States In Malaysia Research Articles

Emerging challenges for sustainable development and forest conservation in Sarawak, Borneo.

The forests of Borneo—the third largest island on the planet—sustain some of the highest biodiversity and carbon storage in the world. The forests also provide vital ecosystem services and livelihood support for millions of people in the region, including many indigenous communities. The Pan-Borneo Highway and several hydroelectric dams are planned or already under construction in Sarawak, a Malaysian state comprising part of the Borneo. This development seeks to enhance economic growth and regional connectivity, support community access to services, and promote industrial development. However, the implications of the development of highway and dams for forest integrity, biodiversity and ecosystem services remained largely unreported. We assessed these development projects using fine-scale biophysical and environmental data and found several environmental and socioeconomic risks associated with the projects. The highway and hydroelectric dam projects will impact 32 protected areas including numerous key habitats of threatened species such as the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus), Sarawak surili (Presbytis chrysomelas), Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) and tufted ground squirrel (Rheithrosciurus macrotis). Under its slated development trajectory, the local and trans-national forest connectivity between Malaysian Borneo and Indonesian Borneo would also be substantially diminished. Nearly ~161 km of the Pan-Borneo Highway in Sarawak will traverse forested landscapes and ~55 km will traverse carbon-rich peatlands. The 13 hydroelectric dam projects will collectively impact ~1.7 million ha of forest in Sarawak. The consequences of planned highway and hydroelectric dams construction will increase the carbon footprint of development in the region. Moreover, many new road segments and hydroelectric dams would be built on steep slopes in high-rainfall zones and forested areas, increasing both construction and ongoing maintenance costs. The projects would also alter livelihood activities of downstream communities, risking their long-term sustainability. Overall, our findings identify major economic, social and environmental risks for several planned road segments in Sarawak—such as those between Telok Melano and Kuching; Sibu and Bintulu; and in the Lambir, Limbang and Lawas regions—and dam projects—such as Tutoh, Limbang, Lawas, Baram, Linau, Ulu Air and Baleh dams. Such projects need to be reviewed to ensure they reflect Borneo’s unique environmental and forest ecosystem values, the aspirations of local communities and long-term sustainability of the projects rather than being assessed solely on their short-term economic returns.

Making Health Services Adolescent-Friendly in Northeastern Peninsular Malaysia: A Mixed-Methods Study.

A mixed-methods study was conducted in a Malaysian state beginning with a cross-sectional quantitative study to determine the relationship between clinic characteristics and clinic score of adolescent-friendliness. Subsequently, perceptions of healthcare providers on the facilitating factors for the provision of adolescent-friendly health services were explored qualitatively to support the quantitative findings. Availability of trained healthcare providers, adequate privacy, dedicated adolescent health services team, and adolescent health promotional activities were the clinic characteristics that significantly (p < 0.05) related with clinics’ scores of adolescent-friendliness. The facilitating factors required for adolescent-friendly health services were (1) healthcare providers’ commitment and prioritization towards adolescent-friendly health services; (2) organizational supports; (3) appropriate clinic settings; and (4) external supports for adolescent health promotional activities. The qualitative findings reaffirmed those of the quantitative study on the significant clinic characteristics required for adolescent-friendly health services. This study provides valuable insight for the Ministry of Health to elicit the required facilitating factors to further improve the quality of adolescent health services in Malaysia.

In the gateway's shadow: Interactions between Singapore's Hinterlands

AbstractDuring the 1990s, Singapore, the Malaysian state of Johor and the Riau Islands in Indonesia marketed themselves as a single investment destination. Due to its capital, technology, and superior logistics, Singapore was the “gateway”; Johor and the Riau Islands were the hinterland—supplying land, labour, and resources. Since then, production networks between the three territories have deepened. Interactions with Singapore have also catalysed connections between Johor and the Riau Islands. To date, research has focussed on the city‐state as the gateway and/or linkages between it and one of the two hinterlands. This emphasis is inherent in the “Gateway City” framework, which focusses on the primary city at the expense of its hinterlands and also overlooks mediating influences such as borders and border regimes. This article proposes complementing the Gateway City with the Cross‐Border Region framework to gain stronger purchase on the unit of analysis and focusing on inter‐hinterland dynamics to gain a more complete picture of how gateway cities affect their surrounding areas. Through applying this expanded theoretical framework to study the interactions of Johor and the Riau Islands, this article seeks to shed light on an under‐theorised and under‐studied aspect of gateway cities.

Envisioning a future for Bornean orangutans: Conservation impacts of action plan implementation and recommendations for improved population outcomes

Abstract. Sherman J, Ancrenaz M, Voigt M, Oram F, Santika T, Wich S, Meijaard E. 2020. Envisioning a future for Bornean orangutans: Conservation impacts of action plan implementation and recommendations for improved population outcomes. Biodiversitas 21: 465-477. Populations of the Critically Endangered Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) are declining despite more than 10 years of conservation action plan implementation. Here we analyzed the impacts on species' population and habitat from orangutan conservation strategies implemented between 2007 and 2017. We also assessed data on investments into orangutan conservation, orangutan population trends and landcover change in orangutan range between 2007 and 2017. Diverse strategies addressed the range of threats to orangutans but were not implemented at scales that impacted species’ level populations and habitats. Since 2007 orangutan populations and forests across orangutan range have declined, with orangutan killing and deforestation as the major drivers of loss. Protected areas have increased since 2007, notably in Malaysian range states and in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. However, 80% or tens of thousands of orangutans live outside protected areas in Kalimantan alone. Our results underscore scientific findings that have demonstrated this species’ resiliency and modified previous understanding of their habitat use. Orangutans are regularly found using agriculture landscapes (acacia, oil palm, and timber plantations), and exploited forests. This plasticity must be considered to design more effective orangutan conservation strategies. We need to revise the notion of “orangutan habitat” to extend beyond forests alone, incorporating all landscapes where P. pygmaeus can be found. Orangutans cannot survive in exclusively monoculture production areas; they need some natural forest to fulfill their ecological requirements. However, individuals surviving in isolated forest patches or mosaic landscapes play an important role in sustaining the long-term viability of the local metapopulation through provision of crucial genetic, reproductive and socioecological connectivity. Our findings suggest removing these individuals through translocations weakens overall metapopulation health. All necessary efforts must be made to maintain individuals in isolated forest patches or mosaic landscapes in order to support healthy metapopulations. Improved orangutan population outcomes will require addressing habitat connectivity at the landscape level, incorporating both non-forested and anthropogenically modified areas, and developing efficient management strategies for human and orangutan co-existence within these multiple-use landscapes.

In moderation of ‘strangers’: terrorism, ontological (In)security and counter-narratives in Malaysia

ABSTRACTCounter-narratives is a celebrated strategy in countering violent extremism (CVE), but critical study of its contents is still lacking. This paper not only examines such narratives directly through mostly non-English materials published by Malaysian state agencies, it also proposes a new framework to understand them. It argues that these narratives perform an ontological security-seeking function by the Muslim state when faced with the dilemma of the jihadist terrorist as ‘stranger’, that is, a violator of insider/outsider, friend/enemy, civilian/militant categories that are key to the state’s sense of self-identity. Unable to securitise the Muslim terrorist as an ‘evil’ outsider, counter-narratives demystify the ‘stranger-terrorist’ in making the constitutive qualities of ‘violent extremism’ legible, detectable, and therefore governable. Through these discourses of biopolitics and Islamic hermeneutics, the Muslim state reclaims its ontological certainty by reasserting normative and self-referential claims about state, Islam, and Muslim subjectivity-claims that are under profound challenge by the anti-systemic nature of transnational jihadist terrorism. In reconceptualising counter-narratives beyond technocratic terms, this paper reveals the productive nature of counter-terror enterprises through its intertwining with governance, identity, order, and ontological security.

Performance Analysis of Mobile Broadband Networks With 5G Trends and Beyond: Rural Areas Scope in Malaysia

This paper presents a multidimensional performance analysis of existing Mobile Broadband (MBB), Third Generation (3G) and Fourth Generation (4G) networks, of rural morphology in Malaysia. The MBB performance analysis is carried out based on measurement data obtained through Drive Tests (DT) conducted in rural areas located in three Malaysian states: Johor, Sarawak, and Sabah. The measurement data pertains to the performance of three national Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in rural areas: Maxis, Celcom, and DiGi. The MBB performance measurement data was collected between January and February using modified Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone handsets. The measurement data of the 3G and 4G MBB networks are associated with four performance metrics (coverage, latency, satisfaction, and speed) for two MBB services: web browsing and video streaming. During the measurements, each smartphone collected the performance data of only one MBB service. Several classifications were identified to comprehensively monitor the performance of the two MBB services. For the data measurement of the MBB video streaming service, the same YouTube video was alternately played by the same smartphone, but with two different resolutions: 720p (low) and 1080p (high). For the data measurement of the MBB video streaming service, three different webpages (i.e., google, Instagram, and mstar) are sequentially browsed in a loop using another smartphone. This research work is designed to mimic real scenarios where the smartphone in use is not exclusively locked to a single technology while streaming a video or browsing a website. This allows the identification of the coverage for 2G, 3G, and/or 4G technologies within the tested areas. Due to the small amounts of 2G data, we omitted the analysis of 2G technology in the present study. The MBB performance analysis shows that, on average, the 4G network performed much better than the 3G network for all three MNOs throughout all measurement areas considered in this research. For instance, the 4G technology achieved a minimum of 42.4 ms on the web ping average RTT latency, while the 3G only achieved a minimum of 69.9 ms. For the average E2E RTT ping server latency, 4G achieved as low as 33.27 ms, while 3G obtained a minimum of 122.98 ms. The vMOS scores for 4G technology for both web browsing and video streaming services are larger than 3, while the 3G technology had a score of less than 3. The 4G technology can provide an improvement up to a factor of 4.2 and 1.6 in the download speed when browsing a web and streaming a video, respectively, in comparison to the 3G technology. These observations were found to be consistent across all mobile operators. This is unsurprising because we would expect consumers to experience a noticeable improvement when using a mobile broadband service over a 4G network as compared to a 3G network. The presented results provide a general direction for efficiently planning the Fifth Generation (5G) network in rural areas.

Managing Diversity: The Government Of A Malaysian Hawker Place

Selling and consuming street food has a long tradition in urban areas of Asia. While the preparation of food, the appropriation of space, and the sale itself follow certain rules, some of them are informal and not always in line with government regulations. However, even though the street vendors (or hawkers) are practicing their trade in a gray area between formality and informality many hawker places function surprisingly well. It is the aim of the paper to analyze the functioning of such a hawker place. As case study serves Changlun, a small town in the Malaysian state of Kedah, where qualitative interviews with hawkers but also officials were conducted. Results indicate that the government of this hawker place is a consequence of an intricate entanglement of practices, which include a tolerant administration but also compliant hawkers and customers liking this place. However, this entanglement is not without conflicts and problems. The hawkers are economically vulnerable and do not have many alternatives to generate income. Consequently the paper ends with recommendations that should enable the functioning of a hawker place as a traditional and well-regarded place to meet and eat and a space for underprivileged people to earn an income.

Qualified Audit Reports of Local Authorities in the Northern States of Malaysia

The reliability of information presented in the financial reports of local authorities is of utmost importance to enable the public to measure their performance in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in using public resources. The task to provide such an assurance lies with the Auditor General, who has been entrusted to enforce the auditing compliance regulations. A certificate in the form of “unqualified,” “qualified,” “adverse,” or “disclaimer” accompanied by a report on the financial affairs of the local authorities concerned will be issued after the Auditor General completes the audit of the local authorities’ financial statements. Our study on 14 local authorities comprising municipal and district councils in the Malaysian States of Perlis, Kedah and Penang found that the Qualified Certificate is the common type of audit certificate issued to the local authorities concerned during the period 1997-2001(inclusive of both years). Discrepancies in “Fixed Assets Register” ranked first among the audit incidents that led towards non-compliance to the audit procedures. This was followed by discrepancies in “Other Receivables” and “Cash Flow Statements” which ranked second and third positions respectively. Our finding also shows that size does not grant any advantage to the bigger local authority in reducing the number of audit incidents.

Illegal trade of sun bear parts in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak

Malaysia is a known source and consumer of bear bile products in Asia, and sun bears are persistently poached to meet the demand for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Surveys of TCM outlets in the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak were conducted in 2018 and 2019 as part of continuing efforts to monitor the availability of bear bile products in the country. Despite being illegal, the trade in bears and their parts persists, although with fewer TCM outlets offering such products in comparison to numbers reported in previous studies. In 2012, 42% of TCM outlets in Sabah and 35.4% in Sarawak were found to contain bear bile products. This has since dropped to 35% in Sabah and 19.3% in Sarawak in 2018-2019. Gall bladders were the main type of commodity for sale in both states, and were reportedly sourced predominantly by indigenous people. It was evident that most retailers surveyed were aware that the trade in bears and their parts was strictly prohibited, and some traders claim to have stopped selling illegal bear products for this reason. However, some traders who continue to trade in these illegal commodities have become more discreet. These factors contribute to the reduction in TCM outlets observed selling bear bile products. This reduction may also be due to diminishing sun bear populations, as some traders have claimed to have stopped selling bear bile products because of the rarity of or difficulty in procuring genuine bear gall bladders. The threat of illegal trade, combined with loss and degradation of suitable habitat and food resources as well as conflict with humans, puts sun bears at considerable risk. Efforts to mitigate these threats are urgently needed. Reduction of demand for bear parts is essential, as is stronger legal protection, enhanced enforcement and increased community involvement in bear conservation actions to ensure the long-term survival of viable bear populations in Asia.

Developing a unified orthography for Berawan

AbstractBerawan is a small ethnic community, numbering fewer than 4,000 members, in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo Island. There are four language varieties; namely, Long Jegan (LJG), Batu Belah (BB), Long Teru (LTU) and Long Terawan (LTN). This paper describes the development of the preliminary unified Berawan orthography by the authors, in collaboration with representatives from three Berawan communities (BB, LTU and LJG). Smalley’s (1959,1965) criteria for orthography development are discussed in relation to the authors’ stage framework for orthographic development, which has been adapted fromRempel (1995)within the context of developing the Berawan orthography and the orthographic decisions made by the Berawan. Two additional factors for orthography implementation are proposed. The first stresses the importance of adequate testing, which is essential for both obtaining objective measurements to inform decision making and establishing a well-designed and effective orthography. The second new factor emphasizes the importance of having sufficient time available to learn the developed orthography.

New genus and species of cockroaches, Coriaceolamprodes rubidusgen. et sp. nov. (Dictyoptera: Blaberidae: Epilamprinae), from the island of Borneo (Sarawak)

New genus and species of cockroaches of the subfamily Epilamprinae, Coriaceolamprodes rubidus gen. et sp. nov., are described from the Malaysian state of Sarawak (Borneo Island). This genus is closely related to the genera with asymmetrical armament of tarsi: Calolamprodes Bey-Bienko, 1969, Pseudocalolampra Roth et Princis, 1971, and Paracalolamprodes Anisyutkin, 2015.; however, it readily differs from these genera by the nearly symmetric hypandrium and the unique pressbutton-like shape of the apex of sclerite L3 of the male genitalia.

The Shadow Education System: Students’ Responses to Private Tutorial Learning

Purpose - In Malaysia, many families devote a portion of their income to private tutorial learning fees. Many parents, especially those who stay in urban areas, send their children for private tutorial learning. This research investigated the challenges of a shadow education system by analysing Malaysian secondary school students’ reactions to private tutorial learning. Methodology - A survey instrument with a structured questionnairewas designed on a webpage and delivered via email and Virtual Learning Environment through Frog Asia, which is the first company to connect Malaysian schools through a single cloud-based learning platform. The online survey approach was chosen as a convenient and cost effectiveness means of interacting with respondents who were dispersed in various geographical locations across the country. 148 respondents from three Malaysian states, Penang, Perak and Johor, were identified using convenience sampling. Findings - The results showcase the reasons for choosing private tutoring from both students’ and parents’ perspective. Significant findings revealed that the factors influencing students’ choice to attend private tutorial learning were the school environment, social influence, rigidity of the school system, students’ learning attitude and affordability for parents. The study also indicated that parents were exercising excessive force on students’ academic choices, which increased tension and anxiety among their children. Parental influence can be stressful and have a traumatic impact on children’s learning abilities. Furthermore, it was found that students were missing extra-curricular activities. Significance - The secondary school syllabus is too crammed and its scope is too wide, leading school teachers to complete it without in-depth teaching and learning activities. Due to peer influence, private tuition becomes a routine activity, causing school students to miss extra-curricular activities. Ultimately, a good outgoing school student is a potential candidate for higher education, and educationally qualified and skilled persons are needed for the future economy of Malaysia. It is suggested that education policy makers should not introduce a rigid curriculum as rigidity leads to rote learning and produces poorly talented children.

The linguistic landscape of a Malaysian border town

This study focuses on the residential neighbourhoods of Johor Bahru city, the administrative and business centre of the Johor Bahru region and the Malaysian state of Johor. Johor Bahru is a border town, located in the very south of peninsular Malaysia, less than one mile away from Singapore. According to City Population (2018), the Johor Bahru region has a multi-ethnic population of almost 1.4 million, comprised of native ‘Bumiputera’ (52%), Chinese (37.4%), Indian (9.9%) and ‘other’ (0.6%) citizens. Hutchinson and Bhattacharya (2019: 1) describe economic links with Singapore as ‘long standing, far-reaching, spanning trade in goods and services, as well as foreign direct investment (FDI) and movement of people’; both countries are one another's ‘second most important trading partner, in both cases surpassed only by China and outranking traditional commercial allies such as the United States and Japan’.

Flood resilience in Malaysian cities: a case study of two towns in Johor state

Purpose This paper has carried out a case study of two flood-prone towns in Johor state, Malaysia, to understand how resilient the residents and local authorities were in dealing with the flood disasters in terms of their ability to anticipate, mobilize institutional resources, adapt and respond. Design/methodology/approach This research conducted semi-structured interviews with flood-affected residents, flood disaster managers and planners, and assessed land use regulations and institutional strengths to answer the research question. Findings The results showed that the residents’ anticipatory capacity to flood risks was weak and both the human and institutional resources were insufficient in coping with and responding to urban flooding. Research limitations/implications This research has not carried out questionnaire survey of large number of residents. It is based on semi-structured interview of ten residents in two Malaysian cities. Practical implications The insights drawn from this research would help develop flood-resilient policies for Malaysian cities. The global communities exposed to flood disasters too benefit from the Malaysia’s minute but crucial human and institutional experiences in urban flooding. Social implications Being resilient to all these small but important flood concerns has huge potential to reduce vulnerability and disaster risks and protect the lives and properties of flood affected urban residents. Originality/value The research focus in Malaysia is less on flood resilience and more on flood modeling and hydrology analysis. In this sense, this research is new because it talks more on flood vulnerability and resilience issues at the community level and gives a perspective on current Malaysian town's state of flood resilience culture and practices.

Adolescent-friendly health services in primary healthcare facilities in Malaysia and its correlation with adolescent satisfaction level

ABSTRACT A cross-sectional study through clinic assessment and adolescent satisfaction survey was conducted in a Malaysian state to determine the proportion of clinics that provided adolescent-friendly health services, identify the crucial criteria for the provision of adolescent-friendly health services and determine the correlation of adolescent-friendliness level with the satisfaction level of adolescents. Out of 85 clinics, only 35.3% (95%CI: 0.25, 0.46) can be regarded as adolescent-friendly clinics. Large clinics showed significantly [F(2,84) = 13.82, p < 0.001] higher mean score than smaller clinics. Adolescent-friendly clinics had significantly (p < 0.05) higher mean score in 11 of 12 criteria of best practices than conventional clinics. Adolescents were more satisfied with the health services provided by adolescent-friendly clinics than conventional clinics (p < 0.05). There is a significantly (p < 0.05) strong correlation between clinic assessment score and adolescent satisfaction level (r = 0.643). This study provides important insight for the Ministry of Health to strengthen the provision of adolescent-friendly health services in Malaysia.

Use of palm oil fuel ash (POFA)-stabilized Sarawak peat composite for road subbase

Abstract Peat land covers a large portion of the total land area in Malaysia and several other countries throughout the world. The Malaysian state of Sarawak has the most peat land area nationally. Peat is considered a problematic type of soil due to its high compressibility, high moisture content, high organic matter and low shear strength. As a form of stabilization, it is suggested to combine palm oil fuel ash (POFA) with peat. This study investigated the engineering properties of these composite matrices in terms of the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and Standard Proctor test values. Results showed that the dry density of the peat samples increased with the increase in POFA content. The POFA-peat composites showed an increase of 4 times the untreated peat value. Also, CBR values for these composites increased from 31 to 42 fold, in comparison with untreated peat. The peat-POFA CBR values are rated as good materials for the purpose of road base or subbase construction.

Communication, Coordination, Logistics and the Role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) During Disaster in Malaysia

In times of crisis or disaster such as the recent floods of December 2014 in the northern and eastern Malaysian states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak and Kedah, non-governmental organizations played a significant role in assisting the authorities and government agencies in collecting and providing aid to victims. Under normal circumstances non-governmental organizations vary in what they do and would normally focus on specific issues such as environmental issues, health issues or social issues. However in times of crisis or disaster, these organizations expand their role by assisting authorities with relief efforts ranging from financial assistance to manpower to basic necessities such as food, water, clothing and even logistical assets such as lorries, helicopters and other types of vehicles. The available literature has suggested that individuals, groups and organizations such as non-governmental organizations innovate as seen by countless relief effort activities conducted by non-governmental organizations in times of crisis or disaster in the past. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between communication, coordination, and logistical factors toward the role of NGOs when faced with a crisis in Malaysia. The outcome of the study revealed that coordination and logistics are the main and significant factors contributing to the role of NGOs in times of crisis or disaster. With regard to communication, the findings revealed that this is a significant aspect however it does not contribute towards the role of NGOs in times of crisis. Finally, this study also found that preparation and training contributes to the successful role of NGOs in dealing with crisis or disaster situations, suggesting that more needs to be done in terms of planning, budgeting and training to prepare volunteers. The implications of this study on the surveyed respondents from various non-governmental organizations in terms of experience, requirements, support and issues are discussed.

Top Down vs. Grassroots E-Government: A Comparative Analysis of the Effectiveness of E-Procurement against Corruption in Malaysia and Korea

Purpose: Democratization and social structure have been identified as critical factors affecting E-Government’s corruption fighting capacity. To determine how E-Government functions differently against corruption in democratic egalitarian vs. authoritarian inegalitarian nations, this study examines the factors behind Korea’s successful anti-corruption E-Procurement program KONEPS and Malaysia’s less successful E-Perolehan program. Originality: Despite the contributions of large sample empirical work, no in-depth case analysis has yet shown how democracy and egalitarian social structure increases E-Government’s effectiveness against corruption, which is important for those interested in reforming under-utilized or ineffectively applied E-Government systems. Methodology: This longitudinal case study unpacks the causal mechanisms between cause and outcome, comparing and contrasting the development of E-Government, in particular, E-Procurement in two East Asian NICS: the consolidated egalitarian democracy of South Korea and single party, inegalitarian Malaysia. Result: Democratization and an egalitarian social structure provided incentives for citizens and politicians to back E-Government as a graft-fighting tool. Korean civic groups pressed to stop corruption and helped design KONEPS to reduce bureaucratic discretion over the selection of tender winners and release of annual purchasing plans and detailed bid information. In contrast, the Malaysian state introduced E-Government to bolster the ruling UMNO’s image and intentionally maintained E-Perolehan’s information asymmetries and bureaucratic discretion to preserve lucrative corruption schemes. Conclusion and Implication: Malaysia’s newly elected opposition party politicians have a strong incentive to use E-Perolehan against corruption by releasing more information regarding procurement plans, contract details and selection criteria while eliminating bureaucratic discretion over the selection of tender winners.

Alcohol Toolkit: Empowering Sabah Indigenous Communities to Reduce Alcohol Related Harm

Alcohol misuse compromises the quality of life of individuals, families, communities and whole societies in a variety of ways. Malaysia acknowledges the problems, implementing policies and health promotion activities in line with the World Health Organization Global Strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol by 10% between 2010 and 2025. Sabah, one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo, has more than 30 different indigenous ethnic groups. Alcohol production and consumption have traditional and unique roles in the cultural practices of many of these groups, making one common programme difficult to implement. Preliminary research suggests that alcohol is a serious problem in indigenous communities in Sabah. It also shows lack of knowledge on recommended limits for alcohol consumption and understanding of alcohol-related harm. The objective of this action-research is to produce a toolkit that will transfer knowledge and empower communities to adopt safer drinking and reduce alcohol-related harm. It must be attractive, appropriate, easily understood and be able to be tailored to suit different communities. The alcohol tool-kit was developed by a group of academicians using evidence-based information. Qualitative research methods were used to evaluate the initial alcohol tool-kit. A purposive sample of 45 village representatives was selected and divided into 5 groups for focus group discussion. Their feedback was recorded and transcribed verbatim. The alcohol tool-kit was edited accordingly. All participants agreed the alcohol tool-kit was important and can empower communities to reduce alcoholrelated harm directly improving their quality of life. The amended alcohol tool-kit will be recommended for health promotion material and evaluated from time to time.

CONSTITUTING RELIGION: ISLAM, LIBERAL RIGHTS, AND THE MALAYSIAN STATE. By TamirMoustafa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Pp. x + 187. Hardcover, $99.99.

Religious Studies ReviewVolume 45, Issue 3 p. 359-359 Short Reviews of Recent Publications: Religion and Law CONSTITUTING RELIGION: ISLAM, LIBERAL RIGHTS, AND THE MALAYSIAN STATE. By Moustafa, Tamir. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Pp. x + 187. Hardcover, $99.99. First published: 19 September 2019 https://doi.org/10.1111/rsr.14144Read the full textAboutPDF 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 onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume45, Issue3Special Issue: Jessica Johnson's Biblical Porn September 2019Pages 359-359 RelatedInformation