The Influence of Management and Silvicultural Practices on The Incidence of Heart Rot in Acacia Mangium Plantations

Acacia mangium Willd., a major exotic timber species used in the Compensatory Forest Plantation Program for the product ion of saw logs, was found to be infected by heart rot. To evaluate the incidence and severity of heart rot in A. mangium plantations, a study consisted of laboratory investigations and field surveys was conducted. The laboratory studies include isolation of fungi from infected tree, determination of wood density, microscopic observations, and chemical wood analyses. Field surveys were conducted at five plantations, namely Rantau Panjang Forest Reserve (RPFR), Bukit Tarek Forest Reserve (BTFR), Kemasul Forest Reserve (KFR), Setul Forest Reserve (SFR), and Ulu Sedili Forest Reserve (USFR)

Development Of Lean Construction Framework For 'Rumah Komuniti' Project

Engaging in lean construction efforts could prove to be highly rewarding for Jabatan Pendidikan Kolej Komuniti (JPKK) and Kolej Komuniti Bandar Penawar. However, lean construction is risky and can be disastrous if not properly managed. Lean production efforts in some other firm construction have not been successful due to the many barriers to its successful implementation. To enable lean construction efforts and to increase the chances of success in eliminating waste, a thorough study of the lean practice or lean conformance is essential. Structured questionnaire were carried out to assess their perception of lean conformance based on their experience to build ‘Rumah Komuniti’. The lean conformance influenced by sub principles Culture/people, Continuous improvement, customer focus, eliminate waste and Standardization. The obtained information from the data was analysed using descriptive analysis with mean respectively 3.9917, 3.8438, 4.0750, 3.9764 and 4.0542. The proposed Lean Construction Framework in this study is generic and can be applied to any type of work

Rights of suspect and accused under Islamic and Malaysian law

This book analyses the Islamic viewpoint on the rights of a suspect or an accused at all stages of criminal procedures. Al-Qur’an, al-sunnah and other sources of Islamic Law have been the basis of discussion. The opinion of the four established sunni schools have also been referred to. The findings are thereafter compared with Malaysian law. It has been observed that there are more similarities than differences between the two systems of law. In some aspects where there are differences, it is hoped that the implementation of suggestions made throughout this book could harmonise the differences and at the same time refined laws could be introduced in order to maintain justice

Effectiveness of whistle-blowing policy in Boustead Petroleum Marketing Sdn Bhd

Whistle-blowing occurs when an employee raises a particular concern to their employer about some fraud or illegal or unethical behaviour that affects other employees and also the organization. The effectiveness of whistle-blowing policy will certainly contribute a significant affect. The problem arises in the company as the statistic whistle-blowing policy has seen a significant decline, and whilst reports submitted did not follow procedures. The effectiveness of whistle-blowing policy was evaluated based on four independent variables of effectiveness of whistle blowing policy that are: (a) personal viewpoint, (b) company encouragement, (c) management responsive and (d) whistle-blower protection. The objectives of this study were to examine the influence of the four factors - personal viewpoint, company encouragement, management responsive and whistle-blower protection on the effectiveness of the policy. A total of 123 questionnaires were distributed to the sample chosen for this quantitative study. Data collected were analyzed using correlations and regressions to examine the relationship between the effectiveness of whistle-blowing policy and personal viewpoint, company encouragement, management responsive and whistle blower protection. The findings reported that all four independent variables were significantly related to whistle-blowing effectiveness. The research objectives were fulfilled more importantly this study has put for the some changes to improve whistle-blowing practices in the compan

Preparation and characterization of Styrene-Methyl Methacrylate in Deproteinized Natural Rubber Latex (SMMA-DPNR)

The graft polymerization of Styrene and Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) onto deproteinized natural rubber latex (SMMA-DPNR) was carried out using ammonium peroxy disulfate (N2H8O8S2) as an initiator. The suitable reaction conditions based on the higher monomer conversion was determined. The SMMA-DPNR at 6 hours reaction time was successfully prepared with degree of conversion more than 99 %. The copolymers composition of the resultant SMMA-DPNR was obtained using 1H-NMR Spectroscopy. As expected, composition of styrene in DPNR was higher than that of MMA due to the higher reactivity ratio of styrene monomer as compared to MMA monomer and the structure of the NR backbone

The school guidance services in Malaysia

This study is concerned with the aims, the achievements and the development of guidance and counselling services in Malaysian secondary schools. It also traces the historical development of guidance and counselling in America and Britain (for its predominant influence on the educational system of Malaysia), in the hope of finding the approaches most suitable for the multi-racial - multi-religious - multi-cultural societies of Malaysia. Two case studies are included in this study in the hope of illuminating the general literature findings on the existing services. The study is divided into 5 chapters, besides the Introduction. The general pattern of chapters consists of Historical Development of Guidance and Counselling in United States of America, Britain and Malaysia; Guidance and Counselling Towards National Unity, The Achievements of Guidance and Counselling in Malaysia - Two case Studies, Future Development and Conclusion. Thus, this study hopes to unveil some of the issues that could facilitate the growth of guidance and counselling in schools as a means of achieving the goals of Malaysian education

The Influence of Reward System on Employees' Performance Among Non-Academic Staffs in Masterskill University College of Health Sciences

Employees are the most valuable asset to organizations. Employee's performance is the main factor in determining the organization's performance and ensuring the organization to run smoothly and successfully. In order to maintain a good employee's performance, an effective performance management is compulsory. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between reward system (monetary and non-monetary rewards) and employee's performance in Masterskill University College of Health Sciences (MUCH). A survey involving 91 executive and non-executive staff was carried out. Three monetary reward factors (basic pay, merit/cost of living, performance bonus) and four non-monetary reward factors (recognition, learning opportunity, challenging works and career advancement) were tested. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 19. Pearson Correlation Coefficient analysis was run and employed to examine the affect of reward systems on the performance of MUCH employees. The result from Pearson Correlation Coefficient revealed that there is a positive significant relationship between reward system(monetary and non-monetary rewards) and employee's performance. Based on the results, it can be concluded that employees' performance is influenced by both monetary reward and non-monetary reward at 57% and 69.8% respectively. This study proposes that HRM must review the important of monetary and non-monetary rewards which can affect the employee's performance in their organization. In view of the results, other implications and recommendations are also discussed

Kano Model and QFD integration approach for Ergonomic Design Improvement

AbstractIncreasing consideration has been given to Ergonomics in product design since the last several decades. Nowadays, more companies apply ergonomic aspects to their products to fulfill customer requirement and satisfaction of new products development. Customer requirement and satisfaction measurement can be achieved through various methods. This paper presents joining methods of Kano Model and Quality Function Deployment to improve the school workshop's workstation design for adolescent in terms of ergonomic and users need. A survey was done to 336 students to identify problems of the current workstation. Data gathered was translated into Kano questionnaire and answered by 255 students. Then it was clarified and used in the House of Quality matrix. At the end of the study, we find that both methods were able to prioritize the modification elements to be implemented into the new ergonomically designed workstation

Young women speak out: healing the selves through narrative therapy

This paper explicates the contemporary voices of Malaysian women projected towards raising awareness on violence to the public through Young Women Speak Out, an anthology of short stories and poems written by victims of violence and sexual abuse. This collection is published in 2007 by All Women’s Action Society (AWAM), an independent feminist organisation committed to improving the lives of women in Malaysia. The writers’ writings of life-narratives are analysed in the framework of narrative therapy developed by Michael White and David Epston and Kamsler’s theory of revising individuals’ relationship with one-self in relation to violence and abuse. By placing the plots of the stories within Kamsler’s stages of revising individual’s relationship with one-self in relation to violence and abuse, the stories reflect the authors’ success in forming a more positive self-dignity, thus allowing them to go on with their lives guided by new perspectives and hopes. By contextualizing their violent experiences in a broader cultural politics of race, gender, class, sexuality, professional and institutional dominance, these stories, when viewed as therapeutic engagement, have helped these women to externalise their problems allowing them to create awareness as well as speaking out to the Malaysian society in order to expose the detrimental effects of sexual and domestic violence

Multi-agent reinforcement learning for route guidance system

Nowadays, multi-agent systems are used to create applications in a variety of areas, including economics, management, transportation, telecommunications, etc. Importantly, in many domains, the reinforcement learning agents try to learn a task by directly interacting with its environment. The main challenge in route guidance system is to direct vehicles to their destination in a dynamic traffic situation, with the aim of reducing travel times and ensuring efficient use of available road network capacity. This paper proposes a multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithm to find the best and shortest path between the origin and destination nodes. The shortest path such as the lowest cost is calculated using multi-agent reinforcement learning model and it will be suggested to the vehicle drivers in a route guidance system. The proposed algorithm has been evaluated based on Dijkstra's algorithm to find the optimal solution using Kuala Lumpur (KL) road network map. A number of route cases have been used to evaluate the proposed approach based on the road network problems. Finally, the experiment results demonstrate that the proposed approach is feasible and efficient