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PE attempt (fail)

KK walked out of his examination hall at the SMU this evening at 5pm, lugging three heavy bags bulging with textbooks, face downcast. “I think I may have to try again next year,” he said. Then he brightened: “But when I see the kids, I forget all of that.” 

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* Just out of the exam hall 

Good thing, then, that me and the kids were there to form the Finish-Exam party. For a man who is so un-diligent and so un-academic and who flunked all his uni papers, KK seems to have done hell of a lot of studying in the last 15 years. The Masters was over. 

Now it’s the Professional Engineering certification. 

A badge of honour bestowed only on a select few in Singapore - particularly in the wake of the Nicoll Highway collapse when the Government made it really hard for anyone to get that certificate - this is KK’s second attempt. 

Exams are offered only once a year. It costs $450. He took a week off work to study. He said it felt like the result would be exactly the same this year: Fail. But even if that were to be the result, we went and ate up a post-exam storm anyway. Esmirada (and its incredible garlic bread) at the slightly musty CHIJmes was our dinner venue of choice. 

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