What Does the New Economy Mean to Malaysian Tellers?

The rise of the New Economy has restructured work, necessitated changing skills requirements, as well as spurred new training needs amongst employees. Such new skills and training needs are prerequisites to survive and thrive in the New Economy. Importantly, these skills and training are also prerequisites for upward mobility in a system of inequality. This paper illustrates the case of Malaysian tellers as the Malaysian banking industry operates in the New Economy. Although the New Economy and the emergence of the sales culture requires Malaysian tellers to be more knowledgeable, this paper argues that due to their unionised status and given their positions at the bottom rung of the occupational hierarchy, tellers in Malaysia are disadvantaged and often excluded in the process of training and knowledge acquisition

Understanding culture and creativity in urban development: what it means for George Town, Penang?

Culture and creativity are fast emerging as catalysts to spur economic development in urban settings. Many Western cities have leveraged upon culture and cultural industries to revitalize and regenerate their urban spaces following a failure in their industrial base. This trend is also unfolding in Asian cities like George Town where the elements of culture and creativity are currently being earmarked as the city’s engine of economic growth and progress. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to explore and understand the meaning of culture and cultural industries in George Town, especially with the influences of internal and external global forces shaping the city’s urban development. As a city that is undergoing constant social transformations, the element of culture and the types of cultural industries that follow suit are also in a constant state of flux. Thus, defining and understsanding culture in a continuously morphing city like George Town will assist urban managers and policy-makers towards more informed decisions on how next to leverage upon culture as the city’s main source of endowment

Sokongan pihak berkuasa terhadap pertumbuhan penjaja dalam kompleks gerai : kajian kes di Pulau Pinang

Di negara membangun seperti Malaysia, penJaJa wujud di mana-mana sahaja. Tergolong dalarn sektor tidak formal, para penjaja mempunyai ciri-ciri tertentu untuk membezakan mereka daripada anggota sektor formal yang lain. Setakat ini, sektor tidak fonnal ini kerap-kalinya diabaikan begitu sahaja dalam pelbagai aspek dan perkara ini mengakibatkan data dan maklumat yang begitu terhad tentang sektor ini. Bayangkan suatu hari nanti apabila para penjaja hilang begitu sahaja dari senario bandar. Maka, sudah pastinya kita kehilangan suatu saluran pengedaran yang utama di mana barang boleh diperolehi dengan murah dan mudahnya. Di sini, fokus kajian adalah terhadap sejauhrnana sokongan ataupun bantuan Pihak Berkuasa!Kerajaan dapat menyumbang terhadap pertumbuhan dan kemajuan para penjaja makanan dalam Kompleks Gerai di Pulau Pinang. Perkara ini adalah penting untuk mengetahui halatuju dan peranan para penjaja pada masa depan. Hawkers have long been a ubiquitous feature in developing countries like Malaysia. Being part of the informal sector, hawkers have certain characteristics that distinguish them from workers of the formal sector. Up till now, the informal sector is often neglected and discounted in various aspects. Therefore, this clearly explains the scanty information and data related to it. Nevertheless, it will be extremely difficult to imagine someday in the future where all hawkers should suddenly vanish from the urban setting. Hence, this will cause us more than just losing sight of a unique feature in the city but also an alternative source of cheap and easily accessible goods

Poverty eradication, government role and sustainable livelihood in rural Malaysia: an empirical study of community perception in northern Peninsular Malaysia

While Malaysia is moving towards achieving a developed nation status rural poverty persists causing people and rurality to lag far behind and under-developed. Thus, one of the most important factors considered by the government is to proliferate multi-dimensional, poverty eradication programmes. This study explored the effectiveness of the poverty eradication programmes implemented by the government in rural areas in three states of northern Peninsular Malaysia. Primary data were gathered from questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews of 122 rural communities. The findings revealed that most of the programmes needed further improvement as some villagers still did not have adequate access to the programmes. Various strategies from the community up to the local authority levels were further needed to help achieve a sustainable community livelihood for the villagers. More opportunities should be given to the rural people in terms of access to the social media as this can help educate them more on the types of development programmes provided by the government and how they can apply for them. Finally, there was a need for a more holistic approach in addressing the issue of poverty in the country and how rural people can be rescued from further difficulties

The art hub in the World Heritage Site, Georgetown: a case study of creative sector entrepreneurship in the context of gentrification

This research examines the role of an art organisation, which operates largely as a social enterprise, in responding to the issues of gentrification and the resulting displacement of communities embodying the local culture in Georgetown, Malaysia. The case study art hub has developed into an internationally acclaimed space for innovative ventures including an art gallery and units for arts, craft and food entrepreneurs. The research method includes first stage questionnaire and in-depth interviews to understand the managing strategies and innovation practices. With their innovative business strategies, the art organisation forms an extended network with the local art community and is positioned as the focal point in a mini entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through the case study in Georgetown, Malaysia, the research contributes to the understanding of the strength and challenges of innovative social entrepreneurship for cultural and creative organisations

ACCESSIBILITY OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICES TO THE POOR IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF PENINSULAR MALAYSIA: A SOCIO-SPATIAL PERSPECTIVE

In development discourse, the role of education is instrumental to assist the poor to break away from the vicious cycle of poverty. As a result, equipping a nation’s citizenry with adequate education and knowledge will ensure their ability to be self-sufficient in terms of securing gainful employment and subsequently escape the vagaries of poverty. However, in both developed and developing countries alike, the supply and concentration of educational services and amenities in terms of their location, accessibility and quality tend to be biased towards urban centres as they are unevenly distributed between urban and rural settings. Concomitant to that, incidences of poverty will incline to occur and perpetuate in places and spaces that still lack such fundamental educational services and amenities. In turn, this situation will question the extent upon which a nation’s educational aspirations, learning opportunities and knowledge development initiatives are underscored by contemporary development philosophies like “Inclusive Education” as well as “Education for All.” Arguably, for a nation to be considered as fully developed, it will require equitable access of educational opportunities and fair distribution of educational amenities to citizens from all strata of society, especially the poor, deprived and marginalised regardless of location. Against this backdrop, this study aims to examine the location, concentration and distribution of education institutions vis-à-vis incidences of poverty in the Northern Region of Peninsular Malaysia. The study used Geographic Information System (GIS) and spatial analysis to map the spatial distribution and identify distribution of higher education institutions in the Northern Region of Peninsular Malaysia. The results indicated that some areas with high concentration of poor population have low accessibility to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The findings from this paper will contribute towards shaping pragmatic educational planning and development policies in Malaysia.Keywords: educational services, poverty, Malaysia, socio-spatial perspectiv

Housing Affordability Woes and The State Of Developed Underdevelopment In Penang Island

Housing affordability is a critical issue in Malaysia.This issue is doubly challenging in states like Penang where its topographical make-up is divided into a mainland and an island. The dwindling stock of land in Penang Island has inevitably pushed up house prices.To compound this problem, a combination of policy and socio-economic changes has collectively hiked up the cost of buying a house on the island.This has hindered equal opportunities towards home ownership.Based on a development perspective, this paper attempts to contextualize current housing woes in Penang Island.This paper argues that Penang Island’s physical urban environment has ‘developed’ in terms of aesthetic values and appreciated in monetary terms but actual development in terms of a person’s ‘capability to function’ and enjoy a better quality of life is not progressing in tandem.A critical state of developed underdevelopment is currently unfolding on the island in terms of housing affordability.The recommendations of this paper will contribute towards shaping pragmatic housing policies

Glocalizing creative hub concept for Malaysian creative city development: a conceptual review

The creative hub concept is gaining popularity globally as a tool within the creative economy to generate socio-economic and cultural values for societal and community development. Though the concept is nascent and the creative hub itself can be manifested in variegated forms, the notion is oftentimes linked to urban development particularly the way creative hubs are found to be subsumed and contribute towards the growth of creative industries en route the formation of a creative city. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to explore the creative hub concept and the way this global concept it is being understood, adopted and adapted locally amidst Malaysian local nuances. Based on secondary data sources, a systematic literature review was conducted to review global definitions, concepts, examples and illustrate how creative hubs are linked to creative city development and sustainable urban development. Literature review based on similar themes for the Malaysian context showed that the creative hub concept is also variegated, and each hub is shaped by the initiators, funding model and formation purpose of either commercial, social or culture and artistic. The paper concludes that reconceptualization of Malaysian creative hubs is timely and apt by taking into consideration also elements like location, culture-specificity and the influence of ICT as the creative hub concept, its form and operations morph and navigate in response to the current global COVID-19 pandemic. The implications that derive from this study will have conceptual, practical and policy implications when adopting and adapting the creative hub concept for the Malaysian context

Housing Affordability Woes and The State Of Developed Under development In Penang Island

Housing affordability is a critical issue in Malaysia. This issue is doubly challenging in states like Penang where its topographical make-up is divided into a mainland and an island. The dwindling stock of land in Penang Island has inevitably pushed up house prices. To compound this problem, a combination of policy and socio-economic changes has collectively hiked up the cost of buying a house on the island. This has hindered equal opportunities towards home ownership. Based on a development perspective, this paper attempts to contextualize current housing woes in Penang Island. This paper argues that Penang Island’s physical urban environment has ‘developed’ in terms of aesthetic values and appreciated in monetary terms but actual development in terms of a person’s ‘capability to function’ and enjoy a better quality of life is not progressing in tandem. A critical state of developed underdevelopment is currently unfolding on the island in terms of housing affordability. The recommendations of this paper will contribute towards shaping pragmatic housing policies