At this age [77], I can safely say that I did not know where I was heading after I left school. But I know that I was ambitious and an optimist. Yes, very ambitions indeed. I knew that I must acquire knowledge to be successful in any endeavor that I take. In the forties and fifties folks on the East-coast of Malaya was not even aware that there is such an institution as University. In the state of Pahang there is only one school that take students for the post School Certificate Examination; now known as HSC. Without the HSC, you do not get into the University. And that class is at the Clifford School in Kuala Lipis, the capital of Pahang at that time. After completing my Darjah Sembilan [Form V] or the Cambridge School Certificate Examination in 1957 I went to seek employment. The year was 1958 and I was just nineteen years old. I got into the State Higher Clerical Service, a Division Three post where I work in various government departments for ei...