Chapter 1 - School Start
Malaysia was a small country in the Southeast of Asia. If foreigners were asked about Malaysia, not many of them would know about it.
However, when asked about Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia, most of them would know about them. Malaysia was in between these three countries but it was not that well known to many people.
Malaysian children would need to go through three important examinations during their school years. They were the UPSR, PMR, and SPM.
The UPSR was an examination for children in Elementary School. Elementary School went on for six years for children of age seven to twelve. At the end of their sixth year in Elementary School, they would need to take the UPSR exam.
The UPSR exam was only used to help determine which school children could go to when they entered Secondary School. So, the importance of it was far beneath the PMR and SPM.
Next, teenagers from age 13 would need to attend Secondary School for five years until they were 17. During this time, they would need to take the PMR exam at the age of 15 and the SPM exam at the age of 17.
The PMR exam would help the students to determine the path they wanted to take in the future. With the result from this exam, they would be able to determine the course stream they could take when they entered Form 4 of Secondary School.
As for the SPM exam, it was the most important examination for all teenagers in Malaysia. It would determine whether they could further their studies in Tertiary education or enter the workforce.
However, these details about the three examinations were outdated. The year was 2050 and many changes had happened to the education scene.
While the name of the three examinations remained the same, the details were different.
Due to the advance of time and increasingly smarter newer generations, education has evolved to a higher state.
UPSR level education was now at the PMR level education in the past while PMR level education was at the level of SPM in the past. Moreover, SPM education was now on the level of the University's Diploma.
Other than that, instead of 2 years before taking the SPM, it was 3 years now in the year 2050. In other words, Elementary School was for children of age 7 to 12, and Secondary School was for teenagers of age 13 to 18.
After they passed the SPM examination, if the students decided to further their studies, they would be taking the Bachelor's Degree instead of the past Diploma, Matriculation, and Form 6.
A young man sat in front of a small study desk with a laptop on it. On the screen of the laptop were two documents. On the right of the screen was the school's Form 4 course stream application while on the left was the PMR results.
On the PMR result's document, the name Ahmad Haikal bin Mohd Jamaluddin was printed on it. There were many A+ on Haikal's PMR result showing he was a smart student.
He was comparing his PMR result with the qualification guidance table listed with the Form 4 course steam application document.
"I can enter all the streams available but with my result, the Science Stream is the best choice," Haikal mumbled.
"After SPM, if my results are good, I can try for a Medical, Engineering or Science Degree," he continued mumbling for a second but without much thought, he filled in the form and applied for the Science Stream.
"No need to think too hard about this. My results clearly say I should take the Science Stream," Haikal nodded. After he filled in the application, he clicked on send. He was done with it and turned off the laptop.
Haikal got up and flopped on his bed. He took his smartphone from the small table at the side of his bed and checked the time.
"11 pm… still early to sleep," Haikal mumbled as his finger swiftly clicked on the red square with cow face on it to access the most popular video sharing and streaming application in the world, the MooTube.
Haikal was engrossed with the video and time passed swiftly until midnight and he decided to sleep.
January 2nd, 2051, Monday.
Two weeks had passed since Haikal got his PMR result and applied for his Form 4 course stream.
It was 5:30 am when Haikal woke up from his sleep. He took his morning shower, performed his Subuh prayer, had his breakfast, and prepared to go to school.
Haikal lived at Paroi Jaya Apartment. In the past, only the common neighbourhood, Taman Paroi Jaya was there but at the moment, many tall apartment buildings had been built in the area.
For residents living in Taman Paroi Jaya, Paroi Jaya Apartment, and a few other nearby neighbourhoods, the Pendeta Za'ba school was the first choice for their children. It was the nearest school and Haikal attended this school.
In the past, the Elementary School was the SK Taman Paroi Jaya but now, it was combined with the Secondary School and was called the Pendeta Za'ba School. The school housed the Elementary students, the Junior High students, and the Senior High students.
Haikal was 16 years old this year and thus, he would be attending the Pendeta Za'ba Senior High.
He walked to the elevator near his home's door, pushed on the button, and waited for the elevator to arrive. While waiting, a few other residents of the apartment came and waited for the elevator too.
Haikal saw them and nodded his head as a greeting. Ignoring them would be rude because they were neighbours. Although he was not close to them, he should keep good manners towards them.
The elevator arrived and they got in. They were already two people inside and similar to before, they nodded to each other as a greeting.
Haikal got off the elevator on the first floor and walked out of the apartment building. There was a bus stop in front of the building but he was not going there.
The school was close to the apartment, he only needed to walk for about 15 minutes to reach there. 10 minutes if he used a shortcut.
As he got closer and closer to the school, more and more students could be seen walking to the school too. The road was jammed packed with cars too as the parents were sending their children to school.
"So many people…" Haikal mumbled as he headed to the Senior High area.