Unity Concept from Islamic Perspective and the Reality of Unity in Malaysia

Unity is a drive towards social stability of a country. Any society and the nation as a whole might be ruined, if the issue of unity cannot be solved intelligently and with wisdom. Unity as a concept has always been misunderstood among members of certain communities, therefore this issue not only persists in the context of a plural society, but also abide in a community of homogeneous religion or race. The dream for unity must be based on clear evidence and not merely hypothetical. The glory of Islam’s past civilization clearly demonstrates the bond of brotherhood in a multicultural society that is sustained for such long periods of time. Such glory is a manifestation of the great messenger’s determination, the Prophet Muhammad and his companions who advocated righteousness and forbid evil based on the guidance from God. The concept of brotherhood and harmony commanded by Allah is well understood by them. The question is whether that methodology is understood by today’s society, specifically among Muslim leaders. Therefore, this paper briefly explores the concept of unity in Islam based on the guidance of Quran and Hadith, and the views of academics who debate this issue. The paper also initiates a brief discussion on some selected findings that relate to the situation of unity and national integration in Malaysia. Keywords: Unity, Islamic perspective, Unity drivers, Malaysi

Unity Concept from Islamic Perspective and the Reality of Unity in Malaysia

Unity is a drive towards social stability of a country. Any society and the nation as a whole might be ruined, if the issue of unity cannot be solved intelligently and with wisdom. Unity as a concept has always been misunderstood among members of certain communities, therefore this issue not only persists in the context of a plural society, but also abide in a community of homogeneous religion or race. The dream for unity must be based on clear evidence and not merely hypothetical. The glory of Islam’s past civilization clearly demonstrates the bond of brotherhood in a multicultural society that is sustained for such long periods of time. Such glory is a manifestation of the great messenger’s determination, the Prophet Muhammad and his companions who advocated righteousness and forbid evil based on the guidance from God. The concept of brotherhood and harmony commanded by Allah is well understood by them. The question is whether that methodology is understood by today’s society, specifically among Muslim leaders. Therefore, this paper briefly explores the concept of unity in Islam based on the guidance of Quran and Hadith, and the views of academics who debate this issue. The paper also initiates a brief discussion on some selected findings that relate to the situation of unity and national integration in Malaysia. Keywords: Unity, Islamic perspective, Unity drivers, Malaysi

Pegangan agama dalam kalangan belia pelbagai kaum di Malaysia

Artikel ini membincangkan tahap pegangan agama dalam kalangan belia awal pelbagai kaum di Malaysia. Dapatan yang dibentangkan secara deskriptif ini merupakan sebahagian daripada dapatan kajian yang lebih besar mengenai Pembentukan Model Risiko dan Faktor Penyebab Fenomena Keluar Agama dalam kalangan Belia di Malaysia. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif ke atas 1893 pelajar tingkatan empat di seluruh negara melibatkan beberapa negeri terpilih. Kajian mendapati belia pelbagai kaum di Malaysia mempunyai tahap pengamalan agama yang rendah. Keadaan yang sama turut berlaku ke atas sosialisasi agama responden dengan rakan-rakan dari sudut perbincangan iman/kepercayaan. Selain itu, kajian turut mendapati faktor ibu bapa dan rakan-rakan sebagai rujukan dalam perkara keimanan begitu penting dari sudut menyokong pegangan iman/kepercayaan belia. Belia dilihat masih memiliki identifikasi pegangan agama yang kuat di dalam menjustifikasikan dirinya dengan agamanya serta dirinya dengan komuniti seagama. Ringkasnya, walaupun agama begitu signifikan dalam kehidupan belia, namun tahap amalan agama dilihat sedikit longgar. Peningkatan sosialisasi agama dengan ibu bapa dan rakan-rakan dilihat berpotensi menyumbang ke arah tahap pengamalan agama yang lebih positif dalam kalangan belia pelbagai kaum di Malaysia

Entrepreneurial mindset among students of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in Malaysia

This article examines entrepreneurial mindset among the students of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions under the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. The findings presented are a small part of the overall research data on the readiness of TVET students in Malaysia to venture into entrepreneurship. This quantitative study involves 1000 students from eight selected public TVET institutions in Peninsular Malaysia. Overall, the study finds that respondents’ level of entrepreneurial mindset is at a moderate level. Furthermore, there is a significant difference in the level of entrepreneurial mindset between the respondents at the certificate level and diploma level, the background of the family/parents who own businesses and otherwise, and also between the respondents who are involved and not involved in business activities. This study holds a positive view that there is potential in enhancing the entrepreneurial mindset of students in TVET institutions in order to generate as many job creators as possible. Hence, the study suggests that the Ministry and all relevant stakeholders to streamline the strategy of the Higher Education Insititution (HEI) Entrepreneurship Action Plan by focusing on the key growth factors of entrepreneurial mindset so that the target of new entrepreneurial talents among HEI students can be realised and also by taking into consideration the potentials of TVET students in Malaysia

Implikasi keterlibatan audiens belia dengan kempen perpaduan di televisyen: perbandingan belia melayu dan bukan melayu

Masyarakat Malaysia khususnya golongan belia sering disajikan dengan kempen-kempen perpaduan di saluran televisyen dalam negara. Ini adalah kerana televisyen dikatakan antara saluran media yang sangat berpengaruh dalam menyampaikan maklumat. Namun sejauh manakah saluran ini berkesan dalam penyampaian maklumat kempen perpaduan? Kertas ini membincangkan sejauh mana implikasi keterlibatan audiens belia di tahap pemikiran, pengetahuan dan tingkah laku setelah menonton kempen perpaduan di televisyen Malaysia dengan melihat perbandingan di antara kumpulan belia Melayu dengan belia bukan Melayu.Implikasi keterlibatan audiens belia ditakrifkan sebagai situasi di mana belia memahami dan melibatkan diri dengan kempen-kempen perpaduan yang disiarkan menerusi televisyen Malaysia. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif. Seramai 513 orang belia di sekitar Lembah Klang dan berumur antara 15 hingga 25 tahun telah terlibat dalam kajian ini. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa terdapat perkaitan yang signifikan di antara implikasi keterlibatan audiens belia di tahap pemikiran dan perasaan sahaja dengan kempen-kempen perpaduan di televisyen Malaysia di antara kumpulan belia Melayu dengan kumpulan belia bukan Melayu. Kajian juga menunjukkan bahawa televisyen masih lagi berperanan sebagai medium komunikasi bagi menyemai semangat perpaduan antara kaum khususnya golongan belia namun strategi penyampaian mungkin boleh diperkemas lagi dari masa ke semasa

Enhancing Holistic Well-being of Malaysian Youth: A Financial Survival Chain Analysis

With the advent of Industrial Revolution 4.0 and technology development, community well-being is given more attention so that mankind will be able to achieve soundness in living. The aim of this paper is to depict the holistic well-being of Malaysian youth particularly in the area of finance since many youths face daunting challenges due to problems associated with money. This is a quantitative study involving 200 working youths between the age group of 24-30 years. In terms of objective well-being, the study revealed that Malaysian youth are prudent and wise with their money management. On the other hand, the subjective well-being showed that the youth are facing financial constraints for the purpose of investment, holidaying and to purchase medical insurance. The study recommends that the financial survival chain of working youth could be boosted if the concerned parties paid more attention to easing youth involvement in investing in safe investment portfolios as well as providing them with affordable holiday and medical insurance packages

Level of prejudiced among youth in Klang Valley, Malaysia towards public transport

Psychological constructs are undeniably pertinent in influencing users’ willingness to choose public transport as their primary means of getting around. The aim of this article is to determine the level of prejudice among urban youth in Klang Valley, Malaysia towards public transport. This study involved a total of 445 respondents living in Klang Valley. In general, this study showed that the level of prejudice of youth in Klang Valley towards public transport is moderate. Significant differences were noted in terms of prejudice levels based on gender and ethnicity. The study suggests some ways on how to reduce negative perceptions of public transport among youth

Challenges in the social environment landscape: readiness of youth in embracing diversity

This article discusses the readiness of youth of various races in Malaysia to celebrate diversity in the daily social landscape of society. Youth are at the forefront in facing the challenges of addressing diversity in a multicultural community. The readiness of youth to face diversity is measured using questionnaires. This study involves a total of 600 respondents from secondary schools and higher education institutions. The results showed that generally, the level of respondents’ readiness to accept diversity was high. There were significant differences found in terms of gender, ethnicity and residential locations in which the respondents had their upbringing. The findings were consistent with findings from earlier studies

Policy fairness in national integration: reactions of the new generation

This article discusses the reactions of the Malaysian youth regarding fairness of the national policy towards the inculcation of national integration. The extent to which national policy adopted for the sake of social harmony and multi-ethnic youth’s points of view were measured using a survey instrument with alpha value of .831. A total of 600 respondents were involved in this study. Students from secondary schools and higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Klang Valley were selected at random. The study found a positive reaction shown among the youth in Malaysia in relation to the practice of a fair policy towards strengthening national integration. The study also found that respondents' propensity to assess positively or otherwise of fairness in terms of the practice of policy towards national integration had no direct relationship with a number of selected demographic variables studied. In sum, the reaction of the new generation in Malaysia to conduct of public policy needs to be scrutinized by the government so that the objective to strengthen national integration can be achieved