Malaysian Island Research Articles

Dive Tourism and Local Communities: Active Participation or Subject to Impacts? Case Studies from Malaysia

ABSTRACTDive tourism impacts were examined in three Malaysian islands: Perhentian (backpackers), Redang (package tourism) and Mabul (upmarket dive tourism). Qualitative local participation approaches were applied to investigate whether host communities were merely reactive to dive tourism's impacts.Dive tourism affected many aspects of community life. Besides physical/ environmental impacts (new infrastructure), research found varied economic impacts including employment/business opportunities and differing economic linkages. Participation varied between locations, and obstacles to increased participation were revealed. Mainly negative socio‐cultural impacts were observed with minimal participation in cultural productions (handicrafts, performances). However, positive educational impacts emerged, especially environmental awareness and English language acquisition. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Multistakeholder Values on the Sustainability of Dive Tourism: Case Studies of Sipadan and Perhentian Islands, Malaysia

The impact on the marine environment of the rapidly growing dive tourism industry in less developed countries is increasingly understood, but little research currently exists on its impact on overall sustainability at host sites. This article applies Social Exchange Theory to assess multistakeholders' perspectives of dive tourism for two Malaysian islands: the Perhentians and Sipadan. We argue that multiple interest groups exist within the sites, with heterogeneous attitudes relating to dive tourism. We found that dive instructors (most knowledgeable and engaged) have the most polarized views and clearly identify links between environment, society, and development. Nondive businesses show greater engagement with economic development impact, but may not link this to environmental preservation. Tourists were surprisingly indifferent—highlighting their lack of loyalty to "place" per se or opportunities for alternative travel choices.

Techbits: Marginal Fields Focus of Malaysian Workshop

Techbits The Malaysian island of Langkawi was the setting for an SPE Applied Technology Workshop (ATW) titled "Development of Marginal Offshore Fields" held 21–24 April. Fifty-six participants representing 36 organizations and 11 countries discussed the challenges in developing marginal fields and the current industry trends and technology employed to deal with complex geologies, challenging drilling environments, and infrastructure constraints. Interest in this workshop was great, as increasing energy demand continues to push oil and gas prices to new highs, forcing producers to examine fields that might have been considered economically unfavorable just a few years ago. High energy prices have brought a series of new challenges that developers of marginal fields have been forced to consider, including higher development costs due to rising commodity prices; increased environmental concerns pushing higher standards; and resource constraints in the form of a limited number of engineers, fabrication yards, drilling rigs, and construction barges. The workshop's program committee, cochaired by Azmi Mohd. Noor of Shell Global Solutions Sdn. Bhd. and Rakesh Kumar Vij of Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), framed the content with these issues in mind. Three keynote addresses were given, the first by Chen Kah Seong, General Manager of Project Development for Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd. Chen's address titled "Challenges of Developing Marginal Fields" set the stage for the workshop, and was followed by the speech "Trends in Marginal Fields" by Rajendra Marathe, General Manager and Head of the Institute of Reservoir Studies, ONGC. Garth Taylor from the Australian Trade Commission gave the final keynote, titled "Regulatory Body Influence in Marginal Fields Development." Development Uncertainties Discussed A series of nine technical sessions followed, with Sessions 2 and 3 discussing how to effectively manage subsurface uncertainties, including uncertainties in quantifying hydrocarbons in place, and anticipating the range of reserves recovery and production profiles. Other topics in these sessions addressed the value of information management for reducing subsurface uncertainties, how to maximize value by employing optimum reservoir recovery processes, and the appropriate evaluation and planning methods for a particular marginal development. Various methods for modeling uncertainty were also presented, followed by portfolio ranking at both the field and basin level, with examples of how risk management methods were successfully applied in various fields around the world.

Scavenging of 230Th in the Sulu Sea

Abstract Thorium-230 concentrations were determined in the Sulu Sea, a small 5000 m deep basin surrounded by the Philippine and Malaysian Islands, and the South China Sea. The mid-water of South China Sea flows into the Sulu Sea through the Mindoro Strait (sill depth 420 m). Thorium-230 concentrations in deep waters at two stations (PA-1 in the Sulu Sea and PA-11 in the South China Sea) are considerably lower than those in the open ocean (average concentrations below sill depth: 0.49 dpm/m 3 (PA-1), 0.79 dpm/m 3 (PA-11)). The low concentration and homogeneity of 230 Th in deep water below sill depth are consistent with the trend of other semi-closed basins such as the Japan Sea. We also measured 232 Th concentration in the Sulu Sea. From these data, terrigenous 230 Th was calculated to be 19% of the measured 230 Th in the basin. The most probable explanation for the 230 Th deficit in the deep water of the Sulu Sea is an enhanced scavenging effect by the particles supplied from the seafloor. Using a simple box model, the amount of 230 Th scavenged by particles supplied from the seafloor is calculated to be 0.052 dpm/m 3 /y.

A New Species of the Genus Graphosolus from Tioman Island (Coleoptera: Elmidae)

A new species, Graphosolus tiomani, from the Malaysian island Tioman is described. Description is completed by detail drawings of characteristic structures. The fully developed hind wing is illustrated and described for the first time within the genus Graphosolus. Distributional patterns within the genus are discussed.

Isolation of Nipah virus from Malaysian Island flying-foxes

In late 1998, Nipah virus emerged in peninsular Malaysia and caused fatal disease in domestic pigs and humans and substantial economic loss to the local pig industry. Surveillance of wildlife species during the outbreak showed neutralizing antibodies to Nipah virus mainly in Island flying-foxes ( Pteropus hypomelanus) and Malayan flying-foxes ( Pteropus vampyrus) but no virus reactive with anti-Nipah virus antibodies was isolated. We adopted a novel approach of collecting urine from these Island flying-foxes and swabs of their partially eaten fruits. Three viral isolates (two from urine and one from a partially eaten fruit swab) that caused Nipah virus-like syncytial cytopathic effect in Vero cells and stained strongly with Nipah- and Hendra-specific antibodies were isolated. Molecular sequencing and analysis of the 11,200-nucleotide fragment representing the beginning of the nucleocapsid gene to the end of the glycoprotein gene of one isolate confirmed the isolate to be Nipah virus with a sequence deviation of five to six nucleotides from Nipah virus isolated from humans. The isolation of Nipah virus from the Island flying-fox corroborates the serological evidence that it is one of the natural hosts of the virus.

The Extraordinary and the Everyday in Explanations of Vulnerability to an Oil Spill

Losses from an oil spill in 1992 differed substantially among coastal resource users on the Malaysian island of Langkawi. Even among the small‐scale fishers, those generally considered to be the most vulnerable to such an event, losses varied significantly. This investigation of vulnerability examines causes for the distribution of losses, including fishers' ability to mediate their exposure to risks and the variety of coping strategies they adopted. Explanations for differences in vulnerability are found both in the everyday interactions of processes shaping vulnerability and in the ways in which the “extraordinary” circumstances of a disaster alter those everyday processes.

Malay(sian) Borrowings in English

writing system is involved, transcription is required. The scope of this definition and the fact that borrowing perhaps occurs in all languages in the course of their development suggest that, whenever language contact occurs, borrowing becomes a function of language change. As Deroy (1980) has concluded, L'emprunt est, en effet, un temoin precieux des evenements politiques, des courants economiques, des grandes decouvertes, des progres scientifiques et techniques, des tendances artistiques, etc. (343). Perhaps a hundred books and a few thousand articles on borrowing are listed in the standard bibliographies. For example, Weinreich (1953) lists 658 sources, Haugen (1956) lists 690, and Deroy (1980) lists 1,364 (though some of his appear twice). Deroy wrote the most comprehensive book ever done on borrowing, showing how languages in general react to their environments and illustrating how significant qualities of language contact result in borrowing. The data in most studies have come from large, standard dictionaries, partly for convenience but also to be more assured that an item is not an ephemeral one used for a special purpose. These dictionaries usually omit biographical items like Sukarno 'Indonesian president' and geographical items like Penang'Malaysian island'. Because Western languages contain a vast number of proper nouns, they are technically excluded from the scope of lexicography. Most of these nouns are not a part of the common vocabulary and properly belong in an encyclopedia or an atlas. Some of these nouns, however, have common-noun uses that are generically removed from their original proper-noun sense (Mufwene 1988, 277). Thus they impinge on the common vocabulary by gaining a transferred meaning through a particular association. When the kind of coat that the Indian statesman Jawaharlal Nehru often wore became known as a Nehru coat and then a Nehru in English, the proper noun had added a new item to the general vocabulary. Because the noun Malay (recorded as early as 1598) had been functionally shifted to provide an adjective as early as

An Impostor's Voice

Lady Borton is a United States citizen of Quaker background, and a former high school teacher. Inspired by her pacifist conviction that all lives are sacred and that violence is not an appropriate choice to resolve human conflict, she volunteered to work in Vietnam for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The AFSC is a Quaker-based organization dedicated to the elimination of social injustice and to the promotion of world peace. From 1969 to 1971 Borton served as adminstrator of the AFSC project in Quang Ngai, a Vietnamese province that saw some of the heaviest civilian and military casualities of the war. The AFSC's project taught the Vietnamese how to make artificial arms and legs for civilian victims and provided regular weekly medical care to South Vietnamese political prisoners. In 1975 she served as leader of an AFSC-sponsored delegation of teachers to North Vietnam. She returned to Southeast Asia in 1980 to work as health administrator for twelve thousand Vietnam boat people who had been placed on the Malaysian island of Pulau Bidong. She visited Kampuchea in 1983 and is planning a visit to Vietnam later this year. Borton lives on a farm in the Appalachian region of Ohio. She chooses to live below the taxable income level so that the government cannot use her tax dollars to support any military activity. In this short article, she describes the many voices that she experiences in a typical day in Ohio and ponders a personal consequence of her remarkable sense of empathy.

The fugitive place names “Hamoa” and “Romoa” in Roxburgh's Flora Indica errors for Honimoa ‐ Saparua

TAXONVolume 1, Issue 8 p. 124-125 Article The fugitive place names “Hamoa” and “Romoa” in Roxburgh's Flora Indica errors for Honimoa - Saparua E. D. Merrill, E. D. Merrill Jamaica Plain, MassSearch for more papers by this author E. D. Merrill, E. D. Merrill Jamaica Plain, MassSearch for more papers by this author First published: November 1952 https://doi.org/10.2307/1216551AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume1, Issue8November 1952Pages 124-125 RelatedInformation

Effect of rain on the feeding of the Malaysian rice-field rat.

Rattus rattus argentiventer, the Malaysian rice-field rat, is a common pest of standing crops and of wasteland covered by the tall grass ‘lalang’ (Imperata cylindrica). It is widely distributed throughout the Malaysian Islands, and in Malaya it is the most important host of the scrub typhus mite-vector Trombicula akamushi s.l.