A Most Pleasant Encounter

Not much on this blog lately. I've been very busy with STPM Literature and Chemistry over the last two weeks or so. In fact, I'm in the middle of Polymers now, but have interrupted my reading to put up this entry, which concerns a most singular event.

Sometime in early July, I did the University of New South Wales's English Assessment for Schools, a 60-question multiple-choice paper on various literary and linguistic aspects of the language, set in the context of passages and excerpts covering all sorts of disciplines, moods and themes.

To my utter surprise (this was one of those things I really never expected), I was informed by the School Counsellor, Pn Nirmala (who was absolutely thrilled to get her first Gold Medallist after trying for many years) about a couple of months later, that I was the National Top Scorer for the Upper Sixth Form. But I wasn't the only Gold Medallist; there was another boy from Johor Bahru who tied with me.

Ever since that day, I was eager to find out who this other person was -- this other 'English terror'... ;-)


Today, at the Medal Presentation Ceremony, I finally did. Much to my pleasant surprise, he was the person who taught me, three years ago, that it is possible to debate even when you've lost your voice to a bad flu. (He didn't lost his voice; I did.) But if not for him, coupled with much encouragement from Annette, I would not have debated. And I wouldn't have learnt a thing or two about prejudice.

And also because of that, indirectly, I debated for the first (and last time, so far) against Soo Tian. It was a pleasure, as all 'escapades' *ahem* involving Soo Tian certainly are.

The other Gold Medallist is none other than:


Joshua Tong, presently of SMK Sultan Ismail.


d'NA really does wonders in brightening up a person's day. Nay, this time around, it literally made my day!