[Heavy Breathing]

Preface: Procrastination remains (or even more pronounced!) when at home. Only the first post after almost a month at home in Kuching!

Right about two weeks ago, I was loafing at usual at my Facebook when Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam/Public Service Commission's Facebook page posted an announcement about an upcoming exam for a particular position in the Federal Civil Service...

MAKLUMAN PENTING : PEPERIKSAAN ONLINE BAGI JAWATAN PEGAWAI TADBIR DAN DIPLOMATIK GRED M41 PADA 1 NOVEMBER 2014 (SABTU)

That's one of the post that I did apply for with PSC! Following the link that leads candidates' database, filled in my IC number and lo and behold...

[Heavy Breathing] Finally after months of anticipation, the first among numerous posts I applied for in Federal Civil Service has been processed and I am now at beginning of the various hurdles before clinching a position as Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik (Administrative and Diplomatic Officer or PTD) M41, one of the most sought after post in the civil service. While this post seems like a fairly generic middle-management level just a cut above from the support staff in the civil service, this post is THE pre-requisite to enter the most prestigious class within the Civil Service that is the Diplomatic/Foreign Service Corp which is the one that I am interested the most rather than being an administrator. Therefore, [Heavy Breathing].

As stated by the exam portal, the exam is consisted of three parts namely 1) Malaysian History, Governance, Current Affairs and General Knowledge, 2) Problem Solving (i.e. Mathematics, Logic and Comprehension) and 3) Psychometric and Aptitude Test (i.e. quantitatively determining whether your character fit the profile (whatever that is) the Civil Service is looking for). Unlike the previous years in which candidates would actually sit for the exam at examination centers nationwide, Public Service Commission is implementing online entrance examination in processing applicants of PTD, in which candidates are allowed to sit for the exam at the comfort of their (connected to internet) computer. Online Exam for PTD can be both boon or bane for candidate; boon for doing away the tedious written (Bahasa Malaysia and English!) essays section of the exam but bane simply because of the medium i.e. internet. Despite the supposed "at the convenience of home" advantage of online exam, PSC still insist of having a fixed PERIOD of TIME (8pm, Saturday 1 November. System opens at 7pm and exam will last for three hours.) for the candidate to take the exam. With the mediocre quality of Malaysian internet network (My neighbourhood is still 1Mbps max dangnabbit!) coupled with heavy server load when tens of thousands of candidate logging in to the same portal for the exam...one could imagine the horror of server downtime, the danger of Error 404. In fact, it did happened during the previous online examination for the post of Custom Officer in which at least 37% of candidates didn't manage to complete their exam within time limit. So...*touch wood, fingers crossed and hope they add more servers to cope!*

...enough worrying of the system. Because there' nothing to be studied about for part two and three of the exam being Maths and Aptitude Test, my first immediate course of action upon assessment of the situation was to dig out the tome of a book that is my Form Six Pengajian Am (General Studies) textbook (which I still kept on top of the old wardrobe in my room collecting dust. My room is essentially laden of high school years paraphernalia which I can't bear to throw away.) to handle the first part of the exam. Almost immediately however that I noticed there might be a slight...issue.

Sukatan Pelajaran Terbaharu 2004. Exactly ten years has passed since the book is written and eight years since I left Form Six (2005-2006). Malaysia has since experienced two general elections (2008 and 2013) and two Prime Ministers (Tun Abdullah Badawi "Pak Lah" and our current PM, Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak) with each period of a PM's administration introduced a whole slew of national programmes and ideologies which saw fads come and go. With PM Najib now at helm, programmes under 1Malaysia, Government Transformation Programme and Economic Transformation Programme is what on the rage at the moment. Internal Security Act (ISA) has been repealed, AUKU/UUCA has been amended and lots more has changed. While most information related to governance contained in this textbook of mine is still by and large same for the past 10 years, crucial current information such as those I mentioned are definitely missing from this book.

With the first part of exam covering not just governance of Malaysia but as well as history of Malaysia (which means tracing back my knowledge all the way back to when I was Form Four and Five!), a backup is certainly required. Off I went to search for books specifically tailored for PTD/Civil Service Exam. After a fruitless search at Popular Bookstore, only then I manage to find the sort of reference book I wanted at MPH Bookstore at The Spring.

The clue is on the title indeed. This book which is basically a much thinner version of my Pengajian Am textbook with sprinkles of Sejarah Tingkatan 4 dan 5 contains selected key information arranged in point form to facilitate quick revision ahead of exam which is all very well as an emergency measure but otherwise might not be sufficient for in depth understanding with key information still missing out such as the hierarchy and jurisdictions of courts in Malaysia. Regardless of which, have to get the studying going!

Four years has passed since I was last in the exam game (Universiti Sains Malaysia Semester II Exam, 2010...and yeah, no exam for my gap/Postgrad years) and eight years if we are talking about undertaking a nationwide standardized exam where your competitors are numbering at tens and thousands with ridiculously high stakes, I found to my detriment that it getting harder for me to get going with studying for exam as proven the number of times I fell asleep as I attempt to study (location of study that is my bed at home is one major factor too). Even though I did manage to read through and highlight whichever information I deemed most relevant and important in the PTD exam reference book I bought, I can't help but to feel edgy about whatever information that I might be missed out and overlook especially when it's only five days away from the exam. I can't afford to flunk Part 1 for it will be an insult to the A (4.00) I achieved in Pengajian Am for STPM 2006. Meanwhile of course, I would have to borrow a scientific calculator from my younger bro for Part 2's math question and last but not least...err what to do with Part 3 (Aptitude Test) anyway? Let's get serious and get the groove on!

Last but not least, godspeed and good luck to myself and all my peers and juniors who will be tackling the exam this coming Saturday. Hope to see everyone of us going through the hurdles landing a spot training to become a cadet of the Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatic. Oh and again, fingers' crossed for the exam server to be smooth and not overloading!

Postscript: Meanwhile...have to brace myself for viva voce too for the eventuality is growing as time passes...let me survive all ordeals in one piece, safe and sound.