Sasbadi, RM39.90, ISBN 978-983-77-3864-5
Education, 2024

The Chemistry paper of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM, the Malaysian equivalent to the IGCSE in the UK) is unique in that, in light of all the Kemahiran Berfikir Aras Tinggi (KBAT, High Order Thinking Skills or HOTS in English) elements in the recent papers, for this paper it’s mostly just business as usual.

You see, KBAT elements involve questions that make the candidates analyze, make deductions, come up with concepts and explanations, and solve more complex problems.

Well, the thing about Chemistry is that even before KBAT is officialized as a must-have component in Malaysian school examinations, candidates taking Chemistry papers have always been required to analyze results of certain experiments to identify the substances involved, deduce the molecular structures of these components, explain the reactions involved, and so forth. It’s a subject that KBAT’ed before KBAT is officially a thing, in other words!

That doesn’t mean that there are zero changes from the old days. Occasionally, out pop some questions that require candidates to think of the big picture, apply what they know to real life situations not described in their textbooks, and so forth.

One would more likely encounter these questions in the structured question part of Paper 2, however, so this is another way the SPM Chemistry can be unique: for once, the KBAT questions in the structured question section can be scarier than the ones in the essay section.

Fortunately, very tricky KBAT-based structured questions are fairly rare in the last few years, and even when they do pop up, they typically carry “only” two to five marks each, so it may not be total decimation if the candidate flubs one or two.

Authors

Yeap Tok Kheng and Salida Sani have been authoring Chemistry reference books as well as workbooks for ages, while Fazilah Hamzah is a Guru Cemerlang, speaker for SPM as well as IGCSE Chemistry, and author.

Design

Like all other Masterclass SPM books, the design is impeccable, very impressive to a degree that I have never seen before in SPM reference books from other publishers.

The use of colors aside, this book is much wider than normal. This is because every page comes with a 6.5 cm-wide colored side bar that is used for annotations as well as a box for one to put in the date when they revised a certain chapter.

This side bar is fantastic because there is more than enough space to put in one’s own notes. In this case, one can write in new words one has learned and their meanings, advice and tips from elsewhere, URLs, and other details to make this the one-stop reference book for one’s revision needs.

The fact that one can jot down notes also makes this book the perfect vehicle for active learning, which research has found to be far more effective than just passive reading. With plenty of space to add in notes, illustrations, and even small mind maps, this book is designed for this very purpose, so much kudos to the people that did the design and layout.

Content

For the most part, the reference text is pretty standard, perhaps too standard in that it doesn’t veer too far from the textbook.

This isn’t a bad thing, as it’s certainly good enough to help candidates master the fundamentals, especially with colors, diagrams and QR codes to sources of additional information thrown in. I’m not sure how helpful the audio notes can be when one doesn’t get to see the illustrations and diagrams when purely listening, but I guess it’s still something.

I also like how, during the parts when they show how certain calculations are done, there are annotations that offer practical tips or explanations as to why this step is taken or why that step is taken. This really helps in helping one understand why things are the way they are.

I have two main issues with the content.

• The images are on the small side. While this may not seem a big deal, the candidate may be required to design an experiment in the essay part of Paper 2, especially the compulsory one, so having a large image with clear labels can be helpful to deal with such questions.
• The language. There are many sentences that are awkwardly phrased or structured. Perhaps it sounds better in the original Bahasa Melayu version, but there are parts in this reference book that feel like it’d been translated using Google Translate without any human eye proofreading the result. This may seem like a small deal, but it could affect especially weaker candidates’ ability to grasp a concept more easily.

Also, I have to laugh when I come across some really ridiculous sentences, such as this one on page 292:

The abuse of alcohol can also cause social problems such as fighting, arguing, robbing and stealing.

Arguing is a social problem? Seriously?

Is the KBAT Stuff Good?

There are some KBAT questions here and there in some, not all, chapters, but for the most part, they can be anticlimactic.

For example, on page 136, it asks:

Why are bee stings are treated with alkaline substance such as baking powder while wasp stings are treated with acidic substances such as vinegar?

Never mind the bad grammar (I did say the English in this book can be awkward), the question is an interesting one, so let’s see what the answer is.

Bee stings are acidic, while wasp stings are alkaline.

That’s it? No information on what neutralizes what, why bee stings are acidic in the first place while wasp stings are alkaline, et cetera? Is this a KBAT thing or a question asking candidates to state the obvious?

It is probably a good thing that the SPM Chemistry paper only occasionally strays far out of the textbook realm for the KBAT elements, because this reference book stays comfortably within that realm.

Now, some candidates are frighteningly intelligent, and they can easily analyze KBAT questions, no matter how far out they may appear to be, at a glance and get them right. The average student may need some tips and guidance, at least on how to adopt the mindset to approach these questions.

Well, I took a look at some of the trickier KBAT questions that popped up in the real SPM Chemistry paper in the last 5 years, and no, this book won’t help candidates “get” those questions. Much of the reference text is still focused on treating each section in a chapter like a silo, instead of helping the candidate put everything together to get the big picture.

It also doesn’t help that the practice questions feel very old school, the so-called KBAT questions don’t fully capturing the style and format of the present-day ones in the real SPM Chemistry paper.

Conclusion

• Presentation and design are solid, although the images could be bigger and clearer.
• This book can be useful in helping candidates get the fundamentals. It even offers some tricks and tips not found in other SPM Chemistry reference books.
• However, its coverage of KBAT is on the weak side. Candidates that rely on this book as their main reference material will likely encounter some nasty surprises on the real exam day!
• Fortunately, the trickiest KBAT questions—that test one’s knowledge of real-world applications or to compare various chemical processes that produce the same compound and justify which one is the most preferable in the candidate’s opinion— in the real paper tend to be “cheap”, carrying three to five marks each.
• If the candidate wished not to lose marks unnecessarily to nasty surprises that they can’t fully answer, and they are Team Sasbadi for whatever reason, then they should consider getting some practice workbooks that have more up-to-date KBAT questions as well as their hands on actual past year SPM Chemistry papers (the latter is something every candidate should do anyway).
• This book will help one get the fundamentals, but that’s about it.

Those people at Sasbadi should really consider redoing their SPM reference books instead of just reprinting the same thing every year with a new cover or design, as the text and especially the practice questions are showing their age. If they still want to remain a powerhouse when it comes to Malaysian educational books, they have to step up their game.