SMK Semerah Padi takes pride in sole straight A’s student
KUCHING: Ranjit Vimala Murugaiah was extremely overjoyed when he was told he scored straight As for the PT3.
He was not confident in achieving all As as he had moved from St. Joseph Private School (SJPS) where he took most subjects in the English Language to continue in Form 3 in SMK Semerah Padi (SMKSP).
His mother Vimala Devi Nadeson Murugaiah, a teacher in SMKSP, only realised too late the school did not offer Dual Language Programme.
According to Ranjit, his mother refused to move him to another school which offered DLP as she was of the opinion, if one wanted to succeed, he or she has to learn to face all and overcome all obstacles.
She was willing to take the risk.
Ranjit negotiated with his mum on getting outside help on some of his subjects. He decided to take tuition classes for Mathematics, Science and History in Sarjana and it paid off.
“I refused to take tuition for other subjects as my mum being a single mum, might find difficulty in paying for the fees,” he said.
Ranjit said he was lucky as the teachers in SMK Semerah Padi were willing to go the extra mile to help him understand the terms in English.
“I am indeed grateful to my Mathematics teacher, Dayang Mordiah and my Science teacher Andrew who set term papers in dual language.
“They also entertained my constant badgering and enquiries patiently. All the other teachers also helped me to come to terms with the Malay language,” he said.
Ranjit said he is extremely in awe of his teachers in SMK Semerah Padi, adding he had a lot of moral support and encouragement from the devotees of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), his family members, his friends and especially his mum.
Vimala credited her son’s achievement to his determination as well as to consistent revising and doing a lot of extra exercises from the internet as well as workbooks.
“I also credit all his teachers for their patience and understanding in helping Ranjit in his studies.”
When asked what rewards his mother had promised him, Ranjit without hesitating said that his mother had sacrificed a lot for both his sister and himself and hence was not expecting any rewards from her.
“Instead I plan to save up to buy her a good pair of sneakers for her to start going to the gym to keep healthy,” he quipped.
Ranjit plans to take pure science subjects in Form 4 next year as he plans to be a dentist.
