Valebat March & April: Taking my Driver's License ☆

Hm, where do I begin? I'm turning 18 in 10 days and I've always dreamt of getting my driver's license before I turn 18. And I did it. It was a long and tiring journey, but I made it. Let me just explain to you the process that I had to get through in order to get this fancy piece of card.

So last year (2014), I thought that it was a great idea to register for driving classes and start the whole process as soon as I could. And the only chance I had at that time was when my mum left for India in June during the school holiday. So my dad and I went to SAZA, a driving school near my house and booked a theory class on the next Saturday. I was absolutely excited for it, and when Saturday came, I didn't even have the slightest chance to attend that class. My mother was not happy about me registering at all and prohibited me from starting the whole driving thing. I guess it is a sensible response as I was in the middle of my SPM year and also I didn't ask for her permission to register for it. Anyway, I only had the chance to actually attend the class or 'ceramah' on the 4th of January this year. By that time, the textbooks had changed and the price had increased. My dad was not pleased but what can we do about it anyway. 

After that, I booked for the test on the 24th which is extremely late, I know, but I just wanted to make sure that I have enough time to study the extremely thick textbook and be prepared for the computerised 'Undang' test. I passed that test and received my 'L' license the week after. 

I started my actual driving lessons under the guidance of Cikgu Zali from SAZA in mid February and by the end of February I was done with it. By now you would think that I could sit for my driving test right away, but noooo I had to wait for one whole month before I could sit for the test. During the last class that I had on the 23rd of February I was told that my test will be on the 4th of April. So, on the 28th of March I decided to add another 3 hours of class (which costed me RM105 btw!) since I had already forgotten the road and what not. On the 2nd, I had another 3 hours of class which the teacher was kind enough to provide for free and I was told that my test is actually supposed to be on the 3rd, which was on the next day! The whole 3 hours I couldn't drive properly due to the weather and kept on forgetting the sequence of movements on the track. I was terrified and that night I read through blog posts and watched videos on the driving test because I was so scared that I would fail the driving test. 

The next day, which was the test day, I had to sit for the 'litar' test first which includes RPK, RSM, bukit, side parking, three-point turn, litar Z and S (I think that's what they are called). Before that, all of us had to register and grab our numbers and we were separated into Sesi 1, 2 and 3. I was under sesi 2 and my number was 23. I made a few new friends there, and two of them had the same name as I do. The officers who were at the RPK and RSM station were kinda scary to be honest. They weren't really listening to what we were saying, and they were mostly busy chatting among themselves. The worst part is that they simply write down that you've made a mistake or two even if you hadn't, I guess that's the easiest way for them to get their job done and for us to pass the test.

After RPK and RSM, we started the litar test with bukit. Now, the thing with Malaysian driving test is that during driving classes, you're trained to drive using your driving school's car and by the end of the 10 hours you've probably gotten used to the conditions of the car. When you take the test, the cars are in a completely different condition and you are forced to adapt to it right away. For example, the car that I used during my classes had a loose hand break and tight clutch (not sure if thats the right adjective to use but you get it), while the car that I used during the test had an extremely tight hand break and a loose clutch. Lucky for me, I managed to notice the differences before I went on the bukit. Even though I was able to adapt to it and pass my bukit test, I still had trouble perfecting it the way I always do during my classes. Nevertheless, I succeeded at all the sections and passed my litar test. 

Next was the test on the road. But before I even got to take the test, my friends and I had to wait for 2 hours as we were given break from 12.30pm to 2.30pm since the men had to leave to perform their Friday prayers. By the time we had to sit for our test, we were already full from lunch. Anyways, I must say that I was quite lucky on that day. One thing that I've been reminded of many times before I took my test was that if you get a lady officer during your test, you're pretty much screwed. I got a male officer. I made a few mistakes here and there like not releasing my hand break fully and forgetting to test my gas pedal before I started driving, but I was given enough points to actually pass the test. One of my friends failed because she forgot to give signal, another girl failed because she refused to drive faster in the housing area when the officer told her to do so, and another girl failed because her car engine died once while she was driving. The thing is, in the regulations, you will only fail if your car dies more than twice or if you've committed major mistakes. My car engine died once but I passed anyway, so I think the officers weren't being fair and failed the students whenever they felt like it. Based on what my friends had shared with me, some of them even got shouted at when they made simple mistakes in the car. Thankfully, that was not something that I had to experience. 

By the end of the test, out of 8 of us, only I passed both the litar test and the test on the road, which means I was the only one eligible to get a 'P' license. Before we left, we lined up to return our number tags and those who passed are supposed to buy the 'P' stickers from the lady in charge. We weren't obliged to, but I bought it anyway as it only costed me RM5. On the 5th, I sent my results to SAZA alongside with the picture that I want to be used on my license, a copy of my IC and 'L' license. And after a really really long time of waiting, I finally got my 'P' license earlier today. 

Is it even possible to take decent ID pictures??

To be honest, I really didn't expect to pass the test at all since I wasn't all that prepared, but I am grateful that I did. But I guess it doesn't change anything that much, since I still don't have a car, and my mum still practically controls my life. But I am glad that I managed to get it while I'm still 17, even though I am just 10 days away from turning 18. It has been a long wait, and I am more than happy that it is finally over.

I hope you've enjoyed this post, and let me know how your driving test went! :)

-am-