Dare To Be Different...

On the 21st of March 2007... it was a memorable date... until now i still have this day in my mind so perfectly... It was on this day when i started stepping into Sekolah Menengah Sains Alam Shah... SM Sains Alam Shah or also known as ASiS is a pure science school and also a boarding school.... what is a boarding school??? i was totally blank when i heard this term... when i turn up in that school only did i know that i had to stay in that school for the next two years with a lot of other students... Students from all over the country.... the north, the east , the south and the west, and even some from the East Malaysia... i tought it would be fun to know more people from different states and different cultures.... So i gave it a try to just stay there and study... My parents also gave me full support to continue m secondary level in this school...

On the first day of school... when i enrolled myself in this school... i met with my class teacher.... was happy to know that she was a Chinese... her name is Pn. Ding Hong Eng. Then i met my house teacher, En. Ghani Salleh... He allocated me to my dorm and then i met up with my seniors... all of them were Malays... So i was a bit curious... why are all my seniors in my dorm all Malays... even all my Form 4 friends were also Malays... i didnt care much on the first day... because what i was more worried about was the bed i was going to sleep on... the mattress was really in a bad shape... i wonder how was i going to sleep that night... i couldnt close my eyes to sleep... A lot of things were just running through my mind... Questions popping out in my mind... Can i survive in this scchool... Why did i came into this school at the first place... i didnt really know how to answer my own question...

On the second day of school i met some non-muslim students... an indian friend who was also a second intake like me... we chit chat for a while and then the orientation for the new students started.... blah blah blah.... whne everything finished i still couldnt find more non-muslim students... so i asked my senior in my dorm... then only did i find out that i was the only Chinese student in the whole school now... besides me there were another 3 Indian students... 2 who were in Form 4 and another was my senior... His name was Govin... At that time i was still wandering why did i made the choice by going into that school and to even think of studying in that school... I was miserable at that time as i felt awkward... Why??? Its because first i couldnt converse in Bahasa that well students there were laughing at me at first... secondly i had to wear Baju Melayu every night and on Fridays with the sampin although i really dont mind that cause that was my first time wearing that clothing... and thirdly i was different than the others there...

Days went pass... I survived day by day in that school always being careful of what i do or how i act because i didnt want to make anybody feel uneasy when i was there with them... i wanted them to feel that i was able to fit in just perfectly and that was how it happened for the whole year and also the following year.... I was happy with what i was able to achieve in that school... Being the only Chinese there really wasnt all bad... but it had taught me to become more socialise... to become more friendly than i used to be... and till now i have tonnes of Malay friends still keeping in touch everytime... Now, at this very moment i dont feel any regrets but gratefulness is what i can think of now because if i hadnt had the chance to be a part of SM Sains Alam Shah... i wouldnt have been a more aggresive person, i wouldnt have been involved in international programs and i wouldnt have been involved in activities i never had done in my previous schools..

It was one phrase that kept me going till the end of year 2008... the year that i survived through all the challenges i face in my studies to eventually face SPM in the end... the phrase that kept me going was Dare To Be Different... i dared myself to try to be in the top 50 in the batch when i went into that school... i want to be different than i used to be at home.... It was the word different that made me survived 2 years of hostel life... But still SM Sains Alam Shah guided me along to become a better student... the teachers there taught me a lot to become one of the best students in Kuala Lumpur and also tried to guide us to become the best in Malaysia... Sains Alam Shah also gave me the chance to show off my skills when they allowed me to be in the school basketball team and also one of 40 students who went for the International Program at Thailand... I am very much grateful of what i had in ASiS and i would have regretted if i didnt have enrolled myself to be one part of the school..to be an ASiSian...

ReformasiV 07/08

ASiSian Batch V