North Malaysia Research Articles

Sustainable Performance of Industrialised Building Systems in the Construction Phase

The Industrialised Building System (IBS) is a construction method where components are manufactured in controlled environments, either on-site or offsite, before being assembled into construction works. Over the past several decades, it has garnered growing interest as a method to promote sustainable building. This study identified sustainable indicators through literature reviews, extracting sixteen indicators for a sustainability evaluation. A survey was conducted among developers, designers, civil and structure (C&S) consultants, mechanical and electrical (M&E) consultants, manufacturers, and contractors in North Malaysia, focusing on Kedah state, to identify their perceptions on the sustainable indicator performance of IBS construction. The participants had experience in both IBS and conventional construction. The data collected from the questionnaires were analysed for the mean and Relative Importance Index (RII). The results revealed significant changes in IBS construction compared with conventional construction across all indicators. The top three indicators were reducing the amount of formwork, labour availability, and reducing site disruption. Next, the analysis of the within-group comparison using Intra-class Correlation (ICC) of the indicators revealed that contractors, developers and manufacturers possessed moderate similarity within the same group of organisations. This research gives an overview of the present perspectives of performance of sustainable indicators across key stakeholders in the Kedah construction sector. This is especially beneficial because IBS has grown in popularity and popularity owing to its ability to enhance the building environment, quality, and productivity.

EFFECTIVENESS ONLINE LERNING AMONG STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Education is one of the most important aspects for every individual including those students with disabilities. Students with disabilities also have the right to get a good education and the opportunity to go to higher education. Accordingly, this article examines the challenge. This study uses a full qualitative approach, a case study at the University of North Malaysia (UUM). In-depth interviews were used in data collection involving 12 students with disabilities. The findings show that among the main challenges faced by disabled students who follow online learning are Isolation, emotional regression, Declining Mental State, Internet interference, Emotions and less conducive environment and Lack of Self-Assurance to Enroll in Online Classes. besides that, there are various suggestions in improving the challenges of online learning for students with disabilities at university. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the challenges and suggestions in improving the challenges of effectiveness online learning for students with disabilities at university so that appropriate support and facilities can be provided by the university effectively.

The influence of accepting change, spirituality, and tenacity and competence on authentic leadership among novice teachers in Malaysia

Purpose: In schools, principals are leaders of teachers while teachers, are leaders of students and colleagues. The current development of the ever-changing education system makes the roles and responsibilities of teachers increasingly challenging. This requires a person to have an element of resilience to become a teacher who is responsible for guiding students and colleagues to achieve school goals. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of resilience (tenacity and competence, trusting in one’s instinct and tolerance of negative affect, acceptance of change and secure relationships, control, and spirituality) on authentic leadership among novice teachers, particularly in North Malaysia.
 Design/Methodology/Approach: This study used a quantitative approach through questionnaires such as The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ), involving a total of 229 novice teachers in the northern zone of Peninsular Malaysia as respondents. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28 and Structural Equation Model-Part Least Square, SmartPLS 4 software.
 Findings: The findings showed that accepting change, spirituality, tenacity, and competence constructs have a significant and positive impact on authentic leadership.
 Conclusion: Resilience is a skill that teachers should have when influencing students and colleagues.
 Research Limitation: The data found in this study were based on questionnaires. The results of the information and findings of the study were limited as they depended on the honesty and willingness of the respondents to answer the questionnaire.
 Practical Implication: Spirituality in the workplace is among the key elements in achieving the organization's goals. Spirituality can help teachers have peace of mind when handling conflict. Teachers have to prepare physically and mentally to cope with the changes in organization because they are role models for colleagues and students.
 Contribution to Literature: This study contributes to the existing literature by demonstrating that resilience constructs have an influence on authentic leadership among novice teachers.

The Influences of Occupational Safety and Health Awareness Factors Among Workers: A Case Study in A Company in North Malaysia

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is an essential area that concerns the protection, health, and safety, including the welfare of people or workers in any type of employment. This study was conducted to identify the factors influencing the workers' awareness of OSH and the level of OSH awareness among the workers in a manufacturing company in northern Malaysia. The questionnaire was distributed to 60 employees manually and collected within one week. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used to analyse the data and present it in descriptive statistics, which are in percentage, frequency, and mean. The results of this study found that the OSH awareness level is high with an average mean score of 4.23 and indicated that OSH policy is the highest influence factor with a mean score of 4.47, while the lowest is Safety and Health Committee (SHC) with a mean score of 3.87. The activities such as safety week, OSH awareness campaigns, accident prevention training, posters, and safety talks can raise awareness in the workplace and help workers achieve a higher level of OSH awareness. The purpose of the OSH activities is to reduce occupational injuries and illnesses and foster the development of a safe culture in the workplace. Hence, OSH training and practises are very important and the best way to educate and raise the OSH awareness of employers and employees.

Abundance and Infestation of Rice Stem Borer in North Malaysia

The abundance and infestation of rice stem borer were monitored in MADA regions with the influence of weather parameters. The determination of the rice stem borer percentage infestation was recorded by dead heart (DH) and whitehead (WH) symptoms. In four regions of MADA area observations, a higher infestation of rice stem borer was observed during rice planting season one (7.1%) compared to rice planting season two (3.9%) on average. Both damage symptoms of the rice stem borer, DH, and WH were observed higher during the rice planting season one. The highest infestation of rice stem borer during season one was observed in Pendang with 18.60%. From the weather parameters recorded, a high infestation of rice stem borer occurred at 80.0% (RHmax), 8.2 °C of temperature differences (Tdiff), and a lower amount of rainfall (0.6 mm). The high infestation in Pendang in season one was influenced by the lower value of RH, higher range of temperature, and lower amount of rainfall compared to season two. Chilo polychrysus was the most abundant species of rice stem borer found in Region 1 and Scirpophaga incertulas were abundantly found in Region 2, 3, and 4.

Mediating role of employee engagement between Blue Ocean Leadership and team performance

<span lang="EN-US">The study examined the mediating effect of employee engagement between blue ocean leadership and team performance among lecturers. A cross-sectional study design was used, and quantitative data were collected using a structured survey from 2,580 lecturers from the population across the 22 vocational colleges in Malaysia's north zone. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis. The results revealed a considerable positive relationship between blue ocean leadership and employee engagement, as well as between employee engagement and team performance. Employee engagement, as demonstrated through the use of bootstrapping analysis, acts as a mediator between blue ocean leadership and team performance. The finding supported the Blue Ocean Leadership theory and Social Exchange theory in this study. Future research is be recommended to conduct in other states as well as private institutions to get a comprehensive understanding.</span>

Epidemiology and molecular identification of mixed yeast isolates in Malaysia: A way forward.

Invasive candidiasis is one of the most common systemic mycoses, and studies have shown mixed yeast infections. Malaysia lacks mixed yeast culture data. Yeast isolates were collected in Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital, North Malaysia, from October 2020 to October 2021. Chromogenic Candida differential agar media and PCR-RFLP were used to identify yeast species. A total of 206 yeast isolates were collected from different body sites of patients. The majority of the yeast isolates (n=104) were obtained from the urine. Other isolates were extracted from blood (n=52), vaginal swabs (n=45), ear discharge (n=2), tracheal aspirate (n=2), tissue (n=2), skin (n=1), nail (n=1), sputum (n=1), and cerebrospinal fluid (n=1). In total, 200 yeast samples were identified as single species, and six isolates were a mixture of Candida species. Malaysia lacks accurate epidemiological data on mixed yeast infections. We identified all samples to the species level, including mixed yeast cultures, using the MspI enzyme and PCR-RFLP.

Knowledge and Attitudes of Pre-Service Teachers in North Malaysia Related to Inclusive Education for Special Educational Need Students

Knowledge and Attitudes of Pre-Service Teachers in North Malaysia Related to Inclusive Education for Special Educational Need Students

Knowledge among Pre-Service Special Education Teachers in North Malaysia Regarding the Development of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Children

Knowledge among Pre-Service Special Education Teachers in North Malaysia Regarding the Development of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Children

The Impact of Service Quality Dimensions on Customer Satisfaction: Case Study of University Utara Malaysia

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of service quality (reliability, empathy, tangibility, assurance, responsiveness) on customer satisfaction in University Utara Malaysia (Education Service). Each variable is measured using 7-point interval scale: reliability (6 items), empathy (6 items), tangibility (5 items), assurance (10 items), and responsiveness (5 items) on customer satisfaction (6 items). Using the primary data collection method, 160 questionnaires were distributed to postgraduate students inside University Utara Malaysia (Sintok Campus), in north Malaysia. The responses collected were 98 completed questionnaires representing with 61.25 % response rate. The data were analyzed using Structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 7. Confirmatory factor analysis of measurement models indicates adequate goodness of fit after a few items were eliminated through modification indices verifications. Goodness of fit for the revised structural model shows adequate fit. This study has established five direct effects: (1) reliability customer satisfaction; (2) empathy and customer satisfaction; (3) tangibility and customer satisfaction; (4) assurance and customer satisfaction; (5) and responsiveness on customer satisfaction. And, this study concludes that all hypotheses have been asserted in the revised model.

Melissopalynological Analysis of Forest Honey from North Malaysia

Honey is a natural product widely used by humans due to its sweet taste and health benefits produced by bees from nectar and honey dew of various plants. To establish and increase the production of honey one must know the plants that take part in the production of honey. In this study pollen analysis of forest honey samples from northern part of Malaysia was carried out to determine the botanical sources playing role in the production of honey in that region. The pollen samples were acetolyzed and identified microscopically. Out of the three samples studied Baling sample was unifloral having Mimosa scabrella as predominant pollen while Jeli and Gerik samples are multifloral containing Tipo myrcia and Elais guineensis as major secondary pollen. Fabaceae family represented four pollen types and accounted 80% of pollen in Baling sample and 34 % in Gerik sample while completely absent in Jeli sample. These results showed the dominance of plants from Fabaceae family in honey production. All the samples analysed have Albizia falcataria, Eupatorium sp., Sparganium typha, Tilia sp. and Tipo myrcia in common indicating that these plants are present in all the three places and these results also can be used as a tool in geographical identification of North Malaysian honey from others.

Awareness of E-Cigarettes among Student in Malaysian Public University

Purpose: The intention of this research is to develop understanding of e-cigarette awareness towards students in university. Method: The data collection method used in this study is online survey using Google form applications via social media platforms. The respondents consist of 304 students from Malaysian public university located in north Malaysia. This survey consists of 14 questions including the demographic question. Result: Most of the respondents (n = 304) were aware of the impact of e-cigarettes and 124 (40.79 percent) had used an e-cigarette previously. E-cigarette awareness is also high among female students compared to male students.Conclusion: Importantly, attention needs to be paid to the use of e-cigarettes. Besides that, government law enforcement needs to be restructured to monitor the e-cigarette product from direct to adult access. Institutions also need to play a role in exposing students to awareness of e-cigarettes by increasing awareness programs. Overall, this study suggests a further research on this area to be conducted in a large scope of population in Malaysia and demographic locations.

An Exploratory Study of Consumers’ Social Behavior towards Role of Malaysian Community Pharmacists in Providing Healthcare

Aims: Consumers’ awareness, perceptions, expectations and experiences are integral components of their satisfaction towards the quality of care provided by community pharmacists. This study aims to assess consumers’ awareness, perceptions, expectations and experiences about the role of Malaysian community pharmacists in providing healthcare.
 Study Design: Cross-sectional study.
 Place of Study: Penang state in the north of Malaysia. 
 Methodology: A survey was carried out by conveniently selecting the consumers patronizing the community pharmacies. A pretested and validated survey tool with different domains (Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.577 to 0.774) was used. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-Square, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests) were used for analyzing the data using SPSS program, Version 26.
 Results: Of the total 424 questionnaires distributed, 195 (46%) were returned and usable. The median age of the consumers was 30 (IQR = 28-38). Majority of them were female, Chinese, living in urban area and having a bachelor degree. The mean awareness score was 8.39 (± 2.00), mean perception score was 2.95 (± 0.83), mean expectation score was 3.70 (± 0.13), and mean experience score was 3.17 (± 0.97). Trusting a pharmacist’s advice about medicines was significantly associated with the consumer’s age (p= 0.030). age of the consumers was a significant determinant in their perception of community pharmacists suggestions about the use of certain prescription medicines to patients and physicians (p = .001 and p = 0.014, successively). The strongly anticipated that community pharmacists should monitor responses to drug therapy and be more concerned with the patient rather than being profit-oriented (medians = 5 and 4, respectively).
 Conclusion: The consumers in this study were aware of the role of community pharmacists in community pharmacies and healthcare settings. They also reported high perception, expectation and positive experience with the community pharmacists.

2019 Land Cover Map of Southeast Asia at 30 m Spatial Resolution with Changes Since 2010

Last few decades there are lots of changes in Southeast Asia land cover due to development, industrialization, increasing population, socio-economic activities, and food demands. This research work analysis the maximum likelihood supervised classification approach for Southeast Asia land cover mapping and changes at 30m resolution from 2010 to 2019 using Landsat 8 OLI (Operational Land Imager) satellite data. The resulted maps cover eight land cover classes as barren land, cultivated, developed (built-up area), forest, grassland, shrubland, water, and wetland in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and North Malaysia Southeast Asia countries with very high accurate informative information. The resulted maps and information in this paper are very useful to researchers, regional to a national and international level decision and policy makers for sustainable development, fortification of natural resources at the same time protection of fragile eco-environment in Southeast Asia so that they will utilize in future.

Discriminating Complainers and Non-Complainers: A Study within the Malaysian Context

The purpose of this study is to examine whether consumers’ complaint behavior varies according to demographics, psychographics, and attitude toward businesses as well as product attributes. Discriminant analysis on a sample of 122 consumers residing in north Malaysia showed that complainers were males, married, better educated, and holding white collar jobs. Complainers were found to be more confident, more assertive, individualistic, and possessed a positive attitude toward complaining. Consumers who have a more positive attitude towards businesses and product attributes were more likely to complain. The discriminant model was able to predict behavior of complainers better than chance. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Image Analysis Techniques for Ripeness Detection of Palm Oil Fresh Fruit Bunches

Being one of the biggest producers and exporters of palm oil and palm oil products, Malaysia has an important role to play in fulfilling the growing global need for oils and fats sustainably. Quality is an important factor that ensuring palm oil industries fulfill the demands of palm oil product. There has significant relationship between the quality of the palm oil fruits and the content of its oil. Ripe FFB gives more oil content, while unripe FFB give the least content. Overripe FFB shows that the content of oil is deteriorates. There have 4 classes of ripeness stages involves in this paper which are ripe, unripe, underipe and overripe. The proposes approach in this paper uses color features and bag of visual word for classifying oil palm fruit ripeness stages. Experiments conducted in this paper consisted of smartphone camera for image acquisition, python and matlab software for image pre processing and Support Vector Machine for classification. A total of 400 images is taken in a few plant in north Malaysia. Experiments involved on a dataset of 360 images for training for four classes and 40 images for testing. The average accuracy for the 4 classes of the FFB by color features is 57% while the accuracy for ripeness classification by using bag of visual word is 70%.

FrogVLE Application in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools in North Malaysia: Teachers’ Perspective

The frogVLE application was launched in Malaysia to provide a virtual learning environment in order to produce competitive and relevant students in the 21st century. As science is one of the most important subjects for the development of a nation, the perspective of teachers as policy implementers should be taken into account in ensuring that the desire is achieved. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the level of application of frogVLE in secondary school science teaching in the northern peninsular of Malaysia. This qualitative study involved 50 secondary school science teachers in Perak, Kedah, Penang and Perlis. Each respondent was required to answer a questionnaire which consists of 20 questions. Five teachers were randomly interviewed by the researcher. The data were analyzed descriptively. The analysis results provide a real picture of how the frogVLE application is used in teaching, as well as the issues, challenges and suggestions for improvements in frogVLE while teaching secondary school science subjects. The findings from this study are expected to help the Ministry of Education to develop programs and improve the use of the frogVLE application in teaching science in secondary schools. In conclusion, a virtual learning environment such as the frogVLE application can only be used optimally to help improve science teaching excellence if the relevant issues are solved and supportis received from all parties.

THE INFLUENCES OF JOB PERFORMANCE, WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE ON EMPLOYEES’ CAREER SATISFACTION

Purpose of study: This study is conducted to identify the relationships between job performance, work-life balance and organizational justice towards employee's career satisfaction from one of the manufacturing companies in the north of Malaysia. Methodology: The study is done by utilizing a random sample of 240 employees in the company. Type of investigation is a correlation study and it is cross-sectional on time horizon. The unit of analysis is an individual level; therefore, all employees in the company have chances to serve as the participants in this study. Data has been analysed from 148 respondents. Results: Results show significant and positive relationships between job performance, work-life balance and organizational justice towards employees' career satisfaction. Organizational justice is the most significant factor in career satisfaction in this study (β=.83, p=.00). Other factors such as job performance (β=.71, p=.00), and work-life balance (β=.71, p=.00) also positively correlated with employees’ career satisfaction. Implications/Applications: These significant results imply that managers should provide good elements of justice in the company to raise the level of their employee's career satisfaction. At the same time, the employees should maintain a higher level of job performance as well as to manage the good working life balance in them.

Consumer buying behaviour and social responsibility in respect of organic foods: cross-cultural evidence

This study aimed to evaluate the present status of consumers' buying behaviour in respect of organic foods within two emerging markets. A comparative study was undertaken to understand consumers' buying behaviour relating to organic foods in the southern part of Thailand and north Malaysia. Based on an extensive literature review, the authors identified a number of factors that might influence consumers' intention to buy organic food including environmental knowledge and concerns, price, perceived beliefs and attitudes, and government support and policy. Moreover, the mediating influence of the two different countries on buying behaviour was also investigated. The drop-off and collect' survey administration technique was used to collect a total of 190 questionnaires from Thailand and Malaysia, partial least squares structural equation modelling using the resampling and bootstrapping techniques was used to examine five research hypotheses. The study found that environmental knowledge and concerns, government support and policy and price have a significant positive relationship with consumer buying behaviour in relation to organic foods. Furthermore, the domicile of the respondents in two different countries had a significant moderating effect on consumers' behaviour towards organic food.

Functional Feeding Group (FFG) of Aquatic Macroinvertebrate in Middle Reach of Kerian River Basin of North Malaysia Peninsula


 Investigations on the distribution and abundance of aquatic macroinvertebrates functional feeding group (FFG) in Bogak, Kerian and Serdang rivers of Kerian River Basin showed that there were 120 genera from 59 families of 13 orders of macroinvertebrates. Predator mainly Odonata, Hemiptera and Coleoptera was the most common group and found in high densities in Bogak River (modified river) and Kerian River (main river). The second dominant group in both rivers was collector-gatherer (Diptera and Ephemeroptera) followed by scraper (mollusks). A different pattern of FFG distribution was observed in Serdang River (tributary of Kerian River). The most abundant group was collector-gatherer, followed by predator and scraper. In general, predator abundance showed a significant positive correlation with their prey abundance (other feeding groups). Predator abundance especially in Bogak and Kerian rivers, was significantly influenced by parameters such PO4 3-, NO3 -N and Zn. In Serdang River, collector-gatherer abundance was affected by water temperature, velocity, TSS, turbidity, Mn and Cu content in the sediments. However, all water parameters weakly influenced the abundance of FFGs in all locations. High abundance of collector-gatherer in Serdang River was related to enriched water contributed by anthropogenic waste from surrounding residential areas. In general, dominant FFG in each river reflected the influence of different environmental conditions and availability of food sources in the area.
 
 
 Siasatan terhadap taburan dan kelimpahan kumpulan pemakanan makroinvertebrata akuatik di Sungai Bogak, Kerian dan Serdang di lembangan sungai Kerian menunjukkan terdapat 120 genera dari 59 keluarga dari 13 order makroinvertebrata. Pemangsa terutamanya Odonata, Hemiptera dan Coleoptera adalah kumpulan yang paling biasa dan didapati dalam kepadatan tinggi di Sungai Bogak (sungai yang diubah suai) dan Sungai Kerian (sungai utama). Kumpulan dominan kedua di kedua-dua sungai itu adalah pemungut-kumpul (Diptera dan Ephemeroptera) diikuti oleh pengikis (moluska). Pola kumpulan pemakanan yang berlainan diperhatikan di Sungai Serdang (anak Sungai Kerian). Kumpulan yang paling banyak adalah pemungut-kumpul, diikuti oleh pemangsa dan pengikis. Secara umum, kelimpahan pemangsa menunjukkan korelasi positif dengan kelimpahan mangsa mereka (kumpulan pemakanan lain). Kelimpahan pemangsa terutama di Sungai Bogak dan Kerian, sangat dipengaruhi oleh parameter seperti PO43-, NO3-N dan Zn. Kelimpahan pemungut-kumpul di sungai Serdang pula dipengaruhi oleh suhu dan halaju air, TSS, kekeruhan serta kandungan Mn dan Cu di dalam sedimen. Walau bagaimanapun, semua parameter air mempengaruhi secara lemah kelimpahan kumpulan pemakanan di semua lokasi. Banyak pemungut-kumpul di Sungai Serdang dikaitkan dengan air yang diperkaya oleh sisa antropogenik dari kawasan kediaman sekitar. Pada umumnya, kumpulan pemakanan yang dominan di setiap sungai mencerminkan pengaruh keadaan persekitaran yang berbeza dan ketersediaan sumber makanan di kawasan tersebut.