Analyzing Poverty In Northern States Of Malaysia: An Asset Index Approach

Currently, Malaysia is using the Poverty Line Income (PLI) to measure poverty. Within this metric, income is the sole factor for measuring poverty because it is the easiest way to collect data. However, in its simplicity, it fails to capture the broader meaning and implications of poverty. The multidimensional poverty index (MPI) was introduced in Malaysia albeit in its preliminary stage of application to replace the income-based poverty measurement, and asset index which have established by researchers but not used in measuring poverty in Malaysia. A household might be poor in income, but assets may prevent them from being trapped in poverty, while non-poor in income household might have the possibility to be poor if they have less or no assets. With this problem statement, this study achieves three objectives. The first objective is to calculate the poverty of 302 households in the Northern States of Malaysia using the asset index and analyze the current state of poverty incidence with change under asset index, while second objective is to measure the change in asset index under the presence of shocks faced by the households. The results show that there are more households in the Northern States of Malaysia are being interpreted as being ‘poorer’ when poverty is measured using assets and with the presence of shocks as opposed to income alone. Besides that, poverty incidence of Malay households, households living in urban area and households with middle-aged heads have high poverty incidence, while households with a head of households that is single and highly educated have low poverty incidence

Solid Waste Management in Malaysia: An overview

Malaysia is heavily dependent on landfilling as a method of waste disposal, and as a result, severe space constraints, health issues, and environmental issues will eventually affect the country. This essay aims to give a general overview of solid waste recycling in Malaysia at the level that affects a community or country the most, the family. In Malaysia, households are the main producers of municipal solid waste, with recyclable materials making up between 70 and 80 percent of the total waste found in landfills. To improve solid waste management from a recycling perspective, it is important to consider Malaysia's current household solid waste recycling policy and program status. Wastes are still dumped in open areas of land without any attempt at recovery or recycling, despite the high potential and opportunities for doing so. Malaysia's rate of 5% illustrates the rarity of this practice when compared to recycling rates in neighboring nations. The government is committed to greatly enhancing solid waste management services for all citizens, particularly waste minimization. Since wastes, separation, and recycling make up a sizable portion of the major changes in the current policy implementation, it is a good thing that the emphasis on recycling as a sustainable waste management strategy has undergone a paradigm shift. The question of whether the 2020 goals can be met is still up in the air, but there is a chance for a successful implementation of sustainable solid waste management. These issues and challenges in recycling practice were highlighted in this context

Female poverty in the Northern States of Malaysia

The male population in Malaysia is higher compared to female, but there are more female in education in comparison with male. According to the Statistics of Higher Education of Malaysia Report 2010, more than 60 per cent of enrolments in Public Higher Education Institutions are female. Even though there are more female in tertiary education, but the wages for female employee are still lower compared to male employee. Somehow, this situation has contributed to female poverty. Among others, the factors known to influence female poverty are low education attainment, poor health, lack of gainful employment due to child rearing responsibility, involvement in low productivity jobs, divorce. While Malaysia has demonstrated successful reduction of poverty from more than 50 per cent in the 1970s to 0.6 per cent in 2014, there is no information on how female poverty has been affected over the years. The main objective of this study is to assess female poverty incidence in the Northern States of Malaysia. Specifically, the study aims to empirically determine the poverty incidences among female and the factors influencing the female poverty in the Northern States of Malaysia. The study found that 0.17 per cent of female in the Northern States are living in state of poverty. Female with lower education have higher incidence of poverty where 36 per cent and 21 per cent of them who have non-formal and primary education respectively are poor. Logistic probability function taking the value of 1 (female living in poverty) and 0 (female not living in poverty) is employed to determine factors influencing female poverty. The independent variables included are per capita income, income inequality by states and education attainment. All variables are found to be statistically significant in influencing female poverty

Consumption-Savings Pattern of Low Income Households towards a Sustainable Livelihood – A Gender Perspective

A report by Khazanah Research Institute on the State of Households in 2015 revealed that majority of Malaysian households owned items such as cars, motorcycles, refrigerators, televisions, mobile phones, satellite TVs and internet subscriptions and that most low-income households acquired these items and services on credit. The report further concluded that this trend was also accompanied by low personal savings. While strong income growth has in turn, helped alleviate poverty and added to the legions of the middle-income, incidentally, this has fuelled consumption; with households increasingly use debt for spending. Interestingly, low-income households do not only have low personal savings due to high consumption, but low personal savings due to high consumption of assets (productive and non productive) that act as buffers against any unanticipated events such as loss of job or income. By using a structured questionnaire on 300 low-income households, the objectives of the study are (i) to examine the consumption-savings pattern of low-income households and (ii) to assess the consumption-savings pattern between genders. Low-income households are identified as households earning MYR 3,600 per month. Data gathered on personal savings include cash savings, savings for pilgrimage, gold, kut (rotational savings scheme), community death benefits, land and propert

Nexus between Government Assistance and Savings: Preliminary Analysis of Households in Malaysia

This preliminary study investigates the relationship between government assistance and household savings. The study aimed to shed light on whether government assistance programs directly influence households' savings habits. Data were collected from 25 representative sample households, including their income, expenses, savings, and participation in government assistance programs. The study examined how much money households could save regularly. The study suggested a significant correlation, between government assistance and household savings. Families that received some form of government support demonstrated a lower propensity to save than those who did not receive assistance. This trend was consistent across different income brackets and demographic groups. The researchers proposed several potential reasons for this relationship. There can be several reasons for this negative relationship. First, increased government assistance may alleviate financial strain and provide immediate relief for individuals or households, reducing the urgency or perceived need to save for future expenses or emergencies. Second, some government assistance programs may have income limits or asset tests that discourage or restrict saving behavior. It is important to note that this study was preliminary, and further research is necessary to establish a more robust understanding of the relationship between government assistance and household savings. Future studies could delve into the long-term effects of government support on savings behavior and investigate the specific mechanisms through which assistance programs influence savings habits. The preliminary findings suggest a negative association between government assistance and household savings. It emphasizes the importance of further exploring this relationship to understand household financial well-being comprehensively

Financial Preparedness of households: A Review

Since COVID-19 will hit the world in early 2020, households have been hit with unanticipated risks that lower their income, cause them to lose their jobs, or cause them to lose family members. This situation got worse when the Movement Control Order (MCO), which is slowing down the economy, was kept in place for longer. Businesses aren't running as usual, people are afraid to be in crowded places, and the virus's sudden change makes things worse. Malaysia was recently hit by a flash flood in December 2021. Selangor is an important part of Malaysia's economy, so the flash floods there have affected many economic activities. This flash flood was also written down as one of the worst flash floods ever, and it forced about 4,000 people to leave their homes. But most households in Malaysia aren't financially ready, so they depend a lot on government help. Financial preparedness is one of the important expect in having financial stability, especially during the occurrences of unexpected risk. The study on financial preparedness usually involving old age and retirement process. However, new study on financial preparedness based on health and unexpected event had emerged. This study review on the financial preparedness of households. SCOPUS database were used on identify the journals used for this study. This study identifies the types of financial preparedness and the factors contributing to the financial preparedness of households. Research paper Keywords: Financial Preparedness, Households, Covid-19 Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Azhar, N. A. Z. M., & Shakil, N. S. M. (2022). Financial Preparedness of households: A Review. Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business and Economics, 10(2S2), 154–164

Financial Preparedness of households: A Review

Since COVID-19 will hit the world in early 2020, households have been hit with unanticipated risks that lower their income, cause them to lose their jobs, or cause them to lose family members. This situation got worse when the Movement Control Order (MCO), which is slowing down the economy, was kept in place for longer. Businesses aren't running as usual, people are afraid to be in crowded places, and the virus's sudden change makes things worse. Malaysia was recently hit by a flash flood in December 2021. Selangor is an important part of Malaysia's economy, so the flash floods there have affected many economic activities. This flash flood was also written down as one of the worst flash floods ever, and it forced about 4,000 people to leave their homes. But most households in Malaysia aren't financially ready, so they depend a lot on government help. Financial preparedness is one of the important expect in having financial stability, especially during the occurrences of unexpected risk. The study on financial preparedness usually involving old age and retirement process. However, new study on financial preparedness based on health and unexpected event had emerged. This study review on the financial preparedness of households. SCOPUS database were used on identify the journals used for this study. This study identifies the types of financial preparedness and the factors contributing to the financial preparedness of households. Research paper Keywords: Financial Preparedness, Households, Covid-19 Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Azhar, N. A. Z. M., & Shakil, N. S. M. (2022). Financial Preparedness of households: A Review. Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business and Economics, 10(2S2), 154–164

Social Media Entrepreneurs and Environmental Sustainability: Millennials in Malaysia

The advantage of today's millennials is that the amount of information at their fingertips is almost unlimited. They may be particularly capable of looking for opportunities in the new economic environment of the era of epidemics. However, the study on social media's influence on the development of entrepreneurial skills among millennials has received little attention thus far. In addressing this gap, this study explores the influence of social media as perceived entrepreneurial skills learned by millennials. This study also emphasizes social media usage and the consequences of environmental degradation. Keywords: social media, entrepreneurship, skill acquisition eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs 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 the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

Pockets of poverty in the northern states of Malaysia

Despite Malaysia’s tremendous economic growth and remarkable achievement in poverty reduction for the nation, pockets of poverty remain in certain regions. Pockets of poverty could be analysed using micro data when macro data is unable to provide a clear understanding on the existence of poverty. This study assesses the pockets of poverty in the Northern States of Malaysia. Northern States of Malaysia consist of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak. The objectives of this paper are twofold: to identify pockets of poverty in the Northern States of Malaysia using household income data and to determine the factors that affect these pockets of poverty. Pockets of poverty in this region are investigated among strata, ethnic groups, income level and education. For this purpose, the National Poverty Line Income (PLI) is determined to specify the poor. Logistic probability function is estimated to assess factors that influenced poverty in the Northern States of Malaysia. This study uses the Household Income Survey (HIS) data for 2009 and 2012. From data analysis, it could be concluded that pockets of poverty exist among elderly, women, Bumiputera and those living in the rural areas. Logistic probability analysis indicates that variables that are statistically significant in influencing poverty are age, gender, location, education level, Chinese (ethnic group) and married (marital status). These findings are vital to develop appropriate policy orientation in targeting the correct group in solving poverty