Scholarship Woes.

I arrived to class the other day to this.

"Have you checked your JPA results? I didn't get it"

I fumbled and scoured for my phone, went online, entered my IC number and pressed enter...

A few heartwrenching seconds later...

"Oleh kerana persaingan yang sengit dan bilangan peruntukan yang terhad, dimaklumkan bahawa permohonan saudara/i tidak berjaya."

My initial reaction was probably, shock.

Yes, I didn't get the highest of marks... but I'm still Malaysian.

I'm still a candidate to receive the scholarship.

Granted, MARA has now closed its doors to new applicants and the only choice left is the JPA scholarship, but it still hit as hard, like I failed every exam that I sat for, like all my efforts went down he drain the moment those words registered in my brain

The most mindboggling part is that, other people, more deserving people, also failed to receive the scholarship. (Mythbuster style ;) )

a) Not good enough marks? (debunked cause the mumtaz girl in our class also didn't get it)

b) Not qualified financially?(also debunked cause a guy who's parents are blue collared workers)

c) We live in KL (plausible... half the people who got it did live in KL including the mumtaz girl)

d) I went to a private school (plausible, the mumtaz girl... she was from a private school as well before going to MRSM)

e) We didn't go to a boarding school (debunked, cause another fellow failure went to a prestigious all girl's boarding school in Putrajaya)

So Mr. Malaysian Government, if you're reading this..

Please,

Please tell us what we're doing wrong, so that we can correct ourselves to qualify for a mere dollop of the wealth (which we will eventually have to pay off anyway) that our country is churning.

It's a matter of pride, of financial need and even to a certain extent, filial obligation.