I will be a MAN and I'm deeply ashamed of myself.

By now you should know that I'm a poetry buff.

First part: I'll be a MAN :P

If by Rudyard Kipling


If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

2nd Part: I'm deeply ashamed with myself :(

 PMR a test of courage, too

2010/12/27
By Adie Suri Zulkefli (New Straits Times)


BUKIT MERTAJAM: Fifty-year-old Samsudin Rejab is no superhero. He is an ordinary man who works as a security guard at the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry's office at the Seberang Perai Tengah district office.

But there is something in Samsudin, or Pak Din as he is fondly known, that might inspire others, particularly the younger generation.

For someone his age, it took a great deal of courage to be in a hall packed with 15-year-old students sitting the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination this year.

"It was an awkward situation. The students were watching me, wondering what an old man like me was doing among them at the PMR examination," Samsudin told the New Straits Times at his home in Taman Ara Indah, Permatang Pasir here yesterday.

Samsudin was one of 439,456 candidates who received their PMR results on Thursday. He had taken the examination at SMK Sama Gagah here as an independent candidate.

Although he did not pass with flying colours, obtaining 1C, 3Ds and 4Es, Samsudin's effort to improve his life demands huge admiration.

He took the PMR examination to meet a requirement for career advancement. 

While applying online for a job upgrade -- from the post of security guard with Grade KP11 to security assistant with Grade KP17 -- Samsudin was unable to meet an important requirement as he had lost his Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (SRP) certificate obtained in 1975.

"I had to take PMR to fulfil the academic qualification needed to apply for the post."

Nevertheless, he added, his decision was not merely for career advancement.

"I may not be a high achiever, but I want to inspire youngsters, especially school dropouts, so that they don't give up on their education. 

"If an old man like me can study textbooks and sit examinations, they can do far better."

Five years ago, Samsudin sat the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination before repeating the paper a year later.

While others his age are looking forward to their retirement, Samsudin is still enthusiastic about academic achievement.

He plans to sit for the SPM again next year. Call him a dreamer, but it is Samsudin's ultimate wish to set foot in a university as a student.

Thanks for sharing this, Kak Timi. I'm even ashamed of myself for not keeping up to date with the current issues, for not reading newspapers for several weeks :P

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