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Sunday, December 31, 2006

Six New Local Public Universities in 2007

Posted by Chong

The story started when six of the local university colleges requested the dropping of the word ‘college’ in their names as they felt their current description had an inferior connotation. Then, they were being asked to upgrade their status. In April 2006, Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed had said that he was looking into their request. Finally, our government has agreed to rename 'university college (kolej universiti)' to 'university (universiti)' back in October 2006. The Star Online reported that January 1, 2007 will be the official date for the name-change for six university colleges:
  • Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan Utara Malaysia (KUKUM) to Universiti Malaysia Perlis
  • Kolej Universiti Sains dan Teknologi Malaysia (KUSTEM) to Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
  • Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan dan Teknologi Malaysia (KUKTEM) to Universiti Malaysia Pahang
  • Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM) to Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Malacca
  • Kolej Universiti Islam Malaysia in Nilai, Negri Sembilan to Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia
  • Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn in Batu Pahat to Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn

The change of name is because people especially employers have misconceptions about the status of 'university college' (Kolej Universiti) and also to satisfy public requests. The misconceptions among employers possibly make life difficult for graduates from these university colleges to be hired. Actually, those university colleges have the status of 'university college' are due to their specialization in limited disciplines compared to those full-fledged universities. Moreover, the number of undergraduates in a university college is less than 10,000.

Malaysia Students blog contributor, Reign226 who is currently an undergraduate of KUTKM (soon to be Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Malacca) has a good write-up on this. He wrote:
As a result of this, classes in KU [Kolej Universiti] usually have a very desirable teacher:student ratio. In my own class, we only have 18 students, so the teachers are able to devote time for each student. Lecturers also have a comparatively open schedule and can be approached easily as their responsibilities are only towards a small pool of students.

Indeed, the more established KUs are virtually indistinguishable from other universities both in terms of diversity and student population. As my own KU is relatively new, there are some annoying inconveniences that I have to put up with, chiefly the lack of a proper campus for my own faculty.

Personally, I believe most or at least half of the undergraduates in the university colleges did not choose those university colleges when filling in Bahagian Pengurusan Kemasukan Pelajaran (BPKP, which was formerly known as Unit Pusat Universiti, UPU) online registration form. Well, I think the most obvious reason is that most students, when choosing public institutions of higher learning, believe that old is gold (isn’t it? ;-) and hence would choose well-established universities rather than those relatively new university colleges. Furthermore, most local public universities have been well-known for being specialized in certain disciplines while University of Malaya (UM) being the most prestigious university in Malaysia.

Some questions come to my mind as I read this news: Does it mean that by renaming these university colleges to universities, they become full-fledged universities? Can they each support more than 10,000 undergraduates? Once they admit more undergraduates to achieve the full-fledged university status, will lecturer:undergraduate ratio be reasonable? Will teaching materials and resources be sufficient?

Only time will tell. ;-)

Update: Berita Harian Online reported that the official date for the name-change has been postponed to February 1, 2007. Secretary of Ministry of Higher Education, Datuk Dr Zulkefli A Hassan said that it was postponed after considering a few legal processes which need some time to be completed.

Even though these university colleges will be renamed to universities, the courses and degree programmes offered by them will remain the same. Besides that, the enrollment of these soon-to-be universities will be between 10,000 and 15,000 undergraduates, which means no increase compared to their previous enrollments. Meanwhile, the administrative positions like Rektor and Deputy Rektor will be renamed to Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor respectively.


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Thursday, December 14, 2006

SPM – 12 Subjects Maximum

Posted by Chong

Malaysian Examination Syndicate (MES or Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia) has proposed that SPM candidates can take a maximum of 12 subjects as there are many Form Four students indicating to sign up for more than the required seven subjects next year. These students believe that they waste no money even if they do not sit for the additional subjects during the actual SPM examination since the national examination fees will be abolished from 2007 onwards.

The Star Online reported:
A source said that some students had told their teachers that taking more subjects at no additional cost meant they could sit for them without preparing and hope to score if they were lucky.

“Some say they can also skip the papers as nothing will be wasted. They have everything to gain as they just might do well. This is the wrong spirit but we can’t stop them as it is their choice,” a teacher said.
As I read this, I am shocked by this kind of mentality. Do they lose nothing if they take more than usual number of subjects and do not sit for the papers? No, they will lose many things.

  • Time, money and energy – They have to pay for the tuition fees and spend time and energy learning the subjects on their own as the additional subjects will not be taught in their school classes. The timetable of a school class cannot afford these additional subjects since it has already been filled with ten to eleven subjects. If they don’t get an A for the additional subject they choose to take, they will lose a lot of time and money.

    Something I want to point out is that most of the secondary schools offer packages in which contain more than the compulsory seven subjects:
    For instance, for art stream packages:
    • Art (Seni)
    • Geography (Geografi)
    • Account Principle (Prinsip Akaun)
    • Basic Economy (Ekonomi Asas)
    • Business (Pedagangan)
    Most of the science stream packages contain ten or more subjects:
    There are also elective languages such as:
  • Pride, scholarship and other opportunities – Imagine yourself holding your SPM result slip on which shows 11 As and 1 F since you put no effort in learning and preparing for the additional subjects. As a result, you stand very little chance to win the prestigious scholarships like Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) scholarship (also know as PSD scholarship) and Petronas scholarship, to name a few. Most scholarship interviewers and even future employers will question you for the F in your SPM result slip.

    Besides that, you are not eligible for the cash awards offered by certain banks to straight As scorer. Last year, a few hundred ringgits were credited to my bank accounts by Maybank, Eon Finance and Hong Leong Bank for being a SPM straight As scorer. See, you do get paid for studying hard! ;-)

Quoting from the same article:
Besides limiting the number of subjects, sources said the MES has also proposed that students pay for subjects that exceed the maximum number.

“A paper has been submitted to the Education Ministry for it to be discussed by the Cabinet,” said a source.
So, do not worry, you can still sit for more than the 12 subjects if you choose to. However, you have to pay for the additional subject. These proposals if accepted by the Cabinet will affect candidates of SPM 2007 onwards.

The current education system in Malaysia rewards those with higher number of As, contributing to the unhealthy competition among students. Most of those taking additional subjects do so with the hope that they would get more As and thus stand a higher chance to win the scholarships. Some of them have not interest at all in the additional subjects. Hence, they would study and learn the subject blindly.

Personally, I do not agree that the free examinations from next year onwards would not significantly contribute to the higher number of students taking more than 12 subjects in SPM. I, for example, will not take five (usually four) subjects in my STPM next year due to this announcement.

I have not intention to dissuade you from taking more than 12 subjects in your SPM in writing this post. If you do plan to do so, I would advise you to examine the merits and demerits in doing so. After carefully consider your strength and weakness especially in time and pressure management, you should be able to make your best decision. After all, you shape your own future. ;-)


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Tuesday, December 05, 2006

SPM – Iban as New Subject

Posted by Chong

Iban language (Bahasa Iban) which is already a subject in Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination will be introduced as a new elective subject to all form four students next year and form five the following year. Education Ministry has standardised the Iban language, which is presently taught in schools in Sarawak up to form three level, and agreed to make it a subject in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination in 2008. So, pioneers will sit for this subject as the first batch in SPM 2008.

The Star reported:
As of June this year, 9,372 students from Form One to Form Three studied Bahasa Iban in 55 schools, with 165 teachers available.

For Form Four next year, it is estimated that 1,440 students will take the subject in 48 schools under 144 teachers.
A guidebook, called Sistem Jaku Iban Di Sekula (The Standard System of the Iban Language in Schools) and authored by experts and educationists in Iban language, has been produced to aid the ministry to in producing textbooks, teaching material and learning activities for students. Moreover, it would enable Malaysian Examination Syndicate to introduce the Iban language paper for SPM.

Personally, I think that the step of introducing Iban language as the new SPM subject is heading the right direction as more and more Ibans are educated. Malaysia is unique as it consists of people of different races and cultures. We speak Malay (Bahasa Melayu) as our national language and English as the international language. Besides that, some of the us speak and use our own mother tongues such as Mandarin, Tamil, Iban etc in our daily conversation. We practise our own cultures and speak our own native languages yet we are a united nation.

Although languages other than Malay and English such as Chinese, Tamil and Iban are elective subjects in current education programmes and examinations, I urge all non-Malay students to take the respective native languages as a subject and sit for its examination, be it in PMR or SPM. If we do not speak and preserve our own native languages, who should we hope for doing so? I believe one of the essential ways to preserve our native languages is by taking it as a subject and study it in our schools.

I managed to score only a 2A in Chinese language (Bahasa Cina) in my SPM examination last year. The funny thing is that I scored 1A in both my Malay (Bahasa Melayu) and English (Bahasa Inggeris). I even got a 1A for SPM English 1119 (GCE 'O' Level) though my English both spoken and written are not as good as my Chinese. Moreover, I was a Chinese debater and have taken part in a national level debate competition. So message from my true story: it is not easy to score 1A in the elective language subjects.

An experienced teacher once told me that we are actually competing with each others during the examination. It is because Malaysian Examination Syndicate (MES) has set a percentage of subject-takers to get 1A, 2A and other grades. For instance, let say for Chinese language paper, MES has set the top 10 percent of the candidates taking the subject to get 1A, then if you are not in the top 10 percent, you will not get a 1A even if your total marks are above 75 (1A band). This also explains why some candidates can get 1A for a particular subject even if their scores are lower than 75.

I do not know how true this statement is. Any insider would like to shed light on this? The reason I share with you my experience is not to discourage you to take the elective language subjects but to provide the other side of story for you to judge and make your best decision. Nonetheless I do not regret for taking Chinese language in my SPM. Until today, I am very proud of my Chinese primary education and also my exam results in this subject.


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Friday, November 17, 2006

How to Spend Our School Holidays Effectively?

Posted by Chong

Tomorrow will be the first day of our one and a half months school holidays before we return to our schools on the 3rd of January, 2007. Have you planned your school holidays? If not, I hope this guide could help you in planning your school holidays. Here are a few suggestions on spending your school holidays effectively.
  • Preparing for major examinations
  • Travelling – relax and refresh our minds and souls
  • Working as part-timer – gain working experiences
  • Taking courses up or joining a camp – driving lessons, computer classes, writing courses, to improve ourselves; English camp, religious camp to motivate ourselves and meet new friends

Prepare for our major examinations – Those who are going to sit for the major examinations like PMR, SPM and STPM next year should spend the school holidays to prepare for them. Revise all the topics covered in form one and two (for PMR) or form four (for SPM) or lower sixth form (for STPM) besides studying the topics covered in next year syllabuses ahead. A Malaysia Students blog reader suggested that we should always try our best to understand a topic ourselves before it is taught in the classes.
Study the topics far ahead of your teachers' pace. When your teacher comes to the part where you have read and understood, it would be like a revision for you. That way, revision would be made so much easier as you have gone through the information twice without you knowing it or feeling the stress.
Personally, I find this study method very effective and would recommend it to you.

Travel to interesting tourist attractions – Have you burnt yourselves out during the year-end exam weeks recently? Travel locally or abroad will certainly relax and refresh the tired minds and souls. Malaysia has a lot to offer with its rich kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and colours. There are plenty of ideal tourist attractions in Malaysia, ranging from vibrant cities of entertainment to breath-taking national parks to historic landmarks to the golden sandy beaches. Travelling can open our eyes to various things around the world and add memorable experiences to our lives.

Work as a part-timer – I would recommend working as a part-timer to those who have sat for SPM or STPM examination this year. This is because you will have approximately six months before you further your studies to form six or university next year. Since SPM and STPM 2006 examination results will be out on March 2007, you can gain a lot of working experiences and money by working while waiting for the results. The working experiences will be an edge for you, be it in your scholarship interviews or future job applications. Personally, I have had great experiences of working as a waiter in a five-star hotel, a promoter in a supermarket and also as a product promoter during TV3’s Jom Heboh carnival.

Take some courses up or join a camp – There are ample courses or classes specially designated for the students during the school holidays to choose from. For instance, computer classes, English courses, driving courses and extensive tuition classes, you name it. These courses are essential if you want to improve yourselves and learn new skills. Moreover, you may want to join a camp such as English camp and religious camp to motivate yourselves and expand your social circles.

Other suggestions – Do whatever you love to do but have not started it yet. For example, I have created Malaysia Students blog while waiting for my SPM result in March 2006. This blog has not achieved any big achievements yet it is something very meaningful to me and my life. ;-) All contributors of this blog enjoy the spirit of helping others and I hope that you would join us to be the contributors too!

Besides that, you might want to take a gap year off study to learn. This concept is very new to Asian countries including Malaysia. You might be interested to read the good write-up on Gap Years by Tiara on her blog.

I am sure that you have other great suggestions on how to spend our school holidays effectively. So why don’t you share them with us by leaving your comments on this post?


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Thursday, November 09, 2006

Enjoy Our Examinations

Posted by Chong

Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) and Malaysian University English Test (MUET) examinations are just around the corner. Have you prepared yourselves mentally and physically for them? I hope that your answer is a confident yes. This post is not another post on SPM or STPM 2006 tips but serves as a gentle reminder on things you should have done before stepping into the examination hall and during the examination weeks.

First and foremost, you should have revised all the topics covered in your syllabus by now. You will never score well in your examination if you do not read the reference books. I know there are quite a lot of topics in the syllabus to be examined but you should have mastered most if not all topics during your form 4 and 5 for SPM or lower and upper sixth forms for STPM. So, it should not be any problem for you to revise all the topics at least twice or thrice before sitting for the actual examination.

Besides that, go to your school on time. If you are late, you will definitely mess up on your answers. If you drive, drive carefully to your school to avoid any possible road accident. Some candidates choose to return home immediately after the papers in the morning to take a lunch and maybe a refreshing shower at home before going back to the examination hall for the following papers in the afternoon. There are also some candidates choosing to take their lunch at school and do some final revision in the school library. Personally, I would advise you to return to your home to take a shower if your house is not too far from your schools.

Before stepping into the examination hall, make sure you have brought the examination slip, identity card (IC), scientific calculator and essential stationery. If possible, bring two scientific calculators (borrow it from your brother or sister) instead of one because your calculator might run out of electricity during the test. I am not joking or trying to be funny in advising you to bring a spare calculator. Last year, one of the candidates in my school broke his calculator accidentally and luckily he managed to borrow a calculator from his friend.

During the examination, you should utilize the time allocated for each paper. There are many candidates who love to sleep or pass up their answer sheets just after they have finished answering the questions especially the multiple choice questions. I do advise you to redo all the objective questions if you are able to finish answering them early. For subjective questions, you should check for spelling errors. Proofread your essays and make sure that your essays do not contain any first draft slips, spelling and grammatical errors.

In addition, I would advise you not to discuss the questions immediately after you have submitted the papers. It is because you might lose your confidence once you have found out that some of your answers are wrong. Indirectly, this will affect your confidence in answering the following papers. Why busily comparing your answers with your friends’ ones while you can save the time to read through your notes for final preparation before the next paper begins?

Last but not least, sleep well and eat healthily. You have prepared yourselves about two years for the examination and you definitely want to answer the questions at your best performance. As we know, lack of sleep or tired minds will certainly decrease your performance. Keep in mind that most of us will sit for SPM and STPM examination only once in a lifetime, so enjoy the experience!


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Friday, November 03, 2006

On Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM)

Posted by Reign226

Update: Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM) has changed its name to Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM).

First of all I do apologize for an extended hiatus that I have taken. I am currently enrolled in a local public university called Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM), which is a relatively new pubic university in the state of Melaka.

In this post today, it is my hope that I can tackle the stigma associated with being admitted into a local college university, instead of the so called 'full fledged' university that many people have misconceptions about. I also hope that by starting a dialogue, students who are keen to find out more about college universities will now have an avenue in which to voice their enquiries rather than continue ignoring it.

First of all, it is true that I have not chosen this place in any of my eight selections of the BPKP registration procedure. While I sometimes struggle to come to terms with the fact that my friends of similar CGPA is able to study in universities such as USM and UKM, I realized that it was a futile and ultimately dissatisfying way in which to continue my life in tertiary education. Hence as time passes, the circumstances which I have spent time trying to understand eventually turned into something that I derieve pleasure from instead.

What is a college university exactly (Referred hence as KU)? Well, the oldest KU has been around for more than thirty years and have grown to encompass several disciplines of studies. The more notable ones are KUSTEM and KUKUM. Most of my observations are however based on my own KU, KUTKM, which is if I am not mistaken the newest KU, opening in 2001. As such, any deviations of my observations from other KU is sincerely regretted.

The history of my particular KU is that it used to be a faculty that had ties with UTM. In fact, there was another KU that also used to have ties with UTM, which were eventually severed and out of that a new KU was born. I am not sure of the exact nature of the ties, but I am told by my seniors that many of the teaching staff still maintain close relations with UTM.

Nevertheless, as a result of these ties, KUTKM is purely an engineering university. All five faculties award engineering degrees and with the exception of FTMK (the IT faculty), all graduates from KUTKM can legally refer to themselves as engineers. Our universities also have close ties with German engineering Ecole Polytechniques and many of the staff at KUTKM have continued their Masters there. The syllabus is also supposedly created with close scrutiny of the German Ecole's own.

The reason why KUTKM is conferred a university college status is because first and foremost their specialization in only the engineering discipline. The second is that with less than 10,000 students, they cannot refer to themselves as a full fledged university. This is akin to a town, which can only be conferred a full city status upon reaching a certain population.

As a result of this, classes in KU usually have a very desirable teacher:student ratio. In my own class, we only have 18 students, so the teachers are able to devote time for each student. Lecturers also have a comparatively open schedule and can be approached easily as their responsibilities are only towards a small pool of students.

Indeed, the more established KUs are virtually indistinguishable from other universities both in terms of diversity and student population. As my own KU is relatively new, there are some annoying inconveniences that I have to put up with, chiefly the lack of a proper campus for my own faculty.

Recently, the government have announced that the college will probably be dropped from the name of the university, but I feel somewhat ambivalent on this as it would mean removing the distinguishing feature of many KU, which is the specializing of that KU in a particular field (engineering in my own, for example). Nonetheless, it is felt that the removal would allow less stigma to be attached to the name. I personally don't really agree in the significance of names per se, but that's just me.

I hope that you have learnt some things from this article. I plan to write more in the future regarding life in KUTKM, and I am open to any enquiries. Just attach a comment with your questions and I will try my best to get back with you in a timely manner.


► Read more on On Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM)

Monday, October 23, 2006

Scoring SPM Bahasa Melayu – Kertas 2 (Part 2 of 2)

Posted by Chong

In this post, I am going to guide you in answering SPM Bahasa Melayu Paper 2 (Kertas 2) effectively question by question. Before that, I think most of you will face one common problem — running out of time when answering this paper. Why? This is because you may have spended too much time on summary (rumusan) and/or reading comprehension (pemahaman). To overcome this problem, you should do your summary and write your answers for reading comprehension quickly. Go to the next question if you face difficulty in answering a particular question. Do not waste your time thinking for answer that you know you do not know.

Another thing to take note is that your answer for every question except summary and novel should be written in one paragraph only. For instance, answer for reading comprehension should be written as below:
This is the first sentence of your answer. This is the second sentence of your answer. Please take note that you do not have to leave some space before you write your first sentence. This is the fourth sentence of your answer.
Soalan 1: Rumusan – Firstly, you should analyse the question carefully. Let say the question is
Baca petikan di bawah dengan teliti, kemudian buat satu rumusan tentang kesan-kesan pencemaran air dan langkah mengatasinya. Panjang rumusan hendaklah tidak melebihi 120 patah perkataan.
Source: Peperiksaan Percubaan SPM 2006 Sekolah Berasrama Penuh
Punca Kesan LangkahIt is very clear that the summary you are going to write will have kesan-kesan pencemaran air as the isi tersurat while langkah mengatasinya as the isi tersirat. How to write the introductory paragraph (pendahuluan)? You should read the passage thoroughly and quickly to identify (by underlining) all the isi tersurat while looking for the main idea of the passage. Your introductory paragraph (sentence) should contain the main idea of the passage. In this case, the main idea of the passage is the kesan pencemaran air. However, you cannot use the keyword ‘kesan’ because this keyword has been mentioned in the question. Instead, you should use the alternative word for kesan such as implikasi and akibat. Besides that, your introductory sentence should be more specific to get full marks (2 marks). A good introductory sentence in this case is: Petikan membincangkan implikasi pencemaran air kepada semua jenis hidupan di bumi.

For the second paragraph (isi tersurat), you should summarize the points related to akibat daripada pencemaran air in the passage. Do not add your own point of view in writing the isi tersurat. I suggest you to write about six to seven isi tersurat and two to three isi tersirat as long as your summary does not exceed the number of words permitted.Isi Tersurat dan Tersirat This combination of isi tersurat and isi tersirat works well for most of us because we can easily identify the isi tersurat in the passage. The reason I suggest two points for isi tersirat is that you will not get any mark if the point you have written is not included in the marking schema. You should write the isi tersirat in paragraph three. In writing the isi tersirat, you should write your own point of view not mentioned in the passage. In this example, you should write on usaha mengatasinya. Lastly, for the conclusion (kesimpulan), you should always write it in this format:
Kesimpulannya, [semua pihak/pihak apa] harus/patut/perlu bekerjasama untuk mengatasi [masalah yang dibincangkan] supaya/demi [kesan baik].
For this particular example, the conclusion should be written like this:Kesimpulannya, semua pihak mestilah bekerjasama dalam menangani masalah pencemaran air supaya rakyat Malaysia mendapat bekalan air yang selamat.

Soalan 2: Pemahaman – For questions asking the meaning of certain words (rangkai kata), you must not repeat the words being asked in the question in your answer. For instance, you answer to the question ‘Berikan maksud rangkai kata rakus mengejar keuntungan’ must not contain the words rakus, mengejar and keuntungan. An excellent answer for this question would be ‘Rangkai kata ini bermaksud gelojoh mencari faedah’.

For questions asking for your opinion, you should write your own answer not referring to the passage. For this type of questions, the marks allocated for them indicate the number of points you should write in your answer. One mark indicates that your answer should contain one point; two marks indicate your answer should contain two points; the same goes to three marks for three points. However, four marks usually indicate that your answer should contain only two points with elaboration.

For questions referring to the excerpts of the literature text, you should answer what you have learned in form four and five literature. So, a sound mastery of the entire literature syllabus in form four and five will help you to answer question 2(b), 2(c) and 2(d) correctly and quickly. Most of the time, you can forecast the actual SPM questions by analyzing the literature texts in various states’ trial papers. Most of the time, there will be question like ‘Huraikan dua perwatakan Daneng daripada petikan dan satu perwatakan daripada keseluruhan cerpen’. Some of you might now know that if you can spot more than two perwatakan in the petikan, you can actually write the additional perwatakan for perwatakan daripada keseluruhan cerpen. So, you can actually get all the answers by referring to the text given even though the question asks for perwatakan daripada keseluruhan cerpen. Give one example for each perwatakan in your answer. Daneng seorang yang tetap pendiriannya. Sebagai contoh, dia tidak mahu meninggalkan kampung halamannya.

Soalan 3: Pengetahuan dan Kemahiran Bahasa – For bina ayat, you should underline the words given in the questions for the ease of marking by the examiner. For questions 3(c) and 3(d), underline the words which you have changed or corrected in the answers. Question 3 tests your mastery of Malay language, whether you know it or you do not. So, I do not have any great tips to share with you on how to answer this question perfectly.

Soalan 4: Novel – Make sure you have read the original novels before you step into the examination hall. You should have read these novels in your form four and five. In addition to that, you should read and memorize the notes about the literature aspects of the two novels since the question will ask you to make comparison between both of the novels you have read. Give one example to support each point in your answer.

Below, a recap of the main tips of this post:
- Answer the questions quickly or you will run out of time.
- Answers except for summary and novel questions should be written in one paragraph.
Soalan 1: Rumusan – Do not repeat the keywords in the questions.
Soalan 2: Pemahaman – Tips on answering various types of questions.
Soalan 3: Pengetahuan dan Kemahiran Bahasa – Underline where necessary.
Soalan 4: Novel – Read and memorize the notes on the literature aspects of the novels you have read in form four and five.

► Read more on Scoring SPM Bahasa Melayu – Kertas 2 (Part 2 of 2)

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

SPM and STPM 2006 Examination Tips

Posted by Chong

Final Update: SPM and STPM 2007 examination tips are available now.

Help us help others. If you have any SPM or STPM 2006 examination tips or forecasted questions (tip peperiksaan SPM atau STPM 2006, soalan ramalan atau soalan bocor), please share them with us because we believe you can enjoy the spirit of helping others too!

Subscribe to Malaysia Students blog to receive latest tips by email or rss.

Read SPM 2006 Tips and STPM 2006 Tips.

Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) Examination


MRSM's (also known as MARA) SPM 2006 trial papers (kertas soalan percubaan SPM) are available to be downloaded on its website. Please note that answer schemes are not provided on its official website. You may want to check with your teachers if you want them. You can also download the SPM trial papers on this post (http://www.malaysia-students.com/2006/10/spm-and-stpm-2006-examination-tips.html).

Trial Papers
MARA's SPM Trial Papers
Malay (Bahasa Melayu) - Kertas 1, Kertas 2
English (Bahasa Inggeris) - Paper 1, Paper 2
Mathematics (Matematik) - Kertas 1, Kertas 2
History (Sejarah) - Kertas 1, Kertas 2
Islamic Education (Pendidikan Islam) - Kertas 1, Kertas 2
Additional Mathematics (Matematik Tambahan) - Kertas 1, Kertas 2
Chemistry (Kimia) - Kertas 1, Kertas 2, Kertas 3 (English version: Paper 1, Paper 3)
Physics (Fizik) - Kertas 1, Kertas 2, Kertas 3 (English version: Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3)
Biology (Biologi) - Kertas 1, Kertas 2, Kertas 3
Account Principle (Prinsip Perakaunan) - Kertas 1, Kertas 2
English for Science and Technology (EST) - Paper 1, Paper 2

Sekolah Berasrama Penuh's SPM Trial Papers
Malay - Paper 1, Answer Schema | Paper 2, Answer Schema
English - Paper 1, Answer Schema | Paper 2
Mathematics - Paper 1, Answer Schema | Paper 2, Answer Schema
History - Paper 1, Paper 2, Answer Schema
Additional Mathematics - Paper 1, Answer Schema | Paper 2, Answer Schema
Chemistry - Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3, Answer Schema
Physics - Paper 2, Answer Schema
Biology - Paper 1, Answer Schema | Paper 2, Answer Schema | Paper 3, Answer Schema
English for Science and Technology (EST) - Paper 1, Answer Schema | Paper 2, Answer Schema

Perfect Score 2006 Programme
Add Maths - Paper 1, Answer Schema | Paper 2, Answer Schema
Physics - Question Paper, Answer Schema

SPM Trial Papers' Questions Analysis
SPM Malay - Analysis of trial papers' questions for Paper 1 and Paper 2

SPM Examination Tips from Andrew Choo
Credits: All Andrew Choo's SPM examination tips are copied from Joshua Tee's blog.

SPM Malay Paper 2
2b) Cerpen – Annyss Sophiea / Di sisi rinda
2c) Prosa Klasik – Sabor pertaruhan Hang Tuah dan Hang Jehat
2d) Puisi – sajak keindahan yang hilang atau pantun menyerang nasib
4) Novel – Gaya bahasa / latar

SPM Physics
Paper 2
Section A
1. Alat pengukuran dan ralat
2. Gerakan linear, halaju, pecutan dan pita detik
3. Tranformer dan litar eletrik
4. Termometer
5. Pembiasan, pantulan dalam penuh
6. Daya-daya paduan
7. Get-get logik
8. Prinsip Bernoulli

Section B
9. Inersia
10. Gelombang, interferen dan panjang gelombang

Section C
11. Radioaktif dan isotop dan kegunaan radiaoaktif dalam industri
12. Muatan haba tentu dan haba pendam tentu

Paper 3
Section A
1. Prinsip Archemedes
2. Pemanjangan spring dengan hukum Hooke

Section B
3. Hubungan tekanan cecair dengan kedalaman yang berlainan
4. Hubungan jarak objek dengan jarak imej kanta cembung

SPM Chemistry
Paper 2
Section A
1. Tindak balas penyesaran
2. Jadual berkala dengan no atom dan isotop / susunan elektron
3. Hidrokarbon alkena dan alkana
4. Proses Sentuh
5. Tindakbalas kalsium karbonat dengan asid
6. Lemak dan minyak

Section B
1. Proses Haber atau penyulingan Petroleum
2. Penghasilan getah

Section C
1. Mencari formula empirik
2. Proses elektrolisis

Paper 3
1. Takat lebur dan takat didih
2. Sel kimia
3. Eksperimen kereaktifan logam terhadap oksigen

SPM Biology
Paper 2
Section A
1. Struktur dan fungsi sel haiwan
2. Kepekatan larutan
3. Enzim
4. Koordinasi saraf dan kimia
5. Meosis

Section B
1. Respirasi sel
2. Sistem peredaran manusia dan haiwan dan pertahanan badan

Section C
3. Nutrisi tumbuhan
4. Hukum Mendel

Paper 3
1. Variasi
2. Peranan mikroorganisma

SPM Science
Paper 1
1. Tiada
2. Jenis-jenis bahan , aloi, keadaan jirim
3. Otak, kelenjar endokrin, penyalahgunaan dadah
4. Pembahagian sel meosis mitosis, variasi
5. Keradioaktifan dan jenis-jenis sinaran
6. Sel ringkas, fotosintesisi
7. Mata, kamera, pergerakan atau penyebaran cahaya, penambahan dan penolakan warna
8. Aloi, ammonia
9. Jenis-jenis mikroornagisma, pengimunan
10. Perbezaan hidrokarbon tepu dan tak tepu, getah petrokeum
11. Kelas makanan, nialai kalori makanan dan masalah kesihatan
12. Prinsip Archinedes dan Bernouli, satelit dan enjin
13. Rantai makanan, langkah mengawal pencemaran
14. Cara memproses makanan, kitar nitrogen, akta makanan
15. Jenis-jenis plastik
16. Pemancar radio dan satelit

Paper 2
Section A
1. Jadual berkala serta isotop
2. Fungsi neuron dan tindakan refleks
3. Variasi, anak kembar dan penyakit baka dan penentuan seks anak
4. Penapis warna dan penambahan warna

Section B
5. Tindakbalas peneutralan
6. pempolimeran dan pendepolimeran
7. Keadaan yang sesuai untuk pertumbuhan mikroorganisma dan penyakit serta keimunan
8. Pengekstrakan logam dan tindakbalas berkaitan dengan cahaya
9. Momentum dan inersia

Section C
10. Elektrolisis dan kegunaanya
11. Kanta, mata dan alatan optik
12. Tekanan hidrolik / masalah pencemaran

More SPM Examination Tips
Credit: jingyi's blog
SPM Sejarah
Kertas 2
1. Mesir purba / mesopotamia
2. Hindu-buddha
3. Zaman jahiliah / keperibadian nabi muhammad
4. Penentangan kaum quraisy-makkah
5. Teori kedatangan islam
6. Hukum adat tanah melayu / pendidikan awal
7. Zaman gelap / revolusi
8. Nasionalisme
9. Kaum muda
10. Malayan union
11. Pakatan murni
12. Pembentukan malaysia
13. Perlembagaan malaysia
14. Bahasa melayu
15. Rancangan malaysia
16. Perang dunia pertama
17. Pertubuhan antarabangsa

Forum Posts
ReCom.org and Chinese Cari

Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) Examination


STPM Timetable
Plan your revision by referring to the timetable.

STPM Trial Papers
A lot of the trial papers are available on this webpage.

Forum Post
ReCom.org


This post will be updated frequently to include the all the online SPM and STPM 2006 tips found on the Internet.

Last updated on 31 October 2006. Broken links removed.

► Read more on SPM and STPM 2006 Examination Tips

Monday, October 16, 2006

Scoring SPM Bahasa Melayu - Karangan (Part 1 of 2)

Posted by Chong

A reader asked how to score an A in SPM Bahasa Melayu at Malaysia Students Forum. Since I was able to score a 1A in my SPM Bahasa Melayu, I have the responsibility to help other SPM candidates to get an A in this subject too. ;-) For your information, you have to pass SPM Bahasa Melayu to be eligible to continue your studies in form six or local university. Those who don’t pass Bahasa Melayu will sit for SPM July Paper (SPM Kertas Julai) the year after they have had their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.

Firstly, I would like to share the effective tips to score well in Paper 1 (Kertas 1) with you. For section A (bahagian A), you will have to write an essay within 200 to 250 words based on the material (bahan rangsangan) given. You should ensure that the length of your essay is within the suggested length and should not exceed it though I learned from my teacher that candidate can actually write to the maximum of 255 words.
Lihat gambar di bawah dengan teliti. Huraikan pendapat anda tentang usaha-usaha yang perlu dilakukan untuk menangani gejala vandalisme. Panjang huraian anda hendaklah antara 200 hingga 250 patah perkataan.
Source: SPM Bahasa Melayu Kertas 1 (1103/1) November 2005 Bahagian A
One of the questions often asked by the candidates is should candidate write the whole essay on the material given or on the topic given. For instance, in SPM Bahasa Melayu 2005 paper 1, the question for section A is just four pictures showing public property being damaged as the result of vandalism and graffiti. There is a title in bold type read: ‘GEJALA VANDALISME (Vandalism)’. Some candidates worry that they might lose the content marks if they do not write mainly about the material (images).

Actually, candidates do not have to write about the pictures (the wanton damage of public property); instead they should write an essay on the topic Vandalism. They should write about the causes (faktor/punca), effects (kesan) and/or actions (langkah mengatasinya) taken to overcome problem depending on the question. So, for SPM 2005 (referring to the question), candidate should write on the actions (usaha) to be taken to overcome vandalism. However, to play safe, candidate can include a sentence or two describing the pictures given. (Sebagai contoh, telefon awam dirosakkan dan dinding bangunan diconteng dengan bahasa kesat.)

For SPM Bahasa Melayu 2004 paper 1, the question for section A is similar to SPM 2005 in the way the question being asked, in which show four pictures of various pollution as the result of development with the title ‘PEMBANGUNAN DAN ALAM SEKITAR (The Development and the Environment)’ at the centre of the pictures. So, student should not write the whole essay about the pictures. Instead, student should write the essay focussing on the topic the Development and the Environment.

Since section A of paper 1 tests mainly on the Malay language and not the content, your essay should be grammatically correct (ayat gramatis) besides showing wide vocabulary (kosa kata luas) and interesting phrases (fasa menarik). These tips work well for section B (bahagian B) too!
Pilih satu daripada soalan di bawah dan tulis sebuah karangan yang panjangnya lebih daripada 350 patah perkataan.
Source: SPM Bahasa Melayu Kertas 1 (1103/1) November 2005 Bahagian B
In section B, you have to choose one out of five questions provided and write a continuous essay (esei) more than 350 words. Please note that if you prefer writing formatted essay (karangan berformat), you have to write it in correct format to avoid mark deduction. Here is a secret to score well in this section: write a lengthy essay! Why lengthy essay? This is because a piece of lengthy writing gives the examiner an illusion impression that you can write very well.

Personally, I usually wrote my SPM Malay continuous writing more than 700 words (about three pages depending on your handwriting). Of course, your essay should not have too many errors including but not limited to grammar, spelling and word choice errors. If however you tend to make a lot of mistakes in your writing, I would advise you to write an essay about 500 words. (more than two pages depending on your handwriting). The trick is to write your words in big text size and ensure that there are not more than ten words in each line. In addition, use some relevant idioms in your writing. Some of the common Malay idioms which you should have mastered include but not limited to bulat air kerana pembetung, bulat manusia kerana muafakat; melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya; biar mati anak, jangan mati adat and berat sama dipikul, ringan sama dijinjing.

Some questions in section B are open questions which mean that you can write about the causes (faktor/punca), effects (kesan) and/or actions (langkah mengatasinya) taken to overcome a particular problem. For instance in SPM 2005, some questions have the keywords ‘ulas pernyataan di atas’ and ‘berikan komen anda tentang pernyataan tersebut’. Meanwhile, some other questions have limited the scope of your essay. You can easily identify this type of questions by looking for the keywords like ‘berikan pendapat anda tentang peranan keluarga dalam pembentukan sahsiah anak-anak’ and ‘tulis rencana tentang usaha-usaha yang perlu dilakukan oleh pihak berkenaan bagi meningkatkan mutu sukan negara’.

For your information, the fifth question is always a literature-type question (soalan berbentuk sastera). Most of the time, the question will ask the candidates to write a short stories (cerpen) based on a theme or idiom (peribahasa) given. Choose this type of question only if you have a sound mastery of Malay language. Generally, art stream students prefer this type of question more than science stream students.

To increase the use of textbook in classroom, our government via Malaysian Examination Council (Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia) has decided to limit the scope of some SPM essay questions to the SPM syllabus since 2004. Hence you can actually spot the essay questions by excluding the past years’ topics. Besides that, you can analyse the trial papers’ (kertas soalan percubaan) essay questions. Here I show you a real instance where the trial question was similar to the real SPM question. Last year, the fifth essay question (tulis cerpen berdasarkan peribahasa ‘bulat air kerana pembetung, bulat manusia kerana muafakat’) in the real SPM examination was identical with Terengganu second BM trial paper’s fifth question. Was it a question leak (soalan bocor) or just a coincidence? There are a lot more real cases in other subjects too!

Below, a recap of the main tips of this post:
Essays should be grammatically correct (ayat gramatis) besides showing wide vocabulary (kosa kata luas) and interesting phrases (fasa menarik).
Section A
  • Ensure that the length of your essay is within the suggested length.
  • Do not write about the pictures. Instead, write an essay on the topic given.

Section B
  • Write lengthy essay about 700 words.
  • Use some relevant idioms in your writing.
  • Analyse the topics covered in your form four and five textbooks, past years’ questions and trial papers.

I will post the second part: SPM Bahasa Melayu – Pemahaman some time this week because I am now busily preparing myself for my year-end examination. You are nevertheless welcome to add your own tips or ask a related question by commenting on this post.


► Read more on Scoring SPM Bahasa Melayu - Karangan (Part 1 of 2)

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

KUOK Foundation Undergraduate Awards Part II

Posted by BooNBoX

Yeah, this is the second part (read KUOK Foundation Undergraduate Awards Part I) and it will be about my experience since I stepped out from STPM. After my STPM examination, I was having fun all the time. Yeah, fun as in I enjoyed the life while working part-time and doing research for my future. I know it was kind of late to do research that time but at least I did it. And it was a long story before I ended up with KUOK’s financial assistance to enable my studies in Singapore.

I applied a lot of scholarship applications, and looking through almost every possibilities that I can further with my STPM certificate that I would get later in March 2006. To make dreams wonderful, I even stepped out from my box to look beyond to overseas studies though it was not possible in the sense of financial status. I remember I had no intention to study in Singapore before that. I just wanted to apply to every university that was possible as one option for my future path. So I sent my application to Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS) in Singapore. I will describe more on the Singapore studies in my next post concentrating on these topics.

Then it was the “gan zheong” time (nervous as in cantonese) when the results released. After celebration (for other people… lol) life returned back to normal and I continued with my research on scholarships and etc. Then it was my aunt that passed me the advertisement from the newspaper (SIN CHEW JIT POH if not mistaken and I believe KUOK Foundation will publish in English and Chinese major newspaper) and it was KUOK Foundation. So I sent my results slip to request for the application form. At this stage they will filter the applications as you need to achieve some expectation before you can even get the form!!

I got the application form a few days later and I started to fill in the details. The closing date will be very soon as it would be 2-4 weeks after the release of STPM results. At that moment I still skeptical of filling in my first choice of university but somehow I ended with NTU but I did attach another list of courses of NUS and local IPTA that I had registered, just as a back-up. After getting all those documents done I sent it back and pray.

So while waiting for the annoucement of the second round, I had my SAT II and tried to involve in some activities to stronger my portfolio. One more thing, KUOK is very strict in the process as they would call any family members or the referees you’ve provided to confirm thedata you’ve filled in the application form. My mother even scolded me because she was so afraid that anything she answered would affect the outcome. It was around early of June that I received a letter from KUOK asking me to attend for the interview. I was so touched! Why? It has been a long story. Since my ‘perfect’ results in my SPM, I was heart-broken after being turned down by EVERY scholarship application (JPA, Petronas etc..) and I did not even get the chance for interview. Somehow KUOK asked me for this interview and I really appreciated that. I knew I need to do the best to earn this. This was the first chance I got and maybe the only and so I would not give up so easily. Honestly I was a little bit relieved because I believed what I did during this long holiday would somehow made my application appearred stronger to the interviewers.

The interview was held at Kuala Lumpur city centre’s golden traingle area, near Bukit Bintang to be exactly. When I reached Wisma Jerneh at almost 1050H, my father said that he would like to accompany me into the office. Aha! Couldn’t deny that it would certainly add some pressure to me. My heart was pumping in acceleration. After showing my ID and original certificates. I sat down with my father and wait for the call. There were only two older man sitting there and I believed that they were accompanying other candidate. While waiting for the interview, I was so afraid as this was my first interview. I was so fresh in this kind of function. I did not know what they would ask. Whatever… You wouldn’t want to put your feet into my shoes at that moment. I knew it was useless to sweat and I still managed to get the names of the interviewers from the receptionist. She smiled at me as to comfort me (or really smiling caused I was so freaked out). Then it was then the moment I heard my name being called.

“DO NOT PANIC! DO NOT PANIC!!” I kept on repeating to myself. I saw an old gentleman and a lovely lady and I greeted them with the names I got before. This is the game of impressing. It depends on how much you could impress them. I tried to figure which style to answer to their questions. Serious? Or with some humor? I realised that I did not have the time hence I just stick being myself. I forgot what have they asked my for the first few questions but I remembered that I was freaked out that I stucked in the mid way. The interviewers were very nice as they realised my nerves and so asked me to relax. I explained that this was my first interview and taking opportunity to thank them and KUOK for giving a chance. So I apologized, took a deep breathe, adjusted my seat, cleared my throat and asked permission to speak again. It was smooth afterwards.

The whole interview, they asked more on WHY YOU CHOOSE THIS COURSE? WHAT IS YOUR FUTURE PROSPECT AFTER PURSUING IN THIS COURSE? WHAT IS THE FIELD OF THE COURSE ABOUT? They would ask about your family financial status. WHY PURSUING IN SINGAPORE? WHAT WOULD YOU DO SINCE THE MONEY FROM KUOK IS NOT ENOUGH TO COVER EVERYTHING?? etc… I almost forgot all the scientific terms but I still managed to threw some simple examples to show impression. I even grabbed the chance to show them what had I done during the holiday to update myself. Talking about my experience working in legal firm, being an internet DJ and showed my article that got published in The Star as a young journalist member in The Star family.

After around 30 minutes, it was all over. I knew I had done a good job though it could be better. However I was so happy when the interviewers asked the clerk to photostat my published article as their reference. Then it was another wait for 1 month plus… when I decided to come to NTU for my bachelor. Studying in Singapore is not that difficult. I brought SGD1,600 as my starting fees and others were all loan. The second day during my orientation camp I received an sms from my family that I got the half-grant half-loan award I was so happy that I jumped around in the crowd. Getting KUOK’s fund means lessen your burden as you won’t need to take large loan to study in Singapore.

After all the legal stuff and finally I received the first instalment. I am glad and grateful that I got this award. (my mom too! She was so worried that I would die of hunger in Singapore if KUOK has not approved the fund) .


► Read more on KUOK Foundation Undergraduate Awards Part II

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Hepatitis B Vaccination for Lower Sixth Formers

Posted by Chong

Hepatitis B Vaccination for Teenagers Programme is a special programme launched by Malaysian Ministry of Health for teenagers who were born before 1989. Our government has started immunizing all the babies born in 1989 onwards with Hepatitis B vaccination in order to protect them from Hepatitis B. So, babies born before 1989 including me have no Hepatitis B immunization in our bodies, except those who have inoculated through clinic with a pay of more than RM100.

For your general knowledge, hepatitis is a disease of the liver that causes fever and makes your skin yellow. There are several types of hepatitis: Hepatitis A, which is less severe, and Hepatitis B and C which are much more serious. Realising the fatality of this deadly disease, Malaysian government through the Ministry of Health has decided to extend the vaccination to the teenagers born before 1989 for free.

So, all lower sixth formers will take 3 doses of Hepatitis B vaccine through 3 injections. By the way, I was just injected for my first dose and the second injection is scheduled next month (October 2006). The last or the third dose is scheduled in February 2007. I think we are very lucky to have this vaccination for free. Besides, we have the opportunities to experience the long-forgotten pain during the injection again. Just kidding :P Actually, I did not feel any pain during the injection, maybe my eyes (and mind) were too busy looking my friend who was sitting in front of me to be injected. Suddenly, the nurse beside me told me that I was injected. I could not believe it; the injection was so fast and painless that I thought I was not injected!

Anyway, let me end this post with some information I have gathered from the Hepatitis B Vaccination for Teenagers Programme leaflet.
How does Hepatitis B spread?
  • Touch of the infected one’s blood
  • Blood transfusion or haemodialysis
  • Sharing of needle, razor, earring, toothbrush with the infected one
  • Tattooing, acupuncture and ear piercing
  • Perinatal – from woman to her baby during the time of birth of the baby
  • Sexual intercourse

Hepatitis B does not spread through
  • Physical connection such as hugging or hand-holding
  • Food prepared by the infected one
  • Cheek- or lip-kissing
  • Cough or sneeze


► Read more on Hepatitis B Vaccination for Lower Sixth Formers

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

STPM Mathematics T, Mathematics S and Further Mathematics Syllabuses

Posted by Chong

Please take note that the first eight topics (Paper 1) of Maths T and Maths S are the same. Besides, Maths T and Maths S are mutually exclusive. In other words, a STPM candidate cannot take both subjects at the same time. Maths T is taken by most science stream stuedents whereas Maths S is taken by some art stream students. Meanwhile, Further Maths is taken as the optional fifth subject by some science stream students.

STPM Mathematics T (also known as Pure Mathematics) Syllabus
  1. Numbers and Sets
    Real numbers
    Exponents and logarithms
    Complex numbers
    Sets

  2. Polynomials
    Polynomials
    Equations and inequalities
    Partial fractions

  3. Sequences and Series
    Sequences
    Series
    Binomial expansions

  4. Matrices
    Matrices
    Inverse matrices
    System of linear equations

  5. Coordinate Geometry
    Cartesian coordinates in a plane
    Straight lines
    Curves

  6. Functions
    Functions and graphs
    Composite functions
    Inverse functions
    Limit and continuity of a function

  7. Differentiation
    Derivative of a function
    Rules for differentiation
    Derivative of a function defined implicitly or parametrically
    Applications of differentiation

  8. Integration
    Integral of a function
    Integration techniques
    Definite integrals
    Applications of integration

  9. Differential Equations
    Differential equations
    First order differential equations with separable variables
    First order homogeneous differential equations

  10. Trigonometry
    Solution of a triangle
    Trigonometric formulae
    Trigonometric equations and inequalities

  11. Deductive Geometry
    Axioms
    Polygons
    Circles

  12. Vectors
    Vectors
    Applications of vectors

  13. Data Description
    Representation of data
    Measures of location
    Measures of dispersion

  14. Probability
    Techniques of counting
    Events and probabilities
    Mutually exclusive events
    Independent and conditional events

  15. Discrete Probability Distributions
    Discrete random variables
    Mathematical expectation
    The binomial distribution
    The Poisson distribution

  16. Continuous Probability Distributions
    Continuous random variable
    Probability density function
    Mathematical expectation
    The normal distribution

STPM Mathematics S (also known as Statistical Mathematics) Syllabus
  1. Numbers and Sets
    Real numbers
    Exponents and logarithms
    Complex numbers
    Sets

  2. Polynomials
    Polynomials
    Equations and inequalities
    Partial fractions

  3. Sequences and Series
    Sequences
    Series
    Binomial expansions

  4. Matrices
    Matrices
    Inverse matrices
    System of linear equations

  5. Coordinate Geometry
    Cartesian coordinates in a plane
    Straight lines
    Curves

  6. Functions
    Functions and graphs
    Composite functions
    Inverse functions
    Limit and continuity of a function

  7. Differentiation
    Derivative of a function
    Rules for differentiation
    Derivative of a function defined implicitly or parametrically
    Applications of differentiation

  8. Integration
    Integral of a function
    Integration techniques
    Definite integrals
    Applications of integration

  9. Linear Programming

  10. Network Planning

  11. Data Description

  12. Probability

  13. Probability Distributions

  14. Sampling and Estimation

  15. Correlation and Regression

  16. Time Series and Index Number


STPM Further Mathematics Syllabus (thanks to Ru7h)
Note: 13 - 16 are statistic topics
  1. Logic and Proof

  2. Complex Numbers
    Polar form
    de Moivre's theorem
    Equations

  3. Matrices
    Row & Columns operations
    System of linear equations
    eigenvalues & eigenvectors

  4. Recurrence Relations
    Recurrence relations
    Homogeneous linear recurrence relations
    Non-homogenous linear recurrence relations

  5. Functions
    Inverse trigonometric functions
    Hyperbolic functions
    Inverse hyperbolic functions

  6. Differentiation and Integration

  7. Power Series
    Taylor Polynomials
    Taylor Series

  8. Differential Equations

  9. Number Theory
    Divisibility
    Modular Arithmetic

  10. Graph Theory
    Graphs
    Paths & Cycles
    Matrix Representations

  11. Transformation Geometry
    Transformation
    Matrix Representations

  12. Coordinate Geometry
    Three-Dimensional vectors
    Straight Lines
    Planes

  13. Sampling and Estimation
    Random samples
    Sampling Distributions
    Point Estimates
    Interval Estimates

  14. Hypothesis Testing
    Hypotheses
    Critical Regions
    Tests of Significance

  15. χ² Tests
    χ² distributions
    Tests for goodness of fit
    Tests for Independence

  16. Correlation and Regression
    Scatter Diagrams
    Pearson correlation coefficient
    Linear Regression Lines
Update: Subtopics are included.


► Read more on STPM Mathematics T, Mathematics S and Further Mathematics Syllabuses

Saturday, September 02, 2006

National Examination Fees Abolished from 2007 onwards

Posted by Chong

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that the fees of national examinations including Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR), Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR), Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or its equivalent and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) will be abolished from next year. PM brought this good news in his Budget 2007 announcement yesterday.
National Examination Fees
UPSR RM 5.00
PMR RM 20.00
SPM RM 126.00 – RM 141.00
STPM RM 205.00 – RM 220.00
- Nanyang Siang Pau, 2 September 2006

The waiving of national examination fees is indeed a great relief for most parents. I still remember in the early months last year, my parents spent a lot of money for my education expenses such as my SPM fee, tuition fees (including annual registration and photostat fees), school fees, etc. Bear in mind that Chinese New Year was in early 2005 too! It would be a difficult time if you come from low-income family like me.

Next year, I will benefit from this budget since I do not have to pay the expensive STPM examination fees. However, I wonder whether Malaysian University English Test (MUET) fee is abolished too? For your information, MUET fee was RM50 last year and is increased to RM60 this year. MUET is one of the national examinations (test to be accurate) and logically its fee is to be waived supposedly. I can only verify this when I register for the test early next year.

Another noteworthy announcement is that scholarships will be awarded to all students from families earning RM1500 or less a month and who score ten 1As and above in the SPM examination. So, if you are taking SPM examination this year, which will commence on 14 November 2006 (SPM Prinsip Akaun), please put your best effort into scoring straight 1As in your SPM.


► Read more on National Examination Fees Abolished from 2007 onwards

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

STPM Practical Biology – Assessment and Summary of Experiments

Posted by Chong

Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to Ru7h for sharing the assessment and summary of experiments of STPM Practical Biology with Malaysia Students’ readers. Thank you. ;-)

The Assessment of Biology Practical Work Report
Aspects to be assessed by the teacher are as follows:
*m = marks

Microscope and Slide
1. Skills in handling microscope and displaying specimens [10 m – Skill A]
2. Product (drawing/accuracy, labels, scale and identification) [10 m – Product B]

Biochemistry and Physiology
1. Preparation of materials, procedures, including preparation of solution and experimental substances [2 m – Skill A]
2. Manipulative skill [4 m – Skill A]
3. Planning and execution (structuring, planning and managing, neatness, efficiency, observation and following instructions) [6 m – Skill A]
4. Product (observation and drawing) [8 m – Product B]

Dissection
i. Flower
1. Manipulative skills (cutting flower into two equal halves) [10 m – Skill A]
2. Product (observation and drawing) [10 m – Product B]

ii. Animal (one of 5 systems)
1. Ability to follow instructions on how to dissect and display system [6 m – Skill A]
2. Accuracy and completeness of display [6 m – Skill A]
3. Neatness [2 m – Product B]
4. Product (drawing, labels and scale) [6 m – Product B]

Collection of insect and plant specimens, and ecological projects
i. Collection of the insect and plant specimens
1. Achieving target (number and accuracy of identification) [4 m – Product B]
2. Quality of specimen and preservation [6 m – Product B]
3. Presentation [6 m – Product B]
4. Diversity (family and order) [4 m – Product B]

ii. Ecology
1. Project planning [4 m – Product B]
2. Collecting data and keeping records [8 m – Product B]
3. Product (through assessment of report) [8 m – Product B]
  • Data, presentation, analysis, and others
  • Summary
  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Overall quality of report

Summary of Experiment of STPM Practical Biology
Read the table of summary of experiments.


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Thursday, August 24, 2006

Just a short introduction

Posted by TyplotioN

Lolx! Ok i don't usually write this kind of introduction stuff,but i guess it's a MUST here,so i'll try my best to be serious,okay?

What do you call that..? I mean the position, contributor right? Yes i am the new contributor here for Malaysian Students (is it Malaysian student? or Malaysia student? Cupid9, correct me if i'm wrong =P) I ain't gonna reveal must about my name here but you can call me TyplotioN, that's what people usually address me in my very own cyberspace.

Ok, i'll start =p I live in Selangor but i'm currently stuck in Melbourne,the most livable city in the world in Australia,which myself don't really think so =P. I'm currently doing Bachelor of Commerce in The University of Melbourne, the top ranking uni in Australia and 19th on the world, i personally doesn't think so too =PpP

Ok, enought of stories, i guess most of you would ask me what can i share with you all? Despite that after SPM i did not continue my studies in government school anymore, i spent about 1 year of foundation studies and 1 year of uni in a private college in Malaysia before i move on to Melbourne. So what can i share? Well unlike other contributor, i might only able to share my thoughts and experiences about the private college in Malaysia and some uni and course in Australia. Feel free to ask me anything about the non-government side of the education related question, i will try my best to answer you all.

One more thing, I'm not a native English speak, so please bare with my post which might contain tons of grammatical error or typo. Please don't hesitate to speak out and correct me if can. You know...typical chinese educated student lah!

Yeap, i'm a regular blogger since year 2004 and i do maintain a blog, do check it out but don't expect it as informative as Malaysia Students =P Cheers.


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Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Kuok Foundation Undergraduate Awards

Posted by BooNBoX

KUOK Foundation is one of the option for all students who are pursuing tertiary education and facing financial difficulties. The best thing about this award is that you can take up part-loan part-grant award and start to pay back half amount of the loan only after you graduate from the tertiary institution.

The other very good thing is that the loan is interest-free !! I'll describe the type of award offered by KUOK Foundation...

KUOK Foundation Berhad is one of the charity company subsidised by KUOK organisation, by a Malaysian Tycoon Robert Kuok (known as Sugar King of Malaysia). Every year this company helped a lot of Malaysians fulfiled their dreams of pursuing higher education without financial problem. The above awards are not scholarships but are financial assistance given to needy students in the form of interest-free study loans or part-loan, part-grant study awards. Study loans are repayable by monthly instalments upon graduation. The type of award to be offered to any one student will be decided at the absolute discretion of the Foundation.

Basically KUOK Foundation helps students from various backgrounds but concentrate more to those facing financial difficulties. The other rule from KUOK Foundation is that the student MUST BE ACCEPTED into one of the local public tertiary institutions, IPTA (or other higher institutions, IPTS as listed by KUOK Foundation) OR accepted into a SINGAPORE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY (National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University or Singapore Management University).

The loan is upto RM9,000 per annum for the whole course period for students from Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Science related etc courses while students doing Arts bachelor wil get upto RM8,000 per annum while for students in Singapore, only Medicine and Dentistry students may take the loan upto RM28,000 per annum while all other students may take loan upto RM20,000 per annum. To ease your eye-soreness, I've put the figures into the following table :-

Kuok Foundation Undergraduate Awards
*The above loan amount is PER ANNUM. The award will include the WHOLE DURATION OF YOUR COURSE with some regulations such as meeting minimum academic requirement to continue the award every year.


Conditions for Application

- Only Malaysian citizens are eligible to apply
- Applicants should possess good academic qualifications and should be active in school
- Kuok Foundation Undergraduate Awards are for needy students only
- Only undergraduates / prospective undergraduates reading for a first degree are eligible to apply.



Procedure for Application / Work Flow

Kuok Foundation Undergraduate Awards Work Flow


You are welcome to ask any questions !! By the way I am waiting for their money ... kinda poor in Singapore now ... lol

Read Kuok Foundation Undergraduate Awards Part II


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Monday, August 21, 2006

Summary of Experiments of STPM Practical Physics

Posted by Chong

Update: To ease your eye-soreness, please visit this webpage instead of reading this post.

The summary of experiments for STPM Practical Physics below is written in the following format:
[Experiment number] – [Topic] - [Purpose] ([Mode of working], [Completion of practical report])

1* - Physical Quantities and Units - To determine the density of a substance (Individual, In the lab)
2 – Kinematics and Dynamics - To verify the principle of conservation of linear momentum (In pairs, At home)
3* - Rotational Motion of a Rigid Body – To determine the moment of inertia of a flywheel (In pairs/Stationed, In the lab)
4* - Statics – To determine the coefficient of static friction between two surfaces (Individual, At home)
5* - Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM) – To determine the acceleration due to gravity using a simple pendulum (Individual, In the lab)
6 – Oscillation – To study the damped oscillation of a spring-mass system in the air (In pairs, At home)
7* - Stationary Waves – To study stationary waves in a string (In pairs/Stationed, In the lab)
8* - Sound Waves – To determine the velocity of sound using a resonance tube (Stationed/In groups of 5, At home)
9* - Deformation of Solids – To determine Young’s modulus by cantilever method (Individual, In the lab)
10 – Kinetic Theory of Gases – To verify Charles’ law using the air column trapped in a capillary tube (Individual, At home)
11* - Thermal Conduction – To determine the thermal conductivity of glass (In groups of 5, At home)
12* - Capacitors – To determine the time constant and the capacitance of capacitors in R-C circuit (In pairs, In the lab)
13 – Electric Current – To study Ohm’s law and to determine the total resistance of resistors in series and parallel (Individual, In the lab)
14* - Wheatstone Bridge – To determine the resistivity of the material of a wire using a Wheatstone bridge (Individual, In the lab)
15* - Potentiometer – To determine the internal resistance of a cell using a potentiometer (Individual, In the lab)
16* - Magnetic Fields – To study the behaviour of a bar magnet in varying magnetic fields and to estimate the horizontal component of the Earth’s magnetic field (Individual, In the lab)
17* - Electronics – To understand the characteristics of an operational amplifier by measuring voltage gains and bandwidths (Stationed/In groups of 5, At home)
18 – Geometrical Optics – To study the magnification of real image by a convex lens (Individual, In the lab)
19* - Geometrical Optics – To determine the refractive index of a glass using a concave mirror (Individual, At home)
20* - Physical Optics – To study the diffraction pattern formed by a diffraction grating and to determine the wavelength of a laser beam (Stationed/In groups of 5, At home)

* Compulsory experiments to be carried out for assessment

Note: Each of the experiments listed above, is allocated a duration of 1 hour and 20 minutes. For the experiments of which the reports are to be completed in the laboratory, the duration should not exceed an hour.

Source: STPM Practical Physics Paper 960/3 Student’s Manual Session 2006/2007 © Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia 2006/2007

If you have the summary of experiments for STPM Practical Chemistry and/or Biology, please share them with us.

Update: A reader just sent us the assessment and summary of experiments of STPM Practical Biology.


► Read more on Summary of Experiments of STPM Practical Physics

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