Dare to do the 'impossible'.

"I'm taking thirteen subjects for my SPM, (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia which was known as the School Certificate before the name change.)" my nephew told me.
"How do you think you are going to manage that many subjects?" I questioned the decision.
"I'll do it. That's the only way to have a chance to get a scholarship to a good university education," he was determined to succeed.
"Alright. You've to understand it'll take a lot of hard work to do it. I can only assist you in art and craft and English." I told him.

In my mind, I was happy for him, happy that he had this strong desire to get extraordinarily good results. Although i have always helped and loved him, I knew I did not have the financial ability to do anything where an overseas university education was concerned. In fact I did say something to that effect to him once while encouraging him to strive for even better results, just as I did my own two children. I expected all three of them to excel in their studies for they had all consistently produced good results.

It was the year 2000, a time when the Malaysian Chinese without strong 'political cables' knew that their children with truly excellent results could not expect to get even a local university scholarship, what more an overseas education scholarship. They might just as well kill the thought.

This nephew knew his family's financial situation as I, in teaching him and my children about life, often point out how poverty can be a stumbling block to many paths to success unless we ourselves strive harder to get out of it through education and hardwork.

Thus, he worked hard, initially falling slightly in the marks he obtained as a result of the strain of taking on new subjects. It is to his credit that he pushed on determined to overcome any weakness that was bound to happen when something new had to be mastered in such a short period of time.

By mid-year, he was well on the way to excellent results. When it came to art and craft, for example, he was already good at drawing and painting. All he needed was the theory and knowledge about the crafts. He learned fast. I remembered explaining matters on certain crafts to him as I took him to or from school at certain times.

His determination to succeed eventually bore fruit when newspapers announced the best SPM Malaysian student in 2001. For the first time in SPM, a student scored A1 in 13 subjects. Usually, it was only for eight, nine or ten subjects. It had the whole nation wondering how it could be done.

Of course, it could be done. He knew it and he did it! This was proved again and again in the years that followed. It just has to take someone special to dare to do the so called impossible. Nothing is impossible as many who followed his path discovered. If I am not mistaken, there is even one girl who got A1 in 17 subjects.

Everything is possible for everyone who dares to dream. So, allow your children to do all they can to improve. Never say it cannot be done. Tell them about my nephew, Ong Jin Hock.