Nothing is certain in this life except for death, taxes and your newly-driving child getting into an accident - whether small or large.
Previously, Adam did drove the X50 into a drain while parking and left a nice black scratch mark on the front bumper. This time around though, he literally backed my Alza into a parked car and caused a considerable damage to the Almera. Adam had just attended a farewell dinner organized by his college and he was hanging out with his buddies outside a mamak in Cheras until 2 o'clock in the morning. Said he was meaning to hit the pedal and not the reverse when the accident happened. The driver wasn't around so he pondered for a while and then decided to leave his phone number on the car.
He didn't tell us about the accident until later that day. So it begins our 8 hours ordeal of meeting the guy, going to the workshop trying to get a quotation (it was 2,400 ringgit) before ultimately deciding to claim it to my insurance, making police reports and all. Fortunately for us, the guy victim was quite sporting and agreed to resolve the matter civilly at the Sungai Besi police station. It was not my first rodeo with traffic accident but still, I hated every minute getting the whole thing settled. Besides, previously I was always the victim and not perpetrator.
Needless to say, I give Adam a short but stern advise about driving safely and staying up late with friends and the hardship you're getting into whenever shit like this happens. I sincerely hope this will be his first and last traffic accident and he learned his lesson well. The back of my car looks terrible now but that's nothing compared to my insurance's non-claim discount going back to zero.
13 May 2024
After Mia got admitted into her boarding school in Kota Bharu, that leaves Hana alone as the sole survivor of SMK Jalan 2. Although she does not show it, I know she must be feeling a little bit left out since all her siblings are studying in a boarding school at the moment. Both her MRSM and SBP applications were denied and while we could not do anything more for MRSM, we did file an appeal for the SBP - both online and offline.
A few weeks after appealing online, we got the same rejection notice that we saw earlier. Not willing to give up, my wife and I researched for other methods of appealing and getting into the boarding school. We collected all of Hana's certificates of achievements, wrote a nice, enthusiastic appeal letter and submitted them by hand to the SBP offices in Cyberjaya. We even emailed the officers in charge in person just to be sure.
We did not give it much thought or hope after that. A few weeks later, to our surprise, we received the good news that Hana was offered a place in one of the boarding schools down south. I guess those letter and emails did made a difference. You can see the sample letter that I wrote here.
We only got a week from the date of the email to registration day to prepare. Thankfully, the school is only an hour drive away so we can always come visit if she needs anything. Hana was in the third intake for the first formers in the school so there were only a dozen other students registering that hot Monday afternoon. I must say the school and facilities are not as good as Mia's but the important thing is, it will provide a condusive and proper learning environment, better than what she's got at her old school.
We helped to load Hana's things up to the 3rd floor of her dormitory and then helped her to unpack and organize. This is her first time away from home so naturally we feel kind of nervous of letting her go. That said, I know Hana wanted this for so long herself so I trust she will take all the challenges of boarding school in her stride. After imparting to her some words of wisdom and general advice, we exchanged hugs and goodbyes and left her to be on her own for the first time ever.
The next few weeks, we received a few phone calls from Hana asking for more money. Apparently she prefers to buy food for the co-op rather than the dining hall for breakfast. She also complained about having to get up early - at 5:00 AM every morning so that the seniors can wake up at 5:30 instead to use the toilets. Apart from that, she lost her debit card and phone card on the second week of her stay there. She never found the debit card but her phone card was actually in one of her pockets all along.
A month later, she started to call less and less. I assume she's started to get used to the routine there. I know being away in a boarding school could be tough for some children. Her mother and I had been to one too and we know very well the challenges we all faced back then. Hopefully she can manage just as well as we did and we will always be there to help her out in whatever way we can (such as coming to visit every other week).
20 April 2024
We've been trying to get Mia into a boarding school for the longest time. When she was transitioning to secondary school, it was the height of the pandemic and I think we applied on the regular ministry website but failed to get into any of the boarding schools. So we just admitted her to the next best thing, which was the regular secondary school near Bangi.
It's not that we don't rate regulary day schools, it's just that full boarding school provide a more condusive environment for academic and co-curricular excellence. The teachers are better, the facilities or complete and her peers are gonna be more focused. Sounds unfair but that's how the Malaysian education system is at the moment.
At the end of form 3, we applied for boarding school again, both SBP and MRSM. a month later, she did not get into SBP (again) but the MRMS website said to check again in 3 week's time. While understandbly upset at the SBP result, there was indeed a small glitter of hope with MRSM. True enough, 4 weeks later, when I checked the MRSM website again, it showed that Mia was offered a place at a MRSM in Kota Bharu.
Our immediate reaction was one of delight and then concern. Delighted that Mia was finally accepted into an elite school but also concerned that she's gonna be so far away, all by herself, away from us for the first time. That said, it would be foolish of us not to let her go after trying for so long. Besides, we've got our grandparents back home who could regularly visit or she can come home to during the holidays.
First impression of the school was good. It looks better than Adam's old school with matching modern facilities and equipments. The students who showed us around were also friendly and the teachers sounds nice and loving.
When the goodbyes are said and hugs are exchanged, we left Mia to be on her own for the first time in her life. She's a big girl now and we're confident she will manage just fine. This school allows their students to use a tablet so at least we can still keep in touch using her iPad. This is your time to shine Mia, your mama and papa believe in you.
3 April 2024
Remember the time I was hospitalised to check an abnormality on my heart? That was today.
It's a long story but long story short, during a routine medical checkup at the hospital, the result showed something abnormal about my heart. So they suggested I run further tests to investigate. So I got myself checked into a hospital in KL overnight for the purpose.
My wife dropped me off that evening and I checked into a ward. My insurance could only cover a shared room in the ward so I shared my room with an elderly fella with an even more serious heart condition. Believe it or not, this is the first time in my 44 years living staying overnight at a private hospital. The first time I did was after the bike accident when I was 20 but that only got me into a government ward in Kota Bharu. You can say I've been blessed with health so I didn't have to go to the hospital for any reasons all these time.
Now I've visited many private hospitals before, even accompanied my wife and kids all night on a few occasions. This hospital in KL is no different. It has good facilities and excellent staff. As a patient however, my arm was poked with a big-ass needle so they can line me with drips 24/7. The nurse made a mess of the job and I can see a pool of blood on the sheets. The doctor came to fix the mess later.
Sleeping with one arm tethered to the drip line is no fun I tell you. I had to bring the drip everywhere, including the toilet and stop myself from moving too much on the bed. I slept awkwardly all through the night.
The next day, they run the tests. I had to fast from the evening before and then in the morning, they made me undress and wear this flimsy gown and wheel me all around the hospital. I remember laying in this state of the art machine while they do the coronary angiogram on me. Did I tell you the gown was flimsy? I'm pretty sure the staff saw glimpses of my private parts that day. After the stress test, I was done for the day. I stayed a little bit for lunch and then my wife came to pick me up in the evening.
The good news was, they didn't find anything much wrong with my heart. A little bit of cholesterol here and there but nothing a healthy diet and good exercise couldn't fix in the long run.
Overall, my first stay at a private hospital went pretty well. Apart from the pesky drip line, I pretty much enjoyed the experience. Obviously, I don't look forward to any future visits to the hospital because that could only mean something is seriously wrong with me.
My wife dropped me off that evening and I checked into a ward. My insurance could only cover a shared room in the ward so I shared my room with an elderly fella with an even more serious heart condition. Believe it or not, this is the first time in my 44 years living staying overnight at a private hospital. The first time I did was after the bike accident when I was 20 but that only got me into a government ward in Kota Bharu. You can say I've been blessed with health so I didn't have to go to the hospital for any reasons all these time.
Now I've visited many private hospitals before, even accompanied my wife and kids all night on a few occasions. This hospital in KL is no different. It has good facilities and excellent staff. As a patient however, my arm was poked with a big-ass needle so they can line me with drips 24/7. The nurse made a mess of the job and I can see a pool of blood on the sheets. The doctor came to fix the mess later.
Sleeping with one arm tethered to the drip line is no fun I tell you. I had to bring the drip everywhere, including the toilet and stop myself from moving too much on the bed. I slept awkwardly all through the night.
The next day, they run the tests. I had to fast from the evening before and then in the morning, they made me undress and wear this flimsy gown and wheel me all around the hospital. I remember laying in this state of the art machine while they do the coronary angiogram on me. Did I tell you the gown was flimsy? I'm pretty sure the staff saw glimpses of my private parts that day. After the stress test, I was done for the day. I stayed a little bit for lunch and then my wife came to pick me up in the evening.
The good news was, they didn't find anything much wrong with my heart. A little bit of cholesterol here and there but nothing a healthy diet and good exercise couldn't fix in the long run.
Overall, my first stay at a private hospital went pretty well. Apart from the pesky drip line, I pretty much enjoyed the experience. Obviously, I don't look forward to any future visits to the hospital because that could only mean something is seriously wrong with me.
1 March 2024
I thought I am going to give some update to my loyal readers, all 2 of you. Thank you for your support!
Hana finished her primary school this term while Mia will be going into form four next year. Naturally, we applied for both MRSM and SBP boarding schools. We took them to sit for the entrance exams, Hana as far away as Gerik in Perak while Mia in Alor Gajah, Melaka.
I must say I was not overly optimistic about their chances. The competition was stiff and I thought they don't meet the requirements to get into those schools, especially since we are not in the B40 category. The MRSM result came soon enough and sadly Hana straight away did not get selected. Mia however, were told to check again on the 25th of February which was last week but there were still no news. We are going to assume she did not get in as well.
The SBP result though is out today. Again, we were disappointed to find that both of the girls also did not get into any of the schools. Of course we can appeal but the chances are slim to none and we might as well forget it.
We always tell ourselves and the kids that there are many ways to succeed in life. Just because one path is blocked, doesn't mean you cannot go through a different pathway. The long term goal is to get that college degree and get a good-paying job because I know you want to buy those nice things, live in a nice place and visit those nice places far-far away. Knowing the girls, I'm more than confident that they will achieve those goals. And even if somehow they don't, I will not be too distraught because I myself failed miserably once in that department and despite all the hardship that follows, I can say I am quite content with my life now.
I will tell you this. The ultimate goal in life is not to be rich and famous. The ultimate goal for you is to be happy. Happy with what you do, be with a person that can make you happy and happy with what you have or don't have. You get that, you have succeeded in life. Everything else is secondary.
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