The optimization of heating temperature for carbon extraction from peat soil

This study aims to find the optimised heating temperature for carbon extraction from peat soil. Ccarbon from peat soil was extracted by the pyrolisation process at temperature, T = 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700°C for 5 hours. The carbon, C and silica, Si content extracted from peat soil at various heating temperatures were measured by using an Energy Dispersive X-Ray analyzer (EDX) at 3 points on the sample surface. High atomic percentage of carbon (95.44 %) was measured at T = 400°C, while the highest atomic percentage of silicon was recorded at T = 700°C (30.79 %). The surface morphology of peat soil was analysed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) at 800 magnifying power, and it was clearly seen that peat fragments were pyrolised at high heating temperature with pores enhancement. The molecular structure parameter of the extracted carbon were identified using Laser Raman analysis. The peak positions of D-band and G-band for raw peat soil were observed at Raman shift of 1379.62 and 1549.02 cm-1, respectively. Meanwhile, the D-band for peat soil heated at temperature of 400°C was 1391.56 cm-1 whereas the G-band has peak position at 1562.16 cm-1 . From the Raman spectra of the optimum heating temperature at 400°C, it was revealed that the carbon molecular structure from the peat soil is mainly attributed by graphite and diamond structure

The Effects of Gender Diversity in The Boardroom on Firm Performance among top 50 Listed Companies in Malaysia

Gender diversity is an important factor in boards because it can contribute to the functioning of boards which could potentially positively influence corporate performance. This paper aims to examine the effect of gender diversity of board members on corporate outcomes to provide guidance to top level managements for increase proportion of women in the boards. This research performs on the sample of top 50 listed corporations in Malaysia from the year 2014 to 2018. Corporate performance is measured using return on assets while percentage of female directors represents gender diversity. The results from OLS regression model reveal that gender diversity is positively related to corporate performance. From these findings, the higher proportion of females in boards can have a substantial impact on the performance of the corporation.Keywords:Gender Diversity, Corporate Performance, Return on Assets

Migrant Labour Mobility And The Right To Portable Social Security In Asean Countries: A Legal Perspective

Each year estimated six million currently residing in other ASEAN member states. The majority of migrants are low-skilled, and many are irregular. Cambodia, Lao Democratic People’s Republic,Myanmar, Indonesia, Viet Nam and the Philippines are identified as the sending countries while Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam are the receiving countries. As mentioned by the ILO (International Labor Organization), migration should be a choice rather than a necessity. While migration may provide a route out of poverty, it is important to balance the promotion of migration with appropriate protection measures. The 2007 Declaration on the rights of migrant workers acknowledges the obligation for receiving states to “facilitate access to justice and social welfare states as appropriate and in accordance with the national legislation of the receiving state” and to “promote fair and appropriate employment protection, payment of wages, and adequate access to decent working and living conditions” (ASEAN, 2007: §7 & §8). However, the concern is that the Declaration contains no explicit actions towards the establishment of portability schemes for social security benefits. This paper will explore on the reasons why portable social security would be the means to enable the free –flow of goods, services, investment, labors (skilled and low-wages) and capital in this region as envisage in the ASEAN Blueprint planning. Social security being a form of social protection is upheld as a migrant labor right by the International Labor Organization, and its establishment is a necessity and await by all migrant labors. The paper will also determine the possible ways how the portable schemes can be accomplished and taking into account the state members’ sovereignty and delimitation concurrently. Migration management strengthening and protecting the rights of migrants may become the decisive approach in understanding the need for a portable social security which corresponds to the ASEAN Economic enhancement goals

Investigation of dielectric constant variations for Malaysians soil species towards its natural background dose

The correlation of natural background gamma radiation and real part of the complex relative permittivity (dielectric constant) for various species Malaysian soils was investigated in this research. The sampling sites were chosen randomly according to soils groups that consist of sedentary, alluvial and miscellaneous soil which covered the area of Batu Pahat, Kluang and Johor Bahru, Johor state of Malaysia. There are 11 types of Malaysian soil species that have been studied; namely Peat, Linau-Sedu, Selangor-Kangkong, Kranji, Telemong�Akob-Local Alluvium, Holyrood-Lunas, Batu Anam-Melaka- Tavy, Harimau Tampoi, Kulai�Yong Peng, Rengam-Jerangau, and Steepland soils. In-situ exposure rates of each soil species were measured by using portable gamma survey meter and ex-situ analysis of real part of relative permittivity was performed by using DAK (Dielectric Assessment Kit assist by network analyser). Results revealed that the highest and the lowest background dose rate were 94 ±26.28 μR hr-1 and 7 ±0.67 μR hr-1 contributed by Rengam Jerangau and Peat soil species respectively. Meanwhile, dielectric constant measurement, it was performed in the range of frequency between 100 MHz to 3 GHz. The measurements of each soils species dielectric constant are in the range of 1 to 3. At the lower frequencies in the range of 100 MHz to 600 MHz, it was observed that the dielectric constant for each soil species fluctuated and inconsistent. But it remained consistent in plateau form of signal at higher frequency at range above 600 MHz. From the comparison of dielectric properties of each soil at above 600 MHz of frequency, it was found that Rengam-Jerangau soil species give the highest reading and followed by Selangor-Kangkong species. The average dielectric measurement for both Selangor-Kangkong and Rengam-Jerangau soil species are 2.34 and 2.35 respectively. Meanwhile, peat soil species exhibits the lowest dielectric measurement of 1.83. It can be clearly seen that the pattern of dielectric measurement for every soil at the frequency above 600 MHz demonstrated a specific distribution which can be classified into two main regions which are higher and lower between the ranges of 1.83 to 2.35. Pearson correlation analysis between the frequency of 100 MHz and 2.6 GHz with respect to exposure rate for every soil species was r = 0.38 and r = 0.51, respectively. This indicates that there was no strong correlation between both parameter, natural background dose and soils dielectric for each soils sample. This factor could be contributed by major and minor elements contained in each soils sample species, especially Ferum, Fe and Silica, Si

Does Religiosity Moderate Personal Tax Compliance? A Study Involving In-House Tax Professionals of Malaysian Businesses

This study limns the moderating impact of religiosity made on the in-house tax professionals who deal with tax affairs in the corporate sectors in Malaysia. Therefore, we intend to produce a seminal article, wherein religiosity is tested for its moderating effect between the determinants such as peers’ tax compliance, tax audit, service quality of tax authority, satisfaction with government spending, and the level of tax compliance among the tax affairs officers. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques have been chosen to collect data from the tax professionals of the Malaysian businesses. A total of 392 respondents have managed to participate in this survey questionnaire to disclose their opinion. “SmartPLS’ is used to analyse the data. The finding reveals that religiosity does not moderate the relationship between the determinants and the level of tax compliance among the Malaysian tax professionals. The interpretation of the relationship between the “Factors of Personal tax compliance’ (Independent variables) among the tax affairs officers of the Malaysian businesses and the “Personal tax compliance behaviour’ (Dependent variable) can be explained by 83.9 percent by the variance studied. To produce an extensive and expeditious report of exploration on the said nexus of personal tax compliance and the taxpayers’ decision on the corporate tax compliance, the selection of one type of data collection approach is not sufficient. Therefore, the future researchers are advised to make research with the collection of supplementary data, such as interviews, as their primary data collection so that the robustness of their findings could be strengthened

Corporate Tax Compliance and Mediating Role of Personal Tax Compliance Among Malaysian In-House Tax Professionals

Studies relating to tax compliance disclose that there is much likelihood of the corporate tax compliance behaviour getting influenced by the tax compliance behaviour of the in-house tax professionals. However, no studies have investigated the nexus between the personal tax compliance and the corporate tax compliance so far. Therefore, this study aims at investigating the link between the above two tax compliance behaviours and the mediating effect of the personal tax compliance behaviour of the in-house tax professionals on their corporate tax compliance behaviour. A sequential explanatory design is chosen to collect data from 392 in-house tax professionals through a survey questionnaire, and the findings obtained from the survey are supported further by the supplementary findings made by nine (9) tax experts from the tax authority, tax agency, and tax scholars of the institutions in Malaysia. Structural equation modelling is used to analyse the data taken from the findings that reveal that the factors that contribute to the tax compliance behaviour have strong influence on the personal tax compliance of the in-house tax professionals. Interestingly, their tax compliance behaviour strongly influences their corporate tax compliance as well. Further, the bootstrapping test reveals that personal tax compliance behaviour has a significant indirect effect on the corporate tax compliance. The empirical findings give a clue to the tax authorities to identify the root cause for the corporate tax non-compliance by investigating the decision makers’ tax compliance pattern. The researchers of the future studies are encouraged to follow the same method of data collection, along with the sequential explanatory design, and to consider the moderation effect of the financial constraints on the tax compliance behaviour

Imposition of Automation Taxes: a Control Approach for the Replacement of Human Labour

Having a strong theoretical base, the areas of automation and employment remain critical. The World Economic Forum highlighted that with the help of automation and artificial intelligence, the fourth industrial revolution would result in a major disruption to the labour market. It may affect the workforce in terms of gender, forming a massive gender gap in the future. This article is produced aiming at (1) controlling the implementation of technology and (2) imposing automation taxes through the existing tax policy on capital allowance management. Depreciation on fixed assets, such as the types of machinery and tools, are generally non-deductible expenses under tax computation in many countries

Does Tax Knowledge Motivate Tax Compliance in Malaysia?

This study aims to clarify whether tax knowledge of individual taxpayers motivates tax compliance in Malaysia. Studies with similar topics express the fact that there still exists a gap in profiling the demographic characteristics of knowledgeable taxpayers and better compliant taxpayers in Malaysia. Age, gender, income groups, and education level were the demographic variables used to study the association. The study applied a survey method for data collection. The population targeted was the individual taxpayers across Malaysia, whereby a sample of 419 respondents involved in this study. T-test, One-Way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analysis had been employed to analyse the data. The outcome of the study reveals that knowledgeable taxpayers are not better tax complaining of taxpayers in Malaysia. Further, the relationship between tax knowledge and tax compliance is negative and insignificant. This paper studied the association of tax knowledge with tax compliance level, which attempt to contribute to the literature and aids tax administration to intensify not only tax law educations but also tax penalties for tax evaders

Corporate Tax Avoidance: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda

Emerging research studies explore various factors that impact on the corporate tax avoidance. Exploration of tax avoidance is crucial since this strategy legally accepted across the world. However, the research studies made of the past 20 years are widely discussed, looking into the impact made by the ‘Institutional ownership’, ‘Corporate social responsibilities’, ‘Firm’s characteristics’, and the ‘Audit quality’. We take this opportunity to systematically review the literature papers of the past 20 years, published between the years, 2000 and 2022. For that, systematic literature review (SLR) method is employed. This paper manages to highlight the major research gaps that existed in the previous studies, by anatomizing the years’ publications, the data base of the journal, the anatomizing year of the publications, destination of the sample collection, statistical methods, and the number of articles cited, etc. The chosen 96 papers clearly articulate the description and understanding of the gaps: ‘Small sample size’, ‘Selection of one approach to measure corporate tax avoidance’, ‘Limited studies made among weak, formal, and institutional environment’, ‘Limited comparative studies’, ‘Limited studies made from agency perspective & Managerial influence’, and ‘limited usage of other statistical tools. This paper sheds new light on the research gaps with the help of clear discussion made on the research gaps with the researchers, opening avenues for the future researchers, and enabling them to make research extensively on the subjects researched

Examining the presence of social intelligence in job interviews through multimodal social semiotic analysis

Graduates with high level of social intelligence are in high demand. Those who can demonstrate having good attitude and social flexibility, able to build good relationships with others, and able to use appropriate language during their interviews have higher chances of being employed. However, reports show that graduates of higher learning institutions lack social intelligence. Failure to address this issue can affect future graduates’ employability. This paper examined the extent to which students in higher learning institutions had developed social intelligence. The participants were the final year students of one technical university in Malaysia. These participants underwent a job interview session as one of their course assessments. In this paper, the responses by three participants were selected to be analysed. The mock job interview sessions, which were conducted online, were recorded and transcribed.The data were analysed using multimodal social semantic discourse analysis to determine the candidates’ intention and then, using the five dimensions of social intelligence which included social awareness, presence, authenticity, clarity, and empathy to examine the presence (absence) of social intelligence. It was found that social awareness and empathy to build relationships and develop trust with the interviewer were taken for granted by the participants. In addition, the participants’ focused more on the qualification and skills that they had rather than how they could use their skills for the benefit of a company or organisation. The findings provided invaluable input on ways in designing courses that promote the development of social intelligence among students of higher learning institutions