STPM cheat sheet

Malaysia's Federal Constitution was promulgated on 16 September 1963 and is the supreme law; Article 4(1) declares any law inconsistent with it void to the extent of the inconsistency.

The Dewan Rakyat has 222 elected members; the Dewan Negara has 70 members - 26 elected by state legislative assemblies (2 per state) and 44 appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

A Bill becomes law after passing both Houses and receiving royal assent; the Yang di-Pertuan Agong must assent within 30 days, after which it becomes law regardless.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected by the Conference of Rulers for a five-year term; he may not be re-elected immediately after serving a full term.

Rukun Negara's five principles: Belief in God; Loyalty to King and Country; Supremacy of the Constitution; Rule of Law; Courtesy and Morality.

The civil service is governed by the Public Services Commission under Article 144; the four main schemes are Premier, Management and Professional, Support, and Implementer groups.

Federal–state division: List I (Federal), List II (State), and List III (Concurrent) in the Ninth Schedule; land and local government are State List matters.

Dasar Pandang ke Timur (Look East Policy, 1982) emphasised Japanese and Korean work ethics; Wawasan 2020 was launched in 1991 with nine challenges.

Quadratic formula: roots of ax²+bx+c=0 are x = (−b ± √(b²−4ac)) / 2a; the discriminant b²−4ac gives two real roots if positive, one if zero, complex if negative.

Sum and product of roots: α+β = −b/a and αβ = c/a; for a cubic ax³+bx²+cx+d=0, α+β+γ = −b/a and αβγ = −d/a.

Binomial theorem: (a+b)ⁿ = Σ C(n,r) aⁿ⁻ʳ bʳ; the general term is C(n,r) aⁿ⁻ʳ bʳ, and C(n,r) = n! / (r!(n−r)!).

Differentiation rules: d/dx(xⁿ)=nxⁿ⁻¹; product rule (uv)' = u'v + uv'; quotient rule (u/v)' = (u'v − uv')/v²; chain rule dy/dx = dy/du · du/dx.

Integration by parts: ∫u dv = uv − ∫v du; choose u by the LIATE order (Logarithmic, Inverse trig, Algebraic, Trigonometric, Exponential).

Trapezium rule: ∫ₐᵇ f(x) dx ≈ (h/2)[f₀ + 2(f₁+…+fₙ₋₁) + fₙ] where h = (b−a)/n.

Vectors: a·b = |a||b|cosθ; a×b gives a vector perpendicular to both with magnitude |a||b|sinθ; scalar triple product a·(b×c) gives the parallelepiped volume.

Complex numbers: for z = r(cosθ + i sinθ), zⁿ = rⁿ(cos nθ + i sin nθ); roots are z^(1/n) = r^(1/n) cis((θ+2kπ)/n) for k = 0,…,n−1.

Newton's second law: F = ma; momentum p = mv is conserved in the absence of external forces.

Kinematic equations for constant acceleration: v = u + at; s = ut + ½at²; v² = u² + 2as.

Ohm's law V = IR; power P = VI = I²R = V²/R; resistors in series add, in parallel 1/R = Σ1/Rᵢ.

Ideal gas law: pV = nRT with R = 8.314 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹; at STP (273 K, 101 kPa) one mole occupies about 22.4 dm³.

pH = −log[H⁺]; for a strong acid pH = −log(c); for a weak acid pH ≈ ½(pKa − log c).

Le Chatelier's principle: increasing pressure shifts equilibrium toward the side with fewer gas moles; increasing temperature shifts an endothermic reaction forward.

Enzyme kinetics: Michaelis–Menten v = Vmax[S]/(Km+[S]); Km is the substrate concentration at half Vmax.

DNA base pairing: adenine pairs with thymine (2 H-bonds), guanine with cytosine (3 H-bonds); RNA replaces thymine with uracil.

Bahasa Melayu prefixes: meN- nasalises the initial consonant (p→m, t→n, k→ng, s→ny); ber- is intransitive, and di- forms the passive.

BM sentence order is Subject–Verb–Object; the predicate may be a verb phrase, adjective phrase, or noun phrase (ayat namaan).

English conditionals: first (if + present, will + infinitive), second (if + past, would + infinitive), third (if + past perfect, would have + past participle).

English passive voice: object becomes subject, verb becomes be + past participle, agent introduced by 'by'; only transitive verbs passivise.

Arabic root system: most verbs derive from triliteral roots; Form I فَعَلَ (faʿala) and Form II فَعَّلَ (faʿʿala, causative/intensive) are the most common patterns.

Mandarin aspect markers: 了 (le) marks completion, 过 (guo) marks past experience, 着 (zhe) marks ongoing state; aspect is separate from tense.

Tamil is agglutinative: case, number, and person are marked by suffixes; verb agrees with subject in person, number, and gender.

Essay structure: thesis statement in the introduction, one topic sentence per paragraph, evidence or example, then a link back to the question.

Price elasticity of demand = %ΔQd / %ΔP; |PED| > 1 elastic, < 1 inelastic, = 1 unitary.

GDP = C + I + G + (X − M); real GDP uses constant prices, nominal GDP uses current prices.

Demand-pull inflation arises from excess aggregate demand; cost-push inflation arises from rising input costs (wages, raw materials).

The multiplier k = 1/(1 − MPC) = 1/MPS; a change in autonomous spending changes equilibrium income by k × Δspending.

Comparative advantage: a country should specialise where its opportunity cost of production is lower, even if it has an absolute disadvantage.

Malaysia's New Economic Policy (1971–1990) targeted 30% Bumiputera equity ownership and poverty reduction; it was followed by the National Development Policy (1990–2000).

Plate tectonics: divergent boundaries create new crust (mid-ocean ridges); convergent boundaries produce subduction zones and fold mountains; transform boundaries cause earthquakes.

Map scale: a 1:50,000 scale means 1 cm on the map represents 500 m on the ground; contour lines join points of equal elevation.

Accounting equation: Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity; every transaction preserves this balance (double-entry).

Trial balance checks that total debits equal total credits but does not detect errors of principle, omission, or compensating errors.

Straight-line depreciation = (Cost − Residual value) / Useful life; reducing-balance method applies a fixed percentage to the carrying amount.

Break-even point in units = Fixed costs / (Selling price − Variable cost per unit); contribution margin = price − variable cost.

Normalisation: 1NF removes repeating groups; 2NF removes partial dependencies; 3NF removes transitive dependencies.

TCP is connection-oriented and reliable (three-way handshake, retransmission); UDP is connectionless and faster, used for streaming and DNS.

Binary to decimal: multiply each bit by 2ⁿ from right to left; e.g. 1011₂ = 8 + 0 + 2 + 1 = 11₁₀.

Working capital = Current assets − Current liabilities; the current ratio = current assets / current liabilities (a ratio near 2:1 is often cited as healthy).

Elements of art: line, shape, form, space, texture, value, and colour; principles include balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, and unity.

Colour theory: primary colours are red, yellow, blue (traditional) or red, green, blue (additive light); complementary pairs sit opposite on the colour wheel.

Islamic art avoids figurative representation in religious contexts; it uses geometric patterns, arabesque, and calligraphy instead.

The Five Pillars of Islam: Shahadah (declaration of faith), Salah (prayer), Zakat (almsgiving), Sawm (fasting in Ramadan), and Hajj (pilgrimage).

Buddhism's Four Noble Truths: suffering exists, it has a cause (craving), it can cease, and the Eightfold Path leads to its cessation.

Christianity's core creeds affirm the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit); the two main sacraments in most traditions are baptism and the Eucharist.

Hinduism's four goals of life: dharma (duty), artha (prosperity), kama (pleasure), and moksha (liberation); the four Vedas are the oldest scriptures.

Art criticism stages: description (what is seen), analysis (how elements are used), interpretation (what it means), and judgement (its success).