Khazanah Global Scholarship : Stage One

All was silent. There we were, all 100 or so of us, all quietly poring over our test papers, totally unaware of what was going to happen next. Then, it began. A loud, piercing bell shattered the silence of the hall. Before we could do anything, gale force winds swept through the room, whipping our papers into the air. All around me, people were grabbing for their papers, trying to prevent them from being blown away. Then came the ominous, rumbling sound from the heart of the building. We looked at each other in excitement; what exactly was happening?

Confused? Well, let’s go back a bit.

I arrived at the Mercu UEM Building at 8.00 in the morning. Drove there, since when I tried walking there from KL Sentral the previous evening, I arrived drenched in sweat. Definitely not a good impression to make so I ditched the walking idea altogether. Anyway, lots of candidates were already gathered there, even though the exam will only start at 9. We lined up at the main counter, signed our names and were then shepherded into an elevator and whisked up to the 7^th floor, where the exams were taking place.

Waiting outside the exam hall, we spent time chatting and generally getting to know each other. It was fun. I managed to make quite a few new friends, though we never enquired about each other’s names. Somehow the thought of it never crossed our minds.

When it was time, we were told to register again at a table and hand in our certs and stuff. The email mentioned that we should only include co-curricular certs that were mentioned in our application form, so I was pretty surprised to see people submit what appeared to be an entire thesis about themselves. Honestly, some of them handed over gigantic stacks of papers that must contain at least a thousand certs. Mine was just one or two millimeters thick, but what the heck, I just gave it in.

After that, we entered the exam hall, and sat anywhere we wanted, two at a table. Naturally, everyone avoided the front of the room. I met a Malay guy and we decided to sit together. It was 9 pm. We talked about our results, activities in school while the hall filled up. Then, at 9.15, the organizer announced that we would be starting the exams at 10 instead because some of the candidates were trapped in traffic jams and were unlikely to make it until then.

So, some of us stayed in the hall, while the rest decided to explore the building. We headed up to the 9^th floor, where the cafeteria is located. Lots of nice food available. But I was already full from the terrible breakfast served at my hotel, so I hung around for a few moments before returning to the ground floor to see how my dad was doing.

When we finally got started at 10, the organizer, a very friendly lady, briefed us on the test. There were 5 papers, each one testing a part of our IQ. Can’t really remember the names, but I’ll try to describe the tests. First was a test about sets (like the maths one). Then a critical reasoning test, which is something like A lives above B, B lives below C, C lives above A, so we have to see which guy lives where. The third test was about spatial recognition, where we were given a jumbled up comic strip and required to rearrange it so the whole thing made sense.

Here’s when all hell broke loose. After the initial confusion, in which papers had to be caught, the bell, wind and sound stopped. The organizer joked about how we had to be able to work well under stressful conditions, and this was one of them. LOL! Later we learned that someone activated the fire alarm. That was the bell, but no idea what the wind and rumbling was.

Anyway, back to the tests. Part 4 consisted of us identifying basic shapes in a complex pattern of various other shapes. Lastly came a number sequence test, where we had to determine the next two numbers in the sequence. That was all. The only test I managed to finish was the first one, since there was a matter of time in the equation. The 2nd one made my head hurt, some of the comics in the 3rd one didn’t make much sense to me, missed some of the shapes in the 4^th and didn’t have time to finish the 5^th, so left out one question. All in all, I felt a little stupid. Wonder if everyone else felt the same. My neighbor did.

After everything was done, a Malay lady gave a short speech about integrity and how Khazanah aims to create future leaders for the country ie. politicians. Got me thinking at this point. I never wanted to be one, since all they do is bicker and fight, but let’s just see what happens. Then the lady invited us to ask questions. I was almost frozen by this time, due to the air-conditioning, so I was praying for it to end quickly. Sadly, my wish didn’t come true and I had to rub my hands together constantly to stay warm.

When it was all over, we left the building and bid adieu to our newfound friends. Some of them were heading off immediately for their MARA interview, so they had to rush. I simply found my dad, got our car back from the valet, and we were off. Stage one complete.

The results will be announced on the 24^th of April, through call or email. Stage two, which consists of interview and group activities, will be held on the 26^th and 27^th. Stages 3 and 4 are both interviews, but I doubt I’ll make it through. Don’t even think I’ll get into the 2^nd one, due to my poor performance n the tests. But it was definitely a fun and exciting experience, mostly because of the ‘incident’!