A TESTING TIME

A search for the definition of ‘test’ yields interesting results. It is a quiz to examine someone’s knowledge of something. It has to be a standardised tool for measuring sensitivity or memory or intelligence or aptitude or personality in order to achieve a certain score or rating.

I can remember those schooldays when we studied and were put to the test. No one in their right mind would welcome a test with open arms. Yet, ironically, when we hold the test paper in our hands and find that the questions are spot on and we are well prepared for them, a sudden surge of confidence arises within.

I thought my public tests days were over until I got a call from a stranger, a fellow Malaysian who has lived abroad for years. She has got my name from a common friend and she called me just to welcome me and then she told me I would need to get a provisional driving licence as it is cheaper than an international one.
‘You have to sit for the undang-undang test first before you take the road test.’ She said.
Friends from some countries do not have to take a local driving test. A Singaporean driving licence is readily accepted in this part of the world. Naturally I was flustered and upset to know that my many years of driving experience did not count at all. Just thinking of memorising 851 road rules left me numb. I remembered the last driving test I took was when I was 18 and in my school uniform.
My daughter told me she wanted to take the test as well. So we marched down to the nearest book store to buy the driving test book and the practice CD, both sold separately. We registered online to sit for the test and the studying began.
I chugged uphill like an old steam train. I fussed and I ranted. I argued with the book even though it was a losing battle as it was the written word. There were road signs that I had never seen before and rules that were different. Sometimes for a single road sign there were so many varied answers. The first example: a broken white line on the driver’s side next to a continuous line would mean the driver could overtake. But the correct answers given were: (a) You may overtake by crossing the continuous white line and (b) cross the broken line. The second example is a continuous line on the driver’s side next to a broken line would mean that the driver could overtake with care. The correct answers given were: (a) Overtake only if you do not cross any of the lines (b) Do not cross the white line and (c) You may overtake provided you don’t cross the continuous white line. After looking at all the lines in the book and studying about overtaking, I felt I did not want to overtake any car at all. Try changing a dogma of truth that you have learnt eons ago and the brain would not cooperate.
My daughter whose mind is akin to the tabula rasa (clean slate) where driving is concerned, breezed through the book within hours. She was perplexed at how I saw all the rules in a complicated manner so she pitied me and said,
‘Mum, just study by heart all the answers and don’t question.’
I was lousy company for the weeks that ensued. It is a clear picture of the woman and the book. I took the book with me to the park. I took the book with me when I was a passenger in the car. I took the book with me to bed. When I woke up in the wee hours of the morning, I would sit by the computer and practise the test questions on the CD. I was not contented with the scores until I had tried numerous practice tests. Deep inside, I thought I was sitting for the Higher School Certificate all over again.
Then the day came.
The test was held in a mobile truck which shook when the wind blew. I had 40 minutes to answer 40 questions. The room was cold and my fingers were frozen whether from the cold or impending arthritis, I would not know. The questions looked exactly like the ones I studied in the park, in the car and before I went to bed. Carefully I clicked the answers and pressed FINISH. Then I waited for the words to appear.
Congratulations. You have passed.
As I walked out of the truck, I knew the practical part of the road test would be coming up soon but for the moment, I smiled as I thought of shopping for winter coats, feasting on pastries and sipping hot coffee – treats we had promised ourselves if we sailed through the ordeal.