Here's the draft of an essay I wrote during the CNY holidays for my application to BrATs (the Star teen's journalist camp!). You may or may not find this interesting. Reader discretion is advised.
-untouched, unedited and raw.-
The name is Abel. I represent the 3rd generation of my family to permanently reside in this glorious country called Malaysia. Although my grandfather was born here in Malaya as it was known, my grandma came all the way from China to look for him, carrying only a picture of them. Come to think of it, my granddad, father, and of course I are all well travelled (my travel log is of course still a work in progress). Of course, their stories are not mine to tell, but here I entrust mine to you!
My paternal side is of Hakka descent, while my mother is Hokkien. A very unfortunate result of this union is that I cannot speak Chinese! Due to my parents not having any dialects in common, they converse in English which has become my mother tongue of sorts. But that doesn't meant I don't have a grasp on my local dialect, Cantonese, which is relatively decent, to say the least! Other characteristics which are inherited are a need for glasses, a thin build and curly hair! The first and the last being from my mum, and the similarities in our face can be summed up in an exclamation from my aunt, "my gosh, you look exactly like (my mum)!" while I was holidaying over with her.
Among other things that seem to run in the family - music! A family of cousins consist of talented, experienced musicians and I am happy to stand among them as youthful maestros. Throughout my primary school education, I was lined up a side dish of piano lessons, and I took it up halfheartedly. The interest and love for the art only started to blossom at the ascension from lower secondary to upper secondary school, and I took up a year of guitar classes. Not long after, I began to pick up bass guitar myself, of course with the help of the wealth of resources of the internet, and also a senior in the school Christian Fellowship, who has been picked up to play for a bunch of college graduations! I am glad I have been given every opportunity to diversify my talents, attaining a good measure of versatility!
Speaking of secondary school, I have had a fruitful time of extra co-curricular activities to immerse myself in. My time started with hours in the school Scrabble team, in which we qualified for the nationals two years in a row, and culminated in us being crowned Perak Champions! The state competitions were disbanded right after that, but thankfully I was also part of the school Robotics team, and for this we went all the way to the nationals, finishing at eigth place! In upper secondary came Anderson School's 100th year centenary celebrations, and I was a member of the school Leo Club during the duration! The Leo Club of Anderson is the oldest Leo Club in Multiple District 308, covering the countries of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei! At the end of my time in the club, I received a Merit Secretary award for my contribution as a secretary and Leo to the District. I was also appointed Treasurer of the Red Crescent Society, my marching unit in school.
Well, it's been too much about what I do, too little who I am, hasn't it? Well, now. If I had to choose three words to describe myself, it would be sociable, easygoing and driven! As a baby, my dad describes me as "silent", which was a good thing! But once I discovered the art of speaking, I became a pretty noisy child! Thankfully I also had a tremendous appetite for reading, which is a quality I possess till this day. My uncle once took me to Singapore, and I parked myself in the bookshop while he went shopping! He said it was a guarantee I would be there for hours on end. It's a good thing though, as a policeman I once met comments that foreigners just love to read. (cont'd elsewhere, will not bother to gather it and post it up)
-leavesyouhanging-
