New geopolitical order in Northeast Asia: Japan’s threat perception in post-cold war era / Noor Hilmi Mohd Johan, Mohd Firdauz Mohd Fathir and Nurul Aishah Ab Raman

The changing of geopolitical environment in Northeast Asia after the Cold War illustrates some fundamental shift in Japan’s security environment. The post-Cold War era provide a new set of challenges and difficulties that must be diligently comprehend not only by Japanese policy maker but also her military echelon as well. With the receding of Soviet Union threat from the north comes a new and emerging volatile situation from her immediate neighbors; People’s Republic of China and Democratic Republic of Korea. Aside from this, threats from Japan domestic security also did not demonstrate any indication of declination. This article explores each international actor that can be considered as security predicament to Japan and why each actor behaves in an aggressive manner towards Japan. By analyzing issues that occur both domestic and beyond her border, the author show how past threats that emerged will eventually be replace by a new and more volatile situations – instances where PRC challenging Japan sovereignty over Senkaku and DPRK nuclear and ballistic missile test. Variety of methodology tools has been used to provide an adequate data analysis to interpret every states action in Northeast Asia, ranging from the using of primary and secondary sources that seek to contribute to the argument of this article

Social media visual framing towards political participation : an analysis on BERSIH 2.0

The political atmosphere in Malaysia had witnessed a growing trend of social movement organisations and protests. The recent attention is on the phenomenal record usage of social media platforms as tools to spread political ideology. The multimodal nature of social media has made it an efficient tool where users can post textual information as well as visual materials to reach out to its audience. This article sets out to examine the visual strategy of one of the largest political social movements in Malaysia, the BERSIH movement, within a social media setting. Building on the existing work on visual framing, it asks: How were issues visually portrayed on the BERSIH social media account during the peak of the movement in Malaysia? In this context, Facebook was chosen as the social media platform analysed as it is the main social media used by the movement. Adapting on the level of visual framing, a content analysis was done to a sample of 59 (N=59) top liked photos posted on the Bersih 2.0 Official Facebook account which received more than 0.5% engagement rate (ER= >0.5%). The findings showed that at the denotative level, the main forms of visuals used were photos of protesters, followed by posters and photos of important individuals. The findings also showed that at the connotative level, the main frame highlighted was ‘solidarity’ followed by ‘call for action’ in the form of direct and symbolic visuals

Social media usage and interactions: an in-depth interview on BERSIH 2.0 social media visual framing

The BERSIH movement in Malaysia is a coalition of civil society organizations advocating for clean and fair elections. This research examines how visual communication shapes political participation by focusing on the visual framing of the BERSIH movement. The study interviewed ten visual communication experts to uncover the meanings and ideological representations behind the visual frames used in the movement. The investigation identified three main themes: portrayal of the crowd, significant individuals, and injustice. The portrayal of the crowd theme highlighted the use of visuals to create a sense of unity and solidarity among participants, while the significant individuals theme emphasized the importance of visual representations of influential figures in shaping people's perceptions. The injustice theme highlighted the use of visuals to expose the injustices and inequality within the electoral system. The study found that visual framing plays a significant role in shaping people's attitudes towards political participation. Neutral or cool visual elements can evoke strong feelings and attract people to the cause, demonstrating that visual elements play a vital role in political mobilization. The findings suggest that carefully crafting visual frames can evoke strong emotional responses and encourage participation in political action. This research sheds light on the power of visual communication in shaping political participation in Malaysia's social movements and highlights the need for a strategic approach in creating visuals that appeal to people's emotions and encourage political engagement

User requirements and quality assessment on shoe size and fit recommendation

Online shoppers often have to find reference conversion by manual method, standalone systems, asking sales agents, and browsing the internet. However, these methods that did not provide fast and seamless information on size and fit, and what more by different brands. This study was conducted to identify user requirements for shoe sizing and fitting based on standard size conversion (US, UK, Euro), brand and type. A survey (n=62) was conducted with online shoppers to determine functional and non-functional requirements for the shoe size and fit recommendation mobile application. Subsequently, a mobile application was developed based on the output, followed by 15 user satisfaction tests (n=50) to assess its quality using 9 task scenarios. An interview was then conducted to obtain richer user feedback. The analysis showed more than 90% of users evaluated the application as easy to use, had a pleasant interface, had the intention of using it, would recommend it to others, and were satisfied with the overall application. The mean analysis showed a score of 4.6, which indicates that most of the participants were satisfied with the application. The interview results suggested the application to add brand recommendations and customize features for children’s shoes. These open opportunities for future work to improve the acceptance and quality of the application. Users who wish to buy shoes online could benefit from the application by finding the right fit based on foot size, shoe brand and type easily using their smartphone