SPM & STPM: Soalan Bocor

Tis the time of the year... the word soalan bocor will cause everyone to scramble for their handphones and internet connection and send / receive the questions. And this behaviour has taken on a new frenzy; all made possible by technology. I guess this post might even get some extra hits because of the soalan bocor title... cos there're lots of students out there hoping to get a quick fix to their exam.

I was talking to a friend and she told me there was a rumour about a teacher being detained by the police for leaked questions. It turned out to be untrue. It is also at this time that many teachers will give out tips of allegedly leaked questions... students, of course will have their own network of sources... But just as technology has enabled connectivity never before possible in my generation, it has also cast doubts to the reliability of those tips cos there're simply just too many of them around. The avalanche of information has actually succeeded in burying the real tips.... LOL! On a more sober note, the avalance of quick fixes too has buried a lot of life's values.....

But whatever it is, this still lull some students into thinking that these quick fixes will get them the grades they desire. Do questions leak? I can't tell for sure. But I find it believable. After all, even during my uni years, questions were leaked out to a certain group of students... so while we slogged, they had it easy. But it's strange too how most of us who slogged somehow ended up still doing better. Adversity brought out the best in us?

Then during our school days... I don't know why but somehow most of us were told to pay attention to the questions from the Science Schools and MARA Colleges. Questions from those schools were more likely to come out in the SPM it seemed. How on earth did we form such conclusions??? There's always a little truth in a lie even, it seemed.

Ours is a country bent on religiousity, yet values like integrity, hardwork, honesty have been conveniently swept under the tikar in exchange for quick fixes (wealth, results). We only have to look at our leaders to see how things have evolved. Leaders of yesterday pale in comparison in terms of religiousity to today's leaders, yet the former seemed to have more of the good stuff in them.... or maybe back then their simple minds had not learn the concept of quick fix for the people and themselves too... Today's leaders are very pious on the outside, but dissect their lives a little, it's not just worms which crawl out...

So soalan bocor... this is what I think. Study hard, understand the basics, memorize if you have to... the discipline and commitment you picked up in the process will be the tools that will help you scale greater heights later. In this world of patronage (sadly), I still believe that hard work still pays... even though these days it may take longer to get to the paying part. But the rewards go beyond the material....

Anyway, when the day comes where only the patronage system rules... we'd be going into 'The Matrix'-like world, or we'd all be like the ant colony... the fewer rule as we move up the hierachy of the social order. We, the masses will be very expendable.