KUALA NERUS: A Chinese student from here created history when she scored 8A's in the Ujian Penilaian Kelas Kafa (UPKK), which was recently announced.
The success of Por Hui Ling, 11, from Kampung Gong Pak Damak Taman Desa Jaya was also a first at Sekolah Kebangsaan Tok Jiring (SKTJ).
The third child from four siblings aced all Islamic based religious subjects, namely, Solat practicum, Appreciating the Islamic Way of Living, Jawi and Khat; Islamic Virtues; Ulum Syariah (Faith and Worship); Lughatul Quran (Quran language) and Sirah (biography of the Prophet Muhammad)
Hui Ling said she attended the KAFA classes on her own accord and took inspiration from her elder brother Por Jie Hao, 14, who had previously attended the Kafa classes at SKTJ.
"My brother scored 5As and 3Bs in the UPKK in 2015, so I was motivated to do better than my brother.
"My parents were also supportive of my bid to study what the Malay students are learning and also since my Malay friends are also learning Mandarin.
"It is fun to have the opportunity to learn all the subjects in UPKK especially the Jawi subject," she said when met at her home, here, today.
Hui Ling said she is grateful to all her UPKK teachers at SKTJ who conducted extra classes for students to understand and grasp the Jawi subject.
"I was among the weakest in Jawi subject and therefore attended additional classes on Friday and Saturday. Within a few months, I managed to master Jawi reading and writing as well as reading Arabic words."
She said any knowledge or subject can be mastered if one has a passion and apply themselves.
"I learned my lessons when I studied in the classroom and was also not shy to ask the teacher, if I did not understand anything," she said.
Meanwhile, Jie Ho said he was proud of his younger sibling's achievement.
"Among the UPKK subjects, it is not easy to score an A in the Jawi and Arabic subject. I had previously studied under UPKK and know the challenges in mastering and studying all the subjects, "he said.
Meanwhile SKTJ headmaster Abdul Aziz Deraman said Hui Ling's success was an historical achievement for the school.
"Previously, Jie Ho achieved a remarkable result and this has been now continued by Hui Ling with better results this year. Hui Ling's success would be a catalyst and challenge for other Muslim students to excel in UPKK, "he said.
He adds that Hui Ling is among 57 students who scored 8A out of 138 students who sat for the UPKK at SKTJ this year.