Question 2:

The trend today among youths is to own the latest technological gadgets such as mobile
phones and other devices. Is this a healthy development among young people? Give your
opinion. You should write at least 350 words.

In this modern world of ours, technological devices such as mobile phones and
other gadgets are no longer foreign to us. Most of the young people today are treating
these luxuries as a necessity as they compete to own the latest devices, leading to the
adults’ questioning whether this is a healthy or an unhealthy development for youths
today. In my own humble opinion, this issue will be a never-ending argument because it
solely depends on the user itself to determine their purpose of using these devices. Thus
in this essay, this issue can be discussed in terms of both healthy and unhealthy
development and some recommendations.

Firstly, with these newest devices, young people can access information wherever
there are with just a touch of their fingers. This can help to expand their knowledge
about the current issues of our world which will be a key role to take their mind to a
higher level. They can also use these facilities to help them in their studies. All of these
can help our country to produce more intellectual people which indeed is a healthy
development by contributing to a more productive nation.

In the old days, we had to do a lot of work and research in order to finish our school
assignment, which is time consuming and tiring. Now we can obtain any information we
need for our assignment without having the need to go to the library anymore. This can
help the students to save more time for them to do other things. Furthermore, students
can also increase their efficiency of work. The government also supports this by
launching the ‘Wireless Village’ programme so that both rural and urban people can
access the internet without having to subcribe to any internet packages. Overall,
students can perform better and become more productive in their work, so this is
certainly a healthy development.

Moreover, young people that chase after these latest technological devices can help to
strengthen the country’s commerce through the constant supply and demand of gadgets.
This can help the government to focus more on developing this technology or
subsidising companies in this industry as it can guarantee good profits. Besides, in line
with the previous years’ budgets, the government is giving out ‘smart phone rebates’ to
citizens above the age of 21. All of this can help to improve our economic level and lead
to a more developed country, therefore another sign that it is a healthy development.
 On the other hand, this trend to own the latest technology devices could lead to a
waste of money. Even though these devices are useful to us, but the fact is that most
young people are chasing the latest devices regardless of cost. Mind the word ‘latest’ as
they only want the latest edition that is being released in the market almost once per
year for different brands such as Samsung and Sony. In order to keep up with the trend,
these young people are willing to waste their money or more accurately their parents’
hard-earned money. Instead, they could use the money for better purposes like buying
books or stationery.

Furthermore, as time goes by, they might eventually become ungrateful for what
they already have and keep nagging for new gadgets. This is unhealthy as it breeds
materialism. In addition, if one did not have proper discipline within oneself while using
these devices, one will easily become a victim to various addictions such as social
networking and games. This can cause the young users to become distracted and greatly
decrease their work efficiency. As for students, their performance at school might
become affected. To add to the matter, young people can easily access inappropriate
content such as porn and violent materials at a young age, unsupervised. All of this can
retard their mind’s growth and become influenced by negative things. In the end, these
devices become a bane to them instead of a boon to the development of society.

Hence, for us to fully utilise the advantages of technology, I humble share some of
my recommendations. Firstly, parents play a big role as they spend the most time with
their children thus they should watch strictly over their children’s usage of these devices
per day by limiting it. Next, the government can work on preventing or blocking many
harmful websites in our country so that young people have no access to it.

In conclusion, I believe that in the end, it depends on the user itself whether to
abuse or to use the devices to their disadvantage or advantage. We can draw an analogy
from guns – used by the police it enforces the law; by a criminal it abets the crime. It
would be illogical to put the gun in jail instead of the person who pulls the trigger.
Similarly, it is we ourselves that click the mouse or swipe the screen of our gadget so we
must use it responsibly to contribute towards a happier and healthier development in
society today.
MUET WRITING SAMPLE MAN'S CARELESS ATTITUDE ESSAY MARCH 2013
QUESTION
MARCH 2013

Man's careless attitude is the main cause for the destruction of the environment. Discuss. You
should write at least 350 words. (60 marks)

Below is a good sample answer written by Franky, my 2013 lower 6 science student.

In this modern civilization, man struggles to survive the high cost of living expenses,
which significantly increases with each passing year. This causes them to use any method
available that generates income and they start to sideline the importance of preserving
nature. This is due to mankind realising the potential of economy that can come from
nature. So, I strongly believe the destruction of nature is mostly caused by man's careless
attitude whereby they prioritise their greed for money and the development of civilisation.
Let us analyse this phenomenon in terms of the country's development, illegal activities of
exploiting nature and the job opportunities.

First of all, many nations try to achieve the title of the most leading nation in economy or
infrastructure. So in order to compete with other countries, most nations try to explore any
available land in their country for development such as industries, tourist spots and many
other purposes that are related to money. Whenever they see the potential of a certain piece
of land, they tend to develop it despite some of these places might still be uninhabited or the
home for many wildlife. Sometimes, they would also plod through jungles or level the
mountains for road development which severely changes the landscape of nature. As a
result, this selfish and careless act will cause the deforestation and global warming. For
example, Indonesia has become quite careless with their handling of these problems. In
Kalimantan, Indonesia, the forest is being severely deforested by their people for land
development. And to make matters worse, they even choose the fastest and cos-saving
method of deforestation which is by burning down the trees, the mass release of carbon
dioxide from the mass burn down of trees lead to ozone thinning and greenhouse effect.
Also, the haze problem is another negative side product. As for the real victims of these
acts, they are the neighbouring nations such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and
Philippines especially as haze causes many health issues such as lung cancer and breathing
problems. Therefore, these careless acts and greed not only cause the destruction of nature
but also endanger many lives, both man and animals.

Secondly, some people's greed for great fortune and easy life make them become selfish
and careless by over-exploiting nature. They willingly do illegal activities such as cutting
down trees or animal hunting, seeing the high demand for these materials. It will slowly
cause the depopulation of different kinds of flora and fauna. In China, these activities of
eating inner organs of animals such as tiger or bear and they even use these animals' body
parts for economic purposes such as tiger skin, crocodile skin and elephant teeth and tusks
by exporting it to those who pay a high price for it. This has a serious effect on the
ecosystem which is the extinction of animals. In Indonesia, trees are being cut down for
making expensive house furniture made of material such as teak wood. In fact, these trees
require a long period of 10 to 20 years to mature. Thus, the continuous cutting down of
trees will eventually lead to its extinction. These activities are illegal by law and still occurs
widely despite many countermeasures that have been taken by the authorised organisations
such as World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Somehow, these criminals are able to slip through the
organisations's enforcement laws of protecting the wildlife and nature. Plus, most society
are careless to even take notice of these problems because they have yet to come to
awareness of the dangers that would happen from these illegal acts. If only they had given
more attention and cooperation to the authorised organisations, these problems might have
been able to be prevented.

Lastly, to survive in this modern world, every person needs to be able to make a living for
themselves of their family, but many people with low education level cannot get high salary
jobs, even university scholars are yet to be certain of getting a proper job after their
graduation despite their high level of education. The competition is just like the survival of
the fittest among these graduates and people with low qualifications. Therefore with the
growing demand for more natural materials such as petroleum gas and minerals from the
earth as well as a high demand of smuggled goods, people are willing to pay high prices to
have employees do their job of exploiting nature because these jobs are high risk. So people
that are desperately in need of jobs are usually tempted with the pay and they would take
up the call. This situation had opened up a lot of job opportunities, but they are careless to
not realise that these jobs are the main cause of nature's destructtion because they are
being pinned down by the pressure of high living cost in this modern world that they have
forgotten the importance of preserving nature.

In a nutshell, I still strongly believe in my opinion that nature's destruction is mainly

caused by man's careless attitude. They strive to make a living in the world so desperately
that some eventually deny the truth that it is their own fault for nature's destruction. If no
serious and proper actions are being taken immediately by many wildlife and nature
preserving organisations or authorised organisations such as WWF, UNESCO and ASEAN
to prepare an effective strategy or blueprint to prevent this problem, there probably won't
be any jungles or wildlife left in the future and our young generaton will have to live in a
polluted world.

Nov 2012 Writing: Women make better leaders than men' Sample Answer
My previous blog post deals with why it is so hard to score in the essay question. Please read
up HERE before viewing the sample below. Also, if you really want to improve, please attempt to write
your own essay first, or at least, do an outline of your essay so you can compare with mine. Cheers!
Women Make Better Leaders Than Men

The debate between the supremacy of the genders have been in session since time
immemorial. In the past, it would seem that men had the upperhand but these days,
women are starting to leave their mark in many aspects from business to politics
rather than just domestic affairs. In my humble opinion, both men and women have the
potential to be great leaders but the question of 'better leaders' does not lie in a person's
gender alone but his or her innate character. In this essay, let us explore the qualities
that make men and women great leaders before focusing on other factors that are
unrelated to gender.

First and foremost, men have some distinctive qualities that make them far better
leaders than women. We can attribute this to the fact that men are generally physically
stronger than women. This is undeniable because a man has clearly more muscle
mass than a woman so in terms of leadership that has to do with physical ability, men
win hands down. For example, in the army, most leaders are men that are buffed up
and better able to handle the physical exertions of this field compared to women who
are more delicate in structure. Men are also known to have better ability to strategise
in terms of warfare and they seem to command their armies better. For example, great
leaders have been men such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan, Hitler and so on.
Moreover, men tend to be able to make quick decisions that are not usually based on
their emotions but logical, rational and practical reasons. Women, however, seem to be
very emotional creatures so they may make poor leadership decisions if they simply
follow their feelings. Therefore, men have many qualities like physical strength, ability
to strategise well and make snap decisions which can make them better leaders.

However, women have proven to be better leaders in an increasing number of cases.

This can be seen as more and more countries have entrusted women to be their
leaders. These women have a more 'feminine' approach to leadership which
is more sensitive towards the needs of society. For instance, history is peppered with
exemplary female leaders such as Indira Ghandi, Benazir Bhutto, Eva Peron and present
day heroines such as Aung San Suu Kyi. Women tend to be more caring in nature
and quite patient in dealing with problems which makes them better leaders compared
to men who could be less sensitive and impatient. Most women are also known to
be perfectionists, and this is an advantage because they are often very meticulous and
detailed in carrying out their duties as leaders. Thus, with a more open-minded
society, an increasing number of women are being given the onus to take the lead
and may even one day supersede men in their traditional leadership roles!

Although I have gone to great lengths to show that both men and women have the
ability to be great leaders, I still completely believe that 'leadership' has little to do with
gender and a lot to do with a person's innate character. This means that to be a great
leader does not depend on whether you are male or female but rather your personal
characteristics that drive you to succeed. Men and women both possess the qualities of
confidence, responsibility, time management and delegation skills, public relations and
good communication skills, positive outlook, high commitment, creativity and
innovation, forward-looking visionaries and many other characteristics of a good leader.
Hence, the question of gender should not arise because being male or female does not
guarantee the ability to lead well.

In conclusion, history has shown that men make better leaders but this is a faulty
argument because it does not take into consideration the fact in the old days women
were discriminated against and not allowed to lead. Today, society is more open-
minded andmore women are taking the helm and proving that women can be better
leaders. Nevertheless, leadership to me is 'genderless' whereby it is completely
dependent on a person's positive characteristics which makes people respect them and
want to follow in their footsteps. Every country needs more leaders regardless of
gender so the government should conduct more self-improvement leadership courses
for the younger generation so they may become better future leaders of our country.

* Notice the words in blue. This is the correct way in order to mediate your sentences so they do not
become OVER-GENERALISATIONS and/or SWEEPING STATEMENTS.
MUET Speaking: Preparing Your Text for Presentation

PREPARING YOUR TEXT FOR PRESENTATION

Proper presentation is a key ingredient for a successful presentation. An organized text will help you to
give a more systematic, effective presentation. Here is what you should do when organizing your text
while preparing to answer Task of MUET Paper 2.

Prepare an outline

Introduction
 Introduce the main points

Body
 Develop these points
Point 1
Point 2
Point 3

Conclusion
 Wrap up your presentation
 Remind your audience of your main points

Situation:
Absenteeism is prevalent after the final exams as students are bored in school. Suggest interesting
activities to your class teacher to encourage students to come to school after their final exams.

Task A: you suggest organizing a concert. Provide reasons for your suggestion.

Brainstorm for Ideas

Organizing a concert
 Promote racial integration
 Fund-raising-for future activities
 Fun and entertaining
 Instil moral values-teamwork, cooperation, patience
 Develop talents
 Cultivate creativity

ORGANIZE YOUR IDEAS

Introduction
 Bored-no lessons-too much free time-do not want to study-holiday mood-organize
concert.

Body
 Point 1-fun and entertaining-cultivate creativity-develop talents
 Point 2-instil moral values-teamwork, cooperation, patience-promote racial
Integration
 Point 3-sell tickets-fund-raising-to fund other activities

Conclusion
 Organizing concert-students make full use of time-develop talent and personality-
raise funds-create interest