Making public relations a true profession in Malaysia by an act of parliament: an advocacy

The practice of public relations is becoming more sophisticated than ever with increasing areas of specialisations and functions. However, the tasks of public relations practitioners are perceived to range from the positive to negative. Sadly, more are now leaning towards the later. Unethical practices like spinning; astroturfing; fronting; and language managing are alleged to be increasing. Even the names or labels for public relations have become more varied than ever. It can range from public affairs, corporate affairs, perception management, to spin doctoring. To date, no one universal definitions of public relations exist. Every public relations professional body have their own definitions and so do public relations practitioners. This probably reflects the diversity of public relations practices and the environment it is operating. Despite the rapid growth of the public relations practice and its education and training globally it status as a true profession remains questionable. In Malaysia, the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia (IPRM) tries to overcome this issue by lobbying for a Public Relations Profession Act. This article attempts to explain the reasons why IPRM feels the need for the act, benefits of the act, actions taken to realise it, reaction of the government towards this effort, response by IPRM members and non-members, research conducted on public relations practitioners view of the propose act, overcoming fears/oppositions, some relevant points in the act, etc. This paper is written from the writer’s involvement in trying to promote public relations as a true profession and also being a public relations educator for over 30 years. Thus, the research methodology is mainly the participatory approach, and basically advocacy in nature. The practice of public relations is becoming more sophisticated than ever with increasing areas of specialisations and functions. However, the tasks of public relations practitioners are perceived to range from the positive to negative. Sadly, more are now leaning towards the later. Unethical practices like spinning; astroturfing; fronting; and language managing are alleged to be increasing. Even the names or labels for public relations have become more varied than ever. It can range from public affairs, corporate affairs, perception management, to spin doctoring. To date, no one universal definitions of public relations exist. Every public relations professional body have their own definitions and so do public relations practitioners. This probably reflects the diversity of public relations practices and the environment it is operating. Despite the rapid growth of the public relations practice and its education and training globally it status as a true profession remains questionable. In Malaysia, the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia (IPRM) tries to overcome this issue by lobbying for a Public Relations Profession Act. This article attempts to explain the reasons why IPRM feels the need for the act, benefits of the act, actions taken to realise it, reaction of the government towards this effort, response by IPRM members and non-members, research conducted on public relations practitioners view of the propose act, overcoming fears/oppositions, some relevant points in the act, etc. This paper is written from the writer’s involvement in trying to promote public relations as a true profession and also being a public relations educator for over 30 years. Thus, the research methodology is mainly the participatory approach, and basically advocacy in nature

Persepsi amalan perhubungan raya kerajaan dari pandangan pengguna – kajian kes di Sabah

Tinjaun ini mengkaji pandangan masyarakat di Sabah terhadap amalan perhubungan awam yang dipraktis oleh kerajaan di Malaysia amnya dan khususnya di Sabah. Turut dikaji ialah macam mana pengalaman responden dengan pihak berkuasa tempatan, negeri dan persekutuan telah mempengaruhi persepsi mereka terhadap imej negara dan amalan perhubungan awam kerajaan (PAK). Iaitu, dari segi pentadbiran atau pengurusan negara, dasar, projek serta pelaksanaannya. Juga, dikaji ialah bagaimana pengalaman rakyat berurus dengan agensi-agensi kerajaan telah membentuk persepsi mereka terhadap kredibilitinya. Kaedah penyelidikan ialah tinjauan pendapat di mana para responden adalah dipilih secara rawak bagi menentukan mereka mampu mewakili penduduk Sabah. Seramai 600 responden telah dipilih yang bermastautin dan berkerja di sekitar Kota Kinabalu, Tuaran, Penampang dan Papar. Mereka telah ditemuduga secara bersemuka dengan menggunakan borang soalselidik yang telah disediakan. Soalan-soalan yang digubah adalah bertujuan untuk mencari jawapan kepada matlamat-matlamat yang telah ditetapkan. Tinjauan awalan dibuat bagi menentukan kejelasan soalan serta ketepatannya. Penemuan telah dianalisis menggunakan SPSS dan ditafsirkan mengikut keperluan matlamat kajian. Tinjauan ini mendapati bahawa responden yang banyak atau pernah berurusan dengan agensi kerajaan lazimnya memiliki pandangan yang lebih positif terhadap kerajaan. Bagaimanapun, resminya penemuan menunjukkan bahawa responden di Sabah menilai bahawa amalan PAK di Malaysia adalah di tahap sederhana sahaja dan perlu dipertingkatkan demi masa depan cermelang negara

Sabah civil servants internet usage and its impact on their consumer behavior / Mohd Hamdan Haji Adnan, Mohd Adnan Hashim and Amir Shafiq.

From the end of the twentieth century to the early twenty first century the government of Malaysia is consistent in its efforts to make the information communication technology (ICT) usage as a way of life in the country. Promoting ICT usage as a way of life has been aggressively campaigned by the Federal Government since the Internet era began. It is expected that the civil servants should be among the first consumers to embrace ICT as compared to other citizens. This article researched Internet usage by Sabah civil servants and aims to discover whether it has impacted their consumer behaviour. The research used random sampling method with prepared questionnaires. It utilised the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) to understand why and how the civil servants utilised the Internet to meet their needs. Altogether 12 Sabah government agencies comprising 316 respondents from the top to the lowest grades participated in this study. The findings revealed that Sabah civil servants nearly fully embrace the Internet and its impact on their consumer behaviour is significant. They are increasingly spending more time on the Internet via the social media to socialise, to enhance their knowledge, to buy online and to even try to earn extra income

Malaysia’s 13th general election in Sabah: factors determining the winners

Sabah voters in the 13th Malaysian General Election were considered a Barisan Nasional (BN) “fixed deposit” and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had proclaimed that his party would actively work on enhancing this edge to sustain their dominance. Pakatan Rakyat (PR), of the opposition coalition acknowledged the threat and took steps to neutralise it. Initially, the opposition parties believed that they had a fifty percent chance or more to capture Sabah to form both the State and Federal governments and, on reading contemporary discussions in the social media, it is easy to see why. However, the main stream media persisted in promoting the government as a sure winner and, as GE 13 drew nearer, the tide changed to favour BN. This paper determines the strategies and issues that proved to be effective in winning state and parliamentary seats in Sabah.. Further, it investigates the impact of the Suluk incursion in Lahad Datu on the election, seeking to discover how the political parties involved exploited and benefited from this tragic incident. Finally, this paper explores the people who were instrumental in influencing the tide of change in Sabah’s GE 13

Tabii murid sekolah rendah sebagai pengguna – satu kajian kes di Sekolah Kebangsaan Malawa, Sabah

Kajian ini cuba mengenal pasti sikap, pengetahuan dan tanggapan murid sekolah rendah terhadap tabii pengguna dan kepenggunaan. Andaian kajian ini ialah bahawa murid sekolah rendah tidak begitu kisah tentang tabii pengguna dan kepenggunaan dalam kegiatan harian mereka. Juga, kajian ini cuba menguji sama ada murid sekolah rendah dipengaruhi oleh media massa, termasuk periklanan dalam membentuk gaya hidup serta urusan membeli-belah mereka daripada keluarga atau rakan mereka. Kaedah kajian ialah temu duga bersemuka dengan responden di dalam bilik kuliah yang telah ditetapkan oleh pihak pengurusan sekolah. Sekolah Kebangsaan Malawa telah dipilih sebagai tempat tinjauan memandangkan kedudukannya adalah tidak jauh dari Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu dan komposisi muridnya mampu mencerminkan penduduk berbilang kaum Sabah. Selain itu, mata pencarian ibu bapa mereka mampu mencerminkan masyarakat Sabah secara umum. Semua pelajar dari darjah empat ke enam yang hadir pada waktu tinjauan telah menjadi responden. Seramai 237 murid telah ditemu duga dengan 126 lelaki dan 111 perempuan. Penemuan kajian adalah menarik dari segi ada murid yang telah mula dipengaruhi oleh media massa dan periklanan. Secara rasminya ia terjadi dalam kalangan murid darjah enam. Juga, sebilangan besar murid yang disoal mengakui kepentingan pendidikan pengguna dan menyambut baik penubuhan kelab pengguna di sekolah mereka. Hampir kesemua responden mengaku bahawa wang saku mereka mencukupi walaupun jumlahnya seminggu adalah antara RM2 ke RM5. Sebilangan besar responden turut mengaku bahawa mereka menabung. Kajian juga mendapati bahawa mereka mementingkan kesejahteraan alam sekitar

Effective communication and interdisciplinary research on the idea that size matter for safer lokan delicacies in Sabah

Many makeshift stalls have increased in numbers with the rise popularity of the grilled lokan along Sulaman Road near Kota Kinabalu better known as Salut. This development has helped increased the local community economy. For seafood only the species Polymesoda expansa of lokan is sold serving in three sizes: small(S), medium (M) and large (L). The study objective is to monitor the heavy metals concentration of lokan according to size and customer demand. Samples were analysed by Flame Atomic Adsorption Spectrometry (FAAS) individually. The results yielded the mean of heavy metals for Pb were 6.33±8.82S, 4.33±4.58M, 3.85±1.96L, for Cu were 15.96±16.86S, 11.41±10.60M, 6.61±5.66L, for Cr were 3.39±2.78S, 1.52±2.11M, 0.61±0.60L, for Cd were 1.90±1.00S, 1.35±1.34M, 0.70±0.38L, for Zn were 52.08±28.37S, 75.37±36.80M, 9 4.00±38.16L, respectively. The finding shows large size lokan contains less heavy metal than small size lokan except for Zn. Although larger lokan seem safer to eat, preliminary observation has shown that consumers prefer smaller lokan because it is cheaper than the larger ones. The study shows that most consumers are still unaware of the impact of heavy metals in lokan that they consume affecting their health adversely. There had been consumers that ate grilled lokan in the study area experiencing symptoms of heavy metals toxicity. It is believed that by favouring the larger and mature lokan will enable them to increase producing progenies for continuous abundant supply thus making it a sustainable income generation project. Changes of trend like consumers opting to eat large lokan because it is safer to consume will be an incentive for supplier to be more selective in harvesting bigger lokan. This study revealed that both sellers and consumers believe that an effective information campaigns can help not only for the safe consumption of lokan and other aquatic food from this area but also make their supply more sustainable. The findings of this study will be the basis for the formulating of the public health information campaign to all stakeholders with regards to safe lokan consumption and its sustainability

Establishing ICT compentency standard for Malaysian teachers using the Delphi technique

Technology has tremendous potential to enhance learning across all disciplines and inculcate critical and creative thinking skills. However, in spite of huge investment on Information and Communication Technology over the past decade in various education initiatives, the potential of technology usage in Malaysian schools have not reached the desired level among teachers and students. What is the missing link for the realization of the expected return-of-investment? The establishment of the Educational Technology Competency Standards for 21st Century Malaysian Teachers using the Delphi technique will allow authorities to review and regulate ICT-related training curriculum to uplift the standards of teaching and learning to be in compliance with the Malaysia National Education Blueprint 2013–2025

Risk entrepreneurship and the construction of healthcare deservingness for ‘desirable’, ‘acceptable’ and ‘disposable’ migrants in Malaysia

In recent years, scholars have focused on the concept of healthcare deservingness, observing that healthcare professionals, state authorities and the broader public make moral judgements about which migrants are deserving of health care and which are not. This literature tends to focus on migrants with irregular status. This article examines how state calculations of healthcare deservingness have also been applied to authorised migrants. Focusing on Malaysia, we examine the ways in which state authorities construct migrants as ‘desirable’, ‘acceptable’ and ‘disposable’, differentiated through calculations of their biological and economic risks and potential contribution to ‘the nation’. To do this, we analyse recent government and commercial policies, plans and practices to reflect on how such biopolitical orderings create the conditions for risk entrepreneurship – where public and private actors capitalise on profit-making opportunities that emerge from the construction of risky subjects and risky scenarios – while reinforcing hierarchies of healthcare deservingness that exacerbate health inequalities by privileging migrants with greater economic capital and legitimising the exclusion of poor migrants

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Surgical site infection after gastrointestinal surgery in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: a prospective, international, multicentre cohort study

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common infections associated with health care, but its importance as a global health priority is not fully understood. We quantified the burden of SSI after gastrointestinal surgery in countries in all parts of the world. Methods: This international, prospective, multicentre cohort study included consecutive patients undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection within 2-week time periods at any health-care facility in any country. Countries with participating centres were stratified into high-income, middle-income, and low-income groups according to the UN's Human Development Index (HDI). Data variables from the GlobalSurg 1 study and other studies that have been found to affect the likelihood of SSI were entered into risk adjustment models. The primary outcome measure was the 30-day SSI incidence (defined by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for superficial and deep incisional SSI). Relationships with explanatory variables were examined using Bayesian multilevel logistic regression models. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02662231. Findings: Between Jan 4, 2016, and July 31, 2016, 13 265 records were submitted for analysis. 12 539 patients from 343 hospitals in 66 countries were included. 7339 (58·5%) patient were from high-HDI countries (193 hospitals in 30 countries), 3918 (31·2%) patients were from middle-HDI countries (82 hospitals in 18 countries), and 1282 (10·2%) patients were from low-HDI countries (68 hospitals in 18 countries). In total, 1538 (12·3%) patients had SSI within 30 days of surgery. The incidence of SSI varied between countries with high (691 [9·4%] of 7339 patients), middle (549 [14·0%] of 3918 patients), and low (298 [23·2%] of 1282) HDI (p < 0·001). The highest SSI incidence in each HDI group was after dirty surgery (102 [17·8%] of 574 patients in high-HDI countries; 74 [31·4%] of 236 patients in middle-HDI countries; 72 [39·8%] of 181 patients in low-HDI countries). Following risk factor adjustment, patients in low-HDI countries were at greatest risk of SSI (adjusted odds ratio 1·60, 95% credible interval 1·05–2·37; p=0·030). 132 (21·6%) of 610 patients with an SSI and a microbiology culture result had an infection that was resistant to the prophylactic antibiotic used. Resistant infections were detected in 49 (16·6%) of 295 patients in high-HDI countries, in 37 (19·8%) of 187 patients in middle-HDI countries, and in 46 (35·9%) of 128 patients in low-HDI countries (p < 0·001). Interpretation: Countries with a low HDI carry a disproportionately greater burden of SSI than countries with a middle or high HDI and might have higher rates of antibiotic resistance. In view of WHO recommendations on SSI prevention that highlight the absence of high-quality interventional research, urgent, pragmatic, randomised trials based in LMICs are needed to assess measures aiming to reduce this preventable complication