About writing personal statement for UCAS application (esp for app to Oxford)?

I am going for the 2009 entry. I am a student from Hong Kong. My main target is Economics and Management in Oxford so I would like to focus on writing stuffs more favourable to this program in the statement.

Is there any suggestion for the statement and the things I should watch out in it?

How should the format be like in the statement, like whether I should begin with my extra curriculum activities and then my experiences or things like my reading of related books?

Do I have to show my knowledge related to the subject?

It is mentioned that Oxford looks into the potential of the applicant. How can I try to show it in the statement?

There are a lot of questions. Thanks for reading it and thanks for answering it.

I can't really tell you how to start your personal statement but I can tell you how NOT to start it. Never put "Ever since I was a little girl I've wanted to..." or anything similar. Try not to start with anything a bit soft and sappy. Some people like to start with quote which can be clever, as long as you can explain what it means and why it's significant.

When writing my personal statement I started by saying why I wanted to take the course. It's good to talk about your interest in the subject and if possible show how you are involved in it in your life (e.g. I applied for English literature so I mentioned that I read a lot, enjoy analysing works and watching plays etc). You also need to talk about your skills and how this will help you on the course. This is like saying: this is what I can bring to the course and to the university. Then you can talk about extracurriculur activities (they don't have to be relevant to the subject but it helps).

That's all I can really remember but I hope it helps. Oh and remember, there is a limit to how long it can be. 47 lines on the UCAS website, which is 4000 characters including spaces.