FBM 0015: MATHEMATICS 1

JAN 2022
ASSIGNMENT PROMPT
 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Students are required to form a group consisting of 3-4 members each.
2. Each group will submit only ONE complete handwritten report of NO MORE THAN 5 PAGES.
3. Include any references made in the last page of the report (not included in the 5 pages limit).

EXPECTATIONS & GOALS

1. To assist students in developing the skills necessary to effectively employ the ideas of
mathematics to solve the fundamental problems of different types of basic functions and
identify their domain and range and sketch the graphs
2. To enhance student’s critical and creative thinking in translating real world problem into a
mathematical problem and, hence solving them.
3. To encourage students to analyze and interpret mathematical solutions in the context of the
problem.

SUBMISSION
1. The report must be scanned clearly and submitted through ULearn by 11.59pm 11 March 2022
(Friday) (Week 10).
2. The file must be in PDF format of no larger than 100mb.
3. Late submission will be assigned a mark of zero and deemed to be a non-submission
4. Provide the details below in the cover page.

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI PETRONAS

CENTRE FOR FOUNDATION STUDIES
COURSE NAME: MATHEMATICS 1
COURSE CODE: FBM 0015
PROGRAMME:
PREPARED FOR: (name of lecturer)
PREPARED BY: (names of group members)
 RUBRIC
1. This assignment will contribute 5% to you overall coursework marks.
2. There are altogether 4 categories for which your assignment will be graded. These 4
categories will contribute 4% in total.
3. The remaining 1% will be from peer evaluation. Each student MUST peer evaluate each n every
member of your team. You will be assessed by your teammates based on your participation
and contribution to the completion of the assignment.
4. Rubric for evaluating the assignment is as follows:

SCORE
Criteria
5 4 3 2 1

Critical & Creative Thinking Skills

▪ Identify and define real-world problem
as a mathematical problem
▪ Make assumptions & identify variable
and/or parameters involved
Problem Solving Skill
▪ Derive appropriate equations and/or
inequalities to describe the system
▪ Apply appropriate solution method
Analysis
▪ Verify & interpret solution in the context
of the problem
Presentation
▪ Overall report flow (clear & interesting)
▪ Appearance (neat handwriting & clean
report)
▪ Inclusion of appropriate diagrams
and/or charts

Indicator:
5 – Excellent
4 – Good
3 – Average
2 – Below Average
1 - Unsatisfactory
 SCENARIO
After months of being at loss, the franchise Alvin is working for as a manager has
decided to cut down its operating expenses by reducing the labor cost. The
management has decided to impose 30% pay cut on all employees to sustain the
business. Alternatively, a few senior employees of the company, including Alvin, may
opt for voluntary separation scheme (VSS). The compensation offered is RM 100,000.

A voluntary separation scheme (VSS) is a scheme/offer where an employer invites

and offers the employee to resign voluntarily without the implications of a
retrenchment while still receiving fair compensation from it. Alvin is very disturbed
with this sudden turn of events as the recent unstable economy has reduced other
job opportunities tremendously leaving him without the option to change jobs anytime
soon. That leaves him with only two choices:

Option 1 : accept the pay cut and adjust his budget with the new pay rate
Option 2 : opt for VSS and come up with a new income source soon

If Alvin accepts the pay cut, he has to come up with a new viable budget for his
household. With his current income of RM 10,000 monthly, he had no problem
maintaining his small family of five (parents, wife and an 8-year-old son). However,
the new pay rate may not make the cut for their current lifestyle. He does not mind
shot-term sacrifices like reducing non-essential expenses. At the same time, he
cannot compromise on their quality of life (QoL) in order to save money.

If Alvin opts for VSS, he can temporarily sustain the family expenses with
compensation received but it can only be a temporary fix. He needs to find a new
source of income real soon or he will soon be depleting his savings to cover their
expenses.

With the given information, help Alvin make an informed decision by comparing the
expected outcome of each option in three years. Use the information in TABLE 1 to aid
your decision-making process. Alvin’s current monthly household budget is as
shown in APPENDIX 1.
 TABLE 1: Factors Affecting Each Option

OPTION 1 OPTION 2

• What is the new pay rate? • How should the compensation be

• Based on the current household budget, allocated?
how much is spent for essentials and • Is it possible to generate additional
non-essentials? income from the compensation
• How can the current budget be altered received?
to cater for the new pay rate? • What other possible sources of income
• What are the possible lifestyle is available?
modification needed to implement these • Does the current budget require
alterations? modification?
• Overall, is this sustainable in the long • Can their current lifestyle be
run? maintained?

Assign suitable variable and derive appropriate equations/inequalities to describe your

financial plan and justify them accordingly. You may include relevant figures (e.g.: table,
charts, diagrams etc.) to support your arguments. Hence, briefly explain your graph or
figures.

You may consider the following factors to assess their QoL:

• financial security
• job satisfaction
• family life
• health
• safety

You may refer to APPENDIX 2 for recommended budget percentage as a general guideline
 APPENDIX 1

INCOME AMOUNT (MYR)

Salary 10,000.00
Cash dividend from investment 750.00
TOTAL 10, 750.00

HOME EXPENSES AMOUNT (MYR)

Groceries 1,500.00

Personal Supplies 200.00

Utility (electricity, water, fuel, cable) 1,000.00

Phone, Internet 500.00

Childcare 300.00
Maintenance 100.00
Medical Expenses 500.00

Entertainment (Eating out, movies etc.) 300.00

Miscellaneous 100.00

TOTAL 4,500.00

OBLIGATIONS AMOUNT (MYR)

House Loan 2,200.00

Car Loan 1,050.00

Insurance & Medical Cards 1,500.00

TOTAL 4,750.00

SAVINGS AMOUNT (MYR)

Emergency Fund 1,000.00

Education Fund 500.00

TOTAL 1,500.00
 APPENDIX 2

Category % of Take-Home Pay

Giving 10 – 15%

Medical 5 – 10%

Housing 25 – 35%

Transportation 10 – 15%

Savings 10 – 15%

Food 10 – 15%

Utilities 5 – 10%

Insurance 10 – 20%

Recreation 5 – 10%

Clothing 2 – 5%

Personal 5 – 10%