Managing disaster preparedness for institution of higher learning: A study in Perlis

Unprecedented floods disaster that hit Johore, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan was due to abnormal weather conditions. Heavy rain which fall continuously non stop for between 3 to 4 days has raised the water level in some areas to a height of 15 feet deep. The flood disasters have caused devastating loss of property and life and some 100,000 people were evacuated to flood relief centers. Some of the floods victim lost all their belonging and property. Flood disaster has also caused water borne diseases to prevail. The future is bleak for these flood victims. Continuous government assistance is needed for these flood victims who lost everything is needed. Year in and year out, the monsoon season have cause floods disaster especially in the east coast state and is now a yearly common phenomena. However, the level of awareness and preparedness among the Malaysian community and the government machinery is still questionably low. Presently, there are 18 public universities in the country, the issue is what is the level of awareness does students and staff of the university put on the issue of floods or other natural disaster? Do we at the University are ready to face disaster situations if it occur in the University? At this juncture, the experiences of UniMAP’s contribution to the University’s community, the local community vis-à-vis the Malaysian Mechanism Disaster Management and functioning alongside the state machinery of Perlis state government during 17 December 2005 flood disaster can be used as an example. The aim of this study is to examine the disaster preparedness in University and to propagate the importance of disaster preparedness among the students and staffs through education. This pilot project will be conducted through interviews, observations and surveys. It is expected that this study will shed some light for further effective implementation of disaster preparedness management

Expectations and challenges towards complying with the occupational safety and health act 1994: practice in KUKUM

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act 1994 or Act 514, requires the workers, employers, societies and government to be involved in ensuring a safe and conducive working environment at the work place against risks to safety or health arising out of the activities of persons at work. This Act applies throughout Malaysia to the industries specified below: a. Manufacturing. b. Mining and Quarrying. c. Construction d. Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing e. Utilities – Electricity; Gas; Water; and Sanitary Services f. Transport, Storage and Communications g. Wholesale and Retail Trade h. Hotels and Restaurants i. Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services j. Public Services and Statutory Authorities This Act does not apply to work on board ships governed by the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952, the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1960 of Sabah or Sarawak or the armed forces. The Act do not particularly state that universities are to abide to the law. Hence are universities required to abide to the OSH Act 1994? This paper will look into the following aspects i.e. the requirement of the law, expectation and challenges, and how in practice KUKUM endeavor to comply with the OSH Act 1994. It is hope through this working paper; KUKUM will be able to share its knowledge with other institution of higher learning in order to provide and ensure a safe and conducive working environment at the work place against risks to safety or health arising out of the activities of persons at work

Persepsi mahasiswa terhadap isu-isu perpaduan: kajian ke atas pelajar-pelajar rangkaian Universiti Teknikal Malaysia (MTUN)

Sejak akhir-akhir ini, negara berhadapan dengan pelbagai isu seperti kelembapan ekonomi, perpaduan kaum yang dikatakan semakin rapuh di samping isu mengenai perkembangan politik dalam negara. Isu-isu ini muncul selepas Pilihan Raya Umum ke 12 (PRU 12) pada tahun 2008 yang lalu. Pelbagai tafsiran diberikan antaranya mengaitkan kesan pilihan raya sebagai punca kerapuhan hubungan antara kaum di Malaysia. Menariknya, keadaan ini juga dikaitkan dengan pola pemikiran generasi muda iaitu kesukaran untuk memahami pemikiran mereka sehingga menghasilkan keputusan pilihan raya 2008 yang luar biasa. Sehubungan itu, satu kajian dilaksanakan dalam kalangan mahasiswa khususnya mahasiswa dalam bidang kejuruteraan untuk melihat tahap kesedaran mereka terhadap isu-isu perpaduan. Seramai 506 orang responden yang terdiri daripada empat buah universiti berasaskan teknikal di Malaysia (MTUN) iaitu Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTEM) dan Universiti Teknoligi Tun Hussin Onn (UTHM). Objektif utama kajian ini ialah (i) mengkaji tahap kesedaran terhadap isu-isu mengenai perpaduan kaum, politik, ekonomi dan konsep 1 Malaysia dalam kalangan mahasiswa bidang kejuruteraan berasaskan universiti yang berbeza, ii) mengkaji tahap kesedaran mahasiswa daripada universiti berbeza terhadap konsep 1 Malaysia, iii) mengkaji persepsi pelajar dan i jantina yang berbeza dengan kesedaran terhadap perpaduan kaum di Malaysia

Government mechanism in managing natural disasters in Malaysia: achievement factors

Malaysia is considered safe from earthquakes. However, it experiences other types of natural disasters such as monsoon floods, landslides and severe haze. In Malaysia, the management of disaster is presently executed through the committee system i.e. The Disaster Management and Relief Committee, which is established at the federal, state or district levels, respectively, based on the nature of the emergency situations. The system emphasis coordination and mobilization of agencies involved, which are grouped into 7 groups to carry out specific tasks in disaster situations. In this paper, we share our experiences in dealing with recent disasters in Malaysia, the early warning systems, and the awareness programs and the mechanisms that have brought success in managing the disasters encountere

An Explanatory Study on Goods and Services Tax (GST) Compliance in Malaysia: Price, Government Subsidies, and Income Inequality

Social preference in taxation policies are hard to understand and with the understanding of what people desire will help to justify public dissatisfaction thus heading towards the direction of gaining public support in the future. The purpose of this research is to explore the correlation between price, government subsidies and income inequality on GST compliance. 400 sets of questionnaires were administered in Penang state with response rate of 89% acquired via convenience sampling. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS to perform reliability, regression and correlation analysis. The findings revealed that all the selected variables have significant relationship with GST compliance

Importance of Trust Towards University Students: A Determinant of Online Shopping Behavior

E-commerce has been extensively promoted by Malaysian government in this technology era. This research was conducted in tandem with government effort to promote internet shopping while to explore the level of trust and its influence on internet shopping among the undergraduate and postgraduate students in one higher learning institution of Malaysia. A quantitative survey approach was applied throughout the study and finally, a total 662 out of 800 questionnaires were applicable for data analysis using SPSS and AMOS. Multi-stage sampling method by combined stratified and systematic sampling was utilized in this study. The results indicated the overall score for trust was of moderate level and the positive and significant relationship between trust and online shopping behavior has been identified. Subsequently, future research was proposed to enclose other relevant instruments that suit to Malaysian context and working adults that consisted of 18 to 34 years old. This paper provide informative outlines to the retailers especially for those who were currently operating or planning to embrace online business particularly regards to the significance of trust to the customers in the virtual environment. Malaysia itself could benefit from this research to enforce the internet security that serve internet a safe and secure platform to perform transaction

CEO’s Technology Knowledge Towards E-Commerce Adoption: Perspective of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Electronic commerce (E-commerce) is gaining attention among practitioners and researchers in last two decades particularly among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Seeing that E-commerce adoption among Malaysian SMEs is still in infant stage and the participation of enterprises in implementation of E-commerce is insignificant, this study aims to analyze the prime key factor of E-commerce adoption among SMEs in Northern state of Malaysia. CEO’s technology knowledge is specifically conducted in this research. Above and beyond, this study is conducted based on survey design and descriptive research investigation. Approximately 400 questionnaires are distributed to CEOs or managers diversified from different sectors but only 291 questionnaires were obtained. The research data is analyzed using frequency analysis, reliability analysis, descriptive analysis, as well as correlation analysis