to us.
I didn't get 4.0, but you know what? This is so much more better! The Lord be praised!
Thank you. All of you. For all of this.
Here's to us.
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