Scholarship Applications! Woots!

Hi there, friends. It has been a while since I had last updated my diary. The traffic has dwindled and I just wish that the traffic in my blog is just like that in Kuala Lumpur! (Joking ah?)

Anyway, this plump, idyllic dreamer who got herself lifted off the ground always dreams that there are massive traffics in both her blogs. XD

She will be updating this post in English only, because it will be notoriously long. Well, it was just synonym with the typical Malaysian school leavers out there, who were brought up from the rigid education system in the nation, which severely lacks a space for dreamers and imaginative idealists. Well, not completely. 

(Got punched in her face)

"Sharon, congratulations on your wonderful results! Mommy is so proud of you!"

Hundreds of messages poured incessantly into my cellphone and Facebook as soon as the results were announced. I was even on the top of the moon when I was even rewarded with a large, creamy durian cake, and got interviewed by the School Magazine. Of course, the cons were there too: got annoyed by people demanding me to share my study tips (Not that I do not want to share; I just hope you guys can be a little more patient! If you do know me well in reality, you should be familiar with my lifestyle-detail and precise in everything!) My essays in high school will be at least three pages long (with a tiny handwriting), my pictures will not be complete without some petals or any other embellishments here and there, my wood project three years back was heavily decorated with beads and coated in thick layers of paint... That was how kiasu and kiasi I am. Ha ha! Eh, what am I muttering about?

I hereby declare that I, Sharon Ng Huey Yuek, am and always be a procrastinating perfectionist, who picks on even at the slightest flaw.

So, you guys should know the reason behind my long posts and lack of frequent updates. I do not post my posts improptu. I will take hours to think and construct a grammar-perfect sentence. I appall at the usage of SMS languages in my blog. For goodness sake!

Back to the point.

Getting excellent results is indeed both a surprise and joy for me. (I believe that you guys do as well.) However, that was not the end; that was just the prologue of all the misadventures that ensued, and cut half of my lifespan short.

The ENDLESS APPLICATIONS TO GOVERNMENT UNIVERSITIES AND SCHOLARSHIPS!

Okay well, I did not do any list of the scholarships to be applied for. I relied totally on Google and newspapers for that. Alas, most of them were for private institutions and the fees are doomed to let the family's bank account slim down. Alright, I got it. I know what to apply for now. UPU (for government institutions), Matriculation (which I had applied for last year and still in the wait) and Teacher Training Programme, since I am guaranteed a job if I am to become a teacher someday. As for scholarships, well, they were the ASEAN scholarship, Scholarship from TNB Foundation, scholarship from Petronas, Scholarship from Bank Simpanan Nasional. 

Granted, I am eligible for every single scholarship since I am a straight-A scorer. (The minimum requirement for the Petronas Scholarship is straight A-.) However, it will be a totally different story when it comes to the interviews. Speak in monosyllables, act without confidence, reply the interviewers with nonsense and I will bid the scholarship goodbye.

Here are the blues. Hello, it is not easy to get yourself a perfect tertiary education you know? Not even if you are born with a silver-no, but a DIAMOND spoon in your mouth!

The Internet service here is renowned for being charged as first-class yet unbearably slow. (Mind you, sometimes I lost Internet access in the middle of my posts despite paying RM95 for Internet every month!) Thus, in order to make scholarships application easier, be prepared to wake up at 4 a.m. every morning, right before dawn. Simply, emulate our ever-dedicated rubber tappers. Waking up with my eyes half-shut and a bad stomache is just all in a day's work. Despite numerous attempts to access the websites offering scholarships, I often got an unfavourable reply, such as "Wrong password" (when I have checked my password at least thrice and jot them all down), "Incomplete indformation (thanks o the Internet that disconnects itself magically-much to my diamay", or "Error 404 not found". WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??!!

Take Two.

The condition of the educational sites.
(Main traffic source from students)

Facebook/Blogger (Traffic source: netizens worldwide of all ages)

See?

I was totally frustrated with the sheer difficulty for logging into certain websites, especially that of the TNB Foundation and UPU. For UPU, like, seriously, what on earth was the adminstrator of the website doing? I am 100% sure that the site was not made for free! Yes, you have to throw in big bucks for a professional website. Maybe a few millions. However, hey, you will understand my rantings later on-if you had applied for UPU, just as I did. Thus, let me tell you, just SOME, some of the thousands of error messages that I got while updating my application into public universities, which prove to be economical and of a high standard. (Ha ha, I'm kidding. However, YES, I got bombarded and annoyed with lots of error messages that popped out-that's TRUE!

Let's take a peek into these. (Messages in Malay, English translation.)

"Sila buat permohonan terlebih dahulu sebelum membuat permohonan calon lain."

(Please complete your application first before proceeding on the applications of the other candidates.)

So, I am a teacher? Anyway, teachers will not possibly complete UPU forms (They have underwent training at Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris) unless if they are counsellings who help the students to submit their applications. Sharon Ng Huey Yuek is Sharon Ng Huey Yuek. I am who I am. I have very unique fingerprints. I was a cooperative shop assistant back in school, and the list went on and on.

IS THERE ANY REASON FOR ME TO IMPERSONATE AS THE OTHERS? I am busy too. I have my life. I do not want to get jailed for impersonating as the others, OKAY??!!

"Sila isikan kata laluan anda" (Please fill your password)

Yes, passwords are important. What a waste for me not to capture that precious moment during my problematic application procedure! Look at the main page: "Login dengan kata laluan ATAU nama ibu anda". Obviously, I could choose either to fill in my password or mom's name right? For an absent-minded girl like me, the choice is obvious. Yet, as soon as I typed in my mother's name, that message popped out. I stared at the screen blankly. WHAT? It was pretty perplexing huh? Worst of all... (See my next point）

"Nama Ibu salah." (Wrong mother's name)

Hey, I have only one mother in my life and she is still alive! Plus, I am your typical stay-at-home-girl who is hardly seen in shopping malls or entertainment outlets. Plus, my mother is the great woman responsible to look after and bring me up for almost eighteen years (and still counting). I have my fingers constantly on workbooks and forms of all sort which require my personal particulars.

Tell me, IS THERE ANY REASON FOR ME TO FORGET MY MOTHER'S NAME???!!!

After all those crazy erratic messages during my application, a miracle happened in a cheerful morning, three days ago.

Ratatatat..... went my fingers dancing in glee on the keyboard. It was the annoying UPU application again. I had began work at as early as 5am. After all those messages and constant Internet breakdowns, here, there was something new. Yet, still miserable.

I had furiously and meticulously filled in all my particulars. As I hit the "Sah dan Hantar" (Confirm and Submit) button, I stared at the screen in horror. I wonder if there was a ghost playing hide and seek with me in Cyberspace.

I HAD BECAME A 22 YEAR OLD MALAY GIRL FROM KEDAH! Masni Farhana or something. I can't remember the name well.

There came the MUET results and the subjects. What? Hey, I had just completed Form Five last year! Damn. FUCK. (I mean "Focus untuk Mencapai Kejayaan"-Focus to achieve success)

Blazing with the flames of fury, I hit "Kemaskini" again. this time, I had unexpectedly morphed into a Malay Penangnite. After the application to enter Matriculation last year, the same problem repeated. I mean, I almost died. I am NEVER a Muslim convert something. So, this is what some people call as "systematic"?

Luck was on my side, at last! After five hours battling with the crazy site, I had finally managed to submit my UPU form, not without triple checks at my form. I gave a heavy sigh of relief. I vow NOT to return to the site again if possible!

(To be continued)