JOHOR BARU: Out of the 12 Orang Asli students in his batch in 2019, only five made it to the examination hall and Kons Adrien Akop is the only one who passed the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exam.
The young man from the Seletar community became the first person from his village to do so.
Driven to succeed: Kons Adrien with his parents after completing his police training at the end of last year.
Growing up at Kampung Sungai Temun here, Kons Adrien, 21, said he knew that the only way to improve the livelihood of his family and the community was to work hard.
“It has been a dream of mine to get a stable job outside the village. It does not matter what job, as long as it is one that would allow me to help my family.
“There are many teenagers, who dropped out of school just to support their families, but this is not what I wanted.
“I promised myself to at least finish my SPM before settling for a job,” said Kons Adrien.
He was the first in his family of four to complete the five-year secondary education.
Upon receiving his certificate the following year, he applied to join the police, navy and army.
He was accepted by the Royal Malaysia Police force.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity,” said Kons Adrien, who is now posted to the Keningau district police station in Sabah.
The eldest of two siblings, he said he hoped to motivate others to pursue their studies.
“Of late, more teenagers from my village have passed their SPM. My younger sister is one of them and she is now at a college in Melaka.
“I hope to inspire others to never give up on their dreams despite the challenges,” he added.
