Capital, the State and the Emergence of Class Relations: The Case of a Rural Community in Southern Philippines

The incorporation of Third World countries into the world capitalist system brought about far-reaching repercussions on the social, political and economic structures of less-developed societies. A study of the changes associated with capitalist penetration is therefore necessary to understand the contemporary situation of these societies. The present study was an attempt in this direction to understand the trans formative impact of the phenomenon at the village level. Primarily, it aimed at examining the dominating influence of capitalist penetration in the form of plantation agriculture on the nature and dynamics of class formation in the study area. Specifically,it investigated the following:(i) class structure and class relationships of Maguindanaons during the pre-plantation period; (ii) the process of penetration of plantations in Mindanao - Sulu and in the village in particular; and (iii)the relations of production that emerged as a result of the entry of the plantation

Prospects of tourism in Malaysia: A situational study focusing on socio-cultural and environmental aspects

Malaysia is perhaps one of the most unique countries of the world, being strategically situated on the gate-way location of global routes with a wonderful eco-environmental setting. Being a pluralistic society, it inherits its own traditional culture with harmonious integration of the diverse ethnic groups living in a very peaceful and politically stable situation. With all its economic potentials, Malaysia has recently emerged as a newly-developed nation with a huge infrastructural growth in its industrial and manufacturing sectors. Due to these developments and other eloquent features, people from abroad become largely attracted to this land and thus, they frequently arrive here as visitors and tourists. As recently as in the year 2005, it is reported that at least 16.7 million international tourists from outside visited Malaysia bringing about 30 billion ringgit in terms of foreign currency in this country (see Badruddin et.al. 2007). At present, tourism may be regarded as the largest service-oriented industry in Malaysia contributing a great economic share in the national GDP and provides employment to a bulk of the population in the country. It brings civic pride and social prestige for Malaysia by making a kind of international linkages in global context. It takes Malaysian culture abroad and people from outside can get the touch of the unique Muslim heritage in Malaysian context. Based on this positive assumption, this proposed research will generate information in regard to knowing about the present situation of tourism in Malaysian context. Side by side, it is also recognized that tourism often damages eco-environments of a particular region of the country, which are over-used by the tourists. The natural habitats are dislocated, and also there occurs enormous social impacts on local values and community culture. From that perspective the paper is designed to deal with the issue of tourism in Malaysia from both positive and negative perspectives; and thus it will generate a discourse to conceptualize a rational framework for Malaysian tourism

Gender and motivation for street racing in Malaysia

The purpose of this study was to identify social, economic, and psychological factors in street racing in Malaysia. The study also assessed gender differences in terms of the causes of participation in street racing, and the street racers’ personality in terms of spiritual well-being, self-efficacy, and self-esteem. A snowball sample of 122 street racers (males, n=99, Mean age=21.52, SD=4.25; females, n=23, Mean age=19.22, SD=2.47) responded to self-tailored questionnaires and existing scales. For female racers, ‘family violence’, ‘parental conflict’, and ‘parenting style’ were the major familial factors leading to street racing. In case of male racers, ‘parenting style’ and ‘relationship with family members’ were the main causes of street racing. A sizeable percentage of male racers and female racers identified ‘social contact with the street racers’, ‘learned attitudes which encourage street racing’, ‘mass media and peer influences’ as causes of street racing. Both groups of respondents cited ‘social pressure’, ‘social labelling’, ‘social isolation’, ‘opportunities for joining street racing’, ‘limited surveillance of authority’, and ‘limited recreational and sports facilities’ as reasons for involvement in street racing. In terms of psychological factors, considerable percentage of male racers and female racers reported ‘self-image’, ‘desire for recognition and attention’, ‘escape from social-psychological stress’, and ‘self-actualisation’ as important factors leading to street racing. Unemployment was found to be one important reason for street racing almost equally by both the groups. Significant differences in mean spiritual well-being and self-efficacy scores of male racers and female racers did not exist. However, male racers obtained significantly higher mean self-esteem score than female racers

Parents’ attitudes towards inclusion of sexuality education in Malaysian schools

The present study examined the attitudes of Malaysian rural parents regarding sexual health education in elementary schools. Using a comprehensive list of sex education topics, parents were asked to examine which topics they believed should be taught at schools. In addition, the study also assessed the relationship between parents’ demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education, and occupation and their approval of sexual health education. The respondents of the study included parents (n=211) of children registered in four selected schools in Kedah, Malaysia. The majority of them (73%) supported the inclusion of various sexual health topics in school curriculum provided the contents were in line with religious teachings. The study has generated important empirical findings regarding local community’s response to school-based sexuality education. This information is needed in facilitating the development of sexual health policy at various institutional levels, and in the effective implementation of sexual health curriculum in Malaysian schools

Bridging the digital divide to enhance teaching and learning for human capital development in the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) of Malaysia

This paper has examined the extent to which addressing the issue of digital divide can enhance teaching and learning in order to produce the human capital required to support the development agenda of the east coast economic region (ECER). This region consists of three relatively lessdeveloped states and a district in Malaysia (i.e., Kelantan, Pahang, Terengganu, and Mersing District). Inadequate human capital, especially skilled labour, has been identified as one of the major factors underpinning ECER’s underdevelopment. Although Malaysia happens to be one of the few Southeast Asian countries with medium to high internet penetration, the fact that the regions and states differ in terms of the available resources, social and public infrastructure underscores the likelihood of unequal access to digital technology among them. Making digital technology readily available and accessible in the ECER may facilitate the training of the right calibre of manpower. It is argued that developing human capital is possible only through strong and efficient educational system (Chamhuri, 2005; Abdulai and Chamhuri, 2008, p. 7). And the use of digital technology that includes, of course, information and communications technology in the teaching and learning process has tremendously enhanced educational system in the majority of countries, particularly in research and development endeavours. It is the belief of the authors that the Malaysian Government will not be oblivious of the crucial benefits associated with tackling the digital divide issue in the ECER. In that light, what measures does the Government put in place to tackle this issue? And how effective are such measures? Addressing these questions constitutes the main objective of the paper

Prospects of tourism in Malaysia: A situational study focusing on socio-cultural and environmental aspects

Malaysia is perhaps one of the most unique countries of the world, being strategically situated on the gate-way location of global routes with a wonderful eco-environmental setting. Being a pluralistic society, it inherits its own traditional culture with harmonious integration of the diverse ethnic groups living in a very peaceful and politically stable situation. With all its economic potentials, Malaysia has recently emerged as a newly-developed nation with a huge infrastructural growth in its industrial and manufacturing sectors. Due to these developments and other eloquent features, people from abroad become largely attracted to this land and thus, they frequently arrive here as visitors and tourists. As recently as in the year 2005, it is reported that at least 16.7 million international tourists from outside visited Malaysia bringing about 30 billion ringgit in terms of foreign currency in this country (see Badruddin et.al. 2007). At present, tourism may be regarded as the largest service-oriented industry in Malaysia contributing a great economic share in the national GDP and provides employment to a bulk of the population in the country. It brings civic pride and social prestige for Malaysia by making a kind of international linkages in global context. It takes Malaysian culture abroad and people from outside can get the touch of the unique Muslim heritage in Malaysian context. Based on this positive assumption, this proposed research will generate information in regard to knowing about the present situation of tourism in Malaysian context. Side by side, it is also recognized that tourism often damages eco-environments of a particular region of the country, which are over-used by the tourists. The natural habitats are dislocated, and also there occurs enormous social impacts on local values and community culture. From that perspective the paper is designed to deal with the issue of tourism in Malaysia from both positive and negative perspectives; and thus it will generate a discourse to conceptualize a rational framework for Malaysian tourism

Spiritual and Psychological health of Malaysian youths

The purpose of this study was to assess the magnitude of and association between measures of spiritual and psychological health in a sample of 358 undergraduate students of International Islamic University Malaysia (Mean age = 22.25 years, SD = 1.87). All the study variables correlated signifi cantly positive with each other. Significant gender difference existed in terms of mean life satisfaction scores only, with females more satisfied than males. Overall, spiritual well-being predicted self-efficacy, self-esteem, and life satisfaction significantly. Surprisingly, existential well-being predicted self-efficacy, self-esteem, and life satisfaction significantly, whereas religious well-being failed to do so. Discussion includes implications of the present findings for counseling practice and guidelines for future research