EPH Publishing, RM38.90, ISBN 978-967-254-739-6
Education, 2025

Seriously, EPH Publishing has completely beaten the competition as far as I’m concerned, as Success Plus SPM: Physics is another entry in the Success Plus SPM imprint that is head and shoulders above most of the competition.

Let’s take a closer look.

The Authors

The publisher is coy about the credentials of the authors.

However, an online search suggests that Lim Peng Chew is still part of the tuition teacher circuit, his Facebook stating that he now lives in Taiwan. He also writes a few other Physics books for SPM as well as some reference books for matriculation.

Meanwhile, Lee Beng Hin has authored stuff for Physics as well as Mathematics for a long while now.

Design

• Similar to other Sucess Plus SPM books, this one only has a few pages that are genuinely in color. For the most part, the pages are in two or three colors. Not that this is a bad thing, I feel, as sometimes it’s good to have minimal distraction from the content. Plus, candidates can also add colors by underlining key text with a red ballpoint pen and/or highlighting important parts with a highlighter pen.
• There is a lot of white space here, which is perfect as it allows the eye to focus properly without getting tired quickly. Also, a lot of white space means plenty of room to jot in extra notes.
• However, the amount of white space doesn’t mean that everything else is compressed into a smaller space. The images and diagrams are huge. 
• Amazing use of tables and flowcharts.

In the end, this book may appear old school and basic, but it’s also awesome in the sense that this no-nonsense design allows the candidate to do many extra things: add in notes, images, diagrams, and more on top of getting a clearer understanding of things because, really, those images and diagrams are big enough to maximize clarity.

Another EPH Reference Book that Kicks Butt with KBAT

The KBAT (Kemahiran Berfikir Aras Tinggi; High Order Thinking Skills or HOTS) components in Physics are quite “expensive” because they are 50% of the essay components in Paper 2 as well as about a quarter to one third of the total marks in the structured question components, the latter depending on how lucky or unlucky the candidate is that particular year.

Sure, one can still fall back on the old school “solve calculations” and “regurgitate Physics laws” questions to score, but doing well in the KBAT components can make a difference between getting a certain grade and getting the next higher grade. This is something that need to be taken into account by candidates wishing to get great scores for the purposes of satiating their own ego, getting scholarships, or a place in matriculation with a government educational institute.

To get right to the point, this is the SPM Physics reference book that spotlights KBAT stuff the best.

• It is woven into the content seamlessly instead of relegated to an afterthought section at the end of a chapter. Sample KBAT questions and answers are present inside a chapter in addition to in the practice question sections inside and by the end of each chapter.
• There are plenty of KBAT questions throughout the book, and some of them are actually very good in getting candidates to evaluate whether they understand the big picture. For example, I especially like the question that asks which one is worse: getting scalded by hot water or by hot steam. It’s a simple question, but it’s also a knowledge check as to whether the candidate fully understand the concept of latent heat of vaporization and be able to apply what they know to this situation.
• While the number of practice questions is not necessarily more than that in other SPM Physics reference books, the nature of these questions really tests the candidate on whether they get the big picture instead of merely memorizing concepts and facts in a compartmentalized way.
• There is also some fun out of the box stuff, like why lightsabers are an impossibility in real life. While these are entertaining to read, they also provide further explanation on why certain things work the way they are in the realm of physics. This could be helpful with dealing with KBAT stuff.

However, there are some not-that-great things as well.

• While there are many examples of how to calculate things, the worked solutions are presented as they are, with few explanations or even none as to why things are done the way they are.  Some of the examples are not easy, which can be a good thing, but the lack of explanation also means that if one doesn’t get it, then they won’t get it unless they ask someone that does to explain things to them.
• There are some occasional misalignments, such as on page 24 where the explanation on how we derive the four equations of motion is disrupted by the wrong placement of v = u + at. This completely messes up the entire flow of the text. Also, v is used for both velocity and average velocity, when using ṽ for the latter would be more helpful to distinguish those two. Someone that has no clue about this topic can be unnecessarily confused as a result of these things!
• Also, you’d think it would make perfect sense to have a page listing down all the formulae for easy reference, but nope, not here.

Conclusion

• Success Plus SPM: Physics is a great reference book, although it’s probably better suited for candidates that are middling to good in Physics.
• Weaker candidates will likely find Spotlight A+1: Physics more within their comfort zone while also offering a solid balance of fundamentals and KBAT materials.
• Both reference books having great KBAT spotlights will help to minimize the chances of nasty surprises while in the exam hall on the big day, and who knows, they also make Physics a fun subject to study!