KOTA BARU: Engku Muhammad Engku Ameri never had any interest in buying a smartphone.
Not one to bow to peer pressure, he insisted since Form One that he would not be using one as he wanted to focus on his studies.
When all Malaysian students and teachers were required to switch to home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) after the first Movement Control Order (MCO) last year, he was left with no choice.
At first, he relied on someone else's smartphone.
The student from SMK (A) Falahiah Pasir Pekan, Tumpat, borrowed his father's smartphone when the PdPR first began.
It enabled him to prepare for his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.
Despite merely borrowing a smartphone, Engku Muhammad, the youngest of four siblings, scored 11As in the 2020 SPM.
"It is not that my parents could not afford to buy me a smartphone, but I did not want it as I had promised myself that starting from Form One, I would focus on my studies to enable me to achieve my dreams.
"I was able to continue with my studies without depending on a smartphone. However, when the PdPR began, I needed the device to further my lessons online. I had no choice but to accept the situation and to use my father's phone.
"I realised that sometimes, I was troubling him. I needed to use his smartphone for my lessons, but he did not mind as he wanted me to be happy."
Engku Muhammad was accompanied by his father Engku Emari Tuan Mat, 55, and mother Azarina Asmani Sharif, 50, when met at his home in Tanjong Chat here during this interview.
The 18-year-old whose ambition is to become a teacher, said his father presented him with a new smartphone after he completed his examination last year.
"I hope to get a scholarship to further my studies overseas," he said.