Project What's After SPM: A Hundred Different Journeys
http://whatsafterspm.blogspot.com
Email: whatsafterspm@gmail.com

One book. One hundred stories.
For you. For hundreds of thousands of Malaysian youths.
(YES - YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF READERS!)

For most of us, the end of secondary school education (or the lack of it) marked a turning point in our lives where we moved from studying together under an umbrella education system (SPM) to embarking upon vastly different pathways.

The transition process for the more fortunate among us would no doubt have been aided by the various resources made available to us: school counselors, advice from worried parents and knowledgeable seniors, counsel from helpful relatives, visits to campus open day sessions, mountainous stacks of college brochures, education sections in local newspapers, education resource websites etc.

The same, however, cannot be said of hundreds of thousands of kids all over Malaysia who have no regular access to the internet, are not blessed with well-informed family and friends, and who complete secondary school with little or almost no awareness of the opportunities that abound for them, as well as kids who are simply ignorant of the opportunities that surround them or just do not possess the faith and self-confidence to pursue their passions.

Therefore, this project has been spearheaded in hopes of reaching those kids and sending them this message: "Look, kids, now that you have completed secondary school, there are a million opportunities out there for you, a million pathways that you can undertake, a million places to visit, and you should explore those choices as much as you can. You can do anything you set your mind to. All it takes is keyakinan, a little bit of strategi, a little bit of tuah, and lots and lots of semangat dan usaha."

We are now looking for a plethoric collection of stories of young Malaysians who have pursued different pathways after SPM. The stories will be published in a book to be distributed to as students and secondary schools as many possible (tentative target: To distribute at least 2 books to each of the 5000 secondary schools in Malaysia). And we would like to invite you to participate in this project by submitting your story, or persuading your friends to submit their stories.

It does not matter whether you are a scholar with stellar results and a 3-inch thick resume, a typical student who went to a local university after finishing Form 6, or a youth who has to work in the pasar malam at night to foot your technical college fees in the day. It does not matter whether you have chosen the oft-beaten path or the road less travelled. We believe that there every education background offers its own boons and banes. And we believe that there are merits in telling any story.

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Topics

Participants may touch on all or concentrate on a few of the following topics:

(a) What socioeconomic/education background did you come from and how did it contribute towards making you the person that you are today?

(b) What obstacles did you face in pursuing tertiary education and how did you overcome those obstacles?

(c) What prompted/who inspired you to pursue the pathway that you have undertaken/are currently undertaking?

(d) How did you find out about the pathway that you have undertaken/ are currently undertaking?

(e) What are the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing the pathway that you have taken/are currently undertaking?

(f) If you have had had a unique education background, please elaborate on your unusual circumstances (Examples: kampung boy who ended up in Yale University/home-schooled girl who faced difficulty persuading university admissions officers to admit her/student who pursued cosmological astrophysics at Cambridge under the prestigious Gates Scholarship/teenager who dropped out of school and pursued full-time modelling/youth who took a gap year after SPM to participate in humanitarian missions in Tibet/boy who has worked as a professional computer hacker since age 14/youth who entered a seminary to pursue priesthood/student who designed a new degree course at Smith College).

(g) If you have succeeded in securing a rare/prestigious scholarship/ undergone a rigorous university application process (Examples: Kofi Annan International Scholarship), please elaborate on the application process.

(h) What advice would you give to someone who hopes to pursue the same pathway that you have undertaken/are currently undertaking?

(i) How was the experience at your previous/current place of study and how has it changed your life? If you have had a non-academic pursuit (s) (establishing your own restaurant/working full-time as a social worker etc), how has your pursuit impacted other people?

(j) Is there any other issue regarding post-SPM education that you wish to discuss? What other pertinent advice would you give to someone who is about to complete SPM/secondary school?

Reminder: Remember that the purpose of submitting your story is not to flaunt your achievements, but to share your unique experiences with your readers. As you write, try to retain the relevancy between your experiences and the reader's interest, and try not to write what you think others would want to hear. Be honest.

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Participation rules

1. Participants must be Malaysian citizens.

2. Participants must be of age 35 or below as of 2009.

3. Each entry will consist of a photo (to be printed in black & white), an introduction blurb written in 3rd person perspective and a main article written in 1st person perspective.

4. The introduction blurb is to be between 30-50 words, and must mention the participant's age and place(s) of study/pursuit (see below for examples).

5. The main article is to be between 600-800 words.

6. All articles are to be written in English. Participants who struggle with English may write in Malay/Chinese and have their articles translated by the committee members.

7. Articles may be edited for clarity, brevity and/or intelligibility, though the committee will strive not to tamper them.

8. All participants must use their real names. Pseudonyms will not be allowed.

9. About 100 entries will be selected for publishing. The committee's decisions will be final.

10. The photo may be of any style as long as it shows the participant's face. Black & white photos are prefered, as the book will be published in black & white.

11. Participants will retain the copyright of their photos and articles.

12. All entries are to be sent to whatsafterspm@gmail.com.

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Deadline: May 10 2009

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For more guidelines, please visit www.whatsafterspm.blogspot.com.

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Enquiries/contact

The organising committee members, Chen Chow Yeoh, Chong Yong Wei Gabrielle, Goh Jing Pei, Kimberley Mei Kay, Tara Thean, and Charis Loke are not committed to any organisation. They were simply brought together for this project and are bound by their sincere enthusiasm for community service.

Participants, parents, interested sponsors and translators, as well as general inquirers may contact committee at whatsafterspm@gmail.com. (read less)

Project What's After SPM: A Hundred Different Journeys
http://whatsafterspm.blogspot.com
Email: whatsafterspm@gmail.com

One book. One hundred stories.
For you. For hundreds of thousands of Malaysian youths.
(YES - YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF READERS!)

For most of us, the end of secondary school education (or the lack of it) marked a turning point in our lives where we moved from studying together under an umbrella education system (SPM) to embarking upon vastly different... (read more)