KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 — A 39-year-old Malaysian man finally completed an unfinished task after over two decades.

Admin executive Wong Yong Geng recently sat for his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) Chinese paper after having skipped it multiple times over the last 21 years.

Thanks to his determination, Wong sat for the paper on March 15 as its oldest candidate.

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Speaking to Sin Chew Daily’s English-language portal, mySinChiew, Wong said he didn’t sign up for the paper when he was in secondary school 21 years ago.

“I was studying at a national secondary school where Chinese classes were held on Saturdays for two hours.”

Wong’s SPM results were among the top five in the school and he was later enrolled in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia to pursue mathematics.

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However, Wong felt that he did not fully complete his SPM as he chose not to take the Chinese paper.

Wong said he registered for the paper while in university.

He paid RM32 for the exam fee and borrowed books from classmates to study on his own.

Although he was ready to sit for the paper, the SPM exam date clashed with his own university exam.

As a result, Wong had no choice but to skip the Chinese paper once again that year.

In 2007, Wong signed up for the exam again after completing his Master’s degree programme.

Although he had applied for leave from his company to sit for the exam, he was told that the company had arranged for him to attend an important course  —  leaving him with no option but to skip the paper again.

Still not ready to give up, Wong signed up for the Chinese paper for the third time last year but the examination was postponed to this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wong then took unpaid leave on March 15 and sat for the Chinese SPM paper.

He said he has not been writing Chinese words for many years and it was quite tiring for him to do it.

“I am fulfilling my dream of 21 years.

“I do not encourage others to sit for the paper at my age, but they should be sitting for the paper when they are much younger.”

Wong said his job did not require him to sit for the paper, but he did it because he wanted to complete it.