Merdeka Day is just around the corner and we thought it would be a great idea to relive some memories of what it was like to be a true Malaysian pupil studying in a government school. Although it’s been donkey’s years ago since we left high school, we’ve got all the feels just from thinking about the good times we’ve had during our younger years. Hence, we’ve put together a list of 10 things you’ve probably experienced as a Malaysian pupil, especially if you’re a female.
1. Using all the bobby pins in the world trying to secure every stray hair – Unless you had a standard budak skema hairstyle, chances are you’ve had tons of bobby pins stored in your pocket or bag pack in school. Every morning, we would pin the crap out of our hair to keep our bangs in place and avoid the strays from falling all over the place. To maintain a socially acceptable hairstyle, that was the price we paid – looking like a mess with 12345 bobby pins in our head – but it was worth it alright!
2. Getting horrible bangs thanks to the discipline teacher – Failing at or refusing to do the above would have caused some of your hair to be snipped off jaggedly by the discipline teacher. It was literally a death sentence and we didn’t get why some girls would rather have their hair chopped off than to pin up. Clearly, those haircuts were the worst ever.
3. Getting called out by prefects to button up on your baju kurung – Was it just us or were prefects really annoying? It was like their eyes were razor sharp, spotting pupils from afar if something was amiss. Some of us wore baju kurung to school daily and buttoning it up was a total b***h. It was always hot and stuffy in school, and we always had the camisole on inside. Seriously, did that tiny button really matter?!
4. Telling the teacher you’re going to the washroom but then take a tour around the school – Most schools allowed girls to go to the washroom in pairs and we all took it for granted. We’d grab food from the canteen, stalk cute boys through little windows on classroom doors, go to the book store, hide in the chemistry lab or just chill out in our other friends’ classes. Washroom trips were the most fun!
5. Trying very hard to hide your mobile phones during spot checks – Oh come on, we’ve all done it. Our friends would come up with the most inventive ideas to try and hide mobile phones because they weren’t allowed in school. Some hid mobile phones in dustbins, in their shoes, in the air vents, over top of the blades of the ceiling fan, in between their boobs, in their undies, and even in their water bottles!
6. Falling asleep during talks and seminars or in class – No matter how goody two-shoes you were as a student in school, you’ve probably dozed off at least once or twice. We’d pretend to focus while sitting cross-legged on the floor, but we’d be snoring away with our heads faced down. In class, plonking our heads on the desks gave us weird red marks on our foreheads, but who cared anyway? Sleep is more important.
7. Witness boys getting bashed up on their birthdays – Ah, the popular birthday entourage. This only happened to boys, but whenever someone starts singing the birthday song really loudly, everyone joins in on the fun. Loads of people would crowd around the birthday boy and when the singing has ended, he’d get bashed up real hard all in the name of fun. Best. Birthday. Present. Ever.
8. Going ecstatic when an unexpected public holiday is announced – Freedom from school was the best thing ever because nothing else mattered as much. It was always a celebration when a public holiday was announced during assembly! We’d cheer, clap and jump in joy like there was no tomorrow.
9. Getting a smack on the back for not enunciating the words to “Negaraku” properly – We love our country, but sometimes we weren’t in the mood for singing, especially when it’s 7.00am. We hated it when teachers would walk around, manoeuvring around the rows of students trying to spot those who weren’t belting out the national anthem. The boys had it worse with a rotan while the girls got smacked lightly on the back.
10. Making codes to copy each other’s answers during exams – Don’t deny it, you’ve probably done this to copy answers or have watched your friends make weird noises and hand gestures when unsuspecting teachers weren’t looking during exams. Thinking back, it was rather stupid, but hey, at least it worked most of the time!
