A conceptual framework of Maqasidic human wellbeing index

Amongst the 57 members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) countries, Malaysia was rated as number one in the Islamicity Index, Islamic Index of Wellbeing and Global Muslim Travel Index studies. In Malaysia, the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM), Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM), and the Institute of Community and Peace Studies (PEKKA) have also published their own Islamic oriented wellbeing indexes. However, these Indexes lack the integration of Maqasid al-Shari’ah (the objectives of Islamic laws) concept, which is based on the preservation of five essentials namely faith, self, intellect, posterity and property. Hence, to address this gap, this study proposes a conceptual framework of human wellbeing index in the context of Maqasid al-Shari’ah. This study is exploratory in nature employing rigorous library research and content analysis technique. The three basic principles of Iman (faith), Islam (submission) and Ihsan (benevolence) are discussed in relation to the five essentials of Maqasid al-Shari’ah. Their application at the three levels of the social structure i.e. individual, family and community is elaborated to establish a maqasidic approach for human wellbeing. This approach is then linked to the five established themes of human wellbeing domains notably politics and governance, economy, social and culture, environment, and infrastructure. Finally, a conceptual framework of human wellbeing index is proposed to provide the maqasidic foundation for the measurement of human wellbeing

A conceptual framework of Maqasidic human wellbeing index

Amongst the 57 members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) countries, Malaysia was rated as number one in the Islamicity Index, Islamic Index of Wellbeing and Global Muslim Travel Index studies. In Malaysia, the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM), Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM), and the Institute of Community and Peace Studies (PEKKA) have also published their own Islamic-oriented wellbeing indexes. However, these Indexes lack the integration of Maqasid al-Shari’ah (the objectives of Islamic laws) concept, which is based on the preservation of five essentials namely faith, self, intellect, posterity and property. Hence, to address this gap, this study proposes a conceptual framework of human wellbeing index in the context of Maqasid al-Shari’ah. This study is exploratory in nature employing rigorous library research and content analysis technique. The three basic principles of Iman (faith), Islam (submission) and Ihsan (benevolence) are discussed in relation to the five essentials of Maqasid al-Shari’ah. Their application at the three levels of the social structure i.e. individual, family and community is elaborated to establish a maqasidic approach for human wellbeing. This approach is then linked to the five established themes of human wellbeing domains notably politics and governance, economy, social and culture, environment, and infrastructure. Finally, a conceptual framework of human wellbeing index is proposed to provide the maqasidic foundation for the measurement of human wellbeing

Historical influences to present legal setting of planning law in Malaysia

Malaysia is a federation of thirteen states and three federal territories. Thus, it is a challenge to achieve uniformity of laws among the states. Presently, there are four sets of planning laws applicable in Malaysia. This paper looks at the historical factors that led to the non-uniformity of planning law in Malaysia. By using historical research methodology, this study found that the emergence of individual states back in the year 1400 AD is among the historical factors contributing to this non-uniformity of law. Additionally, the colonisation and the British influence over Malay Peninsula and the Borneo region, the formation of the Malaya Federation and the creation of federal territories also have strong implications in terms of administration and law uniformity. Despite the states eventually united under the essence of federation in 1963, this did not entail uniformity of laws among them. Additionally, states also have no obligation to adopt laws enacted by the Federal Government. Nevertheless, efforts to harmonise planning in the country have been undertaken. These include the amendment of planning laws and the establishment of national level planning committee

Organizational stressors and job stress among Malaysian managers: the moderating role of personality traits

Job stress is vastly present in today’s organizations, and the costs of these phenomena cut across all levels of society. In recent years, researchers considering job stress in the workplace have made great strides in understanding several aspects of the stress phenomenon in the field of organizational behavior. Thus, it becomes more important that the individual variables of these job stresses are well explored and directly linked to individuals experiencing this situation, in order to ensure the right stressors are well understood and other moderating functions are studied, like the personality variables. This research presents an integration of past research and theory that models the relationship of organizational stressors like conflict, work overload, unfavorable work condition, and the moderating role of personality traits among managers. The scope of this study is limited to managerial positions in electronics firms in Malaysia. A set of demographic factors like gender, marital status and educational background, are also studied as influencing factors to job stress. The final framework in this study includes the organizational stressors as the independent variable and job stress as the dependent variable, with the personality traits moderating that relationship. A proportional sampling plan will be done to cover the surveys to be covering all major locations of electronics firms in Malaysia. Theoretical and managerial implications of the study will be discussed in details. The implication of the study would be extremely beneficial for electronics organizations in not only identifying the organizational sources of job stress, but also to understand the personality behaviors of their management staffs and how that related to job stress. Organizational stressors play a big role in the study, in which understanding its influence to job stress and how to manage and cope would enable the leadership team in the electronics organizations to be able to handle job stress more efficiently

Job Stress among Malaysian Managers: The Moderating Role of Coping Methods

Job stress is vastly present in today’s organizations, and the costs of these phenomena cut across all levels of society. In recent years, researchers considering job stress in the workplace have made great strides in understanding several aspects of the stress phenomenon in the field of organizational behavior. Thus, it becomes more important that the coping methods of these job stresses are well explored and directly linked to individuals experiencing this situation, in order to ensure the right methods can be used for the best benefits in coping with job stresses. This research presents an integration of past research and theory that models the relationship of antecedents of job stress and coping methods among managers. The scope of this case study is limited to managerial positions in electronics firms in Malaysia. A set of demographic factors like gender, marital status and educational background, are also studied as influencing factors to job stress. The final framework in this study includes the coping variables, in which will determine the best and most suitable coping methods for managers under job stress. A proportional sampling plan will be done to cover the surveys to be covering all major locations of electronics firms in Malaysia. Theoretical and managerial implications of the study will be discussed in details. The implication of the study would be extremely beneficial for electronics organizations in not only identifying the organizational sources of job stress, but also to understand the personality behaviors of their management staffs. More importantly, this study will recommend the best coping methods for managers that would enable the leadership team in the electronics organizations to be able to handle job stress more efficiently

Cybersecurity Awareness on Personal Data Protection Using Game-Based Learning

The increasing digitalization in modern society has many positive effects on communication, business, education, banking, etc. However, it has also made people more vulnerable to a variety of cybersecurity risks. The rise in cyberattacks raises serious concerns about the lack of basic knowledge and awareness regarding cyber threats such as phishing, malware and password attacks. These cyber-threats can become dangerous for users as they can even cause identity theft and loss of money. The problem arises because lack of awareness of cybersecurity on personal data protection, a lack not a good understanding of how to protect the data, and a lack of knowledge to prevent cyber threats. Thus, this project proposes game-based learning to provide awareness and educate especially the youth on cybersecurity and personal data protection in a fun and effective way. The knowledge gained from the game can be applied to reduce the risks of cybercrimes. Agile methodology has been chosen for this project and has five phases which are requirement, design, development, testing, deployment and review. The enjoyment level of the game is evaluated by using an adaptation of the E-Game Flow Model including concentration, goal clarity, feedback, challenge, autonomy, immersion and knowledge improvement. Findings of enjoyment evaluation showed that the game receives an 82% level of agreeability by the game users. The game increases awareness among game users about cybersecurity. Future work for this game includes adding more levels into the game, covering other cyber threats and enhancing mobile devices

Study to measure alcohol related attitudes and drinking behaviours in rural Sabah

Alcohol related problems are the biggest cause of life years lost to disability in Malaysian men· Alcohol use is an important part of the culture of many of the ethnic groups of Sabah. It is widely believed that the alcohol consumption in rural Sabah is high, since a large amount of alcohol related harm is seen in the health system there. Objectives of this study are to estimate the prevalence of alcohol consumption in the study area.to determine the magnitude of harmful drinking, to explore into the factors associated with alcohol consumption.to determine the knowledge and attitude towards alcohol among different ethnic groups.to develop recommendation for future health intervention to combat against alcohol problem in the study areas. A Community-based Cross sectional study was conducted from 2009 Oct -2011 Oct for 2 years in 4 areas of rural Sabah in northern Borneo; Kudat, Kota Marudu, Pitas and Kotabelud. FGDs( Qualitative ) and questionnaires survey with face to face interview( Quantitative ) methods were used by trained local Research Assistants. Survey questionnaire was developed after qualitative survey and designed to detect alcohol consumption and other informations together with the AUDIT screening instrument .This study can find out find out which factors put people at risk of alcohol abuse and dependence.the knowledge and attitudes towards drinking, in particular how much alcohol subjects perceive to be an unhealthy amount, moral perceptions of alcohol use, perceptions about the importance of alcohol to their culture in northern rural community , Sabah

Job Stress among Malaysian Managers: The Moderating Role of Coping Methods

Job stress is vastly present in today’s organizations, and the costs of these phenomena cut across all levels of society. In recent years, researchers considering job stress in the workplace have made great strides in understanding several aspects of the stress phenomenon in the field of organizational behavior. Thus, it becomes more important that the coping methods of these job stresses are well explored and directly linked to individuals experiencing this situation, in order to ensure the right methods can be used for the best benefits in coping with job stresses. This research presents an integration of past research and theory that models the relationship of antecedents of job stress and coping methods among managers. The scope of this case study is limited to managerial positions in electronics firms in Malaysia. A set of demographic factors like gender, marital status and educational background, are also studied as influencing factors to job stress. The final framework in this study includes the coping variables, in which will determine the best and most suitable coping methods for managers under job stress. A proportional sampling plan will be done to cover the surveys to be covering all major locations of electronics firms in Malaysia. Theoretical and managerial implications of the study will be discussed in details. The implication of the study would be extremely beneficial for electronics organizations in not only identifying the organizational sources of job stress, but also to understand the personality behaviors of their management staffs. More importantly, this study will recommend the best coping methods for managers that would enable the leadership team in the electronics organizations to be able to handle job stress more efficiently

Alcohol-stress interaction: possible stress alleviating prpoerties of ethanol

Stress is an inevitable part of daily life to every individual. Stress may be eustress or distress. It depends on stress exposure and individual's perception to experience the extent to which one is vulnerable. Daily stressors are unavoidable but stress coping makes an individual to tolerate stress. Many becomes the victims of alcohol drinking for the simple belief of 'tension -reduction' by the use of alcohol. Though, initially alcohol may mask few of the stress effects, its long term effects are dangerous as it may indulge in addiction behaviour. There are inconclusive reports on the interaction of stress and alcohol. There are lacunae in literature on the stress alcohol interaction especially with reference to the multi-ethnic population of the State of Sabah. Hence the objectives of the study was, to elucidate and possible stress- alcohol relationship. Whether alcohol drinking alleviates stress? Increases stress? Alcohol drinking aggravates stress? Was there any demographic, cultural factors in drinking patterns etc., Based on the previous studies, stress inventory was designed and using the DASS21 questionnaire and on its reliability and validity tests, with a voluntary consent of participants study questionnaires were introduced. Subjects of both sex 18-45 years of age were included. Exclusion criteria were chronic drinkers and those on medications for chronic diseases. The data was analysed by Structural Equation Modelling (SPSS AMOS ver 23, 2015). Results of the study revealed that, there is an association between stress and alcohol drinking. Level of stress is a major factor that is associated with level of drinking, cause of drinking among the study group. Drinking also increased the level of stress and there is interdependency between stress - alcohol drinking - stresses. In conclusion, present study confirms that, alcohol drinking does not alleviate the stress experience; on the contrary drinking alcohol increases the stress experience. It is a vicious cycle; stress experience leads to alcohol drinking, in turn alcohol drinking further increases the stress. Family and cultural drinking is one of the factors that promote alcohol drinking

Analysis of the synthetic storm technique using rain height models to predict rain attenuation in tropical regions

This paper aims to investigate the utilization of the Synthetic Storm Technique to convert rain rate time series to rain attenuation time series using the ITU-R P.839, Stutzman and Bryant rain height models. Furthermore, the study aims to compare the actual rain attenuation with that predicted by the SST using the three above-mentioned rain height models based on rain rate and rain attenuation both measured concurrently. The reason for conducting this study is the fact that previous studies found that SST derived attenuation using the ITU-R P.839 rain height model is close to measured attenuation in low rain intensity but it is overestimated in medium rainfall and extremely overestimated in high rainfall rate. Therefore, it is vital to investigate the utilization of the SST using two additional rain height models which are the Stutzman and Bryant models. The study relies on rain rate time series and rain attenuation time series measured at University Science Malaysia (USM) campus (4.390 N, 100.980 E). The study found that the higher the rain rate, the higher is the percentage error for the SST predicated rain attenuation using the three above-mentioned rain height models as compared with measured rain attenuation. However, it is observed that when the Stutzman model applied as part of the SST model, the prediction is more accurate of the three rain height models