Price Hikes, Economic Reforms and Causality in Money, Income and Prices: Evidence from Pakistan

This study extends the analysis of causality by Husain and Rashid (2008) by examining the shift in the variables due to the price hikes in Pakistan in the early 1970s. We investigate the causal relations between real money and real income, between nominal money and nominal income, and between nominal money and prices using the annual data set from 1959-60 to 2003-04. Moreover, we examine the stochastic properties of the variables used in the analysis, and take care of the shifts in the series due to price hikes and liberalisation measures through dummy variables. The results indicate significant shifts in the variables during the sample period. In this context, the shift that occurred due to price hikes in the early 1970s seems to be more important to be incorporated in the analysis. The study finds the active role of money as the leading variable in changing prices without any feedback. In the earlier studies on income the feedback mechanism of money is found missing perhaps because of overlooking the shift in the macro economic variables in the early 1970s.Money, Income, Prices, Price Hikes, Causal Relations, Pakistan

Pemerolehan Dan Penguasaan Sintaksis Bahasa Melayu di Kalangan Kanak-Kanak Prasekolah

Bahasa merupakan satu sistem yang unik dan melibatkan proses kognitif. Bahasa juga merupakan wadah untuk menyampaikan mesej kepada individu lain untuk difahami dan memberi makna. Kanak-kanak berumur antara 1 hingga 5 tahun merupakan tahap penguasaan bahasa yang paling kritikal. Sehubungan itu, kajian ini dapat memberikan maklumat sebenar tentang pemerolehan dan penguasaan sintaksis kanak-kanak khasnya di prasekolah. Persampelan kajian ini sebanyak 48 kanak-kanak, iaitu 25 kanak-kanak di dalam bandar dan 23 kanak-kanak luar bandar di daerah Ampang, Selangor dan jenis ayat yang dikaji ialah ayat penyata, ayat tanya, ayat seruan dan ayat perintah. Tinjauan perbualan dan transkripsi digunakan dalam kajian ini untuk mendapatkan data bentuk ujaran ayat kanak-kanak prasekolah. Sehubungan itu, hasil kajian menunjukkan ayat penyata ialah jenis ayat yang paling kerap dihasilkan, iaitu 53.8%, diikuti oleh ayat tanya (25.7%), ayat seruan (11.8%), dan ayat perintah (8.7%). Berdasarkan Min Panjang Ujaran, ayat yang dihasilkan oleh kanak-kanak di dalam bandar ialah ayat penyata (4.85 perkataan), ayat tanya (4.41 perkataan), ayat seruan (4.18 perkataan) dan ayat perintah (4.19 perkataan). Manakala kanak-kanak di luar bandar pula ialah ayat penyata (4.40 perkataan), ayat tanya (4.19 perkataan), ayat seruan (4.72 perkataan), dan ayat perintah (4.29 perkataan). Penghasilan binaan ayat pula, dapatan menunjukkan kebanyakan kanak-kanak dalam kajian ini, menghasilkan ayat yang berstruktur Frasa Nama + Frasa Kerja dan Frasa Nama + Frasa Adjektif. Selain itu, taraf sosioekonomi menunjukkan terdapat hubungan yang signifikan dengan jenis ayat yang dihasilkan oleh kanak-kanak prasekolah. Dapatan juga menunjukkan terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara kanak-kanak di dalam bandar dengan luar bandar dalam menghasilkan ayat penyata (X2 = 5.59) dan ayat tanya (X2 = 30.44) tetapi tidak terdapat hubungan yang signifikan dalam ayat seruan dan ayat perintah. Secara keseluruhan pemerolehan dan penguasaan sintaksis kanak-kanak prasekolah merangkumi pelbagai jenis ayat. Mereka berkebolehan menghasilkan jenis-jenis ayat bahasa Melayu terutamanya jenis ayat penyata, ayat tanya dan ayat seruan dengan mudah berbanding ayat perintah. Kesimpulannya, didapati lokasi tempat tinggal, kedudukan taraf sosioekonomi keluarga dan pendedahan serta rangsangan merupakan agen yang mempengaruhi pemerolehan dan penguasaan sintaksis kanak-kanak prasekolah

Regression between headmaster leadership, task load and job satisfaction of special education integration program teacher

Managing school is a daunting task for a headmaster. This responsibility is exacerbated when it involves the Special Education Integration Program (SEIP). This situation requires appropriate and effective leadership in addressing some of the issues that are currently taking place at SEIP such as task load and job satisfaction. This study aimed to identify the influence of headmaster leadership on task load and teacher job satisfaction at SEIP. This quantitative study was conducted by distributing 400 sets of randomized questionnaires to SEIP teachers across Malaysia through google form. The data obtained were then analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and AMOS software. The results show that there is a significant positive effect on the leadership of the headmaster and the task load of the teacher. Likewise, the construct of task load and teacher job satisfaction has a significant positive effect. However, for the construct of headmaster leadership and teacher job satisfaction, there was no significant positive relationship. This finding is very important as a reference to the school administration re-evaluating their leadership so as not to burden SEIP teachers and to give them job satisfaction. In addition, the findings of this study can also serve as a guide for SEIP teachers to increase awareness of the importance of managing their tasks. This study also focused on education leadership in general and more specifically on special education leadership

Framework for technical communication skills content development for students in Malaysian Vocational Colleges: a fuzzy delphi study

Developing technical communication is vital to ensure employability of graduates in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions. However, limited studies are available to guide its development in Malaysian Vocational Colleges. Hence, this study is aimed at proposing a framework for technical communication development for effective implementation in Malaysian Vocational Colleges. This study employs Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) with 17 experts from industry and TVET institutions in identifying the prominent content of learning for technical communication skills development of students in Malaysian Vocational Colleges. Generally, the findings suggest that all clusters of technical communication skills (oral technical, written technical, interpersonal and researching skills) are important to be emphasised as the content of learning, with a high percentage of agreement (>75%). However, a number of items under Content of Learning components were omitted. For instance, two items under Oral Technical Communication, eight items under Written Technical Communication, two items under Interpersonal and one item under Researching Skills achieved percentage of agreement below 75%. The proposed framework is a relevant reference in introducing technical communication in Malaysian Vocational Colleges

Organizational commitment of Vocational College Teachers in Malaysia

This study aimed to validate factors related to organizational commitment among teachers in vocational colleges in Malaysia. As we know, the commitment given to the organization will make the organization manageable. However, there are issues regarding the commitment given by the teachers in vocational colleges, which has led to poor performance of college organizations. Some studies have found that factors such as narrative commitment, affective commitment and ongoing commitment cause the overall commitment to the organization to be disrupted. In this study, a fully quantitative approach is used to determine factors in the organization commitment of vocational college teachers. The questionnaire was administered to 264 vocational college teachers in three states in Malaysia namely Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor. The data obtained were then analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using AMOS 21 application. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was performed to obtain factor loading for each element obtained namely narrative commitment, affective commitment and continuous commitment. The analysis results show that the factors reflect the appropriate fit and meet all the criteria for validation. Therefore, the findings of this study can further confirm previous findings on this issue

RESIST PROTECTION OXIDE TRANSISTOR AS SPIKING NEURON

Neural Network discovered since decade ago, as time goes on better understanding about the biological neural circuit is established. From here, the research focus shifted more to biologically characteristic model such as Spiking Neural Network. This circuit able to mimic biological spiking neural network. With a problem of processing step and noise adaptability, RPO (Resist- Protection-Oxide) transistor been introduced. These transistors contain defect rich RPO film in between gate, drain, and it able to enhance low frequency noise for more than two decade, allowing closer resemblance to the (biological) noisy neuron. Noise will be able to be control by adjusting drain voltage of RPO transistor

PEMBELAJARAN DALAM KALANGAN ORANG ASLI JAKUN KAMPUNG PETA MENERUSI PEMBANGUNAN EKOPELANCONGAN

Learning is considered as the acquisition of information and knowledge, the mastery of skills and habits, as well as forming attitudes and beliefs.Learning brings changes in a person, whether change for the better or the worse.It does not exclude adult learning where it is considered a continuing learning that is going on for a lifetime.A study was conducted at Kampung Peta, Kluang, Johor to explore and deeply understand the learner that they are going through as a result of the development in tourism activities at the TNJER area.For that purpose, a total of five study participants were selected based on the experiences of those who were directly involved with the ecotourism and homestay operators by using purposive sampling techniques.The semi structural interview method was selected for the data collection as this method provides the researchers with more space to deeply questioning the participants in the study.The interview data is compiled and coded using the thematic method of analysis to manage themes and categories.The findings show the natives community in Kampung Peta through learning processes in developing the Homestay Program and their participation in ecotourism activities.Learning to nature is crucial in everyday life of an indigenous community that sticks to their beliefs

Management accounting and risk management practices in financial institutions

The aim of this paper is to report the results of a study on management accounting and risk management practices in financial institutions. The research method involved administering a questionnaire to 106 financial institutions listed on the Malaysian Central Bank’s website and the respondents were the chief financial officers (CFO) or the most senior positions in the finance department of the institutions. Based on the IFAC’s (1998) framework, it was found that the most widely practiced were the management accounting practices at Stage 1, followed by practices of Post 1995. This finding shows that despite the emergence of contemporary management accounting practices (Stage 4 onwards), traditional management accounting that focuses on financial performance and budgetary control is still widely practiced by financial institutions in Malaysia. As for the risk management practices, most of the firms have either implemented a complete or partial Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework. The findings from the survey showed that management accounting practices related to financial statement and ratio analysis were perceived to contribute most towards risk management. Budgetary control, budgeting and strategic planning were also perceived to be important in managing operational risks

Development of A Model for Technical and Commercial Evaluation of Rotating Equipment for Offshore Plant

Heavy duty and safety requirements during the plant operation require the static and rotating equipment specified for any operations fully meet the specification. As such the design engineer has to carefully select the criteria to evaluate any equipment. The current approach of evaluation is time consuming. In this project, research was done to address this issue. At technical and commercial evaluation was developed for selection of rotating equipment for offshore applications. The project focused on two methods which were Pairwise Comparison and Factor Rating method by examining related important criteria between available equipment. The Pairwise Comparison compared all the important criteria of the equipment to get the weight of each criterion for factor rating method. By using factor rating method, criteria were compared the ahernative equipment in term of score thus the highest weighted score (weight rating x score) was chosen as the best. Commercial evaluation model also been developed to enhance the selection of the best alternatives in term of economical wise. Present Worth analysis was used to develop the model. Microsoft Excel was used to illustrate a rough model integrating all the mathematical equation, criteria and weight rating method to fmd solution of the best ahernatives

Persepsi Peserta Terhadap Program Pembelajaran Sepanjang Hayat Di Mini Rtc Di Negeri Kedah

Pembelajaran Sepanjang Hayat (PSH) memainkan peranan utama dalam pembangunan modal insan negara dengan menyediakan peluang menimba pengetahuan dan kemahiran. Sehubungan itu, Mini RTC juga tidak ketinggalan menyediakan tempat untuk menjalankan program PSH. Kajian ini adalah bertujuan untuk melihat persepsi dan kepuasan peserta terhadap program PSH serta keinginan untuk menyertai semula program. Kajian ini merangkumi respondan seramai 75 peserta dari empat buah Mini RTC di Negeri Kedah iaitu Mini RTC Padang Gelanggang, Mini RTC Bemban, Mini RTC KEDA Nagalilit dan Mini RTC Bukit Tukang Jusoh. Perisian Statiscal Package for Social Science (SPSS) versi 20 digunakan untuk menganalisis data. Data dianalisis secara deskriptif dan ujian Korelasi Spearman’s rho digunakan. Kajian ini menggunakan instrumen borang soal selidik yang mana item-item yang digunakan telah memperolehi nilai kebolehpercayaan Alpha Cronbach sebanyak 0.919. Hasil dapatan menunjukkan peserta persepsi terhadap program PSH adalah tinggi dengan purata skor min sebanyak 4.339. Selain itu, dapatan juga menunjukkan kepuasan peserta terhadap program PSH memperoleh purata skor min yang tinggi iaitu 4.247. Manakala keinginan peserta untuk menyertai semula program PSH berada pada tahap sederhana iaitu purata skor min sebanyak 4.413. Dapatan kajian juga mendapati terdapat hubungan yang signifikan di antara persepsi peserta dengan kepuasan peserta terhadap program PSH dan keinginan untuk menyertai semula program