How to attain happiness?

A. have a goal
B. good relationship with others
C. good health
D. positive outlook
Task A
Candidate A
A very good morning to one and all. The issue at hand today is how to attain happiness. I believe that
this issue has been on the forefront for as long as man existed. In fact, I believe even animals and other
beings strive to achieve this wonderful state of happiness and contentment. It is therefore my honest
opinion that in order to achieve happiness we must have a concrete and measurable goal. Let us
analyse a few reasons to justify this point.
First and foremost, to aspire towards happiness is not enough. Just wanting is only half the battle
won. To attain it there must be some kind of action involved and this most certainly begins with setting
goals. The most important reason for setting aims or goals is to provide a way to measure if you have
achieved it or not. For example, my aim is to be happy. In order to be happy I must have enough money
and job security as well as a stable and happy family. Therefore the next logical step is to provide a
timeframe to achieve this goal. If we set a goal based on a timeframe, happiness will be more easily
achievable. A young person could aim to get his degree before he turns 25, get a stable high paying job
by 30 and get married before he/she is 35. Thus, having a goal or goals will help discern the level of our
happiness.
Secondly, we can attain happiness when we have a goal because it gives us something to work
towards or aim for. However, please note that the beauty of having goals is that it can be modified to suit
ourselves and our situations. And once we have achieved it, we can create new goals. Conversely, if we
cannot attain it, we can modify them to be more realistic. For instance, Mahatma Ghandi's goal in life
was to achieve peace through peaceful means. Furthermore, he was happiest when there are no wars
and people can live in peace. Even when he was sent to jail, he still held on to his goal which was to
solve things through peaceful means, not war. And even in jail, he could attain happiness - Ghandi is a
truly inspirational man.
As time is running out, let me reinstate that a key method to attain happiness is to set reachable
goals for ourselves. It also brings to mind a quote, 'Aim for the sun so that if you fail, you will still be
amongst the stars'. Thank you for listening.

Candidate B
A very good morning I bid to the examiners and my fellow candidates. As the saying goes, 'No man is
an island'. Therefore we thrive on good relationships with others in order to attain happiness. It would be
quite strange to achieve ultimate happiness yet have no one of consequence with whom to share it with.
Hence, good relationships with others are some of the fundamentals of achieving true happiness. Allow
me to describe this issue further by presenting a few points.
On the one hand, happiness is maximised when happiness is shared. In general, everyday we
interact with the people closes to us be they family members, spouse, children, best friends or
colleagues. In fact, sometimes, happiness comes from external sources and we may not even know
them personally. But it is these very relationships with others that will build the foundation of happiness
brick by brick. When we need help, and a friend offers it, or when we just need to spend some quality
time with our family and every member of the family shows up, well, these instances feed happiness to
our souls. Imagine if you received really good news like a scholarship to study abroad but had no one to
tell. Indeed, our happiness would fade a little, or we might even end up depressed!
On the other hand, happiness diminishes when we have few or no good relationships with others.
In times of need, it is human nature to reach out for help especially from our closest and dearest. As a
child, when we fell and hurt our knees, we would call out for our mom or dad. When a friend backstabs
you with nasty gossip, we call our best friend to unload our unhappiness. In the workplace, when our
colleagues treat us unfairly, we go home to our spouses and use them as sounding walls to express our
anger or disappointment. Thus, the human race is fragile, and we depend on good human relationships
to keep our happy odometer high.

In short, it would be pointless to attain happiness yet be so lonely with no one to share the good
times with. Hence, each of us should work on improving and bettering our relationships in order to attain
unlimited
happiness
in
life.
Thank
you
and
have
a
nice
day.

Candidate C
A marvelous morning I bid to one and all. As the popular saying goes, 'Health is Wealth'. There is indeed
a whole lot of truth to this age old adage as I am sure everyone will admit that without health, we would
live a poor quality and even substandard life hence marring our ability to attain true happiness! Allow me
to further
elaborate by providing
a few different
perspectives
on this
issue.

First and foremost, the level of our health will determine how happy we are. Surely there is not a
single soul out there who rejoices in being unhealthy and unwell. Basically, being healthy is crucial to our
happiness because if we cannot do even the simplest of things such as brushing our own teeth and
going to the toilet unassisted then it would be a very sad day indeed. There can be nothing joyful about
waking up every morning to face blood transfusions or chemotherapy or surgery after surgery. In fact it
would be downright depressing and it isn't any wonder that these people would suffer depression and
even
contemplate
committing
suicide.

Conversely, when we have optimum health, happiness is easily attained. When you wake up in
the morning and stretch and take big lungfuls of fresh air, it makes us ready to face the challenges in the
day ahead. We are able to play our role in society well be it as a student with a sharp mind to study
better, or a worker in this industrious world, doing our job well. Or when our health is maximised, athletes
all around the world break records and cry in jubilation as when Usain Bolt does when he literally flies
down the track or when Micheal Phelps or even Lin Dan lifts the Olympic gold medals high in victory.

Needless to say, in conclusion, happiness is easily attainable when we are healthy because it is
one of the pillars of the basic necessities in life in order to truly achieve a state of bliss. Thank you.

Candidate D

To the examiners and my fellow candidates, a wonderful morning I bid you. The topic given today is
rather interesting as it brings to mind a commonly asked question, "Is the glass half empty or it is half
full?" A person with a positive outlook would surely answer 'half full' and this colours his or her life with
positive energy therefore making happiness truly easily attainable.
Allow
me
to
elaborate
what
I
mean
about
a
positive
outlook.
Firstly, a positive outlook gives us a means of inventing options. What does this mean exactly? Well,
people who are positive do not give up easily, in fact, they make it a point to inspect every avenue and
come up with innovative ways to overcome any obstacle. For instance, after studying so hard a student
fails due to a death in the family during exam time and she could not concentrate. Rather than surrender
to her fate, she takes it as a challenge to get back up on the horse and find a job. After a few years of
working, she collects enough money to do her degree on a part time basis and after 3 or 4 years, she
finally graduates. This is because she has a positive outlook and looked hard for other options to change
her fate. At the end, she has managed to attain happiness when her goals are achieved.

In addition, a person with a positive outlook seem to draw positive energy into her radius and
somehow good things start to happen to her. Even when bad things happen, like an accident that
messes up her car, she would still find the silver lining in the sense that she is thankful to be alive and
more grateful still for not having harmed anyone else. Therefore, a positive outlook is crucial in attaining
happiness because it is a wonderful ability to find the good in any bad situation.

In short, people with a positive outlook with find happiness under every stone, at every corner
because they are better able to be happy and content with their lot in life. Thank you for lending me your
ears.

Sample question:

A person's character is often influenced by other people around him/her. Who has the greatest
influence on a person's character? Discuss which of the following has the greatest influence on a
person's character:
Candidate A: Parents
Candidate B: Teachers
Candidate C: Friends
Candidate D: Famous Personalities

Sample answer: Candidate A

Hi, a very good morning to the examiners and my fellow friends. As we are talking about
how a persons character can be influenced by another person, the persons whom I think
have the most influence in a persons life are parents. There are three reasons why I think
so.
Firstly, parents are the people whom know us since birth. We become like the person
whom we spend the most time with. Parents are the people whom we see every day from
the moment we are born, till the day we are adults. Hence, very naturally, they become the
people whom we look up to and start imitating the way they talk, act, and even think.
My second reason is because parents are the first educators to their child before
anybody else. Table manners and basic etiquettes are taught at home, by the parents. This
gives an influence so vast that we ourselves fail to recognize it sometimes.
Thirdly, parents are the ones who impart values into our lives. Values are assets
which we hold on to for the rest of our lives and this is the greatest influence of all. Values
are what we make our decisions upon, and it is what shapes our character.
In conclusion, I think that though there may be many others who can influence a
persons character ultimately, parents are the greatest influencers of all. With that, I
conclude my speech. Thank you very much.

The Role of Mass Media

Good morning to examiner and other candidates. Today Im going to talk about the violence against women has
increased steadily over the years. I would like to suggest that mass media could play an effective role in curbing
this problem.
Firstly, the mass media should limit the aired of violent movies. This is because the violent movie can affected
the mind of public in their daily life. Then, the public will copy the actions in movies. For example, the men raped
the women because of the influence by the violent movies.
Secondly, the mass media may increase the TV programmes that containing the good moral values. So, public can
learn about the moral values from the movies or TV shows. For example, the leisure TV programmes like cooking
recipe shows and travelling.
Lastly, the mass media also can invite the professional personal to give a talk on TV shows. So, the professional
personal can advise the public to be a good behaviour in their daily life. At the same time, the public also can gains
a lot of experiences and information about the life from the professional personal. For examples, the radio invites
the psychologist to give a talk on the air.
In conclusion, I believe that mass media could play an effective role in curbing the violence against women. The
mass media can limit the aired of violent movies, increase the TV programmes that containing the good moral
values and invite the professional personal to give a talk on TV programmes. So, the violence against women can
be reduced through the mass media. On the other hand, the women can enjoy their life without the violence. Thank
you.

Situation
Your brother has been given the opportunity to study in England on a government
scholarship. You and your family are very proud of him. Decide on a special gift for him to
prepare for his trip abroad.
Task A: Suggest that they give him cash. Say why.
Task B: Discuss which of the following would be most useful.
i. cash
ii. a computer
iii. some suitable clothing
iv. some Malaysian foodstuf

Candidate A
Task A: Suggest that they give him cash. Say why.
Good morning to the examiners and my fellow friends. Im very happy that my brother has just
received a scholarship to study in England. My relatives and I would like to give him a special gift. We all
think that the best gift is money because it will be very useful for him.
The first reason is with cash he can buy the things that he needs when he gets there. There will
me a lot of things that he will need like new books, stationery, clothes and food. He will also need to pay
for transportation like taking the bus or train to go to the university campus. As we know, it is very
expensive in England so any money we give him will be very useful.
Secondly, my brother can use the money to buy a mobile phone when he gets to England. I think
this is very important in case of emergencies so we can contact him easily. Furthermore, he can sms us
and keep us updated with his progress in his studies there. Hence, if we really miss him we can just give
him a call.
Finally, I also think giving him money is the best choice because it is light and doesnt take up a
lot of space. If we were to give him a computer, books or winter clothes it will be very heavy and bulky for
him to bring to England. Therefore, I think that it is much easier to bring money and buy those things
when he gets there.
In conclusion, these are some of the reasons why I think giving him cash is the best choice. To
me, it is the most useful gift we can give him. Thank you.

Candidate B
Task A: You suggest that they give him a computer. Say why.
A very good morning I bid to one and all. My relatives and I are very proud of my brother. He has
just received a scholarship to study in England and so we would like to give him a special gift. We
believe that the best present for him is a laptop computer.
Firstly, as a university student, my brother will have to do many assignments. If he has a laptop
computer he can bring it everywhere and consequently, do his work anytime and anywhere. Thus, he will
not have to share the computers at the computer room with other students and he will be able to do his
work more quickly and efficiently.
Another point is that when he boards the plane from KLIA to London, he will be able to bring the
laptop with him easily because it is compact and light compared to a desktop computer. Hence, it will not
be too much trouble to transport it to England.
Last but not least, if he has a laptop he will be able to connect to the internet. This has two main
advantages as firstly, he can do a lot of research online. The world wide web is a fountain of information
so it will be very useful for him to make full use of this technology. Furthermore, he can keep in touch
with friends and family here in Malaysiaby e-mail.
In short, a laptop computer will prove to be very useful to my brother. He can do his assignments,
research for information and keep in touch with us using it therefore it will make the best gift. Thank you
for listening.

Candidate C
Task A: You suggest that they give him some suitable clothing. Say why.
To the examiners and my fellow candidates, a wonderful morning I bid you. My brother was lucky
enough to receive a scholarship to study overseas. We want to send him off with a nice gift so we have
decided to buy him some suitable clothing.
The main purpose for buying him some suitable clothing is because the weather inEngland is
very different from the weather in our country. There are four seasons there so he will need to have
different clothes for different situations. For example, we can buy him some sweaters, cardigans,
scarves, snowcaps, thick socks and gloves and many more. These will definitely keep him warm in
winter.
The second reason is we think that he should have clothes that reflect our Malaysian identity.
This is because he will be a young ambassador for our country so if he has a few sets of traditional

clothing like the Baju Melayu or formal Batik shirts, I am sure he will not only look good but promote our
culture overseas.
Lastly, neat clothes make a good impression. For instance, if we buy him some everyday clothes
like jeans and trousers with nice shirts and matching ties, this will give him a good feeling about himself
so he will walk a bit straighter and talk a bit wiser. Moreover, people will look at him and have a good
impression about Malaysian students.
To conclude, I think that the best present to give him is some suitable clothing because it will be
very useful and will reflect positively on him. Thank you very much.

Candidate D
Task A: You suggest that they give him some Malaysian foodstuff. Say why.
I would like to wish everyone here a very good morning. As we all know, my brother has won a
scholarship to study in England. Therefore, some relatives and I have decided to give him some
Malaysian foodstuff as a going away present.
First and foremost, one of the main problems Malaysians face when studying overseas is that it is
hard to find Halal food. We feel it is a good idea to give him some Malaysian foodstuff because it will take
time for him to get used to the place and find out where to buy Halal food. Thus, in the meantime he can
enjoy the Malaysian foodstuff that we have given to him.
The next reason is because some of the foodstuff we are used to having here in Malaysiais quite
hard to find in UK. Most students studying overseas really enjoy eating Maggi Mee and sambal belacan.
For instance, it is also hard to find the right spices for curryand rendang and so on so if we supply him
with enough Malaysian foodstuff, he can eat it whenever he misses home.
The final point I have is that he can use the Malaysian foodstuff we give him and cook it for the
Westerners there. Sometimes, universities organise events like Malaysian Night and so he and his
friends can cook some Malaysian specialities for them to taste a bit of our way of life. Hence, the
Malaysian foodstuff will be very useful to promote our culture.
In a nutshell, giving my brother Malaysian foodstuff to take with him to England is a good idea. This is
because he will have some familiar food to eat when he misses home and he can also share it with his
new friends. Thank you for listening to my opinion.