The First...

...of Many.

Today is mad redo1's birthday. As usual for birthdays people will associate the special day with receiving gifts from people who care. However, for this birthday mad redo1 wishes for something special, something that is totally out of his hands.

Today happens to be the day the result for the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) is announced. Khadijah a.k.a. AKS#1 sat for the test over a month ago. Perhaps it is true that Malaysia is a country with many tests for the youngsters to go through before reaching adulthood. Even now when you are an adult there are quite a substantial number of tests and examinations that you have to go through, especially in the government sector.

Thus the UPSR is the first of many for Khadijah to sit during the course of her life and as a parent mad redo1 wishes to see his first child to pass it with flying colours. If she does then it will be the perfect birthday gift for mad redo1 (for this year).

It has been raining since the last few days to the extent that the Meteorological Department has issued the 'Orange' alert for Terengganu and Kelantan. When mad redo1, Linda and the younger AKSes reach the school they are greeted with light drizzle. The head-master of the school has already started calling the students and announcing their results.

It is not a long wait for mad redo1 and Linda.

The heart begins to beat a little faster when Khadijah's name is called. Then the head-master announces "5A!" and the same heart jumps with joy. At the end of the announcement, there are 45 pupils on stage who have achieved 5As.

mad redo1 remembers when the result was announced for the 'Penilaian Darjah 5' test which he sat, there were just 11 who managed to obtain 5As. It was a shock to the system for him as he was predicting a 4As and a B but it was a good shock nonetheless.

As it turns out, Khadijah is part of bunch that put Terengganu at the top of the pile again in term of success in the UPSR.

The good news travels fast and Linda's brother Poppy announces that lunch is on him as  the way to celebrate. Furthermore it is also mad redo1's birthday. To add another joy to the day, Linda's mother receives the 'Ibu Mithali' award in the morning during a ceremony.

In a way it is a 'three in one' celebration for everybody.

The place to celebrate? The newly opened McDonald's 'Drive-Thru' Restaurant near Giant. Today is indeed a good day and mad redo1 hopes there will be more days like this in the future.

Of course this success is not possible without the hard work from all concerned, especially the teachers at SKPCT who poured everything in their efforts to ensure their charges would be able to do their best during their first major test. Thank you very much.

Heartiest congratulations Berg!  May there will be more success for you in the future.

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