Depending on how good your listening skills are, misinterpreting a word could mean that you fail a listening test.
Well, a group of Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students almost did - no thanks to the name of a resort in Pulau Tioman.
'Now I dislike it'
Image credit: PulauTioman.com.my
The Salang Sayang Resort has become a topic of conversation, especially amongst high school students, after its name appeared in one of the SPM listening tests.
In the listening test, the candidates were given a story to listen to, and in the story, a character named Iman went on a vacation with her family in Pulau Tioman and stayed at the Salang Sayang Resort.
Sounds pretty harmless, right? Well, while it might for us, the resort's rather confusing name left many SPM candidates misinterpreting the correct pronunciation.
Unhappy that they might have gotten the answer wrong, frustrated SPM students bombarded the resort's social media pages and its Google Review page with low ratings and bad reviews.
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Image credit: Malay Mail
Despite a sudden bombardment of mean comments, the owner of the resort, Nadiah Tuan Rozaimon Azam, told Malay Mail that they do not bother her at all.
"At first I was confused as to why we’ve been getting sudden comments on our posts until one of the SPM students explained to me via Instagram that it was regarding their Bahasa Malaysia listening test.
"Many candidates have misheard our resort’s name with some confusing it with ‘Salam Dayang’, ‘Salam Layang’ and some even heard ‘Sembahyang Resort’. I was actually entertained by these answers in the comment section," she was quoted as saying.
Nadiah added that the popularity of her resort, which has been operating in Pulau Tioman since 1981, grew even more after it went viral earlier this week. Now, she revealed that she's been getting calls and messages from SPM students.
“We’ve been receiving calls and bookings even before our name went viral but since Monday, we’ve been getting even more calls and messages but this time from SPM candidates which has caused my phone to hang.
“Some of them were mad and some even jokingly asked me to change our resort’s name to what they’ve answered in their test,” Nadiah further said.
Nadiah told Malay Mail that she understood that the students were frustrated, so she won't blame them for leaving bad reviews online.
In fact, she teased that she might even run a special promotion for SPM candidates.
Sigh, SPM students! Next time listen properly, OK? Don't simply bash people after you get your answer wrong.
MAIN IMAGE CREDIT: Malay Mail