Old & Forward 2 think about

Lets see Earth Hour check, April Fool Day check. Earth Hour 2010 is a huge success worldwide, for instance Brunei recorded 38.5MW of electricity savings compared to the period on last Friday. For that, the Earth thanks you & it meant that you have made a stand against saving our earth & lobbying for our leaders to do the same via a more concrete action plan. Enough of serious talk

On a lighter note, today (April 1^st aka the day this post is written) is April Fool Day. Guess some of you have been prank by your friends. I hope that none is hurt by those pranks. As usual, politicians have also their own April fool jokes. It is not suitable to share it here but if you search in Google, you will be able to find it.  Do you know in France it is not called April fool but April Fish (Malay translation ikan bulan April or ikan jenis April). Without further ado, 2 things to blog for this week: old & forward

Old

I had just completed reading the book ’Chicken Soup for the soul: My Resolution’ that I had bought last December. (Slow right) The last story in the book is titled Lets celebrate the old written by Dayle Allen Shockley. It says a few old related things should be celebrated each year, so the author had their own list & I had mine too. Things in my old list includes

Ÿ         Old shoes - According to some people, if you want to climb a mountain e.g. Mount Kinabalu, do not buy & wear new shoes for you climbing journey. Why? Your kaki will get very sakit after you come back. Instead, wear your trusted old shoe unless you want to go limping everywhere for sometime after you come back. Old shoes should not be thrown away, as the environment, state is bad already. Instead, donate it or keep it in your ‘great shoe museum’. My shoe had travelled thousands of miles for instance the shoe that I am wearing now had travelled to Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia and as far as Taiwan. So think twice before throwing old shoes yeah?

Ÿ         Old folks - Yes, warga tua or orang tua! Your grandpa/grandma nini! Recently Astro aired a promo. It was about a college/uni student who did not know much/care about his grandpa. All he knew was study! Later, when he needed his grandpa assistance for an assignment, then this student thought about spending more time with his grandpa. The message of this promo is cherish & learn about your own family roots/history. Don’t wait until it is too late then you will regret! Back to the book, this author said ‘we just idolised the young while the old folks are forgotten’. Old folks have lots of wisdom & stories to share with us that may prevent us from committing the same mistakes as our ancestors as well as steering to the right course. 

Ÿ         Old friends - This is what that should be treasured the most by us the young generation. Sorry to say but I had not really keep in touch with them. So what about you guys?

Ÿ         Old newspapers - My computer clogged with hundreds of copies of the digital PDF editions of newspapers such as Malaysia the Sun, Singapore’s TODAY and Mypaper. They remind you of what happen last year & 2 years back. For instance, the H1N1 pandemic, His Majesty hard-hitting titah on various issues, the death of Michael Jackson, the 308 political tsunami in Malaysia and many more. Did I mention that I had also three stacks of old newspapers that I do not feel like throwing them but instead I had wanted to recycle them? Too bad, there is too little recycling facility in Brunei!

Well that is it for ‘old’ topics; hope that with this posting it will be able to give you an idea of making you ‘old’ things list. Next, its time to look to the front so here comes: ’forward’

Forward

Students you have been back to school (or as I described it battlefield) after a holiday right. Holiday is sure much needed after you were bombarded with so much work & teacher shouting, etc. Well to students in PreU2 or the 2^nd year of your Pre-U course, let me give you an idea of what to expect, from the eyes of a student that had passed through it last year.

Ÿ         Extended class - Since the June AS is getting closer, even though there is still about 2 months but teachers do not think like that. From my experience, if you are so ‘lucky’ to have this kind of hardworking teacher, there is a chance that you may have to attend Friday & even Sunday classes. Yikes, Friday & Sunday classes are not the norms in Brunei schools. Hence, let this be a warning so that you will be prepared! Therefore, ‘jemputan kahwin‘, ‘jalan with family to Bandar/Miri’ would have to be forgotten for the meantime!

Now let us talk about a step further after your A Levels, where are you heading. Are you aiming for that uni/scholarship/job?

Life while waiting for the results can be boring. I would suggest you to take this opportunity to go and get your license if you do not have it yet. Some would also go to get a part-time job as a bank teller, office clerk, teacher, DJ, etc. It will help you to experience working life. However, some may go a step further by getting a fulltime job as a flight attendant. While some like, me just sits down & watch the world goes by.

Speaking about scholarship are you aiming for the Sultan’s Scholar or MOD Supreme Commander Scholarship. Both are what I called the ‘big 2’ of scholarships in Brunei. They are the most prestigious awards in Brunei awarded only to the ‘crème de la crème’ (best of the best). It is not easy to get, as it needs hard work in academics & great thinking skills. For the Sultan’s Scholar according to its recipients as quoted by local newspapers last year stay abreast with the current happenings in Brunei as the interview panel may ask your views on certain issues. So get your thinking caps on & be ready with the answers of the hard questions that maybe asked in your interview.

Next stop university which is another phase of your education. I understands that most of you are aiming to enter the best universities in either US, UK or Australia. Very little people I would say is looking nearer to our shores. In US you have Harvard, MIT, Stamford, etc while in UK you have Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College, etc while in Australia UNSW. Things to think

1^st thing is can you reach the requirement?

2^nd if you got admission can you afford the fees or can you get a scholarship?

3^rd do you want to come back often to Brunei during holidays?

Let me tell you my earlier dreams, I wanted to enter UK university, University of Warwick to be precise. However due to financial constraints which may include resorting to remortgage our house to the bank, I decided to look nearer to our shores Singapore & Australia to be precise.

I am not being biased here but if you have a look at The Guardian or The Daily Telegraph website & search for Oxford, Cambridge & Imperial College related news you will know what I meant. On the other hand Singapore’s had just increased their university fees.

Think about the pros & cons of each country of study that you will choose? Do your homework/research! Don’t just follow friend. Its your future

Fine I think I better conclude now later if I talk about more aspects then I maybe in trouble. Tata, have a nice weekend & I will see you very soon!

P.S. This blogger thinks future is very bleak for his university admission but he believes ‘at the end of the tunnel there is light’. He thinks that we should dictate our own future don’t go against your own will!