Factors that contribute to obesity problem among UTHM catering student

Negative perception by the society and the hospitality industry toward the disabled people is very high and it has to be changed and this parties should be given opportunity to work in this industry. Rosli, et al (2011) states the acceptance in the small and medium industries towards the disabled is at moderate level. However, in 2005, Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (KPTM) has initiated Polytechnic Ibrahim Sultan, Johor Bahru conduct a pioneer program to produce graduates with disabilities (OKU) with hearing impairments for a career in the hotel industry. Related to the situation, some lecturers were sent to attend sign language courses for the preparation for the program, some facilities were updated to fit their needs. To this present Polytechnic Ibrahim Sultan, Johor Bahru has produced hundreds of OKU graduates. It is hope that the graduates produced from this program could reduce the number of foreign worker working in the industry. Dependence on foreign workers should be reduced because there are almost 2.6 million people with special needs in Malaysia. Some of them have been able to pursue their studies to diploma and Bachelor degrees. Through the development of education they are participated in, it is hoped that they will also contribute to the country's economy. The Government of Malaysia is in the effort to transform employers' perceptions towards this group to be more positive. Thus, several initiatives or benefits had been made by the Government of Malaysia to attract more government link companies (GLC) and private firms to hire people from this group. However there are also some challenges and obstacles faced by the industry in accepting these graduates at their company. Taheing (1996) states that in its study it has been able to identify problems that limit the employment of disabled persons including physiological factors, disability due to defects, occupational types, gender factors, workplace environment, personality, illness and other disabilities. This is a challenge and obstacle faced by the employer in hiring the disabled graduates in their industry. Therefore, the industry is highly concerned with the selection of highly capable employees in helping to increase profits to the company

The self-assessment of hospitality employment skills among vocational students in Malaysia

Malaysia needs high skilled workforce to support growth of the industry. With dynamically changing job market and progressive technological change, employees are expected to keep abreast of global economics. In the process of achieving the status of developed nation by the year 2020, Malaysia needs to restructure its workforce to ensure that middle level workers are highly skilled. Current job environment demands multi-task and skills. Thus, university graduates must be prepared to meet the demand especially in the hospitality industry. The purpose of this study is to identify the hospitality employability skills consist of fifteen elements of employability skills among vocational students in Malaysia. The objective of this study is to identify the level of hospitality employability skills among vocational students. This study also analyzed whether there are significant differences in the competency level of vocational students by gender. The research also identifies the differences of hospitality employability skills by location (rural and urban), examines the determinants of hospitality employability skills among bakery and culinary students separately, identifies differences between perceived importance and competency gained in employability skills among bakery and culinary students and examines the skills that are needed by students for entering the hospitality profession. This research applied quantitative and qualitative methodology. The respondents consist of final year students in bakery and culinary programme. Stratified sampling was used to select students in hospitality programs from 22 vocational colleges in Malaysia. Questionnaires were distributed to eight hundred forty one students in five regions in Malaysia. Interview was also conducted with ten vocational students in central region, Malaysia. Descriptive and inferential statistics such as T- test and multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the quantitative data. The results showed that the level of hospitality employability skills among vocational students in Malaysia were at high level of competent and importance (93.2%). Findings also revealed that male students are more competent in hospitality employability skills compared to female students in vocational colleges. The result also provided evidence that rural students are more competent in hospitality employability skills compared to urban students in vocational colleges. The result found that the competence gained by bakery students in terms of employability skills is lower than the importance perceived by those students. The findings also showed that the competence gained by culinary students in terms of employability skills is lower than the importance perceived by those students

Disclosure of Shariah compliance by Malaysian takaful companies

Purpose: This paper seeks to explore the disclosure of Shariah compliance as reported by the Shariah Committee (SC) in the annual reports of takaful companies in Malaysia. Disclosure of Shariah compliance is important in enhancing and protecting the Islamic identity of takaful operators, thereby providing Muslims with an alternative insurance system. The paper also aims to discuss whether the advisory role constrains the SC members to improve disclosure which can boost consumers' confidence and companies' accountability. Both confidence and accountability on Shariah compliance would also help promote Malaysia as an Islamic financial centre. Design/methodology/approach: Content analysis of the SCs' reports in the 2008/2009 annual reports of seven takaful operators in Malaysia were conducted and the findings discussed with three officers from Bank Negara Malaysia (Central Bank of Malaysia). Subsequent to the discussion, the findings were further clarified and confirmed with a former member of the SC through e-mail correspondence. Findings: Disclosure of Shariah compliance by the SC reflects high conformance to the Bank Negara Malaysia guidelines. Although the high level of conformance promotes comparability, it does not necessarily fully address disclosure issues such as providing adequate and relevant information. Shariah compliance by takaful companies seems to develop in much the same manner as other disclosure practices, that is, a tendency to comply with rules rather than with principles. Related to the disclosure issue, SC members are constrained by the advisory role and part-time basis of appointment from fully participating in every stage of product process from its conception to its implementation. Research limitations/implications: The paper relies heavily on Shariah compliance reported by the SC in the annual reports of takaful companies. Nonetheless, findings were confirmed with three officers from Bank Negara Malaysia and with a former member of the SC to enhance the findings' credibility. In future, interviews can be conducted with other stakeholders such as takaful managers, Islamic academics and members of the SC to better understand the nature of disclosure practices by takaful companies. Practical implications: Insights drawn from this study suggest the need to enhance disclosure on Shariah compliance in the SC reports and to further strengthen the role of the SC members. As Shariah governance mechanisms, both the SC reports and SC members can be utilised to enhance the identity of Islamic businesses and fulfils the religious obligations. Originality/value: This paper highlights the need for increased transparency through adequate and relevant disclosure of Shariah compliance information in the SC report of takaful companies. It also raises the concern that the advisory role entrusted to SC members might not be adequate for them to effectively ensure that compliance with Shariah principles are adhered to at all times as expected by Bank Negara Malaysia

Stories of accounting change during financial reform of public enterprises

This paper analytically compares five commercially-oriented public enterprises from different countries which were subjected to the process of accounting and organisational changes in order to become profitable. The five case studies were selected for their attention to the importance of context, and to the process of how and why accounting evolved, interpreted and used within specific organisations. A comparison of the insights drawn from these case stories allows some possible lessons to be learnt and parallels to be drawn. The comparison reveals that the process of organisational change through accounting is complex and may not always evolve as an influential and effective means of altering behaviour and accepted ways of thinking. One vital lesson is that accounting change is implicated with various other non-technical issues such as environmental pressures, culture or ways of thinking, power and trust

Employability skills for hospitality students in Malaysia

Malaysia needs high skilled workforce to support growth of the industry. With dynamically changing job market and progressive technological change, employees are expected to keep abreast of global economics. In the process of achieving the status of developed nation by the year 2020, Malaysia needs to restructure its workforce to ensure that middle level workers are highly skilled. Current job environment demands multi-task and skills. Thus, university graduates must be prepared to meet the demand especially in the hospitality industry. The purpose of this study is to identify the level of employability skills in the hospitality field. This research applied quantitative methodology. The respondents consist of final year students in bakery and culinary programme. Stratified sampling was used to select students in hospitality programs from 22 vocational colleges in Malaysia. Questionnaires were distributed to 841 students in five regions which are Central, South, North, East and East Malaysia (Sarawak) in Malaysia. Descriptive analysis was used to analyse the quantitative data. The results showed that the level of hospitality employability skills among vocational students in Malaysia were at high level of competence (93.2%). The research has brought meaningful implications for hospitality vocational students, employers and policy makers

An online Arabic vocabulary learning games prototype in IIUM

This is an online Arabic vocabulary learning games prototype which is specifically designed for elementary learners at pre-university level at Centre for Foundation Studies (CFS), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). The design and development of games prototype are based on the methods and approaches of design and development research (Richey & Klein, 2007), which was formerly known as developmental research (Richey, Klein & Nelson, 2004). This method is also known as designed case (Reigeluth & Frick, 1999), designbased research (Reeves, 2006 & Herrington, et. al, 2007), formative research (Nieveen, 2007), design research (Bannan- Ritland, 2003; Van der Akker, 2007). It begun with the analysis of 3 theories from literature based on the work of Nation (2003), Prensky (2001) and Mayer (2001). This game-based learning prototype allows the lecturers and students to use it as an additional learning aid to learn Arabic language in a gaming application, in addition to traditional learning methods

Volume loss assessment for twin tunneling of Klang valley mass rapid transit line 1

Ground settlement during tunneling works often affect the above ground structure. This problem may lead to safety risk impact and most worried its possible impact to the surrounding. In this case, the magnitude of ground settlement can be reduced by knowing the sufficient amount of volume loss (VL) to be adopted during the design stage. However, the prediction of optimum VL to be used in the design process relies on the data from previous actual case study area that shares similar ground condition. Although generally it is unusual to obtain homogeneous conditions for every tunneling work, it is preferable to study VL references based on geometrical properties of the same geological area. Realizing unavailability of VL data based on Klang Valley geological conditions, this study aims to provide actual VL magnitude in relation with geometrical properties, within the Klang Valley vicinity. In this research, the actual ground settlements during the twin tunneling works of Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Sungai Buloh Kajang Line ( KVMRT SBK ) are monitored. This study focuses on 1.38 km Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) tunnel machine tunneling works from Semantan North Portal to Museum Station. From the actual maximum settlement occurred during tunneling, VL was then evaluated by using back analysis formula proposed by Mair to get the VL percentage. It was found that the average maximum percentage of VL induced both tunneling is less than 1.0%. Comparison on both ground settlement results shows that the second tunnel induced large magnitude of ground movement than that of the first tunnel. This difference can be related to the effect of superposition theory. When twin tunneling works occur in equivalent condition (workmanship, geology, tunnel speed and tunnel type), the superposition effect will take place, and this has resulted in higher VL readings in the second tunnel. Overall, results of VL found in this research are in line with previous research findings where the range of VL for tunneling works falls in the range of 0.2% to 2.0%

Unravelling tertiary students’ ownership, usage, attitudes and preferences of mobile devices as tools for M-learning

Throughout educational institutions around the globe, mobile learning (M-learning) has become a growing field of practice and studies. The number of students that have access to mobile devices is also increasing from time to time. The purpose of this research is to determine the students’ present ownership and usage of mobile devices, find out the students’ attitudes towards the application of M-learning, and discover their preferences in the use of mobile devices for learning Academic English in future. A total of 164 students who enrolled in Academic English course from Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Johor (UTHM) had participated in the study. This research had deployed survey method and the data was obtained from a set of questionnaire. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software was used to analyze the data. The data was processed using descriptive statistics: frequencies, percentage, mean (M) and standard deviation (SD). The findings suggested that laptops and smartphones seem to be the devices being used by the students of this institution. The findings of this research also highlight that the students use mobile devices to conduct a wide-range of learning activities. To add, the results illustrate the encouraging opportunities in creating learning activities associated with mobile devices by the lecturers and institution

Linking CRM strategy, customer performance measures and performance in the hotel industry

Customer relationship management (CRM) has been increasingly adopted because of its benefits of greater customer satisfaction and loyalty, which in turn, leads to enhanced financial and competitive performance. This paper reports on a study that examines the relationship between CRM strategy and performance and determines whether the use of customer performance measures plays a mediating role in the relationship between CRM strategy and performance. This study contributes to the limited literature on CRM strategy since little is known about the use of CRM strategy and customer performance measures and their relation with performance in the hotel industry in Malaysia. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of hotels in Malaysia. Hierarchical regression analyses on a sample of 95 hotels revealed that only the information technology dimension of CRM strategy has a significant and positive effect on performance. In addition, the hypothesis concerning the role of customer performance measures as a mediator was supported