The state of well-being in South East Asia at the turn of the new millennium and a decade after

Recent writings on the state of the world today are often laced with alarming notes on the impending doom of mankind. Such notes pertain, among others, to the increasing economic discrepancies between the rich and the poor, the rapid increase in population growth, the cumulative destruction of the natural habitat and the rapidly growing powers unleashed by modern science and technology. They all signify issues, problems and challenges that countries and nations inherit from the last millennium. While the Southeast Asian region is no exception to this rule of living, even in the early decade of the new millennium, the curious question is how exactly do Southeast Asian countries comparatively fare in this context? This paper attempts to give an initial and tentative picture of the state of well-being of the Southeast Asian nations by analysing four major indicators, namely, GDP, unemployment, health and literacy. Lack of comparable data notwithstanding, it was found that a decade into the new millennium the region’s patterns of disparities persisted with Singapore heading the wellbeing list followed by Brunei, Malaysia and the rest. In conclusion, the legacy of the last millennium endures

User Acceptance of Haulage WAP Based Enquiry

With rapid growth in development of mobile technology has been found useful in logistic industry. It is widely used in tourism, museum guides, shopping guides, ticket booking, e-learning etc. However the potential of mobile service for haulage business is difficult to estimate in prior because hardly any user acceptance can be test without carry any implementation of the application. Prototyping is an approach that is not implements full functionality application. Therefore this study was conducted to use prototyping into the development process in order to be able test on the early user acceptance in a real context. This approach can save money and time and also increase in productivity and quality of the application development

The state of well-being in South East Asia at the turn of the new millennium and a decade after

Abstract Recent writings on the state of the world today are often laced with alarming notes on the impending doom of mankind. Such notes pertain, among others, to the increasing economic discrepancies between the rich and the poor, the rapid increase in population growth, the cumulative destruction of the natural habitat and the rapidly growing powers unleashed by modern science and technology. They all signify issues, problems and challenges that countries and nations inherit from the last millennium. While the Southeast Asian region is no exception to this rule of living, even in the early decade of the new millennium, the curious question is how exactly do Southeast Asian countries comparatively fare in this context? This paper attempts to give an initial and tentative picture of the state of well-being of the Southeast Asian nations by analysing four major indicators, namely, GDP, unemployment, health and literacy. Lack of comparable data notwithstanding, it was found that a decade into the new millennium the region's patterns of disparities persisted with Singapore heading the wellbeing list followed by Brunei, Malaysia and the rest. In conclusion, the legacy of the last millennium endures

Trade-related environmental measures under the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Malaysia: the analysis of its’ application

The objective of this study is to explore the application of trade-related environmental measures in Malaysia. Trade-related environmental measures are environmental measures that were invoked which may have an effect on international trade. These measures can be in the form of tariff and non- tariff. As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Malaysia is compelled to apply and implement the environmental provisions of the General Agreement of Tariff and Trade (GATT) and the WTO agreements.However, the ability to fully comply with these agreements needs to be determined as Malaysia’s effort in environmental protection could affect its international trading. In this study the analysis was on Malaysia’s domestic legislations; the GATT, especially Article XX; WTO agreements such as the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the WTO Dispute Settlement Body decided cases. Secondary data such as journal articles were referred. It is expected that this study could assist in determining the efforts made by Malaysia in finding a balance between international trade and environmental protection

Collaborative management and school effectiveness in Malaysian primary schools.

The thesis investigates variations in effectiveness of six Malaysian primary schools in three kinds of geographical sites: urban, rural and resettlement areas. It also focuses on the perceptions of headteachers, deputy headteachers, and teachers about school effectiveness, leadership/ management style of headteachers and collaborative management culture. The research explores the tensions that exist between the ingrained assumptions of Malaysian education and the practices and attitudes of headteachers, deputies and teachers. Detailed interview research on effectiveness and managerial collaboration is highly significant in enhancing understanding of education in Malaysia. The findings also make a further contribution towards international and cross-cultural perspectives of `school effectiveness' and `collaborative management'. Although generally the understandings of what constitutes collaborative management and what constitute the effectiveness of schools are still in their infancy in Malaysia, however, this does not mean that they are not important to the Malaysian educators. The need for collaborative management in Malaysian primary school is getting greater as the country moves towards `Vision 2020' and obviously this need is not adequately provided for in the present education system despite the Ministry's directive. More emphasis on policy making, awareness, commitment and training are needed for better application of the collaborative management. At the same time better communication and relationship between headteachers, teachers, DEDs, SEDs and the Ministry should be enhanced. This research also suggests ways in which training for headteachers in the area of collaborative management may be helpful for the more effective function of the schools. For collaborative management to be a success, artistry is required, to know when and how to exercise the various components of leadership so that a collaborative culture that brings success can be developed and maintained in schools. Although there is relatively little disagreement concerning the belief that headteacher's management styles have an impact on the lives of teachers and students, both the nature and degree of that impact continue to be open to debate

Enhancing attendance and student exam score based on mobile attendance application / Nurhafizah Ahmad... [et al.]

In today’s digital era, it is possible to use the latest technology to improve student attendance and performance. The purpose of the present study is to determine the relationship between absenteeism and academic performance among Calculus students, as well as to measure the impact of class absence on the student’s final exam scores. Based on this, the use of appropriate strategy was employed, which is the mobile attendance application to reduce absenteeism among students in higher educational institution. The selection of sample was based on cluster sampling, involving the selection of 87 repeater students. The data collected were analyzed using quartile regression and independent sample t-test. The result of the findings revealed that the class absence has an impact on the student’s final exam scores. This is because, if the student was absences by 1 class, the final exam score is expected to decrease on average by 1.89%. Hence, findings show that the percentage of absences for the students with manual attendance was higher than the percentage of absences for the students with mobile attendance application. The application can help to reduce absenteeism by reminding students about recent attendance records

The implementation of the agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS): the case of Malaysia

The objective of this study is to explore the application of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) in Malaysia. This agreement is an environmental provision enforced by the WTO which allows members to invoke a trade measure that can protect human, animal or plant life, as long as such measure is necessary and will not discriminate among the members of the WTO. As a member of the WTO, Malaysia is compelled to apply and implement the terms of the SPS agreement. However, the ability to fully apply the terms of the said agreement need to be determined. In this study, the analysis will be on the role of the WTO in the trade and environment relationship, the application of the terms of the SPS agreement and the Malaysian government endeavor in applying the terms of the said agreement domestically. In order to analyse the application of the terms of the SPS agreement, it is necessary to look into the decision made by the WTO Dispute Settlement Panel in certain disputes which occurred due to the non-compliance of the said agreement. These disputes are European Communities - Measures Concerning Meat and Meat Products (Hormones), European Communities - Measures Affecting Asbestos and Products Containing Asbestos and European Communities - Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products. This paper could signify that there are an effort and determination by the Malaysian government in complying with the terms of the SPS agreement and that the effort may assist the government in finding balance in the trade and environment conflict

Compliance to the international trade rules: The case of Malaysia's environmental protection measures

Purpose - An environmental protection measure will have an effect on international trade when it affects the market access of goods and services. The General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), both has the environmental provisions enacted in order to acquire balance between international trading and environmental protection. Therefore, Malaysia, as a member of the WTO, need to abide to the rules of the GATT and the WTO in carrying out trade – related environmental measures.The objectives of this paper are to explore the international trade rules that need to be complied by the government of Malaysia in respect to invoking an environmental protection measure and secondly, to look into the government’s compliance to these international trade rules when invoking such measure. This is important as the study will show how far Malaysia could comply with the international trade rules in respect to invoking an environmental protection measure and to find balance between international trade and environmental protection. This could assist Malaysia in producing trade – related environmental measures that can comply with the international trade rules and take into consideration the concern of all parties affected. Meagher (2015) has questioned whether the WTO panels’ have the ability to resolve any issues in respect to the balance of domestic policy and trade interests and whether developing countries has struggled in complying with regulatory standards imposed by developed countries due to unfair regulatory convergence.Therefore, here it is believed that it is up the government involved to have a good domestic policy.Elsig (2015) claimed that there are a first order compliance and second order compliance. The first order compliance is in respect to the ability of states to carry out their obligation under the international treaty and whether their national policies and enforcement are in conformity with the agreement.This study could establish Malaysia ability to comply with the international trade rules

Protective effects of Zingiber zerumbet ethyl acetate extract on hydrogen peroxide-induced damage of red blood cells

Zingiber zerumbet is widely used as therapeutic agent in traditional medicine and is reported to exert antioxidant activities. This study evaluated in vitro antioxidant potential of Z. zerumbet rhizome ethyl acetate extract on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced red blood cells (RBCs) damage; by measuring percentage of haemolysis, oxidative damage and morphological changes in treated RBCs. On a preliminary dose-response analysis, it was observed that incubation of RBCs with extract at doses of 50, 25, 12.5 and 6.25 μg/mL all had no significant effect on RBCs similar to NaCl control and BHT (positive control), therefore, these concentrations were used in the subsequent study. The RBCs were pre-incubated with extract in the chosen concentrations, prior to treatment with H2O2. The results showed that only 6.25 μg/mL+H2O2 group showed significantly (p<0.05) lower percentage of haemolysis and oxidative damage; indicated by low level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonyls (PC) compared to the H2O2 alone group. Electron microscopic examination further showed that pre-treatment with 6.25 μg/mL extract reduced the H2O2 –induced morphological changes of RBCs. Phytochemical analysis of extract using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) identified Zerumbone as the highest constituent compound (51.57%) in this extract. In conclusion, this study indicated that 6.25 μg/mL ethyl acetate extract Z. zerumbet rhizome could efficiently protect RBCs against oxidative damage induced by H2O2 and this effects could possibly due the high constituent of Zerumbone