"Identity Monarchy": Interrogating Heritage for a Divided Malaysia

Malaysia, it has been observed, is currently experiencing a "revival" of "Malay kingship" with the growing importance of "proactive and participating constitutional rulers." In fact, modern Malaysia has since independence been characterized by monarchy--by a multiplicity of Rulers and elaborate royal ceremony and hierarchy --as well as by its "plural society." But the modern monarchs--though they have never become quite "constitutional Rulers"--cannot be seen as merely "traditional," because the institution of monarchy was transformed in a fundamental way during the British colonial period. Monarchy continues to be an underexamined feature of the Malaysian polity, and when it is discussed there is a tendency to focus on issues of power and to neglect its sociocultural role. One pre-colonial dimension of monarchy that continues to be significant today--though in a manner less psychologically profound than before--is its identity-giving role. The principal concern of this article is to determine-- through a process of hermeneutic retrieval--if this role is merely relevant to the Malay community, or does it possess more inclusive possibilities? Are the Rulers of Malaysia essentially "Malay Rulers" or has the institution a nation-building potential that has so far not been fully utilized? The question is important for a country that many see as becoming increasingly divided

Repositioning Indonesia: thoughts on the Indo-Pacific

Before considering how best to reposition Indonesia in the world - and I will be looking, in particular, at Indonesia's current Indo-Pacific initiative - we need to ask how the world itself has been repositioned. The terms of reference for this conference go straight to this second question. They immediately highlight the theme of globalization, noting how it has promoted "growing connectivity among states" and "revolutionized human interaction". How then has this region been reconfigured over the last decades? Until the mid-20th-century the entire Asian region was either under European colonial rule or strong Western imperial influence. That is how the region was structured - with the great centres of power in London, Paris, The Hague and Washington. After the extraordinary conquests by Japan, which effectively ended the Western imperial project, Asia was quickly drawn into the Cold War. Countries lined up as Communist or Anti-Communist, and some tried to sustain a degree of neutrality or equi-distance. At the end of the Cold War, in the last decade or so of the 20th-century, as is often commented, there was a unipolar moment - an America-dominated world with a sense of globalization not merely being economic, but also a globalization of ideas. One commentator wrote of the ‘end of history' - the US had won, he said, with its liberal democratic ideology. Communism had been annihilated, and Western liberalism had the "wind in its hair". This said, there were still objections. Dr Mahathir in Malaysia and a number of bright Foreign Ministry intellectuals in Singapore spoke of "Asian values". They said you had to understand Asian values to explain the great economic transformation taking place in Asian countries - and there was also a need to respect Asian values in the political arena, and not just insist that all societies must develop in the same way. The democracy, human rights, and other supposed responsibilities of government which Westerners have tended to advocate, it was argued, are not necessarily universal norms

Our place in the Asian century: Southeast Asia as ‘The Third Way’

The report, for Asialink at the University of Melbourne, reports the findings of the Asialink Commission, which examined Australia\u27s relations with Southeast Asia. It argues that, at a time of shifting power relations in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia take a more multilateral approach by orienting its foreign and trade policies towards Southeast Asia. By committing more attention to the Southeast Asia region, Australia will enhance its relationships with the region\u27s two principal powers, the United States and China

Suicide among male road and rail drivers in Australia: a retrospective mortality study

Objectives: This paper aims to describe the epidemiology of suicide among males employed in driving occupations (road and rail) compared to other male occupations in Australia. Methods: Suicide cases among road and rail drivers were extracted from a national dataset of occupationally coded suicide cases for the period 2001 to 2010. Suicide rates per 100 000 were calculated and standardised using the Australian standard population (2001). Incidence rate ratios (IRR) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated using Mantell Haenszel rates and compared to all employed suicide cases. Results: The majority of suicides in this occupational category occurred in truck drivers, followed by road and rail drivers. 98% of these suicides were among males; hence only males were included in further analyses. The age-standardised rate of male suicide among Road and Rail drivers over the period 2001 to 2010 was 22.6 per 100 000 (95% CI 19.2 to 25.9). The IRR of suicide in this occupational group compared to other male occupations was 1.42 (95% CI 1.26 to1.60). Conclusions: Suicide among Road and Rail drivers is higher than in the other male occupations. Suicide prevention initiatives addressing these risk factors, while also providing access to treatment for those at risk, are clearly needed

Malaysia in 2017: Clever politics, deeper transformation

The Najib government continued to consolidate its political hold on Malaysia in 2017. Various factors, including a moderately improved economic situation and a relatively generous 2018 budget, suggested that it had good prospects for winning the next election, to be held at the latest in August 2018. Beyond party politics, however, there were indications of deep change taking place in Malaysian society—deep enough to raise questions about the nation’s identity

Business Culture Issues in Vietnam: Case Studies

What practical issues can arise when doing business in Vietnam? How is Vietnam adapting to the demands of the market economy? In particular, how does a knowledge of Vietnamese business culture, and history, help to clear up misunderstandings – especially involving relations between foreign business people and representatives from Vietnamese business and government? Does the Vietnamese experience have a broader value in the Asian region, where numerous different societies have been seeking a way to engage vigorously in international commerce – yet without losing touch with their own ethical foundations? ... ¶ This volume presents case study material relating to business in Vietnam. It outlines real issues and problems that have arisen – and then seeks to provide a cultural and historical context in which to understand them, and perhaps even solve them

Occupational class differences in suicide: evidence of changes over time and during the global financial crisis in Australia

BACKGROUND: Previous research showed an increase in Australian suicide rates during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). There has been no research investigating whether suicide rates by occupational class changed during the GFC. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the GFC-associated increase in suicide rates in employed Australians may have masked changes by occupational class. METHODS: Negative binomial regression models were used to investigate Rate Ratios (RRs) in suicide by occupational class. Years of the GFC (2007, 2008, 2009) were compared to the baseline years 2001-2006. RESULTS: There were widening disparities between a number of the lower class occupations and the highest class occupations during the years 2007, 2008, and 2009 for males, but less evidence of differences for females. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational disparities in suicide rates widened over the GFC period. There is a need for programs to be responsive to economic downturns, and to prioritise the occupational groups most affected

Do psychosocial job stressors influence mental health service use? Evidence from an Australian cohort

Objectives There is strong evidence of a relationship between psychosocial job stressors and mental health at the population level. There has been no longitudinal research on whether the experience of job stressors is also associated with greater mental health service use. We seek to fill this gap. Methods The Household Income Labour Dynamics in Australia survey cohort was used to assess the relationship between exposure to self-reported psychosocial job quality and reporting attendance at a mental health professional during the past 12 months. We adjusted for time-varying and time-invariant confounders. The study was conducted in 2009 and 2013. Results In the random effects logistic regression model, increasing exposure to psychosocial job stressors was associated with an increased odds of mental health service use after adjustment (one stressor: OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.56; two stressors: OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.73; three stressors: OR 1.82, 95% CI 1.28 to 2.57). However, once the between person effects were controlled in a fixed effects model, the within-person association between change in job stressors and change in mental health service use was estimated to be close to zero and not significant. Conclusions More work is needed to understand the relationship between job stressors and service use. However, when taken with past findings on job stressors and mental health, these findings highlight the importance of considering policy and clinical practice responses to adverse working contexts

FACTORES DE RIESGO ASOCIADOS A LA CURVA PLANA EN EL CRECIMIENTO DEL NIÑO SANO DE 6 A 12 MESES DE EDAD DEL CENTRO DE SALUD MORAS

OBJETIVO: Determinar los factores de riesgo asociados a la curva plana en el crecimiento del niño sano de 6 meses a 12 meses de edad, MÉTODOS: Se llevó a cabo un estudio correlacional con 166 niños de 6 a 12 meses seleccionados por muestreo aleatorio simple, en el control de crecimiento y desarrollo del Centro de Salud de las Moras en el 2016. En la recolección de datos se utilizó una guía de entrevista y una ficha de registro de curva de crecimiento. Para el análisis inferencial de los resultados se utilizó la Prueba Chi cuadrado de independencia con significancia al 0,05. RESULTADOS: El 56,0% (93 niños) presentaron curva plana de crecimiento. Por otro lado, se encontró relación significativa estadísticamente entre la curva plana y las variable estado civil soltera (X2=6,89; P≤0,009), grado de instrucción bajo (X2=8,75; P≤0,003), ocupación fuera de casa (X2=9,76; P≤0,001), composición de familia extensa (X2=7,24; P≤0,002), talla materna < 157 cm (X2=8,75; P≤0,003), paridad multípara y gran multípara (X2=19,33; P≤0,000), abandono de la lactancia materna (X2=6,89; P≤0,009), uso de biberón (X2=7,85; P≤0,002), problemas para comer (X2=8,76; P≤0,003), frecuencia de alimentos menor a 3 veces al día (X2=14,26; P≤0,000), consumo de alimentos líquidos (X2=7,53; P≤0,001) , diarreas en los últimos tres meses(X2=8,72; P≤0,002), parasitosis (X2=9,64; P≤0,001), escasa información de nutrición en enfermedad (X2=6,84; P≤0,007) e inasistencia al establecimiento en enfermedad (X2=8,62; P≤0,008) y deficiente acceso a servicio de agua (X2=6,79; P≤0,008) resultaron significativos estadísticamente. . CONCLUSIONES: Los factores sociodemográficos, los factores maternos, los factores alimentarios, los factores de morbilidad, los factores de acceso a los servicios de salud y los factores de acceso a los servicios básicos se relacionan significativamente con la curva plana de crecimiento en el control de crecimiento y desarrollo del centro de salud de las moras.Tesi

Area-level unemployment and perceived job insecurity: evidence from a longitudinal survey conducted in the Australian working-age population

Research significance: Job insecurity, the subjective individual anticipation of involuntary job loss, negatively affects employees&rsquo; health and their engagement. Although the relationship between job insecurity and health has been extensively studied, job insecurity as an &lsquo;exposure&rsquo; has received far less attention, with little known about the upstream determinants of job insecurity in particular. This research sought to identify the relationship between self-rated job insecurity and area-level unemployment using a longitudinal, nationally representative study of Australian households. Methods: Mixed-effect multi-level regression models were used to assess the relationship between area-based unemployment rates and self-reported job insecurity using data from a longitudinal, nationally representative survey running since 2001. Interaction terms were included to test the hypotheses that the relationship between area-level unemployment and job insecurity differed between occupational skill-level groups and by employment arrangement. Marginal effects were computed to visually depict differences in job insecurity across areas with different levels of unemployment. Results: Results indicated that areas with the lowest unemployment rates had significantly lower job insecurity (predicted value 2.74; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.71&ndash;2.78, P &lt; 0.001) than areas with higher unemployment (predicted value 2.81; 95% CI 2.79&ndash;2.84, P &lt; 0.001). There was a stronger relationship between area-level unemployment and job insecurity among precariously and fixed-term employed workers than permanent workers. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the independent influences of prevailing economic conditions, individual- and job-level factors on job insecurity. Persons working on a casual basis or on a fixed-term contract in areas with higher levels of unemployment are more susceptible to feelings of job insecurity than those working permanently