Best friends Ronad (left) and Sean excelled in their UPSR despite their love for computer game.
KOTA KINABALU: Best friends, Sean Collins Nicholas Majimbun and Ronad Jedol Dayou, are both avid gamers. They often finished their revision and exercises before playing their favourite computer game, DOTA.
Average achievers, none of their parents expected they would excel in their Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination.
Both scored 6A’s and became two of the six students in their school, Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) St Agnes and 167 students statewide, to achieve excellent results in this year’s UPSR.
“Like other kids, Sean likes to play a lot, especially computer games. But apart from limiting their game or play time to only weekends, we do not push our kids to study or stress them to get good results,” said Sean’s father, Nicholas Majimbun.
Sean’s elder sister who is now in Form Two, also scored a more than average result in her UPSR three years ago, 4A’s and 1B.
Nicholas, who does random jobs such as selling vegetables and contract work, believes that children should not be pushed or stressed into studying or excelling in their studies.
“My wife and I just make sure that the children go to bed early, the latest by 10pm, so they could gain enough energy for the following day,” said the father of three.
Sean aspires to be an engineer. But for now, the only thing he looks forward to is the laptop his mother promised him if he obtained straight A’s in his UPSR.
“I did not promise him any reward. His mother did,” said Nicholas as he laughed, looking at Sean who smiled back gleefully.
Ronad, in the meantime, is inspired by his love for Mathematics and Science to become an actuary when he grows up, despite being only 12.
“Either that or a mathematician,” said the avid DOTA player.
“I make it a point for him to do some exercise before he is allowed to play his computer games, every day,” said Ronad’s mother, Lina Quirimus.
The 45-year-old housewife, who used to teach as a support teacher years ago, believed that a consistent exercise had helped her son excel in his UPSR examination.
“The teachers in school play the most important role, but I believe the exercise I asked him to do also helped as it exposed him to exam questions and learned from the questions he got wrong to get them right.
“Although sometimes, he would simply finish the exercises so that he could get on with his computer game, answering the questions carelessly and got them wrong,” Lina joked about her son’s way of studying.
Luckily for Ronad, he did not have to brave those exercises alone, as he got Sean doing them with him at least twice a week.
“Sean’s mother and I are friends, so I told her to send Sean to my place so he could study together with Ronad, as they are close and go to the same school,” she said.
Ronad’s father works as a lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). He was also promised a laptop for scoring straight A’s in his UPSR.
“I don’t want a handphone. I just want a laptop,” he quipped.
Another 6A’s achiever at SK St Agnes, Azed Nurwafa Izati Azman, on the other hand, was not promised any gadgets or reward for her high achievement.
“We simply told her that whatever she does or achieves is for herself and her own fulfillment. Materialistic things will not last long. The more important thing is she achieves enough for herself to be happy here on earth and in the afterlife,” said Wafa’s mother, Edmashuriany Edris.
Edmashuriany said that her husband and Wafa’s father, a marine officer, only allowed their children to watch television on weekends, while weekdays were strictly for school, sports or recreation, and prayer time.
Like Nicholas and Lina, Edmashuriany also did not believe in pressuring children into studying or getting good results.
“We let the children study without pressure, and at the same time, we don’t like to tell them when to study. In fact, every day after school, we specifically tell them not to revise or study, but to go out and play instead.
“Wafa would study at her own time, which is normally after afternoon playtime and ‘solat’ (evening prayer). But she believes in raising early in the morning, at 4.50am every day, which she says gives her more energy for the rest of the day, as compared to waking up late,” said the mother of four.