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Back in 2006, when I sat for my Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), we were allowed to take as many subjects as we liked (provided we paid of course) and we had only 9 gradings in the SPM, ranging from the coveted 1A right down to the dreaded 9G. Since then, there have been changes. Students are now limited to 10 subjects and I was told by my dad earlier this month that there would be changes in the SPM gradings. A new grade; A+, will be introduced. Click here for the source article.

Today's NTV7 evening news brought this topic afresh into my mind when the new grade was described as "a more refined way of identifying the truly good students" (this is not a quote mind you...more or less this was said). It got me feeling a little skeptical. I'm no education expert but common sense got me wondering...Do we actually NEED a higher grade in SPM??? I mean, isn't 9 enough already??I have been browsing through forums where there are mixed reactions to this new grade. Some are outraged; they don't want another grade to worry about, some approve; they agree it will be a truer reflection of their academic abilities, while the rest remain indifferent.

Over the years, as the results for the public exams (UPSR,PMR,SPM,STPM) are released there will be news of several students scoring strings of As and rising numbers of students scoring As and so on. Then there will be questions raised about whether the As actually mean the students will continue to be successful in future studies or the grades have merely been inflated. My parents often told me that in their time, back in the 1970's and earlier, scoring an A (notice AN A...not As) meant you were practically a genius. Now, score only one A in SPM, people will probably label you as a no good, lazy student who probably wasted your school years sleeping in class (not strictly true as some people just aren't the studying type but are talented in other ways). But do you get what I'm trying to say here??? You just can't deny that an A now is just not the same as an A 30 years ago.

Personally, I feel that the government's move of introducing this new grade is to pull back up the 'value' of As. However, they can actually achieve that without introducing another grade. All they have to do is impose stricter marking and grading system for the papers. For example, if initially you need 80 marks to score a 1A, make it 90 marks to score a 1A. Then there would be no need to introduce the new A+. But of course, if they did that, there might be a sharp drop in the students' achievement graph. And I guess that wouldn't be a very good motivation for the school-leaving students who are about to enter into a new stage of their education life. No one likes to receive a slip with bad results. Plus I think suicide rates might increase, seeing that there have been cases where students commit suicide over missing out on one A. Hmm...I could see a lot of problems ahead if they were to do what I suggested. So I guess that's why the introduction of A+???

For now, I am not against the introduction of the A+ grading. However, it remains to be seen whether it WILL actually be a way to give the truly high academic achievers their due recognition. I believe that if the government were to stick to their word and set a very high requirement for students to obtain A+, then this may just be the solution for the salvation of SPM gradings. So, I will be crossing my fingers as my brother (who is 17 this year) along with all the other Form 5 students sit for their SPM in 2 week's time.

Just do your best and your results will reflect your effort.Don't worry about the new grading.

Disclaimer:
I am not indicating that students who have achieved As in the past years are undeserving of them. On the contrary, I acknowledge their hard work and sacrifices to obtain those beautiful results slips. I merely support the more specific move to select the best of the best in the awarding of scholarships and training programmes.

I would be like to hear other opinions or responses to my post.
Please post them in my comments section which you will find at the bottom of this post.
Thank you.

If it comes from a certain stall in Penang Street. It's been a long time since I've had a bowl because I don't often go to Penang. But whenever I get the chance I'd visit this stall here:-

Anyway, you must be wondering why this sudden post on Penang food. Well, my mummy had a meeting/ conference (I think) in Penang so my dad decided to make it a family day trip. It's been such a long time since we went to Penang as a family.And as usual when people go to Penang it's mostly about FOOD!!
So we had these:-


The asam laksa isn't the one we usually had since the original seller had some feud with the cendol seller (at least that's what everyone tells me as soon as I bring up Penang cendol and asam laksa). The cendol seller also sells laksa now and it tasted quite good actually...
Whilst we ate, we got to admire the cendol seller's Hall of Awards...


Mind you, it's the ONLY jeruk I eat. It's dried nutmeg and you can choose to buy the ones dried with sugar or honey. I prefer the honey ones. My dad got me some of both. I was a happy girl.
Being so stuffed and it was a really hot day...my dad decided to cut the trip short and take the ferry back instead of crossing the bridge again.

Testing testing...Omg it actually works on Opera Mini!!

Yay!!!Finally I have finished uploading my photos.
I'm NO LONGER A TEEN!!! After celebrating this year's birthday I feel like I've hit a milestone or something. I feel so old all of a sudden...
Musings aside...This year, I got to joint-celebrate my birthday with Miss Michelle Toon!!
We're born a day apart and it was just so nice to celebrate together again (we've been cutting cakes together for quite a few years already)

We had an early birthday dinner with Sze Haw, Kar Ning, Pui San and Yean Shan.
And the venue was Jogoya, StarHill. We chose that place because I was mouth itching for a good Japanese buffet plus they were having their Ladies' Promotion at normal price for the first lady and RM19.90 for the second lady. We had 3 pairs so it was just nice (we had 4 pairs at first but last minute Louisa and Asha couldn't come. ). See all the pretty girls who made the night so awesome for us!!!

Okay...as is customary...I'm going to spam this entire post with pictures of food.
So here goes:-

Then between plates we took pictures to make good use of our time while digesting our food...



It's pretty cool how we have mini bunsen burners on our tables and we can actually choose whatever combination of things we want to boil on it. Hehe...Pui San and I gorged on the huge crabs they had:-

Thank you THANK YOU THANK YOU ALL!!!!

For your test messages, phone calls, and Facebook posts.


I feel so LOVED!!!!

I'll get right to uploading photos and updating.

I adore TGI Friday's. The one I frequent is located in Sunway Pyramid. It's a favourite of my friend, Louisa and her mum (they were the ones who first brought me there) Though a bit pricey for an average student's allowance, it is good for a treat once in a while. Also, it is a great place to chill out with friends since it has nice ambiance and good food.

Now they are currently having the 2 Course Meal promotion where you can choose an appetiser and entree for RM29.90 and 2 mini desserts for RM6 add on. It is a really good deal if you compare this to the price of ala-carte.
I brought my mum there when she came down for a meeting in PJ a few weeks ago. It was my treat since I had an unexpected windfall (no, not lottery...if you wanna know ask me.) and we each ordered a 2 course meal. I have developed a habit of snapping pictures of food ever since I started blogging. I think I amuse my family when I go,"Waaaiiit!!!Don't eat first!!Let me take photo first!!" Anyway, here are them pictures:-