The Straits of Malacca: Regional powers vis-a-vis littoral states in strategic and security issues and interests

This paper presents an overview of the strategic and security issues surrounding the Straits of Malacca. It begins by introducing the strategic nature of the Straits of Malacca and piracy threat in the busy sea lane. Subsequently this paper discusses the issues and interests of the emerging powers in the Straits of Malacca historically. This covers the Asia’s emerging powers such as India, Japan and China. Then, the position of the three littoral states of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore towards the issue of piracy in the Straits of Malacca is touched upon before analyzing the littoral states’ position on external powers’ involvement in the Straits of Malacca. This is paper also briefly discusses the individual littoral states’ interests in the vital sea lane

Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) students’ perception on national security policy: The case of Internal Security Act (ISA) of Malaysia

This study aims to examine the perception of the Internal Security Act (ISA) of Malaysia, focusing on the perceptions of students of Universiti Utara Malaysia. This study tries to determine the student’s perceptions first on the students’ comprehension of Malaysia’s national security policy in which constituted in the Malaysian Constitution and consequently understand its effect on the student’s reaction or attitude. The study is conducted using a questionnaire survey, consisting of statements in which the students were required to rate their response on a 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaire also consists of four main sections in which the demography of students, the evaluation of students perception on current national security threats in Malaysia, sets of statements in which testing the students’ basic comprehension of the ISA of Malaysia and fi nally their reactions towards the ISA itself. The finding indicates that the students are prone to social issues in which they determine it could be the major threat to Malaysia. Yet, there is no connection between comprehensions of the ISA and the reactions on the enforcement of the policy. Nevertheless, findings reveal their reactions differ between programmes of study and more inclined towards supporting the ISA and they also agree that government should take into consideration critics by the non-governmental organizations as well as societal grievances

Criterion-referenced and norm-referenced agreement between the mile run/walk test and the one-and-a-half mile run/walk test and the pacer test

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to test the reliability of the Mile Run/Walk Test and One-and-a-Half Mile Run or Walk Test,and the PACER Test 20-m, multistage shuttle run using criterion reference and norm reference as a working framework. Method – The sample for the study comprised 2,056 students, with male (n = 1159) and female (n = 897) randomly selected using stratifi ed random sampling, from the whole population of students aged 13, 14, and 15 years from 18 secondary schools throughout Perak, Malaysia. Two trials of the PACER Test and one each of the Mile Run/Walk Test and One-and-a-Half Mile Run/Walk Test were performed. The estimated criterion referenced reliability for the Mile Run/Walk Test and the One-and-a-Half Mile Run/Walk Test, and the PACER Test was obtained using the proportion of agreement (Pa) and ‘modified kappa (Kq) on FITNESSGRAM® Standards (Baumgartner, Jackson, Mahar, & Rowe, 2003) and the American College of Sports Standards (ACSM, 1999). Findings – Results of the study showed that the Pacer Test had high reliability for testing the maximum volume of oxygen among male and female students aged 13, 14, and 15 years old. The statistical analysis indicated a positive and strong correlation between test scores and repeated tests for the Pacer Test on male and female students aged 13, 14 and 15 years old with r = 0.94 to 0.97; 0.95 to 0.97 respectively, and was signifi cant (p<.05).Value – It is recommended that the PACER Test be used as a component of the Physical Fitness Test battery to replace the Mile Run/Walk Test and the One-and-a-Half Mile Run or Walk Test, which are still used by the Malaysian Ministry of Education,Teacher Education Division,Curriculum Development Centre, and also State Education Departments to test students’ cardiovascular resistance

Kelainan dasar Qatar punca dimusuhi

Masyarakat antarabangsa amnya dan umat Islam khususnya terkejut dengan tindakan Arab Saudi, Emiriah Arab Bersatu (UAE), Bahrain dan Mesir termasuk Yaman dan Maldives untuk memutuskan hubungan diplomatik dengan Qatar. Malah, mereka juga meminta wakil kedutaan masingmasing pulang dan semua rakyat Qatar di negara mereka juga pulang ke negara asal dalam tempoh dua minggu

Malaysia in transition: A comparative analysis of Asian values, Islam Hadhari and 1Malaysia

This paper discusses on the principles of Asian values, propagated by Malaysia fourth prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, Islam Hadhari by the fifth prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and 1Malaysia by the current prime minister Najib Razak. This paper gives a special attention to Abdullah and Islam Hadhari because it links the Mahathir’s period to current Najib’s leadership. The intension of this paper is to prove that actually these concepts are similar in theory and practice in stressing more on Islam and neo-feudalistic Malay agenda. In fact, Islam Hadhari is ironically a concept created by Mahathir himself to counter the idea of Islamic State from the Islamic party, PAS. Therefore, even after resigning from government, Mahathir’s agenda of Asian values is still being practiced.Najib Razak, current Prime Minister, on the other hand intended to promote quality leadership performance for the public and unity among the multiracial Malaysia.Although there are differences in term of the arguments for each of the idea, it is clear that these ideas or philosophies attempt to protect the real agenda of those three leaders which were to protect the political culture of neo-feudalism and ensure the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and Barisan Nasional (BN) will stay in power.This paper shows the debates between scholars in explaining the ideas and philosophies behind those three concepts in Malaysia’s realpolitik

Kajian Produktiviti Melalui Appilkasi Pemodelan Dan Simulasi Komputer Di Industri Kecil Dan Sederhana (Iks)

Tujuan projek ini dijalankan adalah untuk mengaplikasikan teknik pemodelan dan simulasi WITNESS ke atas kajian produktiviti di Industri Kecil dan Sederhana (IKS). Objektif utamanya adalah untuk meningkatkan kuantiti keluaran produk serta memaksimakan penggunaan mesin dalam sistem pengeluaran di IKS. Dalam kajian ini, 5 model simulasi produk plastik ubat dan 5 model simulasi produk plastik Pizza Hut telah dibina dan diuji untuk beberapa tempoh pengeluaran. Kuantiti pengeluaran selama 3 bulan berturut-turut telah direkodkan dan dijadikan input kepada model yang dibentuk. Perbandingan model berdasarkan kuantiti pengeluaran, masa operasi, masa sesakan, masa henti, masa pembaikan dan masa melahu dilakukan untuk menentukan model yang lebih baik. Parameter kerosakan dimasukkan ke dalam model altematif yang diuji untuk mengkaji kesannya kepada baris pengeluaran. Model alternatif kedua-dua produk ini akan dinilai dan dibandingkan dengan model sediada. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa model altematif adalah lebih baik daripada model yang sediada. Penguntukan penimbal dan kerja lebih masa merupakan strategi pengeluaran yang akan diuji untuk meningkatkan kuantiti pengeluaran. Teknik pemodelan dan simulasi ini boleh digunakan oleh IKS untuk meningkatkan produktiviti pengeluaran

The emergence of new politics in Malaysia from consociational to deliberative democracy

Since independence in 1957, Malaysia has practiced consociational democracy that permits elite deliberation only. However, in the 2008 general election, Malaysian voters almost caused the Barisan Nasional government to be toppled by the opposition.They demanded more participation in policy making, as consociationalism has led to many malpractices in the government such as corruption and cronyism. The demands rose by the opposition, civil society, and new media have forced the government to implement an element of deliberative democracy. Although such deliberative democracy is probably a mask for the real agenda of continued authoritarian deliberation, strong pressures from the people are apt to ensure that deliberative democracy will be effectively practiced in the future

Media freedom and legislation in Malaysia

This paper is about Malaysian regulation with regard to the issue of media freedom.Malaysia has many laws that restrict the function of the media, either printing media, broadcasting media or the Internet.The sources of the restriction can be found in Federal Constitution and many laws such as the Internal Security Act, Sedition Act, Printing Presses and Publications Act, and others.This restriction is actually limiting the degree of democracy practised in this country. With the cases listed, this paper is in the intention to expose the limitation of media freedom in Malaysia

Pembinaan Kerangka standard kompetensi literasu ICT kebangsaan: Kajian Delphi

Kajian ini bertujuan membincangkan penggunaan teknik Delphi dalam mengenal pasti kompetensi literasi ICT bagi pembangunan standard kompetensi literasi ICT kebangsaan bagi guru-guru Malaysia. Berdasarkan Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan Malaysia (PPPM) 2013-2025, menerusi bab ke-enam PPPM iaitu Transformasi Kementerian menerusi ICT dalam Pendidikan, Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia bertekad untuk meningkatkan kesan pembelajaran murid serta memastikan murid-murid tidak hanya belajar menggunakan ICT tetapi juga boleh memanfaatkannya secara berkesan.Oleh yang demikian, kementerian telah memperuntukkan jumlah yang besar bagi mencapai sasaran tersebut. Namun, melalui pelbagai kajian mengenai tahap kompetensi guru yang telah dilakukan, didapati tahap kompetensi guru masih rendah.Oleh itu, standard kompetensi literasi ICT bagi guru-guru yang bersesuaian dengan sistem pendidikan negara perlu dibina sebagai panduan di peringkat kementerian untuk membantu guru merancang tugasan mereka samada di dalam kelas atau dalam menyelesaikan tugasan rasmi seharian.Teknik Delphi adalah satu pendekatan yang digunakan untuk mendapatkan pandangan yang konsensus daripada pakar mengenai sesuatu permasalahan. Teknik Delphi adalah satu kaedah kajian yang melibatkan beberapa pusingan soal selidik.Kajian ini akan mengaplikasikan teknik Delphi yang melibatkan seramai 20 orang pakar terdiri daripada pegawai dari Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri Terengganu, pegawai dari Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah, pensyarah Institut Pendidikan Guru, guru sekolah rendah serta guru sekolah menengah di Terengganu.Kajian ini dijalankan untuk mendapatkan pandangan konsensus dari panel pakar tentang apakah kompetensi ICT yang penting yang perlu dikuasai oleh guru di Malaysia