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news without borders
Top-scorers share success tips
by Chin Lee Kam
newsdesk@thsundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: The hall was filled with noises class.
of students and their parents talking, laughing
and snapping pictures until, finally, the teachers
came in, carrying boxes of result slips.
The long wait for SMK Katholik Petaling Jaya
students ended in tears, laughter and hugs when
they received their SPM results. Most passed
with flying colours – 38.1% scored 9As or more, Jee, 18, certainly stood out with her rare identity
with two getting 14As and more than 100 getting
more than 10As.
Low Jun Jack, 18, one of the 14As scorers, present at the school.
said he felt relieved. Currently an A-level student
at Taylor’s College, he hopes his achievement will
get him a scholarship.
“Paying attention in
class is essential,” said
Jun Jack.
The other 14As
scorer, Wong Chee
Keong, 18, said he was
happy and grateful to
his family, especially
his father, for their sup-
port. He believed being
motivated is the key to
passing exams with fly-
Jun Jack (left)
ing colours. 14As scorers
6,277 score straight As
in SPM
PUTRAJAYA: The 2008 Sijil Pelajaran Ma-
laysia (SPM) results announced yesterday
saw 6,277 students scoring straight As in all
subjects compared with 5,060 in 2007.
Education Ministry director-general Datuk
Alimuddin Mohd Dom said from the total,
1,676 scored A1s in all subjects compared with
892 in 2007 while 181,416 or 46.7% passed all
subjects compared with 175,452 in 2007.
“There were four excellent result achievers
who scored A1s in all 16 subjects, two who
scored A1s in 15 subjects while six scored
A1s in 14 subjects,” said Alimuddin while an-
nouncing the SPM and STAM results here.
He said of the four 16A1s achievers, two
were from SMK Yoke Kuan, Sekinchan, Selan-
gor while the others were from SMK Tung Hua,
Sibu, and SMK Riam Road, Miri, Sarawak.
Last year, 442,936 sat for SPM compared
with 439,255 in 2007 while 435 special stu-
dents also sat for the examination last year
compared with 355 the previous year.
briefs
Copter with 18 aboard crashes
OTTAWA: A helicopter with 18 people aboard
crashed yesterday into the Atlantic Ocean off the
coast of Canada’s Newfoundland province while
en route to an oil rig, an official told AFP.
A search and rescue operation was under way,
said Gerry Grychowski, a spokeswoman for the
Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax.
Two people and a raft were spotted in the wa-
ter 87km southeast of Saint Johns, Newfoundland,
soon after the crash at 9.18 am local time (8.18pm
in Malaysia), she said.
The helicopter was ferrying workers to the
Hibernia offshore oil platform when it plunged
into the frigid waters of the Atlantic, amid strong
winds, she said. – AFP
Crocodile kills girl
ROSARIO (Philippines): A huge freshwater
crocodile killed a schoolgirl after attacking a
small boat in a southern Philippine marshland
where the reptiles are protected, officials said
yesterday.
The girl, a member of the ethnic Manobo
tribe who live in floating homes in the Agusan
Marsh, was heading home on Tuesday when
theSun | FRIDAY MARCH 13 2009
While the two 14As scorers were both from
science stream, Tee Ee Lyn, 18, proved that a
top scorer can also come from the commerce
“Revise, listen to the teachers, and research
past years’ papers are the ways to score,” Ee
Lyn, who obtained 12As, said. She is doing the
A-levels in HELP University College and hopes to
receive a JPA scholarship.
Out of the sea of similar faces, Juliana Jee Jefri
in the school. Scooping 12As in SPM, Juliana Jee
shared her joy with her family who were also
“I believe one has to study smart; I think last-
minute work will not
be good, and it should
be prepared stage
by stage,” said the
current scholarship
holder in HELP Uni-
versity College.
“Juliana has been
very hardworking,
and I’m very proud
of her,” said her
mother Zainun Ab-
dul Rahman, who
an d Chee Keong. sent all her children
to SMK Katholik.
THESUN
SHARIL AMIN/
Among the special students, Mohd Shafiq
Sahdon from Sekolah Menengah Sains Kluang,
Johor who has impaired vision, scored 12As
while hearing-impaired Aghilan Narayanan,
from SMK Jalan Bukit, Kajang, scored 11As.
Alimuddin said results of subjects like
mathematics, science, history, moral and Ba-
hasa Melayu showed a marked improvement
but English and pendidikan Islam reflected a
slight drop in performance.
He also said more students answered math-
ematics and science questions in the English
language and described it as a heartening
development.
“For example, in the additional mathemat-
ics paper I, of the 178,751 students who sat for
the paper 89.1% of them answered in English
compared with 4.7% in Bahasa Malaysia,” he
said.
Alimuddin said high percentages were
also recorded for the additional mathematics
II paper, biology II and III papers; chemistry II
and III papers and the mathematics II paper.
He said no comparison was made with
previous years, since at that time the ministry
did not give students the choice of language,
especially for the objective questions.
– Bernama
the 9m crocodile attacked the boat, the pro-
vincial government said in a statement.
The reptile damaged the boat and the
girl fell into the water, the official statement
said, while a companion managed to swim to
safety. Her headless torso was recovered on
Wednesday. – AFP
N. Korea plans rocket launch
SEOUL: North Korea has given global agencies
notice of its plans to launch a satellite from
April 4-8, an official said yesterday in a move
Washington has called “provocative” and
views as a disguised long-range missile test.
Pyongyang gave notice it expects the first
stage of the rocket to splash down in the East
Sea, better known as the Sea of Japan, and
the second stage to splash down in the Pacific
Ocean, Yonhap news agency quoted sources
familiar with the notice as saying. – Reuters
Thai PM faces censure motion
BANGKOK: Thailand’s opposition yesterday filed
a censure motion against Prime Minister Abhisit
Vejjajiva and five government ministers, accusing
them of corruption.
The move by the Puea Thai party, which is allied
to fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, is
the second step in their bid to topple the gov-
ernment, following the launch of impeachment
proceedings on Wednesday. – AFP