Well done to SPM/STPM students!!

The SPM and STPM results are out recently. In this latest trend, students are taking more and more subjects in hope of being the top SPM/STPM scorer of the year. 7 years ago, I took 9 subjects for my SPM, the max I heard people took were 12. But now, students can get as many as 18/17 A's. I'm amazed. Is it really necessary to obtain so many A's?
According to the state education director, the maximum number of examinations that a candidate can take is 21.

So many students are getting straight A's nowadays, sometimes it makes me wonder if it is Malaysian students getting smarter or is it the public examination's standard getting lower.