Sarawak Latest News

The pass rate for the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) at SMK St Joseph has improved although the number of straight A scorers has decreased.

Its deputy principal Belinda Lim said that those who obtained four principal passes have increased to 42.37 per cent from 34 per cent the previous year.

“This year we only have three 4As scorers as compared to the previous year when we had five. On the other hand, the number of students who passed all papers has increased. This year we have 50 students who achieved it out of 118 students who sat for the examination,” said Lim when met at the school yesterday.

Top scorer Gerald Sim who obtained 2As and 2A- aims to serve the people by applying to study medicine.

“After collecting my results today, I plan to try to apply into local universities majoring in medicine. My targeted institutions include Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Malaya and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas),” said Sim.

Sim, the middle child of three, plans to be the first doctor in his family, unlike his father who is an engineer and his brother who is studying accounting. He is also the first one to go to Form Six.

On his recipe for success, Sim said that he studied at least two hours a day from right after entering Lower Six. He said he was very happy and satisfied with his results.

Another top scorer, Jacob Su, was surprised that he obtained A in all subjects including physics and General Knowledge.

He named the National University of Singapore and several local public institutions as his choices in which to continue his studies. He plans to take up electrical engineering.

The fourth child in a family of five siblings said group study was the best way to obtain excellent results, while being calm and cool during examination helped to keep him focused.

Another student who scored four As is Pauline Liaw while two others, Darren Chin and Aida Adilla, scored 3As.

Meanwhile, another top scorer from SMK St Thomas, Fiona Liew Chee Wei, revealed that her success came from studying very hard especially the last few weeks before examination.

“I prepared my revision rather last minute sort of. I really stayed up late in the last few weeks before the examination,” she said when met at the school yesterday.

Asked whether the result was what she expected, Liew said she was confident that she could score 3As, pointing out however, that she was less certain about scoring high marks for Mathematics.

“I wanted this result (4As). But I was not confident with Mathematics after the examination. I thought it was difficult,” she pointed out.

Currently a temporary teacher at the school, Liew scored A in General Knowledge, Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics. She said she would study medicine in university and hopes to be a doctor.

Liew was one of the two students in SMB St Thomas who scored Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.00. The other student was Phang Nyuk Choo.

Phang who came to the school to collect her result slip, said she was happy with her result and thanked her family for their support.

She said the secret of success was time management. “It is essential to manage our time wisely,” she stressed.

She scored A in General Knowledge, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. She said she would apply for courses related to Physics or Mathematics at a local university.

Another student, Pui Chai Fuen, who wished to further her study in either engineering or information technology, said she spent around six hours a day for revision. The girl who lives in Matang Jaya here scored A in General Knowledge, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

“I normally studied six hours a day. After finishing my revision and assessment exercises, I’d watch TV to relax my mind,” she said.

Another top scorer, Tang Chew Yong, said she felt disappointed with her result as she was expecting to score four As but managed only one A and three A- instead.

She scored A for General Knowledge and A- in Literature in English, Business Study and History.

Tang, currently a temporary teacher in SMK Kuching High here, wished to further her studies in education. Tang thanked her teachers for her success, saying: “I did not attend any tuition class. Besides studying by myself, my teachers had helped me a lot.”

Whenever she felt stressed, she would pray to release her tension, she said.

The Borneo Post was unable to get the overall result of SMB St Thomas as the school was still compiling its statistics.