Modelling the Demand of Fresh Meat by Households in Malaysia

There have been some changes in Malaysians’ food preference as Malaysia is one of the most developing countries in Asia. These changes in consumption pattern have some impact on the agriculturally based food industry. One of the changes is in the preference for fresh meat such as poultry, beef, mutton, and other meat. This study is focusing on demand elasticity of fresh meat by households in Malaysia. This study has obtained demand elasticity of fresh meat via Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System (LA-AIDS). Data from the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2014 has been used to build a statistical model in estimating the demand elasticity

Analysis of wage distribution in Malaysia

Labor force demand in Malaysia has grown significantly over the decades since the independence era. Changes in economic structure have led to changes in labor force utilization. There are hundreds of studies had been done to investigate the determinants of wages, including human capital factor, demographic factor as well as job characteristic. The objective of this paper is to examine the determinant of wages in Malaysia using the Salaries and Wages Survey, 2016 conducted by the Department of Statistics Malaysia. Based on the analysis of mean differences, the average wage is significantly different for all variables, including age, ethnicity, marital status, education level and occupation. Even in the analysis of the distribution for men and women, the difference in average wage is also identified for each occupation category and sector of the industry

Modelling the Demand for Fresh Meat in Malaysia

Malaysia is one of the most developing countries in Asia. Hence, there have been significant changes in Malaysians’ food preference. These changes in consumption pattern have some impact on agri food industry in Malaysia. One of the changes is the preference towards fresh meat such as beef, poultry, mutton and other meat. This research will be focusing on demand of poultry meat in Malaysia. Data from Household Expenditure Survey 2014 will be used in order to build a statistical model in estimating the demand for poultry meat. The development of the demand model will be based on best subsets regression approach

Ujian dalam Menghadapi Bencana Gempa Bumi Berdasarkan Pengalaman Masyarakat Muslim di Lahad Datu, Sabah

Natural disasters are an unavoidable nature, and this phenomenon has been proven to occur either from a religious or scientific perspective. From the Islamic point of view, natural disasters considered as test of faithfulness. This study endevours to conceptualise the meaning of trial and its relation to the understanding of the Muslim community in Lahad Datu. The study discusses action taken by them in facing this natural disaster. This study employed quantitative method through distributing questionnaires around the district of Lahad Datu. The descriptive analysis was done to analyse the relationship between the demographic background of Muslim respondents with their level of understanding and knowledge of earthquake as a test of God. The results showed that majority of respondents, 80 percent, had experienced an earthquake. The average knowledge of the respondents about the history of the earthquake in Lahad Datu is at a minimum level and it can be said that the knowledge about the earthquake is based on the current or latest knowledge that they have experienced themselves. Nevertheless, respondents had a basic knowledge of earthquake as shown on the physical actions they took after an earthquake such as being aware of increasing the level of family safety and participating in disaster awareness programs. The results also show the respondents’ belief that the earthquake is a test of God can be true because their actions and practices after the earthquake are more towards positive practices that are not contrary to Islamic teachings. The study concludes that a holistic approach through the integration of science (geology) and religion (Islam) should be highlighted as a method for improving disaster risk reduction management in Malaysia, especially victims involving the Muslim community

Kesedaran beragama masyarakat Kundasang dan Ranau kesan daripada bencana gempa bumi

Pada 5 Jun 2015 yang lalu, rakyat Sabah telah diuji dengan satu bencana gempa bumi yang berlaku di daerah Ranau. Bencana yang mengakibatkan banyak kemusnahan alam sekitar, harta benda dan nyawa ini meninggalkan kesan yang amat mendalam terhadap penduduk Ranau dan Kundasang. Gegaran dengan skala richter 5.9 ini turut dirasai di daerah sekitar iaitu Kota Kinabalu, Kota Belud, Kudat dan Telupid. Perspektif Islam menjelaskan bahawa bencana atau musibah ini adalah ketentuan Qadha’ dan Qadar Tuhan kepada manusia. Bagi memahami kaitan antara agama dan bencana, maka kajian ini dijalankan untuk mengetahui kesedaran beragama masyarakat Muslim di Kundasang dan Ranau kesan daripada kejadian gempa bumi yang berlaku pada tahun 2015. Kesedaran beragama diukur melalui sikap masyarakat setempat dalam penyertaan upacara Posogit dan tindakan amalan beragama yang mereka lakukan selepas kejadian gempa bumi. Pengumpulan data menggunakan kaedah kuantitatif dan kualitatif di sekitar Kundasang dan Ranau dengan mengedarkan soal-selidik dan wawancara maklumawan (informan) kekunci dari kalangan pemimpin agama dan pemimpin masyarakat bagi mendapatkan maklumat tentang komitmen dan kesedaran beragama dalam kalangan masyarakat Muslim selepas kejadian gempa bumi. Analisis statistik melalui jadualan silang dengan ujian khi kuasa dua Pearson telah dilakukan bagi melihat hubung kait antara latar belakang demografi penyahut (responden) iaitu kumpulan umur dengan sikap dan amalan mereka terhadap upacara Posogit. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa umur mempunyai perkaitan dengan sikap dan amalan terhadap kepercayaan animisme iaitu upacara Posogit. Kesedaran beragama berada pada tahap sederhana dan disifatkan pada mulanya tinggi namun lama kelamaan semakin longgar. Kajian terhadap kesedaran beragama berupaya menyumbang kepada ketahanan diri dan kekuatan dalaman dalam menghadapi tekanan selepas bencana gempa bumi

Forecasting cocoa bean prices using univariate time series models

The purpose of this study is to compare the forecasting performances of different time series methods for forecasting cocoa bean prices. The monthly average data of Bagan Datoh cocoa bean prices graded SMC 1B for the period of January 1992 - December 2006 was used. Four different types of univariate time series methods or models were compared, namely the exponential smoothing, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) and the mixed ARIMA/GARCH models. Root mean squared error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), mean absolute error (MAE) and Theil's inequality coefficient (U-STATISTICS) were used as the selection criteria to determine the best forecasting model. This study revealed that the time series data were influenced by a positive linear trend factor while a regression test result showed the non-existence of seasonal factors. Moreover, the Autocorrelation function (ACF) and the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) tests have shown that the time series data was not stationary but became stationary after the first order of the differentiating process was carried out. Based on the results of the ex-post forecasting (starting from January until December 2006), the mixed ARIMA/GARCH model outperformed the exponential smoothing, ARIMA, and GARCH models

A comparison of univariate time series methods for forecasting cocoa bean prices

The purpose of this study was to compare the forecasting performances of different time series methods for forecasting cocoa bean prices. The monthly average data of Tawau cocoa bean prices graded SMC 1B for the period of January 1992-December 2006 was used. Tawau is one of the top cocoa producers in the world along with the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Indonesia. Four different types of univariate time series methods or models were compared, namely the exponential smoothing, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) and the mixed ARIMA/GARCH models. Root mean squared error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), mean absolute error (MAE) and Theil's inequality coefficient (U-STATISTICS) were used as the selection criteria to determine the best forecasting model. This study revealed that the time series data were influenced by a positive linear trend factor while a regression test result showed the non-existence of seasonal factors. Moreover, the Autocorrelation function (ACF) and the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) tests have shown that the time series data was not stationary but became stationary after the first order of the differentiating process was carried out. Based on the results of the ex-post forecasting (starting from January until December 2006), the mixed ARIMA/GARCH model outperformed the exponential smoothing, ARIMA and GARCH models

Interaksi sosial dalam hubungan Muslim-Kristian di Kota Kinabalu dan Keningau, Sabah

Masyarakat Sabah sememangnya dikenali dengan sikap toleransi yang tinggi sehingga berupaya mempamerkan suasana hidup damai bersama. Sungguhpun permasalahan hubungan sosial antara agama semakin meruncing atas pelbagai faktor, situasi ini agak berbeza dalam konteks hubungan Muslim dan Kristian di Sabah. Kajian ini bertujuan menjelaskan bagaimana interaksi sosial diterjemahkan dalam bentuk kesefahaman budaya berdasarkan hubungan bersama keluarga dan jiran/rakan beza agama. Berpandukan kajian kuantitatif, sejum lah 234 orang responden terlibat dalam kajian kes di sekitar daerah Kota Kinabalu dan Keningau. Data dianalisis menggunakan statistik deskriptif melalui jadualan silang dengan ujian khi kuasa dua untuk melihat taburan respon bagi pembolehubah agama. Hasil kajian mendapati tahap interaksi sosial penganut antara Muslim dan Kristian di kawasan kajian adalah positif. Kesefahaman budaya antara kedua agama begitu terserlah tidak hanya ketika sambutan majlis keramaian atau perayaan, tetapi juga dilazimi melalui ak tiviti seharian. Boleh dikatakan melalui jalinan interaksi inilah yang menyuburkan amalan toleransi dan kesalingfahaman antara pihak beza agama. Nilai kasih sayang yang dibina melalui hubungan kekeluargaan dan kejiranan menggalakkan interaksi berlaku tanp a batas sehingga perbezaan fahaman antara agama dapat diminimakan. Kajian ini merumuskan agama tidak seharusnya dilihat hanya sebagai punca dan pencetus konflik, sebaliknya turut berperanan sebagai pencetus semangat hidup bersama

Knowledge and practices of oil palm smallholders in East Coast Malaysia toward basal stem rot disease (ganoderma boninense) of oil palm

Basal stem rot disease (Ganoderma boninense) has been a disruptive disease in oil palm industry of Malaysia and it was first detected in the year 1931. This disease had caused a massive economic losses to the country, reported that annual loss is between RM225 million to RM1.5 billion (Arif et al., 2011). In oil palm industry, oil palm smallholders sector play an important role being part of the supply chain, is positioned at the upstream level, responsible for producing quality fresh fruit bunches (FFB) for the mills as a way of helping the economic development (Rahman and Shariff, 2008). However, smallholders also facing some problems to control the disease spread as such lack of information, inaccessibility and financial constraint in practicing the right agriculture practice in the oil palm cultivation. This paper is to identify and determine the knowledge and practices of oil palm smallholders towards basal stem rot disease (Ganoderma boninense) and also the socio-economic status that influenced their knowledge and practices in oil palm industry. Face to face interview was conducted using a structured questionnaire with a total of 84 respondents among the oil palm smallholders in east coast area of Malaysia. The results indicated that the knowledge of oil palm smallholders towards basal stem rot disease (Ganoderma boninense) is still low and having a good knowledge about a particular subject does not necessarily lead to practice. The relevant parties should involve directly in solving this problem especially in improving the awareness of oil palm smallholders towards the disease