TOP STUDENT: A mentor should help her decide

I CONGRATULATE Nik Nor Madihah Nik Mohd Kamal for being the top scorer in the SPM examination with 19 1As and 2A.

That the fisherman's daughter did it without the benefit of extra tuition makes her success all that much sweeter.

She rightly deserves the scholarship offers from Mara, Bank Negara and Petronas to further her studies overseas. But, give her time and space to weigh the options before making a decision.

As a mother, I know what's on the mind of this mature, down-to-earth girl.

Will she be able to cope in a country and course of study in a medium of instruction she is unfamiliar and uncomfortable with since she had studied in an Islamic school?
Not to mention the cultural shock.

In the meantime, the intended sponsors should appoint a mentor to talk to her, her parents and her teachers. If she still wants to do physics in Egypt as she had said earlier, please grant her that wish.

Bank Negara, which usually sponsors the creme de la creme of high achievers, had given a similar scholarship to Nur Amalina Che Bakri, the SPM top scorer in 2004 to do A-Levels in the United Kingdom. She was sent for an intensive course at the British Council before leaving and her mother even got to accompany her to Britain.

Madihah should be given the same preferential treatment. In fact, she needs it more.