Socialization of ethnic identity and its consequence in the form of polarization among youth in Malaysia.

Proses pembentukan identiti mempengaruhi hubungan etnik. Dalam konteks hubungan etnik di kalangan belia yang menuntut di universiti awam Malaysia, pembentukan identiti etnik telah menyebabkan berlakunya polarisasi. Kajian-kajian menunjukkan belia tersebut memilih rakan sebilik, rakan tugasan dan teman untuk duduk bersama ketika kuliah dengan berpandukan factor etnik. Bagi memahami permasalahan ini, kertas kerja ini menganalisis peranan sosialisasi dalam pembentukan identiti social dan kaitannya dengan polarisasi kaum di kalangan belia di university. Tahap intensity polarisasi dibincangkan dengan mendalami kajian-kajian lepas yang mengkaji fenomena polarisasi kaum di kalangan penuntut universiti awam. Selain itu, peranan biologi dalam pembentukan identiti akan juga dianalisis. Hubungan dialektik antara peranan struktur social (structural) dan tindakan individu (action) dalam pembentukan identiti etnik juga dihuraikan bagi menerangkan bagaimana perkaitan antara mereka boleh menghasilkan polarisasi etnik di kalangan belia universiti awam Malaysia

Settling down spiritually: Chinese Malaysian's worship of Datuk Gong

When the Chinese migrated to Malaya en masse in the 19th century, they brought along with them their religious belief. Many aspects of the Chinese Religion are still maintained and practiced by the Chinese in Malaysia today. However, after years of interaction with people from other ethnic origins in Malaysia, the Chinese has synthesized local elements into their belief system. Empirically, the worship of Datuk Gong is one of them. The worship originated from the Datuk Keramat cult, which was popular among the Malays in Malaysia. This paper attempts to explain why the Chinese in Malaysia accepted local elements such as the worship of Datuk Keramat into their religion and the meaning of such acceptance. When the Chinese Malaysian transfigured certain elements found in their religion to accept the concept of Datuk Keramat, it shows their long-term commitment to make Malaysia their home. In order to achieve these objectives, observations and interviews at ten Datuk Gong temples in Peninsular Malaysia were made to collect relevant data. Data gathered shows the Chinese have transfigured their religious practice to facilitate their adaptation to live in a country, which was once foreign to them

Sociological theory of race and ethnicity: contesting, substituting or complementing?

Issues, related to race and ethnicity, have always attracted attention from many. Throughout the development of sociology, many theories have been developed to explain these phenomena. Most of the time, however, the theories are read as contesting each other. Similarly, argument was laid out as though the theories are contesting to explain the truth of race and ethnicity. Readers have also contributed to the contest. In fact, it is the readers who, most of the time, categorize the theories they read into school of thought and consequently the theories are contesting at least from the readers’ perspective. The theories are also seen as trying to substitute each other, either from the theoreticians’ point of view or from the readers’ point of view. Maybe it is through these contests and the urge to substitute, more and more theories are constructed to explain race and ethnicity. However, instead of contesting and substituting, the theories should also be read as complementing. Sociology is a field that enables society to be understood. Theories related to race and ethnicity should be stitched together to provide the big picture which ultimately leads readers to understand race and ethnicity phenomena. Therefore, this paper focuses on the thoughts of three social analysts, viz., Banton, Geertz and Eriksen. Their contributions to the understanding of race and ethnicity are immense and have never failed to generate discussions and development relating to these areas. By studying and laying out their ideas in complimenting nature, the big picture of what is race and ethnicity could be developed. The big picture is vital and will give significant input to the understanding of issues related to race and ethnicity, particularly in the plural societies such as Malaysia

Cognitive aspects of driving in Malaysia : perception and judgement

Malaysia has a worrying road fatality rate compared to many other countries, and the high number of registered motorcycles (vulnerable road users) in the country is one of its most distinctive characteristics. However there has previously been limited experimental research on driving conducted in Malaysia. This thesis aimed to investigate Malaysian drivers’ ability to perceive other road users (cars and motorcycles) and how they make judgments about the safety of pulling out at junctions. Malaysian drivers’ performance in these tasks was compared with UK drivers (Chapter Two). Various studies were also conducted to investigate how different factors affect drivers’ perception and judgment, such as time of day and use of headlights (Chapter Three), a honking sound (Chapter Four), motion and speed (Chapter Five). Chapter Six went on to investigate drivers’ ability to judge the intention of other road users. This series of experiments has provided new insights about the perception and judgment of Malaysian drivers. Possibly due to the higher exposure to motorcycles, Malaysians have a better ability to detect approaching motorcycles than UK drivers though they are also more likely to judge that it was safe to pull out at junctions. In addition, the number of incorrect judgments made by Malaysian drivers about the safety of pulling out is a concern especially where a collision would happen based on the decision. Moreover, switching on headlights increased drivers’ ability to perceive other vehicles during night time but not necessarily during day time. However, switching on headlights decreased the likelihood of drivers judging that it was safe to pull out in front of motorcycles regardless of time of day. The results also suggested that a honking sound did not facilitate the ability to perceive other vehicles, but did decrease drivers’ tendency to judge that it was safe to pull out. Lastly, it was shown that it is important to provide reliable signals in order to improve road safety. In dynamic video stimuli, signalling is more informative for judging the intention of approaching cars than motorcycles, which could lead to poor judgment making about approaching motorcycles at junctions

Cognitive aspects of driving in Malaysia : perception and judgement

Malaysia has a worrying road fatality rate compared to many other countries, and the high number of registered motorcycles (vulnerable road users) in the country is one of its most distinctive characteristics. However there has previously been limited experimental research on driving conducted in Malaysia. This thesis aimed to investigate Malaysian drivers’ ability to perceive other road users (cars and motorcycles) and how they make judgments about the safety of pulling out at junctions. Malaysian drivers’ performance in these tasks was compared with UK drivers (Chapter Two). Various studies were also conducted to investigate how different factors affect drivers’ perception and judgment, such as time of day and use of headlights (Chapter Three), a honking sound (Chapter Four), motion and speed (Chapter Five). Chapter Six went on to investigate drivers’ ability to judge the intention of other road users. This series of experiments has provided new insights about the perception and judgment of Malaysian drivers. Possibly due to the higher exposure to motorcycles, Malaysians have a better ability to detect approaching motorcycles than UK drivers though they are also more likely to judge that it was safe to pull out at junctions. In addition, the number of incorrect judgments made by Malaysian drivers about the safety of pulling out is a concern especially where a collision would happen based on the decision. Moreover, switching on headlights increased drivers’ ability to perceive other vehicles during night time but not necessarily during day time. However, switching on headlights decreased the likelihood of drivers judging that it was safe to pull out in front of motorcycles regardless of time of day. The results also suggested that a honking sound did not facilitate the ability to perceive other vehicles, but did decrease drivers’ tendency to judge that it was safe to pull out. Lastly, it was shown that it is important to provide reliable signals in order to improve road safety. In dynamic video stimuli, signalling is more informative for judging the intention of approaching cars than motorcycles, which could lead to poor judgment making about approaching motorcycles at junctions

A Topical Solution to Tropical Museum Pest Control

At the National Heritage Board of Singapore, an approach to pest control management in the museums' collections has developed along side the relocation of existing stored collections to a new purpose built storage building. This process of relocation provided an ideal opportunity to tackle the prevailing levels of insect activity within the museums' stored collections. The occupation of this new building has enabled staff at the Heritage Conservation Centre (HCC), to instigate an approach to Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which has proven to be effective in establishing and maintaining low levels of insect activity. This has evolved into a two-tiered approach. The new storage collection building is managed within a rigorously applied IPM framework. This ensures maximum control where the greatest risk occur, whilst concurrently a more adaptive IPM policy is maintained in the Museum Buildings themselves. Here, the risks of pest activity have been balanced in response to the different uses of the buildings, changing curatorial use of the collections and the level of available conservation resources. Therefore, pest control and the consequent risks to the collections have had to be balanced against other museological and commercial requirements. This report will review the IPM strategy for the storage facility in relation to that applied to the other museum buildings. It will discuss the need for pest control strategies to be appropriate to the developing needs of the Institution

Reflective Thinking among Teachers: Development and Preliminary Validation of Reflective Thinking for Teachers Questionnaire

This article describes the development and validation of the 32-item Reflective Thinking for Teachers Questionnaire (RTTQ) designed to assess the process of reflective thinking among teachers. The process of instrument development and validation is described, along with a review of relevant literature related to the process of reflective thinking. An exploratory factor analysis and a subsequent confirmatory factor analysis of the responses of a large sample (N = 659) was carried out. The results of the study showed that the structural equation model developed fitted the questionnaire data well. The confirmatory factor analysis produced goodness of fit indices within an acceptable range, and the questionnaire appeared to be a reliable instrument that would assist in the assessment and improvement of the quality of reflective thinking among teachers.Cet article décrit le développement et la validation du questionnaire à 32 questions portant sur l’évaluation des compétences de la pensée critique chez les enseignants (Reflective Thinking for Teachers Questionnaire). Nous décrivons le processus d’élaboration et de validation du questionnaire, et présentons un examen de la littérature sur la pensée réflexive. Les réponses d’un échantillon de taille importante (N = 659) ont été soumises à une analyse factorielle exploratoire suivie d’une analyse factorielle confirmatoire. Les résultats indiquent que le modèle d’équation structurelle élaboré s’ajuste bien aux données du questionnaire. L’analyse factorielle confirmatoire a produit des valeurs élevées pour la qualité d’ajustement se situant dans une fourchette acceptable, et le questionnaire semble avoir été un outil fiable pour appuyer l’évaluation et l’amélioration de la qualité de la pensée réflexive chez les enseignants.Mots clés : pensée réflexive; formation des enseignants; validation d’instruments; élaboration d’instruments; pensée critiqu

Why would people want to travel more with automated cars?

The use of automated vehicles (AVs) may enable drivers to focus on non-driving related activities while travelling and reduce the unwanted efforts of the driving task. This is expected to make using a car more attractive, or at least less unpleasant compared to manually driven vehicles. Consequently, the number and length of car trips may increase. The aim of this study was to identify the main contributors to travelling more by AV. We analysed the L3Pilot project’s pilot site questionnaire data from 359 respondents who had ridden in a conditionally automated car (SAE level 3) either as a driver or as a passenger. The questionnaire queried the respondents’ user experience with the automated driving function, current barriers of travelling by car, previous experience with advanced driving assistance systems, and general priorities in travelling. The answers to these questions were used to predict willingness to travel more or longer trips by AV, and to use AVs on currently undertaken trips. The most predictive subset of variables was identified using Bayesian cumulative ordinal regression with a shrinkage prior (regularised horseshoe). The current study found that conditionally automated cars have a substantial potential to increase travelling by car once they become available. Willingness to perform leisure activities during automated driving, experienced usefulness of the system, and unmet travel needs, which AVs could address by making travelling easier, were the main contributors to expecting to travel more by AV. For using AVs on current trips, leisure activities, trust in AVs, satisfaction with the system, and traffic jams as barriers to current car use were important contributors. In other words, perceived usefulness motivated travelling more by AV and using AVs on current trips, but also other factors were important for using them on current trips. This suggests that one way to limit the growth of traffic with private AVs could be to address currently unmet travel needs with alternative, more sustainable travel modes

Variable-Drift Diffusion Models of Pedestrian Road-Crossing Decisions

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