Malaysian Securities Research Articles

Food Security in Malaysia: An Empirical Analysis of Macroeconomic Determinants

Food Security in Malaysia: An Empirical Analysis of Macroeconomic Determinants

A systematic review of the role of integrated farming and the participation of universities in ensuring food security: Malaysia’s effort

Food security is critical for promoting health and well-being and achieving sustainable development, especially in developing countries. Despite the recent efforts to improve it, food security is still a concern due to the rapid increase in populations, conflicts, and natural disasters worldwide. Universities, particularly agricultural universities, play an essential role in addressing food security issues by researching, developing new technologies, and providing education and training to farmers and other stakeholders. The main objective of this review is to discuss the role of universities and integrated farming in ensuring food security. Specifically, this paper reviews the importance of universities and focuses on their role in ensuring and promoting food security in Malaysia. It includes a brief overview of the different types of integrated farming methods that can be used to improve food security and finally discusses the Student Farmer Entrepreneur program, which can be crucial in promoting food security by increasing agricultural productivity, promoting local food production, encouraging sustainable agriculture practices, and supporting rural development. This review also considers the significant impact of the Malaysian government and universities on food security. With integrated farming and the Student Farmer Entrepreneur program, food security can be further improved.

The effects of environmental pollution on food security in Malaysia

Environmental pollution has emerged as a critical global challenge, significantly affecting various aspects of human life, including food security. This research paper investigates the effects of environmental pollution on agricultural output (a proxy for food security) in Malaysia from 1990 to 2020, utilising the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method. The results obtained from the bounds cointegration testing approach provided strong evidence supporting the existence of a long-term relationship among Methane emissions in the energy sector (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) (CH4), Carbon dioxide emissions (metric tons per capita) (CO2), Nitrous oxide emissions in the energy sector (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) (N2O), GDP, population, index of agricultural total factor productivity, and agricultural output. Estimation of long-run and short-run ARDL with diagnostic and model stability reveals that there is a positive correlation between the index of agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) and agricultural output in Malaysia in all four of the models analysed. The discoveries illuminate the possible mechanisms by which environmental pollution affects food security in Malaysia, offering valuable insights to policymakers and stakeholders for crafting effective strategies toward sustainable development. By uncovering the implications of environmental degradation on food availability, access, and nutritional quality, the study highlights the urgency of addressing environmental challenges to ensure long-term food security for the Malaysian population. Moreover, the study can serve as a basis for formulating sustainable policies that promote resource conservation, waste management, and eco-friendly practices in the agricultural and industrial sectors, fostering a harmonious coexistence between economic development and environmental preservation.

FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI DASAR PERTAHANAN MALAYSIA ERA TUN MAHATHIR MOHAMAD 1981-2003

Since 1957, Malaysia has developed a National Defense Policy (NDP) to ensure national security and sovereignty. The DPN reflects Malaysia's desire to be able to defend its strategic interests and maintain national security. During Mahathir's era, the defense policy was inclined towards self-reliance and changed its pattern i.e. upward, where before his administration it was in the form of dependency and neutrality and had a horizontal pattern. In the international arena, Tun's voice resonated to voice the aspirations of Third World countries and the commitment shown above other leaders. Self-reliance under Tun Mahathir's administration made aspects of Malaysia's defense policy more modern so that Tun Mahathir became a reference and attention throughout the world, especially Third World Countries. The three main factors that influenced Malaysia's defense policy during the era of Tun Mahathir Mohamad 1981-2003 that will be discussed, namely internal factors (internal factors), external factors (external factors) and Tun Mahathir Mohamad's idiosyncratic factors which made the aspects of Malaysia's security and defense policy more modern and 'gah' on the international stage.

ASSESSING THE EVOLUTION OF PADDY CULTIVATION IN KOTA BELUD, SABAH USING GIS AND REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES

This study aims to analyse the development of paddy cultivation in Kota Belud, Sabah using remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from 1990 to 2020. The cultivation of agriculture-based crops began in the early 1990s, and in 2017-2018, the Malaysian and state government identified Kota Belud as a paddy granary, making the cultivation of paddy a priority. This was in line with the National Agro-Food Policy 2021-2030, which aims to improve food security policies and reduce dependence on imports by enhancing rice production through technology reform and various initiatives. This study employed GIS and remote sensing techniques to analyse the changes in land use for paddy cultivation. Landsat TM 5 and Landsat TM 8 images were used to extract data of land use from 1990 to 2020. The results indicate that the area of paddy cultivation increased from 4,329 ha in 1990 to 12,564 ha in 2020, with fluctuations in between. The specific GIS and remote sensing techniques used in the analysis included unsupervised and supervised classification technique with accuracy classification of 94%, 86%, 98.30% and 91.60 % for year 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2010, respectively. Overall, the findings of this study can be used as a guideline by local authorities to improve rice production and food security in Malaysia.

Feeding the Future: Achieving Food Security in Malaysia Through Trade Mechanism

Malaysia’s food imports have almost doubled in 10 years, from RM35 billion to RM63 billion in 2021. In total, 26 food items have a self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) of 100% or above, according to the Supply and Utilization Accounts of Selected Agricultural Commodities, Malaysia, from the Department of Statistics (DOSM), but 24 other products still fall short of this mark. Moreover, Malaysia showed progress in the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) in 2021, moving up from the 48th rank (67.9 points) in 2020 to the 41st place (69.9 points) in 2022. Malaysia still has problems with food security, despite these encouraging signs. By employing a desktop research technique and secondary data from papers and publications, this concept paper seeks to investigate the landscape and trajectory of food security in Malaysia from 2017 to 2022. Further analysis is carried out on food security by focusing on the use of trade mechanisms in the four pillars of affordability, availability, quality and safety, sustainability, and adaptation. The analysis found that Malaysia faces several challenges in achieving food security, including increasing dependence on food imports, declining agricultural productivity, and income inequality. However, Malaysia has also made important strides toward enhancing food security, including diversifying its import sources, enhancing accessibility through price regulation, and intensifying its use of agricultural technologies.

Ulasan Buku: Dasar Sekuriti Makanan dan Keselamatan Insan di Malaysia oleh Bakri Mat, Zarina Othman, dan Rashila Ramli, Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi. Hlmn. 216. ISBN: 978-967-412-902-6

Book Review: Food Security Policy and Human Security in Malaysia by Bakri Mat, Zarina Othman and Rashila Ramli, publisher: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Press, 2019, 216 pp. ISBN: 978-967-412-902-6 This book review is written in Bahasa Malaysia. It is a reviewed article on the book written in Bahasa Malaysia and published by the UKM Press undertitled, Food Security Policy and Human Security in Malaysia. To access it, please order the printed version or browse the electronic version of this article. The abstract is not available for the book review.

The Role of Corporate Governance on Firm Performance of Public Listed Companies in Malaysia

There has always been an increasing and renewed interest in the business world for corporate governance (CG) to improve Firm Performance (FP) due to global corporate scandals and the continuous downfall of Public Listed Companies (PLCs). The PLC investors look forward to diversifying their investments and maximising their returns as a result of good FP. One of the major investor concerns is the firm's CG, which acts as a tool to minimize their investment risk by monitoring management's decision-making that affects FP. Therefore, this research paper aims to investigate the role of CG on FP of PLCs in Malaysia, particularly on the Audit Committee (AC) and Integrity Committee (IC), which are established to assist the Board of Directors (BOD) in the monitoring of executive management. This study will use the cross-sectional design and organization level as the unit of analysis. Data will be collected from the annual report of 300 PLCs from June ‘2020 to December 2020. The judgmental sampling technique has been adopted in this study. The data will be analysis using Smart PLS. This study can contribute to the literature by filling up gaps in CG literature, especially on IC, which is less researched. This study can enhance the understanding of scholars on CG practices, particularly on BOD's subcommittee. The findings of this study are useful for PLCs, Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (Bursa Malaysia), Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to understand further the impact of CG on FP, particularly the BOD's subcommittee to enhance and improve on regulatory and legal requirements.

Shari'ah compliance safety for Malaysia Homestay Muslim Travelers

Muslim travellers are gradually showing interest in travelling to Muslim-friendly countries, specifically Malaysia. Malaysia is one of the few Islamic-viewing countries offering unique accommodation via the local homestay experience. However, the regulations set by the local authority are loosely enforced, especially regarding homestay guests' safety. Interpretations of safety are largely contributed only by each registered local homestay, with only minor guidelines provided by the local authority. It is also unclear whether the safety measures of homestays in Malaysia comply with Shari’ah principles. For example, under the official guidelines, insurance is to be adopted by homestays for the safety of the guest. However, Muslim travellers do not have a choice between Shari’ah and non-Shari’ah policies. When it comes to insurance policies, it is up to the homestay owner to provide Shari’ah-compliant or non-compliant coverage. Therefore, the article aims to explore whether the safety measures of homestays in Malaysia comply with Shari’ah principles and suggests ways to address these issues. Findings indicate that homestays' current level of safety and security in Malaysia is not standard since MOTAC’s guidelines are too general and not curated for each homestay. Suggestions in the form of a flow chart were put forward to address concerns about safety and security and to ensure compliance with Shari’ah principles.

An Extended Interval Type-2 Fuzzy VIKOR Technique with Equitable Linguistic Scales and Z-Numbers for Solving Water Security Problems in Malaysia

Interval Type-2 Fuzzy VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (IT2FVIKOR) technique is one of the techniques of Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making (IT2FMCDM), which was developed to solve problems involving conflicting and multiple objectives. Most of the IT2FVIKOR methods are created from linguistic variables based on Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Set (IT2FS) and its generalization, such as Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Numbers (IT2FNs). Recent literature suggests that equitable linguistic scales can offer a better alternative, particularly when IT2FSs have some limitations in handling uncertainty and imbalance. This paper proposes the extended IT2FVIKOR with an equitable linguistic scale and Z-Numbers, where its linguistic scale introduces an equitable balance of positive and negative scales added to the restriction and reliability approach. Different from the typical IT2FVIKOR, which directly utilizes IT2FNs with a positive membership, the proposed method introduces positive and negative membership where each side considers a restriction and reliability approach. Besides, this paper also offers objective weights using fuzzy entropy-based IT2FS to calculate the weights of the extended IT2FVIKOR. The obtained solutions would help decision makers (DMs) identify the best solution to enhance water security projects in terms of finding the best strategies for water supply security in Malaysia.

Water Footprint of Rice Production in Malaysia: A Review of Evapotranspiration and Factors of Climate Change for Rice and Food Security in Malaysia

Rice is a special crop that requires a thin layer of water to produce, and is produced differently from other crops. The rice sectors in Malaysia continue to be developed in a proactive and progressive manner. Due to its growth process, rice has a different water footprint (WF) compared to other crops. This study improved the calculation of the blue and green WF of rice production and examined the variations of these footprints under the primary granary area of Malaysia. The effects of climate change will, however, make it more difficult to achieve food security and increase rice yields in the future. Therefore, this paper aims to discuss climate change impacts on rice production and food security in Malaysia. Many countries worldwide are becoming increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters due to climate change. Many climate models predict a decline in agricultural productivity due to excessive heat in tropical and subtropical regions, especially in Southeast Asia. Malaysia is no exception. Therefore, the present study examined the impact of climate change on rice yields in Muda Granary, Malaysia. Utilizing literature reviews, we assessed the value of evapotranspiration (ET) in order to calculate the green WF for the area. Climate variables (such as ET), yield, and variance of impact during the main season and off-season were the primary objectives of the study. Precipitation did not show a statistically significant difference between the main and off-seasons from 2011-2015. During the main crop season, the maximum ET was negatively associated with yield, but the minimum ET showed a positive association. In the off-season, green WF levels were higher than those in the main season. These findings indicate that climate change poses a serious threat to rice production, which will in turn affect food security as they are highly interconnected. Thus, it is high time for Malaysia to revamp its paddy and rice intervention strategies by giving due attention to enhancing the adaptive capacity of rice farmers to cope with climate change.

Modelling the sustainable agriculture management adaptation practices: Using adaptive capacity as a mediator

The purpose of this research is to investigate the mediating role of farmers’ adaptive capacity between adaptation practices and economic, social, natural, technological, and institutional limitations. A survey questionnaire was employed to collect data, which was subsequently analysed using PLS-Structural Equation Modelling Structural equation modelling. The entire population was stratified into 27 Pertubuhan Peladang Kawasan out of which 500 targeted respondents were randomly selected from seven strata for data collection. The findings revealed that only 67% of farmers are aware of adaptation practices, while 33% are uninformed. The study also revealed that economic, social, natural, technological, and institutional barriers affect farmers’ adaptive capacity levels and ultimately hamper their adaptation practices. This result further affirms the influence of farmers’ adaptive capacity level on their adaptation behaviour. Adaptation strategies are essential to mitigate the negative effects of climate change. However, the success of these strategies is contingent upon the farmers’ adaptive capacity level, which is strained by several barriers. The findings contribute to the development of a national adaptation plan in a bid to aid the implementation of the 2011–2020 National Agri-Food Policy (NAP) to increase the competitiveness and production capacity of the entire agri-food industry value chain and ensure food security in Malaysia. This study will help policymakers come up with a good policy framework to get rid of the problems that get in the way of adapting to climate change.

PROSEDUR STANDARD PEMANTAUAN PERNIAGAAN MAKANAN SECARA DALAM TALIAN SEMASA PANDEMIK COVID-19

Clean, safe, and quality are the basis of food safety that must be prioritised by everyone, whether they are entrepreneurs, operators, promoters, food senders, or consumers. Each party involved is a key entity in the food chain aimed at ensuring food security in Malaysia can be strengthened over time. However, the question remains, who is responsible for monitoring food safety, especially involving the sale of online food products, specifically in Kedah. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a surge of various food products sold online. Thus, this study presents the following two objectives in tracing the issue. First, to examine the concept and procedures of monitoring, and second, to analyse the monitoring procedures of the online food business by the responsible enforcement authorities. This research uses a qualitative method by implementing a literature review and semi-structured interviews for data collection and research facts. The data analysis method is based on textual and document analysis of data obtained from library documents and conducted interviews. The study's preliminary findings obtained monitoring procedures on online food sales and business during the Covid-19 pandemic implemented by the Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia, gazetted in April 2020. The implications of this study are refined to highlight to the public the real role of enforcement authorities, such as the Ministry of Health Malaysia in general and the Kedah State Health Department in particular, which involves the monitoring of food chain safety procedures at the federal and state levels during Covid-19 pandemic era.

The Implementation Strategy of DNSSEC in Strengthening Digital Government Security in Malaysia

DNS is a well-known and important protocol on the Internet. Its main function is to translate domain names and Internet protocol addresses to allow users to access the Internet. However, it was created without consideration of security factors. Due to the vulnerabilities found in the DNS, it is often the main target of hackers for carrying out DNS spoofing attacks. To overcome this problem, DNSSEC is introduced. DNSSEC uses cryptographic public keys to create digital signatures in DNS and provides the origin authority, data integrity, and authenticated denial of existence. Therefore, in order to improve the security features of the domain in Malaysia, the implementation of DNSSEC is first performed on the domains of the Government of Malaysia. In this paper, we describe the DNSSEC implementation strategy which was performed on the Malaysian Government’s domains under the administration of MAMPU. This DNSSEC process took almost a year to implement and it involved a total of 439 domains. With the implementation of DNSSEC on the .gov.my domain names, the level of security is enhanced, and it brings a significant impact on the digital transformation and digital transactions that are provided by the Government of Malaysia to its people.

Early Survey on the Relocation of Capital City of Indonesia and its Impact towards East Malaysia Security

The issue of borders is a factor that can threaten the sovereignty of a country because it has an impact from traditional and non -traditional angles. This study is conducting to examine the impact of the relocation of the Indonesian capital on the security of East Malaysia. This is because the relocation plan involves a large and comprehensive development increase. The literature review of this study is divided into three, namely (1) The relocation of the Indonesian capital (Jakarta) to Kalimantan, (2) Security issues that exist between Malaysia-Indonesia due to the relocation of the Indonesian capital to the province of Kalimantan and (3) Security impact to Malaysia due to the relocation of the Indonesian capital to Kalimantan. The objectives of this study are to identify security threats that exist on the Sarawak-Kalimantan border, to study the impact of the Indonesian capital on national security in East Malaysia and to analyze the actions of the Malaysian government to improve security in East Malaysia. This study adopts a qualitative method in which part of the data is collected through secondary data obtained through a library study. These include scholarly books, journal articles, confidential reports released (public domain) as well as the security and defense policies of a government. While the primary data was obtained through face-to-face interviews with experts and officials directly involved in the topic of study from Malaysia and Indonesia. The conclusion of the survey is that there are traditional and non -traditional threats at the border. The relocation of the Indonesian capital has had a political, economic and security impact on East Malaysia. The Malaysian government is adding security personnel to be on alert along the border as well as establishing closer diplomatic relations with Indonesia.

Early Survey on the Relocation of Capital City of Indonesia and its Impact towards East Malaysia Security

Early Survey on the Relocation of Capital City of Indonesia and its Impact towards East Malaysia Security

Ensuring Urban Food Security in Malaysia during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Is Urban Farming the Answer? A Review

Urbanisation and related insufficiency of food sources is due to the high urban population, insufficient urban food sources, and inability of some urban communities to afford food due to rising costs. Food supply can also be jeopardised by natural and man-made disasters, such as warfare, pandemics, or any other calamities which result in the destruction of crop fields and disruption of food distribution. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the impact of such calamities on the fresh food supply chain in Malaysia, especially when the Movement Control Order (MCO) policy was first implemented. The resulting panic buying caused some food shortage, while more importantly, the fresh food supply chain was severely disrupted, especially in urban areas, in the early stages of implementation. In this regard, urban farming, while a simple concept, can have a significant impact in terms of securing food sources for urban households. It has been used in several countries such as Canada, The Netherlands, and Singapore to ensure a continuous food supply. This paper thus attempted to review how the pandemic has affected Malaysian participation in urban farming and, in relation to that, the acceptance of urban farming in Malaysia and the initiatives and approaches of local governmental and non-governmental organisations in encouraging the urban community to participate in urban farming through peer-reviewed journal articles and other articles related to urban agriculture using the ROSES protocol. About 93 articles were selected after screening to ensure that the articles were related to the study. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the surge in Malaysians’ awareness of the importance of urban farming has offered great opportunities for the government to encourage more Malaysian urban communities to participate in urban farming activities. Limitations such as relevant knowledge, area, and space, however, are impediments to urban communities’ participation in these activities. Government initiatives, such as the Urban Community Garden Policy (Dasar Kebun Komuniti Bandar (DKKB)), are still inadequate as some issues are still not addressed. Permanent Food Production Parks (TKPM) and technology-driven practices are seen as possible solutions to the primary problem of land and space. Additionally, relevant stakeholders play a crucial role in disseminating relevant and appropriate knowledge and methodology applicable for urban farming. Partnerships between government agencies, the education sector, and the private sector are necessary to develop modern urban agricultural technologies as well as knowledge, knowhow, and supports to build and sustain urban community participation in urban farming activities.

IDENTIFYING BARRIERS TO DATA PROTECTION AND INVESTOR PRIVACY IN EQUITY CROWDFUNDING

Equity crowdfunding (ECF) in Indonesia is a fundraiser organized to attract many investors to finance social and business activities on online platforms. In Malaysia, ECF reflects small businesses, especially those of entry-level businesses, raising funds from the public through websites registered with the Malaysian Securities Commission. There are differences in legal protection between Indonesia and Malaysia regarding protection of personal data and investor privacy in ECF activities. This study aimed to examine the barriers faced in data protection and privacy related to equity crowdfunding in Indonesia and Malaysia. This normative legal research focused on positive legal norms, laws, and regulations. It is found that Indonesia and Malaysia have different barriers in protecting personal data and investor privacy in ECF activities. In Indonesia, data protection and investor privacy concerning ECF refer to several legal rules for resolving issues regarding personal data. They often encounter conflicting legal rules in the application of personal data protection and investor privacy in ECF activities. Meanwhile, the protection of personal data and investor privacy on ECF activities has been specifically regulated in the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2010 in Malaysia. Despite the rules regarding the protection of investor data, cases of personal data theft in Malaysia are high as compared to Indonesia. This is due to the lack of legal awareness for the ECF platform organizers in implementing the provisions set out in the PDPA 2010.

The Effects of Work-life Conflict and Mentoring on Female Career Advancement

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of work-life conflict and mentorship on the career development of Universiti Teknologi Mara’s (UiTM) alumnae. Multiple regression analysis was used in this study to evaluate the connection between the independent and dependent variables. The study's target demographic consisted of female graduates from all UiTM branches. The findings revealed that work-life conflict and mentorship is significantly related to career advancement. It is recommended that higher education institutions increase curriculum activities geared particularly toward female students. Employers should have a structured mentorship program in place to prepare their female employees for positions in higher management. These initiatives may eventually assist firms in finding suitable female candidates for their boards of directors, thus allowing them to meet the Malaysian Securities Commission's requirement of 30% female directors

COVID-19 and food security in Malaysia: implications on smallholding agriculture

Over the last two decades, the world has been confronted with several outbreaks of infectious diseases. Ebola, influenza A (H1N1), SARS, MERS, Zika and most recently, COVID-19, have had a serious global impact on economic instability, local and global public resources and above all, people's health. As the effect of COVID-19 is significant to the world market, it has also indirectly impacted the agricultural sector and hence has significantly exposed the strengths and limitations of the farming systems in terms of resiliency, production and food security which offers important lessons for policymakers. Hence, this study was conducted to analyse the impact of COVID-19 pandemics on the agricultural industry especially the smallholders who are more vulnerable during or postpandemic due to the lack of resilient supply networks, low periphery of market access and limited production. In doing so, a survey was conducted, which began in May 2020, consisting of online questions that contain information about the impact of COVID-19 on the smallholding sector and the challenges faced by smallholders including crops, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture in Malaysia. A total sample of 217 smallholders or farmers from several states in Peninsular Malaysia was obtained within the Movement Control Order (MCO) period and later extended to the Conditional MCO (CMCO). Almost 86% of respondents answered that COVID-19 had heavily affected agriculturerelated activities in Malaysia. Using a principal component analysis, our findings reveal four major issues or challenges those farmers faced during the MCO/CMCO namely income, uncertainties of supply and price, logistics and marketing activities.