ptd exams overview

well i did post about going to the ptd examinations a couple of days back (click here). so today i will write about on how it went. this post is not intended to give any soalan bocor whatsoever but more like a reminder on how i should prepare next time when going for the ptd exams. not that i am losing faith already thinking that i did not pass the exams.. but i don't really like hoping and berharap gila-gila. after all, it's not an easy set of exams. many of my friends tried and failed already.

the exams consisted of five sections. section a-e. here's what got me confused. at the back of the surat panggilan, it says ada penaksiran personaliti. okay.. i am not sure about other pusat peperiksaan but i didn't do the penaksiran personaliti at all. err.. did the pengawas forget to edar the question paper? hm..

anyways, here's what i make of the sections yang kena jawab masa exam tu:

1. seksyen a - pengetahuan am mengenai malaysia dan alam sekeliling. ok this section really tests you on whether you have been reading the newspapers and watching the news. it is mostly about malaysia. so kalau rasa-rasa macam tak boleh jawab tu, nampak sangat tak berapa nak patriotik terhadap negara. hehe. soalan dia meliputi dari dasar-dasar pembangunan negara dan peranan kerajaan to the names of alatan muzik used by the bumiputeras in sabah and sarawak. dia even ada tanya pasal past nobel prize winners. some of the questions yang still linger in my head ialah siapa yang berhak menggubal parlimen malaysia? apa jenis nobel prize yang anwar sadat berjaya perolehi? apa peranan risda dan mardi? masa kejatuhan ekonomi amerika syarikat tahun 2008, negara mana muflis? apa tugas bank negara? fuiyoo.. gempak kan soalan dia? :)
2. seksyen b - daya menyelesaikan masalah. section ni macam ok jugaklah. prior to taking this paper, you have to make sure dah buat latihan tubi kuiz matematik and iq test ok. this paper was like war in your brain. rasa macam a few of my dead brain cells popped and triggered the kesan berdenyut-denyut kat kepala. i wished i could have used my calculator. it would have been more easier daripada conteng-conteng kertas buat kira-kira. if you're a graduate of kumon, rasanya boleh pass dengan flying colours kot. it's basically simple maths which you have to solve in 1 minute per question.
3. seksyen c - pengertian dan kefahaman terhadap esei-esei. this was yang paling simple for me. two malay language essays and two english essays. jawab soalan berdasarkan isi dalam essays tu. macam kacang saje. what a breeze after a brain cracking session for section b!
4. seksyen d - esei bahasa melayu. soalan dia revolve around isu semasa yang hangat diperkatakan in malaysia. again, this section pun tests you on whether you have been reading the newspapers and watching the news. dia bagi tiga pilihan tajuk to write about and you only need to write about one topic. i only remember two of the topic options though. the first one, pemimpin muda yang berfikiran positif dan proaktif adalah penting bagi tujuan pembangunan negara. bincangkan. and the other question was about pengurangan pemberian subsidi kerajaan kepada rakyat. bincangkan. i was stunned with the topic options when i first read the question paper. i actually spent about 15 minutes deciding on which topic to bincangkan about. what a bummer.. because truthfully, i couldn't care less if i miss the day's news. teruk kan? i need to ambil tahu more next time though. maybe i can list that as one of my new year's resolutions for next year. hmm. :P
5. seksyen e - esei bahasa inggeris. finally.. more like my turf!truthfully speaking, i dread writing in full malay language more than writing in full english. i have no idea why considering that i am a malaysian. maybe it's because i was brought up in england during my childhood days? i talk in malay language most of the time but when i am disturbed or in a not-so-good-mood, i suddenly rave in english - in writing mostly. okay, back to the main topic of discussion, section e is very similar to section d except that it's in english. same three topic options to choose from where you choose one to discuss on. the questions were about consumer rights, social networking and a smile is worth a thousand words. i chose the last topic as it was a very general topic and there's lots to write about.

all in all, it was a tiring day for my brain. the last time i took a full day exam was during my final year exam in uni. my saluran darah kat otak tu dah berdenyut-denyut pun by the time i finished the ptd exams. what an experience. 

*** tips to take note: (a) read the newspapers and watch the news to be able to answer section a, d and e. whilst for section b, (b) make sure you only spend a maximum of 1 minute for each question. latihan tubi matematik is a must.

*** other misc. tips: (a) calculators are not allowed, (b) make sure to bring along 2b pencils, pens and erasers with you, (c) masa isi borang omr tu, isi cepat-cepat sebab the allocated time yang dia bagi untuk isi memang sangat singkat. takut makan masa nak jawab soalan exam pulak nanti.