Fertility and suitability of the Spodosols formed on sandy beach ridges interspersed with Swales in the Kelantan - Terengganu Plains of Malaysia for kenaf production.

A study was conducted to evaluate the suitability of sandy soils in the Kelantan - Terengganu Plains (Peninsular Malaysia) and suggest measures to improve their fertility for kenaf production. The coastal landscape is scarcely utilized for crop production due to the inherently low soil fertility, nutrient imbalance and water deficit which can seriously inhibit crop growth. Three sandy Spodosols with humus - rich spodic horizon were found, locally named as Rhu Tapai, Rudua and Jambu Series with sandy matrix (>95% sand), low CEC (0.16-4.52 cmolc kg-1) and high acidity (pH 4-5). The mineralogy data showed quartz (dominant), with gibbsite, hematite and feldspars in trace amounts that result from high degree of weathering. The Corg of Bs and Bhs horizon was about 2%, with C/N ratio of 14 to 25, respectively; this can be exploited for kenaf production. Hence, we evaluated these sandy Spodosols for kenaf production using Wong (2009) Crop-Suitability Classification and found the soil to be marginally suitable under Class 4 described as 4Dnt where D stand for drainage, n for nutrient and t for texture. The major limitations were found to be excessive drainage, nutrient imbalance and sandy texture. Therefore, management practices recommended to improve the soils are (1) mulching the soils with different types of organic materials to retain water and plant nutrients; and (2) irrigating the soils during the dry period. If these agronomic practices are carried out, these soils could be productively used for growing kenaf

NeoLiberalism and the Challenges of Managing Labour Migration in Urban Malaysia

Labour migration into Malaysia has increased rapidly in recent decades and this has affected Malaysia’s government policy in managing migrants’ movement. Interestingly, Malaysia has attracted a high degree of unskilled labour, accompanied by unabated rise of undocumented migrant workers. Mitigating undocumented migration is the main aim of Malaysia’s labour migration policy and therefore the focus of Malaysian government. This has impacted on how enforcement agencies work out strategies. These agencies are the forefront of Malaysia’s labour migration policy but they faced a number of challenges, such as documentation, finance and manpower capability, and political intervention, which impede their ability to optimize their capabilities in enforcing the Malaysian government labour migration policy. Resolving these challenges and moving towards a long-term labour migration policy will benefit the Malaysian state, its citizens and the labour migrants

The influence of online anime towards children

Online anime has been a major influence towards the growth of children in Malaysia. Therefore this study investigates the online anime that influence children in their everyday lives. The study also discusses the influence of online anime that contributed to positive interaction in the discussion between the children. The study involves 10 nine year olds subjects from a class of one school in Putrajaya. The children were selected based on their experience in watching online anime. The subjects were interviewed. They were in groups of 3 to 4. They discussed about the characters, setting and storylines from the online anime that they had watched and the conversation were taped and analyzed. Selected extracts were analysed and discussed by using the discourse analysis method. It is found that subjects were strongly influenced by the characters, setting and storylines from the online anime. They were happy and contented to be like the characters in the story. It is hoped that online anime were able to give positive influence towards children in their everyday lives

Occurrence and properties of soils on sandy beach ridges in the Kelantan-Terengganu Plains, Peninsular Malaysia

A study was conducted along the Kelantan–Terengganu Coastal Plains, Peninsular Malaysia to explain the occurrence of sandy beach ridges and to determine the physico-chemical properties of the soils formed on them. Two or occasionally three series of sandy ridges running parallel to the shoreline occur in the area. These ridges are believed to have been formed by the continuous action of the sea waves following changes in the sea level during the Holocene, the oldest ridge being the one farthest away from the shoreline. In between these ridges occurs a slight depression, usually occupied by soils under submerged condition. The soils on the ridges are subjected to the processes of soil formation, mainly podzolization. There is no horizon differentiation in the soils on the ridge nearest to the shoreline. However, soils on the older ridges contain spodic horizon, occurring at varying depths. Drainage and the depth below which this spodic horizon occurs are the deciding factors for determining soil type (series). Physically, the soils are sandy containing > 95% sand, with the drainage varying from moderately well to excessively-drained for the soils on the ridges. Under this condition, the mineralogy of the clay and silt fractions is dominated by quartz; some feldspars, mica, kaolinite, gibbsite and anatase are also present. Sandy nature of the soils on beach ridges, extreme leaching, low cation exchange capacity and low exchangeable bases leads to their low productivity

Fabrication And Electrical Characterization Of Silicon Bipolar Transistors In A O.5µm Based BiCMOS Technology.

Bipolar transistors are well known for its high current driving capability and current gains, while CMOS transistors are dominant in the integrated circuit market because of its low power consumption and small size advantage. The combination of both types of transistor on the same chip provides a high performance circuit with a high packing density. In this work 0.5-µm BiCMOS technology is fully utilized to realize silicon bipolar transistors with optimized performance. Preliminary electrical results are presented on bipolar transistors fabricated for the first time in Malaysia. Significant improvements in electrical device performance can be achieved by optimizing the emitter drive-in temperature and choice of annealing system

Media digital dalam pembangunan komuniti perempuan Melayu

Kajian ini melibatkan 120 komuniti perempuan Melayu yang berumur dari 20 hingga 50 tahun di kawasan sekitar Serdang Raya, Sri Serdang dan Seri Kembangan, Selangor. Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk mengenal pasti jenis media digital yang digunakan oleh komuniti perempuan Melayu serta membincangkan kegunaan media digital terhadap pembangunan diri dalam era digital. Instrumen kajian terdiri daripada satu set soal selidik yang diedarkan kepada subjek yang terlibat dan temu bual dirakam bagi tujuan kajian ini. Interaksi temu bual dianalisis dengan menggunakan kaedah analisis Wacana. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa komuniti perempuan Melayu menggunakan media digital untuk pembangunan sahsiah diri dan mereka berjaya menggunakan media digital tersebut dengan beretika. Kajian ini diharapkan dapat memberikan perangsang kepada komuniti perempuan Melayu untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan mereka mengikut peredaran semasa

Arabiyatuna board game

This research focuses on a novel approach to learning Arabic through the Arabiyatuna board game. The board game includes 50 comprehension and grammar problems in Arabic. According to earlier studies, pupils' comprehension of language learning improves when they play games. The research's goals are to assess students' understanding of the Arabic language at the basic level and to link such knowledge to an interactive learning method. This board game is currently undergoing testing and will be released as an app in the future and will have a big impact on future Arabic language acquisition. It is believed that this study will improve students’ grasp of Arabic and their attitudes about the language

Arabiyatuna Board Game

This research focuses on a novel approach to learning Arabic through the Arabiyatuna board game. The board game includes 50 comprehension and grammar problems in Arabic. According to earlier studies, pupils' comprehension of language learning improves when they play games. The research's goals are to assess students' understanding of the Arabic language at the basic level and to link such knowledge to an interactive learning method. This board game is currently undergoing testing and will be released as an app in the future. This initiative will have a big impact on future Arabic language acquisition. This study will improve students’ grasp of Arabic and their attitudes about the language

Arabiyatuna board game

This research focuses on a novel approach to learning Arabic through the Arabiyatuna board game. The board game includes 50 comprehension and grammar problems in Arabic. According to earlier studies, pupils' comprehension of language learning improves when they play games. The research's goals are to assess students' understanding of the Arabic language at the basic level and to link such knowledge to an interactive learning method. This board game is currently undergoing testing and will be released as an app in the future. This initiative will have a big impact on future Arabic language acquisition. This study will improve students’ grasp of Arabic and their attitudes about the language