After a few months of private Indonesian lessons at home, it was time for the junior high school entrance test in Indonesia. Although my Indonesian language skills are still very limited, I had to have the courage to take the test at several schools that my mother and aunt number 2 had chosen for me.

Because my cousin is also in the 1st grade of junior high school, my aunt deliberately let us enter the same school. Then we both took the junior high school entrance test in several schools in the South Jakarta area. At first we thought it was easy for me to enter junior high school in Indonesia, but this was not the case, and I was even humiliated by a teacher when I took a test at one of the schools.

I was expelled and humiliated at one of the schools when I took the junior high school entrance test

As a foreign teenager who had only been learning Indonesian for a few months, the junior high school entrance test was very difficult for me because I didn't understand the questions on the test.

When I took a test at one of the schools, a teacher saw what I had answered on the answer paper, then he got angry and told me to immediately pack up my things and leave the test room. At that time, I immediately became the center of attention of dozens of students who took the test, and I felt very embarrassed. My cousin also took the test and went with me to the school. Then we took a bajaj back home together, because the driver at that time still had a job and could not come to pick us up.

Other schools were reluctant to accept me as a student

We have also tried other junior high schools, and they have objected to accepting me as a student after finding out that I am a foreign citizen and have not mastered Bahasa Indonesia. However, this is understandable because they are afraid that my presence in the classroom will hinder the learning process of other students.

Meet a kind junior high school principal

Before we gave up and decided to enter an international school in Jakarta, my mother and aunt tried to meet a principal at a Catholic school, Seruni Don Bosco Pondok Indah Junior High School. At that time, the principal of the junior high school was named Mr. Wayong. My first impression of Mr. Wayong was that he was a very good person but also very firm. After talking with my mother, Mr. Wayong wanted to give me the opportunity to enter the school, and my cousin was also with me to enter the same school.

I did not have the opportunity to see Mr. Wayong again after I returned to Hong Kong, as he passed away a few years after I returned to Hong Kong.