By Beatrice & Bernard (Majangkim Office)
SANDAKAN: To the class of leavers,
Take a breath. Your SPM results are a passport, not a destination.
You’re standing at the widest intersection of your life. Paths go left, right, and straight ahead, and a few that look like they’re going backward. It’s going to feel chaotic. It’s supposed to. Here’s what I’ve learned.
The Advice My Father Gave Me
Take any job. Don’t look at the money.
Your goal is experience, not income. Wash dishes. Stack shelves. Answer phones. Every job teaches you something. Prove yourself reliable in small jobs, and people trust you with bigger ones. Your reputation follows you.
Watch.
Pay attention. Watch how successful people carry themselves. Watch how they solve problems. Watch how they speak to everyone—bosses, juniors, the cleaner. Observation is an education no university can offer.
Watch how people interact.
Notice who lifts others up and who pushes them down. How someone treats people who can do nothing for them tells you everything.
Notice who takes advantage of you.
When you’re young and eager, some people will exploit that. Learn the difference between a mentor and a user. A mentor invests in your growth. A user extracts your labour and moves on. Trust your gut.
Listen and be quiet.
Two ears, one mouth. Use them in that proportion. When you listen, you learn unspoken rules, who to trust, and what mistakes to avoid. There’ll be time for your voice. First, build the foundation.
Be smart. Be yourself.
Adapt. Learn the culture. Know when to push and when to pause. But don’t lose yourself. The people who succeed long-term aren’t the ones who played a role. They’re the ones who know who they are.
The Gift No One Can Deny You
My father worked me from dawn to dusk. No exceptions. Rain or shine.
He was teaching me that consistency—showing up every day—is the foundation everything else is built on. That rhythm becomes your backbone.
But there’s something else he taught me.
Two gifts no one can ever deny you.
A well-made bed. You did it this morning. That small act is yours. No one gave it to you. No one can take it away. When the world feels chaotic, you come home to a bed you made. In that small act, you remember: I have control. I have an order. I have dignity.
A roof over your head. A place to return to. A base. From that stability, you can take risks. You can fail and still have somewhere to land.
My father worked hard to give me that roof. Not because it was easy, but because everything else is built on having a place to stand.
The world will tell you success is money and status. Those things have their place. But the real foundation is simpler:
The discipline to work from dawn to dusk.
The dignity of a well-made bed.
The gratitude for a roof over your head.
If you have these, you have everything you need to build the rest.
The Shock of University
I stepped into university thinking I was behind. What I found surprised me.
Entitlement. People who expected good grades just for showing up. Who had never scrubbed a floor or stacked shelves. Who believed the world owed them something. They quit at the first sign of difficulty.
Inconsistency. I was raised to show up every day. Rain or shine. In university, I watched people brilliant one week and absent the next. They chased motivation. I had been trained in discipline.
Motivation is unreliable. Discipline is not.
Motivation abandons you when things get hard. Discipline is showing up whether you feel like it or not.
Standing there, I understood what my father had given me: reliability.
In a world full of people who talk big and don’t deliver, someone who simply does what they say—consistently, without fanfare—is invaluable. Someone who stays and sees things through stands out. Someone who shows up ready to earn their place is rare.
If your parents pushed you, worked you—you might feel you missed out. You didn’t. You were being prepared.
When you step into university or the workplace, you’ll see the difference. It might surprise you. It might also reassure you.
You are ready. You just didn’t know it.
The Truth About University
There’s a script: Good grades. University. Degree. Government job. Settle down.
Let me offer a different perspective.
University is not a continuation of school. School was structured. University demands self-direction. You need a reason to be there beyond “That’s what comes after SPM.” Without one, you’ll drift. That’s an expensive mistake.
It’s not about getting a government job. That’s one path among many. The private sector, entrepreneurship, freelancing—all valid. Don’t let anyone tell you your success is measured by whether you end up in a government office.
Your parents can’t afford it. Unless you take a loan.
Private university costs RM50,000 to RM100,000. PTPTN is not free education. It is debt that will follow you for 20 years.
Twenty years.
When you graduate, you owe money. When you get your first job, a chunk goes to that debt. When you want a car, it affects your loan. When you want a house, it’s still there. When you have children, it’s still there.
I’m not saying this to scare you. I’m saying it because no one else will.
Ask these questions before enrolling:
Why am I going? Genuine interest, or following the crowd?
What is the total cost? Write it down. Understand you’ll pay it back with interest.
Is there another way? Public university? Diploma? Work first, then enter with clarity?
What am I actually buying? A degree I need, or three years of hanging out?
A hard truth. Not everyone should go to university immediately. Not everyone should go at all. There is dignity in working. Dignity in learning a trade. Dignity in taking time to figure out who you are.
What’s not okay is drifting into debt you don’t understand and emerging with a degree you don’t care about and a loan you can’t pay.
If you go, go with purpose. Have a reason. It doesn’t have to be grand, but it has to be yours. Hold onto it. When lectures get boring and you’re tired and broke, that reason will keep you going.
Don’t let the script write your life. You are the author.
Why Working Before University Might Be Your Best Decision
Working before university gives you something no lecture can.
Life skills no one has except you.
You learn to deal with difficult people—in real life, where you can’t walk away.
You learn what it feels like to be truly tired—and that you can survive it.
You learn the value of money. Because you earned it.
You learn what you’re good at—and what you don’t want.
These skills become yours. And only yours.
You and your classmate might take the same exams. But if you worked first, you would bring something they don’t: maturity, perspective, time management, and confidence from surviving the real world.
No one can take that from you. Your degree is a piece of paper. The skills you build become part of who you are.
A story. I’ve met students who went straight to university. Many struggled. Not because they weren’t smart. Because they weren’t ready.
I’ve met students who worked first. They knew why they were there. They had saved money. They had experienced working life and chose university not because it was expected, but because they had a plan.
You are not behind if you work first. You are building a foundation. Giving yourself clarity. When you finally step onto campus, you will be different. You will be ready.
That is not a delay. That is an advantage.
Protect Yourself: The One Thing No One Tells You
When you start working, get insurance.
Life is unpredictable.
Start with personal accident insurance. Affordable—a few hundred ringgit a year. Small price for peace of mind.
If you can, consider investment-linked insurance. Part goes toward coverage. A part grows over time. Start early—premiums are lower, and the investment has decades to grow.
Most important: make your parents the beneficiaries.
If something happens to you, they shouldn’t be left with nothing. Making them your beneficiaries is an act of love and responsibility.
Pay what you can afford. Start small. Something is better than nothing.
Then work with peace of mind. You’re not worrying about an accident on the way home. Taking risks, you know there’s a safety net beneath you.
That peace of mind lets you focus on what matters.
How Do You Know You’re Ready?
People will tell you you’ll feel ready. That’s not how it works.
You push yourself. Not when someone pushes you. When you wake up on your own. When you finish what you started without being chased. Self-starting is the line between childhood and adulthood.
You make yourself indispensable. When things get busy, are you the person they look for? When a problem arises, do they come to you? Being indispensable isn’t about being the smartest. It’s about being reliable.
You realise they’d struggle without you. When your absence would be felt, you’ve moved from trainee to foundation.
You’re not afraid to leave. When you look at the next step and think, “I’ve built value before. I can do it again”—that security is freedom.
Don’t wait to feel ready. Look for the signs. If you’re pushing yourself, if you’re indispensable, if they’d struggle without you—you’re ready. The next step is waiting.
The Final Word
You will make mistakes. Choose the wrong course. Quit a job. Get rejected.
That is fine.
Your life is not a straight line. It’s a series of pivots. The resilience you build by failing and standing back up is worth more than a straight A record.
Enjoy these next months. Sleep in. Go on that road trip. Spend time with your family. Keep your eyes open.
Remember the lessons:
Take any job. Don’t look at the money.
Watch. Listen. Be quiet.
Notice who takes advantage of you.
Be smart. Be yourself.
Take pride in small things—a well-made bed and a roof over your head.
Work from dawn to dusk when you need to. Let discipline become your backbone.
If you choose university, choose with purpose. Understand the cost. Have a reason.
If you work first, know you are not falling behind. You are building skills no one else has.
Get insurance. Name your parents as beneficiaries. Work with peace of mind.
When the time comes for the next step, you’ll know. Because you pushed yourself. Because you made yourself indispensable.
The world is waiting for you. Go figure out what you want to contribute to it.
All the best. You’ve got this.
