from the Star:

HAVING scored 4A’s in the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) 2009 examinations, Kogilavani Subramaniam was a picture of joy.

That is until the 19-year-old started to speak about her family’s struggles to get her through school.

“My father works as a technician in Ayer Hitam, Johor, which is far away from home,” explained Kogilavani, as her eyes welled up with tears.

“He puts in long hours at his job, and I always worry about him travelling down the poorly-maintained roads on his old motorcycle. Some of the roads are full of large potholes and it doesn’t help that he’s got a heart condition as well.”

Trying to restrain her emotions, she said that she was inspired to study hard so that her father’s efforts would not be wasted.

“Whenever I felt like slacking off, I just thought of my parents — these results are just a small start to repaying their sacrifices,” she said.

The former SMK Kluang Barat student added that she hoped to become a teacher because it seemed like a challenging career.

“I don’t think teaching is an easy job, but I think I can make the cut!

“With all the encouragement I received from my own teachers, I want to be in a position to inspire others to push themselves to be the best.”

Another aspiring educator was Masmin Mensih, who shared his plans to take up an education degree at Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

Muhammad Najmuddin (left) sharing his happiness with (from right) his farmer father Abdullah Mamat, housewife mother Radiah Daud and teacher brother Mazdi Abdullah.

Masmin, who emerged as the country’s top scorer in the special candidate (visually impaired) category, had more pragmatic reasons for his ambition.

“I think taking a course in education is the most suitable for me because I cannot do jobs that require me to go out into the field due to the condition of my eyes,” said the former SMK Batu Sapi, Sandakan, student.

“So teaching is something I can do without moving about too much.”

When asked about his secret to being a high achiever, the cheerful lad said that he had none.

“All you have to do is focus in class, and make sure you listen to what the teachers have to say.”

Not a believer in tuition classes, he added: “No doctor or professor ever said that tuition would help you achieve good results. What you really need to do well is just a positive attitude and hard work.”

For ex-SMJK Katholik, Petaling Jaya, student Yap Jun Fai, hard work also involved some amount of play.

One of the two top science stream scorers in the nation with 5A’s, Jun Fai said: “I jog frequently and play badminton in school. I have also won marathons outside of school.”

However, he admitted that certain sorts of recreation were carefully avoided while he was preparing for the STPM.

“I locked my Play Station 2 away in storage to avoid distraction; computer games were just too time-consuming!”

His father, Yap Chong Sang, added that Jun Fai has always been a self-motivated individual.

Sports was also an outlet for Muhammad Najmuddin Firdaus Abdullah from SMK Ayer Lanas, Jeli, Kelantan. The arts student, who was one of three national top scorers in his stream with 5A’s, represented his school at the district level in both football and running.

“I was shocked and excited when I learnt about my results,” he said, adding that he had only targeted 4A’s for the exam as he was not confident in his memory skills for History.

His advice for future STPM candidates was to start studying early and consistently.

“When you study, try hard not to do it at the last minute, because a lot of the (exam) questions are from the early part of the syllabus.”