IPOH: Born in Vietnam and only learning Chinese and Malay after moving to Malaysia 10-year-old, Nguyen Tran Thao An, now known as Ng Zi Qing, has overcome language and cultural challenges to score a CGPA of 3.67 in the Malaysian Higher School  Certificate (STPM).

Zi Qing, 19, a student from SMK Jalan Tasek in Ipoh, left her familiar hometown in Vietnam at age 10 to start a new life in Malaysia with her parents, enrolling in SJK(C) Bercham.

Prior to that, she only spoke Vietnamese and started learning Chinese and Malay when she moved back with her Malaysian father and Vietnamese mother.

Learning was difficult for her, apart from coping with a different culture.

She started with kindergarten before going to SJK(C) Berchan, Ipoh to pick up the basic language.

“I’m very grateful to my year 6 class teacher. She knew I was struggling and patiently taught me how to write strokes, pronounce words, and construct sentences. My Chinese improved significantly thanks to her,” said Zi Qing.

After two years of hard work, she managed to pass all language subjects in UPSR (Primary school achievement test), enabling her to move on to secondary school.

In secondary school, she found the school environment enriching and motivating where she had to cope with three languages – Malay, English and Chinese.

With the support of her teachers and tuition instructors, her language skills steadily improved, and she eventually scored 2 As in SPM (Malaysian Certificate of Education).

Zi QIng found Malay language was easier to learn which sparked her interest in the language where she scored a B+ in her STPM.

At form six, she chose to focus on self-study and school lessons without attending extra tuition, making full use of every class. Under the dedicated guidance of her teachers, she achieved excellent STPM results: 2 As and 2 B+.

But her excellent STPM result may not be the pathway for her to attend public university due to her stateless status of not having an identity card.

Zi Qing plans to study information technology, but she can only apply to private universities, which will be a hefty financial burden for her parents who are hawkers.

She had applied for citizenship but was rejected.

Zi Qing is still looking forward to be a Malaysian in future, where she will be able to apply for student loan from Higher Education Loan Fund Corporation to lower her parents’ financial burden.