Financial literacy and risk tolerance towards saving and investment: a case study in Malaysia

Innovation in the financial market has provided more flexible choices of financial products and services to the consumers. Financial products and services are becoming more complex and not easily comprehendible by many consumers. Due to this, consumers with low financial literacy (FL) may face difficulties to make informed decisions on their savings and investments. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the level of financial literary and its relationship with risk tolerance (RT) towards savings and investments in the context of Malaysia. A total of 172 respondents have been selected using convenience sampling method through online and manual survey. Data were analysed descriptively and statistically using nonparametric techniques, which include Chi-square and Spearman’s Rank Correlation to examine the relationship between variables studied. The results suggest that the overall FL in Malaysia is at moderate level. The study also found that overall FL has a positive significant relationship with the level of RT towards saving and investment. More specific analysis, however, found that only advance FL has a relationship with RT levels. Meanwhile, basic FL was not correlated with the level of respondents’ RT

Financial Literacy and Risk Tolerance towards Saving and Investment: A Case Study in Malaysia

Innovation in the financial market has provided more flexible choices of financial products and services to the consumers. Financial products and services are becoming more complex and not easily comprehendible by many consumers. Due to this, consumers with low financial literacy (FL) may face difficulties to make informed decisions on their savings and investments. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the level of financial literary and its relationship with risk tolerance (RT) towards savings and investments in the context of Malaysia. A total of 172 respondents have been selected using convenience sampling method through online and manual survey. Data were analysed descriptively and statistically using nonparametric  techniques, which include Chi-square and Spearman's Rank Correlation to examine the relationship between variables studied. The results suggest that the overall FL in Malaysia is at moderate level. The study also found that overall FL has a positive significant relationship with the level of RT towards saving and investment. More specific analysis, however, found that only advance FL has a relationship with RT levels. Meanwhile, basic FL was not correlated with the level of respondents' RT. Keywords: Financial Literacy, Risk Tolerance, Malaysia, Investment, saving JEL Classifications: G00, G10, G40, G4

Taxonomic importance of anticlinal walls and stomata patterning in some Melastoma l. Species from Fraser Hill

The epidermal characteristics of five selected Melastoma L. species in Fraser Hill, Pahang that belongs to Melastomataceae family had been investigated. These five species namely M. muticum Ridl., M. decemfidum Roxb., M. perakense Ridl., M. sanguineum x malabathricum and M. malabathricum var. normale. The objective of this study is to determine whether epidermal characteristics in Melastoma could be taxonomic value in systematic and diagnostic investigations. Methods of the investigation involved epidermal peel and scanning electron microscopy. Results obtained revealed that the presence of hypostomatic stomata and guard cells pairs were elliptic in shaped for all species studied. Apart, the pattern of anticlinal walls on adaxial and abaxial surfaces was straight to wavy for all species studied except for wavy to sinuous anticlinal walls on abaxial surface of M. sanguineum x malabathricum. Furthermore, two types of stomata were observed among species studied such as anomocytic and diacytic stomata. Results showed that diacytic type was only present in M. sanguineum x malabathricum therefore could be a criterion to diagnose the species. Lastly, this present study was also reported on the presence of two types of guard cell pairs such as raised or slightly raised and sunken guard cell pairs. In conclusion, the present study revealed that the anticlinal walls and stomata patterning possess as taxonomic importance in identification and classification of Melastoma either at genus or species level

Leaf anatomy and micromorphology of Rhinacanthus nasutus (L.) Kurz (Acanthaceae) from Peninsular Malaysia

Acanthaceae family has been used traditionally for medicinal purposes especially amongst the native communities in Peninsular Malaysia. It is also known as one of the potential plant families that can be used to cure diseases. Nowadays, many taxonomists have difficulties during the identification of the Acanthaceae species due to its morphological similarities and also when there is an incomplete part of plants obtained from the field sampling. But until now, there is no comprehensive study that has been documented especially on the Acanthaceae family, specifically for R. nasutus. To avoid incorrect species identification, a systematic study that involved the leaf anatomy and micromorphology parts are being used for the identification and classification of plants in the Acanthaceae. Therefore, the main objective of this present study is to identify the leaf anatomical and micromorphological characteristics that can be used in plant identification and also for supportive data in plant classification. The leaf anatomical and micromorphological studies that are conducted on R. nasutus involve several procedures such as cross-section using a sliding microtome, and observation under a light microscope and scanning electron microscope. The anatomical and micromorphological characteristics observed include patterns of petiole and midrib vascular bundles, presence of cystolith cells in lamina, midrib and petiole, type of stomata (amphistomatic) and the presence of trichomes. In conclusion, results showed that anatomical and micromorphological characteristics have taxonomic significance that can be used in the identification and classification especially at the species level

Proximity Coupled Antenna With Star Geometry Pattern AMC Ground Plane

In this paper, a conventional proximity coupled microstrip antenna operating at 2.45 GHz is firstly designed as a reference antenna. Then, the proximity coupled microstrip antenna is incorporated with a star geometry pattern artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) as the ground plane. Performance comparison is analyzed between the conventional antenna and the antenna with the AMC ground plane. The proximity antenna with star geometry pattern AMC ground plane successfully enhances the efficiency and gain by 8 % and 3 % as compared to the conventional antenna. In addition, the size of the proximity antenna with star geometry pattern AMC ground plane is reduced by 13 % as compared to conventional antenna. It shows that AMC as a ground plane to the antenna are able to reduce the size, enhance the gain and efficiency of the antenna

Leaf anatomy and micromorphology of potential medicinal weed ruellia repens L. (Acanthaceae) from Tasik Chini, Pahang

Weeds are commonly known as unwanted plants that grow in wild and human�controlled areas such as farms, gardens, and fields. However, these undesirable plants might benefit humans, especially as a traditional medicine in some rural areas. Ruellia repens belongs to the family Acanthaceae, one of the common weeds in Peninsular Malaysia. This species is believed to become a potential medicinal weed due to its several potent chemical constituents that might be useful in the pharmaceutical industry. But, a lack of research attempts is reported in the taxonomic study of this species. By keeping this point, the present study was carried out to provide the leaf anatomical and micromorphological characteristics of R. repens obtained from Tasik Chini, Pahang. This detailed information will be helpful for the botanist and pharmacologist to avoid misidentification of the species. Several methods were involved such as cross-sectioning on petiole, midrib, lamina and marginal parts, leaf epidermal peeling, leaf clearing, observation under a light microscope and observation under a scanning electron microscope. Results revealed some important leaf anatomical and micromorphological structures such as petiole, midrib and marginal outlines, presence and type of cystoliths, presence and type of trichomes, type of stomata, and presence and types of waxes. The leaf anatomical and micromorphological structures in R. repens are taxonomic significance and might be used as additional data to identify and classify the species. Also, the present study might be a good starting point that leads to extensive future works on the medicinal weeds, especially from Tasik Chini, Pahang

Carrageenan-nanocomposite film incorporated with bentong ginger extracts for active food packaging : synthesis and characterization

Bentong Ginger (BG), Malaysia patented ginger consist of various bioactive compounds such as gingerols which account for the various pharmacological benefits in human including antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer. This study was conducted to analyze the potential of BG extracts different concentrations (5, 10 and 20 % v/v) incorporated in plasticized carrageenan nanocellulose (CN) as active film packaging in foods. The bioactive constituents in BG extracts were identified using Liquid Chromatography Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (LC-QTOF/MS) and the possible interaction between the carrageenan-nanocellulose film network and BG were confirmed using Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. The effects of BG extracts formulated in CN film on the antioxidant release, physical and mechanical properties of the films were studied. The CN film with 20% BG showed the best improvement on its tensile strength, elongation at break, thickness, opacity, water solubility and moisture content. Antioxidant release test showed continuous release of antioxidant and total phenolic content in food simulant 95 % food simulants for 28 days. This study validated that incorporation of BG extract can a promising natural additive for active packaging materials

Comparative leaf anatomy and micromorphology of thunbergia erecta (benth.) t. anderson and thunbergia laurifolia lindl. in peninsular Malaysia

Comparative leaf anatomy and micromorphology study was carried out on two selected species from the genus Thunbergia Retz. of Acanthaceae subfamily Thunbergioideae. These two investigated species were T. erecta and T. laurifolia from Peninsular Malaysia. The leaf anatomical study involve several methods such as cross- section using sliding microtome on the petioles, midribs, lamina and marginal, leaf epidermal peeling, leaf clearing and observation under a light microscope. The leaf micromorphology method involve the observation under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). This study aimed to investigate the taxonomic value of leaf anatomy and micromorphology characteristics of genus Thunbergia. The results have shown that there were five common characteristics present in both species studied and several variable characters that might be useful for species differentiation of T. erecta and T. laurifolia. The five common characteristics recorded were the presence of raphide, sinuous anticlinal walls, diacytic stomata, majority opened and minority closed venation in lamina and the presence of peltate glandular (unicellular terminal) trichome. The variable characteristics included were petiole, and marginal outlines, types of vascular bundles, the presence of druse, marginal venation, stomata occurrence, types of wax, cuticular sculpturing and types of trichomes. In conclusion, findings in this study showed that leaf anatomical micromorphological characteristics possessed taxonomic value that can be used in the species identification for the genus Thunbergia specifically for T. erecta and T. laurifolia

Ethnobotany and traditional knowledge of Acanthaceae in Peninsular Malaysia : A review

Plants are considered as a great source of various herbal medicines which are been useful in the treatment of various ailments and diseases. A great contribution of plant-based materials in the pharmaceutical field results in the growing interest on the exploitation of indigenous medicinal plants to make a potential medicine. Several potent plant families are broadly investigated throughout the world including the family of Acanthaceae. Acanthaceae is a large pantropical family of flowering plants comprised of approximately 240 genera and 3250 species in the world. In Peninsular Malaysia, Acanthaceae is one of the families with the largest number of genera and species by which 29 genera and 158 species are respectively recorded. This study thereby deals with the review of information on the ethnobotanical significance of medicinal plants belong to Acanthaceae. This review covers informative data on medicinal plants, its uses and part used based on three tribal groups of indigenous people, Malay villagers and local market traders in Peninsular Malaysia. From the review, Acanthaceae possesses a huge contribution to the ethnobotanical part especially to treat certain diseases. The ethnobotanical data has also served a great contribution to the conservation and sustainability of natural resources. By keeping this point, this present review on ethnobotany and traditional knowledge of Acanthaceae is expected to give benefits and considered a good starting point for future works on the pharmaceutical field, especially for Peninsular Malaysia