Written by : Imran Bin Ariffin, former student of Maktab Sultan Ismail
NRIC : 930704-03-5959
My full name is Imran Bin Ariffin, the third child of Ariffin Bin Noor, a doctor posting in Hospital Gua Musang and Kamariah Binti Awang, a Biology teacher at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultan Ismail. I have 5 siblings – three brothers and two sisters – with all of them are still studying, two in tertiary education while three others are schooling. We live in a peacefully serene village located not far from Pantai Cahaya Bulan, called Tok Dokang. About my education background, I finished my primary education at Sekolah Rendah Islam Aman (SRI Aman), a private Islamic school which integrates national curriculum and fundamental Islamic studies. Obtained 5 A’s in my Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR), I entered Maahad Muhammadi Lelaki (MML), at which I studied for only 3 months before I went to Maahad Tahfiz Sains (MTS), a boarding school in Tanah Merah. Despite the tough 4 years of interdisciplinary study – academics, Islamic subjects and memorization of the Holy Qur’an – at MTS, I managed to obtain 9 A’s in Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) along with 34 other high achievers in 2008 PMR and Mumtaz class in Sijil Menengah Ugama (SMU), 2009. The next year, I then enrolled in Sultan Ismail College (SIC), a premier school awarded Cluster School of Excellence (KSC). At SIC, I took Bahasa Arab Tinggi as an additional subject for SPM, though knowing the school do not have certified teacher to teach me the subject for I think that as a memorizer of the Holy Qur’an, it is of paramount importance for me to understand the verses and to integrate them with science. And all praise to Allah the Almighty, I managed to obtain 10 A+’s in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2010 and be among 363 other students who got A+’s for all subjects taken. This is a proof, I think, that albeit having difficulties in conforming to different cultures and education