1966 - Waiting for the Cambridge Examination Results

Three significant incidents happened to me in 1966.

Upon finishing Form Five and the Cambridge examination I went home very happy that I was recommended to attend Sixth Form in the new year. That was an extremely great achievement for me as I had been inspired by all my TLS teachers to do well academically, especially Mr. Nicholl whom I admired a great deal.

So I took the good news home to my long house in Limbang. After a two day journey by land I reached home to let my father know that I was going to study for two more years.

Now unknown to me then, he had already arranged a marriage for me, to a girl who had failed her primary six. My father thought that now that I had finished Form Five, and as the most well educated person, I was to have a marriage as was expected from the long house relatives.

I was really shocked to learn that and I almost threw a fit. I had my dreams and I was not going to be persuaded into an arranged marriage and especially to my own cousin! And on top of that my father had not in the least discussed the matter with me. Marriage was not a joke.

So I did the dirty deed and cancelled the engagement. A few people were amused but my father was very disturbed. My escape plan was very simple. And all I had to do was to tell him that I had to go back to my school in Miri to collect my pillow and my tikar (mat). An Iban would never leave his pillow and mat any where because it would mean that he had left his spirit behind.

Thus I got my father to let me go off again. And that was how I came back to Tanjong Lobang school and I never went back home for the entire two years of my Sixth Form! I believe very few of my school mates knew how much mental torture I was was having at that time.

But later I was terribly glad and also overwhelmly relieved that my ex-fiancee and my cousin married a Chinese and is now a happy grandmother. I had wished her well in life and indeed she has been well blessed. I did not break her heart or cause any bitterness on her part. We still have a good laugh today over what happened so many years ago.

Another situation which caused great distress to me was how many of my great friends in school had to leave TLS after getting poor examination results in March 1966.

In the 1960's all good students would be recommended to join Form Six classes by the Principal and the senior teachers. However as the Sixth Form would start in early January, the students would be jittery because they did not have their Form Five or Cambridge results yet. The Cambridge exam results would only be known sometime in March at the earliest.

Therefore for three months many students would only be half hearted in their studies. We were all highly anxious about our results and oftentimes we could not sleep. However we did have a fun time too, making new friends with those coming to Tanjong just for the Sixth Form and getting to know our learned teachers, many of whom were fresh graduates from overseas.

So when the results came out, some who failed actually screamed and cried for the whole day. It was very heart breaking and I thought that it was extremely unfair for them to leave Sixth Form just like that. After that having received the results, they had to pack up and leave the hostel to find a job or get married eventually. Those of us who stayed on considered ourselves lucky to be properly reinstated in Sixth Form and journeyed on for another two years of hard work and good education.

While in Lower Sixth, I still remembered what my father asked me to do. That was to find a job as an SAO or Sarawak Administrative Officer.

To the Ibans to get a job as an SAO then was like becoming the local king or ruler. Whenever an SAO visited a longhouse, chickens or even a pig would be slaughtered in honour of his visit. That was the accolade an Iban would enjoy. So my father, being a very simple man, had wanted me to become an SAO. Thus as I did not forget his wishes, I told Mr. Nicholl about this and I wanted to apply for a post in the government service.

Mr. Nicholl was very sporting and supporting so he made arrangements for me to be interviewed for the job in Kuching.

The account of this interview will be in a future posting.

In a way, all these remarkable incidents in 1966,even though they happened so long ago, today ,often bring a smile to my face.