We come to the yearly ritual of varsity admissions and the common denominator seems to pain and anguish, leading to anger. So what else is new? Do you expect change? Maybe it will come, but it will be too late for you. Then again, getting into a local public university may not be the best path in the long run.

Maybe it is useful to share a point or two.

I grew up with the Malaysian education system and when it was time to enter university in the early 1980s, racial polarisation was at its height. I remember sitting forlornly in Form 6 and refusing to study because the entrance into local universities was so difficult and overseas study was a pipe dream. We had seen our class thinning out as one by one, those with economically better off parents said 'sayanora' and flew overseas. We said our ritual goodbyes and I even remarked wryly that while we felt sad to see our friends go, they were happy to do so.

Sure, there were one or two of us slated to get full As - which was rare in those days - and get the course of their choice. The rest of us were practically doomed. We even remarked to our teacher that we will all get five As in the STPM (HSC then). That is 4As to Mr Top Boy and all the rest of us will share the one last A.

By and large, a big portion of us went to university, either through the side door, the back door or even by climbing through the window. Many of us chose Singapore which is relatively cheaper, while some of us chose the limited local private universities then, disguised under colleges. We got our degrees while some of our friends had to work and save to enter the same university.

We encouraged each other back then.

It was hard and our parents made sacrifices, from postponing the new car to selling the house so that we could get an education. They made the decision and we had a superior education under a different system, one that is fully transparent and accountable. The best indicator was that when we graduated, we found that we were in demand, big demand. When we worked, we found that we were promoted faster. Simply because under trying circumstances, we came out stronger.

That was 25 years ago. A quarter of a century seems a long time. Today, many of us has have bought back the house that was sold a few times over, and changed cars for all the times we cared to count. By all counts, we made it. In contrast the other side, the so-called lucky ones, the favoured one we see in the newspapers for loans unpaid. Make your own guess.

We can never pay back our fathers' and mothers' scholarships, as we use to call them, but we can see the smiles on our parents face. Hence, the hindsight of 25 years.

For those that fail to get a place this year, do not despair. Many have walked the path that you are now facing. Remember that the road paved with gold by the government is not the only one nor is it necessarily the best one. My friends and I faced down the same dilemma and none of us will change our path if given the choice again. I for one am completely gratified that I made the choice not to study at the local public university. I am glad that I chose the path that was not paved with gold, Malaysian gold.