Top scorer thanks Malay TV dramas for fluency in BM
Published on: Saturday, March 07, 2020
By: Sherell Jeffrey
Sayyid (centre) and his parents.
Kota Kinabalu: Maktab Nasional’s top scorer, Sayyid Aaqil Saravanan, attributes his fluency in proper Bahasa Melayu to watching Malay dramas on television every day.Conversing mostly in English at home, Sayyid who was born in the US, to a Bajau Sabahan mother and an Indian father from Tamil Nadu, turned to Malay dramas to brush up on his Bahasa instead of opting for tuition.
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He spends an hour watching Malay dramas every day at 10pm over the past one year.
“In our daily conversation and probably in some states, they don’t use the proper word that we are supposed to use, like here we use “limpas” but if you were to use that word in your essay you would probably get the sentence wrong,” said the 11As scorer when met at the Daily Express office.
“I like planes, I like everything about planes, but I also want to have a degree in aerospace engineering just in case …,” he said.
The 17-year-old has his sights on being not only a pilot but one with an aerospace engineering degree.
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“Accounting and Additional Mathematics were initially challenging subjects for me. I remember failing my Accounting subject twice while in Form Four. My grades started to improve thanks to the many exercises provided by my teachers,” he said.
The youngest of three siblings who listed nasi lemak as his favourite dish and a fan of Malaysian band Insomniacks, thinks that it is important to identify ones weaknesses and plan ones schedule wisely.
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“Everything is important, physical, mental, but then spiritual is also important. I think it is very important to pray five times a day for Muslims like us because it helps us to be confident, optimistic, positive and to get what we want to achieve,” he said.
His parents played a huge role in his success. His mother, Jalinah Md Jali, a teacher turned housewife, would make sure he gets the nutritious meals he needs.
“I deliver his meals to school every day as I want to make sure he gets nutritious meals. I also keep a watchful eye on who his friends are and their parents,” she said, adding that she doesn’t take things for granted especially on food cleanliness.
“We decided to come back to Malaysia because I wanted my children to learn the Malaysian culture,” she said.
She also believes in teaching one’s children in a stress-free environment. “Sayyid started reading at the age of three, the key is don’t stress, enjoy your life and teach your children along the way,” she said.
She is strict on handphones. “I allowed him to have his first handphone only when he was in Form Four because it was needed for school purposes.
“I allow my children to be independent but there is a limit to that, even right now I still give him guidelines,” she said.
His father, Safwan Abdullah @ Saravanan Ponnoussamy, a software engineer, also played a helping hand in guiding his son in Mathematics.
“Mathematics is my strength. Being a computer engineer, I teach him the basics of mathematics as it is important when he start his engineering study as most of the subjects will be physics, formulas and equations,” he said.
“His ambition is to become a pilot. While the job as a pilot is not always available because there are regions because there are just too many pilots. But in the US, they are looking for pilots because they need pilots,” he said.
He, nevertheless, thinks that it is good to have a degree in other fields as well.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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