Malay reaction to the 1930s economic depression in Malaya

The unprecedented World Economic Depression of the 1930s affected Malaya just as it did to numerous other countries in the world. In Malaya’s case, with the rubber and tin industries, the two main pillars of the country’s economy, well integrated with the international market forces, the sudden economic downturn caused the collapse of both these industries, resulting in widespread retrenchment and mass unemployment of workers. To the people of multiracial Malaya the economic meltdown was more than an economic crisis. It was a crisis of all sorts that threatened their very own survival. Despite the colonial government’s efforts to contain the situation every community was displaced in one way or another though by varying degrees. This paper examines some of the immediate effects of the economic depression on the Federated Malay States and confines its discussion to Malay reaction to the crisis – how they were affected, the challenges they faced and how they coped with the crisis and the government’s role in ensuring the protection of the Malays. It also discusses Malay reaction to the presence of immigrant races in the country and their rise to seek greater protection of their rights as natives of the country

Kemelesetan ekonomi dunia 1929-1933 : kesan sosioekonomi di Negeri-negeri Melayu Bersekutu

Tesis ini mengkaji kesan sosioekonomi kemelesetan ekonomi dunia 1929-1933 ke atas Negeri-Negeri Melayu Bersekutu (NMB). Kajian ini merupakan satu percubaan untuk menunjukkan bagairnana ekonomi NMB yang berasaskan industri timah dan getah diintegrasikan ke dalam ekonomi antarabangsa oleh penjajah Inggeris turut menjadi mangsa kemelesetan ekonomi dunia yang meninggalkan banyak kesan negatif yang serius ke atas penduduknya. This thesis examines some of the socioeconomic effects of the 1929-1933 world economic depression on the Federated Malay States (FMS). An attempt is made here to show how the FMS economy based essentially on the rubber and tin industries and which had become integrated with the world economy under British colonial rule became a victim of the world economic depression with serious negative effects on its population

Family Ownership, Firm’s Financial Characteristics and Capital Structure: Evidence from Public Listed Companies in Malaysia

Capital structure is identified as one of focal facet in corporate finance branch of learning. It provides comprehension on how firms choose to finance their operations and expansion. The objective of this study is to explore the determinants of capital structure of Malaysian public listed companies. The period of 2001-2006 was selected in this study, which reflected the post Asian financial crisis period. Firm’s financial characteristics consist of size, growth, profitability, liquidity and ability to service debt. Family ownership which was identified as a unique feature in the Malaysian corporate sector was used to measure the effect of corporate governance in capital structure decision. Using panel data approach, this study infers that the role of ownership structure in the form of family ownership though is not significantly related to capital structure, its inclusion in the empirical equation changes the significance of other variables. Except for growth, all other financial characteristics have significant relationships with capital structure.Public - Capital Structure, Family Ownership, Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance.

Status of Rainwater Harvesting in Kayts of Jaffna Peninsula in Northern Sri Lanka with Reference to Water Quality

Rainwater harvesting has been practiced in Kayts (Jaffna Peninsula) since 2016. A consumer preference study conducted in the area by employing a structured questionnaire survey revealed that 97% of the people did not use stored rainwater for drinking as they questioned the quality of water. Thus, the current study was an attempt to investigate into the quality of rainwater harvest in Kayts. It was hypothesised that the quality of rainwater harvested in tanks, varied with time depending on the filling time (rainy season) and consuming time (drought). Selected physical (colour, odour, taste), physicochemical (pH, conductivity, turbidity) and biological (total coliforms) parameters were determined during the rainy season (freshly filled rainwater), early dry season (few months after storage) and peak dry season (several months upon storage) in 2018. Change in colour, odour and taste were evident over time, however, they were within the desirable range of Sri Lanka Standards (SLS) and WHO standards. Turbidity (range: 0.23-1.96 NTU), pH (range: 7.5-8.4) and conductivity (range 68.7-129.6 μS) increased significantly (Kruskal Wallis test: Minitab 17 p<0.05) during the storage time. Total coliforms exceeded the Sri Lankan standard of 10 Cfu /100 ml in two harvest tanks (10 and 14 Cfu/ 100 ml) out of 30 tanks possibly due to contamination by bird excreta. In conclusion, the water quality parameters of securely stored rainwater met the SLS and WHO standards of potable water quality irrespective of the season of sampling. Current research suggests that rainwater in Kayts of Jaffna peninsula is in good quality to be used as drinking water when securely collected. The acceptability of rainwater for consumption was unsatisfactory among consumers due to baseless doubts about water quality.Keywords: Rainwater harvesting, Water quality, Jaffna Peninsul

Penerapan Kemahiran Generik Dalam Mata Pelajaran Kemahiran Hidup Bersepadu (KHB)

Kemahiran generik merupakan satu kemahiran yang penting dan wajib diterapkan dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran di sekolah. Kemahiran generik meliputi kemahiran komunikasi, kemahiran berpasukan, kemahiran menyelesaikan masalah dan kemahiran interpersonal. Penerapan kemahiran generic dapat membantu pelajar meningkatkan diri mereka dalam pelbagai aspek. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui keberkesanan penerapan kemahiran generik dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran di mata pelajaran Kemahiran Hidup. Responden terdiri daripada 28 orang pelajar Program Khas Pensiswazahan Guru tahun ketiga di Universiti Teknologi Malaysia dalam jurusan kemahiran hidup. Instrumen yang digunakan ialah soal selidik yang mengandungi 45 item soalan yang dibina bagi menjawab 3 persoalan kajian. Kebolehpercayaan instrumen kajian telah diuji dalam kajian rintis dan mendapat nilai Alpha 0.896. Data yang dikumpulkan dianalisis dengan menggunakan perisian SPSS 14.0 (Statistical Package for Social Science SPSS for Windows) bagi mendapat nilai peratusan, frekuensi dan min. Hasil kajian menunjukkan penerapan jenis-jenis kemahiran generik serta cara penerapan kemahiran generik oleh guru mendapat tahap min yang tinggi. Respon terhadap faktor sokongan juga mendapat tahap min yang tinggi. Berdasarkan dapatan ini, penyelidik mengemukakan beberapa cadangan untuk meningkatkan penerapan kemahiran generik dalam mata pelajaran Kemahiran Hidup Bersepadu di sekolah

Regulation of pathways involved in intestinal phosphate transport

Despite the importance of extracellular phosphate, the mechanisms and control of intestinal phosphate transport remain unclear. The present study used in vivo and in vitro methods to compare the extent of Na+- dependent versus Na+-independent phosphate transport along the rat small intestine and colon at different luminal phosphate concentrations. Na+-dependent and Na+-independent phosphate transport and genomic expression of type II (NaPi-II) and type III (PiT) transporters in young (3- week old) and adult (8- and 16-week old) animals fed a control or low phosphate diet have also been quantified. mRNA levels of Na+- dependent phosphate transporters have been analysed in the 5/6 nephrectomy model of chronic renal failure and following treatment with matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein (MEPE). The acute effects of altered luminal phosphate concentration on intestinal phosphate transport and renal phosphate transporter expression was also assessed. The findings confirm the jejunum to be the main site of Na+-dependent phosphate absorption under both normal and low dietary phosphate conditions. Low phosphate diet upregulates Na+-dependent and Na+- independent phosphate transport in both duodenum and jejunum, whereas age only affects Na+-dependent component in the duodenum and jejunum. When luminal phosphate concentrations are in the physiological (millimolar) range, absorption in the jejunum displays less Na+-dependency and is unlikely to be mediated exclusively by the Na+- dependent NaPi-IIb cotransporter. In the ileum, again using millimolar luminal phosphate concentrations, significant Na+-dependent phosphate transport was detected, but the rate of phosphate absorption was lower than in the jejunum. Since NaPi-IIb is not expressed at the rat ileal brush-border membrane (BBM), the presence of significant Na+- dependent phosphate transport suggests an alternative phosphate uptake pathway in the ileum. At millimolar luminal phosphate concentrations in the distal colon, only Na+-independent phosphate absorption was detected. Thus, at concentrations of phosphate normally present in the intestinal lumen, Na+-independent pathways of phosphate absorption are present in the proximal small intestine and distal colon, as well as a non-NaPi-IIb-mediated Na+-dependent pathway in the distal small intestine. PiT2 assumes a dominant role in phosphate transport in the jejunum of pre-weaned animals, and in the kidneys of animals fed a low phosphate diet. PiT1 transporter is not regulated by age or low phosphate diet at the genomic level. Chronic renal failure reduces intestinal and renal expression of the major transporter NaPi-II, and also PiT1 and PiT2. However, MEPE reduces intestinal expression of NaPi-IIb and PiT2 alone in chronic renal failure animals. Acute duodenal instillation of either 15 mM or 1.3 M phosphate did not affect the renal BBM protein expression of NaPi-IIa and NaPi-IIc. Duodenal instillation of 1.3 M, but not 15 mM, phosphate increased phosphate uptake in the duodenum only; however, the small intestine is unlikely to encounter phosphate concentrations in the molar range

Effect of traffic noise on sleep : a case study in Serdang Raya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Traffic noise has been recognised as a serious threat to the quality of life in most industrialised nations. The rapid growth of towns, cities and population has increased the density of traffic. There are various effects of traffic noise on people and these effects are often interrelated. The most common yet serious problem is sleep disturbance. In this study field measurement and questionnaire survey were carried out to determine the overall noise level and the view and opinion of the residents on their sleep disturbance. As the LAeq was higher than the guideline values, contradictorily the survey results showed that most of the residents sleep time was not affected and they were not really annoyed by the traffic noise. This is mainly because most of the residents at the study area residing there for more than 19 years and this is sufficient enough to describe the pattern of outcome where most of the residents were get used with the traffic noise and they adapt it in their daily life as a norm. Yet, countermeasures such as construction of noise barrier are highly recommended to curb the chronic effects. So, a further study is required to establish this

Developing stakeholder-centric sustainability indicators for plantation agriculture - a participatory action research approach

Plantation agriculture is one of the fastest growing agricultural sub-sectors in the world and contributes significantly to national income and employment in many developing countries. However, plantation agriculture has also aroused significant sustainability concerns and as such, sustainability assessments have emerged as crucial for the survival and viability of plantation companies. This has given rise to the need for suitable sustainability indicators. Although a wide variety of sustainability indicators have been developed to monitor and assess the sustainability of agricultural systems in general few, if any, have been developed specifically for plantation agriculture. Furthermore, most conventional research methodologies on sustainability often utilize a top-down approach. One of the main criticisms regarding this approach is the lack of input from local stakeholders regarding sustainability indicator selection and development. As such, the indicators selected via the top-down approach do not necessarily reflect the value judgements of local stakeholders as well as address the sustainability issues specific to plantation agricultural systems. This can prevent the adoption of these indicators by the local stakeholders which in turn can hinder the development and implementation of an appropriate sustainability assessment toolkit for plantation agricultural systems. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop user-friendly, and stakeholder-consensus based sustainability indicators for plantation agricultural systems via a bottom-up, participatory action research (PAR) methodology. An Abaca plantation system in Indonesia was used as a case study for this research. The implementation of the methodology for this research was carried out through a cycle involving four stages. Stage 1 involved utilizing a range of methods namely key informant interviews, document reviews as well as focus group discussions to identify a diverse range of stakeholder groups for this research (e.g. local community members, government officials, business organizations). The interest-influence matrix was then utilized to select and prioritize different stakeholders for this research from the list of stakeholder groups identified. Approximately 22 stakeholder groups were selected as key stakeholders for this research. Stage 2 involved utilizing the modified Delphi method to identify and select relevant sustainability indicators for this research from the perspectives of the identified and selected stakeholders (from Stage 1) to develop a draft set of sustainability indicators. A preliminary list of 33 sustainability indicators were then selected by the stakeholders which encompassed the four main dimensions of sustainability. The selected 33 sustainability indicators were then piloted tested collaboratively with the stakeholders to determine the effectiveness of the indicators in assessing the sustainability performance of the Abaca plantation system. This pilot testing process (Stage 3) resulted in the removal and modification of some of the initially selected sustainability indicators thereby resulting in the approval of 25 indicators by the stakeholders. The final 25 sustainability indicators also encompassed the four main dimensions of sustainability. The final stage (Stage 4) involved reflecting on the entire PAR process (from inception to completion) and understanding the appropriateness, effectiveness and success of the overall research process from the stakeholders’ perspectives as well as lessons learnt for future research. The final reflection stage (Stage 4) provided insights into the challenges and solutions regarding the use of a PAR approach towards the development of a user-friendly and stakeholder consensus-based sustainability indicators for plantation agricultural systems. This stage revealed that despite the numerous challenges associated with this research process, the PAR approach could enable the participants (stakeholders) to understand the diverse sustainability issues associated with the plantation agricultural system and integrate these issues with the wider context of sustainability. Therefore, the outcomes of this research supports the arguments made by proponents of the PAR approach in which this approach can ethically engage different stakeholders in decisions that can change their understanding of a sustainable agricultural system and thereby contribute to the long-term discussion about sustainability assessments within plantation agricultural systems. For this research, this approach also resulted in the development of a context-specific and stakeholder consensus-based sustainability indicators for plantation agricultural systems