Today we got our A level results.

Indulge me a bit.

Hearing my mother's lecture just now, you'd think it was the end of the world. Hearing her ("you don't want to do what I say" - on taking History), you'd realise that she has a plan for my life all mapped out. Right now she's urging me to apply for a place in NUS before they are taken. Looks like her dream of me becoming a PSC OMS scholar like my brother-in-law (ahem) are wrecked (awww). Sometimes, I wonder what's the point. Is boasting to your friends really so important? Or projecting your ambitions on your progeny?

Studying at an Overseas University (hopefully prestigious) is something that the top echelon of Singaporean students desires, nay, expects. Since my parents can't (or won't, as for my sister) pay, this means that I'll have to sell my soul (but I'll be damned if I sell it to the SAF!). Right now it seems the worth of my soul has gone down a few notches, and seeing how bad I am at interviews, I'm probably at the bottom of the heap :) I really don't mind NUS, but it seems likely that Overseas Education is nice.

Hmm, This sounds like it's going to degenerate into an angsty post. In fact, it already has, but it'll end here. The heavy stuff, that is. No more, no Sir.

In the end, I did the same as in prelims, more or less - 2 subjects improved by one level, and 1 deproved by one level, so there was some slight improvement.

I actually had a (rather low) lower bounds of expectations - 3As, a B for history and a B3 for GP (and nothing said about the S papers, for which the intellectual stimulation was reward enough). Now I have missed History and GP by one grade each (letting Yortsin down doubly in the process!). Oh well. Well, at least my name's on the green board as one of the top 587 (or so, of ~850) in RJC! I will now go and kowtow to all those who got 4 As. At the risk of appearing condescending, I will voice my respect for Seng Pou, who got 4 As, who persevered in doing 4 subjects despite being adviced to drop Computing.

Perhaps this shows that there's something wrong with my writing :) My essay discipline is horrible, as is my organisation. Perhaps worse, I tend to have a style of writing which irks the hell out of some people (probably not frequenters of this humble establishment, too). It also didn't help that I used the imaginary word "cohabitate" instead of "cohabit" for my tract on why marriage is not feasible :) Mrs Chan, my GP teacher, actually said she expected an A1 from me. Oh well, there weren't any A1s in her form class 3S06A anyhow.

Ah, hell, I screwed up my essay on why the idea of one partner for life is not workable. Perhaps a peril of choosing the 'interesting' question, or one in which I have personal interest. Now that I think about it, that was one weak essay. Ah, the benefit of hindsight. Maybe I need to blog more, and not post incoherent posts consisting of one sentence paragraphs based on notes scribbled furtively during slavery. Or stop pouring thoughts out of my head one by one like in this paragraph :)

Many people were surprised by my History results. I have no idea why people think I'm good at History. I might know a thing or two about Hittite culture, or appreciate the significance of Shang 'Dragon bones' but writing an essay is really quite hard even so. Knowing random facts is good for SAT II (800!) but doesn't really help for the A level paper.

My sister actually suggested that I retake some A level subjects. I might just do English (Literature) for the hell of it, and write quirky [and marginally correct] stuff that will come out in the Examiners' Report but earn me a fail grade. Hindi would be fun, but be totally out of my depth. But then, most Private Candidates don't do well. In fact, most of them don't even attempt the paper - my basha mate during the SIT Test told me that he was drunk for most of the papers of the 5 subjects he took as a private candidate.

Oh well, when's all said and done, as my revered senior Eugene (now a storeman who books out everyday, a job I would love to have, though a CMPB job, even being the guy collecting urine, would beat that) said, in a few years, I'd not care or remember my A level results. " im sure u dun talk a lot abt o level now do u? =p". Whereupon I related the exchange I had with Quanxing (who might be reading this now, and who took offence at my mentioning that he owed me money but *still* hasn't returned it):

In 2001...
Me: What did you get [for O levels?]
Friend: 8 points
Me: I also got 8... A1s
Friend: Fuck you, Gabriel.

But then he beat me this time, so I guess we're even :)

Some people love to put disclaimers on their pages saying "this is my page, so if you don't like my style, get lost", but I think I shouldn't torture my small but loyal following (yes, they do exist, I'm not deluding myself!). So I will strive (but probably forget) to follow essay discipline, as preached to me by The Associate (who has gone into a leaky attap hut in the forest to meditate, presumably).