Tuesday, June 12, 2007

UK, HERE I COME!!!

Wow, what a day it was for me... I received two letters in the mail today. To my surprise, one of them had the words "Urusan Seri Paduka Baginda" printed on, which is jargon for government-related business. I didn't expect it, since I knew that only the (irritating) Public Service Department of Malaysia would ever send me stuff with that heading. So I opened it to find the surprise of my life waiting inside.

I only remember saying, "Is this true? Really?" in Chinese before my mum snatched the letter away from me. True enough, the JPA had allowed me to undertake medical study in UK under partial sponsorship. Partial in that it would only be for Years 3, 4 and 5 of medicine (for those who don't already know, the most expensive years of med school), during which they would sponsor my fees and living allowance up to a maximum of RM 550 000. By this point, I had already more than figured out that the cost of UK medical education had just been slashed by more than half should I take this up.

I could hardly eat after that and immediately started calculating the remaining costs while referring to certain webpages. I estimated that, including inflation, I would still need roughly RM 300 000 to scrape through the first two years. Plus some more to cover what the RM 550K would not. I then spoke to my father on the phone. He was pleased with the news except that the bond was to remain at 10 years. I was tentative with regards to the finances that he would have to fork out, but he felt that it should be all right. Personally, I was quite content with the bond.

Now I have to take care of the relevant paperwork. I hope this all works out... I can hardly believe that this door would be opened for me, more so since I had practically lost hope. Could it be destiny? The wonder re-registered itself in me when I discovered that the other envelope contained... Nottingham's accommodation offer. What a coincidence.

Now everything seems to be in high gear. It's mid-June already. In September classes start in the UK. I can hardly believe it. To highlight its significance, I think I'll bold the entire post.

2 comments:

Nicholas Wong said...

congratulations jennifer!

J_Lee said...

Thanks!!! I hope everything works out...