Skim Subsidi Dalam Usaha Membasmi Kemiskinan Petani Padi di Kawasan Pengairan Muda: Analisis Kualitatif

Kawasan Muda merupakan salah satu kawasan jelapang padi utama di Malaysia. Kawasan ini merupakan penyumbang terbesar kepada pengeluaran beras negara. Pelbagai usaha dan pendekatan melalui perbelanjaan kerajaan (subsidi) telah dilaksanakan bagi memastikan kawasan ini terus menyumbang hasil pengeluaran beras kepada negara. Kertas kerja ini bersifat kualitatif dan bertujuan untuk melihat keberkesanan skim subsidi padi yang telah diberikan oleh kerajaan terhadap perubahan hasil pengeluaran padi dan pendapatan petani di kawasan Pengairan Muda. Antara skim subsidi yang dikaji termasuklah harga minimum terjamin, skim subsidi harga padi, skim subsidi baja padi, insentif pengeluaran padi, insentif peningkatan hasil dan insentif pengeluaran benih padi sah. Penelitian daripada kajian lepas mendapati bahawa skim subsidi padi diperlukan bagi meningkatkan pengeluaran padi dan pendapatan petani di kawasan Pengairan Muda secara khususnya dan di jelapang padi yang lain secara amnya. Bagi menjayakan matlamat ini, perbelanjaan kerajaan perlu diteruskan menerusi skim subsidi padi bagi meningkatkan pengeluaran padi sekaligus dapat meningkatkan pendapatan petani padi melalui program pembangunan dan penyelidikan yang holistik

Inclination towards fraud among the participants in financial reporting process

Fraud is a significant ethical dilemma for businesses and harmful to the capital market participants.Financial reporting fraud is an intentional misstatement of financial information to mislead the financial statement users.It causes huge losses to the organizations, threatens the investors’ confidence on the published financial statements and erodes the image of accounting profession.This descriptive paper attempts to explore the inclination level towards financial reporting fraud among the participants in the financial reporting process and to determine the effect of their personal background on such inclination level.Using a sample of 121 Muslim participants in the financial reporting process at Malaysian banking institutions, the findings indicate that the inclination level is low.The inclination level is only affected by the working experience at the present bank and the bank type.The findings provide insights to the banks’ stakeholders on the inclination level of fraud among the participants in financial reporting process and are particularly useful to the top management of banking institutions for a better understanding on personal background items influencing fraud in financial reporting intention.Limitations and suggestions for future research conclude the paper

Cultural values and career goal of employees in a Malaysian industrial corporation

This paper presents a study on the influence of cultural values (self-direction, achievement, tradition, and benevolence) on career goal of employees in an oil and gas corporation in Malaysia. The study used the Social Cognitive Career Theory to support the theoretical framework of the investigation. Data gathered from 87 employees of an oil and gas corporation in the area of Kuala Lumpur were used in the analysis. The results show that the levels of the four cultural values experienced by the respondents are high while for the career goal is moderate. The regression results reveal that the predictor variables explain 28.0% of the variance in the career goal of the employees. Recommendation for human resource management and future research are discussed

Measuring the Potential for Financial Reporting Fraud in a Highly Regulated Industry

Fraud in financial reporting is an intentional misstatement of financial statements to mislead the users. It caused huge losses to the organizations, erodes accounting profession's image and affects the public confidence on published financial statements. This paper aims to examine the relevance of the theory of reasoned action in measuring the intention towards fraud in financial reporting in a highly regulated industry. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used for data analysis. Findings indicate that the attitude and subjective norms influencedintention for fraud in financial reporting among the participants in financial reporting process,controlling for the effect of firm type. The findings expand the applicability of the theory of reasoned action to the highly regulated industry and provide better understanding on the factors influencing fraud in financial reporting to the top management within the industry. This paper concludes with limitations and avenues for future research

Relationships of distribution of macrobenthic invertebrates and the physico-chemical parameters from Semenyih River by using correlation and multiple linear stepwise regression analyses

The distribution of macrobenthic invertebrates at Semenyih River has been described by Yap et al. (2003a), but their relationships with physico-chemical characteristics of the river have yet to be established. By using correlation and multiple linear stepwise regression, it was found that BOD 3, orthophosphate, total suspended solids and turbidity were important in structuring the stream macrobenthic invertebrate communities because they determined whether organisms could colonize and persist in the stream habitats. Thus, the invertebrates are useful as bioindicators to the health of the river ecosystem, complementing water quality analysis. Impacts of anthropogenic inputs can therefore be assessed based on the macrobenthic invertebrates' different species distribution

The distribution of the Heavy Metals (Cu, Pb and Zn) in the Soft and Hard Tissues of the Green-Lipped Mussel Perna viridis (Linnaeus) Collected from Pasir Panjang, Peninsular Malaysia

The distributions of Cu, Pb, and Zn in the different soft Pasir Panjang, Peninsular tissues, shell sections and layers of the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis from an area with unpolluted water in Malaysia, were studied.The soft tissues analysed were the byssus, mantle and gills,posterior adductor muscle, retractor byssal muscle, foot, crystalline style, gonad and the remaining visceral mass. The level of Cu in the crystalline style was significantly (P< 0.05) elevated when compared to the other soft tissues while elevated levels of Cu, Pb and Zn were found in the byssus. The byssus is therefore a more sensitive material for Cu, Pb and Zn. The heavy metal concentrations in the different sections of the mussel's shell layers were also differed. The level of Pb was significantly (P< 0.05) higher in the inner shell layer than in the inner shell layer. Copper, Pb and Zn were evenly distributed within the different sections of the inner shell layer with no significant (P< 0.05) difference in the concentrations of these metals in the different sections. The periostracum shell layer was found to be a more sensitive biomonitoring material for Cu, Pb and Zn than the inner shell layer

Distribution and concentrations of Ni in tissues of the gastropod Nerita lineata collected from intertidal areas of Peninsular Malaysia

Nickel (Ni) is an essential metal but not a well-studied metal in gastropods. In this study, Nerita lineata snails were collected from 20 sites along the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia from December 2005 to December 2010. The concentrations of Ni were determined in the total soft tissues, opercula and shells of the snails. Different patterns of Ni distribution were found in different tissues (shells, opercula and soft tissues) as well as spatial differences and distributions. This finding showed that the distributions of Ni in the shells and total soft tissues of N. lineata were significantly different, and this could be due to the different rates of Ni accumulation, excretion and sequestration. Since N. lineata can be abundantly found in rocky shores, below jetties and mangrove trees along the intertidal areas of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and it can show the ability to accumulate Ni, the snails can therefore act as potential biomonitors of Ni pollution in the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia

The status of heavy metal levels in a Ramsar Site, Kuala Gula Bird Sanctuary: the impact of the anthropogenic inputs.

Distributions of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in the surface sediments from two sites of the Kuala Gula Bird Sanctuary, Malaysia were monitored for a period of 6 months from October 2006 to March 2007. In December 2006, the concentration of Zn in one location was significantly ( p50.05) higher (3.91.3 mgkg1) than the other metals at both sites, but in the oxidizable organic fraction it was highest at both sites during October; with mean concentrations of 18mg kg1 at both locations. In the acid-reducible fraction, high concentrations of Pb (2.3 mg kg1) were detected at station 2 in February 2007, being highest among all four metals at both stations. The acid-reducible fraction found in Pb ranged from 0.10% to 3.1% in both stations. Percentages ranging from 51% to 96% were observed for all four metals in the resistant fraction throughout the sampling period. These results indicate low contributions from anthropogenic sources. The findings constitute a baseline data archive for future reference

Comparative analysis on ecosystem diversity indices using SAS computer programming

A comprehensive SAS (Statistical Analysis System) programming is proposed to be used in the calculation of biodiversity indices on paddy arthropods, as an example. An ANOVA was used in testing the significance effect of major parameters on diversity indices, followed by significant comparison testing between those parameters for each index. There are significant effects between type of planting (transplanted and direct-seeded) on richness, diversity and evenness indices. However, type of planting did not influence day and night diversity indices, except in species richness, N0 and R1. Diversity indices for the entire ecosystem were intermediate in values between those of the two types of planting. The transplanted field indicates higher richness and diversity. Novel features presented in this programme are; a large data set can be accessed directly with this program, and the user is free to explore variable effects through selection or elimination of the parameter(s) concerned. Hence, the various diversity indices can be calculated and analysed for different parameters simultaneously and continuously