Private Finance Initiative (Pfi) in Malaysia: the Need for and Issues Related to the Public Sector Comparator (Psc)

The Concept of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) or Public Private Partnership (PPP) has been Internationally implemented over the last two decades. In Malaysia, eventhough the involvement of the private sector in assisting with the provision of public services and facilities is not new, only recently under the Ninth Malaysia Plan the government officially announced the implementation of projects using PFI scheme in order to promote greater involvement of the private sector in delivering public services (Ninth Malaysia Plan, 2006). Consequently, a series of PFI projects is now being implemented including some already under construction. However, little is known on the real nature of the Malaysian PFI. One of the aspects considered critical in the implementation of a PFI project is the need for a public sector comparator (PSC) to demonstrate that the project can achieve value for money through comparing the public sector comparator (PSC) with the bid or bids submitted by the private sector. The study being reported herein focuses on the concept of PFI as practiced in Malaysia and the construction of a PSC. Given that under the Malaysian PFI, the PSC is yet to be established there is an urgent need for one to be constructed. In addition, critical issues concerning the transfer of risks and the determination of discount rate are also discussed. The study combines literature review on PFI and interviews with civil servants involved in the implementation of PFI in Malaysia

Ethical Ideology and Ethical Judgments of Accounting Practitioners in Malaysia

Abstract: The paper intends to explore the ethical ideology and ethical judgments of accounting practitioners in Malaysia. The objectives of this study are twofold. First, the paper intends to examine the factors that contribute to the different ethical ideology among Malaysian accounting practitioners. Second, it aims to investigate the influence of demographic factors and ethical ideology on ethical judgments of accounting practitioners. The study used Forsyths (1980) Ethics Position Questionnaire instrument to examine the ethical ideology of the accountants and adopted ethics vignettes used by Emerson et al. (2007) to assess the ethical judgments of the respondents. From the statistical analysis, this study found that age and gender have a significant impact on ethical judgment but not on ethical ideology. In addition, idealism and relativism have a significant influence on ethical judgment, especially in a legally unethical situation. Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengeksplorasi ideologi dan pertimbangan etik dari para praktisi akuntansi di Malaysia. Tujuan dari penelitian ini terbagi menjadi dua. Pertama, bertujuan untuk meneliti faktor-faktor yang berkontribusi terhadap perbedaan ideologi etik diantara para praktisi akuntansi di Malaysia. Kedua, bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh faktor demografi dan ideologi etik terhadap pertimbangan etik di antara praktisi akuntansi. Penelitian ini menggunakan instrument kuesioner Ethics Position Questionnaire Instrument (Forsyths 1980) untuk menguji ideologi etik para akuntan dan mengadopsi sketsa etik yang digunakan (dalam Emerson dkk. 2007) untuk menguji pertimbangan etik dari para responden. Dari analisis statistik, penelitian ini menemukan bahwa usia dan gender memiliki dampak yang signifikan terhadap pertimbangan etik namun tidak pada ideologi etik. Selain itu, idealisme dan relativisme memiliki pengaruh signifikan terhadap pertimbangan etik, terutama pada situasi dimana tidak ada etika hukum

Monoamniotic Twin Pregnancy; is There a Need for Frequent Fetal-Doppler Surveillance?

Monoamniotic twin pregnancy is a rare type of twin pregnancy which poses risk of cord entanglement and sudden death of either one or both fetuses. The role of antenatal surveillance by Ultrasound Doppler for umbilical cord and ultrasonic evidence of cord entanglement or knotting may predict the pregnancy outcome but yet unavoidable. The discussion will include antenatal surveillance in this rare type of pregnancy

Sociodemographic Profile, Contraceptive Practice and Awareness of HIV Infection among Unmarried Postpartum Women in a Tertiary Centre in Malaysia

Introduction: To describe the sociodemographic profile, contraceptive practice, and awareness of HIV infection among unmarried post partum women in the biggest government hospital in Pahang. Methods: A cross sectional questionnaire-proforma-based study was conducted for one year duration from August 2010 until July 2011 by identifying and recruiting all the unmarried women upon admission for delivery. Basic information were obtained from the use of patients’ case notes, and further related and necessary information were obtained from a direct face-to-face interview based on a proforma. Results: A total of 121 unmarried women were identified and recruited. The age ranged from 13 to 36 years with a mean age of 21.6 years. 31.4% were teenagers. Only 16% of patients have tertiary education, and 2.5% never had any formal education. About one third of the women were smokers or ex-smokers, 7.5% had consumed alcohol, but none denied ever use of any recreational drugs. Almost 9% has prior history of being sexually assaulted. About three quarter of the women never used any contraceptive method. Majority of the patients (85.1%) were aware of HIV transmission risk; 75% never had any antenatal checkup or booked at late gestation (> 20 weeks); and 45.8% were not aware of any support groups for single mothers. Conclusion: Single unmarried women are associated with disadvantaged sociodemographic profile. Contraceptive practice was also very low despite significant awareness towards risk of HIV infection. Further follow up, support and care should be offered to these women

Association between social-cognitive factors and intention towards sexual activity among schoolgoing late adolescents in Kuantan, Malaysia

This was a cross-sectional study to identify the association between sociocognitive factors (permissive attitude, social-norms, and self-efficacy) and intention towards sexual activity among 466 Malaysian school-going late adolescents (aged 18–19 years) in Kuantan, Malaysia. Majority were females (64.4%), Malays (67.4%) and Muslims (68.2%). Simple logistic regression from data collected by self-administered validated Youth Sexual-Intention Questionnaire (YSI-Q) showed significantly increase risk of having sexual intention for each unit increase in permissive attitude, social-norms and self-efficacy scores with the odds ratio (OR) of 1.424, 1.303 and 1.215, respectively. On the other hand, multivariate logistic regression resulted in male, non-Malay, ever-smoker students and permissive attitude showing significantly higher risk towards having sexual intention with the OR of 0.163 (male was the reference group), 5.110, 3.288 and 1.236, respectively. In order to reduce risky sexual behaviour among adolescents, school-based health education is essential

Depression, anxiety and stress levels during COVID-19 pandemic among frontliners of IIUM hospital and Kuantan campus and its associated Factors

Introduction: �e COVID-19 pandemic has instigated a substantial physical and psychological burden on the frontliners globally, leading to physical and psychiatric illnesses, reduction in productivity and burnout. Assessing their mental health status is essential in providing e�ective and e�cient mental health care. Objective: To investigate depression, anxiety, and stress levels, and associated factors among the frontliners of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Hospital and Kuantan Campus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 261 frontliners working in IIUM hospital and 125 from the Kuantan campus from March 2021 to March 2023 using a self�administered validated DASS-21 questionnaire for depression, anxiety and stress. �e data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-Square and Fisher’s Exact tests. Results: Among the 386 respondents, 82.1% were categorized as clinical frontliners, 65.8% were female, and 65.8% married. �e overall prevalence of depression was 15.8%, anxiety was 29.5%, and stress was 9.3% among the frontliners. �ey were not di�erent statistically between the clinical and non-clinical frontliners; or between the IIUM Hospital and on-campus frontliners. �e frontliners with post-traumatic event had a signi�cant association with depression and anxiety (p <0.001 and 0.001, respectively), and those with chronic disease(s) were signi�cantly associated with anxiety (p=0.034). Conclusion: More than one-fourth of frontliners su�ere

Depression, anxiety and stress levels among frontliners of hospital-based (SASMEC) and university campus (IIUM Kuantan) during covid-19 pandemic and its associated factors

The COVID-19 pandemic or endemic has instigated a substantial physical and psychological burden on the frontliners globally, which lead to harmful consequences on emotional and mental health such as physical and psychiatric disorders, reduction in productivity, loss of commitment and burnout. Hence, assessing their mental health status is essential as an access point in providing appropriate mental health care. This study aimed to measure depression, anxiety, and stress level and their associated factors among the frontliners working at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Kuantan Campus and SASMEC-Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic

Ethical Ideology and Ethical Judgments of Accounting Practitioners in Malaysia

The paper intends to explore the ethical ideology and ethical judgments of accounting practitioners in Malaysia. The objectives of this study are twofold. First, the paper intends to examine the factors that contribute to the different ethical ideology among Malaysian accounting practitioners. Second, it aims to investigate the influence of demographic factors and ethical ideology on ethical judgments of accounting practitioners. The study used Forsyth’s (1980) Ethics Position Questionnaire instrument to examine the ethical ideology of the accountants and adopted ethics vignettes used by Emerson et al. (2007) to assess the ethical judgments of the respondents. From the statistical analysis, this study found that age and gender have a significant impact on ethical judgment but not on ethical ideology. In addition, idealism and relativism have a significant influence on ethical judgment, especially in a legally unethical situation.