Penang Mensa branch...

Every once and again in a little section in page 2 of The Star's StarMetro (North) section, there is an announcement about an IQ test organised by the Penang branch of Mensa Malaysia. And then take a look at the last sentence of the little announcement that has been there for the past few years: "All applicants must be 14 years old and above."

You know who caused this little clause to be inserted there? It was me.

Back in 2001 when I was 13 years old, I think I saw the announcement and for inexplicable reasons (actually I forgot) in The Star, I went ahead and took the test. From what I can remember, it was a Sunday morning, went along with mom, aunt took me there, the place was at the Kompleks Penyayang (Caring Complex, at least I think that's how it's named) and the test itself was far from impressive.

Okay, there was this group of people, men and women, adults and err... actually I was the youngest person there, apart from a boy who was a few years my senior. There was also a reported who was covering the test but I didn't really notice it until I saw the photo and the article published in one of the Chinese papers.

So, about the test. The registration fee was RM50 and I can confidently say that the way the UPSR exams were presented could be considered to be way better than what the IQ test was when I took it. Hm... the questions were like the ones you could find in a Mensa book, logical, mathematical and all of that crap (some I haven't even learned yet) and guess what the parting souvenir was? A little box that holds little pieces of coloured paper. What a waste of RM50.

And roughly a couple of months after the test, there was a reply from Mensa saying that I had passed the test and was eligible to become part of the group! Yeah, that and that the annual members fee was another RM50. Whoop-dee-doo. I still kept the letter and the newspaper article but I'm not so sure where is it exactly now. It's now 4 years later and things might be different for a person taking the test, or it still might be the same. Whatever it is, I still feel that the whole thing was more alike a scam to rip off RM100 per person. I know I got ripped off RM50, I know I could've got ripped off another RM50, and I know I'm not that smart.