Alam Bimbingan Cikgu Tan, RM22.00, ISBN 978-967-19392-3-9
Education, 2025

Sains Rumah Tangga or Home Economics is a strange subject for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.

Sure, it has the usual home economics subject like how to run a household without getting into a messy divorce, but it then introduces a slew of topics that are tenuously linked together: you learn to sew a blouse or vest while memorizing different types of fabrics and their uses, profile people to an unnecessarily detailed degree based on some superficial descriptions, learn basic facts about the human digestive system, do meal planning, and finally, how to start a business.

By the time Form 5 rolls in, the people designing the syllabus seems to have forgotten the “home” part of the subject name, as it then makes the candidates learn about workplace safety in the F&B and hospitality industry as well as how to prepare local and Western dishes.

Unlike the other “ikthisas” elective subjects, where at least Pertanian (Agriculture) and Asas Kelestarian (Fundamentals of Sustainability) have a clear focus, Sains Rumah Tangga seems to suffer from multiple personalities. Are they training candidates to be a domestic engineer, chef, tailor, or something else? The subject feels a lot like a Frankenstein’s monster made from bits and pieces of pure vocational subjects like a consolation prize for students that fail to enter a vocational college.

Still, I’m curious about the subject so I pick up this book to see what the subject is truly about. Since the actual SPM Sains Rumah Tangga paper is a closed one, I’m also curious about what the exam is like and hopefully, this book will provide some answers.

Authors

There are countless advisors and authors on top of two editors credited here. I have no idea who they are, but I suppose they know the subject and the exam very well.

Design

This is where I go “Hmm…”

Firstly, I don’t know what the exact title of this book is, believe it or not. The cover and the first page have a long confusing jumble of words for the title, while the spine has a different variation of the title. I pick Modul SMA+ Sains Rumah Tangga because it shows up in both the copyright page and the back cover, so majority wins.

If I get the title wrong, don’t blame me as I wasn’t the person that couldn’t make up my mind what this book should be called!

Each section within a chapter is prefaced by some very basic notes that will only be useful if one needs a quick review of the basic facts. Indeed, you won’t find within the notes a big number of answers to the mock SPM exam questions in this very book — that is how basic the notes are.

Also, the font sizes of the notes are much smaller than the rest of the book, no doubt to save space and page count, and it makes the book look messy.

Oh, and the answers to the questions here can only be obtained by scanning a QR code, which is always a hassle. I’m sure the answers are not in the book to cut down on printing cost, but I feel that the notes could have been cut altogether to make space for either more questions or the answers being printed in the book itself.

The Content

There are two editors credited here, but my goodness, the number of spelling mistakes and missing words is pretty surprising.

Furthermore, some of the questions could have been worded better. On page 92, for example, they ask the candidate to identify “processes” when the answers are clearly organs and tissues, not processes.

Likewise, some questions start off asking one to list down a term based on a corresponding definition, only to have the answer clearly given away in the next part of the question. Is this how the actual SPM Sains Rumah Tangga questions are like?

On the bright side, there are many questions here, so there is definitely plenty of practice to be had.

Some of the questions feel repetitive, but I think I get why, as this is one way to keep driving home to the candidates a certain pattern in the questions on the actual paper as well as how one should answer them. Given how some of the KBAT questions can be a terrifying 8 to 12 marks, the answers to such questions will be very helpful in identifying what kind of answers these questions expect from the candidate and how to craft these answers.

Finally, one big bummer: no mock SPM paper, so candidates don’t get the chance to see what the whole paper is like.

Conclusion

• Candidates taking the SPM Sains Rumah Tangga paper don’t have much of a choice, really. For study notes, they have to rely on their textbooks and whatever their teachers give them along with those “Note SPM” PDFs sold on Shopee and Lazada for cheap. The notes in this book unfortunately will not replace those materials because it just covers the basic concepts.
• However, this book would be a nice complement to all the “Soalan Percubaan” PDFs sold online, with the added bonus of not having to waste printer ink as this book is in physical form so one can easily write on it. There is also enough white space to write in extra stuff and turn this book into an impromptu revision guide if one is diligent enough.
• Still, do be aware that there are typos and errors galore. They are easy to spot, however, so I don’t think one would be grossly misled by these mistakes.

Is this book worth a buy? Honestly, if one is taking the paper, they don’t have many options to begin with so they may as well.

At least this one has actual names attached to the book, so there is some degree of accountability and authenticity in its content!