Social movements in contemporary Malaysia: the cases of BERSIH, HINDRAF and Perkasa

The emergence of civil society movements like Gabungan Pilihanraya Bersih dan Adil (BERSIH, Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections), Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) and Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa, Malaysian Indigenous Empowerment Organisation) has been among the fundamental forces behind a changing political landscape in Malaysia. In breaking away from past traditions, these movements have brought about new, vibrant, politically engaged activism, often ‘confrontational’ with the state and radical in achieving its objectives. The emergence of these movements has also created a sense of political awareness that has successfully mobilised Malaysians. Although these movements are deeply rooted in issues of ethnic discontent (in particular HINDRAF and Perkasa), BERSIH’s successful multi-ethnic mobilisation has set a promising precedent in Malaysian politics. In fact, had it not been for BERSIH and HINDRAF rallies, it would arguably have been impossible for the Malaysian opposition political parties to gain a more secure foothold in Malaysian politics. On the other hand, Perkasa has showcased Malay race-supremacy debates more openly than ever

Indians and rural displacement: exclusion from region building in Malaysia

Building regions often creates socio-economic imbalances that exclude low-income earners from the benefits of development. In Malaysia, an example of this is the territorial and cultural displacement of Indian plantation workers by rapid economic growth and urbanisation. Since 1980, nearly 300,000 Indians have been forced to move from the long-term relative security of their plantation estate communities, and have relocated into urban squatter settlements, when plantation land has been subdivided for housing and industrial estates. This article examines the loss of income, social role and cultural identity which accompanied the loss of physical place. Using a case study from Kamiri Estate in Perak, it also outlines the Indian community's attempts to politically engage and negotiate a level of regional belonging

GE14: the urban voting pattern in P172 Kota Kinabalu and P186 Sandakan, Sabah

This article examines two urban Chinese dominated parliamentary seats in Sabah namely P172 Kota Kinabalu and P182 Sandakan. It will also study the political development within the state assembly seats under these two parliamentary seats. Specifically, the article will explore the candidates and the main contested issues, the voting pattern and the results of the recently concluded 14th Malaysian general election. By largely utilising fieldwork observation during the election campaign, this article argues that Pakatan Harapan’s huge victory in these parliamentary and state assembly seats are mainly because of the close working relationship with Parti Warisan Sabah, which significantly helped the DAP and PKR candidates to make inroad into Muslim-Bumiputra dominated areas in these Chinese majority parliamentary seats in Sabah

Root-Oriented Words Generation: An Easier Way Towards Dictionary Making for the Dusunic Family of Languages

Dictionary production is one of the most effective methods of preserving languages and cultures. The Dusunic Family of Languages (DFL) in Sabah, Malaysia would have welcomed the efforts to document their languages through dictionary production as there are still lacking of dictionary, vocabulary and phrase books. Furthermore, more than half of the languages in DFL are unwritten. However, making dictionary conventionally is tedious and time consuming. The Dusunic Family of Languages which are facing extinction threats do not have the luxury of time to wait for dictionary production via the conventional method. Hence, this study explores the use of a method called Root- Oriented Words Generation (ROWG) which is formulated based on spelling orthography of DFL to generate one and two-syllable words list. From the words list, root words registers were compiled which can then be used as database for dictionary production. Findings of this study showed that ROWG was able to generate an exhaustive word lists of DFL and compile a large volume of root words register in DFL. Hence, this study was able to highlight the feasibility and viability of using ROWG to produce root words register of DFL which could possibly reduce the time for dictionary production significantly. In future studies, it is recommended that the ROWG is extended to include more than two syllable words. This study showed the potentiality of ROWG to address the looming demise of DFL by providing a more efficient way of compiling root words for the purpose of making a dictionary

Promoting university–industry collaboration in Malaysia: stakeholders’ perspectives on expectations and impediments

University–Industry Collaboration (UIC) has been identified as an essential item on Malaysia’s agenda for transforming itself into knowledge and innovation-based economy. However, despite the efforts, most initiatives have had limited results. This paper reports on an explorative study that sought to understand the contemporary realities of UIC in the Malaysian context. In particular, the study identified the expectations and impediments to UIC, from the perspectives of three groups of stakeholders – the academics, the industry players and policymakers. The findings reveal a number of barriers, including cultural differences, perceived lack of academic expertise and reputation, an inadequacy of institutional policies and regulations, lack of trust, issues of intellectual property rights, and the lack of an appropriate reward system. This paper concludes by proposing policy recommendations and strategies that could be used by the government, university, and the industry to promote further and foster university-industry collaborative opportunities and initiatives

Kosa kata arkaik dari uyu’ naso anak di Long Pasia: Satu kajian keterancaman bahasa Lundayeh

Uyu’ atau lagu mendodoi anak merupakan salah satu jenis tradisi lisan rakyat bagi masyarakat etnik Lundayeh. Isi kandungan uyu’ penuh dengan unsur nasihat, lambang sosiobudaya, nilai kepahlawanan dan falsafah. Namun, uyu’ mula dilupakan khasnya dalam kalangan generasi muda. Oleh itu, kajian ini dilakukan untuk menghidupkan semula tradisi lisan dengan membuat penelitian kepada kandunganya. Untuk kajian ini, pengkaji akan memfokuskan kepada kosa kata arkaik golongan kata kerja dari uyu’ naso anak di Long Pasia. Pengkaji telah menggunakan pendekatan dengan kajian kualitatif melalui kaedah kajian lapangan dan temu bual bagi menghasilkan dokumentasi kosa kata arkaik golongan kata kerja dari uyu’ naso anak melalui kajian kepada tiga generasi (datuk nenek, ibu bapa dan kanak-kanak). Seterusnya, data akan dianalisis menggunakan skala keterancaman bahasa UNESCO (2009), edisi yang menetapkan tahap bahaya sedikit berbeza daripada edisi sebelumnya. Terminologi baharu ini adalah berdasarkan rangka kerja Vitality dan Endangerment Bahasa UNESCO yang menetapkan enam darjah daya hidup atau bahaya berdasarkan sembilan faktor. Dapatan kajian mendapati bahawa generasi kanak-kanak kehilangan kosa kata paling tinggi, apabila menyatakan 10 daripada 27 kosa kata kerja adalah arkaik. Hal ini menunjukkan bahawa kanak-kanak sudah tidak menuturkan bahasa warisan di rumah. Seharusnya, uyu’ etnik Lundayeh mesti dipergiatkan kerana mengandungi pelbagai unsur bahasa, selain melambangkan sosiobudaya, falsafah dan nilai masyarakat. Langkah mengaplikasikannya adalah salah satu usaha untuk memperkasa dan melestarikan kosa kata bahasa yang hampir pupus agar terus diwarisi generasi ke generasi

Academia-industry mobility in Malaysia: Realities and implications for leadership development programs

This article presents the current academia-industry mobility (AIM) situation in Malaysia with emphasis on the progress in the AIM agenda, factors affecting AIM, drivers of AIM, and barriers and constraints faced by AIM in the country. Using qualitative methods, 29 research participants consisting of university top management members, leaders of university-industry relations office, key industry players and lectures took part in the qualitative study. Main findings indicated that perceived unclear policy and guidelines related to AIM have further exacerbated what is already an unfavourable relationship between Malaysian public universities and industry players. Malaysian public universities were found to be slow in responding to the needs of industry players, whilst at the same time, the latter remained skeptical regarding the capabilities of the former. This article concludes by proposing a leadership development program framework that addresses AIM issues. Copyright of Journal of Institutional Research South East Asia is the property of South East Asian Association for Institutional Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract

Promoting University–Industry collaboration in Malaysia: stakeholders’ perspectives on expectations and impediments

University–Industry Collaboration (UIC) has been identified as an essential item on Malaysia’s agenda for transforming itself intoknowledge and innovation-based economy. However, despite the efforts, most initiatives have had limited results. This paper reports on an explorative study that sought to understand the contemporary realities of UIC in the Malaysian context. In particular, the study identified the expectations and impediments to UIC, from the perspectives of three groups of stakeholders – the academics, the industry players and policymakers. The findings reveala number of barriers, including cultural differences, perceived lack of academic expertise and reputation, an inadequacy of institutional policies and regulations, lack of trust, issues of intellectual property rights, and the lack of an appropriate reward system. Thispaper concludes by proposing policy recommendations and strategiesthat could be used by the government, university, and the industry to promote further and foster university-industry collaborativeopportunities and initiatives

Environmental challenges and traditional food practices: The indigenous lundayeh of long pasia, sabah, borneo

In this paper we focus on the Lundayeh indigenous minority in Long Pasia, Sabah by examining how their traditional food practices help them navigate environmental challenges. Deforestation and logging threaten the very core of the Lundayeh identity because the community’s livelihood as subsistence farmers depends on hunting as well as gathering forest resources. This paper argues that, despite the continuous challenges, Lundayeh food practices, albeit exercised in modified forms, provide an avenue to revisit past traditions in order for the community’s indigeneity and sovereignty to survive and be safeguarded. The findings of this research project suggest that through hunting techniques, foraging, paddy cultivation, agricultural cooperative work, as well as religiously sensitive food adaptation practices, the Lundayeh’s relationship with the land endures, which in turn, secures the community’s indigenous identity

The risks and benefits of Open Migration Policy in Asia-Pacific region

The advent of post-colonial era shows Asia-Pacific regions such as Malaysia, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan have restricted migration policy. Despite the restriction, intellectual debates about the prospect of having open migration grew. The debates generally concentrate on what exactly are the benefits and risks of introducing open migration. This paper seeks to discuss what exactly are the benefits and risk of having open migration policies. To do so, it is argued that explanation on what exactly are the benefits and risk of having open migration policy must be tracked down by analyzing the security, economic and cultural issues in receiving country. Accordingly, based on literature as well as documents review, this paper suggest that open migration policy can be a source of security threats in receiving country which including the way that open migration may bring about uncontrolled population growth. In contrast, open migration policy may bring about economic and cultural enrichment in receiving country. Therefore, given the fact that open migration may bring about risks and benefits to receiving countries, this paper also explores the prospect of migration policy improvement as means of application for not only preventing the country form any risks, but also consolidating the economic and cultural enrichment though migration policy