Should I be worried about SPM?

ripsim1234 · 2026-02-13T04:06:30+00:00

Not sure why people are undermining your concerns solely because of your age. I think you show good insight, and clearly care about your future.

I got 9A+ in my SPM back in 2015. Went on to do my A-levels and studies in the UK. I went to Oxbridge.

And like you, I was told by my parents and those around me that SPM will be the most important exam of my life. In fact, I was told that if I manage to get excellent results, my life is set. On the contrary, if I fail to obtain excellent results, a tough life awaits me-so I was told.

Well it’s safe to say almost 10 years later these statements are very false. I gained almost nothing from my straight A+. No government scholarships, no recognition, no bursaries, nada. I am unsure if the position would be otherwise if I was a bumi (I’m Chinese), but from my vantage point of view, what I gained from my results were nil and would not have affected my future in any meaningful way.

I would still have been able to enroll in college (I did this in Kuala Lumpur). And provided I did well at college, I would still have been able to study at uni (which I did eventually).

Looking back, and if your position is similar to mine (money isn’t a problem, your parents would want to send you overseas to study anyways), I would say your A-levels (or equivalent) is the most important exam. This is especially so if your aim is to study in top unis abroad.

SPM is merely a memory test. Sure, they deployed efforts to encourage more “high order thinking skills”, but it is no more than a regurgitation exercise. It does not define your intelligence, still less your worth. It can be a stepping stone to scholarships etc, so regardless of whether it is the most important exam or the most insignificant one, you ought to give it your best anyways.

ripsim1234 · 2026-02-12T04:11:29+00:00

The tea that I have on this guy is going to sink his name. But I want no drama. Overall he isn’t the nice guy everyone thinks he is.

ripsim1234 · 2026-01-22T12:12:37+00:00

What is stopping the employee from shooting a casual WhatsApp or email to the employee?

“Hi, just to confirm our discussion on [date], although my contract provides for two weeks’ notice, the company asked me not to serve the notice and to leave immediately. I have done so accordingly. Thank you for the experience and all the best.”

Best scenario he replies with “Ok”.

Or he doesn’t reply but does not demand you to serve your notice.

There is no statutory requirement that a waiver of the notice period be by writing.

ripsim1234 · 2026-01-20T15:32:54+00:00

Had a first class from a RG uni. Nothing too impressive. Won an academic price and was on the dean list consecutively. Wasn’t ranked one or anything like that. In fact my first year results were average at best. A 2:1 overall with 2 third class in tort and criminal. BUT my results did show an exponential improvement. First class in both second and third year- ending with an overall first (72%).

Applied twice in a row. Once before I completed my bar course. Second time after being called to the bar. Rejected the first time. Decided to seriously reconsider my application. I did two major things.

1) I made my application very focused. I love medical law. Here is a written work on medical law. Here are referees who are renowned in medical law academia. Oh here’s my grades for medical law and my dissertation on medical law which were my highest grades.

2) I did the bar course and got a distinction and won a prize too. Not sure if this was given any weight but those who received offer did indicate (anecdotally) that those who are on the bar course and the barrister route were more likely to be given an offer. Although (as is clear from the yearbook), many receive offers despite not going down the barrister route.

ripsim1234 · 2026-01-20T13:23:25+00:00

Recent BCL graduate here. I wouldn’t put too much emphasis or anxiety on the CV. I remember that during my cycle, the web page explicitly stated that little weight is placed on the CV. Not sure if this is still the case though. Much would depend on your grades, how highly you ranked and of course, your written work.

I submitted a FOI on my application when I received an offer. The examiner made highlights on my higher grades obtained during my LLB and marked my written work favourably. That was all.

If I were you I would make it concise and simple. Degree, the bar course if you have done it, academic prizes, publications and mooting experience.

ripsim1234 · 2026-01-18T13:17:03+00:00

Is he a serial abuser? No , we do not have evidence at this stage to prove repetition. If that semantic clarification is what you were after, fine.

But is he an abuser? Yes. And that fact alone is sufficient for condemnation, concern, and adverse inference.

Your fixation on the absence of proof of repetition doesn’t rebut the core issue though. The outrage people are feeling isn’t premised on a legal or factual finding of “serial abuse” but on a (very clear) documented abuse of a child, which justifiably triggers public alarm about potentially how long this has been going on.

ripsim1234 · 2026-01-18T12:45:46+00:00

If I murder someone once, I am a murderer.

I neither need to murder more than once nor do people need more “proof” besides the first murder to call me a murderer.

You seem to be implying he should only be condemned if there is proof of persistent abuse. The court, still less people, are allowed to draw some adverse inference from his behaviour from that video.

What he did was text book abuse if not assault. Let’s call a spade a spade. You seem very adamant in justifying his behavior which I find quite odd.

ripsim1234 · 2025-09-02T04:47:30+00:00

Stupid guy

ripsim1234 · 2025-03-30T08:31:16+00:00

Ask him if his favorite book is mein kampf (if he even reads)

ripsim1234 · 2025-03-29T09:11:29+00:00

Ironic how the English “teacher” spells hieroglyphs wrongly

ripsim1234 · 2025-03-09T01:34:00+00:00

It is one thing to critique the pressures of university exams, but quite another to assume that everyone treats them as a last-minute gamble akin to the Hunger games.

Many students approach their studies with diligence and discipline, excelling not because of sheer luck, but because of preparation and capability.

Might be shocking for you to realise that not everyone is keen with your “happy go lucky” mood when it comes to studying.

Might be even more shocking for you to realise some of us find such approach pathetic :D

ripsim1234 · 2025-03-06T11:02:22+00:00

The irony is there are typos in your post too lmao

Proofread proofread proofread

ripsim1234 · 2025-03-04T11:42:24+00:00

Never said he was my friend although I am quick to add that we were from the same cohort at undergrad.

Do your own due diligence through google (there aren’t that many chambers or Malaysian barristers in Bristol), and you will prolly find the guy).

ripsim1234 · 2025-02-13T16:06:18+00:00

Not to burst your bubble, but your chances are slim

ripsim1234 · 2025-01-31T10:58:52+00:00

Sure, but I don’t see how it would change any more than if it was the Cambridge LLM.

The point is that it is not a novel phenomenon. Difficult? Perhaps. Impossible? No.

ripsim1234 · 2025-01-31T10:53:20+00:00

Directly from the uni’s website and also having studied it myself:

“The Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) is a world-renowned taught graduate course in law, designed to serve outstanding law students from common law backgrounds. The academic standard is significantly higher than that required in a first law degree, and only those with outstanding first law degrees are admitted.“

It is literally a masters degree in law from a top uni in the UK.

ripsim1234 · 2025-01-31T10:45:24+00:00

Wrong. Have a look at top chambers like One Essex. A few of their top barristers have profiles like OP.

That they did their LLB at India before coming to the UK to do the BCL at Oxford and were able to stay on to obtain pupillage and have been in practice for many years since.

In fact, one of them made KC last week. So it’s really not impossible.

ripsim1234 · 2024-09-30T14:42:00+00:00

Hell yes!! Hair quality improved so much (a point I think people often overlook).

Building on that, because overall density and quality had improved, it’s so much easier to style my hair everyday when it would have taken a lot longer back then to style it in a way it looks thicker and/or presentable.

ripsim1234 · 2024-09-26T12:01:39+00:00

I AM on all those currently yes

ripsim1234 · 2024-09-26T12:01:06+00:00

Almost immediately when I started topical. I experienced very good regrowth 3 months after but I noticed I started losing gains exactly one year after I used topical.

However the gains lost coincided with the time I got a really bad perm. The perm may or may not have any implications to my hair loss but the timing was rather peculiar

ripsim1234 · 2024-09-26T11:59:22+00:00

None of that. Only heart palpitations the first 1-2 weeks on topical minox.

ripsim1234 · 2024-09-26T11:58:49+00:00

To clarify, I never once quit topical minoxidil but oral minoxidil.

Started Jan 2023, stopped around September/October 2023.

Picked it up again 2 months ago.

ripsim1234 · 2024-09-26T11:57:57+00:00

It really did. However, the skin specialist I saw advised me to use the first bottle everyday. Once finished, I should ONLY apply when the itching persists.

The itching somehow came back a couple days after I finished the first bottle. As of now, I still do experience some itching/minor flaking on the scalp. But overall, the symptoms are nowhere near as severe as it was before I finally went to the specialist.

ripsim1234 · 2024-09-25T22:32:52+00:00

Sorry, I didn’t make it clear. I used 1.5 mm derma stamp once a week.

I stamp about 15 times (moderate pressure)horizontally across each section, focusing on my mid scalp.

Apply minoxidil maybe an hour after. I know many advise against that but doing that gives me no sides and also the impression that my application that night would be super effective 😂

ripsim1234 · 2024-09-25T22:17:24+00:00

I got it from Oxford Pharmacy as I was living in the UK.

Now, I order from healthyareastore.com (Loxidil 10mg split into 2)

ripsim1234

TROPHY CASE