The emergence of India as new military power: Threat or opportunity to Southeast Asia?

South Asia is a region often tinted with crisis, conflict and war.Historically, this region is undeniably a region exposed by military activities or 'use of force'.Therefore, military development has become a main agenda in South Asian countries in hope to strengthen the defense system and ensure security and national sovereignty. The need of this military development agenda has successfully made India, which obtained independence in 1947, to emerge as a new military power through certain stages to date. This military development will give some impact on Southeast Asian countries either in the form of threat or opportunity.In threat aspect, military development by India definitely will give some implications due to geopolitical issue.However, this development can be seen is more to deterrence approach.In opportunity aspect, ASEAN should take this chance to make relation with India particularly in economic cooperation as they have done with Japan and China.The cooperation measure must be taken by setting up bilateral discussion and formulating the policy in which favor to cooperate with India.Due to this cooperation, India is seen will give some balance to Japan and China influence to Southeast Asian countries

The impact of Singapore’s military development on Malaysia’s security

In this intense era of military and defense development in South East Asia, Singapore has emergence as the fastest country in the development of military capabilities.The rapid military development that started in 1965 has made Singapore become the strongest and finest in military and defense compared to other Southeast Asia nations. Singapore’s decision to be independent from Malaysia has forced it to be self-reliant, especially in terms of security and defense.Singapore adopted the approach to develop and strengthen its defense and military system after achieving independence in 1965.Its increasing economic development in1990 has influenced the military development process and defense system.This rapid expansion has made Singapore emergence as the strongest and most advanced in military capabilities country in the Southeast Asian region.The offensive defense doctrine practiced such as forward defense, poison shrimp, pre-emptive strike and strategic weaponry ownership had raised concerns among leaders in the Southeast Asian countries.At the same time, Malaysia has also taken action to speed up its military development, diversifying the defense doctrine including total defense, complete military with modern and sophisticated defense equipment.It is speculated as a result of the security impact that Malaysia face from Singapore’s military development.Hence, this study tries to elaborate the impact or security implications on Malaysia resulting from Singapore’s military development from the Malaysian military perspective

The Influence of Foreign Investors on Firm Performance in Malaysia: A Case of Trading and Services Listed Firms

Previous studies examining the relationship of foreign investors and form performance produced inconclusive finding. These studies assumed that a linear relation exists between foreign shareholdings and firm performances. This study examines the relationship between foreign ownership and firm performance of trading and services listed firms in Malaysia.  The research utilizes the agency theory and uses ROA and Tobin’s Q as the firm performance indicator.  Foreign shareholdings had been identified as the predictor variables and firm size and leverage are the controlled variables.  It is found that there is a significant relationship between foreign ownership with firm performance.  Apart from that, it is also found that higher concentrated foreign ownership enhances firm performance. Malaysia is uniquely suitable for a study on foreign shareholdings as Malaysia is currently embarked on an ambitious journey to transform itself into a high income economy by 2020 through the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) by boosting both investments and private consumptio

The Dilemma of Managing Foreign Workers in Malaysia: Opportunities and Challenges

Migration in South East Asia has been happening since a long time and it has indirectly given an impact to the increase of population in countries around the region Besides population increase migration of workers has also given an economical impact to the countries in the surrounding region by taking pleasure in certain benefits The shift in the trend of economic activity from agriculture to industry and the imbalance in the total population to job opportunities ratio as well as the expansion of education level of a country is often one of the major factors for migration to occur In the South East Asian region Malaysia is seen as one of the popular destinations for foreign workers to get a job especially for those with little or no skills at all Like other countries we are rely on foreign workers because of modernization aspect and also the lack of work force in the employment sector Therefore the government has introduced a few policies in hiring foreign workers in certain sectors in order to implement economic agendas which have been pre-planned Even then their on-going and unstoppable entry has caused the country and its people to worry especially regarding the threat imposed towards the security of the countr

Housing Experiences of Pakistani Immigrant Labors in Malaysia

This research considered housing experiences of Pakistani labors in Malaysia that is a main aspect in successful integration. The main focus was on housing rental market, the housing quality and the unfavourable health influences by insufficient housing. Little study was conducted on the housing experiences of Pakistani labor in Malaysia. A qualitative research with inductive approach was applied.Pakistani immigrant labors from Klang Valley were informants in this research. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews. The results indicated that immigrants have their housing more tough than predicted, mostly due to high costs. Immigrants were split about the quality of rental houses. Those who were satisfied could afford the house in private housing market. However, those immigrants who were not satisfied could not afford more suitable housing. They have issues of over-crowding, pest infiltration, damp properties. This research recommended that services of housing and settlement should deliver more direct support to new immigrants. Immigration settlement policies must ensure the presence of more affordable housing; employment opportunities that offer a satisfactory salary and quality programs and services to integrate new immigrants into the public

Interaksi antara kepuasan kerja dengan sikap terhadap wang sebagai peramal kepada keinginan untuk berhenti kerja secara sukarela

Tujuan utama kajian ini dilaksanakan untuk mengukur kesan kepuasan kerja dan sikap terhadap wang ke atas keinginan untuk berhenti kerja secara sukarela.Kaedah soal selidik telah digunakan untuk mengumpul 140 borang soal selidik daripada pekerja yang berkhidmat di sebuah penguasa tempatan bertaraf bandaraya di Sabah, Malaysia.Keputusan analisis regresi hierarki menunjukkan dua dapatan penting: pertama, interaksi di antara kepuasan kerja intrinsik dan sikap terhadap wang mempunyai hubungan yang signifikan dengan keinginan pekerja untuk berhenti kerja.Kedua, interaksi diantara kepuasan kerja ekstrinsik dan sikap terhadap wang mempunyai hubungan yang signifikan dengan keinginan pekerja untuk berhenti kerja secara sukarela.Keputusan ujian statistik ini menunjukkan bahawa sikap positif terhadap wang di kalangan pekerja yang mempunyai kepuasan kerja intrinsik berupaya menghalang hasrat mereka untuk berhenti kerja secara sukarela.Manakala, sikap positif terhadap wang di kalangan pekerja yang mempunyai kepuasan kerja ekstrinsik tidak berupaya menghalang hasrat mereka untuk berhenti kerja secara sukarela.Dapatan kajian mengesahkan bahawa sikap terhadap wang hanya bertindak sebagai pemboleh ubah penyederhana separa dalam model kepuasan kerja dalam organisasi kajian.Selanjutnya, perbincangan dan implikasi kajian turut dihuraikan

The development of ASEAN from historical approach

Since ASEAN was established in 8 August 1967, ASEAN organization was only joined by five countries.Now ASEAN has become a successful regional organization in bringing the attention of the other countries in rest of the world. Generally, ASEAN has successfully nurtures the cooperation in political, economical, social and cultural with establishment in exercise and research facilities for shared interest.Nowadays, ASEAN roles and influence has strong base in Southeast Asia and South Asia regions.ASEAN has taken place as important body in Asia Pacific political stream through Asian Regional Forum (ARF), where it is successful to create attention of various countries not only in Asia region but also United States of America and Europe involvement.Nevertheless, beside the successful story and prosperity achieved by ASEAN at this moment it has uniqueness when it has to face challenges at the early stage of ASEAN establishment. This journal will touch on history and ASEAN life story and explain What and How ASEAN able to strengthen its role and existence at the time Southeast Asia countries need an organization with the ability to unite all the countries in Southeast Asia region

The implications of cold war on Malaysia state building process

The Cold War has affected the communities around the world. Malaysia was no exception in being affected by the turmoil the international world, particularly after the World War 2, due to ideological conflicts. Based on the domino theory, the ups and downs of particular country in terms of its, strong ideology, brings about network impacts to each country in the world. Thus, a freedom of Malaya and the establishment of Malaysia came from the history of Cold War which influenced the international scene. The establishment of Malaysia is seen as a mechanism to stop the influence of communism. The involvement leaders from Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak as well as Brunei Darussalam in the agenda to ‘build’ Malaysia with the approval from democratic countries showed a very strong cooperation that communism was a threat. This contributed to the creation of a new and bigger country. The wise Malaysian leaders in negotiating and being united in facing the global threats at that time, has shown that Malaysia’s ‘project’ in stopping the communist theory which is also known domino theory, was successfully carried out and maintained till today. Therefore, Malaysia as a case study, on how a country was ‘built’ on the basis of stopping the spread of communism in saving the Southeast Asia from falling into the hands of communists, is unique and its effectiveness should be studied

Penilaian Program Latihan Khidmat Negara (PLKN) melalui gagasan latihan fizikal

Program Latihan Khidmat Negara dilancarkan buat pertama kali pada 16 Februari 2004. Program ini dianggap sebagai satu agenda nasional, setelah diluluskan oleh Parlimen, melalui Akta Latihan Khidmat Negara 2003 atau disebut sebagai Akta 628. Mukadimah Akta 628 ini menyebut, “Suatu akta untuk mengadakan peruntukan bagi pendaftaran dan kehadiran orang bagi Latihan Khidmat Negara di Malaysia berdasarkan falsafah Rukun Negara, untuk menubuhkan Majlis Latihan Khidmat Negara bagi maksud latihan Khidmat Negara dan bagi perkara yang berkaitan dengannya dan bersampingan denganya”. Bagi memahami tahap penghayatan peserta Program Latihan Khidmat Negara mengenai gagasan-gagasan latihan yang dijalani, maka tiga pasukan kajian dibentuk. Kumpulan-kumpulan kajian memberi tujahan pada gagasan kenegaraan, gagasan psikologi dan gagasan latihan fizikal. Kajian ini adalah mengenai penilaian program latihan khidmat negara dari gagasan latihan fizikal. Gagasan latihan fizikal dipecahkan kepada empat elemen iaitu ketahanan mental, keyakinan diri, kepimpinan, dan espirit decorps. Exercise dan Self-Confidence Model (EXSEM) (Sontroem dan Morgan, 1989) digunakan untuk mengukur elemen-elemen tersebut. Jumlah responden untuk kajian ini pada peringkat awal program latihan berjumlah 2517 dan pada peringkat akhir 1909. Perbezaan min antara peringkat awal program latihan dan peringkat akhir program latihan telah diambil bagi mengetahui tahap keberkesanan gagasan fizikal dalam program latihan. Dapatan kajian ini menunjukkan tidak ada perbezaan yang signifikan dalam min dalam elemen ketahanan mental, keyakinan diri, kepimpinan dan espirit decorps. Selain itu dapatan juga mendapati terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan dalam min dalam gagasan fizikal antara jantina, lokasi peserta, kem-kem PLKN dan etnik peserta. Beberapa cadangan telah dikemukakan untuk meningkatkan keberkesanan gagasan latihan fizikal Program PLKN di Malaysia pada masa akan datang

The concept of Mahathiriskonomisme: An economic recovery model during crisis

Mahathiriskonomism is a thought concept in an effort to save the economy under crisis and has proven successful. This model was a manifestation of idea and an action plan used by Malaysia during the economic crisis, which was an initiative of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad during his reign as Malaysia's Prime Minister. With experience in handling two great economic crises, in 1982 and 1997, the birth of an economic management under stress by Tun Dr Mahathir can clearly be called as Mahathiriskonomism. Therefore, the thought perspective and idea with the actions that were used in 1997 was perceived as an important effective experiment in handling the economic crisis which has defied western believes, applied by the International Money Fund (IMF) and also the World Bank under the Washington Consensus. The global economic crisis 2008 made Malaysia an important subject as alternative management in economy under stress. In this ever challenging world, no country in this world can escape from menaces and threats. The threats that emerge can come in various forms. One of the threats and menaces that can manifest is in terms of economy and national development. Currently, in this globalised era, international institutions are also used as instruments to threaten and menace a country's sovereignty. The westerner's are supposed to use international institutions as agents, design to shake the stability and present an impact to the government of a country. Consequently the countries being threaten are compelled to accept the injection from the International Money Fund (IMF) which is perceived by some leaders and the public as a proxy to United State and westerners. The IMF had succeeded in conhsing the local financial and political system. In the quest to defend the integrity and sovereignty of Malaysia, under the leadership of former Prime Minister, Y.Bhg Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had successfully minimized the impact of threats and maintained economic management and national politic towards stability. Hence, this approach which can also be referred as 'Mahathiriskonomisme' is identified as a successful approach that amazed the world, furthermore it is observed and studied not only by economy and political researchers in Malaysia, but also international researchers