bloody waste of time
written: 3:49 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 05, 2003

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy birthday, mom.

I'm reading Claire Tham's book, "The Gunpowder Trail and Other Stories".

All I can say is, fucking hell, I never knew I had it in me to appreciate this kind of stories. I thought I was stuck reading crappy "young adult" fiction forever, but strangely, "young adult" novels bore the living shit out of me instead. Claire Tham's stories are captivating, and I think it's because her characters are wonderfully unconventional and, well, weird, for lack of a better word.

Yeah. Nice stories.

Anyway, what the hell did I want to say? Oh yeah. I attempted another full-length SAT paper last night. My score made me want to cry; 30 marks short of 1300.

More likely than not I'd be wasting another 90 bucks to take the test again.

Life is wonderful.

A week or so ago I received this letter in the mail that said I could apply for some Edusave Merit Bursary or something, since my results ranked among the top 25% of something, and that "something" wasn't specified. Whatever it was, I was excited until I read on and discovered that it is only eligible for those whose family income is below S$3000, which automatically excludes me.

Sometimes I really am inclined to think that education is a waste of money. For four years in secondary school my family spent about a hundred bucks each year on textbooks, and for what? Just to have them thrown away at the end of the year, and what the hell did I get in return? Nothing but a string of Ds and Es and Fs. The subjects that I did ace hardly require any textbooks. English didn't have any.

My point is, I hate spending unnecessary money on school-related nonsense. I really do. And wasting money on taking the SAT when I don't see the necessity, considering I already have to take the fucking 'A' Levels (which requires another set of exam fees), makes me very angry.

What aggravates me even further is that I know I'm not going to get the score that I want, which means I'd be going through it again and wasting another ninety dollars on shit that I don't even want to take.

Education is truly a waste of money. Why pay for exams that I'm forced to take? Why isn't it subsidised or paid fully for by the ministry? Do you know how much the damn 'O' Levels cost?

Well, I don't either, but it was in the hundreds, I can guarantee you.

What the fuck is this? I can use the money to buy books, at least three, and that is more enriching to me than taking some damn exam that ultimately won't even mean a thing.

And if I go on further on this pointless rant, I'd never get started on whatever it is that I'm trying to do to better my chances of going through the SAT only once, so I'll shut up now.

before sunrise // before sunset


Previously:
- - Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017
I'm moving. - Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
In all honesty - Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010
What I want for my birthday... - Sunday, Jul. 04, 2010
On Roger's behalf. - Friday, Jul. 02, 2010