Dag Dig Dug...

Today is 6th March 2008 and another 2 days (8th March 2008) will be the 12th Election Day for my beloved home country, Malaysia. I have nothing much to say about it (so much have been said in my friends' blogs, anyway) because I'm not good in elaborating political issues. Added to that, I don't get a chance to go back and vote due to a few inevitable constraints.


Of course, everyone's heart must have been beating so hard when the 'judgment day' is getting closer. I know I should not say judgment day because if it's really a judgment day, there shouldn't be any campaign whatsoever. Okay, I won't continue about this.


What I want to write today is about heart beat. Hehehee... of course not in a medical way. It is normal for our heart to beat (only the dead has no heart beat! - though some of them are forced to wake up from the grave and cast their vote kwang! kwang! kwang! Heheheee..).


My heart beat too, really fast especially when I'm expecting something or waiting for a result. I remember when I was in standard 5, I had to take a Standard Examination for Standard 5 that called Penilaian Darjah 5. Now, they call it UPSR and the students have to sit for it when they are in standard 6 instead of standard 5.


It was in 1985 (I forgot the exact date and month) that the school (my school then was Sultan Ismail School in Kemaman) announced the result (Actually that was the 2nd year I was in that school. I was in 2 other schools before for standard 1 till part of standard 4). All of us (who took the exam) didn't know that they wanted to announce about it that day.


I had my dancing practice for a Gift Presentation Ceremony a few days after that with other dancers (huhuuu!!! it was just a Tarian Zapin) in 1 of the classrooms. Then, our trainer (1 of the staff in the school) told us,

"Cikgu suruh semua pergi kantin. Dia nak bagi tahu keputusan Penilaian!"

Danggg!!! I felt a huge punch on my chest. My heart beat so fast. Dag dig dug! Dag dig dug! I laid my hand on the chest but it kept beating faster and faster. I said to myself, 'what's the result? Do I pass? Do I get 5A's? What if I don't get 5A's? What would ayah say? Ayah has sent me to after class tuition that he paid for it. Ayah has bought many revision books. Oh God, please help me. Let me pass with flying colors..'. By the way, I spoke to myself in bahasa melayu and not english hehehe...


I looked at my friends. They were not eager to go to the canteen. Perhaps, they didn't really care. I went to the canteen and sit on 1 of the chairs there, waiting for the announcement. Many of other friends were there too, talking like they were in pasar ikan. It was noisy, couldn't hear a thing but the buzzing of human mouth.


I looked around and thought, 'where's the teacher? who's supposed to announce the result? Is there really a result or its just a gimmick from irresponsible person?' It was quite a while (about 15 minutes) that we waited there patiently (not really I guess).


A teacher (I don't recall, was it a teacher or the Vice Principal), went to the front with a long list. A messy one. The pages were here and there. He had to rearrange the pages before he could say anything to us. Then he said,

"Saya akan bagi tahu nama murid murid yang dapat 5A dulu ya. Dengar betul-betul"

My heart beat really fast. All pictures came to my mind. My father, my mother, my beloved grandma (Mok), my full of hope teachers and the result itself. I kept imagining how's my certificate looked like. Scary!! Then, the teacher announced names one by one. It was neither according to alphabet nor Birth certificate hehehee.. So, we had to listen carefully. During that time, everyone was so quiet, eager to know his/her result.


As the list went on, my heart reduced its beat. My name was not announced. I was a bit frustrated. I must have got 4A's or below. I just waste my time waiting so long in here, I thought. Then, I listened,

"....Nor Raneeza Ramli 5A!..."

What? Did I listen him correctly? I asked my friend who sit beside me.

"eh! betul ke saya dengar tadi?"

She verified and nodded.

"Best nya awok dapat 5A..."

I told her,

"tak tahu lagi betul ke tak. entah entah cikgu salah baca"

Hehheee... me in denial state! I was so happy actually. I couldn't wait to go back and tell Ma about it. Unfortunately, Mok (my grandma) was in Kelantan. I would definitely call her to inform, I thought.


After class that day, I went back home. I was thinking to surprise Ma,

"Ma, hari ni dapat keputusan Penilaian. Ma teka Ja dapat berapa.."

Then Ma said,

"5A ya?"

A bit frustrated when she said that. Perhaps she could guess by looking at my reaction. Well, who can lie to a mom right. Then I said,

"Haah ma... tadi cikgu bagi tahu kat sekolah"

Then Ma said,

"Betul ke? Meh Ma cium sikit"

Hehehee.. Ma kissed me on my cheek. I felt embarrass then coz' Ma rarely kissed me (I kiss my kids a lot though).


When Ayah came back home, I told Ayah about it. He was happy and asked me,

"Ja nak hadiah apa?"

My Ayah was always like that. He's the man of reinforcement. He always rewarded us (my siblings and I) whenever we did anything good. Compared to Ma, we prefer Ayah better partly for that reason hehehee... Ayah like to pamper instead of scold us. I know it was not good for us. Well, it compensated with what Ma did to us... fair and square!!


That evening, I called Mok to inform about the result. Surely, she was happy though she didn't really understand what 5A's means. She promised to make nasi kunyit for me.


For getting 5A's, the school gave each of us a seminar bag (standard 5 and seminar bag? mistakenly chosen gift I guess) and a trip to Penang. That was the first time I went to Penang. Also, the state itself (Terengganu) rewarded each of us RM150. I went to the ceremony that was held in Kuala Terengganu with Ayah (only myself and Ayah). On our way back, Ayah got summoned for speeding. Ayah didn't have enough cash at that moment. Previously, when we were summoned by the police, we had to pay there and then, unlike present. So, he borrowed my money (part of the RM150) to pay the summon. He refunded me a few days after that...