Peranan perpustakaan-perpustakaan luar bandar dalam pembentukan modal insan yang bernilai tinggi / Norehan Ahmad and Haliza Yahaya

Satu elemen yang penting dalam pembangunan sosio-ekonomi sesebuah negara adalah pembangunan modal insan yang mempunyai penguasaan ilmu pengetahuan. Dalam artikel ini pengarang memfokuskan kepada peranan perpustakaan luar bandar atau desa dalam menghasilkan modal insan yang sesuai dengan keperluan proses pembangunan di Malaysia. Pada masa ini perkhidmatan perpustakaan luar bandar di seluruh Malaysia dikendalikan dan diseliakan oleh Kementerian Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan Malaysia, Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia serta Perbadanan - Perbadanan Perpustakaan Awam di setiap negeri. Sebelum ini Kementerian Pertanian dan Pembangunan Luar Bandar telah banyak membantu dalam menubuhkan perpustakaan perpustakaan luar bandar yang diletakkan di bawah tanggungjawab Bahagian KEMAS (Kemajuan Masyarakat). Perpustakaan luar bandar memainkan peranan yang penting dalam pembentukan satu masyarakat yang berpengetahuan dengan membekalkan dan menyediakan bahan bacaan yang sesuai dalam bentuk bercetak atau elektronik kepada masyarakat. Modal insan yang terlatih dan berpengetahuan akan menjadi penggerak kepada peningkatan daya saing Negara. Modal insan yang mempunyai pengetahuan khusus sudah tentu akan mempercepatkan lagi proses pembangunan sosio-ekonomi di Negara ini

Labour force participation of rural youth in plantation sector of Northern Peninsular Malaysia

Malaysian agricultural industry is labour-intensive, especially in oil palm plantations. It is reported in 2013 that 69% of the total number of plantation worker in oil palm plantation are foreign and 31% are local. This proportion indicates the lack of interest of the local people to work in the industry which resulted in vast employment of foreign worker. It is believed that the cost of foreign worker recruitment has increased due to rising social and security problems caused by the foreign workers which incurred a hidden cost to palm oil production. This paper aims to investigate the factors of local young labour shortage in oil palm plantation sector in Perak, Perlis, and Kedah. Malaysia can reduce its dependency on foreign worker by identifying the occupational interest of rural youth in oil palm plantation. A survey questionnaire is used to collect data using random and purposive sampling method. A total number of 332 respondents from rural young labours staying in FELDA and FELCRA areas were analysed using Probit model. Results show the factors contributing to the probability to participate in oil palm plantation are age, wage, wage squared, gender, level of education, and mother’s occupation. Attraction factors that can possibly increase local youth participation in plantation sector includes improvement of working environment, job status, facility and benefit in plantation field

Formation of Nanotubular TiOa Bioactive Oxide Layer on Titanium and Cell Response Studies by

This work focus on the formation of titanium oxide {Ti02) nanotubes on theTi-6AI-4V alloy by anodization method in organic ethylene giycoi electrolyte (EG). The dimension of nancAubes could betuned by changing the electrochemical parameters such as NH4F content, voltage applied; and anodization time. The average nanoporous or nonotube diameter and length were found to increase with increasing ambunt of fluoride, anodization voltage and anodization time. Minimum of 0.5 g NH4F is required for growth of nanotubes.:TT02 nanotubes with average diameter of 110 nm and 3.1 pm lengths were obtained in EG containing 0.7 g NH4F. Upon annealing from temperature 400°C to 600°C in argon atmosphere shows crystallization of the nanotubes to anatase phase exists at 400°C while rutile dominantly exists at eOO^C. Anodization in the organic electrolyte resulted in homogeneous structure unlike the one reported in aqueous acidified fluoride solution which resulted in inhomogeneous stnjcture due to the severe attack of the p-phase. For the case of behavior of cell interaction using human foreskin fibrobfast cells line (HS27) studies shown that amorphous Ti02 nanotubes structure has better cellular interaction as compare to anatase and rutile crystal structur

Quality of Life and Associated Factors of Cancer Patients in Malaysia: A review of current literature

Measuring quality of life provides information helpful for cancer patients. However, facts about the quality of life and its associated factors among cancer patients in Malaysia are inconclusive. The aim of this review of literature is to evaluate the quality of life of cancer patients and its associated factors. Based on this review of the literature, it identified 24 studies. Associated factors effecting quality of life of cancer patients include socio-demographic, health related, psychological and cancer treatment. In conclusion, there is a need for further research to focus on developing effective interventions to enhance the patients' quality of life.© 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.Keywords: Quality of life; associated factors; cancer; Malaysi

Environmental Barriers Faced by Caregivers Caring for Adults with Terminal Illnesses

Caring for a patient at the end of their life can be highly demanding and becomes a challenge for caregivers. The participants were recruited using a convenience sampling of ten caregivers who provided the most care to an adult with a terminal illness. All interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using the six steps of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The findings showed that the environmental barriers caregivers had recognized were transportation, insufficient material resources, and remote home facilities. By acknowledging these barriers, healthcare professionals can design and implement therapeutic environments that are clinically relevant toward those most in need.© 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.Keywords: Environmental barriers; terminal illness; adult; caregive

Module intervention: effect on problem solving skills among technical students

Technology engineering education in Malaysia is constantly changes because of development progress in industry and technology demands. Therefore, a soft skill such as problem-solving skills is crucial for graduates in technical and technology engineering education field. Various initiatives have been implemented in ensuring that they are capable to enhance students’ problem-solving skills. These research papers discuss the development of a module to support students’ problem-solving skills and also the effectiveness of module implementation. The investigation was based on the previous issues from problem-solving in final year project, written feedback from industries and also by observation during the class. Furthermore, the underpinned theories used for the development module were Theory Inventive Problem Solving and Experiential Learning Theory. An experiment was carried out from one of Majlis Amanah Rakyat Higher Technical Institution in Malaysia. Interventions of the module were implemented during a semester academic week. Two groups were formed: Treatment and Control group. Data were taken before and after module intervention (pre-test and post-test). It represents technical students in the area of diploma engineering technology education. The data was analyzed quantitatively and the results shows students’ lack of exposure in problem-solving techniques. It was discovered by many of the students’ tend to solve the problem by intuitive rather than a systematic approach

Exploring the determinant of pre-pregnancy care services usage among reproductive ages women in Kedah, Malaysia

Introduction In Malaysia although mortality rate among women of reproductive ages has reduced over the years, the reduction has been stagnant for the past ten years. In order to achieve the 5th Millennium Development Goal, several measures need to be taken including a proper implementation of pre-pregnancy services in this country. This study explores the awareness, intention and usage of pre-pregnancy care (PPC) services and its determinant among women of reproductive ages in Kedah, Malaysia. Methods This is a qualitative study, which consisted of a focus group discussion (FGD) among women in the ages of 18 to 45 years old from all ethnic groups who attended four government clinics in the state of Kedah. The mothers were chosen through purposive sampling from twelve districts that were selected through a multistage random sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire was utilized during the FGD. The results from the FGD were recorded verbatim and thematic analysis was finalized once saturation of information from respondents was achieved. Results These are two themes was identified, namely personal reasons and reasons of service and there are several subthemes under two main themes. Under the Personal reason themes, the subthemes including awareness and intention to used the services, knowledge, perception, social support and history of medical illness. While under pre-pregnancy care services themes, the subthemes including the promotion of the services, the communication relationship with the health staff, the waiting time and also the accessibility of the service. Conclusions As a conclusion, there is still part of society who was unaware of prepregnancy services and its importance in reducing maternal mortality rate as well as producing good pregnancy outcome. Information and knowledge on pre-pregnancy care services should be disseminated among community members through various means including roadshows and pre wedding workshops

The role of higher education institutions in providing knowledge workers: A case study on Master in Knowledge Management (MKM) programme at the Faculty of Information Management (FIM), UiTM Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

This paper highlights several benefits of the knowledge management (KM) programme to organisations in various industries. It stresses on the importance of knowledge worker (KW), its competencies and skills in order to compete in the knowledge based economy.It discusses how Malaysian government is responding to the challenge and the roles of Higher Learning Institutes in developing academic programmes that suit the market needs.There are many measures which have been taken in creating and preparing for the knowledge workers.The Faculty of Information Management (FIM) for instance has undertaken proactive action, to offer Master in Knowledge Management (MKM)programme in which the curriculum has been developed to emphasise on competence-oriented learning concepts. It shows how FIM has designed its curriculum model (MKM) based on the strengths of its existing system.To meet the desired educational outcomes, it complements curriculum changes with a pedagogic approach that transforms the role of FIM to facilitators of learning. Curriculum pertaining to the development of the new era knowledge worker will also be discussed

Push and pull factors of suburban local youth towards career in oil palm plantation

The rapid expansion of oil palm plantation in Malaysia in 1990, 2.03 million hectares to 5.39 million hectares in 2014 (Malaysia Palm Oil Board 2015) caused required high labour intensive in this sector.More than 78 % of labor (Azman 2014) in this sectors mainly came from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Philippines.Malaysia has become the main attention for the foreign labours to work in this country due to the wages more competitive and generative working condition especially the plantation sector provide the conducive accommodation compared to their origin country. The pressing issue now is the rising social issues of the illegal foreign workers and influx of the foreign workers without work permit.One of the best solutions is hire the local youth to works in oil palm plantation.The main problem is compounded by the fact that it is difficult to hire the local youth workers due to the migration of local youth from government settlers scheme oil palm plantation located in the sub urban area.As a result this scheme area dominated with foreign labour.This study which was conducted in the State of Johore wants to find the push and pull factors\towards the career in oil palm plantation which involved the repulsion, inclination and attraction based on their perceptions .A survey method through questionnaire was used to collect data from 278 of local youth between 16 years to 40 years old as focused respondents which were selected using random sampling method.Descriptive analysis was applied based on their demographic factors and the involvement of the local youth in oil palm plantation

Growing old at own home: A study among pre-elderly adults in Peninsular Malaysia

The study of changes and choices of living arrangements among older persons has been a key element of demography and sociology of the family. While many studies focus on the elderly respondents in understanding this matter, our aim is to seek answers from the pre-elderly adults concerning their preferred oldage living arrangements and analyse the factors affecting the choice. A multistage sampling technique was used in selecting the respondents aged 40 to 59 years from Peninsular Malaysia. The total of 1,153 respondents were interviewed face-to-face using a structured questionnaire and it was found that 83.8% of the respondents prefer growing old in their own homes. From the probit model, it suggests that age and household size have negatively influenced the likelihood of the elderly to live in their own homes while being a male has the opposite effect. Those who are married or divorced, at work, earn more than RM15,000 a month and have formal education are more likely to prefer to grow old in their own homes as compared to other alternatives. Understand the choices of the pre-elderly groups are deemed vital for early intervention. A comprehensive support system is needed to endorse the popular choice of independent living at old age