Book Review: Representation, Identity and Multiculturalism in Sarawak, by Zawawi Ibrahim (ed.), Kuching, Sarawak and Kajang, Selangor: Dayak Cultural Foundation and Malaysian Social Science Association, 2008, 311 pp.

- book review

Emerging Sexual Ethics and the Erosion of African Ethos

The emerging sexual ethics that characterise the contemporary society, remains new to Africa, a phase of the erosion of African ethos, and a negation of the sacredness and classical norms of sex, which deserves to be addressed by all and sundry. It is a contemporary trend brought to fore by homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals, among which are the radical feminists, who indoctrinate many with the practice and continuously push very hard for legalisation and acceptance by all cultures and religions. But interestingly, many cultures and religions still remain opposed to the practice and its evolved ethics since they abuse human sexuality and African ethos. Clearly, adherents and feminists of the ill-practices with the new sex ethics have lost touch with moral sanity and the metaphysical Being, God. Only worthwhile cultural traits need be borrowed into and imbibed by other cultures in contact. The rising ugly development can best be addressed through strong opposing legislations, the sustenance of cultural and moral norms and values (ethics) and attitudinal change

Human resource development training for the Nigerian Foreign Public Service.

The findings indicated a need for a change from traditional administration to a scientific management approach and from a passive-reactive foreign service to result-oriented coordinations; and for an increased use of human resource development centers to train embassy personnel.The investigator of the study explored four main skill areas, viz: (1) employee orientation, (2) cultural change needs, (3) administrative organization, and (4) administrative skills. Analyses of the data indicated that administrators and employees perceived similar needs in the major four skill areas. The needs-discrepancy index, computed using mean scores for "ideal" and "actual", perceived needs indicated the following rank order of the major skill areas: (1) embassy administrative skills, (2) employee job orientation, (3) cultural change needs, and (4) administrative organization. It was also found that specific skill development was needed in public relations, internal office communication, job performance evaluation, employee job orientation, and quality of work.A questionnaire was developed by the investigator to obtain the data for the study. The questionnaire items were designed to achieve demographic information and information related to the perceptions of the respondents concerning the management procedures and practices of the two United States embassies. The data were analyzed using averages and rank-order analyses. Tables were developed as appropriate to aid in the interpretation of the analyses.The study was conducted to assess human resource development programs needs and skills for the Nigerian Foreign Service in the United States. A sample of two hundred employees was drawn from a population of four hundred embassy workers. Thirty-eight administrators and 110 employees participated in the study

The Effects of Shortage of Accommodation on Students’ Performance in Private Tertiary Institutions in Botswana

The student accommodation has been a major area of concern with increasing student population in Botswana. This study investigated the effects of shortage of accommodation on students’ performance in the private tertiary institutions in Botswana. A questionnaire was used to collect data. The findings revealed that lack of space for construction of student hostels and lack of partnership between government and private tertiary institutions are some of the major causes to shortage of student accommodation. The study also found out that lack of hostel accommodation encourages truancy and consequently poor concentration on academic work. It was recommended that the government should provide land where student hostels will be built, especially near the institutions where students can easily have access and provide a walking distance. Keywords: Student hostels/accommodation, student performance, Private tertiary institution

The Impact of Employee Motivation on Customer Satisfaction in the Insurance Sector in Botswana

The study seeks to measure the impact of employee motivation on customer satisfaction focusing on the insurance sector in Botswana. According to Botswana Business week report (2018) the local insurance sector is in the doldrums with one in 10 licenced operators closing down, profits are diminishing down 23%, and the high marginal decline in gross written premiums. The insurance sector is experiencing a decreasing customer base, high turnover of experienced employees, reduction in profits and low productivity. The study was quantitative in nature and the causal research design was used. The questionnaire was personally-administered to 80 participants which includes employees and customers. The findings of the study clearly acknowledged that employee motivation and customer satisfaction are positively correlated. The regression analysis was employed to test the hypotheses. The empirical examination of the study suggests that employee motivation is vital to boost customer satisfaction, service quality and lowers staff turnover. The study results revealed that employee motivation plays a significant role in enhancing the operational performance of organizations in the service industry. It was recommended that, management should employ motivational factors (innovative promotions, involvement, fringe benefits) to enhance service delivery and customer satisfaction, emphasis on market research through design thinking, as well as, understanding of the customer needs and expectations and designing customer care service policies so that a wide number of customer complaints and areas of interests are considered. Keywords: Employee motivation, customer satisfaction, service qualit

Morphology of Pictorial News: The Chameleonic Attributes

This study looked at the relationship between print media contents and the public’s attitude of appreciating news. Accountable facts and records used in this paper were strictly directed to qualifying press pictures as news. In conducting this study, the descriptive research design was used. The result of the hypothesis was tested with 200 readers by using Chi-square statistical calculation. The pictures selected were purposively investigated to establish the influence they possessed. After a thorough analysis, it was concluded that the issue of effective presence of news pictures surfaced because of sharing qualitative level of selective perception that had existed between the news consumers and media publications. It was recommended that irrespective of the medium used to express news worthiness, the chameleonic nomenclature of news pictures should retain neutrality and maintain investigative inkling for this curious news age. 49.7% respondents read news that had pictures in them than those without pictures. A situation, where press picture connected written news, relished aesthetical glamour and cognitive nostalgia, was uncovered. The summarized efforts, disregarded freehandedness and prioritized ethical ideology in the overcrowded print media racketeering. Hence, institutionalized professionalism was strongly advocated. And expediently, dissonance theory interrelated with three selectivity processes was opined to encourage investigative photojournalism as to promote creativity in the journalistic 2 W’s and H

Virtual Civil Society: Malaysiaas 2008 General Elections Revisited

This article revisits the 2008 general elections in Malaysia to examine how the internet contributed to the remarkable political change never experienced in the history of this country The ruling coalition Barisan Nasional lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority seats it had enjoyed since 1969 while the opposition that ardently utilized the blessings of the internet in the run up to the elections returned to full political limelight The literature examined provides significant leads to the different political scenarios that herald increased internet usage among concerned citizens which we were able to justify against the political reality in Malaysia However through a close study and analysis of Malaysia s political terrain prior to the 2008 general elections we observed that numerous controversial issues and events that engulfed the ruling coalition government which were effectively divulged and most often deliberated upon via the internet infuriated many enfranchised Malaysians hence provided the opposition and civil society activists with tremendous leverage in amassing public support against the ruling coalition This observation leads the article to contend that the degree of contestations contained in a political system and the intensity of information fed unto the internet and regenerated determines the role of the internet as a powerful bridge to political chang

Information for adaptation and response to flooding, multi-stakeholder perspectives in Nigeria

© 2019 by the authors. Provision of data and information for disaster risk reduction is increasingly important to enable resilience. However, the focus of provision in many African countries is limited to national scale risk assessment andmeteorological data. The research aimed to consider the perspectives on availability and access to information of different local urban actors that require reliable and specific information to make informed decisions. The research used workshop discussions and questionnaires to collect views from stakeholders in flood risk management in Nigerian cities about their current access to information and requirements. The results confirmed that stakeholders and communities agree in recognising the importance of climate information. Findings identified issues surrounding communication between agencies, government and technical experts. The role of the media and business in filling the vacuum left by state provision of information was further highlighted, demonstrating the potential for Private Public Partnerships in supporting adaptation and response to flooding. However, significant differences in access between sub-groups were also revealed such that some marginalised groups may be excluded from information. It follows that climate services, data and information provision need to be collaboratively designed in order to be more inclusive, meet user requirements and build community capacity