Informal caregiving: empowering social support programs by employers

The problems faced by people providing informal care to family members with chronic illness has not been discussed thoroughly in Malaysia. This research has therefore been carried out with the aim of exploring types of informal social support currently practiced and related issues. It is based on a qualitative analysis of the interviews of five informal caregivers responsible for chronically ill family members in Kuala Lumpur. All respondents have struggled to provide the financial and emotional support required, especially as four were unemployed. These respondents were dependent on the family breadwinner, relatives and/or agencies for their daily needs, and also for the costs of medical treatment. They were physically able to work, but had chosen to focus on giving care instead. Some of the respondents had worked previously, but resigned after the condition of their care recipient had worsened. As a consequence, the respondents were facing financial hardship. Thus this analysis proposes that employers should incoporate social support programs into work contracts to enable better working hours and more flexibility for those staff engaged in informal care. By adopting this social support program, it is hoped that informal caregivers could have more financial independance and be less reliant on government agencies and families for financial assistance

Faktor-faktor penentu dan kecenderungan kepada kemalangan di tempat kerja dalam kalangan Pasukan Narkotik Polis Diraja Malaysia

Kajian ini adalah bertujuan mengkaji faktor penentu dan kecenderungan kepada kemalangan di tempat kerja dalam kalangan pasukan narkotik Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM). Maka kajian ini dilaksanakan dengan tujuan mengenalpasti faktor yang menentukan dan kecenderungan kepada kemalangan yang melibatkan pasukan narkotik PDRM. Metodologi kajian secara kuantitatif dengan soal selidik sebagai instrumen kajian telah dijalankan ke atas seramai 259 orang responden yang terdiri daripada kalangan pegawai dan anggota narkotik. Dapatan kajian dianalisis menggunakan analisis deskriptif. Berdasarkan kepada hasil kajian yangdiperoleh, tahap kecenderungan kepada kemalangan di tempat kerja dalam kalangan pasukan narkotik PDRM adalah di tahap tinggi. Faktor tingkah laku adalah dominan dalam kecenderungan kepada kemalangan di tempat kerja. Program Latihan perlu disediakan dan dikendalikan oleh mereka yang mahir dalam bidang keselamatan dan kesihatan pekerjaan. Jabatan khas berkaitan keselamatan dan kesihatan pekerjaan perlu diwujudkan di peringkat dalaman PDRM bagi memastikan tahap keselamatan dan professional yang tinggi dalam pasukan PDRM

Pemantapan modal insan melalui organisasi pembelajaran dan hubungannya dengan penerimaan transformasi dalam kalangan Pegawai Rendah Polis PDRM di Kontinjen Kuala Lumpur

Organisasi pembelajaran banyak dibincangkan dalam penyelidikan berkenaan organisasi pekerjaan di luar negara. Namun begitu, penyelidikan berkenaan organisasi pembelajaran dalam pasukan penguatkuasaan seperti pasukan polis tidak begitu terserlah. Oleh itu, kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hubungan organisasi pembelajaran dengan sikap penerimaan bertransformasi dalam kalangan pegawai rendah polis (PRP) di kontinjen Kuala Lumpur. Kajian ini ingin mengetahui dimensi organisasi pembelajaran yang banyak dipraktikkan dalam kalangan PRP di kontinjen KL dan mengenalpasti tahap dimensi organisasi pembelajaran dan sikap penerimaan bertransformasi dalam kalangan mereka. Selain itu, kajian ini juga dijalankan untuk mengenalpasti perbezaan sikap penerimaan bertransformasi PRP KL berdasarkan faktor demografik seperti jantina, umur, pangkat dipegang dan tempoh perkhidmatan mereka dengan PDRM. Kajian ini tertumpu kepada pegawai rendah polis PDRM di Kontinjen Kuala Lumur sahaja dan kaedah kajian yang telah digunakan adalah kaedah kuantitatif iaitu tinjauan. Instrumen kajian adalah soal selidik secara atas talian yang terdiri daripada tiga bahagian. Setiap bahagian disediakan untuk menjawab objektif-objektif kajian ini. Hasil kajian mendapati organisasi pembelajaran membentuk kepimpinan strategik untuk meningkatkan pembelajaran dalam kalangan PRP. Kemudian, kajian ini mendapati tahap kesemua dimensi organisasi pembelajaran dan sikap penerimaan transformasi berada pada tahap yang sederhana. Disamping itu, hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa tiada perbezaan dalam sikap penerimaan bertransformasi berdasarkan faktor demografik tidak kira jantina umur, pangkat jawatan dan juga tempoh perkhidmatan responden. Akhir sekali, kajian ini telah mendapati bahawa hubungan dimensi pembelajaran dengan sikap penerimaan adalah positif di PDRM kontinjen KL. Dengan ini, pengkaji berharap kajian ini dapat menjadi pedoman dan contoh bagi organisasi kepolisan yang lain di Malaysi

Ujian aptitud sebagai pengukur kebolehpasaran mahasiswa sains sosial

The aptitude test that uses psychometric assessment has been widely used by most employers around the world during a recruitment process to predict candidate abilities in the numerical, verbal, abstract, space and concentration. Given its importance as a job predictor for fresh graduates, this paper investigates the level of aptitude achievement among finals year social science students. This paper also compares the results of aptitude achievement based on the student socio-demographic background such as gender, ethnicity, CGPA and job interests. A total of 88 FSSK students from various programs were randomly selected in the sample conducted in March 2012. A set of measurement instruments containing 30 aptitude questions developed by researchers using an existing questionnaire’s benchmarks modified from the Aptitude Test Psychometric Success for Graduate (ATPSG) 2010. Findings show that the mastery level of all aptitude questions among the respondents is deficient and fails to exceed the minimum passing score of 60 per cent. Test results also showed that the achievement of aptitude did not differ significantly based on gender factors (t= -126, k =>0.05), ethnicity (t = -.462, k =>0.05), area of origin (t= 1.832, k =>0.05), job interest (t = -.188, k =>0.05) and CGPA (t=1.545, k => 0.05). This paper concludes graduate students are having a very low score of aptitude tests and recommending the tests be used as a speciality test at universities for preparatory readiness

Penerapan teori pengurusan: konteks penyelidikan Malaysia

Teori pengurusan adalah konsep yang merangkumi strategi pengurusan yang disarankan sebagai panduan untuk dilaksanakan baik dalam organisasi, mahupun dalam menjalankan penyelidikan. Ia juga menerangkan sesuatu fenomena yang kemudiannya dikembangkan untuk dijadikan perancangan yang strategik untuk menggerakkan sumber manusia dan kewangan agar mencapai objektif organisasi. Evolusi teori pengurusan bermula lebih 100 tahun yang lalu. Sejak sekian lama, ahli teori telah meneliti bentuk pengurusan yang paling sesuai untuk persekitaran kerja yang berbeza. Di sinilah teori pengurusan dimainkan. Walaupun beberapa teori ini dikembangkan sejak berabad lalu, mereka masih menyediakan kerangka kerja yang stabil untuk menjalankan perniagaan. Pengurusan juga termasuk menyimpan fakta dan maklumat untuk kegunaan kemudian atau untuk orang lain dalam organisasi. Fungsi pengurusan tidak terhad kepada pengurus dan penyelia. Tiap-tiap anggota organisasi mempunyai pengurusan dan pelaporan beberapa fungsi sebagai sebahagian daripada tugas mereka untuk memberi pengetahuan yang menyeluruh tentang falsafah pengurusan dan keusahawanan. Maka, buku ini akan mengetengahkan kajian empirikal di Malaysia yang menerapkan teori-teori dalam pengurusan. Kandungan ini sesuai untuk para pelajar prasiswazah dan pascasiswazah, serta pembaca umum yang ingin mendalami secara kritis dalam bidang pengurusan. Buku ini juga mengkhususkan kepada para pengurus. Salah satu sebab mengapa pengurus harus berminat dalam teori pengurusan pembelajaran adalah kerana ia membantu memaksimumkan produktiviti mereka. Ini dapat dimanfaatkan dengan mengaplikasi teori agar dapat mengurangkan risiko kerugian dalam pelaburan strategi pemasaran atau dalam pelaburan dalam latihan pekerjanya

Eksplorasi adaptasi antarabudaya pelajar Melayu di Australia dan United Kingdom

Kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan untuk menganalisis proses adaptasi antarabudaya pelajar Melayu di Australia dan United Kingdom sewaktu melanjutkan pengajian mereka ke peringkat Ijazah Sarjana (Master) dan Ijazah Kedoktoran (Phd). Fokus kajian ini tertumpu kepada perbezaan budaya dan cara hidup pelajar di luar negara. Model Lekuk-U (Lysgaard, 1955) telah digunakan sebagai asas kepada penyelidikan) yang bermula dari peringkat bulan madu (honeymoon stage), peringkat kejutan budaya (culture shock stage), peringkat pelarasan (adjustment stage) dan akhir sekali peringkat penguasaan (mastery stage). Empat kumpulan fokus telah dijalankan membabitkan pelajar-pelajar sarjana Melayu yang telah belajar di Australia dan United Kingdom. Hasil analisis dapatan kajian mendapati bahawa peringkat berbulan madu (honeymoon stage) tidak dilalui oleh pelajar ini kerana peringkat awal di negara baru lebih tertumpu untuk menyesuaikan diri dan mempelajari bagaimana untuk beradaptasi. Mereka kurang mempunyai masa untuk bersuka-ria. Walaupun terdapat cabaran sebagai seorang Muslim di luar negara, pelajar mampu menjalani hidup dengan baik kerana negara luar telah mula mendapat pendedahan tentang cara hidup orang Islam

Kelesuan pandemik : hubungannya dengan pematuhan SOP, konflik kerjaya-keluarga, tekanan emosi dan risiko fizikal dalam kalangan masyarakat awam Malaysia

World Health Organization (WHO) has reported signs of pandemic fatigue among the global citizens, such as demotivation in abiding by the recommended protective behaviors due to misperception and ignorance. Consequently, the number of COVID-19 new cases is increasing globally. A systematic intervention strategy is highly required to avoid disruption in public healthcare services. Many countries in the world are facing this problem, including Malaysia. Malaysia’s healthcare system is at risk of collapsing following an upsurge in COVID-19 patients. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct a study to understand pandemic fatigue among Malaysians. This article aims to analyze the correlation between pandemic fatigue, compliance to SOP, emotional distress, work-family conflict, and physical risks. The study involved 2047 respondents from 14 states in Malaysia and it was designed as a cross-sectional survey. The findings indicated that there was no significant correlation between pandemic fatigue and compliance to SOP (r=. 07). However, there were positive correlations between pandemic fatigue and emotional distress (r=.65), work-family conflict (r =.66), and physical risk (r=.59) (p<.01). Although the finding has shown that the pandemic fatigue level was moderate, however, due to the extension of the Movement Control Order (MCO), there is a greater possibility that the pandemic fatigue level could increase. The Covid-19 vaccine is the most feasible initiative to combat the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the community members must continue to practice SOP and comply with other government rules and directives

Graduates’ employability skills based on current job demand through electronic advertisement

Abstract In Malaysia, there is a profusion of evidence of high graduate unemployment since many graduates are found lacking of what are needed to acquire and to maintain their jobs. In this paper, graduate employability skills were analyzed based on four major criteria: qualification, academic score, experience and specific soft skills. The data and information used were extracted from 300 online job advertisements accessed via electronic databases at http://www.JobStreet.com.my from January to March 2011. A simple checklist form was developed to quantify the information from ads into quantitative data that was later keyed in the Statistical Package for Social Science for descriptive analyses. Based on the data, it was concluded that graduates with bachelor degrees were more likely to be employable due to high demand. It was also found that academic excellence based on CGPA was not the utmost factor for graduate employability. However, since less than one-third ads were free from work experiences requirement, fresh graduates only secured a little chance to be recruited. Another factor that limited graduates employability was high demand of specific soft skills requested by employers, among which were graduates with high quality of communication/interpersonal skills, foreign language proficiency, ICT/technical skills, high spirit of teamwork and specific personal attributes. Results concluded that graduate unemployment rate will continue to increase unless the Higher Education Institution (HEI) and the graduates are prepared to sharpen their soft skills according to market niche. It is suggested that the HEI work more closely with industries, professional bodies and society through the establishment of university-industry link cooperation that will become a catalyst for soft skills enhancement

Self-integrity and family support as assets for resilient urban at-risk youth

While most of the Malaysian youth literature view young people as problematic and chaotic, this research aims to highlight that at-risk young Malaysians also possessed developmental assets which could contribute to their resilience level. This research explores at-risk youth resilience and predicts which protective factor is the most utilized. To be specific, at-risk young people who lived at the outskirt of metropolitan Kuala Lumpur were targeted. Survey designed method on 744 young people of Pantai Dalam, Kuala Lumpur who lived in low cost government flats. Integrity and family support predict levels of resilience. The results show that under disadvantaged environment, family support could sustain young people's resiliency in facing difficulties of life. This research argues that internal asset and family institution contributes to at-risk young people's internal defense system. This research recommends that future research should study the quality of family support and reveal the quality facets of resilience

Adaptation and the new media technology: a study on Malaysian students in Australia and United Kingdom

This paper explores Lysgaard (1955) U-Curve model which explains the process of adaptation in a new culture. Lysgaard (1955) stated that those who migrate to other places go through the following stages of adaptation; the honeymoon stage, culture shock, adjustment and recovery. The existence and rise of new media technologies have brought the world closer together and thus raises the question whether one still go through the stages stated by Lysgaard (1955) New media components such as Twitter, Facebook, Skype, Blogs and Online television has created an impact towards the adaptation process. Four focus group discussions were conducted among Malaysians who had been to either Australia or United Kingdom for their tertiary education and has since returned to Malaysia. The discussions centered on the experience of these students adapting into the new culture and how the Internet and the new media has played a role through their adaptation process. Findings from the research show that the new technologies have brought them closer to their own culture and at the same time assist them in adapting into the new culture