Our final paper for the 1999 SPM was actually a matriculation entrance
examination, and was open only for those who registered a couple of months
earlier. More than half of the B.R.A.T.s sat for the exam, as it was only meant
for the Bumiputeras. By the time we passed out from the RMC, most of us have
already received offers to enter matriculation colleges, undergoing 13 months of
pre-university study. Together with more than 10 of the B.R.A.T.s, I was offered
a place in the Negeri Sembilan Matriculation College (KMNS) in Kuala Pilah.
However, only 10 of us reported to the college, on the 14th of
February 2000.
It was very different: the life in KMNS compared to the RMC. I managed to
make new friends, and was elected as the leader for both my practical and
lecture groups. In KMNS, I took the Sains Hayat (Biological Science) course, considering that I
aspire to become a doctor in the future. Without self-discipline and appropriate
time management, one could not do well in this sort of place, where there were
no strict rules, especially in terms of class attendance.
The SPM results came out in early April 2000, and around that time the
Public Service Department (JPA) have published notices in newspapers regarding
the sponsoring of students to further their studies overseas. As my grades were
well above the minimum requirements for a scholarship to read Medicine in the
UK, I sent in my application forms. In May, I was called for an interview, in
the University of Malaya (UM). Being an Old Putera (or OP, the term used to
identify any ex-students of the RMC), I never found the interview process difficult or
demanding at all.
It was the first semester examination in KMNS when my parents told me that I’ve officially received an offer from JPA to study Medicine in the UK. But first I need to do my pre-university program in MARA College Banting (KMB). At first I thought I’ll be doing A-Levels but later on I found out that this program was called International Baccalaureate (IB), and I need to pass successfully with an IB Diploma in order to go overseas. By the way, I scored a CGPA of 3.92 points in the first semester exam (3As and 1A-). But, up to this very day, I never know for which subject I scored the A-. Even the result was passed to me through a friend as it only came out in September 2000, during which I was already in the middle of the first semester in KMB.