Issue In Malaysia Research Articles

Knowledge of Playing-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Classical Piano Students at Tertiary Institutions in Malaysia.

Performance injuries among musicians have been widely discussed for decades. However, despite the growing number of classical pianists, this is still a new issue in Malaysia. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the level of knowledge of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) among tertiary music students in Malaysia. A survey was conducted among classical piano students at tertiary institutions of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Out of 192 respondents, 76% knew that piano playing can cause PRMDs. Slightly over three-quarters of respondents (77.1%) learned about PRMDs from music educators. The survey revealed that the belief in "no pain, no gain" was still ingrained in their minds, as 50.5% respondents believed that pain experienced while playing the piano was normal and 51.6% of them considered that pain must be experienced to improve their piano skill. The respondents were also scored on questions on terminologies of pianist injury and specific PRMD examples: 7.8% of respondents scored high in the questions on the general terminology, while 99.5% of them scored low in the questions on the specific examples of PRMDs. This finding indicated a lack of knowledge of specific musicians' injuries among classical piano students. The attitudes to pain and the level of understanding of the significance of potential injuries indicate that increasing PRMD awareness and introducing courses on PRMD prevention at tertiary institutions are warranted.

Eating patterns and prevalence of obesity. Lessons learned from the Malaysian Food Barometer

The Malaysian society is experiencing and coping with a fast modernization process, which is characterized by a rapid urbanization and rural exodus, an important reduction of the size of households, and the emergence of a new middle class. The Malaysian Food Barometer launched in 2013 has provided better understanding how these macro issues have affected the lifestyles and especially the food habits of the Malaysians. The country has indeed undergone a transition period from under-nutrition to over-nutrition in a few decades, with the prevalence of overweight and obesity having markedly and rapidly increased. A quantitative survey (n = 2000), elaborated from a qualitative preliminary phase, was carried out with the aim of analyzing the transformation of food habits at the national level. The present article focuses on the BMI issue in Malaysia, and investigates its relationships with the socio-demographic variables of the population, as well as their eating patterns. The mean BMI is 23.64 kg/m2, with 9.5% of the sample being obese, and 22% overweight. Strong statistical associations have been identified between BMI and independent variables such as size of the living area, ethnicity, level of education, gender, and age. Contrary to general believe, overweight and obesity were neither associated with the number of food intakes taken per day (including snacks) nor with the frequency of eating out. Nonetheless, obesity is over-represented in people who have dissonant eating behaviors, i.e. who declare having fewer food intakes a day (food norms) than they do actually (food practices). This process testifies that the Malaysians are experiencing a “food transition”, which is linked with socio-economic development.

Nobody Cares, Lah!" The Phenomenon of Flaming on YouTube in Malaysia

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to investigate what motivates people to provide malicious comments on YouTube in Malaysia. This study will also question the differences between how flaming is constructed in each video classification and how are flaming comments categorized.
 Methodology: This study uses qualitative methods. Literature review has been summarized to contextualize the research problem.
 Findings: The paper offers rich theoretical insights to understand the practical issue of ridiculous comments by internet users on YouTube.
 Implications: Flaming or making ridiculous comments on social media has been a serious issue in Malaysia and other countries with high internet usage. Findings of the study will help understand the views of YouTube community in Malaysia on flaming. The study may further help understand the issue of flaming on other social media sites.

The Intention in Speeding Behavior between Low and High Intended Young Driver in Urban University

The number of road traffic accidents among young adult aged under 25 years old is an alarming issue in Malaysia. A five pages self-reported questionnaire was distributed to 384 young drivers' to investigate their intention in speeding while driving. Results have shown, the intention to speed among low and high intended based line group revealed a significant difference when it was compared with four types of scenario. Correct stimulation while driving could help drivers to change their intention to speed. This stimulation may be able to reduce the drivers' potential to involve with an accident and will save peoples' life.

Muallaf Center Design as an Implementation of Psycological and Economical Effect for Muallaf in Malaysia

<p><em>Mualaf</em> is the term to represent people who just moves to Islam from other religion. <em>Mualaf</em> Center is an important place for <em>mualaf</em> to get information about Islam. There are some reasons and factors that make a not-Moslem hesitates about their religion and decides to move to Islam. These circumstances make them need a psychological and economical guidance as the effects after they become <em>mualaf</em>. There are 6.3% from total citizen becomes <em>mualaf</em> in Malaysia. This number is in the not-Moslem society, so the effect of becoming <em>mualaf</em> can be perceived especially the psychological and economical effects. Therefore, <em>mualaf</em> center can be a good place for <em>mualaf</em> to get a guidance and consultation. This paper discusses <em>mualaf</em> center design based on the issues and problems about <em>mualaf</em> in Malaysia. The aim of this study is to find a recommendation design for <em>mualaf</em> center based on the issue in Malaysia. The discussion uses literature study method which will be analyzed descriptively. So the result of the discussion is a summary of design criteria that proper with the issue. This design criterion will be integrated using relevant design theme approach, i.e. sustainable architecture. The design criteria that is already integrated is the availability of guidance and consultation facilities, also entrepreneur practice facility toward psychological and economical effects. With by the guidance in this <em>mualaf</em> center, the <em>mualaf</em> will be capable of adapting to the social environment around them and also can rebuild their economic life as before in islamic ways<em>.</em></p>

Exploring the Glass Ceiling and Sticky Floor in Malaysia

<p>Usage of quantile regression is preferred nowadays to examine the gender earnings differentials across the earnings distribution. Based on Household Income Survey of 2009 and 2012, this paper examines the issue in Malaysia. The objective of this study is to evaluate the extent of gender earnings differentials across the earnings distribution in 2009 and 2012, whether the glass ceiling or sticky floor exists in the labour market in Malaysia. Based on the pooled quantile regression analysis, the established results indicate that the earnings gap is increasingly larger towards the bottom of the earnings distribution, a finding that is consistent with the existence of sticky floor in both years. Besides, the gender earnings gap is also accelerating between 75<sup>th</sup> to 90<sup>th</sup> percentiles, reflecting that the glass ceiling also prevails at the top of the earnings distribution in both years. Furthermore, it is noted that the impact of sticky floor is greater than glass ceiling. Nonetheless, further findings denote that the extent of sticky floor had been reduced whilst glass ceiling had increased within the period.</p>

A Qur’anic Methodology for Integrating Knowledge and Education

Integrating knowledge and education has become a major issue in Malaysia in the context of globalization. This study develops a teacher-centered Qur’anic methodology based on the integration of acquired (‘aqlī) and revealed (naqlī) knowledge as regards content, as well as the integration of teachers’ role in a teaching-learning process designed to empower students to manage “self” and “system.” It further investigates the existing curriculum and institutional efforts to integrate these two types of knowledge, students’ understanding of the integrated knowledge and its learning process, as well as how the teachers and lecturers understand this integrated knowledge and apply it to their teaching methods. Data collected through interviews and surveys of participating school students and teachers, as well as university students and lecturers, revealed several issues that need to be addressed.

ANALISIS LITERATUR ISU PELANTIKAN HAKIM SYARIE WANITA DI MALAYSIA

Qadi or judge is a significant post in a state. Islam has enumerated certain detailed and strict conditions for a person to be appointed as a judge. Among the conditions is appointing a male judge for the post. Discussion on this issue in Malaysia is still ongoing as there are states that have not giving opportunity for women to have the post. This article aims to analyze literature review on the issue in Malaysia. A comparative content analysis approach was applied in analyzing the data gathered. The analysis discovers that there are lot of writings in fiqh references that disagree with the appointment of female judges. However, contemporary writings show that a lot of writing that supported and agreed with the appointment of female judges in certain area of judgements.Keywords: Shariah Judges, Women, Justification, Appointment, Acceptance

The Indira Gandhi Case and the Advocacy of Justice

In the past decade or so, child custody cases among Muslim-convert and non-Muslim parents remains a controversial issue in Malaysia. The recent court judgment for the ‘Indira Gandhi Case’ re-highlights the issue, while spurring on a heated series of debates across the nation. Many, especially non-Muslims, have touted the latest judgment as a case of gross injustice and part of a worrisome trend of “disempowerment among non-Muslims to seek judicial redress”.

The Indira Gandhi Case and the Advocacy of Justice

In the past decade or so, child custody cases among Muslim-convert and non-Muslim parents remains a controversial issue in Malaysia. The recent court judgment for the ‘Indira Gandhi Case’ re-highlights the issue, while spurring on a heated series of debates across the nation. Many, especially non-Muslims, have touted the latest judgment as a case of gross injustice and part of a worrisome trend of “disempowerment among non-Muslims to seek judicial redress”.

A Study of Postural Loading in Malaysian Mining Industry using Rapid Entire Body Assessment

The ergonomics and environment factors have been the core issue for the mining industry for many years, and its profiles are rising. To ensure an ergonomics work environment, it is possible to require specific attention especially in this industries sector. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the essential issue in Malaysia due to lack of ergonomics knowledge and low awareness among the engineers in the mining sector. The focus of this study is to evaluate and validate the physical risk factor associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSDs) by using Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) among mining industry workers. All the physical risk factors involved the main body regions such as upper arm, lower arm, wrist, trunk, neck and leg that has been identified associated with WMSDs. There were 18 subjects were selected to involve in this study. Those subjects were chosen according to their job task. To increase the reliability of the result, each subject was evaluated thrice in the trials. From the analysis, the average of final score of the REBA is 8.24 indicates high risk and calls for engineering/or work method changes to reduce or eliminate muscular disorder risk. The results of the analysis were used to improve the process of work, design of workstation and also improving the work posture to enhance the comfort level of operators. This study is crucial among the mining industry that is a lack of the information and research about the ergonomics issues in the industry. The overall finding indicated that the whole process of selected work task will contribute to musculoskeletal disorder either for a short or long time exposure.

Indigenous Land Disputes and Law Reform in India: Lessons for Malaysia

Disputes on indigenous land rights are a continuing issue in Malaysia which needs to be addressed. Apart from the common law recognition of the land rights of the indigenous peoples, they are increasingly and widely recognised, both, under national and international laws as a stakeholder in the natural resources located within their areas. Since 1992, there has been a dramatic increase in legislation around the world recognising the rights of indigenous peoples and communities to forest lands and resources. An interesting law reform exercise has taken place in India with the introduction of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (FRA) to address the claim of the indigenous peoples to forest resources. India is relevant as a comparison to Malaysia as both share some common political and legal features. Using a comparative approach, this article analyses processes and mechanisms adopted in the relevant law reform in India and its relevance to Malaysia. Comparative perspectives provide models for practical applications of indigenous peoples’ rights. These will assist policy analysis through learning from the successes and failures of other jurisdictions in improving legal reform. This article provides a new perspective in addressing the issue of land disputes involving the indigenous peoples in Malaysia which is significant to the policy and law reform on this issue.

FEASIBILITY STUDY OF BREAST CANCER RISK MONITORING USING THERMOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE IN MALAYSIA

Breast cancer remains as a serious health issue in Malaysia and most presentation of breast cancer incidences are at the later stage which will reduce the survival rate. Breast Self-Examination for all women (BSE), Clinical Breast Examination for women above 40 years old (CBE) and Mammography for the older and high-risk groups are the current policies that are available in the government hospitals and selected clinics. However, BSE and CBE could not detect the early stage breast cancer while Mammography is less sensitive in detecting tumor in high dense breast tissue. Both factors have caused an increase in the overall percentage of later stage presentation of breast cancer in Malaysia. In this paper, a feasibility study of breast cancer screening and risk monitoring using Thermography technique is presented. Thermography technique is capable in identifying any physiological changes occur prior to lump formation. This technique is simple, cheaper, and produce no radiation which will allow a safe regular screening. In this study, a series of screenings has been performed on carcinogenic induced rats and thermal images acquired were then analyzed for risk monitoring. Visual analysis shown that the presence of hotspot and asymmetrical temperature profile could be an indicator of a high risk patient while temperature measurement on both induced and control groups shows a significant difference in standard deviation of the surface temperature with smaller deviation of 0.31±0.08 observed in control group while bigger deviation of 2.23±0.78 observed in the induced group. Hence, it is shown that Thermography technique could be a potential modality for upfront breast screening in Malaysia.

Audit Market Concentration in Malaysia: A Descriptive Analysis of the Top 10 Audit Firms in Malaysia from 2009-2013

While the global auditing services market is presently dominated by a group of four auditing firms (Big Four) namely Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the auditing profession in Malaysia offers several exceptions in the audit of public-listed companies (PLCs). In this study of the top ten auditing firms in Malaysian PLCs audit market for the period 2009 to 2013, it was found that BDO has overtaken Deloitte as the fourth largest auditing firm in Malaysia PLCs market segment, measured by audit fee income, clients’ market capitalisation and the turnover of their audit clients. Nevertheless, Deloitte remain strong in the referral audit of foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) in Malaysia as globally, Deloitte has overtaken PwC as the world largest accounting firm since 2013. As such, studies comparing the global Big Four versus non-Big Four auditing firms in Malaysia has to be treated with more caution to ensure comparability of the composition of the Big Four in the global arena. Also, Pareto 80:20 rule can be used to describe the audit market concentration issue in Malaysia as the top 10 audit firms in Malaysia audit 80% of the public listed companies in Malaysia.

A Qur’anic Methodology for Integrating Knowledge and Education

Integrating knowledge and education has become a major issue in Malaysia in the context of globalization. This study develops a teacher-centered Qur’anic methodology based on the integration of acquired (‘aqlī) and revealed (naqlī) knowledge as regards content, as well as the integration of teachers’ role in a teaching-learning process designed to empower students to manage “self” and “system.” It further investigates the existing curriculum and institutional efforts to integrate these two types of knowledge, students’ understanding of the integrated knowledge and its learning process, as well as how the teachers and lecturers understand this integrated knowledge and apply it to their teaching methods. Data collected through interviews and surveys of participating school students and teachers, as well as university students and lecturers, revealed several issues that need to be addressed.

Source Apportionment of Air Pollution: A Case Study In Malaysia

Air pollution is becoming a major environmental issue in Malaysia. This study focused on the identification of potential sources of variations in air quality around the study area based on the data obtained from the Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE). Eight air quality parameters in ten monitoring stations for seven years (2006 – 2012) were gathered. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method from chemometric technique was applied to identify the source identification of pollution around the study area. The PCA method has identified methane (CH4), non-methane hydrocarbon (NmHC), total hydrocarbon (THC), ozone (O3) and particulate matter under 10 microns (PM10) are the most significant parameters around the study area. From the study, it can be concluded that the application of the PCA method in chemometric techniques can be applied for the source apportionment purpose. Hence, this study indicated that for the future and effective management of the Malaysian air quality, an effort should be placed as a priority in controlling point and non-point pollution sources.

Assessment of radiation safety awareness among nuclear medicine nurses: a pilot study

All nuclear medicine nurses need to have some knowledge and awareness on radiation safety. At present, there is no study to address this issue in Malaysia. The aims of this study were (1) to determine the level of knowledge and awareness on radiation safety among nuclear medicine nurses at Putrajaya Hospital in Malaysia and (2) to assess the effectiveness of a training program provided by the hospital to increase the knowledge and awareness of the nuclear medicine nurses. A total of 27 respondents attending a training program on radiation safety were asked to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire consists 16 items and were categorized into two main areas, namely general radiation knowledge and radiation safety. Survey data were collected before and after the training and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired sample t-test. Respondents were scored out of a total of 16 marks with 8 marks for each area. The findings showed that the range of total scores obtained by the nuclear medicine nurses before and after the training were 6-14 (with a mean score of 11.19) and 13-16 marks (with a mean score of 14.85), respectively. Findings also revealed that the mean score for the area of general radiation knowledge (7.59) was higher than that of the radiation safety (7.26). Currently, the knowledge and awareness on radiation safety among the nuclear medicine nurses are at the moderate level. It is recommended that a national study be conducted to assess and increase the level of knowledge and awareness among all nuclear medicine nurses in Malaysia.

Illicit drug use among school-going adolescents in Malaysia.

Illicit drug use among adolescents has become a public health issue in Malaysia. This study was from the Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) and aimed to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with illicit drug use among school-going adolescents in Malaysia. A 2-stage stratified cluster sampling method was used and data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 25 507 students participated in the study. The prevalence of adolescents who ever used illicit drugs was 1.7%. Adolescents who ever used illicit drugs were associated with current smoking (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 6.99; 95% CI = 5.19, 9.40), current alcohol use (aOR = 4.63; 95% CI = 3.43, 6.26), ever having sex (aOR = 4.76; 95% CI = 3.54, 6.41), truancy (aOR = 1.43; 95% CI = 1.07, 1.90), lack of peer support (aOR = 1.47; 95% CI = 1.07, 2.03), and lack of parental monitoring (aOR = 1.71; 95% CI = 1.22, 2.39). Public health intervention should be addressed to prevent illicit drug used among adolescents.

Investigations of Rubber Dipping by-Product on Bitumen Properties

Nowadays, there are a lot of damaged of road pavement and it become a very serious issue in Malaysia. To minimise the damage of pavement surface and increase durability of flexible pavement, the conventional bitumen needs to be improved with regards to performance related properties. Thus, this study is to investigate the effect of rubber dipping by-product (RDP) on bitumen properties. In order to achieve this aim, the objectives of this study are; i) to determine of non-modified bitumen and the effect of added RDP in different concentration on bitumen properties; and ii) to compare non-modified bitumen and RDP modified bitumen in terms of physical properties. RDP is waste material from natural rubber industrial and it is in solid forms. Bitumen grade 80/100 PEN was used in this study. Laboratory tests were penetration, softening point, viscosity, rolling thin film oven (RTFO) and pressure aging vessel (PAV) tests. The findings show that addition of RDP causes the modified bitumen harder than before, indicate higher temperature susceptibility and increased viscosity properties. From the study stated that the suggested proportion of RDP to be mixed with bitumen is 10 percent by total weight.

Multiculturalism in Malaysia and Singapore: Contesting models

Malaysia and Singapore are good examples of multicultural societies albeit with different acculturation ideologies. Both countries comprise three main ethnic groups but in diametrically opposite proportion. In Malaysia, 50.4% of the population is Malay, 23.7% Chinese, 11% indigenous peoples, 7.1% Indian, and 7.8% other races. In Singapore, the ratio is 74.1% Chinese, 13.4% Malay, 9.2% Indian and 3.3% other races. Due to its colonial past, “ethnicity” has been the central policy issue in Malaysia and remains so up to this day. The dominance of communal politics can be understood in Stephan and Stephan's (2000) model of integrated threat theory. In Singapore, the city-state does not believe in affirmative action and it prefers to manage cultural identities on the basis of a multicultural ideology (Berry & Kalin, 1995; Berry, Kalin, & Taylor, 1977). In this article, multiculturalism is used to refer to public policies carried out by the two countries to manage their plural societies. We will discuss the development of the multicultural models that have evolved in the two countries. While Malaysia's model of multiculturalism is based on policies that have been instituted to manage inter-group tensions, prevent violence, and pursue social justice between the ethnic groups as a result of its past, Singapore's model is guided by pragmatic realism and market fundamentals associated with the needs of a global city. Both models will face challenges in the coming years as they each adapt to the seismic shifts in the geo-economic landscapes.