Public knowledge of climate change: Malaysia’s perspective

Increasing public awareness and educating the public about climate change is necessary in lieu of its effects on the health, wealth and well-being of all individuals concerned. Climate change is happening, extreme events related to it are on the rise globally and Malaysia is no exception. Recent events of the tsunami in 2004, extraordinarily large floods of 2006 and 2014 are evidences of this. Similarly longer hot spells resulting in droughts and water shortage substantiate the results of studies done both locally and globally. Therefore there is a need for the general public to be aware of and to understand climate change. The public has a critical role to play in responding to climate change. The dissemination of knowledge and awareness to the general public is now the concern being raised by many, especially those directly involved in scientific studies of climate change. This paper discusses studies and initiatives done in various parts of the world and some concerns raised on the matter. A proposed initiative for Malaysia will also be discussed. Climate change is intertwined with human behaviour, how we handle the world, how we sustain our natural resources will have an impact on our future climate. It is imperative that people are made aware of these issues and they play a bigger role in handling these issues as a means of increasing its saliency

Human capital dynamics of regional growth in Nigeria: dynamic panel data approach

This paper investigates the human capital factors that contribute to the growth of the Nigerian regional growth rates. In particular, it is to determine whether the leading role of human capital factors in other economies could explain the regional growth processes dynamics in Nigeria. If these factors are not applicable, other possible explanations are to be identified for the country’s regional economic growth dynamics profile. Nigerian regional cross sectional data of financial, physical and human capital accumulation were utilized to run a growth accounting regression captured by an aggregate production function. The study uses panel data (cross sectional and time series data) from 1998 to 2008 and employed three (3) panel data models to estimate the dynamics and contribution of human capital factors. The results showed that the initial human capital stock has an influence on the GDP per capita growth rate. Similarly, the Southern regions that had a head start in school attendance have higher thresholds or secondary schools are significant; higher levels of schooling (secondary school) have significant impact on the GDP per capita growth rate. On the other hand, the Northern regions have lower technical frontier; as only the primary school have significant impact on the GDP per capita growth. However the federal financial allocation from the federation accounts was found to be significant across all regions with the exception of the South-South regions, and positive investment in physical assets of education. Thus it implies that regional differences should be taken into account when planning developmental processes

Morphing engines classification by code histogram

Morphing engines or mutation engines are exploited by metamorphic virus to change the code appearance in every new generation. The purpose of these engines is to escape from the signature-based scanner, which employs a unique string signature to detect the virus. Although the obfuscation techniques try to convert the binary sequence of the code, in some techniques, the statistical feature of the code binaries will be still remain unchanged, relatively. Accordingly, this feature can be utilized to classify the engine and detect the morphed virus code. In this article, we are going to introduce a new idea to classify the obfuscation engines based on their code statistical feature using the histogram comparison

Rainfall network optimization in Johor

This paper presents a method for establishing an optimal network design of rain gauge station for the estimation of areal rainfall in Johor. The main problem in this study is minimizing an objective function to determine the optimal number and location for the rain gauge stations. The well-known geostatistics method (variance-reduction method) is used in combination with simulated annealing as an algorithm of optimization. Rainfall data during monsoon season (November – February) for 1975 – 2008 from existing 84 rain gauge stations covering all Johor were used in this study. Result shows that the combination of geostatistics method with simulated annealing successfully managed to determine the optimal number and location of rain gauge station

Comparison of semivariogram models in rain gauge network design

The well-known geostatistics method (variance-reduction method) is com- monly used to determine the optimal rain gauge network. The main problem in geostatis- tics method to determine the best semivariogram model in order to be used in estimating the variance. An optimal choice of the semivariogram model is an important point for a good data evaluation process. Three different semivariogram models which are Spherical, Gaussian and Exponential are used and their performances are compared in this study. Cross validation technique is applied to compute the errors of the semivariograms. Rain- fall data for the period of 1975 – 2008 from the existing 84 rain gauge stations covering the state of Johor are used in this study. The result shows that the exponential model is the best semivariogram model and chosen to determine the optimal number and location of rain gauge station

Analysing international baccalaureate students' academic performance at Kolej Mara, Banting

The academic performance of Malaysian students has recently been in the spotlight when it was revealed that our high schoolers had performed dismally in recent major international benchmarking studies. Malaysian students were not only ranked below the global average, but they also appear to be performing worse in Mathematics, Science and Reading Literacy compared the previous assessments. This has raised alarm among not only educational policy makers and academicians, but also other stakeholders who are directly or indirectly affected by the success or failure of the educational system. This study aims at empirically analysing the academic performance of students enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program at Kolej MARA Banting (KMB) over a span of 23 years. It attempts to identify whether there is a similar declining trend as reported by PISA and TIMSS, and identify factors that accounted for the students’ performance. Students’ IB results from 1993 to 2016 sourced from KMB database were analysed for trend and the strength of the relationship of subjects that contributed to the total points of the IB examination for two main programs offered at the college. Finally, future performance for the next three years was forecasted using time series analysis using ARIMA (1,0,0). The Mann Kendall Test confirmed existence of a downward trend in the students’ results. Correlational analyses found that high level subjects comprising of the High Level Chemistry, High Level Physics, High Level Biology and High Level Mathematics are highly correlated to IB examination results. This is accentuated further after a policy change in 2009 when the program for pre-Medical students opted for Standard Level Mathematics, instead of High Level Mathematics it used to offer. It is anticipated that the findings of this study will provide the relevant authorities with invaluable information with a view of instituting corrective measures

Climate change impact on coastal communities in Malaysia

Climate change is undeniably the greatest issue facing our society. Around the globe, increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and extreme weather events are observed, causing considerable risks to human lives, properties and health safety and also on the natural ecosystem. The magnitude and impacts of climate change are growing, and particularly in Malaysia, studies show increases in temperature and changes in rainfall regimes. Such changes have profound implications, especially for coastal communities. Since knowledge and perceptions of the public on climate change could affect the success of implemented adaptation and mitigation options, it is essential to conduct assessments to gather such information. A public awareness and perception study was conducted at Sabak and Tanjung Karang, two coastal communities which were affected by changes in sea level and flooding incidences. The knowledge level and perceptions of climate change among respondents were assessed covering areas such as level of awareness of the respondents, their perceptions of climate change issues, their sentiments on climate change and adaptation measures, their socio-economic activity and the effect on their lives. Results show that majority of respondents were aware of climate change issues and challenges. High levels of concern about climate change were expressed with the majority were worried and uncertain about the climate change impact and hoped for government measures. Almost half of respondents cited significant damage to their properties and reduction in income generation. Overall, the results of the present study gave insights of the affected parties on perceptions and awareness pertaining to climate change, which could potentially be used to promote greater awareness of climate change matters and to gauge the public response to related policies and strategies

Morphing Engines Classification by Code Histogram

Abstract-Morphing engines or mutation engines are exploited by metamorphic virus to change the code appearance in every new generation. The purpose of these engines is to escape from the signature-based scanner, which employs a unique string signature to detect the virus. Although the obfuscation techniques try to convert the binary sequence of the code, in some techniques, the statistical feature of the code binaries will be still remain unchanged, relatively. Accordingly, this feature can be utilized to classify the engine and detect the morphed virus code. In this article, we are going to introduce a new idea to classify the obfuscation engines based on their code statistical feature using the histogram comparison

Climate change impact on coastal communities in Malaysia

Climate change is undeniably the greatest issue facing our society. Around the globe, increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and extreme weather events are observed, causing considerable risks to human lives, properties and health safety and also on the natural ecosystem. The magnitude and impacts of climate change are growing, and particularly in Malaysia, studies show increases in temperature and changes in rainfall regimes. Such changes have profound implications, especially for coastal communities. Since knowledge and perceptions of the public on climate change could affect the success of implemented adaptation and mitigation options, it is essential to conduct assessments to gather such information. A public awareness and perception study was conducted at Sabak and Tanjung Karang, two coastal communities which were affected by changes in sea level and flooding incidences. The knowledge level and perceptions of climate change among respondents were assessed covering areas such as level of awareness of the respondents, their perceptions of climate change issues, their sentiments on climate change and adaptation measures, their socio-economic activity and the effect on their lives. Results show that majority of respondents were aware of climate change issues and challenges. High levels of concern about climate change were expressed with the majority were worried and uncertain about the climate change impact and hoped for government measures. Almost half of respondents cited significant damage to their properties and reduction in income generation. Overall, the results of the present study gave insights of the affected parties on perceptions and awareness pertaining to climate change, which could potentially be used to promote greater awareness of climate change matters and to gauge the public response to related policies and strategies

An update on the ornamental fish industry in Malaysia: Aeromonas hydrophila-associated disease and its treatment control

Malaysia is the world’s major producer and exporter of ornamental fish, contributing 9% to the global trade and taking the second position after Singapore. Because of their artistic appeal and tremendous commercial value for international trade, ornamental fish recently gain rapid importance for foreign exchange and as a source of employment. While ornamental fish production is growing, there is an increase in infectious diseases, resulting in high fish mortality with significant economic loss. Bacterial disease is a serious problem for ornamental fish industry. Bacterial species surveillance in diseased freshwater ornamental fish from an aquarium shop reveals that Aeromonas hydrophila is the most dominant bacteria isolated. Consequently, Malaysia is stepping up its efforts by implementing the Economic Transformation Program and other biosecurity steps to address the aquaculture issues and encourage the regrowth of the ornamental fish market. Chemotherapeutic medications, phytobiotics, probiotics, yeast extracts, vaccines, and disinfectants can be used in controlling bacteria. Further studies should be done to find new antibacterial agents from natural sources to combat bacterial fish diseases and reduce fish mortality rate in sustainable aquaculture farms. This review summarizes the literature on ornamental fish industries and aquaculture production in relation to A. hydrophila-associated diseases and ornamental fish health management in Malaysia