30 St Joseph’s Private School students score straight As in SPM
KUCHING: St Joseph’s Private School achieved another great year in 2018 when 30 of its Form 5 students scored straight As in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.
Cheryl Lim Woon Yee and Gerald Ting Khing Kiat scored 11 straight As while the others either obtained 10 or nine straight As. Lim and Ting were not at the school on Thursday to collect their results as they were away doing their A Levels.
Altogether, 162 students from the school sat for the SPM exam last year.
School principal Fr Francis Lim Chin Choy was full of joy and hoped this year’s (2019) Form 5 batch will do better.
“I am very happy with my students’ performance, it is such a joy to see jubilant faces, and I know they have really worked very hard,” said Fr Lim.
When asked how the school fared compared to other schools, he said the school’s average grade (GPS) was 2.82, though he had not made any comparison yet.
“I have not compared to the other schools how we are doing but what I hope is for St Joseph’s Private School to do better each year,” he said.
Cheryl Lim’s mother, Lye Siang Ngoh, who collected her results on her behalf said her daughter, who is now doing A Levels at an international school in Kuala Lumpur, was so excited when she told her about the good news via video- call.
“She was so excited, she asked me to focus the camera closer to her result slip but the line was not very good.”
Depending on her A Levels result, Cheryl might take up an engineering course overseas, she said.
“That’s where her interest is. Hopefully, she can get a scholarship.” said the mother of two, who works as a pharmacist in a private hospital.
A parent of another straight As student, Layar assemblyman Gerald Rentap Jabu, collected the result for his son Benjamin Antak Zhi Ming Jabu who is now doing his Foundation Studies before pursuing his studies in Life Science at University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
Like other parents, Rentap did not expect his son to do so well.
“I am surprised because he’s quite playful. He did mention about some difficulties studying Additional Mathematic. But I think he pulled up his socks,” said Rentap, adding he would screen shot the result and send it via WhatsApp to his son.
For Erica Tiong Syn Hui who scored 10 straight As, her secret of success is hard work and perseverance.
“I self studied about two to three hours daily and my tuition classes were not many, so most of the time I studied and did revision on my own,” she said.
Sie Duong Xing did not expect to get a good result but he scored 9A+ and 1A- in 10 subjects.
“I am very happy because I didn’t expect that I will get a very good result. Revision is very important. I usually did my revisions before I went to sleep, consistently and constantly,” he said, adding he took tuition classes for Mathematic, Physics, Biology and Bahasa Malaysia.
Also seen at the hall was Miss World Malaysia 2018, Larissa Ping Liew, who accompanied her sister Amanda Su Ling Liew to collect her result. Amanda is one of the students who scored straight As.
“Before the result was announced, two nights ago my sister dreamt that she didn’t get straight As. Just now, she didn’t want to get into the hall, she was worried that she might not do well. I am proud of her, she worked day and night to study, and here she is with straight As,” said Larissa.
I am very happy with my students’ performance, it is such a joy to see jubilant faces, and I know they have really worked very hard. I have not compared to the other schools how we are doing but what I hope is for St Joseph’s Private School to do better each year. Fr Francis Lim Chin Choy, School principal