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TABLE OF CONTENTS:-

ICOPS2017 eProceedings
NO. TITLE PAGE
1. Factors Influencing Malaysian Investors’ Decision 10
Arifha Binti Mohamad, Dr Nor Suziwana Bt Haji Tahir & Dr Yarina Bt Ahmad

2. Pengaruh Identifikasi Parti dan Politik Pembangunan Dalam Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) 21
Parlimen Sungai Besar dan Kuala Kangsar 2016
Junaidi Awang Besar

3. Examining the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Employee 51

Empowerment
Nabila Huda Ibrahim & Dr Tuan Nooriani Tuan Ismail

4. Determinants of Mathematics Achievement using TIMSS 60

Siti Fairus Mokhtar, Nurazlina Abdul Rashid & Noor Rasidah Ali

5. Reka Bentuk Model Pengajaran Berasaskan ICT (E-Tvet) bagi Kursus Mekanikal dan 67
Pembuatan di Kolej Vokasional : Satu Analisis Keperluan
Dr. Abu Bakar Ibrahim, Khairu Nuzul@Mohd Khairul Nuzul Hassan, Wan
Norsariza Wan Husin

6. Muslim Students’ Purchase Intention towards Packaged Food Products Produced by 78

Non-Muslim Manufacturers
Mohd Radzi Mohd Khir, Mustapa Abdullah, Hadzli Ishak & Abd Rasyid Ramli

7. Determining the Influencing Factors of e-Learning at Higher Educational Institutions in 88

Malaysia
Ramli Saad, Kamarudin Othman, Mohd Radzi Mohd Khir & Nur Diana Hassan

8. Organizational Silence: What’s the Matter? 104

Roseamilda Mansor & Dalili Izni Binti Shafie

9. Perception on Reliability and Responsiveness of Polis DiRaja Malaysia (PDRM): A 113

Study among Citizens in Putrajaya
Mohd Syafiq Mat Saruji, Yarina Ahmad & Azizan Zainuddin

10. 1Malaysia Clinic Service Quality and Patient Satisfaction Case Study: 1Malaysia Clinic 127
Taman Samarindah Kota Samarahan
Jennifah Nordin, Nazni@Nazmi Noordin, Nur Afisha Yusuf & Dr. Zaherawati
Zakaria

11. The Role of Microcredit in Promoting Self-Employment in Urban Area: Lesson from 140
Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), Malaysia
Siti Noor Shamilah Misnan, Rafizah Mohd Noor & Rosfaraliza Azura Ramli

12. Audio Collection Cataloging Process Using Resource Description and Access (RDA) 147
Nordibradini binti Selamat, Zuraidah binti Arif, Zati Atiqah binti Mohamad Tanuri,
Siti Khadijah binti Rafie, Dr. Azree bin Ahmad, Mohd Zool Hilme Mohamed Sawal
& Raja Alwi bin Raja Omar

13. Macroprudential Policy in Malaysia: Implications, Key Measures and Experiences 157
Sutina Junos, Dr Masturah Ma’in & Dr Siti Ayu Jalil
 3

14. Perception of UiTM Undergraduate Students on Plagiarism: The Case for Universiti 170
Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam
Fatin Syazwani Binti Mustafaal Bakeri, Dr. Nor Hafizah Mohamed Harith & Dr.
Hardev Kaur a/p Latchimanan Singh

15. Implementation of Good Governance Principles at Majlis Daerah Raub: A Perspective 178
of President
Nursyahida Zulkifli, Shamsinar Rahman, Nurul Afzan Najid, Nur Ain Yaacob &
‘Ainatul Fathiyah Abdul Rahim

16. Understanding Socio-Demographic Patterns and Wellbeing Dimensions of the Elderly 190
in Malaysia: The Way Forward in Reaching an Age Nation by 2030
Aslinda bt. Ramely, Dr. Yarina bt. Ahmad & Dr. Nor Hafizah bt. Mohamed Harith

17. Strategies to Improve Employability Skills for Post Graduate Students in Social 204
Science
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jasmine Ahmad, Azni Mohd Dian & Dr. Yarina Ahmad

18. The Antecedents Offear of Violent Crime in Selangor, Malaysia 210

Mohd Ramlan Mohd Arshad, Nurul Nadia Abu Hassan & Prof. Dr Zaliha Hj Hussin

19. Scrutinizing the Issues and Challenges Faced by Postgraduate Students: An Effort to 219
Design Specific Programs to Inculcate Research Culture
Professor Dr. Posiah Mohd Isa & Dr. Yarina Ahmad

20. Enhancing the Effectiveness of FSPPP’s Graduate Researchers in Print (GRiP) 232
through a Holistic and Comprehensive Research Ecosystem Framework: A Pathway to
Promote Research Excellence among Postgraduate Students
Dr. Yarina Ahmad & Professor Dr. Posiah Mohd Isa

21. To Stay or to Leave?: A Review on Political Party Activism Literature 250

Wan Rohila Ganti bt Wan Abdul Ghapar & Shahidah bt Abdul Razak

22. Sarawak State Election 2016: Voting Preference towards Candidates in N16 Muara 260
Tuang & N17 Stakan
Noorfadhleen Binti Mahmud & Dr Nadrawina Isnin

23. Pemberian Sebagai Alat Dasar Fiskal: Kesan Pembuatan Keputusan Operasi 268
Terhadap Ketidakseimbangan Fiskal
Dr. Zauyah Abd. Razak

24. Lecturers Approach and Students Motivation to Learn: A Case Study at UiTM Sarawak 280
Nur Afisha Bt Yusuf, Jennifah Bt Nordin, Chai Shin Yi, Sarehan Bt Sadikin,
Nazni@Nazmi Noordin & Grace Malang

25. Kesan Motivasi Terhadap Penerimaan Pelajar dalam Proses e-Pembelajaran 290
Mohd Sanusi Deraman

26. A Study on the Perception of Moonlighting Practices among the Employees of Public 298
Hospitals in Klang Valley
Mohd Zdikri bin Md Sabron & Aliza binti Abu Hassim (Phd)

27. Challenging Factors for Bumiputera Participation in MAICSA Professional Programmes 307
Nazirah Binti Nazri & Dr Tuan Nooriani Tuan Ismail

28. A Study on Relationship between Five-Factor Model of Personality Traits and 320
Commitment among Support Staff at Batu Lintang, Kuching, Sarawak
Asmahani Mahdi, Nurul Shahera Ismail, Olivia Sutee Jugie & Suzy Sari
 4

29. Creativity in Higher Education: The Impact of Classroom Debate on the Academic 333
Performance of Administrative Science Students
Azlyn Ahmad Zawawi, Junaida Ismail & Irwana Nooridayu Muhamad Hakimi

30. Job Stress, Work-to-Family Conflict and Social Support in the Education Industry 340
Nurmazlina Mohd Isa, Hardev Kaur A/P Latchimanan Singh & Rozalli Hashim

31. Successful Leadership Styles in Managing Projects within the Oil and Gas Industries in 354
Malaysia
Nor Asmani Md Asri, Prof Madya Dr Hajah Rugayah Hj Hashim & Dr Aliza Abu
Hassim

32. The 5 Pillars of the Social Security System for the Aged Malaysian 362
Radduan Yusof & Assoc Prof. Mohamad Fazli Sabri

33. Student Activism in Malaysia 385

Nur Afzan Bt Ab Khalid

34. The Challenges of ASEAN Way in Managing the Transbounday Haze Issue 389
Dona Rofithoh binti Don Ramli, Prof Madya Dr Rugayah Hj Hashim & Prof
Nasrudin Mohammed

35. Measuring Service Performance for Urban Transformation Centre 397

Ummi Farhani Binti Firdaus, Assoc Prof. Dr. Jasmine Ahmad & Dr Mahadir
Ladisma@Awis

36. Information Disclosure Theories in Public Listed Companies 405

Norraidah Abu Hasan, Farihah Hassan, Dr Nor Suziwana Tahir, Saidah Hamizah
Ahmad & Fadhirul Hisham

37. Pembangunan Sosio-Ekonomi Diluar Bandar Negeri Kedah 413

Nazmi@Nazni Noordin, Kamarudin Ngah, Zaherawati Zakaria & Adnan
Aminuddin

38. Medical Tourism Industry in Malaysia: An Overview 419

Nur Alia Binti Azmi, Dr. Suseela Devi A/P S.Chandran & Dr. Hajah Fadilah Binti Hj
Puteh

39. Human Resource Management Practices vs Organizational Commitment: In-depth 430

Insight in MPSPK
Adnan Aminuddin, Zaherawati Zakaria, PhD & Nazni Noordin

40. Developing a Conceptual Framework for the Role of Person – Environment (P-E) Fit in 445
Promoting Job Performance of Project Managers in Malaysian Construction Industry
Akmal Latiff Bin Ayob & Norzanah Binti Mat Nor

41. The Role of Knowledge Creation in Enhancing the Malaysia Public Sector Productivity 456
Sae’dah binti Md Saleh & Ahmad Naqiyuddin Bakar

42. Employee Mindfulness in Organization 463

Dalili Izni Binti Shafie, Nurul Farihin Binti Mhd Nasir & Eliy Nazira Binti Mat Nazir

43. Factors Affecting Visitors’ Visitation Decision of Meseum in Kedah 470

Nizar Nazrin & Farah Merican Bt Isahak Merican

44. UiTM Millennial Perception towards Automobile Purchasing 478

Farah Merican Bt Isahak Merican, Rosliza Bt Md Zani, Nizar Bin Nazrin &
Muhammad Ozir Bin Zuri
 5

45. SOS-We Care 4U: An Initiative to Enhance the Street Children’s Security and 486
Protection
Siti Nur Fathanah Abd Hamid, Dr. Yarina Ahmad & Dr. Nor Suziwana Tahir

46. Aging Workforce: A Challenge for Malaysia 495

Anisah Abas @ Hamdan, Dr. Aliza Abu Hassim & Dr. Fadilah Puteh

47. Waqf Land in Malaysia: Legal and Non-legal Impediments with Propositions 505
Siti Khadijah Abdullah Sanek, Ekmil Krisnawati Erlen Joni, Siti Nurbaya Ismail,
Nor Hafizah Abdul Razak & Zanariah Idrus

48. Repression Among Foreign Workers in Malaysia 512

Syarmin Nor Era Omar, Assoc. Prof. Rozalli Hashim & Prof. Dr. Zaliha Hj Hussin

49. Business Communities Satisfaction on Waste Management, Cleanliness, Drainage and 520
Culverts in Sungai Petani
Dr. Zaherawati Zakaria, Kamarudin Ngah , Nazni Noordin & Adnan Aminuddin

50. Responsiveness and the Influence to Public Trust: The Study on Local Government 528
Service Delivery
Nor Zaini Bt Zainal Abidin, Kuppusamy Singaravelloo & Intan Syahriza Azizan

51. Issues and Challenges in Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Program in Malaysia 536
Siti Zulaikha Mustapha, Dr. Nor Hafizah Mohamed Harith & Dr. Tuan Nooriani
Tuan Ismail

52. Factors Affecting the Tendency of Drug Abuse among Drug Addicts: A Case Study in 545
the Northern Region of Malaysia
Fazillah Bosli, Siti Fairus Mokhtar, Norin Rahayu Shamsuddin, Tn Khairul
Farrizan Tn Abdullah Zawawi, Kamarul Ariffin Mansor & Wan Zulkipli Wan Salleh

53. Investigating the Factors Affecting the Students’ Performance in Industrial Training 550
Zaharah Safin, Nor Amira Ali, Hasmah Laili Jamalurus & Rosliza Md. Zani

54. Ethical Issues among Tertiary Students 557

Junaida Ismail, Aishah Musa & Dr Mahadir Ladisma@Awis

55. The Evolution of Government Attention towards older Person in Malaysia: A Critical 566
Review of Malaysia 5 Years Plan
Nur Amalina Binti Aziz, Dr. Yarina Ahmad & Dr. Azizan Zainuddin

56. Development and Participation in Rural Area: The Malaysian Case 577
Nor Ardyanti Ahmad, Dr. Zauyah Abd Razak & Professor Alan Walker

57. The Relationship between European Qualification Framework (EQF) Model and Safety 588
Training
Siti Fairuza Hassam, Noratikah Mohamad Arshad & Norhafiza Hashim

58. Board of Visiting Justices: An Overview under the Malaysian Prison Act 1995 and 595
International Legal Frameworks
Salmah Roslim, Nur Irinah Mohamad Sirat & Nurul Mazrah Manshor

59. Konsep Mengarusperdanakan Gender: Kajian Wanita dalam Pekerjaan di Malaysia 604
Dr. Azizan Binti Zainuddin & Dr. Kartini Khalid @ Aboo Talib

60. Housing Ownership Problems among Residents of Section 7 in Shah Alam, Selangor 612
Noorlailahusna Mohd Yusof, Azni Syafena Andin Salamat, Firdaus Ramli &
Irwana Nooridayu Muhamad Hakimi
 6

61. Selfie: Dealing with Today’s Narcissism 622

Juaini Binti Jamaludin, Abu Hanifa Ab. Hamid & Mohd Hamidi Adha Mohd Amin

62. Impact of Librarian’s Leadership Styles on Job Performance of Subordinates in 627

Academic Libraries
Nor Famiza Tarsik

63. Measuring Public Libraries Facilities Performance using Repertory Grid Technique 635
Salasiah M Said, Hasniza Hassim & Norhidayu Md Yatim

64. Library 2.0 in Academic Library: Librarians’ Perception 641

Norhidayu Md Yatim

65. Teaching Writing and Speaking Skills to Enhance Interpersonal Intelligence among 651
Low-Proficiency Students at Tertiary Level
Farhana binti Haji Shukor & Nur Darina binti Ibrahim

66. The Governance Quality of Non-Audit Service Purchasers 672

Khairul Anuar Kamarudin, Wan Adibah Wan Ismail & Jessieca Cherryl Yatan

67. Generation Y in Malaysian GLCs: Relationship Between Herzberg’s Motivation Factors 681
and Job Commitment
Nurul Nasuha Binti Mohamed & Dr. Hajah Fadilah Binti Hj Puteh

68. Assessing Training Effectiveness and Satisfaction towards Employee Development 693
Mohd Fazil Jamaludin, Dalili Izni Shafie , Norashikin Nasaruddin, Mohammad
Izzan Ismail

69. Accommodating Breastfeeding Employees in the Workplace: A Preliminary Study at 700

Public Organization in Pahang Darul Makmur
Ramha Rozaili binti Ramli, Noor Amira Syazwani Binti Abd Rahman & Norfaezah
binti Mohamed

70. Effectiveness of Internal Audit: Ensuring Public Sector Accountability and Integrity 710
Nor Raihana Asmar Mohd Noor, Liziana Kamarul Zaman, Wan Asma Hanim Wan
Mustapha & Nursyahida Zulkifli

71. Knowledge Sharing Patterns of the Undergraduate Students in Private Higher 715
Institutions of Learning in Kuching
Adilah Binti Abdul Aziz, Nurul Syahirah Binti Samsu Tajuddin, Arenawati Sehat
Binti Omar

72. “She Made Me a Dumping Site”: A Preliminary Study on Social Exclusion amongst 727
Women with Depression
Nur Zafifa Kamarunzaman & Nor Hafizah Hj. Selamat, Ph.D

73. Predictors of Patient Satisfaction in Public Healthcare 736

Amirullah Bin Haji Shariff & Dr Hajah Fadilah Binti Haji Puteh

74. Pendidikan di kalangan Pelajar Luar Bandar 747

Intan Syahriza Azizan, Nur Hidyati Zolhani & Afida Arapa

75. The Accounting Body Membership of Audit Committee Member 755

Noorain Omar & Ainul Haniza Mohd Rashid

76. How Effective are the Current Initiatives in Dealing with Homelessness in Malaysia? 762
Nor Amalina Mohd Adib, Professor Dr. Zaliha Hj. Hussin & Dr. Yarina Ahmad
 7

77. The Importance of Integrity Systems in Assessing Malaysian Business Ethical Practices 769
Ahmad Shahril Azwan B Abd Rahim & Norziana Lokman, PhD

78. Deceptive versus Informative Income Smoothing: Evidence from Audit Committee 781
Attributes
Wan Adibah Wan Ismail & Khairul Anuar Kamarudin

79. The Effect of Auditor Tenure and Industry Specialization on Financial Reporting 790
Timeliness
Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Wan Adibah Wan Ismail & Khairul Anuar Kamarudin

80. A Study on Factors that Affecting the Safety Awareness among Employees in Malaysia 798
Sugar Refinery Company
Azlin Azman, Jamaludin Akbar & Dr. Nor Hanisah Md Zain

81. Discovering the Antecedents of Engagement for Citizen Centric Public Service 809
Excellence
Norazlin Binti Mohd Nor, Dr Tuan Nooriani Binti Tuan Ismail & Dr Hajah Fadilah
Binti Hj Puteh

82. A Study on Factors Influencing JK1M Participants to Join Jom Kurus 1Malaysia 823
Program
Jennifah Nordin, Wan Firdaus bin Wan Chik, Nur Afisha Yusuf & Jati Kasuma Ali

83. Does Religions and Service Quality Determine Customers’ Preference in Selecting 833
Islamic Bank?
Muhammed A’iyeman Mohammed, Irwan Shahrinaz, Jati Kasuma Ali, Jennifah
Nordin & Shamshul Anaz Kassim

84. Identifying Factor of E-Business Adoption among Home Stay Operators in Kuching, 840
Sarawak: Qualitative Study
Rebecca Dian, Dayang Nur Atikah Awang Masjar, Jati Kasuma & Jennifah Nordin

85. Service Quality and Infrastructure Impact on Tourists’ Perception: Empirical Evidence 851
of Homestay in Sabah
Muhammad Irsyad Ismadol, Muhamad Azim Dahari, Jati Kasuma Ali, Jennifah
Nordin & Irwan Shahrinaz

86. Relationship between Self-Motivation, Leadership Skill and Market Demand Influenced 860
Sarawak Indian Entrepreneur Business Success
Siti Farah binti Edwin, Angelina anak Sangop, Jati Kasuma Ali, Jennifah Nordin &
Irwan Shahrinaz

87. The Study of Ethical Work Behaviour and Job Performance 866
Nur Diana Hassan, Nor Ananiza Azhar, Mazlifa Md Daud & Mohd Firdaus Ruslan

88. Causal Influence on Corporate Fraud: Perceptions among MARA’s Employee 873
Muhammad Aiman Bin Awalluddin & Dr Tuan Nooriani Bt Tuan Ismail

89. Effects of Strong Internal Audit Departmental Setting in Assessing Practice and 880
Evaluation of Organizational Performance
Zulkifli Baharud-din, Alagan Shokiyah & Mohd Serjana Ibrahim
th
90. Revisiting the Malaysia 13 General Election: The Second ‘Tsunami’ of Politics? And 889
Lessons Learned
Norhayati Mohd Salleh, Jasmine Ahmad & Mohd Ramlan Mohd Arshad
 8

91. The Study of the Social Capital Endowment on Zakat Applicants in Melaka 900
Azhana Othman, Khalilah Ibrahim , Noor Azzura Mohamed & Mohammad
Bastyian Mahmud

92. The Development of Corporate Legitimacy Measurement for Government-Linked 907

Companies in Malaysia
Mahadir Ladisma @ Awis, Hazman Shah Vijayan Abdullah, Dr Norziana Lokman
& Roshima Said

93. Survival-of-the-Fittest: Embracing Change Through Enhanced Supply Chain 927

Resilience Capabilities
Ainul Haniza Mohd Rashid & Noorain Omar

94. Exploring the Influence of Cultural Similarities and Workforce Diversity Management on 936
Turnover Intention of Foreign Workers in Malaysia
Yong Azrina Ali Akbar, Nurul Azzah Nafisah Azmi Murat & Nik Ramli Nik Abdul
Rashid

95. Undergraduate Students Satisfaction in the Context of Teaching and Non Teaching, 946
Universiti Teknologi MARA
Noorfadzilah bt Mohd Fadzil, Shamshul Anaz Kassim, Nurul Farihin Mhd Nasir &
Jati Kasuma Ali

96. A Study of Digital Piracy Behavior among Undergraduate Students in the Context of 957
Higher Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Rokiah bt Ahmad Fuaad, Shamshul Anaz Kassim, Nurul Farihin Mhd Nasir & Jati
Kasuma Ali

97. The Influence of Organizational Climate Dimensions on Ergonomics Citizenship 969

Behaviour: A Conceptual Framework
Che Norazri bin Che Din & Nik Ramli bin Nik Abdul Rashid

98. Waqf Implementation in Public Universities from the Legal Perspective 977
Rohayati Hussin & Dr. Rusnadewi Abdul Rashid

99. Tabung Wakaf di Universiti Awam: Sejauh Mana ia Mampu Dilaksanakan dan 983
Dilestarikan?
Rohayati Hussin & Dr. Rusnadewi Abdul Rashid

100. Idea Development Process: Current Trends and Needs in Industry 994
,
Ahmad Fazlan Ahmad Zamri, Fadila Mohd Yusof Azhari Md Hashim, Azmir
Mamat Nawi, Abu Hanifa Ab Hamid & Hasnul Azwan Azizan

101. Transition of Cataloging Standard: Anglo American Cataloging Rules (AACR) to 1002
Resource Description and Access (RDA)
Zuraidah binti Arif, Zati Atiqah binti Mohamad Tanuri, Nordibradini binti Selamat
Rosnita binti Sahrani & Siti Khadijah binti Rafie

102. Network Security Policy: The Challenges and Solutions in an Organization 1010
Jasmin Ilyani Ahmad, Noor Hasnita Abdul Talib, Nor Hafizah Abdul Razak & Nur
Darina Ahmad

103. Auditory-Visual Effect on the Users’ Responses towards the Form Design of Noisy 1016
Product
Abu Hanifa Ab. Hamid, Mohd Hamidi Adha Mohd Amin & Juaini Jamaludin

104. Kempen Makan Malam Tanpa Gajet : Cabaran Komunikasi Kekeluargaan 1028
Anisafina Maidin, Siti Najah Raihan Sakrani, Shafezah Abdul Wahab & Prof
Madya Dr. Mohd Adnan Hashim
 9

105. Gagasan Madrasah al-Zahra’: Reaksi Said Nursi Ke Arah Penubuhan Universiti Islam 1038
di Akhir Kerajaan Uthmaniyah
Dr. Mohd Nasir Ayub, Mohd Marbawi Taha & Surita Hartini Mat Hassan

106. Determinants of Subjective Well-Being: Perspectives of Malay Muslims 1050

Dr. Nor Hafizah Mohamed Harith & Associate Professor Dr Hazizan Md. Noon

107. Knowledge Sharing among Academicians: The Role of the Big Five Personality Traits 1059
Arenawati Sehat Binti Omar & Associate Professor Dr Shahren Ahmad Zaidi
Adruce

108. Human Security as a Bulwark against Terrorism? A Malaysian Perspective 1070

Hj. Ahmad Nazzan bin Abdullah & Nur Mohammad Majumdar

109. Orthodoxies on Whistleblower: Leaving One at the Crossroad 1082

Shahriza Ilyana Ramli, Dr Hafizah Besar Said, Noorayuni Rusli, Diana Hassan &
Azni Syafena Andin Salamat

110. Job Stressors and Job Burnout 1087

Azni Syafena Andin Salamat, Noorlailahusna Mohd Yusof, Syazliyati Ibrahim,
Nurulaini Zamhury & Shahriza Ilyana Ramli
 10

Factors Influencing Malaysian Investors’ Decision

Arifha Binti Mohamad
arifhamohamad@yahoo.com

Dr Nor Suziwana Bt Haji Tahir

suziwana@salam.uitm.edu.my

Dr Yarina Bt Ahmad
yarina@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Investors had to make wise investment decision to achieve both a positive social, cultural,
and environmental benefit and some measure of financial return. In Malaysia, the impact of
downward pressure of the Ringgit and rising local costs might affect the shareholders’
allocation on investments in the country. While there are many factors influencing investment
decision, this paper only concentrates on four main factors of shareholders’ investment in the
international context as well as demonstrated to be as key determinants in the Malaysian
context: accounting information, personal financial needs, gender, and advocate
recommendation. This paper review relevant literatures and reports related to shareholders’
investment decision making and its contributing factors. This paper argues that these four
determinants of shareholders’ investment are important to avoid losses and bankruptcy.

Keywords: shareholders’ investment, accounting information, personal financial needs,

advocate recommendation

INTRODUCTION

China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement 2006 defined investment as every kind of

asset invested by investors of one Party in accordance to laws and regulations of the other
Party. Investment have many categories, which are movable and immovable property and
other property rights such as mortgages, pledges and similar rights; shares, debentures,
stock and any other kind of participation in companies, claims to money or to any other
performance having an economic value associated with an investment; intellectual property
rights, in particular copyrights, patents, trade-marks, trade-names, technical process, know-
how, and good-will; business concessions conferred by law or under contract permitted by
law, including concessions to search for, cultivate, extract or exploit natural resources.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defined investment is the outlay of money usually for income or
profit or capital outlay; the sum invested or the property purchased. Reilly and Brown (2006)
defined investment as a commitment of funds for a period of time in order to derive a rate of
return that will compensate the investor for the time during which the funds are invested, for
the expected rate of inflation during the investment horizon and for the uncertainty involved.
In addition, the term investors defined as a natural persons who have nationality of
either Party in accordance with the laws of that Party; and legal entities, including
companies, associations, partnerships and other organizations, incorporated or constituted
under the laws and regulations of either Party and have their seats in that Party (“Free Trade
Agreement Between The Government Of The Islamic Republic Of Pakistan And The
Government Of The People ’ S Republic Of China,” n.d.).

As mentioned above, there are many categories of investment; however, this paper is
focusing only on the investment of the stocks by the investors in the company. They will
 11

allocate their funding to the companies’ operations and as a return they will receive the
dividends. In order to ensure agents or management of the company will maximize investors’
wealth; investors have to incur costs of monitoring. Agents will be compensated for their
duties to the principals.

TREND OF SHAREHOLDERS’ INVESTMENT

Globalization give impact to the Malaysian economic by such as during the 1997 until
1998 financial crisis was first hit in Thailand and the crisis were spread to other countries
within the East Asian region saw a major meltdown in the Asian Stock Market with Kuala
Lumpur led the highest percentage fall in value of 76%, followed by Jakarta and Philippines
which is 65%, Thailand and South Korea, 64%, Hong Kong, 56% and Singapore which is
58% (Sulong, 2011). Ali et al (2009) also revealed that Malaysian stock market to overreact
after the financial crisis and the phenomena had create awareness to the investors as things
goes back to normal prior to the crisis. Shiller (1999) in Muhammad and Abdullah (2009)
argued that actually investors act irrationally because they were influence by greed and fear,
and during the financial crisis they become enemies to the financial market by speculating
stocks (Sulong, 2011).
Malaysia faced many challenges as it strives towards high income status, but the
challenges had ranked Malaysia from 23 in 2011 to 12 in 2013 in improvement of its Doing
Business. Other than that, Malaysia as its own specialty which is attractiveness location for
investment has increased (“OECD Investment Policy Reviews: Malaysia 2013,” 2013).
According to Dato’ Abdul Rauf Rashid, Assurance Leader of Asean said that Malaysia, being
one of Asia’s dynamic resources is fast emerging as a thriving regional hub for services. Its
geostrategic location at the center of rapid-growth Asian markets has made it a hub for
regional and international trade (KL Calling, n.d). As the economy of Malaysia is growing,
more company are being listed which has contribute to such growth and it would increase
their market value. As at 2016, there are 940 public listed companies in Malaysia
(http://www.bursamalaysia.com). For the first quarter in year 2011, Malaysia had recorded
4.6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. There are two main activities which brought
to the economic growth in Malaysia, namely services and manufacturing with 5.9% and
5.4%, respectively. With the good economic conditions, it will generate and attract more
investors either local or foreign to invest in Malaysia (Wei, 2012).
In Malaysia, the stock market still faces an array of external challenges and global
market changes in the competitive market. For example, there has been a granted deal of
selling by foreign institutional investors attempting to change their funds to cheaper regional
markets. It is still somewhat difficult to attract long-term investment to Malaysia. The
Malaysian stock market can be considered as not fully developed because investors are
believed to overreact to market rumors, economic development, and speculative political
issues (Lai & Low, 2001).

DETERMINANTS OF SHAREHOLDERS’ INVESTMENTS

Accounting Information

According to Encarta Reference Library (2004), accounting is the art of identifying,

measuring, recording and communicating economic information about an organization or
other entity, in order to permit informed judgments by users of the information (“Accounting
Principles And Definitions General Discussion,” n.d.).
According to the Chairman of Malaysia Securities Commission (2007), investors may use
financial statements as a tool for their decision and will always evaluate the quality of
information provided in the statements. Investors will misstated the financial statements if
auditors deliver false information and fraudulent financial reporting will continue to remain
 12

(Fathilatul, Rohami, Zaleha, Wan Nordin, & Faudziah Hanim, 2013). The study to investigate
economic factors influencing equity selection and individual investors’ behavior in the Athens
Stock Exchange showed that the highest significance factor is accounting information
(Merikas et al, 2008). In Malaysia, Ku Nor Izah and Chandler (2005) investigated the
usefulness of annual reports by 78 professional investors in 2001. Based on the findings,
professional investors relying on annual reports for the accounting information rather than
corporate quarterly reports. In Nigeria also showed that factors of past performance of the
company stock, expected stock split or capital increases or bonus, dividend policy, expected
corporate earnings and get-rich-quick, influenced the investment decisions. However, these
accounting information were influenced by gender, age, marital status and educational
qualification of the investors (Obamuyi, 2013). The critical considerations for individual
investors are dividends, expected returns, and firm’s financial stability (Baker & Haslem,
1974).
Financial performance of enterprises concerns shareholders, creditors and their
management in charge. Shareholders will rely on the accounting information to predict the
company’s value and to evaluate the ability of managers to create value (Koka, 2008). There
are three channels through which financial accounting information can affect the
investments, productivity and value-added of firms; to identify promising investment
opportunities, to discipline managers to direct resources toward projects identified as good
and away from projects that primarily benefit managers rather than owners of capital, and to
prevent stealing, and to reduce information asymmetries among investors (Bushman &
Smith, 2003).
Accounting information of the company which composed of balance sheet, income
statement, statement of cash flows and dividends situation are important for the shareholders
to evaluate the financial condition of the company. If the companies have a better financial
situation, the benefits will goes to the shareholders. At the same time, board members will
ensure quality assessment of administration to attract investors.

Personal Financial Need

Personal financial need refer to the management of money and financial decisions for
a person or family including budgeting, investments, retirement planning and investments
(www.yourdictionary.com). Personal finance can be defined as the principles and techniques
of corporate finance in an individual’s money affairs, especially the methods of allocation of
financial resources (http://www.businessdictionary.com).
Hussain and Nasrin (2012) found that company reputation or specific attributes, net
asset value, accounting information, trading opportunity, publicity, ownership structure,
influence of people, and personal financial needs are the most influential factors for individual
investors. Merikas, Andreas, George, and Prasad (2004) investigated the most important
variables to the wealth maximization criteria. It was found that five factors are important to
most stock investors are accounting information, personal financial needs, subjective or
personal, advocate recommendation, and neutral information. Nagy and Obenberger (1994)
investigated factors influencing individual equity investors’ behavior and proved that under
the personal financial needs, the most important criterion is diversification needs, compared
to other variables, namely competing financial needs, and time before funds are needed.
Gnani, Ganesh and Santhi (2012) examined the factors that affect the investor’s
behavior have their intensity to affect. The study used five factors which are self-image or
firm image, accounting information, neutral information, advocate recommendation, and
personal financial needs. They admit that all these variables affect the investor’s decision
makings but with different intensity. Other than that, the empirical factors that influence the
individual investor behavior have varying degree of effects on the investors of Greeks Stock
Exchange. The factors are accounting information, subjective/personal, neutral information,
advocate recommendation, and personal financial needs. This study indicated that
accounting information has significant and personal financial needs have least influence in
Greek (Anna, Andreas, George, & Prasad, 2004).
 13

The importance of personal financial need of investment differs among the

individuals. However, for the long term planning, investment is important for the investor
needs in the future. They should planning for the future return to manage the income
effectively, monitoring the spending pattern, and it can improve overall financial well-being.

Gender

Merriam-Webster defined gender as the subclass within a grammatical class of a

language that is partly arbitrary but also partly based on distinguishable characteristics like
shape, social rank, manner of existence or sex and that determines agreement with and
selection of other words or grammatical forms. Gender also referring to culturally and socially
constructed difference between men and women that varies from place to place and time to
time (http://www.businessdictionary.com). The word gender referring to the classes of noun
designated as masculine, feminine, or neuter in some languages
(https://en.oxforddictionaries.com).
Schmidt & Sevak (2006) stated that women’s investment has historically been lower
than men’s because social and various demographic concerns. The distances remain to be
significant even after controlling for individual characteristics. Kabra, Mishra, and Dash
(2010) examined the factors effecting investment behavior and proved that investors’ age
and gender are the main factors for the risk taking capacity of investors and the modern
investor is a mature and adequately groomed person. In different among Taiwanese
investors, there is no difference by gender to investor propensity to risk. The factors might
impact higher and lower perceptions of risk were influence by personal investment
experience. Investors with high experience in stocks and structured notes were found to
reduce the exposure to the risk. Furthermore, marriage subjects believe to have adequate
financial management knowledge and they tend to make better investment decision making
(Shyan, Gow, and Hui, 2010).
A research about “Gender Differences in Investment Behavior “ conducted at Iowa
State University, showed that there is insignificant of gender differences in this area, but the
significant of the willingness to take risk varied between men and women. Most of the women
preferred taking average or below-average risks compared to men. Furthermore, women are
more likely to have experienced a change in their involvement in investing due to a change in
marital status, the arrival of a child, or death of family member. Men also change in their
investment involvement when they are retired or sudden financial gain. Divorce is the
important factor that can increase financial involvement of women, different from men.
Shanmugsundaram and Balakishnan (2011), Shaikh and Kalkundrikar (2011), Geetha and
Ramesh (2012), Jain and Mandot (2012) found that age, gender, income and education have
an impact to the investors’ preference and attitudes towards investment decisions.
Women and men differed in their use of computer-based investment tools, especially
the Internet. More men than women reported the use of computers and the Internet. Based
on the investment decision-making processes, men were more likely than women to make
investment changes when an investment did not produce an expected return. Other than
that, more women than men were willing to wait it out when investment did not produce
expected results (Hira, 2006)
Gender-based differences are important in the investment decision because men and
women have a different of investment culture. They will invest in the company regarding the
situations like marriage, children, risk aversion and investment tools. So, the companies have
to manage the investment pattern of women and men to ensure they interested to make the
investment and there are no biased for the gender.

Advocate Recommendation
 14

Advocates’ recommendations are classified of recommendation from brokerage

house, recommendation from individual stock broker, and recommendation from friends or
co-workers (Chong & Lai, 2011). According to Association for Progressive Communications
(2014), advocate refers to active support of an idea or cause expressed through strategies
and methods that influence the opinions and decisions of people and organization.
Brijlal (2007) examined the profile and characteristics of individual investor in private
firms on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange. In comparison with the result in 1980s,
individual investor refers to the advocate recommendation from stockbrokers when making
investment decisions because they had more insider information or reliable information.
Investors should do the homework and seek advice from investment professionals
(Laschinger, 2006). In Nigeria, the most factors influencing investors’ decision are motivation
by people who have attained financial security through share investment, future financial
security, recommendations by reputable and trusted stock brokers, management team of the
company, awareness of the prospects of investing in shares, composition of the board of
directors of companies, recent financial performance of the company, ownership structure of
the company, reputable predictions of future increment in share value and bonus payments
(Aregbeyen and Mbadiugha, 2011).
Krishnan and Booker (2002) examined the relationship between analysts’
recommendations to the investors’ decision making to achieve short-term decision to hold or
sell a stock. The recommendations can avoid any disposition error for gains and disposition
error for losses. Tabassum and Pardhasaradhi (2012) had identified 40 attributes that
influence the investor buying decision process. After the factor analysis process, there were
ten factors influencing the behavior of Indian individual equity investors, namely, individual
eccentric, wealth maximization, risk minimization, brand perception, social responsibility,
financial expectation, accounting information, government and media, economic expectation
and advocate recommendation. Fares and Khamis (2011) examined individual investors’
stock trading behavior at the Amman Stock Exchange and proved that four factors that
influenced investors’ trading decisions, which are age, education, accessibility to the internet
and relationship between investor and broker.
Self-image or firm image, accounting information, neutral information, advocate
recommendation and personal financial needs are the factors that affect the investors’
behavior. The result proved that advocate recommendation have least effect on investors
decision making (Gnani, Ganesh, & Santhi, 2012). Iqbal and Usmani (2011) conducted
research on the factors influencing the decision making for Karachi stock exchange. It
showed that investors take family and friends recommendations as well as use accounting
information but most of the investors’ decision is based upon their own will and are not
influenced by any one. Due to that, individual investor lacks skills due to which the decision
making of investors suffers. The research on the factors impact on the investor decision such
as capital structure, political and medical coverage, luck and financial education and trend
analyses in the Nepalese capital market; shows that majority of the investors are youngsters
and they take decision considering the media coverage and friends recommendations as
good source of information (Kadariya, 2012).
Advocate recommendation are important factor for the investment decision making because
evidently, most individual investors do not conduct much systematic analysis when
evaluating which shares to purchase. According to Bartlett and Chandler (1997) and Lee and
Tweedie (1977), individual investors’ lack of investment knowledge is the main reason for the
issue. So as the recommendation from the outsiders that have expertise and adequate
knowledge can help the investors’ decision making.
Although a high number of studies have been conducted (Easley, Hvidkjaer &
O’Hara, 2010; Merikas, Merikas, Voziks, & Prasad, 2008; William, 2007; Nagy &
Obenberger, 1994), literature on individual investors’ behavior in Malaysia is relatively few in
numbers. Thus far, only Chong and Lai (2011) conducted research on the relationships
between factors, namely neutral information, accounting information, social relevance, and
advocate recommendations on individual investors’ behavior in the Malaysian environment
context. Hence, this shortage acts as a primary motivation to examine these factors on how
 15

they influence equity selection process of individual investors. However, this paper aims to
identify the factors influencing Malaysian investors’ decision.

Investment Decision Making

Davidson (2006) found that investors’ investment decision making are motivated by
emotion rather than rational thought and as a consequences, it will give huge impact for the
long-term returns. At first, in the mid-1950s, the emergence of traditional finance theory was
developed by the economist of the University of Chicago. Traditional finance theory assumes
investors will act rationally because when they receive new information, agents will update
their beliefs correctly and agents will make choices that are normatively acceptable (Barberis
& Thaler, 2003). Behavioral finance is emerging fields that combine of behavioral and
cognitive psychology with financial decision making process. It will give impact to the
investment decision making and the rationality in the decision making (Vijaya, 2014).
Frankfurther and McGoun (2002) defined behavioral finance as a part of behavioral
economics, is that branch of finance that, with the help of theories from other behavioral
sciences, particularly psychology and sociology, tries to discover and explain phenomena
inconsistent with the paradigm of expected utility of wealth and narrowly defined rational
behavior. Examples of behavioral biases that impact the irrational financial decisions are
overconfidence and over optimism, representativeness, conservatism, availability bias, frame
dependence and anchoring, mental accounting and regret aversion (Byrne and Brooks,
2008).
Le Phuoc Luong Doan Thi Thu Ha (2011) argued that there are five behavioral
factors affecting the investment decisions of individual investors such as herding, market,
prospect, overconfidence-gamble’s fallacy, and anchoring-ability bias. Sohani Islam (2012)
proved that psychological factor is the most dominating influence upon investor’s decision
making process and micro economic factor and social factor also have influence on selecting
investment securities. Chandra and Kumar (2011) found that some psychological axes have
impact on investor decision making such as conservatism, under confidence, prudence,
precautious attitude and informational asymmetry.
Many researchers (Easley, Hvidkjaer, and O’Hara, 2010; Merikas, Merikas, Voziks,
and Prasad, 2008; William, 2007; Nagy and Obenberger, 1994), had conducted studies on
investors’ behavior, but unfortunately in Malaysia, the study is relatively few in numbers.
According to the study by Lai, Chong and Tan (2010), Malaysian investors behave rationally
than expected. However, the research still needs a lot of improvement in investment decision
making process (Chong & Lai, 2011). Nassir (2002) highlighted some implications of
behavioral finance to the Malaysian stock market. The result proved that irrational decision
making will create mispricing, artificial prices and it will discourage trading among market
participants due to investors’ reluctant to risk their money trading at prices which is
considered too high or far below intrinsic value.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Discussion on Issues and Challenges

In moving forward, it is expected to be increasing pressure on the capital market from

the customer to meet their changing investment needs and preferences. For a long term,
there will be increasing challenges for the capital market to provide efficient returns on capital
invested. Other than domestic investment, the lowering of transaction costs and increasing
disintegration of barriers to cross-border investment are likely to encourage investors to
become increasingly open to investing in different markets and products, especially those
that offer superior value for their investments. Malaysian capital market must be well
prepared for any unexpected changes that will be faced and easily adapting to the enhanced
 16

competitive pressures from external markets. Furthermore, as the increased demand on the
investment management industry, the market for broking services in Malaysia will continue
facing pressure in becoming more competitive and cost-efficient as well because they act as
an intermediary for the investors’ investment transactions. Nowadays, the development of
stockbroking industry is insignificant because of limited competition due to the barriers of
entry and guaranteed revenue structures in the form of fixed brokerage commission rate (Lu
& Seung-Hyun, 2008). In term of knowledge development needs, Malaysia requires a
sufficiently large pool of highly skilled human resources, especially technical financial skills to
develop the capital market. Where Malaysia lacks the necessary expertise, there is a need to
attain sufficient critical mass in these professions in the capital market (Mun-Chow & Su-Fei,
2004).
In Malaysia, the corporate governance should be tightening in every company to
protect the shareholders’ rights. As stated under Companies Act, every director act as the
agent of the company, at all-time should exercise their duties for the proper purpose and in a
good faith for the best interest of shareholders. Strengthening the corporate governance
therefore represents one of the key thrusts to reinforce investor confidence in the Malaysian
capital market. In addition, Securities Commissions (SC) and Minority Shareholders
Watchdog Group (MSWG) was launched the Malaysian Code for Institutional Investors in
2014. The Code is one of the best practices developed by Malaysia’s largest institutional
investors, which is Employment Provident Fund (EPF). The Code was established to ensure
effective stewardship by institutional investors like their disclosures of stewardship policies,
monitoring of and engagement with investee companies and managing conflict of interests
(https://www.sc.com.my).

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, wise investment decision in the appropriate companies can create

various benefits for the shareholders, stakeholders, economic as well as the country. If the
investors can consider the factors of investment decision, they can invest in the large capital
stocks which can provide stability for the shareholders. The stability is due to the large and
well-established reputation with the customers, they are less likely to come across a
business that renders them insolvent or forces them to stop the revenues. Other than that,
shareholders will get stable dividend payments. As well-established companies, the stock
prices of the companies are not typically slated for high rates of growth over time. However, if
there is slow rapid growth of stock price, companies will tend to pay dividends for their
shareholders frequently. Last, shareholders and creditors can easily monitor the company
operations and profitability levels if the companies have long business tenure. Public
companies are required to provide shareholders and potential shareholders with accurate
and periodic financial statements, which allowing them to determine which companies are
worth for the investments.
Companies should encourage shareholder investment because to date, the only form
of shareholder activism in Malaysia is the MSWG. Companies should ensure market
disclosure or transparency to the shareholders and the public. There are various regulations
that imposed law on market disclosure, namely Companies Act 1965, Capital Markets and
Services Act 2007, Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market Listing Requirements, and Malaysian
Code on Corporate Governance 2012. Capital Market Masterplan 2 (CMP2) had outlined 6
governance strategies to manage the investors’ risks to protection and stability. The
strategies are enhance product regulation to manage the risk, expand accountabilities as
intermediation scope widens, robust regulatory framework for a changing market landscape,
effective oversight of risks, strengthen corporate governance, and broaden participation in
governance (https://www.sc.com.my).
This paper argues that these four determinants of shareholders’ investment are
important to avoid losses and bankruptcy because it can provide investment information for
the wise decision making. The factors will determine which of the companies should be
 17

invested by the investors in line with their situations. For the new investors that are interested
in the investment, expert recommendation can give advice and opinion about the investment
scenario. The most important thing is investors as the owner of the company get the
adequate return from their investment.

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 21

Pengaruh Identifikasi Parti Dan Politik Pembangunan Dalam Pilihan

Raya Kecil (PRK) Parlimen Sungai Besar dan Kuala Kangsar 2016
Junaidi Awang Besar
Pusat Penyelidikan Kelestarian Sosial, Persekitaran dan Pembangunan
(Social, Environmental and Developmental Sustainability - SEEDS),
Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor
jab@ukm.edu.my

ABSTRAK

Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Parlimen (P093) Sungai Besar dan P067 Kuala Kangsar pada 14
Jun 2016 (hari mengundi awal) dan 18 Jun 2016 (hari mengundi biasa) merupakan pilihan
raya yang sesuai untuk melihat reaksi pengundi terhadap senario politik semasa tanah air
yang sedang bergolak sama ada pada pihak Barisan Nasional (BN) mahupun parti-parti
pembangkang iaitu Pakatan Harapan (PH) yang dianggotai PKR, DAP dan AMANAH dan
juga Blok Ketiga (PAS dan IKATAN). PRK ini diadakan berikutan kematian kedua-dua ahli
parlimen BN yang terlibat dalam nahas helikopter ketika PRU DUN Sarawak pada Mei 2016.
Justeru adalah menjadi tujuan kajian ini untuk mengkaji pengaruh identifikasi parti dan politik
pembangunan dalam PRK Parlimen Sungai Besar, Selangor; dan Parlimen Kuala Kangsar,
Perak. Metod atau data kajian ini diperoleh melalui pemerhatian di lapangan, analisis data
primer keputusan PRK di kedua-dua kawasan parlimen tersebut dan sumber sekunder
daripada buku-buku akademik, artikel jurnal dan kertas seminar/prosiding yang berkaitan.
Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa BN terus mengekalkan ‘status quo’ kerana faktor
identifikasi parti dan mentaliti politik pembangunan yang menebal dalam pemikiran pengundi
di kedua-dua kawasan tersebut. Pertandingan tiga penjuru yang mengakibatkan perpecahan
parti-parti pembangkang antara PH dengan PAS turut memberi kelebihan kepada BN untuk
terus kekal dengan pertambahan majoriti yang lebih tinggi. Namun begitu jika dilihat kepada
keputusan PRK mengikut kawasan daerah mengundi majoriti etnik tertentu serta lokasi
geografi (bandar-luar bandar) jelas menunjukkan pola pengundian yang berlaku adalah mirip
keputusan PRU 2013 sebelumnya. Faktor PRK yang diadakan pada bulan puasa, pengundi
luar yang tidak pulang mengundi, perpecahan undi pembangkang, protes penyokong parti
masing-masing turut mempengaruhi peratusan keluar mengundi seterusnya keputusan dan
pola pengundian. Justeru, semua parti politik perlu mengambil iktibar terhadap keputusan
dan pola pengundian sedemikian untuk merangka stategi politik yang mantap bagi
memenangi hati pengundi menuju PRU-14 akan datang.

Kata kunci: Pilihan Raya Kecil, Parlimen, identifikasi parti, politik pembangunan, status quo.

Effect of the Party Identification and Political Development in

By-Election of Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar Parliamentary Seat
2016

ABSTRACT

By-election of Parliamentary (P093) Sungai Besar and (P067) Kuala Kangsar on June 14,
2016 (the day of early voting) and 18 June 2016 (the day of voting common) is an election
that correspond to see the reaction of voters to the current political scenario in the country
troubled either on the Barisan Nasional (BN) and the opposition parties of Pakatan Harapan
(PH) comprising PKR, DAP and AMANAH and also Third Block Party (PAS and IKATAN).
This by-election was held following the death of the two BN MPs were involved in a
 22

helicopter crash during the Sarawak state assembly election in May 2016. Thus it is the
purpose of this study to investigate the influence of party identification and political
development in parliamentary by-election of Sungai Besar, Selangor; and Parliamentary seat
of Kuala Kangsar, Perak. Methods or data was collected through field observations, data
analysis of primary election results in both constituency and secondary sources of academic
books, journal articles and conference papers/proceedings related. The results showed that
BN continues to maintain the ‘status quo’ because the factor of party identification and
political development mentality thickened in the thinking of voters in both those areas. Three-
cornered fight which resulted in a split between opposition parties like PH and PAS with even
more favorable to the BN to remain with the higher majority. However, given the results of
the election by the majority vote of certain ethnic and geographic location (urban-rural)
clearly indicate the voting pattern that occurs is similar to the results of previous election in
2013. The by-election held during the fasting month, voters who did not go vote, split the
opposition vote, protest supporters of their party also influence voter turnout and voting
patterns subsequent decisions. Therefore, all political parties need to take heed to the
decisions and the voting pattern so as to formulate a robust political strategy to win the
hearts of voters towards the coming GE14.

Keywords: election, parliament, party identification, political development, status quo

PENGENALAN

Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Parlimen P093 Sungai Besar, Selangor dan P067 Kuala
Kangsar, Perak diadakan berikutan kematian serentak kedua-dua ahli Parlimen (YB Dato’
Noriah Kasnon – Sungai Besar dan YB Datuk Wan Mohammad Khair-Il Anuar Wan Ahmad –
Kuala Kangsar) dalam nahas helicopter terhempas di Sungai Saratok, Sebuyau ketika
kempen PRU DUN Sarawak pada Mei 2016. Kekosongan kerusi Parlimen luar jangka yang
berlaku di kedua-dua kawasan menyebabkan PRK perlu diadakan sebelum Jun iaitu 2 tahun
sebelum PRU akan datang. Kedua-dua PRK ini diadakan serentak pada 18 Jun 2016 ketika
umat Islam menyambut bulan Ramadan iaitu sebulan berpuasa. Pilihan raya ini dilihat
sebagai ujian dalam menilai pengaruh BN, PH dan PAS setelah beberapa isu nasional yang
menggegarkan negara iaitu isu 1MDB, isu cukai GST, krisis kepemimpinan UMNO serta
perpecahan pakatan parti pembangkang yang menyaksikan PAS keluar daripada Pakatan
Rakyat (PR) dan PR dijenamakan semula kepada Pakatan Harapan (PH) yang dianggotai
PKR, DAP dan PAN/AMANAH yang merupakan parti serpihan PAS. Kawasan Parlimen
Sungai Besar dan Parlimen Kuala Kangsar sesuai dilabelkan sebagai ‘kubu kuat’ BN/UMNO
kerana sejarah keputusan pilihan raya umum di kawasan ini menunjukkan Perikatan/BN
menang dengan ‘bersih’ dalam kesemua 13 kali pilihan raya umum di kedua-dua kawasan
tersebut. Keadaan ini dapat dikaitkan dengan faktor identifikasi parti dan sentimen politik
pembangunan yang kuat kepada BN/UMNO oleh majoriti pengundi di kawasan ini.
Kemudian, keputusan PRK di kedua-dua kawasan Parlimen menyaksikan BN menang
dengan majoriti yang lebih besar kerana perpecahan undi parti-parti pembangkang,
pengundi luar yang majoritinya pro-pembangkang tidak pulang mengundi dengan
sebahagian pengundi keliru dan sudah bosan dengan pergolakan yang berlaku dalam
pakatan parti pembangkang yang menyebabkan sama ada mereka tidak mengundi,
membuat undi rosak ataupun kembali mengundi BN. Justeru dengan berfaktorkan pengaruh
identifikasi parti dan politik pembangunan dalam mempengaruhi kemenangan BN dalam
kedua-dua PRK maka analisis impak faktor akan digarap dalam kertas kerja ini dengan
melihat keputusan yang lebih mendalam iaitu berdasarkan kawasan daerah mengundi,
lokasi geografi, etnik dan kelas ekonomi akan dikaitkan dengan mendalam.
 23

METOD KAJIAN

Data primer diperoleh melalui score sheet/helaian mata data keputusan PRU 2013
dan PRK 2016 di kawasan Parlimen Sungai Besar dan Kuala Kangsar, pemerhatian di
lapangan iaitu situasi ketika kempen dan kerancakan perang bendera dan poster di kesemua
kawasan Daerah Mengundi Parlimen Sungai Besar dan Kuala Kangsar serta pengumpulan
data sekunder daripada penyelidikan di perpustakaan (buku, laporan/terbitan berkala dan
jurnal), bahan-bahan bercetak, akhbar dan maklumat atas talian iaitu laman web dan blog.

KAWASAN KAJIAN

Kawasan kajian ini ialah di Parlimen P093 Sungai Besar, Selangor dan P067 Kuala
Kangsar, Perak. Kawasan Parlimen Sungai Besar terletak di negeri Selangor Darul Ehsan,
bersempadankan dengan kawasan Parlimen Sabak Bernam di utara, Parlimen Hulu
Selangor di timur dan Parlimen Tanjong Karang di selatan. Kawasan Parlimen Sungai Besar
berkeluasan 609.26 km persegi (Lihat Rajah 1 - Peta kawasan Daerah-Daerah Mengundi
dalam Parlimen Sungai Besar, Selangor).

Rajah 1: Peta Kawasan Daerah-Daerah Mengundi dalam Parlimen Sungai Besar,

Selangor
 24

Kawasan Parlimen Sungai Besar mempunyai 30 Daerah Mengundi iaitu di DUN

Sungai Panjang yang mengandungi Daerah Mengundi Parit 16-Belia 2, Parit 13-15 Sungai
Panjang, Parit 6-12 Sungai Panjang, Parit 2-5 Sungai Panjang, Pekan Sungai Besar, Bagan
Sungai Besar, Parit 1 Timur, Sungai Limau, Sungai Haji Dorani, Peket Enam Puluh, Simpang
Lima, Parit 13 Sungai Nipah, Sungai Nipah, Sungai Nibong, Pasir Panjang Tengah, Pasir
Panjang Selatan, Taman Berkat, Parit 6-12 Timur, Kampung Baharu Nelayan; dan di DUN
Sekinchan yang mengandungi Daerah Mengundi Sungai Leman Bendang Utara, Sungai
Leman Bendang Tengah, Sungai Leman Bendang Selatan, Sungai Leman Kampung Darat,
Sungai Leman Kampung Laut, Sekichan Selatan, Sekinchan Tempatan Selatan, Sekinchan
Tempatan Tengah, Sekinchan Tempatan (Site B) dan Kian Sit (Lihat Rajah 1 - Peta kawasan
Daerah-Daerah Mengundi dalam Parlimen Sungai Besar, Selangor). Parlimen Sungai Besar
mempunyai 42,655 pemilih berdaftar dengan 42,365 pemilih biasa, 286 pengundi awal dan 4
pemilih tidak hadir luar negara. Kawasan ini mempunyai 66.89 peratus etnik Melayu, 31.04
peratus Cina, 1.85 peratus India dan 0.22 peratus etnik-etnik lain. Petugas pilihan raya di
kawasan ini ialah 928 orang.
Kawasan Parlimen Kuala Kangsar pula terletak di negeri Perak Darul Ridzuan,
bersempadankan dengan kawasan Parlimen Padang Rengas di utara, Parlimen Tambun
dan Batu Gajah di timur, Parlimen dan Parlimen Parit dan Beruas di selatan dan Parlimen
Bukit Gantang di barat (Lihat Rajah 2 - Peta kawasan Daerah-Daerah Mengundi dalam
Parlimen Kuala Kangsar, Perak). Kawasan Parlimen Kuala Kangsar berkeluasan 577.47 km
persegi.

Rajah 2: Peta Kawasan Daerah-Daerah Mengundi dalam Parlimen Kuala Kangsar, Perak
 25

Kawasan Parlimen Kuala Kangsar mempunyai 26 Daerah Mengundi iaitu di DUN

Bukit Chandan yang mengandungi Daerah Mengundi Jalan Kangsar, Jalan Datoh, Jalan
Dato Sagor, Kampong Talang, Kampong Pajak Potong, Kampong Lembah Sayong, Bukit
Resident, Bukit Chandan, Bendang Kering, Menora, Senggang, Seberang Manong dan
Bekor; dan DUN Manong yang mengandungi Daerah Mengundi Taman Bunga Raya, Talang
Hulu, Jalan Baharu, Bendang Panjang, Jerlun, Kampong Mesjid, Kampong Ketior, Ulu
Kenas, Lempor, Kampong Jeliang, Manong, Kampong Semat dan Ulu Piol. Parlimen Kuala
Kangsar mempunyai 32,949 pemilih berdaftar dengan 32,632 pemilih biasa, 312 pengundi
awal dan 5 pemilih tidak hadir luar negara. Kawasan ini mempunyai 67.96 peratus etnik
Melayu, 23.94 peratus Cina, 6.96 peratus India dan 1.14 peratus etnik-etnik lain. Petugas
pilihan raya di kawasan ini ialah 594 orang.

KAJIAN LEPAS: POLITIK DAN PILIHAN RAYA DI SELANGOR DAN PERAK

Kajian lepas mengenai pilihan raya Selangor sudah banyak dijalankan, namun
begitu, kebanyakan kajian yang dijalankan tidak menyeluruh terhadap geografi politik.
Keadaan ini menyebabkan maklumat berkaitan geografi politik sukar diperolehi kerana
hanya sedikit maklumat yang ada. Kajian lepas yang akan dihuraikan dalam bab ini
merangkumi kajian lepas mengenai politik antarabangsa, politik Malaysia dan juga politik,
pemerintahan serta pilihan raya di Selangor.
Seterusnya untuk kajian politik dan pilihan raya di Selangor dan juga di DUN Kajang,
Hashim (1994) dalam kajian ragam pengundi Melayu bandar dan luar bandar di Kajang dan
Dengkil mendapati terdapat tiga fenomena ragam pengundi Melayu iaitu kekal sebagai
penyokong setia BN, sebilangannya telah menukar sokongan kepada pembangkang dan
peratus mengundi yang rendah di bandar. Pengundi Melayu menjadi sasaran meraih
sokongan undi parti-parti yang bertanding dan perpaduan pengundi Melayu menjamin
kemenangan dan kesinambungan pemerintahan BN sejak sekian lama. Sikap pengundi
Melayu dalam membuat perkiraan parti yang hendak disokong adalah lebih kepada
kestabilan masyarakat dan negara serta parti daripada bangsa calon sendiri.
Mohd Fuad (1996) dalam kajian pungutan pendapat awam di kawasan Parlimen
Tanjung Karang, Selangor semasa pra-pilihan raya 1990 dan pilihan raya umum 1995
mendapati bahawa dapatan dari hasil kajian menepati keputusan pilihan raya umum yang
sebenar. Golongan tentera mempunyai pandangan yang positif terhadap agenda dan
perkembangan politik negara. Leow (2001) dalam kajian pilihan raya 1999: tingkahlaku
pengundi Cina di Sri Kembangan, Selangor mendapati faktor media massa, faktor sistem
kepercayaan atau sikap politik dan faktor isu politik telah membantu pengundi mencorak
keutamaan mereka iaitu mengawal kerajaan dan pembangunan tempatan yang berkesan.
Wan Surianni (2002) mendapati pengundi di mukim Kajang, Selangor mengikuti
perkembangan semasa dan bersetuju dengan perubahan yang dilakukan oleh SPR ke atas
daftar pemilih. Penghijrahan penduduk sebenarnya tidak memberi kesan kepada
pengurusan sistem pendaftaran pemilih dan pilihan raya. Chamil (2006) mendapati
perjuangan UMNO di Selangor dalam membela Melayu sehingga PRU 2004 diterima rakyat
Selangor dengan baik kerana pengalaman dalam memerintah negeri ini sejak merdeka
hingga PRU 2004 dan menunjukkan politik permuafakatan yang diamalkan BN diterima
rakyat dan sesuai dengan keadaan politik di Salangor dan juga di peringkat nasional.
Ibrahim (2008) dalam kajiannya ke atas 300 responden yang meliputi kawasan
bandar, pinggir bandar dan luar bandar di Selangor merekodkan beberapa permasalahan
asas kehidupan rakyat yang akhirnya membawa kepada kemenangan pakatan
pembangkang di Selangor seperti isu peningkatan kos sara hidup, pemotongan subsidi, hak
orang Melayu dan permasalahan sosial. Kesemua perkara ini diberi perhatian yang tinggi
oleh pengundi di Selangor berbanding janji pembangunan fizikal yang dibawa oleh BN.
Selain itu, kajian Ibrahim juga mendapati sikap pengundi Selangor terhadap parti dan
orientasi ideologi yang didokong parti adalah lebih utama berbanding faktor peribadi calon
yang bertanding. Ini kerana kebanyakan pengundi masih terikat kuat dengan semangat
 26

kepartian dan melihat seorang calon hanya sebagai wakil rakyat atau agen parti. Oleh sebab
itu, beberapa tindakan kerajaan yang dilihat menafikan hak parti pembangkang untuk
bertanding secara adil dalam pilihan raya telah membawa kepada ketidakpuasan dan
simpati rakyat Selangor terhadap mereka. Undi protes yang dilakukan oleh kelompok atas
pagar berkenaan hal ini ternyata memberi keuntungan besar buat pembangkang.
Mohd Fuad dan Junaidi (2009) dan Mohd Fuad et al. (2009) melalui kajian
“Pemerintahan Pakatan Rakyat (PR): Kajian Pungutan Pendapat di Kalangan Kakitangan
Awam, Negeri Selangor Darul Ehsan” dalam dapatan kajiannya menunjukkan bahawa 58.8
peratus menyatakan mereka memperoleh sumber maklumat politik daripada akhbar harian
perdana seperti Berita Harian, Utusan Malaysia dan New Straits Times. Terdapat 25.6
peratus menyertai parti politik sebagai ahli. 56.9 peratus menyatakan mereka suka memilih
muka baru dalam kepemimpinan negeri dan negara dan 52.9 peratus berpuas hati dengan
keputusan pilihan raya umum 2008. Namun, 65.6 peratus responden menyatakan mereka
tidak gembira dengan pemerintahan kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat di negeri Selangor. Mereka
yakin dengan kepimpinan kerajaan negeri tetapi tidak yakin dengan dasar yang diamalkan
oleh kerajaan negeri Selangor yang sedia ada yang dilihat lebih menguntungkan sesuatu
pihak. Rahman (2009 dan 2012) menyatakan politik permuafakatan antara kaum masih
sesuai diamalkan di Malaysia memandangkan kemajmukan etnik di negara ini dan formula
BN adalah kaedah terbaik dalam menyatukan kaum di negara ini.
Junaidi dan Mohd Fuad (2010) dalam kajian persepsi terhadap kepimpinan nasional
dan Kerajaan Negeri Selangor mendapati majoriti responden berpendapat bahawa tampuk
pemerintahan di negeri Selangor masih boleh dikuasai oleh Pakatan Rakyat, namun begitu
ia amat bergantung kepada isu semasa menjelang PRU ke-13 kelak. Ini kerana terdapat
sebahagian besar pengundi yang diklasifikasikan sebagai ‘atas pagar’ serta tidak
mempunyai pendirian tetap dan masih menilai prestasi kepimpinan negeri dalam memenuhi
janji-janji PRU ke-12 dahulu. Namun begitu, masih terdapat kelemahan pada pemerintahan
kerajaan negeri dari segi percanggahan pendapat sesama pemimpin Kerajaan Negeri dan
mekanisme pelaksanaan yang dilihat tidak efisien dan ini mengakibatkan munculnya
pelbagai isu berbangkit di negeri Selangor. Di peringkat Nasional pula, majoriti responden
terus menyokong Barisan Nasional untuk menerajui negara.
Junaidi et al. (2010) dalam kajian pilihan raya kecil di Parlimen Hulu Selangor
mendapati dari segi kriteria pemilihan calon, 81.7 peratus responden menyatakan mereka
memilih calon yang mesra rakyat. Parti yang memperjuangkan isu pembangunan dan
kemiskinan menjadi pilihan utama mereka (75.3 peratus). Majoriti responden menyokong,
menghayati dan memanifestasi konsep “1 Malaysia: Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian
Diutamakan” dan menyatakan prestasi kepimpinan Kerajaan Persekutuan berada pada
tahap memuaskan. Mereka juga menyokong aspirasi kerajaan dalam memantapkan agenda
pembangunan negara dan berpandangan Indeks Petunjuk Prestasi Utama (KPI) untuk wakil
rakyat dan menteri akan mempengaruhi sokongan rakyat terhadap kerajaan. Hasil kajian
juga mendapati 43.10 peratus responden menyatakan akan mengundi BN berbanding 34.00
peratus PKR. Dapatan kajian tersebut selaras dengan keputusan sebenar pilihan raya yang
memihak kepada BN sebanyak 1725 undi majoriti.
Mohd Faidz dan Junaidi (2010) mendapati pola pengundian kaum Melayu
menentukan kemenangan sesuatu calon pada PRK Parlimen Hulu Selangor. Budaya politik
Melayu juga mempengaruhi pola pengundian mengikut daerah/peti undi kawasan majoriti
pengundi Melayu dan faktor kemenangan calon BN di Hulu Selangor. Isu moral calon PKR
dan keceluparan pemimpin PAS ketika mengeluarkan kenyataan semasa kempen PRK Hulu
Selangor memberi kelebihan kepada BN kerana budaya politik Melayu tidak mengingkari
dan menderhaka kepada Sultan. Selain itu, melalui ciri agama Islam pula menunjukkan calon
PKR yang mempunyai masalah moral yang lampau seperti yang digambarkan oleh pihak
media juga memberi kelebihan kepada BN kerana dalam budaya politik Melayu, Islam
menjadi asas dalam pembentukan budaya politik Melayu.
Dalam konteks politik bandar di Malaysia terutamanya di kawasan Lembah Klang
iaitu di negeri Selangor, hasil daripada PRU 2008, isu-isu nasional dalam pilihan raya umum
2008 seperti kos sara hidup, konsumerisme, keselamatan, integriti, kehakiman, kedudukan
 27

kepentingan strategik negara serta isu-isu menyentuh hak asasi manusia telah menjadi
perkiraan rakyat terutamanya pengundi bandar berbanding habuan pembangunan mega
melalui pelancaran koridor-koridor ekonomi. Satu pandangan yang agak popular
menyatakan bahawa penggunaan internet sebagai media alternatif amat berkesan dalam
menentukan arah tuju keputusan pengundian. Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-12 bukanlah julung-
julung kalinya internet digunakan sebagai landasan berkempen calon. Walaupun internet
mula digunakan sebagai satu media alternatif sejak Pilihan Raya Umum 1999,
keberkesanannya tidak diberi perhatian yang sewajarnya, lantaran keputusan pemilihan
yang memihak kepada kemenangan dua pertiga parti pemerintah Barisan Nasional (BN)
(Fernando 2011).
Junaidi et al. (2011) dalam kajian budaya politik Melayu dalam PRK Parlimen Hulu
Selangor mendapati dari segi kriteria pemilihan calon, 81.7 peratus responden menyatakan
mereka memilih calon yang mesra rakyat. Hasil kajian juga mendapati 43.10 peratus
responden menyatakan akan mengundi BN berbanding 34 peratus PKR. Dapatan kajian
tersebut selaras dengan keputusan sebenar pilihan raya yang memihak kepada BN
sebanyak 1725 undi majoriti. Perbandingan pola pengundian dan majoriti yang diperolehi
calon/parti yang bertanding berdasarkan keputusan PRU 2004 hingga PRK 2010 mengikut
daerah mengundi yang majoritinya pengundi Melayu menunjukkan kesemuanya berpihak
kepada BN. Secara keseluruhannya politik Melayu berperanan penting dalam kemenangan
BN di Hulu Selangor dan faktor sokongan pengundi Melayu juga mempengaruhi pola
pengundian bagi etnik Melayu berdasarkan kepada lima ciri budaya politik Melayu iaitu
Sultan/Raja, Islam, Bahasa Melayu, ekonomi dan universal (politik baru).
Kedudukan kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat Selangor yang berhadapan dengan pelbagai
cabaran dalaman dan luaran juga dibincangan oleh Syed Husin (2011) di dalam tulisnya
yang berjudul Cabaran Politik Dan Pentadbiran Di Selangor. Cabaran dalaman yang
dimaksudkan termasuklah masalah yang timbul dari dalam PKR dan kepimpinan kerajaan
negeri sendiri, manakala cabaran luaran merujuk kepada peranan media dan masalah
pentadbiran yang ditinggalkan oleh kerajaan terdahulu. Mengikut Syed Husin, munculnya
masalah ini adalah disebabkan terdapat sebahagian pemimpin akar umbi yang merasakan
mereka layak diberi tempat dan kontrak bertindak meninggalkan parti apabila tidak mencapai
hasrat yang dinginkan. Mereka melihat Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim lebih sanggup untuk
memilih mereka yang berkelayakan di luar parti dengan mengetepikan ahli parti sendiri. Dari
sudut kelemahan kepimpinan kerajaan negeri pula, Syed Husin melihat Khalid yang terlibat
lama dalam dunia pengurusan korporat cenderung mentadbir kerajaan negeri seperti sebuah
organisasi korporat, tidak seperti sebuah parti politik yang sepatutnya menjaga kepentingan
rakyat dan pengikutnya. Kekurangan pengalaman juga memberi kesan kepada proses
membuat keputusan, apatah lagi masih terdapat dalam kalangan mereka yang bertindak
seperti kumpulan pembangkang, bukan kerajaan yang memerintah.
Noorun Nashriah (2011) telah membuat kajian bagaimana strategi kepimpinan ahli
politik wanita dalam kempen Pilihan Raya Umum ke 12 di Selangor. Dalam pilihan raya
umum 8 Mac 2008 menyaksikan penyertaan tertinggi wanita dalam sejarah Pilihan Raya
Umum Malaysia di mana seramai 87 calon wanita bertanding di peringkat Dewan Undangan
Negeri (DUN) manakala 43 lagi di peringkat parlimen. Hasilnya, 24 calon wanita menang di
peringkat Parlimen atau (10.8 peratus) berbanding dengan 21 orang (10.5 peratus) pada
Pilihan Raya Umum 2004 dan 20 orang (10.4 peratus) pada Pilihan Raya Umum 1999.
Walaupun peningkatan penyertaan calon wanita di Parlimen dan DUN tidak begitu
memberangsangkan iaitu kurang dari satu peratus dari 1999 ke 2004 dan peningkatan satu
peratus dari 2004 ke 2008, namun ada beberapa faktor menarik mengenai penyertaan
wanita dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke 12 dan seterusnya mengenai komposisi wanita di
Parlimen dan DUN. Gelombang kebangkitan rakyat di Malaysia selepas Pilihan Raya Umum
ke 12 dijangka mengubah proses serta halatuju politik negara Malaysia. Begitu juga dengan
sikap dan peranan wanita dalam politik yang pasti akan merubah proses penggubalan polisi
awam di Malaysia. Ini akan menjejaskan proses penggubalan polisi awam di Malaysia.
Proses sosialisasi politik calon wanita Pakatan Rakyat, misi dan visi serta isu-isu yang
diperjuangkan semasa dan selepas Pilihan Raya Umum ke 12 yang diperoleh menerusi
 28

temubual yang dijalankan ke atas ke lima-lima orang YB tersebut. Tidak ketinggalan strategi
pilihan raya yang digunakan oleh calon wanita PKR dan corak kepimpinan baru khusus
kepimpinan wanita.
Fairol (2011) dalam kajian ‘Transformasi Kepimpinan Masyarakat Selangor’
mendapati keputusan Pilihan Raya ke 12 telah dianggap sebagai tsunami politik di Malaysia.
Walaupun BN masih memengang Dewan Rakyat dan negeri-negeri lain di Malaysia,
peratusan undi yang diperolehinya merosot. Situasi di Selangor pula merupakan satu kejutan
yang amat drastik. Tiada diduga dalam perkiraan politik, yang Selangor akan jatuh ke parti
pembangkang. Pembangkang yang diketuai oleh PKR, DAP dan PAS tiba-tiba mempunyai
cengkaman yang kukuh untuk memerintah dan membentuk kerajaan di Selangor. Setelah
tiga tahun berlaku sejak pilihan raya 2008, pelbagai usaha serta gemblengan tenaga telah
dicurahkan oleh pemimpin Barisan Nasional khususnya UMNO. Sehubungan itu, kajian telah
dijalankan bagi mendapatkan gambaran serta persepsi masyarakat Selangor tentang
keupayaan Pakatan Rakyat memerintah serta harapan yang dijulang oleh BN untuk
mendapatkan kembali negeri Selangor pada pilihan raya ke 13. Kajian yang melibatkan
sejumlah 9590 pengundi di Selangor secara tidak langsung telah memberi gambaran
mengenai trend atau kecenderungan pengundi di 12 kawasan parlimen dan 26 Dewan
Undangan Negeri. Secara keseluruhannya harapan BN untuk mendapatkan tampuk
pemerintahan di Selangor masih berada di atas pagar.
Khalid (2011) dalam tulisannya Dasar Sosial Kerajaan Pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat juga
memperincikan mengenai pelbagai aspek negeri berkebajikan yang dilaksanakan oleh
kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat Selangor. Antaranya termasuklah skim pemberian 20 meter padu
air percuma, membantu golongan miskin, terpinggir, warga tua, orang kelainan upaya dan
mangsa keruntuhan rumah tangga, serta meghidupkan semula nilai hidup berkeluarga.
Selain itu, dasar sosial kerajaan negeri Selangor turut memberi penekanan kepada usaha
pembangunan potensi anak muda, mendokong nilai keadilan, hormat-menghormati dan
toleransi antara agama, serta mengikis amalan perkauman yang menjadi asas pentadbiran
terdahulu. Sebagaimana tulisan Tricia Yeoh sebelumnya, tulisan Khalid hanya memberi
gambaran positif kemajuan sosio ekenomi yang telah dibawa oleh pentadbiran kerajaan
Pakatan Rakyat di Selangor.
Junaidi et al. (2012a) dalam kajian persempadanan semula bahagian pilihan raya di
DUN Kajang, Selangor mendapati persempadanan semula kawasan pilihan raya 2003
menyebabkan berlakunya perubahan bilangan pemilih secara keseluruhan, perubahan
bilangan pemilih mengikut kaum, perubahan kedudukan dan pertambahan serta
pengurangan daerah mengundi, pertambahan kerusi DUN/konstituensi, perubahan
kedudukan DUN dalam kawasan Parlimen dan memberi kesan terhadap keputusan pilihan
raya. Persempadanan semula menyebabkan DUN Kajang dibahagikan kepada 2 kawasan
iaitu DUN Kajang dan DUN Bangi dan digunapakai dalam Pilihan Raya Umum 2004 dan
2008. Persempadanan semula tersebut juga memberi kesan kepada keputusan pilihan raya
umum 2004 di kawasan kajian dengan memberi kelebihan kepada parti peneraju Kerajaan
Negeri dan Persekutuan iaitu Barisan Nasional (BN) namun ia berubah pada Pilihan Raya
Umum (PRU) 2008 di mana masing-masing parti PKR dan PAR menang di DUN Kajang dan
DUN Bangi.
Junaidi et al. (2012b dan 2012c) mendapati persempadanan semula kawasan pilihan
raya 2003 di Kajang dan Bangi, Selangor memang memberi kesan kepada keputusan PRU
2004 iaitu memberi kelebihan kepada parti pemerintah. Namun pada PRU 2008 calon PAS
dan PKR telah memenangi masing-masing kerusi DUN Bangi dan Kajang kerana terkesan
oleh pelbagai isu nasional dan krisis kepemimpinan BN. Impak gerrymandering
persempadanan semula kawasan pilihan raya terhadap keputusan pilihan raya yang
menyebelahi pemerintah umumnya hanya bersifat sementara sahaja. Kuek (2012) dalam
kajian pilihan raya kecil Parlimen Hulu Selangor, Selangor 2010 mendapati kemenangan BN
dalam pilihan raya kecil tersebut dipengaruhi oleh sentimen politik pembangunan yang
diamalkan oleh BN melalui penganugerahan projek-projek oleh Kerajaan Persekutuan serta
mendapat sokongan yang baik daripada pengundi Melayu terutamanya di kawasan FELDA
di Hulu Bernam dan Batang Kali.
 29

Keith (2012) dalam bukunya The Future of Pakatan Rakyat: Lessons from Selangor
pula menilai perkembangan dan cabaran yang dihadapi oleh pakatan politik pembangkang di
negeri Selangor. Pada peringkat awal penulisannya, beliau melihat kemenangan besar
pembangkang dalam PRU ke-12 adalah disebabkan oleh transformasi politik yang berlaku
dalam ketiga-tiga komponen parti tersebut sebelum mereka membentuk pakatan politik lagi.
PKR yang terbentuk hasil gabungan Parti Keadilan dan PRM berjaya menghilangan imej
‘bekas UMNO’ pada parti pimpinan Wan Azizah itu, disamping mengelak dari bersifat etnik
dan eksklusif. Kemasukan ramai aktivis masyarakat sivil, peniaga dan profesional muda ke
dalam DAP pula menghapuskan imej vernakular Cina yang tebal di dalam parti tersebut.
Malah, PAS juga tidak terkecuali melakukan transformasi politik apabila memperjuangkan
demokrasi Islam, good governance dan konsep negara berkebajikan. Sifat PAS yang dilihat
lebih lembut ini bukan sahaja menarik penyertaan golongan moderat dan profesional, malah
berjaya mendekatkan kelompok bukan muslim kepada parti itu sehingga tertubuhnya Kelab
Penyokong PAS.
Tricia (2012) dalam bukunya States of Reform: Governing Selangor and Penang
menganalisis secara kritikal pelbagai polisi dan program pembangunan yang berjaya
dilaksanakan di dua buah negeri pimpinan kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat iaitu Selangor dan
Pulau Pinang. Hasil kajian beliau menemuai tiga kemajuan penting yang telah dilaksanakan
oleh pakatan tersebut di Selangor, iaitu meliputi aspek pembangunan demokrasi,
perkhidmatan awam dan pengurusan ekonomi. Pembangunan demokrasi dapat dilihat
menerusi tindakan DUN untuk mewujudkan kebebasan maklumat 2010. Selain itu, terdapat
juga usaha untuk menghidupkan kembali pilihan raya Majlis Perbandaran Negeri,
mengadakan pilihan raya ketua kampung di tiga buah kampung baru Cina dan pemilihan ahli
jawatankuasa masjid secara demokrasi. Penubuhan Selangor Select Committe on
Competency, Accounntability and Tranparency (SELCAT) juga membuktikan usaha keras
kerajaan negeri dalam memastikan elemen semak dan imbang sebagai salah satu prinsip
penting demokrasi.
Mohammad Redzuan dan Amer Saifude (2013) dalam kajian politik dan
pemerintahan Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat di Selangor selepas 2008 mendapati pentadbiran
dan pengurusan kerajaan PR Selangor pada masa kini amat berbeza dengan kerajaan BN
yang memerintah sebelum ini. Ketelusan, efisien dan integriti kerajaan PR Selangor telah
membawa negeri ke tahap yang lebih baik. Umpamanya dalam pengurusan kewangan,
Laporan Ketua Audit Negara mencadangkan kerajaan Selangor meneruskan perbelanjaan
berhemat dan berusaha mengutip baki pinjaman tunggakan bayaran pinjaman yang boleh
dituntut. Kedudukan kewangan Selangor juga memuaskan apabila Kumpulan Wang
Disatukan Kerajaan Negeri meningkat sebanyak 20.2 peratus daripada RM1,319.97 juta
pada tahun 2009, kepada RM1,586.88 juta pada tahun 2010. Selain itu juga, Akaun Hasil
Disatukan Kerajaan Negeri pada tahun 2010 menunjukkan surplus yang berjumlah RM
124.24 juta. Begitu juga dengan prestasi kewangan jabatan dan agensi kerajaan negeri
menunjukkan prestasi yang menggalakkan. Pada tahun 2010, empat negeri yang
menunjukkan prestasi yang menggalakkan. Pada tahun 2010, empat agensi kerajaan negeri
iaitu Perbendaharaan Negeri, Majlis Perbandaran Bandar dan Desa berada pada tahap yang
sangat baik, 11 agensi berada pada tahap baik dan stu agensi pada keadaan yang
memuaskan. Laporan Ketua Audit Negara 2010, mempamerkan kerajaan PR Selangor
dapat melaksanakan pemerintahan dan pentadbiran negeri dengan efektif.
Pada masa sekarang, emosional sokongan rakyat dan pengundi di Selangor masih
bersama pihak PR apabila dilihat mampu melaksanakan beberapa perubahan dalam
pentadbiran dan melunaskan janji-janji Pilihan Raya Umum yang lepas. Walau
bagaimanapun dalam sistem Pilihan Raya yang diamalkan negara, first-past-the-post,
sokongan popular pengundi sahaja tidak dapat membantu secara langsung kepada
penguasaan kerajaan Negeri. Ia masih tertakluk kepada bilangan kerusi yang dimenangi
oleh parti-parti politik untuk menentukan parti politik yang dapat menguasai sesebuah
Kerajaan Negeri. Parti polilitik yang mendapat paling banyak kerusi dalam Pilihan Raya akan
membentuk kerajaan. Penguasaan kerusi pula banyak bergantung kepada pembentukan
kawasan Pilihan Raya yang berasaskan kepada komposisi etnik dalam kawasan pengundian
 30

tersebut. Ini menyebabkan keputusan Pilihan Raya menyerlah fenomena politik etnik yang
menjadi asas kepada perlaku pengundian dalam negara.
Azrai (2013) mendapati kesepakatan dan kerjasama politik Pakatan Rakyat di
Selangor secara umumnya adalah baik. Beberapa koflik dalaman yang tercetus dilihat
berpunca daripada persaingan politik peribadi, pertentangan idea dan cara serta kerendahan
moral sesetengah pimpinan sendiri. Walau bagaimanapun, kelemahan-kelemahan tersebut
tidak menghalang usaha pembangunan sosial politik dan ekonomi negeri seperti mana yang
mereka janjikan, dengan mengambil kira aspirasi rakyat Selangor yang inginkan perubahan.
Mohd Hasbie (2013) mendapati kejayaan PR mengekalkan kemenangan di Selangor
disebabkan faktor rekod cemerlang kepemimpinan Menteri Besar Selangor Pakatan Rakyat
iaitu Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim yang berjaya meningkatkan pendapatan negeri di samping
bersikap anti-kronisme dan anti-favouritisme dalam pengagihan projek kerajaan negeri
kepada kontraktor. Siti Zanariah dan Ahmad Nizar (2013) dalam kajian politik Selangor
dalam PRU 2013 mendapati BN tewas di kawasan bandar sama ada majoriti etnik Melayu,
Cina dan juga India seterusnya mendapat sokongan penuh daripada pengundi golongan
pertengahan. Ini menunjukkan pengundi sudah mula menolak politik perkauman dalam BN
dan mula menerima politik merentas kaum yang diperjuangkan Pakatan Rakyat.
Wong (2014) dalam kajian PRU 2013 di kawasan Parlimen Pandan, Selangor
mendapati senario keputusan PRU 2013 di Parlimen Pandan menunjukkan berlakunya
dinamika baru politik bandar di negara ini. Ini kerana majoriti ketiga-tiga etnik (Melayu, Cina
dan India) menolak calon MCA/BN daripada etnik Cina termasuk etnik Cina sendiri
disebabkan isu nasional iaitu tawaran manifesto PR yang lebih menarik serta keinginan
untuk mencuba pemerintahan baru selain BN.
Mohd Fuad et al. (2014) dalam kaji selidik terhadap 300 orang responden di kesemua
16 Daerah Mengundi dalam PRK DUN Kajang mendapati bagi jenis kempen, manifesto parti
dan calon menjadi medium utama dalam mempengaruhi sokongan responden kepada parti
politik dalam PRK DUN Kajang. Isu-isu yang dicanangkan dalam kempen serta dibualkan
oleh pengundi di DUN Kajang ialah isu perletakan jawatan ADUN Kajang, isu pergolakan
dalaman PKR Selangor, isu pentadbiran Kerajaan Negeri Selangor, isu air, isu sosial, isu
pembangunan dan isu alam sekitar. Keseluruhannya, persepsi terhadap dasar-dasar
Kerajaan Negeri dan Kerajaan Pusat adalah positif namun pengundi mengharapkan agar isu
ekonomi iaitu isu kenaikan harga barangan dan peluang pekerjaan dapat ditangani oleh
pihak yang berwajib agar kehidupan mereka lebih baik. PRK DUN Kajang juga
memperlihatkan pengekalan ‘status quo’ iaitu kemenangan kepada PKR kerana impak
keputusan PRU 2013 masih baru dan terkesan oleh pengundi di DUN Kajang.
Syed Arabi (2014) dalam kajian “Pengundi dan Isu dalam Pilihan Raya Kecil DUN
Kajang 2014 mendapati majoriti pengundi menyatakan bahawa PRK adalah wajar diadakan
demi menentukan negeri Selangor tidak terjatuh ke tangan BN. Isu yang dimainkan oleh
media berbeza dengan apa yang dianggap penting oleh pengundi. Bagi pengundi di DUN
Kajang, mereka menganggap bahawa negara menghadapi masalah ekonomi dan jenayah.
Pada peringkat kawasan, pengundi menyatakan bahawa masalah infrastruktur dan
pembangunan menjadi isu utama. Dari segi kepimpinan, majoriti pengundi berpuas hati
dengan Menteri Besar Selangor. Bagi soalan pemilihan parti pula mendapati bahawa
responden dalam tahap pertama dan kedua menyatakan bahawa pilihan parti mereka ialah
PKR.
Araf (2014) dalam artikel beliau yang dimuatkan dalam majalah Dewan Masyarakat
keluaran November mengenai perlantikan Mohamed Azmin Ali sebagai Menteri Besar
Selangor yang baru menggantikan Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim menyatakan rakyat
Selangor sedang memerhatikan tindakan dan polisi beliau terhadap pentadbiran negeri
Selangor. Antara cabaran untuk beliau atasi dengan baik, berhemah dan bijaksana ialah
Belanjawan Negeri Selangor 2015, bayangan Anwar Ibrahim dalam pentadbiran negeri
Selangor, pengurusan pengaliran rizab kewangan negeri yang berjumlah kira-kira RM 3
bilion, perbelanjaan pembangunan yang berhemah, isu perjanjian penstrukturan semula air
dengan Kerajaan Persekutuan, cabaran membentuk keharmonian dalam kalangan pemimpin
dan ahli PKR, PAS dan DAP serta impak pengurangan jumlah EXCO PAS dalam
 31

pentadbiran beliau. Beliau perlu mentadbir mengikut acuan sendiri, bukannya dibayangi
Anwar Ibrahim serta mengenepikan ego politik demi mewujudkan keharmonian politik,
ekonomi dan sosial di negeri Selangor.
Muhammad Hazim et al. (2016) dalam kajian mengenai reaksi rakyat Selangor
mengenai senario semasa politik pasca PRU 2013 menuju PRU-14 akan datang di kawasan
DUN Teratai, Parlimen Pandan, Selangor mendapati bahawa isu ekonomi merupakan isu
terpenting yang perlu ditangani oleh Kerajaan. Bagi isu domestik, isu gangguan bekalan air
boleh menjejaskan sokongan rakyat kepada Kerajaan Selangor. Sebaliknya responden
bersetuju dengan dasar-dasar Kerajaan Pusat yang mementingkan kebajikan rakyat seperti
pemberian BR1M, rumah mampu milik, bantuan kepada pelajar sekolah dan universiti. Oleh
itu, pengundi di Selangor mementingkan kerajaan yang mengutamakan kebajikan rakyat di
samping inginkan kerajaan yang telus, adil dan berintegriti.
Bagi kajian politik dan pilihan raya di Perak pula, Junaidi dan Mohd Fuad (2009); dan
Junaidi et al. (2010) berpendapat Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Parlimen Bukit Gantang yang
diadakan pada 7 April 2009 kerana kematian penyandangnya iaitu Roslan Shaharum
daripada PAS dapat dijadikan pungutan suara rakyat sama ada menerima atau sebaliknya
terhadap penubuhan kerajaan baru Negeri Perak dibawah pemerintahan BN. Hasil kajian
menunjukkan hampir 100 peratus responden etnik Melayu, Cina dan India menjadikan
televisyen sebagai sumber utama maklumat politik mereka. Dari segi kriteria calon pula,
responden Cina menyatakan mereka memilih calon yang mesra rakyat berbanding Melayu
dan India. Responden Melayu, Cina dan India bersetuju bahawa mereka tidak merestui wakil
rakyat mereka berhenti dan melompat parti. Persoalan mengenai krisis perlembagaan negeri
Perak memperlihatkan responden Melayu lebih cenderung menyokong Institusi Raja dan
sebaliknya bagi responden Cina dan India.Ketiga-tiga kaum bersetuju Perdana Menteri
Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Haji Abdul Razak akan dapat menerajui pembangunan
negara dengan lebih inovatif dan progresif. Kuek (2012) dalam kajian PRK Parlimen Bukit
Gantang, Perak mendapati sokongan padu pengundi Cina di samping kekecewaan pengundi
terhadap peristiwa rampasan kuasa kerajaan negeri Perak oleh BN menjadi faktor utama
kemenangan PAS dalam PRK tersebut.
Junaidi & Mohd Fuad (2013) dalam kajian PRK kawasan Parlimen Bukit Gantang,
Perak mendapati bahawa antara faktor-faktor penyebab BN menang di kawasan Melayu
pada PRK ini ialah krisis politik dan perlembagaan di Perak. Orang Melayu tidak setuju
dengan Pakatan Rakyat kerana kritikan Karpal Singh (DAP) dan Dato’ Seri Mohammad
Nizar Jamaluddin (PAS) terhadap Sultan Perak kerana tindakan ini dianggap tidak
menghormati Artikel 16 (6) Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri Perak iaitu Kuasa Sultan Perak
dalam memutuskan perlantikan Menteri Besar Perak. Dalam hal tersebut, saman difailkan
oleh pihak Pakatan Rakyat (PR) di Mahkamah Tinggi Ipoh pada hari Selasa, 10 Februari
2009 kerana perlantikan Dr. Zambry Abdul Kadir (BN) tidak sah kerana wujud 2 menteri
besar dalam satu masa dan menimbulkan krisis Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan Undang-
undang Tubuh Kerajaan Negeri Perak.
Sultan Azlan Shah diberi kuasa melalui Undang-Undang Tubuh Negeri Perak dan
memilih Dr. Zambry Abdul Kadir (BN) sebagai Menteri Besar Perak yang baru. Ini kerana BN
telah mendapat majoriti mudah dalam DUN Perak setelah 3 orang ADUN Pakatan Rakyat
mengisytiharkan diri mereka sebagai ADUN Bebas menyokong BN. Orang Melayu tidak rela
Sultan mereka disaman dan dipertikaikan oleh semua pihak. Pola pengundian di kawasan
majoriti Cina menunjukkan pengundi Cina memberi kepercayaan kepada calon PAS yang
berketurunan campuran Melayu-Cina (Mohd Nizar Jamaludin) yang juga merupakan Bekas
Menteri Besar Perak daripada Pakatan Rakyat untuk mewakili mereka di kawasan masing-
masing. Selain itu, pengundi Cina berpegang kepada prinsip Pakatan Rakyat yang
beranggapan PRK ini sebagai sebagai referendum terhadap Barisan Nasional yang dituduh
Pakatan Rakyat sebagai mengambil alih kerajaan negeri secara tidak demokratik.
Amir Hasan (2013) dalam kajian pola pengundian di Perak dalam pra PRU-13
menjelaskan bahawa adalah sukar untuk membuat ramalan parti yang bakal menang besar
pada PRU-13 di Perak. Namun kemenangan parti politik yang bertanding sangat bergantung
kepada faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi corak pengundian iaitu faktor politik dalaman
 32

Perak dan juga politik kebangsaan. Amer Saifude (2013) dalam kajian pola pengundian PRK
Parlimen Bukit Gantang menjelaskan bahawa kemenangan PAS dalam PRK tersebut
disebabkan peristiwa semasa sosiopolitik Perak iaitu disebabkan peralihan kuasa daripada
Kerajaan PR kepada Kerajaan BN-UMNO tanpa mendapat mandat rakyat yang telah
mengecewakan sebilangan kelompok pengundi dan disifatkan sebagai lambang kerakusan
BN-UMNO.
Junaidi et al. (2014) dalam kajian PRK Parlimen Teluk Intan mendapati secara
keseluruhannya sokongan pengundi di kawasan ini dipengaruhi oleh ‘pilihan rasional’. Ini
kerana berdasarkan pemerhatian di lapangan melalui senario kempen dan penerimaan
pengundi ketika itu menunjukkan majoriti pengundi di kawasan Parlimen Teluk Intan
mengundi calon atau parti yang dapat membawa perubahan dan pembangunan yang lebih
baik terutamanya pengundi daripada etnik Melayu dan India. Manifesto calon BN bagi
pengundi lebih realistik kerana BN menguasai Kerajaan Negeri Perak yang berkuasa
terhadap tanah dan Kerajaan Persekutuan yang mempunyai peruntukan kewangan yang
besar. Tiga fokus utama calon BN (Mah Siew Keong) adalah untuk membangunkan Teluk
Intan meliputi infrastruktur, pelancongan dan masyarakat setempat.
Beliau pernah menjadi Ahli Parlimen di sini tetapi nasib tidak menyebelahi beliau
apabila tewas pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-12 tahun 2008. Ketika menjadi Ahli Parlimen,
banyak rancangan telah beliau buat dan sebahagian besar telah dilaksanakan. Oleh itu jika
beliau terpilih kali ini, semua rancangan yang tergendala itu akan diteruskan. Sepanjang
enam tahun di bawah kuasa DAP, tidak banyak yang telah dilakukan untuk pembangunan
bandar ini termasuklah rakyatnya. Teluk Intan telah jauh ketinggalan dalam pembangunan.
Infrastruktur asas seperti jalan raya dan kebersihan terus diabaikan akibat tiada kerjasama di
antara pihak berkuasa tempatan dan Ahli Parlimen. Dari sudut pelancongan, beliau
menyimpan hasrat untuk memastikan Menara Condong Teluk Intan disenaraikan sebagai
tapak warisan dunia UNESCO dan ini hanya akan dapat dilakukan jika beliau terpilih sebagai
Ahli Parlimen Teluk Intan.
Selain itu, lebih banyak pusat komuniti akan dibina di setiap kampung dan taman
perumahan untuk meningkatkan taraf hidup rakyat di Teluk Intan. Pusat-pusat komuniti ini
akan memudahkan interaksi lebih mesra dengan rakyat selain memenuhi keperluan semua
penduduk. Untuk generasi muda, lebih banyak zon internet tanpa wayar akan disediakan
untuk menggalakkan lebih ramai anak muda yang celik internet bagi merapatkan jurang di
antara kawasan bandar dan luar bandar. Perkara-perkara lain yang menjadi intipati dalam
manifesto beliau ialah memantapkan seterusnya melakukan transformasi industri lokal iaitu
pertanian dan IKS, merancang pembinaan kompleks sukan bersepadu di Changkat Jong
dan Pasir Bedamar, menambah gelanggang futsal 1 Malaysia, sebuah universiti untuk Teluk
Intan, rumah mampu milik melalui PR1MA dan bekalan air serta saliran yang mantap. Janji
atau manifesto beliau tersebut diyakini pengundi seterusnya mendapat kepercayaan
pengundi dalam PRK Parlimen Teluk Intan yang lalu dengan kemenangan kepada BN.
Reema (2014) dalam kajian PRU-13 di kawasan Parlimen Lumut, Perak menjelaskan
bahawa kemenangan calon Melayu PKR di kawasan tersebut disebabkan sokongan
pengundi Melayu kepada calon tersebut kerana calon BN adalah daripada etnik Cina.
Siti Noranizahhafizah & Jayum (2016) dalam kajian keputusan PRU 2013 di negeri
Perak menjelaskan bahawa pada PRU 2013 yang lalu, BN menang di negeri Perak dengan
kedudukan yang sengit seperti PR pada PRU 2008. Kedudukan ini dilihat agak goyah kerana
sekiranya berlaku perubahan kedudukan beberapa kerusi, parti yang pemerintah boleh jatuh
seperti yang berlaku kepada PR selepas PRU 2008. Pada bila-bila masa krisis politik yang
berlaku pada tahun 2009 boleh berulang dan memihak kepada PR pula. Secara
keseluruhannya, PR sememangnya bertambah kuat berbanding PRU 2008, namun masih
ada lagi kerusi yang belum boleh ditembusi PR dan masih lagi mampu dikuasai dengan
mudah oleh BN. BN pula dilihat semakin hilang sokongan di kawasan majoriti pengundi
Cina. PR pula perlu memantapkan lagi permuafakatan antara parti yang bernaung di bawah
pakatan tersebut khususnya persefahaman tentang pembahagian kerusi. Selain daripada
Terengganu yang dimenangi BN dengan majoriti tipis dan mengakibatkan berlakunya
 33

kegoyahan pemerintahan, Perak kekal menjadi sebuah lagi negeri yang berpotensi untuk
terlibat dalam krisis politik.

ISU-ISU

Terdapat 2 isu yang menjadi kebiasaan dalam kempen setiap kali berlangsungnya
sesuatu pilihan raya iaitu isu nasional dan isu tempatan. Pasca PRU 2013 menyaksikan isu
nasional yang dicanangkan oleh parti-parti politik yang bertanding ialah isu 1MDB, isu GST,
serta isu tadbir urus Kerajaan Persekutuan manakala isu-isu tempatan atau isu-isu
‘kampung’ adalah isu infrastruktur seperti masalah keadaan jalan; infrastruktur fasiliti seperti
sekolah, balai raya, kemudahan sukan, surau dan masjid; isu kos sara hidup seperti hasil
pendapatan dan pekerjaan.
Bagi isu di kawasan Parlimen Sungai Besar, antara isu yang menjadi bualan
pengundi ialah isu pendidikan bagi golongan belia. Selain pendidikan asas yang disediakan,
pengundi mendakwa sejak sekian lama hanya Pusat GiatMara yang dilihat sebagai pilihan
belia di Parlimen itu. Jelas mereka, kolej komuniti dan politeknik yang berada di daerah
tersebut pula diisi pelajar luar yang akhirnya tidak menyumbang balik kepada belia di situ.
Selain peluang pendidikan atau program latihan berterusan untuk golongan tersebut,
Parlimen itu juga memerlukan kawasan perindustrian yang menawarkan peluang pekerjaan,
hasil tarikan pelaburan luar ke daerah itu. Dengan kewujudan perkara seumpamanya, belia
di daerah itu tidak hanya akan merancakkan sektor pertanian yang sudah mula diceburi
golongan itu, malah akan lebih berdaya saing untuk pembangunan sahsiah diri. Penekanan
kepada isu belia ini dilihat tidak hanya refleksi pada sesebuah daerah malah negeri secara
keseluruhan tanpa sebarang pilih kasih.
Bagi isu hartanah dan nasib nelayan, penduduk Sungai Besar bertambah dari tahun
ke tahun dan tentunya hal memiliki kediaman menjadi perkara penting dalam senarai
mereka. Dalam isu projek perumahan, timbul rengusan dalam kalangan penduduk setempat
yang resah mengenai harga rumah yang tinggi. Penduduk mendakwa harga RM300,000
hingga RM400,000 bagi sebuah rumah adalah tidak sepadan dengan pendapatan penduduk
dan mendakwa harga terbabit diletakkan atas keputusan kontraktor dan bukannya kerana
nilai tanah yang tinggi. Isu nelayan Melayu juga perlu dititikberatkan dan ia bukanlah isu
baharu. Perlu dilihat siapa peraihnya, bagaimana perbezaan harga jika nelayan bukan dari
kalangan kumpulan peraih. Di pasar, perlu juga dilihat secara keseluruhan prosesnya yang
bermula dari peraih, pemborong hinggalah kepada peruncit dan peniaga. Isu pengagihan
kawasan memukat ikan di laut turut disuarakan penduduk yang akhirnya menjuruskan
kepada soal kesamarataan. Secara keseluruhan, kesemua isu yang dibangkitkan hanyalah
menyentuh di permukaan isu sebenar yang dibangkitkan penduduk. Sebagai cadangan,
calon-calon yang bertanding juga perlu dekati golongan petani dan pesawah yang selama ini
keluhan mereka mungkin terlepas pandang.
Bagi isu-isu di kawasan Parlimen Kuala Kangsar pula, sejak kempen bermula 5 Jun,
parti atau calon yang bertanding dalam PRK Parlimen Kuala Kangsar yang berhadapan BN
seolah-olah ketandusan idea dan tiada kedengaran parti lawan mengetengahkan sebarang
isu ‘janji manis’ pembangunan di kawasan Parlimen ini yang gagal dilakukan BN.
Sebaliknya, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) dilihat terlalu bergantung kepada sekutu
mereka dalam Pakatan Harapan iaitu Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) dan DAP, dengan
mengulang-mengulang skrip sama yang dicanang oleh kedua-dua parti itu. Tanpa memberi
perhatian dan membangkitkan isu-isu kepentingan penduduk setempat, parti pembangkang
lantang melaung-laungkan isu nasional seperti Cukai Barang dan Perkhidmatan (GST),
1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) dan dana RM2.6 bilion pada setiap kempen mereka.
PAS dilihat kekal komited dengan isu hudud mereka ketika berkempen. Calon Bebas iaitu
Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary yang turut mencuba nasib dalam PRK ini pula hanya
memanaskan suasana apabila mengeluarkan kenyataan bahawa golongan wanita tidak
boleh menggalas tugas sebagai pemimpin, suatu kenyataan yang hanya memperkecilkan
kaum hawa.
 34

Sikap menyalahkan kerajaan dalam isu pembangunan dilihat sebagai cara mudah
untuk menarik perhatian atau mendapat sokongan rakyat dan pengundi sewaktu kempen
pilihan raya, walaupun banyak usaha giat dilakukan Kerajaan BN. Situasi yang menjadi
kebiasaan itu tidak berlaku dalam kempen PRK Parlimen Kuala Kangsar kali ini, malah tiada
langsung cadangan daripada parti lawan BN untuk usaha dan agenda pembangunan yang
akan dilakukan jika mereka menang. Hakikatnya di Parlimen Kuala Kangsar, tiada masalah
dalam isu pembangunan, malah kerajaan Persekutuan dan Negeri Perak sentiasa
memastikan Parlimen itu dan dua kawasan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) iaitu Manong
dan Bukit Chandan terus maju dan rakyat hidup sejahtera. Sewaktu awal kempen ada usaha
pihak tertentu membangkitkan isu pembinaan Jambatan Manong tetapi ia menjadi cerita
lapuk apabila Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak baru-baru ini meluluskan
peruntukan RM43.5 juta bagi pembinaan jambatan itu menyeberangi Sungai Perak, yang
menghubungkan Kampung Seberang Manong ke Pekan Manong. Adakah usaha keras BN
di Parlimen Kuala Kangsar selama ini dan masih berterusan berjaya menenggelamkan pihak
pembangkang dan memberi keyakinan pada pengundi bahawa hanya BN sahaja mampu
membawa pembangunan kepada rakyat?
Menelusuri kemajuan pembangunan di kedua-dua DUN dalam Parlimen Kuala
Kangsar tidak dinafikan usaha kerajaan negeri dan Persekutuan membuahkan impak
pembangunan membanggakan. Penduduk di kawasan berkenaan ternyata menikmati
limpahan manfaat termasuk daripada aspek pendidikan, sosial serta ekonomi. Projek terbaru
yang siap dilaksanakan di DUN berkenaan adalah Dataran Amanjaya Manong dengan
peruntukan RM2.5 juta. Kerajaan negeri juga telah meluluskan RM800,000 untuk
membangunkan kawasan pesisiran sungai di Manong sebagai kawasan rekreasi. Selain itu,
perancangan sedang dibuat untuk membangunkan rumah mampu milik bagi generasi kedua
di Kampung Manong dan Guar Manong selain membaik pulih jalan raya terutama di Jalan
Manong-Kuala Kangsar.
Tidak ketinggalan, DUN Bukit Chandan turut menikmati limpahan pembangunan
terutama dalam aspek pendidikan. Kerajaan Persekutuan membeli tanah seluas 20 hektar
bagi membina tiga sekolah di DUN itu, masing-masing Sekolah Kebangsaan, Sekolah
Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) dan SMK Agama. Proses pembelian tanah telah selesai dan
peruntukannya akan diperoleh tidak lama lagi. Pembinaan ini bagi memenuhi tuntutan
komuniti di Bukit Chandan yang semakin bertambah. Kerajaan negeri memperuntukkan
sebanyak RM3 juta untuk membina jambatan kedua di Sungai Cermin demi kepentingan dan
keselamatan pengguna jalan raya. Bagi memberi nafas baharu kepada kawasan lembah
Kuala Kangsar, Pejabat ADUN Bukit Chandan bersama Majlis Perbandaran Kuala Kangsar
(MPKK) merancang untuk membangunkan kawasan itu sebagai taman tema air. Ia masih
dalam peringkat perbincangan dan pelan perancangan itu telah dikemukakan kepada pihak
berkuasa dan pimpinan tertinggi untuk peruntukan. Kemudahan seperti dewan, masjid dan
surau sudah dilaksanakan. Selain itu, bilik kecemasan di Hospital Kuala Kangsar akan dinaik
taraf melibatkan kos kira-kira RM7 juta manakala perancangan untuk membina sebuah lagi
klinik kesihatan di Kuala Kangsar turut mendapat kelulusan dan pembinaannya diunjur
menelan kos RM30 juta.
Bagi orang luar yang berkunjung ke Parlimen Kuala Kangsar, mereka akan melihat
sendiri bahawa aspek kemudahan dan infrastruktur di Kuala Kangsar bukanlah satu isu
besar. Jika ada yang berpendapat terdapat kekurangan dalam soal pembangunan, ia bukan
bermakna tiada usaha daripada kerajaan, tetapi kerana agenda pembangunan dilakukan
secara berperingkat-peringkat. Timbalan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid
Hamidi sewaktu dalam lawatan ke Parlimen Kuala Kangsar baru-baru ini berkata
kemenangan calon BN dalam PRK Parlimen Kuala Kangsar akan meneruskan
kelangsungan pembangunan di kawasan itu. Katanya kerajaan sentiasa mendengar keluh-
kesah penduduk kawasan itu, namun mereka perlu secara nyata membuktikan sokongan
kepada kerajaan bagi menjayakan pelbagai program yang dirancang.

KEPUTUSAN
 35

BN mengekalkan kemenangan di Parlimen Sungai Besar dengan majority yang

meningkat kepada 9,191 undi. Calon BN (UMNO) iaitu Budiman Mohd Zohdi, 44 tahun
memperoleh 16,800 undi; calon AMANAH iaitu Azhar Abdul Shukur mendapat 7,609 undi;
manakala calon PAS iaitu Dr. Abdul Rani Osman memperoleh 6,902 undi. BN juga berjaya
mengekalkan status quo di Parlimen Kuala Kangsar
apabila Datin Mastura Yazid, 55 tahun (UMNO-BN) menang dengan memperoleh
12,653 undi menewaskan Dr Najihatussalehah Ahmad, 50 tahun (PAS) dengan 5,684 undi;
Dr. Ahmad Termizi Ramli, 61 tahun (AMANAH) dengan 4,883 undi; dan Izat Bukhary Ismail
Bukhary (BEBAS) yang hanya mendapat 54 undi. Majoriti yang dimenangi calon BN ialah
6,969 undi.

FAKTOR KEMENANGAN BN DAN KEKALAHAN PARTI PEMBANGKANG:

IDENTIFIKASI PARTI DAN POLITIK PEMBANGUNAN SERTA FAKTOR-FAKTOR LAIN

Terdapat beberapa faktor yang memberi kemenangan kepada BN seterusnya

kegagalan parti pembangkang yang dirangkumkan secara menyeluruh. Namun terdapat 2
faktor utama yang mempengaruhi sokongan pengundi secara majoritinya kepada BN iaitu
faktor identifikasi parti dan sentimen politik pembangunan. Sepertimana sedia maklum,
kawasan Parlimen Sungai Besar dan Kuala Kangsar merupakan kubu kuat BN yang dikuasai
parti pemerintah Kerajaan Pusat tersebut sejak sebelum merdeka (1955) hinggalah PRU
2013. Pengundi di kedua-dua kawasan tersebut mempunyai identifikasi parti iaitu sokongan
kepada PERIKATAN/BN sejak turun temurun sama ada kerana faktor pengaruh ataupun
ikutan kekeluargaan mahupun semangat perkauman Melayu yang kuat. Dalam beberapa
pertemuan dengan pengundi di kedua-dua kawasan tersebut, mereka menyatakan akan
terus mengundi BN walau apapun isu dan sesiapapun calon kerana mereka setia dengan
parti yang didokong dan bergantung harap parti tersebut di samping mereka beranggapan
bahawa hanya BN/UMNO yang dapat memperjuangkan nasib dan hak orang Melayu
daripada diganggu-gugat oleh bangsa dan pemimpin asing.
Identifikasi parti merujuk ikatan dan kesetiaan kepada parti dan atas dasar inilah
maka sesuatu parti dipilih dalam pilihan raya. Kesetiaan itu pula melalui proses sosialisasi
politik iaitu proses yang menurunkan dan menamakan nilai dan normal daripada satu
generasi kepada generasi yang lain. Oleh kerana adanya penurunan nilai itu. Maka terdapat
kecenderungan parti yang disokong oeh anak adalah sama parti ibu-bapa mereka. Oleh itu
menurut Campbell et al. (1960) lebih lama seseorang telah mengidentifikasikan dengan
sesuatu parti maka kesetiaannya kepada parti berkenaan semakin kuat.
Teori Identifikasi Parti paling popular dalam mentafsir tingkah laku mengundi pada
tahun 1950-an dan 1960-an. Di kebanyakan negara demokrasi liberal, kestabilan dan
perubahan yang menjadi ciri tingkah laku pengundi dan pelbagai tinjauan telah menunjukkan
tahap ketaatan yang tinggi kepada parti politik yang tertentu. Identifikasi lahir daripada
perlakuan sebenar pengundi dan ia stabil jika tiada tekanan jangka pendek atau isu-isu
besar. Walaupun demikian, pada tahun 1980-an jelas menunjukkan bahawa tingkah laku
pengundi yang berasaskan ketaatan kepada parti politik bukan merupakan penjelasan yang
meyakinkan. Ahli sains politik kini memperkatakan penyisihan partisan, iaitu ketaatan
ataupun pertalian yang erat kepada parti tertentu sudah merosot.
Menurut Butler dan Rose (1957), teori ini cuba menghuraikan hubungan taat setia
yang berterusan terhadap sesebuah parti sehingga pengundi mengidentifikasikan dirinya
dengan parti berkenaan walaupun ia mungkin tidak pernah menjadi ahli parti yang disokong
itu. Sikap mengsosialisasikan diri dengan sesebuah parti ini terbina oleh beberapa faktor,
antaranya adalah peranan yang dimainkan oleh keluarga dan persekitaran sosial
seseorang. Unsur imej dan rasa lebih hampir dengan sesebuah parti politik akan membentuk
sikap identifikasi parti dan seterusnya mempengaruhi corak perlakuan pengundi.
Menurut Riley (1988), ketaatan politik terhadap sesebuah parti banyak ditentukan
oleh persekitaran seseorang itu dibesarkan dan dididik. Proses pendidikan ini akan
mengakibatkan terbinanya imej-imej tertentu dalam minda seseorang individu dan imej-imej
 36

ini akan dikaitkan dengan institusi dan parti-parti politik tertentu. Dalam konteks ini, imej
sesebuah parti lebih mempengaruhi sikap terhadap parti dan penentuan pilihan mengundi
berbanding dengan dasar yang dibawa oleh parti berkenaan.
Menurut Mckay (1993), identifikasi parti dan fenomena ketaatan terhadap sesebuah
parti politik bermula sejak zaman kanak-kanak dan seterusnya kekal hingga sepanjang
hayat. Menurut Harrigon (1987), tingkah laku mengundi seseorang akan didorong oleh
pengaruh jangka pendek dan jangka panjang. Dalam jangka pendek, perlakuan mengundi
akan ditentukan oleh isu dan daya tarikan calon. Apabila kedua-dua unsur ini dicantumkan
dengan identifikasi parti, maka pilihan pengundi akan menjadi semakin mudah dilihat
kecenderungannya. Namun Harrigon menegaskan bahawa dalam jangka panjang, corak
pengundian akan ditentukan oleh identifikasi parti, agama, kaum dan kelas masyarakat.
Staber (1987) turut menegaskan bahawa dalam model identifikasi parti klasik, isu politik
hanya dapat mempengaruhi pengundi dengan kadar yang minimum sekali (Ahmad Fawzi et
al. 1995).
Budge et al. (1976) mengandaikan bahawa kebanyakan pengundi merasakan
kemestian untuk mengundi parti yang diwarisi dari keluarga mereka. Perasaan ini tetap
kekal sepanjang hayat mereka tanpa mengira kepimpinan parti. Walau bagaimanapun
sebilangan pengundi yang bertukar identifikasinya adalah disebabkan kurangnya pengaruh
keluarga, perbezaan dengan kumpulan terdekat, kelas sosial, ekonomi dan politik. Parti
politik boleh didefinisikan sebagai kumpulan dalam negeri yang ahli-ahlinya bergabung untuk
menguasai pemerintahan dan memerintah sesebuah negara. Definisi parti politik
berdasarkan kepada tujuh perkara iaitu
1. Aktor sebagai pemimpin parti
2. Tindakan atau aktiviti dalam parti
3. Tujuan sebagai contoh parti untuk menguasai negara.
4. Lapangan
5. Menyenaraikan fungsi fungsi eksekutif.
6. Meringkaskan struktur-strukturnya.
7. Kegiatan yang dimainkan oleh parti.
Menurut Sigmund Neuman, parti politik sebagai organisasi yang berkaitan dengan
organisasi politik, masyarakat perantaraan, sesiapa yang mempunyai kaitan dengan kawalan
kuasa, kerajaan dan sesiapa yang bertanding untuk mendapatkan sokongan dari kumpulan
lain. Dalam definisinya, beliau menekankan organisasi dimana organisasi ini direka untuk
menguasai kerajaan dan bertanding dengan kumpulan lain. Berbeza pula dengan Carl
Friedrich yang mengatakan bahawa parti politik adalah satu kumpulan manusia yang
menjalankan satu ketetapan keselamatan atau menetapkan pemimpin kerajaan dengan
dengan ketetapan yang lain untuk ahli-ahli politik dalam parti melalui kawalan.
Selain dari fungsi, parti politik mempunyai sifat kepartian. Di antaranya adalah asas
organisasi yang membentangkan pertalian yang mengikat ahli-ahli dalam sesebuah parti.
Asas organisasi dapat dapat dibahagikan kepada empat jenis pertalian. Asas pertama
adalah sosioekonomi yang boleh digabungkan dengan pertalian ideologi. Pertalian ini
terdapat di negeri yang mempunyai ekonomi maju. Ia bergabung atas dasar kesedaran yang
menitik beratkan pada kelas iaitu bangsa, pekerjaan, loghat dan sebagainya. Bagi asas
kedua pula adalah pertalian idologi. Pertalian ini mementingkan kepada satu- satu
kepercayaan. Perkara ini banyak terdapat di negara yang membenarkan kewujudan parti
komunis dan sosialis. Sebagai contohnya di India, idologi komunis dan sosialis dapat
menghapuskan perkauman (kasta) dan di Itali pula parti komunis mempengaruhi kerajaan
tetapi tidak dapat menguasainya. Ini telah menukarkan sistem yang sedia ada kepada
memperjuangkan hak-hak asasi pekerja. Asas yang ketiga pula ialah penaung pelanggan.
Model Michigan (Identifikasi Parti) telah diperkenalkan oleh sekumpulan pengkaji
daripada University of Michigan di Amerika semasa mereka melakukan kajian semasa
pilihan raya Presiden Amerika sejak tahun tahun 1948 lagi. Dapatan dan analisa kajian
tersebut kemudiannya dibukukan oleh Campbell dan Khan (1952) melalui The People Elect
at President. Hasil dapatan kajian pilihan raya Presiden pada 1952 pula dibukukan oleh
Campbell, Gurin dan Miller (1954) melalui The Voter Decides manakala buku The American
 37

Voter adalah hasil kajian dalam pilihan raya tahun 1956 yang lebih komprehensif. Buku ini
ditulis bersama oleh Campbell, Miller dan Stokes (1960).
Kajian lapangan yang dilakukan Campbell dan rakan-rakan beliau telah dibuat
melalui Survey Research Centre di University of Michigan. Kini pusat berkenaan dikenali
dengan American National Electoral Studies (ANES) merupakan satu pusat setempat kajian
pilihan raya nasional yang sering menjalankan kajian pendapat awam di Amerika. Campbell
et al. (1960) membuat kesimpulan bahawa pengundi tidaklah membuat pengundian secara
rasional iaitu selari dengan apa yang mereka mahukan. Mereka berpendapat bahawa
sebahagian pengundi tidak mempunyai maklumat dan kepekaan politik yang tinggi untuk
membuat pilihan yang terbaik melalui peti undi. Mereka dapati pengundi mempunyai
kesetiaan yang berpanjangan terhadap sesuatu parti seterusnya mempengaruhi sikap dan
tingkah laku politik di samping berterusan mengundi parti berkenaan setiap pilihan raya
diadakan.
Sehubungan itu, Campbell dan rakan-rakan telah memperkenalkan satu teori
berasaskan psikologi iaitu teori identifikasi parti. Teori ini beranggapan bahawa seseorang
pengundi itu memilih sesuatu calon dan parti adalah berasaskan ikatan dan kesetiaan
seseorang itu terhadap parti tersebut. Kadar ikatan dan kesetiaan ini menurut teori ini,
semakin lama seseorang itu mengundi, semakin kuat ikatan dan kesetiaan terhadap parti
yang dipilihnya. Ikatan dan kesetiaan ini dibentuk melalui pelbagai kaedah dan cara. Antara
yang paling popular menurut Campbell dan rakan-rakan ialah proses sosiolisasi politik
melalui keluarga. Sebagai contoh, jika ibu bapa adalah merupakan penyokong kuat Parti
Demokrat, maka kebiasaannya pendirian politik mereka akan diwarisi oleh anak-anak
mereka.
Dalam teori identifikasi parti, terdapat tiga pemboleh ubah utama iaitu parti, calon dan
isu. Menurut Campbell, selain pemboleh ubah parti yang menjadi asas kepada teori
identifikasi parti, dua faktor lain yang turut mempengaruhi tingkah laku pengundi adalah
pemboleh ubah calon dan isu. Kedua-dua faktor ini menurut beliau adalah hanya merupakan
faktor jangka masa pendek sahaja dan tidak menjejaskan kesetiaan dan identifikasi
seseorang pengundi ke atas parti berkenaan. Bilangan yang mengundi di atas dua faktor ini
adalah kecil sahaja kerana sebahagian besarnya akan terus setia mengundi sesuatu parti.
Faktor kedua pula ialah sentimen politik pembangunan pengundi. Politik
pembangunan ini dibawa oleh Kerajaan Pusat dan Kerajaan Negeri yang dikuasai BN.
Pengundi di kedua-dua kawasan masih memerlukan pembangunan terutamanya
pembangunan infrastruktur/fizikal yang dari segi logistiknya kawasan ini terletak di kawasan
luar bandar. Kerajaan Pusat dan Kerajaan Negeri yang mempunyai kuasa pentadbiran dan
dana/kewangan mempunyai kelebihan untuk membangun dan memajukan sesuatu
kawasan. Pengundi di kedua-dua kawasan yakin dengan pengalaman dan kemampuan BN
sebagai penyandang di kedua-dua kawasan sejak 13 penggal yang lalu dan merasa ‘sudah
selesa’ dengan pemerintah yang sedia ada. Mereka tidak yakin dengan parti selain BN di
samping bimbang keadaan sosioekonomi dan keamanan akan tergugat jika memberi
peluang kepada parti pembangkang untuk menguasai kawasan-kawasan tersebut. Politik
pembangunan merupakan perkara utama dalam kemajuan sosioekonomi sesuatu kawasan,
terutamanya di kawasan mundur di bahagian pedalaman. Politik pembangunan dapat
difahami melalui projek pembangunan fizikal dan modal insan yang memberi faedah yang
tersirat kepada rakyat antaranya ialah meningkatkan pendapatan rakyat, menambahkan
peluang pekerjaan, menambahkan peluang perniagaan, menaikkan taraf ekonomi rakyat,
meningkatkan taraf pendidikan serta pemikiran dan juga pelbagai-bagai lagi faedah yang
bakal diterima oleh rakyat sekiranya pembangunan berada di kawasan mereka. Politik
pembangunan juga berkait rapat dengan Teori Pilihan Rasional yang menjadi faktor
sokongan pengundi kepada parti politik.
Teori pilihan rasional ataupun Rasional Choice telah diperkenalkan oleh Anthony
Down (1957) dalam karyanya “An Economic Theory of Democracy”. Beliau menamakan
pilihan politik dengan pilihan ekonomi. Menurutnya dalam pasaran ekonomi seseorang
pengguna akan membandingkan barang-barang pengeluaran dari segi harga barang dan
seterusnya membuat pilihan untuk membeli berdasarkan nilai wang sesuatu barang. Dalam
 38

membuat pilihan dalam pilihan raya, lazimnya pengundi akan memberi undi kepada parti
atau calon yang paling berkemungkinan memuaskan tuntutan mereka dengan berpandukan
maklumat-maklumat dan pengetahuan terhadap sesuatu pilihan itu.
Dalam mengemukakan pendekatan ini, beliau telah membangkitkan beberapa
andaian asas. Andaian pertama ialah dorongan parti iaitu pemimpin akan menyesuaikan
matlamat misinya demi memenuhi kehendak pengundi. Ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan
sokongan terhadap sesuatu parti yang dipilih. Andaian asas kedua ialah kerasionalan rakyat
iaitu pengundi akan berusaha memaksimumkan kepuasan mereka dari segi material melalui
pemberian undi kepada parti atau calon yang dipercayai dapat menunaikan janji. Andaian-
andaian ini akan menjejaskan bahawa pengundi adalah bersikap rasional kerana mereka
menilai pelbagai alternatif yang diperoleh kepada mereka dari segi kos dan faedah sebelum
membuat sesuatu pilihan. Faedah pengundi turut berkait dengan proses pilihan raya dan
pengundian yang melambangkan amalan demokrasi di sesebuah negara. Secara umumnya,
teori atau pendekatan ini mungkin membenarkan kemasukan aspek-aspek ketaatan dan
pendekatan sosiologi ke dalam penjelasannya walaupun tidak besar. Keadaan ini
disebabkan oleh kehendak seseorang pengundi dipengaruhi oleh keadaan semasa.
Teori Pilihan Rasional merupakan model yang terawal, mudah dan paling banyak
pengaruhnya. Model ini mengandaikan bahawa pengundi bersikap rasional apabila membuat
pilihan mereka dalam pilihan raya. Mereka akan meneliti jangkaan-jangkaan faedah yang
diperoleh melalui tindakan mengundi. Jangkaan-jangkaan faedah ini diperoleh berdasarkan
polisi-polisi yang dirancang oleh sesuatu parti. Mereka seterusnya akan menentukan
alternatif yang paling disukai dan bersesuaian dengan keutamaan mereka. Menurut Downs
(1957), manusia yang terlibat dalam politik akan membuat pemikiran secara rasional untuk
mencapai kehendak dan kepuasan maksimum. Pilihan politik disamakan dengan pilihan
ekonomi. Seorang pengguna akan membandingkan sesuatu barangan itu dari segi kos dan
kualiti dan juga dari segi kos dan barangan (Johnston 1979: 82). Ini bermakna bahawa,
dalam membuat pemilihan politik, pilihan pengundi adalah berdasarkan maklumat dan
pengetahuannya dalam sesuatu pilihan dan akan memberikan undinya kepada parti politik
yang dapat memuaskan kehendaknya sebagai pengundi.
Pengundi biasanya akan memutuskan secara rasional mengenai prestasi dan janji
calon sebelum pembuangan undi dijalankan. Mereka juga menilai prestasi dan janji parti
apabila menentukan pilihan yang akan dilakukan. Malahan prestasi atau janji calon ataupun
parti mungkin tidak dihiraukan sekiranya prestasi Kerajaan adalah lebih baik dan bernilai.
Dalam konteks inilah keadaan sekiranya ekonomi negara kukuh dan memberangsangkan,
maka Kerajaan yang memerintah mempunyai peluang yang cerah untuk memenangi pilihan
raya.
Downs (1957) menegaskan bahawa terdapat lima kriteria bagi manusia yang rasional
pilihan. Kriteria-kriteria tersebut ialah:
i. Seseorang itu dapat membuat keputusan apabila berdepan dengan pelbagai
alternatif
ii. Seseorang itu dapat menyusun alternatif mengikut keutamaan pilihan raya
iii. Susunan pilihan raya tersebut adalah bersifat transitif
iv. Seseorang itu sentiasa memilih alternatif yang dapat dicapai mengikut senarai
pilihanraya
v. Seseorang itu sentiasa membuat keputusan yang sama pada setiap masa dia
berhadapan dengan alternatif yang serupa
Downs turut menggariskan tiga cara pengundian yang dilakukan oleh seseorang
yang rasional. Pertama, ia akan menilai hasil atau faedah yang diperolehi daripada aktiviti
Kerajaan yang sedia ada dengan hasil atau faedah yang mungkin diperolehinya jika parti
pembangkang mengambilalih pemerintahan. Kedua, dalam sistem pelbagai parti, seseorang
pengundi itu akan cuba menilai pilihan pengundi lain dan kemudiannya akan bertindak
seperti berikut:
i. Menyokong parti yang mempunyai peluang baik untuk menang
ii. Jika parti pilihannya tiada peluang yang baik untuk menang, ia akan memilih parti
yang seterusnya yang mempunyai peluang baik untuk menang
 39

iii. Jika parti alternatif tidak mempunyai peluang menang, ia akan memilih parti
kesukaannya supaya parti ini mempunyai peluang yang lebih pada pilihan raya yang
akan datang. Dalam konteks ini pengundi akan bersikap “future-oriented voter”
Cara ketiga ialah jika pengundi tidak dapat membuat pilihan daripada mana-mana
parti dalam sistem pelbagai kerana pilihan parti Kerajaan yang baik adalah hampir-hampir
seimbang, maka ia akan bertindak untuk tidak membuang undi sekiranya tiada jalan
penyelesaian; ataupun parti pemerintah jika rekodnya baik dan mengundi parti
pembangkang jika rekod pemerintah kurang baik. Jika rekod pemerintah tidaklah begitu baik,
maka mereka tidak akan turun mengundi. Dalam sistem dua parti, pilihan raya menjadi lebih
mudah kerana ia akan memilih parti yang lebih disukainya.
Menurut Riley (1988), populariti seseorang calon yang bertanding semasa pilihan
raya adalah tidak begitu penting dalam teori ini. Sebaliknya yang menjadi pengukurnya ialah
sejauhmanakah seseorang calon itu dapat menyakinkan pengundi tentang isu-isu serta
dasar-dasar yang diperjuangkannya (Ahmad Fawzi 1995). Tegasnya, teori pilihan rasional ini
lebih menekankan kepada aspek tingkahlaku individu dalam mencapai kepuasan dan
kepentingannya. Oleh yang demikian, tingkah laku secara kolektif dalam pengundian sukar
untuk dicapai kecualilah pilihan kebanyakan individu kebetulan selari dan sama. Selain itu,
rekod parti memerintah serta persepsi terhadap jangkaan faedah yang mungkin diperoleh
jika pembangkang menang juga mempunyai pengaruh yang signifikan dalam perlakuan
mengundi. Justeru itu, dimensi ekonomi dalam politik dan pilihan raya dikatakan mempunyai
kesan dan pengaruh yang amat besar dan penting. Maka, tidaklah menghairankan apabila
setiap parti politik yang bertanding khususnya dalam masyarakat yang telah maju atau
sedang menuju kemodenan amat menitikberatkan persoalan program dalam manifesto dan
pakej pilihan raya mereka. Permis teori ini ialah pengundi yang rasional akan memilih pakej
ekonomi yang paling banyak membawa keuntungan kepadanya (Ahmad Fawzi 1995).
Reynolds (1979) mengganggap pengundi berkelakuan seperti pengguna. Beliau
menyatakan terdapat dua kelompok perlakuan pengguna yang ekstrim. Pertama merupakan
kelompok pengguna yang sering berubah fikiran atau berfikiran tidak kukuh. Apa yang
mereka lakukan untuk hari ini tidak ada kaitan langsung dengan apa yang dikehendaki untuk
esok. Dalam keadaan sebenar, ramai pengundi berkelakuan sebegini kerana dipengaruhi
oleh faktor keluarga, persekitaran sosial, isu yang dibangkitkan dan faktor peribadi calon.
Kelompok pengguna yang kedua merupakan kelompok yang efisien dan mempunyai
pandangan yang tersendiri mengenai sasaran yang hendak dicapainya. Kelompok ini
dikatakan sebagai pengguna yang rasional. Kerasionalan ini mendorong mereka melakukan
satu pemilihan yang efisien. Antara prinsip yang tergolong dalam kerasionalan ini adalah
seperti berikut:
a) Pengguna mengenalpasti apakah sasaran mereka seperti keselamatan pada masa
hadapan, melindungi diri daripada segala gejala yang buruk dan menjaga kedudukan
mereka dalam komuniti. Mereka dikatakan sebagai pengguna yang “mengetahui apa
yang mereka kehendaki”
b) Pengguna mengetahui manfaat yang diperoleh hasil dari pemilihan tersebut. Ini
mencorakkan pengundian di Malaysia di mana para pengundi mengundi sesuatu
parti politik kerana faktor-faktor tertentu seperti pembangunan dan kemajuan sesuatu
kawasan
c) Pengguna akan menggunakan segala pengetahuannya di pasaran dalam
memaksimumkan kepuasan atau keinginan mereka
Walau bagaimanapun, terdapat juga pengguna (pengundi) yang tidak kukuh
pendiriannya, maka mereka akan memilih sesuatu yang “baru” di pasaran berbanding
dengan barangan yang “lama” (Koutsoyiannis 1987). Terdapat juga pengguna (pengundi)
yang berpengetahuan cetek akan dipengaruhi dengan isu-isu dan iklan-iklan yang disiarkan.
Golongan ini tidak tahu apa yang dibeli dan yang dipilih. Malah golongan ini akan membeli
dan memilih sesuatu yang selalu dibeli olehnya tanpa pemilihan yang lebih rasional (Laidler
dan Estrin 1989: 49).
Pengemuka model Downs adalah seorang ahli ekonomi iaitu Anthony Downs (1957)
melalui bukunya yang terkenal, An Economic Theory of Democracy. Model ini lebih dikenali
 40

dengan teori pilihan rasional dengan premis bahawa pengundi akan memilih sesuatu parti
dan calon berasaskan keuntungan yang akan didapatinya hasil daripada pilihan tersebut.
Downs menerangkan bahawa pengundi akan membuat perbandingan antara mengekalkan
parti pemerintah sedia ada atau memilih parti pembangkang untuk dijadikan kerajaan
mereka yang baru. Asas pilihan ini adalah berdasarkan pengundi mempunyai maklumat
tentang isu-isu dasar dan polisi parti-parti yang bertanding dan membuat perbandingan
secara rasional untuk memilih parti yang mendatangkan faedah dan keuntungan lebih
kepada mereka.
Seterusnya model ini juga membuat andaian bahawa sekiranya pengundi merasakan
pengundian tersebut tidak akan mendatangkan sebarang faedah dan keuntungan kepada
mereka, maka mereka tidak akan keluar mengundi. Andaian ini berdasarkan pertimbangan
ekonomi iaitu pengundi tidak akan mengeluarkan kos sama ada dalam bentuk masa, tenaga
atau wang untuk mengundi sekiranya mereka merasakan pengundian tersebut tidak mampu
memberikan mereka faedah dan keuntungan yang lebih besar daripada kos tersebut.
Terdapat juga faktor-faktor lain yang menyebabkan BN menang dan parti
pembangkang tewas dalam kedua-dua PRK tersebut iaitu antaranya ketidaksepakatan parti
pembangkang untuk mengelakkan pertandingan 3 penjuru. Sebaik sahaja selesai hari
penamaan calon, berlaku pertandingan 3 penjuru di Sungai Besar dan 4 penjuru di Kuala
Kangsar iaitu antara BN dengan PH dan PAS serta calon Besar di Kuala Kangsar.
Pertembungan ini menyebabkan berlakunya perpecahan/split undi antara kedua-dua parti
pembangkang yang menyebabkan BN menang sama ada dengan dengan majoriti yang lebih
besar. Pertandingan sesama parti pembangkang juga menyebabkan pengundi ‘keliru’
seterusnya mengundi BN, membuat undi rosak atau tidak mengundi. Justeru, ini memberi
kelebihan kepada BN untuk menang dengan lebih selesa di kawasan-kawasan yang
berkenaan.
Faktor seterusnya ialah kekuatan jentera kempen BN. Sesuai dengan BN yang
memerintah negara ini sejak 13 penggal yang lalu menjadikan parti tersebut berpengalaman
dalam membangunkan Sarawak seterusnya berjaya membina dan membentuk ‘jentera’ di
peringkat yang paling mikro iaitu kampung. Pengundi akan patuh dan mengikut ‘jentera’ atau
jawatankuasa kampung di kawasan pedalaman. Ini memudahkan BN untuk mendapat undi
‘solid’ di kawasan luar bandar dengan pergantungan pengundi kepada sumber maklumat
politik daripada media arus media perdana yang dikuasai Kerajaan Negeri dan Kerajaan
Pusat yang memudahkan BN untuk mendapat sokongan padu daripada kawasan
berkenaan.
Faktor seterusnya ialah mindset pengundi Melayu bahawa Parti PAN Proksi DAP
Orang Melayu melihat PAN adalah proksi DAP. Mengundi PAN samalah mengundi DAP.
Maka orang Melayu dan Islam, majoritinya akan menolak PAN. Ianya dibuktikan dalam PRK
Sungai Besar, Kuala Kangsar. Walaupun bendera PAN lebih banyak di Sungai Besar dan
Kuala Kangsar tetapi undi mereka masih gagal mengatasi undi PAS walaupun PAS
berseorangan.
Faktor berikutnya ialah rakyat semakin yakin dengan Kerajaan Persekutuan dan
Perdana Menteri. Kejayaan jabatan-jabatan Kerajaan Persekutuan merealisasikan program-
program Kerajaan untuk rakyat seperti UTC, Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M), Kedai
Rakyat 1malaysia (KR1M), projek MRT Kuala Lumpur-Ipoh, Projek Lebuhraya Tanpa TOL
PAN Borneo dan sebaginya dilihat oleh rakyat sebagai kerja yang bersungguh-sungguh
Kerajaan Persekutuan untuk memakmurkan rakyat. Kemampuan Kerajaan Persekutuan
memberikan Bantuan RM500.00 untuk sambutan Hari Raya baru-baru ini memberi petunjuk
pengurusan ekonomi negara oleh Perdana Menteri dan Kerajaan bergerak tepat. Menjelang
Bajet 2017 pada buolan Oktober nanti, kerajaan pasti tidak mensia-siakan jua pemberian
Bonus kepada kakitangan awam. Rakyat bertambah yakin. Kemampuan Perdana Menteri
semakin meyakinkan apabila Perdana Menteri meluluskan Kenaikan Gaji baharu kakitangan
awam pada bulan Julai ini. Itu tidak termasuk kenaikan tahunan yang diterima pada bulan
April baru-baru ini.
Seterusnya faktor hubungan akrab PAS-UMNO sangat menggembirakan orang-
orang Melayu dan umat Islam di negara ini. Pengundi di atas pagar telah memberikan
 41

kemenangan kepada UMNO kerana kedua-dua kerusi tersebut adalah kerusi yang
dimenangi oleh UMNO. Jika di DUN Chempaka, Kelantan pengundi-pengundi UMNO
memberi undi kepada calon PAS, kali ini mereka memberi undi kepada UMNO pula. Oleh itu
terdapat timbalbalas kerjasama yang menarik di situ. Nampak macam ada secret policy atau
gentlemen agreement tetapi boleh dibaca oleh pengundi.

POLA PENGUNDIAN

Jadual 1 menunjukkan keputusan PRK Parlimen Sungai Besar 2016 mengikut

kawasan Daerah Mengundi. Data daripada jadual tersebut jelas menunjukkan BN/UMNO
menguasai kawasan Melayu di kawasan perkampungan manakala PAS mendapat
sebahagian undi di kawasan perkampungan Melayu manakala AMANAH memperoleh undi
daripada kawasan pekan dan bagan yang majoritinya enik Cina dan sebahagian kecil undi
kaum Melayu di kawasan kampung. Di kawasan campuran pula ketiga-tiga parti memperoleh
undi yang agak seimbang mengikut etnik. BN berjaya memperoleh 30 peratus undi etnik
Cina iaitu meningkat 15 peratus berbanding PRU 2013. Namun undi yang diperoleh BN dan
PAS menurun kerana pengundi luar yang tidak pulang mengundi di samping undi protes
daripada penyokong yang pro pembangkang kerana mereka keliru dengan perpecahan parti-
parti pembangkang. Justeru, status quo BN di Sungai Besar kekal pada PRK 2016 dengan
majoriti yang meningkat kerana perpecahan undi pembangkang dan undi pengundi
setempat/insitu yang terus setia dengan UMNO/BN.

Jadual 1: Keputusan PRK Parlimen Sungai Besar 2016 Mengikut Kawasan Daerah Mengundi

Bil. Daerah Jumlah Komposisi BN AMANAH PAS Undi Jumlah

Mengundi Pemilih Etnik Rosak Mengundi
Undi awal - Melayu 112 8 50 - 170
(100%)
1 Parit 16 1660 Melayu 915 54 301 23 1293
Belia 2 (99%)
2 Parit 13-15 1872 Melayu 831 59 534 18 1442
Sg. Panjang (100%)
3 Parit 6-12 1301 Melayu 696 58 208 9 971
Sg. Panjang (99%)

4 Parit 2-5 Sg. 940 Melayu 424 24 133 3 584

Panjang (100%)
5 Pekan Sg. 265 Melayu 219 2 23 0 244
Besar (kwsn. (100%)
Melayu)
6 Pekan Sg. 2362 Cina 597 673 344 18 1632
Besar (kwsn. (100%)
Cina)
7 Bagan Sg. 1558 Cina (96%) 426 703 12 14 1155
Besar
8 Parit 1 Timur 639 Melayu 189 79 189 2 459
(92%)
9 Sg. Limau 1264 Melayu 572 99 341 0 1012
(96%)
10 Sg. Hj. 2165 Melayu 999 177 502 5 1683
Dorani (93%)
11 Peket 60 1067 Melayu 425 58 313 0 796
(100%)
12 Simpang 5 1179 Melayu 536 88 332 7 963
(99%)
13 Parit 13 Sg. 928 Melayu 334 51 344 5 734
 42

Nipah (99%)
14 Sg. Nipah 650 Melayu 296 28 159 0 483
(100%)
15 Sg. Nibong 1282 Melayu 586 84 331 11 1012
(100%)
16 Pasir 1863 Melayu 828 115 478 0 1412
Panjang (100%)
Tengah
17 Pasir 1305 Melayu 621 71 315 9 1016
Panjang (100%)
Selatan
18 Taman 1349 Melayu 408 355 200 14 977
Berkat (60%)
19 Parit 6-12 297 Melayu 145 12 66 0 223
Timur (100%)
20 Kg. Baharu 2652 Melayu 857 629 354 0 1840
Nelayan (63%)
21 Sg. Leman 1386 Melayu 613 76 396 16 1101
Bendang (100%)
Utara &
Tengah
22 Sg. Leman 293 Melayu 217 10 29 0 256
Bendang (100%)
Selatan
23 Sg. Leman 2082 Melayu 1033 100 410 17 1560
Kg. Darat (99%)
24 Sg. Leman 589 Melayu 327 17 113 4 461
Kg Laut (100%)
25 Sekinchan 1398 Cina (99%) 321 605 8 14 948
Selatan
26 Sekinchan 1378 Cina (63%), 463 400 77 18 958
Tempatan Melayu
Selatan (33%)

27 Sekinchan 2751 Cina (70%), 20 0 1 0 1775

Tempatan Melayu
Tengah (26%)
28 Sekinchan 5251 Cina 1325 1912 153 49 3439
Tempatan (100%)
(Site B)
29 Kian Sit 1374 Campuran 522 361 114 18 1015
(48% Cina,
44%
Melayu)
30 Sekinchan 2281 Cina (78%), 800 685 54 30 1569
Melayu
(19%)
Sumber: Sin Chew Daily, 22 Jun 2016

Jadual 2 menunjukkan keputusan PRK Parlimen Kuala Kangsar 2016 mengikut

kawasan Daerah Mengundi. Data daripada jadual tersebut jelas menunjukkan BN/UMNO
menguasai kawasan Melayu di kawasan perkampungan manakala PAS mendapat
sebahagian undi di kawasan perkampungan Melayu manakala AMANAH memperoleh undi
daripada kawasan pekan yang majoritinya enik Cina dan memperoleh sebahagian kecil undi
kaum Melayu di kawasan kampung. Di kawasan campuran pula ketiga-tiga parti memperoleh
undi yang agak seimbang mengikut etnik. BN berjaya memperoleh hampir 30 peratus undi
etnik Cina iaitu meningkat 15 peratus berbanding PRU 2013. Namun undi yang diperoleh BN
dan PAS menurun kerana pengundi luar yang tidak pulang mengundi di samping undi protes
 43

daripada penyokong yang pro pembangkang kerana mereka keliru dengan perpecahan parti-
parti pembangkang. Justeru, penguasaan BN di Kuala Kangsar kekal pada PRK 2016
dengan majoriti yang meningkat kerana perpecahan undi pembangkang dan undi pengundi
setempat/insitu yang terus setia dengan UMNO/BN

Jadual 2: Keputusan PRK Parlimen Kuala Kangsar 2016 Mengikut Kawasan Daerah Mengundi

Bil. Daerah Komposisi BN PAS AMANAH Calon Undi Jumlah

Mengundi Etnik Bebas Rosak Mengundi
1 Jln. Cina 372 105 421 1 0 899
Kangsar
2 Jln. Datoh Cina 101 21 164 0 7 293
3 Jln. Dato’ Campuran 277 80 292 2 1 651
Sagor
4 Kg. Talang Campuran 518 156 482 0 16 1172
5 Kg. Pajak Cina 69 3 72 0 1 145
Potong
6 Kg. Melayu 869 494 124 2 0 1489
Lembah
Sayong
7 Bukit Melayu 488 169 430 1 0 1088
Resident
8 Bukit Campuran 1190 513 306 2 0 2011
Chandan
9 Bendang Melayu 437 289 44 0 0 770
Kering
10 Menora Melayu 531 300 59 5 0 895
11 Senggang Melayu 232 114 64 0 109 519
12 Seberang Melayu 202 31 10 2 0 245
Manong
13 Bekor Melayu 510 127 9 5 10 661
14 Taman Campuran 432 240 238 0 0 910
Bunga
Raya
15 Talang Melayu 863 389 246 1 0 1499
Hulu
16 Jln. Baharu Campuran 902 374 730 6 0 2012
17 Bendang Melayu 671 291 237 4 0 1203
Panjang
18 Jerlun Cina 568 88 415 6 0 1077
19 Kg. Mesjid Melayu 190 170 21 0 0 381
20 Kg. Ketior Melayu 240 309 57 3 0 609
21 Ulu Kenas Melayu 433 150 211 0 13 807
22 Lempor Melayu 529 346 99 0 0 974
23 Kg. Jeliang Melayu 529 313 123 2 0 967
24 Manong Campuran 517 288 88 2 0 895
25 Semat Orang Asli 148 58 43 0 0 249
26 Ulu Piol Melayu 414 218 70 4 0 706
Sumber: Sin Chew Daily, 26 Jun 2016
IMPLIKASI PRK SUNGAI BESAR DAN KUALA KANGSAR

Agak pelik apabila seorang popular seperti Dr Abdul Rani Osman (PAS) mencatat
undi lebih rendah dari calon Amanah. Bagi pendokong pembangkang, keputusan kedua-dua
PRK ini tentulah mengecewakan. Namun perlawanan sebenar adalah pilihan raya umum.
Kekalahan dalam perlawanan boleh menjadi pencetus kepada kemenangan dalam
 44

peperangan. Berikut adalah implikasi PRK di dua kawasan tersebut yang dapat dijadikan
pengajaran dalam menghadapi PRU akan datang.
Di sebalik skandal yang terpalit pada Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Barisan Nasional (BN)
kekal utuh. Ini menunjukkan Najib seorang strategis politik yang cekap. Seperti dijangkakan,
agak sukar dua gabungan pembangkang, iaitu Pakatan Harapan (PKR+DAP+Amanah) dan
PAS-Ikatan meruntuhkan dominasi BN di dua kubu kuat BN ini, antaranya kerana:
1. Perpecahan undi pembangkang.
2. PRK yang diadakan terlalu hampir dengan tarikh Hari Raya Aidilfitri menyebabkan
sebilagan anak muda yang bekerja di luar berat pulang mengundi.
3. Demografi kawasan semi-urban di mana capaian maklumat pada peringkat nasional
melalui media alternatif terbatas berbanding media perdana yang didominasi BN.
4. Kuasa wang dan aset BN yang difokuskan hanya pada dua kerusi.
Selain rakyat, pihak yang paling terkesan pada PRK kali ini adalah PAS dengan
kehilangan sebanyak 7,452 undi di Kuala Kangsar dan 11,394 undi di Sungai Besar
berbanding PRU-13, semasa mereka masih bersama Pakatan Rakyat. Daripada segi
matematik, undi PAS merosot sebanyak 18,846 di kedua-dua kawasan dan secara
peratusan ia merupakan kemerosotan sebanyak 60 peratus. Memandangkan kedua-dua
kerusi ini adalah kerusi majoriti Melayu dan “separa bandar” dan kerusi tradisional PAS yang
ditandingi sejak sekian lama, kehilangan undi dengan jumlah sebegitu besar sepatutnya
menjadi “alarming indicator” agar PAS tidak terbuai dalam dunia sendiri dan mengkaji ijtihad
politik mutakhir mereka. Tambahan lagi, agak pelik apabila seorang popular seperti Dr Abdul
Rani Osman mencatat undi yang lebih rendah dari calon muka baharu seperti Azhar Azhar
Abdul Shukur dari Amanah.
Amanah pula sebagai parti baru (sembilan bulan) dalam arena politik tanah air
berjaya mencuri 12,429 undi iaitu 23 peratus dari jumlah undi di kedua-dua kawasan. Bagi
sebuah parti baharu yang rata-ratanya belum dikenali pengundi luar bandar, masih dalam
proses membina akar umbi serta diberikan imej negatif saban hari oleh akhbar dan
televisyen, angka yang diperoleh menunjukkan Amanah bukanlah “just another newcomer”
dan mampu menggugat jika kelemahan yang dikenalpasti diatasi pada hari-hari mendatang.
Faktor paling mengejutkan PRK kali ini tentulah perubahan undi dalam kalangan
pengundi Cina di kawasan luar bandar kepada BN, walaupun dengan usaha keras DAP. Ini
mungkin disebabkan faktor perpecahan Pakatan Rakyat, Amanah yang belum dikenali ramai
dan isu nasional yang terputus disebabkan keterbatasan maklumat dari media alternatif.
PRK kali ini juga memberi isyarat kuat rakyat Malaysia rata-ratanya mengundi
berdasarkan kesetiaan kepada parti dan bukannya calon. Ini jelas ditunjukkan apabila
kedua-dua calon BN walaupun mendapat protes dari segelintir ahli parti ditambah faktor
kempen intensif Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad masih gagal menggugat majoriti yang dimiliki
BN. Hal ini juga dapat dilihat pada PRU13 apabila Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim hanya mendapat
447 undi apabila bertanding sebagai calon bebas walau dengan pengaruhnya sebagai bekas
naib ketua wanita UMNO.
Isu nasional seperti 1MDB, dakwaan Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor naik jet peribadi
disewa kerajaan, isu MARA, Tabung Haji dan banyak lagi sepertinya tidak memberikan
kesan kepada kecenderungan pengundi. Pembangkang terlupa mengambil berat akan isu
tempatan, walaupun perlu diakui kebanyakannya di luar bidang kuasa mereka (misalnya isu
Jambatan Manong di Kuala Kangsar).
Dengan indikator yang diberikan rakyat pada dua PRK ini, jelas menunjukkan
kekuatan pembangkang sepertimana ditunjukkan pada PRU13 perlu disatukan. PAS perlu
sedar dan bangkit dari kemerosotan teruk undi yang diperoleh di kerusi majoriti Melayu
tradisional mereka. Pakatan Harapan juga perlu secara terbuka mengakui pengundi Melayu
sememangnya “kuasa” PAS. Kedua-dua pihak harus mengenepikan ego dan kembali
semula ke meja rundingan bersama Pakatan Harapan. Amanah dan Pakatan Harapan
sepastinya sentiasa bersedia berunding demi kepentingan rakyat dan masa depan negara
ini.
BN dan PAS mengalami kemerosotan undi Melayu dalam Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK)
berbanding Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-13 (PRU-13) di Sungai Besar dan Kuala Kangsar. BN
 45

mengalami kemerosotan undi Melayu sebanyak 3 peratus di Sungai Besar dan 6 peratus di
Kuala Kangsar. PAS pula mengalami kemerosotan undi Melayu yang sama di Sungai Besar
dan Kuala Kangsar sebanyak 7 peratus. Kemerosotan sokongan undi Melayu kedua-dua
parti tradisi ini telah diserap oleh Amanah. Pengundi Amanah terdiri daripada pengundi
Melayu progresif, Islamik dan kelas menengah yang terdedah dengan maklumat. Amanah
juga mendapat sokongan undi Melayu hasil daripada program Deklarasi Rakyat yang
dipelopori Tun Dr Mahathir terutamanya di Kuala Kangsar. Amanah mendapat lebih
sokongan undi Melayu di Kuala Kangsar berbanding Sungai Besar.
Kebanyakan pengundi Melayu kurang mengenali logo Amanah kerana baru berusia 9
bulan dan pertama kali bertanding dalam pilihanraya di Semenanjung. Ada setengahnya
menganggap logo Amanah seperti parti bebas. Terdapat ramai pengundi Melayu pro
pembangkang yang keliru, manakah pembangkang sebenar di antara Amanah dan PAS.
PAS memiliki kelebihan dengan usianya 65 tahun. Amanah pula ditohmah sebagai pro DAP
dan pro Cina sama seperti tohmahan yang dihadapi oleh PAS dalam PRU13. Faktor-faktor
ini menyebabkan Amanah mendapat sokongan yang lebih rendah berbanding PAS dan BN.
Jika pengundi Melayu lebih mengenali Amanah dan propaganda perkauman dapat
diredakan maka sokongannya dijangka meningkat.
Pendekatan PAS yang berkerat rotan dengan DAP dan usul RUU tidak
menambahkan undi Melayu. Sebaliknya PAS pula mengalami kemerosotan mendadak undi
Cina dalam PRK berbanding PRU13 sebanyak 73 peratus di Sungai Besar dan 63 peratus di
Kuala Kangsar. Hasilnya, PAS hanya memperolehi undi teras seperti yang diperolehi dalam
PRU11 (2004). Dalam undi teras PAS terdapat undi tegar PAS sekitar 2000 hingga 3000
orang di kedua-dua parlimen ini. Jika berlaku 10 penjuru sekalipun undi tegar PAS ini tidak
akan berganjak. Undi teras PAS boleh menyusut tetapi undi tegar PAS tidak akan berubah.
Undi Cina yang diperoleh Amanah adalah rendah berbanding yang diperolehi oleh Pakatan
Rakyat dalam PRU13. Amanah sebagai komponen Pakatan Harapan dijangkakan boleh
mendapat lebih sokongan undi Cina dalam PRK ini. Malangnya terdapat pengundi muda
Cina yang tidak mahu pulang mengundi kerana beranggapan PRK tidak boleh mengubah
kerajaan.
Terdapat juga segelintir mereka yang kecewa dengan pertembungan barisan
pembangkang. Bukanlah sesuatu yang pelik sokongan undi Cina berubah semasa PRK.
Buktinya dalam PRK Sungai Limau (2013), undi Cina terhadap Pas mewakili Pakatan Rakyat
merosot berbanding PRU13. Kelemahan Pakatan Harapan mendapatkan sokongan undi
Cina dan merudumnya sokongan undi Cina kepada PAS telah diserap oleh BN. Peningkatan
ini adalah disebabkan oleh strategi BN yang lebih berkesan. Janji-janji pilihan raya telah
menarik sokongan pengundi Cina kepada BN terutamanya di Kuala Kangsar.
Walau bagaimanapun sokongan pengundi Cina kepada BN dalam PRK adalah
bersifat sementara sahaja. Pengundi Cina dijangka akan beralih semula kepada
pembangkang dalam PRU14. Itu bergantung kepada strategi BN dan Pakatan Harapan. BN
boleh berasa selesa dengan strategi memecahkan undi pembangkang dalam dua PRK kali
ini. Jentera BN dan PAS sangat kurang berbalas serangan. Sebaliknya serangan hanya
ditumpukan kepada Amanah sahaja. Hanya Amanah mewakili Pakatan Harapan mendapat
serangan daripada dua penjuru BN dan PAS. Model PRK ini telah menguntungkan BN dan
boleh memberi kemenangan berganda kepada BN dalam PRU14. Jika tiada usaha
menyatukan barisan pembangkang bagi mewujudkan formula pertandingan satu lawan satu
sebelum PRU14 maka rakyat pro pembangkang akan merasa bosan untuk mengundi dan
barisan pembangkang bakal mengalami kekalahan yang teruk.
 46

KESIMPULAN

Sebagai kesimpulannya, BN terus mengekalkan ‘status quo’ kerana faktor identifikasi

parti dan mentaliti politik pembangunan yang menebal dalam pemikiran pengundi di kedua-
dua kawasan tersebut. Pertandingan tiga penjuru yang mengakibatkan perpecahan parti-
parti pembangkang antara PH dengan PAS turut memberi kelebihan kepada BN untuk terus
kekal dengan pertambahan majoriti yang lebih tinggi. Namun begitu jika dilihat kepada
keputusan PRK mengikut kawasan daerah mengundi majoriti etnik tertentu serta lokasi
geografi (bandar-luar bandar) jelas menunjukkan pola pengundian yang berlaku adalah mirip
keputusan PRU 2013 sebelumnya. Faktor PRK yang diadakan pada bulan puasa, pengundi
luar yang tidak pulang mengundi, perpecahan undi pembangkang, protes penyokong parti
masing-masing turut mempengaruhi peratusan keluar mengundi seterusnya keputusan dan
pola pengundian. Justeru, semua parti politik perlu mengambil iktibar terhadap keputusan
dan pola pengundian sedemikian untuk merangka stategi politik yang mantap bagi
memenangi hati pengundi menuju PRU-14 akan datang.

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 51

Examining the Relationship between Transformational Leadership

and Employee Empowerment
Nabila Huda Ibrahim
FSPP UiTM, Selangor
nabillhudd@gmail.com

Dr Tuan Nooriani Tuan Ismail

FSPPP UiTM, Selangor
tnsya800@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Transformational leadership is a leadership style that has been used to increase the
followers’ performance and it has been proven by many studies as effective leadership in
increasing organizational effectiveness. One of the significant outcomes of transformational
leadership is the employee empowerment. The employee empowerment shows that the
employees have authority/ies over their jobs as well as enhancing their in decision making.
The empowerment of employee is one of the ways for a company to increase it’s efficiency.
This is because the empowered employees are able to find opportunities and solve problems
by their own. This paper presents the study on the relationship between transformational
leadership and the employee's empowerment. A cross-sectional survey is has been done
with the total of 113 employees from the selected banks in Kuala Terengganu. The
correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between transformational
leadership and the employee empowerment. The result indicates a significant relationship
between transformational leadership and employee's creativity and innovation.

Keywords: Transformational leadership, Employee's empowerment

INTRODUCTION

Competitive advantage is a goal for every organization. Having a valued product or

service is among the ways on how a organization could win this competitive advantages. The
employee empowerment is a factor that could contribute to this. According to (Ghosh, 2013),
employee's empowerment is the most powerful and effective practice in facilitating people
who are capable in creating added value in product and service which is inimitable to make a
greater contribution. Robins, Decenzo and Coulter (2011) provide three reasons for
empowering the employees. The first reason is because they need to make a very quick
decision by the most knowledgeable people regarding the issues of whom are usually the
people at lower level. Whislt being in constant remain competitive in dynamic business
environment, these people need to be empowered to enable them to decide and implement
the changes. Organizational downsizing left many managers with larger spans of control,
entailing the second reason. This is because managers need to empower their employees
due to the growing of work demand. It would be useful when the employees are completed
with the knowledge, skills and job competency. Lastly is the technology advancement
whereby this happened due to the reason the managers have to face challenges when the
responsible people are not physically present in the workplace. In addition, empowered
employees are confidence and they think in talented, creative and trusted (Ravazadeh &
Ravazadeh, 2013).
On the other hand, transformational leadership is an effective leadership and
recognized by many literatures in its effectiveness. Transformational leadership is firstly
found by Burns (1978) and he defined the transformational leadership as “one or more
 52

person engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to
higher levels of motivation and morality”. Later in 1990, Bass and Avolio formally presented
transformational leadership in four components which consist of idealized influenced,
intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration and inspirational motivation. High level
executives help followers to exceed the expectations in generating extra effort, creativity and
productivity (Bass, 1995). Transformational leadership is one of the leadership styles which
focused more on the follower or individual needs and this style is able to transform devotee's
needs and expectations to more elevated amount (Joo, Yoon & Jeung, 2012).
Studies have shown that transformational leadership is positively related with
employee's empowerment (Men & Stacks, 2013; Ravazadeh & Ravazadeh, 2013; Salmasi,
2014; Zhu et al., 2012) Transformational leadership empowers their employees by aligning
the objectives and goals of the individual followers, the leader, the group and also
organization (Bass & Riggio, 2006). The empowered employees are able to design their
course of action and committed with their action. Empowered employees will increase their
commitment and may reduce the turnover intention (Humborstad & Perry, 2011). In addition,
empowerment is necessary to promote customer’s satisfaction (Alkahtani et al, 2011). This
depicts that the empowerment is necessary for organizational effectiveness whilst
transformational leadership is the significant contributor for the employee empowerment.
Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between transformational
leadership and the employee empowerment. The importance of transformational leadership
in generating the employee empowerment will be explored throughout this study.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Transformational leadership is a leadership that inspires followers to trust the leader,

perform behaviour that contribute to achieve higher level of organizational goal (George &
Jones, 2012). Studies show that transformational leaders are the one who increase follower’s
motivation, which makes them able to transform personal value and upgrade their
expectations (Nusair, Ababneh & Bae, 2012; Krishnan, 2012). Bass and Avolio (1990)
defined transformational leadership as the leaders who are able to drive the follower’s goal
towards the organizational goals. Transformational leadership shows that leader increases
the interest of their employees by illuminating the understanding of the mission and vision of
the group via promoting the interest of group (Bass, 1991). In order to achieve this,
transformational leaders will become more charismatic and able to inspire their follower as
well meet their emotional needs of followers (Bass, 1991). Inspiring, providing challenges
and creating scopes for individual development are the methods of the transformational
leaders motivate their employees (Shiva & Suar, 2010).They introduced four components of
transformational leadership. Transformational leaders are likely to exhibit the components of
idealized influenced, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and individualized
consideration.
Idealized influenced portray the leaders as role models because they are able to
convey the trust in aligning the follower goals towards the organizational goals (Nusair,
Ababneh & Bae, 2012). They set a high standard for the moral and ethical conduct. The
followers will make the leaders as their reference for any conducts in the organization.
Secondly, Bass and Avolio (1990) stated that individualized consideration refers to
the personal consideration that given by the leader to their followers. It is a unique ways of
treating employees based on individual needs and supporting it (Jackson, Meyer & Wang,
2012). The leaders treat them fairly and not in an unexpected way. As the part of the leader
which is to mentor and coach, they have to be mindful to the individual needs. Individualized
consideration for the followers is possible from numerous points of view such as giving
personal concerns, provides them challenge as the channel for them to create and also give
opportunities to learn from the leaders (Nusair, Ababneh & Bae, 2012).
Next, intellectual stimulation refers to the leaders who are inspiring the followers by
questioning of assumptions, reframing problems, and stimulate them which purposedly to
 53

increase the intellectual curiosity (Wang, Tsai & Tsai, 2014). According to Bass and Avolio
(1990), intellectual stimulation makes the leader encourage the imagery and rethinking the
solution for the old problems. In addition, leaders also expect the followers to challenge the
status quo and experiment which is a good point to their work (Wang & Rode, 2010) and also
questioning their customs which then generate their creative solutions (Jackson, Meyer &
Wang, 2012) The leader also does not publicly criticize the follower’s errors or mistakes or
even estimation that differs from them (Nusair, Ababneh & Bae, 2012).
Lastly, inspirational motivation dimension indicates how leaders articulate vision and
make follower to increase and enthusiast for meeting and achieving organizational challenge.
It refers to the leaders who are promoting their employee’s desire to work cooperatively in
accomplishing collective goals (Wang, Tsai & Tsai, 2014). This is possible by passing on a
clearer objective that they are going to accomplish later on. Moreover, Bass et al., (2003)
shows that transformational leaders with inspirational motivation encourages followers to
have an attractive future for them to be envisioned by themselves. Thus, it portrays
inspirational motivation as leaders who are supporting their workers by making individual and
participation to accomplish objectives (Birasnav, Rangnekar & Dalpati, 2010).

EMPLOYEE'S EMPOWERMENT

Empowerment can be defined as the process of giving the employees the authority to
make decisions and be responsible for the outcomes (Goerge & Jones, 2012). Employee
empowerment is the delegation of power and authority by managers to their subordinates
and shares the responsibility. The job will be effectively and efficiently accomplish with the
adequate authority given to the employees as he can make decision on his own (Ghosh,
2013). Empowerment shows that the employees are able to hold authority and decision
making (Robins, DeCenzo & Coulter, 2011) and they envisioned the future and expected to
have greater feelings towards the organization (Avolio et al, 2004).
Empowerment can be in two forms which are structural empowerment and
psychological empowerment. Structural empowerment refers to the empowerment originates
for the top management level and passed down to employees which is the basic agreed
upon view of the empowerment initiation process and the organizational structure plays as
the factor in this type of empowerment (Appelbaum et al, 2015). On the other hand,
psychological empowerment is another form of empowerment. Spreitzer (1995) defined
psychological empowerment as the motivational construct which based demonstrated four
cognitions of meaning, competence, self-determination and impact. These four cognitions
reflect active orientation of work role. Meaning refers to the value of a work goal.
Competence refers to the self-efficacy for an individual to perform their work. Self-
determination refers to autonomy in the initiation and communication of work behaviour.
Impact reflects the degree which individual can influence their work.
Employee's empowerment is related to motivation as it gives the ownership of the job
to the employees that make them have greater willingness in decision making, take risk for
the improvement and speak out any dissatisfaction. It also encourages the involvement of
the employees, expecting employees to think, recognizing employee values, and rewarding
the employee ownership of processes, products and services (Goetsch & Davis, 2010).
There are many benefits of empowerment which is important for the organization. Among of
the benefits are empowered employees are able to recognize threat and opportunity through
customer complaints in unexpected situation, the employees will help to reduce the cost and
find opportunities for new investments, they are able to use their critical thinking, provide
solid reasons to prove the decision and action that are in line with common goals and they
are able to make consensus for the decision and action (Ravazadeh & Ravazadeh, 2013).
Thus, it is important to have employee empowerment in the organization as empowered
employees are able to find opportunity and helps to increase the organizational
effectiveness.
 54

HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT

The relationship between transformational leadership and employee empowerment

Transformational leadership helps to increase the employee empowerment by

facilitating the behaviour change that required them to make individual perform better and
enhance the follower’s positive quality (Jha, 2014). According to Bass and Riggio (2006),
transformational leaders stimulate and inspire followers to achieve extraordinary outcomes in
the process, develop their leader’s capacity and help followers grow by responding to
individual needs by empowering them. According to Ravazadeh & Ravazadeh (2013),
transformational leadership is positively related on staff empowerment in organization. It has
significant effect on employee’s sense of competence, sense of significant, sense of self-
efficacy, sense of choice and self of trust. In addition, a study done by Men & Stack (2012)
shows that employee's empowerment (perceived competence and perceived control) is
positively related with perceived organizational reputation by employees and it also mediates
the influence of transformational leadership on perceived organizational reputation by
employees. The transformational leaders make the followers to feel more accepted, trusted
and valued through sharing with employees and engaging them with decision making (Men &
Stack, 2013). Thus, the following hypotheses are proposed for this study.

Transformational leadership Employee's empowerment

H0: There is no relationship between transformational leadership and employee's

empowerment
H1: There is relationship between transformational leadership and employee's
empowerment

METHODOLOGY

This study employs quantitative study by collecting survey. Cross sectional study,
also known as one-shot data collection has been applied in this study. According to Sekaran
& Bougie (2009), cross-sectional is a study undertaken in which the data is gathered just one
to answer the research questions. This study gathers data for such a short period. This study
took one month for the data collection to be finished. The total of 113 questionnaires
collected is used for this data analysis. The respondents are from four banks in Kuala
Terengganu, Terengganu which are listed in G20 of Government Linked Companies. The
banks are Affin Bank, Bank Islam, CiMB bank and Maybank.

MEASUREMENT

Transformational Leadership

There are ten questions adapted based on the Multifactor Leadership Question by
Bass and Avolio (1995) for measuring effective transformational leadership. The items were “
Managers talk about most important values and beliefs”,” Managers seek differing
perspectives when solving problems”, “ Managers discuss specific terms who is responsible
for achieving performance targets”, “ Managers enthusiastically about what needs to be
accomplished”, “Managers spend time coaching”, “ Managers go beyond self-interest for the
good of the group”, “ Managers express satisfaction when followers meet expectations”,
 55

“Managers consider an individual as having different needs, abilities, and aspirations from
others”, “ Managers suggest new ways of looking how to complete assignment” and
“Managers express confidence that goals will be achieved”.

Employee's Empowerment

There are ten items were used to measure employee's empowerment. It was adapted
from a few past studies. The items “I enjoy my work and it is meaningful to me”, “I have
confident in my ability in doing my job”,“I have significant autonomy to determine how I do my
job” and “I have significant influence over what happens in my department” were from (Li et
al., 2012). The items “I have given to opportunity to be rewarded”, “I have given authority to
access to information and resources” and “I have given authority to access to information
and resources” and “I have been supported by my superior” were from (Tuuli et al., 2012).
The item “I have been trusted by my superior to make appropriate decision in my job” and “I
do have competency in doing my task that are required for my position” were from (Men &
Stacks, 2013). Lastly, the item “My superior and I will have consultation to make decision
which will affect me” were from (Hassan et al., 2013)

DATA ANALYSIS

This study was participated with a total number of 113 of bank employees in Kuala
Terengganu. The percentage of male and female employees is 43.9% and 56.1 %
respectively. The respondents mostly come from the age of 40 to 49 years old and married.
Most of them are the executives. The most tenure of service is 0 to 9 years.
The first step in data analysis is data cleaning. All the data underwent the process of
data cleaning. All of the missing values are replaced by the mean. Secondly, the factor
analysis has been done to reduce amount of factors from larger number of items (Kumar,
Talib & Ramayah, 2013).1 Thirdly, the reliability test is done to determine the consistency and
stability of the items (Sekaran & Bougie, 2009).2 Fourth, the normality test is done to test the
normality of the data.3 Then, the further analyses based on the objective (hypothesis) has
been done. The correlation analysis has been done to examine the relationship between
transformational leadership and employee's creativity and innovation. This analysis was used
as it provides measurement of strength of the linear relationship between two variables (Fah
& Hoon, 2009).

Correlation

Table 1: Correlation between effective transformational leadership and employee's creativity

and innovation

Transformational Employee
leadership empowerment
Employee empowerment Pearson 1.00 0.650
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed) .000

1
The value of KMO is 0.928, Chi Square=190, p<0.01,
2
All the values of Cronbach Alpha is higher than 0.8
3
All of the skewness and kurtosis of the data fall in between -1.0 to +1.0.
 56

Table 1 shows the Pearson’s4 correlation for transformational leadership and

employee empowerment is 0.650 and it is significance (p<0.05). This shows that
transformational leadership and employee's empowerment is positively related. The
relationship is strong positive linear. Since there is correlation between transformational
leadership and employee's empowerment, the null hypothesis is rejected and H1 is
accepted.

DISCUSSION

The data analysis shows that there is relationship between transformational

leadership and the employee empowerment. This is in line with the past studies that were
done by Men & Stacks, (2013); Ravazadeh & Ravazadeh (2013); Salmasi (2014) & Zhu et
al., (2012). Transformational leaders is positively related with employee's empowerment as
they are able to modify the behaviour of the followers. The employees also need to have
empowerment to improve their jobs and enhance their performance (Jha, 2014). In addition,
transformational leadership and empowerment helps in increasing other positive outcomes in
organization. For example, (Men & Stacks, 2013) stated that transformational leadership
influences the employee’s perception of organizational reputation through empowerment.
This is might be due that empowerment, which is sharing power with the employees and
engaging them in decision making, transformational leaders make employees feel more
accepted, trusted, valued and influenced the favourable evaluation of the organization. On
the other hand, transformational leadership and empowerment helps follower’s performance.
The majority of employees who perceived the transformational leadership practices increase
their empowerments in implementing job functions which will increase their performance in
the organization (Ismail et al., 2009).
In addition, study done by (Alkahtani et al., 2011) shows employee's empowerment
helps to increase the follower job satisfaction as the leadership effectiveness motivate them
to strive for job’s satisfaction. Furthermore, employee's empowerment is important to help
employees to do their job effectively and efficiently as they have authority to control over their
job and decision making (Ghosh, 2013). The faster decision making is necessary to fulfil the
customer’s need especially in this fierce competition economic environment (Robin,
DeCenzo & Coulter, 2011). Transformational leaders help to give empowerment on certain
levels and they also make the employee to be more confident and creative (Ghafoor et al.,
2011). Thus, it is important for the organization to practice transformational leadership in
developing employee empowerment.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, employee empowerment shows the higher involvement of employees

towards their jobs. Employee empowerment is important because the employees are able to
make faster decision making that will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the job. The
more they were given empowerment, the more will likely increase efficiency in their jobs.
Leaders are the contributor for the employee's empowerment and transformational
leadership is recognized as the effective leadership for employee empowerment. This is
because they are able to align the individual goal towards organizational goals. This study
added to that existed knowledge that transformational leadership is positively related to the
employee's empowerment. Thus, transformational leadership should be practiced more in
the organization to achieve employee empowerment.

4
Since the assumptions of parameteric tests are determined, Pearson’s correlation is used in this
study. Pearson’s product-moment correlation refers to the linear relationship between continuous
variables (Fah & Hoon, 2009)
 57

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 60

Determinants of Mathematics Achievement using TIMSS

Siti Fairus Mokhtar
Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences
Universiti Teknologi MARA
fairus706@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nurazlina Abdul Rashid

Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences
Universiti Teknologi MARA
azlina150@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Noor Rasidah Ali

Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences
Universiti Teknologi MARA
norrash@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The study aims to determine the factors that influence achievement in mathematics among
university students in northern area. The 26-item self-report survey adapted from TIMSS
2011 context questionnaire were administered to 100 students in university in northern area.
Students were asked to respond to a 5-point Likert scale. PLS algorithm had been run in
Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) the results report includes
discriminant validity assessment outcomes. The following results are provided by Fornell-
Larcker criterion and cross-loadings. These factors are students liking, value, role of lecturer
and confidence in learning mathematics. The results show that the liking and value have a
significant relationship towards achievement in mathematics among university students.
Liking has the biggest impact of towards achievement mathematics among university
students.

Keywords: achievement, factors, mathematics, TIMSS

INTRODUCTION

For decades, the importance of mathematics in education system is undoubtedly

significant with the progress of science for many countries in the world. Mathematics is a
main pillar in many areas for both science-based and non science-based subjects. The role
of Mathematics and its application in science, technology and business endeavor cannot be
denied. There is an association between mathematics application with other natural science
subjects (Abdurrahman & Madugu, 2014) and non sciences subjects (Tahir & Bakar, 2009)
at all education levels. Thus, to excel in mathematics has become more challenging and
necessary goal to students and teachers or educators. In the context of Malaysia, good
achievement in mathematics is the main requirement for pursuing studies at a higher level.
Therefore, there are many studies conducted to determine the factors influencing students’
achievement particularly in Mathematics subject. Consistently, a large proportion of variance
in students’ achievement in Mathematics that was explained by a such factors as
demographic or background of students (Jabor et al., 2011), for example age groups and
gender. Other characteristics might include socioeconomic status, home possessions, home
language, and attitudes (Kupari & Nissinen, 2013). However, some determinants like prior
achievement, self-efficacy, self-regulation, academic resources, and learning style also have
a positive correlation on mathematics achievement (Murray, 2013). There are various factors
considered and discussed from different aspects in related literatures regarding students’
 61

achievement in mathematics, meanwhile this study particularly examines the affective

determinants on students’ achievement in mathematics.
The association between factors has been examined using factor analysis by
performing measurement model to identify the factors influencing students’ achievement by
Mohamed et al., (2012). The identified six factors are teaching practices, teachers’
attribution, classroom climate, students’ attitudes (Mokhtar, Md Yusof, Masnita; 2012)
towards mathematics and students’ anxiety. From 30 construct items questionnaire,
students’ attitudes are the lowest factors influencing students’ achievement based on
confirmatory analysis using the structural equation modeling. Meanwhile, Khine et al., (2015)
had used 20 items adapted from TIMSS 2011 on students’ attitudes from different aspects
which are students’ liking, students’ value and students’ confident learning mathematics.
The result from structural equation modeling shows that all factors have positive significant
correlation on students’ achievement in mathematics. An interesting finding from Kupari and
Nissinen (2013) shows negative association between liking learning mathematics and
achievement of students’ for both data gathered from TIMSS 1999 and TIMSS 2011 using
regression models but only 2011 found to be statistically significant. However, the most
significant predictor for students’ achievement is self-concept which is associated with other
mathematics attitudes such as perceived importance and like learning mathematics.
Moreover, role of teacher has strong agreement with effective interaction between teacher
and students will enhance students’ achievement, attitudes and motivation.
Motivate by these study, we are interested to identify factors that may influence
student achievement in Business Mathematics at UiTM Merbok, Kedah. UiTM Merbok,
Kedah is selected because the number of failed students in this course keeps increasing
every semester. This is important because in UiTM, it is compulsory for certain diploma
students to enroll for Business Mathematics class on the first semester of their study. UiTM
Kedah consists of ten programs - Diploma in Information Management, Diploma in Banking,
Diploma in Business Studies, Diploma in Accountancy, Diploma in Office Management,
Diploma in Art and Design (Industrial Design), Diploma in Art And Design (Graphic Design
And Digital Media), Diploma in Public Administration, Diploma in Computer Science and
Diploma in Quantitative Science. We define mathematics students are those registered in
Diploma in Quantitative Science, while the rest of the population are defined as non-
mathematics student.

METHODOLOGY

This study involved non mathematics students in UiTM Merbok, Kedah by defining
the sample as students registered in programs other than Diploma in Quantitative Science.
This definition follows Letchumanan and Tarmizi (2011) that stated the postgraduate and
undergraduate students in Mathematics Department are called mathematics student. Thus,
our population are those enrolled in Diploma in Business Studies, Diploma in Banking,
Diploma in Public Administration, Diploma in Office Management, Diploma in Accountancy,
and Diploma in Public Administration.
The focus population of this study is a 347 diploma students reside in first semester
and enrolled in Business Mathematics (MAT112) course offered in UiTM Merbok, Kedah.
The selected programs were Diploma in Business Studies, Diploma in Banking, Diploma in
Public Administration, Diploma in Office Management and Diploma in Accountancy. The
sample only considers a diploma level since they shared similar characteristics. The list of
students is obtained from the Student Information System (iSIS) portal. iSIS is a unit
responsible for course registrations in UiTM Kedah.
Primary data were collected by distributing direct questionnaire. A total of 100
students were randomly selected using the stratified sampling method and questionnaires
were distributed to students during class session.
The pre-tested questionnaire was initially developed in two languages; English and
Malay. A questionnaire was adapted from Trends in International Mathematics and Science
 62

Study (TIMSS 2011). The TIMSS is a 26-item questionnaire that consists of five point Likert
scale was used as the response format for the determinant variable, with assigned values
ranging from 1 being “Strongly disagree” to 5 being “Strongly agree”. Respondents were
asked to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with each item; 1 = strongly
disagree, 2= disagree, 3 = undecided, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree. Scoring on negatively
worded items was reversed (i.e.; 1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = undecided, 4 = disagree,
5 = strongly disagree). Missing data was also coded to account for answered questions or
cases in which two or more answers were circled. Four determinant variables were studied
are liking, value, role of lecturer and confidence in learning mathematics.
This study used PLS-SEM which is this method is a soft modeling approach to SEM
with no assumptions about data distribution. Since the data for this study not normally
distributed, the partial least squares (PLS) was used in this statistical analysis and had been
run in SmartPLS. The result measures Internal Consistency Reliability, Convergent validity
and Discriminant validity as a shown in table 1

Table 1 Checking Reliability and Validity

Criteria Measurements in SmartPLS Description & Threshold

Indicator reliability “Outer Loadings numbers” - Square each of the outer

loadings to find the indicator
reliability value.
- 0.70 or higher is preferred.
If it is an exploratory
research, 0.4 or higher is
acceptable. (Hulland,1999)

Internal Consistency “Reliability” numbers - Composite reliability should

Reliability be 0.7 or higher. If it is an
exploratory research, 0.6 or
higher is acceptable. (Bagozzi
and Yi, 1988)

Convergent validity “AVE” numbers - It should be 0.5 or higher

(Bagozzi and Yi, 1988)

Discriminant validity
“AVE” numbers and Latent - Fornell and Larcker (1981)
variable Correlations suggest that the “square root”
of AVE of each latent variable
should be greater than the
correlations among the latent
variables

FINDINGS

The following section presents the finding and result of the data collected. Two types
of software which are IBM SPSS Statistics and SmartPLS 2.0 were used. The measurement
model developed for this study is to examine the casual relationships between a number of
latent variables and structural equation modeling provides us a good facility to examine the
causal relationship among the studied variables.
 63

Figure1 Measurement Model of the Relationship between Attitude towards Mathematics and
Achievement

Figure 1 shows the PLS-SEM modelling path. This research uses four independent
variables which are liking, value, role of lecturer and confidence while the dependent variable
is achievement.

Table 1 Loading, Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and Composite Reliability (CR) for
Measurement Model (N=100)

Indicator Composite
Construct Item Loading AVE
Reliability Reliability
Liking B5 .866 .750 .645 .959
B14 .850 .723
B20 .804 .646
B26 .802 .643
B3 .878 .771
B13 .770 .593
B10 .787 .619
B12 .749 .561
 64

B1 .803 .645
B16 .763 .582
B4 .793 .629
B2 .784 .615
B15 .784 .615
Value B8 .826 .682 .631 .895
B9 .770 .593
B11 .815 .664
B7 .831 .691
B6 .726 .527
Lecturer B24 .894 .799 .794 .920
B25 .966 .933
B23 .806 .650
Confidence B18 .793 .629 .688 .868
B19 .843 .711
B22 .851 .724

As discussed above, to evaluate reflectively measurements models, the study

examine outer loadings, composite reliability (CR), average variance extracted (AVE) and
discriminant validity. First, the measurement model was tested for convergent validity. This
was assessed through factor loadings, composite reliability (CR) and average variance
extracted (AVE) (Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham, 2006). Table 1 showed that all
item loadings exceeded the recommended value of .6 (Chin, 1998). CR is calculated from
the factor loadings of the observed variable that is accounted for by each of the specified
latent constructs. From the table, all the composite reliability values obtained lie in the range
of .868 to .959, which exceeded the recommended value of .70 and these values are reliable
(Hair, Ringle, & Sarstedt; 2011) while AVE, which reflects the overall amount of variance in
the indicators accounted for by the latent construct, exceeded the recommended value of .5
(Hair et al., 2006).

Table 2 Discriminant Validity using Fornell-Larker Criterion for Main Construct

Achievement Confidence Lecturer Liking Value

Achievement 1
Confidence .158 .829
Lecturer .069 .491 .891
Liking .306 .658 .542 .803
Value .31 .507 .746 .746 .794

The next step was to assess the discriminant validity, which refers to ‘the extent to
which the measures are not a reflection of some other variables’ and it is indicated by the low
correlations between the measure of interest and the measures of other constructs (Ali &
Amin, 2014; Ramayah, Yeap, & Igatius, 2013; p. 142). Table 2 shows that the square root of
the AVE (diagonal values) of each construct is larger than its corresponding correlation
coefficients pointing towards adequate discriminant validity (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Thus,
the measurement model showed an adequate convergent validity and discriminant validity.
This study includes dependent variable and the value of R2 is .132. The dependent variable
is achievement and purpose of this construct is to measure the effectiveness of the four
constructs. This construct provides .132 value of R2 which shows that four independent
variables are capable of explaining 13.2% of the variance in the dependent variable and this
construct.
 65

Table 3 Summary of Path Analysis for Structural Model

SE Decision or
Hypothesis Path Beta t Stat p-value
Beta Result
confidence ->
H2 achievement -.041 .127 .324 .746 Rejected
H3 lecturer -> achievement -.177 .131 1.354 .176 Rejected
H4 liking -> achievement .249 .14 1.777 .076 Accepted
H1 value -> achievement .242 .136 1.778 .076 Accepted

According to Hair et al. (2011), critical t-values for a two-tailed test are 1.65 at 10%
significance level. Review the t-Stat shown in Table 3 it shows that the path of ‘Liking’ and
‘Value’ values of the inner model exceed the acceptable value of 1.645 which are 1.777 (t-
Stat = 1.777 > 1.645) and 1.778 (t-Stat = 1.778 > 1.645) respectively. The other two paths
which are ‘Confidence’ and ‘Role of teacher’ are not significant. The values of confidence
path are .324 (t-Stat = .324 < 1.645) and role of lecturer path are 1.354 (t-Stat = 1.354 <
1.645). The values are below than 1.645. Based on the result of t-Stat, there are only two
hypotheses supported which are ‘Liking’ and ‘Value’. The other two hypotheses which are
‘Confidence’ and ‘Role of lecturer’ are not supported. Hence, it shows that the first and
second research questions and research objectives have been answered. Liking and value
have a significant relationship towards achievement mathematics among university students.
Based on the Table 3, it shows that awareness has the highest value of beta or Path
Coefficient. This means that, liking is the most significant among others.

DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study is to investigate the structural relationship among attitudes
of students and achievement towards mathematics. From the four hypotheses tested, two
constructs are accepted and the t-value obtained shows that they are statistically significant.
The results of this study show that student liking mathematics learning has a positive
relationship with mathematics achievement. It was also found that students’ value of
mathematics has a positive relationship with mathematics achievement. Many researchers
such as Khine, Mutawah and Afari (2015) references In other words, it can be said that liking
has the biggest impact of towards achievement mathematics among university students.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This study would like to appreciate the Research Management Institute (RMI) of Universiti
Teknologi MARA for supporting this project under the Dana Kecemerlangan grant – 600-
UiTMKDH(PJI. 5/4/1/29/15).

REFERENCES

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In Mathematics And Physics In Senior Secondary Schools Of Birnin-Kebbi Local
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Bagozzi, R. P., & Yi, Y. (1988). On the evaluation of structural equation models. Journal of
the Academy of Marketing Science, 16(1), 74–94.
 66

Burclay, D.W., Higgins, C.A., & Thomsan, R. (1995). The partial least squares approach to
causal modelling: personal computer adoption and use as illustration. Technology
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Chin, W. W. (1998). The partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling. In G.
A. Marcoulides (Ed.), Modern methods for business research (pp. 295–358). Mahwah:
Lawrence Erlbaum

Fornell, C., & Larcker, D.F., (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable
variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18 (1), 39-50.

Hair, Ringle, & Sarstedt (2011). PLS-SEM: Indeed a silver bullet. The Journal of Marketing
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(6th edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

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Jabor, M. K., Kungu, K., Machtmes, K., Buntat, Y., & Nordin, M. S. (2011). The Influence of
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Khine, M. S., Al-Mutawah, M., & Afari, E. (2015). Determinants of Affective Factors in
Mathematics Achievement: Structural Equation Modeling Approach. Journal of Studies
in Education, 5(2), 199. Kupari, P., & Nissinen, K. (2013). Background factors behind
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Letchumanan, M., & Tarmizi, R.A. (2011). E-book utilization among mathematics students of
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Library Hi Tech, 29(1)109 – 121.

Mohamed, A., Mustafa, M., Lazim, A., & Hamdan, A. M. (2012). The factors influence
students ’ achievement in mathematics : A case for Libyan ’ s students. World Applied
Sciences Journal, 17(9), 1224–1230.

Mokhtar, S.F, Md Yusof, Z & Misiran M. (2012). Factor Affecting Students' Performance in
Mathematics. Journal of Applied Science Research, 8(8), 4133-4137.

Murray, J. (2013). The Factors that Influence Mathematics Achievement at the Berbice
Campus. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4(10), 150–164.

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in Learning Mathematics. International Education Studies, 2(3), 120–126.
 67

Reka Bentuk Model Pengajaran Berasaskan ICT (E-Tvet) Bagi

Kursus Mekanikal dan Pembuatan di Kolej Vokasional : Satu
Analisis Keperluan
Abu Bakar Ibrahim
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris
bakar@fskik.upsi.edu.my

Khairu Nuzul@Mohd Khairul Nuzul Hassan

Institut Pendidikan Darul Aman
nuzulhassan@gmail.com

Wan Norsariza Wan Husin

Politeknik Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah
norsariza@ptsb.edu.my

ABSTRAK

Perkembangan ICT dalam sistem pendidikan masa kini telah mengubah cara manusia
belajar dan mengajar. Proses Pengajaran tidak lagi terhad kepada kaedah tradisional
dengan menggunakan“chalk and talk” tetapi menggunakan kepelbagaian media sebagai
medium penyampaian ilmu. Guru pada masa kini mempunyai akses yang lebih luas kepada
ilmu melalui peralatan ICT. Inovasi dalam pedagogi harus berubah seiring dengan
perubahan dalam teknologi semasa. Keupayaan ICT dalam menyampaikan ilmu seharusnya
dimanfaatkan sepenuhnya oleh pendidik guru dalam melaksanakan pengajaran dan
pembelajaran dalam bilik darjah. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti keperluan
membangunkan model pengajaran berasaskan ICT (e-Tvet) di Kolej Vokasional di Malaysia.
Sampel dalam kajian ini ialah seramai 108 orang guru dari lima buah Kolej Vokasional di Zon
Utara dan 3 orang pakar dari Universiti dan IPG dipilih secara sampel bertujuan. Data
dianalisis secara diskriptif dengan menggunakan program SPSS V21. Hasil analisis data
menunjukan terdapat keperluan untuk membangunkan model pengajaran yang berasakan
ICT(e-Tvet) kursus mekanikal dan pembuatan di Kolej Vokasional. Penemuan kajian ini
menyediakan bukti yang berguna tentang potensi penggunaan dan pengintegrasian ICT
dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran di Kolej Vokasional.

Kata kunci: ICT, KV, Model Pengajaran

PENGENALAN

Teknologi Maklumat dan Komunikasi (ICT) boleh menjadi suatu pemboleh ubah yang
sangat kuat dalam usaha untuk membawa perkembangan positif dan mampan kepada
negara-negara di seluruh dunia. Hari ini, hampir satu dekad penuh, kita hidup di tengah-
tengah revolusi dalam abad ke-21, yang belum pernah terjadi sebelumnya dalam kemajuan
ICT. Kini ICT dianggap sebagai alat yang berkuasa untuk menggalakkan pembangunan
sosial dan ekonomi. Maka pendidikan telah menjadi tumpuan utama dalam perkembangan
Teknologi Maklumat dan Komunikasi untuk pembangunan masyarakat sesebuah negara
terutamanya di negara-negara maju. (White Paper, Information & Comunication
Technologies (ICT) in Education. For development, 2009). Diantara faktor yang telah
dicadangkan kepada kerajaan yang menjadi ahli UNESCO dalam Kongress Internasional
yang ketiga (2012) adalah penting melaksanakan beberapa perkara agar TVET terus relevan
dengan keadaan semasa dengan mempromosikan pengintegrasian ICT didalam TVET.
 68

Di Malaysia ledakan teknologi maklumat dan komunikasi (ICT) dalam dua dekad
kebelakangan ini telah memberi impak yang sangat besar kepada jutaan manusia. Tidak kira
dalam apa jua bidang yang diceburi terutama dalam bidang pendidikan. Pendidikan adalah
salah satu bidang yang menjadi pengerak kepada pembangunan dan perkembangan ICT
yang akan digunapakai dalam pelbagai sektor bagi pembentukan generasi yang
berpengetahuan untuk memenuhi tuntutan dan kehendak dunia moden (Alazam, 2012).

“Gagne and Briggs (1979) said the learning process begins with
information obtained from the stimulus received by the senses,
perception formation process by means of information and is
stored as an experience that can be applied. Application of
media in teaching will be to diversify the skills of intelligence,
which is absolutely necessary to acquire the lesson”

LATAR BELAKANG KAJIAN

Perkembangan ICT dalam pendidikan masakini memerlukan suatu anjakan, agar lebih
ramai guru yang mempunyai kemahiran dalam bidang teknologi maklumat komunikasi (ICT).
Guru-guru perlu diberi pendedahan tentang teknologi terkini agar dapat melahirkan mereka
yang berkebolehan serta berkelayakan mendidik untuk membangunkan Negara. Abdul
Rahim (2005) menyatakan bahawa dunia pendidikan yang luas dan bersifat global telah
mencabar para guru untuk menyesuaikan kurikulum, proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran
serta penerokaan maklumat melalui ICT agar peranan guru lebih efektif dalam memajukan
dunia pendidikan.
Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia telah menyarankan guru-guru di Malaysia
mempunyai sekurang-kurangnya asas pengetahuan serta kemahiran ICT dengan tujuan
untuk membimbing pelajar-pelajar agar berupaya untuk bersaing diperingkat global. Lebih
lebih lagi kini negara amat memerlukan pekerja yang mahir dalam bidang teknikal agar dapat
melonjakkan ekonomi negara keperingkat yang lebih baik. Latihan serta Pendidikan Teknik
dan Vokasional (TVET) yang diberikan didalam kelas diharap dapat menyediakan pelajar-
pelajar tersebut kearah penyediaan para pekerja yang berpengetahuan serta mahir. Saranan
ini diperkukuhkan lagi dengan kenyataan mantan Pengarah BPTV iaitu Ahmad Tajudin Jab
(2012) yang menyatakan perubahan dalam pendidikan Teknik dan Vokasional akan berubah
mengikut peredaran zaman yang mana transformasi yang berlaku melibatkan suatu
prubahan yang amat besar dalam penyediaan ilmu kepada para pelajar.
Bagi merealisasikan hasrat tersebut, Kementerian Pendidikan amnya perlu melihat
tentang kesediaan para guru terutama guru-guru teknikal agar mereka diberi pendedahan
tentang pengetahuan dan kemahiran ICT terlebih dahulu agar proses pengajaran
berasaskan ICT dapat dilaksanakan kepada para pelajar. Hasil dapatan kajian (Alazam,
2012) menunjukan secara keseluruhan tahap kemahiran dan pengetahuan guru-guru
vokasional di Malaysia adalah ditahap sederhana. Ini jelas menerangkan bahawa para guru
ini telah pun mempunyai pengetahuan serta kemahiran dan mampu untuk menggunakan ICT
semasa proses pengajaran di bengkel. Walaubagaimanapun guru-guru ini perlu diberi
pendedahan serta panduan terlebih dahulu tentang bagaimana proses pengajaran
berasaskan ICT ini dapat dilaksanakan.
Dalam Sistem pendidikan di Malaysia, Kementerian Pendidikan amat mementingkan
dan menitikberatkan pengetahuan serta kemahiran para guru tidak terkecuali pengetahuan
tentang ICT. Ia dilihat dapat memenuhi keperluan pekerjaan dalam pelbagai bidang industri.
Justeru itu penyusunan dan penstrukturan perlu dilaksanakan agar proses pengajaran dan
pembelajaran yang dijalankan dapat memberi impak kepada para pelajar apabila menempuh
alam pekerjaan kelak (Syahirah, 2011).
Selari dengan perkembangan ICT yang pesat diseluruh dunia, Kementerian
pendidikan khususnya telah merancang satu kerangka Pelan`Pembangunan Pendidikan
Malaysia 2013 – 2025 (PPPM) yang mana penumpuan dan fokus menjurus kepada
 69

penguasaan kemahiran yang diperlukan untuk abad ke 21. Salah satu faktor yang mendapat
perhatian adalah bidang ICT dalam pendidikan. Ianya di rancang dalam gelombang 2 (2016 -
2020) iaitu melengkapkan sekolah untuk menyokong kurikulum yang dipertingkatkan dan
penyampaian pedagogi. Sejajar dengan perkembangan ICT dalam pendidikan, setiap orang
guru perlu untuk menguasai kemahiran-kemahiran asas ICT atau literasi komputer.
Kemahiran-kemahiran yang perlu adalah merangkumi pelbagai kemahiran yang
menggunakan sistem rangkaian komputer dengan tujuan memantapkan lagi proses
pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Walaubagaimanapun, dalam pelaksanaan pengajaran dan
pembelajaran yang dilaksanakan berasaskan komputer dan ICT, didapati masih terdapat
ramai guru yang sukar menguasai kemahiran ICT dan penguasaan masih pada tahap yang
rendah, mereka masih kurang mengintegerasikan ICT dalam pengajaran dalam pengajaran
mereka dalam bilik darjah di mana majoriti guru masih menggunakan kaedah pengajaran
tradisional dan kurang menggunakan ICT. Misalnya, kekurangan latihan dan pengetahuan
merupakan antara faktor penghalang dari segi penggunaan komputer dalam setiap mata
pelajaran.

PENYATAAN MASALAH

Perkembangan teknologi digital bergerak seiring dengan perubahan zaman, begitu

juga perkembangan dalam sistem Pendidikan Teknik dan Vokasional (PTV) di Malaysia.
Guru-guru dilihat secara langsung berperanan mengembangkan kaedah pengajaran dari
bersifat konvensional kepada pedagogi alaf baru dengan menjadikan ICT sebagai
pemangkin utama untuk menyebar, menyimpan maklumat seterusnya membantu pelajar
membina pengetahuan baru (lechner & Boli, 2000). Ledakan teknologi maklumat sedang
mengalami revolusi teknologi yang sangat cepat ini menjadikan teknologi sebagai satu
medium media untuk menyampaikan maklumat dan komunikasi, terutama dalam pengajaran
dan pembelajaran dalam era siber ini (Livingstone, 2012). Penyataan ini selari dengan dasar
dan polisi kerajaan yang konsisten sejak dulu dalam mengunakan teknologi sebagai alat
pengajaran. Langkah ini merupakan anjakan paradigma yang amat besar dalam sistem
Pendidikan Negara dan membuka peluang untuk para guru memaksimumkan penggunaan
sumber yang disediakan oleh pihak kerajaan dalam pelaksanaan proses pengajaran dan
pembelajaran. (Mohamad Sani, 2002).
Namun begitu banyak isu yang timbul dari kajian-kajian lepas yang menyerlahkan
kelemahan para guru dalam menggunakan ICT sebagai medium pengajaran berpunca dari
kurangnya kemahiran dan pengetahuan dalam bidang tersebut (Shau K.H, 2008). Hasil
dapatan kajian Liaw dan Muzafar (2011), menunjukan kuranganya para pensyarah teknikal
mengaplikasikan atau menerapkan ICT semasa proses pengajaran dilaksanakan. Oleh itu,
institusi pendidikan vokasional di Malaysia perlu melaksanakan perubahan dengan lebih
pesat agar proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran akan menjadi lebih relevan selaras dengan
perkembangan terkini. (Ruhizan, Norazah, 2014).
Para guru perlu mencari idea pengajaran dan bahan bantu mengajar yang menarik
untuk memotivasikan minat dan mewujudkan daya tarikan dalam proses pembelajaran
kurikulum pendidikan (Sharifah Nor, 2010). Maka cabaran yang perlu ditempuh oleh para
guru khususnya guru teknikal dalam sistem pendidikan di Malaysia adalah untuk mengubah
paradigma ke arah perubahan kaedah pengajaran terkini menggunakan komputer dan
kemudahan ICT sebagai pendekatan alternatif dan jika di imbas kembali daripada isu-isu
yang telah dijelaskan dibahagian latar belakang kajian ini, ia menunjukan suatu gambaran
bahawa terdapat kewajaran untuk dijalankan suatu kajian dalam membangunkan model
pengajaran berasaskan ict bagi guru- guru teknikal di Kolej Vokasional untuk di jadikan
sebagai rujukan bagi pelaksanaan proses pengajaran yang lebih berkesan.
 70

OBJEKTIF KAJIAN

 Mengenalpasti keperluan membangunkan model pengajaran berasaskan ICT (e-

Tvet) mengikut pandangan guru-guru Kolej Vokasional.

SOALAN KAJIAN

 Apakah keperluan membangunkan model pengajaran berasaskan ICT (e-Tvet)

mengikut pandangan guru-guru Kolej Vokasional.

METODOLOGI KAJIAN

Analisis keperluan adalah suatu kaedah untuk mengetahui dan mengenalpasti jurang
keadaan semasa dan sasaran (Witkin, 1997). Analisis keperluan adalah merupakan nilai
penghakiman dengan tujuan untuk menyiasat isu-isu yang sediaada dan keperluan untuk
membangunan sesuatu model (Saleh. M.P, 2016). Model yang direka bentuk boleh
berperanan sebagai petunjuk dan panduan yang praktikal iaitu membolehkan model e Tvet
membantu guru memenuhi keperluan pelajar serta mampu menarik minat mereka dalam
kursus Mekanikal dan Pembuatan melalui kaedah pengajaran yang menarik dan berkesan.

Sampel Kajian

Sampel kajian ialah seramai 108 orang (N=108) guru teknikal dari 5 buah Kolej
Vokasional dan Pemilihan sampel dipilih secara purposive sampling (Cochran, 2007), bagi
melihat apakah analisis keperluan pengajaran berasaskan ICT bagi Kursus Mekanikal dan
Pembuatan di Kolej Vokasional. Sampel kajian kualitatif adalah seramai 2 orang pakar dari
Universiti dan 1 orang pakar dari IPG dalam bidang TVET.

Analisis data

Data-data yang dikumpulkan dalam kajian ini dianalisis menggunakan perisian

komputer SPSS versi 21.0. Kekerapan atau frekuensi digunakan untuk menganalisis secara
deskriptif demografi responden. Analisis data dalam kajian ini menggunakan analisis
deskriptif iaitu kekerapan dan peratus.

DAPATAN KAJIAN

Seramai 108 guru Kolej Vokaisonal Zon Utara telah menjawab soal selidik yang
diedarkan. Dapatan profil pelajar yang terlibat sebagai responden meliputi jantina, kelayakan
akademik, pengalaman bekerja dalam bidang kemahiran, pengalaman dalam bidang ICT,
Bilangan responden mengikut pecahan kursus Mekanikal dan Pembuatan. Keseluruhan
dapatan kajian dapat dilihat berdasarkan jadual 1

Jadual 1 Demografi Responden

Aspek Peratus
Jantina Lelaki 95% (N=103)
Perempuan 5 % (N=5)
Kelayakan Akademik Diploma 0% (N=0)
Ijazah 89% (N=96)
Sarjana 11% (N=12)
Phd 0% (N=0)
 71

Pengalam Bekerja Dalam Bidang 1 – 5 tahun 0% (N=0)

Kursus 6 – 10 tahun 39.8% (N=43)
11 – 15 tahun 43.5% (N=47)
Lebih 15 tahun 16.7% (N=18)

Pengalaman dalam Bidang ICT 1 – 5 tahun 9.3% (N=10)

6 – 10 tahun 21.3% (N=23)
11 – 15 tahun 41.7% (N=45)
Lebih 15 tahun 27.7% (N=30)

Bidang Kemahiran yang diajar Automotif 21.3 % (N=23)

Kimpalan dan Fabrikasi 39.8 % (N=43)
Pemesin Am 22.2 % (N=24)
Penyamanan dan penyejukbakuan 16.7 % (N=18)

Jika diteliti Jadual 1, bilangan responden lelaki adalah 95% dan 5% responden
perempuan terlibat didalam kajian ini. Daripada 108 sampel guru ini seramai 89%
menpunyai tahap ijazah pertama dan 11% mempunyai kelayakan akademik diperingkat
sarjana. Dari segi pengalaman bekerja 39.8 % telah bekerja antara 6 -10 tahun, 43.5% telah
bekerja 11-15 tahun dan 16.7% melebihi 15 tahun. Manakala pengalaman dalam bidang ict
ialah 93% mempunyai pengalaman diantara 1-5 tahun, 21.3% diantara 6 -10 tahun, 41.7%
mempunyai lebih 15 tahun pengalam dalam bidang ict. Pecahan bidang kursus Mekanikal
dan pembuatan pula melibatkan 4 jenis bidang iaitu Bidang Automotif 21.3%, bidang
Kimpalan dan Fabrikasi logam 39.8%, Pemesin Am 22.2% serta Penyamanan dan
Penyejukbekuan 16.7%.

Jadual 2 Kemahiran terhadap Perkakasan ICT

Bil Item Tidak Kurang Sederhana Mahir Sangat Min (SP) Inteprestasi
Mahir Mahir Mahir Mahir
1 Komputer 0 0 16.7% 57.4% 25.9% 4.09 .649 Tinggi
desktop 18 62 28
2 Komputer 0 0 23% 57.4% 21.3% 4.00 .656 Tinggi
riba 23 62 23
3 Smartphone 0 0 16.7 62% 21.3% 4.05 .617 Tinggi
18 67 23
4 Tablet 0 0 21.3% 57.4 21.3 4.00 .656 Tinggi
(iPad,iPod, 23 62 23
Tab)
5 Netbook 0 0 38.9% 38.9% 21.3% 3.82 .756 Sederhana
42 43 23 Tinggi
6 LCD 0 0 21.3% 57.4% 21.3% 4.00 .656 Tinggi
23 62 23

Jadual 2 menunjukan skor min tahap kemahiran penggunaan komputer desktop

berada pada nilai tertinggi iaitu 4.09 (SP=0.649). Jadual juga menunjukan hampir kesemua
tahap kemahiran guru menggunakan peralatan ICT berada pada nilai yang tinggi cuma
perkakasan netbook berada pada nilai min 3.82 (SP=0.756). Dapatan ini jelas menunjukan
guru-guru mempunyai kemahiran dalam mengendalikan peralatan ICT untuk proses
pengajaran dikelas bagi kursus mekanikal dan pembuatan.
 72

Jadual 3 Teknik Pengajaran (Model e-Tvet) bagi Kursus Mekanikal dan Pembuatan

Bil Item STS TS KS S SS Min (SP) Inteprestasi

1 Syarahan 0 0 0 63% 37% 4.37 .485 Tinggi
68 40
2 Penyoalan 0 0 0 57.4% 42.6% 4.43 .497 Tinggi
42.6 46
Teknik 0 0 0 83.3% 16.7% 4.17 .375 Tinggi
3 pembelajara 90 18
n koperatif
4 Inkuiri 0 0 0 76.9% 23.1% 4.23 .424 Tinggi
penemuan 83 25
5 Kajian kes 0 0 0 59.3% 40.7% 4.41 .494 Tinggi
64 44
6 Latih tubi 0 0 0 79.6% 20.4% 4.20 .405 Tinggi
86 22
7 Projek 0 0 0 63% 37% 4.37 .485 Tinggi
68 40
8 Penyelesaia 0 0 0 69.4% 30.6% 4.35 .463 Tinggi
n masalah 75 33
9 Amali 0 0 0 64.8% 35.2% 4.35 .480 Tinggi
70 38
10 Guru 0 0 0 52.8% 47.2% 4.47 .502 Tinggi
sebagai 57 51
fasilitator
(Scaffolding)

Jadual 3 menunjukan purata skor min bagi kaedah pengajaran yang menjadi pilihan
kepada guru-guru Kursus mekanikal dan pembuatan. Kaedah scaffolding iaitu guru sebagai
fasilitator merupakan pilihan tertinggi oleh guru-guru. Ini berdasarkan nilai min tertinggi iaitu
4.47 (SP=.502), kaedah ini amat bersesuaian dan bertepatan dengan pengajaran
berasaskan ICT . Namun begitu teknik-teknik lain juga turut menjadi pilihan guru-guru
berdasarkan nilai min yang mencatat 4.00 keatas. Dapatan ini menunjukan bahawa peluang
yang baik kepada guru-guru untuk menerapkan unsur ICT dalam pengajaran kerana
kesemua kaedah tersebut boleh dilaksanakan dengan berasaskan ICT, Sebagai contoh
teknik pembelajaran koperatif yang mana pelajar–pelajar bersama-sama meneroka
kepelbagaian maklumat didalam internet disamping guru sebagai fasilitatordan, membantu
mereka menyelesaikan masalah.

Jadual 4 Aktiviti pengajaran berasaskan ICT bagi (model e-Tvet) Kursus Mekanikal dan
Pembuatan

Bil Item STS TS KS S SS Min (SP) Inteprestasi

1 Mencari 0 0 0 78.7% 21.3% 4.21 .411 Tinggi
maklumat 85 23
dalam Internet
2 Memberi 0 0 0 84% 15.7% 4.16 .366 Tinggi
maklumbalas 91 17
secara online
3 Menghantar 1.9% 22.2% 75.9% 0 0 2.75 .480 Sederhana
SMS 2 22 82 Rendah
4 Persidangan 0 0 0.9% 61.1% 38% 4.37 .504 Tinggi
Video 1 66 41
5 Membaca 0 0 6.4% 66.7% 38% 4.20 .543 Tinggi
nota pelajaran 7 66 41
secara online
6 Melaksanakan 0 0 0 56.5% 43.5% 4.44 .498 Tinggi
tugasan 61 47
 73

secara online
7 Mengumpul 0 0 0 79.6% 20.4% 4.20 .405 Tinggi
data 86 22
dilapangan

Jadual 4 menunjukan purata min skor bagi aktiviti pengajaran berasaskan ICT bagi
(Model e-Tvet) kursus Mekanikal dan pembuatan. Skor menunjukan kesemua item berada
pada nilai min yang tinggi terutama pada item 7 iaitu melaksanakan tugasan secara online
dengan nilai min 4.44 (SP=.498). Berdasarkan dapatan data tersebut, menunjukan
responden yakin dan mampu untuk melaksanakan proses pengajaran berasaskan ICT.
Namun begitu terdapat beberapa responden yang kurang bersetuju pada item 4 iaitu
penggunakan SMS sebagai medium aktiviti pengajaran dengan nilai min 2.75 (SP=.480).

Jadual 5 Bentuk Penilaian Bagi (Model e-Tvet) bagi Kursus Mekanikal dan Pembuatan

Bil Item STS TS KS S SS Min (SP) Inteprestasi

1 Ujian objektif 0 0 0 78.8% 21.3% 4.21 .411 Tinggi
dalam talian 85 23
(on-line)
2 Ujian 0 0 0 94.4% 5.6% 4.06 .230 Tinggi
subjektif 102 6
dalam talian
(on-line)
3 Folio 0 0 0 95.4% 4.6% 4.05 .211 Tinggi
6 5
4 Kuiz melalui 0 0 17.6% 61.1% 21.3% 4.04 .625 Tinggi
SMS 19 66 23
5 Hasil Produk 0 0 57.4% 21.3% 21.3% 3.64 .814 Sederhana
62 23 23 Tinggi
6 Hasilan 0 0 17.6% 61.1% 21.3% 4.04 .625 Tinggi
Bahan Bantu 19 66 23
Mengajar
(BBM)
7 Ujian amali 0 0 0 94.4% 5.6% 4.06 .230 Tinggi
102 6
8 Kerja 0 0 0 78.8% 21.3% 4.21 .411 Tinggi
kumpulan 85 23

Jadual 5 menunjukan purata skor min bagi bentuk penilaian (model e-Tvet) bagi
kursus mekanikal dan pembuatan. Item 1 dan 8 berada pada nilai min yang tinggi iaitu 4.21
(SP= .411) iaitu melaksanakan ujian objektif dan kerja berkumpulan dan nilai min terendah
ialah pada item 5 iaitu pada nilai 3.64 (SP=.814) iaitu untuk membuat penilaian hasil produk.
Dapatan ini menunjukan adanya peluang yang besar untuk guru-guru membuat penilaian
dengan berasaskan ICT. Bagi item yang lain, responden memberi jawapan yang positif
kepada semua bentuk penilaian dengan nilai min melebihi 4.00.

Analisis Pandangan Pakar Terhadap Keperluan Reka Bentuk dan Pembangunan Model
Pengajaran Berasaskan ICT (Model E-Tvet) Bagi Kursus Mekanikal dan Pembuatan

Berdasarkan dapatan temubual pakar tidak dinafikan bahawa keperluan untuk

mereka bentuk model pengajaran berasaskan ICT bagi Kursus Mekanikal dan Pembuatan.
Pengkaji mendapati bahawa terdapat kesepakatan pakar dalam isu ini. Ini berdasarkan
kenyataan responden:

i. Apakah keperluan reka bentuk dan pembangunan (Model e-Tvet) model

pengajaran berasaskan ICT mengikut pandangan pakar bagi Kursus Teknologi
dalam Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran.
 74

“Pada pandangan saya model Pengajaran bagi subjek teknikal adalah satu keperluan
dan amat sesuai dengan era pendidikan pada abad ke-21 yang memerlukan aplikasi
ICT sebagai platform pembelajaran yang berkesan ” (P1).
“Ya…perlu….dan sangat penting kerana perubahan dalam sistem pendidikan
Negara terutama dalam bidang teknik dan vokasional agar seiring di peringkat global.
Para guru semestinya mencari kaedah P&P agar diajar dengan lebih kreatif dan
inovatif,; tidak hanya bertumpu kepada pembelajaran dalam kelas yang jumud tetapi
proses P&P boleh dilaksanakan dengan lebih menarik dan berkesan” (P2)
“Ya...pada pandangan saya, pelbagai kemudahan telah disediakan oleh pihak
kementerian dan menyediakan platform seperti Vle Frog untuk digunakan oleh para
guru bersesuaian dengan objektif dan kandungan Kursus.... (P3).

ii. Pandangan pakar terhadap perkakasan ICT yang sesuai dalam pembinaan
model (e-Tvet) bagi Kursus Mekanikal dan Pembuatan.

“Apabila bercakap tentang pengajaran berasaskan ICT, kita tak boleh lari dari
menggunakan komputer samada desktop mahu laptop, ditambah dengan
kemudahan internet yang baik agar proses pengajaran juga lancar” (P1).
“Sudah tentu para guru perlu mahir menggunakan perkakasan seperti komputer
tetapi apa yang lebih penting pada saya ialah capaian internet mesti dalam keadaan
terbaik”(P2)
“Perkakasan seperti komputer samada laptop mahupun desktop,serta LCD
merupakan nadi kepada proses pengajaran berasaskan ICT.” (P3)

iii. Pandangan pakar terhadap aktiviti-aktiviti P&P yang sesuai dalam pembinaan
model (e-Tvet) bagi Kursus Mekanikal dan Pembuatan.

“Proses pengajaran berbentuk amali ni, kaedah terbaik guru tu perlu buat demo
secara perseorangan ataupun group, macam couching dan mentoring
laa..membimbing dari mula sampai akhir cuma kalau nak serap elemen ICT bahan
pengajaran tu berbantukan teknologi, proses tu jadi lebih menarik dan berkesan.
(P1).”
“Sebenarnya aktiviti PnP yang mengggunakan aplikasi ICT ni, sepatutnya lebih baik
dari segi penyampaian isi kandungan, sebagai contoh pembinaan folio kursus,
pelajar boleh dapatkan info dari sumber yang lebih luas dan pelbagai samada dari
buku, jurnal dan lain-lain. (P2)”
“Pada pandangan saya, aktiviti terbaik bila nak menggunakan aplikasi ICT ni.. masa
buat pembentangan. Pelajar lebih kreatif bila mereka mampu guna pelbagai platform
yang terdapat dalam internet.(P3)

iv. Pandangan pakar terhadap bentuk penilaian yang sesuai dalam pembinaan
model pengajaran (model e-Tvet) bagi kursus Mekanikal dan Pembuatan.

“Dalam mereka bentuk penilaian, tak boleh lari dari 2 jenis penilaian, samada formatif
atau sumatif, dan bila kita nak terapkan elemen ICT sewaktu penilaian persediaan
awal kita mesti mantap unt kelancaran semasa ujian ke , kuiz ke.. tapi bila dah siap
kerja bertambah senang sebab smuanya kita boleh simpan dengan lebih kemas.(P1)”
“Kalau buat penilaian menggunakan elemen ICT, memang kerja lebih mudah, Cuma
persediaan awal perlu buat dengan teliti. Tapi kalau kita dah setkan setiap kali habis
setiap topic, pelajar perlu menjawab kuiz atau ujian secara online, ia amat
menyenangkan.(P2)”
“Kita memang sedang menuju kearah tu… cuma perlu memilih samada sesuai utk di
nilai secara ICT atau kaedah biasa. Tapi kalau ada cara yang lebih baik, sistematik,
dan kemas kenapa tidak kita menggunakan ICT”.(P3)
 75

PERBINCANGAN

Perkembangan teknologi dalam pendidikan telah mengubah proses pengajaran dan

pembelajaran menuju kearah pembelajaran abad ke 21. Berdasarkan temubual pakar dan
dapatan soal selidik fasa analisis keperluan yang dilakukan keatas 108 orang responden
yang terdiri dari guru-guru Kursus Mekanikal dan Pembuatan di lima buah Kolej Vokasional
di Malaysia, menunjukan kesemua guru-guru ini telah pun terdedah dengan pengetahuan
ICT dan mempunyai kemahiran untuk menggunakan kemudahan ICT bagi pelaksanaan
proses pengajaran di bengkel.
Hasil dapatan analisis keperluan ini adalah berkaitan kemahiran terhadap
perkakasan ICT, data menunjukan guru-guru telah terdedah dan mampu mengguna
perkakasan teknologi. Ini bertepatan dengan pandangan Rahmad. M. (2016) yang
menyatakan cabaran pengajaran dan pembelajaran abad ke-21 kini tertumpu pada
penguasaan kemahiran menggunakan media dan teknologi maklumat terkini. Sehubungan
itu kerajaan telah memberikan penekanan terhadap penguasaan penggunaan teknologi ICT
dalam keadaan formal dan tidak formal (Fakharuddin et al., 2014). Guru tidak boleh lari
daripada menggunakan ICT dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Ini memberi
gambaran bahawa model pengajaran berasaskan teknologi boleh dibangunkan dan
diaplikasi oleh guru-guru dengan lebih baik. Oleh itu, kemahiran guru terhadap penggunaan
media dan teknologi maklumat terkini harus dipertingkatkan mengikut arus perubahan
teknologi.
Seterusnya dalam kontek kaedah pengajaran yang bersesuaian dengan pengajaran
berasaskan ICT, data telah menunjukan kaedah scaffholding berada pada min yang tinggi.
Kaedah pengajaran ini membolehkan guru bertindak sebagai fasilitator dan pelajar perlu
lebih banyak memainkan peranan dalam mendapatkan maklumat semasa proses
pembelajaran. Salam, Mailok & Ubaidullah (2015), menyatakan kaedah scaffholding
sememangnya membawa perubahan dalam peningkatan kebolehan pelajar dan bersesuaian
dalam pembelajaran berasaskan ICT. Kaedah berpusatkan pelajar ini adalah merupakan
kaedah pengajaran yang sangat sesuai kerana pelajar lebih kreatif dalam mengeluarkan
idea dan berani mengeluarkan pandangan serta pendapat, disamping itu ianya dapat
meningkatkan kemahiran berfikir aras tinggi para pelajar (Kamarul Afendey & Ishak Saat,
2013).
Dalam kontek aktiviti dalam pengajaran data menunjukan melaksanakan tugasan
secara online adalah min yang tertinggi, diikuti mencari maklumat didalam internet. Dapatan
ini selari dengan kaedah pengajaran terkini iaitu proses pengajaran berpusatkan pelajar
menekankan pelajar menyelesaikan tugasan dengan menggunakan teknologi ICT. Para
pelajar boleh meneroka secara berkumpulan mahupun berseorangan bagi mengukuhkan
pengetahuan sediada mereka. Namun bagi item yang terakhir iaitu menggunakan sms
sebagai salah satu aktiviti pengajaran telah ditolak memandangkan ianya kurang sesuai
dijadikan sebagai medium pengajaran.
Bagi dapatan yang terakhir iaitu berkenaan bentuk penilaian yang dicadangkan bagi
model eTvet bagi Kursus mekanikal dan pembuatan. Data menunjukan hampir kesemua
keadah penilaian tersebut dipersetujui oleh guru-guru cuma ianya perlu di buat persediaan
dengan teliti dan dapatan data ini selari sepertimana dapatan pakar dalam sesi temubual.

KESIMPULAN

Secara keseluruhan hasil analisis keperluan menunjukkan ada keperluan dan

peluang terhadap penghasilan kaedah pengajaran yang berasaskan teknologi terkini sebagai
satu alternatif kepada para guru. Hal ini selaras dengan perubahan zaman dan amalan para
guru serta pelajar yang mejadikan teknologi sebagai medium kehidupan. Persekitaran
pengajaran dan pembelajaran berteraskan teknologi telah membuka peluang untuk pengkaji
membangunkan suatu model pengajaran (Model e-Tvet) berasaskan ICT agar dapat
 76

memberi suatu impak kepada kualiti pengajaran. Rais, Ahmad,& Hadi (2016), menyatakan
kekerapan para guru menggunakan ICT menjadi faktor yang mendorong untuk mereka
mengaplikasikan ICT dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran.

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of Vocational and Technical Teachers in Malaysia. Creative Education, 03(08), 70–
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of education, 38(1), 9-24.

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Terhadap Aplikasi Teknologi Maklumat Dan Komunikasi (Tmk) Dalam Pengajaran
Dan Pembelajaran. In Proceeding 7th International Seminar on Regional Education
(Vol. 1, pp. 79-89).

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Malaysia On the Use Of e-Portfolios, 6(1), 57-71.

Salam, F., Mailok, R., & Ubaidullah, N. (2015). Perubahan pencapaian mata pelajaran
Teknologi Maklumat dan Komunikasi melalui pembelajaran berasaskan projek
dengan scaffolding. Jurnal Pendidikan Malaysia, 40(1), 29-41.

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Mata Pelajaran Sejarah Sekolah Menengah. Jurnal Kurikulum dan Pengajaran Asia
Pasifik, 4(4).

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dalam Pengajaran dan Kesannya Terhadap Hasil Kerja dan Tingkah Laku Murid
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Shau, K. H. (2008). Keberkesanan Penggunaan ICT Dalam Pengajaran Dan Pembelajaran

Guru. 2008. Retrieved from http://ojs.cakna.net/index.php/spp/article/view/459/457

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Pelaksanaan Kolej Vokasional Dari Aspek Tahap Kemahiran. Persidangan
Kebangsaan Kebangsaan Penyelidikan Dan Inovasi Dalam Pendidikan Dan Latihan
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Vokasioanl CIETVT 2011. Faculty Of Technical And Vocational Education Universiti

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 78

Muslim Students’ Purchase Intention towards Packaged Food

Products Produced by Non-Muslim Manufacturers
Mohd Radzi Mohd Khir
Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Kedah

Mustapa Abdullah
Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Kedah

Hadzli Ishak
Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Kedah

Abd Rasyid Ramli

Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Kedah

ABSTRACT

The growth of halal industry has made producing halal products as a good business venture.
In Malaysia, majority of manufacturers for food related items are Non-Muslims. Based on the
incidences reported by the media, it seems that Muslim consumers often end up victims of
greedy traders and manufacturers who use their own Halal certification, which is not
recognized. The study examined the effect of Attitude, Subjective Norm, Perceived
Behavioural Control and Islamic Brand towards the intention to purchase halal package food
products produced by Non-Muslim manufacturers. 250 Muslim students of UiTM Kedah have
been selected as respondents. Data were obtained through self-administered questionnaire
distributed among these respondents. It was found that only Attitude, Subjective Norm and
Islamic Brand have a significant relationship with intention to purchase halal packaged food
products produced by Non-Muslim manufacturers. There is no significant relationship
between Perceived Behavioural Control and intention to purchase halal package food
products produced by Non-Muslim manufacturers. The findings of this study provide
pertinent information on our young generation purchase behaviour towards halal food
product. This information can assist the Halal food manufacturers to develop a successful
business strategy and useful to the government to improve policies or procedures related to
halal business.

Keywords: Purchase intention, Attitude, Subjective Norms, Perceived Behavioural Control,

Islamic Brand

INTRODUCTION

In Malaysia, because of our Muslim majority, halal has become consumers' vital
concern. Halal covers the aspects of slaughtering, storage, display, preparation, hygiene and
sanitation. It is not limited to only food category of products but it also covers non-food
category. As such, in Malaysia, Muslim consumers faced with a broad selection of products
and services. These broad selections offer many different brands either local or international
brand name. Lately we have seen some of the local brands appear to public as 'Islamic'
brands’ via their creative packaging and labeling works (Shafie and Othman, 2006). This can
be considered as indirectly signal to their primary target, the Muslim consumers' on the halal
 79

status of their products. Eventually, owing to multicultural nature of Malaysia, not all local
companies place the 'Islamic' feature on their packaging and labeling of the products (Alam
and Sayuti, 2011). For instant, if we looked at food products, worldwide growth in Islamic
populations has seen a tremendous demand for Halal foods and created new opportunities
for food processors. Several of the world's major food companies, including Nestle, Baskin
Robbins and Campbell Soup, have addressed the growing demand for foods that meet the
Islamic dietary code.
As reported on Bernama's news article dated 9 February 2010, Mohd Yusof Abdul
Rahman, Chief Executive of the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca)
was expounding the Halal issue to Bernama. According to Mohd Yusof, the truth is that a big
number of producers or manufacturers especially for food related items are non-Muslims.
Furthermore, based on the incidences reported by the media, it seems that Muslim
consumers often end up victims of greedy traders and manufacturers who use their own
Halal certification, which is not recognized. Those greedy traders and manufacturers are
either inconsiderate or not bothered on why the products have to be Halal for Muslims. This
scenario also has led to some Muslim’s consumers refuse to buy Non-Muslims Halal certified
packaged food (Nor Sara Nadia, Wan Edura, Norafifa & Norhidayah, 2014). Due to the
scenario, the researchers would like to examine the consumers' halal products purchase
intention by applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) concept which consists of
attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavior with an added determinant which is
Islamic brand.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Halal Phenomenon

One of the most important concepts in Islam is the concept of halal. With an
increasing number of the Muslim population worldwide, halal has become the vital concern
among consumers. Halal is defined as "an Arabic word meaning lawful or permitted". Halal is
a universal term that applies to all facets, meat products, makeup, personal care products,
food ingredients, and food contact material (JAKIM, 1975). Halal refers to things or actions
permitted by Shariah law without punishment imposed on the doer. Halal products are
usually used to describe products that a Muslim is permitted to engage in, e.g. eat, drink or
use. The opposite of halal is haram, which is Arabic for unlawful or prohibited. In the Holy
Quran, God commands Muslims and all of the mankind to eat of the Halal things. In our ever
progressive world, it has become increasingly challenging on Muslims to determine whether
the food or drinks they consume is religiously acceptable or halal. This halal and non-halal
problem is not only limited to food and beverage but also to other products and services.
Today, halal is no longer just a religion issue, it is a global phenomenon. Halal symbol
has become a symbol for good quality and wholesomeness. Halal market is diverse and
complex and it covers Muslim and non-Muslims world by its 'farm to fork' nature. It
encompasses a wide range of industry sub-sectors with elements of religious, political, and
financial dimension in it. And because Halal is essentially an Islamic phenomenon, it
highlights the benefits of Islam to all mankind. It is inevitable that Muslim becomes more
particular about the type of products and services that they consume and use as they have
become more knowledgeable of their religion (Shafie and Othman, 2006).

Intention to Purchase

Intention is an indication of a person's willingness to perform the behaviour, and it is

immediate antecedent of behaviour (Ajzen, 1985). Armitage and Conner (1999) stated that
intention is recognize as the motivation for individuals to engage in certain behaviour.
Furthermore, according to the TPB model, the immediate determinant of behaviour is the
individual's intention to perform or not that behaviour. Behavioural intention is defined as the
 80

individual's subjective probability that he or she will engage in that behaviour (Ajzen and
Fishbein, 1975).
Based on Theory of Reason Action (TRA), a person's intention is a function of two
basic determinants, one personal in nature and the other reflecting social influence. The
personal is the individual's positive or negative evaluation of performing the behaviour. This
factor is termed attitude toward the behaviour (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Meanwhile, TRA
and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) depict person's behavioural intention as a
combination of three basic determinants; attitude towards the behaviour, subjective norm,
and perceived behavioural control (Randall and Gibson, 1991).
TPB has been widely used by researchers in measuring people’s intention to
purchase, consume and accept Halal food products (Nazahah & Sutina, 2012, Alam &
Sayuti, 2011)

Theory of Planned Behaviour

There are three components in Theory of Planned Behaviour that explains further
intention to behave and thus behaviour itself, i.e. attitude, subjective norm and perceived
behaviour control.
Ajzen and Fishbein, (1980) defined attitude towards the behaviour is determined by a
person's evaluation of those outcomes as favourable and unfavourable. According to the
theory of reasoned action, attitudes are a function of beliefs. In other words, attitude can be
defined as when an individual or a person believes that performing a given behaviour will
lead to mostly positive outcomes, he/she will hold a favourable attitude toward performing the
behaviour, while if he/she believes that performing a given behaviour will lead to mostly
negative outcomes, he/she will hold an unfavourable attitude. (Lada et al., 2009). According
to Ajzen (1985), an individual is more likely to undertake a certain behaviour if he/she has a
positive attitude toward undertaking the behaviour. Blackwell et al., (2006) supported that
attitude is the evaluation of performing a particular behaviour involving the attitude object,
such as buying the product. Shook & Bratianu (2010) argues that the attitude of an individual
toward a specific issue depends on his or her beliefs about the end result. The more positive
the final results are the better perception of it. And the better the perception of it, the firmer
the intention to exercise specific behaviour.
The second determinant of intention of planned behaviour is subjective norm.
According to Ajzen (1987) subjective norm refers to the person's perception of the social
pressure in or against performing the behaviour in question. In short, subjective norm seems
to reflect an individual's perception that most people that are important to him thinks he
should or should not perform the behaviour. Theory of planned behaviour holds that
subjective norm is a function of beliefs. Beliefs that underlie the subjective norm are called
normative beliefs. Thus, if a person believes that the most important referents or individuals
to them think that the behaviour should be performed, then the subjective norm should
influence the intention of the person to perform the behaviour in question. For instance, if
consumers believe that significant others think halal products are good; consumers will have
more intention to buy these products. Therefore, this shows that subjective norm influences
intention to perform a particular behaviour. Teo and Lee, (2010) supports the definition from
TPB by defining subjective norm as "one's perception of whether people important to the
individual think the behaviour should be performed".
The final predictor in theory of planned behaviour is perceived behaviour control.
Perceived behaviour control is an added concept in TPB in addition to attitude and subjective
norm. Perceived behaviour refers to the degree of control that an individual perceives over
performing the behaviour (Chen, 2007; Kang et al., 2006). In addition, according to Ajzen
(2001), perceived behaviour control is 'the extent to which a person feels able to engage in
the behaviour'. It has two aspects, (1) how much a person has control over behaviour, (2)
how confident a person feels about being able to perform or not perform the behaviour. As
an illustration, when an individual feels that he or she has more control about making halal
products purchases, the more likely he or she will be to do so. a recent study by Ham, Jeger
 81

& Ivkovic (2015), concluded that perceived behavioural control refers to the presence of the
necessary resources and opportunities for a particular behaviour and is influenced by a
number of factors, such as previous experiences related to the purchase of green food
products, convenience perceptions, perceived monetary barriers, perceived time barriers,
and other factors, that increase or decrease the perceived level of feasibility of this
behaviour.

Islamic Brand

Issues on Halal branding are becoming a trending topic to be discussed. According to

Kotler & Armstrong (2004), brand represents the consumers’ perception and feelings towards
product and everything about the product or service that could mean to the consumer. They
also emphasized that brand is not just a name and symbol, it is more than that. Logically,
each brand name holds thousands of meanings which are physically and emotionally
associated with the product that consumers buy. The increased in demand of Halal food and
the intensity of competition in venturing a new force of Halal market has led to the
emergence of Islamic branding. This concern has also led to the categorization of Islamic
brand in more detailed and specific. Past researchers (Alserhan, 2010) described brands are
Islamic when (1) True Islamic Brands; Halal, produced in Islamic country and targeted to
Muslims, (2) Traditional Islamic Brands; assumed to be Halal, originated from Islamic
countries and targeted to Muslims, (3) Inbound Islamic Brands; Halal, originate from Islamic
countries and not necessarily targeted to Muslims, (4) outbound Islamic Brands; Halal,
originate from non-Islamic countries and not necessarily targeted to Muslims. The results of
this categorization indicate different attitudes, subjective norms, and purchase behaviour
(Alserhan, 2010). Therefore, aligned with the objectives of the study, Halal packaged food
that produced by non-Muslim manufacturers in Malaysia can be considered as Inbound
Islamic Brand since Malaysia is considered as an Islamic country (Halim & Salleh, 2012).

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES

This research try to examine the consumers' halal products purchase intention by
applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) concept which consists of attitudes,
subjective norms and perceived behavior with an added determinant which is Islamic brand.
The proposed framework for this study is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Theoretical Framework

Independent variables

Attitude

Dependent variable
Subjective Norms

Perceived Behavioural Control Intention to Purchase

Islamic Brand

Islamic Brand
 82

To achieve the research objectives, the researchers have structured four hypotheses.
The hypotheses that have been tested for this study are as below.

H1: There is a significant relationship between Attitude and Intention to Purchase halal
packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturers.
H2: There is a significant relationship between Subjective Norm and Intention to Purchase
halal packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturers.
H3: There is a significant relationship between Perceived Behavior Control and Intention
to Purchase halal packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturers.
H4: There is a significant relationship between Islamic brand and intention to Purchase
halal packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturers.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Sampling

The target population of this study is the students of University Teknologi Mara
Kedah. Sample size was determined based on the rules of thumb proposed by Roscoe.
According to Roscoe (1975) sample sizes larger than 30 and smaller than 500 are
appropriate for most research. In extended elaboration, he suggested that the sample size to
be 10 times more than the number of questions for all variables. In this research, the total
number of questions on all variables is 25. Therefore, the appropriate sample size is 250
respondents. (25 questions X 10 = 250).
In this study, the simple random sampling has been chosen. The simple random
sampling is described as “a probability sampling design in which every single element in the
population which has a known and equal chance of being selected as a subject” (Sekaran
and Bougie, 2013).

Survey Instrument

The data for this study were collected through the distribution of questionnaires to the
Muslim’s students of UiTM Kedah. This questionnaire is personally administered by the
researchers. The advantage of this method is the completed data can be collected from the
respondents in a one time period (Sekaran, 2006). The instrument consists of two sections.
The first section consists of questions related to the socio-demographic profile of
respondents such as gender, age, marital status, family’s income and hometown. The
second section comprises questions that measure the Independent variables. There are 25
questions related to the independent and dependent variables of the study. A five –point
Likert scale, ranging from 1 – strongly disagree to 5 – strongly agree, is used for all the items
in this section.

Data Analysis

The study considers few statistical methods in the presentation of the research
results. The methods used are descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficient and
Pearson correlation.
 83

RESULTS

Reliability test
To determine the reliability of the scale, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is used and the
reliability rates of all the independent variables are found to be adequate as the values of
each variable are significantly more than the prescribe 0.70 thresholds (Table 1).

Table 1 Reliability Tests for the Independent Variables

Variables of the Study No of Items Cronbach’s Alpha

Attitude 5 0.822
Subjective Norms 5 0.918
Perceived Behavioural 5 0.837
Control
Islamic Brand 5 0.905
Purchase Intention 5 0.838

Frequency Analysis

Based on table 2 below, the age range of the majority respondents is between 20-29.
78% of the respondents are female. Only three respondents are married. Others are still
single. Majority of respondents (77.20%) of the respondents are from family income group of
below RM3,000.. Based on hometown or place of origin, 54.40% or 136 respondents are
from rural area while the remaining 45.6% are from urban area.

Table 2 Respondents Profile

Items n %
Age
 Below 20 years old 71 28.4
 20-29 years old 179 71.6
Gender
 Male 55 22.0
 Female 195 78.0
Marital Status
 Single 247 98.8
 Married 3 1.2
Family Income
 < RM1,000 81 32.4
 RM1,000 to RM3,000 112 44.8
 RM3,001 to RM5,000
 RM5,001 to RM7,000 35 14.0
 RM7,001 and above
12 4.8

10 4.0
Hometown
 Urban Area 114 45.6
 Rural Area 136 54.4

Correlation

The main focus in this study is to examine the relationship between dependent variable and
independent variables. The results of Pearson Correlation Analysis as showed in Table 3 are
used to measure the hypothesis whether there are relationship between the independent
variables and dependent variables.
 84

Table 3 Correlation Analysis

Attitude Subjective Perceived Islamic Purchase

Norms Behavioura Brand Intention
l Control
** ** **
Attitude 1 .377 -.089 .659 .752
** ** ** **
Subjective Norms .377 1 -.202 .308 .503
**
Perceived Behavioural Control. -.089 -.202 1 -.052 -.075
** ** **
Islamic Brand .659 .308 -.052 1 .779
Purchase Intention ** ** **
.752 .503 -.075 .779 1
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Hypothesis 1: There is a significant relationship between Attitude and Intention to Purchase

halal packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturers.
The Pearson correlation result shows the value of attitude is 0.752. This indicates the
correlation between attitudes and intention to purchase halal packaged food products
produced by non-Muslim manufacturers is positive. The p-value is less than 0.05
(0.00<0.05). Thus, there is a significant relationship between attitude and intention to
purchase halal packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturers. Therefore,
hypothesis is accepted.
The result was supported by Ajzen (1985), saying that an individual is more likely to
undertake a certain behaviour if he/she has a positive attitude towards undertaking the
behaviour. Then, Blackwell et al., (2006) added that attitude is the evaluation of performing a
particular behaviour involving the attitude object, such as buying the product.

Hypothesis 2: There is a significant relationship between Subjective Norm and Intention to

Purchase halal packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturers.
Based on table 3, the result shows that subjective norms have positive relationship to
intention to purchase halal packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturer.
The Pearson result value is 0.503 and the p-value is less than 0.05 (0.00<0.05). Thus, there
is a significant relationship between subjective norms and intention to purchase halal
packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturer. Therefore, Hypothesis 2 is
accepted.
The result was consistent based on the previous study by Ajzen (1987), mentioning
that subjective norm refers to the person's perception of the social pressure in or against
performing the behaviour in question. In short, subjective norm seems to reflect an
individual's perception that most people that are important to him thinks he should or should
not perform the behaviour. Theory of planned behaviour holds that subjective norm is a
function of beliefs.

Hypothesis 3: There is a significant relationship between Perceived Behaviour Control and

Intention to Purchase halal packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturers.
Result shows that perceived behavioural attitude shows negative relationship to
intention to purchase halal packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturers.
The Pearson value is -.075 and the p-value is more than 0.05 (0.240>0.05). Thus, there is no
significant relationship between behavioural attitude and intention to purchase halal
packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturers. Therefore, Hypothesis 3 is
rejected.
The result was supported by the latest research by Ham, Jeger & Ivkovic) (2015),
when they concluded that perceived behavioural control refers to the presence of the
necessary resources and opportunities for a particular behaviour and is influenced by a
number of factors, such as previous experiences related to the purchase of green food
products, convenience perceptions, perceived monetary barriers, perceived time barriers,
 85

and other factors, that increase or decrease the perceived level of feasibility of this
behaviour.

Hypothesis 4: There is a significant relationship between Islamic brand and intention to

Purchase halal packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturer.
Table 3 shows that Islamic brand has positive relationship to intention to purchase
halal packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturers. The Pearson result
value is 0.779 and the p-value is less than 0.05 (0.00<0.05). Thus, there is a significant
relationship between Islamic brand and intention to purchase halal packaged food products
produced by non-Muslim manufacturers. Therefore, Hypothesis 4 is accepted.
The result was in line with the recent study by Halim & Salleh (2012), when they
stressed that Halal packaged food that produced by non-Muslim manufacturers in Malaysia
can be considered as Inbound Islamic Brand since Malaysia is considered as an Islamic
country.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The objective of this study is to investigate the intention of Malaysian Muslims to

purchase food products that are produced by Non-Muslim manufacturers. This study used a
sample of 250 students in Universiti Teknologi Mara Kedah, to examine the applicability of
the Theory of Planned Behaviour (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behaviour control),
together with Islamic brand to predict the intention to purchase halal packaged food products
produced by non-Muslim manufacturer. Four hypotheses have been developed and tested.
The findings show that attitude, subjective norms and Islamic brand are significantly related
to the Muslims’ student’s intention to purchase halal packaged food products produced by
non-Muslim manufacturers. There is no significant relationship between Perceived
Behavioural Control and intention to purchase halal package food products produced by
Non-Muslim manufacturers
These research findings contribute to academic research and theory development in a
number of ways. First, this research enhances our understanding of the specific beliefs that
may influence a student's decision to purchase halal packaged food products produced by
non-Muslim manufacturer in a developing country. Attitudes, subjective norms and Islamic
brand strongly influence the decision to purchase in this sample, suggesting that in order to
encourage students to purchase halal packaged food products produced by Non-Muslim
manufacturers; one must change young generations' attitudes and emphasize the social
referents surrounding the purchase decision.
Secondly, by focusing on young generation, and considering that they contribute greatly to
the economy of developing countries, this research should create awareness among
students of the beliefs that may stimulate the intention to purchase and may place students
in a better position to compete in the global market they face these days. Finally, by
grounding the research in an established theory such as the TPB, the gap in purchase
intention research involving students in other parts of the world can be bridged.
The findings of this research also can assist the Halal food manufacturers to develop
a successful business strategy and useful to the government to improve policies or
procedures related to halal business.

RECOMMENDARION FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

This research used the Theory of Planned Behaviour (attitude, subjective norm,
perceived behaviour control), together with Islamic brand to examine the intention to
purchase halal packaged food products produced by non-Muslim manufacturers. Future
research can use other variables such as knowledge, country of origin and halal certification.
Apart from that, moderating/mediating effects of certain variables like religiosity can be
 86

explored in future studies. This study focuses on respondents in Sungai Petani, Kedah.
Future research can expand the scope of study to cover the entire state of Kedah or
Malaysia so that the findings are more generalize.

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 88

Determining the Influencing Factors of e-Learning at Higher

Educational Institutions in Malaysia
Ramli Saad
Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah, Malaysia
ramli107@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Kamarudin Othman
Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah, Malaysia
kbo176617@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Mohd Radzi Mohd Khir

Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah, Malaysia
mohdradzi@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nur Diana Hassan

Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah, Malaysia
dianahassan@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

E-learning is an essential trend in education for the 21st century. Many Higher Education
Institutions in Malaysia adopt e-learning as a learning device in their courses offered. Thus,
this paper aims to empirically examine the influencing factors that contribute to the
effectiveness of e-learning in Higher Education Institutions which are student factor, lecturer
factor, subject suitability factor and technology availability factor. A sample of two hundred
respondents was randomly chosen in this survey whom one hundred ninety one respondents
gave the feedback. Regression analysis had been used to determine the influencing factors
of e-learning. The result from hypotheses testing has shown that student factor, lecturer
factor and technology availability factor have significant relationships. The result on
regression also shows that the institutions must have better technology infrastructure in order
to have access to the e-learning system. In short, results which obtained from the study can
be useful in future for institutions to make better decision in dealing with e-learning process.

Keywords: E-learning, Student Factor, Lecturer Factor, Technology Availability Factor

INTRODUCTION

The growth of Information Technology (IT) has provided wide range of electronic
services which includes business activities as well as education purposes. The advances
provided by IT give opportunity towards learning’s environment and bring changes in
education. The existence of online learning or e-learning help to create an interactive, well-
designed, accessible, flexible, learner centered and more efficient environment of learning.
There is a growing interest among the Higher Education Institutions to the adoption of e-
learning as a learning device. Many institutions apply and adopt e-learning due to its abilities
to facilitate training, reduces costs and saves time. The success of implementing e-learning
can be defined in term of its ability to reduce the cost and time of training the students and e-
learners. Due to benefits generated by e-learning, many developing countries are attracted to
use e-learning however there are barriers in term of instructional design, online
 89

communication and other technological aspects (Parsazadeh, Zainuddin, Ali, Hematian,

2013).
The implementation of e-learning system has permitted significant changes in learning
environment especially in Higher Education Institution. There are two phases of development
of technology in education in Malaysia (Hussin & Mohd Salleh, 2008: Goh, 2011). During
phase one (1), e-learning only focus on the use of electronic gadgets as a teaching tools for
the learning process. For example instructors use projectors, radio, CD-ROM and video tape
as a medium to deliver the lessons to students. These help the instructors to demonstrate
and illustrate certain difficult process or concepts to students easily. A few institutions that
applies this method is Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in their teaching activities and
followed by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) which begin to offer off-campus program in its
branches. In second phase, the era started once internet was introduced in early of 1990s in
cable networking forms such as Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN)
and recently wireless connection has been established. During this phase the development
of e-learning is moving at high speed. One of institution that has sufficient high technology
facilities like Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR) has engaged in this e-learning system,
run the course online and maximize the usage of latest technology in their learning and
lecture activities. After that Multimedia University (MMU) also provide online course and
trying to reduce the numbers of face-to-face classroom meeting. Then Open University
Malaysia (OUM) applies the academic programs through online in the year of 2000.
Developing a system that stimulates innovation and fast responses in fulfilling the
requirements of students and lecturers is the main challenge for the management of
educational technologies (Bates, 2000; Marlia 2007). Therefore the major factors which help
to improve the effectiveness of e-learning are critical to study. Based on the result from a
survey conducted amongst students of Australian University shows that there are three
critical factors that lead to e-learning effectiveness (Volery and Lord; Selim, 2007). First is
student factor, second is instructor factor and third is technology factor. While the other factor
that need to take into consideration is the suitability of the subject or the course itself, which
is in term of its content and learning activities.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The implementation of online learning have provide many benefits towards its users
including students, lecturers, institutions and other parties involved. There are many higher
education institutions that are applying this e-learning. However some are still fail to
acknowledge what actually can contribute to the e-learning effectiveness and sustainability in
educational field. Therefore, it is impossible for the institutions to achieve efficiency and other
benefits offer by e-learning based study. Many challenges have to be overcome so that the
effectiveness of e-learning can be enhanced. E-learning is also the ideal solution for those
who face the problem of not being able to attend the class. This problem may arise due to
the problem faced by the students such as health problem. In addition, the problem to attend
the class also distract those who are really interested to study however cannot make it due to
the problem like transportation and inflexible working hour (Juhazren & Madihah, 2010).
Moreover, globalization and internet technology successfully create a continuous
learning environment. However the internet itself is only the technology that helps to ease the
learning process and the rest would be depends on the person who is committed towards the
technology adoption. If the users unable to be committed to e-learning it will lead to the
failure of improvement of learning quality. Among the problem that arises from e-learning
practice is the lack of student participation and lack of student’s interest towards the new
environment of learning. This situation usually occurred due to the issue of information
transmission through online which always associated with the lack of personal contact
between the students and instructors (Zahiah & Abd Razaq, 2010).
The issues and challenges which related to e-learning are usually related to the
awareness of people about the effectiveness and the lack of confidence about the abilities of
 90

e-learning. This is because many still believe traditional way of learning is much better.
Furthermore, the low adoption rate of e-learning is always associates with the problem of
lack of e-content, inadequate infrastructures or problem with the digital devices. Another
critical problem in e-learning effectiveness is in term of user’s engagement. E-learning needs
high degree of participation and self-motivation which many learners in Malaysia are lacking
of (Anuwar, n.d).
Normally problems which led to the failure of e-learning initiatives are overly ambitious
plan in term of potential student market, lack of financial planning and lack of market
research (Keegan et al., 2007; Stansfield et al., 2009). The efficiency of internet should also
be measured locally since users work in local context even though the availability of internet
is considered as a global technology. This is important because many Higher Education
Institutions in developing countries use traditional styles of education due to the limited
access to financial resources or capable staffs which then influence the acceptance of
technology within certain institutions. The successful of e-learning implementation depends
on the perception and also the knowledge of users in using computers (Tarhini, Hone & Liu,
2013). The knowledge factor can affect the user’s acceptance of technology and be ready to
e-learning. Therefore there is a need to study the factors that can increase the effectiveness
of the e-learning so that everyone can take advantage over its benefits. It is important to
understand whether student factor, instructor or lecturer factor, subject suitability and
technological availability can really influence the effectiveness of e-learning so that any
improvement can be made in future.

TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL (TAM)

Since the use of e-learning is closely related to the application of technology,

therefore the Technology Acceptance Model has been adopted into this research. This
theory or model has been popularized by Davis (1989). There are two main belief in TAM,
first is perceived usefulness and second one is perceived ease of use. Perceive usefulness
is the degree of which an individual believes that using a certain system can enhance his or
her productivity while perceive ease of use is more to the degree of an individual believes
that using a certain system can be free or required less of effort (Davis, 1989; Cakir & Solak,
2014). Other than that, user’s perceive of usefulness has stronger relationship with usage
than other variables. The individual behavior of adopting technology is when they considered
technology as convenient, worth to use, and desirable by society even it is not really
enjoyable. However the perceive of ease of use has a direct effect on both perceived
usefulness and technology adoption (Adams, Nelson & Todd; 1992; Cakir & Solak, 2014).
The perceive of usefulness introduce in TAM is related to the ability of e-learning
which can improve productivity or the effectiveness of education system. While the perceive
of ease of use is applicable in e-learning concept since it offer flexibility and require less
effort by its users because user can access to the system anytime and anywhere.

Figure 1 Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989)

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Figure 1 illustrate about TAM model. Both perceive usefulness and perceive ease of
use lead to a person’s behavioral intention to adopt a system. A few TAM factors do affect
the academic achievement of the students. Although there are negative effect on academic
achievement in e-learning due to anxiety towards the system, it still able to offer positive
effect on academic achievement due to perceived ease of use, satisfaction, self-efficacy and
attitude. When users have a positive attitude towards technology they will be able to make a
decision about whether to adopt or reject the technology.
Some said that perceived ease of use had a significant influence on the intention to
use the system. While other studies use TAM to consider the student’s usage of e-learning
system claim that both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness have influence on
the system usage. If the student have good perception towards e-learning tools and perceive
it to be easy to use, they would see that the tool to be useful and meaningful. Furthermore
there is a relationship between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use and
behavioral intention in the adoption and acceptance of technology (Tarhini et. al., 2013).
The behavioural intention refers to an immediate antecedent of usage actions and
provides signal about a person’s readiness to do a specific behaviour. For example in TAM a
person’s intention to adopt technology is influenced by perceived usefulness and perceived
ease of use, which then lead to the usage behaviour.

E-LEARNING

E-learning also known as online learning is looking as threat to traditional way of

learning. However this lead to the new integrated models of learning which somehow
represent a positive starting point for more quality of learning delivery as extracted in “Making
e-learning successful” (2011). While according to Paul (2014) e-learning is electronic training
module and a self-paced used in personal computer with no involvement of real facilitator or
instructor. This kind of training modules includes quizzes, videos, and other materials
between students and the computer interface which offers immediate feedback. Basically e-
learning system is a formal and informal network which provides opportunities and cultivates
a culture of lifelong learning for individuals, institutions and society (“Dasar e-Pembelajaran
Negara, 2010). The main objective of e-learning system in developing countries is to give
education for poor students. This is because the issues of culture, economic and political in
developing countries have influenced the practice of technology in the education systems.
However in developed countries its main aim is to encourage an effective knowledge
economy and to increase the lifespan of the education system (Parsazadeh, et. al., 2013). To
develop a system that promotes innovation and rapid response to accommodate the
requirements of students and lecturers is the key challenge for the management of
educational technologies (Bates, 2000; Marlia, 2007).
According to Adwan and Smedley (2012) e-learning provides flexibility of location and
time of receiving or delivering the information to the institutions and students. While the using
of interactive video facility in e-learning allow the students to watch the activities done inside
the classroom and students can listen to instructors repeatedly if required. Actually the
concept of e-learning is broader than online learning because it cover a wider applications
and process of all available electronic media or devices in order to deliver the lesson and
training in more flexible way (Australian National Training Authority, 2003; Anderson, 2005).
E-learning provides quick learning at minimum costs, increase accountability for the
participants and improve access to learning materials in the learning process. Today’s world
where information is really important, many Higher Education Institutions that apply e-
learning provide their students with the ability to turn changes into advantages in order to
well market the students (Selim, 2007).
E-learning can produce an innovative and quality generation (Mat, 2000; Chai & Poh,
2009). The existence of e-learning help to improve and enhance the quality in education due
to the interactivity and active learning offered by technology. The lectures can be constantly
 92

modified according to the learners’ response and feedback and then increase their
understanding. The combination of variety of resources such as diagrams, videos, virtual
library and audio in e-learning system could be easily utilized. Besides that, by having e-
learning as a system in education the problem like unmanageable class size and insufficient
number of students to start the class can be overcome. This is because whenever there are
students who are taking the course, they can attend to the class anytime and anywhere they
want (Chai & Poh, 2009). According to Roffe (2002) e-learning is the way people interact and
learn electronically which lately arose as a main source of competitive advantage in the
society of information. Through the rapid development of ICT e-learning has become one of
a new and effective learning method together with classroom learning. It offer many benefits
towards its users such as just in time, cost effectiveness, learner-centred learning, accessible
anywhere with proper equipment, personalization, interactivity, expanding the penetration for
learning, content updated rapidly and uniformity of content (Qi, Liu & Wang, 2009). Many
researchers focus on how to implement e-learning so that it can offer high quality of learning
experience and not about whether to adopt or not to adopt e-learning in Higher Education
Institution.
Generally e-learning refers to learning approaches where the content of electronic
instructions is delivered through internet and always being associated with web-based or
online learning. Even e-learning usually employed in distance learning and flexible learning, it
can also be used in face-to-face a lecture which is known as blended learning (Goh, 2011).
The e-learning system is implemented to improve efficiency in the teaching and learning
process as well as management and administration in a university. For example currently by
using e-learning both lecturers and students can communicate through online discussion,
uploading lecture notes and make notification to students. Students may also provide
feedback to lecturers teaching, download notes, and interact among themselves and with
lecturers as well (Mohd Azizul, 2011).

STUDENT FACTOR

E-learning or distance learning can take place through learning management system
even without face-to-face interaction between lecturers and students and this lead to difficulty
in traditional measures like class attendance in order to measure students engagement. The
changes in the ways that students are engaging with course resources, teaching staff and
each other is cause by the changes in learning environments (Dougles & Alemanne; Beer,
Clark & Jones, 2010). The most important factor to ensure the successful of e-learning were
the accessibility to the computer and internet and understanding on how to use the
technology (Koloto, Katoanga & Tatila, 2006). Mohd Azizul (2011) found that the factor that
lead to student acceptance of e-learning includes the knowledge and skills of using
computer, internet skills, usage perception, the ease of use and the attitude towards e-
learning, other than that the time period of using the application in a week have no
relationship with the e-learning acceptance.
Motivation of student is always related closely with the engagement and known as
internal state or the condition that guide the behavior and give direction (Huitt, 2001; Beer et.
al., 2010). Other than that, the participation shows by students portray the behavior delivered
from their internal motivation. The participation is an important part of student engagement
especially in e-learning environment where the engagement is viewed as a broad and more
than just participation (Beer et. al., 2010). While according to Chen, Gonyea and Kuh (2008)
engagement is refer to the learner’s engagement in their learning activities and closely
related to the desired outcomes such as high grades, satisfaction of student and their
perseverance. Student’s attitude such as self-direction and their personality traits such as the
will to achieve, self-controlled and be responsible as well as the competency in e-learning
could affect their participation and performance in e-learning. However the students will gain
advantage the most if they are being an active learner, positive and take responsibility for
their own learning. Mojgan and friends (n.d) found that students and lecturers attitudes
 93

towards e-learning, their personality traits and competency in using new technologies are
among the important factor in implementing e-learning program.
Based on Koloto and colleagues (2006) basically the factors which are contributing to
the students’ success other than the support from lecturers and tutors are support from
families and friends, hardworking, positive attitude, motivation to succeed, regular
attendance in lectures and tutorial and extra tutorial. While the factors to determine the
effectiveness in online learning is depending on their computer competency, their perception
on the benefits derived from e-learning, the appeal of material available and presented, and
how the material presented are being organized. Therefore in order to fully engage in e-
learning environment, the students are required to be confident, technologically literate and
competent (Clayton, 2003; Koloto et. al, 2006).
Besides that, according to Selim (2007) student factor is measured based on the student
computing competency, motivation to use e-learning technology, the student interactive
collaboration capabilities and also student mind set about e-learning.
Based on study done by Md. Aminul, Noor Asliza, Tan and Hasina (2011) the
effectiveness of e-learning could also be influenced by students’ demographic factors such
as gender, age and students’ status. For example in gender, males usually have more affect
than female students in classroom where the instructor is not using technology, while female
recorded higher level of impact than male if the instructor used moderate amount of
technology in classroom. However the continuous increasing in technology usage could lead
to a diminishing return point where the technology no longer can create improvement in
learning but in turn become distraction to their study. Age factor also can give impact to the
effectiveness of e-learning. Younger people have relatively faster perceptual learning than
the older one (Gilbert, 1996; Md. Aminul et. al, 2011). Other than that, student status such as
full timer or part timer will also affect the e-learning effectiveness since the students’
requirement of learning time is differed.

INSTRUCTOR OR LECTURER FACTOR

The effectiveness of e-learning is also influenced by the instructor or the lecturer who
are responsible to guide this new learning environment. This is because if the instructor or
the lecturer is less motivation and lack of interest in e-learning application there would be
difficulty to lead the students in e-learning usage. The successful design of any course will
depend on the educational philosophy, personality and pedagogical style of the instructor
(Matuga, 2001; Mojgan et. al., n.d). The instructor or lecturer attitude and personal intention
towards the implementation of technology in lecturing are important element of the
engagement and effectiveness of e-learning. Therefore the instructors should change their
attitude in order to adopt with online environment of learning. However the practices and
institution policy also will influence instructors’ attitude towards e-learning. The instructors is
said to be self-motivated and can respond quickly and positively towards e-learning when
they are proactive in solving their own problem, risk taker, adventurous, independent and
confident compared to one who are more conservative and cautious (Mehlinger, 1995;
Mojgan et. al, n.d).
One of the most critical barriers to computer integration into learning activities is
incompetence which is lack of skill and knowledge, and the feeling of anxiety. Besides that,
the untrained online instructor (non-traditional classroom) are unfamiliar with the nature of e-
learning that are more interactive and individualization, thus make them unable to create a
challenging and exciting e-learning environment. Due to the lack of competency and
confidence in applying the new technology into learning environment can create the feeling
of anxiety.
Role of instructor or lecturer in e-learning can be classified into pedagogical, managerial,
social and technical (Berge, 1995; Teles, Ashton, Roberts & Tzoneva, 2001).
 94

Pedagogical

This role covers everything in order to support the process of students both
individually or within a group. Instructor or lecturer can use instruction as well as facilitation
during online discussion. The behavior which includes in pedagogical functions are direct
questioning, direct instruction, give advice or opinions, provide examples, nurturing students
self-awareness or reflection, ask students to find various sources of information, stimulating
students to elaborates the ideas, praise and response to students, and increase students
contribution to attract their focus into the discussion.

Managerial

Managerial role here more towards the responsibility to make the activities of learning
can run smoothly. There are three categories of managerial role as an instructor or lecturer,
first is managing individual students, second is managing the group and discussion and lastly
is managing course function.

Social

The existence of instructor or lecturer in e-learning environment is important since

there would be lack of nonverbal cues because the lesson environment is made up wholly
from virtual contact and tools.

Technical

This role refers to the selection of proper software in order to meet certain learning
goals and at the same time help students to become more technology literate and become
comfortable with the software chosen. However according to Savery (2005) to maximize the
effectiveness of e-learning, the instructors or lecturers need to be first being effective and
efficient. The author suggests that those instructors or lecturers who are still new to the
online teaching need to be VOCAL. VOCAL is actually the acronym for Visible,
Compassionate, Analytical and Leader by example. Firstly the instructor or lecturer needs to
be Visible. This Visible explaining that in e-learning the instructor and students met in the
same place (virtual classroom) and at different time to shared learning experience. While in
traditional learning students and instructor or lecturer have two-way visibility where they can
communicate verbally because they are met in the same place and at the same time. Those
who are still unfamiliar with the e-learning environment must feel uncomfortable with the
situation. If the instructor or lecturers fail to show the visibility in e-learning system the
students might think that the instructor has been absent.
Secondly the instructor or lecturer should be organized. The meaning of organize
here refers to the all aspects of the course that should be carefully organized (Simon, 2000;
Savery, 2005). The students or learner in e-learning expecting to know how many
assignments they have to do and when it should be submitted so that easy for them to
organize their time properly. This can create self-assessments within learners and help to
encourage them to become successful e-learner. To improve their anticipation, instructor or
lecturer has to ask the students to take online self-assessment and then report back to them.
Thirdly the instructor or lecturer should be compassionate. The e-learning instructors
or lecturer should give permission to students to communicate directly so that there would be
open communication between lecturers and students. Other than that, instructor can use
established introduction techniques and also known as ice-breaker which can ask students to
comment or post about them so that every e-class member know about each other.
Fourthly is Analytical. This requires the instructors or lecturers to improve the
student’s analytical skill. It can be accomplished by giving small and frequent assessments
to the students (Northedge, 2002; Savery, 2005). The instructors should also provide and
specified the format for the assessment which needs to fulfill and followed by the students
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electronically, for example font size, margins and word processing. To test the performance
of e-learning assessments provide the opportunities for students to evaluate the online
course by giving feedback at the end of the course.
Lastly is Leader by example. This is because every single things done by the
instructors or lecturers in the classroom is observed by the students, therefore lecturers
should be role model to the students and show the best practices towards the students
through e-learning. As an instructor try to utilize all the available channel of communication in
order to ensure that the instructors or lecturers are visible to the students. Good online
instructor or lecturer is the one who are able to solve the problem, have a critical thinking and
able to discuss about various option of opinion via available technologies.

SUBJECT SUITABILITY

The suitability of subject into e-learning system is important because without suitable
content and syllabus to include in online environment, the intended outcome might be
impossible to achieve. For example, e-learning could be more useful in Information
Technology (IT) or Engineering subjects (Pantazis, 2001; Md. Aminul et. al., 2011). However
with the flexibility of e-learning many subjects can be used and includes in virtual learning.
Therefore the course design needs to be revised and modified in order to fit the e-learning
format and requirement, thus lead to the e-learning effectiveness. The course expectation
and outcomes must be defined clearly and feedback must be providing timely because there
is no direct teacher-student contact. The interactivity of course content and design can attract
students’ attention and change their perception on e-learning system. Material timeliness and
availability can affect the critical success factor of e-learning (Selim, 2007).
According to Gilbert, Morton and Rowley (2007) there are several aspects which can
be improve within a module or subjects content in order to gain the effectiveness in e-
learning. For examples like improving the robustness and usability of the delivery platform,
make the contents or notes available in PDF form so that it can be downloadable, make sure
all the papers is uploaded as the module started, make sure that all the materials provided is
up-to-date and follow the currency and provide support for student to help them for better
manage their work scheduling. The extent of information that needs to prepare for the virtual
class is influenced by the delivery mode. If the subjects or modules are possible to deliver
through online entirely, the portal should consist of all necessary information required by
students including detail content, exciting and understandable learning activities,
requirements of assignment and other support materials. However if the using of e-learning
only supplement to the face-to-face class the information provided should be depend on the
students and course requirements (Siragusa, Dixon & Dixon, 2007).
The suitability of subject must be revised before it can be include in the e-learning
system. The failure to identify the requirement of each subject or course to be successfully
accepted by students will lead to the ineffectiveness of learning delivery thus creating
barriers to the effectiveness of e-learning. Example of subject which less suitable to bring
into virtual learning environment is like those courses which strongly required face-to-face
learning such as subject which almost entirely about calculation. The calculation subject can
be used in e-learning but it might be less efficient as compared to traditional learning.
However if there is any potential to upgrade the system, this kind of subject is possible to
includes in e-learning.
The existences of e-learning make the subject or the course content is easily and
frequently updated and directly available to the learners (Anuwar, n.d). Many existing subject
can be bring and redevelop into virtual learning system and it should be met with the needs
of both students and lecturers. Firstly the most important thing is making sure that the
resources use for the subjects is suitable and familiar by both students and instructors or
lecturers. Secondly is making sure that the course is simple so that easy to understand and
the learning should be packaged in ‘small chunks’. Thirdly is tried to reduce taking resources
from too many sources because it could lead to confusion (Byars, 2009).
 96

TECHNOLOGY AVAILABILITY

Current technology makes it possible to deliver knowledge anywhere at any time

beyond a physical space. For example, adopting new e-learning technologies such as instant
messaging, video conferencing, chat rooms, email, and file sharing for student group
assignment enables work to be completed remotely (Parsazadeh et. al., 2013). The overall
performance of e-learning system can be measured based on network performance,
database server performance, application server performance and websites tools
performance which evaluated based on the number of students and faculties access
(Sarmad & Minimol, 2012). By measuring these important performances we can identify the
level of healthiness of infrastructure. According to Koloto et. al. (2006) some strategies and
initiatives which can be taken to improve e-learning effectiveness are by giving support in
term of technology infrastructure. For examples, provide computers and unlimited access to
the internet. As what UiTM provide to the students in order to ensure the e-learning program.
Students can have access to the internet by using wireless intranet network and can used
computer in computer laboratory if there is a need to use the system during classes.
The availability of technology and the quick development of ICT have contributed to
the e-learning development. Therefore institution has to recognize the new trend and
developments in technology of education for example the use of Web 2.0 (blogs and wiki).
Identify the new trend of technology can increase the students or users attention and interest
in e-learning. In order to meet the needs and wants of students an appropriate infrastructure
of technology and standard must be embraced. Therefore can increase the security system
and improve the cost effective. Besides that many e-learning adopter stress on the need to
the adoption of open source technologies so that can offer the e-learning functionality and
flexibility with minimum cost as possible (Stansfield et. al, 2009).
Information technology is one of the most important factors of the effectiveness of e-
learning system. As identified by Parsazadeh and friends (2013), the relevance technological
related aspects in e-learning success are as follows:

Ease of Access

This refers to the ease of access and usability of the portal to the students. This
function allows students to log in into the system anytime and anywhere as they wish. By
providing ease of access students can enjoy the flexibility offered by the portal of e-learning.

Interface Design

This point refers to the design of interface which is related to the visual structure and
design of the online course to make it well-organized and be more appeal. The design and
visual technology is also play as important role in the effectiveness of e-learning.

Level of Interaction

It refers to the level of interactivity of communication offered in the e-learning which is

between instructors or lecturers and students. Means that the students are no longer needed
to be in the classroom to have interaction with their lecturers as well as the classmates.

System Quality

It is refers to the quality of the system itself which is the ability to provide availability
reliability, quick response time and ease of use. The better the quality of the system the
higher would be the satisfaction of the students.
 97

Internet Quality

Last but not least is about the quality of the network available to log in into the portal
of e-learning experienced by the user.
All of above aspects of technology is important to take into consideration when applying e-
learning in Higher Education Institution since all of it will affect the satisfaction of e-learning
users.

METHODOLOGY

Questionnaires had been distributed to gather the information from the respondents.
The sample is selected randomly among students of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Kedah Branch,Perlis Branch, Pulau Pinang Branch, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) and
Universti Utara Malaysia. The total number of respondents targeted is 200 students whom
191 successfully give feedback. The questionnaire method has been chosen since a large
sample can be targeted and one of easy ways to gets the information from respondents. The
respondents have to answer the questionnaire within 15 to 20 minutes. After the feedback
from the respondents has been gathered and collected, the data analysis will be conducted
to find out the results whether the hypotheses are significant or not by using Statistical
Package for Social Science (SPSS). To make the number of respondents associated with
values of variable easier to count, the data collected through the analysis will be illustrated in
table, graft and charts being express in percentage term. The data analysis includes the
reliability analysis, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis.
Reliability analysis is done to test the reliability of each variables used in the research
including dependent and independent variables. To prove that the variables are reliable, the
value of Cronbach Alpha should be more than 0.7. Next is descriptive analysis. It is done to
know which independent variables that really influence the dependent variable. The variables
that score the highest mean shows the most influence on the dependent variable. All
variables considered as significant if the standard deviation is more than 0.5. After that
correlation analysis is carried out. This analysis is done to study about the relationship
between independent variables and dependent variable. If all the data shown are positive
means that all the variables have positive relationship. Then the analysis is continued with
the regression analysis. The regression analysis is important because it will describe and
help to determine whether the hypothesis made are accepted or rejected. It is also tell about
how much variance in a dependent variable were being able to explain by the independent
variables. R Square represents the percentage of dependent variable which can be
explained by the independent variables, while the remaining of percentage is explained by
the other factors. Finally, conclusion and some relevant recommendations can be made from
the study. Especially for the institutions itself, by understanding the important factors which
leads to effectiveness of e-learning many improvement can be made. Furthermore the
information from the research can help many parties to improve the development of
education in Malaysia and help to increase the efficiency of learning system in higher
education institution by implementing the e-learning based study.

FINDINGS
 98

Table 1 Correlation Analysis

Effectiveness Student Instructor Subject Technology

of e-learning factor or lecturer Suitability Availability
factor
Effectiveness 1 .854** .778** .835** .855**
of e-learning

Student 1 .819** .859** .841**

factor

Instructor or 1 .769** .728**

lecturer
factor
Subject 1 .872**
Suitability

Technology 1
Availability

The most important thing that retrieved from the correlation analysis was the direction
of relationship between the variables and the strength of relationship. According to Pallant
(2001) the positive or negative sign in front of the Pearson correlation value shows whether
the variables have positive or negative relationship towards each other. According to the
table above, all four independent variables have positive relationship with dependent variable
which is effectiveness of e-learning since there are no negative sign for the correlation value.
Other than that, to measure the strength of the relationship, we will be looking at the value of
correlation which is between -1 to +1 where 0 indicates no relationship at all, 1.0 will
indicates a perfect positive correlation and -1.0 indicates a perfect negative correlation
(Pallant, 2001). Other measurements are 0.1 to 0.29 indicates low relationship, 0.3 to 0.49
indicates medium relationship and 0.5 to 1.0 indicates strong relationship (Cohen, 1988;
Pallant, 2001). Therefore we can say that all variables of student’s factor, lecturer’s factor,
subject suitability and technology availability have strong relationship among variables since
the r value is more than 0.05. (Table 1)

Table 2 Regression Analysis

Variable Standardized Beta

R2 0.807
Adjusted R2 0.803
F Value 194.691

Standardized
Coefficients T Sig.
Beta
Student factor 0.287 3.775 0.000
 99

Instructor or lecturer 0.168 2.928 0.004

factor

Subject Suitability 0.128 1.682 0.094

Technology Availability 0.379 5.355 0.000

The regression analysis help to identify which variable contribute most to the
dependent variable. From the standardized beta value, it shows that availability of technology
is the variable that contributes more to the dependent variable which is effectiveness of e-
learning with the value 0.379 followed by student’s factor (0.287), lecturer’s factor (0.168)
and the last one is suitability of subject (0.128). It was also help to know how much variance
in a dependent variable were being able to explain by the independent variables. From the
finding on regression, we are more interested to focus on the value of R square, however
due to the small sample size involved, R Square tend to be overestimate of the actual value.
Here the R Square has been corrected in order to provide better estimation of true
population. From the table above, the R Square represent as 80.7% of the dependent
variable which is effectiveness of e-learning can be explained by the independent variables
such as student’s factor, lecturer’s factor, subject suitability and technology availability, while
the remaining of 19.3% is explained by the other factors not included in the research.
The other important part in regression analysis is the significant value in the
coefficient table. If the Sig. value is less than 0.05 then the variable is making a significant
unique contribution to the prediction of the dependent variable. However if the Sig. value is
greater than 0.05 then we can conclude that variable is not making a significant unique
contribution to the dependent variable. As for this research only one variable which is
suitability of subject that not making a significant unique contribution to the effectiveness of
e-learning since its Sig. value is 0.094 while the rest are significant (Table 2).

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, three of the independent variables used in this study which are
student factor, instructor or lecturer factor, and technology availability have significant
relationship with the dependent variable which is the effectiveness of e-learning. The first
independent variable which is student factor can influence the effectiveness of e-learning.
Student factor and e-learning effectiveness have positive relationship which means the
higher score in student factor will increase more effectiveness in e-learning. For example as
the students feel more enjoy using e-learning and take their own initiative to use e-learning
then it will increase the effectiveness of the e-learning itself because they will use it with
pleasure and without any pressure from other parties.
Next independent variable is instructor or lecturer factor. This variable also has
positive relationship with the effectiveness of e-learning. For example, if the instructor or
lecturer able to provide concise feedback and proper instructions towards students in using
e-learning, the student will feel motivated and feel ease to use the system thus increase the
effectiveness of e-learning because it help to increase the students engagement and
involvement in using e-learning in proper way. Last but not least is technology availability.
From the finding, it is prove that the technology availability has the strongest relationship with
the effectiveness of e-learning. It is also prove that the technology availability has contribute
the most towards the effectiveness of e-learning. For example, if there are sufficient
technology infrastructure provided then it will make the usage of e-learning is much better
and easier thus can improve the effectiveness of e-learning.
However the third independent variable which is subject suitability has no significant
unique contribution towards the effectiveness of e-learning as proved in the regression
 100

analysis. Meaning that any subjects could be used for e-learning as it does not really give
impact for the effectiveness of e-learning. The effectiveness of e-learning can still be
improved as long as the other factors like student factor, lecturer factor and technology
availability factor is being improved.

RECOMMENDATION

Firstly the institution should provide better and enough technology infrastructure. This
is because the technology availability is the most important factor that contributes to the
effectiveness of e-learning. The technology infrastructures that need to be available include
the internet network and the gadgets such as computer. Therefore to influence more
students to use e-learning, institution have to pay attention to the network used especially
intranet network, make sure that the network can be used appropriately and have less
problematic when login into the system. The most important thing that needs to be
understood is the students comfort when surfing into the system. When they found it is easy
to surf into the system they will feel more convenient to repeat the action, however if they
found that there are too many problems that they have to face whenever they are login into
the system they will be reluctant to login again. Thus making the effectiveness of e-learning
become difficult to achieve. The other thing that needs to be considered is in term of the
gadget used such as computer. All the gadgets provided in the computer laboratory should
be monitor and send for maintenance periodically so that any problem related to the
computer can be solve immediately and the computers can be used whenever needed. The
institution also needs to provide the latest technology by keep updating any software or
hardware that is necessary for the student’s and lecturer’s requirements.
Second is the lecturer or instructor need to be well prepared and have good
knowledge about e-learning application. The instructor or lecturer need to be sent for training
so that they will have better knowledge to manage students and learning activities in e-
learning classroom. The lecturers are the mover in making sure that the e-learning become
more effective and successful. Therefore it is important to let the lecturers to be well-trained
and gain skills on how to communicate with students through online, how to organize the
activities through online and the most important thing is how to increase student’s
involvements in e-learning. The lecturers or instructors should also provide continuous
encouragement towards students to use e-learning and show them the excitement of using
e-learning in order to create their awareness about the convenient and the important of e-
learning. The lecturers must always be present in e-learning classroom so that the students
will feel like having a normal face to face class with their lecturer. This make the instruction
become easier since the students can have personal interaction with the lecturer and can
also have online discussion with other friends while being monitored by the lecturers. The
lecturers that are competent and able to handle online classes can improve the effectiveness
of e-learning.
Lastly is increase the students’ knowledge and interest towards the use of e-learning.
The student knowledge and skills can be increase by exposing more to them on how to use
the system in a right way. The lecturer can organize a class for students just to teach them
on how to use the e-learning system or ask them to involve in the activities provided in e-
learning and monitor their progress. The activities in e-learning should be redesign so that it
will be more attractive and can attract students to be more participative in e-learning.
Therefore this research study is important since it able to provide many benefits to many
parties. From the research done many improvements could be made. However there are still
other factors that could be studied by future researchers in order to provide comprehensive
understanding.
 101

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Organizational Silence: What’s the Matter?

Roseamilda Mansor
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah, Malaysia
rosea303@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Dalili Izni Binti Shafie

Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah, Malaysia
dalili@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Organizational silence is a novel phenomenon that is postured in the area of human

resources and the theories of organizations. This concept is very notable in the organizations
today and inopportunely not many researches have been done on this issue. In fact
organizational silence has been perceived as employee behavioural choice that can improve
or decline the organizational performance whereby employees nowadays tend to remain
silent rather than to share and voice out their point of view or ideas. The objectives of the
study are to determine the factors engaging organizational silence consist of administrative
and organizational reason, lack of experience for voice and fear of isolation. The finding of
this study indicates that lack of experience for voice and fear of isolation are the most
significant factors contribute towards organizational silence. This is because employee have
the tendency to owed information, knowledge, ideas and opinion regarding organization but
need some courage and depending on their level of motivation whether to express it or to
keep withhold as they afraid be interpreted as negative or threatening the organization either
intentionally or unintentionally. Hence, silence becomes the barrier for organizational
effectiveness, commitment and performance.

Keywords: Organizational silence, fear of isolation, lack of experience for voice

INTRODUCTION

In an organization, employees are perceive as key asset as they are becoming the
main source of critical factors for change, production, innovation and learning for
organizational success and productivity (Karaca, 2013). Moreover, employees are the one
who are responsible to gear up the effort in achieving organization’s goal and objectives. At
the same time, organization also demanding and relying more on their employees to boost
up productivity day by day (Shojaie, Matin & Barani, 2011). Basically, employees are the
people who possess wide knowledge and ideas but they tend to remain silent in order to
avoid unwanted things occur during they work.
To increase organization’s productivity, employees need to voice up their idea,
opinion, knowledge or information but many employees are reluctant to share their opinions.
The major reasons that may influence organizational silence are administrative and
organizational reason, lack of experience and fear of isolation which employees choose to
ignore their opinion and be more concern about the organizational issues (Shojaie, Matin &
Barani, 2011).
According to Morrison and Milken (2000), organizational silence define as employees’
collective act consciously not sharing their information, knowledge, thoughts, beliefs, idea
and also experience with the management about the problem they face in order to improve
their working environment. Cakici (2008) state that employee are prefer to remain silent in
order to protect themselves from cause problems in the organization. Employee are remain
silent caused by having fears such as being labelled as a potential complainant, losing
colleagues’ trust and respect, exposure to the loss of the relationship with the institution,
 105

losing the job, or risking promotion constrain the flow of information and communication
between employees and top executives. Organizational silence not only limited for sharing
knowledge and collective brainstorming, but it also can develop new problems the more
widespread and repetitive it becomes, Bowen and Blackmon (2003).
Bagheri, Zarei and Aeen, (2012) define that organization silence as behavioural of
employees that that can improve or decline the organizational performance. Thus, with the
passage of time the organization silence bought low quality of work for organization.
According to Bowen and Blackmon (2003), employees silence in organization can generate
new problems and it is not only limits knowledge sharing, problem identification, collective
brainstorming and possible solutions to workplace-related issues. Hence, this is not only
hurts the organization but the employee as well. Besides, if the organizational silence in the
workplace, it is hard for management to find the issue. Employees believe that if they
express their opinion about organizational issues and faults, they will be punished openly
and discreetly. That is why employees are remaining silent about organizational progress
and keep avoiding themselves from expressing their opinions. Therefore, management
should avoid this organizational silence occur in their workplace since it can negatively affect
the harvesting of institutional knowledge, evolution, and development.
Due to these reason, the researchers interested to study on the factors that contribute
to organizational silence from employee’s perspective. The researchers stated that three (3)
common factors that will affect organizational silence are administrative and organizational
reason, lack of experience for voice and fear of isolation. Importance of this study is to gain
new knowledge of organizational silence antecedents. Moreover, it helps to understand
about the organizational silence and what makes the employee knowledge and point of view
are very important to the organization.
This study will lead to answer the research questions as follows:
RQ1: Does the administrative and organization reasons influence the organizational
silence.
RQ2: Does the lack of experience for voice influence the organizational silence
RQ3: Does the fear of isolation influence the organizational silence

REVIEWS OF LITERATURE

Organizational silence is seen as a threat in the context of organizational change and

development, Dasci and Cemaloglu (2016). According to Morrisson and Milliken (2000)
people who work in the organizational silence climate do not prefer to make any contribution
to their organization (Bowen and Blackmon, 2003) where employee have no confident to
share their opinion and information related to the development of organization’s performance
with others members and top management in their workplace. Safaie and Gharakhani
(2015), define organizational silence is a common phenomenon in most organization. One of
the major obstacles to the success of the programs and goals of the organization are lack of
information, lack of obstacles, lack of experience and lack of what the researchers called it
organizational silence. Organizational silence also including refusing from expressing the
ideas, information, and opinions related to the organizational problems in the organization
(Matin et al., 2011). According to Nikolaou, Vakola and Bourantas (2011), one of the
obstacles to organizational change is what are the thing that they describe as organizational
silence, which is employee are refuse to share their opinions and more concern with
organizational issues as suggested from Morrison and Milliken (2000). In a post-merger
stage, silence can become an even more serious problem where to avoid distrust and
suspicion, a positive communication climate is needed (Appelbaum et al., 2000). According
to Ardakani and Mehrabanfar (2014) organizational silence is define as the lack of effective
interactions among staff and it stands opposite to the concept of organizational voice.
Another meaning of organizational silence is the lack of efficiently expressing opinions by
employee. As mentioned by Morrison and Milliken (2000), silence in organizations is a
collective-oriented phenomenon. Brinsfield et al. (2009) stated that organizational silence
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occurs when organizational voice does not exist which is mean in other words, when there
are weak the down-top relationship in the organization, the organizational voice would be
weak too and organizational silence would replace it.
One obvious managerial factor for organizational silence is constant negative
feedback from supervisors, Shojaie et al (2011). When an employee gives a supervisor a
suggestion and is shot down, employee silence is developed in organization. Another
managerial factor is when supervisors fail to address the actual problems that exist within
organizations. Avoiding these problems or looking for “quick fixes” only make thing worse
and causes employees to feel that there is no hope for resolution. If employees are cynical
and distrust their leaders, they will keep silence (Dan et al, 2009, p.1649). For organizational
reason, Morrison and Milliken identified many of the reason such as decision making
procedures, decision making procedures, organizational inefficiencies and poor
organizational performance (Slade, 2008, p.25)”. Individuals who cannot express their idea
and information and are silent often feel stress, anxiety, dissatisfaction and depression and
ultimately their interest in work and job commitment is reduced and these factors lead to
turnover (Sufian and Modab 2015; Nikmaram Et al., 2012). Additionally organizational
silence causes that employees feel they do not have value for the organization and they think
their do not have control over their work (Nikolaou Et al., 2011). All these negative
consequences of organizational silence lead to burnout in organization’s employees
(Tahmasebi, Et al., 2013).
Besides organization reason, Karaca (2013) mentioned that having a limited ethical
arrangement can declining the sense of trust in organization. There are employee who are
new in organization are reluctant to share their knowledge because they might think that they
have a limited experience in order to speak up their voice. Employees that have lack of
experience are remains silent because they ensure either to share or not their ideas and
knowledge. Akbarian et al. (2015) mentioned that lack of interpersonal skills might lead
employees facing with a negative attitude of manager. Thus lack of organizational political
skills of the managers and the employees will lead to organizational silence. Now, if the
employee has had a bad experience gets worse. Through the negative attitude of manager
that had effect the employee they may also lack of self-confidence with their idea or
suggestion. The employee’s mind maybe had many thought to show their skills in front of.
Opportunistic approaches by the employees may result in them being excluded from
decision-making mechanisms, Yildiz (2013). The tendency to exclude employees from
decision-making procedures is a way of avoiding negative feedback and being dissident
(Morrison and Milliken, 2000: 721). If employee are being excluding from decision making
process, employee tend to continuously lack of experience and lack of information to speak
up their voice. Malekpoor et al. (2015) adds employees feel invaluable because they have
limited experience when they see themselves and cannot speak their minds freely. By having
a limited experience leads to the reduction of commitment and trust of members in the
organization. Their trust to the organization also will be less if employee fell organization is
does not consider them valuable. Employees’ feeling lack of experience for voice have a
multiple important impact including reduction of incentives, lack of satisfaction, problems
related stress , physical or mental isolation and even sabotage and deviation. Such behavior
are affecting employee remain silent in the organization. Panahi et al. (2012), believed that
organization that have employees who do not have suitable experience in perceiving main
issues do not have power toward the issues and their act can only increase the impact such
as difficulties and negative attitudes toward partnership. Therefore, employee use different
methods to remain silence the opposite employees (Dimitris & Vakola, 2007).
According to Karaca (2013), employees are remains silent because they trying to
avoid being labeled as a potential complainant, losing colleagues’ trust and respect, losing
the job and others. As a simple word, employees remain silent because of fear of isolation.
Dutton et al. (2001) agree that employees’ fear of isolation is caused from top management
who are not supportive and open, thus they are not agreeing with the majority of opinion as
perceived why they enter a spiral of silence (Noelle-Neumann, 1991). Employees worry they
will be threatened with various impact if they try to share information that can improve
 107

organizational performance. Thus, others employee would feel threatened if one of them
proving their skill that his have to ensure that organization would become better. Karaca
(2013), adds when employee remain silent, they are seen as an example of loyalty to the
organization. Therefore employees who remain silent will cause inability to achieve the
benefits of employee’s job satisfaction and loyalty. Employees are aware about the issues
which occur in organization but they are reluctant to share it with the top managements.
Dasci and Cemaloglu (2016), stated that employees who exhibit silence behavior experience
fear such as losing confidence in him, career opportunities and his job, exclusion and
changing of duty station or unit. Having fear of isolation can due to the organizational silence
where employee refusing to express their voice in the organization due to keep the benefits
they have now. Bagheriet al. (2012) wrote that employee remaining silent will make sense
that his or her manager will react negatively to the upward communication of concern and
may react further by taking steps that undermine the employee’s ability to work in the
organization are considered from the perspective of the employee who fears to expressed
their ideas. It was mentioned that many employees had concern about the firm’s activities but
were fear to speak to their bosses about these concerns. It can be assume that yet no one
felt confident enough to raise their issues (Oppel, 2002).
According to Safaie and Gharakhani (2015), organization must consider that
employees are important person in their organization. Employer must try to control
continuously in order to prevent them from some issues. When a person is employed in
some position in the organization, employee must accept all its term. Employee satisfaction
can be increased through reward and encouraging doing their work but some employer are
insist that thing. Some managers are keep hold that employee are the subordinates and
must accept their orders. If employees feel that they are not valuable in organization, they
are not motivated to do their task and will keep silent from sharing information and
knowledge. It will caused consequences organization if their employee are prefer to choose
silent rather than be active and creative employee.

Figure 1 Conceptual framework

Administrative and
Organizational
Reason

Lack of Experience Organizational

for Voice Silence

Fear of Isolation Dependence

Variable
Independence

Variable
Figure 1 shows that the conceptual framework in this study. There are two (2)
variables, which is independent variable and dependent variable. Independent variable
includes administrative and organizational reason, lack of experience for voice and fear of
isolation, while the dependent variable is organizational silence.

Hypothesis
 108

H1: There are relationship between administrative and organizational reason and
organizational silence
H2: There are relationship between organizational silence and fear of isolation
H3: There are relationship between organizational silence and lack of experience for
voice

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The population of this study was employees from one of government sector. The
respondents which cover various demographic factor such as age, gender, educational
background and length of services was selected to provide better insight for the present
studies. This organization consists of 254 employees. According to Sekaran and Bougie’s
tables, the sample size will be 152 respondents. This is because with the used of large
sample size might create a problem to the researcher in order to generate a precise
information (Sekaran, 2003).
This study distribute structured questionnaires to look at the factors such as
administrative and organization, the lack of experience for voice and fear of isolation against
organizational silence using a five-point Likert Scale. This scale will be used to measure the
responses in which the scale range from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The
Likert scale requires the respondents to indicate a degree of their agreement or
disagreement with each of a series of statements about the questions given at one of
government sector using simple random sampling technique for 152 samples.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

From 152 respondents involved or responded, 40.8% are male and 59.2% are
female. The respondents are at range of age 31-40 years old(34.9%) represent the highest
percentage (53 respondent) followed by 41-50 years old that is 27.0 percent (41 respondent),
18-30 years old that is 22.4 percent (34 respondent) and the lowest percentage is 15.8
percent (24 respondent) that was from respondent who age above 50 years old. The highest
percentage of education level of respondent is Diploma by 40.1%, followed by SPM by
25.7% and than Bachelor’s Degree by 19.7% as well as others education by 7.9% and the
lowest percentage is from Master’s Degree by 6.6%. The highest percentage of length of
service is 11-20 years by 37.5%. It was follow by 1-10 year by 30.9%, 21-30 years by 20.4
and the lowest percentage by 11.2% is 31 years and above.
For descriptive analysis, mean, minimum and the standard deviation been used to
measure dependent variable that is organizational silence and the independent variable that
are administrative and organizational reason, lack of experience for voice and fear of
isolation. In this descriptive analysis, the range of mean for each independent variable is
between 3.62 and 3.90. For the standard deviation the range for each independent variable
is from 0.371 and 0.541. The mean value for dependent variable is 3.88 while the standard
deviation is 0.495. From the table, the highest mean score for the independent variable is
from fear of isolation which the value is 3.90, while the standard deviation value is 0.541.
Then, the lowest ranked mean for independent variable is administrative and organizational
reason which is the value 3.63 and the standard deviation value is 0.371.

Table 1 Descriptive Analysis

Descriptive Statistics
N Min Max Mean Std. Deviation
Organizational Silence (DV) 152 3 5 3.88 .495
Administrative and 152 3 5 3.62 .371
Organizational Reason (IV)
 109

Lack of Experience (IV) 152 3 5 3.81 .495

Fear of Isolation (IV) 152 3 5 3.90 .541
Valid N (list wise) 152

From the descriptive analysis table above, it can be concluded that the respondent
are agree and accept the entire variable in this research and they do understand the
question that are written in the questionnaire. This is because the all variables have shown
the high mean score which is more than the average of 3 from the 5 point Likert Scale. For
the standard deviation only two of the variable show that average score which is
administrative and organizational reason and lack of opportunity for voice because their
score is more than 0.3 but below than 0.5. But one of the variables which is fear of isolation
has a good standard deviation score because the score is more than 0.5.

Table 2 Correlation

Correlations
DV AAOR LOE FOI
** **
Pearson Correlation 1 .117 .462 .560
DV Sig. (2-tailed) .152 .000 .000
** *
Pearson Correlation .117 1 .292 .204
AAOR Sig. (2-tailed) .152 .000 .012
** ** **
Pearson Correlation .462 .292 1 .451
LOE
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000
** * **
Pearson Correlation .560 .204 .451 1
FOI Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .012 .000

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

The result showed the relationship between independent variable and dependent
variable. For administration and organizational reason, there is a weak relationship between
independent and dependent variable which 0.117. Besides, there is moderate relationship
between lack of experience and dependent variable which the value is .462. For the fear of
isolation, the value is .560. The value showed there are strong relationship of fear of isolation
and organizational silence. It is positively related with the organizational silence.
2
Table 3 Coefficient of Determination (R )
b
Model Summary
Model R R Adjusted Std. Error of Change Statistics Durbin-
Square R Square the Estimate R Square F df1 df2 Sig. F Watson
Change Change Change
a
1 .609 .371 .359 .396 .371 29.158 3 148 .000 2.140
a. Predictors: (Constant), FOI, AAOR, LOE
b. Dependent Variable: DV

Table 3 presented the linear regression analysis. By using this model it reveal that the
R-Square (Coefficient of correlation) of the model is 0.371. The model explains that, only
37.1% of the variance in the dependent variable that is organizational silence. The remaining
of 62.9% cannot be explained by the model. Therefore, it can be specifies as a weak positive
correlation. This is because, if the R-Square is equal to 0, it will represent that there is no
relationship between dependent variable and independent variables. If the value is equal to
1, it shows that there is a strong relationship between both variables.
 110

Table 4 Coefficient
a
Coefficients
Model Unstandardized Standardized t Sig. Collinearity Statistics
Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta Tolerance VIF
(Constant) 1.500 .374 4.014 .000
AAOR -.073 .091 -.055 -.803 .423 .908 1.101
1
LOE .276 .075 .276 3.678 .000 .755 1.325
FOI .409 .067 .447 6.101 .000 .791 1.265
a. Dependent Variable: DV

Table 4 showed two of the independent variables are significant at the level of 0.000
which are lack of experience and fear of isolation with beta 0.276 and 0.447. The significant
of a variable is depended or decided based on its p-value that is below 0.05. Here, one of
independent variable which is administrative and organizational reason obtained more than
0.05 of significant level at 0.423 respectively with beta of -0.055. The beta result showed
which independent variable has the highest influence on dependent variable of
organizational silence. The independent variable of fear of isolation seems to have highest
Beta of 0.447. Thus, it means that fear of isolation have large contribution for overall model
and have greater influence on the organizational silence.
Administrative and organizational reason results show that it has a weak positive
relationship with the organizational silence. This is because the R correlation shows that the
administrative and organizational reason value is 0.117 and it is below 0.5. Although the
value is below than 0.5, but value is still acceptable as to be of the factor that influencing
organizational silence. But in order to make the administrative and organizational reason
become more effective, further research with different type of research such as using
qualitative and further information should be collect. The value of significant is 0.423 which is
above than 0.05. Thus, there is no relationship between the organizational silence and
administrative and organizational reason.
In this study, lack of experience becomes the average determinants in the
organizational silence. This is because the R correlation results show that, the lack of
experience is the second highest value with 0.462. Although lack of experience gains the
average R correlation value, it is still consider as moderate relationship with the factor that
influencing the organizational silence. But, lack of experience still can be acceptable in this
research because many of new employee are still fear to express their voice because they
think less experience are not enough for them to voice up in their organization. Based on the
finding and discussion from this study, in order to make this variable become more effective
and be the most effective determinants in this research, further research and further
information should be collect. There are relationship between organization silence and lack
of experience for voice. The second research question is answered by the value of significant
is 0.000 which is below than 0.05. In this research, understanding of underlying principle is
accepted at 0.000 means p<0.05. Thus, the third research question is answered when there
is a relationship between the organizational silence and lack of experience for voice
In this study, fear of isolation has become the most effective determinants in the
factor that influencing the organizational silence. This is because the R correlation result
shows that the fear of isolation is the highest value with 0.560. Although fear of isolation gain
the highest R correlation value, it still consider as moderate relationship with the
organizational silence. But, fear of isolation is acceptable because employee are refuse to
express their ideas and opinion because they do not want to be label as troublemaker in their
organization. Furthermore, employee are worried if they are sharing their ideas and opinion,
their manager will not treat them fairly and label them as a threat. Based on the finding and
discussion from this study, it can be consider that fear of isolation is the best determinants
that will be influencing the organizational silence.
 111

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

In conclusion, there are many antecedents that can influence the organizational
silence and based on this study, lack of experience for voice and fear of isolation can be
consider as the most effective variables among these three variables. The variable of
organizational silence can be found out more if other research using other appropriate
method and information. The more study or researches that are made to determine the
factors that influencing organizational silence, the easier for other researcher to get the
information that will create understanding among the employee and employer.
This research set out to analyze the factor that influencing in the organizational
silence in one of the government sector. The finding are concluded the majority of surveyed
found that organizational silence had been influenced by the fear of isolation in the
organization. Managers should encourage their employee to express their ideas and opinion.
As a manager, they have to make something that can change expectation of employee
against the manager. Manager should be respected not to be feared.
From the result, hypothesis 1 is rejected because there is no relationship between
administrative and organizational reason and organizational silence. Therefore, the
researcher recommend for future study should indicate more independent variable such as
fears about the work, fear of damaging relationship, and organizational commitment. By
having more variable will enable the studies to dig more on what influencing the finding of
this research.
For hypothesis 2, there is relationship between lack of experience for voice and
organizational silence. Therefore, the researcher recommend lack of experience are the
factor that influencing the organizational silence. so that, future research should study more
on this independent variable in order to increase the knowledge about the lack of experience
for voice in organizational silence.
For hypothesis 3, there is relationship between fear of isolation and organizational
silence. Therefore, the researchers recommend this factor which is fear of isolation is the
most effective factor that will influence the organizational silence based on this research.
Employees are preferred to remain silence because they want to protect themselves from the
consequences of expressing their voice. The study more on this independent variable will
make we understand more and could be chosen from future research as an independent
variable.

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Vol.4(No.2), pp.68-83.

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 113

Perception on Reliability and Responsiveness of Polis DiRaja

Malaysia (PDRM): A Study among Citizens in Putrajaya
Mohd Syafiq Mat Saruji
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
Bahagian Latihan, Jabatan Pengurusan
Ibu Pejabat Polis DiRaja Malaysia
Bukit Aman, 50560, Kuala Lumpur
syafiq.saruji.ss@gmail.com

Yarina Ahmad
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
yarina@salam.uitm.edu.my

Azizan Zainuddin
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
azizan_zainuddin@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the perception of Putrajaya citizens on reliability and responsiveness of
the services provided by Polis DiRaja Malaysia (PDRM). The main objectives of this study
are: (i) to determine the level of reliability and responsiveness of police; (ii) to examine the
influence of independent variables (accessibility, competency, manners and fairness) on the
dependent variables (reliability and responsiveness); (iii) to scrutinize the main factor that
influence reliability and responsiveness of the services; and (iv) to examine the influence of
gender as a moderating effect on the relationship between both independent and dependent
variables. A quantitative approach of using self-administered questionnaires was applied in
this study. A total number of 146 Putrajaya citizens responded to the survey based on simple
random sampling technique. The findings of this study revealed that the level of reliability and
responsiveness of police service were moderate (Mean=3.744, Std. Dev. 0.736;
Mean=3.703, Std. Dev. 0.705). Furthermore, competency and manners were found to have
significant influence on reliability (p<0.00, p=0.00); and the main factor that influenced
reliability was manners (p=0.00, β=0.42). In terms of responsiveness, competency and
manners were also found to have significant influence (p<0.00, p=0.00), with competency
being the main factor that influence responsiveness (p=0.00, β=0.43). Notably, gender was
found to have no moderating effect on the relationship between both independent and
dependent variables (p>0.05). The study concludes that Putrajaya citizens perceived the
reliability and responsiveness of police service to be at a moderate level (between average
and good), where manners was found to be the main factor influencing the reliability of police
services, and competency was recognized as the most influential factor to enhance the
responsiveness of police services. This study serves as an indicator for improvement in the
police services - in line with PDRM’s mission: “To provide professional and quality services in
protecting the country to ensure public safety, security and prosperity”.

Keywords: PDRM services, reliability, responsiveness, Putrajaya

 114

INTRODUCTION

Police service is unique in various ways compared to other service sectors. The most
significant differences are the ability of police to utilize forces in delivering services and their
capacity to deliver services to clients involuntarily. Arresting or forcibly stopping the public
are among the examples (Maguire & Johnson, 2010). In 2010, the Malaysian Government
has introduced Crime Reduction Initiative (CRI) as a response to public concerns over the
escalating trend of crime in general. The CRI is one of the National Key Result Areas
(NKRA) under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP). The profound effort
shown in crime prevention initiatives is taking place in both ways whereby the first being via
conventionally combatting the crime itself and the second one by the methodology of
enhancing public perception towards police’s service performance (Performance
Management and Delivery Unit, 2012).
It is foremost that public opinion towards the police service to be studied so the police
force could determine whether their efforts and approaches that have been carried out to
receive positive public opinions are effective. From the possible findings, the police force is
able to organize necessary check and balance and restructure the existing system wherever
required, in order to stay at a positive level of service performance. Putrajaya has been
chosen as the scope of study due to its structured development. Apart from that, it is an
integrated-planned city that houses the federal government administration offices of
Malaysia. Thus, the Putrajaya District Police Headquarters is assumed to have been
equipped with adequate resources and possess ample service outreach to Putrajaya
residents. All of this comes to sense as the focus of this study.
PDRM have scored distinctly high in terms of public satisfaction with their service
over the past three years. The police force scored 92.5% public satisfaction rate in 2014 as
compared to 85.7% in 2013. This increased of rating in 2014 includes 53.9% of the
respondents to rate for “somewhat satisfied” and 38.6% who were claimed “very satisfied”
(Sipalan, 2015). It is a manifestation that the Malaysian public is generally satisfied with
police services. Besides the positive achievement, there are indications that several
Malaysians were not satisfied with police service performance to the extent of 75% from the
respondents reported low level satisfaction towards police job performance. Most of the
educated respondents suggested that the police force could do more in combatting crime
(Azyanee et al., 2013). The public were generally not satisfied with the service delivery of the
police. Efforts to improve personnel attitudes and more reforms in the job areas should be
continued by the government in order to achieve public satisfaction (Selvanathan et al.,
2016). In Selangor, there were only 38.8% satisfied respondents in regard of police
performance rating. Public perception of safety and police efficiency is still a challenge that
needs to be overcome (Ishak, 2016). The government and public clearly have had
contradicting opinions on the level of service accomplishment of the police.
The main objectives of this study are: (i) to determine the level of reliability and
responsiveness of police; (ii) to examine the influence of independent variables (accessibility,
competency, manners and fairness) on the dependent variables (reliability and
responsiveness); (iii) to scrutinize the main factor that influence reliability and
responsiveness of the services; and (iv) to examine the influence of gender as moderating
effect on the relationship between independent variables and dependent variables.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Perception of police service is closely related to the perceived feelings of the public
towards the police performance. The police performance is usually referred to their service
delivery, and measurement of police service delivery could never be separated from the
measurement of service quality (Collier et al., 2004). Service quality acts as a predecessor of
customer satisfaction. High quality services will naturally increase the quality of the
performance, which will lead to high customer satisfaction (Chen et al., 2014). From a
 115

general service perspective, satisfaction is a judgement that the service provided fulfils the
pleasurable level of consumption by the customers (Oliver, 1997). Citizen satisfaction with
police could be defined as the degree to which citizens have a positive attitude towards
police performance (Jackson & Bradford, 2009).
In general, people who call or approach the police for assistance tend to be more
satisfied with what happened than those who are pulled off the road or stopped by the police
(Skogan, 2005). The impact of being stopped by the police is as much as three times the
annoyance compared to other encounters with police as perceived by the public (Southgate
& Ekblom, 1984). The relationship between how people recall being treated and their general
confidence with the police may be contradicting. Personal experience will greatly influence
the public assessment of the police service whereas negative encounters with the police will
bring more impact to the public by multiple times compared to positive encounters. The
impact of having a bad experience with police is four to fourteen times as great as that of
having a positive one. A bad experience can deeply influence public’s views of police
performance (Skogan, 2006). There are many types of contact can lead to less positive
attitudes towards police. For example, people experiencing contact with the police as a result
of victimization have less positive attitudes towards the police (Homant et al., 1984). In
addition, people witnessing or with knowledge of police misconduct are more negative
towards the police (Murty et al., 1990).
The six service dimensions of police; attentiveness, reliability, responsiveness,
competence, manners and fairness, altogether describe the measurement model of public
perceptions towards police service. These characteristics are proposed based on American
citizens’ desire which expects the police service to be accessible, predictable, client-centred,
get the job done effectively, treat them with respect and use fair procedures. The
measurement model was developed for the purpose of measuring “good service” in policing.
Accessibility is where the public anticipates easy access to the police service. Competence
from the public perspective is the police’s ability to complete a task effectively as requested
by the public. Manners correspond with how the police treat the public. Fairness is closely
associated with police officers practicing fair procedures in their job delivery and treat issues
fairly from a legal standpoint. Reliability means the public expects a service that is timely and
error-free. Responsiveness refers to client-centred service that meets public expectation in
terms of task completion (Maguire & Johnson, 2010; Mastrofski, 1999).
The Mastrofski measurement model was developed and derived initially from the
general characterization of service quality; SERVQUAL. The theory outlines five specific
components of service; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The
concept behind the SERVQUAL scale is the customer perceived quality; where the client is
the main judge of the quality of service (Parasuraman et al., 1988). The Mastrofski’s
conceptualisation is considered as one of the most prudently articulated literature about the
dimensions of public perceptions towards police service. There were studies which has
adopted Mastrofski measurement model in their quest of measuring public perceptions
towards the police force and their service quality (Akhtar et al., 2012; Maguire & Johnson,
2010).
There is evidence that males tend to hold less favorable attitudes toward police than
females (Weitzer & Tuch, 2002). Considering gender, females have traditionally been less
likely to draw the attention of the police than males, given similar circumstances. This
situation results in the tendency of females being stopped or searched by the police is much
lower than males (Chesney-Lind & Sheldon, 1992). Individuals who were stopped and
searched by the police were more likely to report negative opinions towards them. This was
due to an association between type of police contact and citizens' attitudes towards the
police (Bordua & Tifft, 1971). In Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, more female respondents
believed the police are inefficient in controlling crime compared to male respondents. Female
respondents were less satisfied with police efficiency compared to male respondents (Ishak,
2016). Gender was not a significant predictor of Chinese perceptions of police (Cao & Hou,
2001; Wu & Sun, 2009, 2010).
 116

METHODOLOGY

A quantitative approach using self-administered questionnaires was applied in this

study. This study developed a survey instrument based on Mastrofski’s dimensions of police
service. Several alterations took place from the original measurement model as this study
sought to measure reliability and responsiveness of police instead of service quality. The
conceptual framework consists of four independent variables (IV) namely accessibility,
competency, fairness and manners which defined the pursued dependent variable (DV)
which is reliability and responsiveness of police. Gender acts as the moderating variable
(MV) in this study.
A nominal and ordinal scale are applied for the demographic part in the first section of
the questionnaires that consists of demographic profile such as age, gender, race, marital
status, the level of education, the tenure of residency, experience or engagement with police,
and experience of been issued traffic offence summon. Meanwhile, the second section of the
questionnaires accommodated the instrument’s questions of IV and DV where the
measurement was based on Likert Scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). The
respondents have had to be the resident of Putrajaya with at least one year residence in the
city. The target population was the Putrajaya citizens who stay in a residential area with the
registered resident association (RA). A total number of 146 Putrajaya citizens responded to
the survey based on simple random sampling technique.
The data obtained were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS) version 22. Descriptive analysis was used to understand the perception of the
respondents by measuring the mean values of the variables. In order to measure the
relationship between IV and DV, multiple regression analysis has been used so the actual
relationship between these variables could be obtained. On the other hand, regression
analysis has been applied to examine the most contributing factor towards the reliability and
responsiveness of police service. Prior to actual data collection, a pilot test has been
conducted to determine the reliability and normality of the survey questions. Among the
purpose of this test was to measure the level of understanding of the questions given from
the respondents’ perspective. Reliability can be estimated by means of a reliability coefficient
to measure the internal consistency at a multidimensional scale. In this context, the reliability
coefficient used is Cronbach’s Alpha. Meanwhile, Skewness and Kurtosis have been used as
the reference for normality. The pilot test of this study has passed both the reliability and
normality test.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The findings begin with the profile of respondents, followed by relevant analysis
results and finalised with actual findings to cover all four objectives of the study.

Profile of Respondents

The profile of respondents consists of 43.2% males and 56.8% females. The majority
of the respondents come from the group of 25-34 years old which made up 37.0%. Malay
forms the largest race group at 94.5%. Respondents with a Bachelor Degree are the main
participants in this study at 45.9% figure compared to other academic backgrounds. The
majority makes up 39.7% of the respondents having stayed in Putrajaya for more than 10
years. 44.5% of the group have had a personal engagement with police and 39.0% had
experience in receiving traffic offence summons.
 117

Table 1 Profile of Respondents (N=146)

Characteristics Frequency Percentage (%)

Age (years old)
18-24 52 35.6
25-34 54 37.0
35-44 16 11.0
45-54 9 6.2
55-64 14 9.6
65 and above 1 0.7
Total 146 100.0
Race
Malay 138 94.5
Chinese 5 3.4
Indian 3 2.1
Total 146 100.0
Gender
Male 63 43.2
Female 83 56.8
Total 146 100.0
Education
Philosophy Doctorate Degree 2 1.4
Master Degree 18 12.3
Bachelor Degree 67 45.9
Diploma/STPM 38 26.0
SPM 20 13.7
Others 1 0.7
Total 146 100.0
Marital Status
Married 77 52.7
Widowed 2 1.4
Single 67 45.9
Total 146 100.0
Tenure of Residency (years)
1-5 57 39.0
6-10 31 21.2
Longer 58 39.7
Total 146 100.0
Engagement with Police
Yes 65 44.5
No 81 55.5
Total 146 100.0
Ever been Issued Summon
Yes 57 39.0
No 89 61.0
Total 146 100.0

Testing the Instrument Validity using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

Table 2 presents Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) result. The sampling adequacy is
at 0.941 which is far greater than 0.6. Hence, the sample size made up for this study proves
to be adequate. Besides KMO, Bartlett’s Test significant value is observed to be significant
(p=0.00). Out of 28 initial instrument items, 20 items appeared to have communality value
more than 0.500 correspondingly. Hence, these 20 items were passed to be valid variables
with six different dimensions.
 118

Table 2 KMO and Bartlett’s Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .941

Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 3094.203
df 190
Sig. .000

Testing the Reliability Test using Cronbach Alpha

Cronbach’s Alpha has been used as reliability coefficient to determine the internal
consistency of the scale. Table 3 shows all six variables is regarded as reliable (p>0.6).

Table 3 Cronbach’s Alpha

Variable Number of Items Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Assumed

IV1: Accessibility 3 0.823 Yes
IV2: Competency 3 0.855 Yes
IV3: Fairness 4 0.939 Yes
IV4: Manners 4 0.920 Yes
DV1: Reliability 3 0.914 Yes
DV2: Responsiveness 3 0.880 Yes

Normality

Skewness and Kurtosis are the statistical references for normality which determine
whether the data obtained in this study is entirely normal. The Skewness and Kurtosis
outputs for this study are presented in Table 4. All the variables are found to be normal since
the values of both Skewness and Kurtosis are between -2 and +2.

Table 4: Normality Test

Variable Skewness Kurtosis Normality Assumed

IV1: Accessibility 0.263 -0.194 Yes
IV2: Competency -0.601 0.468 Yes
IV3: Fairness -0.230 -0.289 Yes
IV4: Manners -0.013 -0.322 Yes
DV1: Reliability -0.117 -0.200 Yes
DV2: Responsiveness -0.088 -0.415 Yes

Linearity

Table 5 displays the outputs of Linearity Test. All variables are assumed to be linear
(p<0.01).
 119

Table 5 Linearity Test

Variable Sig. Linearity Variables Sig. Linearity

Value Assumed Value Assumed
DV: Reliability 0.000 Yes DV: Responsiveness 0.000 Yes
IV: Accessibility IV: Accessibility
DV: Reliability 0.000 Yes DV: Responsiveness 0.000 Yes
IV: Competency IV: Competency
DV: Reliability 0.000 Yes DV: Responsiveness 0.000 Yes
IV: Fairness IV: Fairness
DV: Reliability 0.000 Yes DV: Responsiveness 0.000 Yes
IV: Manners IV: Manners

Homogeneity of Variance

Levene Statistic is used to determine the homogeneity of variance. Table 6 shows the
outputs of the test, where all variables are assumed to have equal population variance or
significance (p>0.05).

Table 6 Homogeneity of Variance

Variable by Gender Levene Statistic Sig. Value Homogeneity of Variance

(p>0.05) Assumed
IV1: Accessibility 0.018 0.893 Yes
IV2: Competency 1.288 0.258 Yes
IV3: Fairness 0.022 0.884 Yes
IV4: Manners 0.853 0.357 Yes
DV1: Reliability 0.548 0.460 Yes
DV2: Responsiveness 0.216 0.643 Yes

Outliers

The final analysis used in the parametric assumptions is Outliers Test. Figure 1
exhibits the outliers of this study and there is no outliers from the data gathered.
 120

Figure 1 Outliers

Level of Reliability and Responsiveness of Police Service

The finding of the descriptive analysis revealed that the level of reliability and
responsiveness of police service were moderate as perceived by the Putrajaya citizens
(Mean=3.744, Std. Dev. 0.736; Mean=3.703, Std. Dev. 0.705). There are numerous factors
that could contribute to this finding. Firstly, the extent of impact from the bad experience. A
bad experience with police is four to fourteen times as great as that of having a positive one.
A bad experience can deeply influence public’s views on police performance (Skogan, 2006).
This study had 39.0% of the respondents who had experienced receiving traffic offence
summons. Second, contact with the police as a result of victimization. People experiencing
this kind of contact have less positive perceptions towards police (Homant et al., 1984).
Crime victims have lower levels of overall satisfaction with police (Wu, 2010; Wu & Sun,
2010). The third factor leans more towards personal experience. People witnessing or with
knowledge of police misconduct are more negative towards police (Murty et al., 1990).
Individuals who were “stopped and searched” were more likely to report negative opinions
about police (Bordua & Tifft, 1971). The impact of being stopped by the police is as much as
three times the annoyance compared to other encounters with police as perceived by the
public (Southgate & Ekblom, 1984).
Another factor that could contribute to the result obtained is the age of the
respondents. Age could affect citizens’ satisfaction towards police by younger citizens tend to
hold less favourable attitudes toward police than older ones (Hurst & Frank, 2000; Weitzer &
Tuch, 2002). Younger people are more freedom oriented while older people were more
safety oriented and younger people are more likely to engage in risky behaviours than older
people (Gaines et al., 1994). In this study, 72.6% of the respondents belong to the group age
of 18-34 years old and they are considered young. On that note, it is not necessarily the
police services were actually moderate in terms of reliability and responsiveness. There is a
possibility where all the listed factors have influenced citizens’ perceptions more than the
actual police performance. Other than that, the finding has further strengthened the previous
research claims where the public were generally not satisfied with the policing service
delivered by the police.
 121

Table 7 Mean and Standard Deviation of Reliability

Variable Minimum Maximum Mean Standard Deviation

Committed to maintain a safe 2.00 5.00 3.774 0.803
environment for citizens.
Take the appropriate action 1.00 5.00 3.801 0.785
when a citizen is in need of
service.
Follow through on commitments 2.00 5.00 3.658 0.800
they make to citizens.
Reliability (Total) 1.67 5.00 3.744 0.736

Table 8 Mean and Standard Deviation of Responsiveness

Variable Minimum Maximum Mean Standard Deviation

Keep citizen informed and follow 2.00 5.00 3.699 0.800
up with them when necessary.
Meet or exceed the expectations 1.00 5.00 3.630 0.805
of citizens in responding to
requests for assistance.
Take action when problems are 1.00 5.00 3.781 0.747
brought to their attention.
Responsiveness (Total) 2.00 5.00 3.703 0.705

Influence of Accessibility, Competency, Manners and Fairness on Reliability and

Responsiveness of Police Service

Regression analysis has been utilized to determine whether there is influence

towards reliability and responsiveness. R value represents the correlation between IV;
accessibility, competency, fairness and manners and DV; reliability. There is a strong
positive relationship between the four service dimensions and reliability (R=0.891). The
Durbin-Watson value is at 1.871. Thus, no autocorrelation issue assumed. The F-ratio of
ANOVA is 135.38; good and significant (p<0.001). The relationship with responsiveness is
also strong and positive (R=0.848). No autocorrelation issue assumed since the Durbin-
Watson value is 1.915 respectively. The F-ratio of ANOVA is 90.097; good and significant
(p<0.001). Accessibility, competency, manners and fairness have significantly influenced
reliability and responsiveness of police service.

Table 9 Model Summary of Reliability

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Durbin-Watson

Estimate
a
1 0.891 0.793 0.788 0.339 1.871

Table 10 ANOVA of Reliability

Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

b
1 Regression 62.246 4 15.562 135.380 0.000
Residual 16.207 141 0.115
Total 78.454 145

Table 11 Model Summary of Responsiveness

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Durbin-Watson

Estimate
a
1 0.848 0.719 0.711 0.379 1.915
 122

Table 12 ANOVA of Responsiveness

Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

b
1 Regression 51.772 4 12.943 90.097 0.000
Residual 20.255 141 0.144
Total 72.027 145

The Main Factor that Influences Reliability and Responsiveness of Police Service

The coefficient value indicates that influence is an individual factor towards the DV.
There is a significant coefficient (p<0.01) between competency and manners with reliability.
Manners has higher Beta value compared to competency (p=0.00, β=0.42). Therefore,
manners is the most influential dimension in determining police reliability. Competency and
manners were found to have significant coefficient with responsiveness (p<0.01).
Competency posed higher Beta value than manners (p=0.00, β=0.43). Hence, competency is
the main factor that influences responsiveness of police service. Manners and competency
both carry a substantial effect to the Putrajaya citizens when it comes to reliability and
responsiveness of police service.
Manners correspond with how the police treat the public; the officers’ behaviour or
conduct. Competency refers to police’s ability to complete a task effectively as requested by
the public (Maguire & Johnson, 2010; Mastrofski, 1999). Bad manners were among the most
frequent complaints citizens have about their engagement with police. Public perception of
the police performance has to do more with how police officers treat the public rather than
what police officers have accomplished (Skogan, 1994). The degree to which people trust
police is based on their perceptions of the way they are being treated by the police officers
(Stoutland, 2001). These views make a good justification on why the manners of police
officers have been very important to the public. Under the professional model of policing,
citizens become unhappy with slow response times and perceptions of ineffective policing
(Bayley, 1994; Kelling & Moore, 1988). Police officers can still be responsive even in the
situation of denying citizens’ requests, by providing appropriate explanation and reasoning
on the denial (Mastrofski, 1999). The police officers have had to own specific capabilities in
their job scope to be able to respond properly to any situation. They have to be competent in
their jobs. This is an illustration of how police officers’ competency influences the attainment
of service responsiveness.

Table 13 Coefficients of Reliability

Model Unstandardized Standardized t Sig.

Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
(Constant) 0.311 0.161 1.932 0.055
Accessibility 0.079 0.063 0.075 1.260 0.210
Competency 0.281 0.060 0.303 4.688 0.000
Fairness 0.164 0.065 0.184 2.527 0.013
Manners 0.416 0.068 0.416 6.108 0.000

Table 14 Coefficients of Responsiveness

Model Unstandardized Standardized t Sig.

Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
(Constant) 0.550 0.180 3.056 0.003
Accessibility 0.097 0.070 0.096 1.385 0.168
Competency 0.385 0.067 0.433 5.751 0.000
Fairness 0.015 0.072 0.017 0.204 0.838
Manners 0.363 0.076 0.380 4.775 0.000
 123

Gender Moderates the Relationship between Accessibility, Competency, Manners, and

Fairness with Reliability and Responsiveness of Police Service

PROCESS technique by Hayes has been used to confirm such influence. The
interaction of IV and DV is moderated by gender when the relationship is significant (p<0.05).
In this case, none of the interactions concerning reliability is deemed significant.
Responsiveness shows the same outcome where there is no moderating effect of gender in
any of its relationship. The four interactions of accessibility, competency, fairness and
manners with reliability and responsiveness were not moderated by gender of the
respondents. There were no differences in an evaluation of police reliability and
responsiveness between male and female Putrajaya residents. The finding is quite similar to
a study in China where gender was not a significant predictor on perceptions towards police
(Cao & Hou, 2001; Wu and Sun, 2009, 2010). The similarity could perhaps be due to race
homogeneity of the citizens. In this study, 94.5% of the respondents are Malay. A similar
nature applies to the study cited where the respondents were all Chinese.

Table 15 Model for Reliability

Interaction p Significant Assumed

Accessibility and Reliability 0.739 No
Competency and Reliability 0.435 No
Fairness and Reliability 0.237 No
Manners and Reliability 0.537 No

Table 16 Model for Responsiveness

Interaction p Significant Assumed

Accessibility and Reliability 0.660 No
Competency and Reliability 0.114 No
Fairness and Reliability 0.341 No
Manners and Reliability 0.519 No

Summary of Findings

Table 17 Summary of Findings

Objective Findings
1 The level of reliability and responsiveness of police service were moderate as
perceived by the Putrajaya citizens.
2 Accessibility, competency, manners and fairness have significantly influenced the
reliability and responsiveness of police service.
3 Manner is the most influential factor towards reliability and competency is the
main factor that influences responsiveness of police service.
4 The interactions of accessibility, competency, manners and fairness with
reliability and responsiveness of police service were not moderated by gender of
the respondents.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The study concludes that Putrajaya citizens perceived the reliability and
responsiveness of police service is at a moderate level (between average and good).
Accessibility, competency, manners and fairness have significantly influenced reliability and
responsiveness of police service. Manners was found to be the main factor influencing
reliability whereas competency was recognized as the most influential factor to enhance the
responsiveness of police services. The four interactions of accessibility, competency,
fairness and manners that influence reliability and responsiveness were not moderated by
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gender of the respondents. This study provides an indicator for improvement in the police
service. This continuous effort is in line with PDRM’s mission: “To provide professional and
quality services in protecting the country to ensure public safety, security and prosperity”.
The findings of this study are specialized to be relevant only in Putrajaya and should
not be generalized to other areas. However, there is a high possibility that areas which is
newer in a sense of development, homogenous in terms of society and has low crime index
like Putrajaya would pose better opinions towards police rather than the area with opposing
features. In other words, a higher probability the score on satisfaction with the police service
would be even lower if the survey is done in other mature townships. Disadvantaged
communities have lower levels of satisfaction with police. Neighbourhoods characterized by
high levels of poverty, racial heterogeneity, and residential mobility would raise aggregated
dissatisfaction with police because in these areas, there is an imbalance between formal
control and informal control (Wu et al., 2009). Adverse neighbourhood characteristics tend to
diminish informal social control and subsequently increase formal social control, leading to
more potential conflicts between police officers and residents (Jiang et al., 2012).
The level of reliability and responsiveness of police service can be improved from
moderate to good, if the citizens are able to observe more manners and competency being
shown by the police officers. PDRM should probe into these two aspects to check on where
they were lacking, if any, that may have contributed to the downfall of the perception. A
review on the standard operating procedure and relevant training to the police personnel are
among possible approaches that could be considered. Perception of Putrajaya citizens on
the level of reliability and responsiveness defined part of the police service quality. It was
stated that the public were satisfied with the police service and PDRM has managed to
achieve the target on percentage of satisfied Malaysians (PEMANDU, 2015). The public
satisfaction index survey done for GTP has a nationwide coverage and has since been taken
as a collective opinion of Malaysians. The inconsistency of findings between what reported in
the GTP and what contained in this study is the main concern that PEMANDU might want to
look into. Perhaps PEMANDU might consider venturing into the survey instruments that have
been adopted by the hired consultants. The main idea is simply to ensure that the survey
methodologies adopted by the consultants are currently functional to provide accurate
findings about public satisfaction towards the police service.
There are several recommendations which have been thought to be significant for
future research. A plausible increase is needed in the number of samples. It is the most basic
aspect to establish in verifying the accuracy of the findings of this study. Future research may
just replicate this study and put it into test for a larger number of respondents. Then, it is
recommended that future research only take into account the respondents who have had
experience with police. The respondents of the study need to have at least one contact with
the police in the last three years. The generated result will achieve a much solid coherence
hence being more accurate. Finally, further research might want to individually tailor
questionnaires for better results. The surveys to the population that may have less contact
with police force would need to pose only brief and general questions. Respondents with
more experience concerning the police were able to answer a longer and more detailed set
of survey questions.

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 127

1Malaysia Clinic Service Quality and Patient Satisfaction

Case Study: 1Malaysia Clinic Taman Samarindah Kota Samarahan
Jennifah Nordin
Lecturer, of Faculty Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
jenni235@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Nazni@Nazmi Noordin
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah
nazni@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nur Afisha Yusuf

Lecturer, of Faculty Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
nuraf412@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Zaherawati Zakaria
Senior Lecturer, of Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah
zaherawati@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Public nowadays demand for better medical care and better lifestyle. Establishment of
1Malaysia clinic one of health care services by Ministry of Health indicates seriousness of
government effort to provide good healthcare services to public. 1Malaysia clinic is one of the
initiatives under the 1 Malaysia concept introduced by our Malaysia Prime Minster. 1Malaysia
clinic is beneficial to people, especially those from the lower income group with only RM1
fee. Despite the lower fees, quality of medical care services has become the main concern
among public. Patient who satisfied with the medical care given for them will build a long-
term relationship with that medical care services. Thus, failure to understand the important of
delivery quality services will contribute to losses of patients. The study evaluates the
relationship between service quality and patients satisfactions towards 1Malaysia Clinic at
Taman Samarindah, Kota Samarahan service quality. The respondent in this study was 166
patients who seek medical treatment at 1Malaysia Clinic at Taman Samarindah. A
correlational study was carried out and the findings indicate that there was a positive
significant relationship between service quality and patient satisfaction. In addition, female
patients are more satisfied with service quality delivery by 1Malaysia clinic at Taman
Samarindah compared to male patients.

Keywords: Patient Satisfaction & Service Quality

INTRODUCTION

In budget 2017 the government has allocated RM25billion for healthcare programmes
in Malaysia. Out of the total amount, RM4.5billiion has been allocated for the operations of
340 1Malayisa clinics, 11 1Malaysia mobile clinics, 959 health clinics and more than 1,800
for rural clinics. Furthermore, Malaysia is reported as one of the best primary public and
private healthcare services in Asia (Mimi Syed Yusof, 2014). By having this varieties of
healthcare services, public has many choices when they feeling unhealthy such as
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government polyclinic, outpatient clinic and 1 Malaysia clinic for having medical care
services.
A document from the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management
Planning Unit (n.d.) stated that 1Malaysia clinic was introduced in January 2010 with 50
outlets and RM12.4Million of budget. It was established for the purpose of providing
healthcare services to urban poverty and to expand the healthcare services towards public
especially for lower income group. By applying the concept of “cheap, easy and faster”
1Malaysia clinic is expected to increase quality of health among citizen.
The Institute of Medicine referred quality of health care as “the degree to which health
services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes
are consistent with current professional knowledge”.
In the perspective of healthcare services quality of service is measure base on
technical quality and functional aspects of facilities provided. Technical quality is defined as
technical accuracy of the medical diagnoses and procedures or the compliance of
professional specifications (Lam, 1997). Beside that technical quality also refers to the
competency of the staff in performing their job routines. All these include the clinical and
operating skills of the doctors, the familiarity of the nurses with the administration of drug and
the laboratory technician expertise in conduct the tests on blood samples (Tomes, 1995).
While functional aspects are referred as facilities, cleanliness, quality of hospital food,
hospital personnel’s attitudes rather than technical aspects when evaluating the service
quality (Bowers, 1994). In addition patient satisfaction is one of the most vital considerations
to assess the quality of health care services (Khusboo & Varsha, 2016).
Kressler and Mylod (2011) also highlighted that patient who satisfied with the medical
care given to them will build a long-term relationship with that medical care services. It
means the patients will stay loyal and going to the same clinic for obtaining medical services.
Thus, failure to understand the important of delivery quality services will contribute to losses
of patients (Andaleeb, 1998).
Therefore the objective of the study is to examine the relationship between the patient
satisfaction and service quality at 1Malaysia clinic in Taman Samarindah Kota
Samarahan,Sarawak, to determine which gender is more satisfied with services provided at
1Malaysia clinic and to recommend the most significant improvement needed for 1Malaysia
clinic in Taman Samarindah Kota Samarahan.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Even most public are satisfied with the service quality of clinic 1Malaysia but there
are certain negative responses on the commencement of 1Malaysia clinic. The Malaysian
Medical Association (MMA) was very surprised when 1Malaysia clinics were handled by
medical assistants and nurses only. This issue create anxiety, unhappiness, confusion and
dissatisfaction among the general practitioner and complained that clinics which only run by
medical assistant and nurses are considered erroneous practices and against the law. The
president of MMA, Dr Quek highlighted that almost 1Malaysia clinics should be operated by
doctors in conjunction with the Medical Act (the sundaydaily, 2010 & thestar, 2010). Public
also commented that 1Malaysia clinic can only do little without a qualified medical
practitioner (Bavani & Priya, 2014).
Furthermore as written in The Malay Mail online, 1Malaysia clinic was found guilty by
prescribing expired medicine to their 10 year old patient. This incidence was considered as
negligence on the part of clinic which they fail to check its stocks regularly and Ministry of
health also need to be accountable for supplying expired medicine to clinic (Sagaran, 2014).
A mother with her two children complaining about how she and her two children have
different health disorders but they being given the same medicine which did not work
(Bavani & Priya, 2014). Due to that after a week they need to visit private clinic.
In terms of location of 1Malaysia clinic, there is an issue of imbalance where
1Malaysia Clinic is only operates in urban area, where it’s more beneficial if 1Malaysia clinic
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also located in rural areas since most of lower income earning citizen usually lives in the rural
areas. Datuk Dr N.K.S Tharmaseelan, the Malaysian Medical Association (MAA) president
and Dr Milton Lum the elected member of MAA said that the 1Malaysia clinic more needed in
rural area and remote area, especially in Sabah and Sarawak (Bavani & Priya, 2014).
The establishment of 1Malaysia clinics is also seen as redundancy with the
availability of district health clinics and private clinics operated in most urban area in
Malaysia (Nooor’ain, Dilla, Suryani & Siti Noorsuriani, 2013). Other than that, majority of
1Malaysia clinics are placed at a highly populated area that consists of high or middle class
income group. This group of people are able and affordable to visit any private clinics if they
are dissatisfied with the services offered in the public facilities such as 1Malaysia Clinic.
Thus, due to a few an encouraging comments the researchers interested to pursue with the
study.

LITERATURE REVIEW

This section will discuss the previous literature review related to the study as
discussed below:

DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY

The SERVQUAL scales develop by Parasuraman has been used in a wide area of
studies in healthcare to access customer perception on the service quality for example acute
care hospital (Carman, 1990), public university health service (Anderson, 1995) with
physicians (Brown & Swartz, 1989). By applying the SERVQUAL model, the service quality
of 1Malaysia clinic was measured base on a few aspects namely tangibility, reliability,
responsiveness, assurance and empathy.

Tangiblity

Tangiblity is defined as the physical appearance of facilities, equipment, appearance

of personnel, and written materials (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Issues regarding to the
branches such as access to the facilities, safety and convenience are also on tangible basis
(Bellini, Lunardi & Henrique, 2005). Study conducted in healthcare in Bangladesh, found that
tangibility that is the staff are significantly positively correlated with the patient satisfaction
and trust (Andaleeb, Siddiqui & Khandakar, 2007). The study also highlighted that a hospital
or healthcare services appearance should be clean, organised and its staff, its premises,
restrooms, equipment, wards and bad able to influence patients’ perception about the
services. Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H1: Tangibles will have positive effect on patient satisfaction.
H0: Tangible will have no positive effect on patient satisfaction.

Reliability

Reliability have been defined as the ability to perform the promised service
dependably and accurately or delivering on its promised (Parasuraman et al., 1988).
Reliability is also a reputation that can be most reliable indicator of service quality (Nguyen,
2001). This reputation could be related to customers past experience (Ndubisi, 2006). This
dimension said to be critical because all customers want to dealing with the firms that could
keep promises and this is generally implicitly communicated to the firm’s customers
(Zeithaml et al., 2006). Reliability also perceived to be important by providing necessary
medical test, regular supply of drugs, regular supervision by care providers and availability of
specialist (Andaleeb, Siddiqui & Khandakar 2007). Thus, the following hypothesis is
proposed:
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H2: Reliability will have positive effect on patient satisfaction.

H0: Reliability will have no positive effect on patient satisfaction.

Responsiveness

Parasuraman et al. (1988) defined responsiveness as a willingness to help customers

and provide prompt services. Responsiveness is concerned with customer’s requests,
complaints and questions and thus the firms is known to be responsive when it dealing and
communicates to their customers about how longer it takes to answer or dealt with the
problems (Zeithaml et al., 2006). Andaleeb, Siddiqui & Khandakar (2007) stated that patients
normally expect healthcare services staff to respond promptly when needed. The patients
also believe the required equipment to be available, functional and able to diagnose any
types of disease. Besides that, patients also expect drugs are properly prescribe and
properly administered. Responsiveness possibly to have an important and positive effect on
customer satisfaction (Diaz & Rodriguez, 2002; Glaveli, 2006; Joseph, Sekhon & Tinson,
2005). Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H3: Responsiveness will have positive effect on patient satisfaction.
H0: Responsiveness will have no positive effect on patient satisfaction.

Assurance

According to (Parasuraman et al., 1988), assurance is the employee’s knowledge and

courtesy and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. For the medical and healthcare
industry, assurance is an important element that customers focus at in assessing a hospital
or a surgeon for an operation. The personnel who link the customer with the organization are
the ones that represent the trust and confidence (Zeithaml et al., 2006). In health care
services assurance is referred to the ability of service providers to accurately interpret
laboratory reports, diagnose disease accurately, provide appropriate explanation to queries
and generate sense of safety (Andaleeb, Siddiqui & Khandakar 2007). Thus, the following
hypothesis is proposed:
H4: Assurance will have positive effect on patient satisfaction.
H0: Assurance will have no positive effect on patient satisfaction.

Empathy

Empathy has been defined as the caring, individualized attention the firm provides for
its customers (Parasuraman et al., 1988). The customer is treated as if he is unique and
special. Knowing the customer’s name, his preferences and his needs are several ways that
empathy can be provided (Zeithaml et al., 2006). In healthcare services healthcare
providers, doctors and nurses understanding, personal care and mental support is reflecting
providers’ empathy (Andaleeb, Siddiqui & Khandakar 2007). Therefore, the following
hypothesis is provided:
H5: Empathy will have positive effect on patient satisfaction.
H0: Empathy will have no positive effect on patient satisfaction.

PATIENT SATISFACTIONS

Ford, Bach & Fottler (1997) highlighted patient satisfaction had been existed over the
years ago. It is as a measure of quality health care provided by the health care organizations.
It is not only important for gaining insight into the perception of the patients on the delivery of
health care services but also indicated by Donabedian (1998) as a key outcome of care. In
addition, low level of patient satisfaction is being a potential for waste of resources and
suboptimal clinical outcome. McKinley, Scott, French & Baker (1997) also noted that the
satisfaction of the legitimate demands of patients should be the outcome of all medical care.
 131

In the previous research has identified the various factors that determine the
customer satisfaction towards health care services. However, much of patient satisfaction
research is relies on patient perception of satisfaction on what they are observed, such as
facility’s environmental aesthetics or the array of services and physician’s comforting bedside
manner (Friedman, 1995).
According to Urden (2002), he was mentioned that the patient satisfactions are
cognitive approach, emotionally affected, and patient’s subjective perception. Furthermore,
the most important determinant of customer satisfaction is the interpersonal relationship by
the health care provider (Gill and White, 2009). Alhashem, Habib and Chowdhury (2011) also
stated the determinant of patient satisfaction is the quality relationship between patients and
the doctor. It is as a measure to determine the patient satisfaction. In this context, the patient
satisfaction is as a judgement made by patients on their expectation regarding services
delivery by the health care organisations. It also determine either it have been meets or not.
Thus, the ability of health care organisations deliver a quality service will influence the level
of patient satisfied with that organisation.

Gender and Patient Satisfaction towards Service Quality

The marketing researchers also indicate the differences in perception of service

quality among different genders as the study have been done in measuring service quality
management in a private hospital in Gauteng, South Africa. There are differences in
perception of service quality among different genders exist due to some factors such as
gender role socialization, different in data handling, personalities, interpreting ability and
importance placed on essential or peripheral services as stated by the researchers in the
previous study (Mattila, Grandey & Fisk, 2003). The marketing researchers also have been
indicated that male tend to rate the service quality higher than female and counterparts
(Juwaheer, 2011). Furthermore Mokhlis (2012) found there are significant different between
empathy, tangibles, and reliability dimension of the SERQUAL model with males rating these
dimensions more important than females. Apart from that, the different genders could
experience service delivered differently, resulting the same patient treatment but different in
satisfaction regarding the services that have been provide by the clinic or any medical care
centre. On the other hand, if there is no differences exist between different genders, it will
create problem because this is seen as preferential treatment of the opposite sex (Karatepe,
2011).
Thus, if differences between genders exist, the necessary resource allocation should
be made to ensure all the parties affected are treated in the correct manner and the relevant
importance that the gender place on the different dimensions are adhere to (Mokhlis, 2012).
Base on the abovementioned literature review, figure 3.4 below is the conceptual
framework for the study.

Figure 3.3 Conceptual Framework

Service Quality

 Tangibles
Patient
 Reliability
Satisfaction
 Responsiveness
 Assurance
 Empathy

Demographic

 Gender
Independent Variable Dependant Variable
 132

METHODOLOGY

Letter of approval signed by Director of Health Department of Sarawak which issued

by Health Department of Sarawak to conduct a study in 1Malaysia clinic Taman Samarindah
was obtained on 20 Mac 2015 with reference no KNNSWK/P/SMD/Z1 Jld.1 (5). This survey
is a cross sectional study where data was only gathered once that is from Mac until July
2015. The type of investigation was in form of correlational study where this study aimed to
identify the relationship between service quality dimensions with patient satisfaction. Simple
random sampling technique was used in distributing the questionnaires. By referring to
Roscoe sampling size technique, sample size larger than 30 and less than 500 are
appropriate for most research. So that for the study 200 questionnaires was distributed
personally to the patients visiting the 1Malaysia clinic Taman Samarindah.
The questionnaire consist of 3 sections, section A was on demographic profile of
respondents, section B was on the dimensions of service quality and section C was on the
overall respondents opinion on service quality at 1Malaysia clinic and open-ended question
on respondents suggestions on the proper way to improve 1Malaysia clinic service quality.
The questionnaires were distributed in 3 different days that was 5 May 2015 (66
questionnaires), 12 May 2015 (66 questionnaires) and 19 May 2015 (68 questionnaires).
Even though 200 questionnaires has been distributed, only 166 questionnaires were valid to
be analyzed. Pearson correlation test has been used to analyze the relationship between
service quality dimensions and patient satisfaction. In addition T-test was used to compare
patient satisfaction base on gender.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

Reliability Analysis

Reliability test was conducted to measure the consistency of the variables.

The Cronbach’s Alpha of patient satisfaction on service quality at 1Malaysia clinic is 0.924.
By referring to George and Mallery rule of thumb the Cronbach alpha result of 0.9 to 0.8 is
considered excellent. It’s indicates that the study internal consistency was reliable, and
produce stable and consistency results. The details of Cronbach alpha reading is shown in
Table 5.1 below.

Table 5.0 Cronbach Alpha Reading

Cronbach’s Alpha No of Item

0.924 40

The Most Significant Service Quality Dimensions That Contributing to Patients

Satisfaction toward 1Malaysia Clinic in Taman Samarindah

The descriptive statistics was used to examine the patient’s satisfaction on service
quality at 1Malaysia clinic. Overall, based on Table 5.2 below it shows that the most
significant service quality dimensions that contributing to patient’s satisfaction toward
1Malaysia Clinic in Taman Samarindah is tangibility with total score mean of 4.25. However,
the most significant improvement needed for 1Malaysia clinic in Taman Samarindah is
responsiveness with the lowest mean of 3.95 only.
 133

Table 5.2 The Most Significant Service Quality Dimensions That Contributing to Patients
Satisfaction toward 1Malaysia Clinic in Taman Samarindah

N Mean Std.Deviation
Tangibility 166 4.25 0.88
Reliability 166 3.99 0.78
Responsiveness 166 3.95 0.75
Assurance 166 4.04 0.77
Empathy 166 4.16 0.86

Relationship between Service Quality and Patient Satisfaction

The section will describe the five dimensions quality that is tangibility, reliability,
responsiveness and empathy with patient satisfaction as discuss below.

Relationships between tangibility and Patient satisfaction

Based on the Table 5.3.1 below, there is a positive effect and significant relationship
between tangibility and patient satisfaction (r=.692, p<0.05) p=.692. Thus, H1 is accepted
and H0 is rejected.

Table 5.3.1 Relationship between Tangibility and Patient Satisfaction

Correlations
Tangibility Patient Satisfaction
**
Pearson Correlation 1 .692
Tangibility Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 166 166
**
Pearson Correlation .692 1
Patient
Satisfaction Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 166 166
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The research findings is similar with previous research findings where tangibility will
influence patients’ satisfaction.

Relationship between Reliability and Patient Satisfaction

Reliability also shows a positive effect and significant relationship between reliability
and patient satisfaction (r=.771, p<0.05) p=.771. Thus H2 is accepted and H0 is rejected as
shown in table 5.3.2 below.

Table 5.3.2 Relationship between Reliability and Patient Satisfaction

Correlations
Reliability Patient
Satisfaction
**
Pearson Correlation 1 .771
Reliability Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 166 166
**
Pearson Correlation .771 1
Patient
Satisfaction Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 166 166
 134

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The research findings are in line with previous research finding which pinpoints that
reliability is crucial for patient satisfaction.

Relationship between Responsiveness and Patient Satisfaction

There is also a positive and significant relationship between responsiveness and

patient satisfaction (r=.750, p<0.05) p=.750. Therefore, H3 is also accepted and H0 is
rejected. Table 5.2.3 below describe the detail.

Table 5.3.3 Relationship between Responsiveness and Patient Satisfaction

Correlations
Responsiveness Patient
Satisfaction
**
Pearson Correlation 1 .750
Responsiveness Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 166 166
**
Pearson Correlation .750 1
Patient Satisfaction Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 166 166
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The research findings are in related with previous research finding which emphasis
that responsiveness is important for patient satisfaction.

Relationship between Assurance and Patient Satisfaction

Apart from that, assurance also shows a positive and significant relationship on
patient satisfaction (r=.772, p<0.05) p=.772. Thus, H4 is accepted and H0 is rejected as
shown in Table 5.3.4 below.

Table 5.3.4 Relationship between assurance and patient’s satisfaction

Correlations
Assurance Patient Satisfaction
**
Pearson Correlation 1 .772
Assurance Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 166 166
**
Pearson Correlation .772 1
Patient Satisfaction Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 166 166
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The research findings are similar with previous research findings where assurance will
influence patients’ satisfaction.
 135

Relationship between Empathy and Patient Satisfaction

Empathy also shows the positive and significant relationship on patient satisfaction
(r=.535, n=166, p=<0.05) p=.535. Thus Hypothesis H5 is accepted and H0 is rejected.

Table 5.3.5 Relationship between Empathy and Patients Satisfaction

Correlations
Empathy Patient
Satisfaction
**
Pearson Correlation 1 .535
Empathy Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 166 166
**
Pearson Correlation .535 1
Patient Satisfaction Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 166 166
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The final variable that is empathy also proven that empathy will have an impact
towards patients satisfaction.

Gender and Patient Satisfaction

The one-sample t-test was used to compare whether there is differences between
male and female patients satisfaction with the service quality provided in 1Malaysia clinic
Taman Samarindah. From the independent sample test shown in table 5.2 (b) below,
researchers choose Equal Variance Assumed because p>0.05 for Levene’s Test where t
(164) = -.573, p=0.568. This implies that there is no significant differences satisfaction
between male patients (M=3.79, SD=0.57) and female patients (M=3.98, SD=0.59) towards
service quality provided in 1Malaysia clinic Taman Samarindah.
.
Table 5.2 (a) Group Statistics of Independent Sample Test

Group Statistics

Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Service Female 122 3.98 .59 .054

Quality Male 44 3.79 .57 .086

Table 5.2 (b) Result Independent Sample Test

Levene Test for T test for Equality Means

Equality of Variances
F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Equal
JK1M Variance 4.61 .498 -.573 164 .568
assumed

Equal
Variance
not
assumed -5.61 73.246 .577
 136

Recommendation on the Most Significant Improvement Needed for 1Malaysia Clinic

The suggestion has been extracted based on the open-ended question in Section C
of the questionnaire. The patients suggest that 1Malaysia clinic Taman Samarindah should
extend their business hour to 24 hours rather than 12 hours. They also suggest that
1Malaysia clinic should provide other medicine for chronic disease other than paracetamol,
medicine for cough and fever. Another suggestion was 1Malaysia clinic Taman Samarindah
has to provide various amenities such as television, reading stationeries and so on as their
entertainment while waiting for their turn to get the treatment. Finally, the patients had
suggested that 1Malaysia clinic must provide at least one doctor for the means of giving the
treatment for chronic decease.

LIMITATION AND SUGGESTIONS

The first limitation is in terms of composition of respondents where more female

respondents compared to male respondents. Most of the patients who seek medical
treatment at 1Malaysia clinic in Taman Samarindah are female and children. Due to that
reasons most of the respondents who answered the questionnaires were female patients and
cause the researchers difficult to identify gender equality in this study.
Besides that, the data and information gather is only represent 1Malaysia clinic in
Taman Samarindah and cannot be represent 1Malaysia clinic for the whole Sarawak and
Malaysia.
Despite the limitation, the researcher recommends that the future research should be
carried out to investigate the role belief and trust of the patient on the service quality provided
at 1Malaysia clinic. Trustworthiness of the patient on the service provided at 1Malaysia clinic
is very important as the patient is the one who receive the treatment. Since the scope of this
study is only concentrated on patient that seek treatment at 1Malaysia clinic at Taman
Samarindah, the researcher suggest that the future research should be done in at least two
or three other 1Malaysia clinic, so that the analysis data for identify the service quality and
patient satisfaction on 1Malaysia clinic is more accurate.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Health Department of Sarawak

for giving us opportunity and approval to conduct the study. Moreover our thanks also go to
the nurses in clinic 1Malaysia Taman Samarindah Kota Samarahan, Sarawak for facilitating
us to finish the study. Finally, we would like to extend our special appreciation to Christina
Amillia Anak Ambon and Priscilla Anak Henry for helping in completing this study.

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 140

The Role of Microcredit in Promoting Self-Employment in Urban

Area : Lesson from Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), Malaysia
Siti Noor Shamilah Misnan
College of Law, Government & International Studies,
Universiti Utara Malaysia
noorshamilah@gmail.com

Rafizah Mohd Noor

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pahang
rafeezamn@gmail.com

Rosfaraliza Azura Ramli

College of Law, Government & International Studies,
Universiti Utara Malaysia
pari_liez@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Some scholars’ view of microcredit's potential as a tool of enhances the quality of life and
poverty alleviation. Microcredit scheme create opportunities for participants to get involved in
the self-employment and involved in the entrepreneurship programme. It seem that this
scheme create an opportunities for the participants to be independence in creating self-
economic. In the case of Malaysia, AIM’s microcredits program is group-based lending and
become a platform to produce entrepreneur as well as antipoverty intervention and
increasing the quality of life and social empowerment. Traditionally, Microcredit aims to break
the rural poor in developing countries especially groups of unable to access bank loans and
poor villagers rely on local moneylenders. For this situation, microcredit provides an
alternative source of credit and offering collateral-free loans. Currently, there are debate of
urban poverty and role of microcredit to empower this group. Previous studies shown that
microcredit has changed the socio-economic of the participant in increasing empowerment,
entrepreneur skills, transformational thinking and a desire to improve get out from poverty.
Thus, this conceptual paper will study and discuss the mechanism of promoting self-
employment in urban area. Following discussion of this concept paper of microcredit is
expected to give implication to policy maker, agencies that offers micro credit as well as for
the community in general.
.
Keywords: Microcredit, Amanah Iktiar Malaysia (AIM), self-employment, quality of life, social
empowerment.

INTRODUCTION

This conceptual paper is inspired from the successfulness of microcredit program in

Bangladesh. As we know, Bangladesh is the birth place of microcredit programs of the world.
The history of microcredit in Bangladesh can be traced back in year 1988. Majority bank at
that point of time refused to give loan to poor due to failure to meet bank’s requirement. This
situation leads the poor to borrow money from “loan-sharks”. As alternative, Bangladesh was
introduced microcredit program with the establishment
of Grameen Bank. This bank gives loans to the poor to start their own income generating
activities with very loose eligibility requirements. Examples such as no collateral are needed
and do not need a guarantor. It is certainly pro-poor, which indeed does not have any
 141

property. Bangladesh initiative to eradicate the poverty receives massive respect around the
globe and become a model to other developing country, including Malaysia.
Malaysia is one of the developing countries that face with poverty problem even after
almost 60 years of independence. Government of Malaysia was introduced a lot of policy and
programs in order to solve this problems. The various policies strategies and programs that
were formulated and adopted have managed to have significant impact on absolute poverty
reducing its incidence from about almost 50% in 1970 to about 3.6 in 2007. Malaysia is no
longer just grappling with absolute poverty but also with relative poverty, pockets of
persistent poverty and urban poverty as well as increasing inequality (Siti Noor Shamila
Misnan, 2015). As we can see, poverty in Malaysia can no longer be addressed in the same
way as it has been done in the past. There are the programs and strategies done by
government in order to reduce poverty problems in Malaysia. A combination of continued
welfares and new drive towards independent living were incorporated in the strategy. Hence,
from time by time there are the new programs were introduced in order to take care of the
vulnerable of the society. Eleven of program was suggested and given high priority as a
program to poverty reduction, the programs are: advancing agricultural sector, strengthening
small medium enterprises, improving welfare of student, strengthening pre-school education,
improving literacy and numeracy, creating quality school, increasing home ownership,
expanding public health facilities, enhancing social safety nets, improving retirement scheme
and microfinance or microcredit. (Zulkarnain A.Hatta, 2013)
One of the suggested program that Malaysia government do in order to eradicate the
poverty is microcredit scheme. Malaysia replicated the Garmeen Bank with the establishment
of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) in year 1987. Microcredit program can help to reduce the
independency of poor on the government by promoting the concept of self relience (Roslan,
2006). This programme will given credit to the poor to start their own income- generating
activity. There are several microcredit institution in Malaysia, Tabung Ekonomi Kumpulan
Usahawan National (National Entrepreneurs Economic Group Fund - TEKUN) and Amanah
Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) are the leading organization working toward socio-economic
development of the poor and hardcore poor household in Malaysia. (Abdullah Al- Mamun,
2012).
Microcredit can be defined as financial instrument such as loans, savings, insurance
and other financial products that are tailored only to the poor. According to Robinson (2001),
microcredit refer to small scale financial service primarily credit and saving-provided to
people who farm or fish or herd. On the other hand, microcredit is lending side of
microfinance. Microcredit loans help the poor to be involved in income generating activities
that allow them to accumulate capital and improve their standard of living (Littlefield,
Morduch & Hashemi, 2003). Smith and Thurman (2007) as quoted by the late Milton
Friedman, Nobel Prize winner in Economic 1976, “The poor start poor not because they are
lazy but because they have no access to capital”.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM)

Amanah Iktiar Malaysia is a non-governmental organization offered micro-credit as an

alternative to the poverty alleviation proggramme. Amanah Iktiar Malaysia also known as
AIM was replicated form Grameen Bank from Bangladesh. The initial project of AIM is
initiated by social science scientist from Universiti Sains Malaysia, that pilot project known as
Projek Ikhtiar in 1986. After 2 and half year of the project it’s been successful and AIM was
established in September 1987. AIM was followed the Grameen Bank method and practice
to deliver their service.
The loan schemes offered by AIM can be divided into three categories. The first loan for
economic purposes followed by none conomic purpose and third is for recovery. The latest
micro loan that introduced by AIM is the urban micro loan in the economic category. This
 142

loan scheme is tailored to poor and low-income earners living in urban areas. With this loan
scheme it is hoped that poor and low income group can set up small business to increase
their income and have a batter life. Each loan group has different eligible loan amount and
duration of installment. For the economic purposes, there are loan scheme named as i-
Mesra loan, i-Srikandi loan, i-Wibawa loan and latest one is urban micro loan (Manum et al.,
2011). For the noneconomic purpose or also known as social loan, there are i-Bistari loan
and i-Sejahtera loan and for recovery loan known as i-Penyayang loan (Abdullah Al- Mamun,
2012)
Started with the single branch in 1987, now a day AIM has expended to include a
total of 88 branches operating in the district in Peninsular Malaysia as well as Sabah and
Sarawak with membership of 342,927 as shown in Table 1 and had disbursed a cumulative
of RM 10.1 billion of the loan to its members by Feb 2014 as shown in Table 2 (AIM, 2014).
The operation of AIM is different from other micro-finance institution. AIM was organized via
the group-centre concept which is translated in the form of groups and federated into
centres. While the membership of AIM is open for the low income and under poverty group
also household who are earn an income less than two-third of the government poverty line,
currently AIM is open to household earning a household income equal to or lower than
RM2,000 or per capita below RM400 per month ( Omar, M. Noor & Dahalan, 2012).
AIM program was designed exclusively to the poor and low income group to help the
group moving forward and stand on their own capability. The delivery system created by AIM
specifically to achieve the target as follow; loan provided by AIM to the client are with no
collateral, no guarantor, no interest and there are no legal action will be taken for those who
are failing to repay the loan amount. Besides that, for member in group’s loan, each group
member is stand as guarantor and credit discipline via peer pressure, each member in the
group are responsible to support the others, and peer pressure has contribute to the
maintenance of credit discipline. Other than that, members are compulsory attend for the
weekly meeting and contribute to the group saving. And lastly, AIM’s staff will monitor weekly
meeting conducted by head of centre and loan are strictly for any income generating
activities and loans are properly utilized by borrower, members in each group will present
their weekly financial report (Omar et al., 2012) Malaysia has set by the year 2020 the
country will achieve developed nation status by estimating the reduction of poverty and
improve living standards in line with others developed countries. In this case, AIM was give
the positive impact to the participant quality of life and raising the standard and lead
improvement in poor household’s quality of life.

Microcredit as a Mechanism to Alleviating Urban Poverty

After 30 years of AIM, it has proven successful in helping the rural poor out of
poverty. As of April 2017, AIM has a total of 382,178 participants of the loan amount RM
15,097,046,687. The success of the AIM catalyzes the efforts of the government to help
overcome poverty in the country. Studies by Ishak Abdul Rahman in 1994 in Sik, Kedah said
the success of this program has changed the lives of project participants (Siti Noor Shamila
Misnan, 2015)
In 2009 a total of 69,900 households were reported as being urban poor
(Department Statistic of Malaysia, 2011). Malaysian government takes immediate action by
pumping RM 100 million through AIM for microcredit program if the poor in urban area. AIM
micro-credit projects are very encouraging. In year 2009, 14,339 poor households in cities
across the country who are earning below RM2,000 a month were involved in loans to repair
their socioeconomic condition. Approximately 7,745 of them are urban poor in Kuala Lumpur
and the Klang Valley. (Awang Selamat, 2009)
So far, a total of RM33 million from RM100 million has been released to help the
urban poor to increase their income through small economic projects under the Urban Micro
Finance Program. Repayment program, which must be made on a weekly basis, is amazing
at 99.4 percent. Any banker will be fascinated with the refund rates. This means, of 14,339
urban poor households in the country to obtain the AIM micro-credit loans, 99.4 percent to
 143

pay back the loan. They made an initial loan of RM3,000 - which can then be increased to
RM20,000. The borrower pays it back over a period of between three months to a year.
(Awang Selamat, 2009)
The government's strategy in the eradication of urban poverty is progressive. The
loan is used to increase the income of poor families. Higher incomes allow them to financial
planning, small business expand, save and then buy their own property, including homes in
urban areas. It nourished again with another strategy in the field of education and economic
opportunities. Suggested the government open up more pasar malam area, trade stalls, and
gives permission to operate until late morning and gives course of business skills and
financial skills. Besides, small-scale enterprises in the backyard like baking, crafts or
business service that is easily granted approval
In one hand, microcredit institutions are creating opportunities to urban poor moving
out from poor situation. Besides that, this institution creates access to productive capital
which in human capital and social capital (Manum et al.,2010).

Microcredit as a Mechanism to Promoting Self-Employment

Microcredit is a kick start for self-employment or entrepreneur. European Commission

has reported, in 2013, 20,000 entrepreneurs have already benefited from loans and
guarantees worth €182 million. In particular the report finds that the microcredit has
significantly contributed to job creation by enabling credit to unemployed or inactive people,
who often struggle to borrow money from financial institutions. Difficulty in accessing finance
becomes a major barrier for aspiring self-employment especially among poor.
(www.european.com)
Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia was offering credit without collateral was identified as a
powerful tool in promoting entrepreneur development program especially for urban poor. The
credit program to poor and low income group in urban and rural area Peninsular Malaysia,
Sabah and Sarawak was using group based method. Finding of this study shown that
microcredit program by AIM as a role to promoting entrepreneurship are significant based on
several research done. The concept of entrepreneurship as a process of using initiative to
transform a business concept to new venture or enterprise with high growth potential, where
entrepreneur can be identify as an innovation to seize an opportunity, mobilize money and
management skill and takes a risk to open market new products, processes and service.
Hamdan, Othman and W. Hussin (2012) in Malaysia effort to poverty eradication through
entrepreneurship was undertaken by government since 1957 (Malaya independence from
British), followed by introduced the
Economic Policy (NEP) in 1971-1990 and the concept of entrepreneur become more
significant by Knowledge Economy (K-Economy) for objective of achievement vision 2020
AIM has contributed to the entrepreneur development skill especially to the women.
AIM was provided services and training in order to enhancing the entrepreneurship skill
among Malaysian’s women. Training provide by AIM such as:

• Developing entrepreneur character.

• Basics of entrepreneurship.
• Basic skills.
• Technical skill.
• Business enhancement skill.
Others than provide credits for start a business, AIM also provide service for business
development, which participants are involved in business transforming and human capital
development (Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia, 2011). By encouraging self-employment among the
poor indirectly will contribute to employment creation, income and expenditure of target
group, savings, assets ownership, wealth and comfort of family and community and increase
the participant’s standard of living (Rosman & Rosli, 2013). The Microcredit Summit (2006)
adopted the definition of microcredit as “programs to extend small loans to very poor people
for self-employment projects that generate income, allowing them to care for themselves and
 144

their families.” The objective of Microcredit Summit is to ensure that 175 million of the world’s
poorest families, especially the women in those families, receive credit for self-employment
and other financial and business services before the end of 2015 (Abdullah Al- Mamun,
2012)

Microcredit Promoting Quality of life

As we know that, people live in poor or so called as poverty, generally refer to condition
where people’s basic needs for food, clothing and shelter are not being met. However, due to
microcredit program, poor people able to out from poverty and had a good and quality life
compared than before. A study of Malhota, Schuler and Boender (2002) have shown that
after participating in a group based microcredit program, women become more conscious
about their family welfare, which ultimately leads to positive outcomes in child health and
education as well as household wellbeing. Latifee (2003) in his study on Grameen Bank’s
microcredit clients in Bangladesh mentioned that about 90% of the borrowers reported an
improvement in standard of living. Studies conducted by Sutoro (1990) in Indonesia, Sebstad
and Walsh (1991) in Nairobi, Mosley (1996) in Bolivia, Dunn (2005) in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Panda (2009) in India also noted similar positive impacts of microcredit.
Teng et. al examined the impact of Micro finance on living standard of poor people This
study strongly recommends the provision of micro financing to be given to the poor segment
of the society. This will not only improve the educational, health and financial position of the
poor but will also contribute to overall development of economy. The findings indicated that
there is a significant impact of micro finance activities in raising the living standard of the
people
Based on the studies, it clearly shows that, once poor have money, they will able to out
from poverty. Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia also had contributed to quality of life of rural and
urban poor in Malaysia.

Contribution and Recommendation

This paper has explained the role of microcredit in promoting self-employment in

urban area. This conceptual paper has been done by reviewing and exploring the microcredit
contribution in urban poverty, the effectiveness of microcredit to enhancing self-employment.
This paper will contribute to the information of AIM role in promoting self-employment in
Malaysia. The finding of this study shown AIM is still relevant as microcredit institutions in
providing skill and knowledge of entrepreneurship and small business development. To
ensure the continuously of relevancy AIM should re-evaluate some of the method applied to
the borrower.
The power of media such as television, radio, and newspaper are needed to give
publicity towards AIM. The awareness of AIM still blurred compared with the roles of banks.
It is due to lack of promotion and exposer. On top of that, AIM should formulate special
method to promote urban people to become AIM members since there are the differences
between rural people and urban people, in term of economic needs, family structure and
education back ground as well as their business activity. The amount offered by AIM also
should different between rural and urban people. It’s a good when AIM offering of collateral
free credit program for the borrower, but some of them are not understand with the term and
condition applied by AIM, therefore, special training should open to those who are interested
with product from AIM. Arrangement of vocational training program and some of the skill
training should organize by AIM in order to ensure borrowers are fully utilizing the loan given
by AIM. Create awareness to enhance education among borrower also a crucial part to
confirm the sustainability of business development by entrepreneurs. On the other hand,
weekly monitoring by AIM officer should expend to not only for repayment, they are should
become facilitator and motivator for borrower to expand and encourage their spirit
 145

CONCLUSION

The role of microcredit in poverty evaluation was well documented in the literature of
microcredit. However, there are lacks of studies microcredit’s role to promoting self-
employment in urban area. Microcredit is a one of good enough product to encourage
entrepreneur development especially in developing country. From this paper, therefore
increasing our understanding toward role of microcredit to self-employment especially in
urban area as it’s was found that microcredit decrease of poor and low income level in
Malaysia. However, government of Malaysia as well as AIM should create or re-evaluate and
by doing monitoring with the method applied to encourage more participant or members
among low income group in urban area to join this program. This paper was first phase in
investigating role of microcredit in promoting self-employment in urban area and apart of
larger ongoing research. In future this study will seek to understand the entrepreneur
development program lesson by AIM also others microfinance institution and this is part of
doctor of philosophy research.

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 147

Audio Collection Cataloging Process Using Resource Description

and Access (RDA)
Nordibradini binti Selamat
Faculty of Information Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani
nordi314@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Zuraidah binti Arif

Faculty of Information Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani
zuraidah_arif@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Zati Atiqah binti Mohamad Tanuri

Faculty of Information Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani
zatiatiqah@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Siti Khadijah binti Rafie

Faculty of Information Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani
khadijahrafie@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Dr. Azree bin Ahmad

Faculty of Information Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani
azree@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Mohd Zool Hilme Mohamed Sawal

Faculty of Information Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani
zoolhilmie@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Raja Alwi bin Raja Omar

Faculty of Information Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani
rajaalwi@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

This paper present an understanding of current state and needs of Resource Description and
Access Standard (RDA) in cataloging library collections. Cataloger need to adapt to the new
rules and terminology employed by this new standard. This RDA was developed with the
principles and foundation of Functional Requirement for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) and
Functional Requirement for Authority Data (FRAD). RDA is compatible with other cataloging
standard include Machine Readable Catalog Standard (MARC 21) for bibliographic data,
International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) and Anglo American Cataloging
Rules as an encoding standard. This paper highlight in details resource description for audio
collections.
.
Keywords: Resource Description and Access Standard; RDA; Functional Requirement for
Bibliographic Records; FRBR; Functional Requirement for Authority Data; FRAD; Machine
Readable Cataloging Standard; MARC 21
 148

INTRODUCTION

Cataloging in library not only involved with printed materials. Library holds many
collection from printed and non-printed materials. In order to meet the need of library user,
each collecting will be presented in library catalog. Therefore, users will get access to the
materials they want. In library, audio collection is part of non-printed materials. It is important
and crucial for the library to catalog audio collection that they have in their library.
Audiovisual collections in library includes compact discs (CDs), DVDs, audio, videocassettes
and videodisc.
Since 2013, most of the libraries have started to change into new cataloguing codes
which is Resource Description and Access (RDA). RDA is known to replaced the used of
Anglo American Cataloging Rules 2nd edition (AACR2). Thus, it a need to the cataloger to
adapt the new rules and terminology into the prior cataloging code. RDA was developed with
the principles and foundation of Functional Requirement for Bibliographic Records (FRBR)
and Functional Requirement for Authority Data (FRAD). RDA is compatible with other
cataloging standard include Machine Readable Catalog Standard (MARC 21) for
bibliographic data as encoding standard, International Standard Bibliographic Description
(ISBD), and Anglo American Cataloging Rules as an display standard. Thus, this paper
discussed in details the new cataloging rules in RDA specific for audio collections.

PART 1 : DESCRIPTIVE AREA

This part focused on the descriptive element of audio materials. The explaining
relates with the MARC fields and the RDA rules that apply in the description of the audio
collections. The descriptive areas focused the title area, statement of responsibility area,
edition area, publication area, physical description area, type of content, media and carrier
area, series area, notes and the identifier for a manifestation.

Title Area (MARC 245 $a $b)

In RDA, there are three elements in title area that apply to audio collection. The title
proper is the main title of a resource followed by parallel titles proper and other title
information. RDA 2.3, title proper is a core element, transcribe title as it appear on the source
of information. In general, guidelines will be limited to elements specific to sound recordings.
245. $a Identifying the preferred source is usually the only issue for the title proper.
245. $h [sound recording] is obsolete and should not be entered in RDA records.
MARC tag 336, 337, and 338 is to replace MARC tag 245 subfield ‘h’.
245. $b. In AACR2, it is a common practice to transcribe the other title from
somewhere other than the chief source.

Statement of Responsibility Area ( MARC 245 $c)

Statement of responsibility is core element, if there are more than one, only the first
name appeared required, other statement are optional. According to RDA2.4.1.1, statements
identifying performers of music whose participation is confined to performance, execution, or
interpretation are not transcribed in MARC245 but transcribe under MARC5xx. RDA2.4.2.2
stated that, the preferred source for the statement of responsibility relating to the title proper
is as the same source that appears in the title proper, another source within the resource
itself, or other sources. It consists of accompanying material, other published descriptions,
container not issued with the resource and any other available source. According to RDA,
“the statement of responsibility relates to the identification and function of the entity
responsible for the creation of, or contributing to the creation of, the intellectual or artistic
content of a resource”. In RDA2.4.1.5, cataloger may omit any statement of responsibility
 149

names that more than three, indicate the omission by given the summarization of others
(Figure 1). Alternatively, cataloger may also state all names in the statement of responsibility.

Figure 1 Example of Recording More than One Name in Statement of Responsibility

245 Cakar ayam doktor / Dr. Sharif Ahmad [and four others]

Sources of information read as: Dr. Sharif Ahmad, Dr. Fahd Razy, Dr. Onn Azli, Dr.
KamrulAriffin, dan JazlinaSyahrul

Edition Area (MARC 250)

Edition statement is a core element in RDA. RDA recommends taking the presence of
words such as edition, issue, or version as evidence of an edition statement. Under RDA
guidelines, do not abbreviate the edition statement unless abbreviated on them (Figure 2).

Figure 2 Example of Edition Statement

245 00 $a Training Library Assistant Guideline.

250 $a Second edition.

Publication Area (MARC 260 or 264)

(MARC 264 $a $b $c)

The publication area consists of three main elements, place of publication, name of
publisher, and date of publication, these element are core elements. For the places of
publication area, RDA recommends the first place that appears in the source. If more than
one place of publication appears on the source, use only the first place that mentioned on the
source. RDA recommends recording the place of publication according to order of
preferences; 1. place of publication, 2. place of distribution, 3. place of manufacturer or
printing. If there is no place of publication then use place of distribution. If the source do not
shows place of publication or distribution then use the last option which is place of
manufacturer or printing .
RDA says that recording publisher’s name based on the first one that appears in the source.
RDA (2.8.4.2, 2.9.4.2, 2.10.4.2) recommends recording the place of publication according to
order of preferences; 1. publisher’s name , 2.distributor’s name, 3. manufacturer’s name or
printing body. For recording date of publication, only the first date that appears in the source
will be recorded as specified in RDA. If there is no place of publication, record as [Place of
publication not identified, if there is no publisher, record as [Publisher not identified], and if
there is no date of publication, record as [Date of publication not identified] (Figure 3).
However, in replace with place, publisher, and date of publication not identified, record place
of distribution, name of distributor, and date of distribution or record place of manufacture,
name of manufacture, and date of manufacture.
Simon & Schuster is entered in 264 $b as the publisher.
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Figure 3 Example of Recording Place of Publication, Publisher Name, and Date of Publication

264 1 $a New York : $b Simon & Schuster Audio, $c 1997

264 $a[Place of publication not identified] : $b[Publisher not
identified], $c[Date of publication not identified]

Physical Description Area (MARC 300)

Extent

Extent is a core element; RDA 3.4.1.3 recommends use of either an authorized term
from the list at 3.3.1.3, or, as an alternative, a term in common usage. Abbreviation are no
longer put into practice for the RDA record unless for if instructed to do so. It is easier for the
user to understand the catalog record. RDA 3.3.1.3 uses the same terms found in AACR2
6.5B1, but substitutes "audio" for "sound" in all cases, along with some differences in
phrasing (Figure 4).

Table 2 Term used in RDA in Comparison with AACR

RDA 3.3.1.3 Alternative: Common Usage AACR2

audio disc CD or compact disc sound disc
Audiocassette cassette or cassette tape sound cassette
audio cartridge MiniDisc sound disc cartridge

For other audio carriers, use the standard RDA term from 3.3.1.3

Figure 4 Example of Extent

100 1 $a Durham, Mark Anthony, $d 1979-

245 10 $a Walk towards happiness / $c by Mark
Anthony Durham.
264 1 $a Prince Frederick, Md. : $b Recorded Books,$c
2006
300 $a 9 audio discs (10 hr., 15 min.) ...

Duration

RDA 7.22 record the total playing time if it is stated on the resource. If the total
playing time is not stated on the resource but is readily ascertainable, record it. Use
abbreviation to record the duration (Figure 5). If the resource states 1 hour: 30 minutes,
record the duration as 1 hr., 30 min. If the resource states 90 minutes, record the duration
as 90 min.

Figure 5 Example of Recording Duration

100 1 $a Boris, Peter L., $d 1972- ‡e author

245 10 $a The History of England / $c by Peter L.
Boris.
264 1 $a Prince Frederick, Md. : $b Recorded
Books, $c 2006
300 $a 14 CDs (16.75 hr.) ...
 151

Sound Characteristic

Sound characteristics RDA3.16 include type of recording, recording medium, playing

speed, groove characteristics, etc. Cataloger needs to record sound characteristic if it
important for the selection or identification of collection (Figure 6). In addition, MARC
fields 344 are also specify on sound characteristics. Meanwhile, record MARC347 on
technical specification of digital file including file type, encoding format, file size, etc.
Instructions of digital file characteristic RDA 3.19 on recording sound characteristics of digital
file in RDA 3.16. RDA 3.16.2.3 recommends two types of recording, analog or digital, or
both. RDA 3.16.8.3 provides the following list of authorized terms: mono, stereo,
quadraphonic, surround.

Figure 6 Example of Sound Characteristic

300 $a 9 compact discs (10 hr., 15 min.) : $b

digital, stereo ; $c 12 cm

RDA does not treat mono and stereo as abbreviations; no period is used. However
"quadraphonic" is spelled-out (it is abbreviated in AACR2 6.5C7).

Dimensions

RDA3.5 dimension are the measurement of the carrier or the container of a resources. For
audio cartridge used centimeters for the length x width, followed with millimeters for with of
the tape RDA3.5.1.4.2. RDA3.5.1.4.3 record audiocassette dimensions as length x
height for the cassette in centimeters and width for the tape itself in millimeters. As for the
audio in the disc, record the diameter in centimeters. For audio tape, record the dimension of
the reel in centimeters and the width of the tape in millimeters RDA3.5.1.4.9 (Figure 7).

Figure 7 Example of Recording Dimension

300 $c 14 x 10 cm, 7 mm tape

300 $c 10 x 7 cm
300 $a 9 compact discs (10 hr., 15 min.) : $b
digital, stereo ; $c 12 cm

RDA Content, Media, and Carrier Type Fields: MARC336, 337, 338

Content type, media type and carrier type are three new descriptive elements that are
been introduced in RDA. it to replace general material designation (GMD) previously use in
AACR2 (MARC245 $h). Veve & Rosinski (2013) described the use of these three new
elements as in Table 2 below:

Table 3 RDA Content, Media, and Carrier (Veve & Rosinski, 2013)

RDA Type Fields Use

Content (MARC336) Reflects the form in which the content is expressed.

Media (MARC337) Reflects the type of intermediation device required

to view a resource’s content.
Carrier (MARC338) Reflects the storage medium of a resource.
 152

RDA content is a core element, record content type by using the term given in RDA 6.9.1.3,
for example performed music, sound, and spoken word. Meanwhile, to record media type
RDA3.2.1.3 a list of term is given in RDA standard, for example audio, computer, video etc.
Other than that, terms for recording carrier type was given in RDA3.3.1.3, for example audio
cartridge, audio disc, audiocassette, and audio tape reel (Figure 8).

Figure 8 Example Recording RDA Content, Media, and Carrier

336 $a sounds $2 rdacontent

336 $a performed music $2 rdacontent
337 $a audio $2 rdamedia
338 $a audio disc $2 rdacarrier

Figure 9 below is the example of MARC300 with subfield ‘e’ for accompanying
material. MARC336-338 for accompanying material and $e are optional.

Figure 9 Example of MARC300 with Subfield ‘e’ for Accompanying Material

100 1 $a Bratt, Peter, $e artist.

245 10 $a Wind whispers : $b Text - Sound - Composition / $c Peter Bratt ;graphische
Realisation, Paul Smith.
300 $a 1 DVD-RW (47 min., 55 sec.) : $b digital ; $c 4 3/4 in. + $e 1 booklet + 1
sheet
336 $a sounds $2 rdacontent
336 $3 accompanying material $a text $2 rdacontent
337 $a audio $2 rdamedia
337 $3 accompanying material $a unmediated $2 rdacontent
338 $a audio disc $2 rdacarrier
338 $3 accompanying material $a volume $2 rdacarrier
520 $a Accompanying booklet created by Paul Smith contains words used as
the basis for the performance in fonts of various sizes and colors, on
unnumbered leaves of transparent plastic.

Sound Characteristics (MARC344)

It is recommended to use MARC344 but not mandatory at this time. Indicators are
always blank. Most likely use would be for CDs/audio discs or tape cassettes (Table 3).

Table 4 Type of Recording with MARC 344 Subfield Code

Type of Recording Code Use Notes

Recording Medium $a analog or digital. RDA 3.16.2.3
Playback Channels magnetic <tape> or optical <CD>
$b
Configuration RDA 3.16.3.3
Special Playback
$g mono, stereo, quadraphonic, etc. RDA3.16.8.3
Characteristics
Source $h e.g. Dolby Digital 5.1 RDA 3.16.9
rda <when $a is an authorized RDA sound
$2
characteristic term>

Example :
344 $a analog $b optical $g surround $h Dolby B encoded $2
rda
 153

Digital File Characteristics (MARC 347)

A digital file characteristic is a technical specification relating to the digital encoding of

text, audio and other types of data RDA 3.19. Record technical specification of digital file
including file type, encoding format, file size, etc. separately in MARC347 other than record
in MARC300 (Figure 10). Instructions of digital file characteristic RDA 3.19 on recording
sound characteristics of digital file in RDA 3.16.

Figure 10 Example Recording Digital File Characteristic

347 ## $aaudio file $bCD audio $2rda

347 ## $aaudio file $bMP3 $f32 kbps $2rda

Series Area (MARC 490 and 830)

This is a core element is describing manifestation or item. In recording title of series

RDA 2.12.2, apply the instruction on recording title (RDA 2.3.1). Series element is similar
with title statement. The difference may in the part of numbering within series, RDA 2.12.9.
Record also preferred title for the work for the authorized access point RDA 6.2.2.

Figure 11 Example of Recording Series Element

490 1 $a The law of attraction discovery series

830 4 $a The law of attraction discovery series

Notes that Apply to Description (MARC 5xx)

Record any additional information about manifestation or item using MARC 5XX
which additional information may be taking from any sources. Type of additional information
including general note (MARC 500) on title RDA 2.20.2 where title note record source of title
statement if it’s not taken from the resources itself, or if there is variation in title or other
information pertaining to title. Record also name of person, family, or corporate body which
relating to statement of responsibility (RDA 2.20.3) which those name are not mention in field
245. Record type of recording RDA 3.16.2 example analog or digital if it is important for the
identification or selection of resources, recording medium involve with type of medium
(example optical or magnetic), playing speed, groove characteristics, track configuration,
tape configuration, and configuration of playback channels, RDA 3.16.3-3.16.8. Other note
related to audio collection including RDA 7.22 duration note, RDA 7.24 artistic and/or
technical credit, RDA 7.23 performer, narrator, and/or presenter, RDA7.11.2-7.11.3 place
and date of capture, RDA 7.10 summarization of the content, RDA 7.7 intended audience
note, RDA 6.11 language of expression, and RDA 7.12 language of the content. Record any
note where available and consider significant by the cataloging agency, record note (MARC
5XX) when the information are not mention in any part of the record (Figure 12).
 154

Figure 12 Example of Note

500 $a Reproduced under National Library Act 1972 (Act 80)

500 $a Juga terdapat dalam muat turun digital dan iTunes
511 1 $a Bimbingan: Imam Muda Hassan
511 0 $a Read by Boyd Craig with an introduction by the author

Identifier for the Manifestation or ISBN (MARC 020)

This is a core element as it the last element in the descriptive area. If there is more
than one identifier of manifestation, preferably record the identifier of manifestation that use
internationally for examples ISBN, ISSN, and URN. Other identifier of manifestation can be
record where necessary. RDA 2.15.1.2 stated that take identifiers for the manifestation from
any sources. However, if there is no specific display format available, record the identifier of
manifestation as it appears on the source RDA 2.15.1.4. In the case of manifestation that
available in more than one part i.e.; volume, or set, record the identifier of manifestation for
the resources as a whole RDA 2.15.1.5 and give brief information about the resources in
qualification. When describing only a single part, apply qualification (i.e. |q ) for each identifier
of manifestation RDA 2.15.1.7 (Figure 13).

Figure 13 Example of Identifier of Manifestation

020 ## $a9780240515014
020 ## $a978-0521755856 (set)
020 ## $a1621084035 |q reel 1

PART II: RELATIONSHIPS

Relationships

RDA was developed strongly based on the conceptual model of Functional

Requirement for Bibliographic Record (FRBR). Here, data elements in describing resources
reflect the attributes and relationship between a work, expression, manifestation, and item
(WEMI) (RDA, 2013). Recording primary relationship between a work and an expression
through which work is realized, recording relationship between an expression of a work and a
manifestation that embodies that expression, and recording relationship between a
manifestation and an item that exemplifies that manifestation.
Work is a distinct intellectual or artistic creation (original creation), as example Harry
Potter series originally written by J.K Rowling. Expression refers to the artistic realization of
a work in the form of musical, alphanumeric, sound, image, etc or any combination of such
form, as example Harry Potter film series, and series of Harry Potter games. The term
manifestation refers to physical embodiment of an expression of a work, as for example
Harry Potter series was published in the form of printed book, e-book, as well as audio book.
Meanwhile, the term item refers to the single exemplar or instance of manifestation, as
example the printed book was owned by Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia and the audio book
owned by Library of Congress.
 155

Access Points (MARC 1xx, 240, 7xx)

Access point can be used in recording relationship between a resource and a person,
family, corporate body, or work or expression associated with that resource. Access point will
assist the user to retrieve the collection held by library. There are three types of resources
main entry (MARC field 1xx), added entries (MARC field 7xx), and access points for related
work or expression i.e. main entry uniform title, uniform title, and added entry uniform title
(MARC fields 130, 240, 730).
In giving authorized or main entry access point, either it can be a person, family, or
corporate body, that act as the principal responsibility for the creation of the work. If the
principal responsibility is share with more than one person, family, or corporate body, only
the one name first is required to be the main entry. Others can be entered as added entry
(MARC 7XX). In RDA, rule of three applied in the AACR 21.6C2 has been canceled.
Therefore, if there are more than three principle responsibility, the first name will become the
authorized / main entry access point MARC1xx, and other principle responsibility as the
variant/ added entry access point MARC7xx. As stated in RDA 19.2.1.3, in recording creators
for a single work, the creator of the work consider as the authorized /main entry. For audio
collection or resources the presenter/performer in RDA are consider as a contributor; refer
20.2.1.3. For example Harry Potter and the sorcerer’s stone, read by Stephen Fly, authorized
/ main entry under Rowling as the author, and variant access point/added entry for under Fly
as the reader.

Figure 14 Example of Access Point

24 lagu terbaik Rhoma Irama [sound recording] / [diiringi oleh] Soneta Group
245 $a24 lagu terbaik Rhoma Irama / [diiringi oleh] Soneta Group
710 $aRhoma Irama
710 $aSoneta Group

However, performer may not consider as main entry as AACR 21.23C, but performer
can be consider as the variant /added entry access point, MARC 7xx. For audio collection or
resources, if there is no principal responsibility identified, title statement may work as the
authorized/ main entry access point, and the performer as the variant/ added entry access
point (Figure 14). An added entry is a person, family, and corporate body, which perform any
responsibilities which based on cataloger judgment it consider as significant to become an
access point. In assigning added entry, it deals lots with cataloger judgment and library or
cataloging agency local policy. For example, a performed music sound recording may give
added entry of all singers, which performed in the sound recording, or it may only give one
prominent singer as the added entry. Example of added entry can be a performer, adapter,
translator, narrator, etc. As mention in RDA 20.2.1.3, for contributors, make an added entry
for the presenter/narrator/speaker/reader, etc.
A uniform title or related work or expression can be act as main entry (authorized
access point) or added entry (variant access point). RDA 6.27.2 – 6.27.3 gives guidelines
about authorized access point representing part or part of work and en expression. RDA
6.27.4 gives guidelines on variant access point representing work or expression.

Designators (MARC $e in 1xx and 7xx) / relationship designator

A relationship designator is used to specify the nature of the relationship between a

resource or collection and a person, family, or corporate body associated with that resource
that is represented in an authorized access point or variant access point. RDA encourage in
giving relationship between resource and its creator, owner, etc. RDA Appendix I list down
term to be used in giving relationship designator between person, family, and corporate
body.
 156

Figure 15 Example of Relationship Designator

700 00 $aAsri Ibrahim, $esinger.

700 00 $aBazli Hazwan, $esinger.
710 00 $aRhoma Irama, $eperfomer

Notes to Explain Relationships (MARC 5xx)

Notes need to be given in order to explain relationship to related works RDA 25.1(e.g.
MARC 505, 510, 525, 555, 556, 580 ), note on recording relationships to related expressions
RDA 26.1 (e.g. MARC 500,581), and note on recording relationships to related
manifestations RDA 27.1. (e.g. MARC 530, 533, 534, 535, 544).

CONCLUSION

RDA concept and rules presented in this paper is to specifically explaining the way to
catalog audio collection or resources. RDA was develop in order to fulfill the need of
audiovisual resources, which the AACR lacking. However, this paper may be lacking as it not
in detail discuss about the MARC tagging and its subfield used in each element for audio
collection. The major difference between RDA and AACR is the used of term such as
authorized access point, variant access point which used in RDA standard, meanwhile AACR
used term main entry and added entry. Other than that, the additional MARC tagging 336,
337, and 338 that is replacing the GMD in AACR. Since, there are numbers of library
resources, papers on cataloging other resources also would be beneficial for the cataloger
for the cataloging work using RDA standard.

REFERENCES

Audiobooks, Subject Heading (Sound Recording, RDA). (2017). Yale University Library.
Retrieved from http://web.library.yale.edu/cataloging/sound recordings/non-music-
checklist/audiobooks

Choice of Entry (Sound Recordings, RDA). (2017). Yale University Library. Retrieved from
http://web.library.yale.edu/cataloging/sound-recordings/non-music-checklist/access-
points
Elrod, J.M. (2013). Sound Recording Cataloguing. Retrieved from http ://special-cataloguing
.com/print/1398

Non-Music Sound Recordings Checklist (RDA update) (2017). Retrieved from http ://non-
music/sound recording/checklist/RDA

Paterson, J. (2017). RDA and Audio: Getting to know RDA for sound recording. (Power Point
Slide).

RDA: Resource Description and Access. (2013). Chicago, Illinois: American Library
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Veve, M. & Rosinski, W. (2013). E-Book Cataloging Workshop: hands on training using RDA,
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 157

Macroprudential Policy in Malaysia: Implications, Key Measures

and Experiences
Sutina Junos
Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, 08400 Merbok, Kedah.
sutina@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Dr Masturah Ma’in
Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA,
42300 Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor
masturahmain@gmail.com

Dr Siti Ayu Jalil

Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA,
42300 Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor
ayu090@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Macroprudential policy is a set of measures and institutional that is specifically aimed at

containing systemic risks and maintaining financial stability in a country. In Malaysia, the
development of the macroprudential policy framework started and gained its momentum after
the Asian financial crisis where macroprudential policy instruments are used to manage
excesses and imbalances in the financial system and in managing capital flows. The
implementation of this policy has been strengthening by Bank Negara Malaysia after Global
financial Crisis in order to achieve the objectives of ensuring financial system stability,
addressing procyclicality and mitigate the systemic risk. This paper discusses the Malaysia’s
experiences in macroprudential policy and the implications in terms of the oversight of
macroprudential conditions and the development and application of policy tools

Keywords: Asian Financial Crisis, Financial Stability, Global Financial Crisis,

Macroprudential Policy, Systemic risk

INTRODUCTION

Started in the United States (U.S.) and spread to the rest of the world, the Global
Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 to 2009 has brought a huge impact on the world economy. It
began with an asset bubble that caused by a wide array of financial derivatives that led to the
sub – prime mortgage boom, exploding into housing and banking crisis with a cascading
effect on consumer and investment demand (Zainal Abidin & Rasiah, 2009). From a housing
crisis, it quickly grew into a global banking crisis with the investment and merchant banks first
absorbing the impact before it spreads to the commercial banks as well as Islamic banks. In
other words, this crisis played a significant role in the collapse of the financial institutions,
failure of key business, declines in consumer wealth and a downturn in economy activity not
only in the U.S. but in almost countries in the world. According to Arvai, Prasad and
Katayama (2014), the global financial crisis not only triggered major changes in the approach
countries take in financial regulation, but it also led to the recognition of the financial stability
in order to achieve macroeconomic stability. The main lesson of this crisis is the importance
of mitigating systemic financial risks and the need to strengthen the macroprudential
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approach to supervision and regulation that can identify risks throughout the system and take
appropriate actions to maintain financial stability (Kawai &Morgan, 2012).
The European Central Bank (ECB) website has defined financial stability as " a
condition in which the financial system comprising of financial intermediaries, markets, and
market infrastructures is capable of withstanding shocks, thereby reducing the likelihood of
disruptions in the financial intermediation process which are severe enough to significantly
impair the allocation of savings to profitable investment opportunities" (ECB,2012). Selialia,
Mbeleki and Matlapeng (2010) reported that financial stability is vital for sustained economic
growth. Without strong financial systems in a country, economic growth cannot be achieved.
Even with sound macroeconomic fundamentals, weak financial systems can destabilize
economies, making them more vulnerable to external shocks. Since the financial instability
can be very costly to the global economy, the interaction of financial markets and the real
economy become the priority by each country in the world. Stable, efficient and a smoothly
operation of a financial system is a main pillar for growth, output, and employment.
Central banks of each country should play an important role in monitoring and
regulating financial stability. In order to maintain financial stability, Siregar (2011) found that it
requires more flexible and adaptive macroprudential policies. Macroprudential policy can be
defined as a set of measures and institutional that is specifically aimed at containing
systemic risks in the whole financial system. The main focused of macroprudential regulation
and policy is to reduce systemic risk and preserve systemic financial stability by identifying
vulnerabilities in a country’s financial system and implementing policy actions to address
those vulnerabilities in a timely manner to prevent a crisis (Kawai & Morgan, 2012). Key
elements of an effective macroprudential policy framework need to be structured in
consideration of three aspects. First, a well-developed system of early warning indicators in
order to be used as a basis for analyzing the current health and stability of the financial
system and also be used as an early signal for detecting imbalances that affect the financial
system. Second, a complete set of macroprudential policy instruments that can help contain
risks ex ante and address the increased vulnerabilities at an early stage, as well as help build
buffers to absorb shocks ex post. Third, an established macroprudential institutional
framework that ensures the effective identification of systemic risks and implementation of
macroprudential policies. In Malaysia, the development of the macroprudential policy
framework started and gained its momentum after the Asian financial crisis where
macroprudential policy instruments are used to manage excesses and imbalances in the
financial system and in managing capital flows. The implementation of this policy has been
strengthening by Bank Negara Malaysia after Global financial Crisis in order to achieve the
objectives of ensuring financial system stability, addressing procyclicality and mitigate the
systemic risk. This paper discusses the Malaysia’s experiences in macroprudential policy
and the implications in terms of the oversight of macroprudential conditions and the
development and application of policy tools.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Definition of Macroprudential Policy

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) (2011) has defines macroprudential
policy as a policy that uses primarily prudential tools to limit systemic or system-wide
financial risk, thereby limiting the incidence of disruptions in the provision of key financial
services that can have serious consequences for the real economy. Meanwhile, Borio (2003)
described macroprudential policy as the set of measures and institutional that is specifically
aimed at containing risks in the financial system as a whole.
Kawai and Morgan (2012) stated that there are two main objectives of
macroprudential supervision and regulation that are to reduce systemic risk and preserve
systemic financial stability. In order to achieve those objectives it is important to identify
vulnerabilities in a country’s financial system and implementing policy actions to address
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those vulnerabilities in a timely manner to prevent a crisis. According to Vinals (2011), to

achieve an effectiveness of macroprudential policy in the country, their objectives, scope of
analysis (the whole financial system and its interaction with the real economy), set of powers
and instruments and governance (macroprudential authorities and mandates) should be
strengthened.
Table 2.1 shows the comparison between macroprudential perspectives and
microprudential perspective that can be used to understand macroprudential policy in
detailed. There are a different in both perspectives in terms of objectives and the nature of
the risk understanding (Borio, 2003).

Table 2.1 The Comparison between Microprudential and Macroprudential Perspectives

Microprudential Macroprudential

Proximate objective limit distress of individual Limit financial system-wide

institution distress
Ultimate objective Consumer(investor/depositor) Avoid output (GDP) costs
protection
Characterisation of risk Seen as independent of Seen as dependent on
individual agents’ behavior collective behavior
(exogenous) (endogenous)
Correlation and common Irrelevant Important
exposures across institutions
Calibration of prudential In terms of risks of individual In terms of system wide risk:
controls institutions: bottom-up top-down
Source: Borio (2003)

Definition of Systemic Risk

Systemic risk refers to the risk of failure in the entire financial system as a result of
undercapitalisation by financial institutions in the market (Bartram, Brown & Hund, 2005).
Understanding and quantifying this systemic risk is important in ensuring that our financial
institutions are adequately capitalised to withstand another financial crisis. Systemic risk is
the risk of collapse in the entire financial system stemming from the breakdown of a single
firm. It is a result of undercapitalisation by financial institutions in a market that is increasingly
interdependent (Calmes & Theoret, 2014).
Borio (2010) stated that there are two classification of the systemic risks that
addressed by macroprudential policy that are time dimension and cross-sectional dimension.
The time dimension deal with how aggregate risk in the financial system evolves over time.
This is a response to the tendency toward procyclicality of the financial system as a result of
positive feedbacks between the economy and financial system, the so called macro-financial
channel. According to Cerutti, Claessens, and McGuire (2011), there are a wide set of
variables that can be used to identify the time dimension of risk for an example the ratio of
credit to GDP, real asset prices, ratio of non-core to core liabilities of the banking sector, and
monetary aggregates. Within each dimension of systemic risk, it is then possible to address
intermediate objectives to which macroprudential instruments are assigned and specific
functions for each instrument.
In addition, the cross-sectional dimension involves dealing with how risk is allocated
within the financial system at a given point in time as a result of common exposures and
interconnectedness in the financial system. In this case, the guiding principle for policy is to
calibrate prudential tools with respect to the contribution of each institution to systemic risk,
as well as to take steps to increase the transparency of such risks (Crockett, 2009). It can be
can be monitored by tracking balance sheet information on total assets and their
composition, liability and capital structure as well as the value of the institutions' trading
securities and securities available for sale. Additionally, other sophisticated financial tools
and models have been developed to assess the interconnectedness across intermediaries
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and each institution's contribution to systemic risk (Acharya, Pedersen, Philippon &
Richarson, 2010).
Moreover, Puzanova and Dulmann (2013) reported that the first type of
macroprudential policy instruments focuses on the time dimension of systemic risk, that are
comprises of instruments geared towards credit, leverage and asset price booms. The
second type of instruments is also geared towards the time dimension and addresses
liquidity or market risk. The third type of instruments is for cross section dimension of
systemic risk where it addresses vulnerabilities that arise from either market structure
vulnerabilities related to interconnectedness, size, position in the market and those
originating in the financial infrastructure. Vinals (2011) stated that a variety of indicators and
quantitative models/tools is used for systemic risk identification, monitoring, and assessment.
The domestic and international aspects of the financial system including macro, micro, and
sectoral variables ranging from bank capital and performance to market liquidity and
household indebtedness are covered by these indicators

Macroprudential Policy Instruments

Macroprudential policy instruments are classified by types of vulnerability in the

financial system (Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS), 2010). First, some of
macroprudential instruments that are used to manage the leverage position of the banking
system are loan to value ratio, capital ratio, provisioning, maturity caps, risk weights and
credit growth. Second, the following macroprudential instruments such as liquidity or reserve
requirements, currency mismatch limits and foreign exchange lending restrictions can be
considered as instruments to mitigate liquidity risk or market risk. Last, but not least, is
regarding to the vulnerabilities arising from interconnectedness where macroprudential
instruments that can be used to mitigate this exposure are concentration limits, strict policies
regulating bank subsidiaries and systemic capital surcharges.
Other than that, according to the Lim, Bhattacharya, Columba, Costa, Otani and Wu
(2011), 10 types of macroprudential instruments have been identified that are most
frequently applied to achieve macroprudential objectives based on the three types of
measures. First, maroprudential policy instruments that are used for credit related are loan to
value ratio (LTV), debt to income ratio (DTI), ceilings on credit or credit growth and caps on
foreign currency lending. Second maroprudential policy instruments that are used for liquidity
related are limits on net open currency positions/currency mismatch, reserve requirements,
limits on maturity mismatch, and countercyclical/time-varying capital requirements. Last but
not least, maroprudential policy instruments that are used for capital related are time
varying/dynamic provisioning and restrictions on profit distribution (refer table 2.2).

Table 2.2 Macroprudential Policy Tools/Instruments

MEASURE INSTRUMENTS DEFINITION

Credit related caps on the loan-to-value (LTV) The LTV imposes a down
ratio, payment constraint on
households’ capacity to borrow.
In theory, the constraint limits
the procyclicality of
collateralized lending since
housing prices and households’
capacity to borrow based on the
collateralized value of the house
interact in a procyclical manner.
Set at an appropriate level, the
LTV addresses systemic risk
whether or not it is frequently
adjusted. However, the
adjustment of the LTV makes it
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a more potent counter-cyclical

policy instrument.

caps on the debt-to-income The DTI represents prudential

(DTI) ratio, regulation aimed at ensuring
banks’ asset quality when used
alone. When used in
conjunction with the LTV,
however, the DTI can help
further dampen the cyclicality of
collateralized lending by adding
another constraint on
households’ capacity to borrow.
Like in the LTV, adjustments in
the DTI can be made in a
counter-cyclical manner to
address the time dimension of
systemic risk
caps on foreign currency lending Loans in foreign currency
expose the un-hedged borrower
to foreign exchange risks which,
in turn, subject the lender to
credit risks. The risks can
become systemic if the common
exposure is large. Caps (or
higher risk weights, deposit
requirements, etc.) on foreign
currency lending may be used
to address this foreign-
exchange-induced systemic
risk.
ceilings on credit or credit A ceiling may be imposed on
growth; either total bank lending or
credit to a specific sector. The
ceiling on aggregate credit or
credit growth may be used to
dampen the credit/asset price
cycle—the time dimension of
systemic risk. The ceiling on
credit to a specific sector, such
as real estate, may be used to
contain a specific type of asset
price inflation or limit common
exposure to a specific risk—the
cross-sectional dimension of
systemic risk
Liquidity related limits on net open currency Such prudential regulation tools
positions/currency mismatch limit banks’ common exposure
(NOP), to foreign currency risks. In
addition, the limits may be used
to address an externality—sharp
exchange rate fluctuations

limits on maturity mismatch
reserve requirements
countercyclical/time-varying
capital requirements
Capital related Time varying/
dynamic provisioning
162
caused by a convergence of
purchases/sales of foreign
exchange by banks. This
externality increases the credit
risk of un-hedged borrowers
with heavy foreign currency
debt.
These prudential regulation
tools may be used to address
systemic risk since the choice of
asset/liability maturity creates
an externality—fire sales of
assets. In a crisis, the inability of
a financial institution to meet its
short-term obligations due to
maturity mismatches may force
it to liquidate assets, thus
imposing a fire sale cost on the
rest of the financial system. The
funding shortages of a few
institutions could also result in a
systemic liquidity crisis due to
the contagion effect.
This monetary policy tool may
be used to address systemic
risk in two senses. First, the
reserve requirement has a direct
impact on credit growth, so it
may be used to dampen the
credit/asset price cycle—the
time dimension of systemic risk;
second, the required reserves
provide a liquidity cushion that
may be used to alleviate a
systemic liquidity crunch when
the situation warrants.
The requirement can take the
form of a ratio or risk weights
raised during an upturn as a
restraint on credit expansion
and reduced during a downturn
to provide a cushion so that
banks do not reduce assets to
meet the capital requirement. A
permanent capital buffer, which
is built up during an upturn and
deleted during a downturn,
serves the same purpose. Both
can address the cyclicality in
risk weights under Basel II
based on external ratings that
are procyclical.
Traditional dynamic provisioning
is calibrated on historical bank-
specific losses, but it can also
be used to dampen the
cyclicality in the financial
system. The provisioning
requirement can be raised
during an upturn to build a
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buffer and limit credit expansion

and lowered during a downturn
to support bank lending. It may
be adjusted either according to
a fixed formula or at the
discretion of the policymaker.
restrictions on profit distribution These prudential regulation
requirements are intended to
ensure the capital adequacy of
banks. Since undistributed
profits are added to bank
capital, the restrictions tend to
have a counter-cyclical effect on
bank lending if used in a
downturn. The capital
conservation buffer of Basel III
has a similar role.
Source: Lim et. al. (2011)

Institutional Framework of Macroprudential Policy

According to Balogh (2012) it is necessary to clarify some of the structural aspects or

key elements of the implementation of macroprudential policies in the country and the
authority in charge of macroprudential supervision in order to develop an effective
institutional framework of macroprudential policy. Adequate institutional foundation for
macroprudential policy frameworks need to suit with country-specific circumstances and
institutional backgrounds (BIS 2011, CGFS 2012, IMF 2013). There is no “one size fits all”
because different models of institutional framework might be effective depending on the
country specifics such as historical background and events, legal traditions, availability of
resources and the size and complexity of the financial market (Zulkhibri & Naiya 2016).
The International Monetary Fund (IMF, 2011) has identified five relevant elements
that play key roles in effective institutional framework for macroprudential policy. There are
the mandate, the power and instruments, accountability and transparency mechanism, the
composition of the decision-making body and the mechanism for domestic cooperation and
the coordination of internal policies.

Empirical Research: The Effectiveness of Macroprudential Policy Tools

Claessens, Ghosh and Mihet (2014) are studies about the effectiveness of using
macroprudential policies to mitigate financial system vulnerabilities. They used a panel data
set of macroprudential policy measure that are credit, liquidity and capital-related as their
independent variable while, Leverage growth, asset growth, and noncore-to-core liabilities
growth are used as banking variables. By using GMM estimators, this study covered the
period from 2000-2010 and the data is collected from 2820 banks in 48 countries, of which
35 countries implemented at least one macroprudential policy instrument. The analysis
confirmed the greater use of macroprudential policy tools would reduce the risk in the
banking system. They found that macroprudential policies tools caps on borrower such as
LTV and caps on bank’s asset and liabilities effectively or significantly reduce the total
leverage growth and total asset growth while buffer-based policies seems to have little
impact on asset growth.
Other than that, Aiyar, Calomiris, and Wieladek (2014) have studied on the respond
of credit supply to monetary policy and bank minimum capital requirement in the UK during
1998 to 2007. They found that bank-specific higher capital adequacy requirements
diminished lending by individual banks (whereas tighter monetary policy did not affect the
supply of lending) .On the other hand in this study, there are also cases where
macroeconomic tools were used that can be interpreted with a macroprudential policies
 164

perspective.
On the other hand, by using bank-firm matched data, Camors and Peydro (2014) had
studied on macroprudential and monetary policy: loan-level evidence from reserve
requirements in Uruguay. They have examined on the effects of a large and unexpected
increase in reserve requirement (RR) in 2008, the result showed that while aggregate credit
growth declines, some more risky firms to get more credit, larger and possibly more systemic
banks are less affected.
Akinci and Olmstead-Rumsey (2015) have studied on the effect of few
macroprudential policy instruments that are countercyclical capital requirements, provisioning
requirements, restrictions on growth in bank credits and stricter requirements for consumer
loans on total bank credit, mortgage and house price”. The data was collected in 57 countries
during year 2000 to 2013. The empirical resulted showed that provisioning requirements an
countercyclical capital requirements have siginifant effect on total bank credits. Other result
of this study, there is a relationship between capital requirements and house price and
provisioning requirements does not have any relationship with mortgages and house price.
In addition, Cerutti, Claessens and Laeven (2015), have use various of macrorudential
instruments in their study as an independent variables to explain whether it’s have an impact
on development in credit and housing market or not. They are used large sample of 119
countries over the period of 2000 to 2013 and found that these macroprudential policy
instruments are generally associated with a reduction in credit growth rate and have some
impact on growth in house prices.
In the recent study by Akinci (2016), it showed that some of the macroprudential
instruments tightening have significantly reduce credit growth and house price appreciation.
The author has done this research by using quarterly data of macrorudential policy index
among 57 advanced and emerging countries from year 2000 to 2013. The dynamic panel
data model is used as a method of analysis. However, Ghosh (2016) pointed out that
although macroprudential policies are useful in the case of credit growth in GCC countries,
not all of them are equally effective in containing the potential build-up of financial stress.

Malaysia’s Experience

In Malaysia, the use of macroprudential policy and regulation has implemented by the
government for the past decades. In the past, especially after the Asian financial crisis,
macroprudential policy instruments have been used to manage excess and imbalance in the
financial system and to manage capital flows. At that time the development of
macroprudential policy framework is very important based on two basic issues that arise after
the Asian financial crisis that are the need for risk assessment macro level to complete
micro-level supervision and the need for an assessment of the risk of transmission cross
institutional and across sectors. After the global financial crisis (GFC) 2008 to 2009, the
implementation of this policy has been strengthening by Bank Negara Malaysia in order to
achieve the objectives of ensuring financial system stability, addressing procyclicality and
mitigate the systemic risk.
Bank Negara Malaysia views the macroprudential policy framework based on five (5)
core elements (Lau, 2015). First is a clear mandate, policy objectives and sound legal
framework. To achieve the objective of implementation macroprudential policy, every
country needs to have well-defined financial stability mandate, powers and accountability
framework. Second are an integrated macro and micro prudential surveillance and systemic
risk assessment and collection of information and assessment of this systemic risk must
cover all sources. Third is an effective toolkits and implementation strategy. The strategies
are discretionary and preemptive to ensure timely uplift, with careful management of
circumvention/arbitrage, progressive and targeted approach in order to minimise risk of
overshooting or unintended spillovers (e.g. shift of risks) and recalibration to respond to
changing conditions. Fourth are a strong institutional arrangements, governance and
coordination and last but not least an effective communication framework.
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Macroprudential Policy Measures

In the early 1990s, strong economic growth and resilient stock market activity has
encouraged great capital inflows into Malaysia. As liquidity stemming from this situation
causes upward pressure on prices of financial assets and real estate. In order to the
destabilizing effects of short-term flows in the financial sector and the economy, a series of
macroprudential measures have been implemented during 1993. These measures are the
imposition of limits on non-trade related external liability position of banks, prohibition of
forward transactions (on the bid side) and non-trade related swaps by commercial banks with
foreign customers, restriction on sales of short-term monetary instruments to non-residents,
and limitation on purchases of residential property exceeding RM250,000 by non-residents
(Financial Stability and Payment System Report, 2009). It can help to curb the speculative
inflows.
During 1995 to 1996 housing prices and commercial real estate’s prices still increase
and at the same time interest rates increase too high during this periods because of
formation of asset bubbles that would dampen investments in the productive sectors of the
economy. This will cause the growth in bank loans for non-residential property purchases far
exceeded that in loans for residential property purchases. Macroprudential measures used
such as the introduction of maximum loan to value ratio (LTV) of 60% on real estate loans in
1995 to curb excessive lending for consumption purposes as well as to contain systemic
impact of correction in domestic property market, introduction of a limit on property lending
equal to 20% of a bank’s portfolio in 1997 to limit banks' exposures to the equity
market/broad property sector and reduce speculative and investment activities and increase
in the statutory reserve requirement from 8.5% to 11.5% in 1994, and again to 13.5% in 1996
to curb excessive credit expansion that had fed into asset prices and the introduction of
exchange rate control measure in 1998 to discourage large scale inflows of short term funds.
This action also will help the government to overcome the negative effects of Asian Financial
Crisis (1997-1998).
The boom-bust in the 1990s left the market with a significant supply hangover, in
particular at the high-end condo segment. There have also been considerable additions to
supply at the lower-end as a consequence of mass building of housing units by government
agencies. Residential mortgage credit growth gained speed starting in 2001, and house
prices recorded an increase of 4 percent in 2004, after an increase of about 1.6 percent per
annum during 2000-2003 (Lim et al., 2011). The authorities took action to reduce the
mortgage growth rate and property prices with increase in risk weight for non-performing
loans from 50% to 100% (2005).
In response to the impact of 2008 Global financial crisis (GFC), excessive credit
growth, inflation problem, and rising household debt have become a major thread for certain
countries since interest rate have been slashed by major central banks and triggered a wave
of easy money to emerging market. The problem of credit growth started accelerating due
to strong demand for consumer loans and mortgages. This can reduce loan quality, increase
systemic risk and worsen bank soundness. According to Lau (2015), in order to overcome
these problems several macroprudential measure are used that are introduction of maximum
70% of LTV for the third house loan (2010), introduction of maximum 60% of LTV on non-
individuals taking loans for residential properties (December 2011), maximum tenure of 35
years for purchase of properties (July 2013) and prohibit of housing loans with interest
capitalisation (ICS) or developer interest bearing schemes (DIBS) (November 2013).

Macroprudential Institutional Framework.

In Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), as stated in the Central Bank Law is
responsible as a financial stability mandate for ensuring the Malaysian financial system to be
resilient, stable, show significant growth. Since the global financial crisis has brought a
negative impact on financial stability in many countries, including Malaysia, the government
has amended the law to make the mandate more detailed and clear. This action has been
 166

taken to strengthen the financial stability framework in Malaysia.

The main objectives of the amended Central Bank of Malaysia Act 2009 (CBA) stated
that “shall be to promote monetary stability and financial stability conducive to the
sustainable growth of the Malaysian economy” (Zulkhibri & Naiya, 2016). As a mandate of
financial stability, Bank Negara Malaysia has been given all the powers by the Central Bank
of Malaysia Act 2009 (CBA) to implement the macroprudential policy in terms of ex-ante
surveillance powers for timely risk identification, power to enter into arrangements, advise
and make recommendations to other supervisory authorities, pre-emptive powers to avert or
mitigate systemic risk, ex-post powers to minimise impact of instability and power to
prescribe financial institutions to ongoing regulation and supervision.
There are four major features in Malaysia macroprudential policy design that are
discretionary, targeted, allowing calibration and coordinated with other policies. The whole
process is supported by strong institutional arrangements, governance and communication
framework to manage complex policy trade-offs. Figure 3.1 shows the strong institutional &
governance arrangements framework for macroprudential policy.

Figure 3.1 Strong Institutional & Governance Arrangements Framework

Financial Stability Monetary Policy

Committee (FSC) Committee (MPC)

Macro- and Maintain price stability

microprudential with due regard to
responses economic
•Supervisory developments
Specific proposals by BNM to avert or intervention •Monetary policy
reduce systemic risks •Recommend/monitor formulation
implementation of
Financial Stability Executive approved actions by
Committee (FSEC) FSEC

High level committee established

under CBA to review and decide on
BNM’s recommendations:
•for entities outside of BNM's Joint Policy Committee (JPC)
regulatory perimeter:
−macroprudential measures Deliberation and decision on
−orders for financial stability macroprudential policy responses that
−liquidity assistance may have wider implications on the
•that involves public funds economy

Source: Lau, 2015

An effective communication framework is a clear and comprehensive engagement

process that enables effective communication of policies and issues also it shows a
continuous engagement with relevant stakeholders to ensure commitment from all parties
(Figure 3.2).
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Figure 3.2: Effective Communication Framework of Macroprudential Policy

BNM Communication &

Stakeholder 7Cs of communication
Engagement Framework •Clarity
•Comprehensive
•Consistent (across
Identify time & stakeholders)
•Concise
Analyze •Coordinated
•Credible
Engage •Continuous

Evaluate

Policy Formulation Stage

Consumer & Industry Associations Focus group sessions with

selected financial institutions

Issuance stage

Coordinated press release Media & briefing sessions

with relevant authorities

Source: Lau, 2015.

CONCLUSION

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 to 2009 has highlighted the need to go
beyond a purely micro – based approach to financial regulation and supervision in order to
achieve financial stability. With increasing complexity in banking industry, coupled with
growing severity of the crises, the focus of regulators has shifted to the adoption of a more
structured macroprudential framework to address systemic risks and account for the
interconnectedness of financial and non-financial institutions in the economic system. In
Malaysia, the implementation of Macroprudential policy started from the past decades and
gained its momentum after the Asian financial crisis. It is continued strengthening by Bank
Negara Malaysia after Global financial Crisis in order to achieve the objectives of ensuring
financial system stability, addressing procyclicality and mitigate the systemic risk. The
Malaysia’s experience of macroprudential policy are based on five (5) core element in the
Macroprudential Policy Framework that are clear mandate, policy objectives and sound legal
framework, an integrated macro and micro prudential surveillance and systemic risk
assessment, an effective toolkits and implementation strategy, a strong institutional
arrangements, governance and coordination and last but not least an effective
communication framework.
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 170

Perception of UiTM Undergraduate Students on Plagiarism: The

Case for Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam
Fatin Syazwani Binti Mustafaal Bakeri
bakeri_fasyaz@yahoo.com

Dr. Nor Hafizah Mohamed Harith

Faculty Administrative Science & Policy Studies, UiTM Selangor
norha561@salam.uitm.edu.my

Dr. Hardev Kaur a/p Latchimanan Singh

Faculty Administrative Science & Policy Studies, UiTM Selangor
hardev58@hotmail

ABSTRACT

The issue of plagiarism has become a major problem in every academic institution. Although
there are many initiatives to curb this phenomenon, however the issue is quite alarming. This
research aims to study the perception of the undergraduates’ students in Universiti Teknologi
MARA (UiTM) towards plagiarism. In particular, the research’s main objectives are to
investigate the perception of the UiTM students towards plagiarism, to examine the
relationship between the lecturers’ roles and the university policies towards the act of
plagiarism. This research has employed a cross-sectional survey of 378 students. The
findings of the study have revealed that the students perceptions were moderate with mean
at 3.83, there were positive and strong relationship between the lecturer roles and act of
plagiarism with Pearson Correlation at 0.518 and p-value= 0.000. Finally, there was also
positive and moderate relationship between the university policies and act of plagiarism with
Pearson Correlation at 0.413 and p-value = 0.000. It is hoped that this study can contribute to
creating awareness among the UiTM students, lecturers and the university to reduce the acts
of academic dishonesty.

INTRODUCTION

Plagiarism occurs mostly in higher education institutions. According to Heberling

(2012), maintaining academic integrity can be assumed as an equal challenge in both
traditional and online education since students plagiarism are rampant in colleges and
universities. Although there are numerous initiatives carried out, plagiarism continues to
occur and this could be due to lack of awareness and misperception regarding the so called
academic sin that known as plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined as a major type of academic
dishonesty that needs to be seriously looked at by all universities. It can have serious
repercussions in the long term if this issue is not immediately addressed. In addition, lack of
awareness and the level of perception can have an effect on the level of student involvement
in plagiarism. This is because student’s perception regarding what they think as lecturer’s
roles and university policies will determine their level of plagiarism. Hence, this study will
investigate and focus on the importance of awareness and perception among the students in
reducing plagiarism.
It is important to curb with plagiarism since it can tarnish the image of the institution
and the student itself. The student that is found guilty in committing plagiarism might being
expelled and get penalised from the university and their qualifications can be withdrawn
although they have graduated. Moreover, by avoiding the act of plagiarism will help the
academic institution to produce high quality of students that are more independent and
honest in performing their jobs. In addition, the university and the lecturers play important
 171

roles in instilling awareness among students on the issue of plagiarism. By having adequate
knowledge and understanding on what plagiarism is will curtail the act of plagiarism among
student since they will be aware about the importance and need to avoid plagiarism in their
university. It means that, the academic institution itself plays an important role in developing
the awareness and creating the right perception on plagiarism toward their students that can
help in reducing plagiarism. This study highlights the important link between having the right
perception and the act of plagiarism. The findings shows that if the level of awareness is high
and with the right perception regarding plagiarism, it will reduce the plagiarism rate of the
students. According to Zaid Ahmad (2016), it is important to curb the academic dishonesty
among the students because it can affect the quality of the students in exploring new
knowledge. This refer to the disability of the institution to produce the quality students that
can contribute to government. The effect of plagiarism can tarnish the image of institutions
and also affect the quality of students that are produced by universities.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Plagiarism is a burgeoning plague that has been rising for many years and it can be
defined as the action of taking others’ ideas or writings and declares it as one’s own (Black’s
Law Dictionary, 1957). By referring to the year of definition, it shows that plagiarism has been
occurring since many years ago. The definition is supported by other scholars who refer to
Plagiarism as an action of taking others’ works, ideas and make ones ‘own (Oxford English
Dictionary, 2010). Definitely, it is an unethical act because the person takes others’ original
work and claims it as their own works. Plagiarism is discouraged because it can reduce the
capacity of individuals to use their own intellectual capabilities. Therefore, most of the
scholars banned the act of plagiarism in every academic institution because it can tarnish the
intellectual capabilities of students if they are involved in plagiarism. As a human being, it is
necessary for us to fully utilize the intellectual capabilities that has been given by God in the
manners, ways and for the benefit of an individual’s future.
Although every university places high emphasis on the policy and strategies to curb
plagiarism, nevertheless the problem still arises. Weimer (2015), investigated plagiarism at a
university in Australia and revealed only 50% of their students were able to read and adhere
to the academic integrity policy. This shows that, awareness regarding the policy is low since
most of the students do not fulfil their responsibility to read and follow academic integrity
policy. Moreover, when they are tested to identify the set of behaviours related to academic
dishonesty, their answers tend to be uncertain and there is a lack of understanding regarding
cheating, plagiarism and other form of acts. This is also supported by Elmes (2016), who
said students have no understanding or are unaware that plagiarism is an academic crime
and they just knew they must avoid it. This academic dishonesty happens when student do
not access the information regarding plagiarism or the faculty fails to provide comprehensive
information to them (Adam, 2016). The findings from her study shows that the students do
not understand the information on plagiarism that is provided to them. In addition, student
awareness about the plagiarism is low and they are not clear on what constitutes plagiarism
and how to avoid it. It means that students are not clear about the ill effects of plagiarism.
Therefore, it is important for the university to create the culture of awareness about
plagiarism to students. This is because students need the university to tell them about the
rules of plagiarism in order to control this academic sin. In addition, a survey conducted in
2010 during a UiTM anti plagiarism campaign identified that about 60% of students felt that
UiTM is not investing enough effort to curb plagiarism and they suggest UiTM should clearly
disseminate the information and penalties regarding plagiarism. Besides that, most of the
students (33.4%) claimed that they know about plagiarism from their faculty briefing. The fact
that there is a low percentage of students who agree that they are well informed on
plagiarism by their respective faculties is undisputable.
In addition, lecturers also play an important role in creating awareness on plagiarism.
However, the real issue here is that nowadays most of the lecturers are also involved in
 172

plagiarism. This can be supported by the research by Abdul Rashid Moten (2014), who
asserts there is an increase in numbers of lecturers and professors in various universities
who are involved in plagiarism. For example, in Malaysia a professor at International Islamic
University Malaysia, was accused of plagiarism in his articles and he was demoted (Office of
the Legal Adviser, 2014). In the international arena, numbers of plagiarism done by teaching
staff at Egyptian universities has increased every year (Khaled, 2008). This shows that
lecturers do not play an effective role in creating awareness on plagiarism since they are also
involved in plagiarism. The situation is more difficult since lecturers have breached their role
in curbing plagiarism when they award their students passing grade even when the students
are involved in such unethical conduct. A survey done in UiTM in year 2010, discovered
around 62% of students suggest that lecturers should be consistent in reminding the
students about plagiarism in order to stop student from doing this academic dishonesty. This
indicates the importance of lecturers’ roles in creating the awareness on plagiarism that can
help to reduce the act of plagiarism by students. According to Whitley et al. (1999), male
students have different views on plagiarism. In others words, the views of female student and
male students differ. Because of the differences, male students seem to be more likely to
plagiarize. The different views might be good or bad on plagiarism. If students perceived
plagiarism as a bad thing, automatically it can restrain them from getting involved in this
academic dishonesty. But, if the views on plagiarism is good, the rate of plagiarism also can
be increased.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

This study adopted a cross-sectional study to investigate the variables in the study.
The cross sectional design was used to collect the data within a specific period time.

Unit of Analysis

Unit of analysis is the entity that is being analysed in the study. It focuses on what
and who does this study is applied to. The unit of analysis of the study were students of
University Technology MARA whom were selected from three faculties in Shah Alam
campus.

Sample Size

The number of total population was 20972 of UiTM’s undergraduate students. The
sample size was 377 number of respondents were involved in the study. The sample size
was determined and selected based on table of Krejcie and Morgan (1970).

Sampling Technique

Both stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used in the study. The
stratified sampling was adopted to classify the faculties involved on the other hand the simple
random sampling was carried out to randomly select respondents from three fields of
academic study which were the faculty of Science & Technology, Business and Management
and Social Science .Hence, a total of 126 respondents were selected from each faculty as
respondents and from the total number, the amount of male and female respondents was
divided equally.
 173

Data Collection

This study has been carried out to investigate the perception of undergraduate
students on plagiarism in Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam. All questionnaires were
personally distributed to the students of Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam in order to
ensure the 100% return rate.

Measurement

The researcher has developed a set of questionnaires to measure the perception of

students towards plagiarism. The measurement that was used to measure the elements was
a 5-point Likert Scale.

Data Analysis

The data analysis had been carried out by using SPSS version 22.2 to determine the
relationship between the variables using statistical tests such as correlation and multiple
regression analysis.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Profile of Respondents

Most of respondent‘s age were from age 21 years to 30 years old with the percentage
of 81.5% and followed by the students that aged less than 20 years with frequency of 70 and
percentage of 18.5%. Second, for gender the number of respondent that have answered the
questionnaire is equal which is 189 for female students and also male students that
represent the percentages which is 50%. Third, all the respondent are holding the status of
Bumiputera (100%). Fourth, for education section, the largest group of respondents is degree
students with frequency of 357 (94.4%), followed by diploma students with frequency of 16
students (4.2%) and lastly others that represent the certificate and professional students with
lowest frequency of 5 along with percentages of 1.3%.This shows, most of the respondent
that answered the questionnaire are degree students. Fifth, for semester of study, the largest
group of respondents is from Part 3 with a number of 63 (16.7%), followed by Part 2 (15.9
%), part 1 and part 5 that share the same frequencies and percentages (14.6%), part 6
(14.0%), part 4 (13.0%), and lastly others (11.4%). In addition, the number of respondents
who had answered the questionnaire is equal from each faculties of Science and
Technology, Business and Management and Social Science and Humanities. The number of
frequency is 126 and the percentages shows 33.3%.

Perception Level of Undergraduate Student on Plagiarism

Table 1 Mean, Standard Deviation and Scale of Each Variable

No Variables Mean Standard Deviation

1 Act of Plagiarism 3.8386 .61737
Lecturer Roles 3.8992 .59635
2 University Policies 3.8443 .67488
and Roles
3
*1-2 (Low Satisfaction)
3(Moderate satisfaction)
4-5 (High satisfaction)
 174

Based on the Table 1 above, the mean for act of plagiarism, lecturer roles and
university policies shows 3.8386, 3.8992, and 3.8443. From the interval scale the mean
value of variables is identified. The mean for act of plagiarism was obtained at 3.8386 that
shows moderately satisfied. It means that, the respondents mostly moderately agree with the
questions in the section B. This shows that students had mixed feelings with the act of
plagiarism. Besides that’s, the mean value for lecturer roles is 3.8992 and university policies
and roles is 3.8443 that are also represented by moderate satisfaction. It means that the
student are moderately satisfied with the lecturer roles and university policies and roles in
creating awareness on plagiarism. In others words, all the respondents moderately agree
with all the items in the questionnaire. Therefore, the mean of all variables shows that the
students are moderately satisfied with act of plagiarism, lecturer roles and university policies
and roles.

The Relationship between the Lecturer’s Role and Act of Plagiarism

Table 2 Pearson Correlation

Lecturer roles
Pearson Correlation .518**
Sig (1 tailed) .000
N 378

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (1 tailed)

.10-.29 (Weak)
.30-.49 (Moderate)
.50-1.0 (Strong)

The result in Table 2 shows that there is significant relationship between lecturer’s
role and act of plagiarism in Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam because the significance
p- value shows 0.000 which is less than 0.05. Therefore, it is a positive strong relationship
between both variables since the result shows 0.518. So it can be concluded that the Ho is
accepted since there is a significant relationship between the lecturer roles and act of
plagiarism in Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam. This can be supported by Onuoha and
Ikonne (2013), the institutional policies provide guideline regarding plagiarism and teacher
play important role in detecting and implementing the guideline since they are more regularly
contact with students. It further shows that, lecturers play important roles in upholding
academic honesty and this can indirectly help to reduce the act of plagiarism by students. In
addition, the findings also reveal that most students tend to answer agree to the items in
lecturer roles in creating awareness on plagiarism. This can be seen through the pattern of
answers by respondents. This supports the statement that lecturers’ play important roles in
creating the awareness on plagiarism. Most of the students also agree with the necessary
action that can be taken by lecturers on plagiarism such as giving stern warning, informing
students on the ill effects of plagiarism, teaching on referencing and writing skills and last but
not least the use of Turnitin which depicts similarity indexes. This has been supported by
Ellis (2008), who claimed that a lecturer plays an important role in disseminating information,
taking action and imposing penalties on those who commit plagiarism.
 175

The Relationship between University Policies & Roles and Act of Plagiarism

Table 3 Pearson Correlation

University Policies and Roles

Pearson Correlation .413**
Sig (1 tailed) .000
N 378
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (1 tailed)
.10-.29 (Weak)
.30-.49 (Moderate)
.50-1.0 (Strong)

Based on the results in Table 3, there is a significant relationship between the

university roles and policies and act of plagiarism in Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam.
This is because the significance (p-value) shows value of 0.000. Therefore, there is a
positive and moderate relationship between both variables when the Pearson correlation is
0.413. Hence, Ho is accepted and H1 is rejected since there is a significant relationship
between university policies and roles with act of plagiarism in Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Shah Alam. Kenny (2007) claimed that it is important for universities to have academic
integrity and a proper plagiarism policy to ensure that plagiarism will not occur. This shows
that university policies will contribute to reducing the act of plagiarism. In addition, the role of
faculties by frequently discussing on plagiarism with students will also help to eliminate the
attitude of cheating among students (Uderman and Lamers, 2009). This reflects that faculty’s
play important roles in helping the university to curb with plagiarism and they do not depend
on the university alone in curbing plagiarism. This is supported by Martin (2004), that every
university and all faculties should mandatorily have clear and well publicized policies on
plagiarism. Furthermore, the respective policy needs to be implemented effectively and
efficiently for it to produce results.

THE MOST INFLUENTIAL FACTORS THAT CAN DETER PLAGIARISM

Based on the Table 4 below, it shows that lecturer roles is the most independent
variables that influence the act of plagiarism with the value of 0.442. It was assumed that
lecturer roles is the most influential factor towards act of plagiarism. In addition, the university
roles and policies shows low influential factor with the Beta value 0.113 towards act of
plagiarism. Through the Beta value it reveals that the lecturer’s role is the most crucial factor
that contributes to the act of plagiarism that is represented by the value of 0.442. This can
supported by Onuoha and Ikonne (2013), who said that while the institution will provide the
guidelines regarding the plagiarism, however lecturers are the important actors that need to
implement the guideline to students. This transacts to mean that lecturers play a significant
role in cubing plagiarism rather than the institution since they have more direct contact with
their students.
 176

Table 4 Coefficients

Model Unstandardized Standardized t Sig

Coefficients Coefficients

B Std, Error Beta

1. Constant 1.458 .210 6.944

Lecturer .483 .065 .442 7.387 .000
role
University .128 .068 .113 1.898 .000
Policies and
roles .058

PROCESS technique by Hayes has been used to test the gender as a moderating
variables. In order to prove there is a significant variables, the p value must show less than
0.05. However, the p value shows value of 0.9079 and 0.2834 for each independent
variables and moderating variables which is more than 0.05. Therefore, there is no
moderation effect of gender in this study.

CONCLUSION

This study is regarding the perception of UiTM undergraduates’ students on

plagiarism that in University Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam. UiTM students have been chosen
as the respondents in answering the questionnaire on their perception on lecturer roles,
university policy and roles and plagiarism. Based on the data and results of the study, there
is a significant relationship between the all factors of student perception and also the act of
plagiarism. Through the findings, the most independent variable that contributes to the act of
plagiarism is the lecturer roles. This shows that the lecturer’s role in creating awareness on
plagiarism among students can help to reduce the act of plagiarism committed by students.
In addition the study also emphasized on the role of gender as the moderator effect the
perception of students on plagiarism. However, there is no moderation effect of gender
between the perception and act of plagiarism.
This study was done in order to study if there any relationship between the lecturer
roles and university policy and roles and the act of plagiarism. It is evident from this study
that in order to effectively fight plagiarism, lecturers play an important role in creating
awareness and instilling discipline among their students. Plagiarism is a serious problem to
the doom of higher learning institutions because it is going to defeat the purpose of higher
learning education. Thus, the idea that higher education is for developing critical minds that
learners go beyond reproducing and creating new frontiers of knowledge will be missed if
addressing the plagiarism problem will not be part and parcel of university culture. The most
factor contributes to the act of plagiarism is the lecturer roles. This shows how the lecturer
role in creating the awareness on plagiarism can help to reduce the act of plagiarism
committed by students. In addition the study also emphasize on the role of gender as the
moderator affects the perception of students on plagiarism. In conclusion, both the lecturer
roles and university policy and roles are significant to prevent the act of plagiarism among
the university’s students.

REFERENCES

Abdul Rashid Moten. (2014). Academic dishonesty and misconduct: Curbing plagiarism in
the Muslim world. Intellectual Discourse, pp. 167-189.
 177

Adam, L. (2016, September 1). Why Do Students Not Understand Plagiarism? Retrieved from
PlagiarismToday:https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2016/09/01/why-dont-students-
understand plagiarism/

Black’s Law Dictionary. Definition of Plagiarism (Undated). [Online]. 2nd ed. Retrieved from.
[Accessed Sep. 20, 2016]

Elmes, J. (2016, August 15). Students ‘don’t understand’ plagiarism, research suggests.
Retrieved from Times Higher Education:
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/students-dont-understand-plagiarism-
research-suggests

Ellis, J. (2008). Plagiarism: The ethical power and place of the teacher. ANZCA08
Conference, Power and Place. Wellington.

Heberling, M. (2012). Academic Honor Codes and Online Learning. Retrieved from online
college.organization: http://www.onlinecollege.org/2012/09/06/honor-codes-online-
Learning/

Kenny, D. (2007) 'Student Plagiarism and Professional Practice'. Nurse Education Today 27
(1), 14-18

Khaled, A. (2008, July 20). EGYPT: Research plagued by plagiarism. University World News:
The Global Window on Higher Education, 9. Retrieved from
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20080717165104870.

Krejcie R.V, Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining Sample Size For Research. Educational And
Psychological Measurement, 607-610.

Lamers, B. Uderman. (June 2009). Ten Strategies to Encourage Academic Integrity in Large classes.
In T. Twomey, Pedagogy, not Policing: Positive Approaches to Academic Integrity at the
University (p. 111). Graduate School Press of Syracuse University.

Martin, B. (2004). Plagiarism by university students: the problem and some proposals. Plagiarism
and Scientific fraud.

Office of the Legal Adviser (2014). Summary report on IIUM plagiarism cases (unpublished),
Data supplied by the office of the Legal Adviser, IIUM.

Onuoha, U., Unegbu, V., Ikonne, C., and Madukoma, E. (2013) 'Using Online Reference
Management Tools to Combat Plagiarism in Higher Institutions in Nigeria'. Journal
of Education and Practice 4 (8), 50-57

Oxford English Dictionary. (2010). Plagiarism definition. Retrieved from

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/144939.

Weimer, M. (2015, April 22). Promoting Academic Integrity: Are We Doing Enough?
Retrieved from Faculty focus: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-
professor-blog/promoting-academic-integrity-are-we-doing-enough/

Whitley, B. E., Jr. (1998). Factors associated with cheating among college students.
Research in Higher Education, 39, 235–274.

Zaid Ahmad (2016, September 27). Plagiat jejas profesionalisme. Retrieved from Harian
Metro: http://www.hmetro.com.my/node/100099.
 178

Implementation of Good Governance Principles at Majlis Daerah

Raub: A Perspective of President
Nursyahida Zulkifli
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Pahang
syahidazulkifli@gmail.com

Shamsinar Rahman
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Pahang
shamsinar512@pahang.uitm.edu.my

Nurul Afzan Najid

Faculty of Accountancy,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Pahang
nurulafzan@pahang.uitm.edu.my

Nur Ain Yaacob

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Pahang
nurai2649@pahang.uitm.edu.my

‘Ainatul Fathiyah Abdul Rahim

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Pahang
ainatul@pahang.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Local government is the lowest level in the system of government in Malaysia after federal
and state government. It has the power to collect taxes, make by-laws, policies and rules and
grant licenses and permits for any trade in its area of jurisdiction, providing basic amenities,
collecting and managing waste and garbage as well as planning and development. The
implementation of good governance became a paradigm that gives sense to the values of
the local government. The involvement of other government shareholders in governance is
apparent and active creation of civil society is obvious. However, there are many issues
relating to the efficiency and the effectiveness of services provided and apparently will give
negative impact to the image of the local government itself. Hence this paper aims to
investigate the level of implementation of good governance practices at local government
level specifically Majlis Daerah Raub (MDR) and to provide some suggestion by emphasizing
the problems and foreseeing possible trends of governance improvement. An interview with
the President of Majlis Daerah Raub was conducted in order to obtain the information for this
study. The study found that the principles of good governance are established and
successfully practiced in MDR. Hence this is aligned with the findings conducted by National
Happiness Index Survey where Raub is the third happiest place in Malaysia.

Keywords: Local Governance, Good Governance, Participation, Transparency, Rule of Law,

Local Government, Malaysia
 179

INTRODUCTION

Public organization plays an important role in a development of a society. In most

countries, public organization provides public goods to the citizens. It is very important for the
public administrator to ensure they can manage the administration of their organization
properly. Local authority in Malaysia plays pivotal roles in ensuring they can serve the local
needs properly. This is because local authority in Malaysia plays various functions in terms of
environment, social, security and others such as by providing bus stand, recreation park,
sanitation and many more. In addition, local authority in Malaysia also enjoys some power in
terms of financial and administration, therefore it is very important to ensure that they can
properly manage the resources. According to Hill (1974) as stated in Saparniene and
Valukonyte (2012), in order to be an effective service provider, the local authority must be
more than effective.
Good governance is not a new theme to public organization. This is because in this
modern era, the good governance concept is very much important. According to Warsaw
(2005) as stated in Saparniene and Valukonyte (2012), Good Governance is seen to become
a paradigm that gives sense to the values of democratic standards and rules of law, whereby
the citizens and other government shareholders’ involvement in governance is obvious. In
addition to that, Saparniene and Valukonyte (2012) also added that Good Governance is a
requirement for all the subjects of public administration and is implemented through
collaboration, partnership between the government and society, private sector and non-
governmental organisations.
The problem that have been discovered according to Cingiene, Laskiene, and Raipa
(2015) is the current status of the implementation of good governance principles is influenced
not only by the financial capacities of the federations and popularity of the sport, but also by
different attitudes and approach of the leaders towards the governance of the federation,
their practical expertise, their goals and actions for the improvement of organizational
governance procedures. Hence, the objectives of this research are to investigate the
implementation of good governance practices in Majlis Daerah Raub and to provide
suggestions for the improvement of good governance practices at Majlis Daerah Raub.

GOOD GOVERNANCE

Drechsler (2004) mentioned that there is no single definition of good governance, and
normally, “good” refers to the transparency, efficiency, participation, responsibility, rule of
law, democracy and justice. Good governance highlights the processes for making and
implementing decisions. It is not about making ‘correct’ decisions, but it is about the best
possible process for making those decisions. Thus, it is seen that good governance
emphasis on the consensus of every levels of society (As cited by Saparniene & Valukonyte,
2012). In implementing good governance, there are various aspects that must be observed
by local government including consultation policies and practices, meeting procedures,
service quality protocols, councillor and officer conduct, role clarification and good working
relationships. By having all the above mentioned elements, good governance not only gives
the local community confidence in its council, but it also improves the faith in their own local
government and its decision-making processes. It is aligned with the findings by Adegbami
and Uche (2016) where implications of bad governance were conflicts, insecurity and
poverty, unless if good governance is practiced; the rule of law is upheld, and immunity
clause covering 'the democrats' over criminal matters is removed, the nation may not witness
any meaningful development. This indirectly leads to better decisions, helps local
government meet its legislative responsibilities and most important, provides an ethical basis
for governance.
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Good Governance Practices at Local Government

The implementation of good governance in local government is different from the

other levels of government which is federal and state, because it is the institution that is close
to the people. Good governance is easy to be applied especially in a democratic country
because the society has the right to participate and also to voice out whatever they need.
According to Saparniene and Valukonyte (2012), it is essential for the local government to
implement good governance because it is one of the platforms to serve the need of the
society through any policy, activities and programs. From these, it will encourage people to
participate and ensure responsiveness of the local government on mobilization of resources
and respond towards the local needs.
Local governance can be defined as an implementation of collective action at the
local level. It includes the direct and indirect responsibilities of the local government as well
as the roles of the community organization such as neighbourhood associations that will
encourage citizen to citizen and citizen to society interactions in delivering the local public
services (Shah & Shah, 2006). Therefore, it is crucial to have good local governance to
ensure that all of the activities and programs will serve the diversity need of the people. Good
local governance is not just about providing a variety of local services but it is also about
protecting the life and liberty of residents, encourage for public participation and public
dialogue, and also to improve the quality of life of the residents.
However, the implementation of good governance principles in local government of
every country is different. For example, the local government in England adopted the six core
principle of good governance from the Good Governance Standard for Public Services. It
was based on the Nolan principles which are clear definition of the body’s purpose and
desired outcomes, well-defined functions and responsibilities, an appropriate local culture,
transparent decision making, a strong governance team and real accountability to the society
(CIPFA, 2007). In addition, the local government in Finland also implement a different
principle of good governance which are based on the Finnish Legislation (2004)
Administrative Procedure Act which are the legal principle of administration, appropriateness
of services, advice, requirement of proper language and cooperation (The North-South Local
Government Co-operation Programme, 2007).
As in Malaysia, the local government practices eight (8) main principles of good
governance which are transparency, accountability, consensus oriented, rule of law,
participation, equitable and inclusiveness, responsiveness, effectiveness and efficiency. All
of these principles were set out by the United Nation Development Programme in order to
improve the performance of local government in delivering the services to the public as well
as to increase the quality of services by stimulating the coordination between public and local
authorities (Graham, Amos & Plumptre, 2003)

Good Governance Principles

Transparent

Transparency is one of the indicators of good governance, in which the people are
open to any information regarding decision-making process and the implementation of the
projects and programs done at the local level (Michael, 2014). In other words, it means that
any activities or programs that involve the public interests must be fully disclosed and made
accessible to the people. It is essential to be applicable in a democratic country that enables
the people to have a right to information and right to access of the same.
Transparency is whereby all the decision making processes and implementation of
projects and programs were done in a manner by fulfilling all the rules and regulations
(ESCAP, 2009). This is when all of the information is easily accessible and freely available to
the public that are most affected towards any decisions taken by the organization. In other
words, it is crucial for the local government to provide sufficient information that is clear,
detail and specific in order to make sure that the people’s understanding are made easy
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through various forms of communications such as media, verbal and nonverbal

communication. However, according to Amalina (2013), it stated that, the local government
should be able to ensure that the people will be able to follow and have a good
understanding about how the decisions are made at the local level. This is where the people
are able to clearly see on how and why a decision was made such as the information,
settlement of the issues, and proposed of activities throughout the year decided by the local
government itself.
In the government of United States, transparency is called as a ‘government in
sunshine’ that means all of the processes of sharing information should follow all of the
procedures in order to prevent any deviation and abuse of power (Miller, 2014). It is vital
because the people may be given an opportunity to protect their interest, to have a medium
of communication, a wide range of information especially through any program and policy
that relates with the people. Therefore, the principle of transparency is essential to be
implemented in every local government since it is considered as an ideal institution that may
enhance legitimacy of the local political institutions
When there is transparency, people will feel more appreciated because they are
being recognized by the local government as part of the government institutions. Therefore,
the people will be able to protect their rights and acknowledge about any fraudulent practices
in the local level. For example, due to the insufficient efforts done by the local government in
Philippines, there are a lot of corruptions that happened amongst administrative staff that
violated the rules and procedure by misusing the public money. Thus, it will discourage the
people to give strong cooperation and engagement to any programs and activities at the
local level (Michael, 2014). According to Zilinskas (2010) as stated in Saparniene and
Valukonyte (2012), transparency in local government is when the people have the right to
criticize in whatever decision made by them. It is important to prevent from any misuse of
public money and discriminations among people. For example, the use of e-government in
local government is an effective tool to be used to ensure that people will indirectly
participate in any decisions made by the local governments.

Consensus Oriented

Good governance is essentials to be applied because it is regarded as a medium in

order to reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole
community and how this can be achieved (ESCAP, 2009). Consensus oriented is the other
important principle of good governance whereby the local government must be able to reach
a collective decision making between administrators, councillor and also the public. They
need to cater the needs of different levels of society such as the poor, disabled, orphans,
children, and so on. The local government must ensure that every policy or program done
should serve the various interests of the people. Therefore, it would reach a better
coordination and satisfaction of the public as a whole.
Besides, the local government also needs to ensure that a proper mechanism is
created especially in overcoming any issues or problem arises because of the competing
interests of the actors. Therefore, it needs to ensure that they have a better coordination
among people and strong mediation structure must be established. Without it, compromises
and a broad consensus cannot be reached that serves the best interest of the whole
community (Saparniene & Valukonyte, 2012).
One of the methods the local government usually used in order to reach consensus
amongst society is through public dialogue and consultations. It can be done especially
during the preparation of budget at the beginning of the year that requires attention and
feedback from the public. The public dialogue and consultations can ensure that all of the
programs, policies and activities organized by the council can fulfil the need of the society as
a whole without any bias (Michael, 2014).
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Rule of Law

Good governance requires fair legal frameworks and should be enforced impartially,
particularly the laws on human rights (Graham, Amos & Plumptre, 2003). The rule of law is
one of the principles that have the strongest claim to universal recognition based in the
United Nation (UN) accomplishment in the scope of human rights. This principle included in
the key clauses of United Nations Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948. It shows
that the protection of human rights is one of the agenda towards the development goals. The
key clauses in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights related with rule of laws are
as follows (Graham, Amos & Plumptre, 2003):
 “Whereas it is essential …that human rights should be protected by the rule of law”
(Preamble)
 “All are equal before the law” (Article 7)
 “Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and
impartial tribunal…” (Article 10)
In addition, the rules of the principle of law ensure that the local authorities follow the
law and judicial decisions, rules and regulations which are implemented by the authorities in
accordance with the provided procedures and enforced fairly for all the groups of societies
(Saparniene & Valukonyte, 2012). With the strong rule of law, the offenders face the legal
penalties and this approach is solely based on the punishment and it may work for a time.
However, it must be working for a longer time to integrate with the laws and policies in order
to create strong support for the system (Johnston, 2006). It can be summarized that this
principle requires full protection of human rights especially those of minorities group.

Participation

Participation is a process of public involvement in decision making process that takes

part in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of the policies by the local authorities.
According to Graham et al. (2003), participation can be defined as all men and women
should have a voice in decision making through intermediate institutions (in this case, local
authorities) to represent their interests and needs. Besides, the key clauses in the United
Nations Declaration of Human Rights stated that this principle is built on the freedom of
association and speech according to Article 19, 20, 21 and 29.
Generally, public participation is a process whereby the people sit together with the
representatives of local authorities to participate in the decision making with the important
issues related with the public interests before the local authorities make any decision.
Furthermore, public participation assists the local authorities to better satisfy the public and
provides the opportunity for the public to express their opinions in which that affect their life
for instance, rates of assessment taxes, non-land based taxes, any policies that related with
local government affairs (Saparniene & Valukonyte, 2012).
Besides, Mat Nurudin et al. (2015) found that the level of public participation in the
local authorities in Malaysia is still low due to the limited dissemination of information
regarding the programs and the public did not aware about the program organized by the
authorities. This problem led to the low level of the participation among the local people. It
was found that Seremban Municipal Council, Malaysia had organized various programs to
encourage public participation such as gotong royong, forum, pre dialogue budget, safety city
program, safety city program and Local Agenda 21 (LA21). Moreover, other findings stated
that development and public involvement in the Local Agenda 21 in Malaysia is quite low
compared to the international countries, but some of the local authorities have successfully
realized the importance of LA21 concept by implementing sustainable development activities
such as Kuala Lumpur City Hall (Mat Nurudin et al., 2015).
The public participation is one of the important principles of good governance at the
local level to encourage greater accountability and transparency of the local authorities.
Public participation can provide the opportunity for the public to express their opinions
regarding the public issues and at the same time can help the local authorities to make better
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decision making that affect their local people. The satisfactory decision by the authority will
provide greater satisfaction to the public and thus can enhance quality and standard of living
of the public. All of these good governance principles are strongly related to each other and it
cannot be separated.

Equitable and Inclusiveness

The concept of equitable and inclusiveness refers to the impartiality conditions to

improve or maintain own welfare created for each citizen especially in a setting of pluralistic
institutional structure. This principle is also included in the key clauses of United Nations
Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948. One of the key clauses in the United Nations
Declaration of Human Rights related to the principle is as follows (Graham, Amos &
Plumptre, 2003):
 “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights...” (Article 1)
 “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration,
without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political
or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status” (Article 2)
 “Whereas the recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable
rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and
peace in the world” (Preamble)

Responsiveness

Responsiveness can be explained by means of objectives, structure and procedures

which are adapted to the needs and expectations of citizen, local authorities constantly try to
react to the society. In order to manage the reaction, every public organization needs to
create a feedback mechanism whereby the staff can report and at the same time, it is useful
in achieving goal of acting in public interest at all time. Besides, the aspects of
communication and consultation method should be balanced and fair whereby allowing the
governing body, the stakeholders and citizen to express their views freely and make
informed decisions based on unbiased information (Graham, Amos & Plumptre, 2003)
Regionally and internationally, most scholars believe that creating the atmosphere
and the indicator of measuring responsiveness can be manifested by conducting projects
that offer the benefits for betterment of the people. One of the examples is as conducted by
the municipal government in the municipality of Recife in Brazil, to increase women’s
participation in popular consultations regarding the municipal budget, they provided childcare
for these women during budget meetings in the effort to ensure that a greater number of
women attend various budget committees. Women’s issues have been established as one of
the thematic areas addressed by the budget and became of the key element of the need to
change in administration has opened up and more responsive to gender issues as well
(Souza, 2002).

Accountable

Accountability refers to decision-makers in the government, the private sector and the
civil society organizations which are made accountable to the public, as well as to the
institutional stakeholders. This accountability differs depending on the organizations and
whether the decision is internal or external (Graham, Amos & Plumptre, 2003). It is to ensure
that the local authority is responsible for the adopted decisions are capable to listen to the
citizens’ opinions and expectations. Persons making decisions in the government, private
and non-governmental organisations are accountable to the citizens.
The implementation of the principle of accountability is important to announce
discussed if they are not approved to create opportunities means against incompetent
governance and actions of local authorities that violate human rights (The Strategy for
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Innovation and Good Governance at the Local Level, 2008). In such, several scholars
emphasize on overall accountability through the mechanism including strategic planning,
program or performance budgeting, value chain analysis, clear budget documentations, risk
management process and managing performance through monitoring and review, (CIPFA,
2014).
Since governance as a paradigm is shifting the role of citizens from passive to active
participants, hence the best practice of implementations of the mechanism comes together
with the mechanism of control and accountability from all level. Accountability becomes one
of the most important crosscutting principles of democracy and trust in effective governance
and administration as “they prevent opportunities for corruption and bad administration”
(Farazmand, 2014). It can be said that good governance can be achieved when
accountability environment setting is fostered by the organizational structure.

Effective and Efficient

Efficiency and effectiveness are the main concerns of new public management.
Therefore, in the emerging approach, values beyond efficiency and effectiveness are
pursued, debated, challenged, and evaluated. Most of the scholars believe that the new
governance is more society centred (Pierre, 2000). Therefore, the key determinant is based
on the objectives that uphold the society as priority. The objectives must be implemented by
the best use of the available resources and the results must meet the agreed objectives thus
satisfying needs. The capability to identify the foreseen aims and the resources to reach
them would be used in the best possible way. These can be attained through evaluation and
improvement of audit constantly carried out at certain time of activities (The Strategy for
Innovation and Good Governance at the Local Level, 2008).
Meanwhile, the element of effective is to choose the shortest way and the cheapest
means to achieve the aim. One of the element aspects is by having effective decision which
is implemented on time and impartially, reflecting public interests, rationality, legitimacy,
effective distribution of resources and minimum input as well as ensuring publicity and
openness of decision making, achieving the aim example solving the problem or dilemma”
(Simon in Saparniene & Valukonyte: 2012). Therefore, the concept of effectiveness can be
expressed by the successfulness of providing alternative means as well.

Methodology

In order to investigate the implementation of the principles of good governance in

Majlis Daerah Raub, Pahang, Malaysia, the qualitative method of data collection has been
used. The semi-structured interview with experts was used for this study. The interview
method is an effective method to get more information and it is necessary to find out the
experts’ attitude and opinion. The subject matter or expert for this study is the President or
Yang Di-Pertua (YDP) of Majlis Daerah Raub himself. The interview questions and analyses
were focused on the evaluation of good governance principles and the analysis of the
priorities of good governance principles and the analysis of the implementation of good
governance at Majlis Daerah Raub, Malaysia. The content analysis were used for the data
analysis where the data obtained during the interview was processed and categorised
referring to their similarities, differences and features related categories.

Findings and Discussion

This section provides the analyses from the interview with expert which is the
President of Majlis Daerah Raub. The analyses are based on the good governance principles
practiced by Majlis Daerah Raub in the perspective of the President or YDP.
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YDP’s Perspective of Good Governance

Majlis Daerah Raub is one out of 11 local governments in Pahang and is known as
the lowest tier of the government levels. It means that the local government executes the
policies set by the federal government and endorsed by state government. The local
government refers to the higher level of government, for instance, Local Government Act (Act
171) is the main act for local government administration. Act 171 is the main reference for
Ministry of Housing and Local Government at the federal and state government level related
with local administration as well as this act applied to the local government such as Majlis
Daerah Raub. At the local level, councillors are the legislators where they are responsible to
make new law known as by-law and endorse any of law of the state government law to be
practiced at the local level through meeting. A wise decision needs to be taken by the
councillors since it will affect the people at the area as a whole. Due to the limited autonomy
in terms of administration and financial, the local government only applies any law and policy
stated by the higher level of government which is known as good governance. However, the
implementation may vary according to the local government.
According to the interview, the definition of good governance can be conceptualized
as the act of decision making by the local government to implement any laws and policies
introduced by the federal or state government that affect the local people. Any decision made
must provide benefits for both, local government as well as the local people and it is very
important since the local government is the closest institution to the people at the certain
area. It can be concluded that the concept of good governance as defined by the YDP of
Majlis Daerah Raub comes from the decentralization process. There is a transfer of power of
higher level of government namely federal and state government to the lower level of
government namely the local government. The transfer of administrative and financial power
to the local government enables decision making but it is still under control as imposed by
the federal and state government that limits its powers.

Good Governance Practices at Majlis Daerah Raub

According to the expert’s opinion, these principles are important for the local
government to perform their job well. To ensure that all of the employees in the Majlis
Daerah Raub are accountable to their works, all of the employees are informed the nature of
work as the closest government to the people. All employees must do the tasks skilfully in
order to fulfil the needs of the local people. This council is responsible to provide the basic
needs of the local people such as sewerage, environment and public amenities such as
recreational parks, multipurpose hall, toilets, bus stops, public library and many more. This
council provides recreational parks such as Taman Tasik Raub and Taman Rekreasi Raub,
and multipurpose hall for the community activities, wedding ceremonies and many more.
Raub consists of many races and religions, so this council provides various places of worship
such as Masjid Tengku Abu Bakar Raub, Masjid Sultan Abu Bakar Raub, and Tras Road
Chinese Temple. This council will make sure that their facilities in the Raub area are in good
condition and can be used by the local people by doing regular maintenance. Moreover, in
term of financial, the council presented the budget yearly at the state government for the
approval. The public may get the financial statement from the Financial Department of Majlis
Daerah Raub for their reference. It shows that the financial statement can be accessed by
the public and they may know how the council expends their money. However, the council
did not disclose the revenue but the public still can get the information from the respective
department. From all these conditions, it clearly stated that the council is transparent in doing
their work even the one related with the financial matters and the accountability to the local
people. These related with the transparency and accountability.
Majlis Daerah Raub applies the same laws applicable for the local government as
other local authorities in Malaysia. The council subjected to the Local Government Act 1976
(Act 171), Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (Act 172), and Street, Drainage and Building
Act 1976 (Act 133). Besides, the council is also subjected to the Land Acquisition Act 1960.
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These acts provide the guidance and references for the council in performing their jobs.
Section 102 Local Government Act 1976 provides the local government has a general power
to make by-laws to be applied in a certain area that can control the behavior of the local
people. With this power as stated in the Act 171, Majlis Daerah Raub has established various
by-laws that are related with their administration. For instance, Undang-undang Kecil
Pengendali Makanan (Majlis Daerah Raub) 1984, Undang-undang Kecil Pelesenan Anjing
(Majlis Daerah Raub) 2007, Undang-undang Kecil (Mengkompaun Kesalahan-kesalahan)
Kerajaan Tempatan (Majlis Daerah Raub) 1983 and many more. These by-laws enable the
council to regulate the laws for their local people such as vehicle parking. The vehicles
parked without displaying the parking fee will be compounded by the enforcement officer of
the council. The by-laws known as Undang-undang Kecil (Mengkompaun Kesalahan-
kesalahan) Kerajaan Tempatan (Majlis Daerah Raub) 1983 enables the council to do such
action. Under by-laws is also stated that the council deserves to catch wild dogs that stray
around Raub’s areas that can disturb other people's peace. It is one of the functions of the
council to control the nuisance that can affect others. All of this are related to the rule of
laws.
In terms of public participation, the council only supports the national programs and
lack of programs organized by the Majlis Daerah Raub is due to the lack of financial.
According to the expert, conducting an event or program requires a lot of budgets to be
spent. To overcome the limited financial resources, the council only organized programs that
are sponsored by the federal government. However, the council organized programs called
gotong royong at the area which has been declared as dengue epidemic. The expert said
that even there is only one (1) case of dengue fever reported then the area was declared as
dengue epidemic. To avoid this disease, the council collaborated with Department of Health,
Raub and local residents to organize gotong royong activity to clean their housing areas.
This is one of the initiatives towards Local Agenda 21 from Majlis Daerah Raub. According to
Zulkifli et al. (2016), involvement of the local people towards the activities organized by the
council plays are important to ensure that the one of the local governance principles, public
participation, is successfully implemented. Zulkfili et al. (2016) added that the positive
perception of the public towards local government plays an important role to improve public
participation among the local people.
The expert said that the council is the main service provider for their local people and
the council is responsible to provide the services to all group of people in Raub’s areas
regardless of the age, races, religion and gender. To ensure harmonious situation and unity
of people in Raub, the council provides the facilities and infrastructures that may benefit all of
the local people. The council provides the places of worship for the Muslims and other
religions for example Masjid Tengku Abu Bakar Raub and Tras Road Chinese Temple.
Besides, the council provides recreational parks and playgrounds for the recreational
activities especially for the family and children, open gymnasium and futsal court for the
youth, and community hall for the related activities. Public transports such as buses and taxis
are provided for the local people to commute to various destinations. The council provides
infrastructure and facilities for the benefits of all the local people regardless of the age,
religion, races and genders. This practice is closely related to the principle of equitable and
inclusiveness.
All of the public agencies including the local government in Malaysia need to be
proactive and provide fast services to the public. The council invites the local people to
provide any complaints regarding the services provided to them. The complaints can be sent
through website or at the council itself. The complaints received are usually about the lamp
post, traffic light, wild dog, road and faulty in the rental buildings. The council has established
a Complaint Committee to monitor and manage the complaints received. In managing the
complaints, they will respond to the complaints in quick time and the duration to solve the
problems vary according to the type of complaints. This is related to the responsiveness.
Additionally, various efforts have been taken by Majlis Daerah Raub to perform their
jobs effectively and efficiently. One of the efforts taken by the Majlis Daerah Raub is by
introducing online services which is also called the e-services. The e-services cover the
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services for eAduan, ePayment (assessment tax only), MySMS, OSC online, eSEMAK and
eISO. Besides, the people can also download related forms from the website such as
licensing form, rental form, business permit form and many more. It shows that the council
responds to the technology advancement by adopting technology in their business.
Moreover, the council established a system known as helpdesk system to detect those who
did not pay the parking compound. The enforcement officers are deemed to patrol the
parking areas actively. The helpdesk system is very effective in detecting the owners of the
vehicle who refused to pay the parking. The notice will be issued if the fines are not paid by
the owners. The solid waste management at Raub area has been privatized to Alam Flora
Sdn. Bhd. This company is responsible to collect the rubbish and manage the waste
products. This practice provides effective and efficient solid waste management because
Alam Flora has sufficient resources such as staffs, machines, equipment and facilities. These
findings show that Majlis Daerah Raub put a lot of efforts to provide the best services to the
local people even though it is considered as the district council that are focusing on the
maintenance only due to the lack of financial resources.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

According to the research conducted, it has demonstrated that Majlis Daerah Raub
(MDR) implements the principles of good governance. Since MDR is the lowest level of
government, therefore they are following the orders and commands from the state and
federal government. For an example, in term of asset management, there are very less
development because of the financial constrained. Therefore, MDR are more focused on the
maintenance of the assets so that the local community can comfortably use it such as
maintenance of the recreational park, roads, and others. According to the YDP of MDR, MDR
tried to fulfil the demands of the community and solved the complaints raised by the people.
Among the local governance efforts that MDR has implemented are to send the notice and
reminder letters to the residents that did not pay their property tax, create the e-pay system
and the helpdesk system to ensure that people can easily pay their summons, organized
gotong-royong to cater the dengue fever issue and many more.
It would be recommended to MDR to think of a way to improve and generate more income of
the council. It can be done by increasing the tax collection and by overcoming the issues of
assessment tax arrears. Since the building of the MDR is located at the centre of Raub City,
people sometimes face difficulties to park their vehicles just to pay the summon, therefore
MDR is recommended to create a drive-thru system so that it becomes easier for the people
to pay the summons. In addition, MDR can also start thinking of a way to upgrade the status
of the council from Majlis Daerah to Majlis Perbandaran, this is due to the increment of
migrates and population density of Raub City. In addition, the local also aim to promoting a
healthy community. Meaning to say, places and spaces that cultivate belonging, inclusion,
connectedness and engagement should be created. It is also recommended to the MDR to
create a well-planned built environment that supports healthy behaviours and choices with a
vibrant social environment in which people can live, work, learn and play. In short, it means
that MDR should strive to create the conditions in which all citizens, no matter where they are
in life, can thrive, now and in the future.Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank President or Yang Di-Pertua (YDP) of Raub District Council,
Dato’ Hamdan Husin, for the full cooperation to participate in the interview session.

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 190

Understanding Socio-Demographic Patterns and Wellbeing

Dimensions of the Elderly in Malaysia: The Way Forward in
Reaching an Age Nation by 2030
Aslinda bt. Ramely
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Selangor
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor.
aslindaramely1991@gmail.com

Dr. Yarina bt. Ahmad

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Selangor
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor.
yarina@salam.uitm.edu.my

Dr. Nor Hafizah bt. Mohamed Harith

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Selangor
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor.
norha561@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

While most of the dominant countries in the world such as Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceana,
Latin America, the Caribbean, and North America are experiencing the increasing number of
the elderly, the issue of the ageing population becomes a global phenomenon. In the
meantime, Malaysia is also among the countries which is located in the Asian region which is
a contributor to the overall world ageing population. Previously in the 1950s and 1990s, the
population of the elderly in Malaysia has been recorded to be lower and has fluctuated in
trend. However, since the year 2000 until recent years, the elderly population in this country
has been observed to drastically increase, reaching 2.653 million in the year 2014, as
compared to only 386.6 thousand in 1960. As forecasted by the United Nations, this
increment will transform Malaysia into an aged nation by 2030. While the elderly population
is growing yearly, extra attention needs to be given to the elderly in ensuring their wellbeing
at an optimum level. Only then, may this country evolve and prosper into a better place for
all, especially the elderly. Hence, the understanding of socio-demographic patterns of the
elderly is highly needed to obtain a profound understanding of their demands. For this
reason, the primary objective of this concept paper is to analyses four patterns of the socio-
demographic of Malaysian elderly namely in terms of their age group, gender, geographical
area and level of education. Furthermore, this paper scrutinises the applicability of these
socio-demographic patterns in attaining five wellbeing dimensions of the elderly which are
the economy, environment, health, social and on spiritual terms. Hence, this paper concludes
that a thorough understanding of socio-demographic patterns and wellbeing dimensions of
the elderly are important for the government and all relevant parties to develop necessary
actions precisely for this age group alongside also strategising on ways to propel forward to
be a prosperous aged nation by 2030.

Keywords: age nation, Malaysian elderly, socio-demographic pattern, wellbeing dimensions

Sub-theme: Other relevant area
 191

INTRODUCTION

Countries all around the globe are currently experiencing the alarming number of the
ageing population (He, Goodkind & Kowal, 2016, McDonald & Donahue, 2011; McDaniel &
Rozanova, 2011; Brown, 2011; Cooke, 2006; Statistics Canada, 2006; UNFPA, 2002; Auer &
Fortuny, 2000); and without exclusion, Malaysia is also facing the similar trend (Hamid, 2015;
Doris, Idris, & Abu Bakar, 2010; United Nation, 2009; Mat & Md. Taha, 2000; Atrokiasamy,
1997). Therefore, to be aligned with the growing number of the elderly 5, greater efforts need
to be taken and implemented in managing their well-being. All unique characteristics of the
elderly, accordingly based on the variation of their socio-demographic pattern, require
thorough and holistic understanding. Different elements of socio-demographic demand
different approaches when dealing with this particular issue. For example, the level of
education (either high and low) is one of the important factors to be considered in dealing
with work opportunities for the elderly. Understanding the socio-demographic aspects allow
specific and accurate approaches or measures to be taken in dealing with employment,
retirement, social and health care issues involving the elderly. This paper argues that the
present one-size-fits-all approach is less relevant and ineffective. Thus, it is proposed for
designing measures tailored to the socio-demographic pattern of the elderly.
There are four prominent socio-demographic characteristics of Malaysian elderly which
pertains to their age group, gender, geographical area (rural vs. urban) and level of
education. Statistical evidences from the National Population and Family Development Board
Malaysia (2016) are used to support the discussion of each of the socio-demographic
pattern. Furthermore, the socio-demographic patterns are aligned with five wellbeing
dimensions of the Malaysian elderly alligned with the government efforts to empower the
elderly through enrichment and fulfilment of their wellbeing. As proposed in the National
Policy for Older Person Malaysia 2011, the wellbeing dimensions include the economy,
environment, health, social and spiritual – in each dimension, a critical analysis of aligning
the socio-demographic patterns and optimising the wellbeing of the elderly are performed
and several recommendations are proposed. This analysis is one technique to understand
socio-demographic patterns and optimising the wellbeing of Malaysian elderly as the way
forward to be a prosperous aged nation by 2030.

AN AGEING WORLD

Since decades ago, the world population continues to grow older rapidly and the
growth of the world’s older population will continue to outpace the younger population over
the next 35 years (He, Goodkind & Kowal, 2016). Led by Japan, most of the countries such
as Singapore and the United States have undergone an upward trend of the ageing
population since a few decades back. Meanwhile, the United Nations (2009) disclosed the
population of those aged 60 and over in most of the developed regions in the year 2010
surpassed the population of children aged 14 years old and below. This number is expected
to be more than double in 2050. The decision made by couples to have smaller families, low
level of fertility rates and higher life expectancy are among the underlying reasons for turning
this world into an ageing place. This demands the country to provide higher concerns toward
the elderly. Table 1 shows the growing population of elders aged 60 years old and above in
six major world areas in the year 2010 and 2050. Several factors such as choosing to have
smaller families by many couples (National Research Council, 2012), very low levels of
fertility rates and higher life expectancy (He, Goodkind & Kowal, 2016) have widely
contributed to the statistics. Notably, due to longer life expectancy, the population of elders

5
Referring to the definition proposed at the United Nations World Assembly on Ageing in Vienna in
year 1982, Malaysia denotes the word “elderl”y as those who have reached the age of 60 and above
(National Policy for Older Person, 2011).
 192

aged 80 years old and above is also expected to increase approximately 73% in 2050. The
growing number of elderly is due to longer life expectancy which can particularly seen in Asia
region.

Table 1 World Population of the Elderly (The year 2010 and 2050)

Population of 60 years old Population of 80 years old

Major Area and above (million) and above (million)
2010 2050 2010 2050
World 759 2008 106 395
Africa 55 213 4 21
Asia 414 1236 47 228
Europe 161 236 31 66
Latin America and the Caribbean 59 186 9 40
Northern America 65 125 13 36
Oceania 6 12 1 3
Source: United Nation (2009).

MALAYSIA AS AN AGED NATION BY 2030

While undergoing robust economy development since independence in the year
1957, the change in terms of social structure and the decline in fertility, mortality rates
(Hamid, 2015; Atrokiasamy, 1997) and the demographic transitions in Malaysia are evidently
affected. The alarming number of the elderly population is one of the main concerns of these
demographic transitions. The number of the people aged 60 years old and above has been
reported to increase yearly. Figure 1 shows the percentage of the population aged 65 and
older in Malaysia from 1950 until 2050 and Figure 2 illustrates the growth rate of the elderly
against the growth rate of Malaysia population in total.

Figure 1 Percentages of Shared Population Aged 65 and Older in Malaysia (Year 1950 – 2050)

18
16
14
Percentage (%)

12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1950 1975 2000 2025 2050
Malaysia 5.1 3.7 3.9 8.7 16.3
Note: This line graph was developed by referring to statistical data from the United Nations (2009).
 193

Figure 2 Growth Rate Percentages for the Elderly Population versus Total Malaysian
Population

5
4.5
4
Percentage (%)

3.5
3 Gap
2.5 Gap Gap
2
1.5
1
1991 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Older Person 3 3.6 3.5 3.4 4.2 4.4 4.4
Total Malaysia Population 2.6 2.7 2.3 2.1 1.9 1.8 1.7

Source: Doris, Idris, & Abu Bakar (2010).

Based on Figure 1, the shared population of those aged 65 and older in

Malaysia since 2000 has risen and is expected to stagnantly increase until the year
2050. Meanwhile, the the elders growth rate (as illustrated in Figure 2) is observed to
be higher as compared to the growth rate for total Malaysian population since the
year 1991. Notably, Figure 2 also illustrates the “gap between these growth rates”.
Remarkably, the gap (as illustrated by this arrow ↕ ) between the growth rate of the
elderly population and for total Malaysian population is wider for every decade since
the 1990s until 2020s. Therefore, this wider gap contributes to a higher number of
citizens aged 60 years old and above due to low mortality rate while the birth
percentage is shrinking due to low fertility rates (Hamid, 2015; Atrokiasamy, 1997).
Consequently, this situation has increased the ageing flux in this country
(Wan Ahmad & Ismail, 2014) and as expected by the United Nations (2009), this
situation will transform Malaysia to be an aged nation by 2030 – a condition where
the population of the elderly reaches 15% of the overall population of the country.
Unfortunately, if this situation continuously occurs for another few decades, it will
definitely trigger and stimulate unhealthy demographic transitions of the country
which may lead to unstable population that might surpress the country’s development
as an aged nation. Even though ageing is a natural and inevitable process, but
according to Mullan (2002), elders thereby incur greater and possibly socially
harmful costs when their life expentancy increases. Hence, this situation may
challenge a country’s ability in managing the elderly and extra attention needs to be
given in maintaining as well as optimising their wellbeing. Therefore, immediate and
efficient approaches need to be taken to overcome this critical situation in an attempt
to control the ageing index and reduce old-age dependency ratio. The ageing index
can be reduced if the gap between the growth rate of the elderly and overall Malaysia
population decreases due to improved fertility rates among the citizens. Meanwhile,
the old age dependency ratio also can be reduced by increasing the number of the
working generation.

SOCIO-DEMOGRAPIC PATTERNS OF MALAYSIAN ELDERS

According to Atchley (1991), the public is oftenly opinionted that the older
population is a relatively homogeneous category, but nothing is further from the truth.
 194

Atchley added that there are wide variations in age, racial, gender, ethnic, education
and income; wide variations in living arrangements and other differences. Hence, in
gaining a thorough understanding of their needs, characteristics and nature, the
overall concept of the heterogeneous category of the elderly is paramount to be
acted upon. A comprehensive understanding of the characteristics, needs and nature
of the elderly allow the optimisation of their wellbeing via the accuracy and precision
in development approaches or measures. In other words, the understanding of
elderly variations is useful for policy makers to critically develop necessary
approaches or measures such as in terms of employment, retirement, social and
health care to suit with their characteristics, needs and nature. Thus, the assumption
of one-size-fits-all approach can be avoided.
In this paper, the variations of the elderly are highly affiliated to their socio-
demographic. Notably, Beatson (2014) defines demography as a scientific study of
human populations. Particularly, A. Guillard used the word ‘demography’ for the first
time in the year 1855 in his book entitled ‘Elements de Statistique Humanine ou
Demographie Comparee’ (Sociology Guide, 2016). While there are numerous
elements of socio-demographic, only four elements will be discussed in this paper.
These elements are pertaining to the elder’s age group, gender, geographical areas
(strata) and level of education. Following subsections will provide further explanation
of these elements by providing relevant survey data from the National Population and
Family Development Board Malaysia (2016).

Age group

Notably, the elderly in this country can be classified into two groups; young-
old and old-old. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (2003) and
Thorson (1995), elders who are classified as young-old are those aged between 60
to 74 years old. Meanwhile elders who belong to the old-old category are those aged
75 years old and above. Since decades ago, young-old elders have dominated the
overall population of the elderly in Malaysia. According to the Department of
Statistics Malaysia (2005), the majority of the elderly population in this country
(81.3%) comprise young-old elders and this situation prolonged up until today. In
2014 per se, from the overall elderly population in this country, the percentage of
young-old elders was reported to reach 84.7% and only 15.3% out of the pool are
old-old elders. Table 2 provides details on the number and percentage of the elderly
based on these two groups.

Table 2 Age Group of the Elderly in Malaysia (Year 2014)

Age Age Number Percentage Total

group (%) Percentage (%)
60-64 1,001,481 39.0
Young- 65-69 735,949 28.6 84.7
old 70-74 439,941 17.1
Old-old 75 and 392,929 15.3 15.3
above
Source: National Population and Family Development Board Malaysia (2016).

As mentioned earlier, most elders in this country belong to the young-old

category, that is, those who are aged 60 to 75 years old. There is one possible
explanation to justify this situation. According to the Department of Statistics of
Malaysia (2015), the total life expectancy in Malaysia in the year 2014 was only 74.7
years. Therefore, this situation portrays that, statistically, the maximum ag for
Malaysians to live is 74.7 years. Hence, this age limit is within the age group of
 195

young-old. Thus, this situation has resulted in a higher population of the elderly in the
young-old group in comparison to them who belong to the old-old group.

Gender of the Elderly

Other than classifying the elderly according to their age group, they also can
be classified in terms of gender; male or female. In Malaysia, the percentage of the
elderly varies according to gender. A study conducted by Hamid (2012) found that
the percentage of elderly females in Malaysia is higher than elderly males. This
information is also aligned with a survey conducted by the National Population and
Family Development Board Malaysia (2016). The survey found that the percentage of
elderly females is higher than elderly males; 54.5% female (1,400,237 million) and
45.2% male (1,170,063 million). Hence, the difference between life expectancy of
males and females can be one of the possible explanation to justify this
phenomenon.
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (2015), the life expectancy
of Malaysians is increasing yearly. However, this life expectancy differs between
genders as it is longer for a female than a male. In 2015, life expectancy for average
female citizens was 77.4 years, but only 72.5 years for male citizens. This situation
portrays that, statistically, the maximum years for a male to live is only 72.5 years.
On average, females live approximately five years longer than male. Therefore, as
also supported by Mafauzy (2000), the ability of elderly females to live longer has
caused the population of elderly females to be higher than elderly males.

Geographical Area

Malaysian elders can also be differentiated based on their living area.

According to the National Population and Family Development Board Malaysia
(2016), the living areas of the elderly can be divided into two; urban and rural. The
‘Fifth Malaysian Population and Family Survey Year 2014’ conducted by the National
Population and Family Development Board Malaysia found that a majority of the
elderly in this country live in urban area; 69.9% or 1,796,699 million. Meanwhile,
30.1% of the elderly live in rural areas; 773,601 thousand. There are two possible
explanations to justify this situation. Firstly, the actual number of the population
distribution in urban Malaysia is always higher compared to rural areas. Therefore, a
higher number of the elderly is reported to live in urban areas. Secondly, it is mainly
attributed from the globalisation process where many people in rural areas have
migrated and started their new life in cities (internal migration). Therefore, this
situation has caused the population of the elderly to be lower in rural areas and
higher in an urban areas.

Level of Education

The population of the elderly also varies based on their education level. A
survey conducted by the National Population and Family Development Board
Malaysia (2016) disclosed different education backgrounds of the elderly. Table 4
shows seven different educational levels of the elderly in this country. Elders who did
not receive formal education and only studied at primary and secondary schools are
classified as possessing low education level whilst elders who embarked in pre-
university and above are classified as highly educated. Thus, in reference to Table 3,
the majority of the elderly in Malaysia possess low levels of education with only 7.5%
of them who embarked in tertiary education. The low awareness level on the
importance of pursuing studies to tertiary platforms among Malaysians decades ago
is one of the possible explanation for this situation. Other than that, the inexistence of
financial assistances such as The National Higher Education Fund and Majlis
 196

Amanah Rakyat (MARA) scholarship or loan is the ultimate reason as to why they did
not pursue their studies. However, the current trend of Malaysian citizens pursuing
their studies at higher levels (university level) might change this scenario in the
future.

Table 3 Level of education of the elderly in Malaysia (Year 2014)

Education Level Number Percentage (%) Total Percentage (%)

No formal education 452,393 17.6
Primary school 1,206,987 47.0
Secondary school (lower) 352,975 13.7 92.5
Secondary school (upper) 365,025 14.2
Pre-university 41,630 1.6
Tertiary 143,168 5.6 7.5
Others 8,121 0.3
Source: National Population and Family Development Board Malaysia (2016).

THE APPLICATION OF SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC IN OPTIMIZING THE

WELLBEING OF THE ELDERLY

According to Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (2011)

through National Policy for Older Person Malaysia, there are five wellbeing
dimensions of the elderly proposed by the government and in an attempt to optimise
the well-being of the elderly, these five dimensions need to be fulfilled equally. Figure
3 presents the five wellbeing dimensions which are economy, environment, health,
social and spiritual. Following subsections provide a brief explanation on these
dimensions and elaborate on how four elements of socio-demographic (age group,
gender, geographical area and level of education) should be utilised in promoting
these dimensions. As mentioned earlier, the application of socio-demographic
elements in empowering wellbeing dimensions of the elderly is necessary to allow
the creation of specific and accurate approaches or measures that suit the
characteristics, needs and nature of the elderly. Employment, retirement, social and
health care are among the examples of approaches and measures that should be
considered in terms of the socio-demographic patterns of the elderly.
 197

Figure 3 Five Wellbeing Dimensions of the Elderly

Economy

Dimension

Environment
Spiritual
Dimension
Dimension
Five
Wellbeing
Dimensions
of the Elderly

Social
Health
Dimension
Dimension

Extracted from the National Policy for Older Persons Malaysia (2011).

Economy Dimension (Productive Ageing)

The first wellbeing dimension is economy. While encouraging the elderly to be

more productive, this dimension underlies and acts as a basis for the concept of
productive ageing. The National Policy for Older Person Malaysia (2011) defines
productive ageing as the participation of elders in both paid and unpaid activities that
give meaning and satisfaction to them. Elders who continue to be involved in the
labour market and engaged with faith-based organisations are those who participate
in both paid and unpaid activities. Hence, in encouraging them to age productively,
the socio-demographic elements of the elderly (age group, gender, geographical
area and level of education) should be considered. In other words, the government
efforts should be tailored to the right group of the elderly.
As a proposition, to encourage the elderly to be more productive, they can
engage in the labour market (Ramely, Ahmad, & Mohamed Harith, 2016). However,
their level of education needs to be considered. This is because in suggesting
lifelong employability for the elderly, assigning a proper job that is aligned with their
education level is important. Any elder who is uneducated are suggested to
participate in society by engaging in unskilled work and activities.

Environment Dimension (Supportive Ageing)

The second wellbeing dimension is environment. This dimension stimulates

one of the aspects that is required in fulfilling the wellbeing of the elderly;
environment. The environment is affiliated to a supportive environment which can
help the elderly to function more effectively. Therefore, this aspect is alligned with the
concept of supportive ageing. According to the National Policy for Older Person
 198

(2011), supportive ageing can be defined as the internal and external of friendly
environments that allow the elderly to function effectively and independently.
Supportive family members, the advancement of information technology such as user
interface design on smartphones, tablet and computers as well as modern
infrastructures such as lifts installed with braille and sound systems and wheelchair
ramp slopes are among the examples for both internal and external supportive
environments that are necessary for the elders.
In promoting supportive ageing, elements of the socio-demographic of the
elderly also need to be considered. For example, the budget allocation for a age-
friendly city needs to consider the geographical area of the elderly. A survey
conducted by the National Population and Family Development Board Malaysia
(2016) shows that a majority of the elderly in this country live in urban areas.
Therefore, higher budgets need to be allocated especially for those living in urban
areas but also not neglecting those who live in rural areas.

Health Dimension (Healthy Ageing)

The third dimension of elderly wellbeing is health. This dimension encourages

healthy routines among the elderly and this determination is alligned with the concept
of healthy ageing. According to the National Policy for Older Person Malaysia (2011),
healthy ageing can be referred as the fortitude in promoting a healthy lifestyle, the
development of a better health system and the existence of a healthy environment
and local community that surround the elderly. The participation of the elderly in
community health activities such as Ironman Malaysia 2016 and MySihat Run 2016
and special fees rate for health care services provided by government hospitals are
examples of empowering healthy ageing in Malaysia. Thus, in encouraging the
elderly to age healthily, the elements of socio-demographic of the elderly need to be
considered. For example, the impact of health towards gender need to be
considered.
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (2015), the life expectancy
of Malaysians is differs between gender whereby life expectancy for a female is
longer than male. Therefore, in improving the level of health among Malaysian
elders, extra attention needs to be given to Malaysian males, regardless of age
besides also trying to retain and improve on females. This is because, in promoting
healthy ageing, necessary actions need to be implemented from the beginning while
the health level at later life is started since young. Hence, the consideration of the
elements of socio-demographic is important in promoting healthy ageing.

Social Dimension (Active Ageing)

The fourth wellbeing dimension is social. This dimension stresses that one of the
crucial aspects to optimise the wellbeing of the elderly is through the social
participation and inclusion of the elderly in society. For this purpose, this wellbeing
dimension proposes that the elderly have to actively participate in society. Hence,
this aspect falls under the concept of active ageing. Notably, active ageing can be
defined as the optimisation process of the involvement of the elderly in family and
community in empowering the wellbeing of the elderly (National Policy for Older
Person Malaysia, 2011). The example for active ageing in Malaysia is the
involvement of the elderly in lifelong learning programmes in the University of Third
Age in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). The establishment of this university have
received full support by the Malaysian government and the United Nations Population
Fund (UPM, 2016).
In order to encourage active ageing among the elderly, the elements of socio-
demographic need to be considered. For example, while encouraging the elderly to
actively participate in society, the consideration of their age group is also
 199

circumstantial. According to Phua (2007), young-old elders tend to be relatively

healthier as compared to those who belong to the old-old group. Therefore, the
involvement of old-old elders in society needs to be observed and controlled so that
their safety and health can be preserved.

Spiritual Dimension (Positive ageing)

The fifth wellbeing dimension for the elderly is spiritual. This dimension propels
the elderly to possess optimistic spiritual development that undignifies their self-value
and self-esteem even at old age. Hence, this dimension urges the elderly to retain a
positive mindset and for society to exude good perception towards them. Therefore,
this aspect falls under the concept of positive ageing. The National Policy for Older
Person Malaysia (2011) defines positive ‘ageing’ as the belief and positive value that
become their life root and self-identity as well as possessing positive attributes and
decent views on ageing. An elderly can be said to age positively if he or she always
possess high self-esteem towards him or herself and feel valuable to their family and
society.
In optimising the wellbeing of the elderly in the context of the spiritual
dimension, the application of four socio-demographic elements (age group, gender,
geographical area and level of education) in stimulating positive ageing is immensely
important. For example, while encouraging the elderly to feel valuable to their family
and society, the consideration on their level of education is equally pertinent. As most
elders are uneducated and poor, they may feel useless in their later life, a profound
mechanism such as looking into another self-potential need to be taken in restoring
their self-value to be aligned with those who are highly educated.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, while the ageing index is increasing, further attention needs to

be given to the aged nation status that is currently approaching the country. By
reducing the gap between the growth rate of the elderly and overall Malaysian
population that is by focusing and triggering the birth rate, it is believed that this effort
can narrow the gap and harmonise this demographic transition. Even though ageing
is a natural and inevitable process, but having too many elders in a country bring
about challenges for the government, especially in managing their wellbeing and
quality of life. As mentioned by Mullan (2002), elders incur greater and possibly more
socially harmful costs the longer they live. Hence, by trying to create a lively and
inclusive country that is age-friendly, the proportion of the elderly needs to be
balanced with the overall population.
Meanwhile, in empowering the elderly through the improvement and
optimisation of their wellbeing, the heterogeneity category of the elderly also needs to
be be taken into account. This is aligned with the philosophy of the National Policy for
Older Person Malaysia (2011) imposed and proposed by the government.

“The National Policy on Older Person acknowledges elders as

citizens with varied backgrounds and experiences who have the
right to enjoy a comfortable and respected life and contribute to the
development of a nation.”
– Philosophy of National Policy for Older Person Malaysia 2011 (Zawawi, 2013)
 200

RECOMMENDATION

Remarkably, the application of socio-demographic in attaining the wellbeing

dimensions of the elderly is paramount and needs to be deliberated by policy
makers. Figure 4 promotes the wellbeing of the elderly by tailoring with their socio-
demographic patterns (heterogeneous category). The socio-demographic patterns of
the elderly such as their age group (young-old and old-old), gender (male and
female), geographical area (rural and urban), as well as their education level (high
and low) definitely need to be included in fulfilling all of their wellbeing dimensions.

Figure 4 Proposed Framework in Promoting and Optimising Elderly Wellbeing

Dimensions by Tailoring with Socio-Demographic Patterns

Socio-
demographic
patterns of the Level of
elderly Age
group education

 Economy (productive ageing)

 Environment (Supportive
ageing)
 Health (Healthy ageing)
 Social (Active ageing)
 Spiritual (Positive ageing)
Gender Geographical
area

Key:

Socio-demographic patterns (heterogenous category)

As discussed earlier, listed below are the examples of social-domographic

patterns (to list a few) that can be considered in promoting five wellbeing dimensions
of the elderly.
1) Economy dimension (productive ageing): In enhancing the economy
wellbeing of the elderly, good promotion of productive ageing needs to be
implemented by considering their education level. For example, uneducated
elders are Wellbeing
suggesteddimensions
to be productive by engaging in unskilled work and
of the elderly
educated elders are suggested to be productive by involving in any
 201

occupation that alligned with their qualification such as part-time or full-time

financial advisors.
2) Environment dimension (supportive ageing): While promoting supportive
ageing that underlies the environment wellbeing, the consideration on
geographical areas of the elderly is also necessary. For example, in creating
an age-friendly city that satisfies the elderly in terms of the infrastructure,
proper and adequate budget need to be allocated to living areas which
comprise highest number of elders; urban areas. In doing so, age-friendly
infrastructures such as lifts installed with braille and sound systems as well as
wheelchair ramp slopes will not only meet the demand of elders in that area
but are also helpful in promoting supportive ageing.
3) Health dimension (healthy ageing): Meanwhile, in inspiring the society and
the elderly to be more concern and cognizant of healthy living at old age, the
promotion of healthy ageing aligned with health wellbeing is essential. For
example, the differences between life expectancy among different genders.
In 2015, the life expectancy for females was 77.4 years and 72.5 for males.
Hence, additional attention needs to be given to males in terms of disease
prevension besides also considering on how to improve the quality and
expectancy of life for females.
4) Social dimension (active ageing): In enhancing the social wellbeing of the
elderly, the age-group of the elderly (young-old and old-old) also needs to be
considered. Phua (2007) states that young-old elders are healthier to engage
in society as compared to those in the old-old group. Even though old-old
elders might not be healthier, but the declining of their health cannot be seen
as a solid reason to isolate them from society and families. Further
approaches are required to optimise the participation of old-old elders in
society such as encouraging them to partake in community activities and
interact or visit them at old-folks homes, that is, an attempt to boost their
participation by bringing society to them.
5) Spiritual dimension (positive ageing): In empowering the elderly to age
positively, their spiritual wellbeing need to be optimised successfully. For
this purpose, the education levels of the elderly are of utmost importance.
As most elders are uneducated and poor, they may feel useless in their later
life, a profound mechanism such as looking into other self-potential needs
that have to be focused on in an attempt to restore their self-value and to be
aligned with those who are highly educated.
Finally, it is immensely hoped that specific approaches and measures such as
in terms of employment, retirement, social and health care can be suit with the
characteristics, needs and nature of the elderly. These efforts can be taken after
considering their socio-demographic patterns. Only then, Malaysia can be propelled
forward to become a prosperous aged nation by 2030.

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 204

Strategies to Improve Employability Skills for Post Graduate

Students in Social Science
Jasmine Ahmad
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Seremban 3, Negeri Sembilan
Institute of Leadership & Development, Bandar Enstek, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan
jasmi661@salam.uitm.edu.my

Azni Mohd Dian

Faculty of Law,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor
azni378@salam.uitm.edu.my

Yarina Ahmad
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Seremban 3, Negeri Sembilan
yarina@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Universities today are reckoned to be responsible not only on creation and dispersion
of knowledge but to prepare career for the graduates. Employability of graduates is
not only the concern of Malaysian Universities but rather a global concern.
Universities in various parts of the world are also embarking on serious measures to
ensure that graduate employability is a serious business. More importantly in today’s
environment one of the key performance indicators for a university is graduate
employability. The relationship between employability and university are vital as
employability acts as the brand of the University, further emphasizing the
marketability and quality of the graduates. The issues on employability of graduates
are the responsibilities of many parties, the government, the universities, the
employers and the graduates. Over the years, due to the changes in the graduate
recruitment market, owning a degree is no longer sufficient to guarantee a satisfying
career. There seem to be a mismatch between supply and demand of manpower.
This paper discusses the skills employers seek for and how universities especially
faculties can create strategies to increase the employability of the graduates. The
focus of the paper is on the strategies for social science graduates especially at the
post graduate level. This paper employs the mapping of strategies from website
information and articles on Institutions of Higher Learning, locally and internationally.
The result of the mapping shows pattern of strategies that universities can replicate
and share.

Keywords: employability, postgraduate, skills

 205

INTRODUCTION

Any person who enters the university expects to get job once they graduate. It
used to be a competitive advantage to own a degree. As time goes by, it seems
everybody has a degree. To make worse, people with degree are also among the
high numbers without job, contribution to the unemployment rate. Today,
employability has become the buzz word and more importantly it is the key
performance index for Vice Chancellors of University (Zuhrin Azam Ahmad, 2011).
Danial Rahman (2016) reported that in 2015, 75.1% of 227,421 graduate
leaving university (both public and private), polytechnics and community colleges
were able to find employment within six months of completing their studies. This
number of graduate employability numbers increased to 76.1% as of May 2016. The
rate of GE for community colleges was 94%, an impressive rate of GE.
To further improve graduate employability, the government has identified and
implements various initiative. Among the initiatives are Integrated Cumulative Grade
Point Average (iCGPA – the assessment of students inclusive of other indicators,
such as communication, entrepreneurial traits, problem solving abilities and ethics
beside knowledge), 2U2i (2 years two years in university and two years in the
industry and is a work-based learning programme), industry-government
collaboration through CEO @ Faculty programme and on-line learning through
MOOCs. Some of these programmes are at the pilot stage while others are already
running and showing positive feedback.
This paper discusses the skills employers seek for and how universities
especially faculties can create strategies to increase the employability of the
graduates. The focus of the paper is on the strategies for social science graduates
especially at the post graduate level. This paper employs the mapping of strategies
from website information and articles on Institutions of Higher Learning, locally and
internationally.
This paper discusses the skills employers seek for and how universities
especially faculties can create strategies to increase the employability of the
graduates. The focus of the paper is on the strategies for social science graduates
especially at the post graduate level. This paper employs the mapping of strategies
from website information and articles on Institutions of Higher Learning,
internationally.

LITERATURE REVIEW

What is Employability?

Employability of graduates requires various elements, from relevant

academic qualifications, skills and specific attributes as required by industry. Yorke
(2006) described employability as a set of achievements. He illustrates further that
this means skills, understandings and personal attributes that makes graduates more
likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupation. This
occupation in turn wills benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the
economy. The description given highlights the ability to adopt and use knowledge,
adapt to situation and finally benefiting the whole system in the nation.
The University of Edinburgh (2014) defined employability as the capacity to
function successfully in a role and to move between occupations, thus remaining
employable throughout their life. As such employability is ongoing success for any
career graduates chose in the current and future. The definition illustrates various
roles that need to be played by different parties. Employability is a universities-wide
responsibility, for example, the career unit has its function on promoting the
graduates to employers, the faculty has the responsibilities to create curriculum in
 206

line with the requirement of the industry and the nation, and the educators are
required to instill culture and skills in tandem with the curriculum. The students are
responsible to inculcate the culture, build the skills and deepen their knowledge.
While one definition emphasized the current skill, the more recent definition on
employability looks into the future. It further characterizes the ability to gather
experience and moving further into the career ladder or moving into new career. It is
in line to express, graduate employability means that higher education alumni have
developed the capacity to obtain and/or create work (Kinash, 2015).

What Employers Seek For?

Research by Salina Daud, Nurazariah Abidin, Noraina Mazuin Sapuan and

Rajadurai (2012) reported on the gap between important attributes that graduates of
Higher Education Institutions should exhibit and their actual performance when they
are employed in industry. The four areas researched on are knowledge, skills,
abilities and personality. The knowledge dimensions consist of two factors, namely
explicit and tacit knowledge, skills dimensions included hard and soft skills, abilities
dimensions comprised of intellectual and physical abilities and five factors for
personality dimensions consisted of conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional
stability, openness and extroversion personalities. The results showed that graduate
performance has failed to meet managers’ perceptions of the attributes that should
be possessed by these graduates. In another study done by Mohamed Shukri Abdul
Hamid, Rafikul Islam and Noor Hazilah Ab Manaf (2013), employers seek for
graduates employees who are able drive organization to compete successfully in the
market. The ability to communicate verbally and written in English is placed as
highest requirement, followed by the ability of the graduates to think critically.
The Liverpool Hope University (2014) identified 10 employability skills, namely,
communication, teamwork, leadership, initiative, problem solving,
flexibility/adaptability, self-awareness, commitment/motivation, interpersonal skills
and numeracy. These skills were documented in their strategy for enhancing
students’ employability.

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE EMPLOYABILITY FOR POSTGRADUATES

Many strategies were formed to further enhance graduate employability

worldwide.
The global practice as reported by Department of Business, Innovation and Skills
looks into various countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Canada,
Finland, USA and many others. Table 1 highlights four different countries in their
practices and innovative practices for graduate employability.

Table 1 Practices for Employability in Australia, Canada, India and UK

Country Practices Innovative Practices

Australia  Established practice and current  Australian Higher Education

government policies Workplace Skills Olympiad
 Employability refers to the (HEWSO) – it connects students
capacity to operate in the global with a host employer to work on
knowledge-based economy. a real business challenge
 Well-established relationship
between university education
and employers – Graduate
Career Australia
 207

Canada  Availability of a number of  Emphasis the role of secondary

organizations to help staff
working in career services and
organizations to develop and
enhance career service offering,
example Canadian Association
of Career Educators and
Employers.
India  Some universities have specific
training programmes to improve
the employability of their
students, especially on soft skills  An example is the Finishing
 The cost of the employability
skills courses is paid for by the
individual in the vast majority of
cases
UK  The range of practices aimed to
develop employability in
graduates is diverse
 Examples – reflection on learning
through Personal Development
Planning (PDP); coaching and
mentoring schemes that are
available to all and to specific
target groups such as
international students; award
bearing units of career
development learning and the
formal accreditation of practice,
as well as activities more
traditionally associated with job-
search, such as CV construction
and interview practice.
 Some employers are actively
engaged in providing support to
institutions
 UK Commission for Employment
and Skills (UKCES) in
commissioning skills audits,
research projects and ‘think
pieces’ is stimulating employer
engagement in high level skills
development and promoting
higher education/business
collaboration.
Source: Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, 2011
schools in getting student ready
for the world of work.
 Highlights the importance of
higher education of pre
university students receiving
quality support before becoming
undergraduates
 Sponsor programmes by
multinational organizations, e.g.
Infosys.
School (Campus to Corporate
Program) run by private sector
training provider Bodhih Training
Solutions in Bangalore.
 On line career management
portfolio of tools called
Destinations. This portal
provides undergraduate and
postgraduate taught students
with access to a wide-range of
resources and information on
career management.
 It was developed for the
University of Reading,
 The portal is now also used in
around 60 other HEIs, mainly but
not only in the UK.
 Destinations can be adapted to
suit each institution’s
requirements and areas of focus.
 This portal allows staff to help
direct a student’s learning and
also gives students the
opportunity to work through the
materials in their own time and
reflect on how the content of
their degree course can relate to
their career preparation.

Table 1 showed the various strategies across the continental. The strategies
might differ from one university to another but the apparent elements are the
collaboration of various parties to ensure employability. The universities work hand
in hand with the government and the potential employers, may it be businesses or
even conglomerate over various nation. Universities and governments are working in
various ways, may it be through having a specific organization structure, a system or
even an online portal.
Kinash (2015) suggests various ways to enhance graduate employability.
Among them are the role of students, graduates, employers and higher education
personnel. The role of the higher education personnel, namely the faculty or the
university can support increased opportunities for students experience, placement
 208

and internship. This strategy allows the student to have work experience and prepare
them for the industry they are interested to work in the future. The faculty and the
academic staff can explicitly articulate relevant graduate employability skills in the
learning outcome of every subject. This exercise will support the development of
graduates as in accordance to the job market in the area of study.
Students need to take the responsibility to ensure and equipped themselves
with the relevant skills. These skills can be developed through specific courses or
even through extra-curricular activities such as voluntarism, professional bodies or
even competitive sports. Employers too need to contribute in terms of sharing of
ideas on the changing requirement of the job market. Employers too need to
facilitate the transition and adjustment of graduates into their organization.
Kinash, Crane, Judd, & Knight (2016) found discrepancies between the
perceived strategies graduates employed and the actual strategies graduates used to
improve their employability. The survey found that part-time work does not boost
employability it takes valuable time away. Instead volunteering is seen as enhancing
a graduate’s leadership and teamwork skills.

CONCLUSION

Graduate employability is on the priority agenda to all higher education

institution. As things changes globally, the universities needs to ensure the graduate
produced are in line with the requirement of the market. But this responsibility does
not lie on higher education institutions alone. It is a collective responsibility of
students, universities, employers and government. Graduate employability is the key
performance indicator for the Vice Chancellors; as such it becomes the main agenda
of all faculties in the Universities. Success in having high rate of graduate
employability is in fact says a lot about the programme, the faculty and the
Universities. This itself becomes a marketing point to recruit students, may it be
locally or internationally. It is also important to ensure the transferable skills and
broad-based students’ experiences are reflecting in the curriculum, as these will
develop confident and knowledgeable graduate. A point to note, numerous strategies
are already tested, some are successful while others might not worked well. Sharing
what are done by others and replicating them might help to further increase the
employability rate.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research is supported by ARAS research grant 600-IRMI/DANA 5/3/ARAS
(0196/2016)

REFERENCES

Bridgstock, R. (2009). The graduate attributes we’ve overlooked: Enhancing

graduate employability through career management skills. Higher Education
Research & Development,28(1),31-44.

Danial Rahman. 2016. Making Malaysian Graduate more employable a reality. The
Star online. Acceessed on 18/1/2017 from http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/
online-exclusivehttp://www.thestar.com.my/ opinion/online-exclusive

Department of Business, Innovation & Skills. 2011. Supporting Graduate

Employability: HEI Practices in other countries. BIS Research paper number
40. The International Graduate Insight Group Ltd. (i-graduate)
 209

http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/ in Department of Business, Innovation & Skills.

2011. Supporting Graduate Employability: HEI Practices in other countries. BIS
Research paper number 40. The International Graduate Insight Group Ltd. (i-
graduate)

http://www.cacee.com/ in Department of Business, Innovation & Skills. 2011.

Supporting Graduate Employability: HEI Practices in other countries. BIS
Research paper number 40. The International Graduate Insight Group Ltd. (i-
graduate)

http://www.infosys.com/pages/index.aspx in Department of Business, Innovation &

Skills. 2011. Supporting Graduate Employability: HEI Practices in other
countries. BIS Research paper number 40. The International Graduate Insight
Group Ltd. (i-graduate)

Kinash, S. 8 ways to enhance your students’ graduate employability. Teaching the

Bond way. Accessed on 30/12/2016 from
https://bond.edu.au/.../8%20ways%20to% 20enhance%20your%20students%

Kinash, S., Crane, L., Judd, M. & Knight, C. (2016). Discrepant stakeholder
perspectives on graduate employability strategies. Higher Education Research
& Development, 35 (5), 951-967

Mohamed Shukri Abdul Hamid, Rafikul Islam And Noor Hazilah Ab Manaf. 2013.
Enhanching malaysian graduate employability skills: Quality function
deployment approach. Proceedings of the International Symposium on the
Analytic Hierarchy Process.

Salina Daud, Nurazariah Abidin, Noraina Mazuin Sapuan and Jegatheesan

Rajadurai. 2012. Efficient human resource deployment technique in higher
education: A standpoint from Malaysia. African Journal of Business
Management Vol.6 (25), pp. 7533-7547, 27 June.

The University of Edinburgh. 2016. What is employability and why is it important?

Accessed on 30/12/2016. From http://www.ed.ac.uk/emplyability/staff -
information

Yorke, M. 2006. Employability in higher education: What it is – what it is not.

Retrieved from https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/node/3263

Zuhrin Azam Ahmad. 2011. Employability Now included as a KPI in Public

Universities. Tha Star. Accessed on 28/12/2016 from http://www.malaysia-
today.net/ employability
 210

The Antecedents Offear of Violent Crime in Selangor,

Malaysia
Mohd Ramlan Mohd Arshad
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies,
UiTM Kampus Seremban 3
mramlan2957@ns.uitm.edu.my

Nurul Nadia Abu Hassan

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies,
UiTM Kampus Seremban 3
nadia3095@ns.uitm.edu.my

Zaliha Hj Hussin
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies,
UiTM Shah Alam
drzalihahh@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to study on the factors toward fear of violent crime. The
respondents for this study are whom involved as community police in their residential
area. The main objective of the research is to investigate the relationship between
perceived risk of victimization, media effects and lack of trust and confident toward
police with the community fear on crime. The statistical result shown that perceived
risk victimization has strongest relationship with fear of crime (r=.892, p<.005).Hence,
the Royal Malaysia Police must ensure they run the security task effectively to
ensure community hold the trust and confidence on them in ensuring harmonious
environment preserved.

Keywords: Fear of Crime, Community Police

INTRODUCTION

Extensive research has shown that citizen satisfaction with the police is
influenced by their perceptions about neighborhood crime and disorder (Johnson,
2016). Numerous studies have found that citizens had lower overall satisfaction and
confidence in the police when they had higher levels of fear of crime in their
neighborhood and higher perceptions of neighborhood disorder (such as trash,
graffiti, abandoned cars, loud music, loitering homeless people, etc.) (Johnson,
2016). In Malaysia,violent crime rate has spiked up, for the first quarter of year 2016
(January to April), 4.6 percent increase in crime rate happened throughout the nation
(Acryl Sani, 2016). This issue should be cured before other problem happened in the
country. There are many reasons and factors that lead to the violent crime which will
cause undesirable effects and impacts to an individual. According to Wittebrood and
Junger (2002), violent crime can be described as a serious community issue, which
is about the physical brutality in the house and outside the house, and also
intimidating deeds and physical attack inside the house or even outside. The
examples of the activities that consider as crimes such as rapes by the stranger,
robbery either small or grand theft, murder, and burglary. The violent crime also can
be described as the behavior of a person, against the property that he or she intend
to threat, or an attempt to do some physical harms to the other person (Witterbrood
andJunger, 2002). The seriousness of the physical harm depends on the weapons or
 211

guns that they use for it. Crime is the important basis of the uncertainty of the people
in a society and for this reason it will be the main sign for the security of the public in
some countries, specifically in Malaysia (Tang and Lean, 2007). Inequalities in the
income of the population are one of the factors towards the violent crime (Fajnzylber
et al., 2002). The economic condition and bad social background make people tend
to act outside their control.
Police force is always perceived by the public as being corrupt and lack of
integrity. In recent time, the public has been critical of the police force regarding the
high incidence of crime, perception of corruption in the Royal Malaysia Police (Polis
Diraja Malaysia- PDRM), general dissatisfaction with the conduct and performance of
police personnel and a need to see improvements in the service provided by the
police (Khan, 2015). Due to that, the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) need to tackle the
issue on community attitude of the force, particularly with those entrusted with the
task enforcement (Fadzell, 2015).

FEAR OF VIOLENT CRIME

There are many factors that lead to the degree of fear, such as in terms of
gender, sex, age, any related experiences with crimes, their living styles, and others
(Howard et al., 1999). Different people respond with the crime at different ways.
Some of the people avoid the crime by defend themselves from the danger and not
close with anything that can make them involves in the crime (Howard et al.,1999).
The people sometimes out of their control to push the police force to act to
solve the problems. Sometimes the people are being too negative and they think that
the police force do not do their job well and let the violent crimes to happen in the
country (Frederick et al., 2013). Some other scholars also claimed that the actions of
the people cannot be control as they think that the police and the authorities are
having political manipulation and does not care about the social issues arise in the
community (Johnson, 2016). The confidence of the people towards the police force is
being downgraded because when they are becoming the victims of the crime, they
seek for the police for getting protection and if the police cannot solve the problem in
fastest way, they think that the police are ineffective and fail to do basic tasks
(Loader, 2016). The people who are directly or indirectly experienced with the
violence crime commonly become the people who are very negative and do not want
to take a solution for their problem. They are only put the blame towards police force,
government and media that provide violent crime stories to the public (Witterbrood
andJunger, 2002). They think that their problem cannot be solved and they tend to
isolate themselves, do not want to seek for treatment, and do not want to cooperate
with the police force as they think that police force cannot do anything and they are
ineffective (Grabosky, 1995).
The media also play important role to spread the news about the crime and the
policies and strategies that launched by the government and police force. However,
media also give bad perception of the people towards them. Nowadays media has
shown extensive program or stories about criminal (Howard et al., 1999). This has
made the people who watch the television having high level of fear because they get
the experiences from the stories that they watch. Some researchers found out that
fear of crime can lead to the victims to gain their protection, such as bringing the
weapons to everywhere that they think not safe, learn on how to have self-defense
techniques, having anti-crime equipment which is CCTV and many others (Doran
and Burgess, 2012). Fear is more likely related with physical disturbance, such as
heartbeat rate increases, body temperature drops, unable to speak, nervous, and
others (Doran and Burgess, 2012).The media that reported with several issues
regarding violent crime either in television, newspapers and others can make the
people have a feeling of fear towards the crime (Edwards et al., 2008). It is
 212

sometimes important to the people to prepare themselves with anything bad happen
in their life and thus it can make them take proper action when engaging with the bad
situation. The media play vital role to make sure that the fear of violent crime among
the society can be controlled (Beale, 2006). It is because when the media comes out
with the stories and the solution for the violent crime, the people will more alert and
they can take the story as learning process in the future. Thus, it can be said as the
public fear of violent crime can be controlled through involvement and
encouragement from the mass media (Cashmore, 2014).

METHODOLOGY

PerBickman and Rog (1998), descriptive research or statistical

research provides data about the population or subjects being studied; however, it
can only describe "who, what, when, where and how" of a situation instead of what
caused it. Therefore, the researchers use descriptive study by utilizing the technique
of survey to specifically answer the research questions. Descriptive research is used
when the objective is to provide a systematic description about the relationships
between police and community in overcoming the fear of violent crime that is as
factual and accurate as possible. This study embarked by using quantitative cross
sectional design with correlational analysis used in analyzing the data.
The researchers used purposive sampling, also known as judgmental, selective
or subjective sampling, is a type of non-probability sampling technique (Zhen et al.,
2006). Non-probability sampling focuses on sampling techniques where the units that
are investigated are based on the judgment of the researcher (Snedecor, 1939).
Usually, the sample being investigated is quite small. The main goal of purposive
sampling is to focus on characteristics of a population that are of interest, which will
best enable you to answer your research questions (Toppet al., 2004).
The sample involved in this study are people involved as community police in
nine district in Selangor which are District of Petaling, Hulu Langat, Klang, Gombak,
Kuala Langat, Sepang, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor and SabakBernam.
Therefore, this design is significance and appropriate to be used by the researcher in
assessing the antecedents that lead to fear of violent crime.

FINDINGS

Descriptive Analysis

Table 1 Profile of Respondents

Variable Details Frequency Percentage (%)

Age <20 years 4 2.4
20 – 25 years 20 11.8
26 – 30 years 53 31.4
31 – 35 years 51 30.2
>36 years 41 24.3

Marital Married 123 72.8

Single 45 26.6
Divorced 1 0.6

Race Malay 114 67.5

Chinese 31 18.3
India 21 12.4
Others 3 1.8
 213

Gender Male 102 60.4

Female 67 39.6

N:169

The above table shows majority of the respondents are male with 60.4% while
female respondents are 39.6%. The age group of the majority respondents were
between 26 – 30 years old with 31.4%, followed by the group of respondents
between 31 - 35 years old with 30.2%, 36 – 40 years old and above, with 24.3%, 20
– 25 years old with 11.8% and less than 20 years old with 2.4%. Majority of the
respondents in this study were Malay with 67.5% followed by Chinese with 18.3%,
Indian with 12.4% and other races with 1.8%. Regarding to the marital status of the
respondents, majority of the respondents was married with 72.8%, followed by the
single respondents with 26.6%, while the divorced respondents only 0.6%.

Normality Test

Table 2 Normality Test

No. Variables Skewness Kurtosis

1. Perceived Risk of -0.52 0.31
Victimization
2. Media Effects -1.09 -0.66
3. Public Trust Towards 0.57 -1.09
Police
4. Fear of Violent Crime 1.83 -1.56

The normality test was used in measuring the goodness of data for the study. From
table 2, the assumption of normality which is +2 and -2 is not violated as all the
variables used in the study fall within the values.

Correlational Analysis

Table 3 Pearson Correlation

VARIABLES 1 2 3 4
1 FEAR OF CRIME -
(DV)
2 MEDIA EFFECTS .668* -
(IV1)
3 PUBLIC TRUST .402* .462 -
TOWARDS POLICE
(IV2)
4 PERCEIVED RISK OF .892* .847 .815 -
VICTIMIZATION
(IV3)

N:169
*sig: <.005

Table 2 shows that all the independent variables were positively correlated
with fear of violent crime. Perceived risk of victimization has the strongest positive
relationship with fear of violent crime as contrast to the other independent variables
 214

which is r = 0.892 and p<0.05. Media effects is positively influenced the fear of
violent crime which indicates r = 0.668 and it was significance as the significance
level was p<0.05. Public trust towards police also shows positive relationships
towards job performance with r = 0.402 and p< 0.05. Thus, this shows that all the
independent variables were strongly correlated with job performance. This was
supported by the Donald et al., (2013) who also studied the relationships that
involved all three independents variables strongly affecting the fear of violent crime.
Perceived risk of victimization was the most influential factor that affecting the level of
fear over the violent crime as it was the strongest relationship with the fear of violent
crime. Lim et al., (2012) firmly argued that citizens in Malaysia become mentally
depressed day by day due to some reasons including become a victim of violent
crime and resulting in the increase of the level of fear not only towards the violent
crime but also to live like they normally do.

DISCUSSION

As mentioned before, perceived risk of victimization showed the strongest

relationships with the fear of violent crime. Fear of victimization will depend on who is
viewing the crime stories. Research indicates that residents in high crime urban
areas who watch a large amount of television are more likely to be afraid of crime
(Farrall, 2004; Farrall et al, 2006).The finding of the studyshows that the way one’s
perceived the jobs done by police is a very crucial issue in reducing the fear over the
violent crime among public. However, when it comes to locating the sources of how
people perceived the police task, there is a tension regarding the concepts of what
the public think that the police should be doing (Loader, 2016). The major perception
was the job of the police is primarily to reduce the crime and provide safety.These
findings were aligned with the statement by Khan (2015) which stated that perceived
risk of victimization, public trust towards police and media were the factors that
affecting the fear of violent crime among public. Some scholars commented on the
semantic ambiguity of fear when applied to people’s attitudes towards crime and its
likelihood. Gunter (1987) claimed that there was a distinction to be made between
the conceptual judgement of fear of crime and people’s perceptions of their likelihood
of being victimized. As some may have perceived them to be at high risk of criminal
incidents, yet remaining unafraid.
The discussion above reveals the complexity of fear of crime as a concept
and suggests that theoretical approaches will need to reflect the diversity of the
phenomenon. In addition, the complexity of fear of crime also reflects the need to
fully explore the concept of perceived risk of victimization (Keon, 2001). Hindelang et
al. (1978) ultimately proposed a lifestyle theory of victimization: as personal
victimization tends to occur disproportionately away from home, those people who
engage in more activities away from home, especially leisure activities, have higher
risks of victimization than persons who do not engage in leisure activities as
frequently. Cohen and Felson (1979) likewise contend that risk of victimization
depends on the social characteristics of the victims. According to the routine activities
theory, people’s everyday activities determine victimization risk by controlling the
presence and interaction of three conditions: motivated offenders, suitable targets
and lack of capable guardianship. Motivated offenders are persons “with both
criminal inclinations and the ability to carry out those inclinations” (Cohen and Felson
1979:590). Suitable targets include those persons and objects that are high in value,
visible, and accessible. Capable Guardianship is protection provided by regular
citizens as they go about their daily activities, or routine activities. Capable
guardianship is often overlooked in sociological research because it implies the
absence of crime and is difficult to measure. According to the routine activities
theory, these three conditions are necessary for a direct-contact predatory violation,
 215

any act in which “someone definitely and intentionally takes or damages the person
or property of another” (Cohen and Felson 1979:589), to occur. Persons are believed
to decrease capable guardianship and increase target suitability (or risk) when they
spend time away from their home or family.
The complexity of public opinion on crime is further evidenced in the fact that,
although concern about crime ranks more highly than any other issue of public
concern, spending on crime is not at the top of the list of preferred Government
spending priorities and when asked to identify where State Governments should be
spending money, the community appears to perceive spending on law and order as a
lower priority than spending on health and education (Weatherburn et al.
1998).Public concern about crime may be driven more by media representations of it
than by actual or anticipated personal experience. The low priority assigned to
spending on law and order, relative to health and education, on this account, may
just reflect the fact that these areas directly affect many more people than does
crime. This is a difficult hypothesis to test using existing data because, although a
good deal of research has been conducted both within Australia and overseas on
public concern about or fear of crime, very little work has been conducted on the
perceived risks of criminal victimization for example in Australia the only published
studies on the subject appear to be those by Indermaur (1990) and the Queensland
Criminal Justice Commission (1994).Furthermore, the fact that public perceptions of
the risk of crime are conditioned to some extent by information about its incidence
(absolute frequency) rather than by information about its prevalence (relative
frequency, i.e. frequency per head of population) provides a further reason why
media treatment of crime may unintentionally tend to distort the public impression of
its prevalence and seriousness.Consider, for example, that in 1993 Australia
recorded a total of 300 murders which means that a news story on murder in
Australia can be run, if a media outlet so chooses, on average, approximately every
30 hours (Weatherburn et al. 1998).

CONCLUSION

This study drew from a single model to hypothesize that perceived risk of
victimization had a stronger effect on fear of violent crime in Malaysia. There are
some studies that consider perceived risk victimization as the motivating factor for
fear of crime which shaping the way public perceived the works of police force and
the neighborhood disorder which later create the sociological of fear to be a victim
(Bryant and Shoemaker 1988; DeFronzo 1979;Smith and Uchida 1995; Kleck 1991;
Sheley et al. 1994; DeJong 1997). These findings also have highlighted the effects of
media and public trust toward the authority which supported the model to know the
antecedents that for fear of crime. However, the relationship between risk perception
and fear of crime needs more exploration. The existence of a relationship between
the concepts is well established but how this relationship is formed remains
uncertain. Other variables that might have an impact on fear of crime must be
examined, e.g. neighborhood incivilities, socioeconomic status.A different angle
would be to look at how people, depending on their ethnic background or sexual
disposition, experience the fear of hate crime and the risk of being exposed to crime.
After all, the aim is still in the right line which to support the national policy which
relate to national key result area which is to ensure harmonious environment created
in this nation. As we move toward high income develop nation, the numbers of crime
too must be reduced to ensure better nation can be inherited to the next generation
of Malaysian.
 216

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The research project is funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia through
the Research Acculturation Grant Scheme (Ref: RAGS/1/2014/SS03/UITM/2). The
researchers would also like to thank to UiTM for the trust and giving the researchers
the opportunity to present and publish the paper and also the staff at the Selangor
IPK for their cooperation in data collection

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 219

Scrutinizing the Issues and Challenges Faced by

Postgraduate Students: An Effort to Design Specific
Programs to Inculcate Research Culture
Professor Dr. Posiah Mohd Isa
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
posiah@salam.uitm.edu.my

Dr. Yarina Ahmad

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
yarina@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

This paper presents issues and challenges faced by postgraduate research students
who are enrolled in Master and Ph.D programs at the Faculty of Administrative
Science & Policy Studies (FSPPP), Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor. The aim of
this study is to explore students’ feedback and evaluation pertaining to their research
progress, issues and challenges which lead to the implementation and construction
of a specific program to support them in their research work. A qualitative approach
using verbal and written interviews involving 16 research students was undertaken
within a two-month period (October – November 2015) and their feedback was
analyzed. The findings of this study reveal that more than half of the respondents
indicated that ‘academic writing’ is their main issue and challenge throughout their
period of study. The respondents claimed that they have difficulties in conveying their
ideas into writing, restructuring sentences, building research arguments and lack of
writing skills. Aside from academic writing, the respondents stated that ‘individual
problems’, ‘personal problems’, ‘research method and techniques’ and ‘supervision’
are among the main issues and challenges that they encounter during their study.
Further, the respondents provided suggestions and expectations to the faculty to
assist them in their research. Following the inquiry on issues and challenges as well
as suggestions, the faculty has taken a number of initiatives to support the research
students. One of the remarkable initiatives is the implementation of the Graduate
Researches in Print (GRiP) program to assist students in academic writing with an
effective support group among their peers. The faculty has also implemented a
number of workshops and seminars at the faculty level. The research students were
strongly encouraged to attend programs, seminars and workshops organized by the
Institute of Graduate Study (IGS), libraries and others. This study concludes that
exploring students’ feedback on the issues and challenges as well as their
suggestions and expectations is an effective way to design and implement initiatives
and programs to support and assist them in their research journey. This can be
considered as one of the best initiatives taken by the faculty to support research
students, boost research culture and continuously encourage students to produce
sound and quality research.

Keywords: Issues and challenges, academic writing, FSPPP’s Graduate

Researchers in Print (GRiP),
 220

INTRODUCTION

Universities in Malaysia, regardless of their status in terms of research,

focused or comprehensive universities are expected to focus substantially on
‘research, publications, innovation and commercialization’ as one of the main
agendas of the Malaysian higher institutions. While there are many initiatives and
approaches that have been undertaken in an attempt to boost research in the
Malaysian public universities, emphasis on enrolling and graduating postgraduate
research students is also recognized as one of the strategies to promote more
research being undertaken and subsequently support universities to meet the MyRA
KPI for Malaysian University and finally increase the university status in QS Ranking
Universities. Therefore, the contribution of research students to the university through
their research work cannot be undermined. In some international universities,
research students are recognized as pertinent and highly valued members. However,
they are facing various issues and challenges in their study and their voices are less
heard by universities (McAlpine & Norton, 2006; Golde, 2000). Similarly, this situation
also occurs in Malaysia.
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) reported high drop-outs and dismissed
cases among their postgraduate research students (A Majid, Mohd Shukor & Radzi,
2010). Among the reasons identified for the poor performance and high drop-outs
rate include attitudinal and physical challenges faced by the postgraduate research
students. If this situation persists and not effectively addressed by the university, it
will lead to more impactful consequences such as poor quality of research, poor
university reputation and status. Further, the students who are unable to complete
their studies within the stipulated time will become a burden to the university. A study
conducted by Smallwood (2004) states that one university can save up to one million
dollars a year if they can reduce the number of over-enroll students. Hence,
universities should pay substantial attention to improve the completion rates of their
research students while simultaneously maintaining their research quality.
The Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies (Fakulti Sains
Pentadbiran dan Pengajian Polisi – FSPPP) also faces a major problem in research
completion among their postgraduate students. Since 2006 until 2016, FSPPP
enrolled 146 Masters by research students. However, only 16 students completed
their study (10.9%). Meanwhile, 56 Ph.D students were enrolled in FSPPP and
merely only 6 students graduated (10.7%). The completion rate for research students
in FSPPP for both Masters (AM780) and Ph.D (AM990) programs are very low,
considering a number of factors such as: high drop-outs, additional commitments,
lengthy students’ candidature and many others. Poor performance and completion
rates among postgraduate research students in FSPPP have triggered immediate
extensive action at the faculty level. There is a need to apprehend the issues and
challenges faced by the research students and following their feedback, strategies
should be formulated to design specific programs and initiatives that are tailored to
their needs. This paper argues that by listening to their voices and concerns, the root
causes can be identified and subsequently techniques can be implemented to assist
and support the students and their research work—this can be considered as the
best approach to improve the completion rate and enhance the research culture
among FSPPP postgraduate research students.
 221

LITERATURE REVIEW

The importance of research to the universities, nation and the entire platform
of education is undeniable—research can explore new ideas, understand issues and
phenomena, solve problems, develop new and relevant curriculum and many others.
For these reasons, research has become an important agenda focused on by
universities in Malaysia and in many parts of the world. In 2016, there were five
Research Universities (RU) in Malaysia that highly emphasized on research,
publication, innovation and commercialization: Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti
Putra Malaysia (UPM; Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). However, other public
universities in Malaysia (focused and comprehensive universities) are also expected
to focus on research and publication. This is evident since higher educational reforms
in Malaysia in the year 1990s and early 2000s, many college universities in Malaysia
have been upgraded to the university status, that is, for instance, Institut Teknologi
MARA which undergone a major restructuring and changed its status and name to
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) in 1999 (UiTM official UiTM, 2017). In addition,
Institut Perguruan Sultan Idris upgraded to Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris (UPSI) in
1997 (UPSI official website, 2016) and Institut Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn upgraded
to Universiti Tun Hussein Onn in 2000 (UTHM official website, 2017). The
reformation of Malaysia’s higher education during that era subsequently has led to
the development of higher education, including the emphasis on research university
status since 2006. Since then, universities have begun to promote research as one of
their main agendas of the Malaysian higher institution and the country. A similar
wave of higher educational reformation occurs in other countries as well. That is, for
instance, a number of institutions in Australia such as teacher colleges, institutes of
technology, colleges of advanced education was upgraded to the university status in
the 1980s and 1990s (Ebutt, 2002). Following these movements, Australian
universities have given more emphasis on research activities and building research
cultures (Ebutt, 2002).
There were a number of initiatives undertaken by universities to emphasize
on research and promote research culture, such as securing research grants and
consultancies (at the national and international levels), conduct multi-disciplinary
research, publish the outcome of research in high-impact journals and research
books, sharing new ideas with other scholars through conferences and seminars and
many others. Notably, many universities in Malaysia and in other countries have
given high attention on enrolling research students at Master, Ph.D and also at Post
Doctorate level, as one of the strategies to drive research agenda and enhance
research excellence. In early 2000s, research students were expected by the
university to learn how to conduct a systematic research enquiry in any field and
extend or add new ideas to the body of knowledge (Mutula, 2009). However, in
recent years, research students are acknowledged by the university not only for their
contribution in research, but also their contribution to the university and country. This
can prominently be seen in assessing the QS World University Ranking and meeting
the MyRA KPI (Malaysian Research Assessment Instruments score and KPI for each
Malaysian university)—in terms of quantity6 and quality7 of postgraduates. In other
words, research students are among the important assets for any university and
country.
Although research students are recognized as important and highly valued
members, however, they face various issues and challenges in their study and their
voices are less heard by the university (McAlpine & Norton, 2006; Golde, 2000).

6
Quantity of postgraduate students include: number of PhD graduated including MD; number of Ph.D enrollment;
postgraduate enrollment and percentage of postgraduate students.
7
Quality of postgraduate students include: fellowships or grants awarded to postgraduates via research mode.
 222

Hence, this paper argues that universities need to treat research students equally
and appropriately as they are among the major contributors to the university and the
country through their research work—this can be implemented through
understanding their situation, listening to their voices (issues and challenges faced)
and providing support and solutions to the plights they face. Among the recognized
issues and challenges faced by research students in the world include academic
writing (Barbeiro, Pereira & Carvalho, 2015; Carvalho 2012; Bair & Mader 2013;
Mehar Singh, 2005; Shafie et al. 2010; Othman & Abu Bakar, 2009); getting support
(Gonzales, 2015); feeling of isolation (Woodford, 2005); managing supervisor-
supervisee relationship (Hotlman and Mukwada, 2014; Ezebilo, 2012; Butler 2011;
Wisker, 2001); poor supervision (Ezebilo, 2012; Mutula, 2009; Wisker, 2001);
inadequate facilities (Mutula, 2009); inconsistent postgraduate research guidelines
(Mutula, 2009); conducting inter-disciplinary research (Golde & Gallagher, 1999);
balancing work and lifestyles (Woodford, 2005), and many others.
While identifying many challenges of postgraduate research students, Mutulla
(2009) categorized the challenges into three: (1) research capacity – the availability
of research facilities and trained human personnel; (2) research utility – how the
research outcomes relate to the national development agenda; and (3) research
productivity – refers to the optimization of the resources available to enhance the
quality of research. The author suggested intervention initiatives to be undertaken to
minimize the challenges faced by the research students (Mutulla, 2009). Another
study undertaken by A Majid, Mohd Shukor and Radzi (2010) in Universiti Teknologi
MARA (UiTM) states that research students in UiTM face attitudinal challenges
(obstacles in their study, new research area and insufficient research experience)
and physical challenges (inclusive of lack of support from family members, financial
issues and working commitment). These challenges lead to poor performance and
higher number of drop-outs or dismissed cases among postgraduate research
students in UiTM.
Among all the challenges and difficulties, academic writing is believed to be
one of the main challenges faced by research students all over the world (Barbeiro,
Pereira & Carvalho, 2015; Bair & Mader 2013). There are many perspectives when
discussing the challenges in academic writing highlighted by many scholars. These
include: academic writing across cultures (Mohan & Lo, 1985; Hellen, 1994);
academic writing problems and challenges (Casanave & Hubbard, 1992; Biber &
Gray, 2010; Wisker, 2001); interaction and voice in academic writing (Mastuda &
Trady, 2007; Thompson, 2001); peer support, feedback, motivation, academic writing
(Kirchhoff, 2016; Bickford, 2015; Amstrong, 2015); support for academic writing
(Kirchhoff, 2016; Brodensen et al., 2016; Bickford, 2015; Amstrong, 2015; Cuthbert &
Spark, 2008), and many others.
While the above discussion focuses on the challenges and difficulties faced
by postgraduate research students, many literature have moved towards researching
the best approach, mechanisms and research tools to support research students.
Among the actions or initiatives undertaken to minimize the challenges faced by
research students include: conduct seminars and workshops (Mutula, 2009);
providing regular reports of progress (Mutula, 2008); producing an annual report of
postgraduate students’ achievements (Mutula, 2008; Holdaway et al., 1995);
providing access to internal and external funding (Ismail & Abiddin, 2009); the
development of writing centre with peer tutoring, feedback and experiences
(Kirchhoff, 2016; Bickford 2015; Amstrong, 2015); conducting thesis writing
workshops (Raisig & Vode, 2016; Nzekwe-Excel, 2015; Cuthbert & Spark, 2008);
improving curriculum (Bair & Mader, 2013); and many others. These are among the
best practices that can be applied in assisting research students in UiTM generally
and FSPPP particularly. However, this can be effectively implemented if their voices
and concerns are heard by the university at all levels. This is the gap that this paper
attempts to fill—scrutinizing the issues and challenges faced by postgraduate
 223

students and design specific programs tailored to their needs to promote research
culture.

METHODOLOGY

This study adopts the qualitative research method, using verbal and written
interviews among the postgraduate research students. The main aim of applying the
qualitative method is to derive in-depth feedback from the respondents regarding the
issue and challenges they have faced during their study, challenges in academic
writing and finally exploring their expectations and suggestions to the faculty to
provide support to enhance their research journey.
Two qualitative approaches are utilized to maximize the feedback from the
respondents: (1) semi-structured verbal interviews; and (2) semi-structured written
interviews. The respondents who were among full time students and available on the
campus were interviewed face to face. While part time and full time students who
were not available were encouraged to respond in written via online open ended
questions. The decision to collect data from these two approaches is also due to the
preferences of the respondents to provide their responses. Written interviews were
found more convenient for the respondents—they can respond at any time and any
place, they feel more secure and have privacy to respond and they feel more
confident to voice out their feedback. Notably, both verbal and written interviews
used the same questions to ensure consistency of the respondents’ feedback from
both approaches.
The data collection for this study was undertaken within two months (October
– November 2015). Findings from the verbal and written interviews were analyzed
and presented according to the main themes of this study.

FINDINGS

A total number of 19 postgraduate research students participated in this

study. Three respondents provided their feedback through verbal interviews and the
remaining 16 respondents preferred written interviews to voice their responses. This
paper presents the findings of this study based on key themes: (1) Profile of
respondents, (2) Issue and challenges faced during the study; (3) Challenges in
academic writing; and (4) Expectations and suggestions to enhance the research
journey.

Profile of Respondents

The findings of this study reveal that the majority of the respondents were
female (15 respondents) and another four were male. Their age groups were: 25
years and below (11 respondents), 26 to 30 years old (3 respondents), 31 to 40
years old (4 respondents) and one participant aged above 50 years.
In terms of the research program enrolled, nine out of 16 respondents were
among those who enrolled in Master of Administrative Science (AM780) program and
another seven were among the PhD candidates. Slightly more than three quarter of
the respondents were enrolled as full time students and only four of them were
studying part time (Refer Table 1).
While most of the respondents were among full time students (15
respondents), however, only seven respondents indicated that they were not working
and all of them were sponsored by scholarship bodies such as the Public Service
Department (JPA), Ministry of Higher Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA and
others. The remaining full time students (8 respondents) have to self-finance their
 224

education themselves or obtain financial support from their families or relatives.

Further, three respondents indicated that they applied for loans to support their
postgraduate education.
As presented in Table 1, the findings of this study also revealed that nine
students were among those who are at the early stage of doing a research proposal
(preparing chapter one to three). Four respondents have completed their pre-defence
of research proposal (Pre-DRP), two respondents have gone through defence of
proposal (DRP) and another two (2) respondents were at the data collection stage.

Table 1: Profile of Respondents (N=19)

Number of
Characteristics Percentage (%)
Respondents
Gender
Male 4 21.1
Female 15 78.9
Age
25 years and below 11 57.9
26 – 30 years old 3 15.8
31 – 40 years old 4 21.1
40 – 50 years old 0 0.0
51 years old and above 1 5.2
Program
Master of Administrative Science (AM780) 11 57.9
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 8 42.1
Mode of study
Full time 15 78.9
Part time 4 21.1
Year of study
Year 1 (Semester 1 and 2) 6 31.6
Year 2 (Semester 3 and 4) 3 15.8
Year 3 (Semester 5 and 6) 7 36.8
Year 4 (Semester 7 and 8) 3 15.8
Employment status
Not working 10 52.7
Working part time 2 10.5
Working full time 3 15.8
Free lance 2 10.5
Others 2 10.5
Study finance
Self-finance 9 47.4
Scholarship 7 36.8
Study loan 3 15.8
Study progress
Early stage of preparing a proposal (Chapter
9 47.4
1, 2 and 3).
Pre-defence of Proposal 4 21.1
Defence of Proposal 2 10.5
Data collection 2 10.5
Pre-viva 0 0.0
Viva voce 0 0.0
Others 2 10.5
Issues and Challenges Faced during theSstudy

The first question asked to the respondents was whether they have faced any
issues or challenges during their study—all respondents stated that they have faced
 225

challenges during their study. Among the challenges faced by the FSPPP’s research
students were:
1) Academic writing [9]—difficulties in conveying the ideas into writing at PhD
level, restructuring sentences, writing skills, writing chapter one and five,
academic argument.
2) Research method and techniques [6]—reading literature, selecting the right
method, searching research gaps, analyzing relevant information from
journals, working/refining thesis title.
3) Individual problem [6]—self-discipline, staying motivated, planning (working
plan), hard to give commitment, focus on research, time management.
4) Process and procedure [4]—Pre-DRP, DRP, Pre-VIVA and VIVA.
5) University support [2]—UiTM library distance, limited library resources,
limited access to the current data/sources.
6) English language [2]—communicating in English, language barriers.
7) Supervision [2]—cannot get along with supervisors, meeting supervisors.
8) Programs/workshop/seminars [1]—little exposure to research at a higher
degree.
9) Research area [1]—controversial research area/investigation.
10) Data collection [1]—getting adequate responses.
11) Personal problem [1]—house chores, family member activities,
neighborhood commitment, bedridden mum.
Note: Number in [ ] refers to the number of respondents who indicated the
response/responses.

The respondents were further requested to state their main

challenge/challenges they have faced during their study and their responses include:
1) Academic writing [7]—writing a good thesis, conclusion, academic
argument, writing a sound chapter, writing skills, difficulties in conveying the
ideas into writing at PhD level.
2) Individual problem [5]—time for work and study, time management, self-
motivation, time, study and working, time to concentrate on writing.
3) Personal problem [3]—bedridden mum, family commitments, commitment.
4) Research method and technique [2]—finding the right journals and
methodology, do not know how to research (dig) as suggested by supervisor
(research skills).
5) Supervision [1]—supervisor shifting (changing supervisor).
Note: Number in [ ] refers to the number of respondents who indicated the
response/responses.

Following the questions on issues, challenges and the main challenges faced
during their study, the respondents were asked about how they overcome the
challenges. The feedback from the respondents are listed below:
1) Efforts taken at individual level [12]—focus more and spend more time to
do research, keep motivating oneself despite slow writing progress, have self-
discipline (wake up early, go to nearest libraries of other universities, separate
time for families, neighbors and other commitments), stay late night at the
library, do more reading and find appropriate materials, spend time wisely,
stay focused and find specialists of the field to nominate the next supervisor,
positive thinking), self-monitoring and seek help, push oneself to do it, force
oneself to put extra effort, read explanations from books and other sources
from the internet).
2) Supervisors [3]—corrections made by supervisors, support of supervisors,
supervisors’ assistance in writing and critical thinking.
3) Friends [2]—ask other postgraduate students regarding processes and
procedures, inquire senior PhD students from FSPPP and other universities.
 226

4) Faculty [1]—get a new supervisor.

5) External support and assistance [1]—proofreading services.
6) Refer other thesis [1]—refer previous thesis.
7) Program/workshop/seminars [1]—attend IGS workshop).
Note: Number in [ ] refers to the number of respondents who indicated the
response/responses.

Challenges in Academic Writing

This study specifically asks the respondents whether ‘academic writing’ is one
of their main challenges in conducting research. The findings reveal that eighteen
(18) respondents agreed with the question and only (1) participant felt that academic
writing was not one of the challenges she has faced while completing her thesis.
Following the question, the respondents were asked about the reasons as to why
academic writing has become one of their major challenges. The responses are as
follows:
1) Academic writing skills and techniques [13]—difficult, to relate findings
and theories, difficulties in delivering/conveying ideas, many errors in writing,
writing an appropriate and convincing thesis, academic writing requires more
knowledge and references, have to refer to many literatures, paraphrasing the
writing, time consuming to create proper statements in thesis, non-
acquaintance components of any kinds of academic writing.
2) Language (English) [2]—language barriers, language proficiency.
Note: Number in [ ] refers to the number of respondents who indicated the
response/responses.

The respondents were further asked about aspect/aspects of academic

writing that they would like to improve on and their responses are listed below:
1) Academic writing [11]—to relate theories and findings, write analysis and
conclusion, literature review, problem statement, methodology, academic
argument, making thesis more readable, everything, overall writing.
2) Styles of writing [5]—flow of ideas, sentence structure, writing styles,
qualitative and quantitative styles of writing.
3) English and grammar [2]—grammar and sentence formation.
Note: Number in [ ] refers to the number of respondents who indicated the
response/responses.

Expectations and Suggestions to Enhance the Research Journey

Finally, the respondents were asked to provide suggestions on ways to help

or support postgraduate students to graduate on time and/or complete their studies.
Their feedback are:
1) Continuously conduct effective programs/seminars/ workshops [7]—
research method, workshop on qualitative and quantitative research
approach.
2) Process and procedure [7]—reduce complicated procedure/ revise the
process, reduce filtering sessions on defending a proposal to avoid
confusion and demotivate students’ passion in writing, make the process and
procedure much clearer, provide guidelines/schedule for the students to
follow, milestones for students to follow and students must have pre-defence
and defence of proposal in semester two.
3) Person in charge/mentor [3]—other than allocating students with
supervisors and research workshops, can the faculty provide us with
personal advisor/mentor who can be reached at any time? […] considering
supervisors’ busy schedule […] we need someone who we can talk to and
 227

listen to our research and doubts […]; push the students to achieve their
target; continuous guidance to proposal/academic writing, defense and viva
preparation.
4) Supervisor [3]—good supervisor support and supervisors who know what to
propose; provide consultation on writing and analysis on a regular basis.
5) Facilities [2]—conducive place, materials etc.
6) Motivation [1]
Note: Number in [ ] refers to the number of respondents who indicated the
response/responses.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The FSPPP’s postgraduate research students have faced a wide range of

issues and challenges in their study. The findings of this study reveal that more than
half of the respondents indicated that ‘academic writing’ was the main issue and
challenge faced in their study. Among the challenges faced in academic writing
include: difficulties in conveying their ideas into writing, restructuring sentences,
building research arguments and lack of writing skills. Notably, academic writing is
identified as one of the main challenges faced by Malaysian students (Mehar Singh,
2015; Shafie et al., 2010; Othman & Abu Bakar, 2009) and is acknowledged as the
main challenge faced by research students all over the world (Barbeiro, Pereira &
Carvalho, 2015; Bair & Mader 2013). Aside from academic writing, the respondents
stated that ‘individual problem’, ‘personal problem’, ‘research method and technique’
and supervision’ were among the main issues and challenges in their studies. Issues
in relation to research supervision was recognized as one the main issues faced by
many scholars in the world (Hotlman & Mukwada, 2014; Ezebilo, 2012; Butler 2011;
Wisker, 2001; Mutula, 2009). Meanwhile, challenges in ‘research method and
technique’ was found consistent with the findings of a research undertaken among
postgraduate research students in UiTM (A Majid, Mohd Shukor & Radzi, 2010). The
findings of this study also reveal that more than three-quarter of the respondents
indicated that they have taken individual efforts to overcome the challenges they
faced. Some seek their supervisors’ support, get help from friends and the faculty,
get external support and services (proofreading) and attend program, seminars and
workshops related to research.
Subsequently, the respondents were asked to provide suggestions to the
faculty in assisting postgraduate research students. Their feedback includes:
continuously conduct effective programs, seminars and workshops, improve the
research process and procedures, consider allocating personal advisor/mentor that
can be easily reached, supervisors need to improve their supervision approach,
improve facilities and to continuously motivate students. Following the inquiry on
issues and challenges as well as suggestions, the faculty has taken a number of
initiatives to support the research students. One of the remarkable initiatives is the
implementation of FSPPP’s Graduate Researches in Print (GRiP) program to assist
students in academic writing with an effective support group among their peers. The
GRiP program is an effective writing support system for higher degree students
pioneered by the Arts Faculty of Monash University, Australia. This program was
introduced in March 2006 and funded by the Arts Research Graduate School,
Monash University. The GRiP program is recognized as an innovative writing
program for higher degree students (by research) at the Arts Faculty and has
achieved remarkable success for its respondents (Monash University, 2010). The
GRiP program helps to improve academic writing, in particularly: thesis writing,
friendly support from co-ordinator and peer groups’ feedback. The support provided
during the workshop series has helped to hasten the writing process and these help
students to submit their thesis on time.
 228

The faculty, with approval and support from the Academic Affairs Division,
managed to invite Dr. Kate Cregan, a GRiP Co-ordinator from the Faculty of Arts,
Monash University, Australia to the faculty on 23rd to 25th November 2015, to conduct
GRiP workshops among FSPPP’s research students and publication workshops
among the staff. Following this, GRiP-FSPPP was officially implemented on 10th
March 2016, involving two groups of students: Master (8 students) and Ph.D (8
students). Currently, GRiP-FSPPP has been implemented more than 8 months and
has shown significant improvement in supporting the research students in their thesis
writing, research progress as well as research completion.
The faculty has also implemented a number of workshops and seminars such
as qualitative workshops, using Mendeley as an effective citation and referencing tool
and workshops on writing for publication. The research students are strongly
encouraged to attend programs, seminars and workshops organized by the Institute
of Graduate Study (IGS), libraries and others. Among the programs and workshops
they have participated are inclusive of library search techniques, endnote as a tool
for citation and referencing through SPSS workshops, Smart-PLS (Partial Least
Square) statistical workshops and many others. Conducting seminars and workshops
are among the most effective initiatives undertaken by many universities in other
countries (Raisig & Vode, 2016; Nzekwe-Excel, 2015; Mutula, 2009; Cuthbert &
Spark, 2008).
This study concludes that exploring students’ feedback on the issues and
challenges as well as their suggestions to the faculty is an effective way to design
and implement initiatives and programs to support and assist them in their research
journey. This can be considered as one of the best efforts taken by the faculty to
support research students, boost research culture and continuously encourage the
students to produce sound and quality research. However, to effectively enhance
research completion and promote research culture in UiTM, aligned with the National
Higher Education Strategic Plan 2020, all parties need to play and carry out their
roles and responsibility respectively—individual level (students, supervisors), faculty
level (programs, workshops, support, clear processes and procedures), university
level (graduate school, for example, the Institute of Graduate Research (IGS), UiTM,
Research Institutes and Centres) and finally, at national level (clear policies by the
Ministry of Higher Institution, support provided, etc.). This will apparently ensure a
holistic approach of promoting a profound and comprehensive research culture in
UiTM and other universities.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This paper would like to acknowledge Professor Sr. Ir. Dr. Hj. Suhaimi Abd Talib,
Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic and International Affairs, Academic Affairs
Division, Universiti Teknologi MARA for the approval and support to conduct the
GRiP program at FSPPP, Dr. Kate Cregan, Faculty of Arts, Monash University for her
valuable insights and contribution during her visit to FSPPP, and last but not least,
Siti Nur Fathanah Abd Hamid and Aslinda Ramely for their research assistant work.

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Enhancing the Effectiveness of FSPPP’s Graduate

Researchers in Print (GRiP) through a Holistic and
Comprehensive Research Ecosystem Framework: A Pathway
to Promote Research Excellence among Postgraduate
Students
Dr. Yarina Ahmad
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
yarina@salam.uitm.edu.my

Professor Dr. Posiah Mohd Isa

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
posiah@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

FSPPP’s Graduate Researchers in Print (GRiP) is a program designed to support

research students in their academic writing, particularly thesis writing. This program
is an emulation of the GRiP program introduced by the Faculty of Arts, Monash
University, Australia. At present, the GRiP program is widely implemented in many
Australian universities as it has been proven to be effective in assisting research
students in their thesis writing and research completion. The FSPPP-GRiP program
has been officially implemented since 10th March 2016, with a number of 16
participants: 8 Master and 8 Ph.D. students. After six months of the program
implementation, the participants were interviewed to gather their feedback regarding
the program’s effectiveness at three different levels: individual level, peer support
and assistance from the GRiP’s coordinator. The findings of this study reveal that the
participants have marked significant improvement at the individual level which can be
seen from their academic writing (amount, quality, and improvement in writing skills
and techniques), which has increased their study commitment, improved their
communication repertoire alongside acted as a driving factor in propelling the
participants to complete their study on time. The effectiveness of the GRiP program
can also be seen from the peer support level. Peers and their research progress are
recognized as benchmarks for other GRiP participants. They learn from each other’s
experiences (process and procedures, formatting, referencing, style of writing, writing
techniques and structure), as well as obtaining support and motivation to complete
their study. Learning from peers has made them feel less stressful and lonely in
conducting their research. Notably, the role of the GRiP coordinator is prominently
effective in facilitating discussions among GRiP participants, verifying the information
and feedback from the participants, advising the participants about process and
procedures and continuously support and motivate the participants to produce a
sound thesis and complete their studies on time. This study concludes that the
effectiveness of the GRiP program can be seen from individual, peer and coordinator
levels. To further enhance research culture among students at the faculty, a holistic
framework of the GRiP ecosystem is proposed. To excel in research, all parties have
pertinent roles in assisting and supporting research students in their research
journey—this can only be achieved through a holistic and comprehensive research
ecosystem framework as proposed in this study.
 233

Keywords: Effectiveness, FSPPP’s Graduate Researchers in Print (GRiP), research

ecosystem framework, research excellence

INTRODUCTION

As Malaysia aims to achieve 60,000 Ph.D. holders to fulfill national goals by

2020 (The Sun Daily, 21 July 2014), this target has become a great challenge to all
universities in Malaysia. There are many issues encircling postgraduate research
students which are faced by many universities around the world. Among the issues
and challenges are inclusive of: non-completion rates (Council of Graduate Schools,
2016; Smallwood, 2004); obtaining support (Gonzales, 2015); challenges in
academic writing (Barbeiro, Pereira & Carvalho, 2015; Bair & Mader, 2013; Carvalho,
2012; Mehar Singh, 2015; Shafie et al., 2010; Othman & Abu Bakar, 2009). Similarly,
academic writing is recognized as one of the main challenges faced by postgraduate
research students in Malaysian universities (Mehar Singh, 2015; Shafie et al., 2010;
Othman & Abu Bakar, 2009) and this is one of the evident aspects which hinders
their completion and over-enrolled rates (Ismail & Abiddin, 2009).
A study conducted by A Majid, Mohd Shukor & Radzi (2010) reveals a high
drop-out rate and dismissed cases due to attitudinal and physical challenges faced
by postgraduate research students. The drop-out and dismissed cases rate are also
high in the Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies (Fakulti Sains
Pentadbiran dan Pengajian Polisi – FSPPP). FSPPP has two research programs
which were introduced in 2006: Master of Administrative Science (AM780); Doctor of
Philosophy in Administrative Science (AM990). Since 2006 until 2016, only 16 out of
146 students (10.9%) who enrolled in master program have completed their studies.
Meanwhile, out of 56 Ph.D. students enrolled in FSPPP, only 6 students have
graduated (10.7%). In other words, the completion-enrollment student ratio for both
master and Ph.D. programs in FSPPP is approximately 1:10. The low performance
and completion rates among postgraduate research students in FSPPP have
triggered immediate action to been taken at the faculty level—to explore the issues
and challenges faced by FSPPP’s postgraduate research students and design
specific programs targeted to their needs.
One of the prominent initiatives implemented for FSPPP’s postgraduate
research students is the Graduate Researches in Print (GRiP) program. FSPPP’s
GRiP program is an emulation of the program from the Arts Research Graduate
School, Monash University, Australia. GRiP is recognized as an innovative writing
program for higher degree students (by research) at the Arts Faculty and has
achieved remarkable success in its respondents (Monash University, 2010). The
GRiP program helps to improve academic writing, in particular, thesis writing, through
friendly support from co-ordinator and peer groups’ feedback. The support provided
during the workshop series has helped to hasten the writing process and motivate
students to submit their thesis on time.
The FSPPP’s GRiP program was implemented on 10th March 2016 involving
two groups of students: Master (8 students); Ph.D. (8 students). Notably, the
implementation of the GRiP program has shown significant improvement in
supporting the research students in their thesis writing, research progress as well as
research completion—as of January 2017, one master student has graduated on
time, five Ph.D. students and one master student have passed the defence of
research proposal (DRP) and six Master students will be submitting their thesis for
examination. Notwithstanding the significant improvement on research progress and
completion among postgraduate research students; this paper argues that a holistic
framework of the GRiP ecosystem is needed to further enhance research culture
among students at FSPPP and UiTM. This proposed idea is aligned with the Council
of Graduate Schools (2016) which suggests a number of recommendations that
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require immediate attention from vital parties particularly at university and faculty
levels. It is hoped that the GRiP program and its framework will continue to support
students to excel in their research journey.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) Malaysia aims to achieve 60,000

Ph.D. holders in fulfillment of our national goals by 2020 (The Sun Daily, 21 July
2014). This target is aligned with the country’s main agenda to reach a developed
nation status through the development of human capital and talent as stated in the
Tenth Malaysian Plan (2010-2015) and the Government Transformation Plan. To
achieve this target, universities play important roles in increasing the postgraduate
research students’ enrollment. For this reason, the government, through MoHE, has
implemented the MyBrain 15 program which provides scholarships and allowances
for postgraduate research students who are enrolled in Malaysian universities. Other
than providing financial assistance, the MyBrain 15 program also aims to increase
the national competency and capacity for higher level research and innovation (The
Sun Daily, 21 July 2014). This portrays Malaysia’s serious attention in boosting their
human capital through research and innovation. Hence, the postgraduate research
students are expected to produce a quality and sound research outcome that can be
utilized for development and improvement.
In fulfilling the research agenda through the emphasis on postgraduate
research students, Malaysian universities are facing a number of challenges and
dilemmas. Many universities are cognizant that postgraduate research students are
among the assets to their universities. However, they will transform into burdens to
the university if they attribute to high non-completion rates. According to Smallwood
(2004), one university can save up to one million dollars a year if they can reduce the
rate of non-completion and over-enrollment of students. Therefore, universities
should not only strategize to increase the number of postgraduate research students;
but most importantly, universities also need to emphasize on ensuring research
students to complete their study. Another pertinent issue related to enhancing the
completion rate among postgraduate students is graduating on time (GOT). These
three aspects: postgraduate research students’ enrollment; research completion; and
GOT are circumstantial not only in achieving KPIs for MyRA and QS World University
Ranking but most importantly, it will contribute to the society and country in terms of
enhancing human capital and talent development.
The completion rate among postgraduate research students in Malaysia is
very low. The statistics in 2005 shows that on average, the postgraduate research
students who enroll in master program complete their study within 2.96 years and
Ph.D. students complete their study within 4.84 years (Ismail & Abiddin, 2009).
Notably, research completion for each master student is double than the minimum
study duration (1 year and 6 months). Meanwhile, a Ph.D. student who is supposed
to complete their study within a minimum of 3 years, need to spend another 1 year
and 10 months to obtain a Ph.D. If this situation persists, it will affect students,
universities and the country, particularly in terms of financial implications, university
reputation and status. According to the Council of Graduate Schools (2016), research
non-completion especially among Ph.D. students will become a burden not only for
the students, but also for the university and the country. Whether the students
complete or do not complete their study, each and every research student represents
a substantial investment in terms of time, intellectual resources as well as public and
private money (Council of Graduate Schools, 2016). This apparently proves that
postgraduate research programs are expensive ventures. Therefore, by ensuring
study completion, it will help to improve the return on investment (ROI) of the student,
university and country.
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There are many reasons for non-completion and over-enrolled postgraduate

research students in universities. One of the reasons is because of the issues,
challenges and dilemmas faced by the postgraduate research students. Researchers
agree that university pay less attention on the research students’ voices (McAlpine &
Norton, 2006; Golde, 2000). Due to this reason, research students continue to face
problem during their study and become demotivated which will negatively affect their
study completion. Postgraduate research students face a wide range of issues and
challenges such as academic writing, attaining support, feeling isolated, managing
supervisor-supervisee relationship, poor supervision, inadequate facilities, balancing
work and lifestyles and many others (Barbeiro, Pereira & Carvalho, 2015; Gonzales,
2015; Hotlman & Mukwada, 2014; Bair & Mader 2013; Ezebilo, 2012; Carvalho 2012;
Butler 2011; Shafie et al. 2010; Othman & Abu Bakar, 2009; Mutula, 2009; Woodford,
2005; Mehar Singh, 2005; Wisker, 2001). Among all the challenges and difficulties,
academic writing is believed to be one of the main challenges faced by research
students all over the world (Barbeiro, Pereira & Carvalho, 2015; Bair & Mader 2013).
There are many perspectives in discussing the challenges in academic writing
highlighted by many scholars and these include: academic writing across cultures;
academic writing problems and challenges; support for academic writing; peer
support; feedback; motivation and others (Kirchhoff, 2016; Brodensen et al., 2016;
Bickford, 2015; Amstrong, 2015; Bickford, 2015; Amstrong, 2015; Biber & Gray,
2010; Cuthbert & Spark, 2008; Wisker, 2001; Hellen, 1994; Casanave & Hubbard,
1992; Mohan & Lo, 1985).
In confronting the challenges with regards to postgraduate research students,
many universities have developed strategies to provide necessary support and
assistance to the students. Among the actions or initiatives undertaken to minimize
the obstacles faced by research students in dealing with their academic writing
include: conduction of seminars and workshops (Mutula, 2009); the development of
writing centres with peer tutoring; feedback and experiences (Kirchhoff, 2016;
Bickford 2015; Amstrong, 2015); conduction of thesis writing workshops (Raisig &
Vode, 2016; Nzekwe-Excel, 2015; Cuthbert & Spark, 2008); improving curriculum
(Bair & Mader, 2013); and many others. One comprehensive study undertaken by the
Council of Graduate Schools (2016) suggests a number of recommendations to
support research students and improving doctoral completion in a university. The
recommendations focus specifically on university and faculty roles: (1) proactive
leadership; (2) providing the faculty with needed data; (3) respecting the uniqueness
of each program and accepting that inevitable changes occur at the program-level;
(4) Programs must select the right students; (5) programs must facilitate positive
student-faculty relationships; and (6) programs must encourage student
cohesiveness. This means, to support postgraduate research students, there is no
single substantial initiative that the faculty and university should rely on. This
responsibility requires effective cooperation and collaboration from many parties at all
levels. This is the gap that this paper attempts to fill—implementing a program called
GRiP, to support postgraduate research students in their academic writing and finally
propose a holistic and comprehensive research ecosystem framework to further
enhance research culture and improve research completion in FSPPP, UiTM.

METHODOLOGY

This study adopts the qualitative research method through interviews with 14
postgraduate research students who participated in the GRiP program. The main aim
of this study is to explore the participants’ feedback on the effectiveness of the GRiP
program. Hence, the participants were asked about the program’s implementation at
three different levels: individual level; peer support; and assistance from GRiP
coordinator. The data collection for this study was completed within a two-week
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period (15 – 27 August 2016). Notably, the interviews were conducted six months
after the participants have undergone eight sessions of GRiP workshops. The
interview sessions were conducted face-to-face which took approximately 15 to 20
minutes for each participant. The findings of the interviews were transcribed and
analyzed according to the main themes of this study: (1) impact of the GRiP
programme at individual level; (2) the importance of peer support during the GRiP
programme; and (3) the assistance of GRiP coordinator in facilitating the program.
The findings of this study were presented in a narrative form according to the main
themes. For the purpose of protecting the identity of the participants, pseudonyms
were applied to represent each participant.

FINDINGS

The presentation of the findings of this study focuses on four aspects: (1)
profile of the participants; (2) impact of the GRiP program at individual level; (3) the
importance of peer support during the GRiP program; and (4) the assistance of GRiP
coordinator in facilitating the programme.

Profile of Participants

As indicated earlier, this study was undertaken after six months of

implementation of the GRiP program. Out of the total 14 participants, 13 were female
and only one male GRiP participant participated in the interviews. The majority of the
participants were aged below 30 years (11 participants – 78.6%). Ten full time
students participated in the interviews and the remaining were part-time students.
The GRiP program is designed for full time students; however, students who enrolled
as part-time students and are not working or working part time were allowed to join
the GRiP program. Eight participants were those enrolled in the Master of
Administrative Science (AM780) program and the remaining six participants were
among Doctor of Philosophy candidates. Five of the participants received
scholarships from government agencies such as from the Public Service Department
(Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam-JPA) and MyBrain15 from the Ministry of Higher
Education. The remaining nine participants did not receive any scholarship and they
self-finance their study. Among the 14 participants who participated in the interviews,
two Ph.D. candidates have passed their defence of research proposal (DRP) and
currently in the process of data collection. Another three Ph.D. students and one
Master student have passed their pre-defence of research proposal (Pre-DRP—the
faculty requirement) – four students passed Pre-DRP within seven months of their
enrolment and one student within one year and two months enrolment. Six GRiP
participants (Master) are currently at their final stage of preparing their thesis draft for
final submission. Notably, one Master student who participated in the GRiP program
has managed to graduate on time—submitted her thesis within one year and four
months duration and graduated in January 2017.
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Table 1: Profile of Respondents (N=14)

Number of Percentage
Characteristics
Participants (%)
Gender
Male 1 7.2
Female 13 92.8
Age
25 years and below 7 50.0
26 – 30 years old 4 28.6
31 – 40 years old 3 21.4
40 – 50 years old 0 0.0
51 years old and above 0 0.0
Program
Master of Administrative Science (AM780) 8 57.1
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 6 42.9
Mode of study
Full time 10 71.4
Part time 4 28.6
Year of study
Year 1 (Semester 1 and 2) 3 21.4
Year 2 (Semester 3 and 4) 3 21.4
Year 3 (Semester 5 and 6) 6 42.9
Year 4 (Semester 7 and 8) 2 14.3
Employment status
Not working 10 71.4
Working part time 3 21.4
Working full time 1 7.2
Freelance 0 0.0
Others 0 0.0
Study finance
Self-finance 9 64.3
Scholarship 5 35.7
Study loan 0 0.0
Study progress
Early stage of preparing a proposal (Chapter 1, 2 &
1 7.1
3).
Pre-Defence of Proposal 4 28.6
Defence of Proposal 0 0.0
Data collection 2 14.3
Pre-viva 6 42.9
Viva voce 0 0.0
Others 1 7.1

Impact of the GRiP Program at Individual Level

The first objective of this study is to explore whether the implementation of the
GRiP program for postgraduate research students is effective. The effectiveness of
the GRiP program can be seen through the impacts at the individual level—in terms
of their improvement in thesis writing; increase in participants’ commitment in
completing their thesis and research work; improvement in their writing styles,
structure and format; enhancement of the research progress; aim to graduate on
time; improvement of communication skills and also shape them to be a good
researcher.
The overall findings of this study reveal that the majority of GRiP participants
claimed that there is improvement in their thesis writing. They associated the
improvement in their writing with becoming more alert, understanding on how to write
a good piece of academic writing, being able to elaborate research findings further
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and attaining a lot of information during the GRiP workshops. The findings are
exemplified below:

Yes, improvement in terms of my writing […] The biggest impact of the GRiP workshop to me is a
lot of improvement in my writing. We learnt from other students’ writing; how to make comments
on others writing. This helps me to improve […] I can see a lot of improvement from day one until
the last day in the workshop (PhD 1, italicized emphasis added).

After I have joint GRiP workshop for a few months, it has improved my writing skills in academic
writing. Now, when I write something, I become alert. I already understand on how to write, read
and understand it […] Every time, I attend the GRiP workshop, I have learned lots of things to
improve my writing […] Even though my research progress is quite slow but it is still in progress
[…] (Master 3, italicized emphasis added).

There is a lot of impact to myself especially in my writing. From GRiP, I realize that my writing
style is not very good and I must improve myself. I get some ideas on how I will improve myself.
Now, I can see the improvement in my writing compared to previously […] I can see the
improvement although it does not achieve the level but almost […] (PhD 2, italicized emphasis
added).

GRiP workshop teaches me a lot to improve my thesis writing especially to cope with academic
writing […] I think I have improved a lot as compared to my first semester. Before, I was
struggling in writing and also communication. But then, GRiP workshop has helped me to
improve my thesis writing and also my communication skills between friends (Master 1, italicized
emphasis added).

It helps to improve my writing style […] Besides, it also helps me to write my research in the
findings and elaborate more on my findings in my study. I got lots of information from the GRiP
workshop. (Master 4, italicized emphasis added).

Along the process, it can improve a lot of writing styles. Now, I am in my fifth semester but since I
have joined GRiP, I have improved a lot (PhD 5, italicized emphasis added).

Through the GRiP workshop, we can be on track and improve our writing at the same time […]
(PhD 3, italicized emphasis added).

Further, the majority of the participants indicated that they have increased
their commitment doing their thesis and research work following their participation in
GRiP workshops. The participants’ feedback shows that they are committed to attend
GRiP workshop fortnightly; committed to prepare writing to be submitted and
discussed during the workshop; create more responsibility; also claimed that their
research work has become more systematic and keep their research on track; and
most importantly, the GRiP program reminds the students not to stop writing. The
participants’ feedback are presented below:

After attending the GRiP workshop, my life turned to be more systematic. We have the
commitment to come to the GRiP workshop. We know the dateline so we need to ensure our
work is done […] The impact of the GRiP workshop is to ensure our study is on track and bring
us back on the right path […] Indirectly, it gives us the commitment like we are in a relationship
with our research […] So, we are not feeling like a kite flying without a string […] (Master 6,
italicized emphasis added).

It keeps me on track. It means that when we are lazy and don’t feel like doing anything […] But,
when GRiP in next week, I will write and do my best. At least we are trying to write […] I don’t
think this is a burden to me. This is the responsibility as a student […] Currently, we don’t have
any responsibilities […] so when we wake up in the morning, we will do the research (PhD 3,
italicized emphasis added).

I give high commitment to GRiP even though I am a part-time student and working full time […]
So I can say my commitment to GRiP is high […] I want to receive positive feedback from my
friends for the sake of improvement in my study […] I want my thesis to have the value that fulfill
the criteria set by the faculty […] I hope my thesis can give impact to others (Master 4, italicized
emphasis added).
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I’m happy to join GRiP every two weeks […] Because at the end of the workshop, I will come out
with things that I have learned that was covered in the previous GRiP. In the next GRiP
workshop, I will make sure that my writing has been corrected. I will bring back to them and show
the improvement that I have made […] We should keep on track […] (Master 3, italicized
emphasis added).

In terms of writing, I think GRiP is good which indirectly forces students to prepare writing and do
something to present during GRiP […] The most important thing is our own self as a participant.
If we come with nothing then we will produce nothing […] One more thing, this kind of effort
should not be one off. It must be continuous (PhD 4, italicized emphasis added).

I know where I am compared to my friends. Friends act as benchmarks […] For example, I have
to achieve something within these six months. But, few of my friends have already achieved it
[…] So, I realize that I must work hard, even double than my friends do (PhD 6, italicized
emphasis added).

Sometimes, we feel lost and can’t do it. But when we see others (during the GRiP workshop),
they are very supportive and it boost our spirits. This makes me fight and don’t give up (PhD 2,
italicized emphasis added).

Through the GRiP workshop, it always alerts me and always reminds me not to stop writing. So,
when I go to the workshop every two weeks, I need to be consistent (PhD 1, italicized emphasis
added).

Based on the findings, this study has discovered that the participants also feel
that their writing style and techniques have improved. Subsequently, the participants
also indicated that they have learned a lot about thesis structure, thesis format as
well as the methodological aspects. The findings are exemplified below:

When we receive comments from GRiP, we know what and how to improve […] At the end, we
can write the thesis following the right format […] (PhD 3, italicized emphasis added).

The feedback that I get from the GRiP workshop is actually positive. It can improve my thesis
and my writing style […] (Master 4, italicized emphasis added).

I think this workshop has helped me a lot in improving my writing style and thesis structure […]
(PhD 5, italicized emphasis added).

I can share techniques on writing styles and how to write good with my GRiP friends […] (Master
1, italicized emphasis added).

It also helps me to get better understanding on qualitative and quantitative methods […] (Master
5, italicized emphasis added).

The participants also indicated that through GRiP workshops conducted

fortnightly, it helps to improve their research progress. This is due to the commitment
given by the participants in preparing writing for every meeting; and thus, making
them more disciplined and committed to write their thesis. The findings are presented
below:

GRiP also teaches me to work hard in achieving the same level like other students. Meaning to
say, it keeps you on track when seeing your friends already proceeding to Pre-Viva […] I feel
more confident to complete my thesis […] The GRiP workshop has helped me to improve my
thesis progress (Master 5, italicized emphasis added).
In terms of writing, I can see how to explain, expand and add ideas. It also helps to expedite my
research progress […] I become more confident (Master 7, italicized emphasis added).

After I have attended the GRiP workshop, my supervisor said that my work is good and fulfill the
requirement […] All of this I get from GRiP (PhD 2, italicized emphasis added).

When the participants feel more committed, responsible and discipline in their
study, they subsequently improve their thesis progress and aim to graduate on time.
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This is considered as a good spirit booster to be instilled among postgraduate

research students.

Yes […] It can help me to graduate on time […] In order to graduate on time, writing is one of the
important elements in research […] This is because, even though we have a point but if we don’t
convey it good, it doesn’t work […] (PhD 3, italicized emphasis added).

Yes, it can help me to graduate on time especially in terms of improvement in my writing (PhD 1,
italicized emphasis added).

It helps to boost my spirit to graduate on time […] (Master 4, italicized emphasis added).

The participants also indicated that they have improved their communication
skills as they are expected to give comments to their friends’ work in every workshop
session. The findings are exemplified below:

In the GRiP workshop, we have two ways of communication. We can get other people’s
feedback and opinions at that particular time […] So, when we have any weaknesses in our
writing, we tend to do the correction at that time […] We can also correct other friends’
weaknesses so it can be as a guideline in the future (PhD 6, italicized emphasis added).

Before, I was struggling in writing and also communicating […] But then, the GRiP workshop has
helped me to improve my thesis writing and also my communication skills between friends
(Master 1, italicized emphasis added).

Finally, one GRiP participant stated the benefits gained during the GRiP
workshop has helped the participant to be a good researcher. This is important for
the postgraduate research students especially for those who aim to be an
academician or researcher in the future.

It helps me to be a good researcher […] I also feel thankful to my colleagues because they give
their opinions on my writing style […] Now, I am in fifth semester but since I have joined GRiP, I
have improved a lot […] (PhD 5, italicized emphasis added).

The Importance of Peer Support during the GRiP Program

Peers play crucial roles during GRiP workshops—they are expected to read
their friends’ writing and also provide constructive feedback to the other participants
to be improved. During GRiP workshops, each participant is provided the opportunity
to give and receive comments regarding thesis writing. Through this practice, GRiP
participants learn a lot from each other’s comments. Some of the participants really
feel that they receive valuable comments from their friends; they learned about
writing techniques; they helped each other through sharing their knowledge and
experiences; and most importantly, they took the important comments seriously and
improve their writing—this makes them feel very happy with the improvement and
quality writing they have achieved. The findings are exemplified below:

Earlier when I first joint the GRiP workshop, I think other people are better than me. But, at the
end of this semester, I found that every one of us has our own strengths […] We complement
each other to improve our writing in terms of writing style. Sometimes, we think that it is just
simple like a format of writing. But then we realized that, the input that we share give an impact to
others’ writing including me (PhD 6, italicized emphasis added).

I think GRiP is very good […] Before this, we do not have friends to comment. We tend to write
our research recklessly. At least now, we have friends to comment and they might discover
something that we have missed. Then, we can make an improvement on certain parts […] Other
than that, we are in high spirit and want to do it again especially in the sharing session in GRiP
(Master 2, italicized emphasis added).
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I am okay to receive others’ comments. As a student, we are willing to learn. We are willing to do
everything for improvement […] I don’t mind receiving others’ (friends) comments. (It is good
when someone tells you to do the right thing. It is supposed to be like this […] The important part
is, we can improve our work (PhD 3, italicized emphasis added).

They (friends) give me many feedback […] I also improve since the first time I attended GRiP […]
I don’t know how to comment on others’ work. I don’t know how to see what is their strength and
weaknesses (in their writing). I need to improve myself to give feedback to my friends (PhD 2,
italicized emphasis added).

They (friends) are helping each other especially the senior students. They advise us. They teach
on how to improve our writing […] Sometimes, what they say is correct. If we take their advice
and improve it, I think it is even better. It makes writing better (Master 1, italicized emphasis
added).

I think that my friend’s comments are just okay […] At least, we get to know new things and what
should be done. But sometimes, we feel frustrated with them because sometimes every person
has different perspectives […] But still, it is acceptable […] (Master 6, italicized emphasis added).

I have learned from other students and the facilitator about which writing style I should follow and
make it as an example […] We learnt from other students’ writing. How to make comment on
others’ writing. This helps me to improve (PhD 1, italicized emphasis added).

Receiving feedback from friends is positive and I like it. We are still students and need to learn
[…] The feedback that I received from the GRiP workshop is actually positive. It can improve my
thesis and writing style […] (Master 4, italicized emphasis added).

GRiP also teaches me to work hard in achieving the same level like other students. My friends
give me the comments and positive feedback […] Whatever comment they give, it will help me to
learn the appropriate writing style (Master 5, italicized emphasis added).

We call it as a sharing knowledge session where we can share with peers and assume them as
our readers. They wait for our writing […] I am happy when they provide good feedback so that I
can improve my writing (Master 3, italicized emphasis added).

We have done some writing before, lots of things can be improved after the discussions with
everyone in the GRiP workshop […] We can confirm with others by getting their feedback
(Master 8, italicized emphasis added).

I also feel thankful to my friends because they provide their opinions on my writing style […] Now
I am in fifth semester but since I have joined GRiP, I have improved a lot (PhD 5, italicized
emphasis added).

Further, the participants agreed that their GRiP friends always motivate and
support each other. This is especially when they share similar problems and is able
to explore different ways to deal with the problems. Through the GRiP program, the
participants feel that they are no more alone in their research journey. The findings
are presented below:

In GRiP, we have our friends to discuss together. Our friends will share solutions to our problem.
At the same time, we can share our personal problems with them […] Personal problems is one
of the important aspects that need to be given care. If personal problems remained unresolved, it
will be difficult for a student to perform […] (PhD 6, italicized emphasis added).

Currently, when I changed my research topic like the previous time, I really do not know what I
should do with the legalization topic […] But when I submitted a full piece writing on chapter 1
and ask my friends to read and understand it, they gave good feedback and now I see what
should I do with my topic […] Everyone have read and made me feel like I am doing the right
research (Master 7, italicized emphasis added).

At this level, we have friends that do more or less the same topic like us. But, it is good because
generally, they will give feedback on writing […] We can complement each other […] GRiP is a
meeting platform for discussions and sharing ideas. We as postgraduate students, really do need
that kind of discussion. If not, we are alone (PhD 4, italicized emphasis added).
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My friends in GRiP, they share their experience […] I know I can do it because all of my friends
can do it. They also give motivation […] Sometimes we feel lost and can’t seem to do it. But
when we see each other, they are very supportive and it boosts spirit […] It makes me want to
fight and not give up […] (PhD 2, italicized emphasis added).

We call it a sharing knowledge session where we can share to peers and assume them as our
readers […] They wait for our writing […] I am happy when they give good feedback so that I can
improve my writing […] (Master 3, italicized emphasis added).

Peers are helpful because we can’t do it alone. But, when we have friends, we are willing to learn
[…] They are willing to give comments to us. I think they are good […] Everyone wants to make
improvements […] (PhD 3, italicized emphasis added).

In GRiP, we have our friends to discuss together. Our friends will share solutions to our problems
[…] Every 2 weeks, we will receive comments and feedback for our writing (PhD 6, italicized
emphasis added).

It also helps us and we like to compete with one another […] We have friends now to support us
to complete our study. Before this, everyone is lonely and lost […] (Master 2, italicized emphasis
added).

The Assistance of GRiP Coordinators in Facilitating the Program

The role of GRiP coordinator is found to be crucial in facilitating the program.

The findings discover that a majority of the participants feel that there is no conflicting
role between GRiP coordinator and their supervisors. They claimed that the
coordinator’s role actually complements the supervision they received. In most
situations, GRiP coordinators will listen to all comments given by the participants
during the workshop. The coordinator acts as a natural party and will provide further
advice and information related to academic writing, process and procedures. The
findings from the participants regarding the coordinator’s roles are exemplified below:

The facilitator is a natural party. Sometimes, when we are unsure whether we give the right or
wrong comments to our friends. The facilitator plays such an important role. The facilitator always
provides her own opinion or feedback without favoring other parties. The facilitator will give ideas
on how to improve our writing […] (PhD 6, italicized emphasis added).

Facilitators and supervisors might have different roles. The facilitator will listen to all the opinions
from the participants and other participants […] So that, the students can understand other
students’ comments […] The facilitator will add on more and better tips […] (PhD 1, italicized
emphasis added).

I think facilitators play a very important role. The facilitator provides very useful advice and helps
student in everything […] The facilitator hears our voices and problems […] The facilitator is very
wonderful […] (Master 1, italicized emphasis added).

So far, there is no conflicting role between supervisors and facilitator. Because they act as
supplements. They complement the role of a supervisor. From the perspective of a facilitator, of
course we learn and do a lot of things […] (PhD 4, italicized emphasis added).

There is no conflicting role between my supervisor and facilitator […] My supervisor has given full
support and understands the role of the facilitator. My supervisor keeps on encouraging me to
attend the GRiP workshop (Master 3, italicized emphasis added).

There is no conflicting roles between supervisors and facilitators […] So far, the facilitator is
really helpful […] I personally feel that GRiP is so fun. I am looking forward for it […] (Master 2,
italicized emphasis added).

For me, there is no conflicting role between supervisors and facilitator. It actually helps me […]
Sometimes, we need assistance other than from our supervisor […] (Master 4, italicized
emphasis added).

I think the facilitator and supervisor do not have different roles […] It’s like magic to my writing
[…] (PhD 2, italicized emphasis added).
 243

I really appreciate of what the facilitator does for us in this GRiP workshop […] (PhD 6, italicized
emphasis added).

There is no conflict between the facilitator and my supervisor […] (Master 5, italicized emphasis
added).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The GRiP program is designed based on the needs of postgraduate research

students in FSPPP. Formerly, before the implementation of the GRiP program, a
research was conducted in October 2015 to explore issues and challenges faced by
research students as well as acknowledging their suggestions to address these
issues; the feedback was used to design programs and initiatives to support research
students. After six months of implementation of the GRiP program, the participants
show significant improvement in their thesis writing, research progress and
completion of study. These findings are consistent with the GRiP implementation at
the Faculty of Arts, Monash University which has achieved remarkable success in its
participants (Monash University, 2010). Hence, the implementation of the GRiP
program among postgraduate research students at FSPPP can be regarded as an
effective and successful medium or measure to support students in their academic
writing. This finding is similar to other researchers who presented the implementation
of programs/workshops/initiatives to support their postgraduate research students in
academic writing (Raisig & Vode, 2016; Nzekwe-Excel, 2015; Kirchhoff, 2016;
Bickford 2015; Amstrong, 2015; Mutula 2009; Cuthbert & Spark, 2008).
The effectiveness of the implementation of the GRiP program can also be
seen at three different levels as presented in Diagram 1.
 244

Diagram 1: The Effectiveness of GRiP Implementation among FSPPP’s Postgraduate

Research Students at Three Different Levels

In terms of the impact of the GRiP program at the “individual level”, the
findings of this study reveal that the participants have significantly improved their
thesis writing (quality and amount of writing), they have become more committed in
doing their thesis and research work, have improved in terms of their writing style,
structure and format, have hastened their research progress, have envisioned
themselves to graduate on time, have improved their communication skills and have
prepared them to be a good researcher. The findings of this study have also
prominently proven that “peer support” is circumstantial in enhancing the
effectiveness of GRiP implementation. The participants stated that they received
valuable comments and constructive feedback from their friends, learnt from each
other (writing techniques and thesis format) through sharing knowledge and
experiences, received support and motivation and most importantly they took the
 245

important comments seriously and improved their writing. Finally, the “co-ordinator”
role was found very significant in facilitating the program and assisting the students in
academic writing. The GRiP participants stated that there are no conflicting roles
between GRiP co-ordinator and their supervisors, and further claimed that the GRiP
co-ordinator’s role actually complements the supervision they received. The
coordinator acts as a natural party which provides further advice and information
related to academic writing, process and procedures.
While the overall findings have proven the effectiveness of the GRiP program
to support postgraduate research students in improving their academic writing, in
particular, thesis writing, through friendly support from co-ordinator and peer group’s
feedback; this study further proposes a holistic framework of the GRiP ecosystem to
further enhance research culture among students at FSPPP (see Diagram 2).

Diagram 2 GRiP Ecosystem Framework

GRiP ecosystem framework comprises three ecosystem levels:

i. Postgraduate research student and GRiP program level – At this level,

individual or postgraduate research student herself/himself has to play an
important role in voluntarily participation in the GRiP program. If the student is
not willing and not ready to improve his/her academic writing through this
comprehensive program, he/she will not give full commitment in attending and
participating in the workshop (submit his/her writing, read and comments
other people’s work). Peer support is very important in the GRiP workshop—
the comments and feedback provided to other people’s work are encouraged
to be constructive. Peers share useful information, knowledge and
experiences in doing their research work as well as measures in dealing with
the process and procedures of the program. Peers provide support and
motivate each other, thus making their study journey less lonely. The co-
ordinator acts professionally and is considered as a natural party that
facilitates discussions during the GRiP workshop. The co-ordinator provides
further advice on academic writing, processes and procedures. There are
high-interactive discussions during the GRiP workshop and the environment
during the workshop is very open and flexible.
 246

ii. Internal environment – The internal environment covers the faculty and
university levels. At the faculty level, ensuring effective postgraduate research
supervision is the most crucial aspect. Both the student and supervisor have
to play crucial roles in the supervision alongside supporting students’
research work. Maintaining a good supervisor-supervisee relationship is a
very important aspect in ensuring research completion and providing quality
and sound research. The faculty processes, procedures and guidelines
should be clearly informed to the students—the role of the Research
Coordinator and Head of Program are very vital in advising the students
about the right processes and procedures. This will expedite certain
processes such as thesis examination, submission and others. Furthermore,
the roles of graduate schools will assist in the provision of clearer processes
and procedures to the students and faculty. Finally, universities have to carry
out pertinent roles by providing support, facilities, enhance academic talents,
providing financial support and many other amenities should be made
available to the research students. The vision, mission and objectives of the
University should be clear and the information about this should reach the
faculty members as well as the students respectively.

iii. External environment – External environment covers the Ministry of Higher

Education, agencies that provide financial assistance such as MyBrain, JPA,
PTPTN, Pusat Zakat, foundations, private scholarships, study loans from
banking institutions and others. They play important roles in supporting
postgraduate research students. Other external environment entities that
indirectly influence postgraduate research students are other local and
international universities, other government agencies, media, private and non-
governmental sectors and society as a whole.

This study concludes that the GRiP program implemented for postgraduate research
students at FSPPP is considered an effective and successful program to support and
assist students in academic writing, improve research completion and GOT as well
as produce quality and sound research. This program will be continuously
implemented with the focus on two types of workshops: “thesis writing” and “writing
for publication” with the aim to promote research culture among research students.
Finally, to excel in research, all parties have important roles in assisting and
supporting research students in their research journey—this can only be done
through applying a holistic and comprehensive research ecosystem framework as
proposed in this study.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This paper would like to acknowledge: Professor Sr. Ir. Dr. Hj. Suhaimi Abd Talib,
Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic and International Affairs; the Academic Affairs
Division, Universiti Teknologi MARA for the approval and support to conduct the
GRiP program at FSPPP; Dr. Kate Cregan, Faculty of Arts, Monash University for her
valuable insights and contribution during her visit to FSPPP; and last but not least,
Siti Nur Fathanah Abd Hamid, Aslinda Ramely, Nor Amalina Aziz and Siti Zulaikha
Mustapha for their research assistant work.

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To Stay or To Leave?: A Review on Political Party Activism

Literature
Wan Rohila Ganti bt Wan Abdul Ghapar
School of Social and Economic Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
wrg2110@gmail.com

Shahidah bt Abdul Razak

Fakulti Sains Pentadbiran dan Pengajian Polisi, UiTM Seremban
shahidah056@ns.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this paper are twofold – two examine the motivations of being a
political party activist and to analyse the factors of leaving the party they once
became activist. The analysis is based on two prominent political activism theories ;
the Civic Voluntarism model and the General Incentives model. The Civic
Voluntarism model describes three elements that lead to party activism and the
General Incentive model claims seven incentives that motivate party activism.
Literatures have suggested every single individual has different motives of becoming
a party activist, yet little efforts have been made to explore the reasons of leaving the
party among party activists. This paper fills the gap by reversing the above-two
theories to explain this phenomenon.

Keywords: Activism, Political Party, Civic Voluntarism, General Incentives model

INTRODUCTION

The ultimate goals of political parties in democratic societies are to win

elections and form the government. Other than being popular, the parties should
ensure they are well-accepted by the voters, and thus they need to operate in close
contact with them. Parties need to persuade the voters not only to understand and
approve the party’s policies and leadership, but also to vote for them to give the
parties life, shape, and permanence (Blake, Carty, & Erickson, 1991). In order to
secure and maintain the support from the voters, a strong and organized team is
needed, and they are called, party activists.
Party activists are individuals who run political and election campaigns, do the
party work at the very bottom of the party structure and the campaign workers who
work for the party or candidates (Whiteley & Seyd, 2002). They mobilize voters to the
ballot, recruit candidates and potential leaders for the party, provide a base of
possible volunteers for election campaigns and define the image of the party. They
spend their valuable time and energy for party activities and provide monetary
resources for campaigning, become a representative link to the community that is
necessary for interest aggregation and articulation, as well as facilitating political
education (Emilie & Gauja, 2015; Newmen, Shaffer, & Breaux, 2004). They are also
campaign specialists in using mass media, in conducting polls and surveys or
engaging in other types of party research, in fundraising, in conducting voter
registration drives, and in canvassing for voters door-to-door (Eldersveld & Jr., 2000).
Party activists are unusual people because they voluntarily become active in a costly
activity and take vigorous actions in politics (McLean & McMillan, 2003). Though
grassroots party activists may seem less visible, they remain very important and
relevant as their absence may cause the candidates or party losses elections
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(Nexon, 1971). Gallagher et.al., hypothesized that the more active members a party
has in a constituency, the more votes it will win there (Gallagher, Liston, Marsh, &
Weeks, 2010).
Being an activist of a political party entails a hybrid role, where one is the party
supporter, party funder and party worker at the same time. Activism is a voluntary
activity that is not paid and no citizen is forced to engage in political activism. The
intensity, duration, and extremity of the political activism are purely a person’s
decision. Series of meetings, public speaking, organizing campaigns, and running for
office, both within the party organization and outside, becoming a crew for party
annual assembly and joining demonstration and election campaign can last for days
and they are virtually impossible for those with heavy family or job commitments
(Gallagher, Liston, Marsh, & Weeks, 2010; Whiteley, 1995). Eventually, it is
challenging to maintain a high – intensity activism due to burden and heavy
responsibilities placed on individual party activists.
Consequently, many political parties faced a significant decline in grassroots
party membership and party activism. Mair and Biezen’s research on party
membership in 20 European countries concluded that the absolute numbers of
members have now significantly fallen (Mair & van Biezen, 2001). The decline in
members’ levels of activism in British Labour Party in year 1999 was 11 percent,
Conservative Party (17 percent) and Liberal Democrats (26 percent) (Seyd &
Whiteley, 2004; Whiteley, 2009b). Another intercontinental study using cross-
sectional data was conducted on 36 democracies where similar membership and
activism declines were recorded (Whiteley, 2011). It is worrying phenomenon since
activists and members are the central spines to the political parties, hence, this
deterioration has directly weakened the performance of political parties and their
organizational capacity and threatened the future of democracy (Biezen & Poguntke,
2014; Mjelde, 2015; Ponce & Scarrow, 2014; Seyd & Whiteley, 2004; Tan, 1997;
Biezen, Mair, & Poguntke, 2012; Whiteley, 2011). Fortunately, parties do not seem to
be dead as decreasing number of party members is compensated for by higher
activity levels among the remaining members (Spier, 2015).
Scholars have been bewildered by the motives behind their decisions to be
active participants in political parties. Apparently, rational self-interested individuals
will not participate in any activity which produces collective goods (Aldrich, 1983b;
Granik, 2005; Whiteley, 1995). Majority citizens choose to free – ride rather than
getting involved with political and party affairs, as the benefits are already reaped
without being activists. On the other side, the reasons of activists to leave the party
they once became very active have yet to be thoroughly studied. They have taken a
very heavy decision to leave the party that have ingrained in their lives.
This study employs two prominent political activism theories to explain the
factors that motivate the citizens to become party activists when others choose to
free-ride. These theories are then reversed to scrutinize what leads these activists to
leave the party they once became very active.

THE CIVIC VOLUNTARISM MODEL

Initially, this model suggested that individual’s economic status (SES) – his
occupation, education, income and socio – demographic characteristics such as
gender and age are the determinant factors that fuelled political participation. It
hypothesized that those with high social-economic status are more likely to actively
participate in politics compared to the lower ones (Verba & Nie, 1972). The factors
were then refined by a later study that added the roles of resources which are time,
money and civic skill in explaining political participation (Brady, Verba, & Schlozman,
1995). Therefore, the Civic Voluntarism model predicts socio – economic resources,
engagement and recruitment as three important participatory factors that steer
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political party activism. This prediction comes after they asked American society “why
don’t they participate?’. The answers are; they cannot because they do not have the
resources, they do not want to because they do not have the motivation, and
because no one asked them, hence they were not mobilized (Verba, Schlozman, &
Brady, 1995).
Resources, the most critical component, are the combination of time to take
part in political activity, money to make contributions and civic skills that facilitate
effective participation (Brady et al., 1995; Verba et al., 1995). This premise is
definitely true because party activism is a time – consuming activity, as attending
party meetings, coordinating party programs, canvassing votes and mobilizing voters
and new members are very time consuming. Time is a key political resource that
citizens need if they are to contribute to their communities and express their interests
and views. Bryson (2007) exposes that long hours in paid employment are having
damaging effects on individuals’ civic engagement. The obvious victims of ‘time –
poverty’ are career women since their lack of free time disallows them to actively
participate in political parties and express their political views. Similarly, Wilson
(2000) hypothesizes that part-time workers have tendency to become party activists
more than full-time workers. Even though his work is on voluntarism, he suggests
that the study of volunteerism and other social activism have much in common.
Interestingly, the study found that the lowest rates of volunteering are obvious among
unemployed people and homemakers. Brady et al., (1995) suggested that being paid
and employed can boost self-confidence and teach organizational skills.
In addition, activists must have strong financial background since they are
expected to donate money, pay party fees and sponsor party activities as political
participation is a costly activity. It is impossible to make campaign contributions or
give financial support to political causes without money (Verba, Schlozman, Brady, &
Nie, 1993). They hypothesize that time and money are related by arguing that the
rich might have more leisure time because they can afford to hire others to do for
them what the less well-heeled must do for themselves. A study conducted in 25
countries showed that women tend to donate more compared to its male counterpart,
opposing the old literature saying that men dominate all forms of political participation
(Marien, Hooghe, & Quintelier, 2010). At the same time, activists also should come
with soft – skills package like communication, managerial, time management and
persuasion skills to promote the party and perform effectively inside and outside the
party (Wagner, 2016). Those who have much experience speaking in public, writing,
working with others, finding information and managing tasks and people, even in
non-political contexts will likely to become politically competent (Verba et al., 1993).
The second component is psychological engagement which is the individual’s
sense of political efficacy. Political efficacy is the individual feeling that individual
citizen can play a part in bringing about change (Zimmerman, 1989). It can be
divided into internal political efficacy; the belief that one can influence politics, and
external political efficacy; the belief that politicians actually care and listen to one’s
opinions (Nygård & Jakobsson, 2013). Research shows that those with positions in
political party have high political efficacy and prefer to act within the political system
because they have optimistic view that he can make a difference (Dassonneville,
Blais, & Dejaeghere, 2015; Saad & Salman, 2013). Psychological engagement with
political party is based on individual’s level of interest in politics, political knowledge
and understanding on political developments and belief in the capacity to influence
politics (Nygård & Jakobsson, 2013), which is influenced by various factors such as
level of education (Jeong, 2013), awareness on current issues (Whiteley, 1995),
media (Willnat, Wong, Tamam, & Aw, 2013), peers (Klofstad, 2007), workplace
(Schlozman, Burns, & Verba, 1999) and family background (Spellings, Barber, &
Olsen, 2012).
The last component is recruitment networks, the stimulating effects that rise
from interaction with other persons in social networks, such as one’s affiliation with
 253

voluntary organizations or workplace communities (Nygård & Jakobsson, 2013;

Verba et al., 1995) Recruitment seems to be very similar to civic skills in that those
who have a larger network size are likely to experience more occasions of being
asked to participate in politics. Young activists for instance, are mostly recruited by
family members than a friend or neighbors (Cross & Young, 2008). Recruitment plays
a triggering factor because the most engaged and resource-rich individual will
probably not participate in political activities if they are not asked by someone else to
act, proving that engaging in politics is usually a combination of one’s efficacy and
recruited by others (Brady, Schlozman, & Verba, 1999; Brady et al., 1995; Klofstad,
2007). All the three components work effectively with the presence of a variety of
civic attitudes such as a sense of political efficacy, psychological involvement in
politics and a feeling of obligation to participate (Verba & Nie, 1972; Whiteley & Seyd,
1996).

THE GENERAL INCENTIVES MODEL

The general incentives model of political participation refers to the individual’s

motivation to participate, not his or her ability in terms of socio-economic factors,
resources and civic skills. It is a more systematic and comprehensive as this model is
grounded in the assumption that political activism can be explained by different kinds
of incentives and it goes beyond a narrowly cast economic analysis of incentives
(Baras et al., 2013; Milliar, 2012; Gallagher et al., 2010; Granik, 2005; Lucardie,
2000; Whiteley, 1995; Whiteley et al., 1994). It adds the elements of affective
motives, moral concerns, and social norms incentives that have not been touched by
the Civic Voluntarism model (Whiteley & Seyd, 2002).
Focusing on the question of why people join parties despite the costs of joining
and absence of resources, prominent party membership researchers, Whiteley and
Syed have identified seven different types of incentives that motivate the activists to
become active in politics (Spier, 2015; Baras et al., 2013; Gallagher et al., 2010;
Whiteley & Seyd, 2002; Whiteley & Seyd, 1996). Firstly, some activists are attracted
by the selective outcome incentives offered by the political party. They are the
positive results of being activists in the materialistic form such as gaining politically
appointed positions in the executive and legislative branches, developing a full-time
career in party politics and getting government projects or contracts. In other words,
being a political party activist is a stepping stone to be rich and wealthy. It is
debatable whether the party activists should be rewarded materially as they are full-
time activists and need material gains to survive or they are truly volunteered and
sincere in rendering services to people if they are remunerated (Wilson, 2000). The
party activists may look hypocritical if they confess that material gains are their
motivating factor to become party activists. This is proven by existing literatures that
material incentives such as career advancement were not at all relevant. However,
when asked about other activists’ motives, respondents believe it might be due to
material attractions. (Back, Teorell, & Westholm, 2011; Gallagher et al., 2010;
Newmen et al., 2004; Ramiro & Morales, 2012; Seyd & Whiteley, 2004; Whiteley,
1995; Whiteley & Seyd, 2002; Young & Cross, 2002). Farouk (2011) suggests that in
order to survive, a political party must from the very start distribute material
incentives such as prestigious positions and projects or contracts to some of its
members. However, he reminds that enticing the activists with material returns will
weaken the credibility of the party as an organization dedicated to a public good and
therefore adversely affect its distribution of collective incentives. However, a cursory
examination of the reasons behind participation in political cause reveals that
selective material incentives are seldom of sufficient value to constitute the primary
motivating factor (Chong, 1991).
 254

The second incentive is the selective process incentives. They are the
individual’s enjoyment derived from participation in party affairs and the process of
participation itself. They enjoy the entertainment value of being involved in political
activities since it provides an opportunity to meet like - minded people, learn about
the political process at first hand, receive better and up-to-date political information,
have fun doing party work and have chances to mingle with political leaders that
share the same ideology (Whiteley, 1995). They join for the benefits of group
distinction and the status resulting from membership. Spier (2015) found that the
socially – oriented party activists are motivated by selective process incentives
compared to their office – oriented activists counterparts. Literatures found that most
of party activists are attracted by the collective incentives or political convictions. It
is based on the provision of public goods by the party, such as the accomplishment
of party goals or the strengthening of its influence. The activists have a greater
incentive to be active if their party is pursuing policies which closely accord with their
own policy preferences. They believe that their involvement will help promote party
goals such as reduce unemployment, improve health service, defend the nation and
promote the interests of people. Collective incentives to be active in a political party
are of two kinds: positive and negative. Activists will participate not only because they
want to promote particular policy goals but also because they oppose the policy
goals of other parties (Whiteley & Seyd, 2002).
The normative incentives are directed at compliance with social norms, such
as the influence exerted by individuals or social groups. People choose to politically
active because they feel they ought to be, because activity is normal and because it
provides them with an opportunity to express their values and loyalties (Gallagher et
al., 2010). They receive a pressure from their circles like it is a family tradition to
become activists, influence by educational institutions, religious institutions and
peers. Young & Cross (2002) added the decision to become a party activist is due to
a desire to win the respect or approval of other people such as family members or
friends who are party members. People’s perceptions about party and activists image
also affect individuals’ motivation to be active in politics. Party with good and positive
image attracts more activists. Individuals are also motivated by altruistic incentives
where they have an emotional attachment to the party which has little to do with the
policy positions which it espouses, and they contribute without considering the costs
and benefits of their actions (Young & Cross, 2002). They defend the interests,
rights, and identities of others, offer aids to asylum seekers, political refugees,
immigrant workers, peoples whose human rights are being infringed, victims of racist
acts or sentiments, and populations of Third World countries and never serve their
own interests (Passy, 2001). Altruistic concerns are expressed in terms of idealistic
goals, such as the desire to create a more compassionate and tolerance society
(Young & Cross, 2002).
Political activism may also be the result of the desire to support specific political
ideologies. The ‘official’ political ideas and ideologies of political parties such as
nationalism, communism, liberal - democratic and Islam have structured one’s
political understanding and inspired his/her path to party activism. It also frames
one’s perspective through which the world is understood and explained. Heywood
(2012) claims that party ideologies are commonly associated with particular social
classes such as liberalism with the middle classes, conservatism with the landlord
aristocracy and socialism with the working class. A mass survey was conducted in
ten parliamentary democracies covering 77 political parties to capture respondents’
motivations for becoming active in political parties and to test the reliability of the
General Incentive model (van Haute & Gauja, 2015). Overall, party activists are
generally motivated by ideological incentives and political values hold by the parties.
There are no other intentions but to flag their general support to the party. Finally, the
expressive incentives have to do with publicly expressing one’s perceived
psychological, ideological and moral values attached to the party without fear. Riker
 255

& Ordeshook (1968) describes it as a satisfaction from affirming a partisan

preference. Back et al. (2011) picture this kind of motivation is commonly illustrated
by supporters who root for their favorite sports team in front of the television in spite
of the fact that the team can neither hear nor see their efforts. In this case, the
purpose of cheering is not to promote victory, but to enjoy the satisfaction of
expression per se.

WHY LEAVE?

Reversing Verba's et al., (1995) Civic Voluntarism model and Whiteley's &
Seyd's (2002) General Incentive model, this paper advocates that activists left
political party because the participatory factors are missing and incentives are
ignored by political parties. Studies by Dassonneville et al., (2015); Pemberton &
Wickham-Jones (2012) and Wagner (2016) found that the main reason of leaving the
party is the ideological differences between them and their party were too great.
There is a tendency for more moderate members to leave the party when they feel
the party is loosening its ideological stance compared to more ideologically extreme
activists. The altruistic - based activists leave the party when they think that they
have little influence on the party line, and their involvement in political parties do not
give any impact on society. The ideology the party promotes is not well-translated
into action, thus, keeping them away from that political party. They are more skeptical
about the value of political engagement through parties they once joined.
The other primary reason is they no longer receive material benefits from the
party especially when the party is not holding the government anymore. Having direct
access to state’s revenues, contracts, tenders and projects, and party positions ties
them closely to political party. When the party cannot fulfill their personal material
rewards, there is no reason to stay with the party. The former party activists also
identify low income indeed appears to be another reason to leave the party, in
addition to lack of free time. Wagner (2016) also found that activists who have left a
political party have lower levels of political interest, lack of political efficacy, less likely
to think that politicians care about what people like them think and are less worried
about failing to turn out to vote. Studies also found that other participatory factors and
incentives are not pulling out activists from the party.

CONCLUSION

Party activists are unique people. They spend money, time and energy
effortlessly to ensure the parties and candidates they support win elections and stay
relevant. However, party activism is a tiring and demanding activity, thus, there must
be incentives and rewards to maintain their high-intensity level of activism. When
these participatory elements and incentives are missing, one’s activism will be
reduced, and to the extend, resulting them to leave the party.

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Sarawak State Election 2016: Voting Preference towards

Candidates in N16 Muara Tuang & N17 Stakan
Noorfadhleen Binti Mahmud
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA
fadhleen23@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Dr Nadrawina Isnin
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA
nadrawina@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

This study was undertaken to discover voters thought about their preferences in
selecting their leaders during the Sarawak State Election 2016. A survey of
perceptions of voting preferences towards candidates in N16 Muara Tuang and N17
Stakan distributed 400 randomly. Findings showed that in N16 Muara Tuang
respondents, preferred candidates with responsibility, ability of candidates to give
speech in public, political spirit, open for opinions and education policy. Meanwhile in
N17 Stakan respondents choose leadership skill, party achievement, responsibility,
ability of candidates to give speech in public and honesty. This study shows that
respondents were not influence by any gifts from the parties or individual. Perhaps
they did not argue on locality of the candidates.

Keywords: Candidates, elections, rational choice model

INTRODUCTION

Politics has an expressive landscape and elections are the main architect of
this landscape. Despite enjoying regular election and political stability there were
turnover in Malaysian politics with the election result was heralded as a barometer of
the electorates’ choices and an expression of happiness or dissatisfaction with the
government in power and its adversaries.The 11th Sarawak state election will be held
on 7th May 2016. This research will focus on voting behavior in N16 Muara Tuang
and N17 Stakan. For this election N17 is a new constituency. The ruling government
is contesting in all the 82 seats and they need 42 seats to form a
government.Election is one of the important components in democracy system.
Democracy system allowed the people of the country to choose their own leader
through voting process during elections. The definition of election is the act of party
casting votes to elect an individual for some type of position. Elections may involve a
public or private vote depending on the position. Most positions in the local, state,
and federal governments are voting on in some type of election. In this article we
discuss the preferences made by the voters to choose their leaders in their
constituency mainly N16 Muara Tuang and N17 Stakan. It is importance to analyze
the voting behavior which will influence the decision made and the election result.
 261

LITERATURE REVIEW

Election in Malaysia

According to the Crouch 1996, Elections in Malaysia have seldom been ‘more
than a ritual providing a cloak of legitimacy for what is really authoritarian rule’.
Election is important component towards the country that uses democratic system.
Election is the way that the entire people can involves in the politics. Besides that,
election also gives chance for the people to choose their representatives to be a
middle person between people and government. Other than that, election also allows
the people to decide the system that they want because each candidates and party
that involves in the election have different ideology each other’s. Election is the way
or true platform to the people to ensure all the voters choose the best candidates to
be their representatives.
Hague et. Al., 1992 stated that, there are two types of election system that
popular in democratic country which is majority system and ratio representation
system. In Malaysia, each state is divided into some district. The candidates that win
in the election will be a member of parliament or will be the state legislative
assembly. Normally, Malaysia uses the easy majority system or first past the post
system. In this system, the entire voter cans votes only for one candidate. After that,
the candidates that have majority vote will be declaring as a winner. Then, after the
process of choosing the candidates was finished, the party that have majority seats
will be formed the government. This system also used for other country such as
Britain, United State and Canada.

Political Parties

Politics engaged in by, expressed through the medium of, or considered from
the viewpoint of political parties as distinguished from other interests (as
geographical sections or economic classes), a symbol of its unity over and above
(Rowse,1978). A political party is an organization of people who share a common of
idea, thought, and which seeks and in a pursuit of common goals. There will together
with their colleagues and other member of parties trying to achieve their organization
goals by involving and exercising of political power in a democracy way. The practice
of democracy by political parties includes the involvement of the party in the election,
campaigning during election, and many more. The political parties are one of the
main elements in the Democracy. Country that practicing a democracy for their
political system must not prohibit or denied the existence of any political parties in
their country.
The country must allow these political parties to run their activities as long as the
party’s activity is not against the law of that country. Different country practicing
different type of political party system. There are some countries that use dual-party
system and a multi-party system but for communist country like China and Cuba,
there are still practicing single party system. Only Communist Party are been
recognized in the communist country. For example, in China, the one and only party
existed nowadays are Communist Party of China which is also the ruling party since
the revolution lead by Mao Zedong.
Gender and ethnicity effect towards voter’s behaviours
Gender and ethnicity is very important in the election system. In United
stated, gender reportedly influences voting in two ways. The first is the tendency of
American women to vote for the Democratic rather than Republican candidates. The
second is the apparent reluctance of some Americans to vote for the In all country,
gender and ethnicity can influence the voter’s behaviour during the election.
Basically, such gender bias has been repeatedly found in surveys using hypothetical
question about potential candidates (Fox & Smith, 1998), but analysis in U.S. election
 262

suggest that voting for women may be affected by a number of demographic

variables (McDermott, 1997). The voters actually look at the gender of the candidates
before they choose during the election as their representative. They prefer the men
candidates rather than women candidates. This is because; they think that men
candidates can work more efficient and effective rather than women candidates.
Besides that, the voters prefer men candidates more than women candidates in term
of work. Men candidates actually can work very fast compare to the women
candidate in term of decision making, deals with the people and credibility towards
their work. Other than that, there is also the women voters’ only vote for the women
candidates. They do not look at their credibility of the candidates in term of their
work. So, that why there is bias in election.

Political campaign
Political campaign play important role during the election happen. Normally,
Election Commission gives one week for the party to campaign before the date of
election happen. Political party that contest in the election presented their manifesto
during the campaign. This is because to attract the voters to vote their party during
election. Basically, the party use all the alternative to campaign such as from house
to house, political speech, use media alternative like blog, and social network. They
also use the mainstream media to promote their party during the election campaign
such as television and newspaper.
The manifesto between the government and opposition is totally different
about the content and their goals. For example, in general election 2008 the BN’s
campaign objectives are term of the security, and peace. For sure their campaign
were published in all the media either alternative media or mainstream media. In
contrast, the opposition party ran the campaigned based on the theme of corruption
and lack of democracy as well as focused on the case of inflation and criminal cases.
Lacking access to the traditional media, even for paid advertising, the opposition
parties relied on the new media, a strategy first emerging in 1999 (Brown, 2004) but
was particularly effective in the 2008 election

Policy Position and Candidates’ Background

Kasdin S.R 2009 in his PHD dissertation stated that in comparing candidates,
voters make a counterfactual assessment: how would each candidate, if elected,
react to the office’s challenges, including new issues that arise? His theoretical
framework predicts that voters rely on three measures in their decision making. The
first approach, voters focus on the candidates announced policy positions, while also
weighing the issue’s relative priority them. Second approach analyse by Kasdin is
voters evaluate candidates as people. It is comparison to the ideal candidate. Does
the candidate have the virtues of a leader and statesman? The last approach by
Kasdin is evaluation the candidates’ background, responds to issues as voters would

Rational Choice Model

Sivamurugan Pandian 2014 explained rational choice model as the voters is a

rational individual who is fully capable of making proper decisions after careful
observation of the maters involved. A rational voter will also evaluate the
performance of the candidates and the party rate the contents of an election
manifesto and observe the track record of party before deciding. In shaping voting
behaviour, this model places considerably more emphasis on individual choice. As
mentioned by Aaron Edlin et al. 2007, in their article’s voting as a Rational Choice:
Why and How People Vote To Improve the Well-Being of Others,
Agents in rational-choice models are typically assumed to have ‘self-fish’
preferences. We argue that separating the rationality assumption from the
 263

selfishness assumption reveals that (a) the act of voting can be rational, and (b) a
rational voter will decide which candidate or option to vote for based on the voter’s
judgment of the expected social consequences of the election outcome as distinct
from the direct consequences to that voter. We show this for a simple model in which
voters decide whether to vote, and how to vote, based on maximizing an expected
utility with both self-fish and social terms
Fernando Aguiar 2009 explained the theory of rational choice can be interpreted from
two epistemological approaches: an internalist one and an externalist one. According
to the first, the agent’s preferences and beliefs are mental states that constitute
reasons for action, while the second solely considers the preferences revealed in the
action and certain behavioral hypotheses, neither of which entails delving into the
minds of individuals. Although both approaches are neutral with respect to formal
models of rational choice, they diverge when the paradigm is expanded to
incorporate motives that are expressive of or derived from the identities of
individuals. In this article, we argue that the internalist conception of rational choice is
the only interpretation that can be extended to include identity-based preferences or
desires.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Reaserch Design

The study is to analyse the voter’s behaviour towards N16 Muara Tuang and N17
Stakan candidates. This is to obtain the feedback on what the factors that influence
the voter’s behaviour during the state election.

Unit of Analysis

The units of analysis in this study were 200 voters from the constituency of N16
Muara Tuang and 200 voters in constituency of N17 Stakan.

Sample Size and Sampling Technique

Sample size deals with the issue of how many units should the researchers include
or contact for the study without seriously comprising the reliability and the validity of
the study (Hazman,n.d). Hair et al., (2006) suggest that there should be a ratio of 10
cases. According to Uma Sekaran (2003), a proper sampling technique and sampling
size are very important in order to achieve credible research finding. The sample size
for this study is 200 voters in N16 Muara Tuang and 200 voters in N17 Stakan

Sampling Technique

Convenience sampling had been used in this research. It involved the units that are
easily accessible. The questionnaires were distributed to the voters in N16 Muara
Tuang and N17 Stakan. The study and findings were strongly influenced by the
people who were contacted.

Data Collection

The data were collected through personally administered questionnaires. There are
two types of data which been used in order to obtain the information in this research.
Firstly by using primary data those were obtained from 400 respondents. The primary
data collection was from the questionnaires which been distributed to 200
respondents in N16 Muara Tuang and 200 respondents in N17 Stakan. The
 264

questionnaire consist of close question and its been designed in LIkert scale. There
were only two sections:

Section A: Demographic Studies of the Respondents

On this first section, the questionnaire asks and requires information about personal
and demographic data of the respondents. Questions in the section A covering
gender, age, occupation, race, marital status, and academic qualification

Section B: Preference voters towards Candidates

This section comprise of 22 questions that related to the background of the

candidates in the Muara Tuang and Stakan The candidates here refer to both
candidates from Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Data Analysis

The data were analyzed through the use of spss system with the descriptive method,
percentage and mean based on tha actual response rate.

Measurement

The assessment of the respondents’ preference attributes of the candidates during

the Sarawak state election particularly in N16 Muara Tuang and N17 Stakan.

Research Findings and Discussion

This section presents the findings of the study from the quantitative approach. The
findings are based on the data collected from the questionnaires. There are 258
questionnaires returned from the total 400 questionnaires distributed. In this chapter
discussed two main sections which are the respondents’ demographic profile and the
main objective: to analyze and compare the preference factors of the candidates by
the voters in N17 Stakan and N16 Muara Tuang constituency.

Demographic Profile

Table 1 below shows the respondents profile involves in this study. There are 258
respondents, 124 from N16 Muara Tuang and 134 from N17 Stakan.
From the table below it shows that for gender there were 53 male and 71 female in
N16 Muara Tuang. Meanwhile in N17 Stakan there were 105 male and 29 female.
From the ethnic distributions elements, it comprises 30 Malays, 77 Ibans, 10
Bidayuh, 3 Melanau and others 4. These distributions were from N16 Muara Tuang.
Meanwhile for N17 Stakan there were 100 Malay and 34 Iban.
 265

Table 1: Demographic Profile

N16 Muara Tuang N17 Stakan

Variable Types Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Gender Male 53 42.7 105 78.4
Female 71 57.3 29 21.6
Total 124 100.0 134 100
ethnic Malay 30 24.2 100 74.6
Iban 77 62.1 34 25.4
Bidayuh 10 8.1 - -
Melanau 3 2.4 - -
others
4 3.2 - -

Total 124 100.0 134 100

Age 18-25 45 36.2 7 5.2
26-35 27 21.7 25 18.6
36-45 27 21.7 30 22.3
46 above 25 20.1 48 35.8
Total 124 100.0 134 100
Maritial Single
56 45.2 43 32
Status
Married 68 54.8 91 68
Total 124 100.0 134 100
Education SPM
83 66.9 98 73.1
Level
DIPLOMA 20 16.1 2 1.49
DEGREE 17 13.7 5 3.73
others 4 3.2 7 5.2
Total 124 100.0 134 100
Sektor Public sector
24 19.4 21 15.7
Pekerjaan
Private Sector 34 27.4 46 34.3
Student 17 13.7 20 15.7
Self-Employment 29 5.6 -
Un- employed 20 16.1 1 .7
Total 124 100.0 134 100

In N16 Muara Tuang 45 of them were from age of 18-25 years old (36.2%),
27 respondents from the age of 26-35 and 36-45 (21.7%) and lastly 25 respondents
from the age of 46 years old and above (20.1%). In N17 Stakan there were 7
respondents aged 18-25 years old (5.2%), 25 of them age 26-35 years old (18.6%),
30 age 36-45 years old and finally 48 respondents age start from 46 years old and
above (35.8%).
Marital Status distributions elements show that in N16 Muara Tuang there
were 56 of the respondent were single (45.2%) and married 68 respondents (54.8%).
N17 Stakan shows that 43 of the respondents were single (32%) while 91of them
were married (68%)
There were four segments for education level distributions elements ie: SPM,
Diploma, Degree and others. In N 16 Muara Tuang there were 83 respondents with
SPM education, 20 respondents with Diploma, 17 degree and others 4 respondents.
Meanwhile in N17 Stakan. Meanwhile in N17 Stakan there were 98 with SPM
education, 2 with Diploma Certificate and Degree 5 respondents. Lastly others stated
7 respondents.
Lastly the distributions elements were occupations sector. In N16 Muara
Tuang there were 24 respondents from Public Sector, 34 from Private sector, 17 still
studies, self-employment 29 respondents and lastly un-employed 20 respondents.
 266

However in N17 Stakan the were 21 respondents from public sector, 46 private
sector, 20 respondents still study and 1 respondents were un- employed.

To Analyze the Voters’ Preferences towards Leaders Attributes that

Contributes to a Political Party to Win or Lose an Election

Table 2 Attributes of Candidates Preferred by the Voters

N16 Muara Tuang N17Stakan

Candidates Std. Candidates Std.
Characteristics N Mean Deviation Characteristics N Mean Deviation
Candidates Leadership
124 4.5636 .94361 134 4.3697 .68724
Responsibility Skill
Public Party
124 4.3636 .85378 134 4.2773 .79110
Speech Achievement
Political Responsibility
124 4.3273 .95887 134 4.2269 .84810
Spirit
Open For Open To Public
124 4.3273 1.12608 134 4.1933 .82624
Opinions Opinion
Education Honesty
124 4.2818 .97803 134 4.1933 .89516
Policy
Leadership Speech For The
124 4.2273 .99226 134 4.1933 .95027
Skill Public
Family Manifesto
124 4.2273 6.95946 134 4.1092 .78966
Background
Honesty Education
124 4.2273 1.02857 134 4.0588 .86646
Policy
Political Principle Political
124 4.2182 .90241 134 4.0504 1.06444
And Ethics Enthusiasm
Health Education Education
124 4.1963 .97554 134 4.0420 .99486
Background
Experience Personal
124 4.1636 1.00938 134 4.0252 .82813
Image
Education Health
124 4.1636 1.08811 134 4.0168 .70089
Background Policy
Manifesto Political
124 4.1182 1.02027 134 3.7589 1.14093
Experience
Party
124 3.9182 1.03278 134 3.6891 1.10275
Achievement Religion
Personal Family
124 3.9000 1.22624 134 3.6723 .98385
Image Background
Locality History
124 3.3727 1.20289 134 3.6639 1.09913
Background
History Locality
124 3.2636 1.36588 134 3.5378 1.11834
Background
Gifts Political Principle
124 3.1727 1.20289 134 3.5126 1.26803
And Ethics
Age 124 3.0636 1.19077 Ethnicity 134 3.2689 1.14757
Ethnicity 124 2.9273 1.20175 Gifts 134 3.2101 1.41944
Religion 124 2.9000 1.24849 Age 134 2.9541 1.37696
Gender 124 2.8455 1.20539 Gender 134 2.8067 1.37334

The main objective of this research is to analyze the attributes of the

candidates that respondents preferred to become their leader. Table 4.2 displays in
descending order of mean, the attributes of candidates. From the data obtained,
there are in order of preferred attributes: for N16 Muara Tuang candidates
 267

responsibility, ability of candidates to give speech in public, political spirit, open for
opinions and education policy.
Table 2 also display differences attributes of candidates preferred by
respondents in N17 Stakan. In N17 Stakan data had obtained that respondent
choose leadership skill, party achievement, responsibility, ability of candidates to give
speech in public and honesty.

CONCLUSION

The voters were free to choose and vote for their leaders. Their decisions to
vote were influence by importance attributes. Those attributes were significance to
the candidates and parties to plan for the next elections. In this research we can
conclude that majority respondents were not argue on locality background of the
candidates. In N16 Muara Tuang the voters still support the outsiders as their
candidates. Their preferences towards the candidates were more than locality issues
play by the opponent party. Same goes to N17 Stakan. Even it was a new
constituency the voters has no issues regarding the candidates as BN won majority
votes.

REFERENCES

Crouch, H. (1996). Malaysia: Do elections make a difference. The politics of elections

in Southeast Asia, 114-135.

Rowse, T. (1978). Political Culture: A Concept and Its Ideologues. Critical Essays in
Australian Politics, Edward Arnold, Melbourne, 13.).

McDermott, M. L. (1997). Voting cues in low-information elections: Candidate gender

as a social information variable in contemporary United States elections.
American Journal of Political Science, 270-283.

Kasdin, S. R. (2009). Policy, valence, and identity: Voter decision making in primaries
and non-partisan elections. University of California, Santa Barbara.

Pandian, S. (2014). The Importance of Issues for the Youth in Voter Decision
Making: A Case Study among University Students in Malaysia. World
Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of
Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial
Engineering, 8(8), 2723-2727.

Lipset, S. M. (1993). The significance of the 1992 election. PS: Political Science &
Politics, 26(01), 7-16.

Edlin, A., Gelman, A., & Kaplan, N. (2007). Voting as a rational choice why and how
people vote to improve the well-being of others. Rationality and society, 19(3),
293-314.
 268

Pemberian Sebagai Alat Dasar Fiskal: Kesan Pembuatan

Keputusan Operasi Terhadap Ketidakseimbangan Fiskal
Zauyah Abd. Razak
UiTM Cawangan Kedah
zauyah465@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRAK

Ketidakseimbangan fiskal antara kerajaan pusat dan negeri dan antara kerajaan
negeri merupakan antara persoalan utama yang sering dibincangkan oleh sarjana
bidang federalisme fiskal. Ketidakseimbangan fiskal berlaku berpunca daripada
peruntukan sumber hasil kerajaan negeri yang terhad berbanding dengan
peruntukan sumber hasil yang banyak dan utama kepada kerajaan pusat. Bagi
mengurusketidakseimbangan fiskal yang sudah dijangkakan ini, perlembagaan
negara persekutuan memperuntukkan supaya kerajaan pusat memberi sejumlah
wang bantuan secara berterusan kepada kerajaan negeri. Wang bantuan ini dikenali
sebagai pemberian kepada kerajaan negeri. Sungguh pun demikian lazimnya agihan
pemberian ini tidak secara khususbertujuan untuk mengurusketidakseimbangan
fiskal tetapi sebaliknya bertujuan untuk mencapai lain-lain matlamat dasar negara
persekutuan. Teori Federalisme fiskal mengemukakan antara matlamat tersebut
termasuklah untuk menjamin hubungan yang stabil antara peringkat kerajaan, untuk
mencapai pembangunan sosio-ekonomi yang seimbang antara peringkat kerajaan
dan untuk memperkukuhkan pertumbuhan ekonomi antara kerajaan negeri dengan
kerajaan pusat. Berpandukan kepada hasil kajian kes yang dilaksana terhadap
empat buah kerajaan negeri di Utara Semenanjung Malaysia yang menerima
pemberian daripada kerajaan pusat, penulisan ini bertujuan membincang
pelaksanaan pemberian sebagai alat dasar fiskal bagi mengurus ketidakcukupan
hasil kerajaan negeri bagi menjelaskan fenomena ketidakseimbangan fiskal
mendatar yang masih berlaku pada hari ini dalam kalangan negara yang
mengamalkan sistem persekutuan.

Kata kunci: Federalisme Fiskal, kemampuan fiskal, Ketidakseimbangan fiskal,

pemberian kepada kerajaan negeri, Pembuatan keputusan operasi

PENGENALAN

Dalam kalangan negara persekutuan, hubungan fiskal berlaku melalui proses

pembuatan keputusan kewangan antara peringkat kerajaan. Keputusan ini dibuat
untuk mengurus dua persoalan utama hubungan fiskal iaitu ketidakseimbangan fiskal
menegak dan ketidakseimbangan fiskal mendatar. Dua jenis ketidakseimbangan
fiskal ini berlaku dalam kalangan negara yang mengamalkan sistem persekutuan
tulin seperti Amerika Syarikat, Australia, New Zealand dan Kanada. Ianya juga
berlaku dalam kalangan negara yang mengamalkan sistem persekutuan separa tulin
seperti India dan Malaysia. Secara teori dan praktiknya jenis sistem persekutuan
yang diamalkan mempengaruhi hubungan fiskal dan jenis ketidakseimbangan fiskal
yang berlaku.
Pemberian kepada kerajaan negeri atau wilayah yang menjadi anggota
persekutuan merupakan alat dasar fiskal utama yang lazimnya diamalkan oleh
negara-negara persekutuan bagi mengurus ketidakcukupan hasil kerajaan negeri
walau pun faktor sebenar yang menyebabkan berlakunya ketidakcukupan ini
berbeza antara sebuah negara persekutuan dengan sebuah negara persekutuan lain
 269

sama ada tulin atau separa tulin. Begitu juga kesan pemberian yang diagihkan
terhadap kemampuan fiskal negeriatau wilayah juga berbeza antara sebuah negara
persekutuandengan sebuah negara persekutuan lain dan juga antara negara
persekutuan tulin dengan persekutuan separa tulin. Perbezaan kesan ini dipengaruhi
oleh pelbagai faktor termasuklah sejarah penubuhan persekutuan, perbezaan latar
belakang negara dan anggota persekutuan dan tadbir urus pemberian kepada negeri
atau wilayah itu sendiri.
Penulisan ini bertujuan berkongsi pengalaman Malaysia sebagai sebuah
negara persekutuan separa tulin melaksana pemberian kepada kerajaan negeri
sebagai alat dasar fiskal bagi mengurus ketidakcukupan hasil kerajaan negeri bagi
menjelaskan fenomena ketidakseimbangan fiskal mendatar. Perbincangan dibuat
berpandukan kepada kerangka pembuatan keputusan operasi pemberian yang
bertujuan untuk melaksana keputusan dasar pemberian. Keputusan dasar
pemberiandibuat di peringkat kerajaan persekutuan. Keputusan operasi pemberian
pula dibuat di peringkat kerajaan negeri dan ianya dibuat oleh pegawai di peringkat
jabatan-jabatan negeri dan pegawai-pegawai khas jabatan di peringkat kerajaan
pusat. Perbincangan ini dibuat berpandukan kepada data tertiary hasil kajian kes di
empat buah negeri di Utara Semenanjung Malaysia.

KEMAMPUAN FISKAL NEGERI DAN KETIDAKSEIMBANGAN FISKAL

Kemampuan fiskal bermaksud keupayaan kerajaan negeri yang menjadi

anggota persekutuan untuk mendapatkan hasil bagi membiayai tanggungjawab
perbelanjaan yang diperuntukkan. Kemampuan ini amat bergantung kepada sumber
hasil dan bidang kuasa kewangan yang diperuntukkan kepada kerajaan negeri.
Ketidakseimbangan fiskal pula bermaksud ketidakcukupan kewangan atau hasil
untuk membiayai perbelanjaan yang perlu ditunaikan oleh kerajaan berbanding
dengan kemampuan sumber hasil yang ada dan dapat dijana. Lazimnya, dalam
sebuah negara persekutuan, kemampuan fiskal kerajaan persekutuan adalah lebih
tinggi berbanding dengan kemampuan fiskal kerajaan negeri. Lanjutan dari itu
berlaku dua jenis ketidakcukupan kewangan iaitu ketidakcukupan kewangan antara
kerajaan negeri dengan kerajaan pusat dan ketidakcukupan kewangan antara
kerajaan-kerajaan negeri. Ketidakcukupan kewangan pertama dikenali sebagai
ketidakseimbangan fiskal menegak. Ketidakcukupan kewangan kedua pula dikenali
sebagai ketidakseimbangan mendatar.
Di Malaysia secara khusus, masalah ketidakseimbangan fiskal yang berlaku
adalah sesuatu yang dijangkakan kerana sebagai sebuah negara persekutuan
separa tulin, kerajaan pusat dan kerajaan negeri diperuntukkan dengan bidang
kuasa kewangan yang amat tidak seimbang. Kerajaan pusat diperuntukkan dengan
bidang kuasa kewangan yang utama dan mampu menjana hasil yang tinggi
berbanding dengan bidang kuasa kewangan yang diperuntukkan kepada kerajaan
negeri. Sehubungan dengan itu juga Perlembagaan Persekutan sejak awal telah
memperuntukkan pemberian sebagai alat dasar fiskal utamabagi
mengurusketidakseimbangan fiskal sejak awal penubuhan persekutuan Malaysia.

PEMBERIAN KEPADA KERAJAAN NEGERI SEBAGAI ALAT DASAR FISKAL

Di Malaysia, pemberian kepada negeri-negeri ialah terma rasmi yang

diperuntukan di dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan (Perkara 109). Ianya bertujuan
untuk meningkatkan kemampuan kewangan kerajaan negeri dan mengurus
ketidakseimbangan fiskal. Terma lain yang sering diguna pakai oleh penjawat awam
untuk pemberian ini ialah bantuan kewangan, pemberian persekutuan dan geran
kerajaan persekutuan. Terma-terma ini bermaksud agihan wang tunai daripada
 270

kerajaan pusat kepada kerajaan negeri dan kerajaan tempatan. Agihan ini dibuat
berdasarkan kepada keputusan dasar pemberian yang telah dilulusan oleh badan
perundangan dan mengikut syarat-syarat tertentu tertakluk kepada jenis pemberian
yang diagihkan. Agihan pemberian ini dibuat secara berterusan, bersifat jangka
panjang dan bukan untuk tujuan darurat atau kecemasan. Maksud yang sama
dijelaskan oleh Lemay, C. M. (2002, m. s. 99) dan Simmon, (2001, m. s. 342-243)
dalam konteks negara pesekutuan lain termasuklah di Kanada, Australia dan
Amerika Syarikat yang mengamalkan persekutuan tulin.
Pemberian kepada kerajaan negeri mula diperkenalkan di Malaysia apabila
Perjanjian 1909 ditandatangani.Walau bagaimana pun jenis dan kaedah menentukan
jumlah pemberian kepada kerajaan negeri hanya mula dimasukkan di dalam
Perjanjian Persekutuan 1948. Badan pembuat keputusan khusus berkaitan dengan
pemberian kepada kerajaan negeri pula hanya mula dimasukkan di dalam
Perlembagaan 1957 iaitu dengan memperuntukkan penubuhan Majlis Kewangan
Negara sebagai sebuah institusi pembuat keputusan utama untuk mengurus
hubungan fiskal. Majlis ini diperuntukkan dengan bidang kuasa bagi menentukan
jenis dan jumlah pemberian tambahan kepada jenis dan jumlah pemberian yang
telah diperuntukkan sebelumnya [Perkara 108(4)(a)].
Pada hari ini Majlis ini merupakan badan pembuat keputusan utama
hubungan fiskal di Malaysia.Perlembagaan Persekutuan Malaysia juga menetapkan
bahawa kerajaan pusat adalah pihak yang bertanggungjawab untuk mengagihkan
pemberian kepada setiap buah negeri yang menganggotai persekutuan Malaysia
dan ianya perlu diagihkan mengikut keputusan dasar pemberian yang dipersetujui
bersama oleh kerajaan negeri dan pusat di peringkat negara persekutuan seperti
Parlimen dan Majlis Kewangan Negara.
Berbeza dengan amalan Malaysia, di Kanada dan Australia, pemberian
sebagai dasar fiskal ini dinamakan sebagai geran keseimbangan.Geran ini diagihkan
dalam bentuk tunai kepada kerajaan-kerajaan negeri yang kurang kaya sahaja.
Geran keseimbangan yang diamalkan di dua buah negara ini tidak berjaya
merapatkan tahap jurang ketidakseimbangan fiskal menegak dan mendatar. Di
Amerika Syarikat, pemberian ini dikenali sebagai grant (geran). Tiga kategori geran
utama diagihkan kepada kerajaan negeri ialah ’categorical grants’, ’block grants’, dan
’revenew sharing grants’. Amalan di Amerika Syarikat juga menunjukkan jumlah
pemberian yang diagihkan tidak berjaya sepenuhnya merapatkan jurang
ketidakseimbangan fiskal menegak dan mendatar. Punca utama pemberian tidak
mampu mengurus ketidakseimbangan fiskal di Amerika Syarikat ialah kerana dasar
pemberian yang diamalkan tidak bertujuan untuk mencapai keseimbangan fiskal
dalam operasi kewangan negeri.
Dalam kalangan negara persekutuan secara umumnya terdapat empat sebab
utama yang boleh dikaitkan dengan ketidakmampuan pemberian untuk mengurus
masalah ketidakseimbangan fiskal. Pertama kerana kos menyedia perkhidmatan
awam dan perbelanjaan negeri tidak diambilkira dalam menentukan jumlah
pemberian yang diagihkan kepada kerajaan negeri. Kedua, kerana perbezaan sifat
semulajadi dan skop aktiviti ekonomi antara kerajaan pusat dengan kerajaan negeri
dan antara kerajaan-kerajaan negeri tidak diambilkira. Sedangkan perbezaan-
perbezaan ini mempengaruhi kemampuan kerajaan negeri untuk memungut hasil
dan menyedia perkhidmatan kepada rakyat dengan berkesan. Ketiga, tahap jurang
ketidakseimbangan fiskal antara negeri juga tidak diambilkira. Jumlah dan jenis
pemberian yang diagihkan hanya mengambilkira keupayaan kerajaan negeri untuk
mengutip hasil sahaja. Keempat, dari segi amalannya tujuan sebenar pemberian
bukanlah untuk merapatkan jurang ketidakseimbangan fiskal tetapi sebaliknya
bertujuan untuk mencapai pelbagai matlamat dasar negara Persekutuan seperti
pembangunan sosio-ekonomi rakyat, pengukuhan kedudukan kewangan kerajaan
dan penyampaian perkhidmatan yang adil dan cekap. Perbincangan seterusnya
bertujuan menjelaskanfaktor ke empat berdasarkan pengalaman Malaysia.
 271

AGIHAN PEMBERIAN TERHADAP KEMAMPUAN FISKAL NEGERI:

PENGALAMAN EMPAT BUAH NEGERI DI UTARA SEMENANJUNG MALAYSIA

Kementerian Kewangan Malaysia melaporkan Majlis Kewangan Negara telah

bersetuju supaya kerajaan persekutuan mencarum sebanyak RM330 juta bagi tahun
2018 untuk membiayai pemberian kepada kerajaan negeri.Tujuan pemberian ini
ialah untuk membiayai kekurangan wang dalam akaun mengurus dan juga untuk
membiayai perbelanjaan pembangunanekonomi, infrastruktur dan kesejahteraaan
hidup (2016).Laporan ini menunjukkan ketidakcukupan kewangan dalam operasi
kewangan negeri masih berlaku dan ia sebenarnya merupakan fenomena biasa
dalam kalangan negeri anggota persekutuan, Kajian-kajian berkaitan di Malaysia
yang dibuat sebelum ini juga menemui tren ketikmampuan fiskal yang sama
(Zauyah, 2012, Wee, 2005 & Zuriana, 2004).
Kemampuan fiskal negeri-negeri anggota persekutuan secara umumnya
adalah terhad kerana hasil yang mampu dikutip tidak dapat menampung
perbelanjaan seragam yang perlu ditunaikan. Tambahan pula dalam melaksana
tanggungjawab kewangan seragam yang diperuntukkan, negeri-negeri
diperuntukkan dengan bidang kuasa kewangan yang amat terhad. Melalui bidang
kuasa yang diperuntukkan ini mereka tidak mampu merancang perbelanjaan
mengikut kemampuan hasil. Oleh itu, ada kalanya negeri-negeri memilih untuk
mengamal belanjawan defisit sebagai satu strategi untuk membolehkan mereka
melaksana keputusan perbelanjaan yang dipertanggungjawabkan.
Dalam konteks empat buah negeri di Utara Semenanjung yang dikaji iaitu
Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang dan Perak, mereka menerima tiga kategori pemberian
iaitu pertama, pemberian amanah bertujuan untuk membiayai perbelanjaan
pembangunan. Kedua, pemberian amanah bertujuan untuk membiayai perbelanjaan
mengurus yang telah ditetapkan dan ketiga, pemberian bukan amanah yang mana
negeri penerima bebas menggunanya untuk membiayai sebarang keperluan
perbelanjaan di peringkat negeri masing-masing.
Pemberian amanah untuk membiayai perbelanjaan pembangunan
bermaksud wang pemberian ini tidak boleh digunakan untuk membiayai
perbelanjaan mengurus dan juga perbelanjaan pembangunan selain daripada untuk
tujuan membiayai projek-projek pembangunan yang telah ditetapkan.Terdapat satu
sahaja jenis pemberian di dalam klasifikasi ini iaitu Pemberian Berdasarkan Tahap
Pembangunan Ekonomi, Infrastruktur dan Kesejahteraan Hidup (Pemberian
TAHAP).Semua negeri di Utara Semenanjung menerima pemberian ini.Pemberian
TAHAP diberi kepada negeri-negeri sebagai satu kaedah untuk membolehkan
kerajaan pusat membantu kerajaan negeri yang tahap pembangunannya masih
rendah.Melalui pemberian ini negeri penerima disyaratkan supaya membina projek
pembangunan sosio-ekonomi yang sesuai di dalam negeri masing-masing.
Antara projek yang pernah dilaksana oleh negeri-negeri di Utara
Semenanjung ialah membina dan mengubahsuai masjid, membina surau, membina
jalan kampong, membina jambatan, membina jeti kampung dan membina sekolah
agama.Sebagai langkah kawalan ke atas maksud ditetapkan, negeri-negeri
penerima disyaratkan supaya mengakaun pemberian ini kepada Akaun
Kumpulanwang Amanah Pembangunan.Bersesuaian dengan tujuan dan syarat
ditetapkan, pemberian TAHAP sememangnya tidak mampu meningkatkan
keupayaan negeri untuk membiayai perbelanjaan mengurus.Sungguhpun demikian
pemberian ini mampu meningkatkan kemampuanfiskal negeri-negeri bagi menyedia
kemudahan asas kepada rakyat dan oleh itu mampu meningkatkan kupayaan
kerajaan negeri untuk menjaga kebajikan sosial rakyat.
Bagi pemberian amanah yang bertujuan untuk membiayai perbelanjaan
mengurus khas ditetapkan pula, pengalaman negeri-negeri di Utara Semenanjung
juga menunjukkan terdapat satu sahaja jenis pemberian di dalam kategori ini iaitu
Pemberian Penyelenggaraan Jalan Raya Negeri (Pemberian MARRIS). Pemberian
 272

ini diberikan sebagai satu kaedah untuk membolehkan kerajaan pusat membantu
kerajaan-kerajaan negeri membiayai kos menyelengara Jalan Raya Negeri. Negeri
disyaratkan untuk mengakaun pemberian ini kepada Kumpulan Wang Amanah
Disatukan.Semua negeri di utara Semenanjung menerima pemberian ini dan semua
empat buah negeri berpandangan pemberian ini hanya mampu membantu mereka
melaksana kerja-kerja menyelenggara jalan raya dengan minima sahaja kerana
tujuan perbelanjaannya telah ditetapkan dan jumlah yang diterima pula tidak
menepati keperluan sebenar seperti yang diputuskan melalui proses pembautan
keputusan operasi.
Pemberian ini tidak mampu menyelaras jurang ketidakcukupan kewangan
dalam operasi kewangan kerajaan negeri. Dua buah negeri di Utara Semenanjung
berpandangan atas alasan kemampuan fiskal yang terhad dan dengan alasan
keadaan Jalan Raya Negeri sedia ada di masing-masing negeri masih boleh diguna
tanpa menimbulkan masalah, maka kerja-kerja menyelenggara Jalan Raya Negeri
tidak perlu dibuat setiap tahun. Oleh itu, peruntukkan pemberian ini pada tahun
tertentu di guna untuk membiayai perbelanjaan lain yang lebih utama. Pengalaman
dua buah negeri ini menunjukkan sekiranya tujuan perbelanjaan untuk pemberian ini
tidak ditetapkan maka negeri-negeri akan menggunanya untuk membiayai
perbelanjaan operasi lain yang lebih utama. Amalan ini juga menunjukkan pemberian
ini sekadar mampu meningkat kemampuan kewangan negeri dengan terhad dan
tidak bertujuan menyelesai masalah ketidakseimbangan fiskal negeri dan antara
negeri-negeri.
Pemberian bukan amanah pula diberikan sebagai satu kaedah supaya
kerajaan pusat boleh menanggung sebahagian daripada perbelanjaan mengurus
negeri.Sembilan dari sebelas jenis pemberian yang diterima oleh negeri-negeri di
Utara Semenanjung Malaysia termasuk di dalam kategori ini iaitu selain daripada
Pemberian TAHAP dan Pemberian MARRIS.Walaupun bilangan jenis pemberian
dalam kategori ini banyak tetapijumlah pemberian ini juga tidak mampu
mengurangkan jurang ketidakseimbangan fiskal kerana agihannya hanyalah
merupakan kaedah untuk membolehkan kerajaan pusat dan kerajaan negeri secara
bersama membiayai perbelanjaan mengurus Jabatan Bersama Pusat-Negeri iaitu
Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran, Jabatan Perkhidmatan Haiwan, Jabatan Kebajikan,
Perpustakaan dan Muzium negeri. Jumlah yang diterima hanya sekadar mampu
meningkatkan kemampuan fiskal negeri untuk membiayai perbelanjaan operasi
sahaja.

CABARAN PEMBUATAN KEPUTUSAN OPERASI PEMBERIAN TERHADAP

KETIDAKSEIMBANGAN FISKAL PADA MASA HADAPAN

Pengalaman empat buah negeri di Utara Semenanjung menunjukkan

sebanyak tiga puluh dua peraturan dasar pemberian seragam digunapakaidalam
proses pembuatan keputusan operasi bagi menentukan jumlah
pemberian.Keputusan ini dibuat mengikut jenis pemberian, dibuat di peringkat
pejabat kewangan negeri dan jabatan-jabatan berkaitan yang terlibat seperti Jabatan
Bersama Pusat-Negeri, Jabatan Kerja Raya dan Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan di
peringkat negeri, diperakukan di peringkat kerajaan pusat dan dibuat dengan
melaksana peraturan pemberian seragam. Peraturan ini terdiri daripada
Perlembagaan Persekutuan, Akta, Pekeliling Perbendaharaan, keputusan yang
dibuat oleh Majlis Kewangan Negara dan yang dibuat oleh Jemaah Menteri.Jumlah
bantuan untuk setiap jenis pemberian ditentukan dengan menggunapakai gabungan
antara dua hingga tiga peraturan dasar. Sebagai contoh, untuk menentukan jumlah
dan mengagihkan Pemberian MARRIS, gabungan tiga peraturan dasar digunapakai
iaitu Perlembagaan Persekutuan, Akta Pemberian Jalan dan keputusan Majlis
Kewangan Negara. Manakala untuk mengagihkan Pemberian TAHAP, gabungan
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dua peraturan dasar pemberian digunapakai iaitu Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan

keputusan Majlis Kewangan Negara.
Semua peraturan dasar pemberian yang digunapakai ini diputuskan oleh
institusi pembuat keputusan dasar tertinggi Persekutuan iaitu Parlimen, Jemaah
Menteri dan Perbendaharaan Negara serta institusi pembuat keputusan dasar
bersama Pusat-Negeri iaitu Majlis Kewangan Negara. Sehubungan dengan itu,
peraturan pemberian yang digunapakai ini mempunyai wibawa tertinggi untuk
dilaksana dengan tegas oleh kedua-dua peringkat kerajaan persekutuan dan negeri-
negeri di Utara Semenanjung. Pengalaman empat buah negeri di Utara
Semenanjung menunjukkan peraturan-peraturan pemberian ini sememangnya
dilaksana dengan tegas dan rigid dalam proses pembuatan keputusan operasi
pemberian. Sungguh pun demikian, peraturan yang digunapakai ini tidak bertujuan
untuk memastikan kerajaan negeri beroperasi dengan keseimbangan.
Pengalaman negeri-negeri berkenaan juga menunjukkan hampir keseluruhan
daripada peraturan yang digunapakai merupakan peraturan ‘lama’ dan masih
merupakan peraturan yang asal. Hanya sebahagian kecil sahaja daripada peraturan
berkenaan yang telah dibuat pindaan. Namun, pindaan terkini berkaitan juga telah
lama dibuat iaitu sebelum tahun 2000. Terdapat satu sahaja daripada peraturan
berkenaan yang telah dipinda selepas tahun 2000 iaitu peraturan bagi menentukan
Pemberian Kapitasi (Pindaan 2002). Peraturan-peraturan pemberian yang
digunapakai tidak mengambilkira perbelanjaan negeri semasa yang semakin
meningkat, pelbagai dan berbeza berbanding dengan pada tahun peraturan
berkenaan diluluskan. Peraturan yang digunapakai juga tidak membolehkan kerajaan
negeri ’menuntut’ jenis pemberian mengikut keperluan semasa kerana tuntutan juga
dibuat dengan melaksana peraturan pemberian yang sama.
Pembuatan keputusan operasi pemberian juga tidak mengambilkira
perbezaan kemampuan hasil dan tanggungjawab perbelanjaan semasa negeri.
Walaupun peraturan yang digunapakai membenarkan kerajaan persekutuan
mengagihkan jenis pemberian secara tidak sama rata antara negeri yang kaya
dengan negeri yang miskin tetapi kaedah agihan ini tidak berkesan untuk
menampung jurang ketidakseimbangan fiskal yang berlaku dalam kalangan negeri
yang miskin dan yang amat bergantung kepada pemberian sebagai sumber hasil
utama. Hal ini berlaku kerana terdapat kelemahan dalam proses pembuatan
keputusan operasi pemberian. Kelemahan utama ialah kelewatan dalam proses
pembuatan keputusan operasi pemberian. Kelemahan di peringkat operasi ini
menyebabkan agihan pemberian lewat dibuat oleh kerajaan pusat dan kelewatan ini
menyebabkan aliran jumlah pemberian yang diterima oleh kerajaan negeri menjadi
sangat tidak stabil. Aliran penerimaan yang tidak stabilseterusnya telah
menyebabkan berlakunya jurang ketidakseimbangan fiskal yang besar. Hal ini
berlaku kerana belanjawan negeri dibuat berpandukan kepada jangkaan dan
sasaran kutipan hasil yang tidak tepat yang mana pemberian adalah antara
penyumbang utama kepada hasil negeri.
Negeri-negeri di utara Semenanjung juga tidak mampu merancang
perbelanjaan mengikut kemampuan hasil kerana perbelanjaan tertinggi dan kedua
tertinggi negeri ialah untuk membiayai komponen pemberian dan bayaran kenaan
tetap. Keputusan perbelanjaan untuk dua komponen ini dibuat kerana melaksana
keputusan dasar kerajaan persekutuan dan keputusan ini dibuat untuk mengekalkan
dan meningkatkan sokongan rakyat kepada kerajaan yang sedang memerintah.
Semua negeri di Utara Semenanjung melaksanakan keputusan ini tanpa mengikut
kemampuan hasil. Berikutan daripada itu, berlakulah ketidakseimbangan fiskal dalam
operasi kewangan negeri.Setiap jenis pemberian yang diagihkan kepada negeri-
negeri di Utara Semenanjung juga adalah bertujuan untuk mencapai pelbagai
matlamat dasar persekutuan. Proses pembuatan keputusan operasi dalam
menentukan jumlah pemberian juga dibuat dengan rigid bertujuan untuk memastikan
pelbagai matlamat dasar yang telah ditetapkanini bolehdicapai. Sebagai contoh,
 274

pembuatan keputusan operasi untuk Pemberian TAHAP adalah untuk mencapai

matlamat pembangunan sosio-ekonomi penduduk dan matlamat keputusan operasi
Pemberian MARRIS adalah untuk memastikan kemudahan asas dapat disediakan
oleh kerajaan dengan berkesan.
Walaupun begitu, tidak bermakna agihan pemberian yang bertujuan untuk
mencapai pelbagai matlamat dasar persekutuan yang diamalkan merupakan satu
kelemahan. Ianya juga bukan merupakan fakor kritikal yang menyebabkan agihan
pemberian tidak mampu untuk mengurus ketidakseimbangan fiskal di antara negeri-
negeri di Utara Semenanjung. Faktor utama berkaitan dengan sistem persekutuan
dan hubungan fiskal yang menjadi sebab musabab proses pembuatan keputusan
operasi dalam menentukan jumlah pemberian tidak mampu menyelesai masalah
ketidakseimbangan fiskal antara negeri-negeri ialah kerana matlamat pemberian itu
sendiri bukan bertujuan menyelesai masalah ketidakcukupan fiskal kerajaan negeri.
Proses membuat keputusan operasipemberian yang diamalkan juga tidak mengambil
kira jurang ketidakseimbangan fiskal di antara negeri sebagai satu masalah yang
perlu diselesaikan. Hal ini berlaku kerana kaedah pemberian yang diamalkan terbukti
amat berkesan untuk mencapai matlamat dasar negara persekutuan. Pencapain
matlamat ini adalah lebih penting dan lebih utama demi menjamin penerusan sebuah
negara Persekutuan yang aman, stabil dan maju. Pada masa yang sama langkah-
langkah yang diambil untuk mencapai matlamat dasar negara persekutuan secara
langsung dan tidak langsung juga berjaya meningkatkan kemampuan fiskal negeri
dan juga berjaya mencegah daripada berlakunya jurang ketidakseimbangan fiskal
yang lebih serius.

LANGKAH PENINGKATAN KEMAMPUAN FISKALOLEH NEGERI-NEGERI

Dalam tadbir urus hubungan fiskal, kerajaan negeri diperuntukkan dengan

empat bidang kuasa utama iaitu pengumpulan maklumat kutipan hasil, pemantauan
kutipan hasil, pengenalpastian sumber hasil baru dan penyediaan bajet hasil. Semua
bidang kuasa yang ditemui ini bersifat operasi. Negeri-negeri di Utara Semenanjung
hanya boleh membuat keputusan dasar mengenai kaedah untuk meningkatkan
kecekapan dan keberkesanan kutipan hasil sahaja. Sungguhpun demikian,
keputusan yang dibuat tersebut mestilah selari dengan keputusan (arahan) yang
dikeluarkan oleh kerajaan persekutuan dari semasa kesemasa.
Dalam usaha untuk meningkatkan kemampuan fiskal masing-masing bagi
menghadapai cabaran kekurangan kewangan di masa hadapan negeri-negeri telah
mula melaksana pelbagai initiatif sejak pertengahan tahun 2000. Sebagai contoh,
Kedah telah melaksana langkah-langkah operasi peningkatan hasil berikut di dalam
lingkungan bidang kuasa yang diperuntukkan dan arahan yang dikeluarkan oleh
kerajaan persekutuan: (1), membuat pemantauan kutipan hasil secara terancang,
(2), menubuhkan pasukan petugas (Task Force) untuk mengenalpasti sumber hasil
baru dan (3) memberi penghargaan kepada jabatan yang membuat kutipan yang
menepati sasaran. Antara jenis penghargaan yang telah diberikan oleh Pejabat
Kewangan Negeri Kedah ialah menghantar kakitangan pergi bercuti sambil belajar
dan menyedia kemudahan kutipan (seperti komputer dan perisian) kepada jabatan
yang berjaya membuat kutipan menepati sasaran.
Langkah-langkah lain yang telah dilaksana oleh negeri-negeri lain di Utara
Semenanjung termasuklah meningkatkan kutipan hasil tertunggak dan menceburi
pelaburan hartanah. Melalui langkah-langkah peningkatan hasil yang dilaksana,
ditemui negeri-negeri di Utara Semenanjung mampu meningkatkan kutipan hasil
negeri masing-masing dengan bermakna. Namun, peningkatannya masih tidak boleh
menjamin operasi kewangan negeri akan berakhir dengan keseimbangan. Hal ini
berlaku kerana seperti yang telah dinyatakan sebelumnya negeri tidak bebas
merancang perbelanjaan mengikut kemampuan hasil. Objektif tadbir urus kewangan
 275

negeri-negeri di Utara Semenanjung juga bukanlah untuk mencapai belanjawan

seimbang, sebaliknya untuk melaksana tanggung jawab kerajaan kepada rakyat dan
kepada kerajaan pusat.
Sebagai contoh pengalaman Kedah sebagai sebuah negeri yang agak
miskin, langkah meningkatkan hasil yang telah dilaksana secara umumnya mampu
menjana hasil yang cukup untuk membiayai perbelanjaan operasi negeri. Tadbir urus
kewangan negeri Kedah juga secara umunmya ditemui cekap dan bersih (Kedah
pernah mendapat Sijil Bersih pada 8 Jun 2006). Namun, memandangkan misi
Pejabat Kewangan Negeri Kedah ialah untuk mencapai matlamat pembangunan
yang telah ditetapkan oleh kerajaan puat, maka peruntukkan hasil untuk membiayai
perbelanjaan operasi dikorbankan untuk mencapai matlamat tersebut. Pilihan
keputusan inilah yang menyebabkan operasi kewangan negeri Kedah berakhir
dengan ketidakcukupan kewangan dalam belanjawan operasi.
Hal yang sama berlaku di Pulau Pinang yang merupakan sebuah negeri
maju. Negeri ini yang memilih untuk menceburi dan meningkatkan pelaburan
hartanah sebagai langkah utama untuk meningkatkan hasil (dilaksanakan oleh
perunding) telah berjaya meningkatkan hasil dengan bermakna. Langkah yang dipilih
ini selari dengan objektif Jabatan Kewangan Negeri Pulau Pinang iaitu untuk
’memperbaiki kedudukan kewangan Negeri yang kukuh’8. Namun, sama seperti yang
berlaku di Kedah kerana tumpuan utama langkah peningkatan hasil yang dilaksana
di Pulau Pinang juga lebih bertujuan untuk meningkatkan keupayaan membiayai
perbelanjaan pembangunan, maka operasi kewangan Pulau Pinang juga berakhir
dengan ketidakcukupan kewangan. Situasi yang sama juga berlaku di negeri-negeri
lain di Utara Semenanjung. Tiada daripada negeri di Utara Semenanjung yang
menetapkan sasaran kutipan hasil sebagai langkah untuk mencapai keseimbangan
dalam operasi kewangan negeri masing-masing.
Majlis Kewangan Negara (2016) pula mencadangkan supaya kerajaan negeri
mengamalkan pengurusan kewangan berhemah dan mempergiakan langkah untuk
mengurangkan tunggakan kutipan hasil. Jumlah tunggakan hasil kerajaan negeri
secara keseluruhannya dilaporkan berjumlah sebanyak RM2 billion setahun bagi
tempoh 2011-2015. Kutipan hasil utama kerajaan negeri ialah daripada tanah dan
hutan. Oleh itu, bagi tujuan menggalakkan orang ramai membayar cukai dan
menjelaskan tuggakan, kerajaan negeri perlu mengguna kemudahan Internet dan
media sosial dengan lebih meluas. Media sosial telah digunapakai secara meluas
oleh jabatan di peringkat pusat dan Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan untuk memudahkan
orang ramai mendapatkan perkhidmatan dan membayar cukai dan lain-lain bayaran.
Langkah memberi diskaun akan mendapat sambutan sekiranya ditular secara
meluas oleh media sosial. Mengguna van kaunter bergerak juga merupakan satu
pilihan, namun pusat-pusat perkhidmatan setempatan yang telah di perkenalan
melalui Staretegi Lautan Biru kerajaan seperti Rural Transformation Centre (RTC)
dan Urban Development Centre (UTC) perlu diguna secara meluas bagi tujuan ini.

KESIMPULAN

Pemberian sebagai alat dasar fiskal amalan Malaysia adalah bertujuan untuk
mencapai matlamat negara persekutuan dan matlamat ini dikenali sebagai matlamat
politik persekutuan dan matlamat ini adalah selari dengan andaian teori federalisme
fiskal yang dikemukakan oleh Musgrave, R. A. & Musgrave P. B (1984) dan Oates,
W. E. (2002) serta selari dengan penemuan amalan di negara Persekutuan tulin
yang ditinjau seperti yang dilaporkan oleh Morris, A. (2006) berdasarkan kepada
pengalaman di Australia dan Henry, N. (2007) berdasarkan kepada pengalaman di

8
Portal rasmi Jabatan Kewangan Negeri Pulau Pinang. http.//jkn.penang.gov.my/profil.htm.
Dicapai pada 15 Mei 2008
 276

Amerika Syarikat (OECD, KIPT, 2016). Matlamat politik persekutuan yang tersirat
disebalik setiap matlamat dasar pemberian dan tujuan pembuatan keputusan operasi
pemberian ialah untuk menjaga hubungan baik di antara kerajaan persekutuan
dengan kerajaan negeri, untuk mencapai keseimbangan pembangunan sosio-
ekonomi di antara negeri demi meningkatkan pembangunan negara persekutuan dan
untuk mengekalkan sokongan rakyat kepada kerajaan yang sedang memerintah.
Pengalaman empat buah negeri di Utara Semenanjung juga menunjukkan
bidang kuasa kewangan kerajaan negeri amatlah terhad dan tidak membolehkan
mereka merancang dan melaksana langkah kutipan hasil dengan tujuan untuk
mendapatkan hasil setanding dengan peningkatan dalam tanggungjawab
perbelanjaan. Hal ini berlaku kerana tahap bidang kuasa yang diperuntukkan kepada
kerajaan negeri lebih bertujuan untuk membolehkan kerajaan persekutuan
memantau kutipan hasil dan memastikan negeri memperolehi hasil yang maksima
daripada sumber hasil negeri yang sedia ada sahaja. Kawalan tadbir urus kewangan
oleh kerajaan persekutuan tidak bertujuan untuk memastikan perbelanjaan dibuat
mengikut kemampuan hasil dan juga tidak bertujuan mengurus ketidakseimbagan
fiskal negeri-negeri. Kawalan yang dibuat adalah bertujuan untuk mencapai matlamat
politik persekutuan seperti yang telah dijelaskan.
Walau bagaimana pun bagi menghadapi cabaran fiskal di masa hadapan dan
dalam lingkungan bidang kuasa yang terhad kerajaan negeri perlu mengambil
langkah untuk meningkatkan kemampuan fiskal daripada sumber hasil utama
diperuntukkan kepada mereka iaitu tanah dan hutan. Kerajaan negeri juga perlu
memperkasa tadbir urus kewangan dan memantapkan pembuatan keputusan
operasi pemberian agar aliran penerimaan pemberian bersifat stabil bagi mengelak
daripada berlakunya jurang ketidakseimbangan fiskal yang tinggi.

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 280

Lecturers Approach and Students Motivation to Learn: A Case

Study at UiTM Sarawak
Nur Afisha Bt Yusuf
Lecturer, of Faculty Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
nuraf412@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Jennifah Bt Nordin
Lecturer, of Faculty Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
jenni235@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Chai Shin Yi
Lecturer, of Faculty Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
chaisy@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Sarehan Bt Sadikin
Lecturer, of Faculty Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
sarehan@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Nazni@Nazmi Noordin
Lecturer, of Faculty Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
nazni@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Grace Malang
Faculty Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
graceacer92@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Lecturer’s approach in teaching the student is important as their approach can affect
the student’s motivation to learn. The role that they played does not only restricted to
formal interaction during lecture but also informal interaction. Several studies
reported that student’s success and achievement also depends among other things
on the lecturer’s approach. This study thus emphasize on the lecturers approach in
motivating the students to learn. The two objectives of this study are to determine the
lecturer’s approach that most affect student’s motivation to learn and to examine the
relationship between the lecturer’s approach and student’s motivation to learn. There
are four dimensions of lecturers approach used in this study which include
dominance, submission, cooperation and submission. The data in this study is based
on 222 number of respondents. The findings revealed that, lecturers approach in the
form of cooperation is the most significant approach in influencing the students to
learn. Futhermore, the findings also revealed that there is a moderate positive
relationship between the lecturer’s approach and the student’s motivation to learn at
UiTM Sarawak.

Keywords: Lecture’s approach, student’s motivation, interaction

 281

INTRODUCTION

Lecturer approach in teaching the student is not only based on the formal
interaction but also during informal conversation. Lecturer is a facilitator for student
learning process (Cheong, 2007). Lecturer roles and responsibilities is more or less
the same with teacher whereas they involve in educate the student in giving
knowledge. According to Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (n.d), unlike in
school, lecturer will not tell student what to do and they also do not monitor student
progress on weekly basis as teacher did. However, their approach towards student is
still very crucial. The Students’ Motivation to learn either in school or higher institution
could be depends on approach of lecturer either in teaching or informal interaction.
The main objective of this study is to determine the effect of lecturers behaviour
based on Model of Interpersonal Teacher Behaviour by Leary in 1957 that consists of
four dimensions namely dominance, submission, cooperation and opposition towards
students’ motivation to learn.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Motivation gives impact on student’s interest in learning. This could be due to

the approach used by teaching in interact with student either during lecture session.
This is seem to be pressing educational problem in high institution commonly
university. However, there is little research done in study on impact of lecturer
approach on Students’ Motivation to learn. The study mostly found was only focuses
on teacher instead of lecturer in University. Furthermore, previous research only
studied the impact of lecturers approach on student learning with focus only on the
teaching skills and no other informal interaction approaches (Kember and Kwan,
2000). In addition, other studies on teaching only emphasize on variables such as
student focused strategy and students centred learning. The recent studies on
informal interaction and student’s motivation include those study by Nugent (2009),
Sagayadevan & Jeyaraj (2012) and Kamaruddin & Mubin (2012). These shows that
there are less study conducted on informal interaction and students motivation. Low
motivation among students in learning had become an important issue in educatio
(Nugent, 2009). Low motivation to learn among students’ could be a serious problem
as it can affect their study performance as well as achievement. Rajmah and Azman
(2002) further added that, in Malaysia, bumiputeras students are demotivated to
study.
According Zainudin, Meor & Tan (2009), differences in educator’s approach
student will affect the students’ motivation to learn. Extreme strictness of lecturer
approach towards students make student to be demotivated in learning (Bahramy &
Araghi, 2013).Thus, unfavourable approach use by lecturer may creates student fear
and anxiety towards interacting with lecturer. They will become passive in class such
as they rather keep quiet in class even if they have difficulties in understanding
subject they learned from those lecturer. Lecturer’s poor approach in in class limits
student’s involvement. This is true especially when the lecturer prefer a one way
communication. Failure in cooperating in term of acknowledging student’s opinion will
result in a one way communication and will disrupt the learning process. Limited
freedom approach by lecturer had caused a wider gap between the student and
lecturer which also will lead to demotivation to study among students. Lack of
cooperation in creating two way communication will result in difficulties to determine
the extent of understanding on the subjects by the lecturer. The other problem that
could arise due to student lack motivation to learn is problem of absenteeism. Based
on research done by Wadesango and Machingambi (2011) on selected South African
Universities, most of student response that their low motivation to attend class is
because of their dislike the approaches practiced by some lecturer. According to
 282

Stipek (2002), negative perception towards the student’s ability, competency and
honesty will also demotivates students to learn. Besides that, lecturer’s inability to
control their emotions also a factor in demotivating student’s to learn. This bad
approach will reduce students’ motivation to learn while at the same time create
student haters towards the lecturer. They will tend to have low interest to attend
lecture or they also tend to not interested on the subject taught by the lecturer.
Thus, based on above discussion, this study will focus on lecturers approach
and how these approaches can affect the students motivation to learn.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Dominance

Dominance as defined by Kalen (2007) as position of generous force to

conquer people or product in connected to specific matter. In other words,
dominance is the power and ability to influence other to follow our desire. Based on
Cetin, Ellidokuzoglu and Dogan (2014) study found that dominance as consider
being lecturer with control oriented behavioural approaches. They also added that
dominance style of teaching is related to directive and authoritative approaches.
Meanwhile, Morzano (2003) defined that dominance is educator capability to give
instruction and firm direction on student either in their study and manner. Their study
found that dominance in educator approaches and interaction with student is one of
the crucial behaviour in class management. Based on Nugent (2009) study found
that dominance is divided into two sub scales which is known as leadership and
strictness.
Firstly, leadership behaviour in lecturers’ approach refers to ability to
influence and motivate other people or his/her member mind and behaviour to serve
their function effectively in order to achieve certain goal (Olekalns, McShane &
Travaglione, 2013). Meanwhile according Harris (2009) educator leadership is the
series of action which lecturer or even teacher able to influence student in order to
improve their learning. Leadership is when the lecturer able to lead, organizes,
determine procedures and structure classroom situation. (Maulana et.al, 2012) This
is supported by Goh (n.d) that found lecturer with leadership approaches is when the
lecturer notice what happening in surrounding during interact with students, able to
lead, organize and give effective orders. Their study found that leadership behaviour
in educator approaches is among the crucial element in managing students in the
classroom including encourage their learning focuses. Therefore, leadership among
lecturer is very important since educator regardless teacher or lecturers are the
crucial people to control student’s discipline. Other than that, they need this approach
in order to ensure the knowledge is efficiently presented to students.
Strict refers to lecturer being rigid and firm towards students. According to
Maulana, Opdenakker, Brok and Bosker (2012) in their study defined that strict is the
ability of lecturer or teacher to maintain silence among students, rigid in checking,
ability to judge, exact norms and able to create and manage rules and regulation for
students. The article Strict or Lenient Educator Personalities also stated that
strictness in teaching creates sense of responsibilities and respected by students
also argue that there are pro and cons for the lecturer to be strict towards students.
However, in articles written by Chong (2014) argue that strict approach by educator
could lead to less or even no chances for student to learn.

Submission

Submission are categorised into two namely student’s freedom and uncertain.
Firstly is student freedom. Based on MITB which created by Leary, student
 283

responsibility and freedom are being combined into one similar subscale under
submission. According to research result made by Suriyati, Nurashikin, Dazz & Wan
(n.d), found that most respondent feel that student opinion need to considered by
lecturer which mean they need to pay attention when students express their ideas,
comments and so on. In another word, lecturer could give opportunity to their student
to express their opinion, and know their student problems. Student’s freedom in
classroom is defined as the degree of attainment (Ozer,2013). Ozer also added that
approaches of lecturer that give freedom to student in classroom or during learning
process could enhance student maturity in thinking. He also mentions that students’
freedom can enhance enjoyment and comfortability of student during learning
because students do not want repressive, boring and oppressive order. This mean
that student are given opportunity to give feedback to their lecturer in learning
process whereby this feedback is very crucial to measure effectiveness in quality of
teaching approaches. (Solinas, Masia, Maida & Muresu, 2012).
Second sub scale of submission is uncertain. According to Sztenjnberg, Brok
and Hurek (2004), uncertain is the opposite of the leadership of teacher behavioural
approaches. As mentioned earlier, leadership is the approaches shown by lecturer
which he/she able to lead, organize and determine procedures and structure in the
classroom and way of interact with student (Maulana etc.al, 2012). This indicates
leadership approaches showing firmness in manage and deal with student. However,
it is contrast with uncertain teacher/lecturer behavioural approaches. According to
Goh (n.d), uncertain is the approaches of lecturer that are more towards keeping a
low profile behaviour, showing passiveness in taking action whereby the lecturer only
wait and see what is going to happen in problem arise and admit one is in the wrong.
The study done by Goh found that uncertain is one of the negative interpersonal
behavioural in Lecturers’ approach as it may lead to unfavourable students outcome
in learning. In other words, this lecturer is tending to be hesitant and doubtful in
dealing with students. Other than that, study done by Szenjnberg et.al (2004) also
found that the best lecturer is when the lecturer are less uncertain but high leadership
in approach the students.

Cooperation

Cooperation is another domain in teaching approach based on Model for

Interpersonal Behaviour or MITB (Sztejnberg et.al, 2012). According to study done by
Waterman, Hartmann, Hardy-Cox, MacLeod & Trenholm ( n.d), cooperation in
teacher approach and interaction towards involves good communication process,
listening and trust each other between lecturer and students. They also added that
cooperation between teacher and student need to have good commitment and sense
of respect. Therefore based on MITB, cooperation consists of 2 subscales which are
known as friendly and understanding.
Firstly is friendly and helping. In study done by Nugent (2009) which based
on MITB include that helping and friendly as under one subscale of cooperation
Lecturers’ approach. According to to Maulana et.al (2009) based on the MITB,
friendly is related to lecturer willingness to help. Other that ability of teacher or
lecturer to help, friendly also bring the mean of being able to entertain student, make
them enjoy the process of learning. Friendly approach by the lectureris considered as
the best way to interact with students (Sztejnberg et.al., 2004) whereby the lecturer
able to create harmonious interaction with student through joke, encouragement and
trust. Mostly study such as in Nugent (2009), Goh(n.d) , Maulana at.al (2009) also
stated that friendly is part of lecturer willingness to help the student. In addition, Su
and Wang (2009) suggest that most important of lecturers’ approach toward students
is to make friends with their students. This indicate that friendly with students as the
crucial part in Lecturers’ approach in order to get teaching efficiency besides
inculcate Students’ Motivation to learn.
 284

Secondly is understanding. Based on Maulana et.al (2009), understanding in

teacher approach is through showing the interest in learning to student explanation,
being empathy, patience and confidence when dealing with students. Based on
study by Sztejnberg et.al (2004), showing good understanding in cooperation is
through reaction such as eye contact, face reaction and body language.
Understanding also consider as positive approach of lecturer in their interaction with
the students (Goh, n.d). Other than study, Goh study also found that understanding
lecturer always look for ways to settle dispute and problem beside being patient and
being open minded to students. Su and Wang (2009) in their study also suggest
lecturer to understand the students in whatever situation especially when they have
inability to catch up with their study. As according to Lew (2011), effective lecturers’
approach is by being patient, caring and loving when dealing with students. This is
part of understanding Lecturers’ approach towards students’ learning. Therefore, Yu
and Zhu (2011) stated that teaching style that are more friendly and understanding is
believe to make lesson more interesting.

Opposition

Based on MITB, opposition is considered as negative approach of lecturer

whereby it is the contrast with cooperation. Opposition can be divided into two which
is dissatisfied and admonishing. Dissatisfied in term of teacher behaviour is on how
someone express something such as dissatisfaction, criticisms and silence.
(Maulana et.al, 2012). An example of lecturer with dissatisfying approaches toward
student is by frequently warning the students. According to Goh, dissatisfied
approaches is the opposite of friendly approaches of lecturer. Goh added that
lecturer with this kind of approaches will look glum. Therefore, this approach will
disrupt student comfortability in learning especially during classroom.
While, admonishing is the way of rebuked such as getting angry, express
irritation and anger, correct and punishing the students. Furthermore, admonishing is
lecturer’s reacting aggressively towards students negative attitude. Meanwhile,
according to Linsin (2011), the admonishing approaches should be avoided if the
lecturer face situation of disrespectful student because it will make the situation
worse. Therefore Yu and Zhu (2011) found that coercive interpersonal teaching
approach such as being admonishing and dissatisfaction approach could make the
lesson less attractive.

Student’s Motivation to Learn

Bomia, Lisa, Beluzo, Lynne, Demester, Klander, Johnson, Sheldom (1997)

define motivation as the direction of individual desire by striving their effort to achieve
their goal. In terms of learning, they also stated that motivation to learn is the student
own inspiration to study on new things in their school. Meanwhile, according to Claire
(2012), motivation is the inner force of enthusiasm that encourages people to react
for certain desire or achievement. In term of education, Claire found that motivation
to learn is an eagerness of student to get knowledge. Therefore both of these articles
mentioned that motivation should consist of intrinsic and extrinsic.
According to Claire (2012), intrinsic motivation is the internal force that
encourages the individual to act in order to achieve their desire. Meanwhile,
according to study done by Lai (2011), intrinsic motivation animates and manages
exercises through spontaneous fulfilment internally in competing volitional activity. In
addition, Hassan, Imran and Hamid (2010) argue that student who is intrinsically
motivated in learning will attempt to do the learning processes for purpose of self-
satisfaction, enjoyment and desire for accomplishment.
Extrinsic motivation is the external factor that will affect a person desire and
action (Bomia et. al, 1997). Such as in learning, the external factor could boost
 285

students’ motivation to learn. Venom (2014) also found that extrinsic motivation was
influence by the outside factor such as reward, recognition, prizes and so on. Based
on the researchers explanation on meaning, this shows that extrinsic motivation was
contradict with intrinsic motivation whereby intrinsic is seemly more influenced by
intangible factor meanwhile extrinsic seemly forced by tangible factor.

Figure 3.6 Conceptual Framework

Dominance

Submission Student’s
Motivation to
Learn
Cooperation

Opposition

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study employs a quatitative approach in getting the data. The study was
also conducted on a cross sectional basis in which the data was collected once
within three months from March 2015 to June 2015. The types of investigation
involves a correlational study that is to determine the relationship between the
lecturer’s approach and student’s motivation to learn. The unit of analysis is based on
individual that is the students of Bachelor of Administrative Science from UiTM
Kampus Samarahan 2. In total, there are 240 questionnaires distributed among part
1 to part 6 students based on convenient sampling. The questionnaire consists of
three sections namely Section A on demographic information of respondents,
Section B on lecturer’s approach that include the four dimensions and Section C on
Student’s Motivation to Learn.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

The response rate for this study was 92.5% (n=222). Thus all analysis in this
study is based on 222 returned questionnaire.

Reliability Measures

Table 5.1 The Reliability Test Conducted

Cronbach’s Alpha N of Items

0.73 36
 286

Most Dominant Lecturer’s Approach that Affect Student’s Motivation to Learn

Table 5.2 Most Dominant Lecturer’s Approach that Affect Student’s Motivation to
Learn

Dimension of R R
Lecturers’ Standardized square
Approach Coefficients
Beta Sig. 0.430 0.185

Dominance .143 .027

Submission -.030 .643
Cooperation .372 .001
Opposition .179 .008

In order to identify the most dominant lecturer’s approaches that affect the
Bachelor Administrative Science students to learn, the study employs a regression
analysis. The table below shows that among the four dimensions of lecturers’
approach, there are two dimensions that have significant relationship with students’
motivation to learn namely cooperation approach and opposition approach.
Cooperation approach obtained 0.001 significant values while opposition obtained
.008 of which shows significant values less than 0. 05. Meanwhile, the other two
dimensions which consist of dominance and submission are having no significant
relationship with students’ motivation to learn as the significant value is more than
0.05.In addition; R square shows that only 18.5 percent of these approaches affect
student’s motivation to learn, whereas another 81.5 percent of the student’s
motivation is affected by unknown factors.
The results thus conform to the study by Nugent (2009) and Noordin Yahaya,
Azizi Yahaya, Jamaludin Ramli, Shahrin Hashim and Zurihanmi Zakariya (2010).
Furthermore, Su and Wang (2009) suggest that most important of lecturer
approaches toward students is to make friends with their students. That indicates that
friendly with students as the crucial part in lecturer approaches in order to get
teaching efficiency besides inculcate student motivation to learn. According to
Maulana et.al (2009), friendly referring to the willingness of lecturer to help. Friendly
lecturer tends to entertain student and make them enjoy the process of learning
without pressure. Whereby, this can be supported through research conducted by
Noordin Yahaya, Azizi Yahaya, Jamaludin Ramli, Shahrin Hashim and Zurihanmi
Zakariya (2010), results showed the willingness of teachers to care and help their
students did motivate students in their learning. Therefore, friendly behaviour shown
by lecturers will motivate students to learn as students will feel more comfortable to
approach and interact with their lecturers. Therefore, this finding also supported by
Yu and Zhu (2011) in which it was stated that teaching style that are more friendly
and understanding is believe to make lesson more interesting as compared to
coercive approach.
Moreover, another issue that determines the level of student motivation to learn
is dominance lecturers’ approach. Dominance in lecturer’s approaches and
interaction with student is one of the crucial behaviour in class management. Nugent
(2009) stated that dominance can be divided into two sub-scales which are known as
leadership and strict. As a study done by Goh (n.d), leadership behaviour in educator
approaches is among the crucial elements in managing students in the classroom
including encourage their learning focuses. Therefore, the role of leadership among
lecturers is needed in order to improve student learning. Besides, the good of being
strict is making student obey the class rules besides create chances to pay attention.
 287

Relationship between Lecturer’s Approach and Student’s Motivation to Learn

Table 5.3 The Relationship between Lecturer’s Approach and Student’s Motivation to
Learn

Lecturer’s Students’
Approach Motivation to
Learn
Lecturers’ Pearson Correlation 1 .306
Approach
Sig (2 Tailed) .000
N 222 222
Students’ Pearson Correlation .306 1
Motivation
to Learn
Sig (2 Tailed) .000
N 222 222

The correlation coefficient of overall lecturers’ approach with students’

motivation to is analysed using Pearson Correlation. Based on the table above, there
is a relationship between lecturers’ approach and students’ motivation to learn (r =
0.306, p < 0.05). The strength of correlation between these variables is moderate.
Therefore, better approaches such as cooperation by lecturers are associated with
increase in the level of students’ motivation to learn. Thus, level of students’
motivation to learn will significantly change based on changes in lecturer’s approach.
The result above conforms to the study by Nugent (2009) that found positive
relationship between how educators interact with students’ motivation in learning.
According to Nugent, good approaches by lecturer are important for students’
success. This is because how lecturers’ approach students is one of the extrinsic
factor that will directly affect intrinsic motivation to learn and it will urge their
determination to get good achievement.

LIMITATION AND SUGGESTIONS

The first limitation is lack of generalizability, where the scope of study is only
applicable Bachelor of Administrative Science students from UiTM Sarawak. The
data does not represent all BAS student in UiTM. Furthermore the study also fail to
cover the diploma students as their session is different from the degree session and
thus the result cannot be applied to diploma students too. Therefore is recommended
that future study having the same objective to be conducted in a large scale as to
improve it generalizability.

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Kesan Motivasi Terhadap Penerimaan Pelajar Dalam Proses

e-Pembelajaran
Mohd Sanusi Deraman
Politeknik Kota Bharu
sanusi@pkb.edu.my

ABSTRAK

Dalam bidang pendidikan, motivasi merupakan aspek yang perlu diutamakan kerana
ianya mempengaruhi sikap di kalangan pelajar. Tahap motivasi yang dialami
dikalangan pelajar akan mempengaruhi tahap penerimaan pelajar dalam proses
pembelajaran mereka secara atas talian. Walaupun begitu, ciri-ciri aplikasi dan
kandungan juga merupakan aspek penting dalam pembinaan hubungan antara
motivasi dan penerimaan pelajar terhadap e-Pembelajaran. Oleh sebab itu, kajian
motivasi dijalankan dan ianya penting bagi memastikan lonjakan ke-9 Pelan
Pembangunan Pendidikan (PengajianTinggi) 2015-2025 yang menekankan bahawa
pendidikan dalam talian mesti mencapai tahap global. Sampel dipilih secara rawak
kebarangkalian seramai 165 orang berdasarkan kepada jadual Krejie dan Morgan
(1970). Secara keseluruhan, instrumen kajian yang dibangunkan mempunyai 28
soalan dan berjaya dijawap semua responden. Analisis data menunjukkan bahawa
motivasi (M=2.44, SD=0.791) dan penerimaan (M=3.01, SD =0.690) pelajar terhadap
e-Pembelajaran berada pada tahap yang sederhana. Manakala penerimaan pula
berada pada tahap yang sederhana. Nilai signifikan (ρ=.000) menunjukkan bahawa
terdapat hubungan yang signifikan (ρ < α) antara motivasi dan penerimaan pelajar
dimana tahap hubungannya berada pada peringkat yang tinggi positif (r =.897).

Kata kunci: e-Pembelajaran, Motivasi, Penerimaan

PENGENALAN

Mantan Menteri Pengajian Tinggi, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin

berkata, Dasar e-Pembelajaran Negara akan dilaksanakan secara optimum pada
tahun 2015 sekali gus mewujudkan sistem pembelajaran lebih terbuka yang dapat di
akses secara adil untuk mewujudkan masyarakat berilmu (Utusan Malaysia, 2011).
Kerajaan telah mengeluarkan satu kertas kerja “Dasar e-Pembelajaran Negara
(Depan) untuk Institusi Pengajian Tinggi” bagi menerangkan dasar-dasar yang
ditetapkan. Perancangan ini diperkasakan dalam Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan
Negara (Pengajian Tinggi), PPPN (PT) 2015 – 2025. Terdapat 10 lonjakan teras
pembangunan pendidikan negara. Lonjakan ke-9 menyatakan bahawa pendidikan
dalam talian mesti sampai ke tahap gobal (Malaysia Education Blueprint, 2013).
Perkara ini melibatkan pembelajaran dalam talian yang mana memerlukan inovasi
yang aktif bagi memastikan kejayaan PPPN (PT). Penggunaan teknologi digital
menjadi satu kemestian dalam pelaksanakan dasar pendidikan negara.
Teknologi digital dan penghantaran data maklumat yang sangat laju kini
membuka ruang yang luas di dalam bidang pendidikan (Juraidah Mohd Amin, et al.,
2009). Teknologi multimedia meresap ke dalam bidang pendidikan dan
pengembangannya berterusan dimangkinkan oleh kecanggihan teknologi maklumat
dan komunikasi. Penghantaran maklumat berkomputer untuk pendidikan di universiti
awam telah membawa kepada perubahan kaedah e-Pembelajaran. Teknologi
multimedia yang digunakan dalam e-Pembelajaran berkait rapat dengan
pengetahuan teknologi maklumat dan komunikasi (Latifah, Ramli, & Ng, 2009).
 291

Motivasi adalah istilah yang digunakan untuk mengambarkan apa yang

memberi kepada seseorang dan apa yang memberi arah bagi aktivitinya. Dalam
bidang pendidikan, masalah motivasi sering menjadi topik yang penting. Hal ini
disebabkan motivasi dianggap sebagai faktor yang sangat dominon dalam
menentukan pencapaian akademik pelajar. Kemampuan intelektual yang tinggi
menjadi sia-sia jika pelajar berkenaan tidak mempunyai berkeinginan untuk
mendapat kejayaan akademik. Di sini motivasi memain peranan penting bagi
menggalakkan pelajar berusaha lebih dalam pembelajaran mereka. Nissim, et al.,
(2016) menakrifkan motivasi sebagai sejauh mana individu mengenalpasti matlamat
penting bagi mereka, mendapatkan sumber-sumber dan menghadapi kesukaran
untuk mencapai matlamat.
Selain motivasi, tahap penerimaan sistem pengurusan pembelajaran juga
mempengaruhi e-Pembelajaran. Nanayakkara & Whiddett (2011) menyatakan
bahawa hasil kajiannya menunjukkan faktor sistem dan sikap individu pengguna
mempengaruhi penerimaan dan penyerapan penggunaan teknologi e-Pembelajaran.
Persepsi individu dan budaya fakulti memainkan peranan yang penting bagi
penentuan samada tutor itu menerima atau menolak sistem e-Pembelajaran.
Fong-Ling Fu, Hung-Gi Chou, & Sheng-Chin Yu (2007) membuat kajian
tentang hubungan interaksi aktif penerimaan e-Pembelajaran di kalangan pelajar
yang sukarela melibatkan diri dalam kajiannya. Pelajar ini terdiri daripada kalangan
yang pernah mengikuti kursus dalam talian sekurang-kurangnya sekali. Jumlah
sampel adalah 451 unit. Ianya terdiri 39% kursus perniagaan, 23.9% kursus sains
sosial dan selebihnya lain-lain kursus. Kebanyakan responden bukan pengguna
internet yang baru dan 72.5% menyatakan mereka mempunyai pengalaman dalam
talian selama tiga tahun. Kajian ini menggunakan perkembangan Technology
Acceptance Model (TAM) untuk menjelaskan motivasi, sikap dan penerimaan e-
Pembelajaran oleh pelajar. Faktor-faktor yang menentukan kualiti sesawang adalah
seperti peranan yang dimainkan oleh sistem tersebut, reka bentuk antaramuka dan
isi kandungan. Kesemua faktor-faktor ini menentukan penerimaan pelajar terhadap
e-Pembelajaran.

OBJEKTIF

Objektif kajian yang dijalankan adalah untuk:

i. Menentukan tahap motivasi pelajar.
ii. Menentukan tahap penerimaan.
iii. Menentukan tahap hubungan korelasi antara motivasi dan penerimaan
terhadap sistem pengurusan pembelajaran.

PERSOALAN KAJIAN

Kajian ini mempunyai persoalan seperti berikut:

i. Apakah tahap motivasi pelajar politeknik.
ii. Apakah tahap penerimaan pelajar politeknik.
iii. Apakah tahap hubungan korelasi antara motivasi dan penerimaan pelajar
terhadap sistem pengurusan pembelajaran.

PENYATAAN MASALAH

Politeknik Malaysia termasuk Politeknik Kota Bharu melaksanakan e-

Pembelajaran yang menggunakan sistem pengurusan pembelajaran yang
dinamakan Corriculum Information Document Online System (CIDOS). Penggunaan
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sistem e-Pembelajaran ini memberi cabaran kepada semua pensyarah terutama

pensyarah yang lebih berusia. Penerimaan pensyarah menggunakan CIDOS dalam
pelaksanaan e-Pembelajaran mempengaruhi motivasi seterusnya tahap penerimaan
pelajar juga terjejas. Berdasarkan pengalaman sendiri, pelajar kurang motivasi
dimana mereka kurang bermotivasi menggunakan CIDOS.

SOROTAN KAJIAN

Ruiz, Mintzer, & Leipzig (2012) telah membuat kajian di Universiti Miami.
Mereka menyatakan bahawa keberkesanan e-Pembelajaran telah ditemui dalam
kajian pendidikan pengajian tinggi, kerajaan, korporat dan persekitaran tentera.
Tetapi e-Pembelajaran tidak berkesan dalam aspek reka bentuk bidang perubatan di
mana pereka bentuk gagal untuk menentukan kualiti kandungan, ciri-ciri teknologi
dan analisis. Menurut Wirtky et al. (2013), ciri-ciri perisian memain peranan penting
dalam proses peningkatan motivasi.
Masalah motivasi dalam e-Pembelajaran boleh diatasi dengan menggunakan
pendekatan teknik pembelajaran dalam talian yang dikenali sebagai gamifikasi.
(Blagov, Simeonova, & Bogolyubov, 2013). Motivasi adalah proses internal yang
mengaktifkan dan mengekalkan keterlibatan berulangan perilaku pengguna dari
semasa ke semasa. Ada banyak jenis dan tujuan motivasi, bagaimanapun motivasi
untuk belajar berperanan penting dalam meningkatkan percapaian akademik
(Hamari, Koivisto, & Sarsa, 2014).
Dalam proses pembelajaran motivasi merupakan salah satu aspek dinamik
yang penting. Pengguna sering kurang berprestasi bukan disebabkan kemampuan
rendah tetapi tidak adanya motivasi untuk belajar mungkin disebabkan kaedah
pembelajaran yang sama atau kandungan pembelajaran yang menjemukan. Satu
elemen baru harus diterapkan supaya pengguna mendapat penyampaian dalam
pembelajaran mereka. Ohno, Yamasaki, & Tokiwa (2013) ada menyatakan bahawa
guru perlu melakukan pembaharuan kaedah penyampaian dalam kelas dari semasa
ke semasa. Sekarang sistem gamifikasi merupakan kaedah terbaru dalam sistem
pembelajaran. Perlaksanaannya boleh dilakukan dalam sistem pengurusan
pembelajaran bagaimanapun tahap kebelehgunaan masih lagi dalam kajian.
Zuraini & Abdull Sukor (2012) menyatakan bahawa bagi mencapai hasrat,
strategi pengajaran dan pembelajaran yang dirancang hendaklah menggunakan
pendekatan yang berfokuskan pelajar dengan menggunakan kepelbagaian teknik
dan sumber pembelajaran untuk menghasilkan keberkesanannya. Salah satu
pendekatan yang mengamalkan pembelajaran dalam talian ialah pembelajaran
konstruktivisme.

SKOP KAJIAN

Kajian ini dilaksanakan terhadap penggunaan CIDOS dalam pengajaran dan

pembelajaran di Politeknik Kota Bharu. Populasi yang dipilih merupakan pelajar
politeknik yang berada dalam arus perdana dan mempunyai kehadiran kuliah
melebihi 80%. Data yang diperolehi tidak mewakili dapatan politeknik lain di
Malaysia.

METODOLOGI KAJIAN

Kajian ini dijalankan menggunakan kaedah kuantitatif dan data dianalisis

secara deskriptif dan inferens. Instrumen ini dibina berdasarkan instrumen kajian
yang dibangunkan oleh Khairul Azhar (2014). Instrumen kajian mempunyai tiga
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bahagian iaitu A (demografi), B (Motivasi) dan C (Penerimaan). Secara keseluruhan

instrumen ini mengandungi 28 soalan yang dibina menggunakan skala Likert.
Pelaksanaan kajian ini dimulakan dengan mengenal pasti masalah kajian,
membina objektif kajian dan soalan-soalan kajian serta mengenal pasti dan
membentuk instrumen kajian bagi tujuan mengutip data. Untuk menjayakan kajian
ini, pengkaji akan mengikut prosedur-prosedur seperti yang ditetapkan.
Semasa pentadbiran instrumen, penyelidik mengumpulkan semua responden
di dalam sebuah bilik dan mereka diminta bersedia untuk menjawab soal selidik
berkenaan. Sebelum mereka mula menjawab soal selidik, penerangan telah
diberikan kepada mereka tentang tujuan soal selidik ini dijalankan ke atas mereka
dan memberi jaminan akan berkaitan kerahsiaan kesemua maklumat yang mereka
berikan dan kesemua maklumat ini hanya akan digunakan bagi tujuan kajian
inisahaja. Responden diberikan masa antara 30 hingga 60 minit untuk menjawab
soal selidik berkenaan. Responden tidak dibenarkan berbincang semasa menjawab
soal selidik berkenaan
Pelajar Politeknik Kota Bharu dipilih menjadi responden. Seramai 165 orang
dipilih menjadi sampel berdasarkan kepada jadual Krejcie & Morgan (1970).
Permilihan sampel ini menggunakan kaedah pensampelan kebarangkalian mudah
dimana pelajar dalam populasi mempunyai peluang yang sama untuk dipilih. Tahap
motivasi dan penerimaan ditentukan menggunakan selang skala min sepertimana
dalam jadual 1 (Khairul Azhar, 2014).

Jadual 1 Pembahagian Tahap Min

Selang Skala Min Tahap

1.00 – 2.33 Rendah
2.34 – 3.67 Sederhana
3.68 – 5.00 Tinggi

Ujian korelasi digunakan untuk mendapatkan hubungan motivasi dan

penerimaan pelajar. Ujian korelasi Pearson sesuai digunakan kerana pembolehubah
yang digunakan akan menghasilkan data interval (van der Spoel et al., 2015).
Pengkali korelasi akan dibandingkan dengan jadual pekali korelasi yang
dicadangkan oleh Guilford pada tahun 1956 (Fauziah, Mohamad, Chong, & Manaf,
2012) sepertimana dalam jadual 2.
Menurut Bahaman Abu Samah (2012), ujian korelasi Pearson sesuai
digunakan untuk data yang mempunyai taburan normal. Ujian ini dilakukan bertujuan
mendapatkan pertunjuk kekuatan hubungan korelasi. Jika hubungan negatif, nilai
yang diperolehi berada dalam lingkungan antara -1 hingga 0. Jika hubungan positif,
nilai yang diperolehi mesti berada dalam lingkungan antara 0 hingga +1. Julat
Pearson (rp) adalah -1 ≤ rs ≤ 1.

Jadual 2 Interpretasi Mengikut Kelas Pekali Korelasi

r Hubungan
< .2 Tiada korelasi
0.2 - 0.4 Korelasi lemah
0.4 - 0.7 Korelasi sederhana
0.7 - 0.9 Korelasi tinggi
> .9 Korelasi sangat tinggi
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PERBINCANGAN

Maklum balas yang dikumpulkan menggunakan soal selidik bertujuan

meninjau motivasi dan penerimaan pelajar terhadap sistem pengurusan
pembelajaran. Data yang telah dianalisis dipersembahkan dalam bentuk bilangan
responden, peratusan, min (M) dan sisihan piawai (Standard Deviation, SD)

Data Demografi

Data demografi responden yang dianalisis merujuk kepada jantina, kaum,

kekerapan penggunaan e-Pembelajaran dalam tempoh seminggu. Terdapat 165
responden yang terlibat daripada pelajar.

Jadual 3 Pecahan Mengikut Jantina

Jantina Lelaki Perempuan

92 73
Bilangan
(55.7%) (44.3%)

Jadual 4 Pecahan Mengikut Kaum

Kaum Melayu Cina India Siam Lain-lain

142 15 5 3 0
Bilangan
(86.1%) (9.1%) (3.0%) (1.8%) (0.0%)

Jadual 5 Kekerapan Penggunaan Seminggu

Kekerapan
<5 6 – 10 11 – 15 16 - 20 > 20
seminggu
54 82 29 0 0
Bilangan
(32.7%) (49.7%) (17.6%) (0.0%) (0.0%)

Jadual 3 hingga 5 menunjukkan taburan respoden mengikut pecahan jantina,

kaum dan kekerapan penggunaan CIDOS dalam tempoh seminggu. Pelajar lelaki
mewakili 55.7% daripada keseluruhan pelajar. Mengikut pecahan kaum, pelajar
kaum Melayu merupakan kaum majoriti, kemudian diikuti dengan kaum Cina, India
dan Siam dengan nilai 86.7%, 9.1%, 3.0% dan 1.8% masing-masing. Nilai peratusan
kaum ini dipengaruhi oleh faktor geografi negeri Kelantan. Manakala penggunaan
CIDOS, tahap penggunaan 6 hingga 10 kali seminggu menjadi majoriti di kalangan
pelajar iaitu 49/7%. Penggunaan kurang 5 kali seminggu menduduki tahap kedua
dan 11 hingga 15 kali seminggu berada tahap ketiga dengan nilai 32.7% dan 17.6%
masing-masing. Tidak ada seorang pelajarpun yang menggunakan CIDOS melebihi
16 kali seminggu. Data ini menunjukkan kekerapan pelajar menggunakan CIDOS
pada tahap memuaskan sahaja.

Motivasi dan Penerimaan

Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa motivasi (M=2.44, SD=0.791) pelajar

terhadap e-Pembelajaran berada pada tahap yang sederhana. Keputusan kajian ini
tidak menepati dapatan kajian oleh Mohd Nor dan Mohammad Hanafiah (2014) yang
menyatakan bahawa motivasi pelajar berada pada tahap yang sangat baik (M=4.44).
Beliau juga berpendapat bahawa aspek-aspek seperti pengetahuan, sikap, motivasi,
kesedaran, minat dan lain-lain lagi mempengaruhi kesediaan pelajar menggunakan
e-Pembelajaran.
 295

Dapatan kajian penerimaan pula mendapati bahawa penerimaan juga berada

pada tahap yang sederhana (M=3.010, SD=.690). Dapatan kajian ini menghampiri
dapatan kajian Rubiah & Jamilah Ahmad (2009) di mana beliau mendapati bahawa
tahap penerimaan dan aplikasi e-Pembelajaran di universiti awam sebagai alat
pembelajaran berada pada tahap yang tinggi. Banyak faktor-faktor yang
mempengaruhi penerimaan sistem pengurusan pembelajaran antaranya
penggunaan di dalam kelas, kekurangan latihan dan pendedahan, pengaruh rakan
sekeliling, minat, sikap. kelajuan internet dan sebagainya.
Dapatan kajian ini sebenarnya telah dijumpai oleh pengkaji terdahulu.
Beberapa pengkaji telah membuat kajian tentang penerimaan e-Pembelajaran di
kalangan pelajar universiti awam. Di antaranya ialah Nanayakkara & Whiddett
(2011). Beliau menjumpai bahawa faktor sistem dan sikap individu pengguna
mempengaruhi penerimaan dan penyerapan penggunaan teknologi e-Pembelajaran.
Hasil kajian ini juga menyokong kajian yang telah dilakukan oleh Keller , Hrastinski, &
Carlsson Scott Schroeder (2012) dimana beliau mendapati tahap kesediaan
penerimaan pembelajaran arahan kendiri pelajar berada paras tahap yang
sederhana.

Hubungan Korelasi

Jadual 4 Keputusan Ujian Pearson Hubungan Motivasi dan Penerimaan

Pembolehubah Kajian N Pengkali Korelasi Pearson, rp Sig. (2-hujung), ρ

Tahap hubungan motivasi

dengan penerimaan sistem 165 .897** .000
pengurusan pembelajaran

Jadual di atas menunjukkan keputusan ujian korelasi, nilai pengkali korelasi

Pearson, r =.897 dengan signifikannya, ρ=.000. Ini menunjukkan bahawa terdapat
hubungan signifikan (ρ < α) antara motivasi dengan penerimaan pada aras keertian,
α=0.01. Maka dapatlah dirumuskan bahawa terdapat hubungan signifikan yang tinggi
antara motivasi dan penerimaan sistem pengurusan pembelajaran. Hubungan ini
berlaku secara posiif dimana semakin tinggi motivasi, maka semakin bertambahlah
penerimaan pelajar terhadap CIDOS.

KESIMPULAN

Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa motivasi dan penerimaan berada pada

tahap yang sederhana. Banyak faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi keadaan ini. Kajian
ini juga menunjukkan bahawa motivasi pelajar memberi kesan yang besar terhadap
penerimaan. Terkini, sistem pengurusan pembelajaran telah ditambah baik dengan
platform unsur-unsur permainan tetapi tidak mempunyai kandungan permainan.
Ianya dikenali sebagai platform gamifikasi. Penggunaan gamifikasi ini masih baru
lagi dalam pendidikan di Malaysia. Masih banyak lagi penerokaan yang mesti
dilakukan tentang penggunaan gamifikasi ini dalam proses pengajaran dan
pembelajaran berasaskan sistem pengurusan pembelajaran. Kaedah e-
Pembelajaran ini sebenarnya telah diterima oleh kebanyakan pelajar. Mereka
berpendapat bahawa kaedah ini memudahkan proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran
di politeknik.
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A STUDY ON THE PERCEPTION OF MOONLIGHTING

PRACTICES AMONG THE EMPLOYEES OF PUBLIC
HOSPITALS IN KLANG VALLEY
Mohd Zdikri bin Md Sabron
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
zdikri82@gmail.com

Aliza binti Abu Hassim (Phd)

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
aliza770@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Moonlighting is considered as dual career or multiple jobs carried out by employees.

It was reported that, public officials had a high rates employee’s engaging in
moonlighting. But the fact is how public officials accurately managing their interest of
need then give full commitment to their primary job. This study examines to seek to
understand employees’ perception on moonlighting practices. The types of
investigation in this paper is causal study whereby this study is conducted in order to
determine the important factors that associate with the moonlighting practise among
employees. Self-questionnaires were distributed to respondent in the process to get
important view towards this moonlighting activity. This study was conducted among
375 respondents from four public Hospitals which include Hospital Kuala Lumpur,
Hospital Ampang, Hospital Tuanku Ampuan Rahimah and Hospital Putrajaya. This
study also adopts and adapt from Bandura (1997) concept which is Social Cognitive
Theory, (Environment factors, personal factors and behavior factors). In addition,
basic statistical and advance analytical tools have been employed to evaluate the
findings. This study used analytical process includes factor analysis, correlations
regression analysis and Hayes model process for moderator effect. From the findings
obtained, environment factor and personal factor had a positive relationship and
significant towards employees’ engagement in moonlighting. The result shows
environmental factors and personal factor influence employees’ engagement in
moonlighting. However, behaviour factor is not significant towards employees’
engagement in moonlighting. At the end of this study, conclusion and
recommendation made based on the result of the findings.

Keywords: Moonlighting, Environment factor, Personal factor, Behaviour, Job

engagement

INTRODUCTION

Moonlighting usually means that people are holding one or two jobs but at the
same time, they still have a primary job. The reason that employees engage in
moonlighting is because to increase household income. This situation is commonly
known as ‘moonlighting’ which is defined as to work on an extra job. According to
Betts (2011), moonlighting is done to supplement their primary job income. In
addition to that, Betts (2011) stated that, 'moonlighting' is outdoor work that means
 299

having two or more-part time jobs and additional work and this happens to someone
who has a career that is a principal occupation. Employees engage in moonlighting
to balance their source of income due to burden of expenses they face. In today’s
fast-paced environment, that can be a challenge. But to fulfill their interests of need,
sometimes public officials forget to perform their given tasks responsibly. This is the
challenge faced by the government in addressing the issue of poor performance by
public officials. Shishko and Rostker (1976), defined 'moonlighting' as synonymous
with second job, dual careers, and multiple careers. An individual is considered
moonlighting or said to be moonlighted if he is still attached to the primary job but at
the same time he has another job to earn more money. Normally, in the discussion of
moonlighting, there are two issues debated. Firstly, employees who moonlight with
the approval by the employer and secondly, they do it illegally. Majority of employees
engage in moonlighting without telling their main employer.

LITERATURE REVIEW

In this section, it examines and focuses on the literature review related to this
study. This study focuses on environment factor, personal factor, and behaviour. This
factor was identify had a relationship towards employees’ engagement in
moonlighting. Addition to that, monetary factor also used in this study as a
moderating effect that are related to moonlighting practice. Employees experienced
in conducting two jobs and perception have given valuable information for this study.
Literature related to moonlighting practice in Malaysian study is still limited. But,
literature from international study was used to explain further about the moonlighting
practice in Malaysian context.

ENVIRONMENT THEORY

Environment can be classified as external and internal factor. For external

environment it consists such as economy, politics, regulation, climate, geography and
technology. While for internal environment, it is classified into financial stability and
organization culture which can give a negative or positive impact to organization
performance or profitability (Wathern, 2013). Moonlighting has been a coping
strategy for staff to meet the economic demands they face, by supplementing their
primary job salary with moonlighting paying on a fee-for-service basis (Jumpa, 2007).
For this study environment has a relationship with personal factor. This factor
explains that different people behave differently even when apparently in the same
situation and seemingly having the same experiences. Environmental factors help
employees to explore some of the things they might be able to change. This helps to
explain why challenging behaviours sometimes increase or decrease following any
changes in an employee’s life, or how they spend their days, or when the people who
support them change. Theory of environment further postulates that the set can be
allocated to either time the market, or work that generates income and satisfaction or
the time at home or on leisure satisfaction, but produces no income. This study
believed that, from the review these factors (environment, personal and behaviour,
self-efficacy) influenced by streams of influence, were originally from Theory Triadic
Influence. The explanation of this theory which is in Intrapersonal term explains that
the behavior can be categorized into three streams of influence with the
intrapersonal, social, and cultural environmental that converge on intentions and
behaviours. Consistent with Self-efficacy theory, these variables form one’s sense of
self-efficacy about a particular behaviour, such as completing tasks given by
employer. A Social influence is a similar flow that exists within the interpersonal
stream of the Theory Triadic Influence (TTI) (Flay, Snyder and Petraitis, 2009). The
 300

interpersonal stream begins with ultimate-level characteristics of one’s immediate

social surroundings that are largely outside the control of individuals. Consistent with
the Theory of Reasoned Action, social influences form social normative beliefs
regarding the specific behavior; that is, perceptions of social pressures to engage in
a particular behavior. Flay, Snyder and Petraitis (2009) added that, cultural-
environmental influences were the third stream of the Theory Triadic Influence, the
cultural-environmental stream, follows the same pattern as the previous two streams.
It begins with broad cultural characteristics that are largely beyond an individual's
control, such as political, economic, religious, legal, mass media, and policy
environments. Obviously, for some readers, the proximal levels of all streams (self-
efficacy, social normative beliefs and attitudes) may seem like intrapersonal factors.
However, these affective/cognitive factors that originate from interpersonal (social
situation, social normative beliefs) or cultural environmental (cultural environmental,
attitudes) factors are distinguished from those that originate from within the person
(biology/personality, self-efficacy). Within the Theory Triadic Influence, each and
every stream ends in affective/cognitive factors (i.e., self-efficacy, social normative
beliefs, and attitudes) that influence the most proximal affective/cognitive predictor of
behavior and intentions. The theory also recognizes that influences in one path are
often mediated by moderate influences in another path. Furthermore, the Theory
Triadic Influence recognizes that engaging in a behavior may have influenced that
feedback and altered the original causes of the behavior (Flay, Snyder and Petraitis,
2009).

PERSONAL THEORY

Perspective from a personal factor indicates those employees’ characteristics

and traits of a person, which is take a consideration for coherent forms of their
feelings, thoughts, and behaviours. When staff are asked on why they engage in
moonlighting, most answer that financial concerns are the main reason to moonlight.
Employees believe in their abilities and skills to cope in other situations. In terms of
personal factor from employees’ perspective, it would cover emotional and physical
stability and their basic human needs. But in terms of work it is believed that personal
factor come in various issues such as the advantages they can get from any activities
they do. In this study, personal factors cover employees’ desire of need. Basically
employees need some return value such as money that can give them comfort and
quality of life. They would do anything as long as they get positive feedback.
Furthermore, employees are less likely to view themselves and are always declining
common tasks of what they do every day. For example, Lyle (2015) in a study
observed that , they appeared to balance employees personal needs against the
requirements of the daily tasks in primary job. Some departments prohibit
moonlighting, while others encourage the practice as a way to supplement low pay
salary. 30 - 35%, most often stated reason for engaging in more than one job of
moonlighters is that ‘they must meet the regular household expenses.’ Upwards-
hours-constrained workers were obtained from moonlighting because of stretch out a
higher utility level, as a result, second job wages were lower than first job wages,
w2<w1. Doubtful as it may seem to be at a first glance, there is also more inclination
towards moonlighting for a downwards-hours constrained employees if the second
job wage at least maintains the employees' utility level; in this case however, second
job wages have to be much higher than first job wages, w2>w1. The situation is
different for the non-hours-constrained employees in as much as they theoretically
can freely select any working time on the first job. The ‘heterogeneous jobs’ motive
however suggests that it is not wages that matter most but other amenities or
benefits that come along with either job. Moonlighting wages may be higher or lower
than primary job wages (Heineck, 2009). It is observed that, for personals factors,
 301

employee working in different organizations have their personal goals to meet

besides working for organizational goals. It was observed that, moonlighting had
significant effect on employees’ personal goals. It was observed through the findings
that employees were seeking promotion to stay within their organizational setup.
Promotion and income enhancement were observed to be parallel. One of the
personal objectives was found to be the autonomy one enjoyed as a professional.
They seek new skill and learn some new challenges to improve their primary job
performance. In addition to that, the level of satisfaction was high where an employee
felt that he had a certain level of liberty and was trusted for his performance at
workplace (Akbar, 2016).
Therefore, in this study, it can be said that some employers are using
moonlighting to avoid layoffs until the business climate improves; many moonlighting
employees are relying on their hours to survive when primary job is unavailable. In
challenging economic times, moonlighting is a critical (and often the only) resource
for many employees. Environment trend promotes moonlighting work while
preserving other benefits important to working families. People should not be
penalized for wanting to do better for themselves or their families. They should be
commended for doing everything possible to keep their families fed and having a
place to sleep.

BEHAVIOUR THEORY

Behaviour in terms of employees is defined as how they conduct themselves

towards others. When employees are treated as humans they respond to their
particular work situation in a positive way by increasing their productivity. According
to Kreitner and Kinicki (2006) employees’ behaviours for different professions and
workplaces differ, as situations and work environments are different. In this study,
there is not much study done on moonlighting perspectives towards behaviour
theories. Behaviour is also influenced by employees’ self-efficacy which are defined
as employees’ confidence in being capable of arranging or dealing effectively in
their workplace (Esmaeili and Hashim, 2014). Behaviour is also influenced by
disposition of mood and feelings where it gives impact to everything from employees
ability to make effective decisions and work well as a positive result on job
performance (Gong, Huang, and Farh, 2009). This study also agrees that, behaviour
can also be influenced by personal fulfillment of employees. In addition to that, this
personal factor also affects whether certain behavior of employees changes or not.
Everything that employees make comes from the reaction of personal motives first. It
is also believed that, the rationale of employees in managing personal needs is
important to make a good behavior. Besides that, instability in managing personal
needs can affect certain behavior of employees. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs, the need for esteem motivates behaviour. Esteem can be both internal and
external. People are driven by the need for self-respect (internal) and by the need for
recognition from others (external). When the organization provides opportunities for
career advancement, shows appreciation for employees, gives raises based on
merit, and provides status symbols (such as titles), it is helping its employees to fulfill
the need for esteem (Koltko-Rivera, 2006). For example, Malaysia government
loosens their rules by given chances to the government employees to engage in
moonlighting due to increasing of cost of living.
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RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY

The type of investigation in this research was cross-sectional study whereby

this research was conducted in order to determine the important factors that are
associated with the Moonlighting of the employees of Public Hospitals in Klang
Valley. Purposive sampling which is a convenient type of sampling was used in the
process to collect the data for this study. This study was conducted using mixed
method approaches that are quantitative and qualitative method to answer of each
study (Creswell, 2009). For the quantitative, the questionnaires were distributed to
the respondents consists of 375 staff from Public Hospital in Klang Valley based on
Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sample size formula. While for the qualitative method, this
study used interview to analysis the findings. Towards qualitative method, manual
analyze was provided for each response that was given by respondent. In addition,
this study also provided a broad range of capabilities for the entire analytical process
such as factor analysis, correlations, regression, inferential analysis ANOVA and chi-
square. This study also adopts and adapt from Bandura (1997) concept which is
Social Cognitive Theory, (Environment factors, personal factors and behaviour
factors).

ANALYSIS FINDINGS

In this section, the result of the data analysis of the study is presented
according to each finding provided. In terms of finding 1, it refers to examining if
moonlighting factor (Environment, Personal, and Behaviour) affects the primary job
performance. For findings 2 is to determine which of the moonlighting factors that
most influences primary job performance. Meanwhile for last findings it refers to
determining if monetary factor moderates the relationship between moonlighting
factors and primary job performance.
To examine if moonlighting factor (Environment, Personal, and Behaviour) affects the
primary job performance.

The finding is to examine if moonlighting factor (Environment, Personal, and

Behaviour) affects the primary job performance. This research highlighted the
internal and external challenges that faced by employees when engaged in
moonlighting. In this analysis of findings, this study used Pearson Correlation to know
which factor gives strong influence to primary job performance. In terms of correlation
analysis, commonly sets of data are a measurement to examine how well they are
correlated. Pearson Correlation Coefficient test is used to evaluate the strength of
relationships between all independent variables which are environment factor,
personal factor and behaviour to test the influencing factor. Results show that
personal factor has a strong influence to primary job performance which is .134.
While behavioural factor has a low influence to job performance which is -.017 (see
table 1).
 303

Table 1: Correlation Analysis for Moonlighting Factor

Job Personal Behavioural Job Monetary

Performance factor expectation performance factor
expectation expectation expectation
** **
Pearson .134 -.017 1 .238
Correlation
Sig. (2- .010 .743 .000
tailed)
N 375 375 375 375
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)**

Which Moonlighting Factor Influences Primary Job Performance

The findings examine which moonlighting factor influences primary job performance.
Hence, this study uses the regression analysis model. In statistical definition,
regression analysis is a statistical model process for estimating the relationships
among variables. It includes many techniques for modeling and analyzing several
variables, when the focus is on the relationship between a dependent variable and
one or more independent variables (predictors). More will be shared in the discussion
of "regression analysis": In addition to that, a statistical method regression analysis
refers to one method in determining the causal relationship between the variables
with another variable. Variable "cause" referred to by a variety of terms: an
explanatory variable, the variable explanatory, independent variable, or freely,
variable X (as is often depicted in the graph as the X axis). Variable impacted known
as a variable that is affected, the dependent variable, or variable Y. Both of these
variables can be random variables (random), but the variable that is affected should
always be random variables (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010). Regression analysis is one
of the most popular and widely used analyses. Nearly all areas of social science that
require the analysis of causation should certainly recognize this analysis. Based on
table 2 R squared is .074 which represents 7.4%. Then, this study also uses Durbin-
Watson analysis. Durbin-Watson test is part of the regression analysis. The Durbin-
Watson value should be between 0 and 4 with the value of 2. From the above table,
the value of Durbin-Watson of this study is 1.870 which is less than 2. This means
each independent variable does not correlate with the dependent variable. Thus, the
independent variables are ready to be tested to explore the relationship between IV
and DV. This study also uses coefficients analysis to identify of this study. This
analysis reads the Tolerance and VIF, and Tolerance can range from 0 to 1 while VIF
value must be less than 10 (Field, 2013). Environment tolerance value is .573 and
VIF 1.744. This is followed by personal .968 and VIF value which is 1.033. While for
third Independent variable (behaviour), tolerance is .945 and VIF value is 1.058.
Lastly for moderator, the tolerance value is .576 and VIF value is 1.735 (see table 3).

Table 2 Regression Analysis For Which Moonlighting Factor Influence Primary Job
Performance

Model R R Square Change Statistics

df1 df2 Sig. F Change Durbin-Watson
a
1 .273 .074 3 371 .000
b
2 .315 .099 1 370 .002 1.870
 304

Table 3 Coefficients for Which Moonlighting Factor Influence Primary Job Performance

Model Unstandardized Standardized t Sig. Collinearity

Coefficients Coefficients Statistics
B Std. Beta Tolerance VIF
Error
Environment factor .183 .115 .104 1.598 .111 .573 1.744
Personal factor .195 .072 .136 2.717 .007 .968 1.033
Behaviour .001 .051 .001 .027 .979 .945 1.058
Monetary factor .188 .059 .206 3.170 .002 .576 1.735
a. Dependent Variable: NEW_E

Does Monetary Factor Moderate the Relationship between Moonlighting

Factors and Primary Job Performance

This section discusses the findings does monetary factor moderate the
relationship between moonlighting factors and primary job performance. The
interaction effect was tested using Hayes model process. The moderating variable in
this study is to investigate the relationship among independent variables which are
environment factor, personal factor and behaviour to see if this variable affects job
performance. A moderator effect of some variable F on the final outcome of variable
Y is one in which its size or direction depends on the value of a third moderator,
variable M. Analytically, moderated effects disclose the variable statistically as an
interaction between F and M in a mathematical model of Y (Hayes and Matthes,
2009). From the results, the R² changed value explains the independent variable of
environment factor had 3.09% relationships with primary job performance. However,
there is significant moderating effect between variable where the significant p-value
after R² change is (p=0.0460) because p-value is below than 0.05. For personal
factor R² change value is 0.32% and p-value after R² change is (p=0.5453). Thus, it
shows that the variable has no significant effect. Meanwhile Behaviour R² change
value is 0.22% and p-value after R² change is (p=0.6368). For this third variable
there is no significant moderating effect on primary job performance because the
value is more than 0.05 (see table 4).

Table 4 Moderating Analysis of dependent variable: (Job Performance)

Moderating R² R² LLCI ULCI Moderator Effect

Change Change (Yes/No)
p-value
Environment 0.0309 0.0460 -0.4818 -0.0044 Yes - Very
Factor significant
Personal 0.0032 0.5453 -0.2052 0.3861 No – Not
Factor significant
Behaviour 0.0022 0.6368 -0.3085 0.1896 No - Not
significant

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS

Moonlighting is considered as a high value competitive advantage in the business

world. In order to be adaptive in current and on-going standard of living,
organizations should allow their employees to do moonlighting to capture the
competitive advantage. Hence, based on the findings on quantitative method this
study concludes that, implementing moonlighting in an organization is a complicated
 305

issue for employers and it takes time to understand. Regardless of why an employee
wants to do it, perhaps due to financial problem, high cost of living, current economic
and interest of need. The result from this study also shows that environment factor
and personal factor had a positive relationship and significant towards employees’
engagement in moonlighting. The results also parallel with qualitative method were
respondent response environment factor and personal factor give more influence to
them to engage in moonlighting. In addition to that, for future recommendation
government can create job opportunities in part-time basis for simple work such as
keying in data, and arranging documentations. That may involve other government
staff in different expertise or specialization that can indirectly let them learn new
things. One example is by Ministry of Health that allows medical officers to open
private practices. Private hospital bills are not the same at the government hospital
bills. They receive higher hourly rates than doctors in government hospitals. The
terms and conditions in rendering service are also different. There are a few things
that government can do to cater to this factor:
1. Government needs to review the government staff salary scale in order to be
parallel to the current cost of living. For example, if the cost of basic foods
such as cooking oil, rice, flour, and sugar increases, the government needs to
consider increasing the government staff salary.
2. Government can reduce the involvement of the third party is purchasing and
dealing in order to reduce the prices of good. For example, change
privatization policy e.g produce or provide the goods and services directly
without the involvement of third party. So that, it helps those with lower
income to increase their standard of living and get more income.
3. Government can seriously implement flexible working hours for the
government staff so that they can do moonlighting after the working hours to
help them earn more money.

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Jumpa, M., Jan, S., and Mills, A. (2007). The role of regulation in influencing income-
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Employment- Possible Stress And Job Burnout Issues By Perry L . Lyle Ashraf
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Challenging Factors for Bumiputera Participation in MAICSA

Professional Programmes
Nazirah Binti Nazri
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam
nzrhnzri@gmail.com

Dr Tuan Nooriani Tuan Ismail

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam
tnsya800@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

MAICSA is the Institute that provides education and training in good governance,
ethical practices and corporate administration. Two significant professional
programmes which are highlighted in this research include ICSA International
Qualifying Scheme (IQS) and its collaborative master programme, Master of
Corporate Administration (MOCA). These programmes produce professional
company secretary, whereby the main role is to advise and assist board of directors
in companies while ensuring maintenance of highest standards of integrity and
ethical values in decision making. The issue of Bumiputera’s lack of participation in
these programmes has caused concern to Companies Commission of Malaysia as
highlighted in the 11 Malaysia Economic Plan. This paper aims to analyze factors
that challenge Bumiputera to participate in MAICSA professional programmes. The
factors are derived from three-phase model developed by Hossler and Gallaghar
(1987) and self-efficacy theory by Bandura. The factors are self-efficacy, awareness,
financial issues, academic difficulties and seeking for job experiences. These factors
are tested against student’s participation which is measured using aspirations. From
questionnaire collected from 200 Bumiputera students in Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Seremban 3 and Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, 82% response rate was collected
(n=245). This model only explained 25.4 percent of the challenging factors for
Bumiputera participation in MAICSA professional programmes which means there
are other factors that are significant to hinder Bumiputera participation. The findings
are significant and are hopefully able to assist MAICSA in establishing more effective
activities to attract and promote MAICSA professional programmes especially to the
Bumiputera.

Keywords: Challenging factors, Bumiputera, ICSA, MAICSA, Aspirations,

Professional Programmes

INTRODUCTION

Company secretary must be distinguished from personal secretary. Company

secretary holds a strategic position which ensure the company complied with its
fiduciary duties in accordance to the laws and regulation, provide broad range of
advice to board of directors on key areas such as legal, finance, accounting and
governance and perform administration tasks. The position of company secretary has
been recognized in United Kingdom since 1891 from the establishment of Institute of
Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA). The affiliate body for ICSA in
Malaysia is known as Malaysian Institute of Chartered Secretaries and
 308

Administrators (MAICSA). In order to serve the corporate sector needs and demands
on company secretary, MAICSA has its own memberships and training programmes
which provides professional company secretary graduates and associates. MAICSA
has educational programmes that can easily be participate by any person that is
interested to serve in corporate sector. Despite effort given by MAICSA, there is still
lack of supply for professional qualified company secretaries with ICSA qualification.
ICSA qualification is most recognized professional qualification for company
secretaries. Based on literatures, it was found that factors that challenge Bumiputera
to participate in MAICSA professional programmes are self-efficacy, awareness,
financial issues, academic difficulties and seeking for job experiences. There are
limited research being conducted in this area to understand why Bumiputera has
insignificant participation in secretarial field specifically as qualified company
secretary with ICSA qualification. Research in this area is limited because most of
previous studies mainly focused on factors influencing students to participate in
higher education such as high school, diplomas or degree but very rare research are
were carried out regarding professional or postgraduate programmes (Hossler and
Gallaghar, 1987; Joseph 2010; Othman et al., 2013; Temple, 2009). Hence, this
study intended to address this limitation by using current data to identify challenging
factors for Bumiputera to participate in MAICSA professional programmes among
students from Bachelor of Corporate Administration at public universities in Malaysia.
The findings from this paper shall be useful for the institutions to understand,
strategize and manage their resources at the right phase.

LITERATURE REVIEW

ICSA is one of the institution being granted with Royal Charter of United
Kingdom. The Royal Charter symbolizes the Institute solid record of achievement
and financial stability. The members of the Institute will be highly recognized.
MAICSA professional programmes certify its graduate to be one of the member of
the Institute. Research regarding Bumiputera participation into professional
programmes or about MAICSA professional programmes is very scarce. Therefore,
challenging factors to participate are derived from self-efficacy concept by Bandura
(1977) and three phase model developed by Hossler and Gallagher (1987). Five
factors were identified after reviewing Hossler and Gallaghar’s three phase model
and Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. These variables has been modified and tested in
this paper.

Self-Efficacy

Students who really search for information, plan and strategize according to
attributes needed by university, will work hard to gain attributes required to pursue
study and have high probability to participate in higher education (Hossler &
Gallaghar, 1987). This is the same concept with what has been introduced by
Bandura in 1977 about self-efficacy. Student with high self-efficacy will exert more
effort, persists against setbacks, move towards his goal with strategic plans and
strategies (Mohd, Kamaruddin, Hassan, & Muda, 2014). The stronger the
commitment to self-efficacy, the stronger the strength to pursue oneself goal
(Bandura & Locke, 2003; Locke & Latham, 1990; Multon, K. D., Brown, S. D., & Lent,
R. W., 1991). It was also found that self-efficacy do influence academic aspirations
(Bandura, 1999). Another influential researcher, Annemaree also has made research
regarding self-efficacy and students aspiration (Annemaree, et al., 2009). Annemaree
et al (2009) in her research used aspirations as mediator found that aspirations has
direct relationship with self-efficacy instead of acting as mediator. Apart from
Annemaree et al (2009) there are other research that supported positive relationship
 309

between self-efficacy and higher education (Landry, 2003; Hsieh, Sullivan, Guerra,
2007 and Yu Chen, 2014).

Awareness on MAICSA Professional Programmes

Much attention has been given to Bumiputera participation in white collar jobs
and professional programme since decades ago. This is due to less contribution to
economic given by the ethnic despite Bumiputera is the majority. Students gain
information mainly from anecdotal source let it be direct or indirect via peers and
social media. As they heard the information repeatedly, they tend to believe that the
information they heard is reliable. This what causes misconceptions about
postgraduate programmes. Therefore, source of information need to be reliable.
These problem according to study made by Thornthon, A., Pickering, E., Peters, M.,
Leathewood, C., Hollingworth, S., & Mansaray, A. (2014), occurred because there
are different level of awareness among the students about higher education.
University of Plymouth (2015) found there is imbalance between majority and
minority social class groups in participation into higher education, therefore the
University come up with a lists of issue regarding awareness. This situation is similar
to MAICSA participation issue as currently there is imbalance participation between
ethnic and it is crucial to encourage the majority group to participate and boost the
level of participation and awareness among the public. Therefore, students who are
aware about specific information will have more tendency to participate in higher
education (Roscorla, 2016). This is also supported by research made by Hossler and
Gallaghar (1987), the students who are interested to pursue study will make
transition from predisposition phase to search phase. They will look for information
that shall be used to determine their preferred programmes and universities. The
positive relationship between awareness and higher education is also supported by
Khursid (2014).

Financial Issues

Financial issues is one of prominent factor. Previous journals and materials

highlighted financial issues as one of the factors influencing individual to continue
their study. In previous studies, factors related to financial difficulties are mentioned
as family income (Bedsworth, Colby, & Doctor, 2006), low income (Cabrera & La
Nasa, 2000), financial constraints (McGuire, Garavan, O'Donnell, & Murphy, 2001)
and funding (Hemmington, 2000). Bumiputera which mainly made up of Malay ethnic
is found to report the lowest monthly income compared the other two major ethnics
(Murad, Hasan, Islam, & Alam, 2014). A study of monthly salary among three major
ethnics in Malaysia by Murad et al (2014) reported that majority of Malay which is
55.1 percent have monthly income less than RM2000. The government had
announced in 2009 that people with salary under RM3000 is regarded as urban poor
(Kong & Shaari, 2009) hence making majority of people who live in cities have low
socio economic. Previous literature Hussey and Smith (2010) and Yorke and
Longden (2008) stated that lower socio-economic status do give impact to individual
decision to continue or to leave study. Student with lower socio economic often more
debt averse (Bozick, 2007) and previous study loan from diploma and degree years,
it would be difficult for student with lower socio economic to finance their professional
and postgraduate studies.

Academic Difficulties

Academic performance is not everything but yet it serves as a measure for

student’s understanding of the courses (Geisinger & Raman, 2013). A student who
 310

have problem with his academic indicates that he has problem with studying. The
rationale behind this predictor is students with high academic achievement will have
higher academic aspirations and this will reduce the gap between aspiration and real
participation (Hill, et al., 2009). On the other hand, students who have academic
difficulties but with high aspirations will cause gap between aspiration and real
participation because even though they have high intention and really interested to
join, they are not qualified to enroll into professional programme. That makes
prospective student’s pointer in colleges and universities are important indicator to
determine their academic success in master programmes (Braunstein, 2002). Plus, it
is also the main factor to be reviewed by the ICSA and its collaborative universities
before accepting a student. Nagaoka, Roderick and Coca (2008) has mentioned in
their journal titled Barriers for College Attainment that poor academic performance is
one of the main problem in navigating enrolment in higher education. Nagaoka,
Roderick and Coca (2008) research has supported Hossler and Gallagher (1987)
model as academic performance is considered as main factor that influence students
participation into higher education. Although the prospective students sees
continuing study as their goal path but yet if they have problem with academic it will
be the biggest problem to pursue into higher education.

Seeking for Job Experiences

Nowadays, graduates with baccalaureate degree qualification has populated

the job market. It has causes degree inflation which resulted those with bachelor’s
degree to become ‘new high school degree’ (Rampell, 2014). This shows that degree
is no longer as valuable as it was back then and it has become recommended for the
students to pursue beyond diploma and degree level. As the product of universities
are too many in the market, students with degree qualification has lost their
competitive advantage. The certificate they have has now become the passing
requirement for the job and not the advantage. Thus, students who are aware about
the current market trends will look for ways to improve their skills and knowledge.
There are many ways to improve their skills and knowledge. In this study, students
might choose to pursue study or to gain experience. This has led to the fourth
challenging factor that is seeking for job experience. Company secretary is one of the
profession that highly depending on years of experience. Mostly, secretarial firms
preferred candidates with at least one year experience (MAICSA, 2016). Therefore,
students who had graduated from their degrees would prefer to gain experience
rather continuing their study. In addition, in a research it was found that employers do
not care whether the field of job matches the field of study or not, but employers
requires graduates that can apply actual abilities accumulated during study
(Fengliang, W, & Ding, 2008). Employers also are found to prefer employees with
experience compared to fresh graduates. According to Hossler and Gallagher (1987),
students have a choice either to continue study or go to work after graduated. Hence,
it is assumed that in predisposition phase, job will significantly influence students
participation because students who have high interest to work will not bother to
further study and will not aware about higher education. In a study made by
McDonald (2003), he found there is significant for seeking job experience as barrier
to participate in educational programme. This is because there are more students
preferred to choose career after graduating. Thus, it will give impact towards
participation into higher education. These statement are also supported by Purcell et
al (2009).

Bumiputera Participation in MAICSA Professional Programmes

There are increasing number of companies in Malaysia. This has resulted

increase in demand for company secretaries and its assistants. High demand of
 311

company secretaries is recorded in MAICSA Examination Handbook and also proven

by statement made by President of MAICSA. MAICSA stated in its Examination
Handbook that those who are taking ICSA International Qualifying Scheme (IQS) and
its collaborative master programmes will have 100 percent of employability, high
demand from the industry and promising future salary (MAICSA, n.d). Peter Lim, the
President of MAICSA also said this in one of his talks “The registration of a company
can only be done by any professionally qualified person and members of MAICSA fall
within that category. Thus, the profession is in high demand,” (Nilai University, 2011).
Currently in Malaysia, there are more than 1.3 million of Bumiputera students that
have enrolled in higher education, which makes there are 1.3 million potential
Bumiputera students to participate in ICSA International Qualifying Scheme (IQS)
and its collaborative master programmes (Hoo, 2014). In addition, one of 11 Malaysia
Plan concern is about expanding high skill training and continuing professional
development. Although, the plan does not specifically mention on chartered
secretaries programmes but it is stated that by year 2020, participation of Bumiputera
in professional area is expected to reach 60 percent (Eleventh Malaysia Plan, 2015).
However, currently as can be observed only 2.3 percent Bumiputera in company
secretarial public practice of MAICSA.
As Bumiputera participation in MAICSA professional programmes serves as
dependent variable, it is important to look at previous literature on how this variable
being measured. Previous literatures measure participation into programmes by
using aspirations (Carter, 2001; Chapmen, 1984; Hanson and Litten, 1982; Hossler
and Gallagher, 1987). This is because these students has not yet been enrolled into
the programme but we anticipate them to join the programme as they are highly
targeted prospective students. Therefore, it is important to know what challenges
these prospective students perceived awaits for them if they want to join the
programme.
Despite that, there would be gap between aspirations and real participation.
But still, aspirations serve as the first indicator to determine the participation of
students into specific programme.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this study, the respondents are a total of 200 students who are Bumiputera
and those in their final semester in degree of Corporate Administration. Bumiputera
participation in MAICSA Professional Programmes was measured by aspirations
using instrument developed by Chiu Ming Lau and Qijie Chen (2012) in their journal
titled Modeling Participation Intention of Adults in Continuing Education – A
Behavioral Approach. Self-efficacy instruments are derived from two journals which
were developed by Gargallo, Jesus M. and Perez-Perez (2009) and Itamar Gati,
Mina Krausz and Samuel H. Osipow (1996). For awareness, instruments to measure
are developed by using Section W: Becoming a Member in MAICSA student
Handbook. Questions to measure financial issues, academic difficulties and seeking
for job experiences was derived from instrument developed Borus and Carpenter
(1983) in their journal for US Department of Education. All the questions are adopted
and modified according to research objectives.
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RESULTS

Table 1 Summary of Dependent Variable Descriptive Statistic

Variable Minimum Maximum Mean Standard

deviation
Bumiputera participation in MAICSA 1.67 5.00 3.6333 0.90154
professional programme (IV)

Table 1 shows mean for Bumiputera participation in MAICSA Professional

Programmes is 3.63 at standard deviation 0.90. Thus, it is shown that the level of
Bumiputera participation in MAICSA Professional Programme is more than 3.5. This
indicates that Bumiputera students have high degree of interest to participate in
MAICSA Professional Programmes.

Table 2 Correlation Table

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6
Bumiputera participation in MAICSA 1
professional programmes (IV)
Awareness on MAICSA .238** 1
professional programmes (IV)
Self-efficacy (IV) .384** .273** 1
Financial issues (IV) -.155* .151 -.157** 1
Academic difficulties (IV) -.140* .107 .618** -.230** 1
Seeking for job experiences (IV) -.123 .267** .056 .200** -.077 1
Note: ** correlation significant at 0.001 level (two tailed), * correlation significant at 0.005 level
(two tailed)

Table 2 above shows the correlation between Bumiputera participation in

MAICSA professional programme on awareness on MAICSA professional
programme, self-efficacy, financial issues, academic difficulties and seeking for job
experience. Awareness on MAICSA professional programme and self-efficacy have
positive correlation as it shows positive values for the variables which are 0.238**
and 0.384** respectively. The correlation are also significant at the level 0.01 for
these variables. Despite that the range falls below 0.4 so it has a low correlation with
the dependent variable. On the other hand, financial issues, academic difficulties and
seeking for job experiences have negative correlation with Bumiputera participation
in MAICSA professional programme. Financial issues and academic difficulties
shows significant correlation at 0.005 with r value of -.155* and -.140* respectively.
These values are also below 0.4, hence, there is low correlation between with
dependent variable. Despite that, seeking for job experiences has no significant
relationship with Bumiputera participation into MAICSA professional programmes as
the p value is more than 0.05.

Table 3 Coefficient
Model 1 Unstandardized Standardized t Sig.
Coefficients Coefficients.
B Std. Beta
Error
(Constant) .245 .656 .374 .709
Awareness on MAICSA professional .209 .113 .122 1.857 .000
programmes (IV)
Self-efficacy (IV) .635 .106 .489 5.971 .000
Financial issues (IV) -.360 .090 -.280 3.997 .000
Academic difficulties (IV) -.120 .096 -.103 -1.246 .214
 313

Seeking for job experiences (IV) -.086 .107 -.053 -.805 .422

Table 3 is used in determining the significant factors for Bumiputera

participation. Multiple regression beta value explains which variable affect
Bumiputera participation the most. Self-efficacy has the highest beta value which is
β= 0.489, p < 0.005. Followed by financial issue β=- -0.280, p < 0.005 and
awareness on MAICSA professional programmes β= 0.122, p < 0.005. The other two
variables which are academic difficulties and seeking for job experiences are not
significant because of significant t is more than 0.05 (p > 0.005).

DISCUSSION

There is high level of future participation of Bumiputera student’s in MAICSA

professional programme. This result is consistent with previous study conducted by
Cornell, Shuklu and Konold (2016). In their study the students are required to choose
the highest education they will complete and 39 percent answered ‘I expect to
complete postgraduate studies’, which shows that students do have high expectation
and aspiration for their future. This is also supported by research made by Lanaan
F.S (2003), whereby a study was made at private and public institutions surveying
about student’s academic aspirations. The study found that one-third from 13,000
students want to receive associate-degree while one-fourth from the number want to
attain master’s degree. Despite that, high interest and desire to participate did not
guarantee the outcome. This has been reflected by the number of participation in
MAICSA professional programme that has been reported in MAICSA Annual Report
2015. The statement is proven as many researchers had made study that shown that
large number of students aspire for higher education but only few of them that attain
the certificate (Nagaoka, Roderick, & Coca, 2009). This shows that students do have
high desire and aspiration to continue study but yet it does not indicate high number
of participation into the programme. Despite high aspirations among the students to
participate in professional programme, there is a large gap between aspiration and
real participation. The low level of real participation is probably because lack of
attention has been given to MAICSA professional programme. In short, this study
shows that even though students have high aspiration to participate but it does not
confirm the real participation. However, steps and strategies could be developed to
reduce the gap and to enable students to move from choice phase to participation
phase.
The relationship between challenging factors and Bumiputera participation in
MAICSA professional programmes can be discussed accordingly as below:

Self-Efficacy

Bandura (1997) stated in his research that “A high sense of personal efficacy
in a responsive environment that rewards valued accomplishments, fosters
aspirations, productive engagement in activities, and a sense of fulfillment are the
conditions that enable people to exercise substantial control over their lives through
self-development”. So this research outcome is similar to what has been stated by
Bandura. Despite that, it has rather low correlation than what has been expected.
The low correlation can be supported with another research made by Bandura (1993)
which highlights the reality of self-efficacy and outcome. Plus, from this result we can
see that Bumiputera students mostly entered universities with lack of preparation,
lack of motivation and without any plan. Students are well-known with the concept of
‘move with the flow’ while it is concept which is contrast with self-efficacy. Self-
efficacy is the concept of ‘can do it’ and have specific goal to achieve. This is proven
through Yu Chen (2014). In her research it was found that respondents with high self-
 314

efficacy are more aspired to get master and doctoral while those with low self-
efficacy will not inspired to pursue study. Self-efficacy is proven to have significant
impact towards student’s participation into professional programmes.

Awareness on MAICSA Professional Programmes

There could be possibilities that the students do not aware that MAICSA
professional programmes are programmes with many benefits. The lack of
awareness issue could derived from preconceptions by students about the
appropriateness of higher education as an aspiration for students from certain socio-
economic and educational backgrounds. For instance, those with unrelated
background who has interest with secretarial field might think that MAICSA
professional programmes are not for them but it is exclusive for those who took
degrees in Bachelor in Corporate Administration. While the fact that ICSA
International Qualifying Scheme (IQS) do accept degree students from various
educational background with several differences in the syllabus. This can also be
applied to those who came from lower income group who believe that the programme
is too expensive and they will never have chance to participate in it. Not only that,
when family members and the surroundings do not aware about the programme it will
also harden the student to make decision and to make progress for higher education.
Company secretary always being misunderstood as ‘secretary’ because the word
secretary itself is a term commonly focused on administrative duties (Wulfson, 2013).
Hence, creating awareness among the society is also important to encourage more
participation.

Financial Issues

The reason financial issue have low correlation although there are many
literature review supports this variables is because aspirations do not necessarily in
social economic status. As in this study Bumiputera participation is measured by
aspirations it causes financial issues to get low correlation. According to Marjoribanks
(1998), aspirations is idealistic values that does not necessarily be affected by social
economic issues. For students to desire and aspire to participate has low connection
with their financial issues because in this study even most of the students family
income is lower than RM3,000 and depending on financial aid, they still aspire to
pursue MAICSA professional programmes. As mentioned earlier, there is gap
between aspiration and real participation. Instead if the students have applied to the
programme and get selected, this factor will come into force with high correlation.
Therefore, it can be seen that even though financial issues have low correlation it is
an important factors that linked the gaps. This is variable is also supported by Peru’s
Education Report by Guerreno et al (2016); which in the report it was stated that
economic constraints is the main barrier for low income young people to the
realization of their academic aspirations.

Academic Difficulties

This study recorded inconsistent findings with previous research. Previous

research shows that there is significant between academic difficulties and higher
academic aspirations. This variable also has been recommended by Hossler and
Gallagher (1987) in his three phase model. Despite that Peter (1977) has mentioned
that this variable will only be significant for students that have completed their
studies. The rationale behind Peter’s statement is; when a student did not finished
their study we cannot determine the real grade pointer average collected by the
students. Although for some students they might have good performance until the
end of studies but there are possibilities there are students who unable to perform at
 315

the final stage. This will affect the grade and hence increasing the gap between
aspiration and real participation. Hence, that could explain the reason why this
finding is not significant.

Seeking for Job Experiences

Even though this study shows no significant relationship, other literatures

proves otherwise. In a study made by McDonald (2003), he found there is significant
for job as barriers to participation in educational programme. Despite that, he found
that students whose age 16 to 24 do not concern about job. This is proven by low
correlation found in his research. This means that, the reason why seeking for job is
not significant with Bumiputera participation is because majority of the students want
to seek for job and gain experience and this do not give any impact towards the
participation. This is supported by Purcell et al (2009), the research state that those
who do not want to enter into higher education usually have definite plan for working
or in higher level job and the most common job is secretarial and admin works. This
shows that secretarial field require high commitment and students focus more on
securing job and experience instead of joining professional programme. This has no
effect towards participation which has been reflected by the findings.

CONCLUSION

Research on challenging factors for Bumiputera participation in MAICSA

professional programmes was conducted with five variables which are self-efficacy,
awareness, financial issues, academic difficulties and seeking for job experiences.
The reason for this study to be conducted is because company secretary must be
someone who is knowledgeable, skillful and professionally qualified. Therefore,
professional programmes under company secretary’s institute like MAICSA plays an
important roles to ensure there supply for company secretaries are in accordance to
what needed by the industry and the government; to improve governance.
Bumiputera low participation in MAICSA professional programme could be reason
why there is low representative of Bumiputera in public practice as company
secretary, hence it is important to know the factors that hinders them and come up
with a strategy to overcome the problem. Overall, this research is important to
increase Bumiputera participation in MAICSA professional programme so that we
can increase number of professional company secretaries specifically among
Bumiputera and we can achieve the government mission to gain 60 percent of
Bumiputera participation in professional programmes.
 316

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A Study on Relationship between Five-Factor Model of

Personality Traits and Commitment among Support Staff at
Batu Lintang, Kuching, Sarawak
Asmahani Mahdi
Faculty of Business Management, UiTM Sarawak
asmahani@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Nurul Shahera Ismail

Faculty of Business Management, UiTM Sarawak
eyraismail12@gmail.com

Olivia Sutee Jugie

Faculty of Business Management, UiTM Sarawak
oliviaoliey@yahoo.com

Suzy Sari
Faculty of Business Management, UiTM Sarawak
sue_ziey93@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to observe and to examine the relationship between
Five-Factor Model of Personality traits and commitment. Independent variable for
this study is types of Five-Factor Model of personality traits consist of openness to
experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism
(McCrea & John 1992). Questionnaire was developed for the purpose of data
collection. There were 90 sets of questionnaire sent to the respondents with the
return rate, 84.4%. The data was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social
Science Software (SPSS) version 20. In order to determine whether there is
relationship between personality traits and commitment, Pearson Correlation was
performed on the data. The findings show that there is a relationship between both
variables. The correlational value shows that personality traits have a strong positive
and significant relationship with commitment (r=.846, p<0.01). Results indicate that
majority of the respondent agreed that they have three (3) types of personality traits
which were openness to experience, agreeableness and extraversion. The finding
shows that the mean score for these three personality traits were more than 4
(agree) for all the statements.

Keywords: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion,

agreeableness, neuroticism, commitment

INTRODUCTION

Organizational commitment is one of the most popular psychological

constructs which play an important role in predating work behavior (Syed et. al.,
2015; Erdhiem et. al., 2006). According to Khoeini and Attar (2015), the employees
have different personality. Some employee may be unfriendly, talkative, or active in
verbal communications. On the other hand, the other employee may be pessimistic,
egoistic, or arrogant, and another may be optimistic, modest, and interested to other
people. Apart from that, Khoeini and Attar (2015) also mentioned that individual
differences in personality can be a source of creativity and the root of many problems
 321

in the organization. They are the organization’s asset which will help the
organization to achieve its specific goals. Personality deals with mostly with human
behavior. It is related to the person-mental, emotional, social, and physical. All of
these personalities are related to the Five-Factor Model of Personality. The five-
factor model of personality is a hierarchical organizational of personality traits in
terms of five basic dimension which is openness to experience, conscientiousness,
extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (Kumar and Bakshi, 2010; McCrea and
John, 1992; McCrea and Costa, 1985). This five-factor is considered as the
fundamental dimensions of the personality (McCrea and John, 1992). To achieve the
organizational specific goals, employee’s personality and commitment are taking into
consideration (Khoeini and Attar, 2015). Organizational commitment is defined as
psychology connection between the employee and the organizational that makes the
employees less likely will voluntary leave the organization (Cui, 2010; Allen and
Meyer, 1996). There are three different reasons of employee’s commitment. First,
employee’s emotional connection to the organization, next, it is because the
employees will lose their profit from the effort that they contribute to the organization.
Last but not least, it is because the employee feels they have the responsibility
towards the organization (Syed et. al, 2015; Allen & Meyer, 1990).

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The changes introduced during organizational reforms or downsizing

negatively affects employees relations with the organization and corrodes employee
loyalty and organizational commitment (Lin et. al., 2010; Niehoffet.al., 2001). Apart
from that, because different people have different personality (Khoeini& Attar, 2015),
people who are not committed to their jobs are likely to leave the jobs (Hackney,
2012; Klein et. al., 2009). Therefore, this study is looks at the relationship between
five-factor model of personality traits and organizational commitment among support
staff at Batu Lintang, Kuching,Sarawak.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Organizational Commitment

As mentioned by Khoeini (2015), the higher levels of organizational

commitment express the acceptance of value and organizational goals in personnel
which cause more loyalty and efforts to achieve organizations’ goals. According to
Masrek, et. al., 2015; Miller, 2003, organizational commitment as a state in which an
employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals in consideration either
to maintain or leaving the organization. According to Permarupan et.al 2013,
Scholars has viewed the organizational commitment in various ways. Figure 1
describes the scholar’s interpretation on organizational commitment.

Figure 1: Overview of Scholar’s interpretation on organizational commitment

(Permarupan et.al, 2013)

Interpreted by Concept/understanding
Steer (1977) An employee attitude and as a set of behavioral
intentions

Mowday (1979);
Steers and Porters (1982); Beckeri,
Randal and Riegel (1995)
Northcraftabd Neale (1996)
Allen and Meyer (1991)
Jha, S (2011) has provided some of Western organizational commitment
research literature in her journal which is entitled Influence of psychological
empowerment on affective, normative and continuance commitment.
Figure 2: Overview definition of organizational commitment (SumiJha ,2011;Bhatnagar,
Authors
Bateman and Strasser (1984)
Benkhoff (1997),
Baruch (1998)
Carson et. al. (1999)
Nadler (1998),
Lok and Crawford (2001)
Lok and Crawford (2001)
Blau (1985),
Mowday et. al. (1982),
Allen and Meyer (1990),
Angle and Perry (1981),
Gordon et. al. (1980),
Jaros et. al. (1993),
Meyer and Schoorman(1992,1998),
Meyer and Allen (1984, 1991), O’Reilly
and Chatman (1986), Penley and Goud
(1988)
Mowday et. al. (1979),
Allen and Meyer (1990),
Angle and Perry (1981),
Gordon et. al. (1980),
Jaros et. al. (1993),
Meyer and Schoorman (1992, 1998),
Meyer and Allen (1991,1994), O’Reilly
and Chatman (1986)
322
Can be into three factors:
a) A strong belief in, and acceptance of the
organization’s goals and values
b) A willingness to exert considerable effort on
behalf of the organization.
c) A strong desire to remain in the organization.
An attitude reflecting an employee’s loyalty to the
organization, an ongoing process of expression for the
organizational and its continued success and well-
being.
Consist of:
Affective commitment: Psychological attachment to
organization
Continuance commitment: Costs associated with
leaving the organization
Normative commitment: Perceived obligation to remain
with the organization
2007)
Findings
Organizational commitment, antecedents to job
satisfaction
Key to ‘business success”
Viability and suitability of organizational commitment is
questionable
Research on commitment is important for managers in
the organizations
Examined commitment linkage to managerial strategy
driven by organizational culture and human resource
strategies. Also commitment dependent on
managerial strategy and level of employee
participation.
Commitment as a unidimensional construct or
multidimensional
Commitment as a multidimensional construct, each
accompanied by a recommend measure or set of
measures
 323

Barling et. al. (1992),

Gordon e.t al. (1980),
Blau (1985),
Meyer et. al. (1993),
Becker (1992),
Hunt and Morgan(1994),
Champion and Lord (1982),
Locke et. al. (1988),
Hall (1996),
Mayer and Herscovitch (2001)
Watson Wyatt (1999)
Armstrong (2001, pp. 175-6)
Mitchell et. al. (2001)
Roca-Puig et. al. (2005),
Payne and Huffman (2005)
Lin et. al. (2005),
Cabrera et. al. (2006)
Research on forms of commitment: commitment to
organizations, commitment to unions occupations and
professions teams and leaders goals personal careers
Disagreement with regard to the dimensionality of
organizational commitment
Human resource practices and trust in management
had the strongest impact o building commitment
Pluralist view of commitment, it can be manipulated
Job embededness and organizational commitment
intention to stay relationship
Service firms as a contact for flexibility and
commitment
Mentoring and organizational commitment, turnover
relationship, employee mobility and organizational
commitment inter-linkages, employee engagement
and organizational commitment.

Allen and Meyer (1990) defined organizational commitment as a

psychological attachment to the employing organization (Nazari, 2012 Allen and
Meyer, 1990). Allen and Meyer (1997) has developed three components model of
organizational commitment which are affective commitment, continuance
commitment, and normative commitment (Masrek et. al., 2015; Allen & Meyer, 1997).

Continuance Commitment

As defined by Allen and Meyer (1990), continuance commitment relates to an

employee’s calculative attachment to the organization whereby the employee is
motivated to stay only because leaving would be costly. Employees who have
continuance commitment will remain with the organization because they have to
(Permarupan et.al, 2013; Allen & Mayer, 1990). Dixit (2012) states that employee
who have low level of continuance commitment are able to change their professions
and job tasks in the organization. In their perception, having a high level of
continuance commitment will force them to stay in the organization. However, those
who have high levels of continuance commitment are more likely to have lower
performance rating. They also less interested to engage in organizational citizenship
behaviors.

Normative Commitment

This type of commitment explained the concept as an obligation or “moral

responsibility” (Hackney, 2012; Marsh &Mannari, 1997). The development of
normative commitment is thought to evolve pressure that individuals feel from their
interactions within an organization and their internalization of those feeling. The
internalization can be based on a belief about the appropriate level of loyalty that is
supported by the organizational culture (Hackney, 2012; Meyer et. al., 1997).
Employees who have normative commitment will remain with the organization
because they believe they ought to (Permarupan et.al, 2013; Allen & Mayer, 1990).
This feeling of moral obligation can be measured by the extent to which a person
feels that personal sacrifice to help it out and not criticize it (Jha, S, 2011).
 324

Personality

According to Mkoji (2012) personality is known as a person’s identity.

Personality is not easily affected by the external interferences and it is long-lasting.
Despite, personality can determine through a psychological system where it can
decide the uniqueness of someone thinking behavior (Chi,Yeh&Choun, 2013; Allport,
1961; Helmreich, 1984). Personality also can be determined through the
determinants behavior of an employee or individual in the workplace (Penney, David
&Witt, 2011). In addition, Mkoji (2012) found that personality is important in the
organizations where it is one of the process of change that relates to the
psychological growth and development of individuals. Moreover, personality is
extremely important in the organizations, but if an individual has the wrong
personality which it known as negative personality. Therefore, it can cause
undesirable tensions and worries in that organization (Mkoji, 2012; Khosla, 2009).
According to Kar (2013), he found that theory of personality developed by Eyesenck
(1984) and there are three dimension of personality that stated by him which are
neurotiscm, extraversion and psychoticism.

Five Factor Models of Personality Traits

Personality traits have dynamic features in the organizational culture which it can
react differently depending to the changes of the environment. People have different
personality traits have the different thinking and influence in making the decisions
(Chi et. al., 2013; Chu, 2003; Lin & Chiu, 1999). Personality traits also can determine
as the consistent characteristics and the tendencies to express the individual
similarities and differences (Lo et.al, 2014; David & Stanle, 1989). Five factor model
of personality provides a category that accurately and thoroughly accounts for human
personality which it is as experimental evidence that strongly ensures the validity of
the model. It also has been widely used with respect to validity and extensive
acceptance in organization research (Mohsen et.al, 2014; Bzionelos, 2003)
There are five types of personality which is Conscientiousness, Extraversion,
Neuroticism, Agreeableness and Openness to Experience (Kumar & Bakshi, 2010;
McCrea & John, 1992; McCrea & Costa, 1985).

Conscientiousness

The conscientiousness represents the individual who work efficiently and tend
to be reliable worker. Individual with this personality always consistent on what they
do. Hawass (2012) mentioned that employee who has conscientiousness; this will
be the most consistent predictor of performance across the job (John & Srivastafa,
1999). Besides that, recent studies proposed that conscientiousness personality are
hardworking people, careful, thorough and they also can be responsible person.
Being organized also one of the characteristic of conscientiousness and researcher
also found that this types of personality are individual who are dependable,
methodical and also conscientiousness people tend to be risk averse (Ahmad et. al.,
2014; Barrick&Mount, 1991; Goldberg, 1990). In addition, Mkoji (2012) found that
individual with these traits have high performance in their job task and they also high
commitment in the organizations (Mkoji, 2012; Colquit, 2009).

Extroversion

In contrast to the introvert personality is called extrovert. Extrovert or

extroversion is the most easily personality of individual that we can detected facet it
is the most popular personality which others can recognized it. According to the
researcher, they found that individual who has extrovert personality traits can be
 325

looked at their behaviour which they are talkative person, being sociable, assertive
and also active person (Syed et. al., 2015; Barrick & Mount, 1991). Individual with
this personality will easily communicate with others and they can be friendly too.
Other than that, individual with extrovert they tend to have high levels of positive
emotion and has interpersonal connections to others (Hawass, 2014; Bakker et.
al.,2006).

Agreeableness

Agreeableness in five factor model in personality traits is this personality is

based on some feeling on helping people, forgiving and trusting others. Besides that,
an individual with agreeable personality are very oriented toward serving and helping
others where they also being forgiveness and trusting others. Furthermore,
agreeable people are often showing their respect to others and as well as show
respectable to their work behavior (Hawass, 2012; Organ & Ling, 1995). According
to Mkoji (2012), he states that, the reasons why the agreeable people is less likely to
engage in withdrawal because of their adaptability and compliance where people with
this personality traits have more understanding about the negative environment
(Mkoji, 2012; Organ &Lingl, 1995).

Neuroticism

Neuroticism people tend to feel that they are emotionally insecure and
uneven and neurotism signifies variances of an individual tendency to experience
(Awadh et.al., 2012; McCrae & John, 1992). Recent study states that an individual
who has this type of personality can have mental disorder which they tend to have a
problem with their mental health such as personality disorders than the other types of
personality traits. Besides that, this type of character tend to feel unhappy and this
will make them to have negative emotion and have tendencies to have a feeling of
uncertain, worried, emotional, irritated and also feeling worried (Syed, et. al., 2015;
McCrae & Costa, 2008).

Openness to Experience

Openness to experience can exist in everyone’s personality which this trait

can relate to people who are creative, sensitive, being curious about something,
cultivated and also they have independent minded. However, these traits can be low
and high moderator to everyone, but it depends on that individual personality itself
(Abdullah et. al., 2013).

Research Framework

Figure 3: Overview research framework on the relationship between Five-Factor Model

of Personality Traits (McCrea & John, 1992) and Organizational Commitment (Allen &
Meyer, 1997)

Independent Variables Dependent Variable

FIVE-FACTOR MODEL OF
PERSONALITY TRAITS ORGANIZATIONAL
1. Openness to experience COMMITMENT
2. Conscientiousness
3. Extraversion
4. Agreeableness 1. Normative Commitment
5. Neuroticism 2. Continuance Commitment
 326

Figure above show the conceptual framework

on the relationship between independent variable and dependent variable of this
study. Independent variable for this study is types of Five-Factor Model of
personality traits that are openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion,
agreeableness, and neuroticism (McCrea & John1992). Dependent variable of this
study is organizational commitment.

METHODOLOGY

Sample

This study was conducted at Batu Lintang Kuching, Sarawak. For

confidentiality reason the name of the organization studied are not disclosed in this
paper. A total of 84.4 percent of the questionnaires have been returned to the
researcher, representing 76 valid responses of the respondents that have been
analyzed in this study. The respondents who participate from this study are support
staff from different organization around Batu Lintang, Kuching Sarawak.

Measures

The questionnaires designed are split into three parts. The first part of the
questionnaires are began with some background items concerning the respondents
personal variables that are consist of age, gender, and length of service of the
employees in the organization. The second part of the questionnaires consists of a
set questionnaire which is asking about the type of Personality Traits that are
adapted from John & Srivastafa (1999) by using an interval type of instrument. The
last of questionnaires included questions about Organizational Commitment
Questionnaires (OCQ) that was developed by Allen and Meyer (1991). The
questionnaires focused only for two major components based on the different
variables of commitment as suggest by Allen and Meyer model that namely
continuance scale, and normative scale. In order to avoid bias response from the
respondents, all of the items were mixed up randomly. To measure each item, five
point measurement of Likert Scale has been used to measure the answer of the
respondents towards the statement of each items that ranging from strongly agree to
strongly disagree.

Data Analysis

The data collection was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS) version 20.0. The analysis involved descriptive statistic which included
frequencies, mean and percentage. To determine the reliability, each items and
components of the Five Factor Model of Personality Traits and Organizational
Commitment Questionnaires was assessed by using Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient.
To determine the level commitment and personality traits of the employees, items
was assessed based on the mean score of each components.
 327

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

Descriptive Statistics of Personality Traits

Variables Mean Std. Deviation

Openness to Experience 4.18 .453
Conscientiousness 3.90 .398
Extraversion 4.00 .519
Agreeableness 4.11 .465
Neuroticism 2.60 .813

The findings shows that the highest mean score each dimension in the
personality traits was openness to experience where the (MS=4.18, SD=.453)
followed by Agreeableness (M=4.11, SD=.465), the mean score for Extraversion was
(M=4.00, SD=.519) and Conscientiousness was (M=3.90, SD=.398). However, the
table below shows that Neuroticism was the least mean score with (M=.60, SD=.813)

Descriptive Statistic of Organizational Commitment

Variables Mean Std. Deviation

Normative Commitment 4.07 .456
Continuance Commitment 3.61 .458

It was found that the highest mean score in organizational commitment was
(M=4.07, SD=.460) for normative commitment and the mean score for continuance
commitment was (M=3.61, SD=.383)

Pearson Correlation between Personality and Normative Commitment

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6
** ** ** **
1 Normative Commitment 1 .563 .509 .952 .816 -.098
** ** ** **
2 Openness to experience 1 .765 .454 .598 -.319
** **
3 Conscientiousness 1 .388 .454 .204
**
4 Extraversion 1 .750 -.120
5 Agreeableness 1 -.175
6 Neuroticism 1

Table above illustrates the relationship between openness to experience,

conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism towards
organizational commitment that tested using Pearson Correlation analysis. Based on
the findings below shows that there is a relationship between openness to
experience and normative commitment and there are association, positive and high
correlation between openness to experience and normative commitment which is
(r=.563, p<0.01). This result reflects the finding by Celik and Oral (2016) which they
mentioned that there is no relationship between openness to experience and
normative commitment. Conscientiousness personality types show the personality
traits that are hardworking, careful, thorough and responsible (Ahmad, 2014; Barrick
and Mount, 1991). It also indicates the relationship between two variables which is
conscientiousness and normative commitment. The findings shows that there is
association, positive, high and significant relationship between conscientiousness
and organizational commitment which is (r=.509, p<0.01). From the findings shows
 328

the extraversion and normative commitment is related to one another. The value
(r=.952, p<0.01) shows there are high degree correlation between variable.
However, finding from Atchara (2010) reflect the result from the researcher which he
mention that there is no relationship between extraversion and normative
commitment. As shown in table above, (r=.816, p<0.01) which based on the guideline
provided by Cohen (1988) which the ranging 0.50 to 1.00 indicates high degree of
correlation (Norizan Ismail, 2011; Cohen, 1988). Meanwhile, the significant level
between variable is also high. So, it shows that there are association between
agreeableness and normative commitment. This is supported from the research
study by Kumar & Bakshi (2010) also found that there is a relationship between
conscientiousness and organizational commitment. It is apparent in shows that no
association between neuroticism and normative commitment. The findings answer
the hypothesis HO5 that there is no relationship between neuroticism and normative
commitment where (r=-.098, p<0.01).

Pearson Correlation between Personality Traits and Continuance Commitment

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6
** ** ** **
1 Continuance Commitment 1 .184 .513 .673 .466 .485
** ** ** **
2 Openness to Experience 1 .765 .454 .598 -.319
** **
3 Conscientiousness 1 .388 .454 .204
**
4 Extraversion 1 .750 -.120
5 Agreeableness 1 -.175
6 Neuroticism 1

Based on the findings it shows that there is null relationship between

openness to experience and continuance commitment and there is no relationship
and significant between openness to experience and organizational commitment is
(r=.184, p<0.01) which it show low degree of correlation as mentioned by Cohen
(1988). It also indicates that the relationship between two variable which is
conscientiousness and continuance commitment. The findings shows that there is
association, positive, high and significant relationship between conscientiousness
and organizational commitment which is (r=.513, p<0.01). The value (r=.673,
p<0.01) shows there are high degree correlation between extraversion and
continuance commitment. However, finding from Atchara (2010) reflect the result
from the researcher which is there is no significant correlation between extraversion
and continuance commitment which means that there is no relationship between
variable. There are association between agreeableness and continuance
commitment which (r=-.466, p<0.01). Based on the Cohen (1988) guideline, it shows
that it is moderate degree correlation. There is association between neuroticism and
continuance commitment. However, this result reflect the finding by Hawass (2011)
where neuroticism not associate with continuance commitment because neuroticism
shows that are negative personality and encourage employee to not give fully
commitment to their organization or job.

Correlation between Personality and Organizational Commitment

Variables Organizational Personality Traits

Commitment
**
Pearson Correlation 1 .847
Organizational
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
Commitment
N 76 76
**
Pearson Correlation .847 1
Personality Traits Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 76 76
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
 329

As the table shown that there is strong relationship between personality traits
and organizational commitment which (r=.847, p<0.01). This can be shown from the
finding; conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness have positive
relationship to normative commitment and continuance commitment.

RECOMMENDATION & CONCLUSION

In general, it can be concluded most of the respondents have openness to

experience personality traits which the findings shows that the mean score for
openness to experience is more than four (agree) for all of the statements. However,
the least types of personality traits that the respondents practice in the organization is
neuroticism which employee who has this types of personality always feel unhappy,
sensitive and emotional. Besides that, major reason that the researcher conducted
this study is to test the association between personality traits and organizational
commitment. One of the most significant findings to emerge from this study is that
there has positively relation between personality and organizational commitment.
The result of investigation show that the relationship between personality traits and
organization commitment has positive, high and significant which (r=.847, p<0.01).
Apart from that, hypothesis also tested in this study to examine the relationship
between each dimension and types of personality traits and normative and
continuance commitment. From the findings shown that only one dimension of
personality traits is not associated with normative commitment which is Neuroticism
and the others were associated to organizational commitment. Meanwhile, there is
no relationship between openness to experience. It can be conclude that personality
of employee can affect their commitment to the organization. Based on the literature
and finding in this research, the researcher suggests a few recommendations. The
organization should give more reward and bonuses to their staff that has good
achievement in year. From that, employee can give more commitment in the
organization. Employee in the organization have different personality traits that
differentiate them from the other and their personality also reflects their work culture
in the organization which it can helped them committed in their organization or not.
Personality also represents a person feelings, thought and behavioral patterns.
Employee should enjoy in doing their work to improve their organizational
commitment. Besides that, the employees must build a sense of love toward their
organization and on work that they doing to improve their commitment toward
organization. Future research should expand to another location and expand the
scope of study to bigger context such as other organizations and wider respondents.
The other data collection methods such as interview and online survey also can be
conducted in order to get richer and dense information regarding personality traits in
the organization.

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Creativity in Higher Education:

The Impact of Classroom Debate on the Academic
Performance of Administrative Science Students
Azlyn Ahmad Zawawi
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kedah
azlyn@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Junaida Ismail
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kedah
junaidaismail@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Irwana Nooridayu Muhamad Hakimi

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teeknologi MARA, Kedah
irwana@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Classroom debate has been widely used as a learning method especially at the
secondary and tertiary level. Classroom debate enhances self-confidence, critical
thinking, analytical capabilities, communication skills, and teamwork. Although
studies involving the impact of classroom debate has vastly been done in the context
of learning the second language, psychology, philosophy, and pure science; specific
studies that focus on administrative science field are still scarce. Administrative
science subjects are multidisciplinary, critical and analytical, and mostly it covers
aspects of administrative concepts, management principles and practices,
administrative and management theories, public sector management, and
international relations. Classroom debate are beneficial and relevant to be applied in
administrative science subjects as a properly orchestrated debate can allow students
to exert fresh ideas and develop reasoning skills that can improve their academic
performance. Therefore, this paper aims to establish a conceptual review on the
impact of classroom debate on students’ academic performance within the context of
higher education, particularly in the administrative science field. A conceptual
framework is subsequently proposed linking the benefits of classroom debate with
students’ academic performance.

Keywords: learning, debate, higher education, academic performance

INTRODUCTION

Creativity is the ‘tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or

possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and
entertaining ourselves and others’ (Franken, 1994, p. 396). It is the ability to exceed
conventional ideas, systems, patterns, associations, or the like, and to create
meaningful new ideas and knowledge using human’s senses and ability to judge
Creativity is the art of being out of the ordinary, using both intuition and intelligence
and producing an outcome the best that can be. In education, being creative is a
‘must have’ trait to educators. So much of teaching is now driven by data (i.e., test
scores) and dictated by “best practices” that teachers are losing confidence in their
 334

own creativity (Bunting, 2006). Breaking the barrier between educators and learners
could be the first step in indulging creativity into education. Teaching at tertiary level
forces lecturers to be more in touch with the learners rather than just giving lecture.
Educators must be flexible in accepting ideas and enhancing the subjects to talk and
convey opinions (Collard & Looney, 2014).
Lecturers benefit from going back to their own beginnings and thinking about
why they wanted to teach. What goals do they expect to accomplish? What fulfilment
do they anticipate? In developing lesson plans, lecturers should be able to figure out
how the lesson plans can affect their students for the rest of the semester. Thus,
lecturers must be able to ‘prepare creativity’ beforehand. Alternative resources such
as audio-video materials, creative delivery via technology, interactive presentations
and such, must be appropriately arranged. In order to implement this, lecturers
themselves must not restrain their minds from ‘wild’ and unusual ideas.

DEBATE AS A FORM OF CREATIVE LEARNING

One of the methods that can be used to foster creativity in learning is through
classroom debates. Debating has a rich history; it encourages students’ advocacy
and expression through interscholastic debate. Debate is a part of rivalry that
comprise two teams, the affirmative team upholding the resolutions and the negative
team standing in opposition (Noonan, 2011). Debate is a formal technique of
argument in which it directly allows interaction and representation. Debate includes a
sense of manipulation and in each argument; there is a form of persuasion injected in
it. Persuasion often appeals to audience emotional responses and will determine how
they will react and interact to the motion. Debate has been viewed as a form of
teaching-learning strategy that presumes an established position, for or against, on a
matter or an issue, or solution to a problem.
Although there are extant studies done on the benefits of debates, studies that
link debates with improved academic performance are still scarce (Omelicheva &
Avdeyeva, 2008; Onen, 2016). Therefore, considering the numerous benefits that
debating has towards students’ performance, this paper aims to review the impact of
debate on the academic performance among students. It explores five (6) variables
namely interpretation skills, inferential skills, and analytical skills.
Debate imposes active learning surroundings and it stimulates team
collaboration through persuasive evidence (Doody & Condon, 2012). Warner &
Bruschke (2001) highlighted that classroom debates are able to improve students’
performance as debate exercises encourage active engagement among learners. A
study done by Catterall (2002) professed that students who actively engage in
debate activities has 25% wider range of academic skills as compared to their peers
who do not. As debate activities encourage competition, students are more driven to
learn more on their subject matter to ensure that they have confidence in defending
their arguments. Students who are involved in debate activities are able to improve
their written skills, oral communications, and also will greatly improve their reading
comprehensions compare to their peers who do not. Colbert and Biggers (1985) are
among the earliest to assert the healthy benefits of debate exercises. They claimed
that debating students were more comfortable with new concepts and unfamiliar
language, and had the ability to gain wider access to new information such as
college–level philosophy, history, public policy and current events (as cited in Carr,
2002). Due to the development of listening skills, tactical skills, and self-confidence
during debate activities, most debating students tend to pursue leadership positions
in their schools and communities, and they often take on strong leadership role within
their teams (Bradley, 1959).
 335

HOW DOES DEBATE BENEFIT ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE STUDENTS?

Administrative science is a study of governance, public administration, and

management. It focuses on strategic management, people management and
technology management, often in the context of public sector (Faculty of
Administrative Science and Policy Studies Official Website, 2014). Administrative
science subjects are naturally comprehensive and industry related. More often than
not, the administrative science field requires it’s learners to comprehend national
issues through discussions and dialogues.
It is evident that debate exercises help in generating and reinforce many skills
related to the field of administrative science. Duncan (2012) professed that debate
nurtures various abilities needed by students such as effective written and oral
communication, critical thinking, working in a collaborative environment, and civic
awareness and participation. All these skills are necessary for social science
students (particularly administrative science) as the field requires frequent reading
and it stretches students’ thinking and creative skills.
Social sciences in a broader sense, is a study about humanity and how
people behave and influence the world around us (www.esrc.ac.uk). There are broad
range of disciplines that social science covers which includes administration,
demography, environmental planning, economics, management and business
studies, education, linguistics, law, politics, international relations, and many others.
All these disciplines are very much helpful in stimulating the ability to think beyond
experience since it makes students think and analyze critically. The nature of this
field totally suits the need to exercise classroom debate, particularly for
administrative science students, as the nature of debate activities help sharpen
rhetorical skills in a fast paced environment, enriching their ability to problem solve
and engage in autonomous learning (Anderson & Mezuk, 2012).
Moreover, debate activities will assist students to explore various connections
between the social, political, and environmental dimensions of society (Bellon, 2000).
An investigation done by Mezuk (2009) revealed that students who involved in
debate activities were more likely to graduate and had significantly higher scores in
English and reading subjects, but not Mathematics or Science. It shows that, debate
is effective for students’ enhancement as it helps to improve their academic
performance by fostering students’ thinking and reading ability. Catterall (2002)
asserted that students who participate in debate often excel in written and oral
communication and significantly develop their reading comprehension skills 25%
more than their peers. All these skills will encourage students to become more
comfortable with new concepts and unfamiliar language, and gain access to wider
scopes of new information such as college-level philosophy, history, public policy and
current events (Carr, 2002). Previous studies done by Billman and Christiensen
(2008) illustrated that most debaters consistently receive impressive grades
throughout high school and college. On average, debaters have a GPA of 3.75
(often higher), and most of them led their class, usually by being in the top 10%
above other students.

DEBATING SKILLS THAT IMPACT STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE

Doody and Condon (2012) suggested six skills necessary for debate. These
skills are; interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-
regulation. Interpretation skill is the ability of students to identify and clarify underlying
issues in discussion, analysis is the ability to gather and organize information, and
evaluation is the ability of students to value information in terms of its accuracy,
applicability, and differences of multiple viewpoints. Meanwhile, inference refers to
students’ capability to conclude issues, interpreting values, and conveying
 336

viewpoints. Explanation refers to students’ logical elucidations on an issue, and self-

regulation is the ability to appraise and critic others’ performance while contributing to
the team. For the purpose of this paper, three out of these six skills will be discussed.
The skills are interpretation skills, analytical skills, and inferential skills. These skills
will be explained in the following sections.

Interpretation Skills

Interpretation skills are the skills used to interpret or explain the significance
of a message, issue or information. Tilus (2012) referred to interpretation skills as
one’s ability to understand given information and communicate the meaning of that
information to others. Through classroom debate, students are required to be
actively involved in information interpretation through discussion and reasoning
activities (Collard & Looney, 2014). Besides that, students are trained to develop
competencies in researching current issue, prepare logical arguments, listen actively
to various opinions, differentiate between subjective and evidence-based information,
and integrate relevant information (Darby, 2007). Student debaters are persuaded to
be reflective in interpreting an issue in a debate exercise. Debate nurtures student’s
ability to interpret an issue critically to provide reasons and share viewpoints
(Tumposky, 2004). In learning a specific content, students are encouraged to
transport and demonstrate their thoughts in the most convincing manner while
sharpening their persuasion skills and shaping their ideas to be well conveyed and
accepted.

Analytical Skills

Other skills that help impact students’ performance are analytical skills.
Analytical skills represent students’ ability to connect ideas and scrutinize the
relevance of the ideas. The degree to which a debate program enhances the
analytical ability of its participants is a crucial criterion against which to weigh the
debate program. Many authors note that the demands of a changing world require
students to analyse and evaluate ideas, and these skills are available in debating
exercises (see Doody & Condon, 2012, Omelicheva & Avdeydeva, 2008). The ability
to think critically is especially critical in a world overflowing with information.
According to Bellon (2000), critical thinking among student can be created and
shaped if this group of students is given chances to ‘think’ among their peers.
Students will gain experience involving reasoning process through a thorough
thinking process that indirectly foster critical thinking. This is in line with an earlier
study done by Mike, Berkowitz, Hunt and Louden (1999) who revealed that
participation in debate activities increased students’ ability to reason and justify
matters pertinent to their subject areas. Critical thinking ability important as it
enforces students to think rigorously in the attempt to build linkages between words
and ideas that make concepts more meaningful (Bellon, 2000; Tous & Haghighi,
2016).

Inferential Skills

Inferential skills are ‘the ability to construct a procedure that will result in the
successful identification of an invariant, based on repeated exposure to exemplars
and non-exemplars where response is followed by feedback’ (Shafrir, Siegel, &
Chee, 1990, p. 506). Students who have high ability to infer are able to identify
issues or conflict, and may apply solutions based on critical incidents (Doody &
Condon, 2012). As debate activities require students to actively listen to others’
reasoning and arguments, students are trained to weigh and compare arguments
 337

from multiple perspectives, before they can come up with their own point of views
(Omelicheva & Avdeydeva, 2008). This way, students are stimulated to be attentive
to details and they will be exercising multiple skills at once; listening, communication
(verbal and non-verbal), and critical thinking (Onen, 2016). Inferential skills will
enhance students’ ability to conclude an issue. In group discussions, inferential skills
are important as it helps students make judgments and conclusions (Doody &
Condon, 2012).

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Based on the afore-mentioned review of the literature and consistent with the
significant roles of debate and students’ academic performance (Onen, 2016; Doody
& Condon, 2012; Omelicheva & Avdeydeva, 2008), our proposed framework is
depicted in Figure 1. Interpretation skills, analytical skills, and inferential skills are
viewed as possible predictors of students’ academic performance.

Figure 1 Proposed Conceptual Framework

Interpretation skills Students’ Academic

Analytical skills Performance
Inferential skills

Based on the above framework, we proposed that:

1. Interpretation skills are significantly related to students’ academic

performance
2. Analytical skills are significantly related to students’ academic performance
3. Inferential skills are significantly related to students’ academic performance

CONCLUSION

Debate exercises help develop students’ confidence and creativity. Through

proper monitoring, debate activities may enhance students’ learning environment as
debate requires students to be alert towards others’ arguments and defence. No
doubt, debate is a good platform to cultivate creativity. It brings out the competence
and confidence in students especially using their interpretation skills, analytical skills,
and inferential skills. All these skills are also beneficial to students as they go into the
working environment once they graduated.

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Job Stress, Work-to- Family Conflict and Social Support in the

Education Industry
Nurmazlina Mohd Isa
FSPPP UiTM, Selangor
mazlinaisa134@gmail.com

Hardev Kaur A/P Latchimanan Singh

FSPPP UiTM, Selangor
hardev894@salam.edu.my

Rozalli Hashim
FSPPP UiTM, Selangor
rozalli79@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

This paper is based on specific research that has been conducted on work-to-family
conflict among teachers in specific schools in Malaysia 9. Teachers are agents that
are important in delivering quality education to students. Teachers contribute to
developing high quality in education and human capital to the nation. However,
teachers face considerable stress and conflict in carrying out their tasks effectively
that lead to work family conflict. This study will examine three main components of
job stress that lead to work family conflict which is role overload, role ambiguity and
role conflict and also the role played by social support in reducing work-family
conflict. The findings of the study are yet to be disclosed, but this paper is heavily
based on the research conducted.

Keywords: Job stress, work-to-family conflict, role overload, role ambiguity, role
conflict

INTRODUCTION

Work and family are two important domains for every individual that are not
easily separated especially in the 21st century. As there is a growing number of
individuals that have been faced with the tasks of trying to balance the demands and
needs associated with multiple roles, many studies have attempted to understand the
nature of the relationship between work and family. These two domains have
become a major issue for both men and women especially dual-earners, as they
become workers, parents, parents and child. This happens as individual’s demand
unlimited time and excessive energy in order to fulfil the needs and responsibilities of
these two domains (Rathi & Barath, 2013). While struggling in balancing the roles
between work and family, interpersonal and intrapersonal conflict will happen among
individuals. The failure of an individual to maintain a balance between work and
family domains will result in work-family conflict (WFC).
Thus this paper aims to review the literature concerning the impact of job stress
that leads to work-family conflict and the role of social support in reducing the level of

1
The author in her Master thesis does the original work of this study. The author is currently finalizing
the findings of the study.
 341

WFC. In addition to that, this paper developed a conceptual framework of

antecedents of WFC as it is postulated that job stress leads to WFC.

WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT

Work-family conflict (WFC) refers to the relationship between employees’

work lives and their non-work pursuits (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). It is a situation
when an employee does not know how to pritioritize and balance the demands of
either work or family consequently. If role demands in both work and family domains
are incompatible, conflict will ensue. There is evidence that WFC is bi-directional
(O’Driscoll et al., 2003), which is work-to-family conflict (W2FC) and family-to-work
conflict (F2WC)(Michel, Kotrba, Mitchelson, Clark, & Baltes, 2010). This directionality
is also confirmed by Amstad, Meier, Fasel, Elfering, and Semmer, (2011) in meta-
analysis that found the primary effect of WFC lies in the domain where the conflict is
originated. But, it can be argued that the extent to which the individual is
experiencing pressure between work and family roles is likely to be dependent upon
their subjective perception of the situation and contributing factors such as history
(medical), personality, context (supply of support) and well-being. To effectively
manage human resource (HR), it is important to understand the role of an individual
in their work and family life. This issue encourages the growing interest to study inter-
role conflict, both conceptually and via empirical studies.
In this era of globalization, the balancing between work and family is the most
difficult task for individuals particularly married couples. They need to focus upon
their family since their work roles cause them to have difficulty in balancing the
demands of work and family demands. Furthermore, due to advancement of
technology, it can lead an individual to experience incompatibility between the
pressures of work and family. This situation could lead to W2FC as employees will be
accessible through WhatsApp, email, computer, or cellular phone although they are
at home. Therefore, this is one way in which work and family lives have become
entangled and conflict is created between work and family.
However, Akintayo (2010) argues that conflict can disrupt the balance of work
and personal life of an employee which can result in domestic disharmony. This
situation happens as there is imbalance between work responsibilities and meeting
the needs of family. Many challenges also have arisen in addressing the balance
between work and family demands. Nowadays WFC appears in the life of most
people without their notice and knowledge. WFC which takes place in the individual’s
daily life generates problem in the work performance as they might get engaged in
conflict. Reddy (2010) stated that WFC is unavoidable in this modern era. There
could be many reasons and one of the reasons is ongoing changes that occur in
working life that play an important role in one’s family life. Job stress seems to be the
main trigger of WFC.
Studies on WFC have become an area of concern for many scholars, and
studies have examined the factors that lead to WFC which have increased over the
past few decades (Ahmad, 2008; Byron, 2005; Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bordeaux, &
Brinley, 2005; Michel et al., 2010). There are various studies that have been done in
Western contexts such as US, Canda, but limited studies have been done on job
stress and work-family conflict in Malaysia.
So far, the area of research on WFC in Malaysia had focused on professional
positions such as doctors (Abd Razak, Mohd Nasurdin, & Yeop Yunus, 2011),
academic staff (Ismail, Mohamed, Sulaiman, Ismail, & Wan Mahmood, 2010), and
junior physicians (Ahmad, 2010), but there are limited studies done on the teaching
profession. Palmer, Rose, Sanders, and Randle, (2012) claimed that research on
teachers need to be extended because they are more vulnerable to inter-role conflict.
 342

Among the highest number of public servants in Malaysia, teachers have to deal with
many commitments towards the society and also their family.
There are three main studies explaining WFC among teachers in Malaysia. The
first study was done by Panatik et al., in 2011 that determined the level and impact of
WFC among school teachers. The result of the study discovered that the teachers
have high level of W2FC compared to F2WC. While in 2012, Ismail and Nordin
constructed and validated the measurement scale of WFC Efficacy for Malaysian
married female teachers. The findings depict that measurement model of WFC
efficacy can represent and be used as initial assessment of teachers’ self-efficacy
beliefs and provide valuable information for future teachers’ teaching training. Last
but not least, Hashim, Othman and Hamzah (2013) carried out a study among
married female teachers in Klang by using the Big Five Personality Traits as the
moderator of the relationship between WFC and job satisfactionas well as analyzed
the data using Rasch Measurement Model. The evaluation of the mean square infit
and outfit suggets that the data exhibited; fit the model, statement in the
questionnaire depicts higher reliability coefficient and greater consistency, and the it
confirms the robutness and the validity of the instrument that can be applied in any
organizations in Malaysia.

Forms of Work-Family Conflict

Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) have distinguished three forms of work-family

conflict, namely; time-based conflict, strain-based conflict, and behaviour-based
conflict. Researches have consistently used this conceptualization to assess the
various antecedents and consequences of work-family conflict (Carlson, Kacmar, &
Williams, 2000; Edwards & Rothbard, 2000; Michel et al., 2010). But, it is found that
individuals always experienced only time and strain-based conflict compared to
behaviour-based conflict. This situation happens as there is interference of roles
between work and family frequently which occurs due to factors related to time-based
(i.e.: working hours, work and family involvement), and strain-based (role ambiguity,
work and family stressors, role conflict, and parental demands) roles. Figure 1 shows
the summarization of the different relationships that can occur between the three
forms of WFC by Greenhaus and Beutell (1985).
 343

Figure 1 Work and Family Role Pressure Incompatibility

Based on Figure 1, it shows that role pressures from work domains and family
domains can emerge simultaneously in both directions. Excessive role demands from
the work domain (i.e.: hours worked, inflexible work schedules) may result in work-to-
family conflict. Whilst, excessive role demand from family domain (i.e.: domestic
chores, children duties) may result in work-to-family conflict. Time-based conflict is
induced by time limitations of individual to perform the responsibilities of different
roles, so that the time for doing an activity in a role cannot be applied for the activities
of another role. The pressures from the roles can cause strain-based conflict as a
result of work and family stressful factors, such as the stress of a role has
devastating effects on the individual’s performance in another role. Last but not least,
behaviour patterns of a role are in conflict with behavioural patterns of another role.
When a person is unable to fulfil the behavioural expectations of a role, he/she is
subjected to behaviour-based conflict.

JOB STRESS

Job stress happens to employee when there is mismatch between the

demands of the job and the existence of capabilities and resources of the employee
to meet those demands (Blaug, 2007). While according to Salami (2011), job stress
is defined as the experience of unpleasant negative emotions such as tension,
depression, anger, frustration, and anxiety which result from different aspects of
work. Job stress is also faced by employees in a situation where work related factors
interact with employees in a manner that disrupt their physiological conditions forcing
them to deviate from normal functioning (Mehta, 2013).
Study by Chin, Ismail, Ahmad, and Kuek, (2012) to analyze the effect of job
stress characteristics on both academics and non-academics staff from higher
learning institutions in Sarawak shows that the characteristics of job stress which are
role overload, role ambiguity, and role conflict have impact on the level of WFC. It is
also confirmed in the study done by Rimi and Rubel, (2013) that there is a positive
relationship between specific job stress and WFC. The results disclosed that role
overload, role ambiguity, and role conflict play important roles that have effect on
behaviours, emotional exhaustion, job attitudes, and interpersonal conflict.
 344

Betoret (2006) define teacher stress as role ambiguity, work overload,

pressure of K-12 teacher roles, lack of effective communication, inadequate
resources, poor working conditions, student misbehavior, lack of professional
recognition, and staff conflicts. A sizeable body of research has demonstrated that
the components of role stress (role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload) have a
harmful effect on teachers and organizational performance, with ramifications
including compromised work performance, job dissatisfaction, decreased
organizational commitments, burnout and turnover (Fried, Shirom, Gilboa, & Cooper,
2008; Gilboa, Shirom, Fried, & Cooper, 2008). The cited researchers concluded that
resources such as self-efficacy, coping skills, and social support could work to
counter the deleterious effects of role stress.
As teaching Y-generation nowadays is getting difficult, it can be seen that
stress is increasing steadily day by day in the educational sector, and the education
profession can be dangerously stressful (Mehta, 2013). Teachers have contributed to
developing high quality of education and human capital of the nation but at the same
time have to cope with their task which is teaching and learning. Stress levels among
teachers are readily increasing due to growing number of demands from students,
parents and society, as well as job requirement by Ministry of Education (MoE)
(Abdul Samad, Hashim, Moin, & Abdullah, 2010).
Heavy workload, increasing demands and job requirements can cause
teachers to experience WFC. At home teachers might be doing work responsibilities
such as grading exam papers and preparing lesson plan for the next day. They have
to devote time for work responsibilities outside school hours, which results in lesser
quality time to be spent with family and children (Erdamar & Demirel, 2014). This
may cause problems known as WFC. If they can balance the responsibilities
between work and family domain, they can be satisfied with their job and family life.
Kappagoda (2014) claimed that WFC is one of the salient issues in modern society
that is experienced by teachers in Sri Lanka. This is because, other than needs to
improve their quality of teaching, teachers also need to balance between work and
family responsibilities.
There are three salient characteristics of job stress : (i) role overload, (ii) role
ambiguity, and (iii) role overload (Chin et al., 2012; Fu & Shaffer, 2001; Ismail et al.,
2010; Michel et al., 2010). These three characteristics are mostly present in work
domain.

Role Overload

The first characteristic is role overload. Michel et al., (2010) refers to role
overload as innumerable task given to an employee which must be completed within
the time frame. In a normal sense, role overload happens when work roles requires
employee to put more effort and time than he/she has, thus the roles cannot be
performed adequately and comfortably In the meantime, role overload can be defined
as having too much work tasks but minimum time to do those tasks. One antecedent
that is commonly used as a variable in relation to WFC is role overload because it
refers to having too many work tasks need to be completed within a particular time
period (Hall, Dollard, Tuckey, Winefield, & Thompson, 2010; Rotondo & Kincaid,
2008) Study done by Işık, Işık, and Hamarta (2016) among academic staff in public
and private universities in Tukey have shown that role overload can significantly
predict time-based and strain-based conflict.
In the education field, Nkweke and Dollah (2011) define teachers’ work role
overload as the works of academic teachings and administration delegated to
teachers to achieve the goals and objective outlined by the schools. When there is
limited time and energy to perform demands from both work and family roles
adequately, work role overload occurs (Yip, Rowlinson, & Siu, 2008). In the study
 345

conducted by Grzywacz, Arcury, Coates, and Quandt, (2007), it was confirmed that
employees may encounter WFC due to role overload. It is a situation where
employees often experience role overload due to having limited time to fulfil various
role demands. Employees associating with too heavy work are burdening themselves
as it is beyond employees’ capability to cope and thus often results in stress.
As there is role overload, it makes teachers to side-line their core job as a
teacher which is teaching in classroom. The impact of role overload creates a lot of
grievances from teachers (Abas, Nurasyikin, Masood, & Esa, 2014). Majority of the
teachers who are involved in workshop management experience work role overload
such as holding positions as a form teacher, advisor for co-curriculum and certain
subjects, as well as coordinator for School-based Assessment (PBS) and Higher
Order Thinking Skills (HOTS/KBAT). Work role overload has been found to be a
significant antecedent of WFC (Booth & Matthews, 2012; Brown & Pitt-Catsouphes,
2013; Burke, Koyuncu, Fiksenbaum, & Tekin, 2013; Hsiao & Barak, 2014). As work
intensifies in a competitive labor market, organizations expect to have more work
hours and high productivity from their employees. Meanwhile, employees may
believe that meeting those expectations is a prequisite for career advancement or for
keeping their jobs. Thus, when they spend too much time at the workplace, they will
have limited time to fulfill family demands.

Role Ambiguity

Second characteristic under job stress is role ambiguity. According to Beigi,

Ershadi, and Shirmohammadi, (2012), role ambiguity happens when an employee
does not have clear information regarding what is expected on the job, and how the
reward system works. Employees have clear role expectations when he/she is
provided adequate and accurate information that is needed for performing the task
given. In an organization, when employees do not have certain information related to
their work objective or responsibilities, or when they do not know what the supervisor
expects, it may lead to higher levels of stress. While Beigi et al., (2012) found that
role ambiguity can happen when an employee does not have clear information
regarding what is expected on the job, who to report, and how the reward system
works. Higher role ambiguity can lead to lower level of job satisfaction and self-
assurance, but also higher level of job-related tension. Fu and Shaffer, (2001) found
that individuals who have ambiguous job definitions regularly would experience
higher level of WFC.
Many additional roles have been transferred to teachers which are not their
sole domain such as being appointed as administrative coordinators. Holding these
additional non-academic positions could be a detriment to them since they might not
have enough time to focus on classroom as well as family. The lack of having job-
related information concerning various aspects of job specifics in what to do in their
role as teacher can create role ambiguity. It is the situation where the teacher
holding a position is not sure of what his role entails as a teacher (Moss, 2015).
Papastylianou, Kaila, and Polychronopoulos, (2009) believe that there are
four dimensions concerning role ambiguity that teachers may experience. These
dimensions include; (i) ambiguity of objectives, expectations and responsibility (what
is expected, what could be done, what should be done), (ii) ambiguity of processes
(how the objectives work), (iii) ambiguity of priorities (what things could be done and
in what order), (iv) ambiguity of behavior (how the professional himself/herself
expects to act in various situations, what kind of behavior will lead to the desirable or
necessary results). The result of the study shows that role ambiguity faced by female
teachers in Greek was on average quite low. This happens as Greek teachers are
well prepared for their job position, know what is expected and what they should do
in order to achieve the objectives of the school.
 346

There are several studies that show the existence of a positive relationship
between role ambiguity and WFC. Chin et al., (2012) stated about the impact of job
stress characteristics on the workforce and organizational social support as a
moderator towards the WFC. This study involved 96 academic and non-academic
staffs in tertiary education in Kuching, Sarawak and found positive relationship
between role ambiguity and WFC. Specifically, Ryan, Ma, Hsiao, and Ku, (2015)
conducted a study on antecedents and consequences of WFC among university food
managers in US. The result shows that there is significant and positive relationship
between role ambiguity and WFC.

Role Conflict

The third salient characteristic of job stress is role conflict. When there is
simultaneous occurrence of two or more sets of pressure, it will create compliance
with one incompatible with the other, thus role conflict exist (Beigi et al., 2012).
Employees experience role conflict when he/she is expected to try and do something
that would create conflict with his/her personal values. Role conflict can be explained
as the outcome of uncertainty concerning what the role an individual needs to
perform in an organization. A recent definition views role conflict as an incompatibility
in expectations towards the behavior of a person in his/her role (Gilbert, Winne, &
Sels, 2011). In a nutshell, it can be concluded that when an employee faces different
expectations, role conflict exists as compliance with one expectation may make it
impossible or troublesome to effectively and successfully comply with other
expectations.
Different roles give rise to certain sets of role expectations and simultaneous
occurrence of two or more sets of role expectations may necessitate responses and
tasks that may be competing, so that compliance with one would make compliance
with other more difficult, thus the concept is called role conflict. The lack of having
job-related information concerning various aspects of job specifics in what to do in
the role of a teacher can involve and create role conflict. It is a situation where a
teacher’s identification with the role and demands received from another colleague
involves conflicting instructions due to an inherited existence of the position (Moss,
2015).
This is supported by Makaye and Ndofirepi, (2012) that conducted research
among teachers from selected schools in Zimbabwe. There are four causes of role
conflict: (i) goal incompatibility (lack of agreement concerning the direction of
evaluating task accomplishment), (ii) organizational structure (in a school it can be
seen in the relationship between head and teachers. The problem lays in the view
points of each member and their roles in schools (iii) performance expectations
(activity or performance of one person in a group that affects the subsequent
performance of other members. For example, one member’s work cannot begin until
another member provides some needed information), (iv) unavailability of resources
(at a school for instance books and furniture are mostly short in supply).
There have been some research findings, which found that there is positive
relationship between role conflict and WFC. Idris (2011) conducted a study on time
effects of role stress on psychological strain among lecturers in public universities in
Malaysia. The study found that there is a significant and positive relationship
between role conflict and WFC. Abu Bakar and Salleh (2015) also proposed a
conceptual framework that shows higher role conflict will lead to higher level of WFC.
While Beigi et al., (2012) found that role conflict was positively associated with WIF
because conflict at hospital draws resources away from the family domain thus
results in higher level of WIF among Iranian operating room personnel.
Social Support
 347

The existence of social support in the organization can help employee in

balancing the demands of work and family (Boyar et al., 2014). Employees often
experience high demands of time and energy that can create stress and conflict
within and across work and family domains. Social support can positively impact the
employee by buffering the impact of stressful and demanding work or family
environments. But the role of social support in improving work to resolve W2FC
relationship is not adequately explained in organizational support literature (Arshadi,
2011; Ismail, Mohd Nor, et al., 2013).
Supervisors are gatekeepers as they interpret and execute organizational
rules and policies (Muse & Pichler, 2011). Existence of support from supervisors may
enhance employees’ predictability, purpose, and hope when handling upsetting and
threatening situation in the workplace environment. Hsiao and Barak, (2014) carried
out a study among 168 Mexican workers in a former sweatshop owned and managed
by Korean expatriates. The hierarchical regression analysis showed that supervisor
support did not moderate the positive relationship between job stress (role ambiguity,
role conflict, and role overload) and WFC.
Colleagues support is defined as “perceiving positive professional and
personal relationships with co-workers” (Thaden, Jacobs-Priebe, & Evans, 2010).
Bogo, Paterson, Tufford, and King, (2011) have strictly stated that co-worker support
is important for employees to overcome everyday hardship they encounter in the
workplace. Support from co-worker can decrease employees’ isolation, thus make
them feel that they are not alone. Ismail et al., (2010) in their study confirms that co-
worker’s social support act as a partial moderating variable as co-worker’s social
support moderate the relationship between role ambiguity and role conflict with WIF
but not moderate the relationship between role overload and WIF.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Two theories are related with this study which is Role Theory and
Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory. These theories explain why some family
or personal resources may buffer the negative impact of job stress among employed
women and also how the role expectation of women as homemakers may influence
their experiences of work-to-family conflict. Role theory posits that individuals occupy
multiple roles simultaneously each with its own set of expectations, functions, and
associated behaviours. As they carry multiple roles in a row, it will lead to inter-role
conflict (Kahn et al., 1964) as there is limited resources (i.e.: energy and time) or
incompatibility of diverse roles (employee roles vs. family roles). While COR theory
suggests that individuals grow and develop by obtaining resources (i.e.: object,
conditions, personal characteristics, and energy) from their environment.
Unfortunately, there tends to be a limited quantity of resources available from their
environment. Teachers have multiple roles and work task cause them stress. Stress
occurs as those resources are threatened or lost, or if resources investment does not
result in the desired result. It is where COR theory is applied by the existence of
social support from supervisor and colleagues, to generates a positive effect in the
work domain and increase the quality of life in the family domain.
There are many studies that have examined work-family conflict as an
important dimension in enhancing effectiveness in organizations. This is because
work family conflict has unfavorable consequences such as lack of organizational
commitment (Malik & Awan, 2015; Zulfiqar, Najeeb, & Qamar, 2014) turnover
(Gokulakrishnan & Ramesh, 2013; Nohe & Sonntag, 2014) and decreasing job
satisfaction (Dartey-Baah, 2015; Warokka & Febrilia, 2014). However, to date, there
have been little attempts made to empirically discuss the relationship between job
stress and WFC among teachers in the context of Malaysia.
 348

Many studies have confirmed that role overload, role ambiguity, and role
conflict will lead to WFC. Studies suggest that the higher the level of job stress (role
overload, role ambiguity, and role conflict), an individual will encounter high level of
work-family conflict. A study on the impact of job stress on WFC is therefore
proposed to understand the relationship that exists between the variables. Therefore,
a conceptual framework that links job stress and WFC is therefore proposed as
shown in Figure 22.

Independent Variables (IVs) Dependent Variable (DV)

. Job Stress
Role Overload
Work-to-family conflict
(W2FC)
Role Ambiguity

Role Conflict

Social Support

Supervisor Support

Colleagues Support

Figure 2: Conceptual Framework to Show the Relationship between Job Stress and
Work Family Conflict Variable
Moderating

CONCLUSION

These three components of job stress (role overload, role ambiguity, and role
conflict) are important determinants of work-to-family conflict especially in education.
This paper proposes a conceptual framework that links job stress with W2FC. Future
research that empirically investigates this proposed framework is suggested to
validate the proposed hypothetical links between the construct. It is also suggested
that the framework can be tested in a different setting with different occupational
groups, as well as “’add on” any moderator or mediator variable.

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 354

Successful Leadership Styles in Managing Projects within the

Oil and Gas Industries in Malaysia
Nor Asmani Md Asri
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
asmaniasri@yahoo.com

Prof Madya Dr Hajah Rugayah Hj Hashim

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
gy@salam.uitm.edu.my

Dr Aliza Abu Hassim

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
aliza770@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to present the theoretical underpinnings on leadership styles
in successful project management within the scope of the oil and gas industries in
Malaysia. Leadership style is one of the main factors that contribute to the success of
project management. There is a gap in the literature on the use of soft competencies
by project managers during the different project phases. There are several studies
that looked at the technical skills that project managers need in different phases, but
there is a lack of literature on the soft skills competencies of project managers in
terms of leadership skills that need to be focused in this study. The identification of
the implementation of transformational and transactional leadership styles by project
managers throughout the project would inherently affect the success of project
performance. Transactional leadership is used when organizations give appraisals by
recognition, pay increment and career advancement for good performers and
punishment for poor performers. On the contrary, transformational leadership gives
vision and sense of mission, pride and gain, respect and trust. This study applied
quantitative and qualitative methodologies in order to obtain the most accurate
information that would benefit the oil and gas industry players to evaluate their
project managers. Strong leadership styles can result in to enhancing organizational
capabilities in managing their project team to become more effective and efficient.
This paper also argues that different leadership styles influence the success of the
projects within different context, situation and environment.

Keywords: Leadership Style, Transactional Leadership, Transformational

Leadership and Successful Project Manager

INTRODUCTION

During the recession market in Oil and Gas industry today, all global Oil &
Gas companies need to delegate in handling their projects. Moreover, all major
companies start to lay off their staffs and give more focus on maintaining the
economical projects to be done in year 2016. Based on the current situation, the Oil
 355

and Gas industry is now facing changes of environment that will transform it as
profoundly as the changes of the 1970s. Currently, oil prices have tumbled 70% from
their 2014 high of US$100/ barrels to less than US$30/ barrels in January 2016,
brought on by a supply glut and low demand. This has caused jarring repercussions
in the industry, raising concerns about oil price volatility for the near future. As a
result, operators have been slashing Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Organization
of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) managed to rebalance their portfolios
and remain profitable. Price cycles are not new to the industry and whatever the
future holds, the industry will rebalance itself to maintain relevance and power that
the global energy needs.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Leadership is a significant factor in the whole project process. The importance

of leadership is growing with the increasing quantities of global projects and meet
with the objective of the project. On the other hand, successful project managers
must combine technical skills and knowledge with the interpersonal qualities
necessary to be good leaders while handing the project. Craig Stephens, vice
president of international consulting at Epicor said, “Leadership is the attribute most
lacking in project manager” (Matthews, 2015). Typically project managers come from
a technical background and have progressed to positions of seniority based on
attention to details. As projects become larger or more complex, other skills become
more important. Then, there are projects with the specialized set of critical success
factors in which if addressed and given due attention will improve the likelihood of
successful implementation and it can give impact on the project cycle process. A key
element in the success of a company is good leadership style of a project manager
and a project can be managed with minimal problems occurring. A project manager’s
strong leadership style is necessary for the successful implementation of projects
that will receive a good outcome. Considering this fact, it is important for project
managers to maintain the leadership styles that adapt to each employee assigned to
the project. Leadership styles have been reported to be a strategic factor influencing
innovation and knowledge sharing as leaders enable organizations to integrate,
share, and use knowledge innovatively (Masa’deh, Obeida, & Tarhini, 2016).
Researchers have studied the concept of leadership over the years and more
attention is given to its various types with a narrower focus on two widely spread
types which are transformational and transactional leadership. Lack of research
regarding soft skills competencies possessed by project managers in terms of
leadership styles need to be focused on in the next research.

SUCCESSFUL PROJECT MANAGERS

A professional project manager not only focuses on project management

technical skills but also business management and has strong leadership style.
Project managers functioned as one of the leaders who lead project teams to the
completion of projects and achievement of the project performance objectives. There
is a real difference between leaders and project managers in complex working
environment but yet a complementary relationship between these two roles are
supposed to be performed by the project managers. Project managers play a key
role in project success. The role of project managers in achieving project success is
one of the project managers’ responsibilities (Munns & Bjeirmi, 1996). The main key
role of project managers is making good decisions, being more flexible, practicing
strong leadership and negotiating skills, and having solid knowledge of project
management practices. Moreover, project managers need to ensure excellent
 356

performance and take responsibilities to handle the project team to become more
efficient and effective. A part of the role of effective project managers is to function as
good communicators. Project managers must possess the flexibility to respond to
uncertain or ambiguous situations with minimum stress so that it can create a better
project scenario. To understand the project managers’ success, one must
understand the leadership theory. A project manager’s success is based on the
achievement of his or her project goals within the stipulated time and it must focus on
time, budget and resources on the completion of the project within explicit criteria,
standards and specifications. The project managers must understand the change in
priorities that may occur. Therefore, in different projects, recruiting the wrong project
managers may cause the failure of project management. Successful project
management requires the careful appointment of a skilled project manager
(Liikamaa, 2015). In order to build effective project teams, project managers must
have a good top management support, gain commitment of team members,
introduce appropriate rewards and recognition, create a team identity, manage
conflicts effectively, encourage trust and open communication among team members
and need to deliver good team leadership (Dixon, 2012). Other than that, project
managers not only facilitate work processes, but also lead in project team then
provide a climate that encourages involvement, commitment, and conflict resolution.
Successful project managers need to understand the host country’s goals and they
engage policy makers to create long-term strategies that go far beyond their
immediate supplier needs, promoting best practices that help local industries meet
global standards.

LEADERSHIP STYLES AND SUCCESSFUL PROJECT MANAGER IN OIL AND

GAS INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA

Leadership is about coping with change. Management is about coping with

complexity. Some leaders have different leadership styles. Different leadership styles
would be appropriate for different types of projects (Arami, 2016). In addition, the
competency profile might also have an impact on project success. The effective
leadership style is critical to all successful projects and organizations (Opoku,
Ahmed, & Cruickshank, 2015). There is no single leadership style that fits for every
situation. A leader may have the knowledge and skills to act effectively in one
situation, but may not emerge effective in a different situation. There are general
circumstances of effective leadership, which include the leader’s charisma and the
ability of the leader to persuade, influence and motivate others. There are several
leadership approaches that can generally be classified as either transactional or
transformational. They are more explicitly dealing with the decision of either to focus
on the tasks to be pursued or on the people who will realize these tasks. Likewise,
most of the projects succeeded due to managerial skills and leadership styles of the
project managers. Transformational leadership behaviors has long been considered
as an important factor for better performance in various general organizations rarely
reported in project management (Iqbal, 2015). Projects provide managers with
practical means of adapting actions, culture, behaviour, skills, systems and structure
to bring opportunities into reality. Enhancing a project’s effectiveness and outcomes
can create a competitive advantage for an organisation. Project managers must
adopt both management and leadership skills to ensure project success. According
to Riaz, Tahir, and Noor (2013) not only leadership is a vital factor of effective
management, its function has direct influence on a project’s success or failure in
terms of internal and external factor. Leadership is a major issue in the entire project
process, and its significance is increasing with the collective quantities of universal
projects. Persons who can work collaboratively on meeting project objectives and
 357

have a good leadership skill will ensure a good team environment for better
achievement.
The theories of transformational and transactional leadership are among the
most popular and current approaches to understanding project managers’
effectiveness. The project managers who neglect themselves while doing their job or
leadership is not applied during the job will affect their performance (Jiang, 2014).
The transactional leadership style developed by Bass and the followers are
motivated based on reward and punishment system in leadership whereby the leader
has the power to manipulate the followers in exchange of something of value. In
other words, transactional leaders negotiate with followers on what objectives are
required to be achieved by the company. They negotiate the conditions either by
providing rewards for accomplishing the objectives or threatening punishment for
poor performance for example by imposing a cut of the bonus and suspending
promotion. As transactional leaders, they need followers and good relationship with
others so if a follower does something good, his or her will be rewarded then it can
create a good motivation for them as well. If a follower does something wrong, his or
her will be punished based on their mistakes.
Effective transactional leaders use reward as one of the tools to promote the
followers' accomplishments in a timely way. Furthermore, more reward and
recognition will be given to the workers who are excellent in their jobs. Transactional
leadership can be created by leaders who understand the concept that the leader
creates a cost-benefit interaction. Transactional leadership means that the
employees will function well with their leaders and deliver their task together when
the employees believe they will benefit by such actions (Ejere & Abasilim, 2016). The
new and popular emerging leadership theory is the transformational leadership which
seems to be the ideal theory of leadership in the current situation. This is due to the
concern on values of the interaction between the leader and the employees as a
strong team. The theory makes an assumption that leaders inspire the team with
vision and give the direction by motivating and encouraging the subordinates to
achieve the organisational goals. Transformational leaders have the capability to
influence their followers’ perceptions. Through their inspiring motivations of collective
purpose and vision of the future, employees, through their individualized coaching
and creative problem solving, manifest cognitions of self-determination and
competence (Rao & Abdul, 2015). Transformational leaders are also more likely to
display an adequate balance of both types of behaviours, which become particularly
relevant as transformational leadership has the strongest effect early in the change
process (Appelbaum, Degbe, MacDonald, & Nguyen-Quang, 2015). Leaders who
use transformational leadership will show tolerance towards their workers’ needs and
prepare to encourage and coach the development of the workers in the work place
behaviour. There are several characters shown by transformational leaders. The
characters are the ability to articulate the clear vision, the capability to explain on how
to focus on the vision, act confidently and optimistically, express confidence in the
followers, emphasize values with symbolic actions, lead by example, and empower
followers to achieve the vision. The main aspects of individuals’ consideration are
encouragement, caring for individuals, coaching of individuals, consultative and
having an open approach.
Project managers who applied transactional leadership styles while handling
the project mostly practice more traditional elements such as rewards and
punishment. Nowadays, not all project managers used this style because people are
working with generation Y who are considered to be more creative and innovative in
doing and completing their task. Transactional leaders can inculcate moral standards
in an organization. This trait can be achieved through effective ethical structures
because transactional leadership styles have a positive impact on the followers’
moral personality and create a better appearance. Hyvari (2014) stated that
 358

“transactional leadership, which concerns more on the process of the project, is said
to be more suitable for relatively simple projects.”
Project managers who applied transformational leadership styles focus more
on the innovation towards their team members. By applying transformational
leadership style in project management, the followers will trust, admire, loyal and
respect their leaders. To fulfill their needs, the followers will be motivated to do more
than what was originally expected to do (Timothy, 2011). The transformational leader
motivates by making followers be more aware of the importance of task outcomes.
On top of that, the leader is able to show the followers how to transcend their own
self-interest for the benefit of the organization or the team. This will activate the
followers’ higher-order needs. The leader encourages followers to think critically and
seek new ways to approach their jobs, resulting in intellectual stimulation (Timothy,
2011). By having a strong critical success factors such as team members, process
and resources, project managers may increase their level of success.
To guide the study process, a conceptual model about the links between
transformational leadership style and transactional leadership style that affects
successful of project managers with moderating effects is used. The relationship
between the two factors is displayed in Figure 1. Transformational and transactional
leadership styles are considered as fundamental elements for the formation of
successful of project managers with critical success factors as moderating effects.

Figure 1 Conceptual Framework

Independent Variable (IV) Moderating Variable (MV) Dependent Variable (DV)

Transactional Critical Success Factors

Leadership Style (CSFs)
 Reward  Team Members
 Management by  Process
Exception  Resources
(Passive and
Active)

Transformational
Successful Project
Leadership Style Manager

 Inspirational
Motivation
 Idealized
Influence
 Intellectual
Stimulation
 Individualized
Consideration

METHODOLOGY

In order to obtain the most accurate information regarding the selected topic,
a suitable method of retrieving such information would have to be carefully selected
to ensure all the information details will come out with better results. The methods
used in this study were survey, evaluation and analysis. Furthermore, advanced
 359

quantitative and qualitative methodologies had been established and used in

practice. Therefore, an exploratory approach was applied in this study and a self-
rating leadership dimensions questionnaire (LDQ) developed by Dulewicz and Hugs
(2005) was used to collect data from project managers in oil and gas industry. The
LDQ was selected as it provided an indication of respondent’s leadership
competencies and had been deployed in a variety of organizations. The sampling
procedure was simple random sampling among project managers in Oil and Gas
industry in Malaysia and respondents with experience in managing projects. The
respondents were also given guidelines in answering the questionnaire.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

In order to become successful of project managers in Oil and Gas industry in

Malaysia, leadership styles is one of the factors that contributed towards the
successful project managers. This is not to say that leadership alone is responsible
for project success when a balanced approach to the management of projects and
the leadership of people involved in those projects are required to ensure the
effective implementation of the strategy. Based on this study, there are issues
regarding project managers in Oil and Gas industry in Malaysia. Project managers in
oil and gas focused mostly on technical skills rather than management side. Most of
them need to enhance their soft skills such as a strong leadership style in order to
manage their team members while handling any project. According to Rajeev
Peshawaria, Executive Director (ED) of Petronas Leadership Centre, “It was crucial
to adopt a leadership style that had essence and could drive the organization to
survive not only in good but at bad times as well” (Zakiah, 2016). Leadership styles is
the most important element for project managers to ensure all the projects managed
by them run smoothly with strong technical and management skills and also
leadership skills. Based on the current situation, the oil and gas price slightly went
down and affected the government revenue. Cutting of budget by the government will
affect the current project conducted by project managers because it influenced the
overall project delivery and performance. Minimizing the resources and budgeting
can create some issues towards the overall project done. If project managers are
only experts on technical skills, they will only focus on the technical side and not the
overall flow of the project. Thus with good leadership styles such as transactional or
transformational leadership and the right leadership styles in managing projects,
project managers will deliver their tasks in a proper manners. Strong leadership
styles can influence project managers to become more successful in project delivery
but with added factors such as communication, strategy, motivation, business focus,
integrity, inspiration and trust, it can boost project managers to become more
successful.
The transactional and transformational leadership theories in the organisation
are appearing to be effective in the organisation in the current business scenario.
Suitable leadership approach can shape project managers performance in a
desirable way and facilitate the smooth running of projects delivery. Leadership
styles such as transactional and transformational not only fit for project managers to
use in their projects but by having good leadership styles while conducting a project
can make followers deliver their tasks in a good manner with a strong lead by project
managers. By using transactional leadership styles, project managers need to give
rewards and punishment to the followers. If they can deliver a good project to
become successful, they can get rewards in the form of bonus, pay increments and
others while on the other hand when the followers cannot deliver a good project, they
might get punishment from their bosses and it can affect their motivations.
Transformational leadership have several elements such as intellectual stimulation,
inspirational motivations, idealized influence and individualized considerations. Each
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element has different meanings and applications. If these elements are combined,
they can boost the performance and lead their team members to work together in a
variety of opinions from followers and get innovative ideas in discussing and
delivering successful projects.
People normally respond well only to the appropriate types of leadership. The
best style would lead them to work effectively. One important job of project managers
is to handle unanticipated problems competently. They should have essential
knowledge and competencies at the adequate level in order to cope with different
circumstances along the project life. In practice, some project managers may have
insufficient skills and their personalities may not fit with the demands of the work.
They may use inappropriate leadership styles in dealing with team members while
handling the projects. A good project manager is successful if he or she took action
to resolve cost, quality, and schedule discrepancies. The project managers need to
have some sense of the work that needed to be completed and the implications of
actions that were needed. Different leadership styles may be used in different types
of project, situation and environment. These two types of leadership styles are the
focus in this study but future studies can be done in view of other leadership styles
towards successful project managers in different areas and industries.

REFERENCES

Appelbaum, S. H., Degbe, M. C., MacDonald, O., & Nguyen-Quang, T.-S. (2015).
Organizational outcomes of leadership style and resistance to change (Part
Two).

Arami, M. (2016). Project Leadership in Oil and Gas Industry: An Empirical

Investigation in Kuwait.

Dixon, T. B. (2012). The relationship of organizational commitment and

transformational leadership use in project managers.

Ejere, D. E. I., & Abasilim, U. D. (2016). Impact of Transactional and

Transformational Leadership Styles on Organisational Performance:
Empirical Evidence from Nigeria.

Hyvari, I. (2014). Project portfolio management in a company strategy

implementation, a case study.

Iqbal, S. M. J. (2015). Moderating Effect of Top Management Support on

Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Project Success.

Jiang, J. (2014). The Study of the Relationship between Leadership Style and Project
Success.

Liikamaa, K. (2015). Developing a project manager’s competencies: A collective view

of the most important competencies

Masa’deh, R. e., Obeida, B. Y., & Tarhini, A. (2016). A Jordanian empirical study of
the associations among transformational leadership, transactional leadership,
knowledge sharing, job performance, and firm performance

Matthews, D. (2015). Flexibility is key in project delivery.

 361

Munns, A. K., & Bjeirmi, B. F. (1996). The role of project management in achieving
project success.

Opoku, A., Ahmed, V., & Cruickshank, H. (2015). Leadership style of sustainability
professionals in the UK construction industry.

Rao, A. S., & Abdul, W. K. (2015). Impact of transformational leadership on team

performance: an empirical study in UAE.

Riaz, A., Tahir, M. M., & Noor, A. (2013). Leadership is Vital for Project Managers to
Achieve Project Efficacy.

Timothy, O. (2011). Effects of Leadership Style on Organizational Performance: A

Survey Of Selected Small Scale Enterprises in Ikosi-Ketucouncil
Development Area of Lagos State, Nigeria.

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weather the economic storm.
 362

The 5 Pillars of the Social Security System for

the Aged Malaysians
Radduan Yusof
University Teknologi MARA
radduan@ns.uitm.edu.my

Mohamad Fazli Sabri, PhD, Prof. Madya

Universiti Putra Malaysia
fazli@upm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Malaysian Social Security System has gone through an immense reform and slowly
moving towards the World Bank’s multi-pillars social security model under the
leadership of the Prime Minister, Najib Razak. The changes brought upon the
demographics movement in Malaysia is in accordance with the global trend. This
review paper attempted to comprehensively gathers all the programs available
pertaining to Social Security in Malaysia, with a focus given towards the protection of
the old-age individuals. It will review the World Bank 5 pillars of social security which
consist of the non-contributory Zero-Pillar, The mandatory 1st and 2nd Pillar, a
voluntary 3rd pillar, and the non-financial 4th pillar. This multi-pillar system will be used
to benchmark and make comparison against the current state of the Malaysian old-
age security system. In retrospect of the current Malaysian social security system
some policy implications are also suggested.

Keywords: Social Security, Social Protection, Social Insurance, Worldbank Multi-

pillar, Aged.

INTRODUCTION

The Malaysian social protection programs can be classified into three main
categories which are social security, social insurance and welfare based social
assistance. Social Security for the civil servants through pension and the private
sector worker with the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) scheme, while social
insurance program provide work related compensation such as the Social Security
Organization (SOCSO) schemes, Employer’s Liability Scheme and Worker’s
Compensation Scheme. While the protection for general targeted group such as
elderly, women, children and disabled are under the Ministry of Women, Family and
Community Development. The Malaysian social security protection programs are
multi-pillar although have not moves towards the full five pillars as outlined by the
World Bank.
Given the current economic situation (Frericks, 2007; Fuior & Filip, 2015;
Knodel & Chayovan, 2008;), changing demographics (Béland & Shinkawa, 2007;
2003; Mohd, Ismail, & Senadjki, 2014; Savador, 2012), ageing population (Cai &
Cheng, 2014; Holzmann, 2013;; Rashid, Ghani, & Daud, 2014; Samad & Mansor,
2013; Tengku Aizan, 2015) and lower mortality rates (Boiroliya, 2015;; Ramaswamy,
2012; Rashid et al., 2014; Yusuf, 2012) has increase the numbers of pensioners and
put pressure on retirement adequacy. The current support system will not be able to
cope with this problem and it is not viable for the government to provide full funding
on social security and pension, thus countries have opted on transferring this
responsibility to individuals. The inability of the EPF to suffice the lifestyle of retires,
 363

for example have prompted the Malaysian government to introduces two new
programs under the third pillar of social security namely the 1Malaysia Retirement
Saving (1MRS) Scheme in January 2010 and the Private Retirement Scheme or the
PRS in 2012 (Samad & Mansor, 2013) in support of the World Bank 3rd pillar system.
The multi-pillar model by the World Bank focus on diversification and
efficiency and is based on investment portfolio (Tolos, Peijie, Zhang, & Rory, 2014)
with each of the five pillar addresses its own particular risks (Holzmann & Hinz,
2005). The current Multi-Pillar framework by the World Bank is a reform from the
1995 ‘Averting the Old Age Crisis report’ which recommended three pillars of social
security. In 2005 the World Bank published a policy note which revised the 1994
report which proposes a multi pillar system consisting of five complementary
components with the introduction of the “Zero Pillar” to match the ILO’s systems
(Wang, Zhang, Shand, & Howell, 2014).

MALAYSIAN DEMOGRAPHICS TREND

The 3.9% older people aged 65 and above in Malaysia is expected to

increase by 6.8% in 2020 and 11.4% in 2040 (DOS, 2012), numerically from 1,398.5
million in 2000 to 3.5 million in 2020. The ageing society in Malaysia put pressure to
the Government to come out with a viable solution and has led to an increase interest
in issues concerning and the sustainability of the current pension system in ensuring
a decent living standard income during retirement. Common to global trend, Malaysia
included there exist differential between males and female life expectancy, and
mortality rate. According to Yusof (2012) although Malaysia is currently having the
lowest proportion of older people in the Southeast Asia region, its percentage
increase between 2000-2050 is expected to be the highest (Center, 2002, Yusof,
2012).
The Poverty line incomes (PLIs)10 for Malaysia are calculated based on three
regions and the average PLI for the country for 2009 is estimated at RM800
(US$266) per month (PLIs for Peninsula, Sabah, Sarawak, RM763, RM1048,
RM912, and means for Malaysia is RM800) (DOS, 2010). It is estimated that 228,400
(3.8%) out of 6.2 million household in Malaysia falls under the poverty rate and more
prominent in the rural areas and among Malays. Based on the calculation of 4.4
members per household, this mean roughly 1.7 million Malaysian are classified as
poor (Suman K. Sharma, 2012). Women are expected to live on average 4 years
longer than men; 72 years for men and 76 years for women, respectively (DOS,
2008a). It is indicated that 80% of elderly Malaysian women compared to 59%
elderly men are categorised as ‘poor’, and have an income below the poverty line
(Masud et al. 2006). Thus, much of the older women population in Malaysia are living
in poverty. Given this, it is important that the pension system should provide women
with an adequate income at retirement that will enable them to live a comfortable life
in old age (Sabri & Juen, 2014; Yusuf, 2012).

MULTI-PILLAR SYSTEM

Pension system have three important and overriding objectives. The first it
addresses the risk of poverty in old age, secondly to redistribute income and thirdly to
induce individuals to accrue more savings for usage in their retirement age (Daude,
2015). In advising developing and transitional economies, the World Bank tends to

1
The Eleventh Malaysia Plan has ceased to use the PLI index and has practice the United Nation
Development Programme (UNDP) Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) comprising of 11 indicators.
The reported means monthly household income less than the PLI is ¼.
 364

utilise a multi-pillar model that has a basic social safety net pillar. It begins with a
relatively small means-tested or flat benefit that is as limited as possible, and evolves
to become a feasible, mandatory direct contribution (DC), fully-funded, privately-
managed pillar. The bank then recommends that the better-off group should top up
their mandated retirement income through voluntary arrangements, generally
favouring individual-account approaches but accepting employer-provided
approaches either separately or in combination with individual-account approaches
(Habibah, 2012; Ross, 2000). However, there is no rigid formulation, and any advice
is adapted to circumstances (Habibah, 2012; Holzman, Holzmann, & Holzman,
2013). On occasion, PAYG reforms have been recommended rather than a DC
model. Moreover, there appear to be some re-evaluations of the basic position that
may lead to a more open approach (Habibah, 2012; Orszag & Stiglitz, 1999). The
World Bank Multi-pillar system is shown in Table 1.
The Zero Pillar is a non-contributory in the form of demogrant, social pension
or general social assistance typically finance by the local, regional or national
government to deal with poverty alleviation. It provides the elderly with a minimal
level of protection and ensures that people with low incomes are provided with basic
protection in old age (Holzmann, Hinz, & Dorfman, 2008).The First Pillar is a
compulsory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) government pension system that guarantees all
workers a minimum retirement benefit (Ryan, 2003). Reday Mulvey (2003) referred
this pillar as social security pensions, while James (1998) referred to this pillar as a
public tax-financed responsibility. The APEC (2004) defined it to be a public defined
benefit scheme aimed at poverty reduction through redistribution. It consists of
statutory, publicly managed, mostly defined benefit pension schemes. The second
pillar is the mandated privately managed defined contribution schemes in an
occupational context. The purpose of the second pillar social security is to smooth
consumption (APEC, 2004) and have been characterized as: the supplemental
employer-sponsored pension plan (Ryan, 2003); the occupational funded pensions
(Reday Mulvey, 2003); a privately managed fully funded arrangement (James, 1998).
This scheme is mandated by law and compulsory per each country different
arrangement.

Table 1 The World Bank Multi Pillar System

Pillar 0
A non-contributory “zero pillar” to deal explicitly with the poverty alleviation objective to
provide all the elderly with a minimal level of protection.

Pillar 1
A mandatory “first pillar” with contributions linked to varying degrees to earnings with the
objective of replacing some portion of lifetime pre-retirement income. It is typically financed
on a pay-as-you-go basis;

Pillar 2
A mandatory “second pillar” that is typically an individual savings account, such as a defined
contribution plan, with a wide set of design options including active or passive investment
management, choice parameters for selecting investments and investment managers, and
options for the withdrawal

Pillar 3
A voluntary “third pillar” taking many forms but is essentially flexible and discretionary in
nature. Third pillars compensate for rigidities in the design of other systems but include
similar risks as second pillars;

Pillar 4
A non-financial “fourth pillar” which includes access to informal support, such as family
support; other formal social programs, such as health care and/or housing; and other
 365

individual financial and non-financial assets, such as home ownership and reverse mortgages
where available

The third pillar are any type of private retirement product subscribed to by any
consumers on an individual basis as opposed to occupational, either voluntary or
mandatory. It can include individual retirement products recommended in an
occupational context, but without any direct employer participation or contribution,
and mandatory private individual retirement products for which part of the statutory
contributions are collected (European Commission, 2013). It is mostly a voluntary
pillar, also referred as workers’ private pension or workers’ private saving (Beattie,
2000; James, 1998; Reday-Mulvey, 2003; Ryan, 2003) due to the individual nature of
the retirement products and the fact that are not funded by the employer. The third
pillar consists of voluntary savings accounts. It is aimed at consumption smoothing
(“APEC economies Newsletter,” 2004). The third pillar has become increasingly
important due to increases in individual longevity and aging population (Banks &
Blundell, 2005; Blundell, Meghir, & Smith, 2002; Philip Davis, 2000). This situation
led to higher burden to the public pension fund in terms of its sustainability. The
research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that not only do those currently
retiring is facing less generous pensions than their predecessors, but also that this
pattern will continue, thus creating the need to have this pillar (Blundell, 2005).
The fourth pillar combines income from part-time work, for people wishing or
needing to extend their working life with partial pensions after the official retirement
age (Reday Mulvey, 2003). The patterns of extending working life after retirement
were also influenced by health, wealth and labour market opportunities (Klaauw &
Wolpin, 2005). James (1998) noted that all 3 pillars co-insure against the many risks
and uncertainties that are inevitable given the long-run nature of an old age program.
Here, security is provided through diversification by having a fourth pillar. Reday
Mulvey (2003) has indicated the importance of supporting this fourth pillar. He
claimed that The Geneva Association with its Four Pillars Research Programme has
the two main objectives: first, to consolidate the future of pensions by proposing a
new balance between the three pillars; and second, to design a fourth pillar. This
fourth pillar, which allows a transition between work and full retirement for both the
individual and the firm, implies a more flexible labour market, and is suitably adapted
to working conditions at career end, life education and training and the development
of qualified part-time workers.

MALAYSIAN SOCIAL SECURITY AND PENSION SYSTEM

There are several formal social security schemes in Malaysia. The

government servant is entitled for pensions upon retirement under the Civil Service
Pension Scheme. All other employees are required to contribute to an old age
retirement scheme known as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and to social
insurance program which administer the Employment Injury Scheme and Invalidity
Pension Scheme under PERKESO (SOCSO). These two schemes are also extended
to as an Employer’s Liability when part of the contributions will be paid by the
employers. Roughly about two thirds of all employed persons are covered under the
EPF, the government pension scheme, SOCSO or other savings schemes. Apart
from that, the armed forces is protected under the Armed Forces Fund (LTAT) and
for non-national workers will be provided protection under the Workmen
Compensation Scheme.
There is no universal pension system in Malaysia, but there are several
schemes with different designs targeted at a specific group of workers (Asher, 2012).
 366

There are also no comprehensive unemployment insurance or unemployment

assistance to help the unemployed in Malaysia (Mohd, 2009). Agricultural workers,
own account workers, small business operators, petty traders, independent
contractors, free lancers, owner-drivers, casual employees and so on are left
unprotected (Ong & Hamid, 2010). The Malaysian Labour Force Survey Report
stated that unemployment rate was 3.5% with 14.82 million labour force. The labour
force participation rate in Malaysia in 2015 was 67.8 % and there are 7.05 million
persons aged 16-64 outside the labour force. The Employment in non-agricultural
sector in Malaysia in 2015 is 12.3 million and 11.4 % (1.4 million) are employment in
informal sector, an increase of 79,300 persons (6%) compared to 1.32 million
persons in the 2013 statistics. The same report in indicated that 420,000 (30%) of the
unemployed are unpaid family care workers (Department of Statistic Malaysia, 29
July 2016, www.statistic.gov.my).
The number of person unprotected in Malaysia is staggering and this does
not even include those not protected in the agriculture, forestry, livestock and fishing
industry which amounted to 1.5 million persons (based on year 2000 statistics).
Women accounted to almost 70% of the person outside the labour force, which 50%
of this are housewives (Yusuf, 2012). This poses a serious repercussion when
women are likely to be economically and financially insecure at the old age compared
to men, especially when they are expected to live longer than men. The Statistic
Yearbook Malaysia 2012 published by the Department of Statistic Malaysia stated
that the life expectancy of women (77.2 year) in 2012 was higher than of men (72.3
years). Considering the minimum retirement age in Malaysia is 60, women can be
expected to live for 17 years after retirement (Sabri & Juen, 2014).
The welfare programmed are administered by the Ministry of Women, Family
and Community Development, which can be classified into means-tested social
assistance and social pension schemes. The protection under the welfare system
can be considered bare minimum. There are also informal social support systems by
non-governmental organization, while certain eligible Muslims are protected by the
Zakat organization. The preceding discussion will elaborate table 2 which shows the
Malaysian Social Security and Pension System from the perspective of the World
Bank 5 pillar system as adopted from Ramesh (2006) and Ong & Hamid (2010).
Table 2 summarize the old-age protection in Malaysia and the discussion preceding
explain each of the pillars.

Table 2 Malaysian Social Security and Pension System

Financing Features Scheme Administer Coverage Benefit

in Malaysia

Pillar 0 Poverty Alleviation through redistribution

(Elderly poverty Protection)

Government’s Basic benefits through Ministry of Finance

General social pensions or at least 1. BR1M Basic Cash Benefit
revenues social assistance, 2. I-BR1M Insurance scheme
mandatory, universal or Welfare Department
means tested, 1. Bantuan orang Basic cash benefit of
tua RM300 per-month
In kind benefit
2. Seri Kenangan In kind benefit
Home
3. Elder Daycare
centers
 367

Pillar 1 Income replacement with some redistributive component

(Elderly poverty protection and consumption smoothing)

Employers Mandatory defined

contribution and benefits Public Pension or
or, PAYG or national defined NA NA
partially funded contributions, earning
basis related

Pillar 2 Income smoothing through saving

(Consumption smoothing and elderly-poverty protection through minimum pension)

Employer and Mandatory, privately 1. Public Service Old-age, disability,

employee managed, defined Department survivor benefit
contribution, contributions, benefit (PSD) Public
voluntary equal contribution plus Pension Work injury,
contribution for returns on investment, 2. SOCSO - disability, survivor
self-employed. Tax-preferred private Employment benefit Lump sum
saving or private Injury Scheme retirement and
insurance, fully funded, and Invalidity phased withdrawal
occupational or personal Pension Scheme
schemes Employees Old-age, disability,
Provident Fund survivor benefit.
(EPF)
3. Armed Forces
Fund – Lembaga
Tabung Angkatan
Tentera (LTAT)

Pillar 3 Income smoothing through enhanced saving

(Consumption smoothing)

Voluntary Voluntary, privately - 1MRS (EPF) Income arrangement

personal managed, partially or fully - Private Retirement through private
schemes funded defined benefits or Schemes (PRS) investment
defined contributions plus (PPA)
return on investment, - Bank accounts Tax incentives
Tax-preferred private (Banks)
saving. - Annuities &
Deferred Annuities
(Insurance
companies)
- Life insurance
(Insurance
companies)
- Mutual fund
- Stocks and bonds

Pillar 4 Continuing protection where possible

(Elderly poverty protection and consumption smoothing)

Financial or Voluntary, privately and 1. Public Housing Cash and in kind

other assets informally managed, (PPRT) benefits
informal-intra family or 2. Public Health
inter-generation financial Programs Basic Health care
 368

and non-financial help. 3. EPF Mortgage

Eg. Housing, and Housing
healthcare and other Withdrawal
formal provision and
personal assets
Adapted from (Holzmann, 1999; Ong & Hamid, 2010; Ramesh, 2006)

PILLAR 0 (POVERTY ALLEVIATION THROUGH REDISTRIBUTION)

Apart from the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) managed by the Ministry of
Finance, there are some form of means tested social assistance although non-
mandatory with barely minimum benefit to assist the poor, not particularly on aged
people. However, most the recipients of these programs are old age person. These
assistances are usually in a form of welfare programme under the responsibility and
administered by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development’s
(KPWKM) Welfare Department. The welfare programmed are classified into means-
tested social assistance and social pension schemes. The Elderly is the largest
group of people receiving assistance from the public welfare programs. Wong (2006)
reported that the number of elderly who receives assistance form the government
has nearly doubled from 11,340 in 2002 to 22,000 cases in 2004. The assistance to
the elderly is to enable them to live in the community and to enjoy life with respect
and dignity, while receiving family and community acceptance.
The welfare affair falls under the residual list of the Malaysian Constitution
therefore there are also states initiatives welfare programs under the patron of the
state government. The Golden Age Care Scheme or Skim Mesra Usia Emas (SMUE)
by The State Government of Selangor for example provide RM2500 cash assistant
for registered aged person and a RM1,000 bereavement assistance for relatives.
Other states also provide different in kind and cash benefit programs under the state
welfare affairs. There are also informal social support systems by non-governmental
organization, while the Muslims are also protected by the Zakat organization.

Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) (The 1Malaysia People’s Aid)

The 1Malaysia People’s Aid or also known as BR1M is a government scheme

established in 2012. The purpose of BR1M is to offer some assistance to households
that fall into the low-income group to combat the rising cost of living. BR1M began in
2012 as a single payment of RM500 to low-income household while single individual
aged 21 and above were entitled to a payment of RM250. The 2014 and 2015 budget
increases the BR1M payment for low-income household to RM650 and RM950, while
individual received RM300 and RM350 respectively.
Beginning of 2014, the recipients of BR1M (except 21-year-old category) will
also benefit from the i-BR1M insurance policy. The RM50 premium for this Islamic
Takaful Based insurance policy will covered by the Government through the BR1M
programme and offer coverage to the household up to RM30,000 if a BR1M recipient
dies, become invalid or unable to work because of accident injury. The Allocation for
BR1M as outline in the 2015 budget are as in Table 3.
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Table 3 BR1M Allocation in Year 2015

Types Benefit
Households earning RM3,000 and RM950, split into 3 instalments
below
Households earning RM3,000 – RM750, split into 3 instalments
RM4,000
Unmarried individuals earning one payment of RM350
RM2,000 and below
Family Bereavement Scheme relatives of approved BR1M recipients
to receive RM1,000, valid for 1 year
I-BRIM RM50 insurance policy coverage up to
RM30,000

Bantuan Orang Tua (Old Age Assistance)

Monthly allowance social assistance payments are given at a rate of up to a RM220

per person for elder citizens above the age of 60 years who are destitute and do not
have any relatives to depend on and provide sustenance and have no resource to
self-sustain. The older person benefit is given to those ages 60 and above based on
the definition from the World Assembly on Ageing 1982 in Vienna.

Table 4 Data Bantuan Orang Tua According to Gender

from Jan to Sept 2014 in Malaysia

Male Female Total

Cases 50,954 68,329 131,571
RM 136,426,500 179,391,900 347,543,000
Source : www.data.gov.my

There are also Nursing and retirement houses under the patronage of the
Malaysian Welfare, Community and Women development Ministry called the Rumah
Seri Kenangan (RSK), Desa Bina Diri (DBD), and Rumah Ehsan (RE). There are 9
branches of RSK, 2 RE and 5 DBD centres around Malaysia catered for the destitute
aged 60 and above without any living relatives. The houses are to shelter, protect
and to provide a comfortable living to the targeted group. Necessities such as food
and clothing will also be provided. The Malaysian Welfare Department also provide
social outreach programs such as the Home Care, Old Age Activity Centre (PAWE)
and Respite Care Services. The number of old-age recipients of welfare aids is as
shown in Table 4.

PILLAR 1 (INCOME REPLACEMENT WITH SOME REDISTRIBUTIVE

COMPONENT)

Currently, there is no scheme supported under this pillar in Malaysia.

It is important to note that, there is no basic benefits through “public pension”
in Malaysia. Pensions under the government expenditure are solely provided to the
government sectors retirees.

PILLAR 2 (INCOME SMOOTHING THROUGH SAVING)

Roughly about two thirds of all employed persons are covered under the EPF,
the government pension scheme, SOCSO or other savings schemes. Agricultural
workers, own account workers, small business operators, petty traders, independent
contractors, free lancers, owner-drivers, casual employees and so on are left
 370

unprotected (Ong & Hamid, 2010). Under the Malaysian Government Public Service
Department, a retired pensionable officer is eligible for a fully funded monthly service
pension till the end of his life, a service gratuity and a lump sum cash award payment
in lieu of leave or a “golden hand-shake” paid on the last day of job when applicable.

Public Service Department Government Servant Pension

This Defined Benefit (DB) pension scheme is non-contributory and were

designed to reward civil servants for their loyalty and hard work. The Malaysian
government as the employers will allocates a minimum of 17.5 percent of civil
servant salary into a pension trust fund (KWAP) every month. The rate of gratuity and
pension paid depends on the period of reckonable services and the last drawn salary
with specific calculation. Under the Pension Regulations 1980 and Service Circular
no. 4 of 1993, the Cash Award In lieu of Leave or “Gantian Curi Rehat” (CGR) are
payment for unutilised leave due to exigency of service and accumulated in
accordance to the terms under the pension regulations. This service is paid by the
Federal Government through the Pension Division for federal, state government
officer, statutory bodies and local authorities which adopt the Service Circular no. 4
(1993).
The Act 227 or Act 239 will also allow pension benefit to be paid to a person
or dependent under the Disability Pension for any Government officer who is required
to retire due to health reason while performing his duty, contracting disease to which
he is exposed by the nature of his duty or sustaining injury while work or travel
accident. An additional pension benefit is given to dependants of a pensioner or
officer who dies from injury obtain during performing his official duty, contracting
disease or travel accident This benefit is known as Derivative Gratuity and Derivative
Pension. This pension system is not flexible and pension rights of an employee will
be revoked if they leave the public sector’s employment before the age of retirement,
unless they have applied for early retirement in which they starting day of pension
payment will commence at the official retirement age of 60.
A civil servant will be required to contribute to EPF before achieving
confirmed status. The Government will pay the employer’s portion to the EPF and
upon confirmation, the employer’s contribution to the EPF will be returned, while the
employee’s portion will remained in EPF (Habibah, 2012). A civil servant is entitled to
a 50 % replacement rate for services more than 25 years. The formula of 1/600 x
length of service x final monthly salary received will be used for any services less
than 25 years. The minimum pension benefit received is one fifth of the final salary
for services less than 10 years. Starting from January 2009, employees with more
than 30 years of services are entitle to 60 percent of the last drawn salary (Ong &
Hamid, 2010). A different calculation on minimum pension benefit will apply if an
employee retires because of health reason, appointment in society or organization, or
death. Apart from financial remunerative, pensioners will also be entitled for free
health treatment in government clinics and hospitals. In 2014, and equivalent of 18.2
billion (8%) of government total revenues (RM220.6b) are used to pay pension and
gratuity to the government sector employees as show in the table 5 below.

Table 5 Expenses for Pension Benefit 2014

Type of Service RM
Gratuity 4,192,241,640.90
Pension
- Existing Retirees 10,990,424,730.25
- New retirees 686,587,910.13
Cash payment in lieu of 468,736,853.84
Leave
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Source: Malaysian Public Service Department 2014

Annual Report (Perkhidmatan Awam Malaysia, 2014)

In 2014, the Malaysian PSD made pension payment to 26,431 retirees and
2,098 dependent amounting of RM16.3 billion with management budget of RM366.6
million. Gratuity payment made were RM4.1 billion and cash award in lieu of leave
amounting to RM468 million as shown in table 5 above while Table 6 below show the
total number of pension receiver.

Table 6 Malaysia Pension Receiver and Dependent (Cumulative)

Retirement Number of Pension Total

Year Retiree Receiver Receiver
2010 372,849 149,436 522,089
2011 396,528 152,142 548,670
2012 411,729 153,954 565,683
2013 418,940 162,080 581,020
2014 445,371 164,178 609,549

Source: Malaysian Public Service Department 2014

Annual Report (Perkhidmatan Awam Malaysia, 2014)

Retirees are expected to live for another 20 years after retirement and
increasing life expectancy has been a reason for the current retirement age to be set
higher (Leoi, 2008, in Yusof 2012). To cope with social needs and to follow global
trends, the retirement age in Malaysia was raised under the Minimum Retirement
Age Act 2012 from 55 to 56 years in 2001. The compulsory age was then again
increased from 56 to 58 in 2008 before finally set from 58 to 60-year-old in January
2012 (Public Service Department, 2013). Over the course of 12 years the minimum
retirement age for the public servant had been increase from 55 to 60. However, this
rise of the retirement age was accompanied with certain benefits. The minimum
pension per month of RM750 were given to public employees with a minimum of 25
years of services. The survivor pensions were also increased from 70 to 100 per
cent. Apart of that, public employees who had opted for EPF where give an option to
switch to the Civil Pension Scheme with effect from February 2009 (Tolos et al.,
2014).

Employee Provident Fund

The EPF was designed for formal worker in the private sector, the
government worker in statutory bodies and local institution and for government
employees who opted for the EPF scheme. This Define Contribution plan was
introduced by the British under the Providence Fund Ordinance, 1951 where both
employer and employees must contribute in this fully funded scheme. EPF serves as
a provider of income security for a significant number of old-age populations, and as
a source of state-led long-term investment initiatives. The EPF does not provide
benefits for survivors since it is a saving like provident fund.
The EPF was initially created to meet the financial requirements of its
member. However, in 1968, partial withdrawal scheme was introduced to allow
member to withdraw from their Account 1. The members provident fund saving is
divided into 2 separate accounts. Seventy per cent of member’s contribution are
credited to Account 1 which are solely for retirement which can only be withdraw at
the age of 55 either lump-sum or periodic payment, inclusive of the dividend from the
investment. Another 30 % are credited in Account 11 and may be used for pre-
retirement purposes such acquisition of house, health and education. Members are
also allowed to withdraw their saving in account II upon reaching the age of 50 for
 372

pre-retirement expenses. A certain amount in Account 1 can be invested through

approved external fund managers. A more flexible “Basic Saving” structures was
introduced in 2008 to allow investment of excess of a certain amount at a specific
age to enable members to accumulate at least in minimum amount of RM120,000 by
the age of 55 years (Yusuf, 2012).
The rate of contribution factors in economics indicators and are set differently
based on the economics conditions. Some sectors of economy such as banking and
GLC companies also have different employers’ contribution rate. From the duration of
2005 to 2009 the contribution rates had been change five times. Table 7 below
shows the changes in the contribution rates as deemed necessary by the board of
EPF.

Table 7 EPF Contribution Rates 1952-2009

Contribution rate (%)

Years Employees Employers Total
1952-1975 5 5 10
1975-1980 6 7 13
1980-1992 9 11 20
1993-1995 10 12 22
1996 -2001 11 12 23
2001-2002 9 12 21
2002-2003 11 12 23
2003-2004 9 12 21
2004-2009 11 12 23
2009 - Present 8 12 20
Source : KWSP website (www.kwsp.gov.my)

The table above shows the contribution rates for members who started their
working life before the age of 55. Upon reaching the age of 55, members can still
contribute but at a lower contribution rate set at 5.5% for employee and 6% for
employers. In terms of number of registered members and receiver of old age benefit
in Malaysia, EPF should be the largest. However, according to the Malaysia EPF
2015 Annual Report, there are currently 6.8 million active EPF contributors out of
14.5 million members, which mean more than half of the members are not saving
regularly for their retirement

Armed Forces Fund (LTAT)

The armed forces will be protected under the Armed Forces Fun or the
Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) under the Act 101 (1973) retirement
benefits and other benefits to member of the other ranks and a saving scheme for
officers of the Armed Forces Malaysia and members of the volunteer forces. Under
the superannuation scheme, serving members of the other ranks in the armed forces
are required to contribute 10% of their monthly salary to LTAT with the government
as employer contributing 15%. For officers, the participation is voluntary with a
minimum contribution of RM25 up to a maximum of RM2,000 monthly. The Benefit
includes a Lump Sum Withdrawal of only his portion inclusive of cumulative yearly
dividend and bonuses when the officer passed away, retires or were discharge of the
service or have attain the age of 50. The government portion is remitted to
Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) for payment as monthly pension. While a
voluntary contributor may withdraw his saving at any time and can be a contributor
for the second time after his first withdrawal. All Contributors are automatically
covered under the LTAT Death and Disablement Benefits Scheme which are
designed to provide the contributors with sum of money upon discharge from the
service due to infirmity of mind and body, or to the next-of-kin upon death while in
 373

service. Apart from that contributors can withdraw a maximum of 40% of his
contribution or 10% of the cost to purchase a first residential house or land for
building a house (www.ltat.org.my).

Social Security Organization (SOCSO)

SOCSO which the abbreviation of Social Security Organization or PERKESO

is a social risk pooling schemes related to sickness and disabilities. The SOCSO
scheme is only offered to private sector employees only. It was set up in 1971 under
the Employee’s Social Security Act 1969. The benefit under the program operated by
SOCSO do not strictly fall under old-age financial protection, but some of its related
program have some link to old age protection and retirement (Holzmann, 2015).
SOCSO is an insurance schemes that provides protection on contingencies such as
disability and death. It becomes and old age protection when death and disabilities
occurs while the person is still working. This protection is extended to the dependent
survivors after his death. For non-national workers, protection will be provided under
the Workmen Compensation Scheme. There are two schemes available which are
the Employer’s Liability Scheme and the Workers’ Compensation Scheme.
There are two basic schemes in SOCSO which are the Employment Injury
Schemes (EIS) and the Invalidity Pension Scheme (IPS). SOCSO only covers
workers earning less than RM2000 a month, but will continue providing coverage
even if the earnings rise above the qualifying threshold. However, which in this case
the benefit will have a maximum limit. The contribution of SOCSO are both from the
employers and employees. The Employees contribution rate is as in Table 8.

Table 8 SOCSO Contribution Rates

Contribution Employers Employees

First Category
(EIS & IPS) 1.75 % 0.5 %
All employees who have not attained 60 years,
except those who have attained 55 years of age
and have made no prior contributions before they
reach 55 years.
Second Category (EIS)
60years old and above and still working / Above
55 years old when he first register and contribute 1.25 % -
to SOCSO / Insured Person receiving Invalidity
Pension and still working and receiving less than
1/3 of the average monthly wages before the
invalidity.

What was previously exclusive for the formal sector employees are now
moving into a more universal system. In the 2017 Budget Speech, the prime minister
of Malaysia has announced a RM60 million launching grant to support the SOCSO
scheme to individual taxi drivers with a monthly income up to RM3000. Under this
schemes, taxi drivers are required to contribute between RM157 and Rm443 per
annum, which is around RM13.08 per month. Taxi drivers are will soon be eligible to
claim from disability and dependent benefit from SOCSO in case working injury (YAB
Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun H. Abdul Razak, 2016).
 374

PILLAR 3 (INCOME SMOOTHING THROUGH ENHANCED SAVING)

While there are no official and legal definitions of the third-pillar retirement
products, various taxonomies are used to categorise pension pillars. Aguila (2011)
motioned that many Latin American, Eastern European and Asian countries have
now moved from a traditional pay-as-you-go (PAYG) system to a fully funded system
with personal retirement accounts (PRAs). The PRA system is a hybrid between the
traditional PAYG schemes and individual retirement accounts. The PRA plan also
includes a government-guaranteed minimum pension (Aguila, 2011). This PRA is
different compare with the Malaysian private retirement schemes since it does not
include a government-guaranteed minimum pension. The PRS is a basically a
retirement saving plan under the third pillar voluntary savings account.

1Malaysia Retirement Savings Schemes (1MRS)

The 1Malaysia Retirement Savings Scheme were introduces in 2010 to cater

for self-employed and the informal sector employees or those without a fixed monthly
income. The 1MRS is government initiative to ensure that self-employed and
individuals without fixed monthly saving have their own savings plan for retirement. It
is also to encourage those without a fixed income to make contribution to their
retirement savings per their affordability. Managed by the EPF this scheme is a
flexible based on affordability of the contributors up to a minimum of RM50 up to a
maximum of RM5000 every month. The Malaysian government will match the
contributions of 5 per cent to the total contribution subject to a maximum amount of
RM60 per year until 2014. Contributors will receive dividend based on their saving in
accordance to EPF management just like EPF account for the formal sectors’
employees. It is expected that the subsidies will increase voluntary retirement
savings, although the quantitative impact were not provided (Asher, 2012).
The contribution will be channelled into two accounts. Seventy per cent of the total
contribution will be deposited in Account 1 for retirement and can only be withdrawn
when a member reaches 55 years which will have a full compounding interest during
working years. Members can use part of their saving in Account 1 to invest in
approved investment. On the other hand, 30 per cent of the contribution will be saved
in account II and can be used for housing, tertiary investments, educations, health
needs and for withdrawal at the age of 50.

Private Retirement Scheme (PRS)

In July 2010, the private retirement scheme (PRS) was introduced to

complement the EPF savings among the low income group (Samad & Mansor,
2013). This schemes is not managed by the EPF unlike the 1MRS. The PRS is a
supplementary form of retirement savings in addition to the EPF and is voluntary in
nature. Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) is a voluntary long-term investment
scheme designed to help individuals whom are 18 and above to accumulate savings
for retirement. PRS seek to enhance choices available for all Malaysians, whether
employed or self-employed, to voluntarily supplement their retirement savings. The
PRS has a statutory withdrawal age. Members are not permitted by law to withdraw
from EPF to contribute to the PRS.
Under the Malaysian statutory arrangement, The Security Commission under
The Capital Markets and Service Act 2007 (CMSA) and the Private Pension
Administrator Act was mandated to regulate and supervise the PRS industry.
Twenty-four funds are being offered by eight Private Retirement Scheme providers
comprising local and international financial institutions in Malaysia with service
charges ranging from 0 to 3%. Since the PRS is administered by the Private Pension
Administrator (PPA), the PRS contributor can switch or transfer freely from one PRS
 375

provider to another. Contributors are free to choose any fund and can contribute to
more than one fund based on affordability. The investment plan is issued by the
asset management companies and the contribution is similar to unit trust investment.
The account under PRS are divided into two sub account. In sub-account A,
70% of the saving must not be withdraw for pre-retirement or before the age of 55.
Whereas the sub-account B (30%) can be withdrawn once a year subjected to an of
8% tax penalty on the withdrawal sum if the withdrawal is made before the age of 55
unless for partial or full withdrawal for the following reason such as death, total and
permanent disablement, suffering from serious disease or permanent departure from
Malaysia.
As an incentive to encourage participation in the PRS scheme, there is an
income tax relief of up to RM3,000.00 for the first 10 years for the contributors and
tax deduction for employers on contribution of up to 19 per cent of employer’s
remuneration for a period of 10 years. A RM500 incentives targeted to youth to open
account effectives from 2014 to 2018. Being a voluntary scheme, there are not fixed
amounts or fixed intervals for making contribution.

Insurance and Deferred Annuity

Life Insurance Policy and Deferred Annuity are also among the system
supporting old age in Malaysia. Unlike the PRS, the insurance industry is under the
monitoring of Bank Negara. This insurance and annuity are provided by private
insurance companies. Although, the PRS are privately managed it is based on the
principle of EPF. It should not to be confused with the deferred annuity scheme,
where both systems have significant differences in terms of benefit, contribution,
withdrawal, investment returns and governance although the benefit are almost the
same. Both PRS and the deferred annuities or the combination of both schemes
entitles the contributors up to RM3,000 tax relief per year.
The deferred annuity schemes in Malaysia is a flexible voluntary scheme but
there are minimum years of contribution set by the provider. Partial withdrawals are
not allowed, but the contributor can request for a premium reduction. Once an
investor stop contributing, the amount received by the contributor might be deducted
with the plan acquired surrender values. The insurance provider can also grant
automatic premium loan to sustain the policy with 5%-7% interest charge to the
insurance plan loan issued by the insurance companies. The contribution will be
invested and a stream of income after a certain age will be guaranteed by the
provider for using their services depending on the amount and the length of
contribution. The contributor can surrender the plan anytime, but will have a tax
penalty of 8% calculated based on the total premiums and will be paid to the Inland
Revenue Board (IRB).
The ownership of insurance and Islamic Life Insurance (Takaful) coverage in
Malaysia is still considered low compared to more develop economies such as
Singapore, South Korea and Japan (Manap et. Al, 2004). Malaysians spent only RM
442 on life insurance annually. This figure is far lower than that by Singapore (RM
2,700), Taiwanese (RM 2,900) and Americans (RM 6,100). This shows that
Malaysians are far behind in income security. Yakob and Isa (2000) explained the
demand for life insurance in Malaysia by focusing more on the macroeconomic
factors rather than individual characteristics.

Individual Private Savings

Individual savings are also a source in Retirement income, beside commercial

retirement scheme, life insurance and annuities. A well-being of a family during
retirement phase depend on adequate saving (Engen et al., 2005; Wakabayashi,
2005; Banks et al., 2002; Hauser, 1999; Yuh, 1998). Malaysian saving rate was
 376

considered low compared to other countries after the economic crisis (Thanoon and
Baharumshah, 2005; Zin, 2003). The changes on the Malaysian social security
system after the Asian economic crises which increase the expected benefit of
pension coverage have an undesirable effect on private saving in Malaysia.
According to J. Ang & K. Sen (2011) a well develop social security system
discourage saving compatible with the extended life cycle mode (Ang & Sen, 2011).
Another reason for saving discrepancies in Malaysia could also existed
because of income-inequality problem in Malaysia as suggested by Bin (2003). This
is in contrast with Tang (2008) which reported that savings rate in Malaysia was the
second highest among the Newly Industrial Economies. Malaysia saving rate had
always sustain a high level with an average of 35.3 percent of GDP annually for the
past three decades (Tang, 2008). The financial crisis in 1997 which leads to serious
depreciation of the Ringgit Malaysia have triggered a massive outflow of foreign
capital in late 1998. As a result, savings rates in Malaysia declined tremendously.
Malaysia is classified as a medium income country with PPP per capita GDP of USD
14,081 in 2008 (IMF, 2009). Bank Negara Malaysia (The National Bank of Malaysia)
announced a GDP growth of 7.25 percent for year 2010 (Central Bank of Malaysia,
2011).

PILLAR 4 (CONTINUING PROTECTION WHERE POSSIBLE)

Housing programmes have improved affordability for both low and middle income
households, and guidelines were developed to create a more conducive living
environments. This effort is being continued in the Eleventh Malaysia Plan, 2016-
2020 with a focus on the wellbeing remains a priority. Improvement in healthcare will
focus on addressing efficiency and effectiveness, and intensifying collaboration with
the private sectors and NGOs. At the same time housing support, will be maintained
for the poor, low and middle income households, including youth and young married
couples.

Health Policy

In the Malaysian Tenth Malaysia Plan, 2011-2015 the Malaysian government

has invested a significant resource to enhance the wellbeing of its citizen.
Improvement in healthcare sector has led to an increase in life expectancy, a
decrease in infant and maternal mortality rates and improvements in access to
healthcare services. The tenth Malaysia Plan reported some achievement such as
the estimated life expectancy in 2014 has increase to 74.8 years as compared to
74.1 years in 2010 as shown in Table 9. The estimated infant mortality rate is 6.5
death per 1,000 live births in 2014, a decrease from 6.7 deaths in 2010. An increase
in the number of hospital bed were also reported from 55,180 in 2010 to 58,530 in
2014. This however posed a different problem when the increasing proportion of the
aged increase the problem of population ageing. These categories of people aged 60
and above recorded 6.3% or 1.4 million of total Malaysian population in 2000 and is
projected to increase to 22% in 2050 (Abbas & Saruwono, 2012).

Table 9 Life Expectancy and Mortality Rates in Malaysia

Indicator 2010 2014

Life expectancy at birth (in years) Infant 74.1 74.8
Infant mortality rate (for every 1,000 live 6.7 6.5
births)
Maternal mortality ratio (for every 100,000 26.1 25.5
live births)
 377

The Eleventh Malaysia Plan 2016-2020 strive to achieve a universal access

to quality healthcare by enhancing targeted support particularly for underserved
communities, improving system delivery for better health outcomes, expanding
capacity to increase accessibility, and intensifying collaboration with private sector
and NGOs to increase health awareness. The success of the health-related
development however, poses other challenges to the society. People are living
longer due to better health care and improved living conditions. It is also a challenge
because societies have never experienced this large number of older persons with
their unprecedented longevity (Tengku Aizan, 2015). This global phenomenon of
ageing population requires the older people are provided with adequate care and
facilities so that they can maintain a better quality of life which could encourage a
healthy ageing.
Poor Malaysian citizen and those registered as disabled with the Department
of Welfare under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development are
entitled to received free health benefits. Likewise, the general public in Malaysia is
provided with almost free low fee medical treatment while the foreigners are required
to pay a higher rate for services through government hospital and rural clinic (Suman
K. Sharma, 2012). The services include both out and inpatient treatment and free
immunization for children in hospitals, health clinics and schools. There is also
medical assistance fund for specialist services and medical treatment not available in
the government hospital. This fund is to provide full or partial payment for medical
costs, facilities and medication which are needed but cannot be provided by the
government hospital (Suman K. Sharma, 2012). Most hospital and designated clinics
also provide dental treatment.
In the 2017 budget speech, as part of government initiative to reduce
overcrowding in public hospital, the government will cooperate with the private sector
or NGO’s to operate non-profit charitable hospital based on Government Hospital
rate and to allocate RM4.5 billion for the operations of 340 1Malaysia Clinics, 11
1Malaysia Mobile Clinics, 959 health clinics and more than 1,800 existing rural clinics
(YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun H. Abdul Razak, 2016). The private hospital is to
supplement the government hospital system. The rate charged by the private hospital
are not controlled but mutually agreed through consultation by the parties involved.
Private insurance companies provide schemes to cover medical expenses for those
who can afford the coverage at different rate suitable for their needs.

Housing Policy

As discuss earlier in the 2nd Pillar, the EPF Account 11 (30%) can also be a
support in Pillar 4 in term of housing and health. The EPF Account 2 can be
withdrawn by the member for the purposed of acquisition of housing. Pre-retirement
withdrawals are allowed for purchasing of land and building or building a house,
payment of housing loans and for housing renovations. Pre-retirement withdrawal of
Account 11 can also be permitted for the purposed of health-related needs to meet
the cost of certain defined critical medical conditions.
In the 2017 Malaysian Budget speech, the prime minister has announced to
increase the public servant’s housing loans eligibility from between RM120,000 and
RM600,000 to between RM200,000 to RM750,000 and to complete 30,000 units of
1Malaysia Civil servant housing (PPA1M) with 20% selling price below the market
price. The same budget speech also announces the implementation of a new
National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) initiative, namely MyBeautiful New Home for
the B40 with 5000 units will be built at the price ranging from RM40,000 to RM50,000
per unit. The government will finance RM20,000 while the remaining will be paid as
instalment by the owner. Through the NBOS the, government’s will provide vacant
lands at strategic locations to GLCs and Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) to
build 30,000 houses to enhance first home buyer'’ affordability. The government will
 378

also subsidising up to RM20,000 for building 5000 units of Perumahan Mesra Rakyat
(PMR) or the People’s Friendly Home To aid streamline the process of house
ownership a special “step-up” end-financing schemes will be introduced to ensure an
easier and more accessible financing for buyers with loan rejection rate to be
reduced. In addition, the stamp duty exemption be increased to 100% on instruments
of transfer and housing loan instruments, to help reduce the cost of first home
ownership, compared to 50% at present (2017 Budget Speech, Malaysia).
To ensure all affordable houses were adequately maintained, the
Government embarked on the Program Penyenggaraan Perumahan for public low-
cost housing and Tabung Perumahan 1Malaysia for private low- and medium-cost
housing. In addition, the MyBeautiful Malaysia programme under the National Blue
Ocean Strategy was implemented in 2014 to enhance the maintenance of
Government quarters. Several guidelines such as the Green Neighbourhood
Planning Guideline, Open Space and Recreation Guideline, and Physical Planning
Guideline for Senior Citizens were formulated to ensure a more conducive and
liveable environment. The Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1996
(Act 118) was amended to provide an avenue to charge errant developers, ensuring
better protection for home buyers. In addition, new financing schemes were
introduced such as the My First Home Scheme, Youth Housing Scheme, and Private
Affordable Ownership Housing Scheme (MyHome) to provide financing facilities for
the rakyat to own houses at affordable prices.
At the same time providing adequate and quality affordable housing to poor,
low and middle income household by increasing access to affordable housing for
targeted group, strengthening planning and implementation for better management of
public housing and encouraging environmental-friendly facilities to enhanced
liveability. In term housing and dwelling, 102,200 affordable houses have been
completed for poor, low and middle income household to ensure access to quality
and affordable housing for all. The government provided financial assistance to home
buyers and enhanced regulatory framework to facilitate homeownership. The housing
program were implemented through various housing Program such as Bantuan
Rumah (PBR), Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR), Rumah Mesra Rakya 1Malaysia
(RMR1M), Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA), 1Malaysia Civil Servant Housing
(PPA1M), Rumah Wilayah Persekutuan (RUMAWIP) including the housing for the
Federal Land Developmenent Authority (FELDA) second-generation and FELCRA
Berhad settlers. Table 10 shows the total unit of public affordable housing program in
Malaysia.

Table 10 Public Affordable Housing Programs develop during the Tenth Plan

Programs Number of
Housing Units
(total
Program Bantuan Rumah (PBR) 64,966
Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) 39,112
Rumah Mesra Rakyat 1Malaysia (RMR1M) 35,751
Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) 18,960
1Malaysia Civil Servants Housing (PPA1M 13,539
Rumah Wilayah Persekutuan 9,309
th
Source : Malaysia 10 Plan

Not considering the nursing home provided under a welfare system by the Ministry of
Welfare, Women and Community, there is no special housing program for the aged,
housing policy in Malaysia ensures that housing ownership are provided to every
sector of the community and has been part of the government social policy.
 379

Family Support

It is reveal that 67% of retirees’ main source of income come from their
children (Hariati, 2007). As an Asian society, family support was the accepted
traditional social protection mechanism and play a central part in Malaysia today.
Jones (1993) defines family support in Asia as an ‘Oriental Culture’ or ‘Confucian
Welfare State’, where societies are portrayed as consisting of coherent families with
strong mutual support between family members, and a harmonious society built on
cooperation between different ethnic groups, race, gender, and class. The concept of
balas-jasa (Yaacob 2000:72), which means “repaying parents” for what they have
done, has been the continuing central motor of intergenerational transfers as a
source of old age income (Caraher 2003). The government has always putting a lot
of effort to strengthen the ties of family to enhance traditional family support as the
number one welfare protection to the community (Tan, 2007).
Culturally, it is often regarded as the responsibility of the family to look after
the elderly and aged people in Malaysia due to religious teaching. Majority of adults
in Malaysia believed that they should support their elderly parents and should not
send them to a nursing homes (Dahlan, Nicol, & Maciver, 2010). However, this social
characteristic is slowly changing because of urbanisation and modernisation of the
population. Due to urban development and changing demographics the filial care
which has long been the tradition in the Asian culture are deteriorating. Large number
chronically poor older person in the Peninsula and as reported in Kelantan are left to
fend for themselves (Wong, 2006). Thus, setting-up private savings for retirement
purposes will be important for Malaysia soon.

Retirees Second Careers

Retirees are a great source of human capital to the nation (Yahya et al.,
2008). People who are reaching 60-year-old are still healthy, active, efficient and
dynamic in performing their task (Lum, 1992). The 11th Malaysia Plan put focus on
Lifelong learning (LLL) to continuously reskill and upskill to meet the changing
demands of labour market. This program involves Malaysian 15 years and above,
who have dropped out of formal education, and those who are currently employed,
unemployed or retired. The strategy is to improved regulatory and funding support to
broaden access for new sectors and target groups including individual inside and
outside the labour market (EPU, 2015). The plan support lifelong learning to develop
retirees and individual in the post-retirement for second careers and
entrepreneurship. Given the vast opportunities in second careers and
entrepreneurship after retirement in Malaysia, there should be support service that
helps retirees to be economically active. There information regarding this issues
available in Malaysia is also limited and can be a source for new research in the
future.

MALAYSIAN OLD-AGE RETROSPEC

Looking at current situation, old-age issues is a challenge for the Malaysian

government which need emphasise and to be addressed well. Based on World Bank
Multi-pillar system, it is important that the issues on adequacy, coverage along with
the management, administration and governance of each of the pillar to be handled
in a more unifying concept so that the basic social protection objectives can be set
out, at the same time bonds the different program together. Not only it will help policy
makers to be more precise, it can also ensure full protection to everyone without
overlapping function or if it requires and overlying function, the administration of
social security can be streamlined with healthier management of resources.
 380

The management of old-age financial security in Malaysia is too fragmented

when the provision under the zero pillar is split between the Ministry of Women,
Family and Community Development’s (KPWKM) Welfare Department and the
Ministry of Finance, while the provision under pillar 1 are split between the Public
Service Department and the Ministry of Human Resource which are responsible of
SOCSO. Under Pillar 2, the segregation exists between the Ministry of Armed Forces
which handle LTAT Fund while the Ministry of Finance handle the EPF. The PRS is
regulated by the Security Commission, while the other private pension schemes fall
under the jurisdiction of the Bank Negara (Holzmann, 2015).
The move to include taxi drivers in the SOCSO schemes suggest that every
sector can be protected without differentiating it into formal and informal. Holzmann
(2014) suggested the EPF needs to move from being an investment fund for
retirement for a selective group of the population, rather it should be a centre of a full-
fledged, comprehensive income and consumption smoothing pension fund to the
entire nation. Apart of that EPF should ensure the pre-withdrawal of the provident
fund will not jeopardise the adequacy of at least 50% replacement rate of the last
drawn salary for retirement purpose (Lee, 2001).
Based on the current global trend, the third pillar private retirement schemes
should be treated with utmost importance. It is reported that the lack of interest in
annuities in Malaysia is because of the low-level accumulation at the age of 55 and
individual’s incomplete information about the value and functioning of annuities,
including deferred annuities. The Malaysian strong family cultures that prefer a
family-intern annuity process by exchanging cash inter vivo for a promise of future
income support also add to the problem of insufficiency of retirement savings
(Holzmann, 2015). To address this, awareness should be instilled and the provider of
annuities should provide a better and guaranteed return to ensure schemes take up.
Malaysia is in stage three where it still has another 10 years to go before
turning into an aged nation when 7% of her total population is 65 years and over
(Yin-Fah, Paim, Masud, & Hamid, 2010). However, given its stage in population
aging and the current reliance on family and community structure, the topic does not
seem to be of urgency for Malaysia (Holzmann, 2015). Apart from the retirement
adequacy problem, access to health care benefits is a critical concern for the elderly
as the frequency as well as costs per use typically increases with age. At the same
time, its reported that the service provisions through retirement homes and elder
daycare centers are limited and patchy (Samad and Mansor 2013) among other
problems related to old-aged person in Malaysia. If some solution is envisaged for
the future, the policy decision making and implementation need to start now
(Holzmann, 2015).

CONCLUSION

In this paper, we have look at the current social security and protection system in
Malaysia based on the World Bank Multi-pillar system with a focus given towards the
old-age protection. Although non-universal, we have seen that moves have been
made in Malaysia towards a more unified and all-encompassing 5 pillar social
security systems. By looking at social security pension in a more systematic
perspective, will enable policy makers to view the problem in a holistic way and will
be able to differentiate and assigned the right agencies to tackle the problem of
social security, especially for the aged. It offers many important insights and can
highlight rooms for improvements, which can only be done towards the Malaysian
Social Security if we understand the current states of the system.
 381

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 385

Student Activism in Malaysia

Nur Afzan Bt Ab Khalid
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia
afzankhalid@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Political involvement in the form of student activism has been part of the history of
Malaysia. Generally student activism is action taken by students to cause political,
social or economic change. In age of 60s and 70s is regarded as the evolution year
for the student activism in Malaysia. Though the existence of the University and
University Colleges Act 1974 had control and weaken student bodies. After UCCA
was implemented it altered the student activism from being radical to being
restrained. However Malaysia’s student activism scene was dramatically changed
due to the amendment of Section 15 of the Universities and University College Act,
1974 (UCCA) in 2012.Possibly the most important issues among these changes has
been the radical shift in student participation in the policy –making process.
Paradoxically, despite the many issues occurred the fact that there are less focused
studies on student activism in Malaysia. Hence, this paper put forward further
research on the student activism and their causes and consequences to national
politics.

Keywords: Student Activism, Political Involvement, UCCA, Policy Making Process,

National Politics

INTRODUCTION

In general student activism can be considered as action taken by students to

influence change in terms of political, social and economic. According to (Weiss,
2011) student activism refer to usually undergraduates collective mobilization,
economic, societal, and campus power holders, and it significant concept and it
encompasses more than just attention-grabbing rebellion.
Student activism typically is about student expression of new ideas, about shaping
public debate on certain topic through publications, public speaking, campaigning,
and the use of media and demonstrations. Student activism has played a crucial role
in many major social and political transformations. Beside that student activism
around the part of world has been part of various movements to promote democracy
and human rights11. Examples where youth and students had played a significant
role in effecting social transformation, Nikolai Bukhavin of the Russian Bolshevik
Party and Fidel Castro of Cuba where student and youth leader at the time when
they got involved in the great social upheavals that changed the course of their
particular countries.
History of student activism around the world started at the University
California at Berkeley in 1964 where the student defended their rights to participate in
politics and in particular, to protest against the Vietnam War and few years later The
Berkeley Model was copied at Berlin University and it birth of student
revolutionaries.12 Other historical event such as The Korean War in 1950, The
French Revolution of 1968 , Japan Student Movement and The Philippine Student

11
(www.freemalaysiatoday/category/opinion/2012/10/04/power_of_student_activism/)
12
(www.freemalaysiatoday/category/opinion/2012/10/04/power_of_student_activism/)
 386

Movement All these are the rise of international student activism. Student activism
has had a long standing relation with nationalism and students were an important
force in the revolution movement. Student activism is generally oppositional in
nature, but it was not always on the left. In short, student activism were often radical
in orientation but not universally so. (Altbach, 1984)
Previously, Malaysian students are asked to be mute and uncritical (cited in
Weiss). However when government amends section 15 of the University and
University College Act and academics has noted a change in the governments’
attitude. (Sharma, 2011) There are signs of increasing student activism among
students. This recent increase in student activism is certainly welcome and has led to
speculation about the causes and student movement seen against government
policy. Therefore is an urged need to study or analyze student activism for Malaysia
future political landscape.

HISTORY OF STUDENT ACTIVISM IN MALAYSIA

The student activism in Malaysia has started early pre-independence where

university student were actively involved in the struggle for independence and
opposed British colonialism. Thus, in 1949 University Malaya (UM) students formed
the first club-Socialist Club where UM students and journalist joined the anti –colonial
movement. In 1967 is observed as the evolution year for the student activism. As
students began to raise vital issues relating to the society. Issues as the historic
Telok Gong landless squatter struggle by poor landless to obtain land, both the
University of Malays Students Union (UMSU) and the University of Malaya Malay
Language Society (PBMUM) were directly involved. Other crucial issue rose in 1969,
The University Malaya Student Union (UMSU) held public rallies before election and
issues such as democracy, justice, freedom, better economic policy and national
educational policy were demanded in their manifesto. UMSU was led by Anwar
Ibrahim played important role to make Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman step
down and UMSU president detained. Historical event of student activism in Malaysia
in year 1971 where a massive demonstration of 200 students was held outside
campus to protest against the implementation of the University Act. Student
protested within campus in between 1971-1973.Due to the invasion of
Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968 was met with extensive international
opposition. In 1973, the student of the University of Malaya joined the protest outside
the Soviet Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. It was first demonstration by the students
outside the campus and it became remarkable event. The events outside the country
contributed to increasing political awareness amongst student .Other international
issues, example the revolt of French students against De Ganlle. The event had a big
impact on students all over the world.1971, the oppression of Muslims in Pattani was
championed as was the Palestinian issues in 1976 (Karim, 2002)
Nevertheless, existence of University and University College Acts (UCCA)
was first implement in 1971 to have power over and weaken student organization, as
a result controlling student activism and the growth of political leaders. In 1975, a
new amendment on the University College Act under section 15 of the UUCA 1971
was introduced and all student movement dissolved. This act where all university
students are not allowed to form an alliance supports, empathize with, or oppose any
political party, labor union or any organization or group without prior permission from
the university vice – chancellor.
After 20 years on 17th September 1998, Malaysia Youth & Student
Democratic Movement (DEMA) was formed. It consists of a group of students from
various universities who were responsible for presenting the effects of globalization
on the youth and student movement in Malaysia – DEMA. The arrest of Anwar
Ibrahim led to a new wave of student movement. The opposition fervor spilled over
onto local campuses as “anti- establishment” students took control of their student
 387

representative councils from 1999 to 2004. In recent times new movement has
emerged. The largest student movement in Malaysia is the Student Solidarity of
Malaysia (SMM), is a union group that represents about 15 student’s organizations
and was established in the year of 2013 it was due to the government amends of
Section 15 of the Universities and University Colleges Act (UCCA) 1971, to allow
students aged 21 and above to be involved in politics. Since the government amends
the act it gives more freedom to students involved actively in politics.

New wave of Student Activism in Malaysia

Since 2000 series of student protest has occurred in Malaysia such as

hundred students converge at national mosque and student protest against the
Internal Security Act (ISA) and several students were beaten and seven students
from four universities were arrested. Beside that in Kuala Lumpur on 14 April 2012,
student activist camped out in Independence Square and marched against a
government finance program that they said charged students high interest charges
and left them with debt. Student political activist have emerged in the last few years.
They have taken a confrontational approach against the government, pushing for
more democratic space and freedom for students. (Darwis, 2013).
One of the student activists and becoming political figure towards abolish a
40 years old law that restricted students from participating in politics was Adam Adli
has grabbed headlines by leading the movement against the University and
University Colleges Act. (Kuhn, 2012).
Recent studies on student activism revealed that the 13th general election in
2013, the most critical general election since independence between two big
coalition National Front (Barisan Nasional) and People Unity (Pakatan Rakyat).
(Rafidi, 2013).The 13th Malaysian General Election witnessed the revival of the
student movement and managed to gain some latitude from the University and
University College Act in 2012 when it was amended, paving the way for students to
participate actively in the 13th general election and played two major roles such as a
pressure group and disseminating information. (Mohd Fauzi B Fadzil, 2015).
Recent trend of student activism is related with one of the foremost scholar
Philip G Altbach. For almost half a century important study done by Philip G Altbach
on his research of student political activism in Europe and the international student
movement has been discussed by other scholars. (Luescher-Mamashela, 2013). He
developed theoretical understanding of student activism in terms it causes,
organization, ideological, orientation and outcomes, background and identity of
student activists. He argued that student movement emerged from their social and
political environment. Students continue to be active in politics and frequently have
an impact on societal events such as in independence struggles of the students as
incipient elites. According to Altbach on his work highlighted the characteristics of
student activist based on academic, socio-economic, political and family background
of student. Moreover student especially those in the social science are fairly easy to
mobilize and they often have basic interest in politics and social issues.

Summary

Student activism practically always minority phenomenon and only a minority

of the student is directly involved. Although only a minority of university students
engage in this phenomenon , student activism is worth studying given how widely
embraced and influential this identity category and genre of activism has been ,
both in its direct impact on politics, and in calibrating the political status of
intellectuals broadly and informed political critique. According to Philip G. Altbach
there are several causes of the student activism it concerning the academic, socio
economic, political and family background of student. Students especially those in
 388

the social sciences, are fairly easy to mobilize and they often have basic interest in
political and social issues He also mentioned student continue to be active in politics
and frequently have an impact on societal events. The historical development of
student politics and student involvement in independence struggles, the role of
students as incipient elites, and the fragility of the political structures of many nations
all contribute to the efficacy of student politics. It is argued that student movements
emerge from their social and political environment.
In conclusion student activism as mentioned by Altbach as “is highly complex
and many faceted- phenomenon”, it is very difficult to explain and even more
problematic to predict. Student protest is a national phenomenon or even institutional
one. Yet understanding the structure of student politics is important. Focus on
phenomena and to gain broader understanding of the key issues. Based on the
studies done by the foremost scholar in student activism, it hope will give an idea to
researcher to find out the present scenario of student activism in Malaysia

REFERENCES

Altbach, (1984).Student Politics in the Third World, Higher Education Volume 13,
issue 6, pp. 635-655 link.springer.com /article /10.1007/BF

Darwis, (2013) What Drives this young Malay Political Activist?

Fadzil, Samsu,(2015).Student Activism and The 13th Malaysian Genral Election: The
Second Civil Society Wave after 1969.Pertanika J.Soc. & Hum. 23 (1); 105-
128.

Kuhn,(2012). In Malaysia, Student Challenges Limits on Politics. Retrieved October

28, 2013, from http://wwwnpr.org/2012/01/19/145399842/in-malaysia -
students-challenges-limits-on-politics.

Karim,(n.d). The Student Movement in Malaysia. retrieved from

khazanahnasional.fils.wordpress.com/2006/10/

Mamashela.(n.d) Theorising Student Activism in and Beyond the Twentieth Century;

The Contribution of Philip G Altbach

Rafidi,(2013).Politik Mahasiswa Selepas PRU 13. Retrieved April 20, 2016 from
http://www.malaysiakini.com/

Sharma,(2011) Malaysia: Repressive University act under review. University World

News retrieved from
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php/story=201110145692

Weiss.meredith.L.(2009).”Intellectual Containment, Critical Asian Studies, 41; 4,499-

522 retrieved from://http;//dx.doi.org/10.1080/14672710903328005

Weiss.Meredith.L.(2011).Student Activism in Malaysia. Crucible,

Mirror,Sideshow.New York:NUS Press

www.freemalaysiatoday/category/opinion/2012/10/04/power_of_student_activism/)
 389

The Challenges of ASEAN Way in Managing the

Transbounday Haze Issue
Dona Rofithoh binti Don Ramli
donarofithoh@ymail.com

Prof Madya Dr Rugayah Hj Hashim

gy@salam.uitm.edu.my

Prof Nasrudin Mohammed

nasrudin@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Transboundary haze has become an annual environmental issue for Malaysia and
other neighbouring nations such as Singapore. Consequently, this has also become
one of the main concerns for ASEAN in environmental security in this region.
However, ASEAN has continually failed to effectively mitigate haze through regional
engagement known as ASEAN Way which consists of consultation and consensus,
the uphold of sovereign right and non interference. As the haze does not only affect
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, the ASEAN Way practices need to revamp the
transnational issues. Therefore, the aim of this review paper is to provide relevant
literature and reports that argue that these practices of the ASEAN Way of regional
engagement have become the challenges to various non-traditional security issues
but the main focus is transboundary haze pollution.

Keywords: Transboundary haze pollution, ASEAN Way, environmental policy, non

traditional security

INTRODUCTION

As we can see, historically states main concern only focus on traditional

issues and nowadays, non-traditional security draws more attention as it always
involve transnational issues. In short, it is not any longer a domestic affair instead
becoming regional or global issue. Non-traditional security involves issues others
than military concerns such as terrorism, environmental degradation and climate
change, infectious diseases, haze problem, illegal migration and human trafficking
(Jones, 2012).
In addressing and improving the transnational environmental problem both regional
agreements and organizations play vital roles (Koh and Robinson, 2002). ASEAN
was created through Bangkok Declaration in 1967 and it is Asia’s first regional body
dealing with a variety of common interests (Acharya, 2010). ASEAN perceived to
address political and security issues on a regional basis, however it has evolved to
include a broad range of environmental, economic, and social issues. ASEAN has
become more serious with the haze issue since the huge consequences of the worst
haze episodes in 1997-1998 to the Southeast Asia region. Thus, various action plans
were initiated to tackle this issue. However, these efforts such as Cooperation Plan
on Transboundary Air Pollution of 1995, ASEAN Regional Haze Action Plan of 1997
and the most recently initiative was in 2002, the Agreement on Transboundary Haze
Pollution (ASEAN, 2002) seemed ineffective to reduce the haze events. The haze
mitigation has been problematic due to the ASEAN style of regional engagement
which is known as ASEAN Way. ASEAN Way is a set of region norms and codes of
 390

diplomatic conduct characterized by principles of consultation and consensus, the

sanctity of sovereign rights and non-interference (Kivimaki, 2001).

TRANSBOUNDARY HAZE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA REGION

The haze pollution becomes an annual problem as it has been affecting parts of the
Southeast Asia region for decades and it gives severe impacts to neighbouring
countries especially Malaysia and Singapore. Almost every year, our people are
suffering from the smoke haze and the predominant cause of haze events is the peat
land and forest fires in Indonesia substantially originating from Sumatra and
Kalimantan (Ewing and McRae, 2012). Indonesia is currently the world’s largest
producer of palm oil in which contributing about 51% of world production and 5% of
Indonesia’s GDP (iStockAnalyst, 2009). Due to this fact, the Indonesia’s fires are
mainly from the logging and agriculture industry such as land clearing activities,
slash-and-burn practice by the farmers and companies in order to make palm oil and
forest plantations. According to Hamzah (2012) often blamed was put on the
traditional smallholders but for the 2013 fires also implied the large-scale oil palms or
timber. He adds that the slash-and-burn is a cultural norm for clearing land in
Southeast Asia as the technique is easier, quicker, cheaper and efficient compared
to other alternatives. A major problem for decades, the burning of peat land causes
more greenhouse gas emissions released to the earth's surface which last for few
months. Quah (2002) listed the significant impacts of haze in many aspects of life
such as public health, biodiversity, tourism and national economies in the Southeast
Asian region.

CHALLENGES OF ASEAN WAY

When ASEAN was formed in 1967, it adopted a series of principles that have
collectively come to be known as “ASEAN Way.” According to Molthof (2012),
ASEAN Way is a diplomatic instrument that consist a set of norms to search for
consultation and consensus, upholds state’s sovereignty and the principle of non-
interference in other’s domestic affairs. Tamaki (2006) adds that, in other words, it
means politeness and also non-confrontational in attitude and approaches, behind-
the-door discussions, and informal and non-legalistic procedures. ASEAN Way is
being practice by the member states as well-documented in
ASEAN Declaration (1967) and Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia
(1976). There is ample debate of ASEAN Way in handling their regional issues. This
is because ASEAN’s ambitious plans and initiatives facing difficulties due to the
norms embedded in ASEAN Way. The ASEAN Way has increasingly developed into
important issues, especially in the past few decades when ASEAN had to deal with
emerging non-traditional security pressures (Mabee, 2009) where the domestic
problem has both regional and international consequences (Hamzah, 2013). The
non-interference principle is being perceived as undermined through the expansion
of its membership, new challenges associated from globalization processes and the
main focus is being shifted on human security rather than on state-sovereignty
(Jetschke and Ruland 2009). Thus, with the complexity in international relations,
transnational issues need closer cooperation between states as well as transnational
policies regarding the non-traditional security issue especially the haze problem.

Non Interference Policy

The policy of non-interference is not unique to ASEAN, but is a universal

principle enshrined in the UN Charter. This principle is a core foundation of ASEAN
 391

regional engagement between the member states (Keling et al. 2011). The principle
stipulated in the most fundamental document of ASEAN which is the Bangkok
Declaration 1967. It stated that this principle primarily made to prevent external
interference from others and to ensure domestic and regional stability among ASEAN
member states (Stubbs, 2008). In addition, in 1971, the Zone of Peace, Freedom and
Neutrality (ZOPFAN) Declaration was established and further enhanced of the non
interference principle, as whether the state is large or small, ASEAN recognise the
right of every member and each state possess their own same rights for their internal
affairs and free from external powers. In 1976, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation
signifies that it seeks to uphold: Article 2 (a) Mutual respect for the independence,
sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and national identity of all nations. (b) The
right of every State to lead its national existence free from external interference,
subversion or coercion. (c) Non-interference in the internal affairs of one another.
However, there is no single definition of this principle in all ASEAN’s documents.
Bellamy and Drummond (2011) state: “Despite the fact that the Association has
made no attempt to define what it means by ‘interference’, regional practice prior to
the mid 1990s suggests that it was construed as a continuum of involvement in the
domestic affairs of states that ranged from the mildest of political commentary
through to coercive military intervention”. Consequently, with the wide interpretation
of this non interference principle acts as prevention of member states which can
possibly undermine the authority of the dominant political elite (Ruland, 2011). Thus,
Nesadurai (2008) argues that the norm also acts as a political tool.
The agreement that has achieved in ASEAN in tackling haze issue is
weakened by mechanisms that support the non intervention norm on other’s affairs
(NurHidayah, 2014). As a result, states cannot pressure other states to act
accordance with collective interest. For example, other states are not allowed to
pressure Indonesia to ratify the Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution earlier
due to the non interference principle. According to Nguitragool (2011) non
interference in regional governance also has limiting the persistence of the haze
mitigation. For instance, assistance can only be given by mutual consent, and is
subject to the direction and control of the recipient state. Quah (2002) stated that
while this is important for keeping the non interference approach of ASEAN in the
domestic affairs of member states, however, it creates difficulties in finding pragmatic
solutions in the future to the haze problem. Indonesia, for example, has in the past
denied assistance presumably for sovereignty and reputational reasons (Satriastanti,
2011).
Nguitragool ( 2011) mentions the ATHP did not significantly differ from the
RHAP in either substance or in demands for member parties to make policy changes.
In keeping with non-interference norms, the parties can stress the primacy of national
laws, policy-making and implementation (Elliott, 2003). States can also avoid legally
binding agreements through this non inference principle. This complicates the
application of multilateral pressure and collective problem-solving methods (Tan,
2005). In addition, with non interference in ASEAN, it can prevent the tansboundary
haze pollution from being discussed at the regional level as it deemed to be a
‘sensitive issue’ (Nesadurai, 2008). As a result, these principles provide members
with considerable autonomy to determine the extent to which they would implement
regional environmental agendas, even those that they have agreed to initially
(Nesadurai, 2008).

Upholds National Sovereignty

Besides that, ASEAN Way places extreme emphasis on national sovereignty.

Importance attached to state-sovereignty by the Southeast Asian states as a result of
their historical experience. Dosch (2011) explains that, ASEAN’s primary aim was to
 392

prevent the region’s involvement in the great power rivalry between East and West
due to the lessons learned from the past of colonisation. Thus, it leads the Southeast
Asian to perceive sovereignty as a key element in ensuring regional and domestic
stability. As Aggarwal and Chow (2010) propose, the sovereignty norm was
reinforced by a decision-making approach based on consultation and consensus,
and a focus on the peaceful resolution of inter-state disputes.
According to Varkkey(2013), ASEAN has put efforts to address the
transboundary haze issue through collaboration but it seems ineffective as ASEAN
Way emphasizes national sovereignty and self-determination of member states. The
reason is because by doing so it has allowed member states to shape collective
mitigation initiatives at the ASEAN level. Furthermore, according to Tan (2005) and
Nesadurai (2008), ‘the ASEAN Way is often only strictly adhered to and enforced by
states in areas where crucial economic interests are affected’. Thus, in this case, it is
important for states maintaining current practise in the region’s oil palm plantation
sector. Varkkey (2013) claims that the regional level outcomes have been
problematic due to the influence of patronage politics in Indonesia’s oil palm
plantation sector. Oil palm has contributed significantly to the Indonesia’s GDP and
the demand is increasing over the period of time (Ewing, 2011). Thus, Varkkey
(2013) and Ferguson (2014 conclude that national political and economic interests
took priority over the collective social and environmental regional interests. It also
demonstrates the powerful economic and political constraints, preserve state
sovereignty, both regionally within ASEAN and internally within Indonesia, which
severely prevent the effectiveness of many initiatives (Tan, 2005).
Singapore-based ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Centre performs a
regional surveillance function, uses satellite data to provide daily updates on for fires
and haze. However, during the early years of the haze, Malaysia used sovereignty
arguments to strongly oppose the use of satellite data for haze monitoring purposes
at the regional level (Campbell, 2005). In addition, the meteorological officials from
Indonesia’s Lembaga Penerbangan dan Antariksa Nasional (Indonesian National
Institute of Aeronautics and Space) said that Indonesian ministries also used similar
arguments to explain their lack of acceptance of ASMC data as they preferred to use
their own resources even though their equipments are less advanced (Varkkey,
2012). As ASEAN upholds the principle of states’ sovereignty and in respect for
Indonesia’s sovereignty, member states could not force Indonesia to accept ASMC.
Furthermore, Keng (2015) points that diplomatic tension occurred in 2006 when
Singapore raised the haze issue at the General Assembly of the United Nations,
drawing attention and support internationally. Indonesia responded and said that by
doing so have interfered their internal affairs and their sovereignty. However, it is
stipulated in Article 2 of ATHP that mentions needs both national and international
efforts is needed in preventing and monitoring the transboundary haze pollution.

Consultation and Consensus

It is stated in Article 13 of TAC that any disputes shall be settled ‘through

friendly negotiations’ for the purpose to avoid any conflict happens between ASEAN
member states. Acharya (2010) argues that ASEAN most concern is community
decisions and it involves high degree of consensus and consultation. Quah (2002)
agreed that the ASEAN Way is a barrier to greater environmental integration as
ASEAN Way resolves this situation through lengthy non-confrontational consultation
that may take years to arrive at a mutually satisfactory decision. He believes that by
pursuing extreme consensus, ASEAN misses many good things which it could have
been achieved before. By just consulting with each other, states are not achieving
any success that can be proud of as no effective actions are being carried out to
address the issue. In short, ASEAN practices a loose or soft regionalism for any
issue raises up between member states (Tamaki, 2006).
 393

ASEAN has collaborated on haze issue since 1990 (Jones, 2009), came out with
various efforts to prevent, mitigate and monitor deforestation activities in the region
and ASEAN response was in line with the ASEAN Way. Regional Haze Action Plan
was endorsed in 1997 with the aim of establishing operational procedures for
monitoring land and forest fires, the impact was limited mainly due to the lack of
political will on Indonesia’s part (Varkkey 2012). Later, in 2002, the ASEAN
Transboundary Haze Agreement finally was signed to reaffirm the commitment
among member countries but Indonesia, in the spirit non binding consensus, has not
ratified the agreement earlier. There are some speculate or argue that the main
reason Indonesia signed the agreement was just to maintain its reputation and good
image at the region level. In short, it is basically for the political reason without
intention to commit as Indonesia will lose nothing by signing the agreement as no
other states can force them to ratify earlier. The ratification of ATHP has completed
by all ten ASEAN members after the last country, Indonesia took almost 12 years to
do so. Hence, Kurus argues that ASEAN is moving slowly in achieving ‘spirit of
togetherness’ in decision making due to the extreme of consensus that ASEAN
seeking for in a matter.
In addition, one of the weaknesses that can be identified of the ATHP is that it
lacks in various hard law instruments such as strong dispute-resolution and
enforcement mechanisms. It lacks effective sanctions and enforceability for example
silent on suitable punishment and penalties if states did not abide to the treaty.
Stricter policies will only have greater impact with adequate legal action. ASEAN is
more favour to ‘soft law’ rather than ‘hard law’ approach in establishing a formal legal
instrument to protect the environment (Nurhidayah, 2014). In Article 27 of ATHP,
stated that‘any dispute between Parties as to the interpretation or application of, or
compliance with, this Agreement or any protocol thereto, shall be settled amicably by
consultation or negotiation’ (ASEAN Secretariat, 2002). As compared to other
regional environmental legal instrument, for example Helsinki Convention which
provide dispute settlement to protect the marine environment by permanent arbitral
tribunal or ICJ. In addition, without hard law and strong dispute resolution practicing
by ASEAN member states, any issues especially the haze is not going to be better at
any circumstances. After all, it is ASEAN Way of resolving disputes diplomatically,
through consultation and consensus

RECOMMENDATIONS

One possible approach is that changing attitudes of the ‘ASEAN Way’. The
ASEAN principle of non-interference needs to be reinvented in order to allow for
transboundary environmental policy and enforcement (Tan, 2005). This is due to
ignoring ASEAN Way is possible and it might be very difficult for several reasons, but
the main purpose is not only to overcome the haze problem but covers wide range of
issues including security, trade, human rights and other issues and at the same time
will protect member states against perceived challenges to their sovereignty. Thus,
ASEAN should change their constructive engagement to flexible engagement due to
the fact demonstrated by the haze mitigations efforts by ASEAN seemed ineffectively
to address the haze issue for decades. As through negotiations has not brought any
better results regarding this issue, ASEAN needs to evolve and adopt the flexible
engagement to better address transnational problem within the Southeast Asia
region.
As mentioned earlier through literature review, ASEAN always use soft law approach
in dealing and handling this issue. It lacks effective sanctions and enforceability for
example silent on suitable punishment and penalties if states did not abide to the
treaty. Stricter policies will only have greater impact with adequate legal action.
Thus, ASEAN should use hard law instruments such as strong dispute-resolution and
 394

enforcement mechanism (Nurhidayah, 2014). ASEAN should develop other legal

mechanism such as special court in order to punish the culprit or parties who are
responsible to peat land fires and those who are not comply with the agreement. This
is because by just consulting with member states has proven that it is ineffective in
managing the haze issue.
Where international actions failed, national initiative is the key principle as to
realize the various measures (Nurhidayah, 2015). In overcoming the transboundary
environmental issue the state itself need to take significant actions that are required
to prevent and mitigate haze, or else this issue will never comes to an end if there is
no vigorous actions being taken. In fact, the problem will even be worst if no further
effective actions to tackle the transboundary haze pollution. As environmental
problem was rooted from Indonesia, the Indonesia government should be able to find
an effective long term solution to curb this problem in which will bring a better result.
The Indonesia government should take stricter legal actions or give heavy
punishment against polluters. The Indonesia government should educate, develop
and provide other alternatives for land clearing method to farmers and companies
who practicing slash-and-burn.
At the civil society or corporate level, consumer and investor pressure could
help influence the behaviour of companies involved with the activities that cause
forest and peat land fires in Indonesia (Hamzah, 2013). For instance, pressure such
as naming, blaming and boycotting those companies for damaging the environment
due to their activities. It is one of the effective ways that can make the companies
who are engaging with such activities to change their practice. In addition, many of
academics argued that rather than resort to legal action against the illegal burning by
palm oil plantation owners, by banning or boycotting the products or errant
companies may be more effective. Other than that, the non-governmental
organizations can play a more active role (Keng, 2015) in the research, negotiation,
monitoring and implementation process in order to creating awareness to the
farmers, companies and other people. In addition, whether actions that have been
taken are effective or not, it will be the people or in the simplest words “us” are the
one who are breathing in the haze. Thus, we need to make actions and it can be
done in many ways for instance, awareness campaign, education, peaceful protests
and assemblies in order to draw people’s attention on this serious matter. This is
because people who live in this Southeast Asia region have equal rights to
environmental justice for themselves.

CONCLUSION

It is clearly seen that the efforts taken by ASEAN is ineffective due to the
perseverance of ASEAN Way by the members. ASEAN’s inability to further
cooperation has been rooted in its principles of non interference, sovereignty, and
consultation and consensual decision-making. Even ASEAN is going to celebrate its
50 years, the ASEAN Way of practices has remains the same without any drastically
changes been made. There is an urge needs for flexibility engagement in ASEAN
especially matters concerning the non security issues with the increased of
globalization. In today’s world, ASEAN has greatly experienced the range of issues
within its commands, yet, it remains committed to the extremely protects sovereignty
in regional integration. While ASEAN has been successful in handling some regional
issues, it is still struggling in complying between respecting member states privacy
and mediating situation that affects Southeast Asia region. Following to the issues
that affect not only the host country but neighbors, such as the haze pollution, there
is need to revamp and redesign the ASEAN principles in order to allow for
transboundary environmental policy and enforcement. This is because previous
practices of ASEAN Way undermine efforts to address other key issues. Challenges
 395

embedded with the ASEAN Way need to be tackled to have significant effects in
curbing the transboundary haze pollution. The community of ASEAN should be more
sensitive and serious and find pragmatic solutions in overcoming this transnational
problem. If the challenges mentioned above could be well addressed by ASEAN,
there is a higher chance to lessen the occurrence of haze episodes in Southeast Asia
region.

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Evaluation of the ASEAN Legal Framework for Addressing Transboundary
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utility” or “hedging utility”? Contemporary Southeast Asia.

Satriastanti, F. E. (2011). ‘Govt declines Singapore help on haze’, Jakarta Globe.

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Tan, A. K. (2005). The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution:

Prospects for Compliance and Effectiveness in Post-Suharto Indonesia.
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 397

Measuring Service Performance for Urban Transformation

Centre
Ummi Farhani Binti Firdaus
Doctor of Philosophy (Administrative Science)
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
UiTM Shah Alam
ummifarhanifirdaus@gmail.com

Jasmine Ahmad
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
UiTM Shah Alam
jasmi661@salam.uitm.edu.my

Dr Mahadir Ladisma@Awis
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
UiTM Seremban 3
mahadir_ladisma@ns.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Service quality is much related to the customer satisfaction since it is one of the
instruments to ensure the quality of the service that they provide to the customer is
achieving the customer need. Enhancing service delivery to citizens at the centre had
been identified in RMK 11 which is this plan are to within 2016-2020. This area is
focused on supporting the government to transform the government service delivery
become more effective and efficient in delivering the services to the public.
Therefore, the government will put an effort in eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic
process and ensure that the service that is being offered are more accessible and
innovative. This is the reason why in Malaysia, the Urban Transformation Centre
(UTC) had been introduced and becomes one of the service centers that provide
integrated of services for the public or citizen. The purpose of this centre exist is to
ensure that the public easy to access to the government service in one building
without need to go to the other places and also to ensure that the public can receive
the service during the weekend too. This paper aims to analyze service quality using
SERVQUAL dimension and to suggest the specific items to measure service
performance of UTC. All of the SERVQUAL dimensions which include of reliability,
assurance, tangibility, empathy, and responsiveness had been explained in this
paper which all of dimension is important to measure the customer satisfaction on
UTC service performance.

Keywords: service quality, customer satisfaction, Urban Transformation Centre,

SERVQUAL

INTRODUCTION

The Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) is one of the Malaysian government

effort and initiatives in providing the urban community with central government and
private sector services under single ceiling (Urban Transformation Centre, 2016).
UTC also had been known as ‘one stop centre for government service’. It is located
in various states and urban area. UTC is part of National Blue Ocean Strategy 6
(NBOS 6) under our YAB Prime Minister command. The purpose of introducing UTC
is to ensure that public and private sector able to cooperate in delivering the quality
 398

of service delivery. Other than that, UTC is one of the Community Transformation
Centre (CTC) agenda which is to give a maximum satisfaction to the public (UTC
Website, 2016).
There are three objectives of UTC, one is to easiest the public to settle down
various matters with a government body without need to going many places at one
time “one centre for various services”. Second, it is to make people easy to access
the service from government body and non-governmental organization under one
roof. Thirdly, it is to ensure the sustainability and development of the economic
growth and improve the citizen standard of living better with more local economic
networks (UTC Website, 2016). All of the objectives of UTC really focused on public
needs and prioritize the public right as a citizen in this country to receive the best
service delivery in dealing with any matter especially public service.
UTC have provided multivariate of services, all of the services include ten
clusters of facilities and services which are health services, security services,
education, training and employment services, financial services, business and
entrepreneurial development services, utility services, youth development services,
welfare and community development services, and non governmental organization
services (UTC Website, 2016). All of the services had been categorized into two
categories which are government agencies and public amenities. The government
agencies are included of SPAD, JPJ, LHDN, KWSP, PTPTN, MARA, Klinik 1
Malaysia, JPN, MITI and others too. However, for public amenities, it is include of
gym, cafeteria, futsal court, atm machine and others too. Therefore, UTC becomes
one of the centre where it becomes a centre of public attraction to get all of the
services under one roof of the building because it will make them easier and quick in
getting the services without going many places to get the services especially for
government agency services.
UTC had recorded the visitor about more than 27 million who had utilized the
UTC facilities since it had been launched in 2012 (Othman, Hammim, & Kim, 2016).
Many positive results were proven after the UTC had been introduced. One of the
successful results of the UTC is the Johor UTC had become one of the UTC that
recorded the highest number of passport applications and road tax collections
(Othman et al., 2016). Although UTC had show a positive result to the government
and public, but there is lack of information on public satisfaction toward the UTC
service performance especially in service quality.

PUBLIC SATISFACTION ON SERVICE DELIVERY PERFORMANCE

Satisfaction is an indicator of the public's perceptions of service quality; it

ponders how it feels to use a service. Increasing people's perception of quality in
public services allows us to address all the components that drive forward customer
satisfaction (Scottish Government Website, 2016). The degree of satisfaction
depends on a great number of regional and individual factors, and on the institutional
settings within which the service supplier is working (Mouwen, n.d). It is really
important to recognize the consumer satisfaction level, which may reflect the caliber
of services, organizational performance, the ability to meet specific customers’
needs, and yet it might determine citizens' trust in the public sector (Patapas, 2013).
However, the other scholar also had said that customer satisfaction is related to
perceived service quality (Malik, 2012). According to the Lenka et al (2009), the
customer satisfaction is a combination of two elements which are a cognitive and
affective nature. Malimor et al (2007) explained that cognitive nature is relating
between the expectation and performance while the affective nature is connected
with feeling of satisfying (Saifullah Malik, 2012).
Methodology
 399

The methodology for this study is referring to the past studies by comparing
the content of dimension of service quality with the service performance quality of
UTC in Malaysia. The past studies is based on the empirical papers from 2012-2016
which related with the service quality. Moreover, the experience from the public and
the information about UTC in media mass also become the sources to collect the
information for this study. This is because the UTC in Malaysia is one of government
initiative to ensure the service that had been provided to fulfil the citizen needs and
achieve the quality standard of service delivery. Therefore, by using the SERVQUAL
as the indicator to measure the performance of service quality in UTC will prove
whether the UTC achieve the service quality standard of service performance in
achieving the objective of UTC.

Dimension of Service Quality

The most popular measure of service quality (SERVQUAL) assesses the

operational delivery of service during a single instalment. This concept allows service
to be improved on traditional quality management rules (Klaus & Maklan, 2011).
Dimension of service quality includes tangibles, reliability, responsiveness,
assurance and empathy (Wirtz, 2012). Many previously developed measurement
instruments have tended to concentrate exclusively on customer perceptions of
service; i.e. measuring what the client thinks of the present service delivery.
SERVQUAL is seen as superior, because it too concentrates on sampling to
understand adequately customers’ expectations (Raheem & Yusof, 2012). Based on
Ziethmal, the Parasuraman SERVQUAL 5 point of service quality dimension had
been applied in many organisation. Bebko also agreed with the Ziethmal statement
(Siami & Gorji, 2012). The SERVQUAL also had proved that this dimension are
suitable as a benchmarking in evaluate their customers and clients needs from their
service provider (Amir Ghallib Abdalla et. Al, 2015). The other scholar also finds out
that service quality had a significant relationship with customers' satisfaction (Agbor,
2012). Moreover, the SERVQUAL scale is applicable in measuring the service quality
in various area of services (Chatzoglou et. al, 2012). Therefore, the SERVQUAL
dimension will be used in this study since this model had been applicable in various
study in carry out the service quality performance of the service provider. The
previous study also agree that the SERVQUAL model is the best model to be
applicable in measuring the service quality and the scholars suggested that this
model should be use continuously (Siami & Gorji, 2012).

Reliability

Reliability is largely concerned with the ability to do the promised service in a

dependent and accurate manner (Lee, 2015). The scholar said that reliability
dimension of service quality is better as compared to empathy and tangibility (Bindal,
2014). It had been supported by the studies that had been carried out in Huduma
Centre in Kenya where most of the respondent agree that they are overall satisfied
with the reliability of service delivery at this centre (Amir Ghalib Abdalla, et. al, 2015).
However, the other scholar has concluded that the reliability is the lowest dimension
in achieving the service quality (Shanka, 2012). The result had been supported by
the other scholars that carried out the study in Citizens Service Centres (CSCs) in
Greece where they find out that reliability is one of the dimension that not meet the
customer expectation (Chatzoglou et.al, 2012). Therefore, based on the previous
research, it shows that the scholars had found out the result of reliability toward the
customer satisfaction is not same in different places, although they are carried out
the research in the same area of service.
This is the reason why the researcher would like to identify whether the
dimension of reliability exist in Urban Transformation Centre. It will focus on how the
 400

service provider in UTC meet the user expectation. For example, Immigration
Department have their own policy where they can ready the customer passport within
an hour either for new or renew the passport. However, according to the customer
who is Syazwan Norhalik, he have an experience in renewing his passport in UTC
Keramat in 2015 where he supposedly get the new passport in one hour but then he
get his new passport more than a day where he have to come again to utc keramat
for the next day to get his new passport. This is because the server down and the
passport cannot be ready in one hour. Therefore, indirectly, the service provider
unable to meet their policy where they promise to ready the passport within an hour
but when such of this problem occur, they failed to meet the customer expectation
and it will create the feeling of dissatisfied among the customers. To overcome this
issue, the service provider should do a service recovery action to ensure customer
does not feel dissatisfied with their service performance. For instance, in the case of
the Syazwan Norhalik situation, one of the way is by giving him discount instead
need to pay full payment for renew the passport. So, It will make him worth to get his
passport in the next day.
Although there is a problem occur in UTC Keramat, but in another UTC such as
UTC Paya Bunga Kuala Terengganu have show a positive response in aspect of
reliability dimension of service quality. It can be proved when the JPN Department
was able to ready Mykid within two hours only (Mynewshub, 2016). Therefore, it
show that the UTC able to give a good services to their public more efficient and
effective without need to take a longer time to get the Mykid.

Assurance

Assurance is the employees’ level of courtesy and knowledge (Ebrahimi,

2012). This dimension includes four elements which are credibility, security,
competence, and courtesy (Wirtz, 2012). According to the past research, considering
the level of meeting customers’ expectations, assurance dimension got the highest
ratings, therefore it is the most important dimension in achieving the service quality
(Ebrahimi, 2012). This study had been supported by another scholar where they
believe the assurance dimension can influence the people satisfaction (Vaz &
Mansori, 2013).
In UTC, assurance can be related with what the service provider provide to
their customer by ensure their customer will feel more safe in providing the
information to the service provider. For instance, in JPN, it is more involve with
confidential information about their customer. This is because they are responsible
for registering important demographic events such as births, deaths, adoptions,
marriages and divorces; and issues identity cards to those eligible (IBM Corporation,
2010). Therefore, they have to ensure that every single of the information is keep as
confidential.

Tangibles

Tangibles dimension can be defined as appearance of physical facilities,

equipment, personnel, and communication materials (Wirtz, 2012). Grounded along
the previous research, the tangibility dimension show there is a weak positive
correlation between tangibility dimension with the satisfaction on service delivery
because the appearance and personality is not very important in their process of
service delivery (Osman, 2014). Nevertheless, the other scholar said that improving
quality through tangibles means attention to the littlest details that competitors might
consider trivial (Bindal, 2014). However, the scholar found out the tangible dimension
has a significant effect on customer satisfaction (Calisir et.al, 2012). There is also
another study that consistent with the result where the tangible dimension coefficient
 401

is positive and affects the satisfaction of the customer where it is a dimension which
is important in lead to the customer satisfaction (Nuradli Ridzwan et. al, 2014).
Referring to physical facilities in UTC, mostly the UTC provide a good physical
facilities to the customer where they want to ensure the customer feel comfortable in
receiving their services. This is because tangibles factor can influence the customer
perception on their service performance. However, UTC Perak comes out with the
issue when the human factor influences their service delivery where their attitude,
moral philosophy, and working culture had not performed to the public expectation.
Moreover, the parking lots also become the trouble where the parking space is
limited for approximately 200 lots and mostly being conducted by the staff and not for
the public (Bukhari, 2013). Therefore, it show that the tangibles factor are important
in ensure the public satisfied with the UTC service performance. This is because the
bad performance in aspect tangibility is clear and it will indicate on how the UTC able
to serve their customer in a good way and create a good impression toward their
service performance.

Empathy

Empathy is the service provider's demonstration of its concern for the

individual demands of clients (Ebrahimi, 2012). It includes three elements which are
accessed, communication, and understanding the customer (Wirtz, 2012). It is the
only service quality dimension having a predicted impact on customer satisfaction
(Calisir, 2012). Empathy is the only service quality dimension that having a predicted
impact on client satisfaction (Calisir, 2012). It also had been supported in another
research too where the other scholar find out that the empathy are the only
dimension that have a significant effect with customer satisfaction (Calisir et. Al,
2012). However, the other scholar finds out that the score of Empathy is not
satisfactory but not unsatisfactory also. This is because the service provider is unable
to give individual attention to its customers and is unable to understand the specific
needs of its customers (Bindal, 2014). This research also had been supported by the
other scholar when they found out that this dimension is least important to their
customer since the customer expectation also is not too high compare to the another
dimension which the value of percentage is less than 90% compare to the another
dimension, the customer give an expectation more than 90%. (Siami & Gorji).
UTC also need to have an empathy element in providing the service quality to
their customer. This is because the empathy element will help the service provider
itself understand what their customer want. For example, UTC have no medium
channel to get feedback or response from their customer. This can be prove when
their own official website does not provide any channel to give cutomer opportunity to
give some ideas in improving their service performance. It show that the UTC still
lacking in ensure their understand what customer need and expect from then in
delivering the service. Therefore, to ensure they able to understand what the
customer need, they need to provide some of the channel as medium such as
facebook, twitter, and any other social media to interact with the public about their
services. Furthermore, they have to include one section in their website only for
customer feedback and complaints about the service in UTC. This is because the
voice of public is the important thing in ensure they have a high quality of services in
delivering the services.

Responsiveness

Responsiveness is a willingness to help customers and provide prompt

service (Wirtz, 2012). Based on the previous study, responsiveness show that there
was positive and significant relationship between service quality dimensions
responsiveness and customer satisfaction (Kushwaha, 2014). The other scholar also
 402

supports the statement since the result show that the readinesses to response from
the provider of service to the receiver of the service are important although the
responsiveness dimension is a third factor that will contribute to the satisfaction (Vaz
& Mansori, 2013). Nevertheless, in that respect is the other scholar said that the
service interruption is really high in dimensions of responsiveness which exhibits the
lack of employees' responsiveness especially in offering prompt service. This is
because it is really significant for the public sector service provider to improve
responsiveness among employees, which is one of the major concerns for clients
(Franklin, 2014).
In UTC, responsiveness also become one of the important element in ensure
that customer will feel satisfied toward their service performance. This can be related
with how long the period of time taken for the service provider in delivery their service
to the customer. Based on the previous study, the Huduma Centre in Kenya,
although most of the customers give a good response toward the service delivery in
their centre, but the customers also complaint the Huduma Centre facing an issue of
shortage of employees to give services to them and indirectly it lead to the problem
such as service delay and others (Amir Ghalib Abdalla, 2015). Therefore, the period
of time for the customer to receive the service is important. This is because customer
will feel dissatisfied when the service provider need to take a longest period of time to
serve them. Same goes to one stop service centre in Malaysia which is UTC, to
avoid such of this problem occur, the service provider should ensure the employees
is adequate to serve the public. This is because the shortage of employees will lead
toward this problem and at the same time, the service provider should have an
application mobile apps to help the public make an appointment with them to get the
services at the exact time without need to wait for their turn for a few hours especially
during the peak time and weekend. This is because mostly people will come to the
UTC at this time.

Table 1 Summary of Dimension Service Quality

Dimension of Literature Review Suggestions for UTC

Service Quality
Reliability Realibility is largely concerned with
the ability to do the promised service
in a dependent and accurate manner
(Lee, 2015)
Assurance Assurance is a dimension that
includes four elements which are
credibility, security, competence, and
courtesy (Wirtz, 2012)
Tangibles Improving quality through tangibles
means attention to the little details
that competitors might consider
trivial (Bindal, 2014)
Empathy Empathy is the service provider’s
demonstration of its concern for the
individual demands of clients
(Ebrahimi, 2012)
Responsiveness Responsiveness is a willingness to
help customers and provide prompt
If the service failure occur
during the service delivery, the
service provider should do a
service recovery action to
prevent the customer
dissatisfaction
The service provider need to
ensure that every single of the
information is keep as
confidential by improve their
information system to high level
of the security databases
Service provider should provide
sufficient of facilities to the UTC
user in ensure the tangibles
factor can increase the
customer satisfaction
The service provider need to
provide some of the channel as
medium to communicate with
public such as facebook, twitter
and any other social media to
interact about their services
The service provider should
have an application mobile
 403

service (Wirtz, 2012). apps to help the public make an

appointment with them to get
the services at the exact time
without need to wait for their
turn for a few hours especially
during the peak time and
weekend

CONCLUSION

Good service quality in delivery performance is the first priority in ensure the
service performance achieve the customer need. If the service provider able to fulfill
the customer need, it will increase the customer satisfaction toward their service
delivery performance. Therefore, if UTC able to increase their customer satisfaction
toward their service performance results, it will improve their reputation as one of the
government service center which is not only achieve the objective of NBOS6 but also
at the same time, it able to gaining the support from the public with least complaint on
their service quality delivery. Furthermore, the government also can make some
improvement in UTC service delivery from time to time based on the customer
demand and feedback from the public user. Indirectly, it will increase the UTC
reputation as one of government service center that able to fulfill the customer need
especially in urban area who always facing an issue of time and crowded with
population.
As a recommendation, the service provider should come out with different
alternative in ensure they are able to increase the customer satisfaction in deliver the
high quality of service delivery performance to their customer. Therefore, they have
to come out with new technology where everything can be done in effective and
efficient way. It is to ensure the service delivery performance is more productive and
less manual process. Moreover, the service provider should give training their
employees on how to treat the customer in a good manner. This is because the way
they treat the customer also can influence the emotional and satisfaction of the
customer toward the service delivery performance. Last but not least, the
government also need to monitor and take action in ensure how to improve the
facilities in UTC to ensure the facilities that had been provide to the customer achieve
the customer need.

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A Perspective of Public Higher Education Institution in Malaysia. Advances in
Environmental Biology, 543-548.

Patapas, A. (2013). Features of Consumer Satisfaction with Public Services. Public

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Wirtz, J. (2012). Essentials of Services Marketing. Singapore: Pearson Education

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 405

Information Disclosure Theories in Public Listed Companies

Norraidah Abu Hasan
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
norraidah@ns.uitm.edu.my

Farihah Hassan
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
farihah@ns.uitm.edu.my

Dr Nor Suziwana Tahir

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
suziwana@salam.uitm.edu.my

Saidah Hamizah Ahmad

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
saidah2515@salam.uitm.edu.my

Fadhirul Hisham
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
fadhi2966@ns.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

With respect to the importance of information disclosure to reduce the agency

problem and increase the firm financial performance, this paper aim to refine the
theoretical reasoning associated with information disclosure. Voluntary disclosure
theory suggest the company with high financial performance will provide more
information disclosure to attract investor confidence, whereas the signaling theory
suggest the company used voluntary information to protect their reputation and
sustain in the financial market. High credibility information disclosure is crucial in
securing the investor investment. Corporate information consists of mandatory
information and voluntary information that used to influences the investor trading
volume. The findings of this study indicates that the two theories support the quality
of information disclosure in public listed companies.

Keywords: information disclosure, voluntary information, signaling theory, voluntary

disclosure theory
 406

INTRODUCTION

Information disclosure is a very crucial part in the financial market as it allow

investors to understand the exact state of companies, the return and the risk of their
investment. Owusu-Ansah (1998) defined disclosure as the communication of
economic information, consist of financial or nonfinancial, quantitative or narrative
concerning a company financial position and performance.
After the collapse of Enron, investors become more vigilant than before by
looking deeper into companies and demanding full disclosures. Disclosure is a
method of communication between a company and its’ investors and stakeholders at
large who have interest in the value of firm (Kothari, 2001). Disclosure is also a part
of corporate reporting channel that provides useful information to investors in
assessing the amounts, timing, and uncertainty of future cash flows. Useful
information improves decision making by investors and other users of a firm’s
disclosure leading to a better allocation of resources in the economy. Disclosure is
therefore essential for the well prosperity of financial markets (Watts and
Zimmerman, 1986) and for the optimal allocation of savings to investment
opportunities in the economy (Healy and Palepu, 2001). Lack of proper information to
investor’s leads to an information problem between insiders and outsiders of the firm.
This is known as information asymmetry.
Brealey and Myers (2000) highlighted the origin of information asymmetry in
the agency theory, and explained that information asymmetry occurs when there is a
potential conflict of interest between investors and managers due to the separation of
ownership and control. Investors or principals are typically passive and do not take
part in the daily operations of the firm. They delegate this responsibility to the
management who act as agents. This creates an agency problem when
management only maximizes their own profit at the expense of the investors causing
management to act against the interest of investors by falsifying or withholding
information. This scenario indicate investors are not in a good condition to evaluate
and control the management of their firms. On top of this, investor does not have
perfect information to make sound investment decisions.
Manipulation of data or providing insufficient information to investors is
serious corporate governance malpractice that gives negative impact to investors’
investment decisions. According to Bursa Malaysia (2015), companies should be
aware of the sensitivity of the information disseminated to investors and ensure the
information provided by capital markets need to be timely, efficient, attractive, and
adequate disclosure to investor.
Therefore, disclosure, whether mandatory or voluntary, reduces information
asymmetry by equalizing the knowledge of investors and management. In this
respect, high quality information disclosure can reduce information asymmetry and
useful to investor investment decisions when the information are relevant, reliable,
comparable, timely and comprehendible. Thus, this paper aim to refine the
theoretical reasoning associated with information disclosure in Malaysian companies.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Transparent financial disclosure of corporate information is the fundamental

for maximizing shareholder value. It is also the basis for best practices in investor
relations. Maximizing shareholder value is one of the most challenging issues faced
by a company. There are high investments allocated to investor relations activity and
the goal of the company is to generate high rates of return to attract and retain
investors. Obviously, the most direct measure of information disclosure is lower cost
of capital (Botoson and Harris, 2000).
 407

A company that has established on-going relationships with the investors has
something that is of value. This company will have up-to-date investors, and such
investors will arrive at better judgments about the company. A company with
informed and up-to-date investors will usually be a company whose shares will trade
at a fair price over time. Metzker (2002) argues that a positive association between
effective investor relations and the firm’s share price exists since more informative,
timely and accurate disclosures improve the reliability of investors’ valuation models
and build corporate reputation.
Chang, Murphy and Wee (2006) conducted a study on Australian firms using
a web-based survey to rate the firm’s investor relations practices, and found that
continuous disclosure can reduce the information asymmetry and reduce investor
shocks when they receive the negative news during the earnings announcement.
Marston (1996) indicates that effective investor relations involve continuous
voluntary disclosure of company information in the form of annual reports, earnings
forecasts and announcements, proposed investments, governance procedures,
dividends and financing intentions and a wide range of other information, both formal
and informal. Furthermore, investors also concerned on the disclosure of companies’
corporate responsibility practice and those related to the environmental exposure in
which the company operates (Khalid Al-Khater and Kamal Naser, 2003 &
Mustaruddin Saleh, Norhayah Zulkifli, and Rusnah Muhamad, 2010).
Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) stated that credible enforcement will be
charged to the company that breached the bursa listing requirements since investors
are now more aware of their rights and demand the full disclosure of information.
They can easily swing their investments to other companies that able to provide
optimal disclosure information that reduce the investor uncertainty.

THEORY OF INFORMATION DISCLOSURE:

Signaling Theory

Signaling theory define works when one party (company) disseminate the
information to another party (shareholders) in which a company can purposely signal
its future prospects to investors. This theory suggests that, voluntary disclosure is an
important means of signaling sound financial condition and operating results to
shareholders. According to Akerlof (1970) firm will disclose relatively more
information than other firms if the firms gain high earnings than other firms to signal
their superior performance. On the other hands, Healy, Papelu (2001) said that, in
the situation the share price of the company decline, the management has the
opportunity to increase disclosures to correct the market perception and reduce the
information asymmetry. Lev (1992) recommended that continuous information to
shareholders on the company’s news and activities will minimize investor’s surprises
that will reflect on companies’ share prices, especially if the news is negative.
Voluntary disclosure can therefore promote shareholder understanding the company
performance.

Voluntary Disclosure Theory

Voluntary disclosure theory suggests company with superior sustainability

performance will increase the quality of voluntary information to reveal its true
performance and intent to increase its market share (Clarkson et al, 2008). This
theory applies that company reporting behavior is assumed to be driven by
increasing the financial performance, and thus ops for high voluntary disclosure. High
quality disclosure provides more comparable, transparent and reliable to investor.
Company with high sustainability performance will used this theory as model to
 408

compare with low sustainability performance as high voluntary disclosure is difficult to

be copied by companies with low performance.

MALAYSIA HYBRID INFORMATION APPROACH

Malaysia adopted a hybrid approach which blend the prescriptive and non-
prescriptive model. This
approach is in accordance with a “comply or explain” rule set out in the Hampel Repo
rt and similar to the approach currently employed in relation to the Combined Code
on Corporate Governance (United Kingdom), that provide more regulatory flexibility
and business efficacy to strengthen corporate governance practices. Hybrid
approach require companies to comply strictly with mandatory requirement and
where they have not adhered, the companies need to provide the justification. Figure
1 show the laws that governs the information disclosure practice in Malaysia. Hybrid
approach requires a company to comply with mandatory disclosure as stated in
Securities Laws, Companies Act 1965 and Bursa Malaysia Listing Requirement and
allow companies to apply voluntary disclosure requirement as guided in Malaysia
Code of Corporate Governance.

Figure 1 Malaysia Hybrid Information

Source : Bursa Malaysia, 2016

SYMMETRICAL INFORMATION

In economics, symmetric information is deemed as complete information for

both principal and agent. Hence, this section provides symmetric information which
consists of mandatory and voluntary disclosure. The term contract between the agent
and principal refers to a document that that binds the participants. In order for a
contract to be valid, the terms must be verifiable. A variable is said to be verifiable
when its value is observable and can be proved before a court of law.

Mandatory Disclosure

Mandatory disclosure consists of information disclosed in order to comply with

the requirements of laws and regulations (Huiyun and Peng, 2011). These include
company announcements, published accounts and the appointment and removal of
directors. Essentially, investors rely on a number of sources of information when they
are looking for potential investment
A study conducted by Ku Nor Izah Ku Ismail and Roy Chandler (2005) on the
usefulness of quarterly reports to investors indicated that a majority of the investors
 409

used quarterly statements and they felt that the reports were useful in making
investment decisions. The objectives of quarterly financial reporting are to aid
investors in making informed investment decisions, to reduce the investment risk for
investors, to increase the accountability of companies and to enhance companies’
corporate governance.

Voluntary Disclosure

Voluntary disclosure or name as non-financial information is the information

that prepared by a company which is beyond the level mandatory disclosure
requirements reported to the public (Laskin, 2014). Previous research done by
Amihud and Mendelson (1986) and Merton (1987) found that voluntary disclosure
can lead to lower cost of capital and, hence, higher share prices. These mechanisms
include a reduction in transactions costs and an increase in liquidity as a result of
alleviating information asymmetry among investors (Copeland and Galai, 1983).
Marston (1996) indicates that effective investor relations involve continuous
voluntary disclosure of company information in the form of annual reports, earnings
forecasts and announcements, proposed investments, governance procedures,
dividends and financing intentions and a wide range of other information, both formal
and informal. Furthermore, investors also concerned on the disclosure of companies’
corporate responsibility practice and those related to the environmental exposure in
which the company operates (Khalid Al-Khater and Kamal Naser, 2003; Mustaruddin
Saleh, Norhayah Zulkifli, and Rusnah Muhamad, 2010).

Information disclosed by Public Listed companies in Malaysia

The adoption of hybrid approach give flexibility and indeed varying the
disclosure practice in listed companies. Table 1 shows the common disclosure
practice which consist the mandatory information and voluntary information
disclosure.

Table 1 Summary of disclosure practice was adapted from Bursa Malaysia, Investor
Relations Policy, and Malaysia Investor Relations Association (MIRA)

Mandatory Information Voluntary Disclosure

Disclosure

Quarterly financial results Environment, Social and

Governance
Annual Report Innovation
Notice of the Annual General Research and development
Meeting and other shareholders’ projects
meeting
Announcement of dividends and Profit forecasts
payment dates
Announcements on rights issues, Corporate governance generally
bonus issues and return of capital
Announcements on procedures Intellectual capital.
concerning share issues,
conversions, relinquishing of rights,
redemption of debentures
The resignation or appointment of Management Discussion and
the Executive Chairman/ Chief Analysis
Executive Officers/ Managing
Director, Company Secretary,
Company Auditor
 410

INFORMATION DISCLOSURE AND FIRM PERFORMANCE

Signaling theory and voluntary disclosure theory are the principal concept
used in the literature to explain the relationship of information disclosure and firm
performance. In other to confirm this relationship, we used companies with high
quality disclosure focusing on trade and service sector since this sector was the main
contributor to the Malaysian economic.
Table 2 show the list of companies and their performance obtained from
Bursa Malaysia Index (2016). These top companies have been recognized by FTSE
Bursa Malaysia Committee that meet voluntary disclosure practice based on three
indicator; Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria. We used return on
equity (ROE) as indicator to measure the financial performance (Demsetz and Lehn,
1985). Time series analysis was used to compare the performance of the companies
from 2014 to 2015.
ROE is calculated as the net income divided by total equity:
ROE= Net income/Total equity*100

Table 2 Results Showing the Voluntary Disclosure Firm and their Financial
Performance

Companies ROE (%) Difference Performance Indicator

2014 2015 Value Positive value (Increase)
Negative value (Decrease)
Astro 73.08 74.78 1.70 Performance Increase
Axiata 12.05 11.39 -0.66 Performance Decrease
Bumi Armada 3.28 -3.24 -6.51 Performance Decrease
Cahya Mata Sarawak 12.20 12.29 0.09 Performance Increase
GD EXPRESS 23.71 19.86 -3.85 Performance Decrease
CARRIER
KPJ Healthcare 11.36 9.17 -2.19 Performance Decrease
Malaysia Marine 4.94 1.64 -3.29 Performance Decrease
Malaysia Airport 9.04 0.45 -8.58 Performance Decrease
Holdings
Maxis Bhd 36.42 41.50 5.09 Performance Increase
MISC Bhd 7.94 6.98 -0.96 Performance Decrease
MYEG Services 28.25 24.82 -3.43 Performance Decrease
Petronas Dagangan 10.56 15.95 5.39 Performance Increase
Prestariang Berhad 11.83 10.06 -1.78 Performance Decrease
Sime Darby 11.73 7.95 -3.78 Performance Decrease
Telekom Malaysia 10.99 9.00 -1.99 Performance Decrease
Berhad
Tenaga Nasional 14.96 12.96 -2.00 Performance Decrease
UEM Edgenta 13.58 14.95 1.37 Performance Increase
Westports Holdings 29.02 26.61 -2.41 Performance Decrease

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Consistent with voluntary disclosure theory, company with superior

performance will provide high quality disclosure same as low performance company.
The top performer will signal their true performance through extensive disclosure to
attract the investors. On the other hand, based on signaling theory, the company with
poor financial performance have the opportunity to increase disclosures in order to
 411

correct market perception and enhance the shareholder’s confidence. Obviously,

voluntary disclosure can therefore promote shareholder understanding the overall
company current and future performance. Therefore these two theories were able to
explain the firm disclosure pattern. These theories concludes that top company will
disclose more to increase share value (voluntary disclosure theory) and less
performing company will disclose more information to obtain positive investor
perception and to maintain the company reputation (Signaling Theory).

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the-framework-for-discl/

Bursa Malaysia, 2016. Retrieved from

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t_List_071216.pdf

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International Jpurnal of Busimess Communication, Vol. 53 (4) 375-397

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 413

Pembangunan Sosio-Ekonomi Diluar Bandar Negeri Kedah

Nazmi@Nazni Noordin
FSPPP UiTM Cawangan Kedah, 08400, Merbok, Kedah
nazni@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Kamarudin Ngah
School of Government, COLGIS UUM,06010, Sintok, Kedah
kamarudinngah@uum.edu.my

Zaherawati Zakaria
FSPPP UiTM Cawangan Kedah, 08400, Merbok, Kedah
zaherawati@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Adnan Aminuddin
FSPPP UiTM Cawangan Kedah, 08400, Merbok, Kedah
adnan708@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRAK

Semenjak dari Dasar Ekonomi Baru (1971) sehinggalah ke Model Ekonomi Baru
(2011), isu kemiskinan dan pembangunan luar bandar sentiasa menjadi keutamaan
kerajaan Malaysia di dalam mentadbir urus hal ehwal negara. Banyak polisi, program
dan agensi kerajaan serta swasta terlibat secara langsung dan tidak langsung di
dalam usaha untuk mengurangkan kadar kemiskinan di Malaysia. Ini dilakukan
secara berterusan demi memastikan hasrat Wawasan 2020 yang dipaksikan selama
ini boleh dicapai. Lembaga Kemajuan Wilayah Kedah atau Kedah Regional
Development Authority (KEDA) merupakan salah satu agensi kerajaan yang terlibat
di dalam usaha pembasmian kemiskinan ini terutama sekali diluar bandar. Objektif
kajian ini ialah untuk mengenalpasti perubahan yang dialami oleh penduduk-
penduduk luar bandar dari segi pembangunan sosial, pembangunan ekonomi,
pembangunan wanita dan juga pembangunan orang muda di dalam kawasan
operasi KEDA. Skop kajian merangkumi semua sembilan zon KEDA dimana
sebanyak 315 isirumah terlibat didalam soalselidik dan sepuluh orang pegawai
KEDA terlibat didalam sesi temubual untuk tujuan kajian ini. Kaedah campuran (mix
methods) digunakan dimana data akan dianalisa menggunakan perisian SPSS dan
NVivo. Hasil dapatan kajian akan membantu memberi gambaran semasa tentang
sumbangan KEDA didalam membasmi kemiskinan di luar bandar di Kedah dimana
kajian yang serupa telah lama tidak dijalankan semenjak kajian terakhir pada tahun
1994.

Kata kunci: Luar Bandar, Pembangunan Komuniti, Pembangunan Luar Bandar

PENGENALAN

Dari segi sejarah pembangunan di Malaysia, peringkat dan fasa

pembangunan adalah berbeza mengikut zaman dan era kepimpinan semasa. Setiap
pemimpin mempunyai dasar, fokus dan keutamaan yang berbeza, maka fasa-fasa
pembangunan juga adalah berbeza. Sejarah telah merakamkan fasa pembangunan
negara yang diabaikan semasa era penjajahan Jepun dan Kolonial. Ini terjadi kerana
penjajah lebih berminat untuk mengaut hasil bumi negara yang dijajah untuk
 414

kepentingan negara mereka sendiri daripada membangunkan negara yang dijajah

mereka (Jeong Chun Hai, 2007).

Segala usaha untuk membangunkan negara hanya bermula dengan terancang

setelah Malaysia mencapai kemerdekaan pada tahun 1957. Untuk sebuah negara
membangun dengan cepat, pembangunan dibandar dan diluar bandar wajar
diseimbangkan sebaik mungkin. Menyedari jurang yang besar diantara
pembangunan dibandar dan luar bandar, maka sebaik sahaja negara mencapai
kemerdekaan, satu program yang diberi nama Transformasi Pembangunan Luar
Bandar telah diperkenalkan pada tahun 1957. Program ini bertujuan untuk
membangunkan infrastruktur fizikal dan kemudahan-kemudahan asas yang banyak
untuk penduduk-penduduk diluar bandar. Seterusnya pada tahun 1984, satu lagi
program yang diberi nama Pendekatan Baru untuk Desa dan Pembangunan Luar
Bandar telah diperkenalkan dengan tujuan utamanya untuk menambahbaik status
ekonomi penduduk luar bandar disamping dalam masa yang sama mengurangkan
kadar kemiskinan. Program Lonjakan Mega Luar Bandar telah diperkenalkan oleh
kerajaan Malaysia pada tahun 2007 sebagai inisiatif dan usaha untuk mengurangkan
golongan miskin tegar di Malaysia. Program ini mensasarkan 10 ribu ketua keluarga
miskin tegar diseluruh Malaysia dengan menekankan tiga aspek pembangunan
utama iaitu pembangunan modal insan, ekonomi dan infrastruktur.
Sebagai sebuah negara yang sedang berusaha keras untuk mencapai status
negara maju, Malaysia telah membuktikan kepada dunia bahawa program-program
pembangunan negara sentiasa diberi keutamaan di dalam setiap agenda besar
negara. Bermula dari Dasar Ekonomi Baru (1971) sehinggalah kepada Model
Ekonomi Baru (2011), isu-isi kemiskinan dan pembangunan sentiasa menjadi
agenda penting negara.

ISU KAJIAN

Sebagai sebuah negara yang membangun yang bercita-cita untuk menjadi

negara maju sepenuhnya menjelang tahun 2020, Malaysia telah memperkenalkan
banyak program dan projek yang mendokong hasrat dan cita-cita tersebut. Diantara
projek dan program yang telah dan sedang dilaksanakan termasuklah Program
Transformasi Kerajaan, Model Ekonomi Baru dan Rancangan Malaysia keSebelas
(RMK11). Pengisian program dan projek ini membuktikan yang kerajaan Malaysia
amat bersungguh-sungguh di dalam membasmi kemiskinan dan seterusnya
membangunkan negara, samada dibandar mahupun diluar bandar.
Di dalam memastikan yang pembangunan luar bandar seimbang dengan
pembangunan di bandar, banyak usaha dan peruntukan telah dilakukan oleh pihak
pemerintah. Namun begitu, tidak semua usaha dan peruntukan yang dilaburkan
memberi impak yang diharapkan oleh pihak pemerintah. Mengikut data dari Jabatan
Statistik Malaysia, 2013 dan juga Unit Perancangan Ekonomi yang dilaporkan di
bawah Statistik Sosio Ekonomi, Jadual 6: Kadar Kemiskinan oleh Etnik, Strata dan
Negeri, Malaysia, 1970 – 2009, kaum Bumiputra telah direkodkan sebagai kelompok
yang tertinggi dari segi kemiskinan kaum (5.3%) berbanding dengan kaum India
(2.5%) dan kaum Cina (0.6%). Berdasarkan strata pula, kawasan luar bandar seperti
yang dijangka, mencatat rekod kemiskinan tertinggi sebanyak 8.4% berbanding di
bandar yang hanya sebanyak 1.7%. Jika merujuk kepada negeri-negeri di
Semenanjung Malaysia pula, carta kemiskinan diungguli oleh negeri Perlis sebanyak
6%, diikuti oleh negeri Kedah di tangga kedua sebanyak 5.3%. Untuk rekod
kemiskinan tegar, Kedah dan Kelantan mencatatkan rekod sebagai dua negeri yang
teratas untuk peratusan tertinggi (1.3%) kemiskinan tegar di Semenanjung Malaysia.
Dengan merujuk kepada rekod dan statistik diatas, jelas sekali negeri Kedah
tersenarai didalam kedua-dua kategori rekod tertinggi didalam carta kemiskinan dan
 415

kemiskinan tegar di Semenanjung Malaysia. Pencapaian ini bukanlah sesuatu yang

boleh dibanggakan oleh agensi-agensi yang telah diamanahkan oleh kerajaan negeri
dan persekutuan untuk membasmi kemiskinan dan pembangunan di negeri Kedah.
Banyak pihak, jabatan, dan agensi yang terlibat untuk tujuan tersebut, contohnya
Lembaga Kemajuan Wilayah Kedah (Kedah Regional Development Authority atau
KEDA), Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat (KEMAS), Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA),
Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JAKOA), Pihak Berkuasa Kemajuan Pekebun Kecil
Perusahaan Getah (RISDA), FELCRA dan Lembaga Kemajuan Pertanian Muda
(Muda Agricultural Development Authority atau MADA) tetapi kajian ini lebih terarah
kepada KEDA kerana operasi agensi ini merangkumi lebih daripada 89 peratus dari
negeri Kedah.
Sebagai sebuah agensi kerajaan yang dipertanggungjawapkan untuk
membangun dan memajukan sebahagian besar negeri Kedah, sudah tentulah
tanggungjawap itu amat berat, tambah-tambah lagi dengan rekod Kedah sebagai
salah sebuah negeri yang mencatatkan rekod tertinggi kadar kemiskinan dan
kemiskinan tegar di Semenanjung Malaysia. Ini secara tidak langsung memberi
impak yang kurang baik kepada usaha-usaha pembangunan di negeri Kedah. KEDA
secara dasarnya telah menjalankan pelbagai program pembangunan mencakupi
program pembasmian kemiskinan, program pembangunan industri kecil dan
sederhana dan keusahawanan, program pembangunan desa tradisional dan
perumahan untuk golongan yang kurang bernasib baik, program pembangunan
modal insan, latihan kemahiran, pembangunan infrastruktur dan juga program
kemudahan pembangunan sosial yang lain.
Dengan segala usaha dan kesungguhan KEDA menjalankan semua program-
program tersebut, sudah tentulah hasilnya sedikit sebanyak dapat membantu negeri
Kedah di dalam menangani isu kemiskinan dan pembangunan di negeri Kedah.
Namun begitu, penilaian kejayaan program-program tersebut di peringkat mikro
kurang diberi penekanan (Kamarudin Ngah, 1997; Young & Salih, 1985) walaupun
terdapat usaha penilaian secara umum di peringkat kebangsaan telah dijalankan
oleh kerajaan persekutuan. Untuk ini, kajian ini berhasrat untuk mengisi jurang dalam
kajian di peringkat mikro terutama sekali terhadap sumbangan KEDA di negeri
Kedah.

OBJEKTIF KAJIAN

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui perubahan yang dialami oleh

penduduk-penduduk luar bandar dari segi pembangunan sosial, pembangunan
ekonomi, pembangunan wanita dan juga pembangunan orang muda di dalam
kawasan operasi KEDA. Seterusnya kajian ini juga bertujuan untuk mendapatkan
pandangan dan pendapat penduduk yang terlibat tentang keperluan kesinambungan
kewujudan KEDA dikawasan mereka dan yang terakhir adalah untuk mendapatkan
cadangan dan buah fikiran dari penduduk yang terlibat tentang program yang sesuai
dengan mereka di dalam membantu mereka keluar dari kepompong kemiskinan
yang selama ini membelenggu mereka.

KEPENTINGAN KAJIAN

Dapatan kajian ini diharapkan akan dapat membantu kerajaan persekutuan,

kerajaan negeri, agensi-agensi yang terlibat di dalam membasmi kemiskinan dan
membangunkan kawasan luar bandar terutama sekali KEDA, didalam membuat
penilaian kejayaan program-program yang telah dijalankan pada skala mikro dan
spesifik berbanding penemuan secara umum diperingkat nasional. Penduduk-
penduduk yang terlibat juga dapat disedarkan akan kepentingan penyertaan mereka
 416

di dalam setiap program yang dilaksanakan demi memastikan pelaburan yang dibuat
oleh kerajaan kepada mereka adalah berbaloi.

SKOP KAJIAN

Skop kajian ini merangkumi kesemua sembilan zon dibawah kawasan operasi
KEDA, iaitu, Zon Langkawi, Zon Padang Terap, Zon Kota Setar/Pendang/Pokok
Sena, Zon Sik, Zon Baling, Zon Kulim, Zon Kuala Muda/Yan, Zon Kubang Pasu, dan
Zon Bandar Baharu (Rujuk Rajah1).

Rajah 1 Zon-Zon Operasi KEDA

KAJIAN LEPAS

Acharya, Yoshino, Jimba dan Wakai (2005) di dalam kajian mereka bertajuk
Empowering rural women through a community development approach in Nepal,
memberi tumpuan kepada kesan pembangunan di luar bandar terhadap kumpulan
sasaran iaitu kaum wanita dimana mereka menilai sejauh manakah kesan
pembangunan tersebut terhadap pembangunan sosial, ekonomi dan pembangunan
diri wanita itu sendiri; adakah kehidupan mereka lebih baik, sama sahaja atau lebih
teruk selepas melalui beberapa program pembangunan yang telah dilaksanakan oleh
pihak-pihak berkuasa yang telah dilantik oleh kerajaan Nepal. Diantara dapatan
kajian tersebut, pengkaji telah membuat rumusan yang diantara lain menyatakan
bahawa untuk memastikan kejayaan setiap program yang dilaksanakan, kelompok
kumpulan yang dipilih mestilah mempunyai kesedaran tentang perlunya untuk
mereka berubah dan ini dapat dicapai bilamana kumpulan tersebut mempunyai
 417

tahap literasi yang memuaskan supaya mereka lebih mudah mendapatkan maklumat
yang diperlukan untuk berubah. Menurunkan dan memberi kuasa kepada kaum
wanita di dalam kajian kes ini juga memberi impak yang tinggi di dalam
keberkesanan program yang dijalankan oleh pihak berkuasa yang terlibat. Latihan-
latihan kemahiran secara berterusan dilihat berupaya membimbing kaum wanita
tersebut untuk menggunakan kuasa yang diberi untuk menentukan bentuk program
yang sesuai dengan keupayaan mereka di dalam mengubah nasib mereka di luar
bandar agar keluar dari kepompong kemiskinan dan seterusnya dapat memajukan
diri sendiri dari segi ekonomi, sosial dan sebagainya.
Satu kajian di Malaysia yang telah dilakukan oleh Ibrahim Ngah (2012) yang
telah dinukilkan di dalam kertas pembentangannya yang bertajuk Rural
transformations development: a review on Malaysia’s transformation program,
membicarakan secara makro tentang konsep pembangunan luar bandar di peringkat
kebangsaan dengan berlandaskan program-program transformasi negara termasuk
Program Transformasi Ekonomi (ETP) dan Pusat Transformasi Luar Bandar (RTC).
Ibrahim Ngah menyatakan yang pembangunan Transformasi Luar Bandar
memerlukan perubahan minda dikedua-dua belah pihak; penyedia perkhidmatan
(agensi yang dipertanggungjawap) dan juga penerima perkhidmatan (kelompok
sasaran). Program-program yang hendak dijalankan perlulah difahami oleh kedua-
dua belah pihak, dipersetujui bersama, dibuat berdasarkan keperluan setempat,
keputusan yang diambil dimaklumkan kepada yang terlibat dan juga kelompok
sasaran diberi sedikit ruang dan kebebasan untuk menentukan apa yang terbaik
untuk mereka dan bukannya ditentukan oleh agen pelaksana.
Satu lagi kajian yang telah dijalankan oleh Yalegama, Chileshe dan Ma
(2016) di Sri Lanka tertumpu di dalam mengenalpasti faktor-faktor kritikal yang
menyokong kejayaan sesuatu pembangunan komuniti diluar bandar dari sudut dan
pandangan komuniti itu sendiri. Pengkaji telah membuat kesimpulan dari dapatan
kajian yang tiga faktor kritikal yang diperlukan ialah persekitaran masyarakat yang
menyokong, pengurusan dan penilaian hasil projek oleh seseorang yang dihormati
dari komuniti itu sendiri dan yang terakhir ialah penglibatan aktif masyarakat
setempat disepanjang proses pelaksanaan projek dan program yang dijalankan.

METODOLOGI KAJIAN

Penyelidikan ini menggunakan kajian kes sebagai reka bentuk kajian dengan
menggunakan kaedah campuran sebagai kaedah penyelidikan. Rangka sampel isi
rumah terdiri dari kesemua isi rumah di sembilan zon dibawah kawasan operasi
KEDA. Saiz sampel ialah sebanyak 315 isi rumah dengan menggunakan kaedah
Rules of Thumb yang diperkenalkan oleh Roscoe (1975) dimana beliau menyatakan
untuk sesuatu kajian, jumlah saiz sampel hendaklah tidak kurang dari 30 dan tidak
lebih dari 500. Maka saiz sampel untuk kajian ini sudah memenuhi syarat kaedah
tersebut.
Sebanyak 35 isi rumah akan dipilih secara rawak untuk mewakili setiap zon di
sembilan zon di dalam kawasan operasi KEDA. Ini bermakna 35 isi rumah di darab
dengan sembilan zon, hasilnya ialah 315 isi rumah yang terlibat dengan kajian ini.
Pengumpulan data akan menggunakan borang soal selidik untuk setiap isi
rumah yang terlibat manakala kaedah temu bual peribadi secara bersemuka akan
dilakukan terhadap sepuluh (10) orang Pegawai Kanan KEDA.
Analisa data akan dibahagikan kepada dua bahagian iaitu kuantitatif dan
kualitatif. Untuk analisa data kuantitatif, Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS) akan digunakan manakala perisian NVivo pula akan digunakan untuk analisa
data kualitatif (Bazeley, 2011).
 418

KESIMPULAN

Sebagai kesimpulannya, diharapkan agar hasil dapatan kajian ini akan dapat
membantu memberi gambaran semasa tentang sumbangan KEDA didalam
membasmi kemiskinan dan pembangunan di luar bandar di Kedah dimana kajian
yang serupa telah lama tidak dijalankan semenjak kajian terakhir pada tahun 1994.

PENGHARGAAN

Kajian yang akan dijalankan ini adalah kerjasama diantara Fakulti Sains
Pentadbiran dan Pengajian Polisi, UiTM Cawangan Kedah bersama dengan School
of Government, Kolej Undang-Undang, Kerajaan dan Pengajian Antarabangsa (UUM
COLGIS), Sintok, Kedah.

RUJUKAN

Acharya, S., Yoshino, E., Jimba, M., & Wakai, S. (2005). Empowering rural women
through a community development approach in Nepal. Community
Development Journal, 42 (1), 34-46. Retrieved from
http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/doi/10.1093/cdj/bsi064.

Bazeley, P. (2011). Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo. London: SAGE

Publications Ltd.Ibrahim Ngah (2012, December). Rural transformations
development: a review on Malaysia’s transformation program. Paper
presented at the International Conference on Social Sciences & Humanities
(ICOSH) UKM 2012.

Jeong Chun Hai (2007), Fundamental of Development Administration. Kangar, Perlis:

Percetakan Perlis.

Kamarudin Ngah (1997). The Traditional Village Development Approach to Regional

Development in Malaysia: A Case Study of PERDA (Penang Regional
Development Authority) (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Bradford,
West Yorkshire, England.

Roscoe, J.T. (1975). Fundamental research statistics for the behavioral sciences
(2nd ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Yalegama, S., Chileshe, N., & Ma, T. (2016). Critical success factors for community-
driven development projects: A Sri Lankan community perspective.
International Journal of Project Management, 34 (2016), 643-659. Elsevier Ltd.
Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2016.02.006 0263-
7863/00/.

Young, Mei Ling and Salih, Kamal (1985), National urban policy and decentralization
strategies: The case of Malaysia, paper presented at the Conference on
Urbanization and Urban Policies: Lesson from East and South-East Asian
experience, Bali, Indonesia, 9-13 Dec.
 419

Medical Tourism Industry in Malaysia: An Overview

Nur Alia Binti Azmi
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam Selangor
nralaz.94@gmail.com

Dr. Suseela Devi A/P S.Chandran

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam Selangor
saisuseela@gmail.com

Dr. Hajah Fadilah Binti Hj Puteh

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam Selangor
fadilahputeh@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Medical tourism is a new emerging industry. It is defined as an activity in which

individuals have the intention to get medical treatment whether by traveling within the
native country or abroad. Malaysia has become a medical tourism destination for
patients from all hemispheres, especially the Middle East nations as the destination
of choice for a wide range of medical services and surgical procedures that are
comply with Islamic practices. Nevertheless, literature and studies on the
development and impact of medical tourism in the Malaysia context are limited. As
such, this paper intends to discover the development of medical tourism in Malaysia.
This paper also analyzes the Malaysian Halal Hub as one of the factors that
contributes to the development of medical tourism. Hence, it will be an eye opener for
the relevant government bodies to tighten or improve this multi-billion dollar industry
and enable it to compete effectively with the neighboring countries.

Keywords: medical tourism, health industry, health tourism.

INTRODUCTION

Over the last 10 years or so, medical tourism has been rising immensely as a
global industry especially in developing countries (Han, 2013). In the Asian
continent, medical tourism is expanding rapidly in which countries are competing
intensely through services efforts and marketing strategies globally (Connell, 2013).
The global phenomenon on medical tourism is highly concentrated in countries such
as the United Kingdom, the United States, India, and Malaysia. Studies on medical
tourism explain particularly on its implications on economic, demand and supply of
the medical tourism trade, the involvement of the state, and the advantages and
disadvantages of the development of medical tourism with other countries. According
to Hin et. al, (2013) on medical tourism covers on the comparison of competitiveness
between countries via strategic marketing.
Past studies that were conducted internationally on medical tourism revealed
that there is no consistent definition of medical tourism and it is subjected to open
interpretations. Here, several definitions given by various authors are given here.
According to, Lubowiecki-vikukm (2010), the definition of medical tourism is “An
aware activity, whereby a medical tourist intends to obtain healthcare services,
whether in his or her native nation or in a foreign country to preserve (or get) a
 420

healthier health condition, to preserve (or get) appealing appearance of his or her
own body which occasionally is joined with relaxation, restoration of physical and
mental strength, sightseeing and entertainment"(p.186).
While Lunt et.al, (2011) explains medical tourism as "Medical tourism is
referring to individuals that are selected to travel through international borders to
accept any types of medical cure which may have varieties of medical service, for
example, dental treatment. However, to set a line of what is health and counts as
medical tourism for the purposes of trade accounts is not straightforward. Within this
scope of medical treatment, not all would be included within health trade. Cosmetic
surgery, for example is an artistic reason rather than reconstructive reasons,
therefore, it is to be believed outside the health scope".
On the other hand, medical tourism as defines by McKinsey (2008) is "Once an
individual, who has a purpose in migrating to a foreign nation is to get a medical
treatment, not including emergency tourists, wellness tourists, expatriates (a person
who lives outside their native country), patients traveling to neighboring regions to the
closest available care."
Carrera and Bridges (2006) offer the term of medical tourism as “The
organized travel outside one’s natural healthcare jurisdiction for the enhancement or
restoration of the individual’s health through medical intervention”.
Based on review of literature, there is no consistent definition of medical
tourism and it is subjected to open interpretations. Nevertheless, for the purpose of
this research, the definition Carrera and Bridges (2006) is used as it fits with the
current scenario of the medical tourism industry. One can summarize that medical
tourism refers to an activity which individuals have the intention to get medical
treatment whether it would be traveling inside of the native country or abroad.

DEVELOPMENT OF GLOBAL MEDICAL TOURISM: AN OVERVIEW

The history of medical tourism took place during the Greek and the Roman
times (Meštrović, 2016). During the Greek times, for example, medical tourism
started off with the emergence of spas and wellness retreat where mineral thermal
springs and baths were extremely famous (Li.et.al, 2016). This was due to the fact
that baths were believed to be as sacred and connected the people to their gods.
When the 19th Century emerged, most of the religious beliefs about baths were
associated with medical tourism were reduced and baths were substituted with hot
springs which were mostly intended for hydrotherapy. Hydrotherapy was known to
many tourists to cure variety of sicknesses namely rheumatic diseases and nervous
conditions (Routh.et.al, 1996). It was in the 19th Century as well, that the
advancement brought about several other services such as vaporization which was
promoted extensively.
By the time it was the 20th Century, medical tourism was already widely known
in the world. The 20th Century was the century of innovation in the medical tourism
arena. Countries such as Brazil created their own specialties in the medical field.
Jamaica or Cuba, for an instance were becoming famous for cosmetics procedures
because they are experts in that procedure in Latin countries. Henceforth, the 20th
Century has witnessed the expansion of medical tourism from North America to
Europe and Asia. Current 21st Century sees most of the nations have participated in
medical tourism actively (Stolley & Watson, 2012) mainly in activities related to travel
and hosting a tourist who stays at least one night at the destination region, for the
purpose of maintaining, improving or restoring health through medical intervention
(Musa et.al, 2012). It encompasses of cross borders or traveling to other countries for
a medical cure.
Medical tourism, in the 21st century, is constantly developing, striving and has
become a vast yet distinguished and independent of the tourism industry. This is a
 421

direct response to high technologies involvement, people's need of health treatment

at all times and many opportunities for health resources. The main causes of medical
tourism development is due to the progress of treatment costs, limited financial
resources and lack of treatment in the native countries (Popescu, 2015). Chiaraah
and Nkegbe (2014) reported that 40% of patients who travel abroad to seek for
medical treatment is due to the advanced technologies in the host countries.
Meanwhile 32% of them seek for better medical treatment, 15% because of longer
waiting period, and 9% of tourists who travelled abroad is due to low medical costs.
Individuals travel to other countries for different purposes and majority of those
purposes are not available in their respective countries.
Many countries have doubled their efforts to enhance the medical tourism
production in the eyes of the world. Investments are made for technologies and
medicines, accreditations are given out to qualified hospitals and health experts and
infrastructure is being improvised to fit for the medical tourism. Even though today
Asian nations are leading the pack, a few Latin countries such as Romania and
Costa Rica have also taken a toll to be on top of the leading board in the industry
(Popescu, 2015). This industry has both supply and demands factor that stimulate its
growth. Several countries such as Columbia, Pakistan, China, Bolivia, and Brazil are
aggressively marketing for donating organs (Turner, 2008) while the South East
Asian countries are focusing on cardiac surgery (Leng et.al, 2007) also, spas and
wellness retreat (Dahlui & Aziz, 2012).
As mentioned earlier, medical tourism can be carried out inside or outside of a
native country. In general, there are three (3) types of medical tourism known as
domestic medical tourism, cross-border medical tourism and diaspora medical travel
(Munro, 2012). Domestic medical tourism also termed as local medical tourism is
when individuals travel to from one state to another within his or her native nation for
medical treatment. Initially, the term "domestic medical tourism" was used in the
United States for its citizens to travel across the state borders for medical purposes
(Munro, 2012). This term reflects the patient who travels from one city to another city
in the United States or from one state to another state within the United States. The
main reasons for domestic medical tourism are low costs or unavailability of medical
care. What distinguished between domestic against cross-border medical tourism is
the distance in which it is shorter and faster than the cross-border medical tourism.
Not only that, domestic medical tourism also involves minimum foreign exchanged to
develop (Scheyvens, 2007).
The second type of medical tourism is the “cross- border medical tourism”. This
type of medical tourism is famously used within the European Union whereby
workers, migrants, and retirees would travel from one Europe nation to another for
medical treatment (Munro, 2012). It requires individuals to travel a longer distance
than just their neighboring countries. For instance, the United States citizens would
travel to Singapore for its high quality hospitals and its low costs compared to the
costs in the United States (Herrick, 2007). Today, cross – border medical tourism
term has been globalized into "medical tourism" and it has become immensely
popular in the last 10 years and has become a global industry especially in the
developing countries (Han, 2013). It is expanding rapidly (Connell, 2013) especially
in the Asia continent in which countries are competing through services efforts and
marketing strategies globally. In most developed countries such the United Kingdom,
individuals cannot meet the expense of the medical treatment and services that are
being offered would go for better options with low costs of medical treatment in Asia
countries like Malaysia and Thailand (Kumar & Raj, 2015). According to KPMG
International (2014), India has become one of the most pursued destinations for
medical tourists due to its high quality healthcare, health specialists and availability of
traditional complementary medicine.
The third type of medical tourism is “Diaspora medical travel”, whereby medical
travel agencies have established a distinctive medical travel programs for individuals
 422

that are linked with cultural ties or family roots in a medical destination (Munro,
2012). This type of medical tourism is usually used by the first or second generation
of immigrants and they can travel either domestically or internationally. For instance,
the diaspora medical tourism was carried out by the Somalian expatriates committee
in the United States where they financed the patients to receive medical treatment in
Germany (Lunt et.al, 2015). More often, diaspora medical tourism is conducted within
the society that shares similarities in terms of the family environment, language and
have lower expectations of treatment or care. Diaspora medical tourism is a different
type of medical tourism and can be further analyzed in this study. Several less
developing nations, including Malaysia, have not yet explored enough in diaspora
medical tourism and therefore producing limited gains. Based on Newland (2011)
and Scheyvens (2007) studies, it can be concluded that this type of medical tourism
highlighted two major advantages. Firstly, it may possibly involve a more precise use
of infrastructure and offer more employment opportunities (Scheyvens, 2007).
Secondly, it may offers large geographical expansion of tourism within the country
(Newland, 2011). To relate back to this study, it has been confirmed Malaysia is now
leading in Asia for medical tourism, especially attracting the Middle East countries
(Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, 2017)however, little exploratory studies have
been done. Therefore, this paper intends to discuss about the development and
antecedent factors of medical tourism in Malaysia.

MEDICAL TOURISM IN MALAYSIA: AN OVERVIEW

Malaysia is a leading nation in the world for medical tourism and has been
making a huge stride in the industry for over a decade. The history of medical tourism
in Malaysia started after the decolonization of British in 1957 and has set one of the
best records in Asia (Ormond et. al 2014) and from the 60 years of efforts in medical
tourism, Malaysia has set one of the best records in Asia (Dahlui & Aziz, 2012).
However, studies have shown that Malaysia started to promote medical tourism
heavily after the Debt crisis that hit South East Asia countries in 1997 which caused
the performance of medical tourism to plummet. Since then, the Malaysia
government started to promote the medical tourism in 1998 as to branch out both of
its healthcare and tourism sectors (Moghavvemi et al., 2016). One of the
mechanisms that both the government and the private sector took was to attract the
neighboring countries as well as countries from other parts of the world, for an
instance, the Middle-Eastern countries (Ormond et al., 2014). Now, its reputation as
one of the famous destinations in medical tourism is known to the world due to its
modern private health care facilities and good health experts. Furthermore, Malaysia
has been promoting medical tourism heavily through the campaigns up to 80%
compared to the developed nations (Zappei, 2015). With that, it is possible that all of
the initiatives above have become the goal for Malaysia to become the number one
choice in medical tourism destination (Irsyad, 2016).
The reason of Malaysia to be placed first as a medical tourism destination is
also based on several factors. Most studies would state Malaysia has low medical
cost and modern infrastructure facilities compare to other countries (Mujani et al.,
2012). Hazilah and Manaf, (2009) stated that s countries in Asia which are India,
Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea have several best
hospitals in the world as well as, has up to date technologies and medical experts to
offer excellence medical services. Sarwar (2013) concurs with the previous studies
about the prospect and challenges of medical tourism in Malaysia are on destination
competitiveness, service quality, and customer services. Sarwar found that
destination competitiveness was proven to be the strongest among the three
elements. However, Sarwar did not offer a clear definition on destination
competitiveness.
 423

Nevertheless, based on the explanations and examples given in the literature,

the implied meaning of destination competitiveness is an unique characteristics of a
nation that attracts the medical tourists to visit through promotions in various means.
Based on (Mujani et al., 2012), low medical cost and modern infrastructure facilities
are all under the destination competitiveness element, which causes attractions for
the medical tourists to visit Malaysia.
It is also important to note that destination competitiveness is more than just
comprised of low medical costs and modern infrastructure facilities. Dahlui and Aziz (
2012) argued that the Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM) or alternative
medicine in Malaysia is part of destination competitiveness. According to National
Policy of Traditional & Complementary Medicine Ministry of Health Malaysia in 2007,
Traditional and Complementary Medicine or TCM is a practice of health-related that
is aimed to either preserve, prevent, treat, or manage illnesses as well as the mental
and physical well-being of individuals (TCM Division, 2011). TCM may comprise of a
combination of health practice of various cultures and cultures that are outside of the
society's tradition. These practices comprises of traditional Malay medicine, Islamic
medical practice, traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Indian medicine,
homeopathy, and complementary therapies, and excludes medical or dental
practices utilized by registered medical or dental practitioners (TCM Division, 2011).
In developing countries today, including Malaysia, individuals may take TCM to
combine with their conventional medical treatment.
Aside from TCM, the medical tourist's intention to visit Malaysia for medical
treatment is important and is closely related to destination competitiveness. A study
by Ai et.al (2016), highlighted three hypothesis The first hypothesis is attitude
positively influences to predict foreign tourists’ intention to visit Malaysia for medical
treatments purposes; the second hypotheses is subjective norm will positively
influences foreign tourists’ intention to visit Malaysia for medical treatments purposes
and the third hypothesis is perceived behavior control will have positive significant
association to predict foreign tourists’ intention to visit Malaysia for medical
treatments purposes (Ai et al., 2016). These hypothesis were to seek the basic
factors that may cause medical tourists to visit Malaysia. Using the Theory Plan
Behavior (TPB) as the theoretical framework, the result revealed that attitude of the
medical tourist's influences strongly and positively the medical tourist's intention to
visit Malaysia for medical purposes. Therefore, the analogy that can be drawn from
this study is that, if medical tourists are satisfied with their medical treatment in
Malaysia, they will automatically draw to seek Malaysia again for medical treatment.
What can be concluded based on previous studies is that, destination
competitiveness in Malaysia have made and is still able to make Malaysia stand out
more in the medical tourism industry compared to other Asia nations. From here,
there are distinctive push and pull factors of medical tourism in Malaysia, which have
helped to contribute to its development. The push and pull factors are different from
one another, yet still have the link with medical tourism. The next section explains
how the Halal Hub in Malaysia is one of a factor in setting Malaysia as an attractive
medical tourism destination.

HALAL HUB AS KEY IMPORTANT FACTOR

To begin with, the amount of inbound tourists to Malaysia in 2012 to 2014

constantly increased from 25,032,708 to 27,437,315. With an average of one to two
million foreign visitors per month from 2012 until 2014, there was a substantive
growth and the most significant growth was in 2014. However, data collected by the
Malaysian Tourist Board indicated a decreased of tourist's arrivals to 25,721,251 in
2015 from 27,437,315 in 2014. This reveals tourist's arrivals declined by 6.0% from
2014 to 2015. Furthermore, based on 25.70 million tourists, 3.4% of the tourists were
 424

patients and were seeking medical treatment in Malaysia in 2015 (Tourism Malaysia,
2015). The health tourism percentage, has dropped to 3.7% in 2015 compare to
2014 (Tourism Malaysia, 2015) , however it does not waver the fact that Malaysia is
one of the most sought after destination for medical tourism.
Under medical tourism, Malaysia has a strong correlation with the Halal Hub
Malaysia. Set as a Muslim nation with continuous political, economic and social
development, Malaysia is also a leader in the world's halal industry. Malaysia is a
founder in the halal industry which started in 1974 to issue halal accreditation to
products and institutions that reach the halal criteria (Islamic Tourism Centre of
Malaysia, 2017). However, the rapid growth of the Halal industry in Malaysia has
encouraged the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) to extend its
halal division into a larger organization in 2005 following the emergence of its official
name: JAKIM’s Halal Hub (Islamic Tourism Centre of Malaysia, 2017). Therefore,
JAKIM is the world’s first halal certification agency that is liable to monitor the halal
industry and to lead the amendment of Malaysia’s Trade Description Act 2011.
Besides that, JAKIM’s accreditation program for international Halal organizations is
strict and is sought-after by other nations through bilateral halal system recognition
program (Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), 2016). Based on the bilateral
halal system recognition program, the Malaysia Halal logo is the most sought-after
and an internationally-recognized trademark that functions as a symbol for the
Malaysia's reputation as the world’s leading halal hub for many industries including
the medical tourism industry
Under the medical tourism in Malaysia, the Halal Hub serves not only halal
accreditation hospitals, but also halal health medical treatments to the patients from
Muslim countries. For example, Malaysia use bovine based insulin and gelatin-based
products and sutures to treat Muslim patients. Besides that, pharmacies in Malaysia
also advise patients of halal products (Leong, 2014). Moreover, based on Leong
(2014), a pharmaceutical corporation in Malaysia, Halal Industry Development Corp,
is developing the world’s first halal vaccines for meningitis and hepatitis to be ready
for use in 2017.
Furthermore, Malaysia has aim to attract more health tourists from the Middle
East countries, especially, Oman. Malaysia has established a government to
government treaties with Oman, Libya and Kazakhstan to send patients over to
Malaysia (Maierbrugger, 2015). This will offer an advantage to Malaysia's
development in medical tourism and to the foreign patients. Besides that, several
health institutions in Malaysia, for example, KPJ and Ramsay Sime Darby Health
Care Group have agents in Oman through which health travel arrangement are
made. According to the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) (2015), there is
50% growth annually of Omani patients travelling to Malaysia, and within the
Malaysia-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) framework agreement, Oman is presently
ranked third as a source nation for health tourists to Malaysia behind Saudi Arabia
and the UAE (Tourism Malaysia, 2015).
Besides that, MHTC participated in the 4th International Medical & Health
Care Exhibition & Conference 2016 (IMTEC Oman) and the 8th Riyadh Travel Fair
2016 to exhibit Malaysia as a health care destination for Middle East tourists
(Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), 2016). This has strengthened the
relationship between Malaysia and the Middle East countries under medical tourism
development as Malaysia aim to attract more Middle East patients to Malaysia.
Nevertheless, the Halal Hub and medical tourism in Malaysia are tied together to
become a pillar of Malaysia's development. Therefore, the Halal Hub does play a big
role in the development of medical tourism in Malaysia, whereby, for a Muslim
medical patient to decide whether to visit Malaysia for medical treatment, the patient
would seek whether the services and institutions provided are parallel with Islamic
practices.
 425

ANALYSIS

The previous section explained how the Halal Hub in Malaysia is linked
together with medical tourism. The Halal Hub in Malaysia has become a very
important factor for medical tourism. Subsequently, Malaysia, has opened many
global market opportunities to expand its economy and social development and those
opportunities in helping to promote Malaysia as a top destination. With that, this
section is proposing to analyze the development of medical tourism in Malaysia
through the Halal Hub in Malaysia.
The term “halal" under medical tourism is translated as lawful or legitimate
(Al-Qaradawi, 2007). "Halal" also means that, it is strictly prohibited for unnecessary
physical contact even handshakes between adults of different gender who are not
related. ever, forbid unnecessary touching (Al-Shahri, 2002). The physical contact is
only allowed when performing a medical treatment and within individuals of the same
gender (Halligan, 2006). Not only that, medical products and instruments under
medical treatment must comply with Islam's principles, for example, the products
must be free of gelatin and porcine (Maierbrugger, 2015).
The Muslim population around the world was approximately 1.7 billion in 2014
and is predicted to increase to 2.2 billion by the year 2030. Every year, the total
Muslim population is constantly to developing at 1.5%, which is just about twice the
growth speed of non-Muslim populations (Reuters, 2014). The development of the
Muslim population started after the September 11 incident which left a negative
impact towards the image of Islam around the world. Hence, this has brought to the
emergence of Muslim products that are parallel with Islamic principles (Potrafke,
2012), to recover back the good image of Islam. This circumstance also gave huge
opportunities for the healthcare industry to market Islamic friendly hospitals to Muslim
medical tourists. For example, in 2008, India has successfully managed to attract
1.11 million Muslims medical tourists from neighboring nations including Pakistan
and Bangladesh, as well as the Middle East countries and Africa (Medhekar & Haq,
2010).
Moreover, similar to what has been found out in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
through its development in medical tourism. According to Khan and Alam (2014), the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have strategies that nations pay little attention today, which
are the hybrid of religious and medical tourism. A hybrid of religious and medical
tourism is to combine the culture and religious attractions and values in the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia and combined them with medical tourism, which, it is the main force
of the growth of medical tourism in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Compare Khan and
Alam's paper with Malaysia's development of medical tourism, it is clear that there is
a similar hybrid of religious attraction and medical tourism in Malaysia. The religious
attraction in Malaysia is the Halal Hub.

CONCLUSION

This paper offers an in-depth deliberation of medical tourism development as

well as factors that triggers medical tourism in Malaysia. An overview of global
medical tourism and Malaysia's medical tourism were explained to underline the
current status quo of medical tourism in today's era and in Malaysia, respectively.
Besides that, the factor that led to the development of medical tourism here is Halal
Hub in Malaysia. This research also explores the link between Malaysia's Halal Hub
and the medical tourism. Furthermore, this paper highlighted an unique feature halal
tourism hub with respect to medical tourism development in Malaysia.
 426

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Human Resource Management Practices vs Organizational

Commitment: In-depth Insight in MPSPK
Adnan Aminuddin
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah Brach 08400 Merbok,
Kedah Malaysia
adnan708@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Zaherawati Zakaria, PhD

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah Brach 08400 Merbok,
Kedah Malaysia
zaherawati@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nazni Noordin
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah Brach 08400 Merbok,
Kedah Malaysia
nazni@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Good human resource management (HRM) practices are very important to retain and attract
workforce and also to boost commitment among employee. Despite having granted with
autonomy in its HRM, local government been viewed negatively by the locals. Thus, this
study tends to identify the relationship between the HRM practices and the organizational
commitment (OC) at Majlis Perbandaran Sungai Petani Kedah (MPSPK). The objectives of
this research is to know the pattern of OC, to identify the relationship between the HRM
practices and OC, and to identify the most influential factor that lead to OC. A self-
administered questionnaire will be used as the instrument and the data will be analyzed by
using Mean Value, Pearson Correlation and Multiple Regression Analysis in SPSS. The
findings indicated that all independent variables tested were positively related with the OC.
Above all, the Organizational Support proved to be the most influential domain towards OC
among employees in MPSPK.

Keywords: Human Resource Management Practices, Training and development, Fair

Rewards, Organizational Support and Organizational Commitment

INTRODUCTION

Organizational commitment refers to employees’ loyalty to the organization, their

willingness to work on behalf of the organization, degree of their goal and value congruency
with the organization and their desire to maintain membership (Maheshwari, Bhat, and
Somen, 2006). Recently, a survey released by US Research and Management Consulting
Firm Leadership found that the higher level of commitment among workers, the harder they
worked, while lower levels of commitment caused significant loss of workers (Want Chinese
Times, 2012). In addition, the Human Resource Minister of Malaysia highlighted that there
are lots of youngsters turning down job and job hopping. He also added that the lower wages
could be one of the reasons for the problem (The Star, 2012). According to Adnan et al.,
(2012), in spite of having autonomous power in human resource practice, the local
government are negatively viewed by the locals. It can be seen through several complaints
lodged by the locals pertaining on human resource practice in the local government. This
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situation reflects there are arising issues with the HRM practice by the local government.
Human resources practices are critical aspects that reflect the organizational commitment.
As cited in Chen, Lin, Lu, and Tsao (2007), in strategic Human Resources
Management, most studies have found that HR systems, including extensive use of
selection mechanism, in house training, job enrichment, pay for performance and employee
empowerment, have a positive impact on firm performance, measured by various indicators
such as turnover (Batt, 2002; Huselid, 1995; Shaw, Delery, Jenkins, & Gupta, 1998),
financial performance (Huselid, 1995), and employee productivity (Huselid, 1995). Therefore,
this study is attempted to identify the relationship between human resources practice
(training and development, information sharing and organizational support) towards
organizational commitment at Majlis Perbandaran Sungai Petani Kedah (MPSPK).

LITERATURE REVIEW

Human Resource Management (HRM)

HRM practice refers to a set of tools to organize, plan, and implement activities in the
organization, whereby tools used in HRM fall into six areas which are staffing, employee and
labour safety, total compensation, workplace health and safety, organizational learning,
training and development, and human resource (HR) information management (Mathew,
2007). These are the aspect that needs to be emphasized by the organization in managing
their employee. HRM practice also can be defined as a process of managing human talent to
achieve an organization’s objectives (Snell and Bohlander, 2010). It is important because the
performance of the employee is closely related with the practice by the organization. The
organization need to manage their employee by providing the benefits and assist in career
development in order to ensure that the employee can help to achieve the organizational
goals.
Apart from that, it is also can keep the employee loyal in the organization. Employee
who has expertise or talent might have poor performance if the organization fails to provide
the effective HRM practice to the employees. As an example, the organization fail to reward
the employees based on the contribution to the organization. There are several practices
that illustrate in the guest model which are organization/job design, management of change,
recruitment and selection, appraisal, training and development, reward system and
communication (Guest, 1992). The study also found that, these HRM practice can affect the
HRM outcome that include the commitment of the employee. The basic and underlying
notion of HRM practice is to attain a sustained competitive advantage through effective
utilization of human resources (Nighat, 2011). Basically, the performance of the organization
is relying on the commitment of the employee. An effective of HRM practice can lead to the
increase of commitment among employee whereby they are work harder to help the
organization to achieve the organizational goals. From this situation, the organization can
utilize their employee for the benefits of the organization.
Colakoglu, Lepak, and Hong (2006) stated that HRM practices have their most
immediate impact on employee since employee outcome are in a closer line of sight to the
practices; and it is also have the strongest effect on employee outcomes, as these outcomes
are to some extent the initial goal for designing the HR practices (as cited in Savaneviciene
and Stankevicuite, 2011). Employee tends to work harder when the organization can fulfill
the employee’s needs and protect their welfare. In term of salary, there are providing equal
reward based on their contribution. Apart from that, the effective of career development also
can affect the outcome of the employees. The good HRM practice can increase the
motivation of the employee whereby it can influence the performance of the employee.
When the employee satisfied with the benefits that provide by the organization, they will
perform better and remain in the organization for a long time.
HRM practice become an important for administrative matter whereby the classical
tasks of personnel management like recruitment and selection, induction, training and
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development, compensation and benefits, leadership and motivation, personnel

development, etc., received increase attention (Mayrhofer, 1995). Basically, these are the
basis of the needs and demand by the employee and as an employer, the organization is
responsible to provide it to their employee. In the perspective of the employee, they are
demand for the better HRM practice based on their performance and contribution. The
failure of the organization to fulfill the needs of employee will lead reducing of commitment
and job turnover among employee. On the other hand, the organization have give attention
to the HRM practice because to secure their employee as well as to motivate the employee
to give the better performance. Basically, the organizations can use performance- and
commitment-oriented HRM practice to drive organizational effectiveness (Kehoe and Wright,
2010). It is closely related with the commitment and performance of the employee. For the
organization, the organization can reward their employee based on their performance and
commitment to the organization. The HRM policies of the organization should be fair for the
employee.
Apart from that, a researcher such as Pfeffer (1994, 1998); Kochan and Osterman
(1994); Lawler (1992, 1996); Levine (1995) have strongly advocated greater organization
investments in high-performance or high-involvement HR system, which are systems of HR
practices designed to enhance employees’ skills, commitment, and productivity (Datta,
Guthrie, and Wright, 2005). The organization needs to make investment in order to obtain
the positive outcome from the employee. In term of reward and compensation, the
organization should increase the salary and bonuses for the employee in order to motivate
them to deliver the better performance. In addition, the investment in the training and
development can produce knowledge and high skill workers which is important for the
organization to achieve the organizational goals. Through training and development, the
employee can perform better and it can lead to the better performance of the organization. It
was supported by Triguero, Vinces, Rendon, and Apellaniz (2012), that stated that HRM
practice affect organizational performance through their influence on employee development
and behavior.
Besides increasing the skill and knowledge, training and development also affect the
behavior of the employee. Employee would become more confidence to perform their task.
The high skill employee tends to be more professional in performing their job because they
are realizing the important of them toward the organization. Meanwhile, Moideenkutty, Al-
Lamki, and Rama Murthy (2011), stated that HRM practice determine the type of employees
who are selected, the skills and motivation of the employees, and the opportunities and
incentives they have to design new and better ways of doing their jobs (as cited in Triguero
et al., 2012). It is because HRM practice include from the process of selection and
recruitment, training and development, appraisal and compensation. These things can
determine and shape the employee especially in term of psychological and performance
toward the organization.
The high cost that has to bear by the organization in term of employee selection and
recruitment has increase the concern of the organization to retain their employees (Triquero
et al., 2012). It leads to the huge attention given by organization in HRM practice. As an
asset of the organization, the organization realizes the important to protect the welfare of the
employee and fulfill the needs of the employee. The success, survival and competing power
of organization depend on the commitment of their employees and this may to a large extent
depend on how satisfied the employees are in respects of the training and development,
information sharing, and organizational support.

Training and Development

Training can be defined as any procedure initiated by an organization to foster

learning among organizational members (Nighat, 2011). Training is a content-based activity,
normally away from the workplace with an instructor leading and aiming to change individual
behaviour or attitude (Atteya, 2012). Training is important in order to increase the skill and
 433

knowledge among employee. Training according to Brum (2010) will increase employees’
commitment, which can further counter the numerous direct and indirect costs associated
with employees ‘turnover (as cited in Ayodeji, Michael, Tunde and Mariam, 2011). There are
some employee that values the important of training in order to increase skills and
knowledge.
The effective training system leads to the loyalty of employee to the organization
because the employee feels they are appreciate by the organization. Training from a
company’s perspective adds to human capital and also a means of securing workplace
commitment (Ayodeji, et al., 2011). Prior studies have shown that training is critical to
organizational success (Atteya, 2012). By providing training, it can increase the additional
knowledge to the organization which is important to help the organization achieve the goals.
Training also can help to minimize the supervision process. Gutteridge et al., (1993) stated
that well trained employees, in general, not only require less supervision but also tend to
have higher morale and lower levels of attrition (as cited in Atteya, 2012). An employee
becomes more inspire and confident to perform the tasks because they are equip with the
enough skills of knowledge. Through the effective training, employee is able to perform the
task without have the feeling of afraid to the failure. According to Xiao (1996), training is
believed to nullify the influence of factors which cause dissatisfaction of employees at work
(as cited in Atteya, 2012).
According to Altarawneh (2009), training and development are concerned with
increasing, improving, enhancing and modifying employees’ and managers’ skills, abilities,
capabilities and knowledge to enable current and future jobs to be more effectively
conducted (as cited in Adnan et al., 2012). These achievements can lead to the
organizational commitment among employee in the organization. Employees may be
provided with extensive training programs in multiple functions and training on job skills
(Ahmad and Schroeder, 2003, as cited in Atteya, 2012). The positive impact from this
practice is an employee have multi skill and able to perform variety of task in the
organization. It can help the organization when facing the problem in term of the shortage of
manpower in the organization. In order to ensure the full commitment of employee in the
training program, employees need to be rewarded and provided with appropriate incentives
so as to produce the required levels of performance (Mohinder et al., 2010; Guest, 1997;
Lee and Miller, 1999, as cited in Atteya, 2012). It is important to encourage employee to
participate in the training program.
Development programs prepare employees with learning that allow them to grow
individually alongside the organization itself (Nighat, 2011). According to Doyle (1997), a
well-functioning career planning system may encourage employees to take more
responsibility for their own development, including the development of the skills viewed as
critical in the company (as cited in Danlami, Sulu and Salami, 2012). Besides opportunities
of development from the organization, employee should have an effort to make self-
development. It is important to prepare the employee to hold the higher position and perform
the complex task in the future. Milkovich and Boudreau (1998) found that a well-planned
career development system along with internal advancement opportunities based on merit,
results in high motivation among employees, which has an impact on firm performance (as
cited in Danlami, et al., 2012). Basically, the career development should be disclosed to the
employee in order to make them notice the opportunities that provide to them by the
organization.

Information Sharing

Information sharing can be defined as a process that involves the way the
organization sends and receives knowledge among the organization members in order to
strengthen the decision making process (Zaitouni, et al., 2011). The organization
communicates with the employee regarding on the information and at the same time receive
 434

the opinion and suggestion from the employee in order to make the good decision for the
organization. Basically, this process requires the understanding between employee and top
management. Delaney and Huselid (1996) suggested that information sharing affect the
organizational commitment. The information sharing is able to motivate employee whereby it
will create the strong feeling toward the organization. The example of information sharing
that practice by the organization is disclosing the information of the future event,
technological orientation and financial position of the organization. When the organization
disseminates information to their employee, it can help to increase commitment among
them.
Through information sharing, employee knows the important information regarding on
the organization such as financial performance, future program or event and technological
orientation of the organization which is important for them in performing their task. In
addition, by knowing the criteria of personal measurement and their current performance, it
can create the strong feeling of attachment toward the organization. Management adopts
information sharing as an important and effective tool to enhance and strengthen the
employee’s commitment to the organization (Zaitouni et al., 2011).
In the process of decision making, the organization needs to consider the opinion of
employee before come out with any decision. They should be involved in the meeting and
discussion in order to gather information that can lead to the better decision. This practice
ensures that employees are being recognized as part of the decision making process. Meyer
and Allen (1997) reported that information sharing is positively correlated to affective
commitment by building management-employee trust and workers’ self-worthiness. It was
supported by Trombetta and Rogers (1988); Guzley (2001) that stated open and transparent
communication along with access to adequate information and participative decision making
involvement build a positive affective commitment. The organization should provide the
important information for the employee and encourage participation in decision making
process. The good communication between both parties will create satisfaction and it can
lead to the increase of the organizational commitment. Apart from to generate the idea or
information, this practice also as the sign for the employee that they are the important asset
for the organization. It will create the strong attachment toward the organization and keep
the employee loyal with the organization.
Research conducted by Pare and Tremblay (2007) investigated the relationship
between the high-involvement human resources practices and the turnover intention in the
Canadian Information Processing Society in Quebec showed that information sharing was
positively related to the employees’ intention to stay. In addition, Campbell (2002) found that
by creating a work climate that fosters information sharing and involving employees before
decision taking, management would build a healthy environment in which members’ self-
confidence and recognition of their ideas leads to mutual respect and in turn to an affective
commitment (as cited in Sawalha and Zaitouni, 2012). By involving the employee in decision
making process and give consideration from the opinion of the employee, employee can
provide the idea for the organization before come out with any decision. The positive impact
is it will increase the confidence among employee and lead to the mutual respect between
both parties. Besides that Young and Worchel (1998) found that fostering downward and
upward flow of communication among different levels of the organization would influence the
level of employee commitment and comfort in the workplace. The smooth information
sharing between the departments in the organization assist employee in performing their
task. Through effective communication between the employee and manager of their
department, all the information from superior will receive by the subordinate especially in
term of new policy and direction of the organization. It will increase the commitment and
confident level of employee in performing the task. Parker and Kyi and Postames (2006)
shed light on what is called vertical and horizontal communication and information sharing.
Vertical information flows from top management to employees at the lower level, while
vertical information is about social communication.
Both findings showed only vertical information sharing reveals a positive and
significant association with organizational and performance commitment. By involving
 435

employees with this knowledge sharing, management would build a healthy environment in
which employees gain self-confidence, recognition of their ideas, and a feeling of control
over what they are doing; this would lead to mutual respect, which positively impacts the
employees' level of commitment (Leana and Florkowski, 1992; Pfeffer and Veiga, 1999;
Cook, 1994; Campbell, 2000, cited in Zaitouni et al., 2011). Generally, through information
sharing, employee feel that they are appreciate as part of the organization. The healthy
environment includes the harmonious relationship within the organization and mutual
understanding between them. It will affect the commitment of employee when they feel
comfortable to work in the organization. However, sharing information does not mean
sacrificing the organization business secret whereby management has to decide that type
and how much information to share with employees (Zaitouni et al., 2011). Ronde (2001)
mentioned that the organization should not share information if it carries high efficiency cost.

Organizational Support
According to Giauque, et al., (2010), organizational support may take the form of
allowing employees’ room to maneuver when organizing conditions that enable them to
reconcile their professional and family lives. In performing their task, employee needs to be
support with the good environment from the organization. It involve suitable working hours,
comfortable place to work, working method, room for maneuver to carry out employee’s
duties within organization, listens to employees’ concerns and opinions, and encourages
employees’ to take initiatives would enable them to balance their private and professional life
that will encourage them to stay loyal with the organization. Other than that, when
supervisors are being supportive to the employees, this treatment produces a felt obligation
of employees to help the supervisors reach their goals (Tuzun and Kalemci, 2012). Basically,
it will assist the employee in performing their task when employee was provided by the
physical and mental support from the supervisor. Apart from providing the physical support
such as comfortable room and suitable working hours, the supervisor needs to support
employee by giving them motivation in performing their task. They must show their concern
to the employee by asking their problem and then assist them in solving the problem. From
this practice, it will strengthen the relationship between the employee and their supervisor
and lead to the obligation to the instruction by their respective leader.
In fact, Rhoader (2010) argue that organizational support theory states that
beneficial treatment from supervisors makes the employees obligated to help the
organization meet its goals and fell more committed, which consequently results in reduced
turnover (as cited in Tuzun and Kalemci, 2012). It creates the feeling of responsibility toward
the organization to help to achieve the organizational goals. In the other aspect,
organizational support in form of career support also influence the organizational
commitment. The study found that organizational sponsorship variables such as career
sponsorship, supervisor support, training and skill development opportunities, and
organizational resources were related to career success (Ballout, 2007). Those things are
very important for the future of employee. When, they are serve the service for a long time,
the commitment toward the organization tends to decrease. By supporting with good career
development, they feel that they have good future in the organization. It can increase the job
satisfaction among the employees and create loyalty among them.
A survey carried out of 1689 employees of credit institutions by Whitener found a
significant statistical relationship between the degree of organizational commitment and
employees’ perception of organizational support (Giauque, et al., 2010). In addition,
perceptions of being valued and supported by an organization lead to desired employee
attitudes and behaviors including organizational commitment and trust (Eisenberger et al.,
(1986); Wayne et al., (1997), as cited in Ballout, 2007). When employee feels that the
organization gives strong support to them in performing their task, it will lead to the increase
of commitment among the employee to work harder. Besides that, it also increases the trust
from the employee toward the organization whereby the strong support from the organization
assists them in performing their responsibility. The positive attitude and feeling that create
 436

from organizational support because it can influence the performance of the employee in the
organization.

Organizational Commitment

The concept of organizational commitment refers to a person’s affective reactions to

characteristics of his employing organization (Baptiste, 2008). Basically, it can be influence
by the internal factor such as HRM practices by the organization. Organizational
commitment can be interpreted as the employee’s long-term relationship and intention to
stay in the workplace along with an unshakable belief in the goals and objectives of his/her
organization, followed by a devoted effort to reach these goals (Steers, 1977; Mowday,
Steers and Porter, 1979; as cited in Zaitouni, et al., 2011). It is closely related to the loyalty
of the employee toward the organization and their willingness to work harder in order to help
the organization achieve the mission and meet the goals. The concept of organizational
commitment plays an important role in HRM philosophy as Guest (1987) puts it, HRM
policies are designed to maximize organizational integration, employee commitment,
flexibility and quality of work (Abdulkadir, Isiaka, and Adedoyin, 2012). By having good HRM
practice, it will increase the commitment of employee and influence the overall performance
of the organization.
Basically, organizational commitment is an affective human resources reaction that is
crucial in HRM due to its nature (Savaneviciene and Standkeviciute, 2011). It can influence
the performance of the organizational whereby when employee feels dissatisfaction toward
the organization, they tend to have lower commitment to perform their task. The lower job
commitment leads to the job turnover among employee where they chose to leave and join
other organization.
The organization that invests in their human capital resources needs to ensure that
they can receive the benefits from their investment. The result from the HRM practice is
closely related with the employee whereby it was expected that the level of commitment of
employee will increase due to the practice such as training and development and fair reward
practice. According to Gellatly, Hunter, Currie, and Irving, (2009), rather than forcing
employee compliance with organizational goals and restricting employee discretion through
narrowly-defined jobs, work simplification, close supervision, standardization of processes /
outcomes, and extensive rules and procedures, the high-commitment approach to HRM
practice attempts to create the conditions necessary to facilitate voluntary employee
involvement and identification with organizational goals. By fulfilling the needs of employee
through practicing effective HRM practice, it will increase the commitment of employee
whereby it can lead to the extensive power use by the organization to ensure that employee
comply with the requirement of the organization.
In addition, high organizational commitment also can lead to less supervision by the
organization toward the employee. It is because employee who has high level of
commitment has high tendency to follow rules and requirement and give the better
performance to the organization. They are committed to perform their task and help the
organization to achieve the vision and mission. Thus, the supervisor can give freedom for
them to perform their task and reduce the supervision toward the employee.
Mowday et al., (1979, as cited in Nighat, 2011) characterized organizational
commitment into three factors; a strong belief of the employees in and the acceptance of
organizational goals and values, employees’ willingness to exert considerable effort on
behalf of the organization and their strong desire to maintain membership in the
organization. There are three dimensions to the concept of organizational commitment that
suggested by Meyer and Allen (1997) namely; affective commitment, continuance
commitment, and normative commitment. Affective commitment reflect an emotional bond
between an employee and the organization which is based on the individual’s identification
with the organization in which work experience has shown to be the strongest and the most
consistent link with the affective commitment; A continuance commitment refers to the
perceived cost of leaving an organization due to accumulated investment or ‘side bets’ in
 437

the organization –the employee’s association does not go beyond the continuance of
membership with the organization; and finally a normative commitment that incorporates the
notion of moral obligation–the employee feel obligated to remain with the organization either
because of loyalty or through an obligation to reciprocate.

IV

Training & Development

DV

Organizational
Information Sharing Commitment

Organizational Support

Figure 1.0 shows the research framework of this study which emphasize on the
relationship between Independent Variable (IV) and Dependent Variable (DV). The
Independent Variables are training and development, information sharing and organizational
support. Meanwhile, the Dependent Variable for this study is organizational commitment.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study implies a Cross Sectional study with the usage of questionnaires as the
instrument in collecting the data. In addition, hypothesis testing also conducted in order to
identify relationship between Independent Variable and organizational commitment among
employee at MPSPK. The data was collected from selected respondent from the
subpopulation in order to describe the characteristic of entire population. In this study, it
involves the collection of data from the employee of MPSP from all departments at MPSPK
to represent the whole population in this organization. This study used the cluster sampling
technique which involves the division of population into convenient cluster, randomly
choosing the required number of clusters as sample subjects and investigating all the
elements in each of the randomly chosen cluster. In this study, the population was divided
into department.
 438

The sample size of this study was 208. The sample size was chosen based on
Roscoe rules of thumbs. According to this rules, the appropriate sample size for most
research is between 30 until 500. The rules also stated that when the samples are broken to
the subsamples, a minimum sample size of 30 is appropriate to represent the subsample.
Basically, the total population of MPSPK is 487. There are 10 departments in MPSPK and
the respondent for this study represent the entire department. Each of the department
represented with the minimum 30 respondent. For the department that less than 30
employee, all of the employee become the respondent for this study. The table 3.0 and
Table 3.1 show the calculation of sample size and sampling technique that used for this
study:

Table 3.1 List of Departments under MPSPK Including the Total of Employees Based on the
Department and the Sample Size for this Study

Department Number of Sample Size

*Departments in MPSPK consist of 10 elements based *Roscoe Rules of
departments. on department Thumb Method

Jabatan Bangunan 17 17
Jabatan Kesihatan 75 30
Jabatan Penilaian & Pengurusan Harta 18 18
Jabatan Perbendaharaan 37 30
Jabatan Teknologi Maklumat 8 8
Jabatan Kejuruteraan 88 30
Jabatan Landskap & Rekreasi 81 30
Jabatan Perancangan Bandar dan Desa 12 12
Jabatan Khidmat Pengurusan 148 30
Jabatan Undang-Undang 3 3

TOTAL 487 208

FINDINGS

To Identify the Pattern of Organizational Commitment at MPSPK

Table 4.1 The Pattern of Organizational Commitment among Employee at MPSPK

Minimum Maximum Mean

Statistic Statistic Statistic

B1 I really feel as if my organizations problem are 1.00 4.00 2.8702
my own.

B2 I do feel strong sense of belongingness to 2.00 4.00 3.1202

MPSPK.

B3 I feel emotionally attached to the strategic 2.00 4.00 3.0529

choice of MPSPK.
 439

B4 Overall, I am satisfied working at MPSPK. 1.00 4.00 3.0913

B5 It would be very hard for me to leave MPSPK. 2.00 4.00 3.1202

B6 It would be very costly for me to leave MPSPK. 2.00 4.00 3.0962

B7 One of the few serious consequences of 2.00 4.00 3.0337

leaving MPSPK is the scarcity of current
alternative.

B8 Right now, staying with MPSPK is a matter of 2.00 4.00 3.1779

necessity as much as desire.

B9 Even if it were to my advantage, I would not 1.00 4.00 2.9760

feel entitled to leave MPSPK now.

B10 I would feel guilty if i were to leave MPSPK. 1.00 4.00 3.0865

B11 I was taught to believe in the value of 1.00 4.00 3.0817

remaining loyal to MPSPK.

B12 Things were better in the days when people 2.00 4.00 2.9279
stayed with the MPSPK for most of their
career.

Table 4.1 shows the pattern of organizational commitment among employees at

MPSPK. The highest mean value is statement B8 with the amount of 3.17 which indicates
that the employees agree to stay with the organization as the matter of their necessity and
desire. Overall, the mean value for the rest of the statements ranging from 2.9 to 3.12 which
reflect that the employees agreed on the rest of the statements.

To identify the Relationship between Training and Development and Organizational

Commitment at MPSPK

Ho: There is no significance relationship between training and development and

organizational commitment at MPSPK.

Table 4.2 Relationship between Training and Development and Organizational Commitment
among Employee at MPSPK
Correlations
Organizational
Commitment
**
Training and Pearson Correlation .459
Development Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 208

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 4.2 illustrated the relationship between training and development and
organizational commitment among employee at MPSPK. From the analysis, it shows that
 440

there is bivariate correlation between two variables which are training and development and
organizational commitment. The result indicate value p=0.00(p=<0.05) and r=0.459. It shows
that there is significance relationship between training and development and organizational
commitment among employee at MPSPK. From this study, training and development
moderately contribute toward the organizational commitment among employees at MPSPK.
Therefore, null hypothesis was rejected and alternate hypothesis is accepted.

To Identify the Relationship between Information Sharing and Organizational

Commitment at MPSPK

Ho: There is no significance relationship between information sharing and organizational

commitment among employee at MPSPK.

Table 4.3: Relationship between Information Sharing and Organizational Commitment among
Employees at MPSPK
Correlations
Organizational
Commitment
**
Information Sharing Pearson Correlation .491

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 208
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 4.3 shows that the relationship between information sharing and organizational
commitment among employee at MPSPK. From the result, it shows that there is bivariate
correlation between two variables which are information sharing and organizational
commitment. The result indicate value p=0.00 (p=<0.05) and r=.491. It shows that there is
significance relationship between information sharing and organizational commitment among
employee at MPSPK. Information sharing moderately contributes to organizational
commitment among employee at MPSPK. The result indicates that the higher of information
sharing practice by MPSPK, the higher organizational commitment among employee.
Therefore, null hypothesis was rejected and alternate hypothesis is accepted.

To identify the relationship between Organizational Support and Organizational

Commitment at MPSPK

Ho: There is no significance relationship between organizational support and

organizational commitment among employee at MPSPK

Table 4.4 Relationship between Organizational Support and Organizational

Commitment among Employee at MPSPK
Correlations
Organizational
Commitment
**
Organizational Support Pearson Correlation .627

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 208
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
 441

Table 4.4 shows the relationship between fair reward and organizational commitment
among employee at MPSPK. Based on the table above, it shows that organizational support
has strong relationship with the organizational commitment among employee at MPSPK.
This was indicated by the value of p=0.00 (p<0.05) and r=.627. This means that there is
significance relationship between organizational support and organizational commitment
among employee at MPSPK. The value indicated organizational support strongly
contributed to the organizational among employee at MPSPK. Therefore, null hypothesis is
rejected and alternate hypothesis was accepted.

To Identify the Most Influential Factor that Lead to Organizational Commitment at

MPSPK

Table 4.5 The Most Influential HRM Practice toward the Organizational Commitment at MPSPK

Model Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.
Beta
1 (Constant) 11.043 .000

Training and Development -.008 -.088 .930

Information Sharing -.180 -1.337 .183
Organizational Support .565 5.664 .000

Regression analysis was performed in order to identify the most influential HRM
practice that leads to organizational commitment among employee at MPSPK. The result
summary presented in the table 4.11 it indicated that only variable which is organizational
support are significance towards the organizational commitment among employee at
MPSPK. The value of organizational support is p=0.00. This variable indicated that p<0.05.
Based on this result, organizational support has the highest value of Beta which indicated
that organizational support is the most influential independent variable that leads to the
organizational commitment among employee at MPSPK.

RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION

Increase the Organizational Support to Employees

Based on the finding, it shows that organizational support is the most dominant factor
that leads to the organizational commitment among employee at MPSPK. MPSPK should
take consideration to focus on organizational support as well as improve the other HRM
practice in order to increase the commitment of employee toward MPSPK. In order to
increase the commitment especially to the female employee, MPSPK should be flexible in
term of working hours. MPSPK should provide the option for the employee to punch in late
than the normal working hours. They employee can choose to stick with the normal working
hours or choose to come at 8.30 am and back from the MPSPK a bit late from usual at 5.30
pm. It can give the opportunity for the employee who is married to handle their family matter
such as send their children to the nursery and their spouse to his workplace. By giving the
flexibility for the employee to choose the working hour, it can lead to the strong
organizational commitment toward MPSPK.

Improve Information Sharing Practices

 442

MPSPK should disclose the information especially regarding on financial position of

the organization. It is important because employee have the right to know the current
condition of MPSPK from time to time. It can give the clear picture for them regarding on the
problem that faced by MPSPK and the implication towards their position. By knowing the
condition, employee feel the MPSPK is responsible to them and it can lead to the
commitment among employee at MPSPK.
As a conclusion, this study has identified the relationship between HRM practice that
consists of training and development, information sharing, and organizational support toward
the organizational commitment among employee at MPSPK. The employees from MPSPK
are become the respondents and focus in this study. This study involves ten departments
which attached to MPSPK and about 208 employees are chosen to become the respondents
in this study. In this study, there are several objectives that want to achieve by the
researcher. The objectives are to identify the pattern of organizational commitment among
employee at MPSPK, to identify the relationship between training and development and
organizational commitment at MPSPK, to identify the relationship between information
sharing and organizational commitment at MPSPK, to identify the relationship between
organizational support and organizational commitment at MPSPK and to identify the most
influential element of independent variable that lead to organizational commitment at
MPSPK.
In addition, in-depth analysis on effects of organizational support is recommended
that would help the researcher gain in-depth understanding toward the effects of
organizational support towards the employee commitment on their working organization.
Lastly, the study on relationship between HRM practice and organizational commitment
should be widening to private sector so that an analytical comparison can be conduct
between public and private sector in term of HRM practices and organizational commitment
so that it can contribute to improvement of employee loyalty in the public sector.

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Developing a Conceptual Framework for the Role of Person –

Environment (P-E) Fit in Promoting Job Performance of Project
Managers in Malaysian Construction Industry
Akmal Latiff Bin Ayob
Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School (AAGBS)
Faculty of Business Management
University Technology MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
akmal@pjh.com.my

Norzanah Binti Mat Nor

Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School (AAGBS)
Faculty of Business Management
University Technology MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
norzanah@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Organizations need highly performing individuals in order to meet their goals, to deliver the
products and services they specialized in, and finally to achieve competitive advantage.
Performance is also important for the individual to accomplish tasks and performing at a high
level can be a source of satisfaction, with feelings of mastery and pride. Reviewing the
literature, it was found that there are many factors that can influence the performance of
employees. Factors such as organizational culture, job satisfaction, training and
development, and stress, have been studied and researchers have demonstrated evidence
on the relationship between these factors and employee job performance. Both theoretically
and practically, it is critical to identify predictors of individual job performance. Most
generally, one can differentiate between person-specific and situation-specific predictor
variables. Although the existing competency model of competence and numerous project
manager competency standards are trying to propose a comprehensive attributes for
competence project manager, a project may still under-perform. An understanding of
attributes of competence project manager alone proved to be insufficient for individual to
perform in their job towards achieving project success. There is still a lack of understanding
of the importance of the working environment in relations to competence, and its impact on
the job performance of a project manager. Working environment where the project manager
work can differ from project to project or from organization to other organization.

Keywords: Job performance, Competency, Working environment, Person – Environment

Fit, Project Manager, Malaysian Construction Industry.

INTRODUCTION

Definitions of managers’ job performance is given by Karpin (1995), who offered a

definition of a manager based on work by Quinn (1992) and Boyatzis (1982), as an “An
individual who achieves enterprise goals through the works of others (..) Managers are
responsible for the control or direction of people, a department or an organization.”
Managers operate within the context of organizations by planning, organizing, coordinating
and supervising; functions that indirectly contribute to the efficient and effective operation
and output of an organization. Added by Quinn (1993), to be effective, there needs to be
congruence between managers’ performance and organizational goals.
A project manager is generally taken to be the person accountable for delivering a
project safely, on time, within budget and to the desired performance or quality standards
 446

determined by the clients. The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) United Kingdom
suggest that project managers stem from various backgrounds, possess relevant skills and
competencies, and are required to govern a project throughout its life-cycle (CIOB, 2002).
The implication is that a project manager not only manages their team, but leads the team:
leading by example, by gaining the trust and respect from their team through motivating, co-
ordinating and maintaining morale, and they must also utilise a range of other skills while
leading the team to successfully deliver the project.
According to Mintzberg’s (1970), discussions on managerial work focused on
conceiving a manager’s jobs in terms of an all embraced set of ten “work roles” which have
been divided into three categories: Informational, Inter-personal and Decisional. The
following Table 1 tabulated the category, role title and activities as seen as being the keys to
what a manager does.

Table 1 Mintzberg’s Management Functions

Category Role title Activities

Informational Monitor Seek and/or receive information; scanning periodicals and
reports; maintaining personal contact with stakeholders.
Disseminator Forwarding information to outsiders via emails, memos,
reports and phone calls
Spokesperson Transmitting information to outsiders via emails, reports,
memos and speeches
Interpersonal Figurehead Performing ceremonial and symbolic duties, such as
greeting visitors and signing legal documents
Leader Directing and motivating subordinates, counselling and
communicating with subordinates.
Liaison Maintaining information links both within and out-with the
organization via emails, mail, phone calls and meetings
Decisional Entrepreneur Initiating improvement projects, identifying new ideas and
delegating idea responsibilities to others
Disturbance handler Taking corrective action during dispute or crises, resolving
conflicts among subordinates, adapting to environments
Resource allocator Deciding who gets resources, preparing budgets, set
schedules and determining priorities.
Negotiator Representing department during negotiations of contracts,
sales, purchases and budgets.

In order to undertake and competently execute the various roles, project managers
must possess relevant skills. In a project context, each project is normally seen as unique
and therefore the project manager must recognise what skills are required and apply them
accordingly, to suit their current project role requirements (Craig, 2010). R. McCaffer (2001)
when described the project manager’s highlighted that, in the past, project managers in the
construction industry drafted from persons with technical and engineering backgrounds who
could appreciate the technical requirements demanded by the project, and the skills
generally not transferable from one sector to another or from one project type to another. But
today, project management has grown to become a managerial tool that can deliver
improved performance for any organization. Project management is often described as the
application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet
stakeholder needs and expectations from a project. Nowadays, within the construction
sector the role of project manager is gradually been influenced by a shift from what was
essentially a technical and often engineering activity that resulted in a physical deliverable,
to general management for the technical or engineering functions and operations. According
to Skitmore (2005), for project managers to perform effectively, they need to be nurtured and
encouraged, be generalists rather than specialist, work within a system that encourages
creativity and innovation, do the right thing at the right moment and avoid ineffective
traditional ways and bad practices.
 447

Arman A.R (2010) highlighted, project performance is a critical issue for the
construction industry. Project’s deliverables such as timely completion and client satisfaction
are often used as yardsticks to determine success. More often than not, the success of a
construction project hinges on the ability of the construction project manager to effectively
perform his job functions with the intended efficacy. Individual performance is of high
relevance for organizations and individuals alike. According to Sonnentag (2010), individuals
who showing high performance when accomplishing tasks results in satisfaction, feelings of
self-efficacy and mastery and will get promoted, awarded and honoured. Furthermore,
career opportunities for individuals who perform well are much better than those of moderate
or low performing individuals.
According to Dulewicz (2008), project success and its relationship with performance
of project managers had been studied by some researchers; Pinto and Slevin (1988)
conducted a study of project success and identified 10 factors for success; clear project
vision, ample support from top management, project schedule, consultations with the client,
staff acquisition, technical specifications, client’s acceptance, monitoring and reporting,
communication and problem solving. They found the need for communication channels
extremely important, as well as the need for available problem-solving ability. They also
mentioned the absence of project management characteristics such as adequate project
manager administration, human skills and influencing skills as strongly contributing to the
failure of projects. Other study done by Loong (2003), suggested that there is a significant
relationship between the project manager’s perception of project success and his or her own
personality. Inner confidence and self-belief are likely to play a significant part in the project
manager’s ability to deliver a project successfully. In other study, Muller (2005) reviewed the
literature on project success and concluded that four conditions are necessary, but not
sufficient, for project success:
1. Success criteria should be agreed with stakeholders before and during the project.
2. A collaborative working relationship should be maintained between project owner /
sponsor and manager.
3. A project manager should be empowered to deal flexibly with unforeseen
circumstances.
4. The project owner / sponsors should take an interest in the performance of the
project.
Muller (2005) also reviewed the contribution of the project manager’s competence
and leadership style to project success and concluded that, it is widely recognized that the
functional manager’s leadership style contributes to the success of the organization or
organizational unit he or she manages. As mentioned by Crawford (2005), there have been
research studies to determine the attributes of competence project manager affecting the
success of a project. These research studies allowed the clients to have a better
understanding of competency required by project managers, thus enabling them to select
the appropriate project manager for their proposed project. Established and well known
International Institutes play a role by developing Competency-based standards such are
Project Manager Competency Development Framework” which is carried out by “Project
Management Institute (PMI)” in 2002, “International Project Management Association (IPMA)
Competence Baseline Version 3.0” which is published by “International Project Management
Association” in 2006, “Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) Professional
Competency Standards for project management” which is developed by “Australian institute
of Project management” in 2008, and “Association for Project Management Competence
(APM) Framework” which is developed by Association for Project Management in 2008”.
These standards are prepared based on collective opinions of experienced practitioners in
project management and their understanding on competencies required for effective project
managers.
In Malaysian context, Jabatan Kerja Raya Malaysia (JKR) in a year 2010 developed
competency standards for project management which is called “JKR Competency Standards
for Project Management Registered Project Manager.” This standard prepared based on
collaboration between JKR and a team of Australian consultants by using Australian Institute
 448

of Project Management (AIPM) Project Competency Standards. The required competencies

for project managers are based on nine areas of project management including scope
management, time management, cost management, quality management, human resource
management, risk management, communication management, procurement management,
and finally integration management. For each of these nine areas some criteria and
evidence requirements are defined.
Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia in collaboration with
Majlis Latihan Vokasional Kebangsaan (MLVK) Malaysia in 2002 also played an important
role in developing the National Competency Standard (NCS) for construction project
managers. The purpose of this standard is to develop and assess the skills of personnel in
construction industry, as a basis for training programs, and for development of instructional
materials. This standard is developed through the inputs of industrial experts in public and
private sector. In National Competency Standard (NCS), the required competencies for
project managers are listed. This standard comprises two components including “Job Profile
Chart” and “Task Profile”. The first component Job Profile which is also called “Job Analysis”
is obtained through brainstorming sessions that tasks and duties determined and presented
in Job Profile Chart. For second component of this standard Task Profile an expert
committee conducts a “task analysis” and list down all required knowledge, abilities,
attitudes, tools and equipment which is required to implement a task. Furthermore,
Malaysian Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) issues a Certificate of
Proficiency to project managers who are eligible and therefore they are recognized as
Certified Construction Project Managers (CCPM). In order to award the certificate, CIDB
assesses the knowledge, skills and attitudes of candidates. To conduct the assessment, a
certified construction project manager with five years’ post-certification experience or a
representative from CIDB would be appointed to assess the candidate eligibility.

TOWARDS A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Although the existing project manager competency standards are trying to propose a
comprehensive attributes for competent project manager, a project may still under-perform.
An understanding of attributes of competent project managers alone proved to be insufficient
for performing their job. There is still a lack of understanding of the importance of the
working environment and its impact on the job performance of project manager towards
project success.
Working environment where the project manager work can differ from one
organization to others and from project to project. Few studies have been done to
specifically examine how the working environment can affect the effectiveness of a project
manager. As affirmed by Project Manager Competency Development (PMCD) framework
(2002), develop by Project Management Institute (PMI), an important note is that; “A
competent project manager alone does not guarantee project success. Project Management
Institute (PMI) believes that project success requires project manager competence as well
as organizational project management maturity and capability. In other words, having a
project manager who possesses the right competencies cannot ensure project success.
Focusing solely on project manager competence, regardless of the organization’s
performance, is too simplistic. There are too many organizational maturity factors and other
contingencies that influence the outcome of the project as well. In fact, it is possible to have
a competent project manager working within an immature organization which could result in
an unsuccessful project or vice versa”.
The importance of environmental factors and its relationship with job performance of
project managers in the construction industry also stated in a study done by Chuan et.al
(2006), in their study, they highlighted that there is still a lack of understanding of the
importance of the working environment and its impact on the job performance of project
managers in the construction industry. According to the reviews of past studies on job
performance, specifically for project managers who work in the construction industry,
 449

revealed that there is still lack of understanding on the factors which related to their job
performance.
Reviewing the literature, it was found that there are many factors that can influence
the individual job performance. Factors such as organizational culture, job satisfaction,
training and development, and stress, have been studied and researchers have
demonstrated evidence on the relationship between these factors and individual job
performance (Hassan M.E Aboazoum, 2015). As highlighted by Sonnentag (2002), both
theoretically and practically, it is critical to identify predictors of individual job performance,
and most generally, one can differentiate between person-specific and situation-specific
predictor variables. Other views of predictor for job performance is given by Frese (2002),
perspective on performance can be seen from three different perspectives: (1) an individual
differences perspective which searches for individual characteristics (such as general mental
ability, personality) as sources for variation in performance, (2) a situational perspective
which focuses on situational aspects as facilitators and impediments for performance, and
(3) a performance regulation perspective which describes the performance process. These
perspectives are not mutually exclusive but approach the performance phenomenon from
different angles which complement one another.
Therefore, this study intends to integrate the Competency of Project Manager and his
/ her working environment which combined person specific and situation specific as an
influential factors for job performance of project manager which forms a conceptual
framework in this study as illustrated in the following Figure 1:

Figure 1 The Proposed Conceptual Framework

Competency

Individual Job
Person – Performance
Environment Fit
Working environment

A literature review will be presented in two aspects as presented in Figure 1,

following the order job performance, competency, working environment and person-
environment fit.

JOB PERFORMANCE

Campbell et.al (1993) defined performance is what the organization hires one to do,
and do well” and performance is not defined by the action itself but by judgemental and
evaluative processes. Moreover, only actions which can be scaled, measured are
considered to constitute performance. S. Ones (2000) defined job performance to scalable
actions, behaviour and outcomes that employees engage in or bring about that are linked
with and contribute to organizational goals. Others definition is given by Motowidlo (1998),
job performance as the total expected value to the organization of the discrete behavioural
episodes that an individual carries out over a standard period of time. Review of previous
research on job performance uncovers three main kinds of job performance; task
performance, contextual performance and counterproductive work behaviour. Each kind of
job performance will be further discussed in the following section.
 450

Task Performance

Almost all frameworks mentioned task performance as an important dimension of

individual work performance. Task performance can be defined as the proficiency with which
one performs central job tasks. Other labels sometimes used for task performance are job-
specific task proficiency, technical proficiency or in-role performance (Linda Koopmans,
2011). In the current work psychology literature, task performance is defined as ‘the
proficiency with which incumbents perform activities that are formally recognized as part of
their jobs; activities that contribute to the organization’s technical core either directly by
implementing a part of its technological process or indirectly by providing it with needed
materials or services’ (Borman, 1993). Others definition of task performance given by
Murphy (1989), task performance entails the accomplishment of duties and tasks that are
specified in a job description. They also suggested that it might take either of two forms; (1)
involves activities that directly transform raw materials into the goods and services that are
the organization’s products. Such activities include selling merchandise in a retail store,
operating a production machine in a manufacturing plant, teaching in a school, performing
surgery in a hospital and cashing checks in a bank. The other form of task performance is,
(2) involves activities that service and maintain the technical core by replenishing its supply
of raw materials, distributing its finished products, or providing important planning,
coordination, supervising, or staff functions that enable it to function effectively and
efficiently. According to a study done by Motowidlo (1998), when the task activities are
performed effectively, they are behavioural episodes with positive expected organizational
value because they facilitate the production of organizational goods and services. When
performed ineffectively, however, they can have negative expected value because they
might hinder the production of organizational goods and services. Thus, the domain of task
performance includes behavioural episodes that represent task activities that are performed
well and behavioural episodes that represent task activities that are performed poorly, with
corresponding variability in their expected organizational value.

Contextual Performance

Contextual performance consists of behaviour that does not directly contribute to

organizational performance but supports the organizational, social and psychological
environment which makes it different from task performance as it includes activities that are
not formally part of the job description. It indirectly contributes to an organization’s
performance by facilitating task performance (Sonnentag, 2002). Several others labels exist
for this dimension such as non-job specific task proficiency, extra-role performance,
organizational citizenship behaviour or interpersonal relations. All concepts however, refer to
behaviours that go beyond the formally prescribed work goals, such as taking on extra tasks,
showing initiative, or coaching newcomers on the job. (Linda Koopmans, 2011).

Counterproductive Work Behaviour

According to S. Ones (2000), behaviours that have negative value for organizational
effectiveness have also been proposed as constituting distinct dimensions of job
performance. As mentioned by Linda Koopmans (2011), attention for counterproductive work
behaviour, defined as behaviour that harms the well-being of the organization, has increased
in recent years. Perhaps the most general and inclusive term to describe organizationally
dysfunctional behaviours such as these is counterproductive behaviour, which according to
Sackett (2002) cited in S. Ones (2000) refers to any intentional behaviour on the part of the
organizational member viewed by the organization as contrary to its legitimate interests and
includes the requirement that such behaviours are intentional. He had enumerated 11
categories of counterproductive behaviours: theft, destruction of property, misuse of
information, misuse of time and resources, unsafe behaviour, poor attendance, poor quality
of work, alcohol use, drug use, inappropriate verbal actions, and inappropriate physical
 451

actions. Accepting the two requirements, according to Sackett (2002), counterproductive

behaviours are both intentional and contrary to the organization’s interests,
counterproductive performance can be defined as the total expected value to the
organization of behaviours that are carried out over a standard period of time with the
intention of hurting other individuals or the organization as a whole and that have negative
expected organizational value.

COMPETENCY

Cambridge Advanced Learner’s dictionary define competence is the ability to do

something well. While in Oxford English Dictionary, its define competency as sufficiency of
qualification, capacity to deal adequately with a subject. According to R. Palan (2003),
competence is a description of work tasks and the term has its origin in the Management
Charter Initiative, UK which was established in 1998. Competence is defined as an
individual’s ability to demonstrate knowledge and skills to provide a product or service to the
required standards in a given context and the ability to transfer the knowledge and skills to a
new and differing context. In other words, competence refers to a skill, knowledge and
attitudes necessary to perform a particular work to a standard required within industry.
Crawford (2005) when defined competencies, has broken down it into 2 dimensions;
attribute-based and performance-based competence. The attribute-based competence
comprise of input and personal competencies. Input competencies are defined as the
knowledge and understanding, skills and abilities that a person brings to a job. Knowledge is
captured in bodies of knowledge (information pertinent to specific content areas) and skills
as abilities to perform certain physical or mental tasks through qualification and experience.
Personal competencies are defined as the core personality characteristics underlying a
person’s capability to do a job. Personality traits, attitudes and behaviours represent these
core personality characteristics. The performance-based dimension of competence relies on
output competencies where it is define as the ability to perform the activities within an
occupational area to the levels of performance expected in employment. Demonstrable
performance and use of project management practices in the workplace characterize this
ability.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

Study done by Mustapha F.H et.al (1997), they identified the situation specific or
environmental factors which influenced the effectiveness of site managers. These factors
can be categorized into three main categories: Job condition related factors, Project
characteristic related factors, and Organizational related factors. According to them, the
variables identified under job condition included involvement at the contract stage, team
relationship, salary, job satisfaction, cost control, job security, working hours and adequacy
of architecture drawings. For project characteristic related factors, they identified six
variables, project environment which were divided into immediate environment and external
environment. The immediate environment refers to the investors, customers, suppliers,
consultants and contractors. The external environment of a project includes social, political,
technological, legal and economic factors. Others variables under the project characteristic
were project size, time availability, complexity of project, project team relationship, materials
and supplies of project and duration of project. Organizational variables were defined by
them as company size and the level of authority delegated.
Moreover, J. Hwang L.T (2007) divided working environment into two components
namely physical and behavioural components. The physical environment consists of
elements that relate to the office occupiers’ ability to physically connect with their office
environment. The behavioural environment consists of components that relate to how well
the office occupiers connect with each other, and the impact the office environment can have
 452

on the behaviour of the individual. According to Haynes (2008), the physical environment
with the productivity of its occupants fall into two main categories office layout (open-plan
verses cellular offices) and office comfort (matching the office environment to the work
processes), and the behavioural environment represents the two main components namely
interaction and distraction.
Other definition of working condition given by Gerber et.al (1998) cited in Ali Yassin
(2013), working conditions are created by the interaction of employee with their
organizational climate, and includes psychological as well as physical working conditions,
therefore they adopt the definition of working conditions as follows, “Working conditions
refers to the working environment and aspects of an employee’s terms and conditions of
employment”. According to the definition given, the terms of working condition, situation
specific and working environment means the same thing, and the definition by Gerber et.al
(1998) were used in this study.

PERSON – ENVIRONMENT FIT

As highlighted by Billsberry (2010), management scholars (e.g., Parsons, 1909,

Schneider, 1987) have been interested in the interaction of workers and the environments
they inhabit for over 100 years. The theoretical concept of Person-Environment (P-E) fit was
first proposed by Plato (Kaplan 1950) and further developed by vocational psychologists
such as Dawis, Lofquist (Dawis et al, 1964), and Holland (Holland, 1959). The concept has
its roots in the interactive perspective in psychology (Kaplan, 1950), which recognizes that
individuals’ attitudes and behaviours are determined jointly by their personal characteristics
and their environments. Person-Environment (P-E) fit is defined as the degree to which
individual and environmental characteristics match (Caplan & Harrison, 1982), and Person-
Environment fit can be understood as a specific type of person-situation interaction that
involves the match between corresponding person and environment dimensions (Caplan,
1987). According to its important implications in the workplace, Person-Environment fit has
maintained a prominent position in industrial and organizational psychology. Person-
Environment fit leads to positive outcomes such as job satisfaction, job performance and
overall well-being.
According to L. G. Pee (2012), employees are likely to develop strong affective
commitment when they perceive congruence between their personal characteristics and
their organizations’ characteristics. In contrast, when there is a person-environment misfit,
employees are likely to develop dysfunctional attitudes. For example, the theory implies that
although the norm of collaboration is an important factor driving knowledge contribution, only
employees who are predisposed towards collaboration are likely to form positive
commitment and are more willing to contribute knowledge. In contrast, employees who
prefer less collaboration may feel put off. The theory also avoids the assumption that the
employee-side and organization-side effects are separate and independent and is more in
line with the reality where one’s behaviour results from the interplay between individual
characteristics and the environment. The core premise of the PE fit theory is that when
individuals and their environments are compatible, their attitudes and behaviours are likely to
be positive.

DISCUSSION ON RESEARCH AGENDA AND POTENTIAL OUTCOME

According to Figure 1, a conceptual framework in this study has been developed

linking person-specific factor and situation-specific factor based on person-environment fit
theory affecting individual job performance. In order to understand the complexities of job
performance, it is important a study been conducted to determine the direct effects of
predictors and job performance. Therefore, this study attempts to examine the role of
competence as person-related factor and working environment where the manager’s work
 453

on his / her job performance. In this regard, job performance is focused in this research as
no study is conducted regarding project managers’ competence and working environment
towards job performance. Moreover, this study is conduct to understand how person-
environment fit will affect the project manager’s job performance? Identifying it and
quantifying these effects can make great contributions to the body of knowledge.
The above mentioned problems and the gap in present literature brings about the
purpose of this research where, the aim of this study is to statistically test the proposed
conceptual framework that relates the independent variables to dependent variable in the
Malaysian construction industry. The independent variable in this study consists of
competence and working environment and the intervening variable is a person-environment
fit. The dependent variable in contrast is generally defined as the job performance (i.e.
performance of project managers). In short, this study attempts to specifically identify the
following objectives:
1. To determine the extent of relationship to which characteristics of competence
person predicts Person-Environment fit.
2. To determine the extent of relationship to which characteristics of working
environment predicts Person-Environment Fit.
3. To determine the extent of relationship to which Person-Environment Fit predicts
project manager’s job performance.

The above research objectives have led to several research questions. They are as follows:
1. What is the extent of relationship between characteristics of competence person and
person-environment fit?
2. What is the extent of relationship between characteristics of working environment
and person-environment fit?
3. What is the extent of relationship between Person-Environment fit and project
manager’s job performance?

In order to address the research objectives and research questions, the propose hypotheses
in this study are as follows:

1. There is statistical significance that competent person and working environment

predict Person-Environment Fit
2. There is statistical significance that Person-Environment fit predict project manager’s
job performance.

The novelty of this present study is that it contributes an original knowledge through
the development of an interactive, multidimensional and comprehensive theoretical
framework which combined the person-specific and situation-specific as antecedents for
project manager’s job performance, which is appropriate and useful for decision making at
the management level in the Malaysian construction industry especially on the issue of how
to increase the job performance at their construction projects through their competent project
manager and the working environment in their organization.
Thus, by understanding the extent of predictors on job performance, then, they could
carefully strategize the effective ways on how to improve their person-specific and situation-
specific factors. In other words, the proposed conceptual framework is purposely used to
predict performance by looking at two important variables which play important roles in the
construction industry; project manager and the organization where he or she worked with,
which could then guide decision makers and policy makers in the construction industry.
For academicians, the empirical insights from this study will add to the literature on
the relationships between the various factors affecting the successful implementation of
construction projects. This will aid in a better understanding of the pre-requisite necessary to
succeed in construction business especially in today’s competitive environment and provide
additional avenues of research in the area.
 454

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 456

The Role of Knowledge Creation in Enhancing the Malaysia Public

Sector Productivity
Sae’dah binti Md Saleh
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
saedah_saleh@yahoo.com

Ahmad Naqiyuddin Bakar

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
ansbakar@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

In 2020, Malaysia strive to become a high income and developed country. In achieving this
aim, the focus of the Malaysia government is to increase productivity. The Chapter 9 of the
Eleventh Malaysia Plans (11MP) outlined that the public sectors productivity can be further
strengthened by enhancing service delivery with citizens at the center, rationalizing public
sector institutions for greater productivity and performance, strengthening talent
management for the public service of the future, enhancing project management for better
and faster outcomes and capitalizing on local authorities for quality services at the local
level. The Malaysia Public Service Department (JPA) has also introduced strategies under
the 11MP, to rationalize the public service institution for greater productivity and
performance such as the realigning of public sector institutions and reducing overlapping
roles in the economic structure. Other strategies are the rightsizing of the public sector
through restructuring and multi skilling and by introducing exit policy for underperformer to
create greater accountability and improve overall performance within the public service. The
appointment of public service personnel on a contractual basis is to ensure in securing top
talents, providing flexible work arrangements to maximize productivity, empowering
ministries to customize talent and upgrading public service training to improve relevance and
impact with a focus on leadership skills and functional specialization. This require the whole
process of knowledge management especially of the knowledge creation to be properly
documented. There is still limited reference especially on knowledge creation process
undertaken by the public sectors personnel. This paper aims at studying the role of
knowledge creation in enhancing the Malaysia public sector productivity. This is a literature
review of research in the effects of knowledge creation towards productivity.

Keywords: Knowledge Management, Knowledge Creation Process, Public Sector

Productivity.

INTRODUCTION

The public sector is an important driver in achieving the Government’s aspiration to

become a high income and developed nation. They play a part in facilitating the service
delivery by designing public services around people and businesses, accelerating delivery,
by being transparent and accountable in their delivery, maintaining an effective facilitator for
the private sector-led growth, increasing productivity and building capacity in the
Government. The public sectors transformation initiatives had been clearly defined in the
11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) for the period of 2016 to 2020 due to the facts that the public
sector plays a major role in the societies. The public sectors expenditures form a major part
of gross domestic product (GDP) and it also employ a substantial employers and major
capital market participant.
 457

The improvement efforts in the public sector has started since the late 1980s. The
strategies back then were emphasising on the provision of customer oriented services,
systems and procedures improvements, greater use of information technology,
strengthening relationship with the public sector, improving the organisational structures and
human resource management, enhancing accountability and discipline and enculturation of
the values of excellence. In 2015, Malaysia public sector spending accounted for nearly
14% of the Malaysia’s GDP and it employed almost 11.5% of the total work force. This
significance figures had prompted the Malaysia government to increase productivity for the
public sector.
In improving productivity, one of the initiatives undertaken by the Malaysia
government was to introduce the Outcome Based Budgeting (OBB). This OBB processes
set planning for the ministries’ Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as indicated by (Abdul
Kadir, (2013). The KPIs are the reasons for any Government organisation existence, it is
related to the vision and mission of the public organisations. The KPIs apply on the concept
of SMART that are Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. Officers from
the ministries are appointed to oversees the process of setting the KPIs. The OBB process
involves developing the strategic results framework for the Ministry through planning for
outcome, monitoring and evaluation using decision support system and results reported
through performance reporting and policy formulation. The OBB will provide greater fiscal
challenges that require effective and efficient expenditure management, greater demand for
accountability, quality results, ‘doing more with less’ and enhanced authority over resources.
At this stage, the process of sharing of information and knowledge occurred. This is the
initial activities for the knowledge creation in the public sector.
The public sectors personnel will be involved in discussions, meetings, brainstorming
activities and many more activities that promote the idea of knowledge sharing. In 2011, the
Malaysia government had introduced the OBB which is a strategic management tool for
managers at all level. The OBB process involves developing the strategic results framework
for the Ministry through planning for outcome, preparing the resource requirements to drive
the ministry results, managing through budgeting for outcome, monitoring and evaluation
using decision support system and results reporting through performance reporting and
policy formulation. However, the challenges in implementing the OBB are to understand the
OBB concepts, the role of management in strategy building, the quality of information in the
results framework, to redefine the roles and functions of budget review officers, sustainable
capacity building and the frequent movement of the people involves with the OBB. (Abdul
Kadir, (2013).

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT, KNOWLEDGE CREATION PROCESS AND ITS

IMPACTS TO MALAYSIA PUBLIC SECTOR

Knowledge Management (KM) has surfaced as a major issue that has been identified
as a competitive advantage for individuals, firms and the nation. The knowledge
management practices consist of the generation, acquisition, storage and dissemination of
knowledge. The Knowledge Management had went through three. phases: that was before
the 90s, the early 90s and the late 90s. The first part of KM placed importance on data,
information processing and robust information system management environment. In the
second phase, Knowledge Management focused on the organizational knowledge sharing
process and in the third phase, the emphasize was on the knowledge creation processes.
(Bratianu, C and Orzea, I, (2010). In Malaysia this was supported by the Malaysia’s offical
opening of the K-Economy Conference in 2000. The conference concluded that knowledge
is wealth, and productivity growth doubled in knowledge-rich economies. (Mohamed,
(2000b). In the present economic situation, where the world economy is volatile, the
knowledge based economy will thrive. Since the mid-1990, Malaysia has been focusing to
enhance innovation and productivity and to transform Malaysia from an input-driven to a
knowledge-based economy.
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Knowledge are the product that results from the interaction of explicit and tacit
knowledge. (Nonaka & Takeuchi, (1995). Knowledge is one of the most important assets of
any organization. The Nonaka’s Knowledge Creation Theory are the understanding of the
concept of Socialization, Externalisation, Combination and Internalisation also known as
SECI. The organizational knowledge creation is the process of making available and
strengthening the knowledge created by the individuals in the organisations. The process
starts with people sharing their tacit knowledge by socialisizing with others, eventually it then
gets translated into a report or documents that is the externalization aspect, The combination
occured when the knowledge was captured in digital and analogue form, and when other
people start to internalise it will involve the shared knowledge being transformed into new
knowledge.
The management in the public sectors have a role to play in encouraging knowledge
creation. There are ways to ensure that there are knowledge sharing. The management
must know where and what forms of knowledge exist. Forums should be provided to ensure
knowledge. A suitable work environment is a must as it will increse interplay between
knowledge and knowing. The acceptance and support for the environment to create
knowledge through interaction, practice and experiementation.
The initial stage of developing the strategic framework in the OBB requires the public
personnel involved to participate in knowledge creation activities through the Programme
Logic and linkages (ProLL) model. This model process outlined the 3 level stages of
planning needed in order to come out with a Ministry KPIs. Firstly, at the Ministry level, it
addresses the needs and problems of larger community and ministry’s overall clients. The
second level is at the programme level which will address client needs or problems through
specific area of focus. Lastly at the activity level, where a group of operational activities
contribute to the programme. The initial activities undertaken in understanding the ProLL
requirements are to get the inputs from the personnel who are involved in the strategic and
financial planning in the Ministry. (Ministry of Finance, (2013).
This was done throughs activities such as meetings and brainstorming where
everyone were able to contribute to the understanding of the core business of the Ministry.
The personnel tacit knowledge such as experiences was shared to enable better
understanding to the real problems or needs of the public from the Ministry. Once this stage
is completed, the Externalisation process activities started with the personnel having to
translate that inputs to the Problem tree analysis which is a report that outlined the input
contributed by the personnel that were identified to be the core problems or needs of the
Ministry. The Problem Trees report will also outline the intervention programmes and
activities that will address these problems and needs. The intervention and activities
identified to solve the problem and needs of the Ministry will be the basis for creating the
Ministry’s KPIs. It also will serve as evidence of the Ministry’s core business and enable the
Ministry to plan for budget allocations for the Ministry. The process of application for the
budget will involve the Combination activities. This is when the Ministry will key in its
proposed budget based on the objectives to achieve the KPIs. The computing of the
application of budget enable the Budget Review Officers (BROs), which are the officers from
the Ministry of Finance to see the overall linkages of programmes and activities towards
achieving the targeted economic growth for the year. The input from all the Ministry in
Malaysia could be retrieved through the system used for this purpose. Once the BROs had
done the necessary vetting of the information in the systems, the Internalisation process
start as the BRO will prepare the suggested budget for the Ministry’s after considering the
programmes and activities proposed are not redundant to what other Ministry are doing, the
programmes and activities are the KPIs of the Ministry.

The efficient management of the personnel involved in the OBB will contribute
indirectly to the productivity of the public sector. The productivity in this OBB exercise is the
KPIs achievement. (Singapore, (2008). The successful achievement of the OBB initiatives
will see the needs for a proper documentation and implementation of knowledge creation of
the public sector personnel as these personnel has been trained to focus on strategic
 459

outcomes instead of producing outputs that may not make a difference to the nation, the
ability to prioritise delivery of results, to create transparency of overlapping programmes and
eliminate wastage, to help in prioritising savings, to encourage Ministries to innovate, to
make budget process strategic for effective expenditure management.
In ensuring the success of the OBB implantation, it requires knowledge creation and
sharing activities. (Wu, (2013), elaborated on the concept of knowledge sharing. It
explained that knowledge sharing does not occur naturally. Knowledge workers are likely to
share knowledge if they are satisfied with the knowledge sharing behaviour. The tendency
exists not to share knowledge in the knowledge-based economy as knowledge is power.

THE MALAYSIA PUBLIC SECTOR PRODUCTIVITY

The public sector plays a major role in society. In addressing these roles, Chapter 9
of the 11MP highlights on efforts to enhance service delivery to increase productivity for the
public sector. The focus are for the service delivery with citizens at the centre, rationalising
public sector institutions for greater productivity and performance, strengthening talent
management for better and greater outcomes and capatilising on local authorities for quality
services at the local level. The Public Service Department (JPA) had introduced strategies
under the 11MP, to rationalise the public service institution for greater productivity and
performance such as the realigning of public sector institutions and reducing overlapping
roles whereby functions, manpower and funding are aligned to the changes in the economic
structure. The second strategy is the rightsizing the public through restructuring and
delaying, multi skilling and lastly to introduce exit policy for underperformer to create greater
accountability and improve overall performance within the public service. Other strategies
being implemented are the appointment of public service personnel on a contractual basis to
secure top talent, providing flexible work arrangements to maximise productivity,
empowering ministries to customise talent and upgrading public service training to improve
relevance and impact with a focus on leadership skills and functional specialisation. This
require the whole process of knowledge management especially of the knowledge creation
to be properly documented.
In addition, the public service role need to be examined as they act as the back bones of
the country and in introducing and implementing policies. The right policy and programmes
introduce by the government will support the growth of the country. Understanding the
knowledge creation on personality of the public service personnel will enable the
government to better plan and anticipate outcomes that will eventually improve productivity.
This will also lead to more understanding when developing human resource forecasting for
its personnel.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2010) defined
productivity as the ratio between output volume and the input volume. It will measures
efficiently production inputs, such as labour and capital that are being used in an economy to
produce a given level of output. The Multifactor Productivity (MFP) aspect covers the part of
economic growth that cannot be explained by the increased utilisation of capital and labour.
The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) 2016, Malaysia rank at 19th
position, maintaining the placing in the top 20 most competitive economies in the world. In
the ASEAN region, Malaysia remains at 2nd place, and at 6th place among the countries in
the Asia-Pacific region. The WCY measures the government efficiency and the extent to
which government policies are conducive to foster competitiveness.

Drucker, P.F. (1999), explained that the 21st century productivity is due to the
knowledge work or knowledge workers. Throughout history, productivity has evolve. New
tools, new methods, new techologies which are the captial and labour that is the productivity
of the worker.

Six major factors that determine knowledge-worker productivy:

 460

i. Knowledge-worker productivity demands that we ask the question: “what is the task?”.
ii. It demands that we impose the responsibilty for their productivity on the individual
knowledge.
iii. Continuing innovation has to be part of the work.
iv. Knowledge work requires continuous learning.
v. Productivity of the knowledge worker is not just the quantity of output but quality is as
important.
vi. Knowledge-worker productivity requires that the knowledge workers are both seen as
an assets rather than a cost.

There is a correlation between a nation’s stage of development and its level of

productivity. As shown in Exhibit 1-1, Malaysia graduated to the efficiency driven stage in
2011. In comparison, South Korea took 7 years (1987-1994) from the efficiency-driven to
transition to the innovation driven stage with a productivity growt of 5.3% per annum.
Malaysia, took 19 years to do the same with a lower productivity growth at 2.7% per annum.

Exhibit 1-1 Stages of Development by Selected Countries

Malaysia need to have appropriate methodology to measure public sector productivity.

This is to enable the government to implement more effective strategic measures in policy
evaluation, particularly the assessment concerning Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the
ministries and budget allocation. In implementing the principles for KPI-setting it will cover 4
principles, that are the need to review KPIs annually to ensure relevance, keeping KPIs to a
critical few to preserve clarity and focus, setting longer-term targets to prompt ministries to
think ahead and be in time for the future, and analyse KPI performances over a period of 3
to 5 years to determine broader trends in unemployment. There are challenges in
measuring outcomes that are the difficulties to design KPIs that measure policy outcomes
accurately as most typically it measures inputs or outputs.
 461

CONCLUSION

The government will continue to strive towards providing a competitive administration

in its quest for excellence. In order to fulfill the wide range of functions of the public sector it
must practice good governance. Effective governance in the public sector encourages
better decision making, efficient use of resources and strengthens accountability. It further
improve public sector performance, management, implementation of better interventions,
better service delivery and better outcomes. The knowledge creation process of
socialization, externalization, combination and internalization enable better capture of public
sector knowledge and improve productivity.

REFERENCES

Abdul Kadir, M. S. (2013), Performance Management in Public Sector: Outcome based

budgeting. Censof Global Conference, Dubai.

Asian Productivity Organization. (2013), Knowledge Management for the Public Sector
(p.67-78). Tokyo: APO.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. (2008), Performance Management in Singapore’s

Public Service. Singapore: APEC.

Chin, J. (in press), 11th Malaysia Plan: Productivity-Driven Economic Growth.

Bratianu, C. & Orzea, I. (2010), Organizational Knowledge Creation. Management,

Marketing Challenges for Knowledge Society Journal, 5, 3, 41-62.

Drucker, P.F. (1999), Knowledge Worker Productivity: the biggest challenge, 44, 79-94.2.

Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department. (2016), The Malaysia Economy in
Figures. Putrajaya, October 2016.

Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department. (2016), Unlocking the Potential of
Productivity, Putrajaya.

Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department. (2015), Eleventh Malaysia Plan 2016-
2020: Anchoring Growth on People, May 2015.

Knowledge creation process & innovation in Egyptian Banking Sector. Retrieved October 10,
2016, from www.hull.ac.uk/hubs/pdf.

Laird, D.M. (2002), A review and critique of Nonaka and Takeuchi’s theory of organizational
knowledge creation. Retrieved July, 2016, from www.mcleanglobal.com/public
MGC/publication.

Mohd Ghazali, M., et al. (2007), The Application of Knowledge Management in Enhancing
the Performance of Malaysian Universities: The Electronic Journal of Knowledge
Management, 5, 301 -312.3.

Nejatian, M., Zarei, M.H., & Soltani.S. (2013), Critical enablers for knowledge creation
process: synthesizing the literature. Global Business and International Journal, 5,
105-119, 2&3.
 462

Song, J. H. (2012), Systematic and pratical measurement of organizational knowledge

creation: Developing and validating the knowledge creation practice inventory.
Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 33, 7, 616-631.

Singapore. (2008). Performance Management in Singapore’s Public Service., Taipei.

Public Service Department. (2015). Transforming Public Service in Malaysia: Guidelines for
Developing a Public Service Department, Putrajaya.

The “Bloated” Malaysian Civil Service. (2014, January 28). Economics Malaysia, p. A12-19.
 463

Employee Mindfulness in Organization

Dalili Izni Binti Shafie
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah, Malaysia
dalili@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nurul Farihin Binti Mhd Nasir

Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis, Malaysia
nurulfarihin@perlis.uitm.edu.my

Eliy Nazira Binti Mat Nazir

Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis, Malaysia
eliy083@perlis.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The word mindfulness has been well-defined and operationalized in a variation of diverse
ways, with the luckless value that repeatedly not clear with what exactly is meant when
someone speaks of mindfulness. The meaning consist of three components: intention,
attention, and attitude (Shapiro et al., 2006). Numerous further descriptions and
conceptualizations are established on it, though they may overlook the intention aspect,
exclusively in work that deals with self-report scales of mindfulness rather than (intentional)
mindfulness practice (e.g., Bishop et al. 2004; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Brown, Ryan, &
Creswell, 2007).That is why the conception of mindfulness has become progressively
widespread among numerous viewers, including organizational leaders, employees,
consultants, coaches, and psychologists. Moreover, there has been a boom in research
studies pertaining the benefits of practicing mindfulness at work and in one’s personal life
and pronounce mindfulness-based practices as a form of self-care that is effective in
decreasing work-related stress. On that reason, many organizations and corporations is in
progress into strengthening and emphasize more on employee mindfulness especially in
several industries such as social work, healthcare, education and business. It seem that
mindfulness is habitually observed as either an expressive trend or valuable management
instrument that can boost the whole workplace. In addition, preliminary research has also
linked mindfulness to elements of performance specifically, ethical, pro-social, and deviant
behaviour. In summary, the initial evidence supports a role for mindfulness on work
performance and based on collectives evidence advocates the influence of mindfulness on a
range of performance categories, including job, task, citizenship behaviours, deviance, and
safety performance but more experimental evidence is needed, and occupation, task
characteristics, and context may be important boundary conditions to explore. In conjunction,
therefore the objectives of this study is to determine the factors engaging employee
mindfulness consist of team effectiveness, job autonomy and task routines.

Keywords: Employee Mindfulness, team effectiveness, job autonomy, task routines

INTRODUCTION

It has been well strong point of view in the management literature that social processes play
a vital role in team performance (Mathieu et al., 2000), but the few previous published
studies on mindfulness and relational team processes are found outside the management
literature. However, based on the preliminary studies, they speculate that employee
mindfulness perhaps have the ability to support relational team processes such as cohesion
is via better conflict management. This is because mindfullness which has been found useful
 464

for negotiation (Galinsky, Maddux, Gilin, & White, 2008) and may be helpful for resolving
task conflict. On top of that, effective teamwork may also benefit from controlled and stable
attention (Metiu & Rothbard, 2012). Here, one of the outcome of this studies is to
conceptualize the relationship between team effectiveness and mindfulness as research in
neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, medicine, and related disciplines has draw out the
underpinning studies for constructing and testing theory about how mindfulness might affect
relational processes, such as teamwork and leadership, even management scholars seem to
have not yet truthfully embark on that challenge.
Moreover, there has also some arguement in saying that mindfulness is a strategic,
top-down, encounter organizational characteristic (Ray, Baker, & Plowman, 2011) whereby
in other word so-called high reliability organizations which have little room for error. In
addition, Levinthal & Rerup, 2006 claims that mindfulness may be practical in jobs that
require this kind of attention, whereas it may be destructive to jobs that are routine in nature
and may become better and more efficiently. So it propel this study to stand forward and
support greater confidence in the effects of mindfulness. In addition, essential reseach on
workplace mindfulness typically have insufficient measurement of common individual
differences (e.g., intelligence, attitudes, personality) that required auxiliary interpretation for
mindfulness’ effects. Nor do studies typically control for organizational context (e.g., role,
task characteristics, team climate), which may moderate the relation between the quality and
practice of mindfulness and workplace outcomes. That is why this study also put
consideration to study the relationship exist between task routine and mindfullness as if
mindfulness appears to have broad contribution toward individual task routines that may
make it an attractive management tools founded.
In contrast, mindfulness start up has been quarrel to be a dynamic social process
delineate by ongoing actions rather than a stable characteristic (McPhee, Myers, &
Trethewey, 2006). It seem to be as a bottom-up process that sum up the behaviors of
organizational members from context reclaims from the frontline (Vogus & Sutcliffe, 2012). It
is like the extent to which an organization holds shared perceptions of protocols and
behaviors (Morgeson & Hofmann, 1999) as they would show high levels of mindful
organizing. Basically, mindful organizing tend to be develop throughout a workgroup or
department (Vogus & Sutcliffe, 2012). The advantages of mindful organizing are intendedly
to have strategic and operational virtue by lodge feedback curl and communication channels
between front line employees and leadership to refine organizational processes (Vogus &
Sutcliffe, 2012). In conjunction, within the context of organizational research on mindfulness,
the question as to related constructs has received some attention in which wheather job
autonomy have some relatedness toward mindfulness.
Ideally, job autonomy is likely to provide employees the freedom of power over how
they can carry out their task in the organization, which is likely to reduce emotional tense
and mental stress, caused by necessary present certain emotions. Job autonomy in the
organization can be define as a physical performance or set of practices relating to allocation
of responsibility and produce the chain of command so employee have the solid decision
making and some freely to perform their main work activities in their own preferences but still
beyond the organization ethical and procedures. In summary, this research has used two
distinct conceptualizations of mindfulness and hopefully it is useful for future research to
more clarify and embrace the links between the two of them. Finaly, leading to a fuller
understanding of the integration of individual- and organizational level mindfulness
processes.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Is there any relationship between team effectiveness with employee mindfulness?
2. Is there any relationship between job autonomy with employee mindfulness?
3. Is there any relationship between task routines with employee mindfulness?
4. Which of the antecedents most influence employee mindfulness?
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RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1. To determine the relationship of team effectiveness towards employee
mindfulness.
2. To identify the relationship of task routines towards employee mindfulness.
3. To examine the relationship of job autonomy towards employee mindfulness.
4. To examine the most influential antecedent towards employee mindfulness.

HYPOTHESIS

Guided by the purpose of the study, the research hypothesis underlying the investigation in
this study are as follows:

H1 Team effectiveness has a significant relationship toward employee mindfulness.

H2 Job autonomy has a significant relationship toward employee mindfulness.
H3 Task Routines has a significant relationship toward employee mindfulness.
H4 Team effectiveness influences employee mindfulness.
H5 Job autonomy influences employee mindfulness.
H6 Task routines influence employee mindfulness.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Figure 1: Theoretical Framework

Team effectiveness

Employee
Task routine
Mindfulness

Job autonomy trust

Knowledge sharing

sharing
RELIABILITY ANALYSIS

By referring to the table 1, the results showed the reliability analysis of independent
variables toward dependent variable.

Table 1 Reliability Analysis

Variable Total Items Cronbach’s Alpha Strength Level

Team effectiveness 5 .794 Good
Job autonomy 5 .796 Good
Task routine 5 .861 Good
Employee mindfulness 5 .719 Good

PEARSON’S CORRELATION ANALYSIS

Pearson Correlation developed by Karl Pearson has popular and being tested by
many researcher to find the correlation between independent variables and dependent
variable. It also been used to find the strength of each independent variable toward
dependent variables. Table 2 was shown the Pearson Correlation Analysis for each variable.
 466

Table 2 Pearson Correlation Analysis

Independent Variables Employee Sig. (2- Indicator of

Mindfulness tailed) relationship

Team Effectiveness .302** .000 Very strong

Task Routine .442** .000 Strong
Job Autonomy . 441** .000 Strong

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

All the variables are positively correlated (significant value = 0.00, p<0.05). Based on
the finding, employee mindfulness is positively and significantly with all the independent
variables which are team effectiveness (r=.302, p < .01) job autonomy (r=.441, p < .01) and
task routines (r=.442, p < .01). To summarize, the value of significant of the relationship
between employee mindfulness and all the independent variables are significant 2-tailed
(.000<0.01).

MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS

Table 3 Summary of Regression

VARIABLES β Sig.
Team Effectiveness .515 .000

Job Autonomy .020 .003

Task Routines .229 .000

Adjusted R Square .678

R Square .670

Table 3 above show that the model summary of regression. The R-Square given in
the table above is frequently used to describe the goodness-of-fit or the amount of variance
explained by a given set of predicted variables. From the result of regression above, the
value of R-Square were shown .678 which is indicates that only 67.8% of employee
mindfulness (dependent variable) in the model is explained by team effectiveness, task
routines and job autonomy. In other word, the other 32.2% of variance in employee
mindfulness were explained by other predictors that were not considered or examined by the
researchers. Meanwhile, the value of adjusted R-square shows 67% attempts to yield a
more honest value to estimate the R-Squared for the population.
 467

a
Table 4: Table of Coefficients

Model Unstandardized Standardized t Sig.

Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
(Constant) .664 .190 3.498 .001
Team .615 .076 .600 8.110 .000
Effectiveness
Task Routines .452 .073 .608 6.163 .000
Job Autonomy .019 .63 .020 3.074 .000

Table 4 indicates the significant level of the variables. The results show that all the
dimensions in independent variables were significantly correlated to employee mindfulness
with coefficient alpha of .000. The beta (β) value for team effectiveness (β=.600); task
routines (β=.608); and job autonomy (β=.020) explain the significance of the dimensions of
these three independent variables to employee mindfulness. According to the beta (β) value
among the three variables, team effectiveness (β=.600) is the strongest variable that
contribute to employee mindfulness, meanwhile job autonomy is the least variable (β=.020).

HYPOTHESIS TESTING

The hypotheses are being tested based on the sig. (p-value) amount that has been
stated in the previous table. For a variable to be significant, the value must be equal to or
less than 0.05 (5%). Based on the study, all of the independent variables are significantly
positive relationship and influence employee mindfulness. This indicates that if the team
effectiveness is high, the levels of employee mindfulness are achievable.

Table 5 Summary of Hypotheses Testing

HYPOTHESES RESULT
There is a relationship between team effectiveness and employee
H1: mindfulness Accepted

There is a relationship between job autonomy and employee

H2: mindfulness Accepted

H3: There is a relationship between task routine and employee mindfulness Accepted

hH4: Team effectiveness influences employee mindfulness Accepted

H5: Job autonomy influences employee mindfulness Accepted

HH6: Task routines influence employees Accepted

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CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

Employees, as the main asset to the successful of the organization may become a
competitive advantage in the nation. Without the emphasizing on employee mindfulness
which are having less stressful towards their job, the outcome will not become outstanding.
This is because managing employee mindfulness requires the firm to be able to relate a
variety of creative, productive and becoming more empathy on their human capital. Thus,
everyone in the organization must collaborate with each other to build a harmonious working
culture. As a recommendation, the organization needs to provide adequate funding and
staffing for the knowledge management function. Furthermore, the management should
create awareness on the important of working in team and encouraging open
communication. This can be done by using survey, suggestion boxes and team meeting.
Besides, by tightening goal alignment and goal visibility allows for quicker execution of the
organization strategy among the employees. So indirectly will enable the management team
to allocate and practising job autonomy culture across various projects, effectively. Thus, it
will lead to overall efficiency in organization. Whereas, the management should inculcate the
culture of mutual respect towards each other and let the employees feel genuinely
respected, then only they are more likely to go beyond necessary and accelerate the
organizational achievement.
Hence, for future research, it is suggested that the research should be enlarged with
variety of other independent variables. This is to ensure consistency in employee
mindfulness from another spectrum of outlook. Other than that, the researchers are
recommending the organization to lengthen the study on appropriate methods in dealing with
this issues. Lastly, it is suggested that the timeline of the study should be more extensive in
the future so that the researchers are able to collect data in the large scales of respondents
as well as adding more findings in the study.

REFERENCES

Bishop, S. R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N. D. & Carmody, J. (2004).
Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology: Science and
Practice, 11, 230 –241.

Brown, K. W. & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role
in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4),
822-848.

Brown, K. W., Ryan, R. M. & Creswell, J. D. (2007). Mindfulness: Theoretical

foundations and evidence for its salutary effects. Psychological Inquiry, 18,
211- 237

Galinsky, A. D., Maddux, W. W., Gilin, D., & White, J. B. 2008. Why it pays to get inside the
head of your opponent: The differential effects of perspective taking and empathy in
negotiations. Psychological Science, 19: 378-384.

Levinthal, D. & Rerup, C. (2006). Crossing an apparent chasm: Bridging mindful and
lessmindful perspectives on organizational learning. Organizational Science, 17(4),
502-513.

Mathieu, J. E., Heffner, T. S., Goodwin, G. F., Salas, E., & Cannon-Bowers, J. A. 2000. The
influence of shared mental models on team process and performance. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 85: 273-283.
 469

McPhee, R. D., Myers, K. K. & Trethewey, A. (2006). On collective mind and conversational
analysis: Response to Cooren. Management Communications Quarterly, 19, 311-
326.

Metiu, A., & Rothbard, N. P. 2012. Task bubbles, artifacts, shared emotion, and mutual focus
of attention: A comparative study of the microprocesses of group engagement.
Organization Science, 24: 455-475.

Morgeson, F. P. & Hofmann, D. A. (1999). The structure of collective constructs:

Implications for multilevel research and theory development. Academy of
Management Review, 24, 249-265.

Ray, J. L., Baker, L. T. & Plowman, D. A. (2011). Organizational mindfulness in business

schools. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 10, 188-203.

Shapiro, S. L., Carmody, J., Abbey, S. & Devins, G. (2006). The Toronto Mindfulness
Scale: Development and validation. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62, 1445-
1468.

Vogus, T. J., & Sutcliffe, K. M. (2012). Organizational mindfulness and mindful organizing: A
reconciliation and path forward. Academy of Management Learning & Education,
11(4), 722-735.
 470

FACTORS AFFECTING VISITOR'S VISITATION DECISION OF MUSEUMS IN KEDAH

Nizar Nazrin
Faculty of Art and Design, UiTM Cawangan Kedah
nizarnazrin@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Farah Merican Bt Isahak Merican

Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
farah339@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Museum has long served as cultural bridges between past and future. Museums are
reflections of a society as they are repositories of historical, precious and significant
artifacts. As other leisure and learning competition such as art gallery emerge, museums
are finding themselves competing competitively to attract numbers of visitors. Global trends
are showing stable or declining numbers of visitations and the types of people who visit them
has remained the same. Museums are said to be focused on programs organized instead of
understanding visitors. When museums failed to understand their visitors, they fail to attract
new and recurrent visitors. This shows how important for museums to understand their
visitors and tailor their program towards making visitors satisfied whenever they visit. At this
juncture, museums need to find out why and what motivates visitors’ visitation to museums.
The problem faced by Kedah Museum management is the distribution of visitors to each
museum in Kedah is obviously not evenly spread. Muzium Padi received tremendous
amount of visitors compared to other museums and this raised question of why visitors are
keen to visit Muzium Padi even though this museum is situated nine kilometers away from
city center unlike other museums that are located within the city vicinity. This research
highlights on the decision making process which covers three factors affecting visitation
decision, namely psychological influences, situational influences and sociocultural
influences. Research was done in the state of Kedah, Malaysia. Results of this study
indicated that psychological influences are the most significant factor affecting visitation
decision. The study confirmed that the feel of interacting in gaining information and
experience excites visitors more than having majestic exhibition.

Keywords: Museum visitation decision, psychological influences, situational influences and

sociocultural influences.

INTRODUCTION

Malaysia is being hit hard by the global economic crisis. With the current Ringgit
against US Dollars is now at RM4.19 (as of 13th October 2015), many industries are
struggling to survive the great increases in material costs due to high imports. Even though
the current economic situation is putting almost everyone laid back, there are also some
industries gaining benefits out of it.
The ringgit’s depreciation will help boost export competitiveness and tourist arrivals in
the country, says the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) Executive Director
Dr Zakariah Abdul Rashid. Tourism industry in Malaysia has grown by leaps and bounce.
Recognized as a major source of revenue to Malaysian economic reawakening, Malaysia
saw how tourism sector has attracted great number of tourist between both international
tourist as well as Malaysian domestic travelers. Having a great strength in tourism product
diversity, Malaysia has established a distinct image in the international tourism arena.
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Cultural Tourism

Heritage and culture are among the niche products for Malaysia’s tourism
development. Cultural tourism is a branch under tourism that promotes heritage sites,
cultural centers and museums that represents a country. It represents local’s lifestyle,
history, religion, economy, education and other elements that shape the local’s life. This new
branch of tourism includes tourism in urban areas, especially historical cities and cultural
facilities like museums and theatres and also tourism in rural areas such as traditional of
indigenous cultural communities and their way of life (Rotich, 2012).
Cultural tourism is significant as it celebrates, preserve and promote a state’s unique
heritage, and boost economic development. Despite varied cultural tourism resources like
performing arts and archaeological/historical sites, it was evident that these attractions have
not found enough attention (Mohamed et al, 2005). Cultural institutions like museums should
be capitalized to generate development of cultural tourism. As one of the main attraction of
cultural tourism, museums contribute to the development of tourism as they work with
cultural and heritage assets.
Although known as repositories of knowledge and objects, museums should now shift
in taking the role as hosts who invite visitors inside to explore, encounter and learn.
Museums need to be more audience-oriented to pull more visitors. In fact, since 1990s
museums have changed their practices and policies to become more audience-oriented,
behaving more business-like compare to the traditional museums where museums reached
only small narrow and self-selected audiences (Mclean, 2003).
Global trends are showing stable or declining numbers of visitations and the types of
people who visit them has remained the same. From our daily environmental scanning to
quantitative research by global researchers on museum visitation, we can see that museum
visiting is not evenly spread in our population and some museums have lost its
attractiveness.
At this juncture, museums need to find out why and what motivates visitors’ decision
making process to visit museums. As museums values changed with time, when museums
are able to figure out all the reasons, it will have a great impact on the management as well
as the service in which museums will be able to provide in the future. Addressing the above
challenge will enable us to understand and suggest ways to make museums more attractive
to visitor. Museums can be reposition once we have assessed the factors behind a museum
visit.

Museums in Malaysia

Museums in Malaysia were established as early as the 19th century. Started by the
British, Malaysia’s first museum was opened in Taiping, Perak followed by a museum in
Selangor (Hasan, 2005). Today, there are more than 100 museums built to keep and display
collections on Malaysia cultural heritage consist of collection from diverse ethnicity of
Malaysia, natural history and ethnography. The main objective of museums in Malaysia is to
preserve the national identity and heritage, and to educate the community about it (Muzium
Negara, 2014). These museums are either managed by the Federal or the State
governments.
There are many museums situated in every state in Malaysia that showcases their own
local culture and heritage. Kedah Museums have spent their entire effort in preserving the
valuable cultural heritage of Kedah. Museums in Kedah have been positioned to respond to
social pressures and to the needs of the society. These state museums not only preserves
heritage but hold responsibility to inform and entertain. These museums are working under
pressure from the society in terms of representing them and they have to respond
appropriately to be effective to the needs of plural society. Museum managements are
pressured by lobbying groups for broad and full coverage of multicultural society histories
(Hasan, 2005).
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Clearly the rapid changes in time have forced museums to develop sophisticated
techniques that can generate attractive exhibition to motivate visitor’s visitation. When all
lifestyle and life attitude are changing, the philosophy and objectives of museum follows to
change. To date however, these museums have found that general public is less keen on
paying attention or getting interested towards museum’s exhibition.
Why the numbers of visitation has failed to improve or why the numbers start to
decline? Literature reviews have identified several factors that determine a visitor’s decision
making to visit museums. These factors include several psychological, situational and socio-
cultural factors. It is important to researchers to focus their attention on visitor visitation
decision process and it helps them to understand the factors that influences visitor of
museums.

Museums in Kedah

State of Kedah alone has six museums made available for tourists and locals visit. Out
of these 6 mentioned museums, only one museum which is Muzium Padi has recorded an
impressive number of visitations (Muzium Kedah, 2013). Based on feedback given by
Museums of Kedah Management, efforts made by them to attract museum visitors seemed
inadequate. Ringgits spent on attractive marketing promotions and events were not able to
change local perspective of Kedah museums. Locals do not view museums as an appealing
attraction to visit. Based on that fact as well as on observation, it is fair to say that museums
in Kedah are unable to attract visitors because they failed to understand reasons behind
decision making of museum visitation.
In addition to that, personal observation and word-of-mouth has highlighted that
museum management failed to understand factors that influences visitation decisions hence
the insufficient development of attractive promotional strategies. Kotler & Kotler (1998)
mentioned that by the early 20th century, museums have shifted its objective towards
educational purposes. In modern time, museums have understood the function and evolved
better in providing better and more memorable experiences. Visitors now expect more than
just a normal display in a glass, they expect to get involve actively in the exhibitions, to learn
informally and at the same time get entertained (Caulton 1998). Due to lack of attractive
events, with dull display, gloomy ambience has made visitors dispassionate in visiting any
museum at all. Kedah Museum was unable to recognize these mentioned factors that
influences visitor’s visitation decision process.

Figure 1 Kedah Museums Statistic 2014

172,647

81,676

20,807
13,270 7,480 5,174

Muzium Negeri Muzium Diraja Muzium Padi Balai Seni Negeri Memorial Tunku Rumah Tok Su &
Kedah Abdul Rahman Seni Banai
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The imbalance visitor’s amount visiting Kedah’s museums as seen in Figure 1 need
to be address seriously as these problems could not be explain by the management.
According to Senior Assistant Curator at Kedah Museum, Mr Zulkhiberi bin Mat (Mat,
Zulkhiberi, personal communication, June 12, 2013), efforts had been made to promote all
museums equally but the flow of visitors still heavy towards Muzium Padi covering more than
fifty percent of total visitors comparing to other museums. This had left the museum
management puzzled as the location of Muzium Padi is out of town and it is nine kilometers
away from the main museum (Muzium Negeri Kedah) where else all the other museums
such as Balai Senilukis Negeri Kedah, Muzium Diraja Kedah and Memorial Tunku Abdul
Rahman are located less than two kilometers away from the main museum.
The unsteady visitors’ amount visiting Kedah’s museums had raised inquiries from
State Tourism Exco, Mr Aminuddin Omar (Omar, Aminuddin, personal communication,
August 14, 2013). He questioned on the issue of why Muzium Padi received big amount of
visitors but other museums received only small portion of the total visitors. This big question
left a gap to the problem and there’s a need to identify and understand the visitor’s demands
and needs. Before answering to this question, research need to be done to recognize what
influence the visitors for visiting. It is significant for all to see the relationship between
psychological, situational and socio-cultural influences with visitor’s visitation decision and in
future to plan and strategize better in segregating the visitors equally to all museums in
Kedah.
With reference to the above mentioned problem, undeniably there is a link between
psychological, situational and socio-cultural influences with visitor’s visitation decision
making. And it is important for Museums in Kedah to identify whether all the three influences
perceived as equally important by visitors in making their visitation decisions. It was claimed
that if these influences are present during the museum visitation decision process, visitor will
have the tendency to visit museums more. Therefore, this research will try to uncover the
visitation decision factors and correlate with the influences. This research hopes to give
museums in the state of Kedah the opportunity to understand the dimensions of influences
to ensure better numbers of museum visitations thus making them understand better on the
visitor’s demands and needs.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

To better understand the decision making process of visitors, framework proposed in

this paper is to interpret visitor visitation decision in terms of Psychological Influences,
Situational Influences and Sociocultural Influences. The factors below are the influences that
were studied in this research;
The proposed variables will explore the relationship between each factors and
visitation decision.

Decision Making

As museums tries to provide the best exhibition and service, visitors seek to choose
which museums to visit, and which not to visit. Visitors have to make decision to select of an
option from two or more alternative choices. These decision processes are important for
museums to understand as it can signify whether the efforts and strategies has been wise,
insightful and effective, or it was poorly planned and missed the mark. Museums must
comprehend that decision making process comes in many forms and there are a number of
different theories to consumer decision making that can be adopted for an organization’s
benefit. For this study, the Utility Theory is adopted as it proposes that consumers make
choices based on the expected outcomes of their decisions. Consumers or visitors
specifically in this research are viewed as rational decision makers that have self-interest in
their mind. These visitors are able to estimate the probabilistic outcomes of uncertain
decisions and select the outcome which maximized their well-being (Richarme, 2005). In
addition to utility theory, this research also adapted to the evolution of theories and adopted
 474

the Theory of Buyer Behavior. This theory sophisticatedly integrates various social,
psychological and marketing influences on consumer choice into a coherent sequence of
information processing (Bray, 2008). Consumers or visitors are subjected to environmental
stimuli though various sources. Among the stimuli are significative stimuli, symbolic stimuli
and social stimuli. Significative stimuli are the actual products that consumers confronts
while symbolic stimuli are the representations of products as featured by marketers through
marketing effort and social stimuli are the family, peer and reference group influences.
These influences are assumed by consumers even before they act on their decision making
process. Theory of Buyer Behavior shares a similarity with the Engel-Blackwell-Miniard
model. This research can also adopted this model as it share similar structured seven point
of decision process namely need recognition, search of internal and external information,
evaluation of alternatives, purchase, post-purchase and divestment. The processes of
digesting stimuli are affected by memories of experiences and by external variables in the
form of environmental influences or individual differences. Parallel to this research
influences, the environmental influences include culture, social class, personal influences,
family and situation. While the individual influences include consumer resources, motivation,
involvement, knowledge, attitudes, personality, values and lifestyle. (Bray, 2008)

Situational Factors

Situational Factors are divided into two which is Physical Surrounding and Social
Surrounding. Physical surroundings that influenced the decision process include the
location, store atmosphere, aromas, sounds, lighting, weather, and other factors in the
physical environment. Social surroundings in other hand include characteristics and
interactions of others who are present during a purchase decision or who may be present
when the product is used or consumed (e.g. friends, relatives or salespeople), as well as
conditions during the shopping environment (e.g. an overcrowded store may cause the
buyer to terminate the buying decision process) (Pride & Ferrell, 2012).

Psychological Factors

Psychological factors are defined into six different perspectives;

Perception - Perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting
information inputs to produce meaning. Information inputs are sensations received through
sight, taste, hearing, smell, and touch. Perception is highly complex, leading markets to
increasingly take a multi-sensory approach.
Motives - A motive is an internal energizing force which directs a person’s behavior
toward satisfying needs or achieving goals. A buyer’s actions are affected by a set of
motives, some stronger than others. Motives affect the direction and intensity of behavior.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow conceived a theory of motivation, Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs organizes human needs into five levels. Humans try to satisfy these needs starting
with the most basic. Once needs at one level are met, humans move on to fulfilling needs at
the next level:
a. “physiological needs,” requirements for survival such as food, water, sex, clothing, and
shelter.
b. “safety needs,” which include security and freedom from physical and emotional pain
and suffering.
c. “social needs,” the human requirements for love and affection and a sense of
belonging.
d. “esteem needs,” people require respect and recognition from others as well as self-
esteem, a sense of one’s own worth.
e. “self-actualization needs,” top of the hierarchy, which refer to people’s need to grow
and develop and to become all they are capable of becoming.
 475

Learning - Learning refers to changes in an individual’s thought processes and

behaviors caused by information and experience. The learning process is strongly influenced
by the consequences of an individual’s behavior; behaviors with satisfying results tend to be
repeated. Inexperienced buyers may use different, more simplistic, types of information than
experienced shoppers familiar with the product and purchase situation. Consumers learn
about products indirectly through information from salespeople, friends, relatives, and
advertisements.
Attitudes – An attitude is an individual’s enduring evaluation of feelings and behavioral
tendencies toward a tangible or intangible object or idea. Consumers’ attitudes toward a firm
and its products strongly influence the success or failure of the organization’s marketing
strategy. An attitude consists of three major components:
a. cognitive (knowledge and information about an object or idea)
b. affective (feelings and emotions toward an object or idea)
c. behavioral (actions regarding an object or idea)
Personality and Self-Concept - Personality is a set of internal traits and distinct
behavioral tendencies which result in consistent patterns of behavior.
Lifestyles - A lifestyle is an individual’s pattern of living expressed through activities,
interests, and opinions. Lifestyle patterns include the way people spend time, extent of
interaction with others, and general outlook on life and living. People partially determine their
own lifestyle, but lifestyles are influenced by other factors such as personality and
demographics. Lifestyles strongly impact the consumer buying decision process, including
product needs (Pride & Ferrell, 2012).

Sociocultural Factors

Social influences are the forces other people exert on one’s buying behavior. Pride &
Ferrell (2012) explained social cultural as:
Roles - Every person occupies a position within groups, organizations and institutions.
A role is a set of actions and activities an individual in a particular position is supposed to
perform based on the expectations of both the individual and surrounding persons. Each
individual has many roles and each role affects both general behavior and buying behavior.
Family Influences - An individual’s family roles directly influence their buying behavior.
Consumer socialization is the process through which a person acquires the knowledge and
skills to function as a consumer. The extent to which different family members take part in
family decision making varies between families and product categories. Traditional family
decision making processes are divided into four categories: autonomic, husband dominant,
wife dominant, and syncretic. Within a household, an individual may perform one or more
buying-decision roles.
Reference Groups - A reference group is any group-large or small that positively or
negatively affects a person’s values, attitudes, or behaviors.
Social Classes - A social class is an open aggregate of people with similar social rank.
Individuals within social classes develop some common patterns of behavior, attitudes,
values, language patterns and possessions.
Figure 1.1 at the next page explains the connection and link between visitor’s decision
making process with the three influences; psychological influences, situational influences
and sociocultural influences with was adapted from Buyer Purchasing Decision Model (Kerin
et al., 2009).

Figure 1.1 Theoretical Framework (adapted from Buyer Purchasing Decision Model, Kerin et
al., 2009)
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CONCLUSION

The significant of this research was merely based on the problems found within Kedah
State Museums itself. Aimed to help improve and sustain the relevance of Museums in
Kedah for future state benefit. Utility Theory (Richarme. 2005) and Buyer Behavior Theory
(Bray,2008) adapted in understanding the visitor’s decision making process was combined
with Buyer Purchasing Decision Model (Kerin et al., 2009). Utility Theory and Buyer Behavior
Theory discussed that buyers have certain attitude towards the product they were about to
purchase. Kedah Museums couldn’t answer why the visitors were keen on visiting Muzium
Padi instead of other primary museums available like Muzium Negeri Kedah. From the
adaptation of these theories and model this research could understand their prospect visitors
better and thus plan a better way to attract them to visit more. Museums are said being too
focused on programs organized instead of understanding visitor’s demands and needs. This
show how important for museums to understand their visitors and tailor their program
towards making visitors satisfied and fulfills the demand whenever they visit. Visitors came
to museum to seek information and knowledge, an exhibition is a failure when it solely relies
on display without considering the fact of how visitors perceive the information.

REFERENCES

Bray, J. P. (2008). Consumer Behaviour Theory: Approaches and Models. Discussion

Paper. Unpublished. (Unpublished). Retrieved from
http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/ 10107/

Caulton, T. (1998). Hands-on exhibitions: managing interactive museums and science

centres. Routledge: NY.

Hasan, R. H. (2006). Management Practices in Two of the Oldest Museum in Malaysia.

International council of museums (ICOM). Retrieved from
http://www.intercom.museum/documents/5-3Hasan.pdf

Kerin, R. A., Hartley, S.W., Rudelius, W., & Lau, G. T. (2009). Marketing in asia. McGraw-
Hill: NY.

Kotler, N & Kotler, P. (2000). “Can museums be all things to all people?: Missions, goals,
and marketing’s role”, Museum Management and Curatorship, 18 (3), 271-287.
 477

McLean, F. (2003). Marketing the museum. Taylor & Francis e-Library. Retrieved from
http://gardoonism.com/files/60/root/books/marketing%20the%20museum.pdf

Mohamed, B., Mustafa, R. A., & Rahim, A. (2005). Heritage tourism in a multicultural society:
The case of Malaysia. Proceedings of 3rd Global Summit on Peace through Tourism,
Pattaya, Thailand, 2, 141-147.

Pride, W. M., & Ferrell, O. C. (2012). Marketing. South-Western: Cengage Learning.

Retrieved from http://www.ramsdelldesign.com/pdf/pride_ccd.pdf

Rotich, D. (2012). An Analysis of the Challenges facing cultural tourism development in

Kenya. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(10), 214-221.

Richarme, M. (2005). Consumer Decision Making Models, Strategies, and Theories, Oh My!
Decision Analyst: USA. Retrieved from https://www.decisionanalyst.com/
media/downloads/ConsumerDecisionMaking.pdf
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UiTM Millennial Perception towards Automobile Purchasing

Farah Merican Bt Isahak Merican
Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
farah339@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Rosliza Bt Md Zani
Faculty of Business Management, UiTM Cawangan Kedah
rosliza568@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nizar Bin Nazrin

Faculty of Art and Design, UiTM Cawangan Kedah
nizarnazrin@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Muhammad Ozir Bin Zuri

Faculty of Business Management, UiTM Cawangan Kedah

ABSTRACT

Millennials segment seems to be the target of marketers these days as they have high
purchasing power. This segment abounds the citizen of age 18 to 34 years old. This
generation is significant to marketers because they will represent the market as the older
generation phase out. Millennials represents the majority consumer segment in almost all
industry including the automobile industry. The focus of this paper is to look at the underlying
factors influencing Malaysian millennial customers in automobile purchasing. We focused on
three perspectives: perceived quality, perceived risk, and perceived value that give
influences towards millenials’s satisfaction in purchasing a car. We predicted and found that
two out of the three variables we positive correlated with customer’s satisfaction. This
research concluded that there is a strong positive relationship between satisfaction and
perceived quality. This research also established that the perceived quality in the most
influence factor on customer satisfaction which is the dependent variable. In addition, this
research found that perceived satisfaction is correlated with perceived value. Consumers
remain value conscious, looking to get the most for their money.

Keywords: Millennial, perceived quality, perceived risk, perceived value, satisfaction.

INTRODUCTION

Millennials and Automobile

Millennials segment seems to be the target of marketers these days. The segment
abounds the citizen of age 18 to 34 years old. This generation is significant to marketers
because they will represent the market as the older generation phase out. In fact, it was
reported that millennials have high purchasing power (Ganesan, 2011). In a survey
conducted by Deloitte in 2012, millennials represents the majority consumer segment in
almost all industry including the automobile industry. They represent an important
demographic for the automotive industry (Deloitte, 2012). In a 2014 survey, Deloitte
conducted an automotive consumer study. This time around, they went global. Again they
found that majority of the segments responded are millennials who are changing the
automotive industry landscape (Deloitte, 2016).
The ultimate sense of freedom for millennials or young adults is owning a car. A car
allows these millennials to establish independence and get together with their friends, away
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from their parents. Millennials or the Echo Boomers are those born in the early 1980s to the
early 2000s. This generation, generally known as the Generation Y is confident and tolerant
with high sense of entitlement and narcissism (Twenge, 2006). The millennials are shaped
with sense of self thus owning cars is their ultimate adult possession. At their early stage of
adulthood, they are said to be image-conscious and aspirational in their preferences. But as
they age, they prefer more practical cars (Deloitte, 2012).
Millennials want things to happen fast. This is influenced by how they grow up with
online shopping and the internet. They want details and offers to be instantly available
online. They prefer low-pressure car shopping experience with all information needed
upfront. Most millennials arrive at a dealership showroom heavily armed with pricing and car
information. Their minds are made up on a specific vehicle at a no negotiation deal. It is safe
to say that, “they just want some quick efficient help and then they want to be off behind the
wheel of their new car (Tuttle, 2014). In Malaysia, RHB Bank Berhad in the 15th Malaysia
Banking Summit 2011, identified millennials as bold, brash, multitasked, and they are
hooked to Facebook, iPhone and Tweeter. RHB conclude them as the first generation to
have built social networks online and these online interactions have developed a closed
relationship among them. As technology is a part of their daily life, they seek information and
expect everything to be available at an instant. Millennials in Malaysia constitute about 27%
or 7 million of the population (RHB, 2011).
Since millennials are image-conscious these young generation drivers lean towards
vehicles that reflect their personality and accomplishments. Deloitte 2012 and 2014 survey
found that majority prefer “electrified vehicle”, hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles over pure
battery electric or traditional gasoline vehicles. With that preference, they also look for
vehicles with capability to extend their social media and digital lifestyle. Cars equipped with
touch-screen interfaces, smartphone applications and in-dash technology are the most
desired cars (Deloitte, 2016).

Malaysian millennials spent 44.2% of their monthly spending on car loan installment
(Ganesan, 2011). Looking at the huge amount of money spent, we can say that Malaysian
millennials are willing to devote almost half of their income for cars. There were also findings
saying that millennials nowadays are pessimistic about their future and the cost of owning a
car accounts a much bigger slice of their income. Despite that fact, car ownership brings real
and valued benefits and the millennials are still saying that car enhances their lifestyle in an
important way. (TNS UK Automotive Study, 2013)

LITERATURE REVIEW

As we look at what ticks the millennials in automobile purchasing, the focus of this
paper is to look at automobile purchasing in three perspectives: perceived quality, perceived
risk, and perceived value that give influences towards customer’s satisfaction in purchasing
a car. This paper focuses on Malaysian millennials as many researches have already
catered to US and Europeans millennials.

Perceived Quality

Perceived quality is a critical element in consumer decision making. Customer

compare quality as alternatives with regards to price and reputation of a manufacturer (Jun &
Yong, 2005). It can also be defined as a degree to which a product provides customization
and reliability to customers. On top of that, perceived quality represents a product’s overall
excellence or superiority. Customer forms attitude towards products by comparing product
performance. It is the customer’s judgment about the product’s overall performance (Rowley,
1998).
Armstrong and Kotler (2003) said that in time customers have limited or no information
of a product, perceived quality has a direct impact on purchasing decision and satisfaction.
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Customers are incline to be satisfied when their perceived quality perspective give them
what they expected (Cronin, Brady & Hult, 2000).

Perceived Value

Customer’s perceived preference and evaluation of product attributes, attribute

performance and consequences of customers’ goals and purposes defines perceived value.
Function of product features, quality, delivery and price are part of what customers perceived
as value. Customers define value of products based on their perception and understanding
in their own terms and testaments (Sweeney & Soutar, 2001).
Perceived value plays a significant role in determining customer’s satisfaction as
customer forms perception towards the particular product or service in terms of what is
offered and what is given. They are inclined to feel justified if their perceived ratio of outcome
to input is comparable to the ratio of outcome to input experienced (Oliver & DeSarbo,
1988).

Perceived Risk

Perceived risk or the uncertainty that consumers face when they cannot foresee the
consequences of their purchased decision is important in customer decision making
process. Risk implies significant consequences of making mistake and the inconvenience of
making the mistake (Batra & Sinha, 2000). According to Zeithaml & Bitner (2003), perceived
risk will typically influence early stage of consumer buying process. Perceived risk includes
monetary risk, functional risk, physical risk, social risk and psychological risk. Purchase
decision that requires extensive search may result in believes that there may be negative
consequences or perceived risk involved in the purchase. This may occur when product is
expensive or complex (Solomon, 2013). This notion of perceived risk influences the
purchase decision to buy a car. In many cases, almost all consumers purchasing cars
consider risk, because consumers worry that the product may cause losses of other things,
such as performance or convenience. Consumers are less interested on purchasing the
product that is considers being risky endeavors. Customer would search for information to
reduce the risk. In information search, customers sometimes infer attributes to products
based on country of origin and experiences with product from a particular country. Consumer
may perceive less risk in purchasing product from the countries with a good image (Ahmed,
Johnson, Chew, Tan & Ang, 2002).

Customer Satisfaction

How costumer evaluates a product ongoing performance is part of customer

satisfaction. It is the evaluation of perceived discrepancy between initial expectations and
the actual performance of a product. (Gustafsson, Johnson and Roos, 2005). Any marketer
or manufacturer know that satisfaction the most important factor that leads to the
competitiveness and success of a product. According to Eshghi, Haughton and Topi, 2007,
the company are able to maintain or build the profitable and long term relationships with the
customers by fulfill their satisfaction. Though it is costly to generate satisfied and loyal
customers but that would prove profitable in a long run for a firm (Anderson, Fornell and
Mazvancheryl, 2004). Therefore, in order to ensure a firm capable to meet the high level of
customer satisfaction without incurred any highly costs, the firm should focus on the service
quality, improve the relationships with the customers and impose reasonable price towards
the product or services so that the firm can retain its customers. Turel and Serenko (2006)
mentioned that the level of customers satisfaction will be affected by the services offered
and price charged by a brand. Satisfaction will be a force that influences customers in
purchasing, repurchasing, spreading word-of-mouth and willingness of the customer to pay
more for the particular brand.
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RESEARCH FRAMEWORK

Figure 1 Research Framework

METHODOLOGY

Data for this study were collected from the millennials of a university in Northern
Region of Malaysia. The samples were selected based on convenient-sampling method
where subjects were selected because of their convenient accessibility and proximity.
This study uses primary data in which data obtained were from direct survey. Questionnaires
were used to collect data. Questionnaires using 5-point Likert scale with anchor of (1)
‘strongly disagree’ to (5) ‘strongly agree’ was designed to reduce variability and to enhance
reliability of responses. Prior to actual survey, a pilot test was conducted on 20 respondents
to clarify all ambiguities associated with the study instrument, as well as to choose
applicable scenarios that meet the focus of the study. Respondents were informed that
participations in the research were voluntary and their responses would be kept confidential.

RESULTS

Majority of this research respondent were male (62 percent) while 38 percent (%) were
female.
Based on the reliability test (Table 1), all four variables achieved required acceptable
level for the cronbach’s alpha, which is above 0.6. The result concluded that perceived
quality (0.896) has excellent correlated internal consistency reliability. Meanwhile, perceived
risk (0.676) has moderate correlated internal consistency reliability. Perceived value showed
a result of 0.716, which means good, correlated of internal consistency reliability. Finally,
customer satisfaction showed a result of 0.811, which means good, correlated of internal
consistency reliability.

Table 1 Reliability Statistics

Variable Cronbach’s Alpha N of Items

Perceived Quality 0.896 4
Perceived Risk 0.676 4
Perceived Value 0.716 6
Customer Satisfaction 0.811 4
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The results presented in Table 2 indicate that perceived quality correlate significantly
with customer satisfaction. This supports the hypotheses that there is a positive significant
relationship between perceived quality and customer satisfaction.
There is also a significant relationship between perceived value with customer
satisfaction. Hence, this support hypotheses that there is a positive significant relationship
between perceived value and customer satisfaction.
However, it was found that there is no significant relationship between perceived risk
with customer satisfaction. Thus, this doesn’t support the hypotheses that there is a positive
significant relationship between perceived risk and customer satisfaction.

Table 2: Correlations Analysis Results

Variables Customer Satisfaction

Perceived Quality 0.435**
Perceived Risk 0.151
Perceived Value 0.558**
**p<0.05

DISCUSSION

Limited research can be found in the academic literature about Malaysian Millennials
consumption behavior. In order to help enrich the Malaysian literature, this research was
conducted to identify factors that influence Malaysia millennials satisfaction in purchasing
automobile. The objective of the research is to study whether perceived quality, perceived
value and perceived risk can influence the customer satisfaction. This generation is the
future of our industry. It is essential for researchers to have a deep understanding of their
consumption behavior. Millennials are considerably an important market segment in Asia.
This group of young generation have significant spending power and they are growing to be
an important demographic.
Related global automotive consumer study done by Deloitte and ConsumerReport.org
for example indicated that millennials look at purchases that best mirror their image; stylish,
sophisticated and innovative. Most millennials prefer luxury brands because these brands
reflect quality, safety, value, performance, design and style, technology and innovation, and
environmentally friendly.
In today’s society, the way in which younger generations perceive value of automotive
purchase varies greatly. Younger generations are well exposed with tough economy,
resulting in purchasing behavior that look for purchases that give the most for their money.
These generations emphasize purchase price and resale value. In determining value, they
also factor in road-test score,
This research concluded that there is a strong positive relationship between
satisfaction and perceived quality. This research also established that the perceived quality
in the most influence factor on customer satisfaction which is the dependent variable.
Research by Caruana (2002) and Tsiotsou (2006) verified the preceding role of perceived
quality and suggested a direct effect of perceived quality on consumer satisfaction. In their
research, direct effect meant that when consumer has high perceived quality; their level of
satisfaction is also high. Thus, in line with this finding, automobile marketers should ensure
that they are able to supply quality automobile in terms reliability and durability of cars. It is
recommended that cars with advance technology be highlighted to Millennials as they
normally think that high quality cars are those with advance technology. Millennials
appreciate smart-phone compatible and infotainment equipped cars above other more
traditional car attributes. And among others, they demand for high-quality audio with smart-
phone integration, enhanced navigation systems, safety innovators, safety-belt air bags,
driver alert systems (Deloitte, 2014). On top of that, automobile marketers should also push
 483

forward cars that are comfortable and has low probability of defect as millennials love low
maintenance and easy to take care cars.
In addition, this research found that perceived satisfaction is correlated with perceived
value. Consumers remain value conscious, looking to get the most for their money. With
cars, that means looking beyond the purchase price to what the vehicle delivers for that
cash. Value to them is the definition of performance over time that gives return for money
spent. Cash in the wallet is placed as a greater importance compared to car handling, fuel
efficiency and high resale value. The bottom line is automobile marketers need to
understand the mindset of millennials and proceed to vie for dollars by offering these
consumers the value they look for in an automobile purchase. Millennials are smart
shoppers who look beyond the hype as they focus on value and quality of their purchases.
According to Dodds and Monroe (1985), consumers wish to buy products with high value as
these products give them satisfaction. Affordable and reasonable price of a car is an
important factor to ensure the customer satisfied with what they paid and value that they get.
Apart from that, automobile marketers should extend warranties and give guarantees that
products purchased will last long. Finally, the car makers must create and maintain the
brand image by providing the best values to their consumers so that they will have the
positive beliefs, confidence and satisfied with the particular brand.

CONCLUSION

The aim of this study was to see the relationship between three variables; perceived
quality, perceived value and perceived risk with customer satisfaction. This study examines
these variables in attempt to understand what influences millenials’ satisfaction in
purchasing a car. In the end, this study concludes that two out of three variables have
positive relationship with customer satisfaction.
As automobile manufacturers and marketers come to realize the significant value of the
millennials, we can see a trend where the automobile industries are now marketing their
products that are fit to these young generations. We noticed innovative and personalized
automobiles like hybrid and electric cars in the market targeting millennials as their premium
segment. This proved that auto manufacturers developed their automobiles around this
powerful segment. However, this does not mean that the automobile marketers have
identified and aware of all underneath value of consumer behavior and consumer purchase
pattern. Thus, this study can serve as a guide as it is relevant to identify the underlying
factors that can influence the customer’s satisfaction in purchasing automobile. This
research showed that perceived quality and perceived value influenced Malaysian
millennials in car purchasing decision making.

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 486

SOS-We Care 4U: An Initiative to Enhance the Street Children’s

Security and Protection
Siti Nur Fathanah Abd Hamid
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Selangor
fathanah.hamid@gmail.com

Yarina Ahmad
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Selangor
yarina@salam.uitm.edu.my

Nor Suziwana Tahir

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Selangor
suziwana@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

“SOS-We Care 4U” was innovatively designed to provide emergency contacts for street
children to enhance their security and protection while they are on the street. This initiative
has been translated into various forms, which were: (1) SOS-necklace; (2) SOS-laminated
card; (3) SOS-sticker; (4) SOS-key chain; and (5) SOS-We Care 4U website; aimed at
widening the accessibility of street children to get help from the relevant agencies such as
Royal Malaysian Police, Department of Social Welfare, public hospital, local authority and
non-governmental organizations. Notably, “SOS-We Care 4U” has been presented during
the Invention, Innovation and Design Exposition 2016 (iidex 2016) on 20 – 23 September
2016 at Dewan Agung Tuanku Canselor; and has been awarded Silver Award for Young
Inventor (Post-graduate) Category. “SOS-We Care 4U” was developed based on the
findings of the Master Degree research, entitled: “Survival strategies of street children and
their consequences: A comparative study between the Kuala Lumpur city and Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah”; and a research grant, entitled: “Social construction and identity formation of street
children in a Malaysian context”. Based on the findings of these two research, the life of
street children full with hardships and difficulties. While they are on the street, street children
are exposed to high risks such as street violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation, bullying,
gangsterism and many others. Since they are still children, the majority of them do not know
how to seek help when they are in dangerous situations. They only have their street friends
as the ‘sources of help’. Hence, SOS-We Care 4U as one of the initiatives that is highly
needed to uphold the street children’s rights for security and protection because they are our
children; they are among the victims of our failure; and they require adequate protection and
security from all of us.

Keywords: Street children, SOS for Street Children, security, protection

 487

INTRODUCTION: VULNERABLE AND MARGINALIZED STREET CHILDREN

Street children issue is being discussed and debated by many scholars around the
world since the 1800s until the recent year (Mayhew, 1861; Patel, 1990; Ball, 1994;
Berhanu, 1998; Aptekar, 2001; Amury & Komba, 2010; Ahmad, Latif & Sulaiman, 2011;
Aliaas, Bajunid & Abdullah, 2011; Taib, 2012; Abd Hamid, Ahmad & Hussin, 2015; Ahmad,
2016; Abd Hamid, Ahmad & Tahir, 2016; Abd Hamid, Ahmad & Tahir, 2017). Living
independently on the street without a proper supervision and protection by the responsible
adults has thrown the majority of street children around the world into inhumane conditions
such as exploitation, labor, social problems and many others (Abd Hamid, Ahmad & Tahir,
2016). This situation portrays that the life of street children full with difficulties and challenges
while on the street. Although street children can be considered as ‘young-independent
survivors’; however, they still exposed to the high risks while on the street. This is because
they are children that still requiring care and protection by many parties including family,
society, relevant agencies and government. Ironically, the right of street children to be cared
and protected remains invisible and subsequently, worsen this issue. In the worst case
scenario, the existence of street children on the street has been recognized as the ‘social
disturbance’ (Mert & Kadioĝlu, 2014). This situation isolated street children to be apart from
the society and live in their own ‘street world’. Until now, street children have been
recognized as a group of vulnerable and marginalized children.
Similar to street children in other countries such as India (Sharman & Joshi, 2013;
Pietkiewicz-Pareek, 2012; Patel, 1990), Africa (Human Right Watch, 2014; Ofosu-Kusi &
Mizen, 2010; Grundling, Jager & Fourie, 2009), Vietnam (Hong & Ohno, 2005), Philippines
(Boholano, 2013), Indonesia (Plan Indonesia, 2012; Amrullah, 2014) and many others, street
children in Malaysia are also exposed to the high risks while on the street. The majority of
street children in Malaysia live in fear of being exploited, abused, bullied, discriminated and
many others (Abd Hamid, Ahmad & Tahir, 2016). This situation requires street children to
develop various distinctive strategies to survive and stay alive such as stay in a group of
friends (Abd Hamid, Ahmad & Tahir, 2016; Abd Hamid, Ahmad & Hussin, 2015; Berhanu,
1998). Notably, street friends have been associated with the ‘sources of help’ among street
children—they help each other by sharing food, money, find medicines when their friends
are sick and save their friends from been bullied (Abd Hamid, Ahmad & Tahir, 2016; Ofosu-
Kusi & Mizen, 2010). A study on survival strategies of street children undertaken by Abd
Hamid, Ahmad and Tahir (2016) revealed that friendship is recognized as the main survival
strategy among street children in the Kuala Lumpur city and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah13.
However, this situation ponders an important question to adults: “whether children as young
as 7 years old deserved to take the responsibility like an adult?”. If the answer is yes, every
child’s right to be protected and cared is been undermined and manipulated. Thus, this
proved that they are the victims of our failures.
Street children as a social issue have been recognized as a long-standing issue in
Malaysia (Singh, 2007). However, it is argued that street children issue in Malaysia is still
under-researched and less emphasized by many parties such as educational institutions and
government agencies. Although, it is observed that only non-governmental organizations
have taken the noble initiatives to help these vulnerable children by providing food, clothes,
healthcare, informal education and many others; however, these initiatives can only give a
short term impact on street children issue. Besides, the initiatives were undertaken by the
non-governmental organization only covers the development, health and educational
aspects. Again, this situation ponders an important question: “who is responsible towards the
street children’s security and protection?”. In effectively addressing street children issue in
any country including Malaysia, all parties, including family institution, close society,

13
Notably, the majority of vulnerable street children reside the area of Kuala Lumpur and Sabah (Child Rights
Coalition, 2012). Hence, the need to develop friendship among street friends is required to survive and stay alive
on the street.
 488

community, relevant government agencies, non-governmental organizations and nation as a

whole should take the responsibility to save, care and protect street children regardless
which family they came from; and which country they belong to.

Recently, the street children issue in Malaysia called for an effort from a group of
researchers from the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies (FSPPP),
Universiti Teknologi MARA, to explore further about this issue in the Malaysian context. The
researchers have conducted two research entitled: (1) ‘The social construction and identity
formation of “street children” in a Malaysian context14’ and (2) ‘Survival strategies of street
children and their consequences: A comparative study between Kuala Lumpur city and Kota
Kinabalu, Sabah’15. The key findings of these two research proved that street children in
Malaysia exposed to the high risks while they are on the street including street violence,
abuse, neglect, exploitation, bullying, gangsterism and many others. Following to this
situation, the researchers have come out with one initiative known as ‘SOS-We Care 4U’ to
enhance the street children’s security and protection in the Kuala Lumpur city and Kota
Kinabalu, Sabah. This initiative focused only on these two areas because according to Child
Rights Coalition (2012), the majority of street children in Malaysia reside the area of Kuala
Lumpur and Sabah. Thus, SOS-We Care 4U was specifically designed for street children in
the Kuala Lumpur city and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

SOS-WE CARE 4U: EMERGENCY CONTACTS FOR STREET CHILDREN’S SECURITY AND
PROTECTION WHILE ON THE STREET

As discussed earlier, SOS-We Care 4U was developed specifically to enhance the

street children’s security and protection while on the street. This initiative provides
emergency contacts of the relevant agencies including Royal Malaysian Police, Department
of Social Welfare, public hospital, local authority and non-governmental organizations in the
Kuala Lumpur city and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah that allows street children to seek help when
they are facing the hazardous and dangerous situations on the street. The outcome of the
development of SOS-We Care 4U is presented in the Invention, Innovation and Design
Exposition (iIDEX) 2016, on 20th to 23rd September 2016, at Dewan Agung Tuanku Canselor
(DATC), Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia. During the iIDEX 2016, this
innovative initiative was awarded ‘Silver Award for Young Inventor (Post-graduate)
Category’. Notably, the outcome of the development of SOS-We Care 4U has been
translated into several forms, as presented in Table 1.

14
The research entitled: ‘The social construction and identity formation of street children in a Malaysian
context’ was a research grant under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) funded by the Ministry of
Higher Education. This research grant was led by Dr. Yarina Ahmad, from the Faculty of Administrative
Science and Policy Studies (FSPPP). Notably, this two and half years-research grant has been completed in
December 2016.
15
The research entitled: ‘Survival strategies of street children and their consequences: A comparative study
between Kuala Lumpur city and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah’ was a research work of the main author of this paper,
who worked as a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) and has completed her Master degree in January 2017.
 489

Table 1 Five Forms of SOS-We Care 4U

No. Forms Picture

1. SOS-necklace

2. SOS-laminated card

3. SOS-sticker
 490

4. SOS-keychain

5. SOS-We Care 4U website

Various Forms of SOS-We Care 4U

As indicated earlier, SOS-We Care 4U wass translated into five different forms: (1) SOS-
necklace; (2) SOS-laminated card; (3) SOS-sticker; (4) SOS-keychain; and (5) SOS-We
Care 4U website. The main focus of this innovative idea aimed at widening the accessibility
of street children to get help from the relevant agencies. SOS-necklace is designed based
on the characteristics, behavior, nature and living environment of street children by using a
necklace made from a corrosion-resistant metal. This necklace has been engraved with the
emergency contacts of relevant agencies that deal with street children issue in the Kuala
Lumpur city and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. SOS-necklace is mostly designed for male street
children; however, it also can be given to female street children in both areas. The necklace
is the most preferable form of SOS-We Care 4U as it gives a form of identity to the street
children. Each necklace has identity code (an example of code: SCR_1) that represent the
identity and information of each street child. Presently, there is no official record of street
children in Malaysia; hence, this initiative will help to keep the record of street children in
Malaysia, particularly in the Kuala Lumpur city and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
The SOS-laminated card is another form of SOS-We Care 4U that consists of the
emergency contacts and identity code of street children. Similarly, the identity code is crucial
to keep the record of street children in the Kuala Lumpur city and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
SOS-sticker is another tool to provide the emergency contacts for street children. This
sticker can be printed in various sizes and place in the public areas, schools and others to
create the awareness among street children to seek the right help from the relevant
authorities. Another form of SOS-We Care 4U is SOS-keychain that covered by hard-plastic
container where street children can attach this keychain to their keys, belts, bags and many
others.
Last but not least, SOS-We Care 4U website is designed specifically for street
children in Malaysia. This website does not only provide the emergency contacts for street
children; but, it also provides the relevant information for street children, close society,
community, relevant agencies and government. Further, SOS-We Care 4U website is
utilized as a forum for street children to communicate with the researchers through an email
 491

and telephone. The development of this website also aimed at encouraging the public,
relevant agencies and other parties to help these vulnerable children by donating any
relevant resources that will be channeled to street children in Malaysia. It is believed that all
the five forms of SOS-We Care 4U can enhance the security and protection of street children
as well as uphold their rights as children.

The Usefulness of SOS-We Care 4U

In discussing about the usefulness of SOS-We Care 4U, the findings of the two
research undertaken by the researchers from the FSPPP not only informed the relevant
information to the government to strengthen the existing policy and formulate the new policy
to deal with street children issue; but, the contribution of SOS-We Care 4U is also
considered as one of the useful outcomes of research taken by the researchers. This
contribution can benefit the right target audience which is street children. Further, this
initiative shows the effort to uphold the street children’s rights for survival, care and
protection as well as an interpretation of ‘caring society’ towards the difficulties and
challenges faced by street children in the Kuala Lumpur city and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
Thus, it is urged that the close society and community should never differentiate street
children because the National Child Policy 2009 stated that: “every child has the right to live
and given protection, care, compassion, health services, support and social assistance”. For
a quite sometimes, street children remains invisible and suffering from hunger and pains;
and it is about time, street children’s rights as children need to uphold and protected
(Department of Social Welfare, 2016).

The Novelty of SOS-We Care 4U

In terms of novelty, SOS-We Care 4U was designed based on the original outcome
of the two research: (1) ‘The social construction and identity formation of “street children” in
a Malaysian context’ and (2) ‘Survival strategies of street children and their consequences: A
comparative study between Kuala Lumpur city and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah’. The key findings
of these two research proved the need to enhance street children’s security and protection in
the Kuala Lumpur city and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. This is because street children are still
young and fragile; they do not know how to seek the right help when they are facing the
hazardous and dangerous situations. SOS-We Care 4U is considered as one of the
platforms for the researchers to contribute back to street children in the form of ‘service to
society’ by educating them on the way to be saved and rescued. “People who giving are
better than people who receiving”—by giving an opportunity for street children to be cared
and protected by the relevant authorities through this initiative, the street children issue in
Malaysia can be innovatively and effectively addressed. Thus, this is aligned with the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) that focuses on the welfare and lives of
children; this covers the aspects of survival, protection, development and participation of all
children (Department of Social Welfare, 2016).

THE WAY FORWARD: ENHANCING AND STRENGTHENING STREET CHILDREN’S

SECURITY AND PROTECTION

As discussed above, SOS-We Care 4U is considered as an innovative initiative taken

by the researchers from the FSPPP. Notably, the development of SOS-We Care 4U to
enhance the street children’s security and protection is considered effective, only if the
researchers are able to sustain and provide the benefit particularly for street children and
continuously educate the society, community, relevant agencies and government regarding
the street children issue in Malaysia. The discussion on the way forward to enhance and
strengthen street children’s rights for security and protection is divided into two phases.
 492

The First Phase: Introduction of SOS-We Care 4U

SOS-We Care 4U was firstly introduced in the Invention, Innovation and Design Exposition
(iIDEX 2016). All the five forms of SOS-We Care 4U were presented upon two panels (one
panel from the educational institution and one panel from the industry). Notably, before the
execution of iIDEX 2016, SOS-We Care 4U is already registered under the Intellectual
Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) on 17th September 2016 (No. MyIPO:
LY2016002398), to protect the copyright of the researcher’s effort and initiative. Further,
SOS-We Care 4U received a recognition (Silver Award) on its usefulness, novelty and
impact towards the street children’s rights in Malaysia. This calls for an improvement to be
made on all the five forms of SOS-We Care 4U which were designed to enhance the street
children’s security and protection.

The Second Phase: Implementation of SOS-We Care 4U

The second phase covers the implementation of SOS-We Care 4U in the Kuala Lumpur city
and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Following to this, street children in both cities will be given SOS-
laminated card, SOS-sticker and SOS-key chain. The majority of male street children will be
given the SOS-necklace; however, it is also can be distributed to female street children, if
necessary. This is because although male street children are mostly visible on the street;
however, female street children are recognized as the most vulnerable street children—they
can easily be abused, exploited and bullied. Further, the SOS-We Care 4U website ready to
play its role in educating the close society, community, relevant agencies and government as
a whole. The main focus of SOS-We Care 4U website is to publicly inform all the relevant
information discovered from the two research undertaken by the researchers. Thus, the
information pertaining to street children issue on this website can be utilized by many parties
to further strengthening the street children’s rights for protection, care, compassion, health
services, support and social assistance. At the same time, this website will encourage the
public to help street children in Malaysia through voluntarily donate the relevant resources
such as money, clothes, food, healthcare and many others. These resources will be
channeled to street children and the donation can be used to develop a specific program for
street children in the country.

CONCLUSION

SOS-We Care 4U was originally designed based on the findings of the two research
undertaken on the street children issue in Malaysia. Notably, the findings proved that street
children in the country are suffering from hunger and pains. The majority of them were
thrown into inhumane conditions such as street violence, abuse, gangsterism, bullying; and
in the worst case scenario, they have been exploited. Following to this situation, SOS-We
Care 4U aimed at enhancing the street children’s security and protection while on the street.
This innovative initiative provides the emergency contacts of relevant agencies including
Royal Malaysian Police, Department of Social Welfare, public hospital, local authority and
non-governmental organizations in the Kuala Lumpur city and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. SOS-
We Care 4U begins to focus specifically on two areas because it is argued that the majority
of street children resided the area of Kuala Lumpur and Sabah (Child Rights Coalition,
2012).
The development of SOS-We Care 4U was designed specifically for street children
based on their characteristics, behavior, nature and living environment on the street. Due to
this situation, SOS-We Care 4U has been translated into five different forms, which were: (1)
SOS-necklace; (2) SOS-laminated card; (3) SOS-sticker; (4) SOS-keychain; and (5) SOS-
We Care 4U website. One of the main focuses of this innovative idea is to widen the
accessibility of street children to seek help when they are facing the difficulties and
challenges while on the street. Although SOS-necklace, SOS-laminated card, SOS-sticker
 493

and SOS-key chain have different functions, shape and sizes; however, these products
share the same interest which is to educate street children on how to seek the right help
from the relevant agencies when they are facing the hazardous and dangerous situations.
On the other hand, SOS-We Care 4U website was developed to inform all the relevant
information regarding street children issue in the country to further strengthening street
children’s rights for security and protection. In addition, this website encourages the public to
donate the relevant resources for street children’s growth, development and survival.
Enhancing street children’s security and protection is not the responsibility of street
children themselves; but, it is our responsibility to care, secure and protect street children in
the country. This is because regardless who they are, street children are our children too.
They deserved to live a better life like other children; they deserved to receive care and
compassion from adults; they deserved to benefit from all basic services provided in the
country; and the most important thing is they deserved to be secured and protected from any
forms of violence, abuse, neglect, abandonment, bullying, exploitation and many others.
Street children are our children that still requiring for care, protection, supervision and
direction from the family, close society, community, relevant agencies and government.
Thus, it is urged that the nation should not differentiate street children because they are
among the most vulnerable group in the country resulted from our failure.

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 495

Aging Workforce: A Challenge for Malaysia

Anisah Abas @ Hamdan
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam Selangor
icahabas@gmail.com

Aliza Abu Hassim (Ph.D)

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam Selangor
aliza770@salam.uitm.edu.my

Fadilah Puteh (Ph.D)

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam Selangor
fadilahputeh@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The world is moving towards an aging population as projected by the United Nations
(UN) in the 2015 report. The number of elderly population is envisaged to increase to 1.4
billion in 2030 and 2.1 billion by 2050. Modern lifestyles and declining fertility rates have
changed the demographic trends across the globe. In most countries, the trend has led to
changes in the economic environment, creating unique and unprecedented challenges and
opportunities for businesses. Understanding the demographic changes that are likely to
unfold over the coming years as well as the challenges and opportunities they pose is crucial
for achieving a sustainable development. One of the most significant issues faced by
organizations and governments, especially in the developing countries, is an aging
workforce. Scholars are beginning to look at the impact of an aging population across
disciplines. This paper presents a meta-analysis and literature review by scholars on aging
workforce challenges at the workplace. It is hoped that the paper provides an overview and
better understanding of the issues to be addressed at both the organizational and national
level in the Malaysian context.

Keywords: Aging Population, Aging Workforce, Aging Workforce Challenges.

* The corresponding author is a Ph.D. candidate in Human Resource Management at the Faculty of
Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam

INTRODUCTION

The world population is experiencing rapid growth across all regions and it is
projected to grow further in the coming years, though at a slower pace compared to in the
past 10 years. According to the 2015 report by the UN, the average global population
growth rate was at 1.2% per year. The population is projected to increase by more than one
billion people within the next 15 years, reaching 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and
11.2 billion by 2100. The report also indicated a decline in the world’s fertility rate from 2.47
children per woman during the period 2015-2020 to 2.25 children per woman in 2045-2050.
This rate is expected to decline to 1.99 children per woman in 2095-2100. However, life
 496

expectancy is found to have increased between 2000-2005 and 2010-2015 (UN Population
Division, 2015).
Based on the demographic projection by the UN, it is evident that the world is moving
towards an aging population as elderly comprise more than 15% of the total population.
They are from the baby boomer generation who reached or will reach the age of 65 years
old. The highlight of the 2015 UN report is that there were 901 million people aged 60 years
and above or 12% of global population in 2015, and it is growing at a rate of 3.26% per year.
Thus, the number of elderly is projected to be 1.4 billion by 2030 and 2.1 billion by 2050 and
could rise to 3.2 billion in 2100. Analysis by The Economist Intelligence Unit (2015), shows
that during the period 2015-2060, aging would have the largest impact on the world
population structure.
An analysis by Ismail, Siti, Abdul, Aizan, and Abdul (2015) on some of the empirical
studies showed ambiguous results. Some researchers were of the view that population
aging could boost economic growth, while others, such as Gruescu (2007) commented that
aging of the population has a negative effect on economic growth. Similar finding has been
noted earlier in numerous simulations and models with overlapping generations. The aging
workforce is a human resource issue at all levels, from functional to corporate and has an
implication on public policy and should therefore be addressed strategically.
According to The Economist Intelligence Unit (2015) report, the overall growth rate of
the working-age population from 1990 to 2010 has been driven the Baby Boomer generation
and X generation with a 67% growth rate. This trend is expected to continue over the 2010-
2030 period with a growth of 41.2%. By 2050, in some of the fast aging European countries
such as Germany, Spain, and Italy, the share of the elderly population is projected to be over
35%, while in Japan, Korea, and Singapore it is expected to reach 40%. This phenomenon
is envisaged to spread to developing countries (UN Population Division, 2015). In the
developing countries, the proportionally fastest growth rate of the “oldest old” demographic
group (85 years and older) has implications for current members of the workforce (El Fassi
et al., 2013). According to Beard et al., (2012), developing countries would have less time to
adjust and establish the infrastructure and policies necessary to meet the needs of their
rapidly shifting demographics. It also means that, unlike the developed countries, the
developing countries would have to cope with the possibility of the population getting old
before they get rich.
The objectives of this paper are twofold. Firstly, to discuss the overview perspective on
issues and challenges with regards to an aging workforce at the workplace using a meta-
analysis derived from several scholars. Secondly, this paper also discusses how Malaysia as
a developing country could learn and address the issues in the Malaysian context.

AGING WORKFORCE CHALLENGES

With respect to an aging workforce, the focus has thus far been on how to manage
the older workers, how to ensure their job security at the workplace, and how to minimize
costs. An issue often overlooked is dealing with the new cohorts at the workplace. Thus, in
this section, we explore both issues and the challenges in the workplace.

Aging Stereotype at Workplace

Research concerning perceptions of older workers could be traced back to the early
1950s, and scholarship specific to the concept of ageism back to the late 1960s (Butler,
1969). Since then there has been biases against older workers with a belief that
performance declines with age. Griffin, Bayl-Smith, and Hesketh (2016) indicated that when
the focus of a study is on older workers, the specific concern has been limited to age
discrimination of older workers in the workplace. Often, the older workers are discriminated
 497

in terms of skill recognition, denied employment or promotion, or left out of training

programs.
Tuckman and Lorge (1952) found that younger participants tend to agree with the
negative perceptions concerning older workers. A negative stereotype could be the starting
point of discriminatory behavior at work (Sánchez Palacios, Trianes Torres, & Blanca Mena,
2009). This would have an impact on HR practices in the organization towards older
workers. At the same time, it creates negative vibes for the older workers themselves. Age
discrimination among older workers has been linked to the stereotype that is associated with
low self-efficacy, performance issues, decline in job satisfaction, organization commitment
and job involvement (Orpen, 1995).
The major challenge by older workers is age stereotype at their workplace. In a review
of the literature on the health and productivity of older workers, by Robertson and Tracy
(1998), it was noted that older workers often encountered negative performance appraisals
partly due to stereotypes and myths about aging at work and the older worker (Hertel &
Zacher, 2015), “being older” is predominantly associated with negative connotation of
performance decrease, physical decline, dependency on others and costs to society
(Zacher, 2015).
The study by Posthuma, Wagstaff, and Campion (2012) defined age stereotype as
judgments about an individual employee based on their age rather than on their actual
knowledge, skills or abilities. The age stereotype has been sorted into six main categories,
namely poor performance, resistance to change, lower ability to learn, shorter tenure, costly,
and high dependency level. Iweins, Desmette, Yzerbyt, and Stinglhamber (2013) reported
that these beliefs often manifest specifically in the light of technological changes and
advancements. Ng and Feldman (2012) concurred that the only common negative
stereotype for which there is some element of truth is that older workers on average, are less
willing to engage in development and training opportunities compared to the younger
workers. Despite the opportunity given to enhance knowledge on new technology, some of
them are reluctant to participate.
Another study on the stereotype of older workers from the perspective of younger
and middle-aged workers revealed that 60% of the descriptors generated by younger
workers and 85% by middle-aged workers were positive. The most common belief that
emerged was “experienced.” However, “resistant to change” and “unable/unwilling to learn”
still remained prominent among the negative characteristics (Finkelstein, King, & Voyles,
2015).
Hertel and Zacher (2015) in their article on Managing the Aging Workforce highlighted
that there is no age differences in core task performance between younger and older worker.
Nevertheless, the older worker has more positive job attitudes. Iweins et al., (2013) stated
that positive stereotypes towards older workers were related to affection reflecting
admiration, which showed relationships with supportive workplace behavior. Furthermore, it
was found that older workers have skills and competencies often lacking among the young
workers. The older workers are typically more engaged, loyal, and client-focused and have
better social skills. Evidence from a meta-analysis by Waldman and Avolio (1986) found no
significant differences between age groups in objective work performance measures. Rather,
their results indicated that older workers received lower performance scores when subjective
supervisory ratings were used.
Stereotypes not only describe our beliefs about how workers of certain age groups are,
but also how they should be. Under certain conditions, stereotypes could affect behaviors
ranging from major workplace decisions to everyday interactions at work (Finkelstein et al.,
2015). Scholars believe that understanding the relationship between age and performance
would ease the biases and reduce any unfair, discrimination of older workers.

Selection and Recruitment Discrimination of Older Workers

Irrespective of the influence of statutory retirement age, choices about whether to retire
or not are likely to be heavily influenced by personal economic pressures for the majority of
 498

the workers. A study by Puteh, Abd Radzuan and, Abd Ghafar (2011) revealed that 66% of
the respondents agreed that older workers are still productive and show better performance.
Furthermore, about 77.5% of the respondents agreed that being senior is good because they
have greater work experience. In addition, about 40% of the employers in Malaysia viewed
retirement of an older worker as the loss of valuable skill and experience. To be able to
engage older workers and encourage them to remain in the workplace it is vital to first
understand what motivates individuals to continue to work. Yusoff and Yusof (2013)
indicated that the elderly might need to continue working because they have to augment
their income, while others might enjoy working or to remain active.
In general, productivity declines as people age. This stems from physical and cognitive
decline and the natural obsolescence of skills and knowledge acquired at an earlier age. The
Ontario Human Rights Code 1961 recognized and responded to the reality that an aging
workforce would experience physical and or psychological changes that increase the
likelihood and or frequency of conflict between the aging individual and the demands of the
workplace as it is currently structured. The older worker is not as healthy as his/her younger
colleague and is more prone to injury. It is true that sensory, motor, and cardio-respiratory
function all decrease with age. Physical and cognitive abilities do decrease with age, but the
rate by which these changes happen is neither linear nor is it pre-determined. However,
Robertson and Tracy (1998) argued that depending on the job, reduction in physical strength
and endurance and reaction time could be compensated for with increased experience, by
pacing activities and by enhancing performance. Nonetheless, chronological age has not
been found to be a valid predictor of performance for a specific individual in a particular job
(Cleveland & Landy, 1983).
Age of an employee could (under some circumstances) trigger age stereotypes that
resulted in unfair decisions about or treatment of older workers (Finkelstein et al., 2015).
Despite what most of the reviews and meta-analyses on this issue suggest, there is no
consistent evidence that shows work performance decreased with age. Bias against older
workers has created discrimination during selection or recruitment, which indirectly has
limited the job opportunities for them. A recent study argued that selective incivility at work
and targeting certain social groups are among the tools of discrimination in the modern
workplace (Cortina, Kabat-Farr, Leskinen, Huerta, & Magley, 2013).

Managing Multi-Generation Workforce

The increase population growth globally has changed the workforce landscape, with
most of the older workers choosing to remain in the workplace, while the younger cohorts
are also entering the workforce. This inter-generational difference of cohorts has created a
multi-generational workforce. In general, currently, there are three cohorts that consist of
Baby Boomer Generation (born in 1964), Generation X (born during the period 1965 to
1980) and Generation Y (born in 1981 and thereafter) (Puteh, Kaliannan & Alam, 2015).
Though most business entities welcome fresh blood in their organizations, the
changes in leadership has created a new trend of younger people supervising older
employees. A study by ACCA and Mercer (2010), on 3,200 Generation Y finance
professionals across 122 countries found that almost 40% of Generation Y employees were
already holding managerial positions. This has created supervisor-supervisees’ conflict as
the younger supervisors were found adopting a less collaborative style of managing conflicts
or avoiding conflict with older supervisees (Cappelli & Vovelli, 2010). There is a lack of
common concern, soft skills and experience among the younger managers to complement
their supervisory role. Furthermore, Cappelli and Vovelli (2010) also claimed that age-related
conflicts might be severe in Asian countries because of the tradition of respecting the elders.
This cultural trait is contrary to the role of supervisors which is mainly to direct or challenge
subordinates. Further, there is the perception that older staff would feel insulted reporting to
a younger supervisor.
Aging population has an impact on the economy and the labor force as the baby
boomers begin to retire in great numbers while the number of employees who could
 499

potentially replace them are getting lesser (Duxbury & Halinski, 2014). The problem would
arise if the older employee chooses to continue in the same career or job role, thereby not
only reducing job opportunities in the open market but also resulting in fewer internal
opportunities for career progression among other age groups in the organisation. In the long
run, the organization would face difficulties in terms of recruiting people for managerial,
professional or technical positions. This leads to a bigger problem when the organization is
unable to prepare successors to sustain the organization and remain competitive against
their competitors.

MALAYSIA AND AGING POPULATION

The objective of the National Population Policy in Malaysia is to increase the total
population to 70.0 million by 2100. Notwithstanding the initial adverse responses to the
policy, it could not be denied that there are in fact sound reasons for the expansion of the
country’s population size. It is a vital factor in the effort to create a population of industrious,
disciplined and productive people. It is a starting point for Malaysia to build her foundation to
become one of the industrialized countries in South East Asia.
Malaysia is currently moving on the right track, with her demographic profile
experiencing a major shift in the last 65 years. In 2015, Malaysia’s population reached 30
million population compared to 6.1 million people in 1950 (UN Population Division, 2015).
As with other developing countries, Malaysia also experienced a decreasing trend in the
number of child births based on Total Fertility Rate (TFR). The TFR was 2.1 in 2010 and
decreased to 2.0 in 2015. This lead to a decline in the population age group of 0-14 years
by 2.4%, that is, to 25.0% (2015) compared to 27.4 % in 2010 (Department of Statistics,
2015).
Better health facilities in Malaysia have decreased the mortality rate resulting in an
increase in the average life span. The average life expectancy in Malaysia rose risen from
71.3 years (1990-1995) to 74.5 years (2010-2015) and is forecasted to increase to 80.1
years (2045-2050).
Declining birth rates and population growth led to an increase in median age of the
older population group. Undoubtedly, the median age of the population has changed in line
with the increase in the aging population. It rose from 17.4 in 1970 to 27.8 in 2015
(Department of Statistics, 2015). This would change the population age structure in future
where Malaysia could experience a reduction in the number of young people. Based on
Malaysia’s population pyramid 2015, the distribution by age group showed no major
difference since 2010 to 2015, as displayed in Figure 1.
 500

Figure 1 Population Pyramid of Malaysia, 2010 and 2015*

Source: Department of Statistics (2015) Current Population Estimates, 2015, Malaysia.

The number of elderly in Malaysia has doubled from 7% to 15% within the past 28
years and by 2030 the aging population is expected to constitute at 15% of total population
(Jacob, 2016). Statistics from the Ministry of Human Resources (2016) for employment and
labor in 2015, indicated that 26.1% of total workforce in Malaysia are in the 45 years and
above age cohort, with 2.8% comprising the aging workforce (60 years and older). This
number is envisaged to increase as the growth rate of the aging population increases in
coming years.

AGING WORKFORCE IN MALAYSIA: A WAY FORWARD

Unlike the European countries, Malaysia is just beginning to acknowledge the

anticipated acceleration in the of aging population growth rate. Thus, appropriate policy
formulation and adaptations towards an aging population are important given the retirement
phase of baby boomers, slowing labour force growth, and the rising costs of pensions.
Therefore, Malaysia must strategize on long-term sustainable programs to care for the an
aging workforce population (Ismail et al., 2015) or the government would have a burden to
bear in the future.
Currently, the population of Malaysia is still relatively young but changes in the age
structure are becoming evident. Malaysia is anticipated to experience an aging population in
2030 when the number of people over 60 years old is projected to increase by 15%.
Increase in life expectancy, declining fertility due to late marriages, reduction in the family
size, more women in the workforce and urbanization are among other factors accounting for
changes in the population profile (Jacob, 2016). Like other developing countries, Malaysia
has taken the step in 2012 to delay the retirement period by increasing the retirement age
from 58 to 60 years (Yusoff & Yusof, 2013).
Although the full impact of aging population has yet to be felt in Malaysia, the
Government must play a major role in planning and addressing the changes, together with
the non-government organizations (NGOs) and the business community. The extension of
retirement age as announced by the government is an interim solution which might create a
new problem in the future (Yusoff & Yusof, 2013). Strategic moves are needed to ensure
that the potential of aging population could be utilized and their well-being taken care of in
the coming years.
 501

As mentioned earlier, the UN 2015 report as well the data from the Department of
Statistics and Ministry of Human Resources, Malaysia show that the number of elderly in the
workforce would increase and at the same time a shortage of younger cohort is predicted in
the future. This situation is envisaged to create an imbalance in labor supply in the coming
years. In order to stay sustainable, Malaysia must pay serious attention to this issue as not
only the manpower supply is affected but also there is a need to ensure the capabilities and
competencies of the future workforce, particularly of the new cohorts.
In order to secure the well-being of an aging population, the Government put forth the
National Policy for Older Persons and Plan of Action for Older Persons in 2011. The policy
and plan of action were formulated based on the review made by the earlier National Policy
for Older Persons (1995) and Plan of Action for the Older Person (1998). The review is
aimed at incorporating the development and reintegration of older persons into the society,
in order to equip them with a high sense of self-worth and dignity (Zawawi, 2013). Despite
being a good policy initiative taken by the government in preparation for aging transition,
especially welfare and health care, the financial incentives for the elderly were noted to be
absent in the Policy. It was only included as a sub-program (Yusoff & Buja, 2013).
Compared to the Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (UK), which provides protection for an
individual from discrimination on grounds of age in employment or vocational training (Parry
& Harris, 2011), the 2011 National Policy for Older Persons and Plan of Action for Older
Persons has not addressed the issue, that is to remove age barriers in employment policies
and practices in Malaysia.
Stereotypes about older workers are common when it comes to an aging workforce.
Thus, this has to be addressed through training, conferences or other initiatives to change
the culture across the organization. Top managements and HR practitioners are the target
groups that are required to have a better understanding of how to manage and utilize the full
potential of older workers in their organizations. Together, with the assistance of
government agencies, employers’ association and trade unions, it is hoped that the
stereotypes concerning older workers could slowly be eliminated to improve aging workforce
management.
The organization has to strategize both in terms of talent competencies (older and
younger workers) based on organization’s needs and reducing their operational costs. There
is a growing consensus among progressive employers that because of their complementary
capabilities, a good mixture between older and younger workers could in fact lower
workforce-related risks (Beard et al., 2012). Furthermore, there are important paradoxes in
different segments of the workforce (Chand & Tung, 2014). Businesses would soon have
little choice but to be more attentive to the needs and capacities of the older employees.
Their ability to adapt could become a source of competitive advantage.
Based on the meta-analysis by scholars and current scenario on aging workforce in
Malaysia, it could be concluded that several initiatives are required to ensure the well-being
of aging workers. All parties, namely the Government, Non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) and business entities in private sectors have to take cognizance of and make the
necessary preparations to welcome aging workers in Malaysia’s labor workforce segment.
The preparations include promoting and establishing policies and incentives for older
workers. With a good foundation and appropriate strategies, the discrimination against older
workers could be reduced and a healthy aging lifestyle could be promoted. The nation’s
productivity as a whole could be enhanced by promoting an active aging workforce. As this
paper is only based on the findings of other scholars from different countries, it is suggested
that a proper study be conducted to analyze the Malaysian scenario and perceptions in order
to obtain a clearer and detailed insight of the issues related to an aging population. The
findings would undoubtedly contribute to a new body of knowledge with respect to aging
population in Malaysia.
 502

CONCLUSION

The aging of the workforce in most industrialized countries is not only due to
population aging, but also because of changes in workforce participant patterns, including
delayed workforce entry as well as early or delayed retirement (Beehr & Bennett, 2014;
Martin & Xiang, 2015).
Without knowledge or better understanding of issues pertaining to aging workforce,
many employers have the perception that having older workers in the organization means
incurring higher costs. As such, to stay relevant and sustainable, organizations must adapt
by shifting organizational structure or revising their current human resource practices. Given
the different competencies, organizations have to acknowledge that a combination of older
and younger workers provides an opportunity to optimize their talents to achieve
organizational objectives and at the same time increase their profits. The Government and
business communities need to work together in ensuring both assets (older and younger
workers) are equally taken care in terms of their wellbeing and opportunities in the
workplace. This cannot be achieved without full commitment from both parties.

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Waqf Land in Malaysia: Lgal and Non-legal Impediments with

Propositions
Siti Khadijah Abdullah Sanek
Faculty of Law, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Cawangan Kedah
khadijah016@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Ekmil Krisnawati Erlen Joni

Faculty of Law, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Cawangan Melaka
ekmil777@bdrmelaka.uitm.edu.my

Siti Nurbaya Ismail

Faculty of Computer Science & Mathematics, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM),
Cawangan Kedah
sitinurbaya@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nor Hafizah Abdul Razak

Faculty of Computer Science & Mathematics, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM),
Cawangan Kedah
hafizah466@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Zanariah Idrus
Faculty of Computer Science & Mathematics, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM),
Cawangan Kedah
zanariahidrus@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

In Malaysia, each respective state is subject to different Islamic Religious Council pertaining
to waqf and therefore so many hindrances were caused. This paper seeks to identify legal
and non-legal impediments encountered in the management of waqf land in Malaysia. Thus,
few propositions would be discussed about legal and non-legal aspect. Discussion on non-
legal aspect will be scrutinized by proposing a web based Geographical Information System
(GIS) model. Web based applications have been preferably used as compared with the
manual system due to its data storage capability on the servers which could ease the record
keeping process. Additionally, spatial databases is a prerequisite element for any GIS
program as to ensure all the required data to be fully functioning such as GIS map which
may be able to display all data layers and dimensions. The study indicates that this
integration could ensure that waqf land data management would become more systematic
and accurate.

Keywords: Waqf legislations, waqf management, spatial database, GIS Model

INTRODUCTION

Waqf (sometimes referred to as wakaf) is originated from an Arabic term Awqaf

(plural). Habib Ahmed defines waqf as a charitable voluntary act that emanates within the
purview of sadaqah and infaq, Ahmed, (2004). Additionally, Monzer Kahf demonstrates that
waqf is a perpetual deed and applicable to property which is not deteriorated with its usage
and it includes all immovable, movable property and even cash.(Kahf, n.d.).
The definition can also be found under the Wakaf (State Of Selangor) Enactment 1999
(Enactment No. 7 Of 1999) where in pursuant to Section 2, "wakaf' means a giving up of any
 506

property from which its use and enjoyment may be utilized for any benevolent purpose
whether as “wakaf am” or “wakaf khas” according to Shariah Law excluding a trust within the
ambit of the Trustee Act 1949 [Act 208].
The basis of waqf ruling as an encouragement for Muslims to bequeath their wealth for
other Muslims is derived from the Quranic verse of Surah Ali Imran: 92 which means: “Never
shall you attain the righteousness unless you spend out of that which you love; and whatever
you spend, Allah surely knows it well”, Ali, (2004).

LEGISLATIONS OF WAQF IN MALAYSIA

In Malaysia, our supreme law of the Land via Federal Constitution empowers Syariah
Court as having jurisdiction concerning waqf except with respect of the Federal Territories of
Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya. This is in accordance with List II (1) of the Ninth
Schedule, (Federal Constitution, n.d.). Therefore, it can be deduced that the administration
of Muslim’s property including waqf shall be ensuing Islamic Law. Moreover, pursuant to
Section 25 the Civil Law Act 1956, the power lays to their states’ religious councils (SRC)
respectively, (Civil Law Act 1956, n.d.). For instance in Selangor, the legislation relating to
waqf is governed by Administration of Islamic Law (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003.
Section 61(3)(b)(vii) of the Enactment granted power to the Syariah High Court to hear and
determine all cases pertaining to waqf. Nevertheless, subject to Section 2 of the same
statute, the jurisdiction in dealing with waqf property is restricted to property other than trust
as is defined under the Trustee Act 1949.
Sharifah Zubaidah Syed Abdul Kader addresses that pursuant to Section 4(2) of the
National Land Code 1965 (‘NLC’), it can be inferred that any land pertaining to waqaf or
baitul mal is governed by the Administration of Muslim Law enactments. Such provision is
seen as a guarantee recognizing Islamic principles in Malaysia, Zubaidah & Kader, (2014).

LEGAL AND NON-LEGAL IMPEDIMENTS

OVERLAP BETWEEN SHARIAH COURT AND CIVIL COURT

In reality, though amendment to Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution has been
made which granted power to Syariah Court pertaining to Islamic law (including waqf) but it
when it comes to implementation there is an overlapping jurisdiction between Syariah Court
and Civil Court, Mohamad & Syed Abdul Kader, (2016). This can be seen from the case of
Isa bin Abdul Rahman and Anor vs Majlis Agama Islam Pulau Pinang [1996] 1 CLJ 283
where the issue of proposal by trustees to construct building on land was in breach of
purpose of waqf and therefore contravened to the Syariah Law. The court in this case has
granted an injunction as provided by Specific Relief Act 1950 and the power is vested upon
High Court only. Hence, no specific provisions under Enakmen Undang-undang Pentadbiran
Ugama Islam 1959 (Pulau Pinang) vesting power to Syariah Court to issue an Injunction.
Therefore, the problem is worsened if the civil court’s judges are not acquainted with Islamic
jurisprudence and in particular if the case is presided by non-Muslim judges, Mahamood,
(2006).

ABSENCE OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS ON WAQF IN THE NLC (SYED ABDUL KADER &
MD. DAHLAN, 2006)

Trusts matters are provided under National Land Code 1965 (NLC) whereas waqf is
omitted. In the absence of waqf provisions, endorsement of waqf over the land could not
been made. Thus, waqf land is not recognised and remain unknown. Moreover, there exist a
probability that the land will be taken over or developed by any parties who have no right
 507

over it and hence disappointing the very basic intention of the real owner. Therefore, no such
guarantee that the intended waqf land will be created and achieved accordingly.

POOR ADMINISTRATION OF WAQF ASSETS

Based on study conducted by Zunaidah Ab Hasan, Azhana Othman, Khalilah

Ibrahim, Mohd Ab Malek Md Shah, Abd. Halim Mohd Noor (2015) they observed that among
the obstacles encountered by Majlis Agama Islam Melaka (MAIM) is concerning to the poor
administration of waqf assets in term of documentation due to their conventional data system
which is manually stored.

LAND ENCROACHMENT

The existence of waqf lands’ encroachment by irresponsible party where business

premises and accommodations erected upon them, Isamail, Rosele, & Anuar, (2015). This
probably arose due to among other reason in an absence of waqf endorsement on the waqf
land title therefore the status remains unknown and ambiguous to public. Syed Abdul Kader
& Md. Dahlan, (2006) believes that when this happen, the intention of waqf is impeded.

LEGAL PROPOSITION

Nor Asiah Mohamad, Sharifah Zubaidah Syed Abdul Kader & Zuraidah Ali, (2012)
believe that the system of record practiced in the land offices in respect of waqf land must be
enhanced so as to meet the anticipation of the society and it is in line with Islamic principles.
Hence, it is vital to enunciate a comprehensive law to administer waqf lands. Moreover,
Rohayati Hussin & Rashid (2015) have demonstrated that there are no such provisions
under the NLC dealing with waqf land registration. Therefore, waqf land is subject to the
same provisions as provided for other lands and yet, to date there are no uniformed
procedures between states respectively. Failure to register waqf land would later on
stimulates so many issues such as difficulty for developing the land and to some extent the
land may have been claimed by the successors or heirs of the waqf donors upon their
demise, Siti Mashitoh Mahamood (2006).

NON-LEGAL PROPOSITION

There are many administrative propositions which could possibly curb this problem.
According to Zuina, Nor, Salim, Jawanees, & Hanafiah, (2015), transformation and
reinforcement on waqf administration in all states must be done. This includes restructuring
the SIRC’s organization so as to ensure all waqf land could be developed efficiently and thus
the very intention of waqf is attained. The writers also believe that all waqf land must be
registered with comprehensive identification. Registration should be implemented via
effective data base system by an expert.
The waqf authority also needs a systematic, effective and efficient mechanism to
manage the waqf land data. It is because every waqf land must be managed carefully in
order to be benefited by ummah. There is a need for a high end technology to handle this
situation. Hassan & Abdullah in their study have proven that in this era, “the implementation
of ICT in waqf administration provides an effective management and planning” Hasan &
Abdullah, (2008). The next section will propose the use of web based application, spatial
database and Geographical Information System for a better management of waqf land data.
 508

PROPOSED WEB BASED GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM MODEL

In this day of ICT age, integration between web based applications and database can
bring tremendous new opportunity, making record keeping process more systematic,
effective and efficient. A study had explained that the merging of web and database
technologies happen due to the increasing demands of data intensive web sites, Korrison,
Morrison, & Keys (2002). Studies also show that integration between web based applications
and database is predicted to become the next generation of database technology. As web
database connectivity opens the door to a new innovative services, Rob & Coronel (2002).
Although there are some GIS implementation within this area, we are not sure to what
extend does the capability of the system. A study argues that land record systems (paper
based, computer assisted or fully computerised) must be flexible in order to respond
meaningfully to what is required of the system as situation changes, Molero et al., (2010).
The paper also has discussed 5 existing models in database structures namely, Land
Administration Domain Model (LADM), Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM), Open Source
Cadastre and Registry (OSCAR), Talking Titler Model and Comparison and Critique. Based
on the existing problems and models, there is very great prospect to reconstruct the current
practice of managing waqf land data, Molero et al., (2010). This study is such an opportunity
to bring ICT in the scope of waqf land data management. In order to overcome the problem
in managing waqf land data, this study propose a web based GIS model with the
combination of spatial database. Figure 1 shows the proposed model.

Figure 1 Proposed Web based Geographical Information System Model Integrated with
Spatial Database

WEB BASED APPLICATION

Web can be best described as a widely used service on the Internet, consists of a
worldwide collection of electronic documents, Shelly & Vermaat (2011). Web based
application is an online system that can be seen as global library of information available to
anyone connected to the internet. The web is an outstanding mechanism for interactive
applications with excellent ability to deliver and distribute data. The web ubiquity provides
global application availability to both users and organization, Connoly & Begg (2007). Based
 509

on these remarkable enormous positive advantages, web had been used widely all over the
world now days to support almost every possible work.
Web based applications had been used over the manual system for numerous
reasons. The first, and possibly most significant, is the capability of web based
application to store data on the servers. This situation reflects the management of record
keeping process. In an average manual process, record keeping is conduct with pen and
paper. However, with the used of web based applications, all the problems within the
manual process can be overcome easily. Effective accessibility is the second advantage
in web based applications. It promotes accessibility to an application, of anytime, anywhere
around the globe. Pursuant to the second advantage, it arises the third advantage, that
is data within web based applications can be managed easily, whenever necessary.

SPATIAL DATABASE

The conventional database can only support conventional data type such as number
and text. Where by spatial database is a database management system that provides an
environment for spatial data types in its implementations, Güting (1994). Spatial data type is
data regarding to spaces. Briefly, within this study, spatial database can be claimed as
geographical database that supports geographical data. Waqf land data contains
geographical data. Therefore, spatial database is the best to be implemented in managing
waqf land data.

GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM

The evolvement of Geographic Information System (GIS) in almost every industry,

make all the researchers agree that GIS benefits organizations in many different
areas. All sectors that deal with land analysis and management, apply GIS application for
integrating and analysing data from different formats, scale and coordinate systems,
according to specific cognitive objectives. For each of these features, everything based
on land survey and its precise and accurate graphic and cartographic representation, where
the main technical figure, make GIS as a useful tool in waqf administration. For example,
the implementation of GIS application in waqf land data management provides various
benefits in term of data, record, figures and enables efficient waqf property’s management
and administration, Hasan & Abdullah, (2008).
As stated in “Sistem GIS selesai isu tanah wakaf”, 30 October 2011, the
implementation of GIS known as “Sistem GIS Wakaf” developed by Universiti Putra Malaysia
(UPM) has shown an excellent achievement in solving land mapping problem under
management of Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS). This accomplishment becoming a
stepping stone to further investigate and explore the benefit of GIS application in land
management sector in Malaysia.

CONCLUSION

This study has introduced the usage of a web based GIS model integrated with spatial
database for developing waqf land computerized data management system. This model is
expected to be used as a standard that is beneficial to all the related parties towards
effective waqf land administration and management when all the data are systematically
stored and accessible. Hence, such model is highly required as to curb the existing problem
regarding waqf management and not to depend solely on the legal implementation.
 510

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 512

Repression among Foreign Workers in Malaysia

Syarmin Nor Era Omar
Faculty of Administrative Science &Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
syarminnorera@gmail.com

Rozalli Hashim
Faculty of Administrative Science &Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
rozalli@salam.uitm.edu.my

Zaliha Hj Hussin
Faculty of Administrative Science &Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
drzaliha@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Hazardous, dirty and dangerous workplace; wage and safety violations; employer threats;
and violating rights are among the repression condition that faced by the foreign workers in
Malaysia. Similar trends can be observed in other countries as well. This paper focuses on
the repression faced by foreign workers in Malaysia and suggesting that foreign workers who
undergo legalization process can reduce their repression significantly. Since they can enjoy
rights as a legal worker, the employer would not treat them abusively. In mid 1980s, the
Malaysian government formulated policies to deal with large number of foreign workers
including illegal immigrants. Among the policies are levy payment, work permit, minimum
wage, i-card, legalization and amnesty. One of the most popular policies is legalization.
Many developed countries such as United States, European Union and United Kingdom had
implemented legalization of illegal immigrants for mostly, economic benefits. In Malaysia,
there are series of legalization efforts for illegal immigrants. Legalization can be used as a
tool to change the status from illegal to legal worker in Malaysia. Repression and repression
related deprivations can be reduced significantly and a conducive climate of life and work is
achievable.

Keywords: repression, foreign worker, legalization, policy implementation

INTRODUCTION

“Working 12 hours a day in a Malaysian electronics factory accompanied by broken

promises on wages and working conditions, Manu dreams of returning to his poor
Nepal village but is restrained by invisible restraints. His passport has been illegally
confiscated by his employers at the Japanese-owned plant on Kuala Lumpur’s rough
border, and he is struggling to pay off recruitment fees he owes them. He faces
additional fines if he leaves the job.”
(Free Malaysia Today, 2014)
The above snapshot is one of the experiences faced by the foreign workers who work
in Malaysia. Many of them came to Malaysia through arrangements of the intermediaries
known as agent. To secure their business, agents are prone to use sweet promises on the
 513

wage, the employer and the type of work. Foreign workers on the other hand, need to pay
for their promised occupation and stay in Malaysia. Some amounts requested by the agents
are unreasonable, but they do not have any choice if they want to find a job in the country.
To meet this requirement, some foreign workers borrow money from relatives or friends.
Some even sell their properties including their houses just to pay the agent and a ticket to
Malaysia.
Besides the common challenges to adapt to the surroundings in foreign land, foreign
workers need to confront a generally negative attitude towards them by most of the local
resident. To a certain extent, Malaysians associate foreign workers with crimes, diseases,
and multitude of social problems. Obviously, there are other contributors to those problems
as well. Thus, in many cases, simply by calling the foreign workers are often greeted with a
smile cynical and negative. Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Datuk
Shamsuddin Bardan said some even believe that the influx of foreign workers is the main
reason for rising crime rates in the country. This is not true as the fact that criminal cases
involving foreign workers are only less than 10% of the total number of criminal cases across
the country (Teh, 2015).

FOREIGN WORKERS IN MALAYSIA

Definition of foreign worker can be varied based of focus among scholars and
studies. One definition depicts that a foreign worker is a person who works in a country
other than the one of which he or she is a citizen (Siti, 2014). The term foreign workers
authorize a group of foreign nationals who has legal right to work in a country where they
have been officially recruited (Zehadul et al., 1999). Other definition looks at foreign workers
as person who comes from a mass of nationality groups, living and working with diverse
legal status in a particular country (Miller, 1991). In this study, a foreign worker refers to
those coming from outside the country that have legal document to work in Malaysia.
Whatever the label would be; migrant worker, guest worker, foreign labor or for the
professional working class, the term ‘expatriate’ is still used, the term “migrant worker” has
various connotations in different parts of the world. According to the United Nations, the
definition is broad and it may include any persons working outside of their country of birth. In
Malaysia, according to Fair Labor Association, an international non-profit collaboration
promoting international labor laws migrant worker come from more than 12 countries in Asia
with the majority coming from Indonesia. Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines also supply a large number of the migrant workers
population to Malaysia (Teh, 2015).
The flow of foreign workers from one country to another has become a global issue.
The world today is flooded with foreign workers, especially illegal immigrants, entering the
country of destination to find better job opportunities. Although foreign workers are welcome
to meet labour shortages, their continual arrival has created some issues and concerns
(Rohani, 2012). One of them is illegal immigrants. Malaysia also is no exception in the case
of illegal immigrants. According to Azizah (2012), the illegal immigrants started to enter our
country and most of them are being smuggled after the independence of Tanah Melayu
(Malaysia). The reason for the increase in the number of foreign workers in 1970’s is to
support the shortage of labour force for the economic growth in Malaysia (Azizah, 2012).
Since that, the number of foreign workers keeps increasing and now has become a national
issue in the country.
According to the Minister of Human Resource, until November 2015, Malaysia has
approximately 6.7 million foreign workers. Apart from that, only 2.1 million have work permit
and registered with the Malaysian Immigration Department. According to the Ministry of
Home Affairs, until the second quarter of year 2016 (30 June 2016), the number of foreign
workers with Temporary Work Visit Pass (PLKS) which are legal and active is 1,940,108
persons. The pass is issued by the Immigration Department of Malaysia. Based on the data
from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration Department of Malaysia and Economic
 514

Planning Unit, there are of foreign workers missing from the record. This could entail to an
alarming security issue.
Table 1 presents the statistics of legal foreign workers, illegal immigrants (PATI) and
non-Malaysian citizen populations in Malaysia from 2012 to 2015. Although the statistics for
PATI has shown a remarkable decrease by almost a million, the number is still huge (3.1
million). The legal foreign workers maintain a steady number of 2.1 million. As stated
before, the number of foreign national in our country are 6.7 million and it become a shocked
to the Malaysian government because the number is increasing year by year. It is also
interesting to note that the non-Malaysian citizen population is also huge, 3.1 million in 2015.

Table 1 Statistic of Foreign Workers, Illegal Immigrants and Population of Non Malaysian
Citizens in Malaysia

2012 2013 2014 2015

Legal Foreign Workers 1, 595, 162 2, 250, 322 2, 073, 414 2, 135, 035
(PLKS)
Illegal Immigrants Not Available 1, 500, 000 4, 600, 00 3, 200, 000
(PATI)
Non Malaysian Citizens 2, 670, 000 2, 888, 000 3, 072, 000 3, 125, 000
Population
Source: The Malaysian Economy in Figure 2016, Economic Planning Unit, Malaysian Immigration
Department (2016) and i-Statistic Ministry of Human Resource 2014-2016

Due to the problem of increasing number of illegal immigrants and the problems
associated with them, Malaysian government has introduced legalization initiative as a mean
to register and to ensure them of becoming law abiding population and workers.
Legalization programme has emerged since 25 years ago and becomes as one of the
mechanisms of the state to account and manage the population of illegal immigrants in their
countries, and are usually carried out together with the strengthening of internal and external
migration control (Levinson, 2005). Legalization must be carried with cost effective because
it is crucial and must achieve the primary purpose of reducing the number of illegal
immigrants in a country. It is can be controversial because legalization must balance
competing goals. Successful legalization must meet the goals of reducing the illegal
immigrants’ population and at the same time not creating a future illegal immigration
(Rosenblum, 2010).
Many countries had implemented legalization including the United States, Italy,
France, and Spain, to name a few. This measure is also used by the Malaysian
government to legalize the status of illegal immigrants in this country. In the study of
legalization and repression among foreign workers, legalization plays an important role to
show if there is a reduction in repression among foreign workers work in Malaysia. Logically,
legalization can offer legal status to the illegal immigrant to secure better job, better life and
better pay. There should be no more repression, exploitation or abuse in the life of foreign
workers when they go through legalization because they can get equal rights almost like
local workers.

Table 2 Policy Implementation towards Foreign Worker in Malaysia

Year Policy/Regulation
1981-1984 Medan Agreement with Indonesia, may 1984
1985-1990 Legalization of Indonesian workers in the plantation sector.
1991 Regularization programme.
1992 Foreign Worker Policy (Requirement & Strategy)
Jan 1996 Hari Raya Amnesty for Indonesian illegal workers.
Aug 1997 Second Regularization exercise for illegal migrants from Indonesia,
 515

Thailand, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Mac-July 2002 Amnesty programme.
Oct 2004 Illegal workers allowed returning on nationwide Amnesty.
July 2010 Introduction of 6P – Comprehensive Legalization Programme for Illegal
Foreigners or the 6P Programme
Aug 1 – 31 Aug Registration of migrants using Biometric system.
2011
Sept 2011 to 10 Legalization and Amnesty exercise of 6P Programme.
April 2012
10 April 2012 Monitoring, Enforcement and Deportation of 6P Programme.
December 2014 6P Programme officially ended.
July-December Program Serah Diri Sukarela PATI
2014
15 February-30 Rehiring Program For Illegal Foreign Worker
June 2016
Source: ILMIA – Ministry of Human Resources of Malaysia, Human Development Social Protection
and Labor Unit East Asia and Pacific Region, Document of the World Bank (2013), Kanapathy (2001),
Syarisa (2002), Azizah (2012) and Malaysian Immigration Department.

Based on Table 2, in Malaysia there is an evolution of foreign labor management

policies. The highlights related policies implemented in Malaysia from 1980s until 2016.
Besides the one portrayed in the table, there are other policies such as levy payment, work
permit, i-kad and minimum wages for foreign worker with legal document (Kanapathy, 2001;
Syarisa, 2002; ILMIA, 2013; Amarjit, 2014; Devadason & Chan, 2014).

REPRESSION AMONG FOREIGN WORKER

Among the issues faced by foreign workers, repression among them is the least
mentioned and the least understood. Repression can come in many ways especially to the
foreign workers because they are most vulnerable. Repression is the process of forcing
thoughts into the unconscious and preventing painful or dangerous thoughts from entering
consciousness; apparently unexplainable naivety, memory lapse or lack of awareness of
one's own situation and condition; the emotion is conscious, but the idea behind it is absent
(Furnham, 2015). In other words, repression is the act of using force to control someone or
something and the action or process of suppressing a thought or desire in oneself so that it
remains unconscious. This can happen to the foreign workers because they are weak and
unprotected that the agent or employer can exploit them. Migrant workers in Malaysia do
not have the right to change employers. Therefore, the only choice is work with the
designated employer or leaves the country. Some employers take advantage of this by
cheating and exploiting their migrant workers (Charles, 2014).
Cases of exploitation or repression are still happening even today. This includes wage
violation, safety violation and rights violation. Foreign workers work in the sector of
construction, manufacturing, plantation, services and agriculture. They have to work more
than 12 hours a day without complaining to the employer. Other than that, they are not paid
comparatively to local colleagues. Foreign workers who work in construction sector may
face hazardous working workplace, dangerous and dirty. They also work without protective
gear or even worse are asked by some employers to purchase even basic safety gear like
helmets or gloves, which laborers’ often do not do because they would rather save their
income (Abu & Adil, 2016).
Plantation workers are routinely exposed to hazardous chemicals that can cause
serious long-term damage to the respiratory system, skin, eyes and endocrine system. But
they are often not given protective clothing and have little or no access to health care
facilities (Abu & Adil, 2016). As said before, they are exposed to the hazardous, dangerous
and dirty workplace because willing to do anything to survive. They may also be unaware of
provisions that can protect them (David, 2012). Basically, most migrant workers are
 516

protected by labor laws in force in Malaysia. In practice, however, the lack of effective
enforcement and dependence of foreign workers to their employers and employment
agencies could means that they have little or no protection from persecution (Amnesty
International, 2010).
In the case of exploitation and rights violation by the employer, foreign worker’s
passport and legal document sometimes are being held by their employers. There are cases
that the passport is being held by the employer because the employers do not want their
worker go far beyond the workplace area. Sometimes the foreign worker does not know it is
wrong when the employers hold or confiscated the passport. They thought it is for easy
management of their record in future. There also cases that when they come to Malaysia,
their passport is confiscated by the employment agent and they need to pay if they want it
back. They need to work there to pay the debt and threatened with violence. Because of
afraid being arrest they just follow the order and accept repression. They have no choice at
all.
Keeping of passports by employers or agents is another way of 'imprisoning' or
'trapping' migrant workers (Charles, 2014). A report by Verité, a non-governmental
organization (NGO) concluded that debt bondage and the illegal confiscation of passports
and documents are the main drivers of this “systemic” forced labor, which traps workers in
low-paid jobs and prevents them from returning home. Once in the workplace, migrant
workers face further exploitation and abuse due to their inability to leave. Verité’s
investigations found that workers were forced to live in cramped and dangerous
accommodation, some female workers experienced sexual abuse by their supervisors, and
migrants were forced to work excessive overtime under the threat of losing their jobs, which
would leave them burdened with large debts they could not pay off (Annie, 2014).
There are cases of repression among foreign worker in Malaysia that has been
reported in media such as online news, newspaper, NGO’s blog and others. One of the
cases reported by Astro Awani online news (2013) is a total of nine foreign worker (women)
claiming to be abused by their employers besides believed to be victims of human trafficking
results in Melaka Immigration Department raided at the restaurant in Bandar Hilir. According
to the one of the victim, during working together with employers for about nine months, she
has been beaten eight times in the face and head. The other victims also claimed not to
know the amount of salary to be received because the employer often to cut salaries without
notice. Previously all of them were promised an income of RM900 a month but while working
on the premises, they rarely get full salary.
Other cases reported by Astro Awani online news (2014) is one incident of a strike
allegedly commenced by factory foreign worker due to dissatisfaction of workers against
employers who allegedly neglected of their welfare. Foreign workers at the factory were
unable to endure the repression against them anymore because the management often beat
them even they made a small mistake without giving prior warning or consultation. The
employer also often cut their monthly salary and overtime allowances are not being paid
accordingly to the exact amount. Previously, it was promised that the hostel facilities for
workers are free but the employers still deduct the fee from the employees’ salary. Various
complaints have been submitted but repression is still continuing and they expect employers
to be more caring towards them after the incident.
Last but not least, repression also happens in other countries such as Singapore and
Bahrain. Foreign migrant workers in Singapore are subject to labor abuses and exploitation
through debt bondage to recruitment agents, non-payment of wages, restrictions on
movement, confiscation of passports, and sometimes physical and sexual abuse. In March,
a Singapore couple was convicted of starving their domestic worker, who lost more than 20
kilograms during her 15 months of employment (Phil, 2017). On the small island of Bahrain,
77% of the workforce is made up of migrant workers; most of them come from South Asia
and work in low-skilled, low-paid jobs. The majority are highly vulnerable temporary workers,
concentrated in the construction industry and domestic service sector, where working and
living conditions are harsh. Migrant workers have also been the victim of wage arrears by the
State, in several sub-contracted companies. One example is the company of industrial and
 517

commercial services; where 200 migrant workers protested when they did not even have
enough to eat, as a result of salary arrears of two to four months, and those who have come
to the end of their contract cannot even return to their home country (ITUC, 2011).

CONCLUSION

The country’s dependency on foreign labor has become fixed in the economy and
cannot be resolved easily without collaborating with industry players and adopting a more
holistic approach to deal with it over the medium term. Many industries will suffer badly if the
significant shortage of workers (due to a significant reduction) caused production and output
to drop drastically. This will interpret into a sharp slowdown in the country’s economic
growth. Hence, there is no short cut to deal with the issue and it needs to be addressed
carefully as the impact on the industry can be significant (Lim, 2017). The dependency on
foreign worker in industry especially 3D (dirty, difficult and dangerous) jobs makes many
foreign workers come to Malaysia. Some of them comes to Malaysia through a proper way
but many of them misuse the work permit makes them commit immigration offence.
Problems arise to those who come to Malaysia without a proper way makes them does not
have proper document. This group of foreign worker is vulnerable and exposed to the
repression by the employer and others.
Like Malaysia other countries particularly Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon,
Oman, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, depend on migrant labor to
keep their economies going. However, these migrants are living and working in very harsh
conditions and greatly lack any legal protection. The report highlights the awful living
conditions experienced by the workers in camps in Kuwait. In Qatar, the living and working
conditions in the construction sector led to the death of several foreign construction workers.
In Oman, the police repressed a strike by Indian and Nepali workers protesting about non-
payment of salaries, and many were then deported. In the United Arab Emirates, the Survey
also reports the cases of deportation of Asian workers who had had the courage to demand
higher wages. Domestic workers are at the bottom of the ranks of migrant labor and are
shamefully exploited. In Saudi Arabia employers beat four Indonesian women so badly that
two died, and police forcibly removed the other two from hospital (ITUC, 2008).
As stated earlier in the discussion, repression among foreign workers in Malaysia is
real. Even though they have passport and work permit but still, they experience repression.
Among the well-known reason is the debt to recruitment agents resulted in salary deduction
or even worse no salary at the first three months work, levy payment for certain sector, and
the status of the foreign worker. Many employers tend to misuse the work permit of foreign
worker because they do not want to pay more for levy and other fee charges. The cheapest
levy payment after domestic maid is agriculture sector and many of them work in other
sector besides agriculture (MOHA, 2017). The most important aspects of the migrant
workers to an employer are their investment and return of investment. If the migrant workers
are not legalized and exposed to avenues to protect themselves, repression will continue to
be a haunted episode in the life of the workers.

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 520

Business Communities Satisfaction on Waste Management,

Cleanliness, Drainage and Culverts in Sungai Petani
Zaherawati Zakaria
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, P. O Box 187, 08400 Merbok,
Kedah Malaysia
zaherawati@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Kamarudin Ngah
Pusat Penyelidikan Dasar dan Kajian Antarabangsa (CenPRIS),
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Pulau Pinang
kngah@usm.my

Nazni Noordin
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, P. O Box 187, 08400 Merbok,
Kedah Malaysia
nazni@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Adnan Aminuddin
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, P. O Box 187, 08400 Merbok,
Kedah Malaysia
adnan@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

In Malaysia, there has been growing media attention on cases of public sector customer
grievances, especially at the local government level. The response has been pushed due to
poor delivery services in local affairs. Thus, the study is presents to determine to what extent
business communities satisfy in municipal services such as waste management, cleanliness,
culverts and drainage in Sungai Petani. The findings in this study is derived from quantitative
method and based on the 90 respondents. From the study, the findings show that business
community respondents have a positive association with municipal services offered by the
council. For the policy recommendations, the genuine service improvement is sought
alongside perceived satisfaction something more is required to improve and clear signalling
of public complaint system in local affairs especially when dealing in waste management,
cleanliness, drainage and culverts affairs. In future research, the terms of engagement
between all parties should be concerned such the government, private and voluntary
sectors, service providers and private citizens for the greater satisfaction.

Keywords: Business, Community, Satisfaction, Local Government, Municipal Services,

Service Quality

INTRODUCTION

The close relationship between government and civil society leads democratic
practices and facilitates better provision of public services have shown in several studies.
Citizens are often sceptical towards the public sector when asked in general and abstract
terms, but relatively satisfied with more specific services when demands and needs are well
received by them (Christensen and Lægreid, 2005). In order to have citizens trust in public
 521

institutions, official behaviour and their way of dealing could play an important role
(Parasuraman, et al 1988). Public institutions should be in the right track in serving the
citizens due to stewardship concept as government servant. Citizens always voice out their
demands and necessity and if they are satisfied with their local official’s performance, they
will express greater support for the system. However, if local institutions are unable to satisfy
their needs, citizens may not support their local governments. This scenario also leads to
increase dissatisfaction among citizen towards the way local authorities delivering their
service works in their boundary (Montalvo, 2009).
Stakeholders such as households, interest and pressure groups, the media, business
community, community leader and politicians contributes to the performance of municipal
constantly and continuously interrelated. It can be said that the poor performance of
municipalities is more visible and can’t hide to the public. It is because public can inquiry the
local council of their closeness to the people they serve. This close relationship open up the
actual extent of service delivery because people can visibly see the service rendered such
as whether waste management being conducted in daily activities or not, water supplies
being provided or not and electricity being connected or not (Kamarudin et al 2001). Thus
this study conducted in order to determine to what extent satisfaction of business
communities on municipal services in Sungai Petani.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Performance in multidimensional concept which is included the measurement

depending on its variety of factors (Fitzgerald & Moon, 1996). Other authors such as
Macpherson (2001) and Mwita (2000) states that performance should be determined as the
outcomes of works process and must be in lined with goal and objective. It is providing the
strongest linkage to the strategic goals of the institution, customer satisfaction and economic
contributions for entire (Peppers & Rogers, 2004). Wider factors could influence
performance level in municipalities even differs each other because a compressive system
performance measurement and models such as Balanced Score Card and Service Quality
(SERVQUAL) can be implemented (Palmer, 1993 & Parasuraman et al 1988). Some of the
factors that could affect include lack of responsive and experience among staff, low quality of
municipality’s leadership and municipal institutional factors (Venter et al., 2007).
Grote (2002) explains that the terms ‘performance management’ and ‘performance
appraisal’ are sometimes use interchangeably. To ensure that quality improvement in place,
a performance orientation is required that should become a way of looking the entire
municipal context. This means, they have to look at variables such as municipal instructional
structures and systems, environmental constraints, resource management, working
conditions and other aspects that could have either positive or negative impact on municipal
performance. Municipal performance is not a simple task to measure since various
quantitative methods and unquantifiable variable have to take into consideration. These
quantitative aspects can be rather complex and intangible, such as the general welfare of a
community, business community and hence can make performance improvement and
productivity measurement extremely in different manners (Curtis 1999). Research conducted
with citizens are the basis for the series of public policy actions that are aimed at improving
administration service quality, which, ultimately should lead directly to better citizen
satisfaction (De Bujin, 2002; Schneider and White, 2004). In general, studies have shown
that reliability is the most important dimension, followed by responsiveness, assurance and
empathy and tangibles. The factors are distinguished by their influence’s level on
expectations-reliability. Process factors (responsiveness, assurance and empathy) are most
important in exceeding expectations in level of customer’s satisfaction (Mori, 2002 &
Parasuraman et al., 1985). Customer satisfaction can show that what go wrong are the little
things, where people feel as if they have not been treated with care. Customers are, after all,
the experts on what it feels like to use a service. A more sophisticated approach to customer
satisfaction can help target different groups.
 522

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The findings presented in this study are derived from quantitative method used in this
study. The quantitative findings are based on the survey on 90 respondents from business
communities. The respondents representing three zones of MPSPK (C,G and H), each
making up 2% of the business community samples. Strata sampling method was used in
order to gain balanced representation among four social-class clusters and the types of
business communities they live in. Each zone is represented by respondents located in
towns, industrial areas, traditional villages and tourism area.

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

Households and Business Communities Information Profile

Descriptive statistics and frequencies were run to better understanding the sample. In
the survey of business communities, most of respondents came from Zone C (36.6%),
followed Zone G (33.4%) and 30 percent from Zone H. It also explains the majority
respondents involved in hypermarket and restaurant business (76.6%), followed by mini
market (17.8%) and only 5.6 percent involved in franchise business. Most of respondent’s
business owned by family/member/friend (60%) and own business only 40 percent.
For the level of satisfaction with municipal services received, the findings mirror that
of the mean of dealings or transactions with MPSPK’s departments. The result explains in
the Table 4.1 that the majority of household respondents not sure with the service provided
in all departments because mean=3 and not satisfied with the legal department service
provided with lowest mean=2.3. This showed that the households might be not deal
frequently with these all departments. The business respondents showed they were satisfied
with the all departments except information technology department while most of them not
sure about the service provided. This also shows that the businesses have frequently deal
with these departments in the MPSPK’s.

Table 1 Services based on Department

Business
N Min Max Mean
81 4 5 4.63
65 2 5 4.185
69 2 5 4.116
68 2 5 4.294
75 2 5 4.213
62 2 5 4.274
67 2 4 3.612
82 4 4 4
Source: Field study, 2012

Perception of Business Community on MPSPK Services (Waste Management,

Cleanliness, Drainage and Culverts)
 523

To answer the research question on to what extent customers satisfy on

municipal services and who satisfies and who does not, these variables are compared
among the respondents with mean rank. Table 1 shows the satisfaction distributions of
household and business community on waste management services.
The business respondents strongly satisfied on waste services given by
MPSPK (collection and transportation) 3 times per week and waste services given by
MPSPK (collection and transportation) everyday in urban area with the highest mean=4.9
while the lowest mean=4.067 from waste collected in a week and waste services given by
MPSPK (collection and transportation) everyday at Roll 0n-Roll Off. The business
communities strongly satisfied on the cleanliness of playing field is well maintained by
MPSPK with highest mean=4.9 while other services only satisfy as mentioned in the table. In
other hand, the business community respondents were strongly satisfied with maintenance
of drains and culverts are well taken with highest mean=4.9 while other services were
satisfied with mean=4.056.
The mean rank indicates that business community respondents with highest
mean of waste management, cleanliness, drainage and culverts compared to household
respondents. Matarasso (1997) found in his study that the continuous information about
performance in different focus groups, perception and anecdotal experience provides rich
feedback which sustains a different process of satisfaction. Information in this process
should act as both a “primer” to attract people towards involvement (e.g. by making them
aware of opportunities to help their volunteering activities) and an enabler to support and
maintain this activity. He further adds that behavioural change theories has shown that well-
informed feedback on an individual’s actions can result in greater levels of self-efficacy
which ultimately acts as a strong motivator for customers to give positive response in dealing
with the authority .

Table 2 Satisfaction Services Provided by MPSPK

Business
Items Waste Management
N Min Max Mean
Waste collected in a week 90 3 5 4.067
Garbage removal done accordingly 90 4 5 4.056
MPPK managed waste dumping 90 4 5 4.056
Sewage and local sanitation are well
90 4 5 4.056
handled
Waste services given by MPSPK
(collection and transportation) 3 90 2 5 4.9
times per week
Waste services given by MPSPK
(collection and transportation) 90 2 5 4.9
everyday in urban area
Waste services given by MPSPK
(collection and transportation) 90 3 5 4.067
everyday at Roll 0n-Roll Of
Business
Items Cleanliness
N Min Max Mean
Cutting grass done by MPSPK once
90 3 5 4.067
in 14 days in housing area
Actions against complaints on trees
and streets are to be taken within 2 90 4 5 4.056
weeks from the date the complaints
 524

are received.
MPSPK has done the cleanliness of
90 4 5 4.056
public toilet.
The cleanliness of public markets is
90 4 5 4.056
well organized by MPSPK.
The cleanliness of playing field is
90 2 5 4.9
well maintained by MPSPK
Open air markets are well organized 90 3 5 4.067
Business
N Min Max Mean
Items Drainage and Culverts
Blocked drains and culverts are managed 90 3 5 4.067
by MPSPK
Culverts cleanliness done by MPSPK 90 4 5 4.056
once a week in housing area.
Complaints on drainage and culverts will 90 4 5 4.056
be made within 7 days.
Flesh flood in neighborhood is handled by 90 4 5 4.056
MPSPK
The problems of water pollution are well 90 4 5 4.056
managed by MPSPK
Maintenance of drains and culverts are 90 4 5 4.9
well taken
Source: Field study, 2012

Perception of Business Community on MPSPK Services

Table 2 shows the satisfaction distributions of household and business community on

the waste management services. The business respondents strongly satisfied on the
statement of “Waste services given by MPSPK (collection and transportation) 3 times per
week” and “Waste services given by MPSPK (collection and transportation) every day in
urban area” with the highest of mean=4.9. They also satisfied with the statement on “Waste
collected in a week and “Waste services given by MPSPK (collection and transportation)
every day at Roll 0n-Roll Off” with mean=4.067.

The business communities also satisfied with the statement of “Garbage

remove done accordingly” and “Sewage and local sanitation are well handled” with
mean=4.056. The finding shows that the business communities have a strong perception
with waste management provided by the service provider due to the effective role by the
councillors and head of MPSPK’s department, such as Area Officer in respective zones.
However there are some rooms for improvement especially in terms of collection and
transportation schedule which should be followed accordingly by the service provider as to
enhance the level of satisfaction among the local people and customers.
The business communities are strongly satisfied on the statement of “The
cleanliness of playing field is well maintained by MPSPK” with highest mean=4.9 while other
services only satisfied as presented in the table. The findings indicate that the majority of
households have a low relative on cleanliness services due to many problems regarding
cleanliness issues which are not settled on time. On the other hand, majority of business
communities have a positive feeling with the cleanliness offered by the municipal due to the
effective and appropriate platforms are given to them in channelling complaints on
cleanliness affairs.
On the other hand, the business community respondents were strongly
satisfied with the statement of “Maintenance of drains and culverts are well taken” with
highest mean=4.9, while other services were satisfied with mean=4.056. The finding shows
that households have relatively low of satisfaction on drainage and culverts due to many
complaints derived from housing areas as compared to the business communities. In daily
activities, the majority of dissatisfaction and complaints were made from households due to
 525

the matters. The existence of vocal community leaders and local associations is also one of
the possible reasons on why the different level of satisfaction is received by the respondents.
This is also due to the information given in different channels and mediums.
The findings reflect the work of Matarasso (1997) that looks on the continuous
information about performance in different focus groups, perception and anecdotal
experiences provide rich feedback which sustaining the different process of satisfaction. He
further adds that behavioural change theories has shown that well-informed feedback on an
individual’s actions can result in greater levels of self-efficacy which then ultimately acts as a
strong motivator for customers to give positive response in dealing with the authority.
Findings in this study shows that public complaint acts as a “primer” to attract people
towards involvement (e.g. by making them aware of opportunities as to help their
volunteering activities) and an enabler to support and sustains feedback among households
and business communities in selected zone. Thus, the satisfaction level among the
respondents directly shows through their participation in volunteering activities, public
complaint process and vocal representation in their zone.

DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The results prove that the respondents were proud to be Sungai Petani’s citizen. In
other hand, the findings also mirror that the business community respondents were felt
satisfied with services offered by MPSPK’s department. There are some possible
explanations why respondents received in different level of services when households
maybe not frequently dealing with departments and the enforcement of rules and policies
were not up to their expectation.

Policy Implications and Recommendations

Strategy to be drawn to improve customer satisfaction should be two pronged

focusing on making existing satisfaction practice more effectiveness and people more
satisfy. The recommendations are direct response to the findings and aim to identify
improvements that could be implemented to make the existing participation process more
inclusive and effective.

Seek Participation from a Broad Range of Participations

It is important for the municipal to have a comprehensive understanding on the

various customers that exist in a community. The respective parties should also take into
account the existence of organized and unorganized public and whose interest do they
represent. The disputes and dissatisfaction can be avoided if only the participation process
is made open to all. However, extending an open invitation for participation to the general
public is not enough to secure good representation of public interests but the municipal must
also actively target stakeholders who will be a part of decision-making process in local
affairs.

Enhancing the Role of Councilors and Community Leaders

Councilors and community leaders share a basic task which is to help people feel
able to understand what goes on their locality. In customer satisfaction context, councilors
and community leaders should convince the residents for their roles in giving ideas and
opinions with regard to satisfaction process and the way of public complaints handling in
their localities. This may involve explaining to the residents how decisions to be made and
on what basis. It is also important for the community representatives to well known in order
to avoid confusion among themselves and among the constituents.
Strengthening Strategic Partnerships
 526

Innes and Booher (2004) stress on the importance of multi-way interactions in which
citizens and other parties involve work and interact in both formal and informal ways in the
public arena before arriving at conclusions. However this is not easily achievable as different
parties will have different perceptions and views on what an ideal city should have. This is
more difficult as each party will have preconceived prejudiced perceptions on another party
(Nikmatul, 2010). However, Councillors and community leaders share a basic task which is
to help people feel able to understand what goes on in their locality. These tasks can only be
efficiently carried out if the Councillors and community leaders know how planning works
and how they should participate. Even though this is not the main objective of the study but
we strongly believe that further exploration on this new public participation approach will give
a much better understanding on the overall process of decision-making at the local
government level.

Scope for Further Research

Many previous studies focus more on extent and evaluation of satisfaction exercises;
however it is felt that is equally important for future studies to examine what lies in the
community with successful and less successful history of satisfaction. More efforts should be
directed towards understanding the focus groups including and business communities. In
terms of evaluation, future studies should also directed on examining the intangibles
variables to measure the quality of satisfaction. At present, many studies are concerned on
looking at the numbers for example, number of public complaints against total population,
number of people who file dissatisfies. While these measurement manage to provide an
overall scenario of the extent of satisfaction, or what Norton and Kaplan (1992) describes as
the “breadth of satisfaction”, however it does not provide an understanding on the depth of
satisfaction in local government. More studies should be done to examine variables such as
representation of local association and community leaders.

CONCLUSION

The results in this study concerned on to what extent business communities aware
of the things happening in their neighbourhood on municipal services. Investigating on the
level of awareness of the residents is important in analyzing satisfaction as the knowledge of
what is going on, and who turn to when things goes wrong are important information to
enable the success of customer satisfaction. The public must be aware of the inward and
outward avenues available and they must have adequate information before they can
satisfy. However, there are some rooms for improvements in future research by collaborating
with state government and other parties in local affairs to have greater performance in
municipal services. Therefore, apart from focusing on improving customer satisfaction
process, future policies should be directed on local services on waste management,
cleanliness, drainage and culverts to be more effective and efficient.

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 527

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its Implications for Future Research. Journal of Marketing 49, 41-50.

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 528

Responsiveness and the Influence to Public Trust: The Study on

Local Government Service Delivery
Nor Zaini Bt Zainal Abidin
University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur
norzaini@siswa.um.edu.my

Kuppusamy Singaravelloo
University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur
Kuppusamy_s@um.edu.my

Intan Syahriza Azizan

MARA University of Technology, Kedah Campus
intan219@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Responsiveness is a principle of administrative accountability towards clients and

customers. Indeed, local government service delivery is the main component in the
government that exemplifies responsiveness function that connects the public and local
authorities. Being the service provider to the public at their localities, fast response is an
important ingredient to ensure public confidence and trust which simultaneously leads to
work quality. Thus, responsiveness of local government affects the positive communion
between these two stakeholders. This paper focuses on the influence of responsiveness
towards public trust especially on local government service delivery in Selangor and Kuala
Lumpur. These two local authorities were chosen to conform whether they are “listening
bureaucrats” which are sensitive and sympathetic to public outcry. This research found that
there was a strong connection between responsiveness and public trust. Moreover, the
findings confirm that speed on any queries and request of service by local government
paying the heed in influencing public to trust local government and government in power.
Thus, the result showed that responsiveness is important be it for the state or federal
government, because responsiveness can gain public to trust the government

Keywords: Responsiveness, public trust, accountability, local government, service delivery

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, service delivery by the government has responded to the growing
demand and interest by the people. This demand and interest produce efficiency, fairness,
and adequacy of local government agency to perform and become more comprehensive in
its scope. To participate effectively is an important ingredient resulting to an increase in
production and service quality. Hence, to be responsive is to be accountable where in this
context, accountability refers to the ways that local government agencies are able to deal
with sets of expectations from internal and external environment and it comes from
bureaucratic, legal, professional, and political accountability (Romzek & Dubnick, 1987).
In the environment of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, local authorities operate
significantly in a driven change of millennia. The citizens putting a great emphasis to look up
at the efficiency of service delivery. Hence, placing the citizens at the centre stage to
determine the quality service by demonstrating the involvement and participation by the local
authority really influence towards public trust. It shows the level of responsiveness by the
local authority towards the demands of the public meanwhile the public putting their trust
towards the local authority. As Dwiyanto (2008) argued that public organizations need to be
 529

able to recognize the needs of society, setting up agenda, prioritizing services and create
programs that reflects to the needs and hope of society. It is also being supported by
Tangkilisan (2005) about this responsibility of bureaucracy that anticipates the indication of
trust. Therefore, both need to cooperate with one another to ensure sufficient knowledge by
the society on their needs that can be offered by government. This rather suggest that
trustworthiness is the key requirement to ensure legitimacy and a central place between
society and government institutions.

RESPONSIVENESS AND RESPONSIBILITY

Malaysia has practising democracy where it allows election to be held in response to

the most popular local notables or potential opposition forces (Boix & Svolik, 2007) which
later been given some say in policy making (Gandhi, 2009) and access to national
parliament (Lust-Okar, 2006). It indicates the availability of responsiveness factor in serving
the community where people has the right to say and it is the responsibility of the
government to fulfil it. It is somehow examining whether this ground has a measureable
impact on the activities involved between local authorities and the citizen.
Over the years, the most common strategy by the local authorities to become
responsive is to treat it as a responsibility. As Wilson (1887) argued that the administrators
should have a will in accomplishing his task where the scheme is structured with a chain of
command where the constitutional officer at the top. As supported by Friedrich (1940) that
bureaucratic responsibility comprised of technical knowledge and responsiveness to popular
opinion where administrators would be judged by professional colleagues and then
operationalized it in giving away their political responses to their actions and plan wisely for
the well-being of the people. Although the responsiveness essence by the administrators
was problematic in fulfilling their responsibility to the public, the passive instrument of this
should be avoided in order to become more effective and efficient since that modernization
can bring a better future.
According to Finer (1941), responsibility was a subsection to responsiveness where in
assuring the bureaucratic responsiveness by means of stronger laws and procedures
becomes the fundamental essence of responsibility in the expertise of professionalism in
public administration. Hence, it gives the people comforting feeling that this illusionary
promise represented by the administrators enable them to focus and cope with the public
interests where this reliance put too much emphasis onto administrative conscience. In
response to individual public servants, public service performance has been improved,
accountability has been strengthened and thus enhance the democratic government in
fulfilling its responsibility towards the people. However, the weakening accountability happen
in the stage of denial of the political nature in public management since that the public
service managers who are relatively the ministers are elected for their political rather than
managerial capabilities. Despite that, the position of professional managers seeks to be
reinforced as accountable public servants and becomes a responsible government as a
central tenet towards quality public service. Hence, to strengthen responsiveness is through
making the local authorities become a responsible government that consequently increase a
patronage with the move towards a quality public service delivery system. Both the ministers
and the public servants should work hand in hand in ensuring the demands by the public can
be fulfilled and thus it reflects to the efficiency of the public service too.

PUBLIC TRUST

Potential implication of responsiveness viewed as influencing rules that bring trust

after they have been initiated. It needs to be under the agenda of the agencies that signify
important roles in the state and brings understanding by the society to put on trust on them.
Responsiveness is operationalized in the structural and functional activities of the
 530

organizations. Hence, local authorities should be equipped with responsiveness role so that
the pressure is extended to become the best element in giving good service to the society.
In the context of local government, the local responsiveness is a practical idea for the
administrators to be open, able and willing to respond to unexpected and unpredictable
demand by the community. In essence, listening helps to become a practice to promote
responsiveness that supports the administrators to turn themselves in a humble way and
develop modesty to comprehend capacities. The advantage to promote listening helps the
administrators to be opened to understand and construct possibilities as facilitators
appreciating harmony between them. When this situation is given attention and vividly
evoke, possibility of trust among the society is in placed creating occasions for network and
active collaboration between the local authorities and the community. In achieving policy
objectives through administration, reactive management strategies on responsiveness will
be the most tenet to be as closer to the community. Hence, trust relates to expectations and
influenced by information that lead to whether or not to trust the government (Bouckaert &
Van de Walle, 2003).
According to Francois and Zabojnik (2005), mutual dependence of trust and political
activities become codetermination of attitudes and economic outcomes. It exemplifies that
trust is important for government to function well and its actions may affect the degree of
trust. Thus, it is very important to have public cooperation in giving a feedback in enabling
the local authorities to be more effective and induce trust among the community which
signifies legitimacy of the government. As many argued that public trust is important which
symbolizes the efficiency and strength of the government in securing the happiness of its
community. Hence, the society is expected to engage in trust relations with government as
trust is a fundamental to persuasive functions to run the government in the best interest of
the community (Ward et. al., 2016).

RESEARCH QUESTION

For this study we formulated the research question based on the experiences faced
by the public when dealing with local government employees. Three questions posed; (a)
Does responsiveness contribute to trust? (b) To what extend responsiveness build trust? (c)
How it gives impacts towards trust?

METHODOLOGY

The study focused on responsiveness among local government employees and how
it influences public trust among citizen in Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Selangor local
authorities. Simple random sampling was used in which it stated that “every element in the
population has a known and equal chance of being selected as a subject” (Sekaran &
Bougie, 2013, 247). Selangor has twelve local authorities from which five were randomly
selected to represent the city council, two for municipal council, and two for district council.
In addition, each local authority has unequal number of staffs when compared to each other.
Each sample size was determined by the number of staffs in that particular local authority.
Thus, 1300 questionnaires were distributed and 708 were returned yielding 57.6% of
accepted questionnaires. The study applied partial least squares modelling technique
(SMART-PLS) which provided the answers as below:

FINDINGS

This section presents the main research results. To assess the model developed,
Smart-PLS was applied based on path modelling and then the bootstrapping of 1000 re-
samples were used to generate the standard error of the estimate and t-values than 0.5
 531

which is significant at p<0.01. The Average Variance Extracted (AVE) for both constructs
also exceeded o.5. Whereas for Composite Reliability (CRs) were higher than 0.7 and the
same goes to Cronbach alpha values where it is exceeded 0.7

Assessment of the Measurement Model

For reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity of the scales, this section
conducted confirmatory factor analysis as indicated in table 1. Most item loadings were
larger than 0.5 (significant at p<0.1. The Average Variance Extracted (AVE), Composite
Reliability (CR) and Cronbach alpha values were exceeded the threshold value and were
accepted.

Table 1 Results of the Measurement Model

a b
Model Construct Measurement items Loading AVE CR Alpha
Public Trust PT1 0.639 0.527 0.847 0.775
PT2 0.692
PT4 0.745
PT5 0.752
PT6 0.793
Responsiveness R1 0.801 0.592 0.878 0.826
R2 0.775
R3 0.638
R6 0.797
R7 0.823
a
Note: Average Variance Extracted (AVE) = (summation of the square of the factor loadings)/{(
summation of the square of the factor loadings) + (summation of the error variances)
b
Composite Reliability (CR) = (square of the summation of the factor loadings)/{(square of the
summation of the factor loadings) + (square of the summation of the error variances)}

Next step is the result for discriminant validity. According to Fornell and Larcker
(1981) the test on discriminant validity indicates the extent to which a given construct is
different from other latent construct. As indicated in Table 2, the square root of the AVE was
tested against the intercorrelations of the construct with the other construct in the model to
ensure discriminant validity. The square root of the AVE exceeded the correlation with other
variables.

Table 2 Discriminant Validity of Constructs

Public Trust Responsiveness

Public Trust 0.726
Responsiveness 0.764 0.810
Note: Diagonal represent the square root of the AVE extracted while the other represent the
correlation

Assessment of the Structural Model

Next is the assessment on the hypothesis as shown in Table 3 and Figure 1. H1

(Responsiveness has positive effect towards public trust) was established based on the
research model as shown in Figure 1. The hypothesis (H1) was found to be significantly
related and supported.
 532

Table 3: Path Coefficient and Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis Relationship Path Coefficient SE T-value decision

H1 supported
Responsiveness ->
0.764 0.018 41.636*
Public Trust

Figure 1 The Research Model

The research model as shown in Figure 1 is assessed accordingly using SmartPLS 2.0,
based on path modelling, and bootstrapping (Chin, 1998).

DISCUSSION

This study aims to investigate the impact of responsiveness to public trust. The result
of this study has indicated that responsiveness has significant impact to public trust. Past
studies has also revealed that responsiveness of public sector employees in serving the
public especially in service delivery would increase trust and enhance satisfaction among the
public.
According to Tangkilisan (2005), in serving the public in the right way, the local
authorities or any bureaucratic agencies should response to the expectations, desires and
aspirations of the society and later decide the priorities and developing programs
accordingly. When the demands are taken care, it will create public trust among its people. It
also has been supported by Dilulio (1991) highlighted that responsiveness is an evidence to
the ability of the organizations to identify the needs and demands by the people, prioritize
the services and develop programs of public servants in line with the aspirations of the
society. Hence, it begins with performance-based accountability in which this system or tool
indicates the measurement of inputs, outputs and outcomes for collecting performance data
which later been compared with organizational goals and standards (Roberts, 2002). The
performance information and data will solicit recommendations to meet those needs. It
 533

indicates the service quality provided by the agencies and critically determines the gap
between the expectations by the people and the perceptions of what they actually received
by the service provider. To operate in responsiveness manner does require managerial
decentralization where each of the local authority officers put a greater emphasis on quality
of service provided. Common expectations on communication, information, responsiveness
and problem resolution have been taken seriously to account to create positive
reinforcement for the agencies that resulted to satisfied clients and become more efficient
and effective organizations.
In general, the local authorities in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur provide a range of
services. It promotes the interests of local community including economic, environment,
culture, social, community and general development of the area where its responsibilities lie
on categories like housing, planning, roads, development incentives and control,
environmental protection including rivers, lakes, air and noise, and recreation facilities and
amenities. Thus, the local authorities are representatives of local communities, voicing out
local concerns and responding to local needs. This study has measured responsiveness
element measuring sincere effort in supporting residents who need help. It is very crucial to
focus on efforts to boost morale among the clients or community to put on trust on the local
authorities in giving their best besides having a good structure of organization. It has been
supported by Rondinelly (1990) that the bureaucratic organizations are trying to be
competitive, responsive and adaptive in order to gain trust from the community and allows
discretion, initiative and innovative ideas in putting efforts dealing with clients.
Developing a customer focus becomes a goal to ensure quality service provided by
the local authorities with the three key priorities (Mike Donnelly & Edward Shiu, 1999):
1. Ensuring that the services provided are what customers need and want at an
appropriate cost;
2. Extending the role of customers in the development of new services and in the
continuous improvement of existing services;
3. Making sure customers have sufficient quality and amount of information to allow
them to exercise their rights and choices.
Considering the keys above, the local authorities in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur
respond to public request quickly and efficiently by providing a good avenue for feedback
and welcomes feedback, the officers are approachable and helpful and allows criticism and
suggestions for improvement as serious matters. The scores vividly imply to responsiveness
measure that lead to trustfulness by the society or community. These indications to quality
service ensuring the promised service is performed right the first time, on time and at the
time promised by the service.
In supporting the strategy to be responsive and builds trust, the performance is
measured by doing the job right, reliable and consistent focusing on satisfying customer’s
needs. To meet customer’s needs, require a good process responsible to track these
changes because they are constantly change from time to time. Thus, the local authorities
have regulations and clear rules that apply to the provision of urban residential services. This
management requirement assists in supporting the processes that satisfy customer’s needs
and simultaneously lead to trustfulness that been given away by the customers to the
organizations which viewed as values to the organizations. This perspective symbolizes the
organization success that comes through the customers and to deal with customer’s
expectations, a quick response to inquiries, information and communication system are
required. In addition, rapid decision making also becomes a part of the process to become
successful that may indicate requirement on empowerment or participatory management to
serve customers well.
In response to changes in programmatic environment like new technologies, new
business practices, economic changes and ecological developments bring to implications on
anticipated formulation of policies in determining the following goals; clarify existing
requirements, close loopholes or address other barriers to the accomplishment of policy
objectives, revise substantive errors in existing policy and codify precedent established in
the course of implementation (West, William F. & Raso, Connor). These may keep agencies
 534

significant to their existence and would be analysed as trusted agencies and leave
confidence at high stage.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, improving responsiveness would become the most visible results that
continuing to become more efficient and better government agencies. In ensuring its
continuity, the agencies should deal with changes that might happen in many ways and they
must be properly designed so that the result gives a greater significant not only to the
organizations but also to the customers and society as well. The feedback on the quality and
outcomes of public service are relied on tendency to distort customer’s view. Hence, it is
very crucial to determine and implement quality by practising the element of responsiveness
which later build trust among the society. Production of quality influences values which
associated to productivity. And by raising productivity, it can be viewed as a success in its
sense which may build satisfied customers and elevate trust among them.

REFERENCES

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 536

Issues and Challenges in Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation

Program in Malaysia
Siti Zulaikha Mustapha
Faculty Administrative Science & Policy Studies UiTM Selangor
sitizulaikhabtmustapha@gmail.com

Dr. Nor Hafizah Mohamed Harith

Faculty Administrative Science & Policy Studies, UiTM Selangor
norha561@salam.uitm.edu.my

Dr. Tuan Nooriani Tuan Ismail

Faculty Administrative Science & Policy Studies, UiTM Selangor
tnsya800@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Drug treatment and rehabilitation programme in Malaysia was established under the
provision of Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Act 1983. This act was introduced due to
responses to the rising number of drug addicts in the country in 1980’s. Many programmes
have been introduced by the government from one stop centre (Pusat Serenti) to narcotic
drug treatment (PUSPEN) to curb this phenomenon. However, since 2010, the
implementation of the drug treatment and rehabilitation programme has been shifted from
punitive (punishment) to health approach. As a consequence, Cure & Care Project has been
introduced to combat drug abuse in Malaysia. However, after more than seven years of the
implementation of transformation in drug treatments and rehabilitation programmes, drug
addictions and relapse trends in Malaysia are still increasing. This paper will critically
evaluate the issues and challenges of drug treatment and rehabilitation programme from the
perspectives of the service providers (government and implementers) and receivers (clients).
Finally, few suggestions will be provided to address these issues and challenges.

Keywords: drug, treatment and rehabilitation program, issues and challenges,

INTRODUCTION

Drug addiction is one of the longstanding issues and problems in Malaysia since
1900’s and has been growing until today. The government has introduced and implemented
various efforts to prevent drug addiction in Malaysia. Among the efforts are including, drug
enforcement, prevention as well as drug treatment and rehabilitation programme. Drug
issues and problems in Malaysia have been strengthened with the legalization of many acts
such as amendments of Dangerous Drug Ordinance 1952, Anti-Drug Action Plan, Control of
Drugs and Cosmetics Regulation in 1984 and Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Act 1983.
All of the legalization of the rules and regulations in Malaysia were executed incrementally in
Malaysia Plan to respond to the drug issues in Malaysia. Besides prevention and
enforcement efforts, the government also has focused on the drug treatment and
rehabilitation programme in Malaysia. Therefore, this paper highlights the issues and
challenges in drug treatment and rehabilitation programme in Malaysia in the perspective of
receivers and providers.
A few studies have proven that the drug treatment and rehabilitation programme
based on health approach in Malaysia shows the programme implemented has been
effective in reducing drug abuse (Baharom et al, 2012; Kamaruzaman, 2012; Muhamad et
al, 2015; Mustapha et al, 2016). Despite of the effectiveness of the programme, the drug
 537

relapse cases have shown increasing trends. This poses a challenging responsibility for the
drug agency to curb drug abuse (Korchmaros & Stevens, 2014). In addition, this also
increases the vulnerability of the client16 to relapse especially within a month after being
released from treatment (Puffer et al, 2010 & Zhu et al, 2009). Looking into this issue, this
paper will highlight several issues and challenges in drug treatment and rehabilitation
programme in Malaysia.

OVERVIEW OF DRUG TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION PROGRAM IN MALAYSIA

In Malaysia, all the matters regarding drug addiction issues and problem are under
the authority of National Anti Drug Agency (NADA) and Ministry of Home Affairs. NADA is
responsible for drug enforcement, treatment and rehabilitation programme as well as drug
prevention. However, Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible to execute the regulation and
policy towards NADA. Malaysia is one of the Asian countries that strictly treated drug issues
and problems based on punitive approaches. Punitive drug approach is the implementation
of punitive and harsh action towards drug offender such as penalty, death sentence,
compulsory treatment and imprisonment (Burris & Chiu, 2011). Historically in Malaysia, the
awareness to treat and rehabilitate the individuals involved in drug addiction started in
1980’s. At this period, the government focuses on punitive approach to deal with the drug
abuse. Drug treatment and rehabilitation programme at that time was known as one stop
center or “Pusat Serenti” with the enforcement of Drug Treatment Act 1983, whereby any
individual who is arrested with drug related crime has to undergo two years of mandatory
drug treatment or any two years supervision in the community. However, in 2009 the name
of the centre was changed to Narcotic Drug Treatment or “Pusat Pemulihan Narkotik”
(PUSPEN). PUSPEN has taken a more holistic programme towards the patient's treatment
and rehabilitation (BERNAMA, 2009). Drug treatment and rehabilitation programme provided
by the government based on punitive approach was considered ineffective or a failure by
many scholars (Razali, 2008;Tanguay, 2011; Othman et al, 2015 and Ho & Yoshida, 2016).
This is due to higher number of relapse cases among the patients and ex-addicts.
In 2010, a health approach was introduced in line with Government Transformation
Programme (GTP). The concept of drug treatment and rehabilitation programme has been
transformed to Cure and Care Project (NADA, 2012). The transformation was supported with
the declaration received from World Health Organization (WHO). The Cure & Care Project is
an approach to deal with the drug problem as a chronic disease which required health
assistance instead of punishing the drug addicts (NADA, 2012). Cure & Care project is one
of the transformation efforts in drug treatment and rehabilitation programme especially in the
service delivery aspect. The aim of the project is to ensure the service delivery is felt by the
people especially drug addicts to recover from their addiction. Under Cure & Care Project,
there are a few programmes which comprised five categories namely Cure & Care
1Malaysia Clinic, Cure & Care Service Centre, Cure & Care Rehabilitation Centre, Cure &
Care Vocational Center and Caring Community House.
Out of the five projects, Cure & Care 1Malaysia (C&C1M) Clinic is the pioneer health
programme implemented in Malaysia to ensure the drug addicts recover their addiction
through non-punitive approach. In 2010, Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur PUSPEN has been
transformed to C&C1M clinic. This is a holistic transformation undertaken by the
government, for instance the new concept of C&C1M Clinic is an open access, friendly,
systematic, structure and voluntary concept; instead of providing tough, regimented,
unstructured coercion towards drug addicts (NADA, 2016). According to Kamaruzaman,
(2012), the current health approach in drug treatment and rehabilitation is considered
effective and beneficial to the clients especially in terms of changing the behaviour of the

16
Client is referring to the drug addict who receiving drug treatment and rehabilitation. For example,
the client received the treatment in Cure &Care 1Malaysia Clinic and other treatment center under
health approach.
 538

clients. This is because the clients are able to work and will not relapse in the future. This is
contrasted with the previous punitive approach in one stop centre and PUSPEN; whereby
the programme was less effective due to the high relapse rate, little medical care and
intense physical abuse as the addicts were treated like criminals (Tanguay, 2011).
The transformation of drug treatment and rehabilitation programme in Malaysia is a
good strategy undertaken by the government to deal with drug issues. However, the
effectiveness of drug treatment and rehabilitation programme in Malaysia is seemed to be
less effective due to the increase six percent of total trend of new drug addict and relapse
cases from 23, 642 in 2010 to 26,668 in 2015, total cases in Malaysia (NADA, 2016). This
trend is considered high in Asia as Malaysia is a non-producing drug country and practising
mandatory punishment for drug offenders (Ho & Yoshida, 2016).The rising trend of drug
addiction in Malaysia shows that, there are many issues and challenges faced by the
government as provider especially Ministry of Home Affairs, NADA and drug treatment
center and receivers (clients or drug addict). Therefore, this paper highlights a few issues
and challenges especially in the implementation of the drug treatment and rehabilitation
programmes in Malaysia.

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Issues and challenges is a common situation in the implementation of any

government programmes including the drug treatment and rehabilitation programmes.
Arguably, without proper management and concern from the implementer or government,
this will potentially reduce the effectiveness of the drug treatment and rehabilitation
programme, cause public dissatisfaction and wastage of government fund (Mazlan et al,
2006). Previous drug treatment and rehabilitation programmes show that, the main issues
and challenges are a leakage in punitive policy which only focuses on a single treatment and
ignores medical approach in treating addiction (Rusdi et al, 2008). This section will discuss
the issues and challenges from the perspective of service providers and receivers. It is
critical to view both perspectives of receiver and provider to ensure the treatment goal,
expectation and outcome between these parties are aligned (Chie et al, 2016).

Perspective of Providers

This section focuses on the perspective of providers in drug treatment and

rehabilitation programme in Malaysia. Among the issues and challenges discussed in this
paper are as follows:

Role of Professional and Expertise

The professional and expertise are crucial to ensure a successful implementation of

any programme. With regards to drug treatment programme, the professionals and experts
such as clinical and administrative staff are important to actively participate in the drug
treatment and rehabilitation programme (Kuussaari & Partanen, 2010). In the perspective of
the government, the drug treatment and rehabilitation programmes are designed according
to evidence-based. The programme has been proven clinically to be effective to reduce drug
addiction. However, due to lack in number of professional and expert, the treatment
programme becomes less effective to assist the client. Furthermore, one of the main
reasons is, none of the higher education courses specifically train clinical staff and experts in
drug treatment. For instance, the programme has been proven clinically to be effective to
reduce drug addiction. Therefore, the government always believes the treatment
implemented was already effective (Power, Nashimi & Kizer, 2005). However, with lack of
professional staff the treatment programme implemented by the government was not able to
holistically successful. This essentially becomes the barrier for the continuous improvement
and to produce high impact treatment programme.
 539

However, in Malaysia the issues of lacking of professional and expertise in drug

addiction were highlighted by Mahmood et al, 2003; Mohamed, 2006 p.15 and Vicknasingam
& Mazlan, (2008) especially counselors and rehabilitation staff. This issue also has been
proven by NADA whereby one of the challenges in its Strategic Plan (2016-2020) was the
paucity of the professionals and expertise in dealing with drug issues in Malaysia including in
providing drug treatment and rehabilitation of the client. This is because in Malaysia there
are no subjects or courses in higher education which specifically cater the needs of the drug
eradication in Malaysia (Vicknasingam & Mazlan, 2008). This issue is a main concern of the
policy makers and related ministries and agencies to cater the need of the drug treatment
and rehabilitation programme in Malaysia.

Advancement of Illegal Drug

The advancement of illegal drug faced by all countries also poses similar challenges
for governments to deal with drug abuse. In Malaysia, it is one of the unsolved problems
resulted from uncontrolled external factors which contribute to the scenario of drug addiction
up until today. For instance, the recent trends of demand and supply of drug addiction have
changed from traditional drugs such as opium, heroin and cannabis to psychoactive
substance involving Amphetamine-type Stimulant (ATS), methamphetamine, ecstasy and
other synthetic drugs (Ministry of Health, 2014). This situation is influenced by illegal trade of
drugs among the country in the world especially in South East Asia country. Drug treatment
and rehabilitation programme is divided into two types which comprise opiate user and non-
opiate user. For opiate user the client is treated by using Methadone Maintenance Theraphy
(MMT) which is based on medication treatment. MMT programme was successfully
implemented (Baharom et al, 2012; Singh et al, 2013 and Mustapha et al, 2016). Indeed,
many of the clients had shown the changes in their quality of life especially in terms of
addictive behaviour and were able to execute daily activities such as working and take care
of their family (Kamarulzaman et al, 2012).
Nevertheless, for non-opiate client there was no effective medication assisted
treatment provided by the government (Lee & Rawson, 2008; Yusof & Wahab, 2015). The
current trend of drug addiction shows the rapid growth of drug addiction not only in Malaysia,
but also in every part of the world. The drug addict also does not abuse with one type of
drug, and usually they abuse multiple type of drug (Tee, 2009 and NADA, 2016). The
advancement of drug occasionally becomes challenges to the service providers, as the
treatment and rehabilitation was not compatible with the current need of the clients.
Therefore, the previous detoxification treatment only produces little success or fails to treat
and rehab the drug addict (Baharom et al, 2012).

Rising Trend of Relapse Cases

Most of relapse clients in Malaysia are resulted from low self efficacy, even after
receiving the drug treatment and rehabilitation (Ibrahim & Kumar, 2009). Therefore, drug
addiction counsellors as one of the crucial actors in maintaining the abstinence of the client
not only during the treatment but after being free in the community. Apart from that, relapse
cases also resulted from the background of the client for example the client who is family
involved in drug abuse (Razali & Madon, 2016). This will increase the risk of client to
relapse. Therefore, this situation challenge the professional and experts to provide the drug
treatment programme which is effective in destroying the client craving and free from drug
addiction. One of the successful treatment indicators for drug addicts or client is the ability to
recognize that they were addicted and required help to stop their addiction (Center for
Substance Abuse Treatment, 2005). This approach is parallel with the current concept of
drug treatment and rehabilitation programme implemented by the government which
emphasized on voluntary concept.
Nonetheless, the number of relapse cases reported by NADA shows the increasing
trend (NADA, 2016). This situation is similar with the implementation of previous drug
 540

treatment and rehabilitation programme (One Stop Center & PUSPEN). Therefore, a
proactive and predictive precaution from the government is crucial to ensure the programme
implemented is still relevant to prevent relapse cases. Yet, the relevancy of the
measurement of relapse cases as the indicator for the effectiveness of the implementation
drug treatment programme was argued by Arria and McLellan, (2012) whereby relapse was
regarded as normal cycle faced by client who receiving the treatment and rehabilitation. On
the other hand, from the perspective of drug treatment and rehabilitation programme,
relapse is considered as failure and ineffectiveness of the programme due to the inability of
the client to survive in the real world.

Cost of Providing Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Programme

Drug abuse and drug dependency are the products of the social problem in Malaysia.
The government especially the country has to be burdened with high cost in dealing with
drug addiction. This including monetary and non-monetary cost in providing drug prevention,
treatment and rehabilitation and enforcement. In term of monetary cost, the government has
spent a lot of money, for example in 2008; RM 21,991550 has been allocated to NADA to
provide drug treatment and rehabilitation to the client (Ali et al, 2010). This huge allocation is
the investment of the government to ensure the drug addict able to recover and being
productive in the society. While for non- monetary cost such as death and loss of property
due to the drug addiction problem has to be endured by the society and country. The rising
number of drug addict and drug relapse demands the government to invest more fund
especially to alleviate drug addiction problems among the Malaysians.
However, the transformation of the government from the punitive approach to health
approach has reduced the spending of government to deal with drug addiction. For instance,
by establishing Cure & Care 1Malaysia clinic the government able to reduce 75 percent of
food cost per patient as compared to previous cost allocated for one patient in PUSPEN
(NADA, 2012). The evidence based concept in the current approach also reduces the
number of manpower required in the drug treatment centre from 105 to 65 persons.
Nevertheless, the cost of the drug treatment programme has reduced and the programme is
able to produce high impact. Yet, after seven years of the implementation of health
approach, many drug treatment centers show the increasing trends in relapsing cases
(NADA, 2016). This demonstrates that the programme implemented in the centre only
produces short term effectiveness. Thus, the government still has to allocate a certain
allocation of government budget to curb with the drug abuse in Malaysia.

Perspective of Receivers

This section focuses on the perspective of receivers in drug treatment and

rehabilitation programme in Malaysia. Among the issues and challenges discussed in this
paper are as follows:

Lack of Monitoring in Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation

As mentioned above, for non-opiate drug user there is no medication to treat the
craving and dependency of the drug. The client only depends mostly on psychosocial
treatment. Thus, on the perspective of drug addicts, the treatment provided to the client
should be communicated and must gain their understanding. For instance, instead of saying
drug is dangerous, the counselors and rehabilitation staff or parents should explain on why
and how drug is dangerous to human (Augustin, 2016). By doing this, the client will be aware
of the danger of drugs to human. This will result in willingness and voluntary attitude from the
client to the drug treatment programme. The craving of the drug will force the client to look
for the drug even during the treatment process.
 541

Negative Society Stigma

In dealing with drug addiction, social support from the society is among the main
healing concern to recover as most of the drugs addict are facing negative stigma from the
society. Therefore, this has triggered them to relapse. The situation becomes worse when
the society has negative social stigma towards drug treatment centers and drug addiction,
which directly contribute to the ineffectiveness of the implementation of the programme. This
is to become the main challenge for the addict to continue their recovery. For instance, the
ex-drug addicts were accused to involve with the crime even though they were not involved
and perceived them as a useless person which should be put in an isolated place (Ibrahim et
al, 2009). Strong negative stigma from society demotivates and pulls away the confidence of
drug addict to free them from addiction. Finally, they chose to relapse.

Relapse Cases among Client

The real challenges for the ex-drug addicts or clients are when they face the outside
world which is not supportive for their recovery. In the perspective of drug addict, it is not
stopping from drug addiction that is hard but staying free from it, is harder. The study
conducted by Rahman et al, (2011) claimed that, the patient in drug treatment chose to
relapse because they perceived that the treatment and rehabilitation programme provided to
them was not effective and there was no continuous treatment from the centers after they
released. This shows that, the previous programmes are not comprehensive and only
provide limited service towards drug addict. In a study conducted by Salleh, (2012) the ex-
addicts informed that they were only able to stop the drug craving only in the treatment
centre and they fail to stay abstinent after being released. The ex-addicts also claimed that
society refuses to accept them and only drug addict peers accept them. Thus, they started to
retake the drug and relapse. Furthermore, without high commitment and a positive attitude
from the clients any sophisticated or reliable treatment programme is not able to free them
from drug.

SUGGESTIONS

In addition to the issues and challenges faced by providers and receivers, a few
suggestions are recommended. Firstly, it is crucial to train or produce capable human capital
that is professional and expert to deal with drug addiction problems in the centers. Thus,
drug treatment and rehabilitation programme can be executed effectively to the target group
or drug addict. For instance, according to Centre of Drug Abuse Treatment, (2006), in United
States, the appropriate number of staff-to-client ratio in drug treatment should be from 1-to-8
to 1-to-15. There are number of staff still depending on the regulation of hiring, type of care
and programme practices. Thus, it is crucial to specifically determine the need of staff that is
professional and expert in both clinical and administrative matters, the appropriate number of
human resource can be supplied in drug treatment. The transformation of drug treatment
from punitive to health approach is not only in the concept and planning, but also requires
the transformation of the human capital involved in the implementation of the treatment
programme. Professional and expertise should be included in planning rules, regulations and
the implementation of the planned drug treatment programmes.
Secondly, in the aspect of monitoring the effectiveness of the implementation of the
treatment programme, the service provider can promote the consistency and enhance the
implementation of the drug treatment programme. Proactive action undertaken by the
government will enable the advancement in the drug treatment programme. Not only that, by
encouraging community empowerment, this will increase the chances for the clients to
recover from their addiction. Therefore, the advancement of an illegal drug will not impact
the effectiveness of the drug programme in the country.
 542

Thirdly, a strong cooperation from enforcement and prevention effort within the
country and also together with international partners such as ASEAN countries, United
Nation, World Health Organization and other relevant parties internationally are important.
There is a need for the co-operation to handle drug related crime such as trafficking and
smuggling. This is high time for the government to stop the smuggling and trafficking of new
drug.
Finally, although there have been no special courses that exist in higher education,
however, in Malaysia there are many drugs, HIV/Aids and substance abuse research center
has conducted the study in Malaysia, for example, Center of Excellence for Research in
AiDS (CeRia) and Asian Centre for Research on Drug Abuse (ACREDA). Hence, this is also
one of the efforts to educate and communicate with the society. Additionally, it is crucial to
educate on the dangers of drug within the family context and also to change their perception
towards drug addict through formal and informal education.

CONCLUSION

Issues and challenges in drug treatment and rehabilitation programme is one of the
crucial parts that need to be studied by authorities. Both providers and receivers need to
complement each other in combating the drug addiction problem in Malaysia. Cure & Care
1Malaysia clinic strategy is a good move to deal with drug abuse. However, all the efforts
should be enhanced continuously. Therefore, the issues and challenges such as relapse
cases, advancement of the illegal drugs and negative society stigma will not become the
barriers to free Malaysians from drugs.

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Factors Affecting the Tendency of Drug Abuse among Drug

Addicts: A Case Study in the Northern Region of Malaysia
Fazillah Bosli
Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
fazillah@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Siti Fairus Mokhtar

Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
fairus706@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Norin Rahayu Shamsuddin

Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
norinrahayu@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Tn Khairul Farrizan Tn Abdullah Zawawi

Unit Pencegahan, Agensi Anti Dadah Kebangsaan (AADK), Daerah Kuala Muda

Kamarul Ariffin Mansor

Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
ariff118@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Wan Zulkipli Wan Salleh

Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
wanzul298@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Drugs are the scourge of a country. The social phenomena of drug abuse is a complex issue
and have led to serious social problems among individuals in Malaysia. The aim of this study
is to identify the factors which influenced drug addicts, based on the information obtained
from the National Anti-Drug Agency (NADA) in the small region area in Kedah for 2015. A
total of 975 drug addicts refereed to NADA were used in this study. Our results indicated that
the social, environmental, and personal factors as well as the level of education significantly
affect fresh and relapse drug abusers.

Keywords: social-environmental factor, personal factor, protective factor,Chi-square test

INTRODUCTION

The close geographical propinquity of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand which is also
known as the “Golden Triangle” area and other Southeast Asian countries that produce illicit
drugs have contributed to drug use in Malaysia (Fauziah and Naresh 2009). According to
Usman Ahmad Karofi (2005), a drug is abused when its usage is socially and medically
disapproved. Therefore, drug abuse is a situation when a drug is taken out of any medication
and socially disapproved for the use. From the definition, it can be concluded that drug
addiction means the continued use of drugs, which leads to dependence on the drug
because the addict anticipates pain or discomfort if they withdraw from the use of the drug.
In order to show that drug abuse is a major and serious social problem, the Deputy
Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, on April 2016, declared that a total of
131,841 drug addicts have been registered in Malaysia between January 2010 and February
2016. Based on report released by the National Drug Information System, National Anti-Drug
 546

Agency (NADA), from the total drug addicts, 127,797 were men and 4,044 were women
(Farhana 2016). A study conducted by the Education Ministry involving 35,755 respondents,
which consisted of students from secondary level found 1,457 of them involved in drug
abuse. Kedah showed the highest number of students who tried drugs (274), followed by
Kelantan (197), and Perak (180). Based on statistics, Form Five students recorded the
highest percentage of taking drugs at 40.6%, followed by Form Four with 32.5%, Form Three
with 19.8%, Form Two with 5.4%, and Form One with 0.08% (“Kedah the highest”, 2016).
This situation had a negative impact especially on their performance in studies.
Many factors contribute to drug abuse. A study conducted by Taheri et al. (2016),
stated four main factors that affect drug use among people, this include environmental
factors (friendly gatherings and socializing with drug users), family factors (the presence of a
drug user in the family, loneliness, separation from the family, and family problems and
disputes), personal factors (attracting the opposite sex, wealth, being an athlete, curiosity,
and source of energy, the ignorance and arrogance of youth, and illness), and social factors
(having a hard job, unemployment, the lack of access to recreational facilities, and the easy
access to drugs). Research done by Tam and Foo (2013) found that the top two significant
factors contributing to drug abuse are peer influence and curiosity. In Malaysia, family
factors such as parental behavior, family relationships, home atmosphere, and economic
standing are not the factors which contribute to drug abuse compared to other countries
(Tam Cai Lian n.d).
The level of education contributes to the risk of drug and alcohol abuse. “The
relationship between” (2015) describes that those in the lowest level of education or never
went to school have a high risk of being involved in drug or alcohol addiction. Thus, this
study was conducted to examine the factors affecting the tendency of drug abuse among
drug addicts in small areas in Kedah.

METHODOLOGY

The secondary data was obtained from the National Anti – Drug Agency (NADA) in a
small region in Kedah. A total of 975 valid and complete information data of all drug addicts
for 2015 were selected for this study.
Table 1 presented the three main contributing factors which were considered in this
study including social factors, environmental factors, and personal factors based on the
information data given. The protective factors were classified to the educational achievement
which is the higher level and lower level of education. Higher educational level is the
education beyond secondary level, especially education provided by a college or university.
The study was chosen to include persons with a degree, diploma, certificate, or any
equivalent qualification for higher education level. Qualifications or certificates from
secondary and primary school such as Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (Malaysian Certificate of
Education), Penilaian Menengah Rendah (Lower Secondary Evaluation), and Ujian
Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (Primary School Evaluation Test) are categorized as lower levels
of education.
Descriptive analysis statistics is used to describe the profile information of drug addicts
including the gender, type of drug used, educational level, contributing factors of drug abuse,
and status of drug abusers whether fresh or relapse addicts. Relapse is a resumption of drug
taking behavior after a period of abstinence (Jordi and Magi, 2003). The analysis includes
the measurement of frequency and percentage. The Chi-square test is used to indicate the
relationship between two categorical variables such as the status of drug abusers among
contributing and protective factors. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics.
 547

Table 1 Contributing and Protective Factors

Contributing Factors
Environmental Protective Factors
Social Factors Personal Factors
Factors
Pleasure Peer Influence Overcome mental illness Higher educational level
Stimulus Reduce pain Lower educational level
Curiosity

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The respondents’ demographic profiles shown in Table 2 provided a background

information about drug addicts. The profile information was represented based on the
frequency and percentage in order to illustrate the information data. The number of
respondents considered in this study was 975. The results showed that the majority of drug
addicts are males which is 960 (98.2%) compared to females of only 18 (1.8%). From the
figure, fresh addicts indicated a higher percentage of 531 (54.5%) than relapsed addicts of
444 (45.5%).
From the data on academic achievement, 930 (93.9%) of the respondents have a
lower educational level and 45 (6%) are from higher educational level. Opiates were the
major drug abused among drug addicts which is 771 (79.1%) compared to marijuana (ganja)
which consisted of only 69 (7.1%). Opiates cover a huge variety of drugs, ranging from legal
drugs such as fentanyl, codeine, and morphine to illegal drugs such as heroin and opium
(Eric, n.d.). The findings of the study showed that personal factors include overcoming
mental illness, reduce pain, and curiosity as the primary factors on the tendency for drug use
which is 380 (38.9%), followed by environmental factors which is 316 (32.4%), and social
factors contributed the lowest percentage which is 279 (28.6%).

Table 2 Profile Information of Drug Addicts

Variables Frequency (%)

Gender
Male 957 (98.2)
Female 18 (1.8)
Status
Fresh addicts 531 (54.5)
Relapsed addicts 444 (45.5)
Types of drug
Amphetamine - type stimulants (ATS) 135 (13.8)
Marijuana (ganja) 69 (7.1)
Opiate 771 (79.1)
Protective factor
Higher levels of education 45 (6)
Lower levels of education 930 (93.9)
Affecting factor
Social factor 279 (28.6)
Environmental factor 316 (32.4)
Personal factor 380(38.9)

A chi-square test of association was performed by cross tabulating two variables,

namely contributing and protective factors were cross-tabulated through chi-square test.
Based on results in Table 3, we obtained a chi-square value of 15.896** and 2 degrees of
freedom with a p-value of less than .01. Therefore, we reject the null hypothesis and
conclude that the status of drug addicts influence the factor of taking drugs.
 548

Table 3 Association between the Status of Taking Drugs and Contributing Factors

Contributing factor
Status Social factor Environmental Personal factor Total
factor
207 (182) 172.1 (199) 151.9 (150)
Fresh addicts 531
34.3% 37.5% 28.2%
173 (198) 143.9 (117) 127.1 (129)
Relapsed addicts 444
44.6% 26.4% 29%
Total 279 316 380 975
x  15.896** df  2  **p-value < 0.01
2

The results obtained were: 34.3% of fresh addicts compared to relapse addicts of
44.6% on social factors, 37.5% of fresh addicts compared to relapse addicts of 26.4% on
environmental factors, and 28.2% of fresh addicts compared to relapsed addicts of 29% on
personal factors.
Table 4 showed that the association between the status of taking drugs and
protective factors consist level of education. We got a chi-square value of 5.273** and 1
degree of freedom with a p-value of less than .05. Therefore, we reject the null hypothesis
and conclude that the level of education influence the factor of taking drugs.

Table 4 Association between the Status of Taking Drugs and Protective Factors

Status Protective factor Total

Higher levels of Lower levels of
education educations
24.5 (32) 506.5 (499)
Fresh addicts 531
6% 94%
20.5 (13) 423.5 (431)
Relapsed addicts 444
2.9% 97.1%
45 930 975
x  5.273 * df  1 *p-value < 0.05
2

In this case, it shows 6% of fresh compared to relapse addicts of 2.9% for higher
education level. 94% of fresh compared to relapse of 97.1% for lower education level.

CONCLUSION

The study concludes that the most frequent factors contributing to the tendency of drug
abuse amongst fresh and relapsed addicts are personal factors, namely overcome mental
illness, reduce pain, and curiosity. To ensure that the number of registered drug addicts in
Malaysia decreases, the Government and schools can establish courses or rehabilitation
programs to educate and provide knowledge on the negative consequences of taking drugs
among adolescents and students. The support from family members, community, and peers
are very important to ensure that drug addicts change their habits and are free of a drug
taking lifestyle after the rehabilitation process.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work was financially supported by the Institute of Research Management (RMI),
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani via the Research
Excellent Grant.
 549

REFERENCES

Eric, P. (n.d). Opiate abuse. Retrieved from 25 October, 2016 from

drugabuse.com/library/opiate-abuse/.

Farhana Syed Nokman. (2016, April 19). More than 130,000 drug addicts in Malaysia to
date, figures show. New Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.nst.com.my.

Fauziah Ibrahim., & Naresh Kumar. (2009). Factors effecting drug relapse in Malaysia: An
empirical evidence. Journal of Asian Social Science, 5(12), 37-44.

Jordi, C., & Magi, F. (2003). Drug addiction. The New England Journal of Medicine, 349(10),
975 -986.

Kedah the highest number of students who tried drugs –DPM (2016, October 25), Retrieved
30 October, 2016 from htttp://english.astroawani.com.

Taheri, Z., Amiri, M.,Hosseini,M., Mohsenpour, M.,& Davidson, P.M. (2016). Factors
affecting tendency for drug abuse in people attending addiction treatment centres: A
quatitative content analysis. Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy, 7(2),1-4.

Tam, C. L. (2016). Contributory factors: drug abuse in Malaysia. Retrieved from

https://www.monash.edu.my.

Tam, C. L., & Foo, Y. C. (2013). A qualitative study on drug abuse relapse in Malaysia:
Contributory factors and treatment effectiveness. International Journal of Collaborative
Research on Internal Medicine & Public Health, 5(4), 217 -232.

The relationship between one’s level of education and addiction. (2015). Retrieved 30
October, 2016 from https://transcendrecovery.com.

Usman Ahmad Karofi. (2005). Drug abuse and criminal behaviour in Penang, Malaysia: A
multivariate analysis. Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology, 2(2), 90-116.
 550

INVESTIGATING THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE STUDENTS’

PERFORMANCE IN INDUSTRIAL TRAINING
Zaharah Safin
Faculty of Business Management, UiTM Cawangan Kedah
zaharah963@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nor Amira Ali

Faculty of Business Management, UiTM Cawangan Kedah
noram370@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Hasmah Laili Jamalurus

Faculty of Business Management, UiTM Cawangan Kedah
hasmahlaili@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Rosliza Md. Zani

Faculty of Business Management, UiTM Cawangan Kedah
rosliza568@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Industrial training is one type of experiential education which provides the opportunity for
students to experience the working environment. This program was designed to prepare the
students beforehand with the expectation for the knowledge to be implemented in their
upcoming career. However, recently there were negative feedbacks on the quality of the
industrial training from industries. The industry was concerned about this issue where low
quality of fresh graduates might jeopardize the performance of their organization. There
were previous studies conducted discussing on industrial training however, less attention
was given to measure the students’ performance from the viewpoints of industry. Hence, this
research was conducted to investigate the factors which affecting the students’ performance
in industrial training. The respondents for this research were the supervisors where the
students undergo their industrial training. 228 sets of questionnaires were collected and the
results showed that cognitive, skills and attitudinal values development outcomes had
significantly affect the students’ performance in industrial training. Apart from that, the
implications and suggestion for future research were discussed.

Keywords: industrial training, cognitive, skills, attitudinal values, performance

INTRODUCTION

Industrial training program is an opening for undergraduates to have a thorough,

working experience exposure to different operations in an organization. (Crossley et al.,
2007).This training also provides students with an insight of their future career possibilities
and to find possible fit with suitable organization (Kapoor, 2000). UiTM as one of established
higher education institution in Malaysia had make it compulsory for Business and
Management students to complete a 16 weeks industrial training program in order to
graduate. According to Course Information IBM671 (2013), at the end of the industrial
training program, UiTM Business and Management students are expected to achieve these
three outcomes which are cognitive development, skills development and attitudinal values
outcomes.
Lately, the industry’s feedback regarding poor industrial training quality had forced the
higher learning institutions to seek means to enhance their industrial training quality. Ministry
 551

of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE) had stated that apart from academic achievements,
the skills that are highly seek by industry from a graduate include soft skills, decision making
skills, leadership, emotional and social intelligence, conflict and global issues. (Mohammad
Rezal Hamzah, 2011). There were previous studies conducted discussing on industrial
training however, less attention was given to measure the students’ performance from the
viewpoints of industry (Nor’Aini Yusof and Siti Nur Fazillah Mohd Fauzi, 2013). Hence, this
research was conducted to investigate the factors which affecting the students’ performance
in industrial training. The results of this study had provided an overview of students’
performance in term of the development of the cognitive, skills and attitude values outcomes.
The researcher also had found the area in designing a practical program which needs to be
improve in the future.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Industrial Training

Woon et al. (2007) said that industrial training is a platform for undergraduates to
implement the knowledge gained in university to the working environment. The industrial
trainee can translate the knowledge into real action and learnt from it. On the other hand,
Hasbullah and Sulaiman (2002) defined industrial training as a structured program attended
by undergraduates in selected companies for a stipulated time set by their learning
institution. The duration varies with respect to the university requirements where it can be as
short as three months and up to eight months. In Malaysia, most universities had made it
compulsory for undergraduates to complete their industrial training program because it can
expose them to the real work environment. Furthermore, the experiences gained from the
training had enhanced the undergraduates’ technological skills as well as the knowledge in
their fields of study (Woon et al., 2007). According to Erni bte Tanius (2015), the result of her
research indicated that industrial training benefited both employers and trainee. The
employers utilised industrial trainee which had lessen the job burden without hiring new
worker while industrial trainee gained valuable knowledge and experience during the training
period

Students’ Performance

Result from a study by Kagaari, J.R.K (2007), revealed that industry perceived
students whom experienced industrial training to have better adaption towards working
environment as compared to those who do not participate in the training. It is also supported
by Junaini et al. (2008), Prince and Stewart, (2000), where they said that trainee must be
effective and efficient in their performance to ensure better adaption towards the challenges
that emerge in the real working environment. Thus, an evaluation done by trainees’
supervisor in industry is important to assess student performance. In a study by Omar et al.
(2008), students believed that they have gained valuable experience and knowledge from
the industrial training program and that their satisfaction in their performance also increased.

Cognitive Development Outcomes

Ormord, (1999) suggest that cognitive theory focuses on an observable change in

mental knowledge while Mukokuma (2008) said cognitive factors have to be taken into
account to understand how people learn by understanding the situation and getting
feedback. Thus, cognitive learning is about the change in what the learner knows rather than
what he or she does. To Hartley, (1998) cognitive learning results from interpretation of
expectation and making connections, learners acquires plans, strategies and their prior
knowledge is also important. While according to Course Info IBM 671 (2013), cognitive
development includes knowledge acquisition in doing tasks or assignments, learning
 552

capabilities in new tasks or jobs, knowledge application and creative thinking abilities as well
as self-directed learner. According to Mohammad Rezal Hamzah et al (2013), cognitive
learning is the ability to understand job and its execution is especially important, as this trait
will be utilized in the industry. Besides that, the industry also emphasis on quality of work as
it is vital to every individual

Skills Development Outcomes

According to Wilson, Ahmad Arifian & Abu Zarin (2012), Ministry of Higher Education
in Malaysia had identified the soft skills that need to be included in the degree programs
which are communication skills in english, critical thinking and problem solving Skills, team
working skills, lifelong learning and information management skills, entrepreneurial skills,
moral and professional ethics and lastly leadership skills. Study result by Erni bte Tanius
(2015) showed that there is a sign of lacking in the work-related skills as well as knowledge
of current development related to job. According to Maher and Graves (2008), industrial
trainees who are exposed to the technical and soft skills are more confident and capable in
their future work. The collaboration between the industry and universities is crucial because
it exposes students to the technology implemented in the industry and relates their
classroom learning to workplace activities. Both hard and soft skills combined with
knowledge and willingness to learn assisted trainees to compete in the working environment
(Maher and Graves, 2008).

Attitudinal Values Outcomes

Attitudinal values or attitude can be described as disposition, feeling, position etc.

with regard to a person or thing. According to Hogg & Vaughan (2005), attitude consists of
beliefs, feelings, and behavioral tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups,
events or symbols. With reference to Course Information IBM 671 (2013), attitudinal values
outcome consists of motivational level, flexibility, time management, accountability, quality of
work, and leadership. Students who are motivated have a desire to undertake their work
and complete the requirements of their task given (Mohammad Rezal Hamzah et al., 2011).
One who possesses such trait and quality would not allow circumstances or environment to
get in the way and does not make excuses for behavior, or inability to complete task.
Researches also addressed motivation as one of attitude related factors that has an
influence over performance. Motivation affects attitudes by causing students to have more
positive attitudes and confidence in themselves (Burris, Heubert, & Levin, 2004).

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study was conducted by using a quantitative method. Researcher chose causal
study in order to test whether or not one variable causes to another variable. Hypotheses
were developed to identify whether the cognitive development outcome, skills development
outcome and attitudinal values outcome do affect the students’ performance in industrial
training or vice versa. For this study, both primary and secondary data were used. The
population of this study was 358 supervisors hence the sample size was 196 and this was
determined by referring to Sekaran and Bougie (2013). Finally, 228 responses were
collected and analyzed using SPSS software version 21. The sampling frame were the
supervisors for the practical students from six different program under the faculty of
Business and Management in UiTM Kedah and the sampling method used is
disproportionately stratified sampling under the probability sampling. The sample size was
divided according to their relative importance between six programs in Business and
Management faculty.
 553

DATA ANALYSIS

Reliability Test and Frequency Analysis

The result from table 1 showed that the cronbach’s alpha value for all variables is
above 0.8 which means the reliability is good and acceptable. According to Sekaran and
Bougie (2013), reliability below than 0.6 is considered to be poor, those 0.70 are moderate
and acceptable, and those more than 0.8 are good.

Table 1 Reliability Test

Variables No of items Cronbach's Alpha

Students’ Performance 2 .811
Cognitive Development Outcomes 4 .846
Skills Development Outcomes 5 .819
Attitudinal Values Outcomes 7 .887

Table 2 showed that from 228 respondents, 63.6% were male and 36.4% were
female supervisors, 57.5% were non-executive level while 42.5% were executive level. The
highest respond were from finance and administrative department which amounted to 18.4%
respectively while the lowest were from the economic and strategic planning department
(4.4%). The sectors involved were 39.0 % from the private sector, 34.6% from government
linked company and 26.3% from public sector. The industries which participated were 23.2%
from banking and financial, 13.1% from hotel and tourism and the lowest 2.6% from oil and
gas.

Table 2 Supervisors Demographic Profile

Variables Categories Frequency Percent

Gender Male 145 63.6
Female 83 36.4
Position Executive 97 42.5
Non-Executive 131 57.5
Department Sales & Marketing 30 13.2
Human Resources 32 14.0
Finance 42 18.4
Administration 42 18.4
Operation 28 12.3
Services 11 4.8
Economic and Strategic
10 4.4
Planning
Others 33 14.5
Sector Private 89 39.0
Public 60 26.3
Government Linked Company 79 34.6
Industry Oil & Gas 6 2.6
Manufacturing 20 8.7
Real Estate and Property 25 11.0
Hotel & Tourism 30 13.1
Electricity and Infrastructure 21 9.2
Import & Export 9 3.9
Insurance 12 5.2
Education 14 6.0
Agricultural 13 5.7
Banking & Financial 53 23.2
Entrepreneurship 10 4.4
Others 16 7.0
 554

Correlation and Regression Analysis

Table 3 indicted that cognitive development, skills development and attitudinal values
development outcomes are significantly affecting the students’ performance in industrial
training with the significant value of p < 0.01. All the variables are significant with the value r
> 0.5 which means all the variables have a strong positive relationship with the students’
performance in industrial training. The model summary for analysis of variance (ANOVA) is
significant at 0.000 which means the framework for this study is acceptable and suitable for
this research. While, R2 = 0.669 means 66.9 % of the variance are explained by cognitive
development, skills development and attitudinal values outcomes and the rest are from other
variables. The regression analysis result showed that only two variables are significant which
are cognitive development and attitudinal values outcomes. The beta value for these
variables are 0.160 and 0.562 respectively which means attitudinal values outcomes is the
most affecting factor towards the students’ performances in industrial training.

Table 3: Correlation Analysis Result

Pearson
Students’ Attitudinal
Variables Correlation Cognitive Skills
Performance Values
(r)
Students’ Pearson
1
Performance Correlation
Pearson **
Cognitive .731 1
Correlation
Pearson ** **
Skills .734 .859 1
Correlation
Attitudinal Pearson ** ** **
.803 .806 .816 1
Values Correlation

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Table 4: Regression Analysis Result

Variables Beta Sig

Students’ Performance .000

Cognitive .160 .047
Skills .137 .095
Attitudinal
.562 .000
Values

ANOVA = Sig 0.000

2
R = 0.669

DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION

From the correlation analysis, the result shows that all the variables are positively
significant thus, the first research objective for this study which is to find the relationship
between the independent and dependent variables are answered. Second objective which is
to determine the most affecting factor towards the students’ performance in industrial training
is answered by the result from regression analysis. It was found that attitudinal values
outcomes are the factor that affecting students’ performance the most with the highest beta
value of 0.562. This result was similar with study done by Imran Khan et al (2014) and
 555

Milman (2002) where they both agreed that attitude and working morale were the key
sources to enhance practical students’ performance in workplace.
From the result, the researcher suggests the industrial trainee to portray high attitude
values and working morale during their attachment. It is undeniable that industry is more
concerned about the positive attitude showed by the practical trainee rather than their skills.
This is probably because, it is easier to teach students with a good attitude and willingness
to learn rather than those who have high academic qualification however failed to accept
criticism. The students with high attitude values also were perceived to have brighter future
in their upcoming career path. As for the faculty, the researcher recommends to instill
students with high positive attitude before they can enroll in industrial training and not only
focusing on the importance of soft skills such as communication, presentation, analytical and
problem solving skills. Last but not least, it is recommend that future research to be done to
different faculty as well as to widen the sampling frame to another branch of UiTM to enable
the researcher to make comparison.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researchers hereby acknowledge the support from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
for providing a short term research grant that made the study possible and successful.

REFERENCES

Course information IBM 671, (2013). Academic Program or Study Plan Faculty Business
Management. Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam.

Crossley, J.C., Jamieson, L.M., & Brayley, R.E. (2007) Introduction to commercial recreation
and tourism: An entrepreneurial approach (5th ed.). Champaign, IL, Sagamore
Publishing.

Erni bte Tanius (2015). Business’ students industrial training: Performance and employment
opportunity. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications. 5 (5).

Hartley, J. (1998). Learning and studying a research perspective. London: Routledge

Hasbullah, H. & Sulaiman, S. (2002). Industrial internship programme at Universiti Teknologi

Petronas – a collaboration strategy that enhanced students’ soft skills in the ever-
changing technology: Proceedings of International Conference on Engineering
Education. August 18-21, Manchester, U.K, pp. 1-5.

Hogg, M.A., and Graham & Vaughan, G.M. (2005). Social Psychology (6th ed.), Prentice
Hall, Pearson.

Imran Khan et al (2014), Impact of attitude on employees performance: A study of textile

industry in Punjab, Pakistan. World Applied Sciences Journal 30 (Innovation
Challenges in Multidiciplinary Research & Practice). 191-197.

Junaini, N. S., Seyed Fadzir, Sy. F., Sidi, J, Ahmad Khairi, M.J. & Mohamed Othman, R.
(2008). Harnessing university-industry collaboration in Malaysia through industrial
training: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference Information and
Communication Technology,1-5. Engineering Education (ICEED), IEEE.
doi:10.1109/ICEED.2009.5490620.
 556

Kagaari, J.R.K., (2007). Evaluation of the effects of vocational choice and practical training
on students’ employability. Journal of European Industrial Training. 31(6), p. 449-471.

Kapoor, T. (2000) Internships inspire careers in lodging. AAHOA Hospitality. 5(6), 71-73.

Maher, A. & Graves, S. (2008). Graduate employability: can higher education deliver?
Treshold Press Ltd: Newbury Berks, UK.

Milman, A. (2002). Hourly employee retention in the relationship between Job Satisfaction
and HR attraction industry: Research from small and medium- Practices, an
Empirical Research of Different Sectors sized facilities in Orlando, Florida. Journal of
Retail & of University Teachers in Pakistan. 2: 40-51.

Mohammad Rezal Hamzah. (2011). Industry’s perception on the competencies of

engineering students through practical training from University Malaysia Perlis
perspective. Paper presented at the International Conference on Engineering
Education ICEE. Madinah, Saudi Arabia, December 2011.

Mukokoma, M. (2008). Motivation Dilemma: A Case of Uganda. African Research and

Documentation Centre Uganda Martyrs University.

Nor’Aini Yusof and Siti Nur Fazillah Mohd Fauzi (2013). Students’ performance in practical
training: Academicians evaluation. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 93.
1275 – 1280.

Omar, M.Z., Kofli, N.T., Mat, K., Darus, Z.M., Osman, S.A., Rahman, M.N.A. & Abdullah, S.
(2008). Employers’ evaluation on attributes obtained during industrial training:
Proceedings of the 7th WSEAS International Conference on Education and
Educational Technology (EDU’08). 259-263.

Ormord, J. E., (1999). Human learning (3rd ed.). Upper Sadle River, NJ, Merrill Prentice
Hall.

Prince, C. & Stewart, J. (2000). The dynamics of the corporate education market and the
role of business schools. The Journal of Management Development. 19(3), 207-19.

Sariwati Mohd Shariff and Mazanah Muhamad (2010), Learning in an industrial practicum
training program: A case study in a public university in Malaysia. World Applied
Sciences Journal 11. (11): 1361-1368.

Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2013). Research Methods for Busines: A Skill-Building Approach.
United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Wilson A.J., Ahmad Ariffian & Abu Zarin (2012). The acquisition of soft skills in real estate
program via industrial training. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 65 , 781 –
786.

Woon, L.F., Abd Karim, Z.A. & Johl, S.K. (2007). Examining a successful industrial training
program model: inter-relationship among the three main stakeholders: student,
university and host company: Proceeding of the 2nd Regional Conference on
Engineering Education (RCEE). December 3-5, Malaysia, pp. 24-30.
 557

Ethical Issues Among Tertiary Students

Junaida Ismail
Senior Lecturer FSPPP UiTM Kedah
junaidaismail@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Aishah Musa
Senior Lecturer APB UiTM Kedah
maishah100@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Dr Mahadir Ladisma@Awis
Senior Lecturer FSPPP UiTM Seremban
mahadir_ladisma@ns.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Issues regarding ethics always arise among students in tertiary institutions. McShane and
Glinow (2008) defined ethics as “the study of moral principles or values that determine
whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad”. This study seeks to find
out regarding the issue of ethics among university students. A total of 226 respondents
participated in this study by completing a 24-item questionnaire. In general, the purpose of
this study is to investigate the ethical behaviours among the Diploma students in UiTM
Kedah. This study will focus on three (3) factors of academic environment namely; violation
of school regulations, academic cheating and computer ethics.

Keywords: academic cheating, computer ethics, ethical issues, violation of school

regulations, UiTM Kedah

INTRODUCTION

Ethics can be defined as “the study of moral principles or values that determine
whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad “(McShane and Glinow,
2008). The issue of ethics has become part and parcel of our daily life.
Every day we make decisions based on what we perceive as ethical or unethical.
Matters regarding financial scandals and corporate collapses have become top notch news
in the local and international dailies. In Malaysia the number of these news is also
increasing. One such case is the PKFZ (Port Klang Free Trade Zone) scandal that involved
people from top positions among those suspected to be behind the scandal. These people
were once students and they might have done the same during their education years.
Hence, the academic world is also not exempted from facing issues regarding ethics.
All these issues prompted this research to be conducted. This research seeks to find
out the ethical behaviours among tertiary students. Tertiary students are among the
country’s future generation. Therefore, it is essential that these students think carefully when
making ethical judgments since “today’s students may be tomorrow’s criminals” (Weisul &
Merritt, 2002). Thus, it is important to know the ethical behaviours among students since it
actually might affect the future of our country.
Generally, the purpose of this study is to investigate the ethical behaviours of the
Diploma students in UiTM Kedah focusing on (3) three factors of academic environment:
violation of school/ university regulation, cheating and computer ethics.
 558

LITERATURE REVIEW

Sparks and Pan (2010) defined ethical judgment as how an individual evaluate the
degree of an action or behaviours to be considered as ethical or unethical. Hence, the
ethical judgment determines the behaviours or course of action of an individual. Three (3)
academic factors that require students to make ethical judgments are violation of school /
university regulation, cheating and computer ethics.

Violation of School/ University Regulation

Violation of school/ university regulation is also one of the unethical behaviours

displayed by students.
In a study, high school and college students were found to rate physical argument
between peers as more acceptable if the person was provoked or as an act of protection but
if the aim is to get recognition from gang members it is less acceptable (Cauffman, Feldman,
Jensen & Arnett, 2000).

Cheating

In general, students know that cheating is wrong, however, they still involve in this
behaviour. Cheating is considered as something ‘normal’ and the students do not consider it
a serious offence. In a research conducted by Bunn, Caudill and Gropper (1992), seventy
percent of the students agreed that copying is not a serious offence (as cited in Teixeira &
Rocha, 2006).
Graham, Monday, O’Brien and Steffen (1994) reported that the students who
evaluate academic dishonesty leniently revealed more cheating behaviour than those who
evaluate it strictly (.as cited in Bernardi, Metzger, Scofield Bruno, Hoogkamp, Ryes et al.,
2004).
While in the study by Bernardi et al. (2004), majority of the respondents revealed that
they had cheated when they were in high school or college or in both.
Many researches conducted confirmed the increase in academic dishonesty (Brown
& McInerney, 2008; Mason, 2006 as cited in Josien & Broderick, 2013).There exists a trend
where the number of students who cheat in higher education institutions is increasing
(Josien & Broderick, 2013).

Computer Ethics

Situational factors can encourage or inhibit cheating behaviour. According to Mc

Murtry (2001), the discovery of new technologies like the internet, emails, chat rooms and
cell phones offered new situational opportunities for cheating behaviour (as cited in
Chapmen, Davis, Toy & Wright, 2004). Academic dishonesty is spread and facilitated by the
discovery of the computer and internet (Ross, 2005; Underwood & Szabo, 2003, Odabari,
2008).
A study on online academic dishonesty practices (e-dishonesty) conducted by
Sendaq, Duran and Fraser (2012) on 1153 students from a Midwestern University found that
slightly more than one fifth of the respondents admitted to getting assistance from internet
resources like chat room, blog, forum, twitter etc. in producing individual assignments.

Ethical Behaviour

These are some empirical findings of the researches being conducted in relation to
the issue of ethical behavior. Cheating is considered as something ‘normal’ and the students
do not consider it a serious offence. Research conducted by Bunn, Caudill and Gropper
(1992), seventy percent of the students agree that copying is not a serious offence (as cited
 559

in Teixeira & Rocha, 2006). Graham, Monday O’Brien and Steffen (1994) reported that the
students who evaluate academic dishonesty leniently revealed more cheating behaviour
than those who evaluate in strictly (as cited in Bernardi, Metzger, Scofield Bruno,
Hoogkamp, Ryes et.al; 2004). While in the study by Bernardi et.al. (2004) majority of the
respondents revealed that they had cheated when they were in high school or college or in
both.
Bloodgood, Turnley and Mudrack (2007) found that students who had low score in
religiosity and those with high score in intelligence had more noticeable effects after going
through an ethics course (as cited in Josien & Broderick, 2013).

METHODOLOGY

Participants and Procedures

The study used the questionnaire as the data collection technique. All the Diploma
students in UiTM Kedah were selected as the population of the study. Stratified Sampling
Technique was used to select the sample of this study. The lecturers from different faculties
were engaged in assisting the distribution of the questionnaires. Out of 351 respondents
chosen, 226 completed and returned the questionnaires. This gives a response rate of
64.4%.

Instrument
The questionnaire was divided into 5 parts. Part A comprised questions regarding the
demographic information. Part B – E dealt with the four factors of academic environment:
violation of university regulations (4 items), selfishness (6 items), academic cheating (5
items) and computer ethics (4 items). This questionnaire is adapted from the questionnaire
used by Zopiatis & Kramia-Kapardis (2008) in their study.

Analysis
There are several investigations involved in this study. Frequencies and percentages
are used as the main analysis in this section. However, the measures of central tendency
such as mean, median and mode are also used to better explain the findings. Cross-
tabulation is also used to compare two items differently.
The purpose of the descriptive analysis is to understand the background of each
respondent that comes from several faculties. In addition, the purpose of the cross-tabulation
analysis is to get the total number for item in the different range/level i.e. types of gender and
faculty of each respondent.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Descriptive Analysis

It was found that the ratio of male to female respondents is 1:2 where 40.3% (91
respondents) were male; female respondents comprised of 59.7% (135 respondents) of the
respondents (Table 1).

Table 1 Gender Distribution

Gender Frequency %
Male 91 40.3
Female 135 59.7
Total 226 100.0
 560

Table 2 shows that there were five (5) faculties involved in this study. The biggest
number of respondents was 56 respondents (24.8%) from the Faculty of Business
Management, followed by the Faculty of Art & Design and Faculty of Administrative Science
& Policy Studies (46 respondents, 20.3%) respectively.
The Faculty of Information Management was represented by 17.8% (40)
respondents, and followed by the Faculty of Accountancy with 38 respondents (16.8%).

Table 2 Faculty Distribution

Faculty Frequency %

Faculty of Accountancy 38 16.8

Faculty of Art & Design 46 20.3

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies 46 20.3

Faculty of Business Management 56 24.8

Faculty of Information Management 40 17.8

Total 226 100

Table 3 illustrates that the respondents came from seven (7) programmes. Most of
the respondents came from AM 110 (46 respondents, 20.4%), followed by IM 110 with 39
respondents (17.2%). Next is BM 111 and AC 110 with 16.8% (38 respondents)
respectively.
Besides that, for AD 114, the total number of respondents involved was 27 (11.9%),
followed by AD111 (20 respondents, 8.8%) respectively. Nineteen (7.7%) respondents were
from BM 119.

Table 3 Programme Distribution

Programme Frequency %
AC 110 38 16.8
AD 114 27 11.9
AD 111 20 8.8
AM 110 46 20.4
BM 111 38 16.8
BM 119 19 8.4
IM 110 39 17.2
Total 226 100

Cross-tabulation Analysis

Table 4 reveals the cross-tabulation between gender and the faculty the respondents
come from. There are five (5) categories of faculties involved namely, Accountancy, Art &
Design, Administrative Science, Business Management and Information Management.
The highest number of respondents who returned the questionnaire were from the
Faculty of Business Management; male (22 respondents, 24.2%) and female (34
respondents, 25.2%) followed by male respondents from the Faculty of Art & Design (21
respondents, 23.1%), male respondents from the Faculty of Accountancy (17 respondents,
 561

18.7%), Administrative Science (16 respondents, 17.6%) and Information Management (15
respondents, 16.5%).
Meanwhile, the second highest number of female respondents that returned the
questionnaire came from the Faculty of Administrative Science (30 respondents, 22.2%),
followed by the Faculty of Art & Design and Information Management (25 respondents,
18.5%) respectively and the lowest from Faculty of Accountancy (21 respondents, 15.5%).

Table 4 Cross-Tabulation between Gender and Faculty

Gender Total
Male Female

Faculty Accountancy 17 21 38
(18.7%) (14.3%) (16.8%)
Art & Design 21 25 46
(23.1%) (17.0%) (20.4%)
Administrative 16 30 46
Science (17.6%) (20.4%) (20.4%)
Business 22 34 56
Management (24.2%) (23.1%) (24.8%)
Information 15 25 40
Management (16.5%) (17.0%) (17.7%)
Total 91 135 226
(100.0%) (100.0%) (100.0%)

Table 5 reveals the cross-tabulation between gender and the semester of the
respondents. There are seven (7) semesters involved in this study namely, Semester 1, Sem
2, Sem 3, Sem 4, Sem 5, Sem 6 and Sem 8.
Most of the female respondents were semester 6 students (37 respondents 27.4%).
This is followed by semester 1 respondent (32 respondents, 23.7%). Semester four students
comprises of 22 respondents (16.3%). 18 respondents (13.3%) were from semester 5. 16
respondents (11.9%) were semester 3 and 10 respondents (7.5% were semester 2 students.
Majority the male respondents were semester 1 respondents (25 respondents,
27.4%). This is followed by semester 5 respondents (17 respondents, 18.7%). 16
respondents (17.6%) were semester 6 students. Semester 3 students comprise 12
respondents (13.2%). 11 respondents (12.1% were part 4 and part 2 students represent 9
respondents (9.9%) and last but not least only 1 (1.1%) respondent was in semester 8.

Table 5 Cross-Tabulation between Gender and Semester

Gender Total
Male Female

Semester 1 25 32 57
(27.5%) (23.7%) (25.2%)
2 9 10 19
(9.9%) (7.4%) (8.4%)
3 12 16 28
(13.2%) (11.9%) (12.4%)
4 11 22 33
(12.1%) (16.3%) (14.6%)
5 17 18 35
(18.7%) (13.3%) (15.5%)
 562

6 16 37 53
(17.6%) (27.4%) (23.5%)
8 1 0 1
(1.10) (0.00%) (0.40%)
Total 91 135 226
(100.0%) (100.0%) (100.0%)

Table 6 reveals the cross-tabulation between the gender and age of the respondents.
There are five (5) age range classified in this study namely; <18 years old, 19 years old, 20
year old, 21 year old and more than 21 year old.
For the age range of < 18 years old, most of the respondents were female students
(33 respondents, 24.4%), followed by male respondents (26 respondents, 28.6%).
For the age 19 years old, most of the respondents were female (24 respondents,
17.8%), followed by male (20 respondents, 22%).
As for 20 years old, 28.1% (38) of the respondents were female and 18 (19.8%)
respondents were male.
For the age around 21 years old, 35 respondents were female (26%) and 14
respondents (15.4%) were male. For the age more than 21 years old 14.3% (13) of the
respondents were male and 3.7% (5) were female.
In the nutshell, the data revealed most of the respondents came from age range of <
18 years old and 20 years old, and most of them were female.

Table 6 Cross-Tabulation between Gender and Age

Gender Total
Male Female

AGE < 18 year old 26 33 59

(28.6%) (24.4%) (26.1%)
19 year old 20 24 44
(22%) (17.8%) (19.5%)
20 year old 18 38 56
(19.8%) (28.1%) (25%)
21 year old 14 35 49
(15.4%) (26%) (21.7%)
More than 21 year old 13 5 18
(14.3%) (3.7%) (8%)
Total 91 135 226
(100.0%) (100.0%) (100.0%)

Measure of Central Tendency for Independent Variables

Violation of University Regulations

Table 7 shows the measure of central tendency. Four (4) statements were given to
the respondents to reflect the violation of University regulations. Generally, the values of
means for all the statements ranged from 1.81 to 2.15; with most of the values of median
and mode for each statement was 1. This indicates that the respondents agreed with the
given statement reflecting violation of University regulations is a wrong behaviour; hence it is
considered as unethical.
The highest mean value was 2.15 for B3: Lying to the course instructor for missing a
class (being absent), followed by B2: Sell a paper (individual project, thesis, etc.) to another
student, with 1.99, B1: Use another’s computer account without his/her permission, with 1.85
 563

and finally B4: Give my students ID to outsiders to gain access to university/college facilities
(1.81).

Table 7: Measures of Central Tendency for Violation of University Regulations

No. Statement Mean Median Mode

B1 Use another’s computer account without his/her 1.85 1 1
permission
B2 Sell a paper (individual project, thesis, etc) to 1.99 1 1
another student
B3 Lying to the course instructor for missing a class 2.15 2 1
(being absent)
B4 Give my students ID to outsiders to gain access 1.81 1 1
to university/college facilities

Academic Cheating

Table 8 shows the five (5) statements provided in the questionnaire to reflect
academic cheating. Generally, the values of means for all the statements ranged from 1.69
to 2.07; with the values of median was 2 and mode for each statement was 1. This indicates
that the respondents agreed with the given statement reflecting academic cheating is a
wrong behavior; hence it is considered as unethical.
The highest mean value was 2.07 for D4: Allow another student to look at my paper
during an exam, followed by D5: Cheat in a very difficult final exam if the chance of getting
caught was less than 10% with 2.03, follow by D3: Sit next to the best student in class and
attempt to copy the exam answers without her/his permission 1.99, D2: Submit the same
paper (with cosmetic changes) to more than one class 1.97. The last item is D1: Use
unauthorized help to cheat in an exam with the value of mean 1.69.

Table 8 Measures of Central Tendency for Academic Cheating

No. Statement Mean Median Mode

D1 Use unauthorized help to cheat in an exam 1.69 1 1

D2 Submit the same paper (with cosmetic changes) 1.97 2 1

to more than one class
D3 Sit next to the best student in class and attempt 1.99 2 1
to copy the exam answers without her/his
permission
D4 Allow another student to look at my paper 2.07 2 1
during an exam
D5 Cheat in a very difficult final exam if the chance 2.03 2 1
of getting caught was less than 10%

Computer Ethics

Four statements regarding computer ethics were provided in the questionnaire.

Generally, the value of the mean for all the statements ranged from 2.13 to 2.60, with the
value of the median was 2 and the mode for each statement was 1. This indicates that the
respondents agreed with the given statement reflecting computer ethics.
Table 9 illustrates the highest mean value was 2.60 for E2: Download illegal
copyright files (music, movies, software, etc.) from the internet, followed by E3: Copy
university owned commercial software for private use at home and E4: Duplicate a copyright
e-book without permission with the mean value of 2.14 respectively. While for the statement
 564

in E1: It is okay for two or more students to share their work for a computer individual
assignment and each hand in a copy, the mean value was 2.13.

Table 9 Measures of Central Tendency for Computer Ethics

No. Statement Mean Median Mode

E1 It is ok for two or more students to share their 2.15 2 1
work for a computer individual assignment and
each hand in a copy
E2 Download illegal copyright files (music, movies, 2.63 3 3
software, etc.) from the internet
E3 Copy university owned commercial software for 2.17 2 1
private use at home
E4 Duplicate a copyright e-book without permission 2.15 2 1

CONCLUSION

It is concluded that the nature of unethical behaviour derived probably from three
academic factors as discussed. The study found that most of the respondents strongly
agreed that violation of university regulations, academic cheating and computer ethics are
considered as unethical behaviours. This is getting more serious with the increased access
to digital sources from the internet. Therefore, UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA Cawangan
Kedah needs to improve the guidelines in dealing with the students’ unethical behaviour.
This can be achieved by having a combination of preventive measures together with the
penalty system that is transparent and applied consistently. Thus, this also can act as a
deterrent to unethical behaviour.

REFERENCES

Bernardi, R. A., Metzger, R.L., Bruno, R.G. S., Hoogkamp, M.A.W., Reyes, L.E.et al.
(2004). Examining the decision process of students’ cheating behaviour : An
empirical study. Journal of Business Ethics, 50, p.397 – 414.

Jensen, L. A., Arnett, J. J., Feldman, S. S., and Cauffman, E. (2002). It is wrong, but
everybody does it: Academic dishonesty among high school and college students.
Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27, p. 209 – 228.

Josien, L., Broderick, B. (2013). Cheating in higher educations: The case if multi-methods
cheater. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal. 17 (3), 93-105

McShane and Glinow. (2008). Organizational Behavior 4th Editions. United State: Mc Graw-
Hill International Editions.

Sparks, J. R., and Pan, Y. (2010). Ethical judgments in business ethics research: Definition
and research agenda. Journal of Business Ethics, 91, p.405 – 418.

Serdan Sendaq; Mesut. D; & M. Robert Fraser (2012). Surveying the extent of involvement
in online academic dishonesty (e-dishonesty) related practives among university
students and the rationale students provide: One University Experience. Elsevier:
Computer in Human Behaviour. 28, pp. 849-860
 565

Teixeira, A.A.C., and Rocha, M.F. (2006). Academic cheating in Austria, Portugal, Romania
and Spain: A comparative analysis. Research in Comparative and International
Education, 1(3). p.198 – 209.

Weisul, K. and Merritt, J.(2002, Dec. 9). You mean cheating is wrong? Business Week,8.

Zopiatis, A. A. and Krambia-Kapardis, M. (2008). Ethical behaviour of tertiary Education

students in Cyprus. Journal of Business Ethics, 81, p.647 – 663.
 566

The Evolution of Government Attention towards Older Person in

Malaysia: A Critical Review of Malaysia 5 Years Plan
Nur Amalina Binti Aziz
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Selangor
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
amalynziz91@gmail.com

Dr. Yarina Ahmad

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Selangor
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
yarina@salam.uitm.edu.my

Dr. Azizan Zainuddin

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Selangor
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
azizan_zainuddin@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

This concept paper discusses on the evolution of government attention towards an older
person in Malaysia through reviewing Malaysia 5 years plan. Longevity of life expectancy
symbolizes the great expansion of health care provision in our country. Since early 1960, the
government put the concerted effort including tackling the health issues and contagious
diseases has managed to extend the lifespan of the citizens. Subsequently, the declining
rate of fertility and mortality was observed in early 1980. Due to this matter, older person has
become a key target in the development agendas in globally including Malaysia. A number
of initiatives undertaken by the government that can be seen in the execution of Malaysia 5
years plan including the long term care, financial assistance, and others to support the older
person. For instance, after post-independence era, the government accelerated its efforts to
ensure an equitable distribution of wealth to its people. Later, the globalization and
modernization has taken place in our country beginning 1990—has pressured the older
person in maintaining a good quality of life. Many issues and challenges faced by Malaysian
older person including financial constraints, depression, deterioration of health and others.
The issue older person began to get the attention of the government in 1995, following the
introduction of the National Policy of Older Person. Attention on older person was further
emphasized in 2000 era—started to grasp the idea of productive, healthy and active ageing
as highlighted by WHO; emphasized on life-long learning programs and improve the
retirement age of 60 years to promote productive ageing. In the Tenth Malaysia Plan, the
government has continuously improved the facilities, provide accessible health care, utilized
ICT to disseminate information on public services related to ageing and conducted several
programs. The recent and ongoing plan emphasized on the preparation of older person after
the retirement phase. This paper concludes that although Malaysia has taken several
initiatives to support older person. However, Malaysia is still far behind compared to
developed countries such as Japan. Many advanced efforts introduced by Japan such as
public pension scheme, and medical plan have served the real necessities of older person.
These are among the gaps that Malaysia still lacking and need to emphasis as a preparation
towards ageing country status by 2030.

Keywords: Older person, Critical Review of Malaysia 5 years plan, National Policy for Older
Person 1995
 567

INTRODUCTION

The world experienced the dramatic change in the population history as more people,
living longer than 65 years. As reported by the World Population Ageing 2015, nearly 1.7
million ageing population will be occupying developing countries by 2050. Similar like other
countries, Malaysia is believed to reach the status of aging country by 2030, which expected
to reach 15% of the total population. The longevity of life expectancy symbolizes the great
expansion in the healthcare provision in a country. It can be seen in our country in early
1960, where the government put the concerted effort including tackling the health issues and
contagious diseases. However, as more people live longer, the more risky that needs to bear
including prevalence of chronic illness, deterioration of physical and mental health and
others. Since that happen, a high proportion of the development budget has been spent on
health by the government (UNDP, 2005).
Later, in 1990, a number of policies and programs related to older person were
introduced by the government including National Policy of Older Person 1995, Action Plan
for an Ageing 1998 and Welfare policy. Malaysia has designed its own policy related to older
person after the United Nations brought the issues of older person internationally through
forum discussion with various countries in 1982s. Due to the rising of ageing population in all
countries, older person has become a key target in the development agendas (Omar, 2003).
Following in 1970 to 2000, the globalization and industrialization has taken place in our
country. There are growing number of private companies and manufacturers in the urban
areas such as Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. These urban areas have become a centre of
business, employment sectors, education and tourism that attract both local citizens and
foreigner to migrate to the urban city. However, the high influx of people into urban cities,
has caused Kuala Lumpur and Selangor become too crowded and led to the rising cost of
living. As the consequence, majority of older person who are residing at urban area are less
enjoyed their life as compare to rural elderly. To own a comfort house with a long term
commitment, it would be difficult for older person to bear with a limited source of income.
Meanwhile, those elderlies who are residing at the rural area cannot escape themselves
from the poverty due to lower paid job. As the result, majority of older persons has no other
options, but to highly dependent on government including formal support system (public
hospital, tax exemption on health) and informal support system (financial assistance, charity
program and others). Therefore, it ponders the question “to what extent the implementation
of policies and programs have served the real necessities of Malaysian older person?” This
paper further intensify the underlying gaps in the implementation of the programs and policy
related to ageing population in Malaysia including income security, accessible to quality of
health care, and protection and care of older person. 17Review on Malaysia 5 years plans,
which focuses on older person, provide a deep insight to the expansion of the policy made
for an older person in the country.

GOVERNMENT ATTENTION ON OLDER PERSON: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF MALAYSIA

5 YEARS PLAN

Malaysia has undergone on issues related to older person since 1960. This can be
seen through the Malaysia five years plan since RMK 1 until recently. Figure 1 is self-
developed diagram that summarize government effort on the critical review.
After post-independence era, the government has accelerated its effort in expanding
the economic development in our country. After the incidence of race riot in 1969, the
government has put an effort to reduce the gaps of socioeconomic between multi-racial, as
the result from British colonization. The government has foreseen the rapid growth of
population would result the scares resources to be equally distributed to all nations.

17
This concept paper is part of the preliminary initiatives of a doctoral work of the main
author. A critical review of the Malaysia 5-year plan on the government attention towards
older person in Malaysia is crucial in understanding its evolution, issues and challenges.
 568

Therefore, beginning 1966s, the government has set up First Malaya plan by focusing on
economic and social development. Family planning policy was first introduced with aim to
reduce the birth rate of nations from 3% in 1966 to 2% in 1985 (Government, 1971). This
effort in reducing the birth rate was continued until Second Malaya plan.
Fourth Malaysian plan—later in 1980 era, the government has moved towards
intensifying the service-based sectors on both public and private sectors. All private and
public workers have demanded for a better employment benefits including public pension
scheme. Therefore, the government has introduced the forward planning known as
Employee Provident Fund (EPF) Act in 1991(The Fourth Malaysia Plan,1985). The scheme
allowed the contributor to make an early withdrawal for housing, health and education (Yin-
Fah et al., 2010). That was the first step taken by the government to ensure better financial
security for the retirees’ survival at old age. Following in 1981-1985, the government has
announced the family planning policy (birth reduction strategies) was discontinued, it will be
replaced with a new policy family and human resource’s development, to achieve 70 million
population during mid-term review Fourth Malaysia plan (Afshar, 1987). The idea of 70
Million policy was brought during the era leadership of Tun Mahathir for economic purposes.
Tun Mahathir believed that, the increasing of population would bring a greater triumph to the
country. It can help the nation to reach its 2020 vision of becoming a developed country. The
bigger human capital can also help to increase the productivity of the economic growth,
through global promotion of its local-fabricated products. Unlike China country, Chinese
government has strictly controlled the birth nation through introduction of one-child policy in
1979 due to overpopulation (Zhang & Goza, 2006). In order to implement one-child policy
effectively, the reward system (incentives) and penalties (work dismissal) were strictly given
to their nations including losing the education right for the children, or children will be taken
away (Ebenstein, 2010).
As supported in the study by Zulkifli and Yusof (1985), discovered that rapid of
population growth has left a huge impact to our country; includes rapid urbanization (rural-
urban migration), serious social and healthcare problem (high demand of socioeconomic
development from the growing population). Later in 1992, the policy of family and human
resource (70 million populations) has undergone the reassessment. Due to the
industrialization and urbanization, it has led to the rapid decline in fertility rate in our country
(Malaysia, 2003). More couple plan a small size of families based on their resources and
capabilities. Hence, the government decided to sustain the population growth with a balance
resource and sustainable development including enabling the couple to plan their families
according to their resources.
 569

Figure 1: Summary of Government Effort on Older Person through the Malaysia 5 Years Plan
(Self-Developed Diagram based on Review of Malaysia 5-year Plan (Economic Planning Unit,
2017)

Fourth Malaysian Plan— steady decline in mortality and fertility rate of the nation can
be observed in Fourth Malaysia Plan (1981-1985) (The Fourth Malaysia Plan, 1985). This
has led to the rising of ageing population in our country as more people live longer up to 65
years old. As compared to Japan, Japan was the first Asian country that experienced the low
fertility rate and mortality rate in 1947-1965—20 years earlier than Malaysia (Ogawa &
Matsukura, 2007). It also experienced by many countries including United States, Singapore
and others. Next, the rising trend of nuclear family in our country was observed in 1986,
which can lead to erosion of family support. Fewer children in a family means fewer
caregivers can look after their old parents. As the result, a high demands for old folks home
have put the government in a difficult situation. It requires the government to spend more on
hiring the caregivers, nurses and staff, and high cost of facilities and infrastructures.
Therefore, the government urged the nations to play their filial responsibilities to look after
their old parents.
Following this situation, older person has become a key target of development
agenda including Malaysia. Malaysia has taken the first step in designing their own policy
related to older person, through the introduction of National Policy for Older Person in 1995
and Action Plan for Older Person in 1998. In line with the concept of caring nation, it calls for
inseparable attention, required to immediately address the needs of ageing population in the
country.
Seventh Malaysia Plan— the government begin to implement medical plan through
tax exemption on medical expenses in earlier 1996 (Malaysia, 1996). The medical benefit
was simply made possible through the deduction of a certain amount of the officers’ salary.
The government would like to encourage shared responsibility with the adult children to
support this growing population. It is undeniable that Japan is far advance in experiencing
the issues related to ageing population. Notably, Malaysia can put Japan as a benchmark in
preparing for better medical plan and pension scheme for older person. As mentioned
earlier, Japan was the first Asian countries that introduced the comprehensive medical plans
for their older person. This includes free medical plans for Japan elderly who aged 70 years
 570

and above and long hospitalization. This is because; most of Japan families prefer to send
their frail parents to hospital than the institution (Ogawa & Matsukura, 2007).
Eight Malaysia Plan— institutionalization care also becomes the upmost priorities to
the government. In 1993, the government has introduced Care Centre Act 1993 as the first
platform of the establishment of nursing home18 and residential care (Economic Planning
Unit (EPU), 2000). The frail elderly are usually admitted into nursing home while those
without shelter and family support can apply for residential care. Later, the neglect cases
among elderly have increased which urge the government to come out with the daily care
centre. Around 19 daily care centres have been established in order to prevent any parents
neglect cases. Hence, to prevent this from happening, the citizens were given the option to
send their parents to any care centre not more than a month. Similar to Hong Kong, to
provide an institutionalization to the senior citizens has become the main agenda of the
Hong Kong government19 (Kin-sun & Chi-Kwong, 2009). In line with Hong Kong government
agenda, to place an older person aging in place, that refers to older person who still have
family are encouraged to put under their children or family care. To support the promotion of
ageing in place, Hong Kong government offered the community service residential (CSC) to
the older person who need help to perform the daily routine tasks (cooking, cleaning the
house, bathing) or look after them while their children away to work.
Ninth Malaysia Plan— in earlier 2000 centuries, modernization has taken place in our
country whereby many older people have realized the benefits of active and healthy lifestyle.
In fulfilling such demands, the government has introduced the lifelong learning program to
promote lifelong learning to all walks of life, including old age people (EPU, 2006). The main
aim of lifelong learning was to educate the old age community on the kinds of preparation,
which can be done to sustain their life after retirement. The first University of Third Age was
established in 2007 during Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) in Malaysia by Institute of
Gerontology, University of Putra Malaysia (UPM). The Third Age University (U3A) was
established after the successful implementation of pilot program of Lifelong Learning
Program, which initiated by the government. The government has started to grasp the idea
of successful ageing, productive ageing and active ageing.
Tenth Malaysia Plan— following in 21 centuries, the government has established set
of strategies, to promote the elderly to keep healthy, financially secure and active such as
extension of retirement age of 60 years old (EPU, 2013). The Ministry of Human Resource
has introduced the Minimum Retirement Age Act 2012, which legally being enforced on 1st
July 2013 for all the government workers (Ministry of Human Resource Malaysia, 2013). As
compare to Singapore, the minimum age of retirement is 62 years old. Those retirees, who
have met the employment criteria, are eligible to be re-employed by their company, up to 65
years age (Ministry of Manpower Singapore Government, 2017). This is to ensure better
employment opportunities for Singaporean to secure their financial at the later age. Other
than retirement age, Malaysia also provides the supportive environment to the Malaysian
older person in terms of accessible healthcare (1 Malaysia clinics), recreational park, public
transportation, public toilet, and others. The government also fully utilize the ICT technology
to disseminate necessary information to older person such as E-Kasih application. In Eleven
Malaysia plan, the government has continuously made an effort in supporting the older
person such as financial assistance, supportive environment and others.
To summarize, the government has started to give attention on older person in early
of 1976 right after the Survivor Pension Scheme was introduced as a future financial
planning. The government has foreseen the increased of the life expectancy of people with

18
A nursing home provides nursing care 24-hour a day, assistance with activities of daily living
and mobility, and personal care (Ribbe et al., 1997). A residential home is an institution, providing
living condition, adjusted to the needs of residents, which usually no longer requires nursing care
(Ribbe et al., 1997).
19
As reported in World Bank report, Hong Kong country has recorded the highest
institutionalization of older person in the world with rate 6.8 % in 2009 as compare to Japan (3%),
China (1.0%), Taiwan (2.0%) and Singapore (2.3%). Australia (5.4%), UK (4.2%) and Canada (4.2%).
 571

due to the declining of mortality and fertility rates since the early 1981. The projection by the
World Bank on the longevity of human lifespan has led to the introduction of first National
Policy of Older Person in 1995. Since then, Malaysia has taken the initiatives in introducing
and designing the first National Policy to address the critical needs of Malaysian Older
Person. The Fourth Malaysia plan marked as the crucial time in the history of older person
development in our country through introduction of National Policy of Older Person. Since
the introduction of National Policy of Older person in Seventh Malaysia plan, many programs
have been implemented by the government for older person including employment
opportunities, retirement planning, friendlies and supportive transportation, and others until
todays.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL POLICY OF OLDER PERSON IN MALAYSIA

After the first assembly of ageing was held in 1982 known as “Vienna International
Plan for Action on ageing”, the United Nations had announced the National Policy for Older
person in 1995 and Action Plan for Ageing in 1998. While, the second assembly Madrid
International plan was held in 2002 after Vienna, aimed to assist other countries to redesign
and formulate their own policy. Malaysia is the first Asian countries that formulated their own
National Policy for older person in October 1995 and Action Plan for older person in
December 1998, as the preparation to cope with ‘ageing population status’. Malaysia has
adopted two documents as a guideline in designing the appropriate programs and policy for
the sake of well-being of older person. Both documents include Vienna International Plan of
Action on Ageing and The Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing.
Later in 2011, Ministry of Development of Women, Families and society (KPWKM)
have made several amendments in previous National Policy for Older Person was approved
by the government in 5th January 2011. The amendment was made by the ministry in
preparing Malaysia to face the ageing country status by 2030. The initiatives includes;
providing the supportive and friendly environment in promoting healthy ageing, productive
ageing and active ageing.

GAPS IN THE POLICY AND PROGRAM RELATED TO AGEING POPULATION

This paper further elaborates the gaps in the formulation of programs or policies in
Malaysia by comparing with other countries such as Singapore. As compare to other
countries like Japan and Singapore, these countries have already gone through the stage in
dealing with aging country status. Both Japan and Singapore countries are far advance in
dealing with the ageing issues and challenges as compare to other countries. Therefore, the
government can take Singapre countries as a good benchmark for the development of
ageing population in Malaysia.
Specifically in Malaysia, number of programs related to older person has been
implemented by the government including education, employment opportunities,
transportation, housing, health, social security and others (Welfare, 2007). All of these
programs has been designed to tailor the needs of Malaysian older person for a better living.
However, it ponders the question “to what extent the program and policies are actually
addressing the real needs of older person in Malaysia”. The first research gap in the
program is related to the retirement planning such as extension of the retirement age of 60s.
As discussed earlier, in Tenth Malaysia plan, the government has decided to extend the
retirement age of 60s in order to help the retiree to secure their financial income and
savings. However, this extension of the retirement age of 60s is not enough, in order to
ensure the financial stability among the older person. As supported in the study Haron et al.
(2013) in the finding, discovered that majority of 59% of Malay elderly do not have any
savings. Majority of the respondents have low educational background means low pay job
and low pension retirement. In contrast, only 41% of the respondents spend their savings to
 572

satisfy their basic needs. Therefore, the retirement planning is merely at the critical stage,
since people live longer up to 75 years old.
Unlike Singapore, other than the extension of the retirement age of 62, the retiree
can be re-employed again by their previous company, before reach 65 years old (Ministry of
Manpower Singapore Government, 2017). Those retirees will be assigned with a new job
task given by their employer that match with their capabilities and age. Other than that, the
Singaporean government has provided the job trial and internship to their older person
(Ministry of Health, 2016). For example, the Singapore elderly is given the opportunities to
select their preferable volunteer activities. One of good examples is female elderly well-
known among the Jamiyah Singaporean—organization Muslim Missionary Society
Singapore (JAMIYAH), often involved in charity programs. Helping her same aged friend
through charity is how Jamiyah contribute to the society (Ministry of Health,2016). Other than
Singapore, Japan country also redesign their job employment by taking their older person
preference. Japan is far advance in terms of technology which become their great weapon in
assisting human which beyond their capabilities. Japan has fully utilized their advantage in
robotic technology to assist the human capability by introducing the Hal (Hybrid Assisted
Limb), a Japanese technology. By the assistance provided using this robotic skeleton, which
is to be worn at waist-level, worker movement to carry the heavy luggage has been eased
(Business Insider Malaysia, 2015). Hence, by taking Singapore and Japan as an example, it
can help our country to improve the existing program in term of employment opportunities
and retirement planning.
Last but not least, another gaps that can be traced is there is no specific law or
regulation that focuses on older person in Malaysia. There are only few regulations that
related to the older person including Employment’s Social Security Act 1969, Pension
Adjustment Act 1980, Destitute Person Acts 1977, Care Center Act 1992, and Employees
Provident Fund Act 1980. This is quite worrisome. Recently, older person have become a
new target of the domestic abuse which most of them have been neglected by their family. In
the study undertaken by Bidin and Yusoff (2015), claimed that the elderly abuse falls under
the jurisdiction of domestic violence (Amendment) 2012 (Act 1414) that related to
incapacitated adult. The finding of this study discovered that the domestic abuse act does
not properly address the problem of elderly abuse. This domestic abuse act is specifically
concentrate on women and child abuse. Most of the abuser in the case of domestic abuse
among elderly is usually involved the adult children or caregivers (Bidin & Yusoff, 2015).
There is no specific act on domestic abuse of elderly as compared to child act. As supported
in the study undertaken by Tey et al. (2015), revealed Existing laws such as the Employment
Act, Employees Social Security Act, Domestic Violence Act, Care Centre Act, Private
Healthcare and Facilities Act and the Education Act are all general provisions which do not
provide comprehensive social protection for older Malaysians. Thus, there is need of a
comprehensive plan which specifically addressed the rights and the needs of Malaysian
older person.

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FACED BY MALAYSIAN OLDER PERSON

Numerous challenges faced by Malaysian older person including health, income

security, social isolation and poverty. First and foremost, is health issues that need to be
addressed seriously by the government. Previous study undertaken by Noh (1970),
discovered among the challenges faced by Malaysia government is to ensure the equity in
health especially to elderly, rural location, states from East and others. This is actually
worrisome as the number of frail elderly are keep increasing. In the study by Ambigga et al.
(2011), indicated that the government has put the concerted effort on geriatric services since
middle of 1990 that marked the care of older person in our country. As reported by the
Ministry of Health (2005), the high prevalence of chronic illness among women elderly
including diabetes (16.3%), hypertension (34.5%), heart attack (8.1%) and others. In
contrast, male elderly suffering the high prevalence of killer diseases—heart attack(10.8%).
 573

This is answerable for the shorter life expectancy of male elderly of 72 years old than female
elderly of 75 years old. Thus, it sends the signal to our country that, poor physical and
mental condition, it would be tough for Malaysian older person to stay active and productive.
With the current state of slow economic growth in our country, it pushes up all the prices of
goods and medicals charges rising. This impact does not only outweigh the burden to the
government but also the citizens. Recently, Ministry of Health has made an announcement
that the ward and treatment charges will be increased up to 50% for ward 2 and ward 3 in all
government public hospitals starting on 1st December 2016 or 1st January 2017. The rising of
ward charges will definitely affect the whole nations especially the older person. This is due
to the 70% of 3 million of population are getting treatment from public hospital as compare to
25% prefer to go private hospital (Kosmo, 2016).
Other than that, Malaysia has shown the gradual increased of old-aged dependency
support from the range 6% in 1960 up to 9% in 2015. This trend has clearly shown the rising
number of older person in Malaysia. Accordance to Yusoff and Zulkifli (2014), the rising of
this trend will contribute the burden of support to public and private workers. Besides health,
income also another main issues that remain debatable overs by various parties including
Employee Provident Fund (EPF). Generally, Employee provident fund (EPF) was introduced
as a weapon to safeguard the retirees, in term of the financial state that they would reach
after retirement. However, in the study undertaken by Yin-Fah et al. (2010), discovered
unusual trend yet greatly worrisome. The findings of his studies revealed 90% of EPF
contributors does not have any savings after 5 years of their retirement. Hence, it shows the
level of awareness exhibit among Malaysia older person is at critical alarming state. The
lower attainment of pension among older person is due to lower educational background.
Thus, all of these issues related to ageing population must be addressed immediately since
Malaysia is heading towards ageing country status sooner.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES AND PROGRAM RELATED TO MALAYSIAN

OLDER PERSON

As discussed earlier, government has put the concerted effort in supporting the older
person in Malaysia through various programs and initiatives including institutionalization
care, health care provision and tax exemption, and facilities and transportation. However, it
ponders the questions to what extent all these programs and policies are actually serves the
real necessities of older person including housing, health and care, and financial security.
First of all, the employee provident funds (EPF) which introduced by the government
to ensure enough savings for the life after the retirements. However, EPF is not sufficient to
sustain the life after the retirement unless they get a job or rely upon their children support.
The statistic of Employee Provident Fund (EPF) does not indicate a good sign to the
countries, as majority of retiree 68% only have less than RM50,000 in their EPF savings.
Only, 12% have more than RM50,001 to RM100,000 in their EPF savings (RM 208.00 per
month) (The Sun Daily, 2016). In addition, due to the rising cost of living, it caused the
nations to spend more. As reported in Bank Negara Malaysia (2015), inflation is projected to
be higher in 2016 (2.5% to 3.5%) as compared to 2.1% in 2015 due to weak ringgit
exchange and adjustment price of certain goods. As a consequence, the older person has
become poorer after the retirement. Besides, the pension scheme including EPF scheme
does not address the needs of those who are not working in private or public sectors. In
contrast, Japan government has designed the comprehensive public pension scheme to all
targeted population. In the study by Ogawa and Matsukura (2007), claimed that out of six
public pension schemes, there were two pension schemes served the real needs of older
person. These two pension schemes include Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) in 1941 for
the private and public worker and the National Pension Scheme (NPS) in 1961 for the
farmers and self-employed workers. Japan has managed to establish maturity of pension
systems and medical plans.
 574

Another issues are related to health and care. It is undeniable, concerted effort has
been taken by the government in providing the treatments to the Malaysia older person
including 1 Malaysia clinics, free medical expenses for outpatients among elderly, nursing
home, free transportation to the hospital and others. However, it is not an easy job to tackle
the health issues among the elderly as it requires the extensive care from both caregivers
and health providers. As compare to other countries including Singapore, the informal
caregivers (consist of family members) have received the proper training and financial aids
in order to support the sick parents at home instead of sending them off to the nursing home.
This effort can help to reduce the burden of the government to hire the formal caregivers
which is very costly. As supported in the study by Goh et al. (2013), revealed that most of
the private hospitals are mostly located at the urban area that serve those people who can
afford. There is no option for others with less favorable conditions to go to crowded and
limited public hospital and clinics. Therefore, all these issues need to be addressed seriously
by the related agencies.

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, this paper discussed on the government effort on the Malaysian

older person by reviewing Malaysia 5 years plan. In First Malaysia Plan, the government
focused on the socioeconomic aspects to ensure fair distribution of wealth to all citizens.
While, in Second Malaysia Plan, in order to ensure all population enjoy an equal benefit, the
birth reduction strategies were introduced by the government. Thus, both Malaysia plans did
not yet place an extensive attention towards the older person. In Third Malaysia Plan, the
government has introduced the forward planning known as Employee Provident Fund (EPF)
schemes and other public pension scheme for both private and public workers. This is to
ensure the retiree to keep survive at the old age. However, these retirements planning only
addressed the needs of the public and private workers. Unlike Japan, the farmers and self-
employed workers also enjoy the same benefits of public pension schemes. Later, the
decline of fertility and mortality rate were observed in Fourth Malaysia Plan. It has led to the
rising number of ageing population in our country. The government has started to give full
attention on the older person as more people live longer up to 65 years old. It has led to the
introduction of first National Policy of Older Person in 1995. Subsequently, a number of
programs and initiatives have been taken by the government including institutionalization
care, better employment opportunities such as extension of the retirement age of 60s,
lifelong learning and others. The introduction of National Policy of Older Person has marked
the crucial development of older person in the history of Malaysia. However, there are
numerous issues and challenges need to be tackled immediately by the government
including inequitable access of healthcare system, chronic illness, and insecure income
security. This paper also highlighted the gap in policy and program related to older person by
comparing Malaysia practices with other countries such as Japan and Singapore. Both
Japan and Singapore are more advanced in dealing with the issues related to older person.
Therefore, Malaysia can take both countries as a benchmark for better development of
programs and strategies for older person.

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 577

Development and Participation in Rural Area: The Malaysian Case

Nor Ardyanti Ahmad
The University of Sheffield
ardyanti.ahmad@sheffield.ac.uk

Dr. Zauyah Abd Razak

Universiti Teknologi MARA
zauyah465@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Professor Alan Walker

The University of Sheffield
a.c.walker@sheffield.ac.uk

ABSTRACT

The literature on development since the post-World War II has introduced several theories
and concepts, such as modernisation, dependency, alternative development, the people-
centred development, rural development, power and participation paradigms. In these
debates, it has been common to distinguish between definitions of development, dimensions
of development and approaches to development, and many development scholars have
distinguished between economic growth and human development, while acknowledging the
importance of both perspectives in global development. However, these development
perspectives appear to be insufficient to explain why development programme in Malaysia
specifically the Visionary Capability Movement or Gerakan Daya Wawasan (GDW)
Programme has had a limited impact to encourage local people’s participation at village
level. Hence, this review aims to critically analyse the limitation of these perspectives to
understand participation in development in the context of Malaysia.

Keywords: Development, participation and power, GDW Programme

INTRODUCTION

The old model is broken. We need to create a new one...In this time of global
challenge, even crisis, business as usual will not do...It is time to recognise that
human capital and natural capital are every bit as financial capital. It is time to
invest in people...Clearly we must unite around a shared vision for the future – a
vision for equitable human development, a healthy planet, an enduring economic
dynamism (UNSG, 2012).

In the twenty first century, the changing environments and the complex understanding
of development have influenced the practice and the implementation of development policies
at the international and the national level. The current development perspectives are focused
on understanding and measuring the development and well-being of people, in both
economic and non-economic terms. In economic terms, development means ‘achieving
sustained rates of growth of income per capita to enable a nation to expand its output’
(Todaro & Smith, 2011, p. 14). When a nation has prospering economic growth, it can
expand the incomes of individuals and as a consequence enlarge people’s choices. Instead
of focusing on income to understand economic and social development, Sen (1999) on the
other hand, introduced the capability approach (CA) which focuses on the expansion of
people’s choices by considering what people can be or do. This perspective also provides
opportunities for local people to participate in their own development. These major
 578

development perspectives have been considered prominent in shaping the current

development especially in least developed countries (LDCs).
Though important, these development perspectives appear to be insufficient to
explain why development programme in Malaysia specifically the Visionary Capability
Movement or Gerakan Daya Wawasan (GDW) Programme has had a limited impact to
encourage local people’s participation at village level. Thus, the first section of this paper
positions the issue of the GDW programme in Malaysia. The second section outlines the
limitation of the economic development theories and participation to explain the issue of the
GDW programme in Malaysia. The third section provides recommendation and the final
section concludes the discussion on a requirement for a crucial methodology which has
been downplayed to understand development and participation in the context of Malaysia.

THE VISIONARY CAPABILITY MOVEMENT (GDW) PROGRAMME

In many LDCs, rural areas have always been the focus of development due to their
high incidence of poverty, low productivity, lack of basic infrastructures and general
backwardness. The explicit focus on rural development in Malaysia, especially for poverty
eradication, only started in 1971 (previously the focus had been on increasing productivity
only). After independence, the government’s development intentions focused mainly on
developing urban areas for rapid economic growth with the hope that it would ‘trickle-down’
to the rural areas (Third Malaysia Plan, 1976; The Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund
(OECF), 1997). Within these periods, rural development strategies and programmes faced
tremendous consequences from government policies on economic growth, industrialisation,
privatisation and modernisation. In 2010, rural areas have been defined as ‘all gazetted
areas and consisting of less than 10,000 people’ which characterised by agriculture and
natural resources comprising of rural people live in clustered, parallel or scattered areas
(MRRD, 2010). At the same time, rural development policies and programmes were
formulated to match the national policies introduced by the government since independence.
In 1991, the National Development Policy (NDP) was introduced with the aim of
eradicating poverty and balancing the development between urban and rural situations
through human resource development. It is worth noting that many rural development
programmes in Malaysia are initiated by the federal (central) government because the
function of rural development falls under the purview of the MRRD. Under federal
government system, the power to govern is separated between different levels of
government, the federal, state and local level and their powers have been stipulated in the
Federal Constitution of Malaysia. For example, the federal government is responsible in
matters related to the health, education, finance, rural development and many others. The
power of the state level, is related to the religion matters, land, agriculture and forests and
the power of local government is related to the matters like local administration, local
government services, rural board and other local authorities (see Federal Constitution of
Malaysia, 2010).
So, rural and regional development matters are under the responsibility of the
MRRD, thus, requires it to formulate rural development programmes. It powers is supported
by knowledge, financial resources, human resources and technical expertise possessed for
developing the rural community (Ibrahim, 2015). The input for the rural development
programmes comes from gathering information and brainstorming by the policy makers at
the federal level with the hope that the programmes formulated are the best for the rural
communities to improve the standard of living among them. The agency of federal
government at state level are the branches of government in implementing and ensuring the
successful outcome of the rural development programmes. GDW programme is one of the
rural development programmes which has been mandated to the Community Development
Department (CDD or KEMAS) and other several MRRD’s agencies; FELCRA, RISDA,
KEJORA, KEDA, KETENGAH, KESEDAR, JHEOA and Bintulu Development Authority
(BDA). KEMAS is one of the important departments under MRRD that is responsible to
 579

manage the majority of 12,291 out of 15,176 (as of 2011) GDW villages throughout
Malaysia.
In the light of that aim to eradicate poverty and balancing the development, the
MRRD developed various strategies to combat poverty in rural areas through human
resource development. The poverty problem was at its height during the mid-twentieth
century. Thus, one of the programmes that was developed over almost twenty years and still
continues until the present is the GDW programme. This programme was implemented in
1996 and covered 15,552 (as of 2014) villages throughout Malaysia. It was to empower rural
people to bring about changes to increase their standard of living and a more rapid
development in the rural areas in Malaysia by exploiting both existing economic potential
and new resources within their villages (CDD, 2014). In 2013, 42 villages were identified as
suitable for further development in terms of economic development in activities such as
agro-tourism, farming, fishery, livestock, business, industry and tourism, and for that
purpose, RM137 million ($341,177.96) was allocated (MRRD, 2014). After twenty years of
implementation of the programme since 1996, however, with slight changes in its
mechanism of implementation, only 534 out of the 15,552 (as of 2014) villages were
considered to have achieved the objectives of the programme in exploiting the resources
around them. This paper argues that the current development and participation theories are
insufficient to examine the issue in the GDW programme as discussed above (the
arguments are in the following section) and thus requires a special methodology which can
be used as a framework to examine the programme.

THE LIMITATION OF THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT AND PARTICIPATION IN

UNDERSTANDING RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN MALAYSIA

Interest in development studies prior to the First World War was very low and did not
attract many scholars (Preston, 1996). However, it fields became more popular after the
Second World War. The strategy to explain the ‘underdevelopment’ of many LDCs has
contributed into various theories of development such as modernisation, dependency,
alternative development and the emergence of a new development paradigm at the end of
the twenty-first century such as human development approach. The development policy that
concerns about these theories were also developed. However, there were many limitations
of these theories that can be examined based on their roles to tackle the issue of
‘underdevelopment’ (Hettne, 1995, p. 1) and the ways to understand people’s well-being and
economic growth (Fukuda-Parr & Kumar, 2003) in many LDCs, specifically in explaining the
rural development programme in Malaysia.
First, after the Second World War, the modernisation and dependency theories were
commonly referred as a reliable theory to explain the underdevelopment of many LDCs.
Among the key proponents of modernisation theory were Parsons (1951) and Rostow
(1960). In their classical view of social evolution, the development of the societies was seen
follow series stages of development and specifically concerned on the transition from
‘tradition’ to ‘modernity’. So, one of the major considerations in the process of modernisation
was that the traditional values of developing societies that differed from those of developed
societies must be replaced as these values might become an obstacle to the modernisation
process (Brohman, 1995).
Nevertheless, Frank criticised the generalisation made by Parsons and Rostow about
the condition of underdeveloped countries. For him, the underdeveloped countries were not
due to their traditional background of the societies, but due to ‘the relationship between
mercantilist and capitalist metropolis’ and this relationship has led to the ‘structure of
underdevelopment’ (Frank, 1969, p. 42). For dependency theorist like Frank, instead of
blaming traditional society for causing underdevelopment and the need to follow Western-
style capitalist economic and social values in order to develop, he argued that the
underdevelopment was related to a variety of factors; the centre-periphery relationship,
internal obstacles to national development, and the process of class struggles (Frank, 1969;
 580

Palma, 1978). However, the idea of dependency theory which distinguishing dependence
and non-dependence economies and the blame on capitalism was argued by Leys (1977 p.
92) as ‘no longer serviceable and must now be transcended’. Indeed, both of these
development theories were no longer applicable in explaining the case of rural development
in Malaysia. The narrow scope on the concept of modernity and underdevelopment in both
mainstream development theories (modernisation and dependency theories) can only
explain the development in Malaysia during the 1950 to 1960 (similar period to the popularity
of these theories). Currently, both theories failed to explain why the GDW programme has
had a limited impact to encourage local people’s participation at village level and why had
there been variable implementation between villages because it only explains development
at a macro-level.
Second, the emergence of the alternative development approach was due to the
failure of the state as the main actor to alleviate poverty during the period of the mainstream
development theories. This situation has increased regional inequality and furthering the
dominance of local elites (Faber et al., 1972). As a proponent of the alternative development
approach Friedmann (1992, p. vi) claimed that people need to act as active subjects of their
history. The alternative development shifts the power and authority in decision making from
the state to local people and to some extent abandoning the role of the state. However, this
may not be possible because ‘development is the product of collaboration and interaction’
between three key institutions such as state, market and community (Kothari et al., 2002,
p.13). The idea to abandon the role of the state was irrelevant in the case of rural
development in Malaysia because the formulation of rural development programmes was
heavily being influenced by the state or central government (Ahmad Fauzi, 2000; Ibrahim,
2015). Moreover, the alternative development approach has been heavily criticised in the
implementation of the programmes and projects particularly in its area of participation
because it only gives minimal local participation especially in rural development programmes
and projects (Brohman, 1996). Thus, due to the criticisms of mainstream development
(modernisation and dependency theories) and alternative development these situations have
led to the emergence of the new development paradigm.
Third, the new development paradigms in the twenty-first century began to be
concerned more with sustainable development, gender equality, democracy (UNDP, 1994,
1995, 2000, 2002) and human rights and freedoms (Sen, 1999, p. xi). The development
policy that concerns about these elements have been developed. However, still the problem
of poverty was widespread especially in the LDCs and the economic growth was still
becoming important factor even though not explicitly show. Therefore, to minimise this
problem, the concept of Human Development (HD) was seen as an inclusive approach
because it ‘covers all aspects of development – whether economic growth or international
trade, budget deficits or fiscal policy, saving or investment or technology, basic social
services or safety nets for the poor’ (Haq, 1995, p. 19). HD was considered relevant from
previous theories of development in understanding the well-being of people in many LDCs
because it sees people as the ends and economy as the means, a higher acknowledgement
was needed of human freedom and dignity with a people-centred focus (Fukuda-Parr, 2002),
which differed from ‘the neoliberal (NL) paradigm of the Washington Consensus’ (Jolly,
2003).
From the concept of HD and economic growth, the intergovernmental UN
organisation introduced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which embraces both
economic growth and non-economic dimensions (Wiman et al., 2006). These goals are
implemented through the poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs) as an instrument for
development policy. As a consequence, many LDCs have adopted and followed these
approaches in order to develop their national development policy and to continue getting
external fund from the International governmental organisations (IGOs) such as the World
Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
However, seen from the above arguments, this study suggests that, the
understanding of development and well-being of people through the new development
policies, the MDGs and the PRSPs were limited to understand the rural poverty at micro-
 581

level (local) analysis. It is because these policy instruments were formulated at the
international level and were focused general development at the national level and at the
macro-level only. So, it does not reflect the needs of the rural poor and the assistance that
they require (Torre et al., 2015). Not only that, the development theory is insufficient to
explain the issue of the GDW programme because the complexities of the formulation of
rural development programme in Malaysia which involved various actors at a macro-, meso-
and micro-level. This theory unable to examine the trends of influence and the interactions
which shape decisions on economic development policies formulated at three key levels;
macro-, meso- and micro.

Participation

The second part of this section examines the limitation of participation theory to
explain the issue in the GDW programme. Before explaining the limitation at the end of this
section, it is important to provide a brief information about the theory of participation. The
concept of participation has gained interest among social science scientists (Bowen, 2007;
Oakley, 1991) since the late of 1960s and most of the 1970s. In a development context, the
participation of local people in their own development has been considered important and it
was no surprised to see that the IGOs have extensively promoted people’s participation in
decision-making at local level (Mohamed, 2016). This study is focused on public participation
in decision-making process in economic and developmental issues at a local level, that is,
‘the engagement of individuals with the various structures and institutions of democracy’
(Brodie et al., 2009, p. 4) to ‘influence decisions that affect them’ (World Bank, 1992, p. 3).
There have been many attempts to classify the extent of participation especially
among its advocates and critics (Richardson, 1983). The most influential typology is
Arnstein’s ladder of participation (1969). Arnstein’s ladder described different levels of
participation and it has been exemplified through a ‘ladder’ – stages of citizen participation.
In particular, Arnstein’s ladder of participation has eight rungs, representing manipulation,
therapy, informing, consultation, placation, partnership, delegated power and citizen control.
More specifically, people are considered to have achieved power and control when they
reach the highest rung – citizen control, otherwise their participation might be considered as
‘tokenism’ and ‘non-participation’, in which people are controlled and manipulated by the
government or development agencies.
Pretty (1995, p. 1253) also identified several typologies which indicated levels of
participation. These ranged from ‘manipulative and passive participation, where people are
told what is to happen and act out of predetermined roles, to self-mobilisation, where people
take initiatives largely independent of external institutions’. Pretty’s (1995) typology
described the different participants who participate in development programmes and
projects. It was identical with Arnstein’s ladder in terms of people’s power in decision-making
and in controlling resources.
The use of Arnstein’s (1969) ladder and Pretty’s (1995) typology to assess
participation is not straightforward because both methods have different arguments about
the level of ‘real’ participation (Tunstall, 2001) and it differs from one case study to the next
(Day, 1997). Arnstein (1969) argued that power is the ultimate purpose of participation, but
for Pretty (1995, p. 1252) ‘self-initiated mobilisation may or may not challenge existing
distributions of wealth and power’. Therefore, in reality, the participation of people is not
measured based on levels or typologies, but it is socially inclusive and it depends on social
relations and culture of the society.
The above discussion of participation has brought to the fore one important issue;
power relations between citizens and government or development agencies (Nelson et al.,
1995). Accordingly, participation cannot occur as a miracle and citizens cannot simply
participate. In order for people to participate in development, they need to have power to
bring about change or to take action, which can be done through the acquisition of ‘power’.
Arnstein (1969) suggested that the most important thing for have-nots was in relation to
 582

power and control in order to influence the decision-making which affects their lives.
Different conceptualisations of power such as ‘power over’ and ‘power to’ may provide
different perspectives for understanding power in society (Gohler, 2009). It is therefore
important to analyse the concept of power and empowerment.
Power has always been linked to domination and the capacity to influence others, in
which power is grounded in coercion, oppression and force. The origin of the power concept
can be traced back to the work of seventeenth-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes (Ball,
1988; Clegg 1989). The most commonly read work on the concept of power has been that
by Lukes (1974). He discussed how those who have power secure domination over others
from the pluralist view. He argued that of the different types of power, ‘power over’ was ‘the
central interest of studying power relations in the first place – an interest in the (attempted or
successful) securing of people’s compliance by overcoming or averting their opposition’
(Lukes, 1974, p. 34; 2005). However, the ‘power over’ was not the only way to understand
the society. Thus, the alternative views of power which are not concern on ‘power over’ is
relevant to be discussed next.
Freire’s concept of liberatory education took into consideration the importance of
people being able to act collectively for their own social change. This concept is identical to
the concept of power held by Arendt which focused on the need of people to act collectively
for social change. Both of these authors claimed the importance of ‘power to’ and linked the
concept of power through the liberalisation of education to collective action by people. The
alternative conceptualisations of power discussed by Arendt (1970, 1986) and Freire (1970)
differ from Lukes’ (1974, 2005) questions of three faces. Arendt claimed the importance of
communication and Freire emphasised the power of education and of giving consciousness
to empowered people. These varieties of the concept of power are imperative for the
‘understanding of society’ (Haugaard et al., 2009, p. 1).
From the above discussion, people were empowered through various ways such as
through consensual approach and education. These two ways are considered important for
people’s transformation and social change. However, in the late twentieth and early twenty-
first centuries, the empowerment has been understood through the concept of ‘capabilities’
of individual (Sen, 1980). The empowerment according to Sen can be achieved through
enhancement of individual’s capabilities. Nevertheless, the process of empowerment
through enhancement of individual capabilities however has neglected the social structures
and it has been criticised as it suggests less attention on groups and social structures
(Ibrahim, 2006; Robeyns, 2005).
In the case of GDW programme, empowerment is not only depending on individual
capabilities, but also on how people are being empowered through social relations. This can
be seen from the main strategy of the GDW programme which was to enhance ‘the
capability and capacity of the rural populace’ through participation and cooperation between
community leaders and the rural population (Eighth Mid-term review of the Malaysia Plan,
2001-2003, p. 401). The theory of participation discussed above only shows how people can
be empowered through participation and their participation can be measured through the
participation ladder and several participation typologies. However, the ladder and the
typologies were insufficient to explain the power relations that occur ‘behind’ them. Indeed,
participation may on the one hand empower people, but on the other hand may make people
powerless. This situation happens because the participation theory is insufficient to explain
the powerful individual actors who are embedded in society, for example, they represent
interests such as the elite or rich who can allow or hinder the participation of individual in
society, as in the GDW programme.

RECOMMENDATION

Seen from the above arguments, there is an asymmetry in both development and
participation theories in understanding people’s participation in development. The first theory
emphasised the general development policy at a macro-level and the second theory, explain
 583

the process of people’s empowerment at the micro-level. Both perspectives nevertheless,

failed to explain to what extent development policies and participation are structured or allow
individual in participating in rural development programme. Specifically, both perspectives
are insufficient to explain why development programme in Malaysia has had a limited impact
to encourage local people’s participation at village level.
Therefore, a crucial methodology such as a political economy perspective should be
employed to analyse ‘a way of thinking about how policy design is affected by choices
between institutions’ (Besley, 2003, p. 3), specifically by interrogating rules, structures and
self-interest of development actors that help to determine the results of economic
development policy in Malaysia. Political economy is considered to be imperative to this
study because it examines the trends of influence and the interactions which shape
decisions on economic development policies formulated at the macro-level and implemented
at the meso-level and which have encouraged local participation at the micro-level which the
two major perspectives have neglected. At a macro-level, it enables us to unveil the
development processes and policies (examining who is involved, whose interest is served,
and what are the goals behind it) which influence policy development in Malaysia. At the
meso-level, it investigates the policy implementers because the implementation of the GDW
programme involves the discretionary power of street-level bureaucrats or public officials.
Finally, at the micro-level, it is important to reveal how local villages understand the concept
of participation in rural development.

CONCLUSION

The current development and participation perspectives are limited to explain the
current rural development issue, specifically the GDW programme. In Malaysia, the
formulation of rural participation development programme is complex because the decision-
making process is centred at the federal government and the policy formulation involved
various actors. To reflect, the rural development participation programme was formulated by
the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (MRRD) at the federal level. The policy
makers of the GDW programme believed that the programme was important to improve local
people’s standard of living, thus it offered strong reasons for local people to participate in the
programme. To ensure the successful of this programme, therefore, the local villages, need
to actively participate and cooperate with the JKKK/JKKKP (Village/Federal Development
and Security Committee) in each village to increase their standard of living and a more rapid
development in the rural areas by exploiting both existing economic potential and new
resources within their villages. However, the participation of local villages in the programme
cannot simply be assumed will work as proposed by the government because in practice,
the GDW programme has had a limited impact to encourage local people’s participation at
village level.
In conclusion, the limitation of the economic development and participation theories
to examine the GDW programme can be mitigated by employing the political economy
perspective. Therefore, one should use it as a guide and as a comprehensive framework to
facilitate on investigation of three different levels of formulation and implementation of the
GDW Programme.

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The Relationship between European Qualification Framework (EQF)

Model and Safety Training
Siti Fairuza Hassam
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
s.fairuza@gmail.com

Noratikah Mohamad Arshad

Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
atikah9317@yahoo.com

Norhafiza Hashim
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
norha275@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

In the current certification standards, European Qualification Framework (EQF) model is

being used to develop a new professional qualification and training structure in many training
centers. This is important for the safety practitioners who are attends any safety courses or
trainings because it will prove that those safety personnel are capable and competence in
doing a high risk job. The aims of this study is to identify the relationship between European
Qualification Framework (EQF) model and safety training provided by consultant agency.
This will explain a better understanding the level of influence factors based on EQF model
towards the safety training conducted. The factors include are safety knowledge, safety
skills, and safety competency. The hypothesis is designed to determine the relationship
between these three factors and safety training based on the participants’ survey feedback.
The data collected through questionnaires are tested by using multiple regression model and
the result shows, all these three factors, safety knowledge, safety skills and safety
competency have a positive relationship with safety training. In other words, in order for
workers to be competence in a job, they must have skills required to perform the job and to
be a skillful workers, they must have enough knowledge related to their job. Thus, the firm
must consider sending their employees for training to develop and enhanced the employee’s
skills in order to achieve higher performance.

Keywords: European Qualification Framework (EQF), safety training, safety knowledge,

safety skills, safety competency

INTRODUCTION

The legislation related with occupational safety and health is now more emphasis on
employer and the employees if they are caught not comply for any regulations stated in the
safety and health act and regulations. Penalty for an offence under section 15 general duties
of employers and self-employed person is a person who is breaches provisions of section 15
shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty
thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both. General
duties of employee under section 24 a person who contravenes provisions of section 24
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand ringgit
or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both (Law of Malaysia, Act
1995:OSHA).
The EQF model is to develop a new professional qualification and training structure
based on the current certification standards. The standards have been endorsed in different
 589

forms into the national legislation of all member states, causing a lack of transparency and
acknowledgment of competences and qualifications for OSH managers and technicians
(Arezes & Swuste, 2013).
The important of safety training and employee participation is “a well-designed and
administered training programmed should emphasize safe work practices that can be
derived from a true assessment of needs” (Vredenburgh, 2002). It will become a problem
when there are lack management commitment and employee involvement in safety training.
The employer always thinks that safety and health training is expensive and wasteful. The
employer has that kind of thinking because they do not know how much one workplace injury
actually cost. If the employer applies the Iceberg Theory they will know that the cost involved
is considered as hidden cost. Most of the worker saying training as an ordinary duty, where
usefulness is cloudy to them and they see it as a waste of time, not as a professional
opportunity (Ricci, Chiesi, Bisio, Panari, & Pelosi, 2016). The worker did not get a full
information or understanding about the advantages of the training and if they have they will
grab the opportunities. However, they need to go to the training in order for them to get a
certification even though they are not clear why they are attend for that training. The
certificate is important for the safety practitioners when the employee attends any safety
courses because it will prove that those safety personnel are capable or competence in
doing their job even though their job is dealing with high risk. Certification is essential when
finishing the safety courses because it is one of the personal certification requirements for
OSH personnel (Arezes & Swuste, 2013).
The aim of this study is to identify the relationship between European Qualification
Framework (EQF) and safety training at training center provider. Nowadays, the
understanding of the potential hazards, near miss accident and prevention actions are
important in the workplace because every day and every job that we done are involve risk.

EUROPEAN QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK (EQF)

The European Qualifications Framework (EQF), formally adopted by the European

Parliament on 23 April 2008, is intended to offer a smoothing framework for comparing
qualifications in dissimilar countries and National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) are
invented to be referenced to and aligned with the EQF (Deist & Tutlys, 2012).
The EQF indirectly merge at each level the combinations of capabilities of
knowledge, skill, autonomy and responsibility. The EQF enclosed the range of learning
outcomes, regardless of learning or institutional context from primary education through
school and unskilled worker up to doctoral or senior professional levels (Markowitsch &
Plaimauer, 2009). The EQF frameworks are draft to picture up eight levels showing from
level one to the other the increasingly greater demands on workers or learners.
A qualified person is someone who is a degree holder with two years period of
practical training and has an experience with the related field. From the view of qualification
research and expertise, the qualifications are dividing into two levels of intermediate which is
skilled workers and unskilled workers. The degree of expertise does not result from the
different of qualification levels but from the deep of professional knowledge and skills for a
specific occupation. The amount of qualification is based on the above statement and the
total time spent on the training (ITB Working Group, 2008).
When the individual have developed their own competency they will be able to
display it in different context and situations based on what has been accessed, validated and
certified to the extent of their owned competency (Morselli & Ajello, 2016). The individual
knowledge on specific job is being evaluated in writing test based on what they have learned
and their educational level. While for the skills is they need to demonstrate in a practical test
in order to be evaluate and the competence level is according to the responsibility and
autonomy.
The safety course in Portugal is one of the examples to elaborate the outline of
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) courses. In Portugal, people who want to become
 590

senior OSH practitioners are required to join this course because the course now is one that
has been approved in Portugal and certified to train OSH practitioner in EQF level 6 (Arezes
& Swuste, 2013). This course is being promoted by Universities in Portugal and who ever
have join and finished this course in Universities at level of EQF 6 and EQF 7 will get a tittle
Master of Science (MSC) in their certificate.

SAFETY KNOWLEDGE

The motivating factor in safety training is when pride in work completed without
accidents (Demirkesen & Arditi, 2015). Worker-related issues include promoting pride in
work completed without accidents, inspiring worker awareness about safety issues, and
motivating workers through regular and effective training meetings. The self-learning training
showed a very convincing efficiency when related to attitudes and knowledge but it was not
satisfying for health training. The knowledge and attitudes training efficiency look like to
share a priority for a brief time but for health training it must be done in a practical training.
The most common training method used in the training is classroom theory, followed by e-
learning, hands on practice and hand out of printed materials.
The basic knowledge of occupational safety and health is important for the employee
especially who work in the most hazardous work place. The knowledge can be obtained by
safety briefing every day and training before them competent toward their job. Such
knowledge is the safety awareness at the work place, the prevention of an accident and the
job exposure. Work accident categorize as due to the unsafe working conditions and unsafe
work practices. It is common knowledge when workers always engage in behaviors that
neglects safety rules.

SAFETY SKILS

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration precisely necessitates that safety
aptitude be evaluated and documented by the practice of a written assessment and
demonstrate the skills to evaluate the knowledge and individual skills that have been
developed in the course of training. The knowledge that they get in safety training course
can be evaluated by demonstrated the skills to ensure the safety and health in the
workplace. General duties of employer and self-employed person section 15 (2) (c) the
provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure,
so far as practicable the safety and health at work of his employees (Rogério dos Santos
Alves; Alex Soares de Souza, 2014).
In view of managers and employees, most of the managers’ report that their skills is
match with the job requirement and only half of the employees participants have identify that
their skills is match with the job requirement (Grant, Maxwell, & Ogden, 2014). More
employees than manager claim that their skills exceed the requirement of their job and they
have an opinion that their skills are not fully utilized in their workplace.
Employees have spent time in up-skilling through further and higher education and
managers are now confronted with more comprehensively enhanced the skills that they have
in the workplace (Grant et al., 2014).The courses based on European Qualification
Framework (EQF) have function as one of the model to elaborate the profile of Occupational
Safety and Health courses. What are the trainees needs for the safety training is they want
the trainer aim the trainees roles at work precisely as help them to solve their problems,
providing guidelines and as needed for the discussion with the trainers (Papaleo, Cangiano,
& Calicchia, 2013).
The evaluation booklet is being use for getting feedback from the participants in the
training courses for the training provider to make some improvement in the future. To ensure
a quality system, the courses use student’s evaluation for individual teachers because the
evaluations is to measure the customers satisfactions (Arezes & Swuste, 2013). The course
 591

coordinator asked the students to share their testimonial of course experience for the
marketing purpose. The evaluation also focused on the reactions and knowledge that the
participants had gained in safety training whether they feel the knowledge had been an
important on their behavior at work (Papaleo et al., 2013).

SAFETY COMPETENCY

OSHA standards mandate that a trainer is considered to be qualified if he or she has

previously completed a training program on the subject to be teach which regarding to the
qualifications of a trainer. Moreover, these trainers are expected to have relevant academic
qualifications and teaching experience (Demirkesen & Arditi, 2015). Safety trainers who are
qualified by OSHA standards are more aware of workers' problems than unqualified safety
trainers. Trainers become “qualified” after completion of courses offered by OSHA, and then
will be allowed to conduct occupational safety and health training.
An individuals who are competence able to use a professional judgment, make an
independent decisions, can solve problems at work where the situation is volatile on the
basis of diversity in practice include theoretical knowledge, social and personal competence
(Brockmann, Clarke & Winch., 2009). The competence person is able to manage complex
technical projects and taking the responsibility for decision making in unpredictable work
(Arezes & Swuste, 2013). The competence that related to safety and danger is learned as a
practical knowledge that situated in practices at workplace. The courses based on European
Qualification Framework (EQF) have function as one of the model to elaborate the profile of
Occupational Safety and Health courses. The occupational safety and health course is
certified to give the desired training to become senior OSH practitioner (Arezes & Swuste,
2013).
The learning systems are varying by education in shaping the capability of an
individual. Workers need training in order to recertification and updated their competency
and knowledge related to safety at workplace when dealing with their job. The employees
were referring for retraining to obtain an outstanding in the competencies. The employees
will feel motivated to work if they have an opportunity to be promoted and with star rating
performance for the employees who deserve it (Sengupta, Venkatesh, & Sinha, 2013).
Organization focusing on essential current and future required competencies in potential
interviewees in making the hiring more effective and strategy oriented.

SAFETY TRAINING

The most effective training, in terms of improving safety knowledge and attitudes is
by the individual self-learning, supplied by learning sessions no longer than 1 hour and not
compulsory for the worker (Ricci et al., 2016). The most common approaches used by
companies to handover safety knowledge are orientation and training sessions, informal
safety communication among workers, toolbox talks, and formal presentations by safety
managers. Some of the construction companies provide safety training as frequent as daily
not only to reduce the severity and the likelihood of accidents but also wants to show that
they care about their worker’s safety. The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) laws have
focused on OSH professional’s roles which indicated that they must receive specific training
in order to be OSH Professionals (Papaleo et al., 2013).
Workers who are older have more ability to gain knowledge and transform attitudes
and beliefs equivalent to the experiences that already exist in their occupational conditions
and scope. The older workers are against to the little willingness to change well established
behaviors and healthy lifestyles (Ricci et al., 2016). Past researcher also found that the
younger people indicate a better willingness to improve their healthy behaviors although gain
a smaller knowledge maybe because of lack of experience in occupational context.
 592

METHODOLOGY

The primary sources of data gathering data is used for this study whereby data were
collected using personally administered questionnaires. A cross-sectional study involves the
analysis of data collected from a population that used to collect data about the relationship
between EQF Model and safety training with a one shot of time. The units of analysis are
individuals who participate in competency courses and CIDB course and In house Courses.
The sample of 113 participants as respondents from 160 population gather from weekly
participants attended the training conducted. This study applied this method due to easiest
method for researcher in getting the information in short period of time.
The respondents were the participants of safety training who are attendee for various
courses which are safety and health course, site safety supervisor course CIDB course and
In house courses. After all the data and information has been gathered through data
collection method and the data have been analyzed by using SPSS software method by
looking at the correlation and multiple regression analysis.

RESULT AND FINDINGS

This section comprises the analysis, presentations and interpretation of the findings
resulting from this study. The analysis and interpretations is carried out based on the results
of the questionnaires which is the quantitative analysis of data.

Table 1 EQF Correlations Analysis

Safety Safety Safety

Knowledge Safety Skills Competency Training
Safety
Knowledge 1
Safety Skills .620
**
1
Safety ** **
Competency .684 .573 1
Safety Training .701
**
.688
**
.742
**
1

Table 1 shows that the highest value of correlation for the study was the relationship
between safety competency and safety training which 0.742. Based on the degree of
correlation, it showed that the association between the variable was a strong association.
The value of correlation in the relationship between safety knowledge and safety training is
0.701 which indicate the association between variable was a strong association. The lowest
value of correlation for the study was the relationship between safety skills and safety
training with 0.688. Based on the degree of correlation, it showed that the association
between the variable was a moderate association.
The result is supported by multiple regression analysis by looking at the beta value
generated as table 2 shown below.
 593

Table 2 EQF Regression Analysis

Dependent Variable = Safety Training

Std.
B Error Beta Sig.
Independent Variables

Safety Knowledge .255 .089 0.230 .005

Safety Skills .315 .072 0.312 .000
Safety Competency .395 .075 0.406 .000
(Constant) .165 .279 .594 .554
R2 = 0.678 Statistic F = 76.342 ; Sig= 0.000

The findings indicate that all the three factors (knowledge, skills and competency)
have a positive relationship with safety training. The knowledge gather by participants in the
safety training is means a lot to training provider because it’s one of measurement of the
effectiveness of the training. Based on the findings, safety knowledge has a beta value of
0.230 which specifies that safety knowledge has a positive relationship with safety training.
Since the significant value is 0.005 is lower than 0.05, hypothesis is supported. There is
positive relationship between safety knowledge and safety training.
The beta value constantly increase by skills and competency (0.312 and 0.406 respectively)
with the significant value 0.000 < 0.005. Thus, all hypothesizes (H1, H2 and H3) positively
supported and have a joint effect with safety training.
The findings also indicate that the training course improve the ability in dealing with
the safety matters and increase the contributions towards a company. The opinions that
make the employees thinking about their skills are not fully utilized in their workplaces should
be deleted after the completion of the training. Competencies are measurable behavioral
objectives that used to define the actions that trainees should able to perform, the skill level
of trainees must be able to demonstrate when perform the action to consider the participants
are fully trained.

CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION

All in all, this study disclosed that European Qualification Framework (EQF) model
has a relationship with safety training conducted at training center provider. This research
study have shown that the EQF models can be applied in safety training have a perspective
of lifelong learning together with the formation of a framework of qualifications which
comprise all the national qualification frameworks, which follow the legislations, articulations
and local criteria.
Based on the analysis tested, it can be said that safety competency have a direct
impact on safety skills and safety skills have a direct impact on safety knowledge. It is
because in order for someone to be competence in a work, they must have skills required to
perform the job but to be a skillful that person must have at least a basic knowledge prior to
the job. Thus, firm must consider sending their employees for training to develop and
enhanced the employee’s skills in order to achieve higher performance. Future researchers
can use other factors to know the most influence factor towards learning process. This study
can be done by adopting questions which are more reliable and efficient.
 594

REFERENCES

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occupational safety and health: the example of Portugal. Industrial & Commercial
Training, 45(3), 171–179. https://doi.org/10.1108/00197851311320595

Brockmann, M., Clarke, L., & Winch, C. (2009). Competence and competency in the EQF
and in European VET systems. Journal of European Industrial Training, 33(8/9),
787–799. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090590910993634

Deist, F. Le, & Tutlys, V. (2012). Limits to mobility: competence and qualifications in Europe.
European Journal of Training and Development, 36(2/3), 262–285.
https://doi.org/10.1108/03090591211204742

Demirkesen, S., & Arditi, D. (2015). Construction safety personnel’s perceptions of safety
training practices. International Journal of Project Management, 33(5), 1160–1169.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2015.01.007

Grant, K., Maxwell, G., & Ogden, S. (2014). Skills utilisation in Scotland: exploring the views
of managers and employees. Employee Relations, 36, 458–479.
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ITB Working Group. (2008). Vocational education and training in Europe. Journal of
European Industrial Training, 32(2/3), 221–234.
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Markowitsch, J., & Plaimauer, C. (2009). Descriptors for competence: towards an

international standard classification for skills and competences. Journal of European
Industrial Training, 33(8/9), 817–837. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090590910993652

Morselli, D., & Ajello, A. (2016). Assessing the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship in
vocational students using the European qualification framework. Education and
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Papaleo, B., Cangiano, G., & Calicchia, S. (2013). Occupational safety and health
professionals&apos; training in Italy: Qualitative evaluation using T-LAB. Journal of
Workplace Learning, 25(4), 247–263. https://doi.org/10.1108/13665621311316438

Ricci, F., Chiesi, A., Bisio, C., Panari, C., & Pelosi, A. (2016). Effectiveness of occupational
health and safety training: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of
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Sengupta, A., Venkatesh, D. N., & Sinha, A. K. (2013). Developing performance-linked

competency model: a tool for competitive advantage. International Journal of
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Vredenburgh, A. G. (2002). Organizational safety. Journal of Safety Research, 33(2), 259–

276. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4375(02)00016-6
 595

Board of Visiting Justices: An Overview under the Malaysian Prison

Act 1995 and International Legal Frameworks
Salmah Roslim
Universiti Teknologi MARA
salmah503@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nur Irinah Mohamad Sirat

Universiti Teknologi MARA
irinah@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nurul Mazrah Manshor

Universiti Teknologi MARA
mazrah@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The Board of Visiting Justices in Malaysia is governed under the Prison Act 1995
(hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’). The Act provides the overall duties of Board of Visiting
Justices such as visiting any prison in the state for which he is appointed, inspecting the
wards, cells and other divisions of the prison, inspecting the quality and quantity of prisoners’
food, hearing any complaints from prisoners and questioning any prisoner or prison officer to
ascertain whether provisions of the law are adhered to. This paper discusses an overview of
the role of the Board of Visiting Justices under the Prison Act 1995 in carrying out their
duties. The paper also discusses the role of the Board of Visiting Justices under the Prison
Act 1952 (United Kingdom), the Prison Act - Revise Edition 2000 (Singapore), the Prison Act
1981 (Australia), the Corrections Act 2004 (New Zealand) and the Correctional Centres Act
1952 No 9 (New South Wales). At the end of the discussion, recommendation will be made
to improve the role of Board of Visiting Justices under the Prison Act 1995 and it would be
greatly benefited the policy makers, the judiciary, the enforcement agencies and public at
large.

Keywords: Board of Visiting Justices, Prison Act 1955, role and duties, international legal
frameworks

INTRODUCTION

In Malaysia, the Board of Visiting Justices is governed under the Prison Act 1995.
Generally, the Act provides the overall duties of Board of Visiting Justices such as visiting
any prison in the state for which he is appointed, inspecting the wards, cells and other
divisions of the prison, inspecting the quality and quantity of prisoners’ food, hearing any
complaints from prisoners and questioning any prisoner or prison officer to ascertain whether
provisions of the law are adhered to.
Accordingly, this paper discusses an overview of the role of the Board of Visiting
Justices under the Prison Act 1995 in carrying out their duties. The paper also discusses the
role of the Board of Visiting Justices under the Prison Act 1952 (United Kingdom), the Prison
Act - Revise Edition 2000 (Singapore), the Prison Act 1981 (Australia), the Corrections Act
2004 (New Zealand) and the Correctional Centres Act 1952 No 9 (New South Wales). At the
end of the discussion, recommendation will be made to improve the role of Board of Visiting
Justices under the Prison Act 1995 and it would be greatly benefited the policy makers, the
judiciary, the enforcement agencies and public at large.
 596

BOARD OF VISITING JUSTICES UNDER PRISON ACT 1995

Definition

Section 2 of the Prison Act 1995 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) defines “Visiting
Justice” as a member of the Board of Visiting Justices appointed under section 64
of the Act. The Minister shall appoint for every two years, the Board of Visiting Justices for
each State and Federal Territory of which any senior Magistrate of each State and Federal
Territory shall be an ex officio member. The Minister may determine payment of allowances
for members of the Board of Visiting Justices. (Prison Act, 1995, s.64(1)). The members of
the Board of Visiting Justices who held offices before the date of coming into operation of
section 64(1) of the Act shall continue to hold office until the expiry of their term of
appointment. (Prison (Amendment) Act, 2008, ss.21(2)).

Duties

Under section 65 of the Act, the Board of Visiting Justices have the following duties in
respect of each prison to ascertain whether the provisions of the Act and any regulations
made under the Act and the Director General’s Standing Orders are followed. The Board of
Visiting Justices may at any time, visit any prison in the State or Federal Territory for which
he is appointed. Under Regulation 183 of the Prisons Regulations (2000) provides that the
Visiting Justice or Justices shall visit the prison for which he is or they are appointed once
during each month and shall inspect the several wards, cells, yards, punishment cells and
other apartments and divisions of the prison. They may also inspect the journals, registers
and books of the prison.
The Visiting Justices may also inspect the wards, cells, yards and other apartments
and divisions of the prison. The Regulation 186 of the Prisons Regulations (2000) provides
that the Visiting Justice or Justices shall see and inspect prisoners at labour and shall visit
the sick prisoners in hospital and prisoners in cells and dormitories.
In addition, they may inspect and test the quality and quantity of the prisoners’ food,
hear the complaints, if any, of the prisoners. The Regulation 185 of the Prisons Regulations
(2000) states that the Visiting Justices shall on every visit hear any complaint which any
prisoner may wish to make and shall especially enquire into the condition of those prisoners
who are undergoing punishment and they may also question any prisoner or prison officer.
The Board of Visiting Justices shall appoint at least one but not more than four of its
members to visit in rotation each of the prisons in the State of Federal Territory for each
month of the year. (Prison Act, 1955, s.65 (3)). The Board shall call the attention of the
Officer in Charge to any irregularity that may be observed in the working of the prison; or
treatments of any prisoner confined in the prison; and exercise and perform such other
powers and duties as may be prescribed.
In the case of Mohd Khirudin Yaakub v. Superintendant of Central Prison
Kuching & Ors [2013] 7 CLJ 654; [2013] 1 LNS 363, the court referred to section 65 (3) of
the Act and regretted when the prisoner fail to avail himself during the visit by the Board of
Visiting Justices who visited the prisoners every month as required by this section. The
prisoner in this case has failed to make use of the opportunity to look for redress particularly
when the board visited the prison after his main imprisonment term has lapsed.
The Officer-in-Charge or the next senior prison officer shall not escort the Visiting
Justice or Justices during the visits of inspection. If the prisoner wishes to see the Board of
Visiting Justices, the Officer-in-Charge or in his absence, the senior prison officer shall
inform the Board of Visiting Justices and shall give them assistance in their inspection. No
person other than a prison officer or staff employed by the prison department shall be
permitted to accompany a Visiting Justice during his course of his inspection. (Prisons
Regulations, Rg 184, (2000)).
If there is irregularity in carrying out these Regulations, or in the discipline or behaviour
of prison officers, and to any fault in the buildings which may appear to require attention, the
 597

Visiting Justice or Justices shall bring attention to the Officer-in-Charge (Prisons

Regulations, Rg 187, (2000)) and the Visiting Justice or Justices may examine into and may
enter in the Minute Book. The Minute Book shall be provided in each prison in which the
members of the Board of Visiting Justices shall record their visits, and enter any remarks
and suggestions which they may have to make (Prisons Regulations, Rg 188, (2000)) any
remarks respecting any cause of complaint stated by any prisoner or respecting any other
matter appearing to call for comment for instance if the prisoner allegedly being abused.

BOARD OF VISITING JUSTICES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORKS

Prison Act 1952 (United Kingdom)

In United Kingdom the Board of Visiting Justices is known as ‘Board of Visitors’. The
Prison Act 1952 provides for Boards of Visitors who monitor individual prisons and hear
complaints. (Prison Act, ss.6-9 1952 (United Kingdom)). The Boards have been described as
the “eyes and ears” of Ministers and the public, but do not have any statutory powers to
change the decisions of prison staff or to alter policy decisions at a higher level. (Hilary
Benn, 2003) The Prison Act 1952 (United Kingdom) states that Secretary of State shall
appoint for every prison a board of visitors of whom not less than two shall be justices of the
peace. (Prison Act, s.6(1)(1952)(United Kingdom)). Members of Boards of Visitors are still
selected by, and accountable to the Home Secretary. They come from diverse range of
background and include all ethnic origins but tend to be respectable law-abiding members of
the local community who have a genuine interest in public services and penal issues. (Steve
Gravett, 2003).
Under section 6(2) of the Prison Act 1952 (United Kingdom), clearly laid down
functions Boards of Visitor. Their functions include the following:
• to listen any request or complaints that inmates wish to make, and to consult any
prison records including relevant case files;
• to check regularly that the quality of food being provided is satisfactory;
• to make regular monthly visits to the establishment on a rota basis, attending at any
time of the day and night;
• to follow up any concerns they become aware of concerning an individual’s mental
and physical health;
• to extend and authorise a period of segregation under Prison Rule 43(2) which the
Governor judges is for the good order and discipline of the establishment, or is in the
individual’s own interest;
• to carry an enquiries on behalf of the Secretary of State and bring any serious
concerns to his attention;
• to prepare an annual report for the Secretary of State which can be shared with the
media;
According to section 19(1) Prison Act 1952 (United Kingdom) the Justice of the
peace have the following rights when visiting the prison;
• may examine the condition of the prison and of the prisoners and
• enter in the visitors’ book, to be kept by the governor of the prison,
• any observations on the condition of the prison or any abuses.
Furthermore, Justices of the Peace also have the rights to communicate with any
prisoner except on the subject of his treatment in the prison, or to visit any prisoner under
sentence of death. (Prison Act, s.19(2) 1952 (United Kingdom)). The governor of every
prison shall bring any entry in the visitors’ book to the attention of the visiting committee or
the board of visitors at their next visit. (Prison Act, s.19(3) 1952 (United Kingdom)).
According to Liora Lazarus (2004), the Boards reputation for independence is
somewhat less scintillating than that of the Prisons Inspectorate. Matters were improved by
the removal of the Boards dual function as both disciplinary and complaint bodies, in line
with recommendations of the Woolf Report in the early 1990s. Liora Lazarus (2004) points
 598

out that, after the improvement the Boards have maintained a cosy relationship with prison
management but have failed to develop a reputation as ‘independent, fearless, public critics’
or to gain any greater legitimacy with prisoners. After the recent Lloyd Review, which
confirmed the Boards’ limited impact on prison administration, they were rebranded as
‘Independent Monitoring Board’ and a National Council was set up to lead, support and
guide Boards towards greater effectiveness. Whether these changes will greatly enhance
their reputation as “independent watchdogs” remains to be seen. (Liora Lazarus, 2004).
Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) formerly known as Board of Visitors are
statutory bodies established by the Prison Act 1952 (United Kingdom). IMBs have a new
National Council with the authority to direct Boards rather than just advise, so ensuring
greater consistency. IMBs act as independent observers of all aspects of the prison regime
and as such have free access at all times to the prison to which they are appointed. If a
prisoner or detainee has an issue that he or she has been unable to resolve through the
usual internal channels, he or she can put in a confidential request to see a member of the
Independent Monitoring Boards.
The Prisons Act 1952 (United Kingdom) and the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
(United Kingdom) require every prison and Immigration Reception Centre (IRC) to be
monitored by an independent Board appointed by Ministry of Justice from members of the
community in which the prison or centre is situated. The Board is specifically charged:
• to satisfy itself as to the humane and just treatment of those held in custody within its
prison and the range and adequacy of the programmes preparing them for release.
• to inform promptly the Secretary of State, or any official to whom he has delegated
authority as it judges appropriate, any concern it has.
• to report annually to the Secretary of State for Justice on how well the prison has met
the standards and requirements placed on it and what impact these have on those in
custody
• to access to every prisoner and every part of the prison and also to the prison’s
records.

Prison Act- Revise Edition 2000 (Singapore)

The Board of Visiting Justices in Singapore is established by the Prison Act-Revise

Edition 2000 (Singapore). Additionally, Visiting Justice is a member of the Board of Visiting
Justices that is appointed under section 79 of the Prison Act-Revise Edition 2000
(Singapore).
According to section 79(1) and (2) of the Prison Act-Revise Edition 2000 (Singapore),
the Minister shall appoint the Board of Visiting Justices to hold office for a period not
exceeding two years or as the Minister may determine. The Board of Visiting Justices also
may be reappointed or at any time removed from office by the Minister. Furthermore, the
Board of Visitors may at any time resign from this office by giving written notice to the
Minister.
The role and responsibilities of the Board of Visitors are prescribed by the Prison Act-
Revise Edition 2000 (Singapore). As outlined by the section 79(3), the Visiting Justice has
several powers and duties such as:
• may at any time visit any prison or reformative training centre and may inspect the
several wards, cells, yards, solitary or punishment cells and other apartments or
divisions of the prison, inspect and test the quality and quantity of the prisoners’ food,
hear the complaints (if any) of the prisoners, and question any prisoner or prison
officer; (Prison Act, Rev. ed. (2000), s.79(3)(a)(Singapore),
• shall ascertain, so far as possible, whether the prison regulations are adhered to, and
shall call the attention of the Superintendent to any irregularity that may be observed
in the working of the prison or reformative training centre or in the treatment of any
prisoner confined therein. (Prison Act, Rev. ed. (2000), s.79(3)(b)(Singapore)), and
• shall exercise and perform such other powers and duties as may be prescribed.
(Prison Act, Rev. ed. (2000), s.79(3)(c)(Singapore)).
 599

Under subsection (4), the Board shall appoint one or more of its members on
rotation, a Visiting Justice or Justices of the prisons for each month of the year and the
Visiting Justice or Justices shall hear, try and dispose of such prison offences under section
74 (1) under Singapore Prison Act- Revise Edition 2000.
Moreover, every Visiting Justice in Singapore, also have power to summon witnesses
and to administer oaths. (Prison Act, Rev. ed. (2000), s.79(5)(Singapore). The Board shall in
relation to persons detained in reformative training centres exercise such function as may be
required of it by any written law. (Prison Act, Rev. ed. (2000), s.79(6)(Singapore)).

Prison Act 1981 (Australia)

The Board of Visiting Justices in Australia is established by the Australian Prison Act
1981 (hereinafter referred as ‘the Act 1981’). According to section 54(1) the Minister may, for
every prison, appoint visitors to be known as visiting justices. A visiting justice shall not carry
out the duties of an independent prison visitor. (Prison Act, 1981, s.54(2)(Australia)). Visiting
justices shall be appointed from persons who are magistrates or justices of the peace.
(Prison Act, 1981, s.54(3)(Australia)). Appointments under this section shall be for a term of
two years, but a visiting justice may resign at any time by notice in writing delivered to the
Minister. (Prison Act, 1981, s.54(4) (Australia)).
Under Section 56 of the Act 1981, Visiting Justices have the following duties in
respect of each prison. A visiting justice shall attend the prison for which he is appointed as
soon as practicable upon being notified by the superintendent that a charge of a prison
offence has been laid and shall in the case of a minor prison offence inquire into and dispose
of the charge, in the case of an aggravated prison offence, exercise the discretion conferred
by section 73.
A visiting justice shall use his best endeavours to complete the performance of his
duties under this section within 14 days of being notified in a particular case that a charge of
a prison offence has been laid and where a charge of a prison offence is laid against a
prisoner but before the hearing of that charge begins the prisoner is removed to another
prison, a visiting justice for that other prison shall have the powers and duties in relation to
that prisoner and that charge as if the charge had been laid at that other prison. A visiting
justice may inquire into and determine any charge of a minor prison offence. (Prison Act,
1981, s.72 (Australia)).
In addition, under section 73, a visiting justice also has power to determine any
charge of aggravated prison offences where a charge of an aggravated prison offence
alleged to have been committed by a prisoner is referred to a visiting justice, the visiting
justice may, as he thinks appropriate and having regard to the nature and particulars of the
alleged prison offence and the extent of his powers under section 78, direct the
superintendent to commence a prosecution for an aggravated prison offence in a court of
summary jurisdiction or inquire into and determine the charge as a minor prison offence.
(Prison Act, 1981, s.73(1)(a) and (b) (Australia)).
If a prosecution for an aggravated prison offence is commenced in a court of
summary jurisdiction, the prosecution shall be heard and determined by the court as if the
aggravated prison offence were a simple offence. (Prison Act, 1981, s.73(2) (Australia)).
The visiting justice may impose penalties under section 78 where a minor prison
offence is determined by a visiting justice under section 72 and either the prisoner admits the
charge or the visiting justice finds the charge proved, the visiting justice may impose one or
more of the following penalties such as separate confinement in a punishment cell for a
period not exceeding 7 days, confinement in the prisoner’s sleeping quarters for a period not
exceeding 7 days, separate confinement in a punishment cell for specified hours during a
weekend or during 2 weekends, restitution in the manner specified by the visiting justice and
confiscation of property associated with the offence and destruction or disposal otherwise of
that property if the visiting justice thinks appropriate.
 600

For a penalty is to be imposed on the same occasion for more than one minor prison
offence, the visiting justice may impose a penalty under subsection (1)(a) or (b) for each
offence but in no case shall a penalty exceeding 21 days’ separate confinement be imposed.
(Prison Act, 1981, s.78(2) (Australia)).
A prisoner undergoing punishment of separate confinement in a punishment cell for a
period exceeding 7 days under this section shall spend 48 hours out of the punishment cell
after each period of 7 days in separate confinement and, unless the prisoner is in custody
only for the purpose of undergoing that punishment, any such period of 48 hours shall not be
reckoned as time spent undergoing the punishment of separate confinement. (Prison Act,
1981, s.78(3) (Australia)).
Where a visiting justice considers that in the circumstances it is inexpedient to
impose a penalty under subsection (1), he may impose one or more of the penalties
specified in section 77 of Prison Act 1981 (Australia). (Prison Act, 1981, s.78(4) (Australia)).

Corrections Act 2004 (New Zealand)

The Board of Visiting Justices in New Zealand is established by the Corrections Act
2004 (New Zealand) (hereinafter referred as ‘the Act 2004’). According to section 3 of the
Act 2004, Visiting Justice means a District Court Judge or a person appointed under section
19(2) to be a Visiting Justice. Every District Court Judge is a Visiting Justice for every prison.
Section 19(2) of the Act 2004 provides that the Governor-General may, on the
recommendation of the Minister of Justice, appoint any Justice of the Peace or barrister or
solicitor of the High Court to be a Visiting Justice for every prison. The Act requires that the
Minister of Justice has regard to the desirability of ensuring that the persons holding office as
Visiting Justices represent a reasonable balance between Justices of the Peace and
lawyers.
Visiting Justices hold office for a term of three years, and may, from time to time, be
reappointed. Visiting Justices may resign, in writing, to the Minister of Justice. The Governor-
General may remove a Visiting Justice from office for inability to perform the functions of
office, neglect of duty or misconduct.
Induction training for Visiting Justices is under the direction of the Chief District Court
Judge. The Royal Federation of New Zealand Justices Associations has developed a
training package and provides general support.
Under section 19(4) of the Act 2004, Visiting Justices have the following powers such
as; visiting and inspecting the prison and at his or her discretion, interviewing any
prisoner, examining the treatment and conduct of prisoners, inquiring into all abuses or
alleged abuses within the prison or in connection with it, inquiring into any matter referred to
him or her by the chief executive, taking evidence on oath or otherwise, determining, dealing
with offences against discipline in accordance with this Act 2004 and any regulations made
under this Act 2004 and reporting in writing to the chief executive on any of the matters
referred to in the above or on any other matters related to the prison, as often as the Visiting
Justice considers appropriate, and whenever requested to do so by the chief executive.
Furthermore, Visiting Justice also have power to extend the period of detention in a
police jail and the power to extend the period of segregation for purposes of security, good
order or safety.

Correctional Centres Act 1952 No 9 (New South Wales)

Visiting Justices in the New South Wales is governed by the Correctional Centres Act
1952 No 9 (hereinafter referred as ‘the Act No 9’). The Chief Magistrate shall appoint a
Visiting Justice for each correctional centre and he or she may visit the correctional centre at
any time he or she thinks fit. The Visiting Justice may and shall inquire into and report to the
Minister or the Commissioner upon any matter relating to the security, good order, control or
management of the correctional centre in respect of which he or she is appointed.
 601

According to section 26 of the Act No 9, the governor of a correctional centre who has
charged an inmate with a correctional centre offence may refer the charge to a Visiting
Justice for hearing and determination. The correctional centre offences as provided under
section 23 includes:
a) a contravention (whether by act or omission) of a specified provision of the
regulations by an inmate or any other act or omission by an inmate if it occurs while
the inmate is within a correctional centre or correctional complex or is deemed to be
in the custody of the governor of a correctional centre,
b) an act or omission may be declared to be a correctional centre offence even though it
constitutes an offence against this or any other Act or any other law.
The governor of a correctional centre or the Visiting Justice for a correctional centre
has the right to hear and determine any correctional charge even though the offence was
committed or was alleged to have been committed while the inmate was within another
correctional centre or correctional complex or in the custody of the governor of another
correctional centre.
The Visiting Justice have the right to transfer proceedings to the Visiting Justice for
another correctional centre to which the inmate has been transferred as provided under
section 26A of the Act No 9. After hearing a charge referred under section 26, a Visiting
Justice is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the allegation against the inmate has been
proved, the Visiting Justice may impose one (but not more than one) of the following
penalties:
(a) reprimand and caution,
(b) deprivation of specified amenities or privileges for a period not exceeding 56 days
(being amenities or privileges of a kind prescribed by the regulations for the purposes
of this paragraph),
(c) confinement to a cell for a period not exceeding 28 days, with or without deprivation
of amenities or privileges as referred to in paragraph (b),
(d) cancellation of any rights to specified payments under section 20 (3) of this Act No 9
where the Commissioner may, out of moneys provided by Parliament for the purpose
and subject to the regulations, make payments to inmates for any reasons (including
for work done), for a period not exceeding 14 days, but only where those payments
are bonus or other payments additional to the payments made at the base rate to all
or any class of inmates,
(e) the extension, by a period that does not exceed 28 days, of each minimum or fixed
term (within the meaning of the Sentencing Act, 1989, (New South Wales) to which
the inmate is subject (other than a term which is cumulative and which has not
commenced).
If, after hearing a charge referred under section 26 of the Act No 9, a Visiting Justices
is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the allegation has been proved but is of the
opinion that a penalty should not be imposed, the Visiting Justice may dismiss the charge.
According to Section 26H of the Act No 9, the decision of a Visiting Justice in
proceedings in relation to a correctional centre offence shall be deemed to be the decision of
a court in relation to a criminal offence for the purpose of determining whether criminal
proceedings may be brought for the same act or omission that constituted the correctional
centre offence.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The paper shows that there are areas for improvement in the existing legislation and
regulations in Malaysia. The law needs to be updated so that it will be in tandem with the
current international development.
The legislatives regimes governing prisons in England and Malaysia reflect the
different political, penal and constitutional landscapes of each country. There is a significant
difference between England and Malaysia in terms of the body of special rights which
 602

prisoners can seek to claim and the principles upon which these rights might be founded.
Monitoring and informal grievance mechanisms are a successful and crucially important part
of the accountability landscape in England. For instance, the Prisons Inspectorate and
Ombudsman which is not been practiced in Malaysia have significantly utilized their role to
advance standards and fairness in prisons. The recent reform of Boards of Visitors and the
proposals to place the Ombudsman’s office on a statutory footing are particularly
encouraging. With a new rebranding of Boards of Visitors, ‘Independent Monitoring Board’
and a National Council was set up to lead, support and guide Boards towards greater
effectiveness. Independent Monitoring Boards act as independent observers of all aspects of
the prison regime and as such have free access at all times to the prison to which they are
appointed.
In Singapore, the role and responsibilities of the Board of Visiting Justices are not
only limited to visit and checking the welfare of the prisoners at the prison, but they also
have power to hear, try and dispose aggravated prison offences such as mutiny, escape or
attempt to escape, assault, destruction of prison property or causing harm to himself and
other minor offences. The Board of Visiting Justices may impose punishment if he is satisfies
after due inquiry was made. They may impose one or more punishment provided under
section 74(2) of Prison Act- Revise Edition 2000 (Singapore). In addition, the Board of
Visiting Justices also has power to summon witnesses and administer oaths. The Board also
has to be in relation to persons detained in reformative training centers.
In respect of Australian legislatives regime, where the Visiting Justices are appointed
from persons who are magistrates or justice of the peace, the Board has to attend prisons to
dispose prison offences which are aggravated offences or minor offences committed by the
prisoners. The hearing will be done in a court of summary jurisdiction or inquire into and
determine the charge as minor prison offences. The Visiting Justice may impose one or
more punishment under section 78 of Prison Act 1981 (Australia). In circumstances where it
is inexpedient to impose penalty under section 78 (1) of Prison Act 1981 (Australia), the
visiting justices may impose or more penalties under section 77 of Prison Act 1981
(Australia).
The Board of Visiting Justices play an important role in New Zealand’s justice
system. They have the authority to hear charges and appeals relating to offences against
prison discipline, the treatment and conduct of prison inmates and to inquire into alleged
abuses in prisons. The New Zealand Board of Visiting Justices also review decisions to
detail a prisoner in a police jail, to segregate a prisoner or to use mechanical restraints on a
prisoner. Matters deemed too serious to be dealt with in that forum are sent before the Board
of Visiting Justices, Justices of the Peace or lawyers who visit the prisons and preside over
formal internal courts. The justices have the power to impose harsher sentences - up to 15
days’ cell confinement, three months’ loss of privileges or loss of earnings or reparation up to
$500.
There are not many differences between Board of Justices in New Zealand and New
South Wales. The Board of Justices in New South Wales have the right to hear and
determine any correctional charge even though the offence was committed or was alleged to
have been committed while the inmate was within another correctional centre or correctional
complex or in the custody of the governor of another correctional centre. The Visiting
Justices in one correctional centre have the right to transfer proceedings from one
correctional centre to another correctional centre which the inmate has been transferred.
The decision of a Visiting Justices in proceedings in relation to a correctional centre offence
shall be deemed to be the decision of a court in relation to a criminal offence for the purpose
of determining whether criminal proceedings may be brought for the same act or omission
that constituted the correctional centre offence.
From the above discussion, there are various practices and mechanisms of Board of
Visiting Justices under international legal frameworks. The paper would like to suggest for
those who are interested to embark on further study relating to the Board of Visiting Justices
to look into the possibility of unifying and harmonising statutory provisions in the statutes
with the international legal framework.
 603

REFERENCES

Buku Panduan Lembaga Hakim Pelawat, Bahagian Pengurusan Banduan Ibu Pejabat
Penjara Malaysia

Correctional Centres Act 1952 No 9 (New South Wales)

Corrections Act 2004 (New Zealand)

Home Office Minister, Hilary Benn speaking at the launch of the Independent Monitoring
Boards, retrieved from www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs/imbprlaunch.pdf)

Liora Lazarus (2004) Contrasting prisoners’ rights: A comparative examination of England

and Germany. (1st ed.) United States: Oxford University Press

Prison (Amendment) Act 2008

Prison Act 1952 (United Kingdom)

Prison Act 1981 (Australia)

Prison Act 1995

Prison Act- Revise Edition 2000 (Singapore)

Prison Regulations 2000

Steve Gravett (2003) Coping with prison. (1st ed.) Great Britain: SAGE Publications.

Website: http://www.imb.gov.uk/members/reference-books.html
 604

Konsep Mengarusperdanakan Gender: Kajian Wanita dalam

Pekerjaan di Malaysia

Azizan Binti Zainuddin (PhD)

Universiti Teknologi MARA Selangor
azizan_zainuddin@salam.uitm.edu.my

Kartini Khalid @ Aboo Talib (PhD)

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
k_khalid@ukm.edu.my

ABSTRAK

Kajian ini memfokuskan perbincangan terhadap faktor-faktor yang menyumbang terhadap

penglibatan wanita dalam pekerjaan dengan mengambilkira pelaksanaan strategi
mengarusperdanakan gender yang diaplikasikan dalam Dasar Wanita Negara serta
kesannya terhadap wanita dalam sektor pekerjaan. Konsep yang diperkenalkan
berdasarkan perspektif feminisme ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan penglibatan wanita
khususnya dalam pekerjaan. Sebelum ini wanita dalam sektor pekerjaan dilihat agak
terpinggir daripada arus pembangunan negara. Walau bagaimanapun pengadaptasian
konsep ke dalam dasar negara dilihat kurang memberi impak positif kepada wanita dalam
sektor pekerjaan. Tren penglibatan wanita dalam sektor ini khususnya di peringkat
pembuatan keputusan sektor awam dilihat masih lemah. Justeru itu bagi menjawab
persoalan kajian, kaedah berbentuk kualitatif dengan teknik temubual secara mendalam
telah diaplikasikan dalam kajian ini. Seramai 28 orang informan telah dipilih berdasarkan
persampelan purposive. Informan adalah di kalangan wanita yang mempunyai pengalaman
serta pengetahuan khusus mengenai isu yang dibincangkan. Hasil kajian mendapati
terdapat dua faktor utama yang menghambat penglibatan wanita dalam pekerjaan di
Malaysia iaitu diskriminasi secara halus terhadap wanita serta fasiliti penjagaan anak yang
tidak praktikal. Kajian turut mendapati faktor-faktor halangan terhadap penglibatan wanita
dalam sektor pekerjaan di sektor awam khususnya di peringkat pembuatan keputusan
sangat signifikan dengan paradigma masalah yang berstruktur khususnya daripada aspek
patriarkal. Perbincangan terperinci mengenai kajian dilanjutkan dalam artikel ini.

Kata kunci: Mengarusperdanakan gender, Wanita, Pekerjaan, Dasar Wanita Negara,

Patriarkal

PENGENALAN

Sumbangan wanita dalam sektor ekonomi, khususnya pekerjaan tidak dapat dinafikan
telah memberi impak yang besar terhadap perkembangan ekonomi negara. Adalah
diandaikan bahawa dengan peningkatan tenaga kerja wanita di Malaysia ianya akan dapat
meningkatkan KDNK negara sebanyak 0.4 peratus setiap tahun (Su Lyn 2014). Maka,
dalam situasi ini dilihat peranan wanita dalam sektor pekerjaan adalah sangat signifikan.
Dalam usaha memperkasakan wanita dalam sektor pekerjaan pelbagai usaha telah
ditunjukkan oleh kerajaan antaranya inisiatif-inisiatif dalam membuka ruang yang lebih
fleksibel kepada wanita supaya sumbangan mereka turut dapat disalurkan bagi tujuan
pembangunan negara (Zilman 2016; United Nations Development Programme 2014; Duflo
2012; Zhu, Khan dan Muhammad IIyas 2012; Kartini 2009). Komitmen antarabangsa yang
menuntut penglibatan Kerajaan Malaysia antaranya Pelan Tindakan Beijing 1995,
Konvensyen Penghapusan Segala Bentuk Diskriminasi terhadap Wanita (CEDAW) serta
beberapa siri Konvesyen Wanita Antarabangsa yang bermula pada tahun 1970an telah
 605

membantu meningkatkan kesedaran masyarakat secara umum bahawa peranan wanita

dalam sektor pekerjaan tidak lagi boleh dipandang sepi (United Nations 2016). Kesedaran
ini sangat penting kerana wanita dilihat sangat statik kedudukan mereka, malah sering
dipandang rendah atas alasan aktiviti reproduktif serta pekerjaan domestik yang menyekat
peluang wanita untuk maju dalam pelbagai sektor.
Tindakan kerajaan untuk menyemak semula Dasar Wanita Negara (DWN) pada tahun
2009 telah memperlihatkan kesungguhan kerajaan bagi mengubah posisi wanita dalam
sektor ekonomi menjadi lebih baik. Dalam usaha tersebut satu strategi telah diadaptasikan
ke dalam dasar yang disemak iaitu strategi mengarusperdanakan gender. Ianya merupakan
satu konsep yang diperkenalkan di peringkat antarabangsa bertujuan untuk mengambil kira
keperluan wanita dan lelaki dalam setiap dasar yang dibentuk. Rentetan itu pelbagai usaha
telah digiatkan untuk merealisasikan strategi tersebut supaya kepentingan wanita dan lelaki
diletakkan secara seimbang dalam setiap dasar yang dilaksanakan. Walau bagaimanapun
berdasarkan laporan guna tenaga 2015, jumlah penduduk wanita yang bekerja adalah
seramai 5,514,000 manakala bilangan lelaki adalah 8,772,000 (Jabatan Perangkaan 2016).
Dalam laporan yang sama bilangan wanita yang memegang jawatan sebagai pengurus
adalah 163,000 orang berbanding lelaki 597,000. Manakala pekerja sokongan dan
perkeranian, wanita adalah seramai 900,800 orang dan lelaki hanya 337,4000. Perbezaan
yang ketara ini jelas menunjukkan bahawa penglibatan wanita dalam sektor pekerjaan
khususnya di peringkat pembuatan keputusan masih lemah.

Jadual 1 Guna Tenaga Mengikut Gender (2010-2020)

Tahun
Gender 2010 2015 2020
Wanita 46.8 54.5 59.0
Lelaki 79.3 80.3 80.8
Sumber: Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia 2016

Berdasarkan Jadual 1, terdapat peningkatan terhadap penglibatan wanita dalam

sektor pekerjaan pada tahun 2015, manakala tahun 2020, Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia
mengandaikan penglibatan wanita akan semakin meningkat. Namun kedudukan wanita di
peringkat pembuatan keputusan belum lagi dapat diterjemahkan mengikut bilangan yang
dinyatakan kerana kebanyakan wanita lebih ramai berada di posisi sokongan. Kelemahan ini
menyukarkan wanita untuk menyuarakan keperluan serta kehendak mereka ke peringkat
yang lebih tinggi. Persoalannya apakah faktor-faktor yang menyumbang kepada keadaan ini
dan sejauhmana konsep mengarusperdanakan gender yang diaplikasikan dalam Dasar
Wanita Negara dilaksanakan. Justeru itu, kajian ini membincangkan faktor-faktor yang
menyumbang kepada penglibatan wanita yang lemah dalam sektor pekerjaan dan adakah
strategi mengarusperdanakan gender berjaya dilaksanakan di Malaysia.

METODOLOGI

Kaedah yang digunakan dalam kajian ini adalah kualitatif, berbentuk deskriptif dan
explanatory. Ini adalah kerana kajian kualitatif menyediakan satu deskripsi dan analisis
berkualiti yang melibatkan pengalaman langsung individu (Marvasti 2004). Kajian ini
menggunakan kaedah temubual secara intensif serta analisa dokumen-dokumen yang
berkaitan dengan kajian bagi mengkaji pelaksanaan mengarusperdanakan gender dalam
dasar wanita negara khususnya sektor pekerjaan. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah
persampelan purposive dalam memilih informan. Seramai 28 orang informan telah dipilih
dan terdiri di kalangan mereka yang mempunyai pengalaman serta pengetahuan khusus
mengenai isu yang dibincangkan. Teknik persampelan ini dipilih kerana ia melibatkan
populasi daripada kumpulan yang terhad dan setiap sampel yang dipilih adalah unik.
 606

Informan yang ditemubual terdiri daripada mereka yang terlibat dalam isu-isu yang berkaitan
dengan wanita.

KONSEP MENGARUSPERDANAKAN GENDER DI MALAYSIA

DEFINISI

Konsep mengarusperdanakan gender adalah satu konsep yang dipopularkan di

peringkat antarabangsa yang bertujuan untuk menilai implikasi perancangan terhadap
wanita dan lelaki di setiap peringkat. Ia dilihat sebagai satu strategi yang mengambilkira
perspektif wanita dan lelaki di dalam semua peringkat pelaksanaan, pemantauan dan
penilaian sesebuah dasar dan program di setiap aspek politik, ekonomi dan masyarakat
dengan harapan supaya wanita dan lelaki menerima faedah yang sama (United Nations
2003). Kajian-kajian yang telah dijalankan oleh sarjana-sarjana di barat memperlihatkan
bahawa konsep mengarusperdanakan gender ini adalah satu pendekatan yang dibentuk
untuk mengubah status quo serta membantu memperkasakan wanita (Tiessen 2007; Jahan
1996; Krizsán dan Zentai 2006).
Konsep ini terhasil daripada pengenalan pendekatan-pendekatan serta strategi
terdahulu yang bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kemajuan wanita dalam sektor pembangunan
(United Nations 2001). Usaha pertama yang diperkenalkan bagi tujuan tersebut telah
mengasingkan wanita sebagai sasaran dalam aktiviti pembangunan. Malah usaha lain yang
dilaksanakan menunjukkan hasil yang positif tetapi hanya memberi faedah kepada segelintir
wanita sahaja. Pendekatan ini dilihat tidak dapat menangani halangan struktural bagi
mencapai kesaksamaan gender. Pada tahun 1970an berlaku perubahan dalam pendekatan,
wanita diintegrasikan dalam aktiviti yang dijalankan berbanding sebelum ini mereka
dilabelkan sebagai sidelines atau dipinggirkan daripada pembangunan. Dalam usaha ini
objektif utama adalah untuk melibatkan wanita tanpa mengambil kira sumbangan,
pengetahuan, keutamaan serta keperluan mereka. Kelemahan yang ada pada inisiatif
integrasi ini telah membawa kepada pengenalan satu lagi pendekatan baru pada tahun
1980an iaitu strategi mengarusperdanakan yang bermatlamat untuk meletakkan
kesaksamaan gender sebagai keutamaan dalam semua aktiviti pembangunan dengan
membawa perubahan kepada dasar, program dan lain-lain aktiviti yang berkaitan (United
Nations 2001).
Mandat untuk strategi mengarusperdanakan gender yang berasal daripada Pelan
Tindakan Beijing 1995 telah diperkukuhkan sebagai strategi global yang utama bagi
menggalakkan kesaksamaan gender dalam dua belas bidang kritikal yang dinyatakan dalam
pelan tersebut. Mengarusperdanakan gender menurut definisi Majlis Ekonomi dan Sosial
Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu (ECOSOC) adalah:
“...The process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action,
including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for
making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the
design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all
political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and
inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality...”
(United Nations 2001).
Berdasarkan definisi di atas, strategi ini mengambil kira perspektif kesaksamaan
gender dalam analisa, pengumpulan data dan lain-lain akiviti bagi memastikan proses
strategi mengambil kira sumbangan, keutamaan dan keperluan wanita dan lelaki. Usaha
untuk melaksanakan strategi mengarusperdanakan gender perlu digalas oleh peringkat
atasan kerajaan dan lain-lain organisasi iaitu pendekatan top down (United Nations 2011;
Mehra & Gupta 2006; Moser & Moser 2005; Krizsán & Zentai 2006).

Mengarusperdanakan Gender Dalam Dasar Wanita Negara

 607

Semakan kandungan DWN 2009 yang meletakkan strategi mengarusperdanakan

gender sebagai asas pelaksanaan menunjukkan terdapat beberapa perubahan telah dibuat
untuk penambahbaikan kepada dasar yang sedia ada. Malah ia merupakan salah satu
inisiatif yang ditunjukkan oleh Malaysia dalam menyokong perjuangan wanita peringkat
nasional dan antarabangsa. Walau bagaimanapun, semakan semula DWN 2009 ini telah
mendapat reaksi dari beberapa aktivis wanita di antaranya, Ivy Josiah Pengarah Eksekutif
Pertubuhan Pertolongan Wanita (WOA) berpendapat (anon. 2009):

“Dasar ini dibuat berdasarkan input yang diperolehi dari cadangan jawatankuasa
CEDAW serta penglibatan NGO dan golongan akademik yang memperjuangkan
hak-hak wanita. Ia harus dibentangkan secara umum supaya lebih mudah difahami
oleh semua peringkat wanita di dalam atau luar bandar” (anon. 2009).

Manakala Sharifah Maslahah Abdul Hamid (anon. 2009) dari Pertubuhan Jamaah
Islah malaysia (jim) berpendapat bahawa:

“Pindaan yang dibuat perlu sejajar dengan hak dan keperluan wanita islam moden
malaysia masa kini. Langkah pelaksanaan dasar itu perlu dipantau agar tidak ada
pihak yang menyalahgunakan dasar tersebut untuk kepentingan sendiri dan yang
penting pelaksanaannya tidak bertentangan dengan hukum dan ajaran Islam” (anon.
2009)

Berdasarkan pendapat aktivis-aktivis di atas, terdapat tiga isu yang diberi perhatian
iaitu pertama, bahawa dasar wanita ini perlu disampaikan kepada umum supaya ianya boleh
dimanafaatkan oleh semua wanita tanpa terkecuali, isu kedua adalah isu pemantauan dasar
iaitu satu mekanisma pengukuran perlu diwujudkan agar penyelewengan tidak berlaku dan
usaha mencapai kesaksamaan dapat diperolehi. Isu terakhir adalah dari aspek pelaksanaan
dasar yang dikaitkan dengan sensitiviti agama dan agama islam merupakan agama rasmi
negara dan segala pelaksanaan dasar perlu diteliti supaya tidak tersasar dari hukum Islam
yang telah ditetapkan.
Walaupun isu-isu yang dikemukakan oleh aktivis-aktivis di atas adalah satu proses
yang akan mengambil masa yang agak lama untuk direalisasikan, namun impak
pelaksanaan strategi mengarusperdanakan gender yang dijadikan sebagai asas kepada
dasar wanita negara di peringkat ini telah mendapat reaksi daripada informan-informan
berikut yang merupakan aktivis-aktivis wanita yang lantang menyuarakan isu wanita di
Malaysia:

I-20 “gender mainstreaming means gender must be part of the policy part of the planning
part of the thinking part of the doing nampak tak maknanya sekarang...” (ms2: b55-
56)

I-7 “theory gender mainstreaming is beautiful but when we talk about gender
mainstreaming don’t forget that the man has got to move consequently to into the
private. Kalau gender mainstreaming women aje move to public where the man is not
moving in..in terms of the mind set..in terms of the nilai or what not (sambil geleng
kepala dan ketawa).” (ms3: b86-89)

I-2 “when you talk about gender..in mainstreaming gender actually saya pun tak tahu to
what extend we have met gender mainstreaming.” (ms1: b23-24)

Informan di atas turut terlibat di peringkat awal pembentukan DWN berpendapat,

strategi mengarusperdanakan gender di Malaysia dilihat tidak dilaksanakan sepenuhnya.
Malah kedudukan strategi ini sama ada dalam dasar ataupun pelaksanaannya seakan tidak
pernah wujud. Informan berpendapat strategi ini hanya kekal sebagai teori yang menarik
namun gagal mengubah minda masyarakat yang kekal dengan keutamaan pemikiran
 608

patriarkal yang tegar. Malah informan turut mendapati institusi yang diwujudkan untuk
membantu pembangunan wanita tidak memainkan peranan yang sewajarnya khususnya
dalam meningkatkan pembangunan mereka dalam sektor pekerjaan.
Pelaksanaan strategi ini menuntut kepada pemahaman, perubahan serta komitmen
yang tinggi daripada pelbagai pihak dalam memastikan kejayaannya. Ia merangkumi
kesediaan masyarakat untuk menambah nilai kepada budaya yang sedia ada dengan
melihat bahawa wanita juga mempunyai kepentingan yang sama dalam membangunkan
negara dan sumbangan mereka bukan untuk dipertikaikan. pelaksanaan strategi
mengarusperdanakan gender perlu di dasari oleh aspek political will. Ini adalah kerana
strategi yang diadaptasi hasil perbincangan di peringkat antarabangsa ini memerlukan
sokongan sepenuhnya di peringkat kepimpinan atasan untuk direaslisasikan. Tanpa
sokongan yang kuat strategi pendekatan top down ini tidak akan berjaya dalam
pelaksanaannya. Impak pelaksanaan strategi mengarusperdanakan gender yang lemah,
turut memberi kesan kepada penglibatan wanita dalam sektor pekerjaan. Sub topik berikut
ini memfokuskan perbincangan terhadap faktor-faktor utama yang mencetuskan kekangan
kepada wanita untuk melibatkan diri dalam sektor pekerjaan.

PERBINCANGAN

Diskriminasi terhadap Wanita Secara Halus

Isu diskriminasi dalam sektor pekerjaan bukanlah satu isu baru malah perbincangan
mengenai diskriminasi telah mencetuskan fenomena terhadap kemunculan kajian feminis
yang merasakan bahawa mereka ditindas dalam pelbagai sektor kerana dominasi kaum
lelaki. Berikut adalah pandangan informan yang terdiri daripada wanita-wanita yang bekerja
dalam sektor awam tetapi mempunyai tafsiran yang hampir sama mengenai peluang mereka
yang terhad untuk ke peringkat yang lebih tinggi:

I-27 “macam ni la apa yang saya nampak kan kalau kata interview tu di jabatan lelaki dan
perempuan i rasa lelaki akan dapat kemungkinan besar la kalau takde lelaki yang
layak perempuan akan dapat tapi kriteria pertama yang they all tengok i rasa lelaki
dulu berbanding perempuan” (ms3: b66-68).

I-15 “cuma masa early perkhidmatan dulu saya cuak sikit because orang atas boss
banyak lelaki. Banyak lelaki saya rasa because dia lelaki dia naik pangkat dulu waktu
tu perempuan tak ramai pun jadi adapun yang atas bos ramai lelaki…” (ms15: b484-
486).

I-3 “but bila..bila dia interview they will asked you question yang very bias la kalau i
transfer you ke sabah macamana dengan family you?. And then satu lagi traditionally
the women will always be asked questions like how do you balance your career? But
man don’t get that kind of question” (ms17: b486-499).

I-24 “naik memang slow phase la lepas tu saya nampak pun perempuan macam tak de
yang di bagi macam fast track ahh orang lelaki ada dia bagi fast track kan ahh
macam tu…” (ms6: b169-171).

Berdasarkan kenyataan dan pengalaman informan wanita di atas ia jelas

membuktikan bahawa wanita masih berhadapan dengan situasi glass ceiling yang
mengekang kemajuan kerjaya wanita secara halus. Walaupun tindakan diskriminasi tidak
dimaktubkan dalam bentuk peraturan mahupun undang-undang namun daripada aspek
pelaksanaan untuk memberi ruang kepada wanita maju dalam kerjaya mereka dilihat sangat
sukar. Melalui kenyataan informan-informan, keutamaan kenaikan pangkat selalunya akan
diberi keutamaan kepada kaum lelaki, dan wanita hanya mempunyai peluang sekiranya
 609

tiada calon lelaki yang layak. Ini adalah kerana kebanyakan ketua jabatan didominasi oleh
lelaki yang cenderung untuk bekerja di kalangan mereka.
Keadaan ini memperlihatkan wujudnya satu bentuk struktur dalam memberikan
peluang kepada wanita untuk maju dalam kerjaya apabila lelaki didahulukan dalam setiap
keputusan yang melibatkan kemajuan kerjaya wanita. Sikap penemuduga yang mengajukan
soalan berstruktur dan berbeza antara calon wanita dan lelaki menunjukkan wujudnya
diskriminasi. Malah penemuduga turut mempersoalkan peranan reprodukif wanita sebagai
ibu dalam membuat keputusan kenaikan pangkat yang memperlihatkan sokongan yang
lemah terhadap kemajuan wanita. Kesannya wanita dalam sektor pekerjaan mengambil
keputusan untuk keluar daripada sistem pekerjaan bagi mengelakkan diskriminasi terus
dipraktikkan.

Fasiliti Penjagaan Anak

Faktor kemudahan penjagaan anak adalah salah satu punca mengapa penglibatan
wanita dalam sektor pekerjaan menjadi rendah. Malah kajian oleh lembaga penduduk dan
pembangunan keluarga negara (2016) turut mendapati bahawa masalah penjagaan anak-
anak adalah punca utama wanita menamatkan kerjaya mereka lebih awal. Walaupun isu ini
telah dibincangkan sejak berpuluh dekad yang lalu namun kajian ini telah memperolehi
beberapa respon menarik dan kekerapan corak jawapan yang hampir sama berdasarkan
temubual intensif yang dijalankan ke atas informan:

I-2 “Kita ni (senyap) support service for mothers you will find first of all why are so many
women dropping out of professional everyone you find professional dropping out
why? Now maid problem is a good excuse…(senyap)” (ms6-7: b169-180).

I-1 “Ahh tak cukup (hampir menjerit)..childcare tak cukup and then we talk about suruh
suri rumah keluar bekerjakan basic facilities tak ada. Kementerian-kementerian ooh
dia kata boleh bawak anak ke tempat kerja you ada tiga orang anak you naik
bas..you takde pengangkutan low income group tu you tak akan boleh membawa 3
orang anak mata dia belum celik lagi naik bas nak pergi tempat kerja…”(ms10: b279-
288).

I-11 “Child care in the work place tu dulu kita cakap dalam tahun 80an kenapa kita nak
child care in the workplace sebab kita nak bantu ibu-ibu menyusu. Sekarang ni dah
ada gadget macam-macam dah kan dah boleh pam susu, dah boleh tinggal susu
apa semua sebagainya kita dah move kepada satu konsep community child care.
Child care it must be in the community sebab budak tu takan terperangkap dalam
traffic jam…”(ms6-7: b169-180).

Melalui kenyataan di atas kebanyakan informan berpendapat bahawa inisiatif yang

dilaksanakan agak ketinggalan dan tidak praktikal kerana keperluan yang disediakan pada
masa kini mengambil kira keperluan 30 tahun yang lalu. Agensi kerajaan berkecenderungan
untuk melaksanakan taska di tempat kerja yang dibincangkan pada tahun 1980an dan tidak
mengikut keperluan semasa. Isu kelewatan ini turut dibincangkan oleh boneparth (1982)
bahawa dasar penjagaan anak adalah dasar yang berasaskan kepada permintaan. Ia tidak
pernah diiktiraf sebagai hak asas wanita yang bekerja tetapi lebih memberi kepada
penyelesaian sementara kepada masalah yang ada khususnya dalam isu kebajikan. Dasar
yang menghalang diskriminasi berdasarkan jantina dalam pekerjaan, pendidikan serta kredit
dirujuk sebagai satu dasar yang incremental. Fasiliti penjagaan anak yang kurang praktikal
telah menjadi halangan utama wanita yang berkeluarga untuk terus kekal dalam pekerjaan.
Harapan kerajaan untuk meningkatkan peranan wanita di peringkat pembuatan keputusan
dengan ketiadaan sokongan fasiliti yang menyakinkan dilihat semakin jauh. Wanita dengan
ciri mereka yang mengutamakan keluarga telah membuatkan mereka meninggalkan alam
 610

pekerjaan atau mencari pekerjaan yang lebih fleksibel dalam memastikan keselamatan anak
mereka tidak terabai.

KESIMPULAN

Situasi ini menunjukkan bahawa usaha untuk mengarusperdanakan gender

berdepan dengan kekangan nilai dan budaya patriarki yang terlalu menebal dalam
masyarakat terutamanya tentang gender dan pekerjaan malah wujud sifat sinergi antara
gender yang hanya melihat wanita sebagai golongan sokongan. Usaha untuk memajukan
wanita dalam sektor ini dipandang sebagai satu beban dan wanita tidak diiktiraf sebagai
rakan pembangunan yang boleh dibentuk untuk memantapkan pencapaian negara. Konsep
mengarusperdanakan gender yang diletakkan sebagai strategi dalam Dasar Wanita Negara
adalah konsep yang baik dan pengaplikasiannya pada asasnya dapat membantu
memperkasakan wanita di Malaysia. Malah garispanduan pelaksanaannya yang
dikemukakan oleh konvensyen antarabangsa CEDAW dan Pelan Tindakan Beijing telah
membawa harapan baru kepada wanita Malaysia dalam meningkatkan pembangunan
mereka di pelbagai sektor. Namun konsep mengarusperdanakan gender yang dilaksanakan
di Malaysia dilihat belum dapat membantu meningkatkan pembangunan wanita dalam sektor
pekerjaan kerana faktor penolakan yang menyumbang terhadap penglibatan wanita dalam
pekerjaan perlu penyelesaian segera.

RUJUKAN

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Boneparth, E. (1982). Women, power and policy. New York: Pergamon.

Duflo, E. (2012) . Women empowerment and Economic Development. Journal of Economic

Literature. 50(4):1051-1079.

Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia. (2016). Statistik Pekerjaan dan Perburuhan Kementerian

Sumber Manusia. Siri 7 Bil 1/2016.

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Development Review 35(4): 825-834.

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dependent?. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences 4(4): 193-
207.

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Hungary on the road to an enlarged Europe. Policy Studies 27(2): 135-151.

LPPKN. (2016). Laporan Penemuan Utama: Kajian Penduduk dan Keluarga Malaysia
Kelima (KPKM-5) 2014. Putrajaya: Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga
dan Komuniti.

Marvasti, A.B. (2004). Qualitative Research in Sociology: An Introduction. London: SAGE

Publications Ltd.

Mehra, R. & Gupta, G.R. (2006). Gender Mainstreaming: Make It Happen. International
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http://www.icrw.org/sites/default/files/publications/Gender-Mainstreaming-Making-It-
Happen.pdf

Moser, C. & Moser, A. (2005). Gender mainstreaming since Beijing: A review of success and
limitations in international institutions. Gender and Development 13(2):11-22.

Su Lyn, B. (2014, July 1). Malaysia’s Missing Women Workers. Malaymail Online.
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/malaysias-missing-women-
workers

Tiessen, R. (2004). Everywhere/Nowhere: Gender Mainstreaming in Development Agencies.

Bloomfield: Kumarian Press, Inc.

United Nation Development Programme. (2014). Study to support the development of

national poliices and programmes to increase and retain the participation of women
in the Malaysia labour force: key findings and recommendations. Putrajaya:
Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Komuniti.

United Nations. (2016). Economic empowerment. www.unwomenorg/net/what-we-

do/economicempowerment [1 Januari 2017]

United Nations. (2001). Office of the special adviser on gender issues and the advancement
of women. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/pdf/factsheet3.pdf [1 Julai 2013].

United Nations. (2003). Putting Gender Mainstreaming into Practice. New York: Economic
and social Commission for Asia and The Pacific.
http://www.books.google.com.my/books/about/Putting_Gender_Mainstreaming_Into.
Practi.html. [7 Disember 2012].

United Nations. (2011). Malaysia: The Millenium Development Goals 2010. Kuala Lumpur:
United Nations Country Team Malaysia.

Zhu, H., Khan, H.G.A & Muhammad IIyas. (2012). Challenges and risks faced by the
working women in government organizations: An insight from Asian Countries.
African Journal of Business Management. 6 (45), 11368-11374.

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2017].
 612

Housing Ownership Problems among Residents of Section 7 in

Shah Alam, Selangor
Noorlailahusna Mohd Yusof
Universiti Teknologi MARA
lailahusna@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Azni Syafena Andin Salamat

Universiti Teknologi MARA
azni_syafena@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Firdaus Ramli
Universiti Teknologi MARA
firdaus270@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Irwana Nooridayu Muhamad Hakimi

Universiti Teknologi MARA
irwana@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

According to Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of Needs, housing considers one of the basic
needs of human. Housing ownership is important to people because it will improve the
standard of living as it actually seeks chances or opportunities and hedge against financial
uncertainty. As the country go through the process of urbanization and industrialization, the
numbers of immigrants has increased in urban areas and they are one of the factors that
lead to the housing ownership problems as most of them come from the lower income
groups. High selling price, difficult to obtain bank loans, difficult to allocate 10 per cent
deposit, type and size of house, and location of housing are several problems faced by
people today in housing ownership (Ahmad Ariffian et.al, 2008). Therefore, cross-sectional
survey to test the hypothesis and questionnaires been distributed to 113 residents of Section
7, Shah Alam. Purposive sampling been carried out as the respondents are those who do
not own or afford to own a house. The result shows that there is significant relationship
between high selling prices, difficult to obtain loans, difficult to allocate 10 per cent deposit
with housing ownership. While the other two variables, type and size of house, and location
of housing has no significant relationship to variable.

Keywords: National Housing Policy, Housing ownership, Urban area

INTRODUCTION

Every single person nowadays has an intention to have their own assets. Assets
ownership will improve the quality of life as it actually seeks chances or opportunities and
hedge against financial uncertainty. As housing is one of the assets that people seek the
demand for housing keep on increasing. According to Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of
Needs, housing is one form of basic human needs beside foods and security. Housing has
become the largest single investment item of a lifetime to every person (Syafiee Shuid,
2008). The well-being of a country has reflected in its people as they enjoying a certain
standard of living when housing becomes major concern to everybody (Noraliah Idrus and
Ho, 2008).
As the country go through the process of urbanization and industrialization, the
numbers of immigrants has increased in urban areas and it became one of the factors that
 613

lead to housing ownership problems as most of them are low income earner. The process of
urbanization in history has changed the pattern of settlement as the immigrants create
squatters and slums just to meet their housing needs (Mohammed Razali Agus, 1990).
Datuk Seri Najib in his speech said that “Increased urbanization means that the number of
people facing financial pressures are increasing, and they need immediate government
intervention to help them solve the problem” (Karen. 30/11/2011, theSun). And the problems
emerged in housing ownership created difficulty for an individual to purchase their own
house. As the prices of housing keep on increasing, the value of the property or real estate
lead to this problem in urban areas (Mona, 18/2/2011, Berita Harian). Therefore, a study on
urban housing ownership has been conducted in order to determine whether high selling
prices, difficult to obtain loans, difficult to allocate 10 per cent deposit with housing
ownership, type and size of house, and location of housing has significant relationship to
problems faced by urban areas such Shah Alam, Selangor.

HOUSING POLICIES IN MALAYSIA

In order to understand housing demand and supply conditions in the city, a

policymaker is the one who realistically hopes to cope with the matters (Ingram, 2007). The
need of housing in Malaysia required the government of Malaysia to think about the issue
and give an attention towards it. Since Colonial Era, which means before 1957, Housing
Policy in Malaysia was formed with establishment of an agency that is Housing Trust
(Salfarina Samsuddin, 2001 and Ismail Omar, 2000). During this era, the government was
focusing on housing for the government servant which is quarters and resettlement of people
during communist insurgencies to the new village, to Felda scheme and the provision of
housing especially for low income groups in urban area (Syafiee Shuid, 2004).
After independence, the concept of public housing changed to the home owning
democracy where the government aims to provide housing for all sections of society
(Mohammed Razali Agus, 2001). The low-cost housing becomes a priority of the
government in Five Years National Plans and during this period, as the initial objective is to
provide housing as a component of social service, Malaysia’s first Housing Plan was
implemented (Ezeanya, 2004). Next, in the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Malaysia plan
from year 1971 to 1990 the housing programs had been specified in fulfilling the needs of
the poor in Malaysia during that time. New economic Policy (NEP) was introduced in 1971
after National Riot 1969 with the purpose to eradicate poverty and restructuring society.
Housing programs during this time been undertaken by both public and private sectors in
order to meet the people needs (Mohammed Razali Agus, 2001). On the other hand, in Third
Malaysia Plan (1976-1980) for example, in order to improve housing production and delivery
system, the government come out with initiatives in speeding up the plan processing system,
introducing new technology, introducing better construction management system as well as
through Special Low-Cost Housing Program (Parid Wardi, 1997). As the goal of housing in
the Fourth Malaysia Plan (1981-1985) is a continuation of the goal of the previous plan,
human resettlement becomes one of the initiatives carried out by the government in the Fifth
Malaysia Plan (Syafiee Shuid, 2004). In building human settlements, it emphasized that the
housing units are accompanied with better amenities like proper access roads, schools, and
other facilities instead of just equipped with basic amenities such as piped water, electricity
and flush toilets (Goh, 1997).
In Sixth and Seven Malaysia Plan (1991 to 2000), the government aimed to provide
balanced and equitable development for Malaysia (Ezeanya, 2004). Home owning for
various income groups has been highlighted in the Sixth Malaysia Plan (Teck, 2011). While
in the Seventh Malaysia Plan (1996-2000), low medium cost housing is introduced for middle
low income group who basically no qualified for low cost housing and cannot afford for
medium housing (Syafiee Shuid, 2008). Both Ninth (2006-2010) and Tenth Malaysia Plan
(2011-2015), focusing in ensuring all Malaysians especially those in low and low-medium
income groups have access to adequate, quality and affordable housing (Teck, 2011). Here,
 614

the chronologies of Housing Policy in Malaysia proved that the government of Malaysia has
taken a good action to react on the issue and problem of the citizen. According to Ingram
(2007), normally knowledge of how market allocate resources to housing, how homeowners
and renters bid for dwellings, how development and contractors respond to housing demand
and how government regulations and actions stimulate or constraint housing market activity
will lead to effective policy. We can see in every five years Malaysia National Plan, the
government has put it in to the plan on housing development to fulfil the citizen or society
needs. Recently, in Eleventh Malaysia Plan (2016-2020), government plan to provide a
better quality and environmentally housing to meet increasing housing needs among poor,
low and middle income households (EPU, 2015). Besides continuing the strategies, the
government through National Blue Ocean Strategy has initiated MyBeautiful Malaysia to
improve the quality and condition of low and medium cost housing.

HOUSING OWNERSHIP

Housing today has much wider significance in economy, social, cultural and personal
instead of just being a valuable asset (Kajimo and Evans, 2006). As the country aims in
achieving the status of developed country, the development of housing industry plays an
important role in supporting the increasing numbers of population. Day by day, the supply of
housing increased aligned with the people’s demand. Instead of renting the house, people
nowadays switch to housing ownership as it leads to a long term benefits. As a key to a
secure future, the majority of families in the developing countries such as Malaysia go for
adequate housing and related facilities. Parid Wardi (1997) mentioned in his study that, in
United States for example, housing considered as one of consumer item just like car and
television because they believe that the role and responsibility of providing house lies with
the hand of each individual. It differ with Eastern European countries where housing referred
to state responsibility in providing houses for the workers as it is a social right. In these
countries, the government actively involved in housing construction as it considered as
government problems. Housing in Malaysia on the other hand falls under both individual and
government consideration as it has linkages with national economy that may generate
economy activities and employment.
According to Khazanah Research Institute (2015) report, the state of Selangor has
been ranked third for urbanization level by state with 91.4 per cent of its population residing
in urban areas after the nation’s capital city Putrajaya (100%) and Federal Territory of Kuala
Lumpur (100%). In Selangor, the population has been increased from 1,426,250 people in
1980’s to 5,102,600 people in 2010 where 3,673,600 of them live in urban areas (Statistic
Department, 2010). The numbers has shown that the demand for houses also will be
increased as the population of the state is increased. People housing has become the main
issue in Selangor as one of the promises made by the current government through
Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor (MES) programmes is to spend all state funds for the
benefit of the people of Selangor (Malaysian Digest, 07/10/2014). According to Iskandar
Abdul Samad, Selangor State Housing, Building Development and Squatter Committee, up
to March 2012, 23,637 units of affordable housing have been built by the state government
(Lizawati, 2012). The Selangor State Development Corporation (SSDC) on the other hand
has planned to build 11,000 units of affordable housing from 2011 to 2016 (Nor Hanizan,
2015). As the Federal Government’ projects are meant for those earning RM 3,000 and RM
6,000, the state is targeting those earning between RM 2,500 to RM 5,000 aged 35 and
below with the selling price below RM120,000.
The government of Malaysia basically has addressed many issues on housing
ownership in the past and present. In urban areas for example, there is a gap in access to
housing for the middle income earners based on the feedback received from the public
(Sidek Hassan, 28/9/2011). Sidek added that the main problem in Malaysia is not the lack of
housing but it is the supply of quality of housing that bother the people. It is true as Bramley
(1994) in his study explained that housing affordability influenced by the levels and
 615

distributions of home prices, household incomes and the structure of financing cost.
Hulchanski (1995) also argued on the relationship between housing consumption and
household income toward housing affordability. This has been agreed by Gyourko and
Linneman (1993) as the price of a specified type of house and the income of specified
household types is compared over time. Therefore, further discussion of this study focused
on the problems faced by urban areas in housing ownership.

PROBLEMS OF HOUSING OWNERSHIP

In housing ownership, number of factors been identified to influence the ability of buyer
in housing ownership. The high price of the houses is one of the primary problems in urban
housing ownership. According to Rodney (2008), the processes where prices and
determinants of prices are formed can vary from place to place. For example, the report from
Khazanah Research Institute (2015) showed that the median prices for housing across
states in Malaysia exceed three times median annual household income threshold for
affordability. And to compare housing affordability based on area, areas like Terengganu,
Kuala Lumpur, Pulau Pinang and Sabah has severely unaffordable to the people. Basically,
there are five major reason why selling prices will continue rise which are cost of land,
materials and labor, interest cost, approval process and profit margin (Chan, 13/6/2011, The
Edge). Wan Nor Azriyati et.al (2010) also explained that as developers had to bear the rising
cost and intended sale price of property, without doubt resulting in higher price of housing.
According to Bank Negara Malaysia rule of thumb, the price of house that afford by buyers
should cost 1.5 and 2.5 times their annual income (Bank Negara Malaysia, 2003). Therefore,
if the price of house is RM 327,000, the monthly income of potential housing buyers should
be around RM 10,900 in fact the mean monthly gross household income of Selangor in 2009
is only RM 5,962 (Statistic Department, 2010). Salfarina et.al (2010) in their study found that
most of respondents feel that houses in urban Malaysia is too expensive and beyond their
ability. Susilawati and Armitage (2004) in their study also found that the ability to access
housing has declined due to constraints on income that is the prices of houses has not been
equally followed by rises in income. This findings been agreed by Ahmad Ariffian et.al (2008)
as the high in housing prices affect the housing ownership as it beyond people income. In
addition, the study also found that the price offered by the private developers is high to
Bumiputera even been given 15 per cent discount and due to developers speculation for
bigger margin. The increasing price of houses has lead problems to those who live in urban
areas the middle and low income groups especially. Normally, as the property value
increased the houses prices also increased. This is due to the areas that are fully equipped
with the facilities and become the main entrance to the high value business property (Mona,
18/2/2011, Berita Harian). Puteri et.al (2012), in their study even mentioned that if this
situation continue in the future, housing ownership is impossible for young people in urban
area.
In addition to irrelevant price of housing today, difficulty to secure loan from banks or
private institutions also become a problem as it normally depend on the total incomes and
expenditures of the households (Ahmad Ariffian et.al, 2008). Their unstable income, low
salary and type of occupation of the applicant also influence the process in securing end
financing (Azlinor and Nor Asiah, 2009). Quan and Hill (2008) explained that there are three
different ways to view housing affordability. The ways are purchase affordability, repayment
affordability and income affordability. According to Susilawati and Armitage (2004),
affordable housing is a measure of access which defined as being achieved if a household
can acquire use of that housing unit which is owned or rented for an amount up to 30 % of its
household income. As the Malaysian government applied the Sell-Then-Build (STB)
progressive payment system, it is banks that actually are financing the property industry
through loans to buyers (Chang, 11/2/2011, theSun). As consumers typically cannot meet
the large cash cost required to buy a house, financial institution play important role in
 616

providing the necessary end financing package to fit the consumers’ cash flow (Lawrence,
1997).
Another problem faced by most of people in housing ownership is in term of providing
10 percent deposit. According to Bank Negara Malaysia (2003), deposit or down payment
refers to an initial payment made by the buyer. In Malaysia, Chang Kim Loong, the honorary
secretary of National House Buyers Association (HBA), cautioned that “as a general rule of
thumb, if you don’t have the upfront payment of 20 to 30 % of the house price, don’t buy it…
Don’t be misguided; being able to afford is not the same as being able to maintain it”.
Meaning, housing buyers should be aware about the responsibilities before and after
purchasing their property (Yam, 2011). This is because; the buyers will not only have to bear
the down payment but also the monthly installment which may take about 30 years to settle.
Generally, before financial institutions release of loans they will require the first payment to
be made by purchasers and the sale and purchase agreement will then be signed (Ahmad
Zakki, 1997). Normally, those from low and medium income faced this problem as they lack
of having sufficient savings to make down payment of 10 percent for the purchase of
houses. Young generation on the hand faced problems as they are confused in choosing
their main priority between cars and house. Idris Haron (13/3/2011) in his interview with
Berita Harian explained that in order to own a house, they need to have about 10 per cent as
a down payment besides legal fees, processing fees and others which actually will affect
their daily transaction while there is no down payment required in purchasing car. Therefore,
most of them prefer to buy car even the price of cars and houses are almost the same.
In Malaysia, the government since colonial era has started to provide housing on a
mass scale for low-income people (Syafiee Shuid, 2004). However, the issues rose as the
size or physical condition of the houses is small to accommodate big household (Ahmad
Ariffian et al., 2008). Normally, those immigrants bring along the big household to the urban
areas and as most of them from middle and low income, they only afford the house with
smaller size such as single storey terrace houses, double storey terrace houses, flats or
apartments. In addition, income level also influenced the potential buyers to choose what
type of house they prefer. Ahmad Ariffian et.al (2010) found that most of the respondents
who earned less than RM 3,000 prefer to choose either single or double storey terrace
house. Therefore, people who are eligible to buy their own house should investigate first
regarding on the property area before own it (Mona, 18/2/2011, Berita Harian). It is good if
people can go to look after or survey the house that been display by the developers first and
at the same time get the assistance from both the developers and the financial institutions.
One of the main concerns that Salfarina et.al (2010) found in their study for house
buyers in urban areas is location. This is true as location of housing play important role in
determining the ability to access the good schools, jobs and social facilities (Gilbert, 2001).
In addition, Mona (18/2/2011, Berita Harian) and ISIS Housing Study Team (1997) also
mentioned that the location of housing that is near to the work place always been chosen
because it reduce the transportation cost. Most of Bumiputera respondents in Ahmad Ariffian
et.al (2008) study indicate that housing estates for them normally located at not strategic
area, away from the town area, affect other fictional cost and some of the units allocated are
not suitable in term of position of Kiblat for prayer. According to Mazlin and Anniz (2011)
study, there are 3 aspects can be relate to location. First, in term of geographical location, a
house that close to the city will be chosen mostly by people compared to the far one.
Second, the physical quality of the environment around the house such as in a quiet
condition will be more than one in noisy street. Lastly, in term of social quality of the
environment that would include the sense of belonging to neighborhood community. The low
cost housing program in Shah Alam for example was planned with social facilities and
provided with public transport service (Dasimah, 2008). This is because, the location for all
facilities shows the symbol of interaction between government’s effort and urban community.
However, a house that located in the central area may lead to situation of noise and high
pollution levels (Philhomes, 2012). Thus, before the buyers buy the house, he should
consider the location factor as life in a quiet subdivision, which is a little further away from
 617

the urban areas may offers a lot more room in peaceful surroundings, but this may require
longer travel time into the city.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In order to achieve the objectives of the study, data has been collected through cross-
sectional survey to test the hypothesis. Hypothesis testing has been carried out in order to
know the relationship between dependent variable, housing ownership, and independent
variables, the problems. Questionnaires had been distributed in order to investigate whether
the five problems influence urban housing ownership among residents of Section 7, Shah
Alam, Selangor where the sample frame are those from that group who unable or not afford
to own house. The population of Section 7, Shah Alam is 37,415 people (Planning
Department of MBSA, 2008). Therefore, 30 per cent of sample size (379) which is 113
respondents been identified as sample size (Sekaran and Bougie, 2009). By using
judgement sampling, those who do not own house, are in the best position to provide
information regarding on the problems influence the housing ownership because they are
the one who have gone through experiences and process in owning their own house, so
they are able to provide good data and information to the study.

FINDINGS

For demographic profile, majority of respondents are those age between 20 to 29

years old which indicates 60.2 per cent. Among them, 58.4 per cent of the respondents are
male and the rest 41.6 per cent are female. From the profile information, most of the
residents who live in Section 7, Shah Alam are Malay and single, as they represent 77.9 per
cent and 64.6 from total respondents respectively. For the working sector, 65 of respondents
work in private sector, 35 in government sector while another 13 in informal sector which
indicates 60.2 per cent are permanent and 39.8 per cent are contract workers. In addition,
majority of respondents just started to work where 28.3 per cent started less than a year and
another 38.9 per cent started last 1 to 3 years.In term of monthly household income, 26.5
per cent of respondents earned RM 1,500 to RM 1,999 and only 3.5 per cent earned below
than RM 499. However, 77.9 per cent of the respondents have saving while the rest none
and most of the household (54.9%) size between one to three person and live in high rise
flats (62%).
From the Pearson Correlation analysis, the finding shows that there is significant
relationship between high selling prices (p<.05, r=.193), difficult to obtain bank loans (p<.05,
r=.207), difficult to allocate 10 per cent deposit (p<.01, r=.502) with housing ownership. Even
the median multiple affordability for Selangor is 4.0 which is moderately unaffordable
(Khazanah Research Institute, 2015), the high selling price still been considered as one of
the problem because the competition among population in the area keep on increasing. In
addition, as the price of housing is increasing, the ability to obtain bank loans due to their
total incomes and expenditure of households (Ahmad Ariffian et.al, 2008), type of occupation
(Azalinor and Nor Asiah, 2009) and housing affordability (Quan and Hill, 2008) and to
prepare 10% down payment deposit due to lack of having sufficient savings to make down
payment (Idris Haron, 13/3/2011, Berita Harian) has influence the affordability of housing
ownership among respondents. While the other two variables, type and size of house
(p>.05, r=-.031), and location of housing (p>.05, r=.108) has no significant relationship to
dependent variable. For type and size of house, most of people today do not have enough
chances to make decision based on the type and size they prefer because their position
directly identify what type of house they afford (Ahmad Ariffian et.al, 2010) whereas most of
people will only value location as a problem if they need to bear the cost of transportation to
their workplace (ISIS Housing Study Team, 1997). Lastly, difficult to allocate 10 percent
deposit is the main problem face by the residents in Section 7, Shah Alam (p<.05, β=0.509).
 618

This finding can be relate to the respondent profile where most of them age between 20 to
29, just started to work and earned between RM 1,500 to RM 1,999. Therefore, the problems
of allocating 10 per cent deposit in housing ownership influence their decision.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, as the country aims in achieving the status of developed country, the
development of housing industry plays an important role in supporting the increasing
numbers of population. Day by day, the supply of housing increased aligned with the
people’s demand. Instead of renting the house, people nowadays switch to housing
ownership as it leads to a long term benefits. Therefore, the factors such high selling price,
difficult to obtain bank loans, difficult to allocate 10 per cent deposit, type and size of house,
and location of housing are the problems that need to be overcome by government in order
to fulfil the need of urban residents in housing ownership.

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 622

Selfie: Dealing with Today’s Narcissism

Juaini Binti Jamaludin
Department of Liberal Studies, Faculty of Art & Design, Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Merbok, Kedah.
juaini@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Abu Hanifa Ab. Hamid

Department of Industrial Design, Faculty of Art & Design, Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Merbok, Kedah.
hanifa762@uitm.kedah.edu.my

Mohd Hamidi Adha Mohd Amin

Department of Industrial Design, Faculty of Art & Design, Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Merbok, Kedah.
hamidiadha@uitm.kedah.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The word selfie appeared in the Oxford Dictionary in 2013. Its definition is a photograph
taken of oneself typically by a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media. For
scholars, selfie is a paradox but it is one of the most interactive ways to promote oneself,
especially for youngsters. In culture development, selfie is growing by the moment, moving
far beyond the clichéd province of bored teenagers online. With the technologies of camera-
enabled mobile phones worldwide, selfies have become a global phenomenon. Selfie can
easily influence people, and it creates thought and imagination to the audience. For this
research, the researcher aims to explore a perspective view on selfies. Other than that, this
research also discusses the words narcissism and satire and lastly, to determine selfie
towards youngsters.

Keywords: selfie; narcissism

INTRODUCTION

The term ‘selfie’ is defined as a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with
a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media as stated in the Oxford Dictionary,
2013 and became the ‘word of the year’ in 2013 as stated by Brumfield (2013). For the
young people, the act of taking selfies and overall usage of various social media platforms
are an integral part of life. With the existence of media, technology and internet, it has
changed the society and their lifestyle, especially for the young people. According to Croteau
and Hoynes (2014), McLuhan (1964) as cited by Jaslina, Azlili and Rahilah (2015) stated
that with the rise of electronic media, “we have extended our central nervous system itself in
a global embrace”. McLuhan (1964) believed that the rise of electronic media marked a new
phase in the human history.
According to Adamkolo (2015), a group of young Malaysians took 665 selfie photos in
an hour during the event on the country’s 57th Independence Day celebration, which took
place on the 31st August 2014 in Kuala Lumpur city. The trend of capturing your own images
or selfie has become a phenomenon of the new culture of the society. That culture has been
gaining popularity as of today, and not only for the attention of young children, but also the
adults and artists alike. Attention seekers and fun-catchers are often regularly taking selfies.
Generally, selfie has integrated into popular culture; it is fun and it fascinates the young
minds and also adults.
Selfie may be linked to mental and low self-esteem disorders. It may bring more
negative impacts than positive such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorders or Body
 623

Dysmorphic Disorders, or selfie obsession. Narcissism is typically illustrated as a tendency

to believe one’s self to be superior to others, to persistently pursue admiration from others
and to participate in egoistical thinking and behaviour as stated by Panek, Nardis, and
Konrath (2013) in Wickel (2015). Taking selfies and sharing photos on popular social media
platform like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are considered to be one of the biggest
contributors to the rise of narcissistic behaviour among young people.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Defining Selfie
Selfie is becoming a phenomenon of the 21st century, which is the act of sharing and
sending of amateur self-portrait photographs to social networking sites or SNSs. With the
rise of popular social media such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, selfie has been called
as a public display of connection and it gives people the opportunities to satisfy the need to
socially identify themselves with others with similar interests and often comprised of their
closest friends and peers.
Selfie as defined by Oxford Dictionary (2013) is a photograph that one has taken of
oneself, typically by smartphones or webcam and shared via social media. Adamkolo (2015),
Taslim and Rezwan (2014) have analysed selfie as a disyllabic word made up of three parts,
namely ‘self’, ‘i’, and ‘e’, which could simply mean, “a way to show the self as I see it”.
Meanwhile, Wrammert (2014) described selfie as a “digital self-portrait”’; however, Adamkolo
(2015), Wrammert (2014) saw it as primarily a result of mass media influences from the
West.
There are a lot of words that came from selfie based on Brumfield (2013); ‘helfie’ – a
photo of one’s own hair,’belfie’ – a snapshot of one’s own backside, ‘wefie’ – a selfie taken
while working out, and ‘drelfie’ – a photo of yourself when you are drunk, and ‘wefie’ – a
group selfie, also called groupie. According to Brumfield (2013), there are a few other new
vocabularies or words that are related to selfie which include ‘twerking’ – a photo of oneself
performing a body twist and a self-provocative dance, ‘sexting’ - one’s own photo while
undressed, as supported by Laurent (2014), ‘groupie’ – a self-snapped photo in a group and
selfie stick – a small articulated monopod accessory designed for mobile phones-wielding
photographers.
Selfie also can be described as a photographic object that initiates the transmission
of human feeling in the form of relationship, between image and filtering software, between
viewers and the viewed, and between users and social software. A selfie is also a practice –
a gesture that can send different messages to different individuals, communities and
audiences.

Defining Narcissism

Selfies are a prominent online culture that have been both criticized and advocated
by different parties. Selfies are vain, narcissistic, and attention seeking. Narcissism is
characteristically defined as an affinity to believed one’s own self to be superior over others,
to incessantly pursue adoration from others, and to participate in egotistical thinking and
behaviour as stated by Panek, Nardis, and Konrath (2013) and supported by Wickel (2015).
According to Carpenter (2012) in Wrickel (2015), it is important for narcissists to share their
experiences because they believe all of their followers and social networking friends are
genuinely interested in knowing what they are doing. It is supported by Wrickel (2015) that
social networking sites give narcissistic individuals the chance to keep the focus of their
profile’s content specifically on themselves. In doing this, they post status and update
comments and pictures that depict only themselves, and not others, which invest in their
self-interested nature.
Leary, Tchividijian and Kraxberger (1994) found that online self-presentational
concerns lead people to engage in behaviours that enhance their appearance to others.
 624

Experts argued that posting too much selfies on social media sites leads to narcissism and
others even argued that using social media in itself constitutes narcissism, lack of self-
esteem, and the most annoying habit on social media capable of leaning towards social
alienation of one’s friends and families as per discussed by Adamkolo (2015).

METHODOLOGY

For this survey, the researcher employed a quantitative research method. 300
respondents participated through convenience sampling for this research. Respondents are
university students from two universities which are University Technology MARA, Campus
Kedah and University Science Malaysia.
As for the instruments, a questionnaire was developed in conducting this research.
The items in the questionnaire include demographic and narcissism in social media.

Table 1 Questionnaire Protocol

Main Points Questionnaire

Demographic Your Gender: Female / Male
Your age: ____ years old
University:
Narcissism How often do you post selfies to social networking platforms?
How often do you check or update your online profile?
Assessed through the Likert Scale
Narcissism in social Do you determine a person’s social standing and popularity
networking based on how many likes or comments they receive on a photo
or status updated?
If you do not receive the amount of likes you had hoped on a
photo, will you take it off the social networking platform?
Does the potential for positive feedback and number of likes you
could receive on a picture encourage you to post your selfie to a
social networking platform?
Does posting selfies on social networking platforms help you feel
empowered and important amongst your family and friends?
Do you believe that the use of social networking platforms as a
way to maintain and build social relationships has changed the
way we as a society interact and perceive others?
Do you believe the young generation puts too much energy and
effort into creating an online persona for themselves?
Do you think that an online profile is a true depiction of who a
person really is?
Have you ever had an experience with a social networking
platform that boosted your confidence or made you feel good
about yourself?
Have you ever altered a photo of yourself as a way of making
yourself seem more attractive or desirable?
Assessed through a close - end questionnaire (Yes / No)
 625

FINDINGS

The results showed that there are 300 respondents involved in this research. The
demographic information of the respondents is explained in Table 2.

Table 2 Demographic Information of Sample (N=300)

Items Information n %

Gender Male 85 28.3

Female 215 71.6
Age 18-20 150 50
20-23 70 23.3
24-25 80 26.6
University UiTM Kedah 225 75
USM 75 25

The questions about their daily internet usage, specifically their daily use of social
networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, reported that almost 76%
respondents check or update their online profiles more than five times a day, followed by
those who check their profile four or five times a day.
Nearly all the respondents in this research reported that they determine another
person’s popularity based on how many “likes” or comments that person’s profile picture or
status update receives. Additionally, 86.7% of the respondents reported that they post
pictures of themselves to social networking sites for the sole reason of receiving “likes” and
comments from their online friends. However, only 8.5% of respondents expressed that they
have or would take a picture down from a social networking platform if they did not receive
enough feedback, and the majority of respondents which were 78.9% said that they would
allow the photo to remain on the platform.
For the close-ended questions related to narcissism and social media, the
researchers analysed and coded all the responses of the respondents who answered yes
and found the five common reasons where these participants believe that posting selfies to
social media networking platforms has increased narcissism and selfishness. When the
respondents share a selfie, they are addressing an audience and saying ‘look at me!’, and
the images they share depend on what they know and assume about their audience.
So, the acts of taking and sharing of selfies are subject to social rules and
conventions, which are likely to be interpreted in different ways by different people in
different contexts and to change over time. It is the same mode of communication used by
others to express themselves and show pride in who they are. In addition, there are those
who do it as a desperate call for help or to gain acceptance. They depend on selfies to
derive their sense of worth. This is what makes the respondents retake their photo twenty
times, then spend more time filtering the shots until they are satisfied with what they see.

CONCLUSION

This paper has discussed the exploring of a perspective view on selfies and
discussed the words narcissism in selfie. The young generation uses social media to
generate and maintain not only personal relationships, but also their own idealized persona.
With social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter being their main channel
for social interaction, it is not surprising to find that many young people feel the need to
present themselves in ways that attract the most attention from their friends and family.
 626

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research was financially supported by Research Excellent Fund, UiTM Kedah (Project
Number: 600-UiTMKDH(PJI. 5/4/1/25/15). This support is gracefully acknowledged.

REFERENCES

Adamkolo, M. I. & Elmi-Nur, H. (2015). Communicating ‘The Self’ through digital images:
gender bias and mental health risks associated with selfie use on social network sites.
Global media Journal – Malaysian edition, Volume 5, issue 2, p16-p35.

Brumfield, B. (2013), Selfie named word of the year for 2013. CNN. Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/19/living/selfie-word-of-the-year/

Croteau, D. & Hoynes, W. (2014). ‘Media in a changing global culture’. In: (ed),
Media/Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences. 5th ed. United States of America:
Sage Publication, Inc.pp.334

Jaslina Mohd. Tajudin, Nor Azlili Hassan & Rahilah Ahmad. (2015). Social Media Usage
Among University Students: A Study on Selfie and its Impacts. Global Journal of
Business and Social Science Review, Vol.1 (1), January-March 2015: 126-134.

Laurent, O. (2014). See how the selfie stick is killing the selfie. Time LightBox.

McLuhan, M (1964), Understanding Media: The Extension of Man. New York, McGraw Hill.

Panek, E. T., Nardis, Y., & Konrath, S. (2013). Mirror or Megaphone?: How relationship
between narcissism and social networking site use differ on Facebook and Twitter.
Computers in Human Behaviour, 26(5), 2004-2012.

Taslim, i. & Rezwan, M. Z. (2014). Selfie re-de-fined: self (more/less). Wizcraft Journal of
Language and Literature. Ii(iv), 1-8.

Tchididijian, L. R. & Kraxberger, B. E. (1994). Self-presentation can be hazardous to your

health: Impression management and health risk. Health psychology, 13(6), 461-470.
Retrieved from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/7889900/

Wickel, T. M. (2015), Narcissism and Social Networking Sites: The Act of Taking Selfies.
The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research Communications, Vol. 6, No.1

Wrammert, A. (2014). Selfie, dolls and film stars: A cross-cultural study on how young
women in India and Sweden experience the use of digital images for self-presentation
on social network sites (C-Level dissertation). Sweden: Uppsala University. Retrieved
from http://diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:721975/FULLTEXT01.pdf
 627

Impact of Librarian’s Leadership Styles on Job Performance of

Subordinates in Academic Libraries
Nor FamizaTarsik
Faculty of Information Management,Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
norfamiza@uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

This study aims to identify leadership styles of librarian in four university libraries in
Malaysia. The styles of leadership to be evaluated are transformational, transactional and
laissez-faire. Respondents of this study had also indicated the performance of subordinates
under them. The characteristics of leadership fall under transformational consist of charisma
or idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualised
consideration or individualised attention. The characteristics for transactional leadership are
contingent reward and management by exception which consist of passive and active. There
is no characteristic under laissez-faire style. This paper also seeks relationship between
leadership styles and subordinates’ performance. This study is self-assessed by the
respondents. Findings revealed that respondents perceive themselves practising
transformational leadership style more than transactional leadership or laissez-faire
leadership style. Based on the study, it indicates that the transformational leadership and
subordinates performance is positively and strongly correlated.

Keywords: Leadership style, transformational leadership, transactional leadership and

laissez-faire leadership

INTRODUCTION

The important element in organisation is the way for leaders to manage and motivate
their subordinates in order to reach their maximum potential, to be engaged, to squeeze
change and to make good technical decisions to achieve aims. Other than that, leaders
require to do more than just manage the daily operations of organisation. Leaders need to
guide and encourage subordinates to take on more ownership of issues and problems, to
think out of the box more to solve business concerns, and to demonstrate cooperation for
the good of the team and organisation.
Potential of leadership involves matching individual skill in handling task with
organisational need and building skills. Therefore, it enhances performance and it gives
challenge to individual strengths. Generally, positive leadership focuses on social influence
by influencing others to manage group, organisational and societal goals. Other than that,
the purpose is to motivate people to carry out shared vision. Consequently leadership
involves knowing oneself and relating effectively to others. Such leadership might exist at all
levels of an organisation or institution, not just with the senior management team.
Leadership is required in order to guide vision and focus on future planning that need to be
achieved.Leadership style is concerned with the initiation, organization and direction of the
actions of the members of a group in a specific situation towards achieving the objectives of
the group (Adegbesan, 2013).
Subordinate or followers usually received direction from leaders and in library
environment, subordinate received direction from librarian. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2001) also
discussed the relationships among leadership, subordinate and culture. For instance, Wu
and Stewart (2005) had explore the relationship between work-related cultural values and
expected leadership styles in Taiwan and the United States. The results of their study
 628

showed that all of Hofstede’s (1990; 2001) studied on cultural values are significantly
correlated with subordinates’ expected leadership styles.
There were some leaders who sometimes do not know to apply the suitable leadership
styles to their subordinates. Therefore, the leaders were unable to manage or encourage
their subordinates to perform well in doing their job. As mentioned by Wang and Su (2006),
the leadership as a very essential element that can never be over-flogged in management
research. The practicing of leadership between leaders and subordinates is becoming issues
whether subordinates is influenced by leaders or not.
Sometimes, subordinates did not act in response to any other leadership style hence,
subordinates go down their interest in their jobs. Other than that, House and Aditya (1997)
have pointed out that leadership research has ignored the organisational context within
which leaders work to the extent that a look at the literature might lead one to believe that
leaders work in a emptiness. Therefore, the problems of implementation become issues on
how leaders influence change the course of events and solve conflict in order to achieve
organisation goals. In addition, leadership is crucial in implementing decisions for the
organisation successfully. From all the above perspectives, this paper tries to explore the
leadership styles of librarians in Malaysian university libraries. The research questions put
forward are:

1. To determine the types of leadership styles of academic librarian as practised in

library management.
2. To determine the performance of subordinates.
3. To seek relationship between leadership styles and subordinates’ performance.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Leadership must be defined in terms of the ability to build and maintain a group that
performs in doing decision making for organisation. Moreover, leaders should be evaluated
in terms of the performance of the group over time and their leadership skills. The true
leaders really know their responsibility to give order and engage with subordinates in order
to adapt to situations. This means leaders are using the most appropriate style to suit the
people and circumstances at particular time. In addition, Burns (1978) stated that leadership
is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth.
As mentioned by Skansi (2000), among the determinants of job satisfaction, leadership
is viewed as an important predictor and plays a central role. Leadership is a management
function which is mostly directed towards people and social interaction as well as the
process of influencing people so that they will achieve the goals of the organization. In
addition, Gronfeldt and Strother (2006) view leadership as a process that fulfils group goals
and that changes the organisational culture.
Leadership styles of leaders cover many areas of styles which are showing in good
style or another one not so good styles. Frequently, the role of leadership is largely
determined by the culture of the organisation. Mosadeghrad (2003, 2004) stated that there
are several styles of leadership such as autocratic, bureaucratic, laissez-faire, charismatic,
democratic, participative, situational, transactional, and transformational leadership.
However, not everyone agrees that a particular style of leadership is result in the most
effective form of organizational behaviour. Meaning that, different styles were needed for
different situations and each leader needed to know when to exhibit a particular approach.
According to Jong and Hartog (2007); Kent, Crotts, and Aziz (2001), transformational
leaders are able to stimulate followers to see problems in new ways and help them to
develop their full potential and resulted in enhanced creativity of their followers. There are
four characteristics under this leadership:

• Charisma or Idealised Influence

• Inspirational Motivation
 629

• Intellectual Stimulation
• Individualised Consideration or Individualised Attention

According to Burns (1978), transactional leadership behaviours are found on an

exchange process in which the leader provides rewards in return for the subordinate’s effort.
In essence, leader– follower relationships were believed to be based on a series of
transactions or bargains between leaders and followers

• Contingent Reward
• Management by Exception

The laissez-faire leadership style is also known as the "hands-off¨ style. It is one in which
the manager provides little or no direction and gives employees as much freedom as
possible. Basically, this style looks simple and easy-going between leaders and
subordinates.
Leaders usually delegate task to subordinates and both need each other in organisation.
Leadership styles are also related to subordinates performance in doing task. According to
Yukl (2002), a follower’s attitude towards a leader is a common indicator of leader
effectiveness. Other than that, Hofstede (2001) also discussed the relationships among
leadership, subordinate and culture. In a high power distance culture, employees were afraid
of expressing their opinions to their supervisors and expect their superiors to act
autocratically. Sometimes, subordinates think that they are not excellence as their leaders.
Due to that, subordinates do not involve actively in communication process with their
leaders.
Other than that, Hofstede (2001) also discussed the relationships among leadership,
subordinate and culture. In a high power distance culture, employees were afraid of
expressing their opinions to their supervisors and expect their superiors to act autocratically.
Sometimes, subordinates think that they are not excellence as their leaders. Due to that,
subordinates do not involve actively in communication process with their leaders. Smith
(2012) noted that it referred to the effective response of the subordinates to his job. Job
satisfaction therefore is an important concern for all head libraries if they wish to have
satisfied subordinates. This means that satisfaction results from consequences of the
experience of subordinates on the job in relation to the provision of those things that they
consider important.
Riggs (2001) suggests that libraries will continue to undergo rapid change in the years
ahead. People who work in libraries will have to learn how to lead change and to live
positively with more ambiguity. Usually, leaders and subordinates should have exchange
relationship. Subordinates are rewarded due to the best performance and leaders give
punishment if the subordinates do not do what the leaders want. Lakos (2007) mentions that
supports creating a culture of assessment, is critical of libraries for recognising the value of
collecting and using data for planning and decision making, but failing to do so in a
systematic and effective way.
Muenjohn and Armstrong (2001) found that leadership influences employee satisfaction.
Employees were more satisfied if they feel comfortable with their leaders and they feel that
the leaders were good. This includes the way that leaders are able to motivate employees to
do a good job, striving for excellence or just taking action. According to Lord, Brown and
Freiberg (1999), they emphasised that leaders can impact many subordinates processes by
influencing their self-concept. As mentioned by Christian, Garza, and Slaughter (2011) there
were many researchers who valued the role of transformational leaders and their ability to
bring about feelings of passion and identification among subordinates.
 630

METHODOLOGY

The data was collected from four university libraries namely UniversitiTeknologi MARA
(UiTM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA),
UniversitiSains Malaysia (USM). The population of librarians in the four universities are 201
librarians. This study is self-assessed by respondents. A structured questionnaire was
developed by adapting the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) to obtain data for
this study. By performing self-assessments, future library leaders can better understand their
strengths and weaknesses and by the time a librarian becomes a director, he or she has had
extensive experience in all areas of management. Librarians advance as leaders so that the
pools for these positions are strong, not because the search process seeks leadership and
risk taking (Hernon&Rossiter, 2007).

RESULTS

Descriptive Statistics of Leadership Styles

The following sections present the summary statistics of each item in each of the two
dimensions which consist of leadership styles (transformational, transactional and laissez-
faire leadership), and subordinates’ performance. Descriptive statistic which involved mean
and standard deviation were analysed against the research variables.
Table 1 shows the mean values for all of the research variables are above the mid
value which is 3.0, thus entailing that respondent’s had practised transformational leadership
style ((M = 4.01, SD = 0.42). On the other hand, the lowest practised leadership styles as
compared to the transformational leadership style and laissez-faire leadership style (M =
3.73, SD =0 .57) namely transactional leadership style (M = 3.67, SD = 0.46).

Table 1: Mean Score of Variables

Variables Mean Standard Deviation

Leadership Styles
Transformational Leadership 4.01 0.41
Laissez-faire Leadership 3.73 0.57
Transactional Leadership 3.67 0.46

Subordinates’ Performance

To measure the subordinates’ performance, sections of the questionnaire

wereanalysed. The statements were evaluated based on strongly disagree (1), disagree (2),
somewhat agree (3), agree (4) and strongly agree (5). These are arranged in descending
order of the mean score. The result (see Table 2) shows that the overall mean score is 3.99.
There are 2 statements with mean score more than 3 but slightly below than 3, which
is, the subordinates need guidance (M=3.46, SD=0.79) and the highest mean score is the
subordinates need clear directions (M=3.74, SD=0.86). There other 2 statements with mean
score less than 3 (disagree) which are the subordinates are about lazy to do their task if no
attention (M=2.67, SD=0.94) and the subordinates do not know how to do their task
(M=2.09, SD=0.91). It can be concluded that the subordinates need clear guidance and
attention from their leaders.

Table 2 Subordinates’ Performance

n = 81
Variables Mean Std. Deviation
The subordinates need clear directions 3.74 0.86
 631

The subordinates need guidance 3.46 0.79

The subordinates are about lazy to do their task if no attention 2.67 0.94
The subordinates do not know how to do their task 2.09 0.91
Overall 3.99 0.46
Valid N (listwise)

Relationship between Leadership Styles and Subordinates’ Performance

In this section, the focus of analysis and discussion is on whether the three leadership
styles are correlated with subordinates’ performance with one another, and if so, what are
the directions of the relationships. A correlation analysis was carried out on the mean scores
on all the statements for the three leadership styles, transformational, transactional and
laissez-faire, and the summarised results are presented in Table 3 and Table 4.
Based on Table 3, the result of Pearson Correlation is highly significant at the 1%
probability level (p-value < 0.01). The Pearson correlation value between transformational
leadership style and subordinates’ performance is 0.86. This indicates that the
transformational leadership and subordinates’ performance is positively and strongly
correlated. The interpretation of this relationship is that on average, respondents who are
highly practising transformational leadership style are highly correlated on performance of
subordinates.

Table 3 Correlations between Mean Scores of Transformational Leadership Style and

Subordinates’ Performance

Subordinates’
Transformational Performance
**
Transformational Pearson Correlation 1 .86
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 81 81
**
Subordinates’ Pearson Correlation .86 1
Performance
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 81 81
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 4 shows the coefficient of correlation between mean scores of transactional and
subordinates’ performance and coefficient of correlation between mean scores of laissez-
faire and subordinates’ performance. The Spearman’s Rank Order coefficient of correlation
between transactional leadership style and subordinate’ performance is highly significant at
the 1% probability level (p-value<0.01). A positive correlation coefficient means on the
average, a respondent who gives a high score for a statement at the transactional leadership
will likely give a high score for the equivalent statement at the subordinates’ performance
and vice versa. The coefficient value between transactional leadership style and subordinate
performance is +0.66 is significant and positive as well as moderate.
The correlation coefficient between laissez-faire and subordinates’ performance is
significant, and at +0.272, is lower. This indicates that the laissez-faire leadership and
subordinates’ performance is positively correlated but the relationship is weak. The
interpretations of this relationship describe that a respondent who practise laissez-faire
leadership is likely to have low correlation on subordinates’ performance.

Table 4: Coefficient of Correlations Between Mean Scores of Transactional Leadership Style

and Laissez-faire Leadership Style and Subordinates’ Performance
 632

Subordinates’
Transactional Laissez-faire Performance
** **
Spearman's Transactional Correlation 1.000 0.345 0.658
rho Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) . 0.002 0.000
N 81 81 81
** *
Laissez-faire Correlation .345 1.000 0.272
Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .002 . 0.014
N 81 81 81
** *
Subordinates’ Correlation .658 0.272 1.000
Performance Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 0.014 .
N 81 81 81
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The findings of the current study found that librarians in Malaysian university libraries
tend to practise transformational leadership more often than transactional or laissez-faire
leadership. The librarians who practised transformational leadership more often than
transactional or laissez-faire leadership have the chances for success and achieve the
libraries’ goals. This study will give an idea for academic libraries to develop quality leaders
and develop teamwork between librarians and subordinates. Other than that, future
exploration can also study on performance of leaders and subordinates and the impact to
organisational achievement. It is important to know the relationship between leaders and
subordinates because it influenced the achievement of organisation.
Therefore, librarians need to continuously practise transformational leadership style
because according to Bass and Avolio (1997), this approach would encourage greater
commitment, loyalty, trust, and respect from employees and increase the overall
effectiveness of the organisation. Other than that, the libraries should give motivation and
acknowledgement in order to make them learn about their task. As mentioned by Robbins
(2003), job satisfaction is the degree to which employee feel positive or negative about their
job. It is an attitude that response to work itself, compensation, supervision, co-workers, job
security, and advancement opportunity.
Muenjohn and Armstrong (2001) found that leadership influences subordinates
satisfaction. Subordinates are more satisfied when their managers are good leaders. This
includes motivating subordinates to do a good job, striving for excellence or just taking
action. Therefore, it is important for librarians to apply the suitable leadership style based on
subordinates’ behaviour. In addition, librarians should know subordinates’ strength and
weaknesses in doing their job.
Lo, Ramayah, Min &Songan (2010) conducted the research on the leadership style
and organisational commitment as a mediating role of leader member exchange and
provide direction for further study; conflict can be reduce between the leader and
subordinate when culture reflect the employee values. Subordinates’ commitment with the
organisation reduces their intentions to leave the organisation and remains the part of
organisation to work with more effectively and loyalty (Pascal et al, 2011).
Respondents of this study had also indicated the performance of subordinates under
them. This is evidence through the ratings given to all statements measuring the
subordinates’ performance variable. Overall, subordinates need guidance from the leaders in
doing their task that have been given. Subordinates are more comfortable when they are
 633

supported and guided by proper leadership. A leader who is wise in delegating task and
engaged with subordinates on the other hand makes subordinates more accountable and
enhances the sense of belonging. The study has added some additional knowledge for a
better understanding on the preferred leadership style to be practised suitable with the
professional levels of subordinates. By using the results, leaders can adjust their style in
practical ways to enhance subordinates’ job performance, thereby increase productivity for
organisations.

REFERENCES

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Christian, M.S., Garza, A. S., & Slaughter, J. E. (2011). Work engagement: A quantitative
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Gronfeldt, S., &Strother, J. (2006).Service leadership: The quest for competitive advantage.
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Hernon, P., &Rossiter, N. (2007).Making a difference: Leadership and academic libraries.

Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.

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Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and

organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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Jong, J. P. J., &Hartog, D. N. D. (2007). How leaders influence employees’ innovative

behaviour. European Journal of Innovation Management. 10(1), 41-64.

Kent, T. W., Crotts, J. C., & Aziz, A. (2001).Four factors of transformational leadership
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Lakos, A. (2007). Evidence-based library management: The leadership challenge. Libraries

and the Academy, 7(4), 431−450.

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styles and organizational commitment in Malaysia: Role of leader-member exchange.
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Mosadeghard, A. M. (2003b). Principles of Health Care Administration.Dibagran Tehran,

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Management.Dibagran Tehran, Tehran.

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commitments to the organization, the superior and the colleagues, and the intention
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Riggs, D. E. (2001).The crisis and opportunities in library leadership.Journal of Library

Administration, 32(3/4), 5−17.

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Yukl, G. (2002). Leadership in organizations (5thed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall
 635

Measuring Public Libraries Facilities Performance using Repertory

Grid Technique
Salasiah M Said
Lecturer
salasiah@uitm.edu.my

Hasniza Hassim
Lecturer
hasniza@uitm.edu.my

Norhidayu Md Yatim
Lecturer
norhidayu@uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, the development of knowledge networks is increasing, in line with the information
demand by the library patrons. Hence, public libraries play an important role in providing a
great opportunity of library facilities and latest information sources towards the development
of public communities across the country. This study will illuminate that the existence of
public libraries are still relevant for the future even though the world is surrounded by the
sophisticated technologies. The previous literatures shown that many studies investigating
the libraries facilities performance in academic/universities libraries in the Library Science
literature but very few have attempted to explore the facilities performance in public libraries,
especially in northern region of Malaysia. In particular, studies focusing on this facilities
performance in Malaysian public libraries are still very insufficient. This study examines the
library facilities performance criteria on five aspects including space layout, lighting, support
facilities, other building features and supplementary facilities.

Keywords: Public Library, Library Facilities Performance, Repertory Grid Technique

INTRODUCTION

Public libraries play vital roles in supporting community informational, educational,

research and recreational needs. Traditional public libraries focus on providing variety of
information materials for local community and act as public information centre. The
development of technology had tremendously effect public libraries roles and functions.
Public libraries need to evolve in line with the technological change and making their
existence always relevant. Libraries in the digital age of today, not only physically as a space
for knowledge, but also a place for individuals or groups come together to explore, learn,
meet, interact, socialize as well as enjoy democratic access to resources and information
(Suhaila, Anuar & Haris, 2012). Public libraries functions had change from collection
centered to users focused space where public libraries become public places for knowledge
activities (Yi, 2016). Consequently public libraries building and design also affected. The
public libraries building interior design would also need some adjustment to support their
new function.
Demco Interiors (2015) state that the introduction of shared services, self-service and
e-book had complicating the design of a library and reducing space for storing printed books.
This showing the trend of public libraries of the 21st century where focus was given toward
interior space and services offered as required by users. It is very challenging work where
the planning building design process requires survey to gather adequate information from
various people including user, librarian and architect. Without gathering relevant information
 636

regarding space requirement as perceived by users would make the space provided fruitless
and wasted. This as stipulated by Anandasivam and Cheong (2008) the biggest challenges
public library face was to gain more teenagers and young adults going to the physical library.
Suhaila, Anuar and Haris (2012) mentioned that the reason Malaysian people were not
interested to visit library because of less attraction to visit, lack of facilities infrastructure and
less comfortable in interior space of that library. Additionally, according to Maimunah, Kaka
and Firnch (2008) not much research that investigate the customer as a basis for measuring
facilities performance within services environment. Hence, measuring public libraries
facilities are crucial ongoing assessment to know their performance through various
techniques. This is supported by Shepherd, Vardy and Wilson (2015) where they highlight
that the impact of public libraries on their users and wider communities could be measured.
Therefore, the study aims to investigate the facilities performance of public libraries
interior setting. It also will try to explore the physical interior environments through users’
perception and their needs. It also will improve the existing guideline and information which
was produced before by the National Library of Malaysia (PNM) and Malaysia Public Works
Department (JKR) in order to establish key criteria of libraries physical interior environment
to achieve base design; which study on user’s behaviours towards the interior environments
of public libraries building.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The study will review of the previous literatures in the field of library facilities
performance. The discussion will provide insight on the definitions of public library, the
factors of library facilities which regards to the interior settings includes lightings, furniture
and equipment, space planning and ambiences in the public libraries which persuade and
influence the users’ engagement to the libraries.

Definition of Public Library

Traditionally, libraries are known as the place or warehouse of bulks of books and the
other related collections. As rapid emerged of the technologies era, the nature and roles of
the libraries are continuously transformed and evolved. Saur (2001) stated that according to
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), (1999), a public
library is defined as the local centre of information, making all kinds of knowledge and
information readily available to the users. The services of the public library are provided on
the basis of equality of access for all, regardless of age, race, sex, religion, nationality,
language or social status. In addition to that, According to IFLA (Institute Federal Library
Association, (2008), a public library is an organization established, supported and funded by
the community, either through local, regional or national government or through some other
form of community organization. As for this reason, the public libraries now should be as a
platform that provides especially unique and exclusive facilities performance in terms of the
library interior design and settings that would imitate the library’s rationale and function
towards that particular society.

Library Facilities Performance

Previous studies shown that library’s physical environment can affect customers’
engagement towards the library. As a result, discovering user needs and preferences is a
must in measuring facilities performance. Library buildings should be “attractive, functional
and accessible and stimulate interest,” and they should be“designed for flexible use,
efficiency in operation and sustainability and accommodate library collections, resources and
programs which serve the identified needs of the community” (Australian Library and
Information Association, 2012, p. 19). Library’s facilities performance is one of the crucial
matters that have been constantly studies and discussed in order to construct a better
 637

design and magnetism to the patrons. McCabe & Kennedy (2003), point out that, a library
building must be attractive and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. This would take into
account the factors such as space planning, lightings (natural lighting or artificial lighting),
furniture and equipments, and interior ambience.

Lightings

In the earlier writings, researchers stated that lightings issue is one of the factors that
should be stressed on in providing a better physical setting in the libraries. Lighting can
control the libraries appearance. The selection of lighting is based on a standard comfortable
lux and luminance (Suhaila, Anuar & Haris, 2012). Day lighting is good for study and
intellectual writings or activities, but an artificial lighting may be outstanding for reflective
areas in the libraries intended to livelihood the cultural and art activities. The type of lighting
in the library is divided into two sub-categories, which are the functionality and the features
of the lighting. The functionality of the lighting in the library is related to the lights that support
visual comfort and which harmonized with its literary environment. In terms of lighting
features, the student preferred natural lighting from the window or glass wall rather than
artificial ones (Maimunah, Kaka & Frinch, 2008). Libraries also need to be furnished with
sovereign emergency and security lighting which powered on all the times, to support the
safe route for the duration of power failure even if the library is not in the operation time. A
professional lighting designer can produce a quality new look or replicate traditional lanterns
with better-than-original quality. Planners should take time to assure that lighting schematics
comply with state and local codes, and that new lighting complements both the facility and
adjoining areas (McCabe & Kennedy, 2003).

Ambience

The ambience of the library is also one of the critical factors to be emphasized in
providing comfortable and pleasant atmosphere in the library. Previous study in Brisbane
stated that the librarian needs to cooperate closely with an architect and the interior designer
to re-design and rebuild the library settings and make best use of the space available.
According to Bell (2008), cited that ambient influences include the non-visual sensory or
atmospheric aspects of a service setting, including sounds, smells, and temperature.
Ambient music, for example, can be used to create a pleasant background in a utilitarian
service setting, but this element would not be likely to strongly factor into a customer’s
patronage decision. Ambient influences work in tandem with the visual aspects of the
physical setting to create a complete interior environment (Suhaila, Anuar & Haris, 2010).
Thus, the constituents and textures which regards to the finishes on all side of the choice of
colors should be pertinent to the library wall, ceiling, floor and furniture.

Space Planning

The library building design is expected to support the needs of all the services
provided in the public libraries. According to Dahlgren (2009), the library’s space need is
about defining the library’s future service and resource inventory goals. One good way to
initiate a library building programme is to identify the library's space needs. He proposes that
planning library space for young adult library services is critical to meet the needs of this
rapidly expanding population. Yi (2016) said that a conversion from collection-centered to
client-focused space, seeing a library as a space, and the concepts of ‘open space’ affects
library building design. Public libraries cater the needs of all types of users. According to
Vandermark (2003), the effective design of library space has a potential to provide the
resources and environment that promote intellectual, emotional, and social development.
According to Biggs and Calvert (2013), libraries have evidence of an increment in teen users
since redesigning the space, and importantly, library and teen cultures need to meet within a
teen space. Rowe (2002) considered three aspects of the public library’s role in which teen
 638

space was relevant; which are the library as a leisure reading and activities center, a formal
education support center, and a community focal point. Therefore, there is a need to have a
proper and detailed space planning for the public libraries

Furniture and Equipment

The philosophy of humanizing space allows people to connect with people. Public
libraries furniture and equipment must be effective and economical solution to meet users’
needs and requirements so they are comfortable with those atmospheres. Furniture and
equipment in the library need to be chosen for elegance, toughness, ease of maintenance
and confrontation to destruction and damage. Anandasivam and Cheong, (2008), stated that
variety of comfortable furniture and different furniture, different zones and places to gather or
be alone can provide different types of users with just what they need. Library users should
have a variety of seating to choose from to match their learning approach and mood at a
particular given time there are essentially three types of seating includes reading benches,
reading tables and flexible seating (Suhaila, Anuar & Haris, 2012). As a result, the selection
of libraries furniture and equipment should be maximum savings in space, easy cleaning
from dust, safety in use, ergonomics for health support, proper to suit the requirement and
free from fire hazard.

Figure 1 Theoretical Framework of User Perception on Facilities Performance of Public Library

Factors:
Lightings

Ambiences
User Perception on
Facilities Performance of
Space Planning
Public Library
Furniture & Equipment

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Definition of Repertory Grid Technique (RGT)

Repertory Grid Technique (RGT) is developed by George Kelly in Personal Construct

Psychology (PCP) theory. Jankowicz (2004) describes Repertory Grid Technique as a
mainly qualitative method whose main aim is to understand other people, not to fill in
numbers in a grid. Moreover, it can be a tool in enquiring and understanding the experience
about how people view their world. The method seems interesting because of the possibility
of obtaining an understanding of how the interviewees see and judge their own reality while
minimizing the risk of influence by the interviewer (Persson, 2009).

An Interview Design with the Repertory Grid Technique

In this research the formal interview will be use as a mode of qualitative data
collection. Repertory Grid interview will be utilize in this study with the intention to identify
user’s preferences on facilities performance. This technique can be used as a supplement
for collecting and analyzing open-ended interview data when direct elicitation is difficult or for
further analyses when the initial information is gathered (Gouzinis et al. 2002).
 639

Repertory Grid Interview Process

The common way to administer the repertory grid is by conducting a formal interview
with the respondents (Boyle, 2005). The purpose of the interview is to identify facilities
performance for library facilities provided. The major considerations in grid used are Choice
of Elements, Scaling, Construct Elicitation procedure and identification of library facilities
photographs. The photographs represent the visual of the physical facilities elements in the
library. The procedure use for this strategy is by providing the photograph of library facilities
being prepared to the interviewee and the factors of physical interior setting will be included
in the question being asked. The data will be analyzed by using Enquire Within software that
is also being used to assist in setting up the interview.
The data will be analyzed to determine the individual and common themes for the
group once all the repertory grids have been completed. According to Boyle (2005), analysis
of repertory grid data can be performed using a combination of qualitative and quantitative
techniques. For this paper, the qualitative analysis of the data will be discuss. The qualitative
analysis consisted of identifying the content of the constructs, known as content analysis.
According to Maimunah (2008), content analysis involved developing of series of categories
that element or construct to specific category according to the sense of the meaning. The
grouping of the constructs in relation to the elements will be examined. Therefore, the study
focuses on implementing Repertory Grid Technique in measuring public libraries facilities
performance.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Repertory Grid Technique is a useful method that will reveals

information which otherwise might be difficult to obtain. An innovatively designed library
building should be welcoming and accessible, thus encouraging existing and new users to
engage with activities taking place inside it. The design and maintenance of libraries must be
considered and it should be designed to reflect the functions of the library service and be
accessible to the community.

REFERENCES

Anandasivam, K., & Cheong, F. C. (2008). Designing a creative learning environment: NTU's
new art, design & media library. The Electronic Library, 26, 650.

Australian Library and Information Association (2012), “Beyond a quality service:

strengthening the social fabric standards and guidelines for Australian public
libraries. Retrieved from
https://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/documents/advocacy/PLSG_ALIA_2012.pdf

Bell, C. R. (2008). The Role of the Interior Environment in the Perception of Service
Quality:A Business Perspective. Marymount

University, Faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences, Arlington, VA.

Biggs, H. F., & Calvert, P.(2013). Marketing to teens: a study of two New Zealand public
libraries. Library Management, 34,(8/9), 705 - 719.

Boyle, T. A. (2005). Improving team performance using repertory grid technique. Team
Performance Management, 11 (5/6), 179-187.
 640

Dahlgren, A.C., Eigenbrodt, O., Latimer, K. and Romero, S. (2009). Key issues in building
design: how to get started in planning a project. Retrieved
www.ifla.org/files/assets/librarybuildings- and-equipment/Publications/key-issues-in-
building-design-en.pdf

Demco Interiors. (2015). Essential design guidelines: managing a successful library design
and furnishing. Retrieved from
www.designinglibraries.org.uk/documents/Demco_library_design_furnishing.pdf

IFLA. (10-14 August 2008). Library as space and place: theoritical approach. World Library
and Information Congress:74th IFLA General Conference and Council. Quebec,
Canada.

Gouzinis, A., Sorovou, C., Politou, D. (2002). Initiative for software requirements
management best practice in embedded systems and e-services organisations.
Training Manual Report.

Jankowicz, Devi (2004). The easy guide to repertory grids. Chichester, West Sussex,
England: Wiley

Maimunah Sapri, Kaka, A., & Finch, E. (2008). Using repertory grid technique for the
appraisal of library servicescapes. CIB W070 Conference in Facilities Management,
Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh.

McCabe, G. B., & Kennedy, J. R. (2003). Planning the Modern Public Library Building.
London: The Libraries Unlimited Library Management Collection.

Persson, H. (2009). Repertory grid technique - a window to professional thinking. PATT-22

conference, Delft, the Netherlands.

Rowe, J.L.A. (2002). The design of public library facilities for young people. Unpublished
Masters research paper, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, NZ.

Saur, K.G. (2001). The public library service: IFLA/UNESCO guidelines for development.
Munchen: Internationa Federation Library Association.

Shepherd, J., Vardy, K. & Wilson, A. (2015). Quantifying patron time-use of a public library.
Library Management, 36 (6/7),448 – 461.

Stainley, J. (2003). Retail technology application and their role in the modern library. In
McCabe, G. B., & Kennedy, J. R. (Eds.), Planning the modern public library building.
(pp. 75-88). London: Libraries Unlimited.

Suhaila Sufar, Anuar Talib, & Haris Hambali. (2012). Towards a better design: physical
interior environments of public libraries in Peninsular Malaysia. Procedia – Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 42, 131-143.

Vandermark, S. (2003). Using teen patrons as a resource in planning young adult library
space in public libraries. In McCabe, G. B., & Kennedy, J. R. (Eds.), Planning the
modern public library building. (pp. 161-169). London: Libraries Unlimited.

Yi, Zhi. (2016). Knowledge management for library building design. Library Management,
37(1/2), 2-12.
 641

Library 2.0 in Academic Library: Librarians’ Perception

Norhidayu Md Yatim
Lecturer
norhidayu@uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Library 2.0 derived from Web 2.0 tool and application. There are many Library 2.0 tools that
can be applied in academic libraries and the use of Library 2.0 tools are varying according to
its function which can benefit the academic libraries. The objective of this study is to
investigate the level of awareness, level of acceptance and level of involvement toward
Library 2.0 among academic librarians. Study was conducted among librarians working at
four academic universities in Malaysia. The result highlights that age group and type of
university the librarians served have significant difference regarding their awareness and
acceptance of Library 2.0 tools and services in academic libraries. This study provides
understanding on how Malaysian librarians view the application of Library 2.0.

Keywords: Librarian perception, Library 2.0, Academic Library

INTRODUCTION

Academic library plays a significant role in supporting the University teaching and
learning activities. Today, more Malaysian universities are engaged actively in the research
and development of subject knowledge related to their expertise as part to support
Malaysia’s Vision 2020 towards becoming a developed country in 2020. For this reason,
libraries in universities are also changing their traditional roles by means of only supporting
teaching and learning. Libraries provide collection and services to student and academician
of the universities. They must creatively adopt and exploit latest technology in order to
support their parent organisation’s research and development activities in which libraries
must act as the University’s knowledge hub. One of the recent debated technologies that
are very popular in library field which academic libraries can adopt in order to support the
Universities’ activities and core function is the Web 2.0 technology.
The Web 2.0 term was implemented into library and information studies and is widely
known as Library 2.0 (Dickson & Holley, 2010; Chawner, 2008). Many researchers had
studied the implementation and adoption of Library 2.0 tools and applications in libraries and
its users (Linh, 2008; Zheng &Wang, 2008; Han & Liu, 2009; Harinarayana & Vasantha,
2009; Chawner, 2008; Allard, 2008; Al-Daihani, 2009; Gross & Leslie, 2008; Dickson &
Holley, 2010; Aharony, 2009; Baumbach, 2009; Kim & Abbas, 2010; Muhammad Arif &
Khalid, 2010; Redden, 2010). However, less research had been conducted to study the
perception of library’s professionals of Library 2.0 implementation (Al-Daihani, 2009;
Chawner, 2008). The important variables to be study in this literature review are librarian’s
perception on Library 2.0 applications which emphasises on the awareness of its concept,
and acceptance of its applications in academic library.
Furthermore, according to Dickson and Holley (2010), with the enormous popularity
of Web 2.0’s social networking platforms, libraries of all types have embraced them as a
method of promoting themselves within their communities and this new method of providing
library services is referred to as Library 2.0. Chawner (2008) asserted that as libraries aspire
to remain relevant as premiere suppliers of information that attract and engage their patrons;
embracing Library 2.0 has become almost synonymous with their overall success.
Additionally, Maness (2006) defines Library 2.0 as the application of the interaction,
collaborative and multimedia web based technologies to web based library services and
 642

collections. Kwanya, Stilwell and Underwood (2011) defined Library 2.0 as a model of library
service which harnesses the power of emerging information and communication
technologies to create a dynamic physical and/or virtual library platform which is defined and
controlled by the users and librarians and which facilitates the delivery of a superior library
experience for the users at anytime and anywhere.
Awareness is important in perceiving the experiences of librarians toward library 2.0
tools and applications. According to Al-Daihani (2009a), Library and Information Science
academician in Kuwait are partly aware of the concept of Web 2.0 but most of them still have
a low level of awareness of the Web 2.0. However, while for librarians in United State of
America, they were largely in agreement on Library 2.0, which they perceived it not
something a brand new. This suggests that they were well aware of Library 2.0 concept and
tools applications (Shoniwa & Hall, 2007).
Similarly, according to Ram, Sanjay, Nitin, and Hopkinson (2010) around 83
percentage of respondents whom majority were library professionals were well aware of the
web 2.0 applications in library. Among them, close to 42 percentage of them had actually
used library 2.0 consistently but about 34.1 percentage of them were aware about it but did
not use the technologies. Additionally, according to Garoufallou and Charitopoulou (2011),
where they noted that the majority of Greek library science and information systems students
of the LSIS Department at the Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki,
Greece were familiar with, and do use Web 2.0 tools.
Moreover, according to Charnigo and Barnet-Ellis (2007) they found that librarians
were overwhelmingly aware of and moderately knowledgeable about Facebook. On the
other hand, Al-Dahaini (2009b) reported that academic librarians in Kuwait has never used
social bookmarking, social networking and blog but they only used video sharing,
calendaring, and file sharing but most of them view online content which suggest that either
they were not interested or unaware of them. Similarly, Atulomah (2009) indicated that
librarians at Southwest Nigeria Universities were having insufficient awareness and
understanding of what constitutes Library 2.0. Atulomah further indicated that only 29
percent of librarians in Southwest Nigeria Universities have knowledge of Library 2.0 prior to
his study and 68 percent were hearing of it for the first time during the research. On the other
hand, Chawner (2008) found that librarians in New Zealand were highly interested and
exposed to Library 2.0 tools and applications.
Charnigo and Barnet-Ellis (2007) postulated that librarians felt that Facebook was a
student space and that librarians and other university administrators should not invade this
space. Furthermore as recognised by Dickson and Holley (2010) the overwhelming majority
of librarians that were not in favour of social networking for effective outreach strategy, lack
of librarians’ support for social networking that will risk uneven service levels for students
and academic librarians’ fear of losing control over their resources if they used some
available social networking tools were drawback to social networking.
This suggested that the positive acceptance from a librarian’s perspective of Library
2.0 concept and tools plays a vital role in the used and adopting Library 2.0 in the libraries’
activities as part of libraries outreach strategy to meet user needs. Nonetheless, finding from
Shoniwa and Hall (2007) indicated that majority of librarians agreed that Library 2.0 is a
combination of improving the library services, both physical and virtual in participatory
environment between users and librarians.
Zheng and Wang (2008) suggested that it is necessary to arm librarians with the
thought of Library 2.0, reformulate their attitude toward user services, and play attention to
the sustainable development of Library 2.0. Additionally, Yushiana and Sufy (2010) indicated
that most of the librarians at International Islamic University Malaysia had positively
accepted the idea of Web 2.0 applications in the library. However, a small number of them
were still not favourable of some Library 2.0 tools such as social networking sites and instant
messaging (IM).
Furthermore, Li, Shi, and Chen (2011) postulated that the shortcomings of librarians’
values and quality are effecting the implementation of Library 2.0 in academic libraries. They
further described that only if librarians accepted the Web 2.0 and grasped the relevant
 643

technology and communication skill then can Web 2.0 applications be put into practice. They
also recommended that libraries should provide trainings to librarians to assure that they can
use general Web 2.0 fluently.
Thus, this study focused on the awareness, acceptance and involvement of Library
2.0 among academic librarians
1. To examine the level of awareness of Library 2.0 tool and application among
academic librarians.
2. To examine the level of acceptance of Library 2.0 tool and application among
academic librarian.
3. To identify academic librarians level of involvement toward Library 2.0 tool and
application.
4. To compare mean difference regarding the awareness and acceptance of Library 2.0
tools and application among librarians with different age group
5. To compare mean difference regarding the awareness and acceptance of Library 2.0
tools and application between types of university the librarians served.

METHOD

The total sample sizes are 160 librarians which includes 50 librarians from Universiti
Teknologi MARA (UiTM) libraries, 30 from Universiti Malaya, 50 from Universiti Putra
Malaysia and 30 from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. A questionnaire was designed to
gather feedback from the respondents. It was designed to be short and direct questions
approach. Nominal and 5-point Likert scale were used to measure the questionnaire items.
Pretest, validity test and reliability test were performed to ensure the quality of the
questionnaire. However, out of 160 questionnaires which were distributed at the four
university libraries, only 79 questionnaires were returned back by the respondents.
Therefore, the response rate is 49.3%. Descriptive statistics using mean and standard
deviation and inferential statistics were performed to analyse data. The data that were
collected from this study was analysed by using the latest version of SPSS.

RESULTS

Profile of Respondents

All demographic items were analyzed to describe the profile of the respondents. The
sample was made up of three-quarter (59 or 74.7%) female while a quarter (20 or 25.3%)
were male. A higher proportion (46 or 58%) of the respondents were Bachelor degree
holders while 35 (40.5%) of the respondents hold Master’s degree. In terms of experience,
slightly more than a third (30 or 38%) of the respondents have worked 5 and below years, 25
(31.6%) have worked 6-10 years, and 24 (30.4%) have worked 11 and above years. A total
of 31 (39.2%) of the respondents were from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), 21 (26.6%)
of them were from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 17 (21.5%) were from Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and only 10 (12.7%) of the respondents were from Universiti
Malaya (UM). They were further classified as research and comprehensive university where
a larger proportion (48 or 60.8%) of respondents were from research university while 31
(39.2%) of the respondents were from comprehensive university.
 644

Reliability Test

Reliability tests were executed to test the internal consistency of the respective scale
for each independent variable which are; awareness of Library 2.0 tools and services and
acceptance of using Library 2.0 applications. It can be summarized that Cronbach’s alpha
value ofawareness of Library 2.0 tools and services (0.724), and acceptance of using Library
2.0 applications (0.907) exceed 0.6. The value of this coefficient was considered very high
and acceptable thus satisfying the validity assumption of the items in the respective
dimensions.

Table 1 Reliability Test Results

Dimension Number of Cronbach’s Alpha

Statement

Awareness of Library 2.0 8 0.724

concept

Acceptance of Library 2.0 8 0.907

applications

Level of Awareness of Library 2.0 Concept

Research Question 1: What is the level of awareness of Library 2.0 concept among
academic librarians?

Table 3: Mean Score for Awareness of Library 2.0 concept

(n=79)

Statement Mean Std. Deviation

1. I’m familiar with the term of Web 2.0 applications 3.84 0.898
adopted in library
2. I am aware of Library 2.0 concept and applications 3.78 0.915
that are commonly used in academic library
3. I clearly understand the concept of Library 2.0 3.73 0.902
4. I clearly can identify the Library 2.0 tools applications 3.63 0.880
5. Library 2.0 concept is something new to library 3.22 1.082
science field
6. I’m familiar with the library 2.0 applications, had seen 2.46 1.060
some of the applications but do not know how to use
7. I'm aware of the Library 2.0 concept but never used 2.38 1.136
any of Library 2.0 applications
8. I had heard about Library 2.0, but never seen the 2.18 1.130
applications
Overall mean for awareness 3.15 1.000

Table 3 displays the descriptive statistics for the awareness of Library 2.0 concept
ratings arranged in descending order (highest mean rating to the lowest mean rating). Eight
statements were used to reflect whether respondents in academic library are aware of the
Library 2.0 concept adopted in academic library. These ratings used a five-point Likert scale:
1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree. Based on the overall mean of 3.15, it can be
 645

concluded that on the average, the respondents are quite agreed that they are aware of
Library 2.0 concept. The respondents quite agreed with five statements of awareness of
Library 2.0 concept. The highest statement that they quite agreed is I’m familiar with the term
of Web 2.0 applications adopted in library (mean=3.84), followed by I am aware of Library
2.0 concept and applications that are commonly used in academic library (mean=3.78), I
clearly understand the concept of Library 2.0 (mean =3.73), I clearly can identify the Library
2.0 tools applications (mean =3.63) and Library 2.0 concept is something new to library
science field (mean =3.22). This is another strong indication that shows respondents at the
four academic libraries are aware, familiar and understand the Library 2.0 concept and its
tools where they also perceived that Library 2.0 is a new concept in library science field.
On the other hand, the individual measure indicated that respondents disagreed with
only three statements out of eight statements of awareness of Library 2.0 concept. The three
statements were: (a) I’m familiar with the library 2.0 application, had seen some of the
applications but do not know how to use (mean= 2.46); (b) I'm aware of the Library 2.0
concept but never used any of Library 2.0 applications (mean=2.38); (c) I had heard about
Library 2.0, but never seen the applications (mean=2.18). This indicated that the
respondents in academic libraries are aware, familiar and already seen the Library 2.0 tools
that were adopted in the libraries.

Level of Acceptance regarding Library 2.0 Applications

Research Question 2: What is the level of acceptance of Library 2.0 applications among
academic librarians?

Table 4: Mean Score for Acceptance of Library 2.0 Applications

(n=79)

Std.
Statement Mean Deviation
1. Library 2.0 provides many opportunities for librarians 4.25 0.609
to reach the users and any potential users.
2. Library 2.0 could help in improving web-based 4.24 0.582
services
3. Library 2.0 could promote and enhance the library 4.24 0.604
users interaction

4. Library 2.0 is a combination of improving the library 4.10 .652

services, both physically and virtual in participatory
environment between users and librarians

5. Library should participate in social networking with 4.09 0.582

users (Facebook) and do collaborative authoring with
users in improving the library services (wikis)

6. Library should create RSS feeds for users 4.05 0.658

7. Library should provide image and video sharing to 4.04 0.629
users (Flickr and Youtube)

8. Librarians should have blog that linked through the 3.78 0.872
library homepage

Overall mean for acceptances 4.09 0.648

 646

The librarian’s perception on acceptance of the Library 2.0 applications in academic

libraries was measured using eight statements, and the mean score of these statements are
presented in Table 4. Table 4 shows the descriptive statistics for the acceptance of Library
2.0 applications ratings arranged in descending order. These ratings were given using a five-
point Likert scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree. The acceptance of
respondents toward Library 2.0 applications is positive where as indicated by the mean
score which range from 4.25 (Library 2.0 provides many opportunities for librarians to reach
the users and any potential users) to 3.78 (Librarians should have blog that linked through
the library homepage).
Based on the individual measure, it is indicated that the respondents agreed that the
statement on Library 2.0 provides many opportunities for librarians to reach the users and
any potential users (mean=4.25) as the most important statement to their acceptance toward
Library 2.0 applications. This is followed by Library 2.0 could help in improving web-based
services (mean =4.24), Library 2.0 could promote and enhance the library users interaction
(mean =4.24), Library 2.0 is a combination of improving the library services, both physically
and virtual in participatory environment between users and librarians (mean =4.10), Library
should participate in social networking with users (Facebook) do collaborative authoring with
users in improving the library services (wikis)( mean =4.09), Library should create RSS
feeds for user (mean =4.05) and finally Library should provide image and video sharing to
users (Flickr and Youtube) (mean =4.04). On the other hand, based on the individual
measure, only one statement where respondents indicated they were quite agreed, which is
Librarians should have blog that linked through the library homepage with mean of 3.78.
In conclusion, based on the Table 4, respondents agreed with all of the 8 statements
with overall mean score of 4.09. This implied that, respondents’ acceptance toward Library
2.0 applications are good toward the adoption of Library 2.0 applications in academic
libraries. Moreover, the acceptance level are above average level of 3 which is at agree level
is better than respondents awareness level of Library 2.0 concept.

Table 5 Mean Score for involvement of Library 2.0 tools and Services
(n=79)

Statements Std.
Mean Deviation
Please indicate the level of involvement with the Library 2.0 tools and services of
the following Library 2.0 tools
Social Networking (e.g., FACEBOOK) 3.92 0.797
Blog (e.g., Libraries’ and Librarians’ Blogs’) 3.42 1.033
File Sharing (e.g., GoogleDocs) 3.29 1.252
Video Sharing (e.g., YOUTUBE) 3.28 0.973
Image Sharing (e.g., FLICKR) 3.01 1.225
Collaborative Authoring (e.g., WIKIS) 2.99 1.127

Calendaring (e.g., GOOGLE CALENDER,OUTLOOK) 2.94 1.180

Communication tool (e.g., SKYPE) 2.61 1.213

Social Bookmarking (e.g., DELICIOUS,CITuLIKE) 2.44 1.227

Overall mean 3.10 1.114

Level of Involvement on Library 2.0 Tools and Services

 647

Research Question 3: What is the level of involvement of Library 2.0 tools and services

This section consists of nine statements to measure the level of involvement of

Library 2.0 tools and services among respondents. The rating score was arranged from the
highest mean score to the lowest mean score. The level of involvement of Library 2.0 by
respondents was measured on a scale of 1 = never view; 2 = rarely view; 3 = somewhat
view; 4 = view; and finally 5 = View and Contribute. Out of nine statements, five were above
scale of 3 (somewhat view) while the other four were on the range of scale 2 (rarely view)
which indicated that respondents are divided in their opinion of their involvement with Library
2.0 tools and services. The statement with highest rating is social networking (e.g.,
Facebook) where respondents rate their involvement with mean of 3.92. This is followed by
blog (e.g., Libraries’ and Librarians’ Blogs’) (mean=3.42), File Sharing (e.g., GoogleDocs)
(mean =3.29), Video Sharing (e.g., YOUTUBE) (mean =3.28), and Image Sharing (e.g.,
FLICKR) (mean =3.01).
Other four statements with mean score below 3 are; Collaborative Authoring (e.g.,
WIKIS) (mean=2.99), Calendaring (e.g., GOOGLE CALENDER, OUTLOOK) (mean=2.94),
Communication tool (e.g., SKYPE) (mean=2.61) and Social Bookmarking (e.g.,
DELICIOUS,CITuLIKE) (mean=2.44).

Based from these findings, it can be concluded that, respondents working in

academic libraries were not actively involved with content contribution and development
when using Library 2.0 tools and services, but they do view the Library 2.0 tools and
services available. Therefore, the level of involvement of Library 2.0 tools and services in
academic library was at neutral point of level 3 where the overall mean is 3.10.

Comparison on the Awareness and Acceptance of Library 2.0 Tools and Services
Among Respondents with Different Age Groups

Table 6 Summary statistics of Mann-Whitney U between Age Groups

Item Mean Rank Mean Mann-Whitney Z-value p- value

20-30 Rank of 31 U
and Above
Awareness of 38.37 41.23 709.500 -0.552 0.581
Library 2.0 concept
Acceptance of 46.00 35.47 561.000 -2.053 0.040
Library 2.0
applications

Table 6 demonstrates the summary of Mann-Whitney U Test between two age

groups. With regard to awareness of Library 2.0 concept, the Z-value for awareness (-0.552)
is not significant at 5% level (p= 0.581>0.05). Therefore, it is concluded that, the awareness
of Library 2.0 concept among respondents is the same regardless of which age groups the
respondents belong.
In the case of acceptance of Library 2.0 applications, the Z-value which is -2.053, is
significant at 5% level (p=0.040<0.05). Hence, the acceptance level of Library 2.0
applications is not the same and with regard to the age group the respondents belongs. This
is evidence where it shows that the level of acceptance of Library 2.0 applications between
20-30 age group and 30 and above age group is not similar. Mean rank for 20-30 (46.00)
age group was higher than 30 and above age group (35.47). It can be concluded that,
respondents within the age of 20-30 years, accepted Library 2.0 application more compared
to those within the age of 30 and above.

Comparison between Awareness of Library 2.0 Concept and Acceptance of Library

Applications between Research and Comprehensive Universities
 648

Table 7 Summary statistics of Mann-Whitney U Test of Awareness and Acceptances

between Research Universities and Comprehensive Universities

Item Mean Rank Mean Rank of Mann-Whitney Z-value p- value

Research Comprehensive U
University University
Awareness of Library 32.61 51.44 389.500 -3.575 0.000
2.0 concept
Acceptance of Library 39.20 41.24 705.500 -0.393 0.694
2.0 applications

Table 7 demonstrates the Mann-Whitney U Test. This test was used to measure the
differences regarding the awareness of Library 2.0 concept and acceptance of Library 2.0
applications between research universities and comprehensive universities. This test is used
because data for all the two independent variables were not normally distributed. Table 7
illustrates the summary statistics of Mann-Whitney U Test between universities and
comprehensive universities.
The Z-value for awareness of Library 2.0 concept (-3.575) is significant at 5% level
where the p-value is 0.000 which is <0.05. This is evidence where it shows that the level of
awareness of Library 2.0 concept between research universities and comprehensive
universities is not similar. Mean rank for comprehensive (51.44) universities was higher than
research universities (32.61). It can be concluded that, respondents working in
comprehensive universities have more awareness of Library 2.0 concept as compared to
those working in research universities.
In the case of acceptance of Library 2.0 applications, the Z-value which is -0.393, is
not significant at 5% level (p=0.694>0.05). It is concluded, therefore, there is no difference
regarding the acceptance of respondents toward Library 2.0 applications between research
universities and comprehensive universities.

CONCLUSION

The result indicated low and not encouraging level of involvement toward content
contribution and development of Library 2.0 although they does aware and highly accept
Library 2.0 tool and application in academic library. The result shown difference inclination
between librarians with different age group towards their acceptance of Library 2.0 tools and
application. Moreover, result also stipulated that librarians from Comprehensive University
(CU) were more aware of Library 2.0 tools and services as compared to librarians working in
Research University (RU).This study was based on data from only four university library;
hence the results should not be generalized to other libraries. In the future, studies should
use a representative sample with respondents randomly selected from the targeted
population of academic librarians. This research provides baseline data about academic
librarians in Malaysia and their perception toward Library 2.0. Future research should need
to explore the integration of Library 2.0 in academic libraries and ways librarians use Library
2.0’s specific tools to improve their services.

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 651

Teaching Writing and Speaking Skills to Enhance Interpersonal

Intelligence among Low-Proficiency Students at Tertiary Level
Farhana binti Haji Shukor
UiTM Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
farhana.shukor@ppinang.uitm.edu.my

Nur Darina binti Ibrahim

UiTM Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
nurdarina.ibrahim@ppinang.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

According to Gardner (1999a), intelligence is (a) the ability to create an effective product or
offer a service that is valued in a culture, (b) a set of skills that make it possible for a person
to solve problems in life, and (c) the potential for finding or creating solutions for problems,
which involves gathering new knowledge. In this study, a survey was conducted to
investigate pre-diploma students’ perceptions and their level of awareness about their
learning in writing and speaking skills using interpersonal intelligence. It is found that all the
53 subjects responded that these two skills are the ones that they would want to improve on.
From the findings, researchers proposed a learning module for interpersonal skill practices
that contain examples of lines of conversation that are suitable for some situational contexts.
It is suggested to have this module practice before having slots of role play in enhancing
their interpersonal intelligence in everyday situation. This paper gives implication on the
future developmental processes of teaching writing and speaking skills on interpersonal
intelligence towards achieving meaningful learning.

Keywords: Interpersonal Intelligence, Writing Skill, Speaking Skill, Pre-Diploma Students,

Situational Contexts

INTRODUCTION

Teaching and learning process in Malaysia is in the direction to develop more

graduates who are capable to fit into any types of workforce, equipped with necessary skills
needed and be accepted not just locally, but internationally. They are the future leaders of
our country and will be the ones to bring harmony to the place that we call our home. This is
aligned with the National Philosophy of Education (NPE) which was documented in 1987
that states;

Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards further developing the potential of

individuals in a holistic and integrated manner so as to produce individuals who are
intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and physically balanced and harmonious, based
on a firm belief in and devotion in God. Such an effort is designed to produce
Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral
standards, and who are responsible and capable of achieving a high level of personal
well-being as well as being able to contribute to the betterment of the society and the
nation at large.
(Education Planning and Research Division, 1994, p. vii)

In order to achieve such target, many scholars have outlined some skills that the
educators need to consider while planning for the education syllabus catering students at
tertiary education. The students need to express themselves more and share their opinion
 652

about matters besides getting their future employers, colleagues and clients to be
comfortable working with them. They are expected to use appropriate language while
communicating so as to ensure they are getting positive impression from others (Herrell &
Jordan 2008). The skill that the graduates are expected to equip themselves with is called
interpersonal skills and as Duffy et al (2004) described them as the skills that are:

‘...inherently relational and process oriented; they are the effect communication has on
another person such as relieving anxiety or establishing a trusting relationship...’

It has become the most frequently mentioned competency required by any of their
future employers as North and Worth (2004) highlighted that 80% of job application
advertisements stated that their future employee should have strong interpersonal skills.
They are expected to have basic skills related to communication, including reading, writing,
listening, and speaking. It is not just being excellent in all of these skills without any
connection with their surroundings, but they need to cater to the social needs using the most
suitable language. Goleman (2006) uses the term ‘social intelligence’ to refer to our ability to
‘act wisely in human relationships’. Social intelligence are divided into two capabilities;
‘social awareness’, which refers to skills in empathy, attuning to a person, understanding
another’s thoughts, feelings and intentions and knowing how the social world works, and
‘social facility’, which refers to interacting smoothly at the non-verbal level, self-presentation,
influence and concern.
Not just limited to portray their sense of professionalism, but they also need to be able
to function socially as mostly the skill that is being sought after by their future employers.
Berry (2007) supported this view as interpersonal skills are not only limited to patient and
practitioner relationships, but it is far beyond that. It is said to be crucial to have an excellent
communication between the healthcare providers, and carers or family members and also
within team and group settings. Higgs et al (2008) added as interpersonal skills would be
essential for one to have effective communication, besides having some empathy, active
listening, and cultural competence as well as professionalism. It is then elaborated that
communicating professionally means “showing respect for people, providing sound evidence
or arguments to support your proposed or actual actions, and working within the relevant
ethical and legal parameters of professional health practice”.
It is rather a challenge for the educators to ensure that their students will surely be
able to communicate effectively by the time they are graduating. Although this is the aim of
any institution so as to make them ready to face the real working world, it is reported that
nursing graduates failed to communicate effectively with patients, colleagues or other health
professionals and that patients’ are dissatisfied with this (Ashmore and Banks, 2004).
Another study conducted by Donaghy (2010), found that undergraduate paramedics felt their
communication and interpersonal skills required further development and that they often felt
ill-equipped to engage constructively and confidently with their patients. Thus, educators
need to play such important role and take the main responsibility to prepare their students at
the very beginning of their study in university with such skills. More effort needs to be put in
for the group of students with low-proficiency level who are in the grasp of learning speaking
and writing skills in enhancing interpersonal intelligence in order to be marketable
internationally.

LITERATURE REVIEW

In order for the students to be capable to fit into any workplace, they must equip
themselves with a few types of intelligence. Gardner (1999a) has defined intelligence as (a)
the ability to create an effective product or offer a service that is valued in a culture, (b) a set
of skills that make it possible for a person to solve problems in life, and (c) the potential for
finding or creating solutions for problems, which involves gathering new knowledge. There
 653

are two types of intelligence that are found to be the most prominent ones for the purpose of
this study, which are; linguistic intelligence and interpersonal intelligence.
Gardner (1999a) described linguistic intelligence as the involvement of individual’s
sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms and meanings of words besides to be able to differentiate
the distinctive functions of language use. To cater to the needs of educating low-proficiency
students, it is advised for the educators to focus more on visual types of learning. Schmidt-
Fajlik (2010) suggested few strategies of teaching; projecting words and to utter them
together, having them to read books together and they can apply the new words that they
have learned in the reading texts to be used later in their discussion with their partner or as a
whole group discussion.
The second type of intelligence that becomes the main focus is interpersonal
intelligence. Gardner (1999a) defined interpersonal intelligence as ‘the capacity to discern
and respond appropriately to the moods, temperaments, motivations and desires of other
people. It is found to be useful for the educators to design more lessons that involve more
group work as it will lessen students’ fear to speak up in front of a crowd. Some activities
that can be conducted include making a phone call and responding to it, writing emails and
replying them with suitable language use, and even to use puppets to learn writing lessons.
Getting the students to understand the subject from the classroom activities is the
goal of using multiple intelligences theory regardless the level of proficiency. The educator
needs to adjust his or her teaching styles and materials so that it will be suitable for the
students. They are also expected to be more motivating with the students especially with
low-proficiency students so that they can be more participative in any of the language
classroom activities. Loss (2000) recommended the educators to utilize positive statements,
rather than accusatory statements, when communicating. They need to be eclectic so as to
reach the aim of language teaching worldwide as to ensure that their students will be able to
communicate their ideas and share their own opinion confidently and effectively with the
other users of English in the world (Willis & Willis, 2009).
Being able to discuss matters using the language with the other speakers and to
achieve consensus without any misunderstanding is seen to be the aim when we
communicate with the others. Despite this, if any of misunderstanding is observed to take
place, we must view it from the positive perspective as to gain new knowledge to apply in the
future. They may use more clarifying questions, building rapport by reacting positively with
the other speakers, smile more and to ask more in-depth questions. This will enhance the
development of the students’ confidence as to make them more aware of their effective use
of the skills.
It is beneficial for the students to visualize a future social event and to not imagine
the worst scenario out of it. They are expected to only have mental picture that will aid them
to invent a new image of successful communicators. This claim is supported by Bourne
(2005) that added ‘visualization as a way to reduce anxiety in future social encounters
through a process called imagery desensitization’. He elaborated further that this condition
took place when one visualizes a successful outcome in steps and proven to bring benefits
to those with social phobias. This is why rehearsing future social situations is viewed to be
the best way to mentally practice language skills that are related to interpersonal skills.
In the aim to converse successfully with people from all over the world, the cultural
norms of distinctive cultural groups also need to be considered so as to avoid any
misunderstanding. This includes nonverbal communication, self-disclosure and the way that
we handle any conversations. Sakamoto (1982) categorized conversation style of the
Western as to tennis style as opposed to Japanese to adapt more bowling style. Western
style conversation being like tennis where you serve the ball in the form of the
conversational topic and one’s partner hits it back by adding their own spin on the topic. The
object of the tennis match is to keep the ball going with the ball being hit back and forth
quickly. On the other hand, Japanese conversation style is more like bowling. The speaker is
given time to roll their topic ‘bowling ball’ while their conversation partner or partners listen
carefully as it rolls down the lane. The other speaker or speakers do not quickly respond or
interrupt as this is happening. You only respond after being certain that the ‘bowling ball’ has
 654

made its run. Once this is ascertained, then it is the other person’s turn to bowl. Such an
exchange does not require a quick succession of exchanges as in the Western ‘tennis’ style
conversation. If one fails to accept the differences of how we view conversation style by
different cultural group, this will lead for a party to make unfair conclusions and feeling that
they are being treated badly. To avoid this from happening, the educators need to outline
their communicative language teaching approach with the basis of developing not just the
language skills but also their interpersonal skills.
Scholars are in consensus in the matter of setting standard teaching materials for
interpersonal skills and also the assessments regardless of the proficiency level of the
students. Allison & Turpin (2004) and Bogo et al (2004) claimed that regardless the form that
it might take, assessment of students in the workplace is difficult and notoriously
inconsistent. This is in par with Govaerts et al (2011) that highlighted of the challenge to
prepare the assessors with such standards as facing the difficulty to standardize the
students’ experience. This is due to the issue of subjectivity where Ginsburg and colleagues
(2010) pointed out that it remains inevitable in the context of practice or the workplace. They
added that assessment would be possible to be conducted and recorded if the assessor
focus on what they observe rather than to have the attempt to standardize the perceptions.
Despite being tenuous and problematic to describe on how to set teaching materials and
assessments for interpersonal skills, the practitioners are all in one about the importance of
it.
Exposing students especially the low-proficiency students to more language activities
are viewed to be crucial in getting them to be more confident to develop their interpersonal
skills. There are two language skills which are the focus of this study; writing skill and
speaking skill. The students are deemed to be doing more work as they need more
scaffolding than the average native English-speaking students who already have the
command of the language. It is needed to provide support for student as they learn new
skills and information; both in writing and speaking skills (Cummins, 2000).The students are
also required to utilize higher level language function such as being able to analyse, predict,
explain and justify in so as being successful expressing themselves in any written work and
conversation.

Teaching Writing Skill in Language Classroom

Vocabulary is defined by Graves (2000) as the entire stock of words belonging to a

branch of knowledge or known by an individual. He added that the lexicon of a language is
its vocabulary, which includes words and expressions. Herrell & Jordan (2008) supported
Graves’ definition as adding that lexicon organizes the mental vocabulary in a speaker‘s
mind. A person’s knowledge of vocabulary despite what language they communicate is an
individual‘s mental lexicon. Zimmerman (2007) extended the definition of vocabulary as a
set of words that are the basic building blocks used in the generation and understanding of
sentences. It depends on the situation that the communicators are in and are expected to
choose the most suitable language; be it for writing purpose or even for communicating
verbally.
Students need to have an awareness of all the types of vocabulary for different skills
so as to improve all areas of communication. Failure to develop sufficient vocabulary by
individuals would deter English language learners from understanding any texts. This will
give the impact for students to perform poorly when assessed in various areas and are at
risk of being diagnosed as learning disabled. Thus, the educators need to be smart in
adapting the most efficient vocabulary teaching and learning strategies in ensuring the
growth of vocabulary knowledge as this is one of the essential pre-requisites for language
acquisition. Nagy & Scott (2000) highlighted that the students need to be acquiring words
and their literal meaning, various connotations, spelling, derivations, collocations, frequency
pronunciation, the sort of syntactic constructions, the morphological options and a rich
variety of semantic associates such as synonyms, antonyms and homonyms. Succeeding in
 655

having the knowledge about all of these will then ensure them to be communicating
effectively.
The educators are then claimed having the urge to identify the factors that influence
the language learners in learning new words. Carter (1998) mentioned some of factors
involved include inter-language factors such as storage of these lexical items in appropriate
context, the ability to recall vocabulary for active usage in speaking and writing, and also the
ability to recognize the appropriate syntactic frames of the word, to discriminate a basic from
a peripheral lexical item and the comprehension of fixed expressions. The language learners
also need to be aware that they would be learning new vocabulary to know the words and in
some instances they can apply them while conversing with others and writing any texts; be it
formal or informal. Herrell & Jordan (2008) has made the distinctions between knowledge
aspect as involving conscious and explicit learning mechanisms while the application of the
skills requires implicit learning and memory. Thus, in this case, they need to learn some
strategies to know and to use the words in engaging into vocabulary learning for all reading,
listening, writing and speaking skills.
In order to comprehend more into how to teach vocabulary in language classrooms, the
researchers for this study integrated the understanding of the form, meaning, and their use
of words into spoken and written texts, just as the same as to what Tim Brendell, a teacher
at Riverside Language Program, had suggested.

Pronunciation, spelling, inflections, and derivations of the word are categorized into
the form of vocabulary learning as opposed to learning about meanings; which include basic
and literal meaning, figurative meanings, semantic relation and the connotation of the word.
The most challenging teaching strategy for vocabulary would be on the use as more time
and effort needed to learn about their sub-categorization, collocation, socio-linguistic and
stylistic meaning of the word.
The most effective method that the educator can adopt in teaching this lesson would
be by providing a description, explanation or example of a new term and facilitate the
students to restate the description, explanation or example of the new term. Students will
then have to construct a picture, symbol or graphic design of the term. The teacher engages
students in activities that will assist them in mastering the new concepts by having them to
discuss the new terms often in class, whether in pairs, small groups or as a whole group.

Teaching Speaking Skill in Language Classroom

 656

There are many activities that can be conducted on teaching speaking skill in any
language classroom. It will depend mainly on the level of proficiency of the students whether
the educators need to play different roles; be it as facilitators, demonstrators or instructors,
resource persons, supporters, and even mentors. They need to adjust their teaching strategy
and activities with their role in classrooms so as to ensure that the students benefit the most
out of their learning process. One of the teaching activities that the students can enjoy the
most while learning is participating in role play.
Woodhouse (2007) suggested that role play could be a beneficial technique for
‘personal development’ for the students especially with the nursing group of students. They
really need to equip themselves with all the skills to face the reality of the workplace so that
there will only be minimum number of problems in fitting in. Al-Senaidi (2009) conducted a
series of four role play to investigate on the effectiveness of using role play to improve the
oral fluency of Grade 4 learners by giving situations a day before and video recorded to re-
examine their performance. ‘Learners’ fluency improved over the course of the four role
plays’ and the learners also ‘produced more chunks of language as they moved through the
role plays’. For our research work, we have adapted the similar method for tertiary level
students to test their competency in speaking and the result was satisfactory. The students
were given feedback on their performance each time and students worked on it to ensure
improvement.
Liu and Ding (2009) used role-play technique to see how the students performed in
groups when they were given a familiar situation to role play in. By doing this, they also
observed their language potency and how the errors can be corrected besides getting the
educators find the most suitable ways to give feedback to the learners for further
improvement. It is known from this study that if the teacher gave a familiar situation to the
students than the result would be positive as they can relate it with their own experience. It is
proposed that the students would benefit more if they were shown the video tapes with oral
feedback for self or peer correction rather than giving instant feedback by their educators.
Qing (2011) defined role play as “the projection in real life situations with social
activities”. Having this as the aim of teaching speaking skill to the students, the educators felt
that there is an urge to adapt this method into the teaching process. We have assigned them
with role play for practising speaking as it was new to them and it challenged them to be
creative. Communication was not confined in one situation and role play gave them the
scope to play a series of different situational interactions. Another reason was that it helped
them to practise English in a controlled situation so that they could gain confidence to
perform in a ‘real life situation’.
Qing (2011) experimented role-play in the intermediate level and noticed that role
play could increase students’ intercultural awareness and develop overall communicative
competence. They should also be aware that they will get the freedom to experiment more
by adopting another cultural role and creating a significant learning situation for the
participants and for the audience. It is added that content based role plays give students the
unique opportunity to explore another culture in detail from a variety of perspectives.
Speakers of English should be able to express themselves properly and understand the
grammatical discourse, strategic, and sociolinguistic factors for any given situation based on
a higher level of communicative competence. This would be possible if the students are
exposed with some familiar situations and be given the chance and being motivated by the
educators to express themselves more in English, and not using their first language at all. In
our case study, we observed similar communicative development even English language is
not their mother tongue but they really wanted to try their best to express themselves
properly using that particular language.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study has been conducted with school leavers with the minimum requirement in
English subject, as the low-proficiency student, who needed to take extra one semester as
 657

their preparation before they enrol into their study at diploma level. There were 53 students
involved and all of them were required to take a survey about their perceptions on learning
writing and speaking skills using interpersonal intelligence. They responded that these two
skills are the ones that they would want to improve on. This can be seen from Appendix 1 of
this article. They were then been given two sets of writing tests; pre-test and post-test with
each contain 10 words that require them to write complete sentences for all. It is important to
have an overview of the students’ level of writing skill so as to seek whether they were not
only informed of writing basic sentences, but to also be able to write using compound and
complex sentences. The two tests are attached as Appendix 2 and Appendix 3 of this
research paper.
For the purpose of speaking skill, the researchers proposed a learning module for
interpersonal skill practices that contain examples of lines of conversation that are suitable
for some situational contexts. It is attached as Appendix 4 of this paper. It is suggested to
have this module practice before having slots of role play in enhancing their interpersonal
intelligence in everyday situation. It is crucial to ensure that the students prepared
themselves with some knowledge about the words for some common lines of conversation.
They were divided into groups with the mixture of the lowest English language proficiency
with the average ones. This is to enable them to have active discussion into how they want
to complete the module together.

Students were then required to complete another task that tested on their speaking
skill, which is role-play activity. They remained as the same group from Activity 1 which is
writing task, with all the 12 groups consist of four group members and the other one more
group had an extra member of 5 persons. They were assessed according to three
categories; which are, task fulfilment, language and communicative ability. This rubric can be
retrieved from Appendix 5 of this paper. They were all given distinctive social situations that
needed them to figure out the most suitable lines of conversation and were required to make
them as real as possible. They were only given limited time to conduct this activity and were
not allowed to memorize their lines. In case they forgot their own lines, they could seek help
from their group members. This could surely help them not just to be having teamwork and
also to build up their confidence level.
In order to triangulate more of the data collected from this research, an informal
interview session with the students were conducted so as to be more accurate and precise.
Twenty respondents shared their experience of the role-play activity. This qualitative
methodology used in this study is aimed to gain descriptive, generalizability and predictability
at its best suspect. The researchers had also distributed another set of survey to these
students to get their feedback whether this teaching strategy has aided their learning
process in the language classroom. The questions for the study are being attached as
Appendix 6 in this paper.

FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

A survey was conducted with the respondents to investigate pre-diploma students’

perceptions about their learning in language classrooms at the beginning of the semester.
The questions touched on all the four skills, where they were required to identify their level of
achievement in the 5-likert scale survey. There were some who responded that they were
could do well when it comes to listening and reading skills. They highlighted the two
problematic skills that they would want to improve on which are writing and speaking skills.
All 53 of them circled their ratings as 1, 2, or 3 in the inventory; with rating 1 indicating that
they cannot do that at all, rating 2 indicating that they cannot do that very well and rating 3
indicating that they can do that moderately well. It is the aim of the educators to get their
students to be more confident and have the high self-esteem and can put their ratings as 4;
they can perform quite well and 5; they can do that very well.
In the following table is a list of statements about writing and speaking which they
 658

found to be the most problematic skills for them. They wanted to have more training in these
skills so as to perform in language classroom and to have an effective communication with
the others.

Table 1 Percentage of Number of Students Who Rate Components under Writing and Speaking
Skills with Number 1, 2 and 3 in Their Entrance Survey

Components Rating Rating 2 Rating 1

3
Fre Per Fre Per Fre Per Total Per
quen cen quen cen quen cen cen
cy tage cy tage cy tage tage
I can use correct 30 56.6% 20 37.7% 3 5.7% 53 100
punctuation
marks and
spelling in writing.
I can write basic, 20 37.7.% 30 56.6% 3 5.7% 53 100
compound and
complex
sentences.
I can use pre – 15 28.3% 13 24.5% 25 47.2% 53 100
writing skills to
write an essay.
I can write 20 37.7% 12 22.6% 21 39.6% 53 100
opinion / problem
solution essays
I can speak with 12 22.6% 14 26.4% 27 51% 53 100
correct
pronunciation
and intonation.
I can use 8 15.1% 12 22.6% 33 62.3% 53 100
appropriate
vocabulary when
speaking.
I can 5 9.4% 30 56.6% 18 34% 53 100
communicate
accurately and
appropriately
when making
presentations.

As we have collected the data about the students’ need in their study at tertiary level
as to be focusing more in writing and speaking skills, researchers are aware that more effort
need to be put in enhancing these two skills from the teaching strategies. The first step that
they have taken was to distribute a set of 10 words that required them to construct
sentences in their pre writing test. The words include the ones that they are familiar with and
some which they might not have known before. They are; address, approach, assess, brief,
concrete, exaggerate, form, highlight, likely and plagiarism. The students were then given a
different set of words for them in post writing test to construct sentences after week 7 to
observe their progress in vocabulary enhancement with their educators in language
classroom. The words are; authentic, brainstorm, characteristics, consequence, consistently,
employ, former, irony, persuade and proofread.
The students consisted of pre-commerce students with the total number of 20
students and 33 pre-science students. They sat for their writing tests and their papers have
been marked by their instructors to evaluate on their ability to understand the words given;
their parts of speech, the meaning and even the pronunciation in order to write appropriate
sentences. In their pre-test, they were not even a single language class conducted
beforehand as to observe whether these students can recall the learning strategies in
 659

language classroom when they were in secondary school. For both tests, they were required
to write using suitable words, capital letter wherever appropriate besides using correct
punctuation, commas, apostrophes, pronouns and quotation marks. This is based on
Personal proofreading checklist outlined by Lunenberg & Lunenberg (2014) as can be seen
in the following figure;

Figure 1. Personal Proofreading Checklist (Lunenberg & Lunenberg, 2014)

1. Sentences begin with a capital letter.

2. Sentences end with correct punctuation
3. Paragraphs are indented.
4. Proper nouns and proper adjectives are capitalized.
5. Commas are used correctly (between the items in a list, to connect compound
sentences, and after introductory words, phrases, and clauses)
6. Apostrophes are used correctly (with possessive nouns and contractions)
7. Pronouns are used correctly.
8. Quotation marks are used correctly (for dialogue and for the titles of short stories,
articles, poems, and songs).
9. Italics and underlining are used correctly (for titles of books, the names of
newspapers and magazines, and the titles of movies).
10. Words are used correctly (especially homophones such as there, their, and they’re;
your and you’re; its and it’s; and to, too, and two).

In the following graph, the researchers highlighted the differences in terms of the
students’ score in pre-writing test and post-writing test. They had managed to construct
correct sentences after being given formal language class about the types of sentences and
undergone few practices in classes before they sat for post-writing test.

Graph 1 Students’ Score in Pre-Writing and Post-Writing Tests

25

20

15
Pre-Test
10 Post-Test

0
S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 S 5 S 6 S 7 S 8 S 9 S 10

The sentences that the students had constructed were being discussed in the
classroom together and the educators sought after some suggested sentences for all the 20
words given. The students were then asked to find words that they assumed to be difficult or
had never heard before from their readings. They were asked to do this activity as part of
their self-learning activity so as to become more efficient learner in vocabulary learning.
They were welcomed to show their work to their educators when they were in classroom to
be checked and to ask for clarification about the words usage.
 660

The students were given a speaking module to practice their interpersonal skill in
some situational contexts. Students were then required to complete another task that tested
on their speaking skill, which is role-play activity. They were looked upon according to three
categories; which are, task fulfilment, language and communicative ability. The students
scored with the average marks for all the three components; task fulfilment (3-4 marks),
language (3-4 marks) and communicative ability (1-2 marks).
We conducted an informal group interview with the students, where twenty students
shared their experience of the role-play activity. Below are the questions that we asked in
the interview session with the students;

Figure 2 Interview Questions for Students

1. Did role play help you to regain confidence? How?

2. What benefit did you get while working in groups?
What sort of problems did you face in working in a group?
3. How did you feel when you got the topic for your act?
4. Could you manage the time that was given to you for the act?

Four students stated as they worked in a group, less confident students will benefit
the most as they gained support from their friends who were more confident. They felt that it
was a good opportunity for them to show their real talent in a less threatening environment.
As they needed to confront distinctive situations, twelve students shared their views as
indulging more into characters that were new and challenging for them. However, they were
two students who highlighted about their negative feelings of forgetting the lines of
conversation due to being nervous and had caused embarrassment. Another two more
students pointed out that it was difficult for them to complete the task within the allocated
time.
In the following graph indicates students’ performance in all the four role plays
conducted for different situational contexts. It is observed that they had positively improved
since their first role play activity till the end.

Graph 2 Students’ Score in All Four Role Plays Conducted

90
80
70
60 Student 1
50
40 Student 2
30 Student 3
20
10 Student 4
0
Role Role Role Role
Play 1 Play 2 Play 3 Play 4

Their role play topics differ from the first till their fourth activity and did on topics like
interaction between a fussy customer with a salesman in a shopping mall, hotel reservation,
and doctor’s consultation with his patient. The group performed four different role plays
where the first three columns of bars show the result of their performance with a lot of
preparation and the last columns of bars show their performance with very little preparation.
In the first role play, we can see the percentage of scores of the four members. The 1st
performer scored 50%. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th performers scored 54%, 60% and 65%
respectively. The second and third columns of bars show the gradual progress of each
 661

learner. In the last columns of bars (RP-4) we see that the 1st performer’s score improved by
tremendously in comparison with the first act. Similarly the 2nd, 3rd and 4th members
improved and even one of them managed to get A in this role play activity.
A post survey was conducted with these 53 respondents to investigate pre-diploma
students’ perceptions about their learning in language classrooms before they end the
semester. The highlighted the two problematic skills that they would want to improve on
which are writing and speaking skills are then being observed in terms of their progression
as compared to when they first enrolled into their study. Receiving the data in pre survey
that indicated 53 of them circled their ratings as 1, 2, or 3 in the inventory has seen the
improvement as there was no longer students circled the rating as 1, and 2. It is then
indicated that the aim of the educators to get their students to be more confident and have
the high self-esteem has been achieved after several teaching strategies being held in their
classroom.

Table 2 Percentage of Number of Students Who Rate Components under Writing and Speaking
Skills with Rating 3, 4 and 5 in their Exit Survey

Components Rating Rating 4 Rating 3

5
Fre Per Fre Per Fre Per Total Per
quen cen quen cen quen cen cen
cy tage cy tage cy tage tage
I can use correct 3 5.7% 20 37.7% 30 56.6% 53 100
punctuation
marks and
spelling in writing.
I can write basic, 3 5.7% 30 56.6% 20 37.7% 53 100
compound and
complex
sentences.
I can use pre – 15 28.3% 13 24.5% 25 47.2% 53 100
writing skills to
write an essay.
I can write 12 22.6% 20 37.7% 21 39.6% 53 100
opinion / problem
solution essays
I can speak with 12 22.6% 14 26.4% 27 51% 53 100
correct
pronunciation
and intonation.
I can use 8 15.1% 12 22.6% 33 62.3% 53 100
appropriate
vocabulary when
speaking.
I can 5 9.4% 30 56.6% 18 34% 53 100
communicate
accurately and
appropriately
when making
presentations.

The results of this study must be placed within the context in which these teaching
behaviours occurred. Replication of this study using a similar methodology at other university
would also provide opportunities to confirm the findings in other settings. If similar themes
were demonstrated, then these results could be generalized to teachers in other settings.
 662

DISCUSSION

The language learners need sufficient vocabulary to read effectively, while at the
same time extensive reading is a necessary component for acquiring a sufficient vocabulary.
English language learners are deemed to have an extensive knowledge of the breadth and
depth of words in order to be understood by all English speakers. When the students have
an understanding and a foundation of both, they will be able to use various registers, as
circumstances require. This will also immensely increase their lexical competence. For
educators, it is important to use multiple modes for creating comprehensible input and
output. Educators should constantly remember that their students have not yet developed
their English language proficiency to a level where they can understand all the oral and
written information they encounter in English for academic purposes classroom, hence the
importance of effective vocabulary teaching strategies.
When educators help students to focus on the most important vocabulary, the
content in the English for Academic Purposes classroom becomes manageable and the
workload less overwhelming. Implementing vocabulary teaching strategies will expedite the
learning process of the learners. The level proficiency of the class determines how the
educator will implement specific teaching strategies. Providing learners with the necessary
vocabulary will enable learners to become independent and productive members within their
own communities.
In the speaking activity, the educators did not discuss with the students about the
situations, and they were all being conducted impromptu. They had only been exposed to
some possible words that might be useful in their previous activity in the writing task. They
had been observed to be a greater impact of learning as they were able to be fluent through
acting and learnt a lot from their peers as they were helped when they forgot their
conversation lines. They were several performances given in their respective groups and
seen to be gradually improved as compared to their first act. In their performance, we
observed their creativity in coming up with new ideas in completing the task assigned
besides succeeded in boosting their interest level and enthusiasm.
In our research, we have found that students were enthusiastic about role play as it
was different from other activities done in class. After a series of role play, they showed
remarkable improvement in their speaking ability and they were also found to be quite fluent.
They became confident enough to speak in the created situation of real life scenario. They
shared their ‘hidden feelings’ and expressed themselves without restraint. In a large class
room, role play was a good technique to use to observe the performance of a number of
students in a limited time constraint. They were given feedback for further improvement.
In a few words, we can say that role play technique has positive impact in improving
learners’ speaking skills as it gives the students a chance to explore different situations of
real life and enables them to speak accurately and confidently in that situation in the target
language. Although during role play in a large class room, the situation gets chaotic and the
performers sometimes forget their dialogues, which create embarrassment, eventually with
the help of little feedback from the educators, this problem can be resolved. Educators may
give prompt verbal feedback or written feedback in case of technical difficulties while
recording acts.
The training sessions should be made, and should be more interesting and the
importance of communication skills for a future educational career should be emphasized.
Self-assessment of student skill levels should be encouraged. Class and childhood teachers,
as well as social and behavioural scientists can be involved in training during the basic
science years. Evaluate students for physical or emotional problems that deter
communicating. Effective communication by students in today's classroom is partially
dependent upon the teacher being aware of physical or emotional problems experienced by
the students.
 663

Implications of the Study

This study is aimed at seeking for the most advantageous teaching and learning
opportunities to provide new insights that improve student preparedness with regard to
interpersonal skill sets upon graduation, thereby meeting the needs of the marketplace.
Interpersonal skills can be developed and improved upon through time and training
(Boyaatzi, Cowan, & Kolb, 2005; Ferris, Whitt, & Hochwarter, 2001; Geher, 2004; Loader,
2007). Improving interpersonal skills helps individuals to enrich relationships, cope better at
work and in social situations, and especially when dealing with difficult or challenging
individuals.
Educators must seek out methods of incorporating the assignments and activities
that promote interpersonal skills practice. Classroom discussions and group work provide
engagement opportunities for additional interpersonal skills practice among students. Being
able to equip themselves with such skills would entirely make our graduates intelligent and
fulfils the definition of Gardner (1999a) as outlining intelligence to be (a) the ability to create
an effective product or offer a service that is valued in a culture, (b) a set of skills that make it
possible for a person to solve problems in life, and (c) the potential for finding or creating
solutions for problems, which involves gathering new knowledge.

CONCLUSION

This systematic review has highlighted the need for undergraduate programmes to
place more emphasis on the teaching and learning of interpersonal skills in order to better
prepare student for the requirements of any profession. The most successful methods
appeared to use a combination of teaching strategies, and engaged the students in an
activity which had as much realism as possible. This finding implies that students might
benefit from the time, training, experience, and practice of interpersonal skills in a more
conducive learning environment. Specific considerations might include pedagogical practices
associated with interpersonal skills and education could be improved upon to help
individuals to cultivate relationships, cope better at work and in social situations based on
the results of this study by combining learning opportunities to include the interpersonal skills
teaching practices. This paper gives implication on the future developmental processes of
teaching writing and speaking skills on interpersonal intelligence towards achieving
meaningful learning.

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 666

APPENDIX 1
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES
ENTRANCE SURVEY

Please complete this inventory by circling the appropriate ratings:

5 - I can do this very well
4 - I can do this quite well
3 - I can do this moderately well
2 - I cannot do this very well
1 – I cannot do this

NO. ITEMS YOUR RATING

1. I can read and understand a variety of texts using 54321
basic reading skills.
2. I can respond to Wh-questions using complete 54321
sentences.
3. I can identify the reference words that are used in the 54321
reading texts.
4. I can identify main ideas and supporting details of the 54321
paragraphs in the reading texts.
5. I can recall information from listening texts (news 54321
reports/ announcements/ dialogues / talks / lectures /
advertisements).
6. I can follow the main points and supporting details 54321
presented in the listening texts.
7. I can understand what a speaker says in the listening 54321
texts.
8. I can speak with correct pronunciation and intonation. 54321
9. I can use appropriate vocabulary when speaking. 54321
10. I can communicate accurately and appropriately 54321
when making presentations.
11. I can use correct punctuation marks and 54321
spelling in writing
12. I can write basic, compound and complex sentences. 54321
13. I can use pre-writing skills to write an 54321
essay
14. I can write opinion / problem solution essays 54321
15. I can use correct grammar rules in speaking, reading 54321
and writing.
 667

Appendix 2
PRE-TEST
PROGRAM MANTAP: ENGLISH FOR PRE-DIPLOMA
DECEMBER 2016 – APRIL 2017

Name: _______________________________ Student ID: ______________________

Name of the lecturer: ___________________ Group: _________________________

Instruction to candidates:

Construct complete sentences from the words given.

1. address
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. approach
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. assess
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4. brief
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
5. concrete
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
6. exaggerate
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

7. form
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
8. highlight
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
9. likely
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
10. plagiarism
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

END OF TEST
 668

APPENDIX 3

POST-TEST
PROGRAM MANTAP: ENGLISH FOR PRE-DIPLOMA
DECEMBER 2016 – APRIL 2017

Name: ________________________________ Student ID: ______________________

Name of the lecturer: ____________________ Group: _________________________

Instruction to candidates:

Construct complete sentences from the words given.

1. authentic
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. brainstorm
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. characteristics
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4. consequence
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
5. consistently
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
6. employ
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
7. former
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
8. irony
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
9. persuade
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
10. proofread
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

END OF TEST
 669

Appendix 4
Excerpt of Module for Writing and Speaking Practices
Lines of conversation in everyday situations
Situation 1: Everything will work out just fine.
Storyline: Do you know what to say to encourage someone who's very anxious about
things that may happen in the future?
Lisa: Ross, you look so worried. What happened?
Ross: Well, I want to get into that class, but I just found out that there are so many people
on the waiting list. I guess chances are probably slim.
Lisa: I wouldn't say that! Many people might drop the class and then there will be some
openings. You never know.
Ross: I hope so.
Lisa: _________________________________________________________________

Choose the most appropriate respond from Lisa to Ross:

A. Come on, cheer up! Don't worry so much. Everything will work out just fine.
B. In your dreams! I’m sure you can never register into that class.
C. Don’t just hope and don’t do anything! Try to work on something will you?
D. See you tomorrow!

Answer: A
 670

Appendix 5
Rubrics for Role Play

6 5-4 3-2 1 - 0.5

TASK Task performed very Task performed Task performed Task performed poorly
FULFILLMENT competently competently adequately
( 6 MARKS)
insightful understanding understanding interpretation of issues
of ideas,
understanding of of ideas, information and
ideas, information information and issues
and issues
issues
SCORE 6 5-4 3-2 1 - 0.5
LANGUAGE Displays very Displays Displays Displays poor control
( 6 MARKS) confident control of reasonably satisfactory of language
language confident control control of r use
of language language of linguistic features
use of linguistic
features effective use of effective use of
linguistic features linguistic often impeded by
features major errors
not affected by minor
errors generally not
affected by errors Communication
sometimes
affected by
errors

SCORE 3 2 1 0.5
COMMUNICATIVE Communication Communication Communication Communication
ABILITY mostly effective generally effective somewhat generally not effective
( 3 MARKS) effective
of ability to reasonable level ability to participate in
participate in of ability to some ability to conversation
conversation participate in participate in
conversation conversation
 671

APPENDIX 6
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES
EXIT SURVEY

Please complete this inventory by circling the appropriate ratings:

5 - I can do this very well
4 - I can do this quite well
3 - I can do this moderately well
2 - I cannot do this very well
1 – I cannot do this

NO. ITEMS YOUR RATING

1. I can read and understand a variety of texts using 54321
basic reading skills.
2. I can respond to Wh-questions using complete 54321
sentences.
3. I can identify the reference words that are used in the 54321
reading texts.
4. I can identify main ideas and supporting details of the 54321
paragraphs in the reading texts.
5. I can recall information from listening texts (news 54321
reports/ announcements/ dialogues / talks / lectures /
advertisements).
6. I can follow the main points and supporting details 54321
presented in the listening texts.
7. I can understand what a speaker says in the listening 54321
texts.
8. I can speak with correct pronunciation and intonation. 54321
9. I can use appropriate vocabulary when speaking. 54321
10. I can communicate accurately and appropriately 54321
when making presentations.
11. I can use correct punctuation marks and 54321
spelling in writing
12. I can write basic, compound and complex sentences. 54321
13. I can use pre-writing skills to write an 54321
essay
14. I can write opinion / problem solution essays 54321
15. I can use correct grammar rules in speaking, reading 54321
and writing.
 672

The Governance Quality of Non-Audit Service Purchasers

Khairul Anuar Kamarudin
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Kedah, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
khair659@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Wan Adibah Wan Ismail

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Kedah, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
wanad182@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Jessieca Cherryl Yatan

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Sabah, 88997 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
missjessieca@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the relationship between corporate governance qualities and the
purchase of non-audit services among Malaysian Listed Companies. The sample consists of
709 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia during the year 2014. The study posits that CEO
duality, board independence, audit comitte independence, big 4 auditors, the audit
committee size, and the frequency of audit committee meetings are associated with the
amount of non-audit services. This is basically based on the argument that weaker
governance allows the company to jeopardise the independence of external auditor, hence
higher level of non-audit services. Company size, profitability, leverage, growth and industry
are also included in the study as the control variables. Using the ordinary least square
regression model and relevant diagnostic tests, findings shows that only board
independence, audit committee independence, audit committee size and big 4 auditors are
associated with the level of non-audit services. The results of this study contribute to the
present literature on the determinants of non-audit services, especially in emerging market.
The result would also be informative to regulators worldwide when considering to apply new
policies related to non-audit services.

Keywords: Financial reporting, corporate governance, non-audit services

INTRODUCTION

Corporate governance reforms, especially those relating to the effectiveness of the

board and audit committees are intended to improve financial reporting and audit quality.
Although there are recommended codes of ethics that promote and concern about the
effectiveness of the members of the board and audit committees, some of the companies
still failed to comply with the requirements. For example, in the year 2002, the United States
has experienced a major event that tarnished the credibility of auditors. Since then,
corporate governance standards were created, relevant regulations are introduced and
reforms were made from time to time. The case of Andersen and bankruptcies of large
companies such as Enron, WorldCom and Global Crossing raised many questions on the
auditors’ independence, as they were the biggest corporate collapse in the United States
history. It was contended that the Andersen allegedly stressed more on non-audit services
than the audit itself.
Auditing profession had been badly blamed due to the scandal. It leads to the changes
in ensuring that audit firms reduce their over-reliance on the non-audit services. In order to
ensure the independence of auditors and to protect the interest of investors, the accounting
 673

profession in most countries has come up with a code of ethics that spells out guidelines for
auditors’ competency and independence (Che Ahmad, Shafie, & Mohamad Yusof, 2006).
In Malaysia, the potential threats of non-audit services to financial reporting quality are
highlighted and emphasised in the revised Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance
(MCCG) 2012. The code states that ‘the independence of external auditors can be impaired
by the provision of non-audit services to the company’ (Securities Commission, 2002, p.19).
As a preventive measure, MCCG 2012 stresses that audit committees should establish
policies governing the circumstances under which contracts for the provision of non-audit
services can be entered into and procedures that must be followed by the external. To
ensure independent behaviour is being exercised by the auditor while performing audit
engagement, a written assurance in accordance with terms that relevant to the
professionalism must be obtained. The written assurance should state that the external
auditor maintains independence during their audit tasks. This essential requirement by
MCCG 2012 provides support for the assessment of the external auditor’s independence.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT

The impact of non-audit services had been higlighted due to accounting scandals that
continue to occur since the case of Enron. The payment of high levels of fees for non-audit
services may create an economic bond between the auditor and their client. Hence, may
impair or reduce the independence of auditors. This is what the regulators fear because
subsequently, the public may lose their trust on the professional body. In order to preserve
auditors’ independence, regulators in the USA and Germany, for example, have prohibited
the provision of certain non-audit services by incumbent auditors.
Several studies (Beck, Frecka, and Solomon 1988; Palmrose 1986; Simunic 1984)
argues that non-audit services may lead to incremental economic rents beyond those
described by DeAngelo (1981) as “knowledge spillovers” when there is a joint provision of
audit and non-audit services. Hence, the ability of the auditors to detect a material
misstatement will deteriote. Besides that, the willingness to report any material misstatement
may also be impaired. Auditors are reluctant to report on the finding to the management due
to non-audit fees that they received (Beck, et al. 1988).
Given the disadvantage of non-audit services provided by incumbent auditors to the
quality of audit, it is important to be able to identify the factors contributing to the purchase of
these services. Thus, this study attempt to answer whether corporate governance
mechanisms are associated with management’s decision to purchase non-audit services.
Does strong corporate governance limit the involvement of incumbent auditors in supplying
non-audit services, vice versa?

Non-audit Services and CEO Duality

When the CEO also acts as the board chairman, the role of the board as an internal
monitoring and control mechanism is compromised (Kholief, 2008). Agency theory suggests
that when the CEO also serves as chairman, the board monitoring and control are weakened
and the interest of the shareholders will be sacrificed to a level in favor of executive
management, there will be managerial opportunism such as higher levels of executive
compensation, adoption of ‘poison pills’ and payment of greenmail (Levy, 1981; Dayton,
1984; Dalton, 1991). To ensure proper checks and balances on the top management, the
Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (2012) recommends companies to separate the
two. This is because, the duality role of CEO could result in higher agency costs. According
to Parkash and Venable (1993) and Firth (1997), firms with higher agency costs are
expected to require higher audit quality to reassure investors and creditors about the
integrity of financial statement information, and hence limit their purchase of non audit
services from their incumbent auditor. Thus, this study hypothesizes that there is a negative
relationship between CEO duality and non-audit services.
 674

Non-audit Services and Board Independence

A study by Adelopo and Jallow (2008) found that board independence is positively
associated with audit and non-audit fees paid to the auditor. They suggest that independent
board play crucial oversight function on the management hence independent board likely to
purchase more services from the external auditor to signal board’s competence and quality
of the audit. On the other hand, Bedard and Paquette (2011) found that the approval of lower
non-audit fees relate to audit committee members who hold multiple directorships, because
it would give negative effects on their reputational capital if they considered the approval of
high levels non-audit services fees.Thus, the second hypothesis is that there is a negative
relationship between board independence and non-audit services.

Non-audit Services and Audit Committees Independence

For most large firms, the board of directors delegates direct oversight of the financial
accounting process to a subcommittee of the full board which is the audit committee. Audit
committees are responsible for recommending the selection of external auditors to the full
board. It consists of ensuring the soundness and quality of internal accounting and control
practices; and monitoring external auditor independence from senior management (Ronald,
et al., 2004). A more independent audit committee posses better corporate governance
because an independent director in an audit committee does not have personal interest
similar to the managers or shareholders. Thus, he will make a more objective decision.
Independent directors on the audit committee would act to avoid any conflict of interest
arising from the closer business relationship associated with auditor-provided non-audit
services. In addition, they may bear higher director liability and litigation risk once a financial
misstatement occurs. Abbott et al. (2003) therefore argue that independent directors have
strong incentives to scrutinize managerial decisions in respect of the purchase of non-audit
services in order to reduce the potential threat to auditors' reporting quality. Thus, hypothesis
three is that there is a negative relationship between non-audit services and audit committee
independence.

Non-audit Services and Audit Committee Meetings

Abbott et al. (2003) examined whether audit committee characteristics are associated
with non-audit services. Their findings suggest that audit committees that are independent
and meet at least four times a year purchase less non-audit services from the auditor.
Raghunandan, Rama and Scarbrough (1998) and Abbott, Parker, Peters and Raghunandan,
(2003a and 2003b) argue that by meeting frequently, the audit committee will remain
informed and knowledgeable about accounting or auditing issues and can direct internal and
external audit resources to address the matter in a timely fashion. During the audit
committee meeting the problems encountered in the financial reporting process are
identified, but if the frequency of the meetings is low the problems may not be rectified and
resolved within a short period of time. Thus, this study hypothesizes that a company that has
a higher number of audit committee meetings, purchase less non-audit services from
incumbent auditors.

Non-audit Services and the Size of Audit Committee

In Malaysia, Ahmad-Zaluki and Wan-Hussin (2010) provide weak evidence that audit
committee size is positively associated with the quality of financial information disclosure,
proxied by the accuracy of initial public offering management earnings forecast. This is
 675

supported by Wan Ismail et al., (2009), who found that a larger audit committee has more
resources and capabilities, and thus is better in performing the required duties.
However, most of the studies reviewed by Bédard and Gendron (2010) indicate that
size of the audit committee is not an important determinant of effectiveness, and they
caution that the incremental costs of poorer communication, coordination, involvement and
decision making associated with a larger audit committee might outweigh the benefits.
Besides that, Saleh et al., (2007) also doubt that larger audit committee can result in
effective monitoring. Therefore, this study posits that there is a negative relationship
between non-audit services and the audit committee size.

Non-audit Services and Big Four Auditor

Abbott et al. (2001) find that fee ratios are higher for larger companies and for clients of
Big 4 auditors. Dey et al. (2012) suggest that the Big 4 accounting firms may be tempted to
shed their audit clients by providing them the consulting services. This is because it is more
profitable than involved in audit engagements. Goldwasser and Morris (2002) also argue that
by providing non-audit services, big four auditors can enhance the income of their audit firms
and improve the viability of the public accounting industry and relieve price competition for
audit services. Additionally, the Big 4 accounting firms promote the idea that the expertise
developed by their consulting professionals can improve the quality of audit engagements
that utilize these consultants as specialists. For example, the Big 4 accounting firms can
assign personnel from their consulting practices to act as specialists on their audit
engagement teams. In its 2013 audit quality report, Deloitte states that the utilization of its
financial advisory, tax, and consulting professions as specialists on audit engagements is
“an indispensable asset that contributes to the quality of our audits”. With that, the sixth
hypothesis is that there is a positive relationship between non-audit services and Big Four
auditor.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES

The sample consists of 814 firms of companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia in the year
2014. However, the sample had been reduced to 706 firms after excluding the unavailable
data in annual reports. The accounting data were downloaded from the Worldscope
database, while the data for non-audit service fees, audit characteristics (independence, size
and meetings), CEO duality and Big Four were collected directly from the companies’
corporate annual reports. Following previous study (Carcello et al. 2002), this study uses
OLS multivariable linear regression to examine the association between explanatory
variables and fees for non-audit services. The regression model is as follows:

NAS = + CEODUAL + BODIND + ACIND + MEET + ACSIZE

+BIG4+SIZE +PROFIT + LEV +GROWTH +IND +

Where CEODUAL is a dummy variable that takes value 1 if the chairman is also the
CEO of the firm, 0 otherwise; BODIND is the proportion of independent directors over the
total board size; ACIND is the percentage of independent directors to the total number of
audit committee members; MEET is the number of audit committee meetings held during the
financial year; ACSIZE is the number of members of the audit committee; BIG4 takes value
1 if firms are audited by Big 4, 0 otherwise; SIZE is the natural log of total assets; LEV is the
proportion of total debt to total assets; PROFIT is earnings before interests and taxes (EBIT)
deflated by total assets; GROWTH is the % change in current year sales compared with the
previous year; IND takes the value 1 for a specific industry, 0 otherwise.

RESULTS AND FINDINGS

 676

Descriptive Statistics

The descriptive statistics of the variables are illustrated in Table 1 and Table 2. The
average of payment of non-audit services is RM266,788.61 with a standard deviation of
RM2,683,866.91.The payment of NAS ranges from a minimum of RM0 to a maximum of
RM6,700,000. It indicates that, the sample consist with a top level company that is able to
pay such a high non-audit services. On the other hand, the average for natural log of NAS
(LNAS) stands at 8.776 with a standard deviation of 4.170.
The mean for board independence is at 0.477, indicating that almost half of the board
members are outsider. For audit committee size (ACSIZE), the results show that the mean is
3.36 with the minimum size of the audit committee is 2 persons and the maximum is 9
persons. While audit committee independence (ACIND) shows a mean of 0.88 indicating
that the audit committee is dominated by independent directors. For company size (SIZE),
the results show the mean value at 8.731, maximum value at 11.81 and the minimum value
at 6.87. As an average profitability (PROFIT) company in this study was 0.128, the maximum
value was 3.16 and the minimum value was -3.96. Meanwhile for other control variables,
leverage (LEV) and growth (GROWTH) holds on average 0.201 and 0.143 respectively.

Table 5 Descriptive Statistics of Continous Variables

Variables Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

NAS 0 67000000 266788.61 2683886.914
LNAS 0.00 18.02 8.776 4.170
BODIND 0.14 1.00 0.477 0.130
ACSIZE 2.00 9.00 3.36 .705
ACIND 0.22 1.00 .884 .156
PROFIT -3.96 3.16 .128 .322
LEV 0.00 6.59 .201 .301
SIZE 6.87 11.81 8.731 .712
GROWTH -1.00 30.76 .143 1.302

Table 6 Descriptive Statistics of Dichotomous Variables

Dummy Frequency (N=706) Percent (N=706)

Variables Yes (1) No (0) Total Yes (1) No (0) Total
NASDUM 591 115 706 83.71 16.29 100.00
BIG4 372 334 706 52.69 47.31 100.00
CEODUM 411 295 706 58.20 41.80 100.00
MEET 692 14 706 98.00 2.00 100.00

NASDUM shows companies who were paying non-audit services as 1 and company
who do not have or paying non-audit services as 0.The result shows that most of the firms
regardless the industry, paid NAS with 83.71% out of the total sample. Only 16.30% of the
companies did not or not paying NAS.
Besides that, the result also presents the frequency of the type of auditor that has been
appointed by the listed company. Similar to NAS, it is divided as Big Four (1) and Non-Big
Four (0). The table shows that half of the sample with 52.69% had appointed their auditor
from big four are likely paying NAS and the balance of 47.31% companies appointed their
auditor from non-big four. As for CEODUM, when the company’s chairman and CEO are the
same person, the value 1 is assigned and if it is seperate role then the value is 0. From the
table, it shows most of the total sample do not comply with the code with 58.20% and the
balance represents by 41.80%.The corporate governance has set out that audit committee
should meet at least four times per year. If the company had a meeting between 0 – 3 times,
the value is 0 and if more than 3, value 1 is assigned. The result shows that, 692 companies
with 98% from the total sample held their meeting at least four times per year. Only 2% meet
less than four times.
 677

Empirical Result

Table 3 presents the results from three estimations: basic OLS model,
Heteroscedasticity-adjusted model20 and fixed-effect estimates which control for the industry
effects21. Basically, the analyses provide qualitatively similar results for all estimations. The
findings show that the non-audit services (NAS) is lower in firms with the more independent
board of directors. This is consistent with Bedard and Paquette (2011)’s argument that a
more independent board of directors would not approve the big amount of non-audit fees
because it would give negative effects on their reputation.

Table 7 Regression Estimates

Model Ordinary Least Square Heteroscedasticity Adjusted Controlling Industry Effects

Variable Coeff. t-stat Coeff. White-t Coeff. White-t
Constant -6.830 -2.845 -6.830 -3.280 -8.138 -2.983
BODIND -2.399** -2.048 -2.399 -2.05* -2.860 -2.417*
ACSIZE 0.399*** 1.840 0.399 1.94* 0.371 1.711*
ACIND 2.661* 2.678 2.661 2.59** 2.751 2.735**
MEET4 -0.428 -0.419 -0.428 -0.450 -0.379 -0.372
BIG4 1.832* 5.775 1.832 5.9** 1.753 5.496**
CEODUM -0.284 -0.978 -0.284 -0.980 -0.185 -0.633
PROFIT 0.898*** 1.881 0.898 2.95** 0.857 1.782*
LEV 0.419 0.878 0.419 1.180 0.540 1.130
SIZE 1.430* 6.120 1.430 6.93** 1.558 5.967**
GROWTH -0.029 -0.265 -0.029 -0.410 -0.044 -0.395
CP 0.656 0.928
FIN 0.905 0.960
HOTELS 3.400 1.713
INDP 0.363 0.555
IPC 0.914 0.511
PLANT 0.623 0.723
PROP -0.834 -1.121
REITS -3.435 -2.327
T&S 0.484 0.722
TECH 1.169 1.234
2
Adjusted R 0.18 0.195
N 706 706
F-stat 16.84 19.99

The table also illustrates that the coefficients for audit committee size (ACSIZE) and
audit committee independence (ACIND) are positive and significantly associated with non-
audit services. The result suggests that the bigger the audit committee, the larger the
amount of non-audit services purchased. This support the arguments by Bédard and
Gendron (2010), which contend that large audit committee suffers from poor communication,
coordination, involvement and decision making. Thus, they are less effective in monitoring
(Saleh et al., 2007). Contrary to the expectation and previous studies, the results show that
an increase in a number of independent directors in the audit commitee will lead to a
decision to purchase a larger amount of NAS. The possible explanation for the current
findings is that the more independent the audit committee members, the higher their demand
20
Heteroscedasticity problem occurs when the variance of the errors varies across observations. If the errors are
heteroscedastic, the OLS estimator remains unbiased, but becomes inefficient. More importantly, estimates of the standard
errors are inconsistent. The estimated standard errors can be either too large or too small, in either case resulting in incorrect
inferences.
21
This study controlled for serial correlation problems of residuals data by incorporating industry in the regression model. By
using the Bursa Malaysia’s sector classification, this study creates ten industry dummies: Consumer Product (CP); Finance
(FIN); Hotels; Industrial Product (IND); Infrastructure Project Co. (IPC); Plantation (PLANT); Property (PROP); REITS; Trading
and Services (T&S) and Technology (TECH). The construction sector is not included in the equation because it is used as a
base sector to avoid perfect multi-collinearity problem.
 678

for non-audit services. This could be due to the reason that audit committee members are
responsible for monitoring the financial aspects of company’s position and performance.
Therefore, the more independent the audit committee are, the less knowledge they have
about the company, thus they welcome the advice of the experts.
Table 3 also shows that the coefficient for big four auditors (BIG4) is positive and
significant at 1% level, implying that there is a significantly positive relationship between big
four auditors and the level of non-audit services. This result shows that Big 4 audit firms are
likely to promote their proffesional services including non-audit services as a way to increase
their income. This is consistent with Goldwasser and Morris (2002), which found that the big
four audit firms are more likely provide non-audit services, as to enhance their income for
their audit firms. Meanwhile, the coefficients for CEO duality and audit committee meetings
are not significant.
For the control variables, the coefficients for SIZE and PROFIT have significant and
positive value suggesting that large and more profitable companies tend to purchase NAS.
This supports the evidence found by Palmrose (1986) and Firth (1997), supporting the
arguments that larger companies are more likely to have complex systems and a wider
range of activities, both of which provide greater opportunities for auditors to provide non-
audit services. Further, the positive significant relationship between profit and the level of
purcasing non-audit services is in line with Parkash and Venable (1993). For growth and
leverage, no significant association were found.

CONCLUSION

A firm’s management may prefer to purchase the non-audit services offered by

incumbent auditors for two reasons. First, management may desire to attain cost savings
associated with using the incumbent auditors (Beck et al. 1988). Second, management may
purchase non-audit services from the incumbent auditor to create additional economic
pressure that could result in a more compliant auditor who would allow management enough
flexibility to attain earnings goals (Williams, 1988).
Non-audit services and audit committees are two issues on which the securities
commission (SEC) has concentrated significant effort in recent years. The SEC has asserted
that an auditor’s interest in establishing or preserving a NAS relationship raises
independence concerns. The Commission noted that “the more the auditor has at stake in its
dealings with the audit client, the greater the cost to the auditor should he or she displease
the client, particularly when the non-audit services relationship has the potential to generate
significant revenues on top of the audit relationship” (SEC, 2000). Overall, the results show
that audit committee size, audit committee independence and type of auditor are positive
significantly associated the magnitude of non-audit services. Only board independence was
found to be negatively significant that affect the magnitude of purchasing non-audit services.
The other variables are not significant with the purchase level of non-audit services.

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 681

Generation Y in Malaysian GLCs: Relationship Between Herzberg’s

Motivation Factors and Job Commitment
Nurul Nasuha Binti Mohamed
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
nnm_1992@yahoo.com

Dr. Hajah Fadilah Binti Hj Puteh

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
fadilahputeh@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Organization best HRM practices led towards committed employees, thus drive
organizational success. In terms of organizational talents, Generation Y who is known as
millennial generation is the new emerging workforce. However, several scholars termed Gen
Y also known as millennial generation as disloyal workforces. Managing Gen Y effectively
has puzzled many organizations. High turnover rate among millennial generation is now the
concern of many organizations. Studies on what motivates Gen Y intrinsically towards job
commitment in Malaysia are somewhat limited. Therefore, this paper intends to discover the
relationship between Herzberg’s motivation factors namely achievement, recognition, the
work itself, responsibility, and opportunity for advancement and growth and job commitment
among Generation Y in Malaysian Government Linked Companies (GLCs). A total of 400
Gen Y from top 10 Malaysian GLCs within Klang Valley was chosen as respondents. The
findings revealed that there were strong relationship between achievement (r=0.730,
p<0.01), recognition (r=0.704, p<0.01), the work itself (r=0.715, p<0.01), opportunity for
growth and advancement (r=0.711, p<0.01) respectively with job commitment. However,
responsibility (r=0.189, <0.01) was found to have a positive but weak relationship with job
commitment. This study is hoped to enrich body of discussion on Gen Y and job
commitment.

Keywords: Generation Y, Herzberg’s Motivation Factors, Job Commitment, Government

Linked Companies (GLCs)

INTRODUCTION
According to Abd Rahim et al. (2015), it is important for organizations in today’s
competitive world to hire high performance employees in their organizations. A motivated
employee is needed to guarantee the operational wellbeing of every organization. This is on
the grounds that motivated employees can enhance the organization to be more significant
and productive (McKenzie-Mohr and Schultz, 2014).
The current workplace in Malaysia consists of three different cohorts, namely Baby
Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y (Lamm and Meeks, 2009). Based on Department
Statistics of Malaysia (2016), the total Malaysian workforce mostly being conquered by 6.8
million of Generation Y, followed by 4.6 million of Generation X, and the least group
employees consist of 2.2 million of Baby Boomers. According to William (2008) and Tay
(2011), Generation X or called Lost Generation born between 1966 and 1976 and reaching
their age of 38 to 48 years old as of year 2016. Thus, it indicates that there are 49 % of
labour force in Malaysia consists of Generation Y (Department Statistic of Malaysia, 2016).
Notwithstanding this, Janet Yap (2016) stated that these young generation will become the
 682

largest segment of the workforce starting in 2015 and by 2025, this group will account for
75% of the global workforces in Malaysia.
According to Zimmerman (2008) and Hess & Jepsen (2009), Generation Y people
are those who were born between 1980 and 2000. Generation Y is well known as
Millenniums who are born between 1980 until 2000 (William, 2008 and Tay, 2011). In
addition, according to Wan Yusoff et al. (2013) in Fadilah et al. (2015), Generation Y is the
group of people who are born between 1980 until 2000, while Generation X is the group of
people who are born between 1966 until 1976. Meanwhile, Beutell and Witting-Berman
(2008) state that Baby Boomers are categorized in the group of people who are born around
1946 until 1964 (Fadilah et al. ,2015). In the recent years, Generation Y got an attention in
many research studies because of the difference in characteristics in their generation
compared to the previous generation. Thus, many researchers gave a various terms to label
this generation. The terms namely Nexters, Echo Boomers, and, Millenial (Milliron, 2008;
Eisner and Harvey, 2009; Hanzaee, 2009; Baldonado and Spangenburg, 2009; Lindquist,
2008).
Employee turnover is a common problem faced by many organizations and it
involves all level of employees from lower level to the top level management. A study by Yee
(2012) found that usually Malaysian workers stay with their organization with not more than
three years. The statistics provided by AON Hewitt (2011) revealed that employee turnover
of Malaysia is ranked in sixth place after China, Australia, India, Hong Kong and Indonesia in
Asia Pacific for the year 2011 with 15.9 % attrition rate. Malaysia recorded the third highest
voluntary turnover rate at 9.5% for the year of 2015 in South East Asia (“Key Insights to
Attract,” 2015).
In terms of sectors, Malaysian GLCs contribute significantly to the nation economy.
GLCs are a lawful substance made by a legislature to embrace business activities in the
interest of a proprietor government. Their legitimate status changes from being a piece of
government to stock organizations with a state as a normal stockholder (Boni, 2014). GLCs
play an essential part in the advancement of the Malaysian economy (Rosni, 2005). With the
retirement of Baby Boomer workforce, Generation Y become a substantial part of Malaysian
workforce and turns out to be progressively larger as a greater amount of them are entering
into the workforce (Abdelbaset et al., 2015). This study focuses on the Gen Y employees in
Malaysian GLCs. Malaysia government has forecasted that GLCs employ around 5% of the
national workforce and account for roughly 36% and 54% respectively of the market
capitalization of Bursa Malaysia and the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index
(Khazanah, 2013). The following section discusses on the motivation factors and job
commitment among Gen Y in Malaysian GLCs.

MOTIVATION FACTORS AND JOB COMMITMENT AMONG GEN Y

Generation Y is the latest generation of members into the work constrain. Generation
Y is highly regarded in connection with various issues for organizations, with issue on being
low levels of job commitment (Martin, 2005). Pay matter is less to this generation than to the
previous generation as they are more particular whether the job will give them the
adaptability to seek after objectives in different aspects of their life (Dulin, 2008). This
generation is more concerned with the goal and accomplishment, they are not faithful to any
organization and they need a life outside of work (Yeaton, 2008).
This study employs Herzberg motivation factors to gauge the Gen Y commitment
towards their current organizations. The following section discusses about job commitment
and factors that motivates Gen Y to engage with their organizations.
Job commitment is about feeling of belonging, the link between the employees and
the organization, feeling as a part of the organizations, and also job commitment can
influence the job performance, behaviour, and better performance of organization (Seok and
Olshfski, 2002). Meyer and Allen (1997) explained that job commitment refers to a multi-
based construct that includes affective commitment, normative commitment, and
 683

continuance commitment. Omar et al. (2012) mentioned that it is a bonus for the company to
hire committed employees. The highly committed employees would think twice to leave the
organization. In the same way, Hussain and Asif (2012) have confirmed that strong
organizational commitment will lead organizational values that create a sense of belonging
and ownership among employees, which can produce productive and loyal employees.
Guest (1991) highlighted that high organizational commitment is connected with lower
turnover and absence.
With respect to employee motivation, Carter (2015) stated that the motivation of
employees is the strong reason in influencing their job commitment. Thus, motivation theory
by Frederick Herzberg (1959) was chosen as it was significant to the study in identifying
which factors that can motivate to job commitment. Herzberg (1959) has underlined that
employees particularly be motivated with motivation factors such as achievement,
recognition, responsibility, the work itself and opportunity for advancement and growth, and if
the motivational factors are successfully combined; the employees will be more motivated
and can perform greatly. These motivation factors are likely to have more deeper and longer
term effect in influencing job commitment and job satisfaction of employees because they
are inherent in individuals and not imposed from outside (Armstrong, 2006). Herzberg’s
motivation factors that the researcher found from literature were starting from achievement,
recognition, the work itself, responsibility, opportunity for advancement and growth were
used in the study.
Achievement motivation is the desire to perform in terms of a standard of excellence
or to be successful in competitive situations (Jansen and Samuel, 2014). The individuals
who have high necessity for achievement undertake own duty for the resolution of tasks or
problems, set moderately difficult goals, take calculated risks, and have strong desire for
feedback on their performance as indexed by compensation (Lawson and Shen, 1998). Most
researchers agreed that achievement motivation is essential in the organizations and
individual employees attempt to satisfy many needs through their work and through their
relationship with an organization (Li, 2006). Based on the discussion above, therefore H1 is
developed as follows:

H1: There is a significant relationship between achievement and job commitment

among Generation Y in Malaysian GLCs.

Recognition is a key to any discussion of job commitment. Recognition may appear

as money related or non-monetary grants, or a straightforward acknowledgement when job
are done well. Whatever the way, recognition is very vital for keeping high level of job
commitment, communication and respect. By giving this recognition and acknowledgment,
the organization is fortifying the action that might want to see rehashed by different workers.
Recognition and acknowledgement are additionally a strategy by organization to make
workers feel appreciated and esteemed. At the point when workers are hardly recognized for
a job well done, or when acknowledgment is given improperly, commitment will endure Yee
(2012). Based on the discussion above, therefore H2 is developed as follows:

H2: There is a significant relationship between recognition and job commitment

among Generation Y in Malaysian GLCs.

Rizwan and Ali (2010) defined the work itself in the circumstance where the
employees loving and hating of his or her job, and whether the job is pleasant or not.
According to Elisabeth and Jan (2001) stated that the work itself has a strong relationship
with job commitment. These elements includes in the work itself such as the scope of work,
the value of work, working hours, location of workplace, and rest time which indicated as
having a significant relationship with job commitment. Based on the discussion above,
therefore H3 is developed as follows:
 684

H3: There is a significant relationship between the work itself and job commitment
among Generation Y in Malaysian GLCs.

According to Yazdani et al. (2011), responsibility in other way is working to offer an

advantage to the organization, and make sense of belonging and pride among employees in
the organization. It can be said that there is a win-win relationship between organization and
the employees. By giving responsibility, it shows virtual human capabilities and capacities
among employees in handling a job. When the employees are given an empowerment and
responsibility, they can focus on their job and this can bring to smooth process in the
coordination and work procedure. An empowered employees also will perform well when
they are empowered by their employers with the sense of belonging, as well as with as they
know where they are stand for in their organization. Thus, when there is a sense of
belonging, enthusiasm, and satisfaction, this will lead towards increasing job commitment
among employees in the organization. Responsibility is a one of the Herzberg’s motivation
factors influence job commitment which has been most cited in the research literature.
According to the study conducted by Becherer et al. (1982), the findings showed that there is
a relationship between responsibility and job commitment. Based on the discussion above,
therefore H4 is developed as follows:

H4: There is a significant relationship between responsibility and job commitment

among Generation Y in Malaysian GLCs.

Opportunity for advancement and growth can be viewed as career growth which
emphasized on career track that involve the process to plan career journey for the
employees. The opportunity for advancement and growth will change employee’s belief that
the organization cares about their career desires and goals (Allen, 2005). According to Wee
(2013), opportunity for advancement and growth is the on-going process in developing and
refining the career goals as the organization give opportunities and a chance to enrich
employee’s personal skills, knowledge, abilities and also their potential throughout their
career lifetime. Based on the discussion above, therefore H5 is developed as follows:

H5: There is a significant relationship between opportunity for advancement and

growth and job commitment among Generation Y in Malaysian GLCs.

RESEARCH FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES

This proposed conceptual framework in Figure 1 is developed based on review of

literature as discussed in the previous section. The independent variables (IV) identified in
this study are achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, opportunity for
advancement and growth, while job commitment is the targeted dependent variable (DV).
This conceptual framework is further tested to ascertain the relationship between IVs namely
achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, opportunity for advancement and
growth and DV (job commitment) among Generation Y in Malaysian GLCs.
 685

Figure 1: Herzberg’s Motivations Factors and Job Commitment among

Generation Y

Relationship between Herzberg’s Motivations Factors and Job Commitment among

Generation Y
Herzberg’s Motivation
Independent Factors
Variable Dependent Variable

Achievement

Recognition

The Work Itself Job Commitment

Responsibility

Source: Adapted from Herzberg Motivation Factors (1959)

In order to testOpportunity
the framework
for and the hypotheses, this study employs specific
Advancement and Growth

In order to test the framework and the hypotheses, this study employs specific
methodology in order to determine the relationship between the abovementioned variables.
The following section discusses on the methodological part of this study.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The design of this study utilizes cross-sectional method. Gen Y who work in GLCs
within Klang Valley were chosen as respondents of this study. According to Department
Statistic of Malaysia (2016), approximately Generation Y in Klang Valley consists of 6.8
million workforces. The sample size has been determined using Krejcie and Morgan (1970)
table of a known population. 400 respondents who work in top 10 Malaysian GLCs involved
in this study namely Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas), Malayan Banking Bhd
(Maybank), Axiata Group Berhad, BIMB Holdings Bhd, CIMB Group Bhd, Malaysia Aiports
Holdings Berhad, Sime Darby Berhad, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Berhad,
and UEM Group Bhd.
Data was collected via questionnaire using 5-point likert scale ranging from (1) strong
disagree to (5) strongly agree. The questionnaire consisted of 50 items and was divided into
several sections namely Section A (Demographic Profile), Section B (Job Commitment),
Section C (Achievement), Section D (Recognition), Section E (The Work Itself), Section F
(Responsibility), and Section G (Opportunity for Advancement and Growth). Job commitment
instrument developed by Allen & Meyer (1990) was adopted in this study. Meanwhile for
intrinsic motivation scales, items were adopted from Ewen et al. (1966), Graen (1966),
Sergiovanni (1966), House and Wigdor (1967), Lindsay et al. (1967), Maidani (1991),
 686

Amabile et al. (1994) and Pizam and Ellis (1999). The following section discusses on the
findings derived from this study.

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Table 1 below depicts the analysis on respondents’ profile.

Table 1 Profile of Respondents

Profile Frequency Per cent (%)

Gender
Male 206 51.5
Female 194 48.5
Age
16-20 1 0.2
21-25 140 35.0
26-30 172 43.0
31-36 87 21.8
Working Experiences
1-5 years 262 66.0
6-10 years 74 18.0
10 years above
64 16.0
Educational Level
SPM 13 3.3
STPM 3 0.8
Diploma 84 21.0
Degree 266 66.5
Master 27 6.8
PhD 7 1.8
400 100

Correlation analysis was computed in order to determine whether there is a

significant relationship between Herzberg’s motivation factors (achievement, recognition, the
work itself, responsibility, and opportunity for advancement and growth) and job commitment
among Generation Y in Malaysian GLCs. Correlation analysis has been presented to test the
hypothesis. Specifically, Pearson correlation coefficient was employed to test several
hypotheses namely (H1, H2, H3, H4, and H5). Below were the results on the correlation
analysis using SPSS version 21.0, as depicted in Figure 2.
 687

Figure 2: Correlation Analyses between Herzberg’s Motivation Factors and Job Commitment

Herzberg’s Motivation
Factors (IV)

r=0.730, p<0.01
Achievement

r=0.704, p<0.01

Recognition

Job Commitment (DV)

r=0.715, p<0.01
The Work Itself
r=0.189, p<0.01

Responsibility

r=0.711, p<0.01
Opportunity for
Advancement and
Growth

As depicted in Table 1, it was found that achievement, recognition, the work itself and
opportunity for advancement and growth have strong and positive relationship with job
commitment. Meanwhile, findings of the study also revealed that relationship has weak but
positive relationship with job commitment. Result of this correlation indicates that there is
evidence to support the existence of relationship between Herzberg’s motivation factors
**. Correlationrecognition,
(achievement, is significantthe
at work
the 0.01 level
itself, (2-tailed)
responsibility, opportunity for advancement and
growth) and job commitment among Generation Y in Malaysian GLCs. Therefore, the
hypotheses (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5) were accepted.

DISCUSSION

The result of current study showed that there is a strong relationship between
achievement and job commitment. This finding is coincide with Chika and Emmanuel
(2014), who claimed that achievement correlates significantly with career commitment
among bank workers, r =.635, p< .05. Furthermore, Hasan Tutar et al., (2011) revealed that
employee empowerment positively and highly affects achievement motivation (r = 0.743; p <
0.05). Studies by Dodd-McCue and Wright (1996) & Mannheim et al. (1997) also concur that
there is a significant relationship between the need for achievement and organizational
commitment.
With respect to recognition and job commitment, strong relationship found in this
study concurs with findings obtained by Lindner (1998), Salman et al. (2010), Maurer (2009),
Jun et al. (2008), Reena and Shakil (2009) and Rizwan and Ali (2010). Salman et al., 2010
proved that job commitment is specifically connected with intrinsic work motivation of
workers and it can develop and increase the commitment of the worker. Maurer (2009),
Reena & Shakil (2009) and June et. al (2008) claimed that recognition is a vital factor to
 688

boost job commitment and specifically related to organization accomplishment (Jun et al.,
2008). In terms of the work itself and job commitment, this study is an agreement with
Rizwan and Ali (2010) whom discovered that there is a significant relationship between the
work itself and work motivation and job satisfaction Chika and Emmanuel (2014) also found
that the work itself significantly correlates with career commitment of bank workers. While
Sock and Mui (2012) highlighted that the value of work itself enlightens 17% of the variance
of career commitment.
For opportunity for advancement and growth and job commitment among Generation
Y in Malaysian GLCs, the finding of this study is further supported Rizwan and Ali (2010)
who claimed that promotional opportunities correlates significantly with work motivation and
job satisfaction. This finding is also aligned with Coster (1992) and Hoole & Vermeulen
(2003) who disclosed that the offer of promotion will give an impact meaningfully to increase
employee’s job commitment.
Although this study found that there is a weak relationship between responsibility and
job commitment among Generation Y in Malaysian GLCs, nevertheless, a study by Fadilah
et al. (2015) revealed that Generation Y employees have less enthusiasm to their work, less
sense of belonging to the organizations and are less responsible. This finding is also concur
with a study by Becherer et al. (1982). Beecher et.al argue that the stronger the
responsibility, ability to control and power in the organization experienced by an individual,
the higher the level of job commitment. The same wave of thought were also discovered in
Coster (1992) and Hoole & Vermeulen (2003) that the more power to take actions and to
exercise the authority and responsibility, the higher their job commitment.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This paper highlights the relationship between Herzberg motivation factors namely
achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, and opportunity for advancement
and growth and job commitment among Generation Y. Job commitment is the crucial
concern especially in managing Gen Y whom are narrated by many organizations as having
less sense of belonging to their organizations, less responsible, and less enthusiasm to their
work. This study found that all these five elements are correlates significantly towards
employee commitment. The findings further revealed that Gen Y in Malaysian GLCs do
recognize these five elements that boost their motivation that keep them engaged and
committed to their present organizations. These findings impliedly suggest that Malaysian
GLCS should be able to manipulate these motivational elements as suggested by Hertzberg
in order to boost their employee commitment particularly among Gen Y. These will
eventually enhance employees’ performance and productivity levels.

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Assessing Training Effectiveness and Satisfaction towards

Employee Development
Mohd Fazil Jamaludin
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
mfazil@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Dalili Izni Shafie

Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
dalili@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Norashikin Nasaruddin
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
norashikin116@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Mohammad Izzan Ismail

Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
zedzizan@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

In organization, employers try to find out whether their employees can master the new skills
with the training programs already made for them and use the new ability to fulfill
organization needs. Therefore, the satisfaction among employees on training programs are
very important to improve their competencies and performance level. This study aims to
investigate the influence of training content satisfaction and reliability of the technology on
employee development. A total of 108 employees who attended a short-course programs
have participated in the study. The respondents dominated by female with 58.3%, and most
of the respondents hold Bachelor’s Degree with 40.7%.

Keywords: Training Content, Effectiveness, Satisfaction, Technology, Employee

Development

INTRODUCTION

Employee training and development become an investment for the organization that
considered as “asset” to organizational success. The training content should produce good
outcomes that can give positive impact toward organization and employee become more
productive and effective. The evaluation after training has been conducted which is last step
in training cycle to indicate the level of measurement training effectiveness (Hiswadi, 2011).
Besides, training is expected to have a positive impact on employee development (Sahinidis
& Bouris, 2008). In a study conducted by Nassazi (2013) observed that current studies in
this relationship about training towards employee development rarely found, more focus
create an issue about effect of training towards employee performance. This research adds
basic understanding on human resources management in training and development terms.
Therefore, it is necessary to conduct an in-depth research on the extent of employee
development with the training effectiveness include training content satisfaction, satisfaction
with trainer and reliability of technology specifically in Malaysia.

LITERATURE REVIEW
 694

In the age of globalization, the terms of employee development grown widespread as

Human Resources interventions in every organization. Employers attempt to find out
whether their employees are motivating with the training programs already made for them,
and how to make them engaged by using dissimilar tools and surveys to stay productive and
competitive.
According to Boadu, Dwomo, Boakye, and Kwaning (2014) observed that rewards in
money terms are not good enough to motivate employees. To retain good talent employee,
an organization need to invest in career development programs which is opportunity to being
promoted by selected employee go for training.
One of the way to develop employee potential is through training effectiveness. Yet,
performance will increase after they attend a training and to satisfy them in their career
advancement. Usually employees will do same jobs even though employee has learned
new skill to changes their attributes and attitudes. Therefore, training objectives ineffectively
cause of employer unawareness (Vasudevan, 2014). Organizations view training programs
as most effective ways in optimize and utilization manpower resources, which helps
employee achieve their individual goals as well as organizational goals (Ghosh, Satyawadi,
Joshi, Ranjan, & Singh, 2012).
Vasudevan (2014) stated that training content must be capable and intended to
transfer a skills requirement, knowledge, task information and attitude towards trainees. Yet,
training delivery approaches can be different in terms of training contents to satisfy dissimilar
employee background.
A key to quality learning experiences is by making the learning environment cheerful
and safe. As Arghode and Wang (2016) noted, trainee who perceive trainer as creating a
well-structured and caring learning environment in which high expectation more likely to
trainee engagement on satisfaction with trainer.
Separately, the research from Harris, Chung, Hutchins, & Chiaburu (2014) suggests
trainee satisfaction are predict based on training effectiveness outcomes such as training
content, trainer styles and training place. Trainee acquire new knowledge, new environments
and learn from experience are expected to positively influence transfer of training outcomes
and satisfaction.
Introducing e-learning broadly comprise computer technology with existence variety
number of approaches. For instance, Sawang, Newton and Jamieson (2013) determined e-
learning as new training delivery options and collection of new knowledge and distribution
technologies. Moreover, e-learning also a fast interactive education uses computer-based
technologies, learning management system and information communication technologies
(ICTs).
Nevertheless, this type of training programs can be costly enough to the organization
due to low adoption rate among other users. Indeed, low adoption rates of this type training
program because of not relevance training content, availability of technical support and
comfort level with technology. As technology provides training growth to find the way into
formal or informal training delivery and reliability of the technology infrastructure will enable
the expansion of training opportunities to a broad section of training content, and provide
further opportunities in return on investment towards organization (Male & Pattinson, 2011).
 695

Figure 1 Framework of Training Effectiveness and Satisfaction towards Employee

Development

METHODOLOGY

The study was conducted at Pahang Skills Development Centre (PSDC) in Kuantan,
Pahang. The targeted population for this study is employee who attended the short-course
programs held at Pahang Skills Development Centre (PSDC), Kuantan, Pahang. According
to List of Trainee Attendance for the March and April 2016 provide by Business
Development Department (BDD), there are 150 employees attended the Short Course
Programs which consist of ICT Programme such as AutoCAD 2014, Technical Programme
such as Wireman PW2 and PW4, Safety and Health Officer (SHO), Softskills and
Management Programme such as Team Bulding and lastly programme fund by Suruhanjaya
Tenaga. The researchers has 150 actual respondents as an element in the population and
according to Krejcie and Morgan (1970), 108 respondents should be adequate enough to
represent the actual population. All distributed questionnaires were self-administered
whereby the questionnaires distributed after all respondents finished their training programs.

FINDINGS AND RESULTS

In this study, the majority of respondent were female with 58.3%, and another 41.7%
were male. Most of respondent were between 26 to 35 years with 43.5%, and another
37.0% were between 36 to 45 years old. With respect to the level of education, most of
respondents hold Bachelor’s Degree with 40.7%, another 33.3% were Diploma holder, while
20.4% have SPM / Skills Certificate level, and only 5.6% hold Masters Degree. In term of
monthly income, 46.3% of respondents earn between RM2,501 to RM5,000. 28.7% of the
respondents earn less than RM2,500 per month, 21.3% of the respondents between
RM5,001 to RM7,000 per month, and the remaining 3.7% earn more than RM7,000 monthly.
The majority of respondent were permanent staff with 78.7% while only 21.3% were contract
basis. Lastly, the highest number of respondents hold as Executive position with 69.4%.
Meanwhile another 15.7% of the respondents hold as Assistant Manager and 10.2% hold as
Non-Executive position. The remaining 4.6% is a Manager position in this organization.
 696

Table 1 Respondent’s Demographic Profile

Variables (n=108) Percent (%)

Gender Male 45 41.7
Female 63 58.3
Age 25 years or less 13 12.0
26 to 35 years 47 43.5
36 to 45 years 40 37.0
46 years or greater 8 7.4
Education Level SPM / Skills Certificate 22 20.4
Diploma 36 33.3
Bachelor’s Degree 44 40.7
Masters 6 5.6
Monthly Income Less than RM2,500 31 28.7
RM2,501 to RM5,000 50 46.3
RM5,001 to RM7,000 23 21.3
More than RM7,000 4 3.7
Employment Status Contract employees 23 21.3
Permanent employees 85 78.7
Job Position Non-Executive employees 11 10.2
Executive 75 69.4
Assistant Manager 17 15.7
Manager 5 4.6

R-square is determine the extent or percentage that the IVs can explain the
variations in the DV (Table 2). Resulting, the R-square for this research is 0.483. This means
that 48.3% of the variation in the employee development (DV) can be explained by the
model (Training Content Satisfaction, Satisfaction with Trainer and Reliability of the
Technology). Nevertheless, 51.7% (100% - 48.3%) of the variation in the DV is unexplained
in this research and there are other additional variables that are important in explaining
employee development may not measure in this research.
Next, Durbin Watson analysis indicates evidence of no serial autocorrelation when
the value is near 2. However, a successive error terms are on average, much different in
value from one another such as negatively correlated when the value specifies greater than
2. Resulting, it shows that the value of Durbin Watson is 1.951. The value is near 2 so it
determines as no serial autocorrelation.

Table 2 Multiple Regression Analysis

Variable Value
R Square 0.483
Adjusted R Square 0.468
Durbin Watson 1.951

Based on Table 3, this study indicates no multicollinearity problem between all IVs as
the highest correlation between DV and IVs is more than 0.10 and less than 1.00 which is
range from 0.483, 0.579 and 0.636. Resulting, it also supported by the VIF (Variance
Inflation Factor) value that is less than 10 which is considered as highly correlated to
dependent variables and avoid multicollinearity problem.
 697

Table 3 Multicollinearity

Collinearity Statistics
Model Tolerance VIF
Training Content Satisfaction (IV1) 0.483 2.070
Satisfaction With Trainer (IV2) 0.636 1.572
Reliability of the Technology (IV3) 0.579 1.726

Table 4 shown that the significance value of 0.000 that is less than 0.05 and can be
conclude that the IVs (Training Content Satisfaction, Satisfaction with Trainer and Reliability
of the Technology) significantly explain the variance in DV (Employee Development).

Table 4 ANOVA

Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

b
Regression 7.970 3 2.657 32.353 0.000
Residual 8.540 104 0.082
Total 16.510 107

Based on the Table 5, training content satisfaction and reliability of the technology
has significant effect because p value is less than 0.05 with the value of 0.000 and 0.012 in
which Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 3 are supported by this research model. Meanwhile,
satisfaction with trainer is not significant because the p value is more than 0.05 with 0.177.
Thus, Hypothesis 2 was not supported on this research model.
Based on Standardized Coefficient Beta value above, training content satisfaction
(IV1) has (β = 0.437) is the highest standardized coefficient, follow by reliability of the
technology (IV2) with (β = 0.237) and next satisfaction with trainer (IV3) has (β = 0.120).

Table 5 Coefficient

Unstandardized Standardized
Model Coefficient Coefficient t
(Beta) (Beta) Sig.
(Constant) 0.956 2.632 0.010
Training Content Satisfaction 0.449 0.437 4.310 0.000
Satisfaction with Trainer 0.124 0.120 1.359 0.177
Reliability of the Technology 0.201 0.237 2.555 0.012

As shown as above, the regression equation is written as:

Y= a + β1(X1) + β2(X2) + β3(X3)

Where, Y = ED (Employee Development)(DV)

X1 = TC (Training Content Satisfaction)(IV1)
X2 = ST (Satisfaction with Trainer)(IV2)
X3 = TECH (Reliability of the Technology)(IV3)

Hence, the equation of the model employed in this research can be written as:

ED = 0.956 + 0.449(TC) + 0.124(ST) + 0.201(TECH)

According to the regression equation indicates every 1-unit increase in Training

Content Satisfaction (IV1), the Employee Development (DV) will increases by 0.449. For
every 1-unit increase in Reliability of the Technology (IV3), the Employee Development (DV)
will increase by 0.201. Overall can be concluded that training content satisfaction and
 698

reliability of the technology, there is a significant relationship with employee development

(DV).

Table 6 Hypotheses Testing

Hypothesis Remarks

H1: There is a significant relationship between Training Content Satisfaction and Accepted
Employee Development
H2: There is a significant relationship between Satisfaction with Trainer and Rejected
Employee Development
H3: There is a significant relationship between the Reliability of the Technology Accepted
and Employee Development

Based from Table 6, it shows satisfaction with trainer factors are not one of the
important factors that influences employee development and hypothesis was rejected. For
training content satisfaction and reliability of the technology, there are significant relationship
with employee development (DV), both are the important factors that influences employee
development. Both hypotheses were accepted.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The results of this study deliver key contribution to knowledge. First, it provides clear
understanding of individual and organization characteristics on training effectiveness
variables influence employee development in the organization. There is so little empirical
work to explain or contradict them. This research has defined the key components of the
organizations and their effects.
From the findings that found, it has a positive relationship between training content
satisfaction, satisfaction with trainer and reliability of the technology towards employee
development. Hence, the results shown that it is important for the top management to
consider the characteristics and factors of individuals before setting up the goals. According
to Sanjeevkumar and Yanan (2011), describes that top management should highlight
training opportunities as they may relate to increase job satisfaction with adequate training.
Thus, when these factors are considered, an organization will increase probability to success
in the future terms.
The analysis of results on satisfaction with trainee has discovered whether job
position from non-executive employees to managers has find definite aspects of the training
programme more satisfying than others, whether occurs any difference in opinion between
them. According to Ghosh, Prasad, Satyawadi, Mukherjee, and Ranjan (2011), it possible to
human resources department to design customized different type of training programmes for
different job position, since the groups has different levels of responsibilities, educational,
economic, social and cultural backgrounds.

LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

The research presents several limitations of the study where most of them outside
the control of the researchers. In this study, respondent come from different organization
and job description that may influence cohesion of the training effectiveness evaluation and
biased from respondent’s responses cause of trainee perception towards trainer and training
content. Therefore, the future researcher may choose specific respondent from same
background and industry to get more accurate result. Besides, this study may have small
sample as compared to other study. Hence, the future researcher may expand the number
 699

of population from large organization that has variation of departments and units. From the
larger population, it helps to indicate better relationship between variables and get more data
information. In addition, this research conducted only on public organization, therefore, it
would be beneficial for future research expanding on private organizations to enhance the
consistency of the results.

REFERENCES

Arghode, V., & Wang, J. (2016). Exploring trainers’ engaging instructional practices: a
collective case study. European Journal of Training and Development, 40(2).

Boadu, F., Dwomo-Fokuo, E., Boakye, J. K., & Kwaning, C. O. (2014) Training and
Development: A Tool for Employee Performance in the District Assemblies in Ghana.
International Journal of Education and Research, Vol. 2 No. 5, 513-522.

Ghosh, P., Prasad Joshi, J., Satyawadi, R., Mukherjee, U., & Ranjan, R. (2011). Evaluating
effectiveness of a training programme with trainee reaction. Industrial and
commercial training, 43(4), 247-255.

Ghosh, P., Satyawadi, R., Joshi, J. P., Ranjan, R., & Singh, P. (2012). Towards more
effective training programmes: a study of trainer attributes. Industrial and commercial
training, 44(4), 194-202.

Harris, T. B., Chung, W., Hutchins, H. M., & Chiaburu, D. S. (2014). Direction and desire:
Trainer and trainee factors in tandem. Journal of Workplace Learning, 26(5), 331-
344.

Hiswadi, A. (2011). A Study on the Impact of Training Design and Delivery on the Training
Effectiveness in the Context of Technology Park Malaysia (Doctoral dissertation,
Universiti Utara Malaysia).

Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities.
Educational and Psychological Measurement. 30: 607-610.

Male, G., & Pattinson, C. (2011). Enhancing the quality of e-learning through mobile
technology: a socio-cultural and technology perspective towards quality e-learning
applications. Campus-Wide Information Systems, 28(5), 331-344.

Nassazi, A. (2013). Effects of Training on Employee Performance: Evidence from Uganda.

Business Economics and Tourism.

Sahinidis, A. G., & Bouris, J. (2008). Employee perceived training effectiveness relationship
to employee attitudes. Journal of European Industrial Training, 32(1), 63-76.

Sanjeevkumar, V., & Yanan, H. (2011). A Study on Training Factors and Its Impact on
Training Effectiveness in Kedah State Development Corporation, Kedah, Malaysia.
International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 1(2), 136.

Sawang, S., Newton, C., & Jamieson, K. (2013). Increasing learners' satisfaction/intention to
adopt more e-learning. Education+ Training, 55(1), 83-105.

Vasudevan, H. (2014). Examining the Relationship of Training on Job Satisfaction and

Organizational Effectiveness. International Journal of Management and Business
Research, 4(3), 185-202.
 700

Accommodating Breastfeeding Employees in the Workplace: A

Preliminary Study at Public Organization in Pahang Darul Makmur
Ramha Rozaili binti Ramli
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, UiTM Pahang
ramha636@phg.uitm.edu.my

Noor Amira Syazwani Binti Abd Rahman

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, UiTM Pahang
noora2665@phg.uitm.edu.my

Norfaezah binti Mohamed

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, UiTM Terengganu
faezah_uitm@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food and care for the healthy growth
and physical and psychological development of infants. It is also an integral part of the
reproductive process with important implications for the health of mothers. In Malaysia, The
Ministry of Health in implementing the National Policy Breastfeeding has been emphasized
for all women to breastfeed only start from the day of birth, infants until they reach the age of
six months and continued breastfeeding up to two years. A woman's return to work has
frequently been found to be a main contributor to the early termination of breastfeeding.
Workplace barriers contribute to low rates of breastfeeding. Most workplaces do not have
the supportive environment for breastfeeding. Therefore, this study aims to understand the
reasons behind why women discontinue breastfeeding, to assess the factors affecting
breastfeeding practices among employed mothers in the public organization and assist
policy makers in translating them into policy. It is important for workplaces to provide
adequate breastfeeding support to ensure continuation of the internationally recommended
time period for breastfeeding an infant exclusively in accordance with the recommendations
of the WHO and UNICEF.

Keywords : Breastfeeding , workplace, support, public organization

INTRODUCTION

A normal situation for every married couple to have their own child and a mother who
fully breastfeed their babies. Postpartum mothers normally will dreams to fully breastfeed
their child for two years as mentioned in National Breastfeeding Policy 1993. The policy
recommended mothers to breastfeed their babies for the first four to six months of their life
and continued up to two years. In order to encourage mothers to breastfeed their babies,
several breastfeeding promotion programs had been implemented in the country since
1990s (World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative Assessment Report, 2015). Breastfeeding is a
healthy choice for mother and baby as it can give a lot of advantages for them.
Breastfeeding is not a major problem for mothers when they are on maternity leave.
However, when they return to work, they need a good facility to continue to provide the
breast milk for their babies. However, not all employers encourage or accommodate
breastfeeding mothers. It can be shown by not providing the facilities for breastfeeding
mothers. Nevertheless,for employees who live close to the workplace, breastfeeding is not a
problem as they can go home or go to the nearby nursery to breastfeed their babies
(Fatimah Salim, 2006).
 701

The definition of breastfeeding include the policy that emphasized on writing

corporate policies to support breastfeeding women, teaching employees about breastfeeding
, providing designated private space for breastfeeding or expressing milk, allowing flexible
scheduling to support milk expression during work, giving mother’s options for returning to
work by extended maternity leave, providing on site or near site child care, providing high-
quality breast pumps, and offering professional lactation management services and support
(The CDC Guide to Breastfeeding Interventions, 2004).
Breastfeeding bring clear, short, and long benefits for child health (Fatimah Salim,
2006). It not only improves child survival, health outcomes, and cognitive performance, it
also appears to be a protective factor against overweight as well as chronic diseases such
as diabetes melilitus and hypercholesterolemia. Besides that breastfeed also give benefit to
babies from the nutritional value of breast milk that contains with nutrients for brain
development, growth, and digestion. Moreover, the babies also have lesser illnesses
because they receive their mother’s antibodies through breast milk.
Breastfeeding not only give benefit to the babies but also to mothers. As mentioned
by Melissa Martin (2011), the mothers benefit greatly from breastfeeding. The benefits
include decreased postpartum bleeding, increased child spacing, earlier return to pre-
pregnancy weight, decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancer, as well as possibly
decreased risk of hip frartures and ostroporosis in the postmenopausal period.
Other than that, at the workplace, breastfeeding employee also are less taking a
leave because of baby-related illnesses and less likely to have long absenteeism. Breast-
feed also encourages women to continue working after having the children, which will reduce
recruiting and turnover costs, reduces health care costs so that lower the cost of some
company benefits (The CDC Guide to Breastfeeding Interventions, 2004). It means that by
breastfeed the baby, the employee brought positive impacts to the organization as well as
their performance. Pervious research shows that employers benefit from assisting
breastfeeding mothers because these personnel use less sick time (Miner et al.; 2014,
Murtagh & Moulton, 2011). Providing more benefits to breastfeeding employees to make
them happier and increases the loyalty to their employer.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Despite the many benefits of breastfeeding, it has been shown that numerous factors
hinder its optimal practice. Some of these barriers include mother’s employment, unfriendly
hospital practices, advertisement of breast milk substitutes, ignorance, family pressures, and
mother’s illhealth, among other factors. While the public claims to see great value in
breastfeeding, there are very few de facto accomodations made for it. Lack of
accommodation is especially true factor for working women to breastfeed .A woman is hard-
pressed to find somewhere other than a restroom to breastfeed (Melissa Martin, 2011) since
lack of accomodation to breastfeed the babies.
The word breastfeeding itself not fully understand by the employers. Many definition
translated from the word breasfeed.For some employees who live close to the workplace,
breastfeeding may mean going home or to a nearby nursery to feed their child (Fatimah
Salim, 2006) while for others, breastfeeding include the policy that emphasized on writing
corporate policies to support breastfeeding women.
Today, authorities agree that breastfeeding is the best feeding option for infants.
Although we have a policy to promote breastfeeding in the workplace, which is National
Breastfeeding Policy (World Breastfeeding Trend Initiative Assessment Report, 2015), there
are problems in terms of the implementation. For example, the law requires an employer to
provide a suitable place for a breasfeeding employee such as a pump station. Nevertheless,
the law doesn’t require an employer to grant paid breaks from a job in order to breastfeed or
to express milk for storage or later use (Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations, 2010)
Besides support from family, fully breastfeeding mother must get support from
employer since it become a part of employee benefits and services (The CDC Guide to
 702

Breastfeeding Interventions, 2004). As this can be sensitive issue for both employer and
employees, the employees should have dicsussion with the employers about this issues
especially when they return to work from maternity leaves. Hence, the employer can provide
the suitable accomodations for breasfeeding mother once they return to work.
Infant formula, which was introduced after World War II, was used by working
mothers by the 1960s (Hagelskamp, Hughes, Yoshikawa, & Chaundry, 2011).Mothers have
the choice to breastfeed or use infant formula to supply nutrition to their children. This
decision is personal, but it is unknown if this decision or an organizations reaction to this
decision affects a mother's commitment to work. This return to the promotion of
breastfeeding over formula usage presented working mothers with a difficult choice.
Because of that, many working mothers discontinue breastfeeding since many limitations
and problems to them and choose to supplement with formula milk.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

• To understand the reasons behind why women discontinue breastfeeding

• To assess the factors affecting breastfeeding practices among employed mothers in
the public organization
• To assist policymakers in translating them into policy.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Figure 1 Conceptual Framework

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT VARIABLES

Knowledge

Breastfeeding Policy Breastfeeding

Employees

Breastfeeding Facilities

Organization Support

The conceptual framework consists of social learning theory. Bandura (1977) found
that individuals strongly model their behaviors based on society’s reward and punishment
systems. This finding developed into social learning theory. Social learning theory is a tool
that helps managers understand worker behaviors. There are norms and rules for behaviors
in every organization. Some of these norms include differences based on gender. This
theory provides insights into workers' intentions to stay or leave organizations. The culture of
many organizations does not seem to coincide with the image of a modern working and
breastfeeding woman (Rippeyoung & Noonan, 2012). The emotional and practical support
that breastfeeding women experience and perceive from their leaders can directly affect their
commitment to working and to their organization.
In order to answer the research objectives, a conceptual framework has been
established. There are four independent variables in this study, which are knowledge,
breastfeeding policy, breastfeeding facilities and organization support. In addition,
breastfeeding employees is the dependent variables. This study investigated whether the
 703

elements under the dependents variables will effect the mothers to breastfeed their babies or
discontinued it. For example, breastfeeding facilities refer to mothers get uninterrupted
access to the breastfeeding facility such as nursing room and avoid conflicts with other
mothers who need to use the nursing room at the same time. In addition, mothers also
should have access at least two to three times daily to use the facilities.
In terms of breastfeeding policy, it can be related to internal working policies at the
workplace is in line with the National Breastfeeding Policy. For instance, the policy should be
formulated to support mothers who wish to breastfeed. Next is organization support. In
order to success breastfeed the babies up to two years, they must get support from their
sorrounding. It is included the husband, parents as well as the employer. Without the support
from employer, it can demotivated the employee to continue breastfeed their babies. Support
from the employer can be be shown in terms of providing a facilities to express their milk, a
suitable place to store the milk and others.

National Breastfeeding Policy

In Malaysia, the National Breastfeeding Policy was formulated in 1993 whereby

exclusive breastfeeding was recommended for the first four to six months of baby life and
continued up to two years. Since the introduction of this policy, breastfeeding promotion in
Malaysia has been intensified. A lot of program has been introduced such as The Baby
Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) and training programme for health staff. Besides that,
government has decided to give extension for both maternity and paternity leave at the
government sector. In addtiion, the Code of Ethics for the Marketing of Infant Formula
Products was introduced. In 2005, the policy was revised to follow the recommendation
from World Health Organization (WHO). For instance, accordance with World Health
Assembly Resolution (2002) exclusive breastfeeding was recommended for the first 6
months of life and continued up to two years (World Breastfeeding Trend Initiative
Assessment Report, 2015). Through most of the twentieth century, initiation and duration of
breastfeeding declined worldwide as a result of rapid social and economic change, including
urbanisation and marketing of breast milk substitutes. In recent years the global trend has
shifted towards improved breastfeeding practices.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) also recommends that infants should be
exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life and complementary food should be
introduced at the age of six months. These recommendations were adopted following a
systematic review of current scientific evidence on the optimal duration of exclusive
breastfeeding. Programmes implemented in the last ten years were effective in improving
the prevalence of ever breastfeeding, timely initiation of breastfeeding and continued
breastfeeding up to two years. However, the challenge is to improve exclusive breastfeeding
practice and to improve the rate of continuance of breastfeeding up to 2 years (World
Breastfeeding Trend Initiative Assessment Report, 2015).
In June 2011, the Prime Minister announced the approval of a policy to ensure “30%
of women are at the decision-making level in the private sector”. In light of this, the corporate
sector was given a fiveyear transition period to raise the number of women as members of
the boards of directors, and hold top positions in their respective companies (Bernama
News,2011). Company Commision of Malaysia colloborate with UNICEF have introduce a
sustainable family-friendly CSR initiative: A Nursing Mothers Programme. This programme
gave benefit to women by providing the support and workplace assistance nursing mothers
need, making their return from maternity leave less stressful. At the same time, this initiative
complement the national goals to promote exclusive breastfeeding which is defined by a
period of no less than six months. (WHO & UNICEF, Global Strategy for Infant and Young
Child Feeding, 2003).
Meanwhile, according to the Malaysian Dietary Guidelines, it is important for
employers to ensure the provision of education and health promotion,facilitation of either
frequent feeding or frequent expression, and accessibility to store breast milk, at the
workplace. In addition, the International Labour Organization (ILO), have described the
 704

maternity protection safeguards women’s employment and income security during and after
maternity. Maternity protection is also essential for ensuring women’s access to equal
opportunity and treatment in the workplace. Many programmes implemented to support
breastfeeding employee not only in local but internationally. The Nutrition, Physical Activity
and Obesity Program one of the program principle also targeted to increase breastfeeding
initiation, duration and exclusivity. Various strategies designed and one of it by support for
breastfeeding in the workplace.

METHODOLOGY

This study was done by using quantitative research. A structured questionnaire was
used in conducting this study involving employees who worked in public organization in
Pahang. Respondents were women with children between the ages of one to twelve months
who were formally employed. The purpose of using quantitative research was to elicit
responses and data from a fairly large amount of the population. A total of 46 respondents
were chosen as respondents. The sampling technique used in the study is non probability
sampling that is convenience sampling. In this case, the respondent refers to the employees
who work in any government department. To complete this study, the survey method was
used to gather information. A questionnaire survey was designed based on the research
objectives stated. A survey method was used because it can be distributed easily, cost
effective, and easy to manage (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010). The sampling method used in
this study is confined to those women employees that already breastfeed only. Due to
limitation of time and resources, this could be an economical way for getting the respondents
to answer the questionnaire quickly and efficiently.

RESEARCH FINDINGS
Table 1 Profile of Respondents

ITEMS FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Age
Less Than 25 years old 0 0
26-30 13 28.3
31-35 27 58.7
36-40 4 8.7
More than 41 years old 2 4.3
Age at Delivery
Less Than 25 years old 2 4.3
26-30 23 50
31-35 18 38.3
36-40 3 6.4
More than 41 years old 1 2.1
Education Level
SPM 2 4.3
Diploma 18 38.3
Degree 21 44.7
Master 6 12.8
PHD 0 0
Field of Work
Education 9 19.1
Security 0 0
Health 8 17
Transportation 0 0
Administration 15 31.9
Others 15 31.9
 705

Table 1 shows the profile of the respondents for this study. The total respondents for this
study are 47 which all of them are female. Most of the respondents are at the age ranged
between 31- 35 years old indicated with 58.7 percent. As a mother, majority of them reach
the age of 26 – 30 years old at delivery. 44.7 percent are degree holders, 38.8 percent are
Diploma holders, 12.8 percent are Master holders and SPM holders with 4.3 percent.
Besides, most of the respondents are working at administration field which is 15 percent and
the least is health indicated with 17 percent.

Table 2 Mother’s Knowledge

Mother’s Knowledge
My infants got exclusive breastfeeding from one until six months
Yes 39 83
No 8 17
Breast milk is more easily digested than formula
True 47 100
False 0 0
Breast milk and Infant formula have the same health benefits
True 44 93.6
False 3 6.4
Breast milk contains all the essential nutrients for a newborn child
True 45 95.7
False 2 4.3
Colostrum contains essential antibodies necessary to help the child’s immune
system
Yes 47 100
No 0 0

In understand the reasons behind why women discontinue breastfeeding, based on the
survey, most of the respondent still continue breastfeeding where consist of 83 percent and
only 17 percent discontinue. For question 2 (Breast milk is more easily digested than
formula), the analysis shows that all of the respondents which is100.percent, agreed with the
question while for the question 3 (Breast milk and Infant formula have the same health
benefits), some of the respondents are still confused about the health benefits. Most of the
respondents (95.7 percent) agreed that breast milk contains all the essential nutrients for a
newborn child. Meanwhile, 100 percent mothers agreed that colostrum contains essential
antibodies necessary to help the child’s immune system.

Table 3 Breastfeeding Policy

Breastfeeding Policy
My organization have a written policy outlining organizational support for
breastfeeding employees
Yes 10 21.3
No 37 78.7
My organization routinely distribute or promote our written breastfeeding policy
to all employees
Yes 6 12.8
No 41 87.2
My organization allow moms to schedule breaks and work patterns to provide
time to breastfeed their babies or to express or pump breast milk during the
workday
 706

Yes 32 68.1
No 15 31.9

Table 3 show the level implementation of breastfeeding policy at workplace where 37

percent of the respondent found out their organization did not have written policy outlining
organizational support for breastfeeding employees. It leads to questions that the
organizations routinely distribute or promote our written breastfeeding policy to all
employees where 41 percent are not agreed. However, 68.1 percent of respondent agreed
that their organization allow moms to schedule breaks and work patterns to provide time to
breastfeed their babies or to express or pump breast milk during the workday.

Table 4 Breastfeeding Facilities

Breastfeeding Facilities
At workplace, they provide employees with a private place to express breast
milk and breastfeeding
Yes 18 38.3
No 29 61.7
At workplace, they provide employees with a functioning sink where easy to
clean pumping equipment
Yes 20 42.6
No 27 57.4

Table 4 illustrates the result of facilities provided at workplace for breastfeeding

mothers. 61 percent of mothers answered no where they did not be provided with a private
place to express breast milk and breastfeeding. At workplace, 42.6 percent employees have
been provided with a functioning sink where easy to clean pumping equipment.

Table 5 Breastfeeding Support

Organization Support
My organization sponsor the services
of a lactation consultant for all
breastfeeding employees
Yes 4 8.5
No 43 91.5
My organization purchase personal
electric breast pumps or pump kits for
breastfeeding employees
Yes 2 4.3
No 45 95.7
Childcare is available and accessible
to employees and accommodates
breastfeeding
Yes 36 76.6
No 11 23.4

Table 5 show the results of breastfeeding support by the organization at workplace. It

show that, 43 percent of respondent did not get sponsor the services of a lactation
consultant. Only 4.3 respondents get the opportunity where organization purchase personal
electric breast pumps or pump kits for breastfeeding employees. However, 76.6 percent
agreed that childcare at workplace is available and accessible to employees and
accommodates breastfeeding.
 707

CONCLUSION

Breastfeeding can be a sensitive issue to discuss. It is good practice for employers to

discuss with employees who are still breastfeeding what could reasonably and
proportionately be done to facilitate their return to the workplace. An employer may consider
nominating a female employee to conduct these discussions if there is a question of
sensitivity or appropriateness. Breastfeeding women are protected by federal legislation
requiring most organizations to provide space and time expressing breastmilk. In Malaysia,
government had recommend exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continued
breastfeeding for one to two years (National Breastfeeding Policy). Despite this mandate,
workplaces differ in their acceptance and support levels of women who combine
breastfeeding with work.
Based on the survey, most of the organization did not provide good facilities for
breast feeding mothers. A breastfeeding employee may ask for a private, hygienic, safe and
secure area where she can express milk, this could be unoccupied office or an area used for
meetings that can be discreetly screened. Other than that, fridge and cool area needed to
storage the milk and perhaps the storage concerns on hygiene matters. As employer or
leader, they can made some adjustment to existed accommodations. For example
storeroom or restrooms to breastfeed mothers. It can reduce the costs.
Unsupportive leaders also one of factors why mother discountinues breastfeed. A
good discussion between employee and employer is important to produce positive impacts
to organization. Happy mothers will create loyalty and satisfied employee. When the
employee loyal and satisfied benefited to the productivity of the organization when they will
used all skills they have to the organization. It is good practice for an employer to have a
policy on breastfeeding which sets out how requests from employees returning from
maternity leave for changes to their working conditions would be considered. This will help
employers make fair decisions when handling a request from employee. Feedback from
employees can help the employer identify any problems that may impact on the
effectiveness of the business and whether the request can be approved. Where requests are
approved, an employer must guard against inappropriate behaviour towards an employee
who is breastfeeding.
Working in a hostile environment can lead to lower commitment and increase
intention to leave among affected employees. Organizational leaders must provide
meaningful support through policies, communication, and action to support new mothers in
their commitment to work. The organization can improved work-family policies through
improved communication with leaders and a greater understanding. If organizational leaders
embrace them as a special protected class, the commitment of this population to working will
increase.It is clear that steps have been taken to improve the work conditions.
Organizations must take responsibility for the attrition rates among breasfeed
mothers and the impact this has on both the organization and society.Organization must try
to understand the needs of breastfeeding employees by providing designated private space
for breastfeeding or expressing milk, allowing flexible scheduling to support milk expression
during work, giving mother’s options for returning to work or extended maternity leave. The
management should providing on site or near site child care, high-quality breast pumps, and
offering professional lactation management services and support.
Meanwhile the policy makers must privileged on writing policies to support
breastfeeding women so that can reduce the misunderstanding between the employee and
employer. It can be done by restrict the law. Since the implementation of the National
Breastfeeding Policy, breastfeeding is more likely to be tolerated in workplaces. Government
must create more programs focus on a growing acceptance of breastfeeding as the best
feeding option for infants, and education on how to successfully combine work and
breastfeeding. Although the legislation made some progress toward creating organizational
change, positive social changes such as an acceptance of mothers as a protected class in
the workplace are needed to allow women to combine breastfeeding and work.
 708

REFERENCES

Adliena, S. and Siti Norjinah, A.M. (2015), “World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative Report”,
International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) Asia, pp.6-9.

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. New York, NY: General Learning Press.

“Cabinet approves 30 per cent women as decision-makers in private sector”, Bernama

News, 27 June 2011.
http://www.pmo.gov.my/?menu=newslist&news_id=7689&news_cat=13&cl=1&page=
1731&sort_year=2011&sort_month= (retrieved 14 October 2011).

Fatimah, S., Siti Saadiah, H.N, Tahir, A, Hussain Iman, M.I, and Ahmad Faudzi, Y. (2010),
“Breastfeeding in Malaysia: Result on the Third National Health and Morbidity Survey
(NHMS III) 2006 . Malays J Nutr. 2010 Aug;16(2):195-206. Epub 2010 Aug 15 at
internet site www..ncbi.nlm.nih.gov(assessed 13 Jan 2017)

Hagelskamp, C., Hughes, D., Yoshikawa, H., & Chaundry, A. (2011, August). Negotiating
motherhood and work: a typology of role identity associations among low-income,
urban women. Community, Work & Family, 14(3), 335-366.

ILO, Maternity at Work-A review of national legislation, Findings from the ILO Database of
Conditions of Work and Employment Law, Second Edition, 2010.13

Miner, K. N., Smittick, A. D., Seigel, A. L., & Clark, E. K. (2014). Does being a mom help or
hurt? Workplace incivility as a function of motherhood status. Journal of Occupational
Health Psychology, 19(1), 60-73.

Moen, P. (2011). From ’work-family’ to the ’gendered life course’ and ’fit’: Five challenges to
the field. Community, Work &Family, 14(1), 81-96.

Mullen, M. R., Budeva, D. G., & Doney, P. M. (2009). Research methods in the leading
small business-entrepreneurship journals: A critical review with recommendations for
future research. Journal of Small Business Management, 47, 287-307.

Murtagh, L., & Moulton, A. D. (2010). Working mothers, breastfeeding, and the law.
American Journal of Public Health, 101, 217-223.

Maternity action (2014). Accomodating breastfeeding on return to work. Health and social care site.
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Martin M. (2011). Breastfeeding in the workplace: Accomodating women and benefiting employers.
College of Law Faculty Scholarship. 1-27

National Breastfeeding Policy, Ministry of Health Malaysia, 1993

National Breastfeeding Policy and action plan 2015-2020 (2015). Health promotion and disease
prevention diroctrate . 1-31

National Coordinating Committee on Food and Nutrition, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Malaysian
Dietary Guidelines, 2010.Nutrirition physical activity obesity (2010).

Protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding: the special role of maternity services. A
joint WHO/UNICEF statement. Geneva, WHO, 1989.
 709

Rippeyoung, P., & Noonan, M. (2012, April). Is breastfeeding truly cost free? Income
consequences of breastfeeding for women. American Sociological Review, 77(2),
244-267.

Salim, F., Hasan Nuddin, S.S., Muhammad Ismail, H.I. and Aris, T. (2010), “Infant feeding:
The Third National Health and Morbidity Survey 2006 (NHMS III). Malays J Nutr.
2010 Aug;16(2):195-206. Epub 2010 Aug 15 at internet site
www..ncbi.nlm.nih.gov(assessed 13 Jan 2017)

Support for breastfeeding at the workplace (2014). United states Breastfeeding committee.
1-12

The CDC Guide to Breastfeeding Interventions (2014). 1-11

World Health Organization, Guidelines on HIV and infant feeding 2010, WHO, Geneva,
2010, www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/documents
789241599535/en/index.html.

World Health Organization & UNICEF, Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding,
2003
 710

Effectiveness of Internal Audit: Ensuring Public Sector

Accountability and Integrity
Nor Raihana Asmar Mohd Noor
UiTM Cawangan Kelantan
raihana6791@kelantan.uitm.edu.my

Liziana Kamarul Zaman

UiTM Cawangan Kelantan
lizia735@kelantan.uitm.edu.my

Wan Asma Hanim Wan Mustapha

UiTM Cawangan Kelantan
wanas096@kelantan.uitm.edu.my

Nursyahida Zulkifli
UiTM Cawangan Pahang
syahidazulkifli@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Good governance in public administration does have the positive impacts to the public.
Government practices and implements good service delivery because they want to uphold
the status of public as it is the main obligation of government to serve the best to the public.
These activities are monitored by the internal audit to achieve the accountability and
integrity, to improve the implementation of government programs and to develop confidence
among citizens and stakeholders as well as to cater any risk of mismanagement of public
fund. This paper focuses on reviewing the previous literatures in determining the
determinants in assessing the effectiveness of internal auditing process in the public sector.
Therefore, this study found that the effectiveness of internal audit in public sector that can be
measured through several factors such as auditors competency, independence of internal
auditor and management support to the role of the internal auditor. This paper further
expands and develops the literature on the role and effectiveness of internal auditing to
enhance public sector accountability and integrity. This study could assist policy makers to
establish more accountability and integrity in public sector. This study also presents a
research direction for further work for the future researchers.

Keywords: competency, effectiveness, internal auditor, public sector, good governance

INTRODUCTION

There are two core elements which influence good governance, namely:
accountability and integrity. The accountability and integrity of the auditors should not be
underestimated because their role is to improve the organizational efficiency and
effectiveness through constructive criticism (Goodwin-Stewart & Kent, 2006). Integrity is
defined as a quality of excellence that is manifested in a holistic and integral manner in
individuals and organizations. Integrity is based on ethics and noble values (National
Integrity Plan, 2004). It stimulates employees to comply and helps to instill values that
support a commitment to ethical product. Therefore, integrity system is very important to
ensure accountability ad transparency within the organization (Aziz, Rahman, Alam & Said,
2015).
 711

Whereas, accountability is often associated with concepts such as answering,

responsibility, blameworthiness, liability and other terms associated with the expectation
accounting (Ahmad Faiz et. al., 2009). Accountability implies the organization that conducts
the affairs of society through the management of public funds ensure the realization of
human rights in a way free of abuse and corruption and abide by the rule of law (Aziz et. Al.,
2015)
Internal Audit (IA) is perceived as one of the important factors to enhance the
accountability and integrity in public sector. The internal audit’s main objective is to assist the
government to achieve thorough public financial and operational management through
effective public spending accountability and transparency (Amanuddin, Divyaa,
Kanagambikai, Shameene & Shameni, 2014). IA will enhance public accountability as well
as to enable more economical, efficient and effective utilizing of public resources (Chew et.
al., 2014). In addition to that, audit services can help the organization for the success of
better financial management in public services by playing the effective and efficient role to
promote better governance in managing public money (Zulkifli et. al., 2014). The main
objectives of this study are to examine and analyze through previous studies about the
factors towards effectiveness of internal audit in public sector.

INTERNAL AUDIT IN PUBLIC SECTOR

The authority for establishment of Internal Audit departments in public sectors in

Malaysia was initially made possible through Treasury Circular Ref. 2 of 1979
(Perbendaharaan Malaysia, 1979) under the title of the Implementation of Internal Auditing in
Federal Government Agencies. This circular was replaced by Treasury Circular Ref. 9 of
2004. : Implementation of Internal Auditing in Federal Ministries and Departments and State
Governments (Perbendaharaan Malaysia, 2004). This particular circular extended the
requirement of establishing internal audit unit to all Ministry, Department and State
Government level and to agencies and departments in the State Governments. The circular
also highlights the roles and responsibilities of the Internal Audit department, the secretary-
general and the Treasury and provides direction on the implementation of Internal Audit.
The circular has been improved and replaced by 1 Treasury Circular No. PS
3.1/2013 under the title Implementation of Internal Audit Unit at Ministry/Departments of
Federal Government and State Government. The main objective of IA as specified under this
circular is to assist public sector in evaluating and determining the effectiveness of all
internal control processes and governance of the organization to achieve it established goal.
Generally the internal audit unit is responsible for conducting audits of financial
management and performance audits. The financial management audit includes examination
of financial systems, internal controls and financial records to determine whether expenses,
revenues, assets and stores have been handled in accordance with the laws, regulations
and instructions. While performance audit includes assessing the activities of an
organization to define its goals have been achieved and the resources used in a prudent,
efficient and effective (Perbendaharaan Malaysia, 2004).
In addition to internal auditing, public sectors are also subjected to the external
auditing which is carried out by the Auditor General. This is a statutory requirement where
the Auditor General derives his powers and responsibilities from the Federal Constitution
and the Audit Act, 1957. It should be noted that the reports of the Internal Audit departments
are presented to the secretary generals of ministries and director generals/board of directors
of agencies, whereas the Auditor General’s reports are required by law to be presented to
Parliament at the Federal level and to the state legislative assembly at the state level for
tabling. Once the reports are tabled, the Public Accounts Committee takes over for follow up
action on the Auditor General’s findings.
 712

FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNAL AUDIT IN

PUBLIC SECTOR

The effectiveness of internal audit in public sector can be measured through several
factors such as auditor’s competency, independence of internal auditor and management
support to the role of internal auditor (Zulkifli, Alagan, & Mohd, 2014). A study done by
Cohen and Sayag (2010) evaluates the effectiveness of internal auditor by professional
efficiency of internal auditors, quality of audit work, organizational independence, career and
advancement and top management support the finding shows that the correlation and
regression analyses show support from top management to be the main determinant of IA
effectiveness, with some effect also found for the organizational independence of IA.

Auditors Competency

Competency is the ability of an individual to perform a job or task properly base on

the educational level, professional experience, skill and attitude of the auditors. Mihret and
Yismaw (2007), concluded in their study that IA office constantly faces the problem of low
technical staff proficiency and high staff turnover, which would limit its capacity to provide
effective service to the management.
Whereby Unegbu and Kida (2006) has found in their study that IA could carry out
their duty in the public sector more effectively if there are enough IA personnel with required
competencies. Competency determines the efficiency of the auditor in setting a systematic
and disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of the organization’s
activities and financial management as well as governance processes (Zulkifli et. al., 2014).
Findings from the study done by Amanuddin et. al (2014), from the interviews conducted on
internal auditors from three government ministries indicated that competency of internal
auditor is very crucial in maintaining the effectiveness of public sector internal audit. Training
and development and knowledge of internal auditors are the main keys towards an effective
audit committee. An auditor without sufficient knowledge cannot be trusted in producing a
good audit report.

Independence of Internal Auditors

The independence of internal audit is crucial for the success of their functions to
enable them to conduct audit activity without the interference of any party. For internal
auditors, the audit activity should have sufficient independence from those it is required to
audit so that it can both conduct its work without being bias and in dilemma in performing
their duties. George, Theofanis and Konstantinos (2015) said that independence is assessed
regarding to the internal audit’s report to the highest level, the unrestricted access of internal
auditors and the performance of internal audit in the development of the company’s process.
However, in certain situation, the stakeholders can argue the independence of IA.
This could affect the effectiveness of internal auditing as even though internal auditors are
charged with upholding the best interests of their employer, they may be reluctant to counter
management, regardless of the consequences (Zulkifli et. al., 2014). The internal auditor
effectiveness is very much affected by the independence of internal auditors. If the internal
auditors are not independent, the report they produce will be biased which in turn is useless
in improving the accountability and transparency of the public sector as a whole. The
objective and independent report produced by the internal auditor is one of the main keys to
prevent scandals and frauds happening in the public sector. In fact, this is the main reason
the internal audit function is set up in the ministry the first place (Amanuddin et. al., 2014).
Cohen and Sayag (2010) in their study claimed that it can thus be argued that
organizational independence will increase the internal auditor’s effectiveness. This
independence both lessens the conflict between loyalty to the employer and loyalty to
specific managers, and gives auditors a supportive work environment in which they can
conduct their tasks objectively and without pressure.
 713

Management Support to the Roles of IA

The support and cooperation from the management will contribute to the success
and failure of the effectiveness of IA. The management must disclose and declare if
something unusual occurs in the organization. It is because if this problem is not solved and
adjusted from the beginning, the situation will be worsen thus will give bad impact to the
organization’s reputation and profitability. The activities of internal auditors will face a big
challenge where there will be lack of top management support (Mebratu, 2015).
Ali, Gloeck, Ahmi and Sahdan (2007), on their study on IA in the state and local
government of Malaysia found that, the effectiveness of the IA function in State and Local
Government appears to be directly related to the management style of organization heads
and their links, relationships and position in the social contract. Some IA function appears to
be doing well, the determining factors appear to be the attitude and leadership qualities of
the head of an organization and audit reports that are ignored by everyone.
Management support for IA is thus important both in the abstract (managers must
see the activity of the audit department as legitimate) and in ensuring that IA departments
have the resources needed to do their jobs (Cohen & Sayag, 2010). Dellai and Omri (2016)
who examined the factors influencing internal audit effectiveness in Tunisian context
revealed that without top management support, internal auditing is not sufficiently objective
and independent, has not enough resources to effectively fulfill its works, cannot hire
proficient IA staffs and internal auditor cannot develop the professional careers.

DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Based on the previous study there are some connections between accountability and
integrity with the effectiveness of internal audit. The main factors that contribute to the
effectiveness of IA are auditor’s competency, independence of internal auditor and
management support to the role of internal auditor. For future studies, the researcher should
consider other factors which influence effectiveness of IA, for example organizational
independence and stakeholder support. Besides, the researcher should conduct an
empirical test to see how effective the factors are towards IA.

REFERENCES

Ahmad Faiz Yaakob, Nadhrah A. Kadir and Kamaruzaman Jusoff (2009). “Accountability
from the Perspective of Malaysian Governance”. Journal of Politic and Law. Vol. 2
No. 3, 48 – 60.

Ali, A., Gloeck, J. D., Ahmi, A., & Sahdan, M. H. (2007). Internal Audit in the state and local
government of Malaysia. Southern African Journal of Accountancy and Auditing
Research, 7, 25-57

Amanuddin S., Divyaa B. M., Kanagambikai K., Shameene R. & Shameni S. (2014). Factors
That Determine The Effectiveness Of Internal Audit Functions In The Malaysian
Public Sectors. International Journal of Business, Economic and Law, Vol. 5, Issue
1(Dec)

Aziz, M.A.A., Rahman,H.A., Alam,M.M., Said,J., (2015). Enhancement of the Accountability

of Public Sectors through Integrity System, Internal Control System and Leadership
Practices: A Review Study. Procedia Economics and Finance 28, 163 – 169.
 714

Chew Har Loke, Suhaiza Ismail, Fatima Abdul Hamid (2016) “The perception of public sector
auditors on performance audit in Malaysia: an exploratory study”, Asian Review of
Accounting, Vol. 24 Iss: 1, pp. 90 – 104

Cohen, A. and Sayag, G. (2010), “The effectiveness of internal auditing: an empirical

examination of its determinants in Israeli organisations”, Australian Accounting
Review, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 296‐307.

Dellai H. & Omri, M.A.B. (2016). “Factors Affecting The Internal Audit Effectiveness In
Tunisian Organizations”. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, Vol. 7
No. 6

George, D., Theofanis, K. & Konstantinos A. (2015). “Factors Associated with Internal
Audit Effectiveness: Evidence from Greece”. Journal of Accounting and Taxation.
Vol 7(7), pp. 113-122

Goodwin-Stewart, J. and Kent, P. (2006), ‘The Use of Internal Audit by Australian

Companies’, Managerial Auditing Journal, 21: 81–101.

Institute of Internal Auditors (2012), “Supplemental Guidance: The Role of Auditing in Public
Sector Governance”, IIA Global, available at theiia.org (accessed 16 January 2017)

Mebratu, A.A., (2015) “ Internal Audit Function and Its Challenges in Public Sector
Governance; Empirical Evidence from Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia”,
AshEse Journal of Economics, Vol. 1(1), pp. 001-012

Treasury Circular 2/79 (1979), Perbendaharaan Malaysia

Treasury Circular 9/2004 (2004), Perbendaharaan Malaysia

1 Treasury Circular No. PS 3.1/2013 (2013), Perbendaharaan Malaysia

Unegbu, A. O., & Kida, M. I. (2011). Effectiveness of internal audit as instrument of

improving public sector management. Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and
Management Sciences (JETEMS), 2(4), 304-309

Zulkifli B., Alagan S., Mohd, S. I., (2014), Factors that Contribute to the Effectiveness of
Internal Audit in Public Sector, International Proceedings of Economics Development
and Research, 70, 126
 715

Knowledge Sharing Patterns of the Undergraduate Students in

Private Higher Institutions of Learning in Kuching
Adilah Binti Abdul Aziz
Faculty Administrative Science & Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Sarawak
rollinfreakyfun@gmail.com

Nurul Syahirah Binti Samsu Tajuddin

Faculty Administrative Science & Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Sarawak
nurulsyahirah16@yahoo.com

Arenawati Sehat Binti Omar

Faculty Administrative Science & Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Sarawak
arena481@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

With the advent of the needs of knowledge nowadays, some argued that several tools might
have an influence on the knowledge sharing patterns. Therefore, this paper is intended to
identify the knowledge sharing patterns among the undergraduate students of the private
universities in Kuching and to cover areas such as the general attitude towards knowledge
sharing patterns; types of information and knowledge shared and preferred channels in
distribution of knowledge. A questionnaire was used for collecting data and 180 students
from two private universities in Kuching participated in the study. It was found that, generally,
the undergraduate students displayed a positive attitude towards knowledge sharing and
they are eager to share their knowledge for the benefits of all. It was interesting to note that
the undergraduate students also inclined in sharing their own opinion. The study also
revealed that face-to-face interaction was the most preferred channels used in knowledge
sharing patterns. This study proposes on further examination on the relationship of
knowledge sharing with the presence social media. Further study on the effectiveness of the
most preferred channels used also need to be done by identifying its limitations and
contributing factors. This paper is among the first to compare the knowledge sharing
patterns of the undergraduate students of the private universities in Kuching.

Keywords: knowledge, knowledge sharing, patterns, Private Higher Institutions of Learning

INTRODUCTION

Knowledge sharing among university students has been a notable topic nowadays
and it has been known as a vital and exciting area of study in the academic world.
Knowledge sharing is about transferring information or knowledge that is recognized as a
process through which explicit as well as tacit knowledge being shared within a group of
people. Generally, knowledge sharing involves two or a multiple individuals. Knowledge
sharing is also about making sure that students can learn and acquire new set of knowledge,
and make them to be able to apply the knowledge itself whenever needed.
In addition to that, with the increasing needs if collaborative works in organizations,
most of universities have restructuring their curriculum which they encourage a collaborative
learning among the students in which can be very beneficial to the students. Research has
provided much indication that knowledge sharing during two-way method of learning
between individuals results in reflection and learning (Walker, 2002) and the benefits that
can be gained from all the participants are in terms of cognitive gains and positive learning
outcomes (Rafaeli and Ravid, 2003).
 716

Other than that, knowledge sharing also depends on the habit and readiness of the
individual to seek out and/or be approachable to these knowledge sources. The right
attitude, channel, and type of the knowledge being shared also must therefore be present.
Moreover, students may have their own way of learning and how they share their
knowledge.
On the other hands, individuals tend to share their knowledge to the one that have
the interest and to those who have found that the knowledge itself would be beneficial for
them in future. Hence, this study attempts to discover the knowledge sharing patterns of
undergraduate students in private higher institutions of learning in Kuching which are
regarding their general attitude towards knowledge sharing, preferred channels for
knowledge sharing as well as types of knowledge shared. The findings of this study may
serve the private institutions on the current state of their knowledge sharing patterns among
their students.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Knowledge sharing

Knowledge sharing has been one of the most frequent issue being discussed in the
knowledge management context. Generally, sharing is defined as a intended act and being
distinguished from reporting where it involves the process of exchange of information based
on some practices or structured formats. On the other hand, sharing indicates a mindful act
done by an individual who take part in the knowledge exchange process even though there
is no obligation for them to do so.
In general, there are two types of knowledge which are explicit and tacit knowledge.
These types of knowledge are being classified according to the degree of how the
knowledge are most preferably being shared, or whether individual can share the knowledge
easily with each other. Explicit knowledge refers to the knowledge that could be easily
conveyed by words or using documents which are usually can be found
in form of data, manuals, audio, video and images. Whereas tacit knowledge are more
obscure and not easily, clear and fully expressed. Abidi, Cheah, & Curran (2005) stated that
tacit knowledge is about a knowledge exist in individual’s head in forms of experience, know-
how, understanding, and so on.
Knowledge sharing is basically known as one of the significant part in the subject of
knowledge management in which involves various processes in an organization where the
organization itself is encouraging its members to exchange knowledge between each other.
Thus, knowledge sharing is important especially to the students as it will positively relate to
the student’s academic as well as their non-academic performance also.
In addition to that, there are also abundant of benefits of knowledge sharing to the
students itself which are it can avoid reinventing research, lessen redundant work, reduce
cost of inventions, and accelerate the process of knowledge creation with the help of experts
and experienced person in a particular area. A number of studies have demonstrated that
knowledge sharing among students is vital as it will enhance the students’ performance and
reduce redundant learning as well as knowledge hoarding.

General Attitude towards Knowledge Sharing

Kim and Lee (2006) define attitude as person’s evaluation of certain behavior before
they decide to perform such behavior. Researchers found that individual attitudes play an
important role, in between subjective norms and intention to share knowledge (Ryu et al.,
2003). Different students may have different way of learning. This trait describes how
student naturally gives out and takes in information and then process it according to their
individual styles perception when approaching a learning task (Mills, 2002). The essential
elements of effective and meaningful learning processes at tertiary level are focusing on the
 717

active and voluntarily sharing of knowledge behavior. Most of the undergraduate students
agreed that sharing knowledge and information as well as experience with their peers could
bring benefits to all students now and in future (Yuen and Majid, 2007; Chong, Chong, Gan,
& Yuen, 2012; Yaghi, Barakat, Alfawaer, Shkokani, & Nassoura, 2011). The students also
appreciate their peers as an important source of gaining useful knowledge other than their
own lecturers. Hassandoust and Perumal (2011) also suggested that individuals are more
likely to share knowledge as the outcome of their own attitude and feel good about it.
However, there is also situation where the students are reluctant to share knowledge with
their peers due to their mentality in which they regard the knowledge as an individual private
asset. This is due to the limited resources, lack of trust, motivation or rewards in sharing
knowledge as well as non-existence of knowledge sharing culture in the learning
environment.
Study by Hassandoust and Perumal (2011) indicated that attitude has significant
value at p < 0.05 and positively associated with knowledge sharing. The research indicated
that students also rejected that knowledge sharing as a type of plagiarism and know the
importance of knowledge sharing as one of the learning process (Yuen & Majid, 2007;
Chong, Chong, Gan & Chew, 2012). Hence it is estimated that the general attitude has a
positive association with knowledge sharing patterns among the undergraduate students.

Types of Information and Knowledge Shared

There are various types of information and knowledge that can be shared by the
undergraduate students. The information shared can be in term of academic and non-
academic. However, the type of knowledge shared itself which are either tacit knowledge or
explicit knowledge also influence the type of channel used and the willingness of the
individual to share (Harley, Newall, Scarbrough & Swan (1990) as cited in Chikoore &
Ragsdell, 2013). Harley et al (1990) also suggested that the explicit knowledge may be
transferred through electronic communication device and the tacit knowledge requires face-
to-face interaction. This is because, there could be an individual who only shared their
knowledge on certain issues only. This is due to the perception if the student itself where
they felt that the other students can search and locate their own information by themselves.
Commonly, the students will share their knowledge academically with their peers by
sharing lecture notes, conducting a group discussion, and through expressing opinions. The
knowledge then will be shared by providing answers to improve understanding and through
sharing URLs of the relevant websites if the undergraduate students are using the social
media as a medium to share their knowledge.
However, the types of information shared is not merely depending to the academic
purpose only as the students also can share a lot of other knowledge and information which
is not related to their studies. Faust, B (2007) stated that people learn and obtain a sense of
competence by sharing their experience. Sharing of experience can be done through various
methods which are through story-telling, observation, participation, and discussion. Studies
have shown that most of the students prefer to share knowledge by conveying their
judgement on the study-related matter (Yuen & Majid, 2007; Chong et al, 2012). This is
supported by Faust, B (2007) where it stated that individuals learn and obtain a sense of
competency by sharing their experience as well as knowledge.

Preferred Channels for Knowledge Sharing

There are many types of channels that can be used by the students to share their
knowledge. The knowledge shared will help the students to increase understanding, solve
problems and learn new things. The channels used either online or offline to share
knowledge also will influence the types of knowledge that will be shared by the students.
Sharratt and Usoro (2003, p.189) stress the significance of face-to-face interaction by
quoting Pierce (2002) “This suggests in face-to-face dealings, discussions can be an
 718

effective channel for knowledge sharing. The studies by Yuen and Majid (2007) and Chong
et al 2012 also showed that students preferred to use face-to-face interaction as
communication channel in process of knowledge sharing.
However, with the emerging needs towards technology in today’s world, the process
of information sharing also can be done through the social media. Benckendorff (2008) have
asserted social networking platforms as effective tools students use to share knowledge.
The Internet and its services have boosted the level of information, knowledge and
opportunities available to the students to share their knowledge. The exchange of
information regarding to explicit knowledge which is context-independent can be easily by
the students by only using the social media such as Email, online chat, Facebook and also
online message board.
Thus, it can be said that face-to-face channels is the most favored channel for
sharing knowledge among students in preparing assessed group work (Chikoore & Ragsdell,
2013). Benckendorff (2008) stated that social networking makes as effective tools such as
email, online chat and online message board in knowledge sharing. However the studies
conducted by Yuen & Majid (2007) and Chong et al (2012) show that the social networking
channels are least favorable channels to use in knowledge sharing.

METHODOLOGY

Research Framework

Figure 1 Conceptual Framework of the Research

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE DEPENDENT VARIABLE

General attitude

Types of information and Knowledge sharing

knowledge shared patterns

Preferred channels of
communication

The research framework identify that the knowledge sharing patterns of the
undergraduate students is determined by three independent variables. The first variable is
the general attitude. The general attitude of the students will determine their patterns of
knowledge sharing. When the attitude towards knowledge sharing positive, students will
likely to form bonds between them and willing to share their knowledge with others. This is
because the knowledge sharing activities will eventually benefited both sharer and recipient.
The academic role also support the knowledge sharing activities (Chen, Koch, Chung, &
Lee, 2007; Cho, Li, & Su, 2007 as cited in Chong et al 2012) hence creating a favorable
attitude towards knowledge sharing.The second variable is types of information and
knowledge shared. The knowledge sharing patterns is also determined by knowing the most
frequent types of knowledge and information shared. The third variable is preferred channels
of the knowledge sharing where the patterns of knowledge sharing would not be complete
without identifying the most frequent channels in distributing the knowledge. Thus, the
independent variables which are general attitude, type of information and knowledge shared
and preferred channels of communications contribute to the knowledge sharing patterns of
the undergraduate students.
 719

Research Design

Research design involves a series of rational decision-making choices relating to

decisions regarding the purpose for the study (exploratory, descriptive, hypothesis testing),
location (i.e., the study setting), the type it should conform to (type of investigation), the
extent to which it is manipulated and controlled by the researcher (extent of research
interference), its temporal aspects (time horizon) and the level of which data will be analyzed
(unit of analysis), are important to research design. (Sekaran, 2003).
The type of the research conducted is quantitative research. The data used was the
primary data where the questionnaires was used in collecting information from the subjects.
The research design for this study is correlational study in which it will highlight the important
variables associated with the problem. In order to conduct this study, it is estimated that
there will only be minimal interference as the data collected will not interfere the normal
activities of the students in both universities. The research is on field study in which it is a no
contrived setting with a minimal researchers’ interference. A cross sectional study is used to
collect data. It means that the data gathered just once, perhaps over a period of days or
weeks or months, in order to answer a research question and it is also known as one-shot
studies (Sekaran, 2003).

Data Collection

This study will be carried out to investigate the knowledge sharing patterns of the
undergraduate students. The application of questionnaire will be used to distribute among
the students in International College of Advance Technology Sarawak (iCATS) and
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology. The use of questionnaires as data collection
appropriate as it cost less expensive and it establishes rapport and motivates the
respondents. The questionnaire are printed in white papers as English and Bahasa Malaysia
are used as a medium of communication in the questionnaire.
The questionnaire will be send directly to the International College of Advanced
Technology Sarawak (iCATS) student affairs division and Limkokwing University of Creative
Technology student affairs department in expecting that person in charge will distribute the
complete questionnaires to the selected respondents. The researchers will ensure the
questionnaire distributed to them are kept confidentially and will not result any bad effect
towards the students’ performance in relying that this research is only meant for academic
purposes.

Data Analysis

The study carried out uses SPSS Version 20.0 descriptive statistic which involve
transformation of raw data into a form that would provide information to describe a set of
factors in a situation and this is done through ordering and manipulation of the raw data
collected (Sekaran, 2003). First, the data will be test for the reliability analysis using the
normality test. The SPSS is also to be used to test the relationship between the independent
variables and the dependent variable using the descriptive statistics method.

FINDINGS

Respondent’s Profile

The distribution of gender between male and females among the private institution of
higher learning is almost the same with the percentage of 54.4% and 45.6% respectively.
Most of the respondents are Chinese with the percentage of 38.8% following Malays at
31.1%. Other race that includes Bumiputera and other races are at 27.8% while there is only
2.8% of Indian students taking part in this study. Furthermore, most of the respondents are
 720

at their diploma level with 72.2% while respondents studying for their degree only make up
27.8%. This is in line with the proportion of the diploma students are more than the degree
students in both institutions. Last but not least, the mean age for the respondents is 20.37, it
indicates that most of the respondents is between the ages of 20 to 21 years old.

Reliability Testing

Reliability Test

The reliability test of the data is conducted. A total 180 data was collected and can be
used for further analysis. Below is the results of the reliability test.

Table 1 Reliability Test

Variables N of items Cronbach’s Alpha

General attitude towards knowledge sharing 7 0.477
Types of information shared 6 0.672
Channels of communication used 12 0.605
Overall 25 0.738

According to Nunnally (1978), the Cronbach’s value of 0.7 or higher is considered as

acceptable reliability. The reliability of total scale that consists of 25 items was 0.738, hence
it shows evidence of internal consistency and reliability scale. Thus the data can be proceed
to further analysis.

Results

For all the three objectives, the descriptive statistics test was used to determine on
what is the most prominent factors for each of the independent variable.

Objective 1: To examine the general attitude of private institution of higher learning

students towards knowledge sharing.

The first objective of this study is to examine the general attitude of private institution
of higher learning students towards knowledge sharing. Hence we have investigate the
means by their general attitude towards knowledge sharing.
 721

Table 2 General Attitude towards Knowledge Sharing Patterns

General attitude towards knowledge sharing patterns Mean Std. Deviation

I feel that it is important to share knowledge with other 4.3444 0.74984
students for the benefit of all

I share knowledge with peers only when being approached. 3.2389 1.17404

I voluntarily share my knowledge with peers 4.0056 0.80152

Knowledge sharing takes place when students care about the 4.0222 0.87137
needs of others

It is better to avoid sharing information with peers whenever 3.5444 1.22051

possible

Many students have the mindset that sharing knowledge is a 3.7500 1.06690
type of plagiarism

Many students feel that they might be penalized by the 3.7611 3.7611
lecturer for sharing information and knowledge

Based on the Table 6, it can be concluded that students feel that it is important to
share knowledge with other students for the benefits of all. On the other hand lowest mean is
when the students only shared knowledge when being approached. This means that they
would still share their knowledge willingly even though they are not being approached.
Hence it can be concluded that the student’s attitude towards knowledge sharing is positive.

Objective 2: To examine the most frequent types of information and knowledge

shared by private institution of higher learning students in knowledge sharing.

The second objective of this study is to examine the most frequent types of
information and knowledge shared by private institution of higher learning students in
knowledge sharing. Hence we have investigate the means by types of information and
knowledge shared by the students.

Table 3 Types of Information and Knowledge Shared

Types of information and knowledge shared Mean Std. Deviation

Own opinion. 3.9000 1.00335
Answers to improve understanding of other students 3.8944 .86197
URLs of relevant web sites with peers 3.4944 1.06492
Examination-related materials 3.7889 2.41732
Personal books and lecture notes 3.6944 1.01990
Assist other students in database search, software use, library 3.7333 1.03352
use, etc.

Based on the results above, it can be concluded that the most frequent types of
information and knowledge shared is the student’s own opinion, with the highest mean of
3.90.

Objective 3: To examine the most preferred channels of communication used by

private institution of higher learning students in knowledge sharing
 722

Next, the third objective of this study is to examine the most preferred channels of
communications used by the private institution of higher learning students in knowledge
sharing. In examining this, we have asked the respondents on their preferable channels of
communications.

Table 4 Channels of Communications Used

Channels of communication Mean Std. Deviation

Face-to-face interactions 4.3389 3.16610
Online chat (ie: Gtalk, Yahoo messenger) 3.3389 1.03116
E-mail 3.0722 1.12379
Telephone 3.5167 1.05425
Online message board/online forum 3.1722 2.52104
Other channels 2.1889 1.82101

Referring to the table 8 above, it can be concluded that the most preferred channels
of communications in knowledge sharing is face to face communication wherby the mean
value for this channel is the highest compared to other channels which is 4.3389.

DISCUSSION

The research was conducted to identify the knowledge sharing patterns of the
undergraduate students of the private institution of higher learning in Kuching. Thus, the
researchers has identify the relationship between general attitude towards knowledge
sharing, the types of information and knowledge shared and the preferred channels of
communication used in sharing knowledge towards the knowledge sharing patterns.

General Attitude of Private Institution of Higher Learning Students towards

Knowledge Sharing

Based on the result we acquire, the students feel that it is important to share
knowledge with their peers for the benefit of all with the mean of 4.34 and standard deviation
of 0.75. The finding of the research proved that the general attitude of the students towards
knowledge sharing is positive, where the students are aware of the importance of sharing
knowledge with their peers. This is consistent with the previous research done by Yuen &
Majid (2007) and Chong, Chong, Gan & Chew (2012) where general attitude of the students
are positive. According to Hassandoust and Perumal (2011) individuals are more likely to
share knowledge as the outcome of their own attitude and feel good about it. Here, we can
conclude that the knowledge sharing is commonly being practiced by the students.

Types of Information and Knowledge Shared By Private Institution of Higher Learning

Students in Knowledge Sharing

The most frequent types of information and knowledge shared is the student’s own
opinion with the mean on 4.38 and standard deviation of 3.17. The result obtained showed
that it is constant with the previous researches where the private higher institution of learning
students where they shared their own opinion as more often than other types of information
and knowledge. From this we can see that these students are inclined to contribute their
ideas with their peers. The findings is in line with the study outcome by Faust, B (2007) that
imply the person learn and obtain sense of competency by sharing their experience and
knowledge to others. The results also shown that they are also prone to provide answers
and also exam-related materials as to their friends to helps the understanding of their
friends.
 723

Preferred Channels of Communication Used By Private Institution of Higher Learning

Students in Knowledge Sharing

The most preferred channels of communication in knowledge sharing is the face-to-

face interactions with the mean of 3.9 and standard deviation of 1.00. The results in
consistent with the previous researches done by Pierce (2002), Sharrat & Usoro (2003),
Yuen & Majid (2007) and Chong, Chong, Gan & Chew (2012). Although with the
advancement of online technology, the private institution of higher learning students still opt
for the direct communication modes in sharing and delivering the information and
knowledge. In addition, according to Chikoore & Ragsdell (2013) the students are also prone
to use face-to-face interactions as channels in preparing group work. This is because the
face-to-face interaction is more deliverable and precise compared to the other channels. The
results also point out that the knowledge sharing by way of conventional interaction is still
prevailing.

Limitations

During conducting this study, there are few limitations faced by the researchers. One
of the limitation of this study is the reliability value of the variables. The Cronbach’s Alpha
value for variables used in this study falls below 0.7 in which it is considered as not reliable.
However, by referring to the overall Cronbach’s Alpha value for all variables, the reliability of
total scale was 0.738 in which it is considered as acceptable reliability for the researchers to
proceed for further analysis.
Next, limitation of this study is small sample size. The sample size of this study is not
sufficient enough to support the research findings. Thus, in order to make research findings
more wide-ranging, it is suggested that in future the researchers can emphasis more on the
research method by including qualitative and quantitative method to have further
acknowledge on their knowledge sharing patterns. The qualitative research method will
include the process on getting an information straight away from the respondent by having
interview session, focus group as well as observation made by the researchers itself. This
will enhance the results findings as the data collection will be more accurate and precise.
Other than that, the limitation of this study is regarding the generalization of the
findings in which it is only applicable for the undergraduate students of the private higher
institutions of learning in Kuching. Thus, the research result will not be applicable to
determine the knowledge sharing patters of the other group of individuals other than the
undergraduate students itself. Therefore, it is recommended that future research on
knowledge sharing can be done to the post-graduate students or staffs of any organization in
the other part of Sarawak to widen the scope of study. In addition to that, by having a widen
scope of study, the future researchers could identify the various knowledge sharing patterns
of an individual based on their place of living as well as the effect of their surrounding
environment towards their knowledge sharing patters.

Implications

There are few implications that can be found in this study for the future research. It is
encouraged for the future researchers to examine the relationship on knowledge sharing and
social media. As for this study, the researchers only focused on the general
attitude, types of knowledge as well as the most preferred channel used in identifying the
knowledge sharing patterns of the undergraduate students. Plus, in line with the tremendous
change in the amount of social media users, it is not possible that social media itself will
contribute to more effective knowledge sharing behavior among the students.
The next implication of this study is it can provide future researchers with detailed
identification of the effectiveness of the most preferred channel used by the undergraduate
students for knowledge sharing. Regarding to the result of the study, the most preferred
 724

channel of knowledge sharing is the face to face interaction. It is widely known that every
channel used might have their own limiting and contributing factors. Thus, by using the
research findings, the future researchers can conduct future research by focusing on the
effectiveness of the channels used by determining its limitation and motivation factor.

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 727

“She Made Me a Dumping Site”:

A Preliminary Study on Social Exclusion amongst Women with
Depression
Nur Zafifa Kamarunzaman
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Women’s Development Research Center (KANITA), Universiti Sains Malaysia
nurzafifa@ns.uitm.edu.my

Nor Hafizah Hj. Selamat, Ph.D

Women’s Development Research Center (KANITA), Universiti Sains Malaysia
School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia

ABSTRACT

This article aims to explore social exclusion experienced by women with psychiatric
morbidity, particularly depression. Stigma is a major hurdle for personal mobility since it
potentially degrades the status of victims’ family and causes a great embarrassment
especially in Eastern communities. Patients often are misunderstood and discriminated,
restraining their true human potential. Similarly, the representational system of people with
mental illness has been deeply influenced by a socio-historical product rather than
pathological. Hence, such social exclusion is taken for granted in everyday life. This article is
a preliminary study that employed a phenomenological approach to explore the significance
of social exclusion experienced by the women. The gender lens was used to analyse the
data. Four women who were service users of mental health care in Kedah and Penang were
recruited and the data were analyzed through the gender point of view. The semi-structured
in-depth interview and non-participant observation were the tools used for data collection.
The data were then explicated with the aid of the qualitative data analysis tool, Atlas.ti,
version 7.5. The findings revealed that the informants identified suffered systematic social
exclusion including prejudices, oppression and discrimination, namely at individual,
community and institutional levels. Also, the interplay between social exclusions and gender-
based violence were evident in the data where this further pressed the patients down and
worsen their condition. The results are supported by a number of past studies which
highlighted that women usually had to endure the adverse effects of social exclusion more
than men.

Keywords: Women, Depression, Social Exclusion, Gender, Outpatient

INTRODUCTION

Depression is a common disease in modern society. The World Health Organization

(WHO) estimated that depression could be the second deadliest disease by 2030 (WHO,
2010). In Malaysia, a steady rise in cases of psychiatric morbidity can be observed in the
statistics of the last 20 years. For example, in 2002, 2.9 percent of patients was registered
as psychiatric sufferers while in 2011, the overall morbidity reached up to 9 percent from the
overall population (Abdul Kadir et al., 2011). The statistics further stated that 29.2 percent or
4.2 million Malaysian adults were suffering from mental health problems, which three-fold
more than those reported in 2011 (Institute for Public Health, 2015). In relation to social
exclusion experienced by a person with psychiatric morbidity, Sayce (2000) argued that
patients succumb to both material and non-material exclusions that systematically
discriminate every aspect their life domains. The non-material factor usually originates from
social environment that produces and potentially reproduces prejudice, discrimination and
 728

oppressing treatment, alongside resource deprivations such as job recruitment, education

and housing opportunities (Morgan et al., 2007). Thus, the question of inclusion for access
and participation from the mainstream economic, political, social and cultural activities are
not by choice but by a forceful marginalization from the great systemic level that determines
one’s future. This situation reveals that inclusion can be a bogus term that demolishes the
agency, consistent with Morgan et al. (2007) term of “enforced lack of participation”.
The statistics in Malaysia showed a steady increment in the number of women
experiencing psychiatric morbidity and often times the figure reported surpass those of men
(Abdul Kadir et al., 2011; Institute of Public Health, 2015). In fact, it is well acknowledged
that women suffer the detrimental effects of mental illness more than men (Garland-
Thomson, 2002). Wetzel (2000) deliberately pointed out that the gender socialization in
many societies turned their women into powerless, dependent and emotionally suppressed
individuals who succumb to female inferiority. As a result, these women face twice as much
the risk of vulnerability to mental illness and emotional trauma. With the above arguments,
the current article explores the social exclusion experienced by four women who were
diagnosed with depression from the gender lens.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Gender Perspective in Depression Studies

Depression is perceived as a gendered phenomenon in the most difficult situations

(Conrad, 2005). Women often suffer vulnerabilities in twofold, from private and public
discrimination as well as mental health issues and emotional labor risks. Feminists view
women living in oppressive settings as being dominated by patriarchal power (Busfield,
1988; Wetzel, 2000). Simultaneously, mental health issues amongst women has always
been given a misogynist label to keep the women’s status low in the social hierarchy, where
the symptoms are often times perceived as a “myth” that should be resolved on its own
(Ussher, 1991, 2011). This misogynist labeling does not only deny the right to acquire an
access to better healthcare for these women but also repudiate the differences in the society
of how they experience their everyday life.
However, Garland-Thomson (2002) highlighted that both genders were likely
discriminated by the public because they bear the unwanted status in the society. Labels
such as dangerous, unpredictable and violent were some of the behavioral prediction
yardsticks that are imposed on psychiatric patients (Corrigan et al., 2011). The pressure
placed by the society leads to disability, a social construction of everyday language about
the docile body. Thus, the identified docile body is deemed to require the need of disciplining
through the politics of medicalization (Foucault, 1991). On the other hand, such double-
standard treatment in the society cultivates prejudices, discrimination and oppression that
hampers the recovery process, often causing sufferers to feel hopeless (Corrigan & Shapiro,
2010). In a disability study of mental illness, Garland-Thomson (2002) contended that men
who are diagnosed with mental illness are perceived by the mainstream society as having
feminine quality and abject bodies that are equal with women, elderly and children. In this
context, the men are deemed as individuals who failed to associate themselves with the
hegemonic masculine quality and consequently this made them weak, dependent and
powerless (Wong et al., 2012; Oliffe et al., 2013).

Women and Social Exclusion

The impact of social exclusion is unfavorable and demeaning to one’s life. Morgan et
al. (2007) posited that social exclusion in the community can confiscate social roles and
networks that would limit an individual’s opportunity in the future. The biases of the
 729

representational system based on history, culture, and tradition play a major role in shaping
the public perception towards this vulnerable group. In this realm, men and women were
both discriminated by the authority and public as a whole in every aspect of the life (Garland-
Thomson, 2002). However, the degree of discrimination is somewhat different, where
women endure the effects more. This situation is linked to women’s position in the society
and the treatment they often receive within the patriarchal structure. For example, reports on
gender-based violence such as domestic violence state that more women than men are
battered and this attests to the inequality in women’s life.
Women were expected to carry the twice the burden or double shifts in a day
compared to men. Most cultures do not associate men with household chores and caring for
children or parents. These burdens are assigned to women where a softer touch is needed
in handling each task. In the era of globalization and improvement in literacy, many women
are forced to work outside the house to ease the cost of living but they are less likely to be
free from the burdens in the private domain (Busfield, 1988). The ensuing stressful condition
increases pain and heightens the tendency of developing mental illnesses amongst women.
Help-seeking behavior also favors men over women. Some Eastern cultures perceive
mental health issues as a non-medical problem (Barn, 2008; Basu, 2012) simply because
the status tarnishes the family image and ends marriage prospects for their women (Al-
Krenawi et al., 2001). In a traditional family in India, Basu (2012) reported that women who
have displayed symptoms of mental illness were forced to suppress their emotional unrest
up to the point that they felt they were dysfunctional in everyday life. On the contrary, family
members were more sensitive to the behavioral changes of their men. In this case, a sick
man who showed depressive symptoms were expected to be sent to the hospital or
shamans to receive treatments while sick women were often left untreated (Janardhana et
al., 2011). This response proves that the social structure in most cultures favors men over
women due to men’s significant role as an economic provider for the family.
In a similar vein, psychiatric morbidity risks the denial of opportunities in many
aspects of life such as employment, education, housing, social relations and others (Asia-
Australia Mental Health, 2008). The stigma associated with the mental illness status spurs
the bandwagon effect in other life domains and endanger one’s citizenship rights (Crabtree &
Chong, 1999). So rather than seeking for help, many psychiatric sufferers choose to avoid
help seeking (Sunkel, 2011; Ito et al., 2012).

METHODOLOGY

This research conveys preliminary findings from a bigger project. For the purpose of
answering the study’s objective, a phenomenological approach was undertook to explore the
significance of a phenomenon, in this case, the experience of social exclusion. The
approach was chosen because the narratives from the informants are regarded as
representing the first-hand accounts of the investigated phenomenon (Creswell, 2013). The
recruitment of each informant was made at the government psychiatric outpatient clinic,
namely in Kedah and Pulau Pinang. The recruitment process followed four main inclusive
criteria, 1) woman, 2) aged 18 years old and above, 3) diagnosed with depression, and 4)
has sought for care at the psychiatric outpatient clinic for at least 12 months.
Data were gathered through a semi-structured in-depth interview with four
informants. Each of the interviews was audiotaped. All the interviews were conducted at the
clinics as it was preferred by the informants. The data were transcribed and explicated with
the aid of the qualitative software, Atlas.ti to identify the emerging themes. The study has
obtained the ethical clearance from the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) and the
university’s research board (IRB).
 730

FINDINGS

Socio-Demographic Profile

The researcher interviewed four women who were the service users of the
government mental health care in Kedah and Pulau Pinang. Each interview session took
approximately 45 to 60 minutes and covered general questions on the feeling of depression
they had experienced. The informants were aged between 23 to 63 years old. The
employment status indicated that all the informants worked in both formal and informal
sectors. Two informants were actively working in private and government sector, one was a
government pensioner, and another was a homemaker. Simultaneously, one informant was
single when the interview took place; while two were married, and one was a divorcee. All of
them received tertiary education.

Social Exclusion at the Individual Level

All the informants associated themselves with adverse life events that lead them into
the feeling of depression. During the interview, every informant described that depression
had bred internal threats within them which were unnoticeable at the initial stage of the
depressive episode. In this context, the informants felt dejected and marginalized without
any valid reason. The internal threats they described are consistent with the symptoms
outlined by the Diagnostic Statistical Manual produced by the American Psychiatric
Association (APA). The unpleasant feeling was also often associated with the role of women
in the household that affected their relationship with the person in control at home. They also
reported that they did not receive adequate support from their family members and friends.
Simultaneously, the data indicated complaints about feeling dysfunctional in everyday task
or feeling of inadequacy in performing the task as a caretaker. Such dysfunctional state has
triggered the differences in experiencing their day-to-day life. These feelings were expressed
by a homemaker, Fatin, who gave up her work as a manager in one of the multinational
companies in Kuala Lumpur. She decided to take care of her sick mother after she failed in
her marriage. Three years before the decision were made and after her father’s passing,
Fatin had her first depressive episode. She lost her safety net in life. She stayed with her
mother who was antagonistic towards her but simultaneously demanded her presence. Fatin
then decided to marry her boyfriend, a Pakistani who wished to live freely in the country. The
decision was made to restore her safety net that she had before even though Fatin had only
known him for six months through a friend. Despite the objection from her mother, she
pursued her decision to get married as an escape plan from her tense life in her mother’s
house. The three years of the marriage was destructive for her. Fatin suffered three
miscarriages as well as emotional abuse from her husband who claimed she was not good
enough for him. She further elaborated:
Depression is like hopelessness, useless, nobody loves you, appreciates you, nobody wants to
be with you, feeling the loss, in my opinion, feeling of unworthiness…. When my dad died, I felt
like a big chunk of me was taken out, that was my safety net. I didn’t know at that point in time
that I had developed depression…. Then, I decided to marry my boyfriend, whom now is my
ex-husband, to fill in the male-figure in my life. Mom was against my decision, but I had to run
away from mom because she made me a dumping site for all her negative emotions towards
her sisters and her other kids. My marriage was hell! He was overly jealous, asking me to quit
my job, and not happy if I worked from home. He wanted to stay for free and had given away
my expensive carpets and some other stuff to strangers like he was a rich man. We fought so
much! He battered my soul by saying, “You are a bad wife and I must teach you a lesson”, just
because I was not willing to let him sell my house and share my earnings! He repeated them
like chanting mantras. I cannot take these pressures! I threw him out of my house and filed for
a divorce after three years in this brutal relationship.

(Fatin,43,Homemaker)
 731

Social Exclusion at the Community Level

Social exclusion in the community often exists due to the misunderstanding on the
disease a person has. This fact is often voiced in relation to mental health issues. According
to Goffmann (1963), such misunderstanding originates from stigma, a discernible symbol
that weakens the qualities of an individual’s status and his/her value in the society. Most
often than not, psychiatric patients are usually tainted with a lifetime of stigma or moral
career which they pursue upon receiving treatment at the psychiatric clinic. The moral career
shapes a new identity, influenced by the societal belief system that portrays them as inferior,
weak, unpredictable and violent (Pescosolido, 2013). In Malaysia, the government pays little
attention to protecting their rights as citizens by proiding only lip service through its policies
and programs (Crabtree & Chong, 1999). The situation renders most psychiatric patients in
great helplessness due to the suffering resulting from social withdrawal and alienation at the
community level. All the informants testified that they lost many friends due to their sickness,
especially their good friends and relatives.
Among most of the informants interviewed, loneliness emerged as one of the
prominent state that described their life. Although they believe it is necessary to express
their ordeal explicitly to release their stress, paradoxically they did not have anyone to talk to
about it. Trust was another issue they pointed out. Because of the severe effect of
misunderstanding, they often reserved their feelings and opinions. This case was clearly
depicted by Nicky, 24, who was a student at a local college and was working part-time at
one of the sports centres in Pulau Pinang. Growing up with dyslexia took a significant toll on
her mental well-being as people undermined her true ability and capacity, especially in
education. Nicky came from an educated family, spoke fluent English and expressed her
opinion clearly during the interview. Nicky realized the stigma and oppression that are
suffered by people with mental health issue, and it led her to build a wall of secrecy as her
strategy to curb the effects. The situation caused her to indirectly withdraw from her circle of
friends by displaying vigilant behavior towards everything she engaged. She further
explained:
No, I didn’t mix with my friends or classmates anymore because I was scared that my secret of
this illness will be known by others. I am scared of the consequences of telling. So, it’s better
for me to keep it to myself so people don’t know. I am a Dean List student, working hard to
reach this stage so that I could get a good job. The field I studied is small in Malaysia. I had a
standard to adhere. So, imagine if the rumor on my illness gets to the employer’s ears? I opt to
control this situation.
(Nicky, 24, College student cum Sales
Clerk)

Social Exclusion at the Institutional Level

The social representation of mental illness is often taken for granted, spread and
internalized into the social system of the society. Policies and programs, either from the
public or private services in the country, are identified to have discriminating elements
towards these patients. This paradox situation eventually are shaped and politicized by the
people in power, such as the government (Pescosolido, 2013). The effort to normalize
depression undertaken through the mass media changes the perceptions of public as a
whole, where the issue is openly discussed by celebrities who claimed that they have
experienced depression (Kangas, 2004). Interestingly, Angermeyer et al. (2014) identified
that although the negative perceptions were alleviated in Germany, the attitude of the people
there remain unchanged. Essentially, the changes affecting anti-stigma movement are
minimal due to the low support they receive and hence, discrimination persists. In gender
relation, women represent the minority as they have lesser power and limited agency to
make changes. Hence, women are more open and prone to discrimination compared to
men.
 732

All of the informants professed that their health professionals had passed judgment on
them and showed little empathy during treatments. One of the informants, Rokiah, a
pensioner, discovered she had depression when the doctor confirmed she had a brain
disease affecting her body balancing. In her marriage, Rokiah often had qualms about her
ability to serve her husband sexually ever since she passed her menopausal phase. On top
of that, she reported that had stopped performing household chores such as cooking, tidying
the house and laundry. Meanwhile, in the hospital, the discrimination was often inflicted by
the medical officers who attended many of the cases compared to the psychiatrists. She
asserted that doctors often lacked interest in listening to the patient and showed no initiative
to instil a sense of empowerment in the patients. Concomitantly, the unsystematic
registration and waiting at the service counter added to the stress she was already facing.
Rokiah expressed:
The doctors are pressing every time I come and see them. They often accuse me of not
consuming my medication because my symptoms didn’t improve as they had projected. Well, I
did take the pills on time. I felt like a guinea pig. Some of the doctors didn’t even bother to
check the data before attending to the patient. Young doctors showed a lack of experience;
they never used their psychology [skill] while conversing with us. It hurts me most of the time
when they undermine me. Clearly, this is not the way to talk to psychiatric patients, and it is
very impolite especially for an elderly like me. The doctors straight away labeled me! They just
wanted to get the job over and done with. I had to wait two to three hours for the treatment, but
the meeting usually takes five to ten minutes only. It’s not worthwhile with the long waiting.
Everybody just wanted to get rid of the patients fast!
(Rokiah, 63,
Pensioner)

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

This study is a preliminary investigation to understand the type of social exclusion

experienced by psychiatric patients, particularly from the gender standpoint. The data found
supported the notion that patients are confronted with daily challenges to reach the stage of
well-being. In fact, the study suggests that these patients found it impossible to recover
because the stigma attached on them influenced their mobility in their everyday activities. In
these cases, all the informants reported of having been involved in adverse life events that
caused their depression. The data also suggest that the lack of agency for each of the
patients intensified their stress, coupled with the shortfall of social support from family
members and friends. This finding concurs with Alvarez-del Arco et al. (2013) which
highlighted that family members and friends are the top perpetrators who inflicted abuse
either emotionally, physically or sexually on patients with mental illness. The lack of agency
is also manifested in the gender relation within the patriarchal family structure where women
should obey the elderly and their husband. This cultural prescription molds the expected
behavior of women and they are forced to work to ease the household financial burden in
both private and public spheres. Women tend to be entrapped in double roles and this
increases the probability of living stressful lives, hence ensnaring them in the hollow of
depression. The paucity of agency caused many women could not promote change, where
they were badly treated by their husband although they were financially independent. The
findings served a definitive evidence of occurrences of domestic violence perpetrated by the
husbands in their private domain. Most often, such abusive acts are legitimated as corrective
actions on their women, and they are largely accepted and approved by the society. In other
words, culture often normalizes these abusive acts, turning them as necessary actions
(Heise et al., 2002). The situation unfortunately bred internal threats within the patients that
pull them down in life. In this case, women are exposed to domestic violence although they
are financially independent. However, the awareness that they have to stop the abusive
relationship, empowered by their financial independence, helps them to escape the dreadful
circumstances they are in.
Stigma is indeed apparent in patients’ life. Labeling is the catalyst of the stigmatizing
process that straightaway undermines the value of the labeled individuals. Patients tend to
 733

adopt secrecy of their illness as a strategy to control the labeling of the society.
Simultaneously, the response of keeping the illness as a secret is a manifestation of their
distrust of their social environment. In this context, the study noted the failure of the
deinstitutionalization agenda for eliminating the social stigma imposed on psychiatric
patients. In addition, the study also identified the gap in the doctor-patient relationship,
namely that doctors do not strive to gain the mandate of trust of the patients through their
insensitive gestures. According to Skirbekk et al. (2011), the limited mandate of trust inhibits
openness to authorize the doctors to undertake their medical judgment on the patients.
Through this limitation, the type of relationship established in the hospital in view of the
gender lens proved that women with depression experience social exclusion at the
individual, community, and institutional level. This is consistent with Garland-Thomson
(2002) who posited that the social exclusion of women developed a state of disability, where
disability in this context is culturally constructed by enveloping it into the everyday language
of the body between the normal and abnormal. The presumption of the ideal body built upon
the Western framework of commonness deepens the social exclusion in Eastern society,
even more for psychiatric patients. Likewise, women with mental illness in this study were
considered as somewhat disabled – to think, make a decision, or control their bodies. The
issue of representation through the label to one extent influenced the patients to accept the
derogatory label as the prescribed attributes that promote vulnerability in them (Corrigan et
al., 2011). Hence, it high time that a review of deinstitutionalization agenda in the country is
undertaken to evaluate and realign the theory with practice. Gender sensitizing is important
because it is assesses not only women but also another group that is systematically
marginalized by the current ruling.

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Predictors of Patient Satisfaction in Public Healthcare

Amirullah Bin Haji Shariff
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
amirul882@gmail.com

Dr Hajah Fadilah Binti Haji Puteh

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
fadilahputeh@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

A good health care system is vital to improve the health status of the citizens and a symbol
of excellent of healthcare service providers in the country. However, public healthcare
providers are being criticized due to several reasons. Patients demanded that hospital
should be efficient, effective and tailored with their needs. Patient satisfaction has emerged
as a vital indicator of the quality of medical care. It is a common way to measure the quality
in healthcare services. Review of literatures indicates that negative or positive experiences
create the perception about the level of healthcare services. These experiences symbolize
patients’ satisfaction. This study aims to discover the predictors of patients’ satisfaction in
public hospital namely physical facilities, communication, waiting times and gender of doctor.
Data of the study was collected from 391 patients from 16 departments in Serdang Hospital,
Selangor. It was hypothesized that physical facilities, communication, waiting times and
gender of doctor are the predictors of patients’ satisfaction. Data obtained from
questionnaire was analyzed using SPSS. Regression analysis revealed that only three
factors are the best predictors of patient satisfaction. This study is hoped to contribute to the
existing body of knowledge with respect to enhancing patients’ satisfaction towards public or
government hospitals.

Keywords: Patients Satisfaction, physical facilities, communication, waiting times, gender of

doctors, public hospital

INTRODUCTION

Patient satisfaction is a common way to measure the quality of healthcare services.

Patient satisfaction is very important because it portray the effectiveness of the services
provide by the health care institutions. Research shows a link between patient satisfaction
and healthcare quality (Naidu, 2009). Low patient satisfaction usually relates on ineffective
delivery services provide by the healthcare organization. Hospitals with higher patient
satisfaction have lower mortality and better process measures (Jaipaul and Rosenthal, 2003;
Edlund et al., 2003; Gesell et al., 2005). Patient satisfaction is the impact on health care
services which in turn will produce the best results and good clinical results (Kersnik, 2000).
Pocock & Phua, (2011) reported that majority of the population in Malaysia especially those
who lives in rural area depending on the health services provided by the government
because most of the costs are funded by the government, while they only have to pay a
small amount for their treatment. Patient demanded that hospital should be efficient,
effective and tailored with their needs. Besides, patients always want the effectiveness of the
treatment in order to achieve a cure to the disease while the governments always expect the
efficiency of health services to ensure that they are cost effective. With the rising costs due
to changes in new technologies and high health care needs, the government is likely to
 737

ensure the quality of competence in the field of health care in order to channel the excess
allocations to other public services (Daniel Simonet, 2005).
With respect to public healthcare hospitals, it is the most sought choice for the public
to seek for treatment at lower costs. This study has chosen Serdang Hospital in order to
gauge the predictors of patients’ satisfaction towards public hospitals. According to the
current statistic released by Public Relation Unit, Serdang Hospital, number of complaint
was increasing from year 2011 until 2015. The current figure is depicted in Table 1 below.

Table 1 Total Complaints from 2011-2015

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

No. of
Complaints 88 135 145 168 212

Percentage
- 53% 7.4% 15% 26%
(%)
Source: Public Relation Unit, Serdang Hospital

According to an official record of Serdang Hospital, unsatisfactory service quality is

the major contributor to the number of complaints in which this category recorded a total of
65 complaints in 2015. This was followed by a communication failure category which
recorded a total of 52 complaints. For the delay and no action category, 31 complaints were
recorded, while for the lack of facilities category; it recorded 30 complaints in 2015. The
misconduct of public officials recorded only 1 case which is the lowest contributor for total
complaint in 2015.
With respect to patients’ satisfaction, Siti Nur Sarah M. Khir in her article dated 15
November 2013 stated that Serdang Hospital received higher number of patients’ and this
has caused overcrowding and longer waiting times. She further deliberates that higher
number of patients is due to best quality health care services with the minimal cost
(malaysiandigest.com, 2013). Furthermore, Michelle Tan wrote an article in The Malay Mail
dated 19 April 2015 highlighted about the poor conditions and maintenance of canteens as
well as hygienic issues. This has caused discomfort to hospital staffs and visitors. The Malay
Mail also reported an incident of collapse ceiling on 10 December 2013 after six incidents
reported earlier. It was reported that the ceiling of the staff quarters at the hospital’s D Block
fell to the floor and almost hit a family and the hospital’s staff.
As an attempt to identify the predictors of patients’ satisfaction, this paper intends to
examine the predictor factors effect onpatients satisfaction. The paper is organized as
follows. Section 1 outlines the purpose of the study while section 2 describes the theoretical
background and research model, followed by the methodology employed in this research.
The next section discusses the results obtained from the study. Section 5 provides the
conclusions of this study and makes suggestions for future research.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND THE RESEARCH MODEL

Health care services are mostly in the form of intangible facets thus, it’s highly dependent on
the excellent processes, how customers are treated and physical equipment that they have
to support the delivery of services. According to Mosadeghrad (2013), healthcare services
are performed spontaneously and cannot be stored for later consumption. Health care
cannot be guaranteed because the client cannot judge the quality before seeking medical
treatment. This makes quality control in the field of health care very difficult.
 738

With regards to patients’ satisfaction, literature review indicates that there are several
factors that lead towards patients’ satisfaction. Some of the studies highlighted similar
factors. This study highlights four antecedents of patient satisfaction as discussed below.

Physical Facilities

Physical facilities are the one element that influences the satisfaction among the
patients. Manimay Ghosh (2014) study on patient satisfaction in India found that internal
environment factors namely cleanliness of the room and toilet and the noise in the hospital
do affect the patient satisfaction. Physical facilities and environment not only influence the
satisfaction but also can contribute to the work error (Mahmood et al., 2012). Mahmood et al.
in their study found that during medication phase the physical design is the major source of
potential error. If the physical environment effect to the medication error it will result the more
dissatisfaction of patient in medical care. Hence, they recommend the physical environment
factors to be addressed as measures to control errors. Another study in Japan by Amira
Elleuch (2008) reveals that the setting’s appearance and process characteristics were the
most influencial factors in assessing health care quality. Besides physicla facilities, good
values such as courtesy, empathy and harmony also do influence patients’ satisfaction.
Furthermore, cleanliness and surrounding also found to have positive correlation with
patients satisfaction (Nur Husnina, 2015). Thus, based on the above discussion, hypothesis
one was developed as follows.

H1: Physical facility does influence patients’ satisfaction.

Communication

Effective communication is one of the critical components in healthcare services. It

relates significantly with improved Emergency Department follow-up, patient compliance and
satisfaction (Simmons et al., 2015). Researchers have reported that patient satisfaction was
positively and consistently associated with physicians' patient‐participatory approach to
medicine (Street and Gordon, 2006). If patients are given the opportunity to interact and ask
questions they would be more satisfied with the services or treatment provided (Li and
Lundgren, 2005), and given the opportunity to make decision (Gattellari et al., 2001).
Communication style of physicians’ consultation with competent approach is the factors that
cause this services is preferred by patients. Frederikson (1995) found that exploring patient
expectations and concerns, patient ideas and discussing problem solutions were positively
correlated with patient satisfaction. Frederickson pointed out that patients prefer to be active
where it also wants to voluntarily participate in an opinion during the treatment. They do not
like being passive in receiving treatment.
Several studies by Trumble, O’Brien, O’Brien, & Hartwig (2006), Hall (2007) and Platonova
and Shewchuk (2015) also concur that communication is vital in healthcare services. Hall in
a study to measure communication quality as a antecedents to the patient satisfaction
founds that the communication quality have significant relationship with patient satisfaction.
Based on the above discussion, hypothesis two was developed as follows.

H2: Communication does influence patients’ satisfaction.

Waiting Times

In service delivery, nothing can be as detrimental to customer satisfaction as the

experience of waiting for the service. Waiting is frustrating, demoralizing, agonizing,
aggravating, annoying, time consuming and incredibly expensive (Maister, 1985). In
customers minds bad experience is resulted from long waiting for service. This in turn will
affect the assessment of the quality of service (Clemmer and Schneider, 1989; Taylor,
 739

1994). Waiting experience and service experience are, to a great extent, subjective. When
customers report that they have been kept waiting for a very long time, or that the waiting
time was shorter than expected, or that the service was poor, very good or excellent, they
are relating a subjective experience. There is ambiguity and uncertainty in people's
subjective judgments.
Bielen and Demoulin (2007) in their study confirmed that waiting times effect the
services satisfaction. Finding of the study found that waiting times will affect the services
satisfaction and moderates the satisfaction and loyalty relationship. They further claimed that
creating loyalty customer is more crucial than satisfied the customer. While Manaf and
Phang (2009) study on level of patient satisfaction found that there is significant relationship
between waiting time and patient satisfaction. This finding also supported by Nur Husnina
(2015) in which she found that patient satisfaction and waiting times was positively
correlated. A study by Payal Mehra (2016) found that the higher waiting times the less
satisfied in health care quality. The study also found that the waiting times did not moderate
the relationship between provider communication styles and the overall satisfaction.
Studies by Abd Manaf et al. (2011), Naumann & Miles (2001), Dedey, Wu, & Ayettey,
et al (2016) and Hall (2007) also concur with the above findings in which waiting times does
influence patients satisfaction. For instance, a study by Abd Manaf et al. found that average
waiting times in public hospital is 2 hours and the factor contribute to the long waiting hours
is heavy workload, management and supervision problems employee attitude and work
process and inadequate facilities. Interestingly, Naumann & Miles discover that if the patient
is told by the staff about the expected waiting times and keep busy while waiting; they will
feel more or higher satisfied during the treatment process. Based on the above discussion,
hypothesis three was developed as follows.

H3: Waiting times does influence patients’ satisfaction

Gender of Doctor

Several studies have established a basis that gender does play an important role in
healthcare services. Thiedke (2007) confirms that gender difference has an effect on
patient’s overall satisfaction. As discussion on gender of doctor is somewhat limited, a
preliminary study was conducted to get feedback from several patients whether gender of
doctor giving an impact towards patient satisfaction. Brief interview session was conducted
in Serdang Hospital to get information from the patient about their preference on gender of
the doctors. The results are presented in Table 2 below. It was found that 9 out of 10
respondents agreed that same gender between patient and doctor will give more satisfaction
to them. Based on the information obtained from a preliminary study, hypothesis four was
developed as below.

H4: Gender of doctor does influence patients’ satisfaction.

 740

Table 2 Gender of Doctors on Patients Satisfaction

Respondent Date of Interview Being treated by same

gender of doctor
(Satisfied / Not-Satisfied)
Respondent 1 10 Okt 2016 Satisfied
Respondent 2 10 Okt 2016 Satisfied
Respondent 3 10 Okt 2016 Satisfied
Respondent 4 12 Okt 2016 Satisfied
Respondent 5 12 Okt 2016 Satisfied
Respondent 6 12 Okt 2016 Satisfied
Respondent 7 13 Okt 2016 Satisfied
Respondent 8 13 Okt 2016 Non Satisfied
Respondent 9 13 Okt 2016 Satisfied
Respondent 10 13 Okt 2016 Satisfied
Source: Preliminary Study via Interview by Researcher (2016)

The research framework proposed in this study was adapted from the service quality
(SERVQUAL) model by Parasuraman et al., (1991) with slight modification. SERVQUAL
model consists of five dimensions of service quality namely tangible, reliability,
responsiveness, empathy and assurance. In this study, tangible dimension was renamed as
physical facilities. Responsiveness dimension was changed to communication. Reliability
was renamed as waiting times and while empathy and assurance were renamed as gender
of doctor. Figure 1 represents the reseach model for this paper. The model is
operationalized by four dimensions namely physical facilities, communication, waiting times
and gender of doctor as IV and patients satisfaction as DV.

Figure 1 Proposed Research Framework

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study employs quantitative research using cross-sectional design. Data was
collected through questionnaire. The items were assessed along a five-point Likert scale
with the points (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree. The questionnaire was divided into
several sections namely Section A: Demographic Profile (4 items), Section B: Physical
Facilities (8 Items), Section C: Communication (7 items), Section D: Waiting Times (8 items),
Section E: Gender of Doctor (6 items) and Section F: Patients Satisfaction (6 items). Data
was analyzed using SPSS Version 22.0.
 741

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Questionnaires have been randomly distributed to 391 patients from 16 departments

in Serdang Hospital. The sample size for data set was considered adequate, following the
minimum sample size as suggested by Krejcie and Morgan (1970). The response rate
gathered in this study was 90%. Table 3 depicts the demographics profile of the
respondents.

Table 3 Demographic Profile of Respondents

Variables Profile Frequency Percentage

Gender Male 167 42.7%
Female 224 57.3%
Age Below 20 years 13 3.3%
20-30 years 133 34%
31-40 years 134 34.5%
41-50 years 62 16.1%
51and above 41 12%
Marital Status Married 256 65.5%
Single 122 31.2%
Others 13 3.3%
Race Malay 254 65%
Chinese 68 17.4%
Indian 57 14.6%
Others 12 3.1%

To ascertain the predictors of patients’ satisfaction, regression analysis was utilized.

Prior to the analysis, all the preliminary steps to ensure data normality, reliability and validity
tests were thoroughly conducted. The analyses of the internal consistencies and validity of
the scales yielded satisfactorily and there is no evidence of multicollinearity. Regression was
used to test the hypothesis in order to ascertain factors that influence patients’ satisfaction.
Table 4 depicts the regression results.

Table 4 Results of Regression Analysis on Predictors of Patients Satisfaction

As depicted in Table 4 above, communication was found to be the most influential

predictors of patients satisfaction in Serdang Hospital (B=0.40.3), followed by Gender of
 742

Doctor (B=0.179) in second and waiting times in third (B=0.100). All these three predictors
were found to have significant impact on patients’ satisfaction. Meanwhile, physical facilities
was found to have no significant impact on patients satisfaction (B=0.106).
The results of the current study have consistent with prior studies that found
communication, gender of doctor and waiting times were positively and significantly affect
patients satisfaction. The causality relationship between communication, gender of doctor,
waiting times and patients’ satisfaction were evidenced using analysis of regression.
Evidence from the previous research described that effective communication determine
patient satisfaction (Simmons et al., 2015; Platonova & Shewchuk, 2015). Patient
satisfaction and waiting time also proven has strong correlation (Manaf & Phang, 2009;
Payal Mehra, 2016; Abd Manaf et al., 2011). Past study also found that gender is a
significant factor affecting patient care (Balbaid O, Al-Dawood K, 1997). However, with
respect to physical facilities, it was found that this factor did not influence patients’
satisfaction. Perhaps, this is due to the nature of government hospitals that are too crowded
and received higher volume of patients. Plus, government hospitals are known for their best
facilities provided for the patients and visitors.

RECOMMENDATION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

This study provides a significant evidence for the management of Serdang Hospital to further
understand the importance of communication, gender of doctor, and waiting times in
measuring patients’ satisfaction. As communication is highlighted as the most influential
predictors of patients’ satisfaction, the management should take a proactive measure to
ensure all staffs have excellent level of communication with the patients’ and the visitors to
better reflect their patients’ satisfaction index. The management of Serdang Hospital must
have a strategic plan to enhance the communication level among staff.
Furthermore, it is timely to educate or informing the patients and the visitors about
the procedures from time to time. This is particularly important to avoid misunderstanding
and uncertainty. Staff must actively engage with the patient as it will boost the patient
satisfaction.
This study also suggests that future research should conduct longitudinal study to
see whether the predictors of patients’ satisfaction as identified in this study remain
important and influential. This will further confirmed the earlier study on the predictors of
patients’ satisfaction especially in Serdang Hospital plus, it serves as a basis for to
determine the current need of patients.
Besides, future research should also conducts a qualitative study to further gauge on
how the predictors highlighted in this study can be further improved. With that in mind, the
feedbacks genuinely represent moment of truth or the inner voice of the patents and the
visitors themselves. This qualitative research provides in-depth and rich information about
the services offered from the perspective of the users.

CONCLUSION

This study is about the predictors of patient satisfaction in Serdang Hospital. Physical
facilities, communication, waiting times and gender of the doctor were hypothesized having
an influence on patients’ satisfaction. Statistical analysis revealed that communication,
gender of doctor and waiting times do influence patients’ satisfaction. In conclusion, patients’
satisfaction has served as an important aspect for excellent service delivery in the
organizations. Factors that determine patients satisfaction need top be focus upon as it will
determine public value particularly in public healthcare institutions. This study is hoped to
provide new insights to the management of Serdang Hospital to better improve its services
in the near future.
 743

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 747

Pendidikan di kalangan Pelajar Luar Bandar

Intan Syahriza Azizan
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
intan219@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nur Hidyati Zolhani

Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
hidyati@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Afida Arapa
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
afida151@sabah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRAK

Pendidikan merupakan teras kepada pembinaan negara bangsa. Falsafah Pendidikan

Negara menekankan kepada usaha melahirkan insan yang berilmu tinggi dan berakhlak
mulia. Dengan itu, satu sistem pendidikan diwujudkan bagi memenuhi keperluan negara
seiring dengan perkembangan insan yang mana ianya dilihat melalui pencapaian
pendidikannya. Malaysia yang kini institusi pendidikannya kian berkembang di serata
pelosok negara termasuk di luar bandar memberi kesan terhadap pencapaian para pelajar
dalam membentuk insan terpelajar. Penglibatan ibubapa terhadap pembelajaran anak-anak
serta persepsi pelajar sendiri terhadap persekitaran sekolah dapat membuktikan bahawa ini
merupakan faktor penyumbang kepada pencapaian mereka dalam pendidikan selain
daripada pembangunan pendidikan itu sendiri. Pencapaian para pelajar di luar bandar juga
perlu dititikberatkan kerana mereka juga merupakan aset negara dan juga merupakan
generasi pelapis yang bakal menerajui negara pada masa akan datang. Maka, sudah pasti
pemimpin kerajaan perlu memahami dasar pendidikan dan memastikan ianya dijalankan
sebaik-baiknya dan secara menyeluruh termasuk di kawasan luar bandar agar masyarakat
luar bandar juga merasai pembangunan pendidikan dan para ibubapa memahami
kepentingan peranan mereka dalam membentuk insan terpelajar. Justeru, kertas kerja ini
menyingkap dimensi ini dalam mengenalpasti beberapa faktor utama yang penyumbang ke
arah pencapaian pelajar luar bandar. Di samping itu, kajian konsep ini juga mampu
membantu pihak sekolah itu sendiri dalam menambahbaik serta meningkatkan usaha untuk
memperbaiki keadaan semasa sekolah berkenaan juga meningkatkan peranan ibubapa
dalam pembelajaran para pelajar berkenaan agar menjadi insan yang berguna(lebih
produktif dan bermoral tinggi) di masa akan datang.

Kata kunci: Pendidikan, luar bandar, peranan ibubapa, persekitaran sekolah,

persepsi,pencapaian pendidikan
 748

PENGENALAN

“Pendidikan di Malaysia adalah satu usaha berterusan

ke arah memperkembangkan lagi potensi individu secara
menyeluruh dan bersepadu untuk mewujudkan insan
yang seimbang dan harmonis dari segi intelek, rohani,
emosi dan jasmani berdasarkan kepercayaan dan
kepatuhan kepada Tuhan. Usaha ini adalah bagi
melahirkan rakyat Malaysia yang berilmu pengetahuan,
berketrampilan, berakhlak mulia, bertanggungjawab
dan berkeupayaan mencapai kesejahteraan diri serta
memberi sumbangan terhadap keharmonian dan
kemakmuran masyarakat dan negara.”
(Falsafah Pendidikan Negara)

Pendidikan merupakan satu industri yang dinamik dan menjadi tunjang

pembangunan negara. Dengan kelestarian pendidikan, ia mampu memacu pertumbuhan
ekonomi negara dengan melahirkan insan yang berjaya dan mampu bersaing meningkatkan
mutu kualiti modal insan. Kesungguhan kerajaan dalam memberi tumpuan yang khusus
kepada pembangunan modal insan dalam Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan Malaysia
(PPPM) 2013-2025 membentuk pelajar selari dengan pembangunan ekonomi negara
kerana mereka ini ialah aset negara yang tidak ternilai. Malah, jurang pencapaian antara
pelajar bandar dan luar bandar dirapatkan agar kedua-duanya mendapat kelebihan dimensi
pendidikan yang dijaga rapi oleh pihak kerajaan (Berita Harian, 26 September 2013).
Keprihatinan kerajaan dalam membuat pelaburan yang tinggi dilihat mampu memberikan
pulangan yang hebat dan mampu mengubah taraf hidup serta menyumbang kepada
pembangunan negara.
Sejajar dengan falsafah pendidikan negara, potensi para pelajar harus digilap agar
menjadi aset yang tidak ternilai. Di samping itu, hak pendidikan ke atas semua individu di
Malaysia diberikan sama rata. Semua layak untuk mendapatkan pendidikan walau di mana
mereka berada sama ada mereka ialah golongan yang berada di bandar atau luar bandar
mahupun golongan orang asli yang berada di pedalaman sekalipun. Hak kesamarataan ini
diperjuangkan agar dapat mempastikan taraf pendidikan di Malaysia bertambah baik dan
jurang pencapaian pendidikan di antara bandar dan luar bandar juga dapat diperbaiki dari
masa ke semasa.

METOD KAJIAN

Kajian konsep ini dijalankan berlandaskan pengumpulan data sekunder daripada

penyelidikan-penyelidikan lepas (jurnal, artikel), akhbar dan maklumat atas talian iaitu laman
web dan blog. Pengumpulan maklumat serta informasi daripada kementerian sendiri mampu
memberikan satu penemuan yang amat signifikan kerana perkara ini memerlukan komitmen
yang amat tinggi daripada semua pihak terutama di pihak kementerian bagi memikirkan hala
tuju pendidikan agar ia lebih maju dan sama rata di serata pelusuk negara.

PENCAPAIAN PENDIDIKAN LUAR BANDAR

Tahap pendidikan di luar bandar dilihat berada di tahap yang rendah di mana
masalah ini dipengaruhi oleh tahap pendidikan sesebuah keluarga, kesedaran tentang
kepentingan pendidikan, kemiskinan keluarga atau jurang pendapatan, sikap pelajar,
kekurangan bahan bantu mengajar dan kemudahan infrastruktur (Zalika Adam, Faridah
Kassim, Mohamad Johdi Salleh, 2009). Tahap perkembangan pendidikan juga lemah dan
amat ketara terutama di kawasan pedalaman Sabah dan Sarawak. Perkara ini berlaku
 749

kerana laluan yang jauh menyebabkan saluran-saluran bantuan sukar unutk sampai ke
destinasi tersebut. Ternyata, ini merupakan cabaran-cabaran yang dihadapi oleh penduduk
luar bandar terhadap pendidikan.
Namun pelbagai pendekatan atau initiatif yang diambil oleh pihak kerajaan dalam
membantu menaikkan prestasi para pelajar. Usaha bagi mendekatkan jurang akademik
bandar dan luar bandar harus ditangani dengan sebaik-baiknya dengan mewujudkan
kesedaran masyarakat mengenai kepentingan pendidikan dalam melestarikan
pembangunan ekonomi keluarga seterusnya kepada negara. Malah, kelestarian teknologi
juga disasarkan kepada kawasan luar bandar dengan melaksanakan projek 1BestariNet
jalur lebar 4G serta Platform Persekitaran Pembelajaran Maya (VLE) bagi membantu
meningkatkan tahap pembelajaran dengan dilengkapi oleh akses internet berkelajuan tinggi
dan akses kepada penyelesaian pendidikan bersepadu bertaraf dunia (Berita Harian, 1
November 2016). Projek ini disasarkan kepada lebih 10,000 sekolah di bandar dan luar
bandar untuk membantu meningkatkan proses pembelajaran yang bukan sahaja
berpandukan kepada pendidikan tradisional yang mana hanya bertumpukan kepada
pengetahuan pendidik semata-mata di dalam bilik darjah, malah kini para pelajar didekatkan
dan diperkenalkan dengan teknologi agar akses pendidikan menjadi lebih meluas bukan
sahaja tertumpu kepada bilik darjah akan tetapi boleh menerajui serata dunia dan
didedahkan kepada dunia pendidikan yang lebih luas.
Dengan segala usaha dan initiatif yang dijalankan, menurut sumber daripada
Bernama, 17 November 2015, Gred Purata Nasional (GPN) bagi pencapaian sekolah luar
bandar mencatat 2.34 berbanding 2.38 pada tahun 2014 dan pencapaian sekolah bandar
kekal mencatat Gred Purata Nasional (GPN) 2.21. Berdasarkan prestasi pencapaian yang
ditunjukkan ini, Menteri Pendidikan, Datuk Mahdzir Khalid mengulas bahawa satu
pencapaian yang baik telah ditunjukkan oleh sekolah luar bandar yang kini pencapaiannya
bertambah meningkat malah jurang di antara sekolah luar bandar dan sekolah bandar
semakin mengecil dan beliau sangat berpuas hati dengan pencapaian ini. Namun tidak
bermakna kerajaan tidak mempertingkatkan lagi usaha kerana masih banyak sisi-sisi yang
harus ditangani dan dilihat secara terperinci kerana perkara ini juga menyumbang ke arah
pencapaian sekolah dan memerlukan pemantauan secara berterusan.
Justeru, pihak kerajaan mengatur strategi dalam mengatasi masalah ini dengan
membangunkan Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan (PIPP) dengan memperbaiki sistem
pendidikan di sekolah luar bandar, menukar persepsi ibu bapa terhadap sistem pendidikan,
mempertingkatkan bahan bantu mengajar berbentuk teknologi, mewujudkan iklim dan
suasana sekolah yang selesa dan memperkenalkan kaedah bagi merapatkan jurang
pendapatan penduduk luar bandar. Pelan ini menyediakan kerangka pembangunan yang
menyeluruh dalam menzahirkan keberhasilan negara melalui pendidikan dengan
mengagihkan sumber dengan teliti dan terancang agar dapat meningkatkan keberhasilan
dan kemenjadian pelajar. Transformasi sistem pendidikan di abad ini akan dicapai apabila
komitmen daripada kementerian serta rakyat ditingkatkan dengan memahami peranan
masing-masing dalam meningkatkan kualiti sistem pendidikan itu sendiri.
Hatta, penglibatan kerajaan semata-mata tidak akan mampu melonjakkan prestasi
pendidikan khususnya di kalangan penduduk luar bandar. Ianya memerlukan kerjasama
yang padu di kalangan para pelajar sendiri, juga daripada kalangan ibu bapa yang sedar
akan tahap kepentingan pendidikan yang mampu merubah masa depan mereka.
Penglibatan mereka secara terus terutama dalam menyiapkan kerja sekolah mampu
menaikkan pemahaman serta menunjukkan kesan positif terhadap bimbingan yang
diberikan. Di dalam konteks luar bandar, tahap pendidikan ibu bapa merupakan tunjang
yang kritikal kerana diukur dari aspek perbincangan, penyeliaan, dan komunikasi yang
mampu memberikan signifikan impak ke atas pencapaian anak-anak mereka (Zulkifli,
Jamilah, Aminah, Ismi, 2011).
 750

FAKTOR-FAKTOR PENYUMBANG KEPADA PENCAPAIAN PELAJAR LUAR BANDAR

Pencapaian pelajar luar bandar dilihat berada di tahap yang rendah berbanding
pencapaian pelajar di bandar. Namun, jurang ni dilihat bertambah baik di mana menurut
Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid di dalam artikel Harian Metro, 17 November 2015, sekolah luar
bandar mencatatkan Gred Purata Nasional (GPN) 2.34. manakala sekolah bandar
mencatatkan Gred Purata Nasional (GPN) 2.21 yang mana menunjukkan jurang menjadi
bertambah baik. Walaupun demikian, jurang tersebut masih wujud dan perlu dilihat agar
ianya dapat dipulihkan dengan melihat sisi yang menghalang kepada pencapaian pelajar
luar bandar ini.
Menurut kamus Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (2000) jurang bermaksud perbezaan
yang ketara, kelompongan yang wujud atau perbezaan yang memisahkan di antara satu
perkara dengan perkara yang lain. Pencapaian pula bermaksud sesuatu yang dicapai;
sesuatu yang telah Berjaya dilaksanakan dengan usaha dan ketekunan, perbuatan (hal,
usaha dsb) mencapai sesuatu. Manakala, luar bandar bermaksud majoriti penduduk
menjalankan aktiviti pertanian yang melibatkan penangkapan, pengumpulan, pembiakan
haiwan laut, pertanian serta pembalakan (Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia) pelbagai
pendekatan yang dapat diambil sekiranya dapat mengenalpasti faktor-faktor penyumbang
kepada jurang ini. Terdapat pelbagai kajian yang telah dijalankan oleh para penyelidik untuk
membantu menaikkan martabat pendidikan di luar bandar. Melalui kajian-kajian tersebut,
faktor-faktor yang dikenalpasti dapat dirangkumkan kepada dua faktor utama:

Kurang Perhatian Terhadap Pendidikan

Perkara ini berlaku di antara para ibu bapa dan pelajar itu sendiri. Komunikasi di
antara kedua-dua pihak ini amat diperlukan bagi membantu menaikkan minat para pelajar
terhadap pendidikan. Bukan itu sahaja, penglibatan ibu bapa terhadap pendidikan anak-
anak juga dapat menyumbang kepada pencapaian yang memberangsangkan. Apabila ibu
bapa dapat memainkan peranan mereka di dalam pendidikan, nescaya pencapaian pelajar
dapat ditingkatkan. Masalah berlaku bila mana ibu bapa yang mempunyai tahap pendidikan
yang rendah dan tidak mampu untuk berinteraksi secara langsung dalam membantu anak
menyiapkan kerja sekolah merupakan masalah yang sering dialami oleh mereka.
Pendekatan untuk memupuk semangat mengambil tahu dan membantu dalam menyiapkan
kerja sekolah anak-anak dapat membantu meningkatkan prestasi para pelajar ini. Namun,
halangan berlaku apabila tahap pendidikan yang rendah oleh ibu bapa dapat menjadi
penghalang kepada mereka untuk membantu anak-anak dalam menyiapkan kerja sekolah
tersebut. Ini menunjukkan faktor komunikasi adalah amat penting dalam mewujudkan
suasana harmoni dalam pembelajaran. Menurut Asbah dan Nur Azah (2013) melihat kepada
konsep komunikasi antara ibu bapa dan anak-anak malah menurut mereka terdapat banyak
penyelidikan yang dijalankan termasuk Montoyo (2007) melihat kepada hubungan sokongan
keluarga terhadap keyakinan pelajar dan hubungan sokongan keluarga dan penglibatan ibu
bapa (Abdullah Al-Hadi et.al, 1993) yang mana perkara ini memberikan kesan yang signikan
dalam pencapaian pendidikan.
Selain daripada itu, kajian mendapati disiplin para pelajar juga harus diurus dengan
teratur kerana ini juga menyumbang kepada prestasi pendidikan mereka (Simin Ghavifekr
Muhammad Faizal, Norfariza, Husaina, 2014). Apabila hilangnya minat terhadap pendidikan,
masalah disiplin akan timbul seperti tidak hadir sekolah, tidak menunjukkan minat terhadap
pembelajaran, tidak mengambil bahagian dalam akademik dan pelbagai masalah disiplin
yang lain. Melihat kepada minat mereka dan persepsi mereka terhadap pendidikan yang
hanya suam-suam kuku harus ditangani kerana tahap pemikiran dan penguasaan ilmu yang
rendah ini sebenarnya menghalang mereka dari merasakan kepentingan pendidikan dalam
kehidupan ini. Motivasi terhadap mereka harus sentiasa diberikan agar perasaan minat
terhadap pendidikan dapat dipertingkatkan agar mampu merubah taraf pendidikan mereka
ke arah yang lebih baik. Malah motivasi dapat diberikan melalui program-program yang
dianjurkan oleh pihak sekolah dan juga dengan menyediakan iklim sekolah yang cenderung
 751

kepada penambahbaikan taraf pendidikan agar dapat menarik minat pelajar dan memupuk
semangat mereka untuk berjuang mendapatkan pencapaian yang cemerlang di dalam
pendidikan.
Tambahan pula dengan sosio-ekonomi yang tidak memberangsangkan juga boleh
menjadi penyumbang kepada permasalahan ini di mana ibu bapa tidak memberikan
alternatif pendidikan dengan menghantar kepada tempat tuisyen bagi membantu
pencapaian anak-anak. Malah, ada yang hanya memikirkan bahawa pendidikan ini hanya
cukup dengan menghantar anak-anak ke sekolah dan hanya melepaskan tanggungjawab
tersebut kepada guru-guru di sekolah semata-mata. Menurut Nasriah (1997) hasil kajian
menunjukkan taraf sosio-ekonomi yang rendah menyebabkan tahap pencapaian sederhana
yang mana kemudahan fizikal di rumah, bahan rujukan serta rujukan kepada kawan
memberikan signifikan impak kepada pencapaian pendidikan tersebut. Kenyataan ini
disokong oleh Lareau (2003) yang mana mendapati bahawa ibu bapa yang berhadapan
dengan masalah sosio-ekonomi yang rendah tidak mampu memberikan perhatian yang
sewajarnya terhadap pendidikan. Malah, Teese (1997) juga menyatakan bahawa sekolah
luar bandar dikatakan sebagai tidak mampu mencapai unjuran pencapaian yang ditetapkan
oleh kementerian sebagai satu stigma yang telah lama wujud. Merujuk kepada Pelan Induk
Pendidikan Malaysia, 2006-2025, Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM) telah lama sedar
akan wujudnya perbezaan sosioekonomi yang mempengaruhi kepada keberhasilan
pendidikan. Dengan itu, pastinya Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM) mencari inisiatif
dan komited dalam menangani masalah ketaksamarataan ini.

Persekitaran Sekolah Luar Bandar Yang Kurang Kondusif

Sekolah luar bandar banyak yang dihambat dengan kekurangan fasiliti dan
infrastruktur yang tidak sebaik sekolah bandar. Kemudahan meja, kerusi dan lain-lain amat
berkurangan terutama di kawasan luar bandar (Nurul Ain Zulkifli, 2010). Ini boleh
menngganggu konsentrasi para pelajar dalam menimba ilmu. Di samping itu, masih banyak
sekolah luar bandar yang tidak dilengkapi dengan makmal komputer dan makmal sains.
Dengan kekurangan ini, proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran akan terbatas. Bukan itu
sahaja, bekalan elektrik dan air juga merupakan cabaran yang besar buat sekolah luar
bandar kerana bekalan adalah sangat terhad di mana bekalan ini tidak selama 24 jam
sehari. Ini menyebabkan aktiviti di sekolah juga akan menjadi terhad.
Masalah bekalan elektrik juga berkait rapat dengan capaian internet dan teknologi
yang juga menjadi hambatan dan menjadikan mereka keciciran bukan sahaja kepada para
pelajar malah para guru juga tidak dapat menggunakan inovasi teknologi sepenuhnya dalam
memperbaiki teknik pengajaran dan pembelajaran serta menggunakan maklumat untuk
kemajuan akademik pelajar. Malah, janakuasa yang dibekalkan pula tidak mampu
menampung penggunaan ICT di sekolah.
Bukan itu sahaja, penempatan guru-guru yang berpengalaman dan terlatih juga amat
nipis terutamanya dalam pengendalian kelas untuk subjek-subjek teras dan kritikal seperti
Matematik, Sains, Bahasa Inggeris dan Bahasa Malaysia. Kekurangan bilangan guru-guru
pakar ini juga memberikan impak ke atas pencapaian sekolah. Di samping itu, pihak sekolah
seharusnya mengetahui perana budaya formal sekolah dan diterapkan kepada para pelajar
di samping mengetahui gaya pembelajaran yang kini menjurus kepada visual memberikan
signifikan kepada pencapaian akademik pelajar (Azizi Yahya, Nurfaizah Abd Majid, 2011).

PELUANG DAN CABARAN PENDIDIKAN DALAM KALANGAN MASYARAKAT LUAR

BANDAR

Sistem pendidikan kebangsaan di Malaysia berevolusi sejak di zaman penjajahan

lagi sehingga kini. Transformasi yang dijalankan sejajar dengan perkembangan dan
pembangunan negara. Proses penyusunan semula kurikulum dan transformasi yang
dijalankan oleh pihak kerajaan adalah demi mempertahankan kepentingan pendidikan untuk
 752

menjadikan kita sebagai orang yang berilmu dan berakhlak mulia serta berjaya keluar
daripada kepompong kemiskinan yang sudah lama membelenggu. Akta pendidikan
diperkenalkan malah semakan kurikulum juga dijalankan sepanjang masa bersesuaian
dengan peredaran masa dan keperluan pembangunan negara.
Walaupun negara dihimpit dengan cabaran-cabaran yang hebat dalam melestarikan
pendidikan, namun kerajaan tidak pernah berputus asa dalam memperbaiki pencapaian
pendidikan terutama di kalangan sekolah di luar bandar. Melihat kepada pelbagai initiatif
seperti Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan (PIPP) yang mana ianya selaras dengan
Wawasan 2020 dengan menjadi satu sistem pendidikan bertaraf dunia. Menurut Zalika,
Faridah dan Mohamad Johdi, (2009), pelbagai initiatif telah diambil agar taraf pendidikan
luar bandar juga dinaiktaraf menuju mercu kejayaan selaras dengan matlamat Wawasan
2020. Pembangunan pendidikan telah bermula sejak merdeka dan telah dipertingkatkan dari
masa ke semasa seperti usaha memperbaiki sistem pendidikan sekolah luar bandar agar
mendapat persekitaran yang baik sebaik sekolah di bandar, mengubah persepsi ibu bapa
terhadap sistem persekolahan dan memastikan keterlibatan ibu bapa dalam perkembangan
pendidikan secara menyeluruh kerana ini mampu memberi kesan kepada pencapaian
pelajar yang lebih memberangsangkan, memperbanyakkan bahan bantuan mengajar
berbentuk teknologi selaras dengan arus pemodenan yang mampu membantu dalam
mempertingkatkan prestasi pendidikan, mengadakan suasana persekitaran sekolah yang
selesa dengan menyediakan ruang belajar yang dilengkapi dengan alat bantuan mengajar
seperti meja dan kerusi yang selesa dan baik juga kelengkapan prasarana yang baik dan
sentiasa memperbaiki jurang pendapatan penduduk luar bandar sekaligus dapat
menghapuskan kemiskinan tegar di kalangan penduduk luar bandar agar mereka dapat
memperbaiki kehidupan dan memberi peluang yang baik untuk membantu anak-anak
memperbaiki tahap pendidikan.
Di antara peluang dan usaha bagi merapatkan jurang pendidikan luar bandar dan
bandar adalah dengan mengadakan program-program seperti bengkel dan teknik menjawab
soalan Bahasa Melayu, Matematik, Sejarah, Pendidikan Islam, Bahasa Inggeris, bengkel
minda dan aktiviti riadah dan kuliah agama yang dianjurkan oleh Majlis Agama Islam dan
Adat Melayu Perak (MAIPK) yang membabitkan pelajar-pelajar Sekolah Menengah
Kebangsaan Datuk Idris dan Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Pantai Remis yang bertujuan
memberikan motivasi dan meningkatkan pencapaian akademik di kalangan peserta atau
pelajar yang berlatarbelakangkan daripada keluarga berpendapatan rendah (Berita Harian,
25 September 2016). Malah, menurut Berita Harian (31 Oktober 2016) pula melaporkan
mengenai Kementerian Pendidikan ingin meneruskan program guru ‘English Teaching
Assistant’ (ETA) yang telah bermula semenjak 2011 bagi membantu pelajar luar bandar
menguasai Bahasa Inggeris dalam pembelajaran serta komunikasi dengan menempatkan
guru ETA selama 10 bulan di 100 buah sekolah merangkumi lapan buah negeri iaitu Perlis,
Kedah, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah, Sarawak dan Pahang. Ditambah dengan
laporan Berita Harian (16 November 2016) yang mana Timbalan Ketua Pengarah Pelajaran
(Sektor Dasar dan Pembangunan Pendidikan), Datuk Seri Khairil Awang memperkasakan
kaedah pembelajaran Bahasa Inggeris bagi melonjakkan penguasaan bahasa ini melalui
‘Highly Immersive Programme’ (HIP) yang menekankan terhadap interaksi pelajar. Inisiatif-
inisiatif ini bukan sahaja diterajui oleh kementerian semata-mata, malah mendapat sokongan
dan dokongan daripada pelbagai pihak seperti organisasi luar yang menekankan ia sebagai
tanggungjawab sosial ke atas komuniti.
Di samping itu, kelengkapan fasiliti sekolah ditambah baik. Namun pastinya pihak
kementerian menghadapi rintangan dalam melengkapkan fasiliti sekolah luar bandar
disebabkan oleh jarak yang jauh terutama bagi sekolah yang terletak di pedalaman. Namun,
pihak kementerian memberikan khidmat yang terbaik dengan melancarkan penggunaan
teknologi di semua sekolah dengan memberikan capaian internet agar pihak sekolah dapat
menggunakan sebaiknya dalam pengajaran serta pembelajaran para pelajar. Capaian
4megabit/saat sangat membantu dalam meningkatkan prestasi pengendalian program
1Bestari.Net seperti yang dilaporkan di dalam suratkhabar Berita Harian (16 November,
2016) dan capaian ini akan ditingkatkan lagi dari masa ke semasa agar ke semua sekolah
 753

termasuk sekolah luar bandar juga akan dapat menggunakan perkhidmatan ini. Cabaran
yang utama di luar bandar terutamanya di pedalaman adalah bekalan elektrik. Ini
menyebabkan kesukaran untuk menggunakan internet. Namun sekiranya masalah elektrik
ini berjaya ditangani, pastinya penggunaan internet bakal dapat dicapai di setiap sekolah
luar bandar.
Profession perguruan ini juga harus melengkapkan guru-guru untuk bersedia
berkhidmat di kawasan luar bandar. Kepakaran guru-guru adalah amat diperlukan bagi
menaikkan prestasi para pelajar sekaligus menaikkan prestasi sekolah. Kekurangan guru-
guru pakar merupakan cabaran kepada sekolah luar bandar. Perkara ini harus ditangani
dengan sebaiknya agar enrolmen guru-guru juga dilihat sebagai faktor pencapaian prestasi
sekolah-sekolah luar bandar kerana guru merupakan tunjang sekolah. Tanpa guru yang
cemerlang, sekolah pastinya tidak akan mencapai pencapaian yang memberangsangkan.

KESIMPULAN

Peluang bagi sekolah luar bandar untuk meningkatkan prestasi adalah amat cerah.
Namun, komitmen semua pihak haruslah dilunaskan dan ini pastinya mampu melonjakkan
nama sekolah luar bandar di persada pendidikan negara kita. Perkara ini bukanlah sesuatu
yang baharu. Malah, prestasi sekolah luar bandar kini bertambah baik walaupun masih
berhadapan dengan halangan dan cabaran yang mampu memberikan kesan yang negatif
sekiranya perkara ini tidak ditangani dengan sebaik mungkin. Kerajaan pastinya tidak akan
mengambil enteng isu perkaitan pendidikan demi membawa negara mencapai taraf negara
maju selari dengan Wawasan 2020. Dengan hanya pendidikan yang baik, segala masalah
yang merundung negara pasti dapat ditangani. Isu pendidikan adalah isu nasional. Ia
memberikan impak yang sangat terkesan terhadap perkembangan negara. Justeru, tahap
pendidikan yang tinggi mampu melonjakkan taraf negara di mata dunia.

RUJUKAN

Asbah Razali dan Nur Azah Razali. (2013). Parent-Child Communication and Self Concept
among Malays Adolescence. Asian Social Science; vol.9 , no.11. Published by
Canadian Center of Science and Education.

Azizi Yahya, Nurfaizah Abd Majid. (2011). Hubungan antara budaya formal sekolah dan
gaya pembelajaran pelajar dengan pencapaian akademik pelajar sekolah menengah.
Journal of Education Psychology and Counseling.vol.2. 78-112.

Berita Harian, (25 September 2016). http: //www.bharian.com.my/node/196013. Dicapaipada

2 Januari 2017.

Berita Harian, (30 Oktober 2016). http://www/bharian.com.my/node/208030. Dicapai pada 2

Januari 2017.

Berita Harian, (1 November 2016). http://www.bharian.com.my/node/208280. Dicapai pada 2

Januari 2017.

Berita Harian, (16 November 2016). http://www.bharian.com.my/node/213636. Dicapai pada

2 Januari 2017.

Berita Harian, (16 November 2016). http://www.bharian.com.my/node/213606. Dicapai pada

2 Januari 2017.

Bernama, (17 November 2015).

 754

Kamus Dewan. (2000). ed.3. Selangor: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Lareau, A. (2003). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. CA: University of
California.

Nasriah Hj Hussain. (1997). Pencapaian akademik pelajar-pelajar menengah luar Bandar.

Universiti Utara Malaysia.

Nurul Ain Zulkifli. (2010). Pendidikan di Sekolah Luar Bandar. http://blmk22.blogspot.my.

Dicapai pada 10 Januari 2017.

Pelan Pendidikan Malaysia 2013-2025. http://www.moe.gov.my/index.php/my/dasar/pelan-

pembangunan-pendidikan-malaysia-2013-2025. Dicapai pada 10 Januari
2017.

Simin Ghavifekr Muhammad Faizal, Norfariza, Husaina. (2014). Jurnal Kepimpinan

Pendidikan.

Zalika Adam, Faridah Kassim, Mohamad Johdi Salleh. (2009). Memperkasakan Pendidikan
luar bandar. Prosiding Persidangan Kebangsaan Pendidikan Luar Bandar.

Zulkifli Abd Hamid, Jamilah Othman, Aminah Ahmad, Ismi Arif Ismail. (2011). Journal of
Islamic and Arabic Education . vol.3. Issue:2, pp.31-40.

Teese, R. (1997). Reproduction Theory. In L. J. Saha (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of

The Sociology of Education (Pp. 92-97). Oxford: Pergamon.
 755

The Accounting Body Membership of Audit Committee Member

Noorain Omar
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
noorain@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Ainul Haniza Mohd Rashid

Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
hanizarashid@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (Revised 2007) requires that audit committees of
public companies to comprise at least three members, a majority of whom are independent.
All members should be non-executive directors, financially literate and at least one should be
a member of an accounting association or body. The purpose of this study is to investigate
whether the audit committee member of public listed companies in Malaysia include at least
a member with accounting body membership. This study analyzes 30 annual reports of
companies in industrial products sector listed in the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia for the
year ending 2015. The results of this study provide evidence that 96.7% of the listed
companies have at least a member of the audit committee with accounting body
membership.

Keywords: Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance, Audit committee, Accounting body

membership,

INTRODUCTION

Corporate governance has been the issue of great concern when big companies such
as Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing and Tyco International collapsed in early 2000
(Norwani, Mohamad, & Tamby Chek, 2011). The Malaysian High Level Finance Committee
on Corporate Governance defined corporate governance as “the process and structure that
is used to direct and manage the business and affairs of the company towards enhancing
business prosperity and corporate accountability with the ultimate objective of realizing long-
term shareholder value, whilst taking into account the interests of other stakeholders”.
The history of corporate governance in Malaysia can be traced back to as early as
1965 when CA1965 was developed. Since then, the regulatory developments in corporate
governance have gradually taken place (Muniandy & Ali, 2012). The weakness of corporate
governance has been claimed to be the main cause of the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis.
Following the fiasco, the Malaysian governance immediately revamped the corporate
governance structure. In March 2000, Securities Commission of Malaysia issued the
Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG) which was drawn from the United
Kingdom’s experience set out in the Hampel Report. Later, this Code was mandated as part
of Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Listing Requirement (Muniandy & Ali, 2012). The action
aims to strengthen the capital market, boosts investors’ confidence and improves the
credibility and accountability of financial information produced by listed companies (Abdul
Rahman & Ali, 2006). Indirectly, MCCG 2000 gave the audit committee greater
responsibilities.
An audit committee in general is an operating committee of a company's board of
directors. It is in charge of overseeing financial reporting and disclosure. The concept of
audit committee started to attract attention in the late 1930's when the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) encouraged their
 756

establishment after the McKesson and Robbins scandal in 1938. The case was one of the
major financial scandals of the 20th century which led to major corporate governance and
auditing reforms in the USA. The case also alerted the corporate community and the
accounting profession that appointment of an audit committee by the board of directors
should be recognized as an important action. New York Stock Exchange made the first
mandatory recognition of the need for audit committee by requiring the listed companies on
the Exchange to establish and maintain an audit committee comprised of solely of
independent directors not later than June 30, 1978 (Birkett, 1986).
Audit committee in Malaysia also has its own history. The establishment of audit
committee in Malaysia began in 1985 when Bank Negara Malaysia (Central Bank of
Malaysia) required the financial institutions in the country to set up audit committees.
However, the formal development of audit committees only began in 1991. In that year, the
Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public
Accountants (MICPA) and the Malaysian Institute of Internal Auditors (MIIA) submitted a
memorandum to the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM), the Capital Issues
Commission (CIC) and the Bursa Malaysia Berhad (BMB) recommending that an audit
committee be made mandatory for companies seeking listing on the BMB (Muhamad Sori &
Karbhari, 2006). Since 1994, section 344A of the BMB listing requirements has acquired
every company seeking admission to the BMB to form an audit committee comprising a
majority of directors that were independent of the company's management. Listed
companies were given a grace period of twelve months (from 1st August 1993) to form an
audit committee.
To further strengthen the role and responsibilities of audit committee, MCCG 2000 was
revised in 2007. The revision was mainly following the judgement by the court in the
Transmile case. In the case, two former audit committee members of Transmile were
sentenced to one year imprisonment and a fine of RM300,000 each for failing to inform the
board of directors about the irregularities discovered by the external auditor of the company.
MCCG (Revised 2007) then required that audit committees of public companies to comprise
at least three members, a majority of whom are independent. All members should be non-
executive directors, financially literate and at least one should be a member of an accounting
association or body.
The review of previous literatures indicates little research has been conducted to study
on accounting body membership. A research by (McMullen & Raghunandan, 1996) was
conducted to investigate the relationship between accounting body membership and
fraudulent financial reporting cases. A large number of prior research was carried out to
study the characteristics of the audit committee such as audit committee independence
(Beasley, 1996; Persons, 2009; Siagian & Tresnaningsih, 2011), financial expertise
(Dechow, Sloan, & Sweeney, 1996; Kamarudin & Wan Ismail, 2014) and size (Al-Rassas &
Kamardin, 2015; Baxter & Cotter, 2009). Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate
whether the audit committee member of public listed companies in Malaysia comprise of at
least a member with accounting body membership.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In the next section, we review the
existing literature and concept regarding audit committee and accounting body membership.
In the third section, we explain the method use to conduct the current research followed with
findings, while the last section is discussions and conclusion.
 757

LITERATURE REVIEW

This section reviews the literature on the concept of audit committee and accounting
body membership.

Audit committee

An audit committee is an important component of corporate governance structure. It

acts as monitoring mechanism on the preparers of financial statements. Menon and Williams
(1994) defined audit committee as committee of the board of directors which assumes some
of the boards’ responsibilities. Similarly, Ruin (2003) defined audit committee as committee
of the board, having its formal terms of reference or audit committee charter. As widely
recognized, the duties of the audit committee has been related to financial reporting
(McMullen & Raghunandan, 1996; Song & Windram, 2004), external auditor (Carcello &
Neal, 2000; DeZoort & Salterio, 2001) and internal audit (Raghunandan, Read, & Rama,
2001). These three interrelated duties are discharged to audit committee to ensure that
financial statements fairly represent the financial results of the company and to enable
independent verification of the efficiency of systems and controls. In addition, AlMatrooshi,
Al-Sartawi and Sanad (2016) stated that an audit committee plays a crucial role in observing
the degree of effectiveness of the internal control framework.

Accounting Body Membership

An accounting body is an organization or association of accountants in a particular

jurisdiction. Usually a person needs to be a member of such body to hold out to the public of
the jurisdiction as an accountant. The local accounting body in Malaysia are the Malaysian
Institute of Accountants (MIA) and the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants
(MICPA). The MCCG 2007 spells out that at least a member of audit committee should be a
member of accounting association or body. Since MCCG has been mandated as part of
BMB, the Stock Exchange further clarifies in its requirement that at least one member on the
audit committee must be a member of:

(i) the Malaysian Institute of Accountant; or

(ii) one of the associations of accountants specified in Part II of the First Schedule of the
Accountants Act 1967. There are eleven associations namely:

(a) Malaysian Association of Certified Public Accountants;

(b) Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland;
(c) Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales;
(d) Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland;
(e) Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (United Kingdom);
(f) Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia;
(g) Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants;
(h) New Zealand Chartered Accountants;
(i) Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants;
(j) Institute of Chartered Accountants of India; and
(k) Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (United Kingdom).

An audit committee member having accounting body membership is expected to be

able to improve the credibility and accountability of financial information produced by listed
companies (Abdul Rahman & Ali, 2006). In other words, it is expected to help in preventing
 758

the occurrence of fraudulent financial reporting. A study by McMullen and Raghunandan

(1996) showed evidence that accounting body membership is related to lower fraudulent
cases. In their study, they found out that fraudulent companies were much less likely to have
CPAs on the audit committee. Specifically, of the companies with financial reporting
problems, only 6% had an audit committee with at least one CPA. In contrast, of the
companies without problems, 25% had audit committee with at least one CPA. This study is
supported by Gendron and Bédard (2006). Their study documented that the more
professional accountants on audit committee, the more effective the audit committee when
adhering to best practices.

METHODOLOGY

The research design used in this study is descriptive research. It is to describe data or
characteristics of the samples being studied. The unit of analysis for this study is the public
listed companies in the industrial products sector in the Main Market of BMB. The secondary
data is used to conduct this research. In this study, audited annual reports of the year 2015
are used and downloaded from the official website of Bursa Malaysia Berhad
(http://www.bursamalaysia.com/market/). The 2015 audited annual reports are used is
because they are the latest annual reports which all listed companies have submitted to
BMB. The data is hand collected. It is recorded firstly in a hardcopy template and later keyed
into SPSS Version 20 data view in order to run the descriptive analysis.
The sample size for this study is 30. Sekaran and Bougie (2013) stressed that the
reason for using a sample, rather than collecting data from the entire population, are self-
evident. In research investigation involving several hundreds and even thousands of
elements, it would be practically impossible to collect data from, or test, or examine every
elements. Even if it were possible, it would be prohibitive in terms of time, cost, and other
human resources. Study of a sample rather than the entire population is also sometimes
likely to produce more reliable results. Sekaran and Bougie (2013) also claimed that too
large a sample size, however (say over 500) could also become a problem in as much as we
would be prone to committing Type II errors.
In literature, there exist several methods for determining the sample size. Hair, Ringle
and Sarstedt (2011) regards five respondents per variable to be analyzed as the lower limit,
but the most acceptable way of determination is 10:1 ratio (10 samples for one variable). In
another method, Roscoe (1975) proposed the rules of thumb that sample size larger than 30
and less than 500 are appropriate. The minimum sample size, according to Central Limit
Theorem, must be 30.
As for sampling technique, systematic sampling is used where every nth element in
the population is chosen starting from a random point in the sampling frame. In this study,
the sampling frame is the list of companies in the industrial products sector of the Main
Market. The total number of companies for the sector in the year 2015 is 274. They are
arranged in alphabetical order and every 9th in the list is selected as sample.

FINDINGS

This study found that 96.7% of the listed companies have at least a member of the
audit committee with accounting body membership whereby 26.7%, 70% and 3.3% of the
companies have two members, one member and none of audit committee with accounting
body membership respectively. This study also revealed that all the chairmen of the audit
committee in the sample are independent non-executive directors (INED). 66.7% of the
listed companies have chairman with accounting body membership. The largest number of
membership is MIA which is 86.7% of the total sample. Other accounting body membership
identified are MICPA, ICAEW, CPA Australia, ACCA, CIMA and CPA Ireland. The summary
of the findings is shown in Table I below.
 759

Table 1 Summary of Findings

1. Percentage of companies having at least a member of the audit committee with 96.7%
accounting body membership
2. Percentage of companies having two members of the audit committee with 26.7%
accounting body membership
3. Percentage of companies having a member of the audit committee with 70%
accounting body membership
4. Percentage of companies that do not have audit committee member with 3.3%
accounting body membership
5. Percentage of companies having chairman who is INED 100%
6. Percentage of companies having chairman with accounting body membership 66.7%
7. Percentage of companies having Audit committee member of MIA member 86.7%

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The objective of this study is to investigate whether the audit committee member of
public listed companies in Malaysia include at least a member with accounting body
membership. This study found that 96.7% of the companies in the sample do have at least a
member of audit committee is a member of accounting body. The indicates that most
companies acknowledge the importance of accounting body membership. A member of
accounting body normally possess a greater ability to analyze and interpret business
problems and develop dynamic solutions. He or she will be kept up-to-date on legislative
changes and technical issues, which will impact the member legal obligations, compliance
and reporting standards. An audit committee member with accounting body membership is a
valuable and vital resource to the company which can help to combat fraudulent financial
reporting (Gendron & Bédard, 2006).
This study however, has some drawbacks, thus open up opportunity for future
research. First, this study only has a one year observation which is 2015. Second, this study
only analyzes a sector of the Main Market of BMB which is industrial products. For further
research, the data can be extended to other sectors or markets. Third, a comparative study
among the developed and developing countries is also suggested to increase the relevance
and contribution of this study. Finally, incorporation of qualitative data such as interviews and
surveys may increase the value of this study.

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 762

How Effective are the Current Initiatives in Dealing with

Homelessness in Malaysia?
Nor Amalina Mohd Adib
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Selangor
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
amalinamohdadib@yahoo.com.my

Professor Dr. Zaliha Hj. Hussin

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Selangor
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
drzaliha@salam.uitm.edu.my

Dr. Yarina Ahmad

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Selangor
40450, Shah Alam, Selangor
yarina@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Homelessness is a social issue that has become a concern in many countries including
Malaysia. Homelessness can be regarded as a complex issue that has a connection with
other social problems such as drug distribution, human trafficking, prostitution and many
others. It is observed in some countries are facing the growing number of the homeless
population. The rising number of the homeless population in Malaysia ponders more
questions to the problem, as well as to the initiatives undertaken by the relevant agencies in
combatting with this issue effectively. The objective of this paper is to identify how effective
are the current initiatives in dealing with homelessness in Malaysia; are there more towards
short term or either long term or it can be both. This paper reviews relevant literatures
pertaining to initiatives in dealing with homelessness in Malaysia through preliminary reports,
interviews and observation that have been written by several articles. This paper concludes
that the existing initiatives undertaken by relevant parties, including the government, NGOs
and individual level are more towards short term efforts. In order to effectively deal with
homelessness, Malaysia should have comprehensive policies, laws and implement longer
term initiatives such as in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Keywords: homelessness, initiatives, effective

HOMELESSNESS IN MALAYSIA

Homelessness in Malaysia is similar to the global trend of homelessness as it is not a

new issue as it has already existed for decades, and it is the correspondence with the global
trend (Homeless World Cup Organisation, 2016). The homeless population in a certain
country does not depend on the level of development. In fact, the percentage of the
homeless population indirectly represents whether the government’s policy is
comprehensive and actions taken are adequately serious and effective.
In Malaysia, the homelessness issue is governed under the Social Welfare
Department (JKM). However, with regards to this issue, there are numerous agencies and
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) like PERTIWI Soup Kitchen, Kechara Soup Kitchen
(KSK), Dapur Jalanan, Need to Feed the Need (NFN), Kaseh4U and others which are
 763

providing aid and support in helping the homeless. These agencies act as mediators
between the government and homeless.
Homeless people consist of women, men, children or families and they are not only
among Malaysians but are also among the immigrants from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand,
Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia and others. (Ghee & Raja Omar, 2015). According to
Foong and Ho (2010), there is no accurate figure or number of the homeless population in
Malaysia as there are limited empirical in-depth researches undertaken to address this
issue. However, there are surveys conducted by NGOs and those conducted by Dewan
Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL). It was reported that the number of homeless people has
increased from 600 in the year 2014 to 2,000 people in the year 2015 (Irsyad, 2016).
Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community
Development (MWFCD) stated that there are approximately 1,400 homeless people in the
Kuala Lumpur area (Rusenko, 2014). According to a survey conducted by Kechara Soup
Kitchen, there were around 1,500 homeless people residing on the streets of Kuala Lumpur
as of 2014 (Kong, 2014).

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES IN ASSISTING THE HOMELESSIN MALAYSIA

Public in Malaysia is concerned with the rising number of homeless people, especially
in Kuala Lumpur, and are curious on the initiatives taken by the government authority in
dealing with this problem (Foong & Ho, 2010; Food Not Bombs, 2014). This problem has
been highlighted frequently by the media, nevertheless, there are several initiatives taken by
the government in addressing the homelessness issue in Malaysia.

Ops Qaseh

Ops Qaseh was introduced in July 2014 under the Ministry of Women, Family and
Community Development (The Star, 2014). Ops Qaseh is large scale operations that assists
in the placement of the homeless into shelters and eliminates begging syndicates which are
participate by many homeless people (Shagar, 2014). Ops Qaseh acts as a channel in
placing homeless people at Desa Bina Diri (DBD) temporarily. The operation of Ops Qaseh
has been extensively criticised by people, especially among the NGOs as they
misunderstand the motives behind the establishment of Ops Qaseh. The true intention of
Ops Qaseh is to assist the homeless and to help them through the provision of assistance
and aids.
Anjung Singgah
Anjung Singgah launched in April 2011 at Jalan Hang Lekiu, Kuala Lumpur. Many
more Anjung Singgah in Johor, Penang and Sarawak. The establishment of Anjung Singgah
is one of the initial steps that were taken by the government to address the homelessness
issue in Malaysia by providing temporary shelters for them. The establishment of Anjung
Singgah operates under and is in cooperation with the Ministry of Women, Family and
Community Development (MWFCD) and with a non-governmental organisation named
National Welfare Foundation (NWF).
This centre provides temporary shelters, employment referrals, welfare assistance,
counseling and food. Besides that, there are several facilities that are provided by Anjung
Singgah such as bathrooms, bunk beds, dining halls, lockers and family rooms for its
residents. The homeless are allowed to stay up to a maximum two weeks at this centre.
Pusat Transit Gelandangan Kuala Lumpur
The Pusat Transit Gelandangan Kuala Lumpur is the following step in addressing the
homelessness issue in Malaysia after the establishment of Anjung Singgah. The Department
of Social Welfare (DSW) is responsible for operations and management for this centre. This
centre was built with an expenditure of approximately RM3 million into a three-storey
 764

accommodation in a 1,319 square foot area at Jalan Pahang Kuala Lumpur. The
establishment of this centre involves three main agencies which are the Malaysian
Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB), Kuala Lumpur City Hall (KLCH) and the Ministry of
Federal Territory.

Desa Bina Diri

Desa Bina Diri (DBD) was established to provide care, protection and restoration to
beggars as well as destitute. DBD aims to create individuals who are productive and skilled
toward a positive attitude which can be integrated back into society. There are five locations
of DBD, which include DBD Mersing, Johor, DBD Jerantut, Pahang, DBD Kuching, Sarawak,
DBD Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and Pusat Sehenti Bina Diri Sungai Buloh, Selangor. All DBDs
were established by the Department of Social Welfare.
As mentioned earlier, there is a cooperation between Ops Qaseh and Desa Bina Diri,
where the homeless who been saved under Ops Qaseh will be placed at DBD at least for six
months before they are transferred to respective agencies such as the Department of Social
Welfare, National Anti-Drug Agency (NADA) and many others.
These joint actions are intended to have some positive impact in reducing the
number of homeless people. However, the issue of homelessness is a complex situation as
it depends on the individual homeless, whether to cooperate with the agencies or to remain
as homeless.

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION INITIATIVES IN ASSISTING THE HOMELESS

IN MALAYSIA

In Malaysia, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are very actively involved in

providing helps and assistances to the homeless. Besides the government agencies, NGOs
are also act as a medium channel between the public and government to voice out their
needs, wants, opinions and others. In helping the homeless people, there are many NGOs
which exist in Malaysia.

Pertubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam (PERTIWI) Soup Kitchen

PERTIWI Soup Kitchen is a well recognised non-governmental organisation (NGO)

that allocates and provides food aid services such as meals at various locations around
Kuala Lumpur namely Masjid India, Chow Kit and Kota Raya. These NGOs provide help to
the homeless as well as the poor. Around 550 to 700 packs of food are distributed each
night, usually every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. PERTIWI Soup Kitchen was
established and is managed by the Pertubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam (PERTIWI)
(PERTIWI, 2013). This soup kitchen also provides basic medical treatment as well as free
haircuts for those who in need.
All those assistance that provided are more towards short term rather than long term.
However, it is good to have short term aids in helping homeless people, but till when these
soup kitchen want to provide daily supports and aids for homeless people.

Kechara Soup Kitchen (KSK)

Besides PERTIWI Soup Kitchen, Kechara Soup Kitchen is also among the top listed
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Malaysia. Kechara Soup Kitchen (KSK) has their
own objective and motto that are focused on which is to provide food for the homeless on
the streets and the urban poor through the implementation of their programme, “Hunger
Knows No Barriers”. Their motto is aligned with their mission, which is to feed anyone
regardless of culture, race or religion. Besides providing food to the homeless, these NGOs
also provide other services such as medical care, counseling and the provision of clothing,
 765

referrals for employment, accommodations and shelters. There are several hotspot areas in
distributing food and services conducted by KSK to the homeless which are carried out at
Bukit Bintang, Jalan Ipoh, Chow Kit, Pudu Raya, Pudu Market, Masjid Jamek, Penang,
Johor Bahru, Petaling Jaya, Sentul and others. KSK usually distributes to the homeless from
Monday to Friday. KSK is founded by His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche (KECHARA, 2010).
The Kechara soup kitchen highlighted that they want to provide a practical and
structured solution in reducing the flow of homeless people who are living on the street as a
part of their long term objectives- to open a Nurture Centre.

Dapur Jalanan

Mastura Mohd Rashid is the founder of Dapur Jalanan (DJ). She is a 26 years of age
and is a graduate from Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM). Dapur Jalanan
established The Nasi Lemak Projek in 2012. Dapur Jalanan is a volunteer-based soup
kitchen service which operates every Sunday at Jalan Panggong, Kuala Lumpur. The
volunteers of DJ are mostly higher education students from UIAM. Usually, around 200 to
250 packs of food and drinks are prepared to be distributed to the homeless.
By having participation from students as a young generation, it is good exposure for
them to do charity work that indirectly can create awareness among them to be more
grateful for their current life as compared with homeless people.

Need to Feed the Need (NFN)

Need to Feed the Need (NFN) was established in October 2013. NFN is a
community-run initiative that aims to provide a meal to the unfortunate in Kuala Lumpur.
NFN is not a registered non-governmental organisation (NGO), they are more towards a
non-formal social group which helps the homeless. The NFN team provides packs of food to
450 people every week, usually on Thursday. They also have collaborated with other social
groups such as Free Market, Tamak Pahala and Street Interview which provide a variety of
material items for its street clients. Improving the living conditions of the poor and reducing
the number of the homeless on the streets is their ultimate aim. Their concept in treating
homeless people is via treating them as street clients. The core members of NFN are
Daniaal Rauff, Mimi Liana Shahmi, Maz Mohamed, Naf Ameen, River Foo and Ave Hashim.
In developing a pleasant effort in helping homeless people, it is important to have a
good connection and relationship with them. They might think that they are not suited to
mingle around or be friend with normal life people. So, what the NFN do to treat homeless
people as they street clients is quite good to build a good rapport.

JOM Bekpes!

The JOM Bekpes! programme provide meals early in the morning (breakfast) at around
6.00 a.m. JOM Bekpes! is the first breakfast soup kitchen in Malaysia. This programme has
a collaboration effort between Institute Onn Ja’afar (IOJ) and Yayasan Chow Kit (YCK). The
volunteers comprise local universities students, staff from IOJ and YCK as well as the
general public. The IOJ’s vision is to become Malaysia’s leading non-profit organisation by
helping the vulnerable and poor. Meanwhile, their mission is to provide the poor and
vulnerable with temporary relief from their suffering by providing education, medical, food
and material aids. The distribution of free food and drinks are given to the homeless and
unfortunate children in Chow Kit. This programme is held twice a month.
By having this programme, it will ensure that homeless people are not starving while
waiting until the nights as most of the NGOs are providing meals for dinner. This paper
believes that, the respond of this programme by homeless people is overwhelming.

Kaseh4U
 766

Every Tuesday, Kaseh4U will provide and distribute food and drinks to the needy and
homeless around Kuala Lumpur. The distributions of meals usually are held at Medan
Tuanku, Kuala Lumpur. There are around 400 to 450 homeless and needy people who come
to receive these aids and provisions. The distribution and allocation are usually held at night
around 9.00 p.m. The Kaseh4U project was established in November 2013. The founder and
co-founder of this project are a married couple. Normaliza Mahadi is the founder of Kaseh4U
alongside her husband as the co-founder.

Fungates Superflow Foundation

Fungates Superflow Foundation (FSF) is a soup kitchen that is open to everyone by

giving and providing daily lunches for the homeless and urban poor. This soup kitchen has a
unique operating concept which is in a restaurant setting or food shelter. FSF soup kitchen
has two locations that are currently in operation at Alor Setar and Jinjang, Kuala Lumpur.

Food Not Bombs, Kuala Lumpur

Food Not Bombs Kuala Lumpur (FNBKL) was founded on April 4, 2001. The
committees are among the individuals who actively participate with society by organising and
preparing free food. They usually use the term “home free” rather than “homeless”. They
distribute free food for homeless along the streets of Kuala Lumpur every weekend.

INDIVIDUAL AIDS IN HELPING HOMELESS PEOPLE IN MALAYSIA

For individual aids or sponsor, they usually attached themselves with non-
governmental organisations (NGOs) in helping the homeless. As they are not cognizant of
how to get attached to the homeless, they commonly search for any NGO that can help them
in distributing aid and assistance to them. According to Irsyad (2016), the operations of
NGOs are run by corporate support as well as individual sponsor. All those supports usually
become one of the main cores of their formation. All the sponsors can provide many forms of
assistance such as in terms of money, packs of meals, medication and others.

ARE THE INITIATIVES IN COMBATTING HOMELESSNESS IN MALAYSIA SUFFICIENT

AND EFFECTIVE?

Based on the initiatives taken by the government authorities and NGOs above, there
are several aspects in terms of time, target group, budget, location and social
workers/volunteers to be considered. The question is, to what extent is these elements are
appropriate and have been successful in the efforts to address the issue of homelessness.
The abundance of supports and assistance provided by various government
agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), communities, clubs, associations,
students and individuals in helping the homeless people in Malaysia are more toward short
term initiatives rather than long term measures. In fact, the situation worsens when there are
several parties which keep blaming each other in addressing this issue such as between
NGOs and government authorities. These initiatives, however, are still lacking in reducing
the homeless population and the situation of homelessness are still not addressed
appropriately. It is felt that these efforts are still inadequate and will worsen in the future. The
initiatives taken by the government, such as the enforcement of Ops Qaseh, establishment
of Anjung Singgah and many others only focus on short term implementation rather than
long term. For example, according to the Penang Institute (2015), the establishment of
Anjung Singgah is not categorised as a long term solution in preventing and combatting
homelessness. The Penang Institute (2015) also mentions that the establishment of Anjung
Singgah lack awareness of the complexities of homelessness or perhaps is lacking in terms
 767

of political will in creating changes to ease and restructure the issue as they are more
focused towards short term implementation. Even though Anjung Singgah has provided
holistic support in terms of shelter, counselling and others., but it is merely temporary. In
fact, the residents are only given the opportunity to stay for two weeks, after that, they will go
back to their normal lives, which is being homeless. On top of that, the homeless in
Malaysia does not receive sufficient attention as there are no absolute or clear policies which
binds and governs the homeless issue (Alhabshi & Manan, 2012).
In terms of NGOs’ aids, they are doing noble acts in giving and providing support for
the homeless people, poor and needy. However, their charity works have made the
homeless lazier and are not interested in looking for jobs as claimed by the Federal
Territories Minister, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (Chua, 2014). This is because they can
easily obtain food without having to work. On top of that, they usually wait at the usual
places to get packs of food and support from various NGOs. It indirectly encourages more
people to be a part of the homeless population. As a result, NGOs are moving more toward
short term effectiveness rather than long term which have also resulted in the indirect
increase of the homeless population in Malaysia.

CONCLUSION

In Malaysia, there are no clear policies which govern the homeless yet as all the
initiatives in addressing this issue highlight and are focused toward short term
implementation rather than long term. Even though the number of homeless people cannot
be eliminated easily until absolute zero, it can however be reduced in terms of number and
seriousness. Any forms of assistance or initiatives taken should have other outlooks in terms
of the consequences or impacts that will arise in the future. For example, the impacts of
urbanisation period in Malaysia. During the urbanisation term, most people tend to migrate
from rural to urban areas. According to Duflot (2012), Kuala Lumpur shows the highest
percentage of urbanisation in Malaysia, 100%. Most migrants are in search for better living
conditions and access to various health services, potable water supply and better
employment in terms of wages and others. There is a significant number of them who have
succeeded and failed in obtaining a better life. For those people who have failed, they end
on the streets as they do not have any temporary place to stay. In fact, the standard of living
in urban areas, especially in Kuala Lumpur is quite high and expensive. It is not surprising if
the number of people who live along the streets increase. From this, it can be concluded that
urbanisation can bring about benefits in improving the living standards, but may result in long
term negative impacts to the country. If there are no proper initiatives that cover short and
long term implementations, it will lead to other negative waves, such as the increase in
crime, social problems and others.

REFERENCES

Alhabshi, D. S., & Abdul Manan, A. K. (2012). International Journal of Social Science
Tomorrow. Homelessness in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: A Case of Agenda Denial , 7.

Chua, T. (2014, July 4). Feeding the homeless an issue to the gov’t? Retrieved January 11,
2017, from Malaysiakini: http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/267683

Duflot, L. (2012). Urbanization Policy in Malaysia and its Impacts. McGill University, 4-5.

Food Not Bombs. (2014). Akta Orang-orang PAPA 1977 (Akta 183) , 4.

Foong, J., & Ho, S. (2010, July 19). Homeless in KL. Retrieved June 4, 2016, from The Star:
http://www.thestar.com.my
 768

Ghee, W. Y., & Raja Omar, R. N. (2015). Victims of Circumstance or By Choice?

Homelessness in Malaysia, 27.

Homeless World Cup Organisation. (2016). Global Homelessness Statistics. Retrieved June
4, 2016, from Homeless World Cup: https://www.homelessworldcup.org

Irsyad, A. (2016, February 25). Number of Homeless People Increased by Three Fold in
Kuala Lumpur, What Are We Doing to Curb The Problem. Retrieved September 03,
2016, from Malaysian Digest: malaysiandigest.com

KECHARA. (2010). History. Retrieved April 24, 2016, from KECHARA:

http://www.kechara.com

Kong, L. (2014, June 10). Rise in number of homeless people in KL. Retrieved November 6,
2016, from The Straits Times: http://news.asiaone.com/news/malaysia/rise-number-
homeless-people-kl

Penang Institute. ( 2015). Homelessness in Our Cities. A Report by Penang Institute, 11-12.

PERTIWI. (2013, December 4). PERTIWI Soup Kitchen. Retrieved April 24, 2016, from
PERTIWI: http://pertiwi.org.my/pertiwi-soup-kitchen/

Rusenko, R. (2014). Simultaneous Inclusion and Exclusion of Homelessness in Malaysia’s

Policy Agenda. The Anjung Singgah Strategy.

Shagar, L. K. (2014, July 2). Ops to house the homeless. Retrieved April 2, 2016, from The
Star: http://www.thestar.com.my

The Star. (2014, July 3). FT MPs oppose decision on soup kitchens. Retrieved April 2, 2016,
from The Star Online: http://www.thestar.com.my /
 769

The Importance of Integrity Systems

in Assessing Malaysian Business Ethical Practices
Ahmad Shahril Azwan B Abd Rahim
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
azone80@yahoo.com

Norziana Lokman, PhD

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
norzi716@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Integrity is a worrying issue debated by many scholars and economist around the world.
Lack of integrity has become a widespread virus that affecting the corporate and public
sectors in Malaysia. Problems of corruption, abuse of power, mismanagement of fund,
breach of trust and poor governance in organization demonstrate a rising trend of unethical
business practices. It is an alarming condition for Malaysia and becomes more tough in the
new millennia. Various organization such as Performance and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU),
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Securities Commission (SC), Bursa
Malaysia (BM), Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM), The Malaysian Association for
Transparency and Integrity (TI-M) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) are responsible for
implementing, promoting and encouraging all business organisations to practice integrity
within their organisation after corporate integrity pledge has been signed. Corporate
Integrity Assessment Questionnaire (CIAQ) is used by Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM) to
measure the ethics and integrity practice of corporate sector in embedding good governance
in their daily business operation. This paper intends to review the past literature by focusing
discussion on the twelve dimensions of corporate integrity system assessment questionnaire
namely visions & goals, leadership, infrastructure, legal compliance, policies & rules,
organizational culture, disciplinary & reward measure, measurement, research &
assessment, confidential advice and support, ethics training and education, ethics
communications, whistleblowing, and corporate social responsibility. Then, discussion on the
progress of the integrity system in Malaysia is presented covering the four main business
sectors comprised of Government-owned Company (GOC), Government-linked Company
(GLC), Multi-National Corporation (MNC), and Small-Medium Enterprises (SME).

Keywords: Integrity, Corporate Integrity System Dimensions, Government-Owned Company

(GOC), Government-linked Company (GLC), Multi-National Company (MNC), Small-Medium
Enterprises (SME)

INTRODUCTION

What if integrity doesn’t exist? What would happen to religion, people and the world?
The answer will be chaos and anarchy in our daily life and corrupted our harmonious living
system. Integrity refers to the positive virtue of character and functioning as a mechanism to
avoid wrongdoing (Audi & Murphy, 2006). Integrity practice among employees in an
organization is essential in order to prevent misbehaviour / unethical conduct with the
assurance of leader who presents good integrity practices in their management and
leadership (Bakri, Said, & Karim, 2015).
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The clearer definition of integrity can be summed as coherence among a set of moral
values and having a consistency with social values and assimilation of individual behaviour
(Mauler, 2006). Therefore, in summary, integrity is a positive action derived by positive
thinking with the understanding of doing the right things as to norms, values, and culture.
From the view of the business organization, integrity is essential and critical in ensuring the
good governance practice that contributed towards excellent accountability and transparency
conduct.
The International Corruption Perception Index 2015 (CPI) ranked Malaysia at 55 out
of 168 countries and its doesn’t show any improvement from the previous year and with the
current score of 50/100 point (Transparency International, 2015). Malaysia scored 7.6 out of
10 in the Bribe Payer Index 2011 and revealed that there are integrity issues in Malaysian
public and private sector (Heinrich & Hardoon, 2011). Furthermore, much is needed to
improve, communicate and promote the ethical aspect to the business sector by
government, NGOs and other related enforcement agencies such as MACC in creating a
respectable integrity climate in our economic landscape.
To identify and address the integrity issues in Malaysia mainly the corporate sector, an
assessment tool known as Corporate Integrity Assessment Questionnaire (CIAQ) has been
developed by the Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM). This assessment tool enables us to
measure the level and current integrity practices of an organization so that the management,
business entrepreneur, shareholder and stakeholder understand the strength and weakness
of their business practices. There are twelve dimensions in the assessment that is (1) visions
& goals; (2) leadership; (3) infrastructure; (4) legal compliance, policies & rules; (5)
organizational structure; (6) disciplinary & reward measure; (7) measurement, research &
assessment; (8) confidential advice and support; (9) ethics training and education; (10)
whistleblowing; (11) ethics communications; and (12) corporate social responsibility.
Discussion on the twelve dimensions is presented in the next section.

CORPORATE INTEGRITY SYSTEM DIMENSIONS

Vision & Goals

This dimension covers overall concept and approach to ethics and integrity in the
form of implicit articulation of organization ethical philosophy, ethical and moral conduct
fabricated in the organization vision and goal statement (Omar, 2013). This refers to the
formal statement of an organization in expressing their core business functions and
commitment to be attained through specific strategies and action plan.
For example, Arshad (2013), found that Shell Refining Company (SRC) (M) Bhd.
has included “honesty, integrity and fairness” principles in its vision and goal. These three
principles is incorporated in the Shell General Business Principles (SGBP). This showed that
a well-known organization such as SRC is very determined in addressing their vision and
goals statement for the view of the people and local community. Another example is Bausch
& Lomb (M) Sdn. Bhd. where this company incorporated the integrity dimension in their
company goal by establishing code of business conducts and ethics (Bausch & Lomb,
2013).
Therefore, vision and goals are essential in creating a unified culture among
employees in moving towards achieving the organization’s objectives. Failure in proposing a
clear vision and goals will result in confusion between the management and the employees.
Unpublished and explicitly visions and goals will lead to organization ethical crisis and poor
organization performance. Thus, visions and goals are undoubted will lead to success and
growth of business.
 771

Leadership

Leaders are the highest-ranking officers in the organization and responsible for the
management functions such as planning, organizing, leading and controlling in the
organization. They also acted as the policy and decision maker that ensure business
performance and growth. PETRONAS is oone of the government own company (GOC)
which clearly stated their integrity program in their business environment. They believe that
excellent leaders possess and show the highest ethical conduct in complying with integrity
and anti-corruption policies (Petronas Group of Companies, 2013).
One of good leadership characteristic is the ability to create trust in working
environment among the employees in the organization (Burke, Sims, Lazzara, & Salas,
2007). In enhancing integrity system practices, a leader acted as the role model and idol in
an organization that contributes positively towards employee’s motivation and morale. It is
not an easy task to acquire good managerial skills because applying theoretical knowledge
and experience into practice is crucial for the leaders learning process (Papulová, Z. &
Mokroš, 2007). Therefore, a good leadership style will mutually benefit the organization and
motivate the employees in achieving companies ethical manner.

Infrastructure

This dimension is strongly related to how ethics function is structured, staffed and
resourced parallel with formal an informal reporting relationship (Omar, 2013). Furthermore,
she added that this includes roles and responsibilities of a person in charge to carried out
the integrity program i.e. chief integrity officer (CIO). Further discussion revealed that this
dimension refers to the element of organization structure, human resource and the
infrastructure related to the dissemination and communication of integrity information (Omar,
2013).
Omar (2013) has identified several ethics infrastructure elements of business
organization ethics which is similar to the OECD Public Sector Integrity Management
Framework. The elements are: (1) commitment (political leadership); (2) control (legislative
framework and accountability & control); (3) guidance (codes of conducts and professional
socialization; and (4) management (coordinating body and public service condition).
Said and Omar (2014) conducted a study on corporate integrity between two largest
GLCs in Malaysia. It was revealed that most GLCs obtained the lowest score for corporate
integrity under the infrastructure dimension. This indicates that GLCs in Malaysia are weak
and put less priority on integrity infrastructure such as ethics function, structure, staff and
resources to support the companies integrity’s objectives (Said & Omar, 2014). Therefore, a
comprehensive and operational ethics infrastructure are essential in developing proper
linkages with management and the employees.

Legal Compliance, Policies & Rules

Legal compliance, policies & rules dimension covers core laws, policies, rules and
guidance that comprise the legal framework for the organization’s ethics and integrity
systems (Omar, 2013). All companies registered with Companies Commission of Malaysia
(CCM) must adhere to the specific Act of law and at the same times follow the codes of
conducts and guidelines established by the regulatory bodies and professional bodies.
A good example of integrity practices is the Corporate Integrity Pledge (CIP) which
encouraged all companies to make a declaration of commitment in doing business with
ethical manner internally and externally (PEMANDU, 2011). In addition, companies which is
doing business with the Malaysian Government must sign integrity pact that includes a code
of conduct to prevent unethical forms of practice which violate the law (PEMANDU,
2011).CCM have introduced specific guidelines in implementing CISM with the objectives to
enhance good corporate governance for the private sector (Companies Commission of
Malaysia, 2014) and CCM Best Business Practice Circular 3/2012: Achieving Corporate
 772

Integrity. Securities Commission also has revised the Malaysian Code on Corporate
Governance 2012 to further enhance and protect investors and uphold the good governance
practices of all companies (Securities Commission, 2012).

Organizational Culture

Every organization has its own ethics and culture value that is implied either explicitly
or implicitly within their business routine and practices. It is usually associated with learned
and shared beliefs, traditions, values and actions that reflect the identity of the organization
inclusively (Aljunid, 2013a). Corporate Cultures are sustained when there is a commitment
from the top and the system of evaluating performance and behaviors are in line with the
expected behaviors of the culture (Aljunid, 2013b).
The management should embed the ethical values and communicate frequently
about ethical issues and the consequences of misconduct. Employees in the organization
should be provided with two-way communication and open door policy for employee’s
grievances to enhance the ethical flow of information. Companies also must communicate
and demonstrate their ethics culture externally with their suppliers and stakeholders so that
they know the ethical values that being practices by the companies. This will ensure a
positive reputation and image by setting standard to good business ethics (Chartered
Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) & The Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM),
2013).

Disciplinary & Reward Measure

Ethical misconduct and disciplinary issues are punishable by the company’s policies,
rules and regulations in which the offender will receive either minimum or maximum
punishment for their misconduct. This internal method of punishment is aligned with the
existing civil laws of Malaysia. For example, if an employee committed fraud and bribery in
conducting the business operation, he/she can be convicted by the existing laws in Malaysia
such as stiffer penalties and imprisonment. In business practice, non-disclosure,
manipulating of critical information and hiding problems from superiors will results in heavy
penalties so that unethical misconduct is not tolerated and also to set an example for others
employees (Aljunid, 2013b).
The reward measure can be in the form of monetary or non-monetary reward in
recognition of performance. For the employees, rewards can include bonuses, increase in
salaries and job promotion. This reward will be given to an individual who has good personal
quality and values, and follow the company policies, rules and regulations. This is one of the
mechanisms to ensure the motivation of the employees is strong and maintain so that
he/she can become a good example in the organization.
In Malaysia, The Malaysian National Corporate Ethics Awards is an effort put up by
the Malaysian Government to recognize initiatives and programs that have been done by the
companies and contribution to ethical practices and good governance (MICCI, 2015). This
type of recognition will enhance the image and reputation of the organization in the eye of
the community, business partner and government as part of good corporate governance
practice. The award itself will motivate the employees in the organization and at the same
time enhance ethical work culture and climate.

MEASUREMENT, RESEARCH & ASSESSMENT

There is various index measurement developed to assess and evaluate the integrity
system practices by the business sector such as the Transparency Index (TI) and the
Bribery Index (BI). This tools introduced by Transparency International (TI) which reported
the score and position of participating countries including Malaysia. Locally, KPMG has
 773

conducted an independent survey using a set of questionnaire established to identify and

measure overall level of fraud, fraud awareness and fraud prevention measures amongst
management in Malaysia (KPMG, 2013). KPMG’s survey suggested that instigating and
sustaining an effective fraud, bribery and corruption program is the way to reduce the risk of
fraud issues (KPMG, 2013).
In Malaysia, the corporate sector can be asses by using the Corporate Integrity
System Questionnaires (CIAQ) to measure the level of integrity system practices of the
corporate entities. Risk management also can be used to identify potential threat and issues
before it occurred and acted as effective tools in managing risk. Generally, bigger
corporations or companies have greater risk and disaster recovery plan to guide the
management on how to deal with the issues. Poor risk management will have resulted in
panic and chaos in handling catastrophe. Corporate scandals usually will resulted in
business collapse and affect the market as well as the economic itself. Many corporate
scandals that happen locally and internationally are a good example to show that lack of
integrity system will result in a catastrophe.
Therefore, it is suggested that the Securities Commission (SC), Companies
Commission of Malaysia (CCM) and others agencies should re-assess and re-evaluate the
ethics current practice of business organization in addressing integrity issues. Further
research must be done and the outcome must be translated into rules and regulations,
policies, statements, manuals, and guidelines to be adopted and implemented by the private
sector.

Confidential Advice and Support

This dimension refers to the technical support in form of physical aspect such
appointment of integrity/compliance officer who is responsible to advice and provide endless
support towards implementing an ethical program and activities within an organization
(Razali, 2013) .The integrity/compliance officer main duties are to detect abuse of power and
corruption, prevent the occurrence of abuse of power and corruption, and increase
awareness. The integrity/compliance officer is also required to advise heads of department
or top senior management on integrity matters (Sen, 2014). Therefore, advise and support
from integrity/compliance officer is very important in an organization where this can become
a check and balance mechanism to help organization avoid unethical situation.
For example, the Companies Commission of Malaysia has clearly outlined the code
of ethics for company secretaries with the principles of sincerity, integrity, and responsibility
(Registrar of Company, 1996). Furthermore, the objectives of the codes itself are to
(1) inculcate the practice of professionalism amongst company secretaries based on the
tenets of moral responsibility, competency, and effectiveness in administration; (2) uphold
the spirit of responsibility and social accountability in line with the legislation, regulations and
guidelines for administrating a company; and (3) advise the board of directors so that no
policy which is in conflict with the interest of the company’s stakeholders is adopted by the
company (Registrar of Company, 1996).

Ethics Training and Education

Ethics training and education is a form of internal control mechanism developed to

established solution for any problem faced by the employees and it also facilitates the
employees on the best method to deal with unethical practices by the other employees,
client and external parties related to their companies (Othman & Rahman , 2010).
To ensure ethics is understood and practiced among the employees, training, and
education are essential in ensuring the companies principles, rules, and regulation is
adopted. This can instill and nurture the ethical values at the early stage of employment and
 774

throughout the service. All the employees either subordinate or superiors must attend the
ethics training session in order to achieve the vision and objectives of the organization.

Ethics Communication

Ethics communication refers to the verbal, non-verbal, implicit or explicit display of

information regarding ethics related matter either internally or externally by the business
organization. Ethics can be communicated through various manners such as the official
statement of the business including vision, mission, values, goals and objectives. Nowadays,
the shareholders and stakeholders are actively involved in the business of the companies
and it can be seen in the company’s annual report, articles, guidelines, client charters and so
forth.
The ethics communication in the business organization is influenced by human traits
(gender, race, age, education) and culture (Wok & Yusof, 2002). Communication breakdown
will affect the organization’s ethical communication process and lack or low communication
engagement among employees in organization will result in low guilty conscience and
conflict of interest (Chien & Ann, 2015). Another good practice of ethics communication in an
organization is by signing the code of business pledge annually (Othman & Rahman, 2010).
This practice will enhance the organization values and culture and at the same time curb
unnecessary misconduct in the work place.
Business organization must ensure that its own code of ethics is disseminated
throughout their organization and all level of employees shared uniform ethical best
practices so that the current ethics issues is acknowledged by both the management and
employees (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) & The Malaysian
Institute of Integrity (IIM), 2013). Furthermore, CIMA & IIM suggested that employees should
be encouraged to voice out their opinion on ethical matters in the workplace by enhancing
the grievance and complaints channel in their business routine.

Whistleblowing

“Whistleblower” means any person who makes a disclosure of improper conduct to

the enforcement agency (Whistleblower Protection Act, 2010). Thus, whistleblower refers to
an individual who reports the misconduct of another person or organization wrongdoings. In
Malaysia, whistleblowing is a new term and generally employees are deemed to have little
knowledge about it. It is known that fear is the main factors that contribute to unreported
illegal and business misconduct in which can jeopardize the career of the employees in the
organization. In the business sector, there are several Act of Law that justify the existence of
Whistleblowing Act that is the Companies Act 1965 (Act 125) and Capital Markets and
Services Act 2007 (Act 671) (Meng & Fook, 2011a).
Both of this Acts allowed the reporting of illegal or business misconduct through the
various and proper channel of communication. However, any disclosure of information
prohibited under the Malaysian Official Secrets Act 1972 (Act 88) would not be protected by
WPA 2010. In addition, the person who makes the report must provide evidence to proof
that improper misconduct and disobey of law has been committed, is being committed or
likely to be committed (Meng & Fook, 2011b).
Therefore, it is important for the management of the organization to encourage
employees to report any improper misconducts and in addition, the organization policies
should protect its employees from retaliation or retribution (Haron, 2013). Briefly, a
whistleblower acted in good faith for the interest of the organization and their intention is to
show that unethical wrongdoing should not be tolerated.

Corporate Social Responsibility

The corporate social responsibility (CSR) term derived from unique motives and
opportunity to show good image and action in which reflected the organization good deeds.
 775

CSR consists of many ethical aspects such as economic, social and environments initiatives
by business organization and not totally bonded to any specific practices (Chiam, 2014).
According to Mohamed & Sawandi (2007), organizations that actively involved in
CSR are normally perceived to be more sustainable and have better financial performance.
In addition, an organization that wish to have better reputation or image should show that
they are highly responsible to the community.

Integrity System Practices: Malaysian Experience

Government-Owned Company (GOC)

Government-Owned Company (GOC) is an entity established to fulfill the public

interest and it is wholly owned by the government. For example, like Malaysia Airline System
Bhd. (MAS), Indah Water Konsortium Sdn. Bhd. (IWK), Agrobank Malaysia Bhd. and others.
Usually, this types of company involve with the logistic, utility and financial service sector.
Hassan (2013), study on corporate integrity assessment of government owned
company (GOC) in Malaysia. He found that the corporate integrity assessment for GOC
showed six levels of progress: (1) between 75% and 100% (vision & goals and leadership);
(2) between 50% and 75% (corporate social responsibility); (3) at 50% (infrastructure, legal
compliance, policies & rules, organisational culture, disciplinary and reward measures); (4)
between 25% and 50% (ethics training & education and Whistleblowing); (5) at 25%
(confidential advice and support and ethics communication); and (6) at 0% (measurement,
research and assessment). He suggested that in order to improve the 12 categories of
corporate integrity system of GOC, the leaders need to overcome many obstacles that will
test their management skills (Hassan, 2013). Furthermore, he added that proper consultation
with relevant stakeholders, top management support for ethical initiatives, management and
employee’s cooperation, and annual self-assessment are essential to achieve the
organization ethical win-win situation. For example, PETRONAS is very committed to comply
with good governance practice that aligned with their core values and business principles
and operation. By focusing on ethical practice, PETRONAS help promote their ownership
and a high degree of accountability at every level in the organization (Petronas Group of
Companies, 2013).

Government-Linked Companies (GLCs)

Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) is established on the basis of generating

income for the Malaysian Government economic revenue. Directly, the Malaysian
government owned the GLCs and becomes the majority shareholders and have the
influence of appointing board members and top management position in the GLCs (Lau &
Tong, 2008).
In addition, all of the GLCs shared the same ethical guidelines and code of
governance through the GLC transformation program initiated by the Malaysian Government
in targeting for the improvement of corporate leadership (Khalid & Alwi , 2013). The
establishment of Putrajaya Committee on GLC High performance in 2005 and introduction of
GLCs transformation manual consist of policy guidelines and initiatives for assimilation and
practices by the GLCs (Putrajaya Committee GLC High Performance, 2005). The
transformation manual itself is regard as an integrity tools and system for the best interest of
the GLCs.
One of the GLCs in Malaysia like Media Prima Bhd. (Media Prima) has its own fraud
prevention and whistleblowing initiatives. The company has established a Fraud Prevention
Manual consisting of the Anti-fraud Policy and Whistle-blowing Policy with the objectives of
zero tolerance to fraud and promoting a transparent and open environment of fraud reporting
(Media Prima, 2015). This shows that Media Prima is serious in self-promoting corporate
integrity.
 776

However, a study conducted by Salin & Abidin (2015), among public listed
companies in Malaysia found that majority of the company does not have a code of ethics
meanwhile those company that have a formal code of ethics demonstrate lack of
commitment and poor systematic procedures to encourage, sustenance, and comply with
the code. Some of the factors that have been identified which lead to unethical behaviour is
poor communication, poor example shown by senior management, and poor ethical culture
(KPMG, 2013).

Multi-National Companies (MNCs)

Malaysian MNCs is the major player in enhancing the economic growth that
contributed towards the Gross National Product (GNP) in accelerating economic growth.
According to Othman & Rahman (2010), the MNCs view code of ethics as very importance
and become one of the pillars of success in their daily business routine. One of a very
successful MNCs company is Nestlé (M) Bhd. which practice good corporate social
responsibility concept known as “Creating Shared Value”. This unique concept goes beyond
compliance and sustainability that can create value for the society (Nestle (M) Bhd., 2013).
Another example is the Honeywell’s Code of Business Conduct. It was designed to
provide guidance for integrity and compliance in their business dealings which are important
in developing the company behavior and culture (Honeywell Inc., 2013). The company has
established a uniform and standardize Corporate Governance Guidelines used all over the
globe. The primary functions of the Board of Directors is to (1) oversee the management
performance on behalf of the shareowners, (2) ensure that the long-term interests of the
shareowners are being served, (3) monitor adherence to Honeywell standards and policies,
(4) promote the exercise of responsible corporate citizenship, and (5) perform the duties and
responsibilities assigned to the Board by the laws of Delaware, the state of incorporation of
the Company (Honeywell (M) Bhd, 2016). Therefore, generally, written goals and objectives,
visions and missions, code of ethics and customer charter is the normal attributes of a
healthy organization in relation to good governance practices.

Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is a form of business operated widely in the form

of family business in which the family members hold the management position and
participate actively in the company operation (Umrani, Johl, & Ibrahim, 2015). A prior study
revealed that SMEs does not have any written set of corporate governance code and this
creates issues such as expropriation (Umrani et al., 2015). An unpresented proper
governance system within SMEs can cause investors to shy away from them. Therefore,
introducing corporate governance in SMEs will improve the prospects of obtaining funding
from the banks, investors and venture capitalists. (Htay & Salman, 2013).
Several government initiatives have been introduced to promote and encourage
integrity in SMEs such as (1) Tax deduction for corporate donations; (2) SMEs Pledge; and
(3) CSR Prime Minister Award (Noor, Azlan, & Hasliza, 2012). The main issues and ethical
dilemmas faced by SMEs are (1) informal ethical statement/guidelines; and (2) nature of
business structure and ownership. Therefore, it is recommended that several strategies
should be implemented by the SMEs management such as (1) creating explicit ethical
guidelines and code of ethics; (2) exposure, awareness and training SMEs entrepreneur; (3)
ethics communication; and (4) ethics champion/role model.

METHODOLOGY

This paper is a concept paper that used past literature such as journals, articles,
reports, books and other related material to elaborate about the integrity dimensions based
on the corporate integrity system as well as the integrity practices in a business organization.
 777

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Ethics and trust is an essential element and becomes the highest priority in
organization visions and mission while other may put as secondary or less importance
depends on their nature of business. However, lack of integrity is very dangerous for any
form of business organization which lead to loss of profit and distrust to the shareholders,
stakeholders, and customers.
All the dimensions discussed earlier are essential in enhancing the integrity practices
by the business sector. The corporate integrity system and its assessment can be used by
the government’s ministries, agencies, and statutory bodies in identifying their integrity level
and actions to be taken in order to improve their integrity practices.
As for the conclusion, for Malaysia to achieve the nation vision 2020, all the
regulatory bodies, enforcement agencies, economic institutions, non-government
organizations as well as the business organization must collaborate with each other in
regard to ethics and integrity matters. This cooperation and collaboration will result in good
corporate governance that practiced either by the private or the public sector.

Note:
All the above discussion and views are part of the author doctoral works and writing.

REFERENCES

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(Ed.), Corporate Integrity System: A System-based Framework (pp. 33–42). Kuala
Lumpur: Malaysian Institute of Integrity.

Aljunid, S. A. H. (2013b). Systems and Processes of Managing Culture-Incentives, Rewards

and Punishment. In M. N. B. M. Ali (Ed.), Corporate Integrity System: A System-
based Framework (pp. 43–48). Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Institute of Integrity.

Arshad, R. (2013). Disclosure of Corporate Integrity Practices by Multinational Companies.

In M. N. M. Ali (Ed.), Corporate Integrity System: A System-based Framework (pp.
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Deceptive versus Informative Income Smoothing: Evidence from

Audit Committee Attributes
Wan Adibah Wan Ismail
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Kedah, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
wanad182@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Khairul Anuar Kamarudin

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Kedah, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
khair659@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

This study examines the question of whether income smoothing practice is viewed by audit
committee as deceptive or informative. Using four audit committee attributes namely audit
committee size, the number of audit committee meeting, the proportion of non-executive
directors, and the proportion of independent audit committee, the research tests the
relationship between audit committee attributes and the extent of income smoothing
practices. The results from 604 public listed firms in Malaysia during the period of the year
2008 to 2014 reveal that audit committee size and the proportion of independent director in
audit committee are significantly associated with the income smoothing practices, These
findings supports the proponent of deceptive perspective where income smoothing is
regarded as an unacceptable act when reporting earnings. The result is robust even after
including various controls namely auditor size, firm size, leverage, and growth.

Keywords: Income smoothing, corporate governance, audit committee

INTRODUCTION

Income smoothing is an act to lessen the fluctuations in a corporation's earnings, which

span multiple ways from acceptable accounting methods to fraudulent reporting. This can be
accomplished by shifting the timing of the firm’s event’s recognition, where the managers
can manage the time either postponing or early recognition of the expenses or transactions
early and recognition of such expenses will show smooth effects on reported income
variation over time (Ronen and Sadan, 1975). The loopholes of certain accounting standards
also leave the managers with choices and discretion to manage firm’s earnings through
manipulation of certain accounting numbers. Evidence from a recent study in Asia, for
example, Rusmin, Scully and Tower (2013) find that corporate managers manipulate their
reported income downward to make poor results during global financial crisis period even
worse in the current fiscal year, to artificially boost future year’s income. On the other hand,
Strobl (2013) posits that managers are more likely to engage in opportunistic behavior during
an economic boom as opposed to a recession period. How the pattern and motives of
smoothing the income are still subjects of debate.
Prior literature has viewed income smoothing from two different perspectives. The first
view is, income smoothing as least informative or deceptive. Managers are a more likely
commit an income smoothing act, not for the provision of information but merely use it as a
deceptive tool that is by manipulating accounting information to satisfy their own self-
interests, i.e. maximizing bonuses and other incentives. It is contradictory to the principle of
agency relationship explained by Eckel (1981), hence income smoothing can be considered
as an unfavorable act to the shareholders. Thus, smoothing income is regarded as unethical
under accounting principle regardless of what reasons that motivate the managers to commit
the act. The second perspective is known as informative smoothing, in which income
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smoothing is regarded as an acceptable act by some researchers due to its certain

objectives of maximizing the benefits of the shareholders. Smoothed income stream reduces
firm’s overall tax liability and enhances the relationship between workers and managers
(Hepworth, 1953). This is closely related to worker’s motivation and morale through
recognition of their contribution in the form of appreciation, maintaining or increase bonuses,
increment, and other employees’ benefits in kind as compensation will boost the motivation
hence boosting the employee’s productivity (Moses, 1987). Also, income smoothing avoids
debt covenant violation (Habib, 2005), reduce political cost (Godfrey & Jones, 1999), ensure
higher earnings persistence (Silhan, 2014), and high or good market valuation (Michelson et
al., 2000).
Given the ambiguous results, where some studies support the deceptive perspective
while others provide evidence on the information perspective. Recent evidence, for example,
Li and Richie (2016) find that firms with higher income smoothing rankings exhibit lower cost
of debt, suggesting that the information signaling effect of income smoothing dominates the
distorting effect. In addition, Gao and Zhang (2015) find findings suggest that the market
does not reward smoothers, which is opposite to the finding of Hunt et al. (2000), as well as
contrary to the anecdotal evidence, e.g., in Graham et al. (2005). Motivated by this
development, this research attempts to provide evidence of which income smoothing
perspective is more prevalent in the Malaysian context. This study examines four corporate
governance attributes audit committee size, the frequency of audit committee meeting, the
proportion of non-executive director, and the proportion of independent director in audit
committee. The positive association of audit committee attributes and income smoothing will
signify support on informative perspective, while the negative association means Malaysian
corporate governance mechanisms support the deceptive perspective. Our findings
contribute to the existing literature in two main ways. First, we add new evidence to the scant
literature pertaining to income smoothing, and second, to shed more light on emerging
markets especially after serious corporate governance reforms.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT

In this study, we analyze how a firm with good corporate governance perceived income
smoothing practices. We employed four proxies for good corporate governance namely audit
committee size (ACSIZE), the frequency of audit committee meeting (ACMEET), the
proportion of non-executive director on the board (NONEX), and the proportion of
independent director in audit committee (ACIND). Our first proxy is the audit committee size
(ACSIZE). The Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance and the Listing Requirement of
Bursa Malaysia require public listed firms to establish audit committee with at least three
directors. The larger audit committee size would lead to more effective monitoring and better
financial performance. For example, Dalton et al. (1999) found a positive relation between
size and the monitoring function of the board that results in higher performance. More
members of the audit committee will have more diverse skills and knowledge to be employed
by the committee to enhance monitoring of the managers.
The second proxy is the frequency of audit committee meeting (ACMEET). The
Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG) requires that the audit committee holds
at least four meetings a year. The more frequent the meetings held by the audit committee
would lead to a more effective decision, Song and Windram, (2004). Abbott, Parker, and
Peters (2004) suggest that by holding a meeting at least four times a year, the audit
committee enhances a low extent of income smoothing practices. Faber (2005) found out
that the firm that is involved in fraudulent has a low frequency of audit committees meetings
thus has a weak governance. Prior studies found that the high frequency of board meetings
will reduce the possibility of managers in manipulating income Chen et al. (2006) and Xie et
al. (2003). In the context of fraudulent in financial statements, and the number of audit
committee meetings has a negative relationship with fraud Owens-Jackson, Robinson and
Shelton, (2009).
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The third proxy is the proportion of non-executive director on the board (NONEX). The
executive director is considered as an employee of the firm thus as a director and manager
of the company, it will probably induce the conflict of interest between the agent and the
owner. Jensen and Meckling, (1976) defined an agency relationship as the contract in which
the principal or the owner engage another person or the agent to perform some service on
their behalf by means of delegating some authority to make the decision to the agent. The
basic principle between principles and the agent is, the agent will be compensated or
remunerated to act diligently to manage the company wealth to maximize the wealth of the
principle. However, if both parties relationship is based on the utility maximizers (Jensen and
Meckling, 1976), the agency cost theory suggests that there will be strong reason to believe
that the agent will not always act in the best of interest of the principle or in another word the
agent might be motivated to manipulate the earnings to suit their interest. To prevent or
minimize the unethical practices of income smoothing, good corporate governance is very
important for the principal to secure their interest. Thus, the recommendation by MCCG
2012 that requires the board composition to have a balance composition between executive
directors, non-executive directors, and independent non-executives motivated this study to
test whether the large or small proportion of non-executive director (NONEX) have any
correlation with the extent of income smoothing among the listed companies in Bursa
Malaysia.
The fourth proxy is the proportion of independence director in audit committee (ACIND).
Independent directors are the directors who have no connection with the firm thus have no
conflict of interest in the company as they are not remunerated or provided by the company
with an incentive except director’s fee Hermalin and Weisbach, (1988). Beasley, (1996) and
Uzun et. al., (2004) found out that firms that committed fraud have fewer gray directors and
independent directors in the board composition as compared with firms that non-fraudulent.
Thus, the independent directors in are regarded as an effective tool in strengthening the
corporate governance in the firms as suggested by Fama and Jensen (1983). In particular, a
firm with a higher proportion of independence directors and the smaller the size of boards
would attenuate the likelihood of the firms presenting misrepresented or manipulated
financial information.
From prior literature, we postulate that better corporate governance practices minimize
excessive risk-taking activities which are determined by considering the tradeoff between
risk and benefits. If the if a firm with strong corporate governance, i.e. audit committee, value
income smoothing as beneficial to the shareholders, and subscribe to information
perspectives school, the empirical result would document prevalent practices income
smoothing in strong corporate governance firm. If income smoothing is perceived as a
deceptive tool top detriment the quality of financial reporting, which will lead to a greater risk
to shareholders, the audit committee will object the practices. Hence the evidence of income
smoothing would only appear in poorly governance firms. For example, Zagorchev and Gao
(2015) find that better governance is negatively related to excessive risk-taking and
positively related to the performance of U.S. financial institutions. Specifically, sound overall
and specific governance practices are associated with less total non-performing assets, less
real estate on performing assets, and higher Tobin’s Q. Second, Zagorchev and Gao (2015)
show that better governance contributes to higher provisions and reserves for loan/asset
losses of financial institutions, supporting the income smoothing hypothesis. The finding is
consistent with Beaver, Eger, Ryan, and Wolfson (1989), Wahlen (1994), Tucker and
Zarowin (2006) and Yang, Tan, and Ding (2012) and supports the value relevant information
related to the income smoothing hypothesis for financial institutions. Considering the above
arguments, this study tests the following alternate hypothesis:
Ha: ceteris paribus, corporate governance is more likely associated with the extent of
income smoothing.
 784

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Sampling and data collection

We draw the sample from all Malaysian public companies listed in the Osiris database
between the years from 2008 to 2014. Our sample starts in 2002 as the calculation for
income smoothing measure requires at least seven years financial data. After removing the
missing annual reports, only 608 firms are considered useable for this study, representing
almost 75% from the total samples. The financial information was downloaded from OSIRIS
database, while the corporate governance variables were manually extracted from corporate
reports.

Income Smoothing model

Gordon (1964) and Eckel (1981) are among the earliest researchers attempted to
develop frameworks in examining whether the firm is a smoother or nor smoother. Eckel
(1981) introduced the coefficient of variation method, which determines smoothing firm when
the coefficient of variation of sales is greater than the coefficient of variation of income. This
approach focuses on identifying artificial smoothing as opposed to real smoothing since the
former distorts the representation of economic reality where it assumes that the changes in
sales are the results of real smoothing while changes in income are the results of artificial
smoothing. The firm is considered as an income smoother if the one period change in
income is lower than the one period change in revenue. The Eckel’s method has been
extensively used in income-smoothing studies (Albrecht & Richardson, 1990; Michelson et
al., 1995; Carlson & Bathala, 1997; Wan Ismail, Kamarudin, & Ibrahim, 2005) to distinguish
between smoothing and non-smoothing firms. The method has further advanced by
examining the extent of income smoothing through the use of discretionary accruals,
measured based on Jones’ (1991) model and modified by Kothari, Leone, and Wasley
(2005). Tucker and Zarowin (2006) recently has introduced the calculation of the correlation
between the change in discretionary accrual proxy (∆DAP) and the change in pre-
discretionary income (∆PDI), referring to Leuz et. al (2003) and Myers et. al (2007).
According to this measure, a more negative correlation between ∆DAP and ∆PDI indicates
more income smoothing. The model to estimate discretionary accruals is as follows:
TACCit = β0(1/ ASSETSit-1) + β1(REVit - RECit) + β2PPEit + it (1)
In equation (1), the total accruals (TACCit), change in revenue (∆REVit), change in
receivables (∆RECit) and net property, plant and equipment (PPEit) are each scaled by
lagged total assets (ASSETSit-1). The use of assets as the deflator is intended to mitigate
heteroscedasticity in residuals (Kothari et al., 2005)22. The regression is performed for each
year of observation to calculate the non-discretionary accrual (NDA) values for each firm
from the year 2008 to 2014. According to Tucker and Zarowin (2006), non-discretionary
accruals proxy (NDAP) are the fitted values of regression (1) and the discretionary accruals
proxy (DAP) for each firm are the difference between total accruals (TACC) and non-
discretionary accruals proxy (NDAP). The pre-discretionary income (PDI) is calculated as net
income (NI) minus discretionary accruals proxy (DAP).
The extent of income smoothing is measured by the correlation between the change in
discretionary accruals and the change in pre-discretionary income, CORR(∆DAP, ∆PDI)
using the current year (2014) and past six years’ observations. We follow Tucker and
Zarowin (2006) and Li and Richie (2016) in calculating income smoothing measure (IS), by
converting the correlations into reverse fractional rankings by industry groups. The IS
measure ranges from 0 to 1 by industry year with the highest income smoothers (most
negative correlations) having high rankings and lowest income smoothers (less negative

22
Heteroscedasticity means that the residual at the each of the predictors have significant unequal variance at
each level of the predictor variable(s). When the residuals at each level of the predictor have the same variance,
then it is called homoscedasticity, Field (2009).
 785

correlations) having low rankings. Firms with more negative correlations are higher
smoothing firms, whereas firms with less negative (or positive) correlations are lower
smoothing firms. For ease of interpretation, The basic logic is if the variability of sales is
greater than the variability of income, then the firm is considered as artificially smoother.

Regression Model

To test the association between the extent of income smoothing practices and corporate
governance attributes namely audit committee size (ACSIZE), audit committee meeting
(ACMEET), the proportion of non-executive (NONEX), the proportion independent audit
committee in audit committee (ACIND), chairman duality (CDUAL), the regression model is
estimated by equation (2), as follows:

ISi= β0 + β1ACSIZEi+β2ACMEETi + β3NONEXi + β4ACINDi + β5CDUALi

+ β6FSIZEi + β7LEVi + β8GROWTHi + β9PROFITi +β10AUDITORi
+β11Industry-effects + ei

Where: IS is the correlation between the change in discretionary accruals and the
change in pre-discretionary income CORR(∆DAP, ∆PDI); ACSIZE is the total numbers of
directors in the audit committee; ACMEET is the numbers of audit committee meeting held
during the financial year; NONEX is the proportion of non-executive director to the total of
board size; ACIND is the proportion of independent directors to the total of audit committee
size; CDUAL is a dummy variable that takes value 1 if the chairman is also the CEO of the
firm, 0 otherwise; FSIZE is the natural log of total assets; LEV is the total debt divided by
total assets: GROWTH is the changes in sales deflated by prior year sales; PROFIT is the
current earning per share (EPS) of firms; AUDITOR is a dummy variable, 1 if the auditor is
BIG4 audit firm, 0 otherwise; and Industry-effects are dummy variables for relevant industry,
0 otherwise. We include several control variables in this equation, namely firm size (FSIZE),
leverage (LEV), growth (GROWTH), profitability (PROFIT), auditor size (AUDITOR) and
industry effect (Industry-effects).

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Descriptive Statistics

We begin this section by summarizing descriptive statistics of the independent and

control variables. From Table 1, the extent of income smoothing practices (IS) has a
minimum value of -1.000 and the maximum correlation is 1.000. The correlation’s means is -
0.827. The minimum number of the audit committee (ACSIZE) is two members while the
maximum number of audit committee member in the sample is nine members. In average,
the audit committee has three members. The minimum number of audit committee meeting
is one time while the highest number of audit committee meeting is 15 times whereby the
audit committee meets five times a year in average. For non-executive director (NONEX),
the minimum value is 0.000 while the maximum number of non-executive in the samples is
1.000 which the average number of NONEX is 0.622. We also note that 346 firms (57%)
have dual roles of CEO-Chairman.
 786

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics

Mean Std. Dev Min Max

IS -0.8346 0.3155 -1.0000 1.0000
ACSIZE 3.3179 0.6703 2.0000 9.0000
ACMEET 4.9834 1.2189 1.0000 15.0000
NONEX 0.6232 0.1819 0.0000 1.0000
ACIND 0.8868 0.1567 0.2222 1.0000
SIZE 8.6759 0.6375 6.8686 11.0440
LEV 0.2091 0.3187 0.0000 6.5915
GROWTH 0.1343 1.3047 -1.0000 30.7648
PROFIT 0.1030 0.2814 -3.9626 2.3471

For the control variables, the firm size (SIZE) has the average value of 8.668. The firm
leverage (LEV) have a minimum value of 0.000 while the maximum is 6.591 and the
leverage mean of 0.209.For growth (GROWTH), the lowest value of -1.000 and the highest
value of 30.765. The minimum value for profitability (PROFIT) of the firms is -3.963 while the
maximum EPS is 3.159 while the average EPS is 0.110.

Empirical Results

Table 2 presents the statistical result of this study. The result shows that the coefficient
for the audit committee size (ACSIZE) is positively significance suggesting that audit
committee size has a significant positive association with the extent of income smoothing.
This result is consistent with findings from Dalton et al. (1999) whereby the audit committee
size has a positive relation with monitoring function of the board that results in higher
performance and governance. The coefficient of ACIND is positive and highly significant
suggesting that firms with a small proportion of independent director in the audit committee
have a high propensity of being an income smoother. This finding is consistent with Beasley
(1996) and Uzun et. al., (2004), which found that the income smoother has less number of
independent directors. This study also found no significant influence of audit committee
meeting (ACMEET) and the proportion of non-executive director in audit committee
(NONEX) on income smoothing practices.

Table 2 Regression Summary Statistics with Industry Effect

Variable coeff white-t p-value coeff white-t p-value

INTERCEPT -1.446 -7.273 0.000 -1.664 -7.860 0.000
ACSIZE 0.041 1.969 0.049 0.044 2.120 0.035
ACMEET 0.026 2.072 0.039 0.025 2.030 0.043
NONEX -0.021 -0.260 0.795 -0.011 -0.130 0.896
ACIND 0.429 6.377 0.000 0.414 6.130 0.000
BIG4 0.037 1.370 0.171 0.024 0.860 0.392
SIZE -0.006 -0.266 0.790 0.012 0.520 0.601
LEV -0.006 -0.230 0.818 -0.005 -0.160 0.876
GROWTH -0.007 -2.215 0.027 -0.008 -2.560 0.011
PROFIT 0.144 2.721 0.007 0.144 2.800 0.005
Industry-Effects excluded included
N 604 604
F-stats 5.47 3.89
Adjusted R2 0.0693 0.0693

For control variable, the firm profitability (PROFIT) has a positive relationship
(significance at 1% level) consistent with prior evidence that firms with low profit have a
greater propensity to smooth earnings (Li-Jung & Chien-Wen, 2007, and Wan Ismail,
Kamarudin & Ibrahim, 2009). We found no significant influence of other control variables
 787

namely firm size (SIZE), leverage (LEV), growth (GROWTH) and auditor (Big4) on income
smoothing.

CONCLUSIONS

This study documents evidence that firms with a large audit committee size, a high the
proportion of independence director have and a low the propensity to smooth income. This
evidence supports the proponent of deceptive perspective in which firms with a good
corporate governance perceived income smoothing as an unacceptable act helps to ensure
proper control to minimize smoothing activities by corporate managers. Going forward, we
encourage more research on other dimensions such as managers’ bonus compensation and
firms’ political costs, ownership structure, audit committee effectiveness, and function of an
internal auditor.

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The Effect of Auditor Tenure and Industry Specialization on

Financial Reporting Timeliness
Mohd Hafiz Hashim
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Kedah, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
hafizhashim@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Wan Adibah Wan Ismail

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Kedah, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
wanad182@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Khairul Anuar Kamarudin

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Kedah, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
khair659@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

This study examines the effect of auditor tenure and industry specialization on financial
reporting timeliness. Using evidence from the corporate report of public listed companies in
Malaysia, the results from multivariate regression analysis show that audit firm tenure and
industry specialization are associated with financial reporting timeliness. The findings
indicate that audit tenure is positively associated with a more timely financial reporting,
indicating a shorter length of audit time; consistent with the knowledge spillover arguments.
The results also present that industry specialist is linked with less timely financial reporting,
in which the appointment of industry specialist would result in longer audit time to complete
audit, probably because a large number of clients to be handled. The result is robust even
after including various controls namely auditor size, audit fees, audit committee size, ceo
duality, financial year end, firm size, leverage, and growth. The evidence suggests that
financial reporting timeliness can be improved by retaining incumbent auditor and selecting a
non-industry specialist.

Keywords: Financial reporting timeliness, auditor tenure, industry specialization

INTRODUCTION

Financial statements are vital to the external user in making business and economic
decisions (Dogan et al. 2007). It enables assessment of the financial condition and
performance of related companies. Information must be timely otherwise it will loss some of
its economic value. Carslaw and Kaplan (1991) urge the important qualitative characteristic
of financial statements is timeliness which demands the information to be available to the
users as rapidly as possible. The accounting profession, users of accounting information,
regulatory and professional agencies have recognized timeliness of financial statements as
an important property of financial accounting information. Hence, recent regulatory actions
suggest that improving financial reporting timeliness is a priority for regulators (Schmidt &
Wilkins, 2013).
Prior research suggests that financial reporting timeliness affects the degree of uncertainty
associated with decisions based on the reported information (Ashton, Willingham, and Elliott
1987). Givoly and Palmon (1982) and Kross and Schroeder (1984) document evidence that
delayed earnings announcements are associated with lower abnormal returns than those of
timely announcements. Later, Schwartz and Soo (1996) find that earnings release delays
can lessen the value of public disclosures pertinent to the security pricing and lead to use
 791

inequity among market participants due to information asymmetry. Though large numbers of
studies have examined this issue, but evidence from emerging market remains scarce.
In this study, we concentrate on two determinants that are auditor tenure and
industry specialization. The first issue is whether cumulative client-specific knowledge
gathered after long audit tenure enhances audit efficiency, thereby improving financial
reporting timeliness. The second issue is whether the appointment of industry specialist who
has vast experience in serving other clients in the same industry will improve financial
reporting timeliness or will lead to a longer audit time. Our analyses on 663 Malaysian
publicly listed companies documents evidence that the longer audit tenure is associated with
a more timely financial reporting hence supporting the knowledge spillover arguments. The
appointment of industry specialist, however, result in longer audit time which leads to less
time reporting of financial statements, probably due to a large number of clients handled by
an industry specialist. While most of the prior studies focusing on developed market, this
study contributes new evidence from an emerging market.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT

Auditor Tenure and Financial Reporting Timeliness

Previous studies pertaining to earnings quality found that auditor tenure is positively
associated with earnings quality (e.g. Johnson et al., 2002; Myers et al., 2003; Ghosh and
Moon, 2005, and Gul, Fung and Jaggi, 20009)). There are several possible explanations for
this relationship. First, short-tenured auditors have a lack of client-specific knowledge that is
necessary to conduct a high-quality audit. The accounting profession argues that short
tenure may involve higher risk for audit failures because short-tenure auditors that are with
insufficient client-specific knowledge will heavily rely on the estimates and representations
made by client companies (e.g. PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2002; Gul et al., 2007).
Second, companies with higher quality earnings are more likely to retain the
incumbent (high-quality) auditors, or high-quality auditors are more apt to drop risky clients
that have lower quality earnings, who will then move to lower quality auditors. Also,
companies would avoid changing their auditor if the incumbent auditor produces satisfactory
audit work to reduce risk and ensure faster audit process. Hence, after many years of
auditing the client, the auditor knowledge and understanding of the clients’ accounts and
industry would accumulate and save auditors’ time in assessing the clients. Based on both
arguments, we can posit that longer audit tenure will enhance auditor competencies due to
knowledge spillover effect hence resulted in shorter audit time. Considering the above
arguments, this study tests the following alternate hypothesis:

Ha: Ceteris paribus, auditor tenure is more likely associated with financial reporting
timeliness.

Auditor Industry Specialisation and Financial Reporting Timeliness

In the context of auditor industry specialization, we propose two different arguments on how
industry specialist can influence the timeliness of financial reporting. On the one hand,
studies of earnings quality suggest that client firms with industry specialists are associated
with higher quality of financial reporting (e.g. Balsam et al., 2003; Krishnan, 2003). Simunic
and Stein (1987) argued that industry specialists have invested significantly in personnel
development, latest technologies, and other control systems that allow them to detect
irregularities and misrepresentations more easily. The industry specialist has the ability to
provide higher quality audits comes from their experience in serving other clients in the same
industry and learning and sharing best practices across the industry (Maletta and Wright,
1996; Dunn and Mayhew, 2004). Gul, Fung, and Jaggi (2009) find that shorter auditor
 792

tenure and lower earnings quality, but the association is weaker when audited by industry
specialists.
There is, however, an alternative explanation. Industry specialists may also attribute to the
attention to detail and quality which might result in longer audit time. Since industry specialist
refers to audit firm that audited most of the companies in the industry, they might need extra
time to complete their audit as they have a long client list. Considering the above arguments,
this study tests the following non-directional alternate hypothesis:

Ha1: Ceteris paribus, auditor industry specialisation is more likely associated with financial
reporting timeliness.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Sampling and Data Collection

We draw the sample from all Malaysian public companies listed in the Bursa Malaysia Kuala.
We identified the sample based on companies available on 31 December 2015. We remove
the missing and incomplete data, leaving a final sample of 663 companies. The final sample
represents almost 75% from the total original samples. The financial information was
downloaded from OSIRIS database, while the corporate governance variables were
manually extracted from corporate reports. Table 1 presents the industry distribution of the
sample.23

Table 1 Industry Distribution

23
Industry classification is based on the two digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes.
Machinery, electrical and computer equipment, and chemicals, petroleum, rubber, leather and
stone industries comprise approximately 40% of the total firm-years for the sample. To control
for industry-specific effects on financial reporting timeliness, we include two-digit SIC indicator
variables in our multivariate analyses.
 793

Two-digit
Industry #
SIC code
1–14 Agriculture and mining 60
15–17 Construction and plumbing 49
20–21 Food and kindred products and cigarettes 36
22–23 Textile mill products and apparel 14
24–27 Lumber, furniture, paper, and printing 68
28–32 Chemicals, petroleum, rubber, leather and stone 84
33–34 Metal 53
35–39 Machinery, electrical and computer equip., 73
scientific instruments, miscellaneous
manufacturing
40–48 Railroads, motor freight, transportation, 40
communications
49 Electric, natural gas, water supply, and waste 6
management
50–52 Wholesale goods, building material, hardware retail 28
53–59 Stores merchandise, auto dealers, apparel, home 21
furniture stores, eating and drinking, misc. retail
60-69 Finance, Insurance, And Real Estate 75
70–79 Lodging services, business services, other services 33
80–99 Other 23
Total 663

Dependent Variable

We follow prior studies such as Schwartz and Soo (1996), in which we determine the
financial reporting timeliness by calculating the number of days of from financial statements
date to the release of audited financial statements. To measure financial reporting
timeliness, we multiple the number of days with negative one value, so the smaller the value,
the more timely the financial reporting.

Independent Variables

We define auditor tenure as the number of years the firm retains an auditor. In the
case of a change in the audit firm’s name as a result of audit firm mergers, the incumbent
auditor–client relationship remains unchanged. The auditor tenure is calculated based on
data collected from corporate annual reports available at Bursa Malaysia portal and
individual company website. We measure auditor industry specialization based on its share
of clients’ total assets in the two-digit SIC industry group, in which industry specialist is
defined when the audit firm’s market share is the highest within the industry group (Hogan
and Jeter, 1999; Krishnan, 2005). Operationally, we rank auditors based on their percentage
of total assets audited in the industry, and the audit firm is capturing the largest market share
of total assets.

Control Variables

Prior studies identify various determinants of financial reporting timeliness. We

include these variables in our study. First, we control for auditor characteristics namely
auditor size (BIG4) and audit fees (AUFEES). Since Big 4 audit companies are larger and
also invest more in training and auditing technology and are therefore able to audit more
efficiently, hence we predict that Big 4 audit companies are associated a more timely
financial reporting. Similar arguments are provided for a firm with higher audit fees. For
 794

BIG4, we assign Big 4 audit companies a value of 1 and all others a 0 while for AUDFEES) it
is measured as the total amount paid to auditors for statutory audit for the studied year. We
further control for type of audit opinion (OPIN) where a dummy variable equal to 1 if the
company received a non-standard audit report (anything other than a standard unqualified
report) and 0 otherwise. We expect a negative relationship between FRT and companies
receiving a non-standard audit opinion.
Second, this study also includes financial year-end (DEC) as a control variable. In Malaysia,
the two most common year-end date is 31 December and is considered the busy season.
We use a dummy variable equal to 1 if the company has a 31 December year-end, hence
predict a negative relationship between DEC and FRT (Knechel and Payne, 2001). We also
control the governance factor by including audit committee size and ceo dual roles in the
equation. Finally, we also control for firm specific attributes namely firm size (SIZE),
profitability (PROFIT, risk (LEVERAGE) and growth (GROWTH). We use the firm specific
attributes: SIZE, the natural logarithm of total assets; PROFIT, the ratio of net income to total
assets; LEVERAGE, the ratio of total debt to total assets; and GROWTH, the current year
sales growth compared to the previous year. The main argument is that companies with a
weaker financial condition (small size, low profitability, low liquidity and higher risk) expose
the auditor to greater audit risk, which will lead a requirement for more audit work, thus
potentially reduce the FRT. We, therefore, predict financial reporting timeliness has a
positive relationship with SIZE and ROA, and a negative relationship with GROWTH and
RISK.

Regression Model

A multiple regression analysis was used to test the association of auditor tenure and
industry specialization with financial reporting timeliness. The model for this study is as
follows:

FRT = β0 + β1INTERCEPT +β2TENURE + β3EXPERT + β4BIG4 + β5AUFEES + β6ACSIZE +

β7DUALITY + β8DEC + β9OPIN + β10SIZE + β11PROFIT + β12LEVERAGE + β13GROWTH + e

We expect the coefficient for TENURE to be positive, suggesting longer tenure is associated
more timely reporting. Additionally, we expect the coefficient for EXPERT is significant
indicating the effect of industry specialist in financial reporting timeliness.

DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

Descriptive Statistics

Panel A of Table 1 presents descriptive statistics for auditor tenure, and other
continuous variables used in the study, while Panel B presents the summary of dichotomous
variables. The results in Panel A show that mean of auditor tenure (TENURE) is 7.07 year
with a minimum of 0 (newly appointed auditor) and a maximum length of 23 years. The
average for audit fees and audit committee size is 12.54 and 3.33 respectively. For the firm
size, the mean is 8.71, with a minimum (maximum) value of 7.57 (10.62). The mean for
profitability measured by ROA is 6% with the highest value of 39% and a minimum of a loss
of 24%. In term of leverage, the mean value is 19% with a minimum (maximum) value of
(0%) 61%. The sample growth has a mean value of 8% with the highest value of 158% and
lowest of negative growth of 68%.
 795

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics

Panel A: Continuous Variables

Variables Mean Std. Dev. Min Max
INTERCEPT -99.40 21.97 -123.00 -37.00
TENURE 7.07 5.98 0.00 23.00
AUFEE 12.54 1.05 10.80 15.83
ACSIZE 3.33 0.64 3.00 6.00
SIZE 8.71 0.65 7.57 10.62
PROFIT 0.06 0.09 -0.24 0.39
LEVERAGE 0.19 0.16 0.00 0.61
GROWTH 0.08 0.31 -0.68 1.58

Panel B: Dichotomous Variables

Variables 1 (%) 0 (%)
EXPERT 152 22.93 511 77.07
BIG4 326 49.17 337 50.83
DUALITY 381 57.47 282 42.53
DEC 369 55.66 294 44.34
OPIN 499 75.26 164 24.74

The results in Panel B show that only 152 companies (22.93%) of the sample appoint
auditor industry specialist to conduct the statutory audit. However almost half, 326
companies (49.17%), appoint Big4 audit companies as their auditor. The statistics show that
have 57.47% of the sample appointed their CEO as their Chairman. In addition, majority of
the sample have 31 December as their financial year end (55.66%), and 75.26% has
obtained unqualified audit opinion

Empirical Result

Table 2 presents the regression estimates to test the effect auditor tenure and
industry specialization on the timeliness of financial reporting. The results show that the
coefficient for TENURE is significantly positive at 5% level, suggesting that longer audit
tenure is associated with a short length of audit time needed. This is supporting the
knowledge spillover arguments. This finding is consistent with prior research on audit quality,
for example, Myers et al. (2003), where longer auditor tenure is associated with higher
quality of reported earnings, measured in term of lower absolute discretionary accruals.
For auditor industry specialization, the coefficient is for EXPERT is significantly negative at
5% level, thereby suggesting that companies that appointed industry specialist are
associated with less timely financial reporting. This means the industry specialist take a
longer time to complete audit. This probably because they handle a large number of clients
or more rigid in performing their audit.

Table 2 Regression Estimates

Variables Coef. Std. Err. t-stat Prob

INTERCEPT -187.49 12.18 -15.40 0.00
TENURE 0.34 0.14 2.43 0.02
EXPERT -4.97 2.03 -2.44 0.02
BIG4 8.85 1.87 4.72 0.00
 796

AUFEE -4.27 1.28 -3.33 0.00

ACSIZE 4.02 1.24 3.24 0.00
DUALITY -0.94 1.56 -0.61 0.54
DEC 1.91 1.55 1.23 0.22
OPIN -0.13 1.78 -0.07 0.94
SIZE 14.14 2.15 6.59 0.00
PROFIT 28.93 9.41 3.07 0.00
LEVERAGE -11.78 5.42 -2.17 0.03
GROWTH -5.33 2.56 -2.08 0.04
Obs 663
Adj R-squared 0.2049
F-stat 15.22
Root MSE 19.586

We also find most of the control variables are significantly associated with financial
reporting timeliness. The findings show that companies have a more timely financial
reporting are linked with companies audited by Big4, has a bigger audit committee, a bigger
firm size, and higher profitability. Also, less timely of financial reporting is associated with
companies that paid high audit fees, leverage and growth, consistent with audit risk
arguments.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

This study examines the effect auditor tenure and industry specialization on the
timeliness of financial reporting. Using a sample of 663 publicly listed companies in an
emerging market, Malaysia, this study finds that the longer audit tenure is associated with a
shorter length of audit time; hence result in a more timely financial reporting. This finding is
supporting the knowledge spillover arguments. The study also concludes that appointment of
industry specialist will lead to longer audit time to complete audit, probably because a large
number of clients handled by them. While most of the prior studies focusing on developed
market, this study contributes new evidence from an emerging market.

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 798

A Study on Factors That Affecting the Safety Awareness among

Employees in Malaysia Sugar Refinery Company
Azlin Azman
Faculty of Business Management
azlinazman@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Jamaludin Akbar, Dr
Faculty of Business Management
jamal691@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nor Hanisah Md Zain

Graduate School of Business Management

ABSTRACT

Poor safety practices in the organization will have a significant impact on the organization
performance. The number of incident in the workplace will contribute to the experience of
increasing operation cost and end up with loss. The aim of this paper is to investigate the
factors that influence safety awareness of Malaysia Sugar Refinery Company in the state of
Kedah, Malaysia. In relation to this, a cross-sectional survey using structured questionnaire
has been carried out to obtain quantitative data for statistical testing of the hypotheses. The
questionnaire was distributed among 132 respondents in production department and
engineering and maintenance department which assessing on three factors; safety policy,
safety transformational leadership and management commitment using SPSS software. The
finding reveals that only safety policy has significant positive influence towards safety
awareness. In conclusion, good safety policy, continuous commitment and leadership help
to ensure the safety level in the organization and improve employees to gain safety
awareness.

Keywords: safety awareness, safety policy, safety transformational leadership,

management commitment

INTRODUCTION

According to Shannon, Robson and Sale (2001), security and safety is most
important thing for both organization and society. According to NIOSH (2000), safety in work
place can be define as working environment that free from serious accident not only for the
workers but to public that will effect from the activities. According to Holt (2008) definition of
safety is no danger, no situation that help to increase risk and safety give protection and
environment that clean from dangers. All this show that safety playing important role in
organization for keep the good working environment that free from accident risk (Shaain, M.,
Bakar, A., & Hashim, 2015). Safety and health awareness are important function in every
organization to ensure the employees are doing their job safely. Employee must have high
level of safety awareness to ensure all task are complete without expose to any risk or
accident at workplace (Khdair, Shamsudin & Subramaniam, 2011).

The aim of government for launched ‘Akta Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan
1994’ (AKPP 1994) is to ensure employee safety and welfare at workplace, protect safety
and welfare of other person at workplace, and encourage to have suitable working
environment base on physiological and psychological (Shaain, M., Bakar, A., & Hashim,
 799

2015). They also stated that, safety awareness are important to the employer and employee
to ensure safety at workplace are secure and can reduce accident risk at workplace.

Problem Statement

Poor performance of safety in an organization will have a significant impact to the

company’s profit (Davies & Teasdale, 1994). The scenario in Malaysia shows that the
manufacturing sector was reported the higher cases of permanent disability (74 cases) and
nonpermanent disability (2173 cases) related to workplace accidents as compared to the
other sectors (DOSH, 2016). In manufacturing industry like Gula Padang Terap Sdn. Bhd.,
ineffective safety performance not only gives impact to the product sales. It also gives
impact to the whole production. If an accident occur because of employee do not have safety
awareness such as do not wearing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) while doing their
task, the organization will bear the cost such as medical cost. If the accident happen and
make worker injured badly, the production will slow because they do not have enough staff
to running production. As a result, this will make the time cost increase. In order to reduce
all unnecessary cost, the researcher try to conduct study by using proper independent
variable (safety policy, safety transformation leadership and management commitment) that
have positive influence between dependent variable safety awareness or not. According to
the research that conducted by Yuan, Li and Tetrick (2015), they suggested to the future
research to use management commitment to safety in the broader concept and conducted
the study at the other industry. Besides, according to the Wu, Chang, Shu, Chen and Wang
(2011), for different industry, the relationship among safety leadership and safety awareness
might be different. They suggested that future researcher to explore the relationship between
safety leadership within other industries and organizations. The result that get from this
research cloud be very informative and encourage positive safety culture. Therefore, the
researcher decided to use safety policy, safety transformational leadership and management
commitment as an independent variable in this study.
Based on Table 1, it shows the statistic of accident rate at Gula Padang Terap Sdn.
Bhd. was fluctuated. However, the researcher wanted to help Gula Padang Terap Sdn. Bhd.
to achieve zero accident rates.
Table 1 Accident statistic at Gula Padang Terap Sdn. Bhd.

YEAR CASES
2009 12
2010 6
2011 3
2012 10
2013 4
2014 2
2015 4
 800

LITERATURE REVIEW

Safety Awareness

According to Barling, Loughlin and Kelloway (2002), safety awareness is about the
individual’s consciousness on their own safety. Individual awareness is working together
with the behavior and cognitive. He also stated that cognitive is about the individual’s mental
awareness on the safety while completing the job and know the action that need to take to
ensure the safety and health. Most of previous researcher state that the safety awareness
among employees has positive influence toward reducing accident at workplace. While
according to Barret et al.(2005) safety awareness can be described as action of being aware
on safety issues as well as potential hazards which can harmful to the employees.
Safety awareness help the individual realize that they must follow the safety policy to
ensure their safety and health are secure. Besides, by following the policy, the accident rate
can be reducing. If the individual have high degree of safety awareness they able to know
which situation are dangerous and what action they need to take to avoid any kind of risk
(Endsley & Garland, 2000). According to Holt (2005), safety at workplace means there has
no danger. Low risk to create danger in workplace will reduce the accident risk at
workplace. This clearly shows that security is an important aspect of an organization to
create safe environment that free from the risk of accidents (Shaain, M., Bakar, A., &
Hashim, 2015).

Safety Policy

Occupation Safety and Health Act (OSHA) have been made by employer, employee
and union to promoting the safe working condition in organization to increase the efficiently
in task performance (Akpan, 2011). According to Holt (2005), safety policy is a written
statement of the management intention. At which only senior management can give
decision to coordinate and directed the safety policy. He also stated that the way how the
policy written are influence whether the worker want to follow it or not.
The length of policy is not necessary if the content is useful and easy to understand.
The content must be clear statement even it short. Effective implement of safety policy in
organization will reduce the accident rate if the worker is following all policy that has been
set by organization (Holt, 2005). According to Alolah, Stewart, Panuwatwanich and
Mohamed (2014), appropriate installing safety policy, procedures and processes in company
can be an effective way to increase safety awareness. According to Zohar (2010), safety
pyramid show that safety policy and departmental priorities being important key to
encourage safety awareness in organization. According to the study that conducted by
Alolah, Stewart, Panuwatwanich and Mohamed (2014), safety policy in their research have
significant effect on the safety awareness.
Research that conducted by Nakiah, Raudhiah and Azharuddin (2015) show that
safety policy was significant with dependent variable that is safety awareness. Besides, this
result also parallel with research that conducted by Goesth (2005). In this research stated
that organization must provide clear safety policy to promoting safety awareness to workers.
Besides, it shows the management commitment in reducing accident rate in workplace and
increase the safety awareness toward workers. This result also supported by research was
conducted by Harper and Koehn (1998) shows by implementing safety policy to workers can
increase safety awareness.

Safety Transformational Leadership

According to the Wu (2008), leadership can be defined as the communication

process between leader and their employee which leader can influence their employee to
achieve the organization aims and objectives. Leader is playing an important role to
influence safety awareness among employee (Christian et al., 2009; Nahrgang et al., 2011).
 801

Safety management that get full support from leader will give positive effects to employee’s
safety behavior and their outcome (Christian et al, 2009). According to Zohar (2002.a,b.)
leader who has high prioritize have strong effect to safety outcome rather than leader who
has low prioritize.
According to Flin and Yule (2004) transformational leaders have charismatic,
stimulating, inspiring others and considerate with followers. Transformational leaders are
provide the clear purpose to the followers, increase self confidence of followers, sharing the
goal, increase mutual understanding and plan for future. They stated again transformational
leadership for supervisor play different role to encourage safety behavior among employee
through motivation that set by team member. According to Barling, Loughlin and Kelloway
(2002), the important element in safety transformational leader is communication between
leader and follower. An effective communication regarding on aim of safety will encourage
employee to adapt with new safety procedures that lead to increase performance.
According to the research that conducted by Barling, Loughlin and Kelloway (2002),
that stated transformational leadership on the safety matters need have positive influence. It
can be through by providing inspiration and motivation effort toward safety to the employees.
Besides, the leader must communicate about safety manners with the employees to
increase safety awareness among them. From the finding in the other research that
conducted by Barling, Weber and Kelloway (1996), it support the relationship between
transformational leadership and enhance task performance. But, Inness, Barling, Turner and
Stride (2010), were argue that transformational leadership give the same effects to the
safety awareness.

Management Commitment

Management commitment helps the organization to create and develop safety

environment (Charehzehi & Ahankoob, 2012). Management gives high commitment to
implement safety in organization to motivate employees performing task with safe manner.
Furthermore Zohar (1980), Arboleda et al. (2003) and Choundary (2008) are argue that
management commitment give positive impact to success of safety program that done by
organization. According the research that conducted by Alolah, Stewart, Panuwatwanich and
Mohamed (2014), every management in organization must provided proper safety learning
and training to workers. Management and leader should provided training to increase safety
awareness among workers and to give knowledge about how to take action if accident
occurs.
Khdair, Shamsudin & Subramaniam (2011), stated that management commitment
toward safety can be done through safety training program. This program can increase
safety awareness among employees and very useful to predict means of accident that will
occur. According to the Choundhry et. al, (2007) that management have important roles in
promoting positive safety culture in organization. Base on the Rundmo (1994) stated that for
increasing work satisfaction with safety, management commitment is playing important roles
to ensure it success then follow by organization support.
 802

Research Framework

Beside on the research framework on figure 1, the research method was designed to identify
the factor influence safety awareness in Gula Padang Terap Sdn. Bhd..

Figure 1 Theoretical Framework

Independent Variables Dependent Variable

Safety Policy

Safety Awareness
Safety Transformational
Leadership

Management Commitment

Hypothesis Development

i. There is significant positive relationship between safety policy and the safety
awareness among employees.
ii. There is significant positive relationship between safety transformational leadership
and the safety awareness among employees.
iii. There is significant positive relationship between management commitment and the
safety awareness among employees.

METHODOLOGY

The researcher use descriptive research that engaged collecting data in terms of
means, frequencies and standard deviation. Besides that, the researcher was interested in
observing the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variables by
carried out correlation study. In addition, the researcher also carried out this study to
determine the impact and effect between independent variables and dependent variable.
This is a cross sectional study at Production Department and Engineering and Maintenance
Department in Malaysia Sugar Refining Company located at Kuala Nerang, Kedah namely
Gula Padang Terap Sdn. Bhd. These two departments was selected due to high number of
employees and have involved in high risk work. Total population from these departments
was 170 employees, therefore the sample size of this study was 118 which is drawn based
on Krejcie and Morgan table (1970). However, the researcher decided to distribute the
questionnaire to 135 respondents after considering extra 15% from actual calculation to
reduce attrition and non-response.
Pre test was conducted at other nearby factory among 30 respondents. Data was
collected using convenience sampling technique. Data was collected by using self-
administered questionnaire in Bahasa Malaysia using a novel questionnaire that has been
expertly validated for face and content validity. This questionnaire consists of six domains
with a total of 23 questions. First on demographic characteristic and socioeconomic status
(4 questions), then safety awareness (4 questions), safety policy (4 questions), safety
transformational leadership (5 questions) and management commitment (5 questions). Data
have been analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) for descriptive
analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis.
 803

FINDINGS

Response Rate

A total of 135 questionnaires have been self distributed. Though, overall 134
completed questionnaires were received and the response rate for this study was 99.3%.
However, only 132 responses were considered as usable and 4 of the response were
omitted due to incomplete response received and appear as outliers.

Profile of Respondent

The respondents are from production department (43.9%) and maintenance

department (56.1%) at which majority of the respondents are in the age group of 50-59 years
old (53%), with working experiences for at least 31 years (43.9%), more than half of
respondents had involved in accident at work (53%) and from that majority had less than 5
times involved in accident at work (52%).

Descriptive Statistic

Table 2 shows the descriptive analysis for all variables under the study. The mean
values ranges from 3.85 to 4.28 with standard deviation ranges from 0.39 to 0.62. All
variables reported with mean value above than average which indicating the
appropriateness of all variables used among the respondents. Under observed independent
variable, the highest mean value reported for safety policy with mean value of 4.26 followed
by management commitment and safety transformational leadership with mean value of 3.95
and 3.85 respectively. This indicates on importance of safety policy than safety
transformational leadership and management commitment among the respondents.

Table 2 Descriptive Statistic

Variables Mean Std. Dev

Safety Awareness 4.2803 .39320
Safety Policy 4.2652 .54279
Safety Transformational Leadership 3.8591 .62260
Management Commitment 3.9591 .56338
*All variables used a 5-point Likert scale

Pearson’s Correlation Analysis

According to Table 3, it shows that all the independent variables are correlated
significantly with the dependent variable. The score for safety policy, r=0.427, p-value <0.01
which indicates as significant and have the highest relationship with safety awareness as
compared to the other independent variables. As for the safety transformational leadership,
the r=0.309, p-value <0.01 which indicates as significant and moderate relationship.
However, the score for management commitment indicates as significant and weak
relationship with the score of r=0.280.

Table 3 Pearson’s Correlation Analysis

Variables Safety Safety Policy Safety Management

Awareness Transformational Commitment
Leadership
Safety Awareness 1
Safety Policy .427** 1
Safety Transformational .309** .555** 1
Leadership
 804

Management Commitment .280** .465** .613** 1

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Regression Analysis

According to Table 4, the value of R Square (R2) indicating that 19.3 percent of
variation in safety awareness is explained by observed independent variables under this
study which is safety policy, safety transformational leadership and management
commitment. Meanwhile, the other 80.7 percent are explaining by the other variables that
not included in this study. Apart from that, according to Field (2008), value of Durbin Watson
must between the ranges of 1 to 3 and if the value is close to 2 is good. Based on table
below, the value of Durbin Watson is 1.837 which indicates it is free from auto correlation
issue and has potential to explain the variables.

Table 4 Table of Model Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Std. Error of the Durbin

Square Estimation Watson
a
1 .439 .193 .174 .35732 1.837
a. Predictors: (Constant), Safety Policy, Safety Transformational Leadership, Management
Commitment
b. Dependent Variable: Safety Awareness

ANOVA

In the assessment of ANOVA to identify the fitness of model of the study the result in
Table 5 showed that the regression model is significant (sig=.000). Therefore, this model is
fit to this study.

Table 5 Table of ANOVA

Model Sum of df Mean Square F Sig.
Square
b
1 Regression 3.911 3 1.304 10.209 .000
Residual 16.343 128 .131
Total 20.254 131
a. Dependent Variable: Safety Awareness
b. Predictors: (Constant), Safety Policy, Safety Transformational Leadership, Management
Commitment

Coefficients

Regression analysis helps the researcher to determine whether the hypothesis of the
variable made are accepted or rejected. Besides that, it helps to know which independent
variables are more explain toward dependent variable. Based on Table 6, the additional of
one unit of safety policy will affects the safety awareness by an average of 0.258 with a Beta
of 0.356. This indicates that for safety policy increase is given, in other hand there is a
increasing in safety awareness among employees. Meanwhile, for additional one unit of
safety transformational leadership will affects the safety awareness by an average of 0.042
with a Beta of 0.670. This indicates that for safety transformational leadership increase is
given, there will be increasing in safety awareness among employees. For management
commitment, the increase of one unit of management commitment will affects the safety
awareness by an average of 0.051 with a Beta of 0.073. Hence, only safety policy is
considered statistically significant because its p-value is less than 0.05. Therefore, it
demonstrated that safety policy had given more impact rather than other independent
variables in this study. Further test was conducted to evaluate the assumption of
 805

collinearity. According to Field (2009), VIF value must less than 10 which indicate there has
no course for concern. Based on Table 5, the value of VIF is less than 10 for safety policy,
safety transformational leadership and management commitment which indicates the data
meet the assumption of collinearity that multicollinearity was not a concern.

Table 6 Table of Coefficients

Model Unstandardized Standardize Collinearity Statistics

Coefficients Coefficient
B Std. Error Beta t Sig. Tolerance VIF
1 (Constant)
Safety Policy .258 .070 .356 3.661 .000 .667 1.500
Safety .042 .069 .067 .611 .542 .531 1.882
Transformational
Leadership
Management .051 .071 .073 .715 .476 .602 1.661
Commitment
a. Dependent Variable: Safety Awareness

Summary of the Result

Based on Table 7, it shows the summary of the results from the multiple regression
analysis. According to the analysis, only one hypothesis is supported which is safety policy
that shown the significant value less than 0.05. It indicates safety policy has significant
relationship towards safety awareness among employees.

Table 7 Summary of the Result

Hypothesis p-value Results

H1 There is significant positive relationship between p<0.05 Supported
safety policy and safety awareness among
employees.
H2 There is significant positive relationship between p>0.05 Not Supported
safety transformational leadership and safety
awareness among employees.
H3 There is significant positive relationship between p>0.05 Not Supported
management commitment and safety awareness
among employees.

DISCUSSION

The result of this study indicated that safety policy play the greater impact on the
safety awareness among the employees as compared with other observed independent
variables. This study aligns with the findings by Nakiah, Raudhiah and Azzharuddin (2015)
who mentioned that safety policy were significant with safety awareness. Another study
conducted by Harper and Koehn (1998) also found that by implementing safety policy to
workers can increase safety awareness among them. In addition, Goesth (1999) stated that
organization must provide clear safety policy in order to promote safety awareness to
workers. While Cetin (2010) found the excellent and effective rules and regulation and strict
controls had impact on safety behavior of employees which help reducing the accident rate
in manufacturing industry. These infer the organization stress on important of employees to
oblige towards stipulated safety policy in the company would help to improve their
awareness towards safety.
Furthermore, this study found that safety transformational leadership has positive
relationship with safety awareness but not significant. This may result due to leader in this
 806

company were not take seriously to increase the safety awareness among employees. It
also implies that the leader do not give motivation to the workers about safety awareness
and shows the lack of communication about safety among employees. The study done by
Barling (2002) stated that leadership has positive influence towards safety matters. It can be
done through providing inspiration and motivation on safety to the employees. The
researcher also mentioned that leader must communicate about safety manners with the
employees to increase awareness among them. The leaders who are not concern about
employees’ safety are considering having poor leadership (Kelloway, Jane & Lori, 2016).
This result showed that, Gula Padang Terap Sdn. Bhd. lacking of good safety
transformational leadership who committed to increase the safety awareness among
workers and lacking of communication on safety awareness.
The third independent variable which is management commitment also indicated
positive relationship towards safety awareness but not significant. According to Choudhry et
al. (2003) management hold the responsibility in encourage a positive safety culture in
organization. It was proposed by Alolah, Stewart, panuwatwanich et al. (2014) that the
management in organization must provide safety learning and training to employees. In Gula
Padang Terap Sdn. Bhd., management not always provides training to employees. In fact,
some of employees do not know how to take action when accident occurs. Moreover, the
management being observed not take immediately action towards accident occurs.
Because of that, the employees perceived the poor management commitment about safety.

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, the good safety policy in place has direct influence on increasing
safety awareness among the employees. The efforts show by the management in
supporting the safety culture and good safety transformational leadership style can also
impacted the safety awareness in the company. Thus, the organization needs to consider
giving with the management commitment and good leadership style as a means to increase
safety awareness in order to reduce and achieve zero accident in workplace.

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 809

Discovering the Antecedents of Engagement for

Citizen Centric Public Service Excellence
Norazlin Binti Mohd Nor
Faculty of Administration Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
azlinmnor@gmail.com

Dr Tuan Nooriani Binti Tuan Ismail

Faculty of Administration Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
tnsya800@salam.uitm.edu.my

Dr Hajah Fadilah Binti Hj Puteh

Faculty of Administration Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
fadilahputeh@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The Malaysian public sector is undergoing vast transformation to provide its citizen with an
efficient, transparent, responsive and connected government. The Malaysian government
has introduced the Public Sector Transformation Framework (PSTF) which aims to make it a
high performing, trustworthy, dynamic and citizen centric public service. Nevertheless, the
biggest challenge faced by the public sector is the people in the service itself. Public
employees are being criticized for lacking the desired efficiency and expected performance.
Based on the assumption that employees will perform their best when they are “engaged”,
this study aims to discuss the factors that drive public employees’ engagement towards
citizen centric public service excellence. Models for employee engagement and the
European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model for excellence underpin this
study are also discussed. The study hopes to enrich the body of knowledge in the field of
organisational management as it explores whether employee engagement and citizen
centric public service excellence possesses the similar employee-performance cause-effect.
This study also provides insights for the Malaysian Public Service Department to impart and
develop employee engagement as a culture that boosts public employees’ productivity and
consequently elevate public sector excellence as a whole.

Keywords: Employee Engagement, Citizen Centric Public Service, Public Service

Excellence

INTRODUCTION

Citizens today have varied needs, preferences, behaviours, attitudes and capabilities.
As a consequence, government agencies need to redesign their service delivery
infrastructures to serve each segment of their customers differently (Carrasco & Fetherston,
2011). In response to this, the Prime Minister of Malaysia has announced the
implementation of Government Transformation Programme (GTP) exclusively to promote a
citizen centric model for public service delivery, attending to priorities that are most
significant to the people across all boundaries (PEMANDU, 2011). The ideology behind the
approach is to make the citizen as the centre of public practices and operations and to look
service delivery from the eyes of its people (Malik, Gupta, & Dhillon, 2014; Kamaruddin & Md
Noor, 2013; Social Research and Demonstration Corporation, 2011). The one aim of citizen
 810

centric public service is to enable government to improve service delivery, address citizen
satisfaction and subsequently improve the quality of life (Gupta, 2006).
The initiatives under GTP dedicates itself for the implementation of “whole-of-
government” concept whereby all government agencies must work as an integrated agency
crossing boundaries and portfolios to provide the “best-in-class” public service delivery
(MAMPU, 2011). A specific chapter “Transforming Government to Transform Malaysia” is
dedicated to transform the face of Malaysian Public Sector (UNDP, 2012). It is within this
chapter that the government introduces the Public Service Transformation Framework
(PSTF). The framework is illustrated in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1 Public Sector Transformation Framework

Source: Public Service Department, 2014

The ultimate goal of PSTF is to become a high performing, trustworthy, dynamic and
citizen centric public service. In attaining this goal, it goes back to the roles of public service
employees who are responsible in translating high-performing and citizen centric public
service into implementable actions and policies while fulfilling the stakeholders and citizens’
needs. In achieving this, it should not rest on the shoulders of the public employees alone.
Instead, it should be a collective endeavour and dedication from various entities, from the
leaders to the policies and equipment necessary to impart change in the public sector. As
such, it can be said that the public sector transformation process towards becoming high
performing and citizen centric should be viewed as a whole or as a system, and to make
change happen, each of its components plays an important role that contributes to the
success or failure of change (Olum, 2004).
Relating to this, engagement among public service employees is important to
understand how factors such as leadership, organisational strategies and policies, co-
workers, work environment and work-life balance, as being components of the system,
contribute to making change happen. Employees that are engaged is full of enthusiasm,
energetic, dedicated, show initiatives at work and strive for high quality as well as
performance (Sakovska, 2012) thus, will result in competitive advantages (Rashid, Asad, &
 811

Ashraf, 2011). Therefore, to become a citizen centric public service and to achieve
excellence in public service, the function of engagement and its predictors that influence
centric public service excellence in Malaysia is explored.

DEFINING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Previous literatures have identified three types of employee namely i) engaged

employees – employees who have the passion for innovation at work and driving the
organisation; ii) disengaged employees – employees who are putting time but no passion in
their work; and iii) highly/actively disengaged employees – employees who are unhappy at
work and busy showing their unhappiness (Kapoor & Maechem, 2012; Romans & Tobaben,
2016; Souza Wildermuth & Pauken, 2008; Sundaray, 2011). When an employee is engaged,
he/she will invest more of themselves in his/her work role and conduct his/her work with
energy and enthusiasm (Fleck & Inceoglu, 2010). When engaged, employees absorbed their
work role and internalised the goals and aspirations of the organisation by enacting it and
performing the role as an important aspect of their identity (Fleck & Inceoglu, 2010). In
contrast, employees who are disengaged will not show any emotions, nor energy and
passion in conducting their work (Fleck & Inceoglu, 2010).
The concept of employee engagement is traced back to 1990 by Kahn, who states that
an engaged employee is physically, cognitively and emotionally connected with his/her work
and others (Hart, Caballero, & Cooper, 2010). As such, when a person is engaged, he/she
will display personally engaging behaviours that channels personal energies into physical,
cognitive and emotional labours (Kahn, 1990). This is attributed by being physically involved
in work role, be it alone or with others, cognitively vigilant and empathically connected with
others in the organisation by way of displaying thoughts, feelings, creativity, beliefs, values
and connections to others (Kahn, 1990).
This concept is further expanded to include four dimensions of psychological presence
namely attentiveness, connectedness, integration, and focus (Hart et al., 2010; Kahn, 1992).
Collectively, these dimensions contribute to the sense of being alive at work, being present
at work and being accessible in the given work role (Kahn, 1992). Another definition of
employee engagement by Gallup is those who are involved and enthusiastic about their
work and workplace (Harter & Adkins, 2015). Interestingly, a definition by Azeen and
Yasmine (2015) and Ketter (2008) suggest that, engagement today is about creating a
culture where employees do not feel misused, overused, underused or abused.
This study agrees with the statement by Azeen and Yesmin (2015) and Ketter (2008)
that engagement should be a culture promoted among employees and organisations. While
the definition by Kahn (1990) and Hart et al. (2010) is continually uphold, this study suggests
that employee engagement be defined as the total connection between physical, cognitive
and emotion of employees towards a meaningful purpose without the feeling of being
misused, overused, underused or abused.

DRIVERS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

A study conducted by Rana, Ardichvili, and Tkachenko (2014) identified that there has
never been any consensus among past researchers on which factors that contributes higher
to engagement and that it is left at the discretion of the researcher. Interestingly, this study
has found an exhaustive list of factors that drive employees’ engagement similar to Shuck
and Wollard (2010) who have identified 42 engagement factors either evidenced by past
researchers or proposed by other scholars. These factors are identified from recent
literatures between the year 2010 and 2015 and are presented in Table 1 below:
 812

Table 1 Factors that Drives Employee Engagement

Author (Year) Employee Engagement Factors

Tomlinson (2010)  Leadership development
 Employee recognition
 Internal communications
 Organisational development
 Employee development
Mani (2011)  Employee welfare
 Empowerment
 Employee growth
 Interpersonal relationship
Nink and Welte (2011)  Employees’ basic needs
 Management support
 Teamwork
 Employee growth
Bhatla (2011)  Organisational culture
 Organisational communication
Joshi and Sodhi (2011)  Job content
 Compensation/monetary benefits
 Work-life balance
 Top management-employee relations
 Advancement and career growth
 Team oriented/team work
Kapoor and Meachem  Work life balance
(2012)  Cooperation
 Talent management
 Clarity of vision and mission
 Clarity of job
 Empowerment
 Pay and benefits
 Health and safety
 Communication and channel
 Performance appraisal
 Job satisfaction
 Employee enhancement
 Creativity and innovation
Harvard (2013)  Recognition
 Clear understanding of how task contribute to organisation
 Frequent updates from management
 Understand organisational goals
 Alignment of performance goals with organisation’s goals
and strategies
 Performance review
 Remuneration
 Training and career development
Rana, Ardichvili and  Job design and characteristics
Tkachenko (2014)  Supervisor and co-worker relationships
 Workplace environment
 Human resource development practices
Anitha (2014)  Work environment
 Leadership
 Team and co-worker
 Training and career development
 Compensation
 Organisational policies
 813

Author (Year) Employee Engagement Factors

 Workplace well-being
Taneja, Sewell and Odom  Promote involvement in organisation
(2015)  Focus on customers
 Democratise the workforce
 Support work-life balance
 Reward employees

After exploring these factors, the study has found that there exist similarities as well as
redundancies between one factor and another. It has also been found that some literatures
did not highlight certain factors such as employees’ welfare, work-life balance and work
environment although it has been mentioned to be important in engaging employees.
Therefore, the items discussed above are further grouped into eight predictors namely i)
leadership; ii) strategy; iii) people; iv) partnerships and resources; v) processes, products
and services; vi) work environment; vii) well-being; and viii) work-life balance. The former 6
predictors namely leadership, strategy, people, partnerships and resources, processes,
products and services are based on EFQM Excellence Model (EFQM, 2013). Meanwhile the
latter 3 predictors namely work environment, well-being and work-life balance are based on
engagement models by Kapoor (2012), Anitha (2014) and Taneja, Sewell, and Odom,
(2015). The comparison of factors of employee engagement between the two models is
illustrated in Table 3 below. Each of the predictor is also explained further in the following
discussion.

Table 2 Predictors of Employee Engagement

Predictors of Employee Engagement

Predictors based on Predictors based on

EFQM Excellence Model Engagement Model
Author (Year)
& Resources

Environment
Partnerships

Processes,
Leadership

Products &

Well-Being

Work-Life
Services
Strategy

Balance
People

Work

Tomlinson √ √ √
(2010)
Mani (2011) √ √ √
Nink and Welte √ √ √ √
(2011)
Bhatla (2011) √ √
Joshi and Sodhi √ √ √ √
(2011)
Kapoor and √ √ √ √ √ √
Meachem
(2012)
Harvard (2013) √ √ √
Rana, Ardichvili √ √ √ √
and Tkachenko
(2014)
Anitha (2014) √ √ √ √
Taneja, Sewell √ √ √ √ √
and Odom
(2015)
 814

Leadership

Years ago, leadership was often associated with an individual or an authoritative figure
who has control based on his position in a hierarchy (Piggot-Irvine, Henwood, & Tosey,
2014). Today, leadership is focused on relationships (Joshi & Sodhi, 2011), influence,
adaptability and complexity (Piggot-Irvine et al., 2014). Leaders who are visionary create a
culture of engagement that maintains employees’ trust, productivity, and satisfaction and
positioned the organisation towards success (Wiley, 2010). Leaders, who communicate,
support and show interest on employees will create an impact (Hart et al., 2010; Rana,
Ardichvili, & Tkachenko, 2014; Nink & Welte, 2011). Authentic and supportive leadership has
been suggested to impact employee engagement (Anitha, 2014; Dan-Shang & Chia-Chun,
2013) while transformative leadership has been proposed to be an appropriate theory to
conceptualitse behavioural engagement (Shuck & Herd, 2012). Considering that different
leadership behaviours may affect employees differently, there have been recommendations
to having an integrated approach to leadership-engagement behavior (Carasco-Saul, Kim, &
Kim, 2014).

Strategy

The word ‘strategy’ is first used as a management term by Chandler (1962) to mean
long term goals and objectives as well as the course of action of an organisation (Steensen,
2013). Strategies are high-level plans describing activities or plan of action to which
organisations intend to achieve (EFQM, 2013). By understanding where the organisation
wishes to place itself, employees are driven and focused on achieving it. Tactics of
embedding individual goals with organisational goals have been proven to contribute to
organisation success (Harvard Business Review, 2013).

People

People, in this study, refers to all individuals employed by the organisation at all levels
of the organisation (EFQM, 2013). People (or employees) simply need to feel that they are
being listened to and valued (Doherty, 2010). This predictor is viewed from three main
aspects namely communication, performance management and rewards, recognition and
incentives.
Communication is between employee and his colleagues or managers, over the
phone, electronically, or personally (Harter & Adkins, 2015; Doherty, 2010). It is suggested
that organisations should invest in internal networks to create a workforce community that
employees can relate to (Kapoor & Maechem, 2012; Doherty, 2010; Tomlinson, 2010).
These network may provide employees the place/platform to share knowledge, interests and
experience within the organisation (Doherty, 2010) and it has been proven to help build a
sense of togetherness across various departments (Taneja et al., 2015; Anonymous, Kisses
Goodby to Bonuses, 2010).
Performance management is another aspect that promotes engagement. Performance
management is critical in keeping employees focused on achieving organisation’s goals
(Kapoor & Meachem, 2012; Doherty, 2010). Performance management can help employees
identify problems that may hinder them from completing a task that may decrease work
productivity (Harvard, 2013; Doherty, 2010).
Another factor that engages employees is rewards (Taneja et al., 2015; Anitha, 2014),
recognition and incentives (Harvard Business Review, 2013; Tomlinson, 2010; Anonymous,
Kia Kisses Goodby to Bonuses, 2010). Employees become engaged when their organisation
recognises and rewards them for their increased efforts and productivity. While rewards are
listed as items, gift cards or cash such as bonuses (Meija, 2015), recognition is simply the
act of saying “thank you for a job well done” (Meija, 2015). Incentive on the other hand, is
associated closely with rewards and recognition (Meija, 2015) thus items such as training
and development are suggested to be incentives for employees.
 815

Partnerships and Resources

The predictor of partnerships and resources is modelled after EFQM Excellence model
and is viewed as one predictor for engagement because it examines the relationship
between the organisation and other parties such as its suppliers and collaborators (EFQM,
2013). In this predictor, the organisation establishes itself with reputation (Taneja et al.,
2015; Ellis & Sorensen, 2007) and its resources be it assets (such as buildings and
equipment), internal resources (such as finances) and new technology and knowledge
(EFQM, 2013) to promote engagement among employees.

Processes, Products and Services

Processes, product and services are viewed as one predictor as it examines how the
organisation conducts and develops its products and services (EFQM, 2013). Employees
are encouraged to participate in setting the organisation’s goal as well as contributing ideas
to develop its products and services (Kapoor & Meachem, 2012). This effort creates a sense
of belongingness among employees (Kapoor & Meachem, 2012) and has been identified to
contribute to higher level of engagement (Kapoor & Meachem, 2012).

Work Environment

This study views the predictor of work environment as the substantial factor of
employee engagement. This is because work environment impacts the overall condition of
the workplace and effects employee to be either fully functional at work or otherwise (Rana
et al., 2014). A positive and supportive work environment contributes to a workplace climate
that is empowering, safe and meaningful (Deci and Ryan, 1987; Harter & Adkins, 2016;
Holbeche & Springett, 2003; May et al., 2004; Rich et al., 2010; Shuck & Wollard, 2010). For
this, work environment is proposed to be divided into five aspects namely i) job design,
characteristics and content; ii) democratise workforce; iiii) team and co-worker as well as iv)
organisation policies, procedures, structure and system.
Job design, characteristics and content are suggested to contribute to work
environment because they provide meaningfulness, satisfaction and motivation at work
(Kahn, 1990; Mat et al., 2004; Rana et al, 2015). Jobs that are clearly identified, creative,
challenging and supportive show in employees’ behavioural and attitudinal outcomes
especially relating to work performance and absenteeism (Fleck, 2010; Joshi and Sodhi,
2011; Kahn, 1990; Kapoor and Maechem, 2012; May et al., 2004; Rana et al., 2014; )
Democratise workforce is another trait that promotes positive and supportive work
environment as it encourages empowerment and participation in organisational processes
where employees’ opinions are valued and respected, regardless of their position in the
organisation (Taneja et al., 2015, Mani, 2011).
Team and co-worker emphasise mainly on interpersonal harmony (Mani, 2011)
whereby positive teammates at work contribute immensely to a meaningful work
environment (Anitha, 2014) by providing a supporting and trusting work relationship,
promotes employee engagement by way of making an employee feel safe and involved in
his/her work tasks and responsibilities (Kahn, 1990; May, Gilson, and Harter, 2004).
Organisation policies (Anitha, 2014) and culture (Bhatla, 2011) include the procedures,
structures and system contributes to positive work environment. Policies and procedures
that are ‘employee friendly’ such as flexi-work time, work-life balance and fair promotional
opportunities display concern for employees’ needs and feelings, thus have positive impact
on employee engagement (Schneider et al., 2009; Rama Devi, 2009; (Richman, Civian,
Shannon, Hill, & Brennan, 2008).
 816

Well-Being

Described as all the things that are crucial to determine how employees feel (Rath &
Harter, 2010), well-being is said to be the most important aspect that influences employee
engagement (Anitha, 2014) and employee performance (Witters, Agrawal, & Harter, 2015).
Healthways (2017) suggested the use of Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that looks at a
person’s well-being elements (i.e purpose, social, financial, community and physical).
According to the index, purpose measures day to day activities likeliness and motivations;
social measures supportive relationship and love; financial measures economic life;
community measures surrounding; and physical measures health and energy (Witters et al.,
2015). Similarly, employee well-being is associated with employee welfare (Mani, 2011) in
providing the health and happiness to employees.

Work-Life Balance

Another factor that predicts employee engagement is work-life balance (Kapoor &
Meachem, 2012; Joshi & Sodhi, 2011). Simply put, work-life balance strives to create high
levels of engagement by providing employees’ the opportunity to balance between work and
individual/personal goals (Taneja et al., 2015). It is the term used to refer to organisation
support for dependent care, flexible work options and family or personal leave (Beauregard
& Henry, 2009; Bedarkar & Pandita, 2014; Estes & Michael, 2005). It is important to
establish work-life balance as a predictor for engagement because it looks at the emotion
focus of employees especially if there exists conflicting work roles (such as an employee or
manager) and non-work roles (such as parents, friends etc.) (Burn, 2015).

TOWARDS CITIZEN CENTRIC PUBLIC SERVICE EXCELLENCE

EFQM Excellence Model used in this study is based on the concept that organisations
will achieve better results when all employees are involved in the continuous process for
improvement (Pyke, Gardner, Wilson, Hopskins, & Jones, 2001). It also recognises all of its
employees’ strengths and weaknesses as well as the overall areas that needed
improvements. EFQM is comprised of nine criteria and is divided into two parts – enablers
and results (Pyke et al., 2001). Enablers focuses on what the organisation does and how to
do it, while results emphasis on what the organisation achieves (Thawani, 2015). The five
criterion for enablers namely leadership, people, strategy, partnerships and resources as
well as processes, products and services are integrated with previous models of
engagement namely work environment, well-being and work-life balance to suggest a
conclusive and holistic citizen centric - employee engagement model.

CONCLUSION

The rise of public service transformation and the need for public organisations to make
more with less, public service employees are faced with never ending demands from
citizens. This in turn may generate negative implications on their job such as being
overburden and demoralised. The exploration between factors of employee engagement and
citizen centric public service excellence is significant to understand what drives employee to
be engaged and contribute to the existing literature on the predictors of employee
engagement particularly from the perspective of the public sector. This study hopes to
provide the additional knowledge to the field of organisational management and public
service delivery especially in identifying the predictor that has the most influencing factor
towards achieving citizen centric public service excellence. Subsequently, by identifying
relevant predictors that predict excellence, this study hopes to offer new perspectives,
suggests solutions and creates new practices as well as provides insights for the Malaysian
 817

Public Service Department to impart and develop employee engagement as a culture that
boosts public employees’ productivity and consequently elevate public sector excellence as
a whole.

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 823

A Study on Factors Influencing JK1M Participants to Join Jom

Kurus 1Malaysia Program
Jennifah Nordin
Lecturer, of Faculty Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
jenni235@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Wan Firdaus bin Wan Chik

Lecturer, Faculty of Sport Science and Recreation
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
firdaus085@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Nur Afisha Yusuf

Lecturer, of Faculty Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MaRA Sarawak
nuraf412@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Jati Kasuma Ali

Senior Lecturer, of Faculty Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
jati@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The obesity case in Malaysia has increased and become acute which may lead to chronic
disease. This result in several health programs including Jom Kurus 1Malaysia (JK1M)
program, a six weeks program to guide participants about dietary and fitness planning. This
program expected to overcome overweight, obesity problem and able to create healthy
lifestyle among Malaysian. There are several objectives of this study which include; to
identify the most dominant factor that attracting JK1M participants to join JK1M program; to
differentiate participant’s involvement based on gender; and to identify relationship between
self-motivation, family medical history, and participants overall experience with JK1M
program. There are 150 respondents selected to answer the questionnaire which consist of
former JK1M participants for area of Kuching and Kota Samarahan, Sarawak. Findings
revealed that self-motivation is the most dominant factors attracting participants to join JK1M
program. Pearson correlation test was used to examine the relationships and data revealed
that only participants overall experience have significant relationship with JK1M program. In
terms of gender there was no difference between male and female with their involvement
with JK1M program.

Keywords: JK1M, Obesity & Physical Activity

INTRODUCTION

Obesity is a worldwide problem which not only affected our country Malaysia but also
becomes the major public health problem affecting UK citizens. Study conducted by Stubbs,
Morris, Pallister, Horgan and Lavin (2015) indicated that over 60 percent of adults in UK was
experiencing obesity and overweight. Literature also revealed that a few study related to
obesity has been conducted in Australia, America, Canada, India, China, Indonesia and
middle east country. While a global obesity study conducted in year 2008 covering 106
countries which represents approximately 88% of the world population reported that if the
 824

issues of obesity continuously become a rampant issue, by 2030 about 57.8% of the world’s
adult population which is equivalent to 3.3 billion people could be either be categorized as
overweight or obese (Kelly, Yang, Chen, Reynolds & He, 2008). The previous literature
findings is considered a message informing us that obesity is a universal subject matters that
need to be solved.
Moreover, according to Mushamir Mustafa (2016), it was reported that about 50 per
cent of Malaysian are obese in which 49 per cent of women and 44 per cent of men in
Malaysia were found to be obese. Furthermore study conducted in year 2014 by British
medical journal reported that Malaysia was rated the top highest in Asia compared to South
Korea, Pakistan and China in terms of obesity.
Obesity is also affecting the Malaysian civil servants. Nicholas Cheng the journalist
of the Star reported in April 2016 that National Health and Morbidity Survey found out
Putrajaya as the city with the highest percentage of overweight and obese people in
Malaysia. In addition, the obesity rate was stood at 40.3 per cent and two out of every five of
Malaysia’s civil servants are considered as obese.
In terms of ethnicity, Ghee (2016) reported that Malays and Indians are more obese
than Chinese. While Orang Asli are the least obese ethnic group in Malaysia.
Weight management program seems to be one of the crucial strategy to improve
obesity (Cioffi, 2002). Malaysia so far has a few program conducted to overcome a problem
of obesity and creating healthy lifestyle such as Fit Malaysia. Fit Malaysia is a program
organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sport. It aims to encouraged and facilitate Malaysian
to adopt a healthy lifestyle and to make Malaysia as a sport country.
One of the well-known weight management program is Jom Kurus 1Malaysia
(JK1M). This program is a 6 weeks program that was organized by a professional trainer
namely Kevin Zahri. JK1M program conducted over 100 places all over Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei.
The prime objective of JK1M program is to guide the participant about dietary and
fitness planning for lost weight. In addition, there are various activities that take place during
the program. For example, boot camp, aerobic, futsal, hiking and gym exercise. The fee is
Rm300 for 6 weeks program and membership for the whole life.
Due to the obesity problem and the growing of numbers of fitness program such as
JK1M, the researcher interested to study the most dominant factors attracting participant to
join the JK1M program, to differentiate participant involvement based on gender, , to identify
relationship between self-motivation and JK1M program, to examine relationship between
family medical history and JK1M program, and to ascertain relationship between participants
overall experience and JK1M program.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Nowadays obesity and overweight are common public health crisis (Ahmad Ali
Zainuddin et.al) which is connected with an increase of chronic disease such as
cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, stroke, osteoarthritis and
some cancer. In conjunction with this problem, there is a need for weight management
programs which can be delivered in any health care settings (Arigo et al., 2015).
In the article “Malaysia’s the fastest country in Asia, so why aren’t we spending on
our health?” (2016), Dr Muhammad Hakim the President of the Malaysian Doctor’s Club
commented that Ministry of Youth and Sport has play their role to promote health awareness
by introducing Fit Malaysia Campaign (News straits Times;2016). The campaign so far able
to motivate the Malaysian to participate in fitness activity such as JK1M. He further stressed
out even marathons activities become more well accepted and popular among citizens,
however it does not able to address the issues of obesity and chronic disease in Malaysia.
While Study conducted by Stubbs, Morris, Pallister, Horgan and Lavin (2015)
highlighted that weight management programs able to assist people to manage their weight
but little research has been conducted for those who willing to pay to attend such program.
 825

Most study was only referred as primary care. Little is known also on a study conducted in
Malaysia on Weight management program such as JK1M, Astro Bella Jom Kurus and Hit Fat
Malaysia Thus the researcher interested to conduct this study to contribute a literature on
factors attracting the participants of JK1M program to join the program.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Base on previous literature there are a few factors that attracts the public to join
weight management program, namely self-motivation, family medical history and participants
overall experience as discussed below:-

Self-motivation

Previous literature revealed that there are numerous reasons for public joining any
weight management program. As said by Cioffi (2002), among the factors influencing the
participants to join the program is recognition of being weight and not being fit. Some
participants join the program was to manage weight, lose weight, to have healthy diet and
finally to improve their health (Stubs, Morris, Pallister, Horgan & Lavin, 2015).
While others registered for the program due to age factor where they realize that they
were getting old and it’s crucial for them to stay healthy (Cioffi, 2002). Stubs et al. (2015)
and Herriot, Thomas, Hart, Warrant & Truby (2007) further explain in his study that to
improve energy and fitness level are another reasons for joining the slimming and fitness
program.
When the participants clothes getting tighter , they start realized to join the program
to have more beautiful body and to look better in clothes and able to buy smaller clothes
size or getting back into clothes that no longer fitted and to look beautiful ((Stubs et al.,
2015, Herriot et al., 2007 & Cioffi, 2002). Beside that some people influencing to join this
program for short-term reason for example wanting to lose weight due to specific occasion
such as wedding and holiday (Pallister, Avery & Lavin, 2009).
Next reasons are due to participants’ wish to increase self-confidence, self-esteem,
and self-satisfaction (Herriot et al., 2007). Based on previous literature review, thus he
following hypothesis is developed:

H1: There is a positive association between self-motivation and weight management

program

Family Medical History

The other contributing factors is the participants were force to join the program as a
result of a medical valuation or due to their family medical history for example if their family
is genetically obese or suffer from critical disease such as diabetes (Cioffi,2002). So they
need to participate in such program to prevent themselves suffer from any disease and stay
away from being obese person. Thus based on previous literature review, the following
hypothesis is developed:

H2: There is a positive association between Family medical history and weight
management program.

Participants Overall Experiences in Weight Management Program

The other factors that able to attract public to join weight management programs is
the overall existing participants or previous participant’s experiences in weight management
 826

program classes. Participants feeling on the program such as whether they have positive
view, whether they are happy or satisfied with the program will lead to positive image of the
program which later will attract more participants to join the program in future. Cioffi (2002)
in her study found out that weight management program classes are enjoyable, affordable,
comprehensible, up-to-date, informative, and relaxed. The participants also agreed that the
program able to increase their level of motivation, self-reinforcement, and self-esteem.
Indirectly, it means the participants experience is useful to measure either ‘weight
management program effective or vice versa.
A good coach or trainer also become one of the factor in measuring effectiveness of
the program which later will project good reputation for prospect participants. The leader who
are supportive, competent, understand and very informative are one of contributing factors
positive experience among the participants.
Another perspective that measures the effectiveness of weight management
programs is through the exercise provided (Cioffi, 2002). If the participants feel that the
exercise provided is easy and beneficial to them and met their expectation, they will satisfied
with the program. Based on previous literature review, the following hypothesis is
developed:

H3: There is a positive association between participants overall experiences and weight
management program

Comparison in Participant Involvement Based on Gender

Most of the previous study found out that women are the highest participants in
weight management program compared to men even though the level of obesity for men are
almost same with women (Stubs et al., 2015). However study indicated that even females
are the highest participants but men’s are the one frequently attend such program if
compared to women (Stubs et al., 2015). He further revealed that men experienced more
weight loss and body mass index change compared to women. Based on the previous
literature review, the following hypothesis is developed:

H4: Men are more active involve in any weight management program

Weight Management Program /Jom Kurus 1Malaysia Program

There are a few well known weight management program namely Astro Bella Jom
kurus and Jom Kurus 1Malaysia. Each of the program have their own objectives. The
objective of Astro Bella Jom Kurus is to expose and provide advice to the participants about
the important of being healthy and fit. Furthermore, the objectives of this program are to
reduce weight within 30 days, to shrink down the statistic of obesity in Malaysia and to help
in realizing healthy lifestyle concept especially among women.
A document from the Perak today (2016) stated that Natasha Hashim, the manager
of Astro Bella channel reported that the Astro Bella Jom Kurus objective is to increase
awareness among the participants and to reduce the potential of public to experience
chronic diseases. In addition, the program is not only changing the lifestyle of the
contestants but inspired the viewers.
While, primary objectives of JK1M Program are to guide the participant about dietary
and fitness planning within six weeks. Figure 3.6 below is the conceptual framework for the
study.
 827

Figure 3.6 Conceptual Framework

Factors

 Self-Motivation
 Family Medical
History
Demographic
 Participants
overall
 Gender JK1M
experience PROGRAM

Demographic
 Gender


RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A cross sectional study was used to collect data from September 2016 to November
2016. The study was carried out to investigate the factors influencing JK1M participants to
join JK1M Program. 150 questionnaires were distributed to the former participant of JK1M
program for the area of Samarahan and Kuching Sarawak. Each JK1M program consist of
30 participants which every year there are only 2 sessions being conducted. Thus, the
researcher decided to cover 5 sessions of JK1M program as sample. For each year first
session was started in the month of January until February, while, the second session was
conducted on August until September. 150 participants and former participants of JK1M area
Samarahan and Kuching were selected as respondents. In this study, census sampling
technique was used since the number of respondents was limited and the researchers cover
the total numbers of respondents. Table 4.0 below indicates the sample size for the study.

Table 4.0 Sample Size

Session Numbers of Respondents Area

Session 1 Jan-Feb 2015 30 Samarahan
(JK1M-session 4)
Session 2-Aug-Sept 2015 30 Samarahan
(JK1M-session 5)
Session 1 Jan-Feb 2016 30 Samarahan
(JK1M-session 6)
Session 2-Aug-Sept 2016 30 Samarahan
(JK1M-session 7 )
Session 2-Aug-Sept 2016 30 Kuching
(JK1M-session 7 )

The questionnaire were consist of 3 sections: Section 1 was demographic profile,

Section 2 was a questions for all the independent variables that are self-motivation, family
 828

medical history, and participants overall experience and Section 3 was consist of questions
related to dependent variable that is JK1M program.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

The response rate for this study was 100% (n=150). As result, the total questionnaire
analyzed were 150 (100%).

Pilot Study

Pilot study has been conducted, before actual questionnaire were distributed and the
data is as describes in table 5.0 (a) below:

Table 5.0 (a): Cronbach’s Alpha Reading for Pilot Study

Cronbach’s Alpha No of Item

0.899 39

Based on the result of the pilot study shown on Table 5.0 (a) above, the Cronbach’s
Alpha of the pilot study shows very good internal consistency with 0.899. It shows that the
questionnaires are reliable to be distributed to the JK1M participants.
Cronbach Alpha study also was carried out for the actual questionnaires and the data
is as describe in table 5.0 (b) below:

Table 5.0 (b): Cronbach’s Alpha Reading for Actual Study

Cronbach’s Alpha No of Item

0.789 39

Based on the result shown on Table 5.0 (b) above, the Cronbach’s Alpha of the real
study shows the good internal consistency with 0.789. It shows that the questionnaires are
reliable to be distributed to the JK1M participants.

Most Dominant Factors Influencing JK1M Participants to join JK1Malaysia Program

In order to identify the most dominant factor that influence JK1M participants to join
JK1M program, the researchers used descriptive method to determine the mean of all the
factors like self-motivation, family medical history and participants overall experience. Table
5.2 (a) below describe the mean reading for each variables.

Table 5.2 (a) Most Dominant Factors Influencing JK1M Participants to Join JK1M
Program

N Minimum Maximum Mean

Self-motivation 150 2.71 5.00 4.303
Ba Family medical history 150 1.00 5.00 3.042
sed on the Participants overall 150 2.75 5.00 4.195
table experience
above, means for total self-motivation is 4.303, followed by total family factor 3.042.
Meanwhile for participants overall experience the means is 4.195. The data shown that, the
most dominant factors influencing JK1M participants to JK1M program are self-motivation.
 829

The finding is in line with the statement by Cioffi (2002) that the self-motivational factors
influence participants to join the program.
Regression analysis also has been conducted on the most dominant factor
influencing JK1M participants to join JK1M program. Table 5.2 (b) below describe the data.

Table 5.2 (b) Regression Analysis on the Most Dominant Factors Influencing JK1M
Participants to Join JK1M Program

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std.Error of the Estimate

1 .410a .168 .145 .52716

Based on the table 5.2 (b) above, there is a moderate positive relationship between
dominant factor that influence the participants to join JK1M program, with r=0.410. While the
coefficient of determination, r2=0.168 indicates that 16.8% that influence the participants to
join JK1M program is depends on the factor of self-motivation, family medical history, and
overall experience of participants and another 83.2% is affected by unknown factors.

Participant’s involvement based on gender.

T-Test was used to compare gender and JK1M program, the result shows that the
value of Levene’s Test indicates that the value of significant is greater than 0.05, which is
0.511 where its show there is no significant differences between male participants
(M=3.39,SD=0.44) and female participants (M=4.46, SD=0.80) involvement in JK1M
program . Table 5.3 below describe the data.

Table 5.3 Participants Involvement Base on Gender

Group Statistics
Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Female 107 4.3972 .44826 .04334

JK1M
Male 43 4.4651 .80142 .12222

Independent Sample T test

Levene Test for T test for Equality Means

Equality of Variances
F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Equal
JK1M Variance 1.301 .256 -.659 148 .511
assumed

Equal
Variance
not
assumed -5.24 52.894 .603
 830

From the Independent Sample t-test table, researchers choose Equal Variance
Assumed because p>0.05 for Levene’s Test. For T-test, t (148) = -.659, p=0.511. This
implies that there is no significant difference between gender of the respondents and JK1M
program. Its mean male and female have the same level of involvement.

Relationship between Self-motivation and JK1M Program

Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between self-
motivation and JK1M program. Tables 5.5 below describe the data.

Table 5.4 Relationship between self-motivation and JK1M program

Self-motivation JK1M
B
ased Pearson Correlation 1 .100
on the Self-Motivation Sig. (2-tailed) .223
result N 150 150
in Pearson Correlation .100 1
table JK1M Sig. (2-tailed) .223
5.4, N 150 150
there is no significant relationship and weak positive relationship between self-motivation
and JK1M program (r=0.100, p>0.05) p=0.223. Thus, H1 is rejected and Ho is accepted by
the researchers. The finding is difference from the statement by Cioffi (2002), where his
study revealed that self-motivation is one of the factors attracting participants to join weight
management program.

Relationship between Family Medical History and JK1M Program

Based on the result in table 5.5i, there is no significant relationship and weak
negative relationship between family medical history and JK1M program (r=-0.043, p>0.05)
p=0.603. Thus, H1 is rejected and Ho is accepted by the researchers.

Table 5.5 Relationship between Family Medical History and JK1M Program

Family medical JK1M

history
Pearson Correlation 1 -.043
Family medical
history Sig. (2-tailed) .603
N 150 150
Pearson Correlation -.043 1
JK1M Sig. (2-tailed) .603
N 150 150

Relationship between Participants Overall Experience and JK1M Program

Based on the result in table 5.7 below, there is a significant and weak positive
relationship between participants overall experience and JK1M program (r=0.391, p<0.05)
p=0.000. Thus, H1 is accepted and Ho is rejected by the researchers.
 831

Table 5.6 Relationship between Participants Overall Experience and JK1M Program

Participants JK1M
overall
experience
**
Participants Pearson Correlation 1 .391
overall Sig. (2-tailed) .000
experience N 150 150
**
Pearson Correlation .391 1
JK1M Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 150 150

LIMITATION AND SUGGESTIONS

The first limitation is lack of generalizability, where the scope of study is only
applicable for JK1M program in Samarahan and Kuching only. The data does not represent
JK1M participant’s response for JK1M program in Sarawak and Malaysia. The other
limitation in the study is, the method used to collect the data. This is where researchers only
using questionnaire to collect the data. Preliminary interview only being conducted to obtain
information on JK1M program in Samarahan.
Since the study only cover Samarahan and Kuching Sarawak with only 150
respondents, we suggest future researchers to cover bigger scope of study such as the
whole Sarawak. The other recommendation is future researcher to use various type of data
collection method such as interview session. This will reflect the reliability and relevancy of
the study findings.
Regression analysis data reported that only 16.8% of the factors namely self-
motivation, family medical history, and overall experience of participants represent the JK1M
participants to join the program another 83.2% is affected by unknown factors. Due to that
reason we recommend future researchers to include other new factors in their study.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We would like to express our since appreciation to JK1M coach Kota Samarahan
area, Mr Nazrie Abdullah Sulaiman who was willing to help us to reach the respondents and
to Siti Riziana binti Salbini and Nurfadzilla binti Hasib for assisting us in completing this
study.

REFERENCES

Adina C. (2011). Concerns over NHS referrals to weight loss progrmmes. Retrieved 15 April
2016 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/13473941/concerns-over-nhs-
referrals-to-weight-loss-programmes

Ahmad Ali Zainuddin et al. (2016). Prevalence and socio-demographic determinant of

overweight and obesity among Malaysian adult. International Journal of Public Health
Research Vol 6 no 1, 661-669. Retrieved from

Arigo D. et al., (2015). Veterans health administration’s MOVE! weight management

programme: programme care clinicians’ perceptions of programme implementation.
Military Medicine, 1027-1033. Retrieved from http://Cabaran Jom kurus.com
 832

Cioffi J, (2002). Clients’s experiences of a weight management programme: A qualitative

study. Health education, Vol.102 Iss 1 pp.16-22.doi.org/10.1108/096542802109412367

Ghee L.K (2016). A review of adult obesity research in Malaysia. Med Malaysia Vol 71,
1-19. Retrieved from http://google.scholar.com

Herriot M., Thomas D.E, Hart.K.H, Warren.J & Truby H., (2007). A qualitative investigation of
individuals’ experiences and expectation before and after completing a trial of commercial
weight loss programmers. J. Hum Nutr Diet, 21, 72-80. Retrieved from
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Kelly T., Yang W,. Chen C-S,. Reynolds K and He J (2008). Global burden of obesity in
2005 and projections to 2030. International journal of obesity Issues 32, 1431-
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Malaysia’s the fastest country in Asia, so why aren’t we spending on our health?
(2016, October 12). Retrieved from
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asia-so-why-aren’t-we-spending-our-health

Nicholas Cheng (2016). Putrajaya tops obese list. Retrieved from

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/04/02/putrajaya-tops-obese- list-
obesity-on-the-rise-worldwide-it -has-highest-rate-of-overweight-people- in/

Mushammir Mustafa (2016, March 31). Malaysia obesity rate highest in Asia, has
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highest-in-asia-has-technology-led-to-our-widening-waistlines.html

Norhidayyu Zainal, (2015). Jom Kurus Bersama Kevin Zahri. Retrieved 15 April 2016
from http://www.sinarharian.com.my/hiburan/jom-kurus-bersama-kevin-zahri-
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Programme on Diet Activity Behavior and Health of Participant and Their Families.
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Perak today (2016, Jan). Astro Bella Anjur Program Jom Kurus Buat Kali ke Dua.
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jom-kurus-buat-kali-kedua/

Stubbs R.J., Liam M.., Caroly. P., Graham. Jacquie .H.L, 2015). Weight outcomes audit in
1.3 million adults during their first 3 Months’ attendance in a commercial weight
management programme. Retrieved 17 April 2016 from
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 833

Does Religions and Service Quality Determine Customers’

Preference in Selecting Islamic Bank?
Muhammed A’iyeman Mohammed
Undergraduate, Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
aiyeman98@yahoo.com

Irwan Shahrinaz
Graduate, Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
ishahrinaz@gmail.com.my

Jati Kasuma Ali

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
jati@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Jennifah Nordin
Lecturer, Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
jenni235@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Shamshul Anaz Kassim

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis
shamsulanaz@perlis.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The existence of conventional bank and Islamic bank creates competition in capturing
customer in Malaysia banking scenario. By offering quality in their products and
services to replace interest based product, Islamic banking manages to attract a large
number of customer. The purpose of the study is to explore the preference of
customers towards Islamic bank by using religion and service quality to find out which
variables is powerful enough to influence customer choice towards Islamic bank. A self-
administered useable questionnaire was collected from 200 consumers in different
Islamic bank in Sibu. The results reveal both religions and service quality have
relationship with customer preference in selecting Islamic bank in Sibu. But, in terms of
level influence, religion seems to give more impact on reasons for them choosing their
favourite banks. Implication and future research also presented

Keywords: Islamic banking, Consumer preference, Religions, Service Quality

INTRODUCTION

Pioneered by Egypt, Indonesia and Malaysia near the 70’s, financial institution
based on Islamic laws was introduced. To reshape the existing principals of banking in
the context of financial service and products within the mold of Islamic principals in
order to satisfy the demand and requirement of consumers, specifically among the
religious conscious bank customers are the main purpose of Islamic banking.
 834

According to most existing studies, majority of Muslim preferred Islamic Bank due
to their beliefs in Islamic principles concerning trade in comparison to other general
Muslim or non-Muslim people. Aside from profit maximization and other conventional
benefits, customers whom are Muslim preferred Islamic Bank because of the needs to
obey the Islamic principles.
Within Malaysia, the existence of conventional and Islamic banking had created
competition among banks within the banking industry. Even though the main reason for
the survivability of Islamic bank is mostly based on the support by Muslim customers,
the quality of the service and product offered is close to what the conventional bank
offered which end up attracting non-Muslim to choose Islamic Banking.
The research was carried out in one of the district in Sarawak, Malaysia called
Sibu with the population of 247,995 (Sarawak.gov.my, 2016) consisting of Malay,
Chinese, Iban, Orang Ulu and other indigenous groups. It was found that, the study
regarding Islamic banking has yet to be carried out for this area and this information
manages to triggers the interest of carrying out this research. Presently, there are two
local full fledge Islamic bank in Sibu which are Bank Islam as well as Bank Muamalat.
Also, there are other foreign bank like OCBC, Alliance, CIMB and some other dual
system which combines conventional as well as Islamic banking concept.
The purpose of the study is to explore the preference of customers towards
Islamic bank by using religion and service quality to find out which variables is powerful
enough to influence customer choice towards Islamic bank in Sibu. This will
consequently lead to customer satisfaction which would reflect the future potential of
Islamic banking in Malaysia. The objectives of this study are (1) To examine the
relationship of religion and service quality towards preference of Islamic bank in Sibu
and (2) To determine which independent variables which have more impact toward
preference of Islamic bank in Sibu.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Customer Preference in Selecting Islamic Bank

A study done by Haron (2004) explained that Islamic and conventional banks
differentiate with each other through some points. Islamic banks are totally opposite
with the investment of fixed return whereby it is money based transaction is not
accepted (rent on money). Therefore, do not charge interest, the banks developed
some investments techniques and instruments such as Bai-Murabahah, Musharakah
and Mudaraba for purpose of investment to earned profit.
According to Ahmad and Haron (2002); Naser et al. (1999); and Metawa and
Almossawi (1998) the important factors while selecting banks are provision of quality
services, friends and family influences, confidentiality and bank’s name and image may
influences the attraction among customers and at the same time to measure their
satisfaction towards products and services provide by Islamic bank.
Based on Kaufman (1967), he found that the most influential factors reported by
households were convenient location to home or place of business, length of bank-
customers relationships and quality of services offered by the bank. A part from that
according to Almossawi (2001), young customers place more emphasis on factors like
a bank’s reputation, availability of parking space near the bank, friendliness of bank
personnel and those related to Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) such as their
availability in several convenient locations and 24-hours availability of ATM service.
Religion

According to Rehman and Shabbir (2010) religion play important role in shaping
people knowledge, attitudes and beliefs as well as it impact on customer decision and
action because it enlighten them about things that are prohibit and not prohibit. The
 835

other studies carried out by Azeemi et al. (2004) identify four sub dimensions which are
awareness, differentiation, obstacle and acceptability. The first dimension is
‘awareness’ where they found that customers are aware of Shariah laws but lacking in
term of Shariah based financial system. The second dimension is ‘differentiation’, where
they measure the respondent’s knowledge regarding the difference between Islamic
and conventional product. The third is ‘obstacle’ referring to something that hinder the
growth of Shariah based financial system and finally the fourth dimension ‘acceptability’
which shows the step in order for consumer to accept Shariah based financial system.
In conclusion, this shows that the awareness of consumer towards Shariah based
financial system is low.

Service Quality

The quality of services offered by either a conventional or an Islamic bank must

be of phenomenon quality. A high quality service and product will attract customer and
also eventually results in customers’ satisfaction. For the past few decades, Islamic
banking had grown very well due to the increasing demand of better service quality and
the need to improve. Customer have knowledge and they know what they are capable
of, thus pushed Islamic banking to flourish and overcome conventional banking (Ahmad
et al., 2010). With the growth rate of 25 – 20 % annually, Islamic banking shows great
potential to surpass conventional banking, even though there are only two large Islamic
bank in Sibu, there are several conventional bank that had offered dual financial system
in order to capture the Muslim’s market. Ali et al. (2012) manages to identify the
important factors that attract and satisfy customers which are: bank image, bank
offering financial benefits to customers, customer care, service quality and bank
competitiveness. Shabbir el al. (2012) examined that the factor for growth in banking
sector of Pakistan is high quality services which leads to customer satisfaction,
customer retention, customer loyalty, reduction of customer complaint and efforts for
improvement in service quality.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design and framework

The purpose of this research is to know which variable among religions and
service quality have more impact on consumer preference in selecting Islamic bank.

Figure 1 Conceptual Model

Data Collection and Analyses

Data for the study is collected from the respondents by using a structured
questionnaire that is distributed by hand to the respondents in the Sibu area. The
questionnaire was categorized in two sections. Section one included the demographic
information of the customer (gender, age, academic qualification, income, marital status,
occupation). Section two includes information regarding the customers dealing with Islamic
 836

banks in accordance with religion and service quality. Descriptive methods are used to
describe behavioral data in general and some inferential analysis is performed to understand
the relationship among variables.

Reliability Test

The Cronbach’s alpha was computed using only the questions on the survey
instruments for religion, service quality and preference. All the items associated with any
particular attribute were reliably related to each other with values ranging from 0.840 to
0.870. The following Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients were obtained for these factors;
religion (0.846), service quality (0.860) and preference (0.869). These values meet the
minimum reliability score of 0.60 (Sekaran, 2003). Sekaran (2003) stated that any figure is
below than 0.60 is regarded as a poorly reliable instrument, on the other hand, those within
0.70 range is acceptable and over 0.80 is considered as good.

DATA ANALYSES AND FINDINGS

Respondent’s Profile

A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed and 200 are usable. Out of the 200
respondents in the study, 54.5% are females and 45.5% are males. 75.6% of respondents
are Malay followed by Iban with 18.2%, Orang Ulu with 2.8% and Chinese with 3.4%.
Majority of customers are married 61% as compare to unmarried which is 39%. Majority of
customer have income level of RM2,000 – RM4,999 with 51.5% as compared to below
RM2,000 with 30% and the remaining 18.5% belong to income group above RM5,000.

Research Objective 1: To examine the relationship between religion and service quality
towards customer preference of Islamic bank in Sibu.

Table 1 Religion and Customer Preference

Religion Preference
Religion Pearson Correlation 1 .772**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 200 200
Preference Pearson Correlation .772** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 200 200
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Based on Pearson Correlation Analysis for Religion, it shows that there is a positive
relationship between Religion and Preference with a significant value of r=0.772 that
indicates the strength of the relationship between each dimension are strong and positive, (p
value = 0.000) is significant at the 0.01 level (2 – tailed). This means, the objective of this
study is met as the result shows that Customer Preference in Selecting Islamic Bank is
influenced by Religion.
 837

Table 2 Service Quality and Preference

Service quality Preference

Service quality Pearson Correlation 1 .690**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 200 200
Preference Pearson Correlation .690** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 200 200
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Based on Pearson Correlation Analysis for Service Quality, it shows that there is a
positive relationship between Service Quality and Preference with a significant value of r=0.
690 that indicates the strength of the relationship between each dimension are strong and
positive, (p value = 0.000) is significant at the 0.01 level (2 – tailed). This means, the
objective of this study is met as the result shows that Customer Preference in Selecting
Islamic Bank is influenced by Service Quality.

Research Objective 2: To identify which independent variables has more impact toward
preference of Islamic bank in Sibu.

The r2 is 0.503 explaining that 50.3% of changes in the dependent variable value
(preference) can be explained by the independent variables included in the regression
equation (religion, and service quality). This means that the remaining 49.7% of r2 can be
explain by other factors that are not discussed in this study.

Table 3 Summary of coefficient

Standardized
Coefficient
Model Beta t Sig.
1 (constant) .299 .766
Religion .205 2.419 .017
Service Quality .096 1.372 .172

The result shows all the independent variables had relationship with the dependent
variable. According to Sekaran 2010, the significant below of p < 0.05 is generally accepted
conventional level in social science research. The finding shows p-value for both Religion
and Service Quality is below 0.05. This shows that the variables named Religion and Service
Quality are not significant to the research. Based on the standardized coefficients, the
Religion represents the highest Beta Value of 0.205 followed Service Quality with 0.096.
This estimation of Beta Value notifies the amount of increase in Customer Preference in
Selecting Islamic Bank that would be predicted by a one unit increase in the predictor
namely Religion and Service Quality. Thus, it shows that Religion leads to the most critical
effect size towards Customer Preference in Selecting Islamic Bank followed by Service
Quality.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The results show that all the dimensions (religion and service quality) can be used to
predict Customer Preference in Selecting Islamic Bank in Sibu.
Among the variables, Religion is found to be the most important factor of Customer
Preference in Selecting Islamic Bank in Sibu followed by Service Quality. Result shows that
Religion and Service Quality are positively related to customer preference in selecting
 838

Islamic Bank. Religion is found to be having a very strong relationship towards preference as
compared to Service Quality. Religion is found to have the highest effect size as compared
to Service Quality. In addition, the 50.3% variance explained the effect of those dimensions
towards Customer Preference in Selecting Islamic Bank. As recommendations, more
variables need to be explored in determining the best variable that can influence customer
preference in selecting Islamic bank. Hence, to give wider perspective the trends across
cultures in other countries could be established. These factors can be considered as areas
for future research.

REFERENCES

Ahmad, A., Rehman, U.K., Saif, I., & Safwan, N., (2010).An empirical investigation of Islamic
banking in Pakistan based on perception of service quality. African Journal of Business
Management, 4(6), 1185-1193.

Ahmad, N. & Haron, S. (2002).Perceptions of Malaysian corporate customers towards

Islamic banking products and services, International Journal of Islamic Financial
Services, 2(4), pp. 13-29.

Ali Raza ,Urooj Saddique, Umar Farooq, Saqib Awan ,Atif Amin (2012), Customers
Satisfaction towards Islamic Banking: Pakistan Perspective. Arabian Journal of
Business and Management Review, Vol 1, No.6.

AlMossawi, M. (2001), “Bank selection criteria employed by college students in Bahrain: an

empirical analysis”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 115‐25.

Azeemi, S.M., Baig, M.H., Ali, S.K., Raja, A.A. (2004) A Thesis on Society Behavior Towards
Shariah-based Financial System. MBA thesis, Iqra University, Karachi, Pakistan.

Haron, Sudin (2004), Determinants of Islamic Bank Profitability, The Global Journal of
Finance and Economics, Vol 1, n°1:49–64

Kaufman, G.G. (1967), A Survey of Business Firms and Households View of a Commercial
Bank, Appleton, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, Report to the Federal Reserve
Bank of Chicago.

Metawa, S. A And Almossawi, M. (1998). Banking Behavior of Islamic Bank Customers’

Perspective and Implications. International Journal of Bank Marketing. 16 (7), 299-313.

Naser, K., Jamal, A., & Al-Khatib, K. (1999). Islamic Banking: A Study of Customer
Satisfaction and Preferences In Jordan. International Journal of Bank Marketing. 17(3),
135-150.

Rehman, A. and M.S. Shabbir ,(2010).The Relationship Between Religiosity And New
Product Adoption. of Islamic Marketing,1(1):63-69

Sarawak.gov.my. (2017, January). Sarawak Population. Retrieved from The Official Portal of
the Sarawak Government:
http://www.sarawak.gov.my/web/home/article_view/158/175/.

Sekaran, U. (2003). Research methods for business (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &
Sons.
 839

Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2010). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building
Approach (5th edition). New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.

Shabbir, M.F., Aslam, D.H., Capusneanu, S., Barbu, C.M., & Tanveer, M.A, (2012)
Perceived Service Quality of Islamic and Non Islamic Banks Operating in Pakistan.
American Journal of Scientific Research (51), 27-36.
 840

Identifying Factor of E-Business Adoption among Home Stay

Operators in Kuching, Sarawak: Qualitative Study
Rebecca Dian
Undergraduate, Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
rbyka92@gmail.com

Dayang Nur Atikah Awang Masjar

Undergraduate, Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
dygnuratikah28@gmail.com

Jati Kasuma
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
jati@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Jennifah Nordin
Lecturer, Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
jenni235@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors of e-business adoption by home stay
operators in Kuching, Sarawak. Home stay is known as a private home that tourist
need to pay as they stayed as their own house and they can interact with community
as well. Entrepreneurs in Malaysia nowadays joining this programme as it can be a
second job for them to get extra income. Entrepreneur practices e-business in their
business management. E-business is the administration of conducting business via
internet. This would include the buying and selling of goods and services, along with
providing technical or customer support through the internet. However, not all
entrepreneurs know how to take advantages from e-business. E-business still not fully
utilized among home stay operators. This research involves 10 home stay operators as
key respondents by using semi-structured interview. The findings reveal that there are
four factors identified influence entrepreneurs to use e-business: the gaps of age home
stay operators on their communication style, the knowledge and experience of home
stay operators, home stay operators about e-business awareness, and business
location about their internet accessibility.

Keywords: Home stay, Entrepreneurs, E-business, Internet accessibility,

Communication Style

INTRODUCTION

In this century, many entrepreneurs adopted e-business in their business management.

E-business practices help much in business world. E-business is the way to improve existing
business practices. Lee and Kalakota, (2001) mentioned that e-business is a ‘disruptive’
innovation that is radically changing the traditional way of doing business. It enables
entrepreneurs to perform any electronics transactions along with value chain activities
Straub and Watson (2001). A study done by Oliver and Weber (1982), in early 1980s have
discussed a potential of E-business adoption to give many benefits in internal business
 841

functions of purchasing, manufacturing, sales and distributions. Tourism is one of the

economic sources of Malaysia. Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia (2014), states that
tourism has been second largest industry in Malaysia with contribution of more than RM120
billion in 2013 alone. Many entrepreneurs are involved in tourism. Tourism industry can give
high return to entrepreneurs besides they can help to promote Malaysia to other country
(Kalsom, 2007;2009). Homestay also has identified as an industry that has a unique
Malaysian appeal and packaged with tradition and cultural elements as well as natural
heritage (Intan et.al, 2011; Ibrahim & Rasid, 2009) that can attract foreign and local tourist to
choose homestay as their accommodation for their trip (Chan et.al, 2004). Nowadays, e-
business can be used as a new platform to market new businesses as by using traditional
business way E-business can make entrepreneurs management become more efficient as it
can help for cost reduction, improved exchanges of information and data, facilitated business
processes and consequently and improved coordination (DeBoer et al.,2002; Croom,2005).

RESEARCH PROBLEM AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

E-business can be describing as the use of information and communication in

technologies in all act of a firm both internally and in relation to its outside partners. Hinson
and Sorenso (2006) define e-business as an application of information and communication
technologies to facilitate the execution of organizational function. The huge impact of
awareness and education to entrepreneurs contribute to their revenue as most as
entrepreneurs could earn highly income if they utilized all the knowledge they have (Lin,
2012). There are many research studies on the adoption of e-business by largest
companies, but only fewer studies have been undertaken on the adoption of e-business for
small business by entrepreneurs, (Allisson, 2014). However, e-business not fully utilized
adopted by entrepreneurs as they are failed to embrace ICT and the internet. Alam and
Ahsan (2007) claim that although adopting give more benefits in supply chain management,
many SMEs in Malaysia still not practicing e-business. Mostly, SMEs in Malaysia have lack
of knowledge, skills, and strategies to adopted e-business.
Adoption e-business among entrepreneurs gives more advantages for them to manage
and expand their business. There has more disadvantages will arise if entrepreneur does not
practice e-business. Entrepreneur will face large cost to advertise their product. E-business
helps much in advertise the product such as use social media to promote their product.
Entrepreneurs can use social media such as Facebook, twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The problem that always concern by entrepreneur is about money transactions. Some
customers who paid by cash can lead to their loss because customer suddenly cancelled
booking but they are already do some preparation. Entrepreneur cannot be operated on
flexible time because they are not free for anytime. E-business will make all easier to
entrepreneur. It is very crucial to determine that the factors influence e-business adoptions
among homestay operators in Kuching. The research problems could be addressed through
the following research questions: What is the factor that could lead homestay operator to
adopt e-business for their business activities?

LITERATURE REVIEW

Adoption of E-Business in SMEs

Moodley, (2003) define e-business as any form of commercial or administrative

transaction or information exchange make by organizations are available over the internet.
This means everything involve in any transaction and management cross over the internet
are comes from e-business systems. Zhu, Xu and Derrick (2003) in their study of drivers of
e-business valued concluded that the pressure by competitive excite entrepreneurs to adopt
 842

e-business. In addition, competitive pressure is important to forcing entrepreneurs adopt new

technologies in their management, (Iocovou et al.,1995).
Modern firms nowadays face increasingly complex and competitive environment. Within
this context, organizational capabilities and technological innovation are major challenges
and crucial to firm’s success (Tornatzky and Fleischer, 1990; Veliyath and Fritzgerald, 2000).
A successful e-business systems adoption is recognized as a key concept of technological
innovation and investment (Damaskopoulos and Evgeniou, 2003; Jackson and Harris,
2003). Watson, Berthon, Pitt and Zikhan (2000) and Reedy, Schullo & Zimmer (2000) state
that e-business as any business carried out over an electronic network.
Lin (2008) state that e-business technologies different from adoption of traditional
business systems as e-business more complex, emerging technologies that can provide a
wide range of functionality ranging from developing online business processes to facilitating
cooperation with both customers and business partners (Lin, 2008, p.62). Croom’s (2005)
opinion that e-business as the use of system and open communication channel for whole
business transaction such as information exchange, commercial transaction and knowledge
sharing between organizations. It not only communication between entrepreneur with
customer but it involves all channel in business. Social media offer a unique marketing
method (Eagleman, 2003).
Li (2007) suggested e-business is about the uses of information and communication
technologies to enable organization in private and public sector to do things in different
ways. Porter (2001) suggested that internet can improve organization’s value chain become
more efficient. The advanced of technology let’s all benefits to both side for operators of
management and customers and also suppliers. E-business are worth to adopted because it
enables the firm to perform electronic transaction along value chain activities (Straub &
Watson, 2001: Zhu and Kraemer, 2002).

FACTORS OF E-BUSINESS ADOPTION AMONG ENTREPRENEURS

Technological Factors

Technologies are all different. The kind of technology features must be match and
suitable for different applications. All the nature, purpose, scope, and benefits of each
technology can make it suitable for different application (Markus and Keil, 1994; Kaplan and
Sahwney, 2000; Swanson, 1994). In all the noted theories, characteristics of technology are
highlighted as important determinants of its adoption. A study by O’Keelfe et al. (1998) is to
investigate the strength and weaknesses of being an early adopter of the web from small
firm context and they believe that aggressive first users of information technology can gain
business advantage in the same as early market entrants. ICT has also advances, enabling
systems to be linked together within and across organizations and national boundaries
(Menzies, 1993). However, changes in technology with their impact on the numbers and
skills of the workforce, pose a major challenge, for most organizations and those responsible
for the human resources of their organization (Bee and Bee, 1994). E-business is technology
that can helps entrepreneurs in their internal business function in their business
management such as money transaction, contacted with supplier and purchasing, and
market the product.

Perceived Relative Advantages

Rogers’ ideas to state that the more beneficial a technology is perceived, the more
suited for adoption it becomes. He emphasizes that relative advantage, compatibility and
simplicity in an innovation provide positive standing towards its adoption. MOA (Motivational,
Opportunity and Ability model) suggest that the features of technology help motivate the
adopter by offering certain perceived benefits to the adopter. TOE (technology,
 843

organizational and ability model) suggest that technology with characteristics superior to
other alternatives are more worth to adoption. The findings of Drew (2003) suggest that
SMEs are placing e-business at the centre of their technology strategy. Most the sample
firms reported that the driving force behind the adoption of e-business opportunities for
growth and need to keep up with competition. By adopting e-business in SMEs, the
entrepreneurs will get extra strength as e-business give more advantages for entrepreneurs
who applied it on their business management. E-business can help in an internal factor of
applying e-business. Entrepreneurs which fully adopt e-business in their business
management have more opportunity to build share in market.

Perceived Compatibility

Every organization can have different perspective on how useful a technology may be.
However, for some organization, adopting EPT (Effectiveness of E-Procurement
Technology) may have high risky ventures because of their lack of compatibility with their
existing technology. Such perceptions are influenced by the adopting organization’s level of
understanding of technology. For example, a centrally controlled firm may have better or
worse awareness of the EPT adoption effects on its performance. Same goes to the
authoritative for decision-making style may be biased towards certain innovations, thereby
eliminating the ability of the firm to accept them, (Arash, 2010). Entrepreneurs need to be
careful by using e-business. Not all types of business suitable for E-business. Perceive
compatibility means that e-business need to suit for the firm. E-business adopted for a firm
should compact with what firm have so that they can fully utilized e-business. Firm should
have ability to use e-business. E-business should be match firm for example match with their
cost, match with the knowledge that firm operators. E-business gives great advantages for
those firms which are really know how to take advantages from e-business technology.
Some of firm fail to applied innovation theory because they are not fixed the firm
requirements by the meaning it not compact to firm organization.

Perceived Complexity

Rogers’ (2003, p.257) defines complexity as “the degree to which an innovation is

perceived as relatively difficult to understand and use.” According to him, the complexity of
an innovation, as a perceived by members in a social system, negatively affect its rate of
adoption. Previous research done by Thong (1999), Frambach (et al., 1998), and Houghton
and Winklhofer (2002) on the effect of complexity on innovation adoption generally found a
negative relationship to exist with only a few of those showing a non-significant relationship
(Premkumar and Roberts, 1999; Sultan and Chan, 2000). It is expected that the more
difficult the innovation is perceived to be, the less likely are respondents to adopt it.
Perceived complexity give a challenge for a firm to adopt new innovation that is always
changing by the time. Each firm has their own degree of innovation. This firm innovation
follows the degree that fixed by each firm. Innovation in technology has a concern on
technology compatibility with other business related environment within organization (Al-
Qirim, 2007)

Growth of the Internet

One of the basis factors affecting the potential for e-business or internet adoption by
SMEs is the number of people connected to the internet. Both internet and information on
the web increased rapidly. Since the launch of the internet service in 1994, the internet plays
the important role in the massive information market in many countries (Srikantaniah and
Dong, 1997). The advantages from internet adoption and open standards of internet are the
main factors that affect the growth of the web.The growth of IT knowledge will become
challenges to entrepreneurs to follow the new technologies. Firms that have a business
specialist are more likely to adopt IT innovations because they could develop their own
 844

website or use specific technologies for a better management of the value chain (Lin and
Lee, 2005). IT knowledge is an important factor in the adoption of new technologies and
increases the levels of a firm’s technology adoption (McGowan and Madey, 1998). In his
study, Tiessen et al. (2001) found that technical capability facilitated firm’s e-business
adoption.

Organizational Factors

Size of Firm: The important of firm size must be compact to the technology use by
the firm because of its role as the source of firms, as well as since firm’s resources including
financial, and human capital might approximate firm size (Mole et al., 2004). A study
investigated by Premkumar and Roberts (1999) and Premkumar (2003) found that larger
firms in the small business group have a higher tendency to adopt communication
technologies than smaller ones. Similarly, Thong (1999) state that larger businesses in SME
business groups tend to adopt more advances IS as they have more resources available
Organizational Readiness: Readiness is in substance an organization’s internal
capability in accepting a new technology (Iacovou et al., 1995; Mehrtens et al., 2001).
Availability of resources are including of the accessible finances or personnel (Chwelos et
al., 2001) can also impact organizational readiness. Capital funding for new equipment
purchases, budgetary line items for training, and operational funding for added human
resources needs may be all considerations for the adoption of new technologies. In addition,
readiness includes the effects of three key determinants such as (a) Appropriate structure
and culture which permit the introduction of innovations are more ready, (b) Furthermore,
those organizations whose have the technological capabilities, know-how and personnel
skills to implement and use the innovation are more ready to applied and (c) Organizations
that have the financial means to purchase and to allocate adequate resources toward its
implementation show more readiness.
Top management: Support from top management has found strong experiential
support as a factor affecting the adoption of innovation. Bruque and Mayano (2007) in their
study found that top management are plays important role and become one of the important
factors that affected the speed of adoption of information technology in SMEs. The same
results were found in many other experiential innovation adoption studies (Bharati and
Chaudhury, 2006; Beatty et al., 2001; Premkumar and Roberts, 1999). However, Toe and
Pian (2003) found that on the factors affecting firm’s level of adoption of the web represented
in five levels differ from simple e-mail adoption to using the web to transform business
operations, found that top management support does not affect the level of adoption of the
web. Both explain that by saying there has little difference in top management support
among different levels of adoption.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The population of the study consisted of ten registered homestay operators in

Kuching city. This population are selected because Kuching has a high number for business
homestay in Sarawak as recorded in Sarawak Tourism Board. A purposive sampling method
was selected because of the knowledge of the respondents making them suitable for the
study (Sarantakos, 2005). Semi-structured interview is to use to collect the data. This
method selected to use because this research is study about participant’s experiences. It
comes with open-ended question. In data analysis, discussion method is used by researcher
to analyse recorded interview. All interview for audio recorded and transcribe verbatim.
 845

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

Information on 10 informants among registered of homestay operator are as follows:

Table 1 Participants Background

Name Age Education Level Years in Business Homestay Location

Ms. V 27 Diploma 3 Padawan
Mr. J 45 SPM 6 Padawan
Mr. J 41 SPM 8 Padawan
Mr. E 44 SPM 12 Padawan
Mdm. J 48 SPM 10 Padawan
Mdm. M 54 SPM 10 Matang
Mdm. S 58 SPM 8 Matang
Mr. M 57 SPM 18 Sematan
Mr. HjS 52 SPM 11 Matang
Mr. HjM 52 SPM 11 Matang

Age differences does influence selection of e-business

Age is not a barrier for a person who wants to run any business. Every entrepreneur
has their own way how to run their business no matter how old they are. It depends on how
they take opportunity to use any facilities or any resources. Age classified as Gen Y(18-29
years), Gen X(30-47 years), Baby boomers(48-65years). The way of each ages of group to
communicate is very differently per group ages. For Gen Y they are more to use social
media, Gen X use social media but they would like to use SMS or phone calls and for Baby
boomers they would like to deal face to face. Same cases on how home-stay operators are
take advantages from e-business technology. My respondents are from different group ages.
One of them from Gen Y, three of them from Gen X, and six of them from Baby boomers.

“..I prefer to use Facebook and blog to receive any booking from tourist. They
also can contact me through WhatsApp’s..”
MS.V, 27 years.

For three of respondents also provides the same opinion that they are like to prefer using
website, agent traveller, phone calls, e-mail, Facebook and blog.

“..I choose to deal with travel agencies because it can ease my work to deal
with customers especially for money transactions..”
MR,J 45 years.

The ways of Baby boomer communicate with customers are they like to contact directly with
tourist through phones calls or they like to deal face to face with tourist. The reasons behind
of this are because they are not familiar with social media.

“..I don’t have any social media. So, I just receive bookings through phone calls or
the tourist just comes to my home-stay.”

MDM.S, 58years

“..I received all bookings from tourist through phone calls. Some of them will come by
themselves as my homestay is well-known among tourist. Especially for local tourist.”
MR.M, 57 years.
“..For me, phone calls are much better to use. Faster and easy to deal with tourist.
You can reach a deal on instant time.”
MR.HjS, 52 years
 846

From this finding clearly show that the gaps of age have different communication style
among every groups of age. Communication style of homestay operators’ influent the way
they are deal with customers as Gen X and Gen Y more prefer to applied E-business and
Baby boomers more prefer traditional ways of business.

Knowledge and Experience Provide Homestay Operator an Idea to Use e-Business

Managing a business is not easy for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs should have

knowledge about what are they going to manage and what are they are need to practices on
their business. Nowadays, E-business is practices among entrepreneurs especially for
SMEs. However, e-business is not practices for all homestay operators. From the findings,
only some home-stay operators who are fully utilized e-business. Mostly of homestay
operators are not practices e-business because they lack knowledge about technology
especially about social media as a tool of e-business.

“..When I attend seminar with other homestay operators, most of them already aged.
They much like to use phone call to receive customers request or customers just
come to them rather than use other social media such as Facebook, website, twitter,
Instagram, blog because they have lack of knowledge on how social media works for
their business. They also don’t like to explore what technology can offers them”

MR.J, 41years.

“..I don’t have any knowledge about social media. How to use it as tools to promote
my homestay. I just receive phone call if customer want to stay at my home-stay ..”

MDM.S, 58years.

“...I have blog and Facebook. But it’s not me myself who create that two. My niece
who is helps much to create it for my home-stay. I don’t have any idea about social
media. Any transaction or updating contains of blog and Facebook are handling by
her. But she only helps me on her free time because she just helps and not works
with me. So, any online transaction I just leave to her. I don’t know how to handle it
when it comes to e-business..”
MDM.J, 48years.
Some of them also lack experience to run homestay even though they have
knowledge about social media. One of my respondents who take over her late dad business
homestay said that she need to learn more as she is new to this business.

“..I just take over this business about three years ago. I’m still new in homestay
business. I know some basic knowledge on how to use e-business in our business.
However, experience is important to handle some business. For me, it’s very hard
because I’m start with zero. But, I’m glad that e-business can helps because I’m not
full time homestay operators because I’m working.”
MS.V, 27years.
One of the respondents has run home-stay business from 1997 until now. He doesn’t
use e-business on his homestay management. He is very confident with his homestay
business because he has many experiences on managing his business.

“..I am the first entrepreneurs for homestay business on Sarawak join homestay
programme conducted by government. I have many experiences in the past 18 years
ago, till now I handle this business alone. My homestay is very famous among local
tourist. So, I don’t need e-business to operate my home-stay. I much interested to use
phone call with my customers.”

MR.M, 57years
 847

Knowledge and experience by managing homestay are both important to homestay

operator. By using knowledge about E-business it will help homestay operators to become
more efficient at the same time they also can gain experience to improve their homestay
management on controlling the bookings from tourist.

Awareness of e-Business

E-business is a good technology to apply on business. It has many advantages for any
entrepreneurs to adopt on their business management. SMEs nowadays are applying e-
business on their management. Some home-stay operators also take advantages from e-
business as it can help them so much on any transactions. Home-stay operators who are
aware of e-business will fully utilized e-business on their home-stay business.

“..E-business is good for my business. Those who do not have an awareness of the
goodness of e-business are very loss because they are losing opportunities to take
advantages from e-business. E-business can help in reducing costs such as
promoting cost. Now, I want to use less paper works, so I use my social media to
promote or to introduce my home-stay to tourist. Plus, I can promote my home-stay to
foreign tourist as e-business don’t have any limitation to local tourist only...”

MR.J, 41 years.

However, e-business is still not familiar among home-stay operators. There many
homestay operators are still not aware about e-business and how social media as e-
business tools to helps in their business management. For my findings, six from ten of my
respondent is not aware of e-business.

“..I’m not familiar with e-business and not aware of it. I’m not use e-business..”

MDM.S, 58 years.

“.. I’m not sure what e-business is and how it can work for my home-stay. I’m not
aware of e-business..”

MR.HjS 52 years.

“..I’m not aware about e-business. I don’t care about e-business. I just think I am too
old to explore more about technology, about social media, about e-business. What
are government provided for me is already good enough...”
MDM.HjhM, 54 years.

The awareness about e-business can give a great opportunity to them is very low.
High awareness of e-business can make a business become more efficient.

Business Location and Internet Accessibility Does Play Roles

Business location can influence the uses of e-business on business management. Business
location that has high accessibility of internet can adopt e-business very well and this will
give advantages for entrepreneurs. Home-stay location usually at village which means the
accessibility of internet is very limited. For my findings, it is found that some homestay has
very limited accessibility of internet and they mush prefer to use phone calls to deal with
tourist.

“..Internet accessibility in this village is very limited. That the one of the reasons for
me not to use e-business. By using phones call much faster to deals with
customers...”
 848

MR.M 57years.

However, business location that has low internet access is not a barrier for some of
home-stay operators to adopt e-business. One of my respondents is a full-time home-stay
operator who is adopting e-business to run his home-stay business.

“…even our location has limited accessibility of internet, but it is not a reason for us
not to adopting e-business. You can go to café cyber or any place to online. To check
your blog, Facebook, website. For me it is not a big issue to get some advantages for
e-business..”
MR.J 41years

“…even our location has limited accessibility of internet, but it is not a reason for us
not to adopting e-business. You can go to café cyber or any place to online. To check
your blog, Facebook, website. For me it is not a big issue to get some advantages for
e-business..”
MR.J 41years

“..I’m working at town. So, I can check any e-mail, or Facebook bookings when I’m
working...”
MS.V, 27years.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Home-stay operators in Kuching Sarawak mostly consist of retirees. Home-stay

business is businesses that contribute to Sarawak economy income. Home-stay need to
manage well as there has e-business to helps home-stay operators to manage their
business. For home-stay operators who lack of knowledge about e-business should be learn
to explore how to adopt e-business so they can get advantages from it. Home-stay operators
can save their costs when they can apply e-business on their home-stay management. Most
of Home-stay at Sarawak is under government programme. Government should take some
actions to make home-stay operator aware to e-business operators. Government could
manage some seminar or assign a people to teach home-stay operators about e-business.
There have many alternatives that government can do to increase the engagement among
retirees or any others to run home-stay business. Home-stay operators itself should have
desire to learn something new for them to make all easy. Even though e-business gives
more advantages for home-stay operators but there are still home-stay operators didn’t
apply e-business to manage their homestay. Most of home-stay operators lack knowledge of
e-business. Home-stay operators should grab opportunities to use what technology offers to
them. Social media is the basic e-business tools and free for home-stay operators to use it in
their management as it can reduce much costs for their business.

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 851

Service Quality and Infrastructure Impact on Tourists’ Perception:

Empirical Evidence of Homestay in Sabah
Muhammad Irsyad Ismadol
Undergraduate, Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
emailsyad@yahoo.com

Muhamad Azim Dahari

Undergraduate, Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
azim.dahari@gmail.com

Jati Kasuma Ali

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
jati@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Jennifah Nordin
Lecturer, Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
jenni235@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Irwan Shahrinaz
Graduate, Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
ishahrinaz@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Despite the enormous growth of the home stay program in Malaysia, the industry faced
numerous new challenges due to external and internal factors in its business environment
which affects its program performance. The external factors include stiff competition from
neighbouring countries and uncertainties in the hospitality industry life-cycle. The internal
factors may contribute to their poor performance in terms of low level of service quality and a
moderate level of average occupancy rates. Visitor perceptions of the accommodation
service quality as well as infrastructures were the critical success factors for home stay in
Sabah. Thus, this research would like to measure the strength of the relationship between
service quality and infrastructure towards tourist perception towards homestay in Sabah. The
result reveals that Service Quality has a positive relationship and has a stronger influence
towards customer preference towards home stay in Sabah compared to infrastructure.
Implication and recommendation also discussed.

Keywords: Home stay, Service Quality, Infrastructure, Perception, Tourist.

INTRODUCTION

Homestay is an accommodation system and economic activity in the tourism industry.

It is popular with the tourists who want to interact with local culture, lifestyle, social system
and people (LTSN, 2003). The important components of the homestay program are
education, entertainment, enrichment, food, accommodation and hospitality (Levitt, 1986).
Sabah was one of the leading tourist destinations in Malaysia. As the result of this, it
has attracted a numbers of hotels and homestays organizations which have been motivated
as service facilities to the tourists. There were 16 homestays, 228 homestays entrepreneurs
 852

and 438 rooms registered with the tourism ministry. The location of the homestays ranges
from the Tip of Borneo to the west coast and the inter-state around Mount Kinabalu foothill to
the east coast and along the banks of Kinabatangan River.
Homestay was established in Malaysia since 1980’s. In Sabah, homestay was a new
idea for accommodation in the tourism industry. It was a potential economic activity in
tourism sector and now becomes popular to the tourists who desire to know and interact with
the local people, cultural attractions, social cohesion, natural resources and ecosystem
(LTSN, 2003). Locally owned and operated homestays constitute a suitable tourist
accommodation for the local community to participate in tourism activities (Wall and Long,
1996). Studies have shown that economic considerations have been the primary motivating
for the local people to become involved in tourism development. With the increase of the
tourists, more local houses became homestays operations which appeal to the budget
tourists because of price (Hinch and Butler, 1996).
By this time, the local people regarded homestay operation as an occupation and
provided rooms and facilities to tourists. To enlarge accommodation capacity, homestays
operators built two or three additional room in their yards for tourists (Gu and Wong, 2010).
The availability of sufficient space, the security of the home structure and level of quality,
safety and suitability, were important elements for eligibility to be a homestay operation.
The village itself was a social and ethnic enclave. Most villagers have not been tourists
themselves nor have they ever been exposed to foreign cultures. Visitors were urged to
follow the hosts’ way of living and, in fact, their awkwardness in imitation was found by the
hosts to be entertaining. Homestay guests tend to be more culturally aware and sensitive as
a result of their visit (Liu, 2006).
Despite the enormous growth of the homestay program in Malaysia, the industry faced
numerous new challenges due to external and internal factors in its business environment
which affects its program performance. The external factors include stiff competition from
neighbouring countries and uncertainties in the hospitality industry life-cycle (Tourism
Malaysia, 2007). Besides that, homestay operators have to deal with internal challenges
which are related to the homestay management. The internal factors may contribute to their
poor performance in terms of low level of service quality and a moderate level of average
occupancy rates (Razalli, 2008).
Visitor perceptions of the accommodation service quality are essential for successful
destination management and marketing. Return visits and generation of income also depend
on the how tourists value quality during their stay. Receiving excellent service reinforces the
loyalty of current customers and increases the prospect of attracting new ones (Baker and
Crompton 2000; Bigne, Sanchez, and Sanchez 2001; Kozak 2002; Tian-Cole and Crompton
2003; Tian- Cole, Crompton and Willson 2002). Backman & Veldkamp (1995) stated that
quality of service is an essential factor involved in a service provider’s ability to attract more
customers.
On top of these, homestays can provide functions like sport, recreation, amusement,
and so on to make visitors fully enjoy their leisure time (Ou & Gian, 1997). On these
accounts, it is obvious that the homestays and hotels vary in their functions, business model,
and natures (Lin et al., 2010). For example, Ou and Gian, (1997) made researches into
leisure farming homestay visitor characteristics and needs, whose measure aspects were
facilities, service, landscape, operation, and management. Yen et al, (2006) studied the
homestay evaluation indicators, whose measure aspects were infrastructures, service
quality, features of resources, and the association with communities.
There are several dimensions identified in an effort to recognize and determining the
perception of tourists towards homestay business in Sabah. The proposed dimensions are
Service Quality and Infrastructure may be used by homestay owner in Sabah to better
position their business and for solving the critical problems that might arise in the future.
Thus, the objective of this research is to identify the relationship and strength between
Service Quality and Infrastructure towards Tourists’ Perception on Homestay in Sabah.
 853

LITERATURE REVIEW

Service Quality

One of the critical success factors for Sabah homestay is service quality. Backman &
Veldkamp (1995) stated that quality of service is an essential factor involved in a service
provider’s ability to attract more customers. Unlike the quality of goods, which may be
measured objectively by such indicators as durability and number of defects, service quality
is an elusive construct that is difficult to measure (Crosby 1979). Mackay and Crompton
(1990) defined service quality as “the relationship between what customer’s desires from a
service and what they perceive that they receive”. Additionally, service quality is also a way
of thinking about how to satisfy customers so that they hold positive attitudes toward the
service they have received (Ostrowski, O’Brian, & Gordon 1993).
However, some researchers have suggested that a revised measurement scale is
needed specifically for providers of tourism services. The quality of service involved with
tourism plays an important role in the process of delivery (Wyllie, 2000) and thus is the
standard used to assess the effectiveness of a particular leisure service agency, including
the tourism service sector (Godbey, 1997). Service quality is an intangible, but crucial, area
of interest to travel service providers. As described above, the major service evaluation tool
is SERVQUAL model, and Parasuraman et al., (1985) stated that this model could apply to
various service contexts.
Many tourism researchers use this model to evaluate the quality of services provided
in tourism and affiliated industries (Baker & Fesenmaier 1997; Childress & Crompton 1997;
Leblanc 1992; Ostrowski, O’Brien, & Gordon 1993; Vogt & Fesenmaier 1995). In a highly
competitive homestay industry, individual operator of Sabah homestays must find ways to
make their products and services stand out among the others. Service quality was defined
by Zeithaml (1988) as “the judgement of customers about the overall superiority of a product
or service”.

Infrastructure

Additionally, infrastructures were the critical success factors for homestays in Sabah
also. This is because Sabah’s major towns and cities were well connected, despite the
State’s vastness and relative inaccessibility. Tourism infrastructure and facilities also
required upgrading. Currently there was a lack of mid-range hotels, poor public
transportation, absence of lay-bys and rest-stops along roads, and inefficient information
distribution such as road signage and tourist maps (Jati et al., 2016). Many developing
countries, therefore, have turned to tourism development as a means of attracting the
foreign exchange for inducing economic growth, generating employment, and ultimately
increasing the local population’s living standard. In Sabah, the state government’s continues
effort in bringing development to every part of Sabah has resulted in more facilities being
built-roads, airports and landing strips were building or improved. The development of these
facilities consequently provides access to even the most remote areas in the interiors,
leading of the opening up of more longhouse or natural areas for tourism destinations.

Tourists’ Perception towards Homestay

The idea of the homestay program is to accommodate tourists in a village with a local
family, thus enabling the tourist to learn about local lifestyle, culture and nature (Louise et al.,
2003). The core component of the Malaysian homestay programs which differentiates it with
homestay elsewhere is the element of staying together with host families or adopted
families. The guests have the opportunities to interact, gain knowledge, and experience the
life style and culture of the host family as well as the local community. Guests are being
exposed to the elements of eating, cooking, and engaging in many activities together with
 854

their adopted families, thus allowing two parties with different cultural backgrounds to
interact and learn from each other. Unlike regular bed and breakfast establishments, the
homestay program in Malaysia allows the guests to participate in the hosts’ daily activities.
Indeed, this can be considered as an important strength of this particular product; no other
tourism product in Malaysia offers a similar experience of Malaysian rural societies as that
offered by the homestay program (Kalsom, 2009).
The uniqueness of the Malaysian program is the experiential element with the host
families as well as communities. Communities are the basic reason for tourists to travel, to
experience the way of life and material products of different communities. Communities also
shape the natural and landscapes which many tourists consume (Richards and Hall 2000).
The realization that the community itself has become an object of tourism consumption has
in turn encouraged some communities to reproduce themselves specifically for tourists.
Through homestay program, tourists would be able to experience the daily life of the
ordinary people of a community. The homestay program is a non-commercialized entity, as
opposed to a hotel, a bed and breakfast, or a homestay run by an individual homeowner in a
residential area.

METHODOLOGY

A quantitative data based research has been designed, and a survey questionnaire
was employed as an instrument to collect data. The target respondent for this research is the
Tourists that use Sabah Homestay service. Stratified sampling method is used for data
collection. G-Power analysis software 3.1.9.2 is used to determine the sample size of this
research, the effect size of ‘f square’ 0.15, α error prob 0.05, power (1-β err prob) 0.8 with a
number of 2 predictors, based on the result from G*Power, 68 respondents is the minimum
sampling size for this research. Therefore, a total of 350 questionnaires were distributed
among the target population but only 300 survey questions were given back and can be
used to analyze. As suggested by Roscoe (1975), sample size larger than 50 and less than
500 are appropriate for most studies. 5 Point of Likert Scale was used to assess
respondents’ level of agreement.

ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Demographic Profile

221 people who represent 73.7% of the total sample are local tourist and the
remaining 79 people who represent 26.3% are foreigner. As for gender distribution, 167
were male which represent 55.7% and the remaining 133 were female which represent
44.3%. In nationality segment, highest respondents answering the questionnaire were from
Malaysia with 221 (73.7%) followed by the British with 53 people (17.7%) and the Americans
with 26 people (8.6%). Respondents’ ages between 31 - 40 years old were the highest
sample with 133 people (44.3%) followed by age between 41 – 50 years old with 93 people
(31%) and 51 years old and above are 74 people (24.7%). Besides that, the purpose of visit
from all the 300 respondents was vacation and is willing to spend money between RM 100 to
RM 200 per visit to the Sabah Homestay.

Research Objective 1: To identify the relationship and strength between service quality and
tourist perception towards Homestay in Sabah.
 855

Table 1 Service Quality Coefficients

Standardized
Unstandardized Coefficients
Model Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
(Constant) 4.051 .576 7.031 .000
1
Service Quality .220 .139 .119 1.587 .114
Dependent Variable: Tourist Perception

The result shows the independent variable had positive relationship with the
dependent variable. According to Sekaran 2010, the significant level below 0.05 (p < 0.05) is
generally accepted conventional level in social science research. The finding shows p-value
for Service Quality is above 0.05 (p=0.114). This tells us that the variable named Service
Quality is not significant to the research. Based on the standardized coefficients, the Service
Quality represents the Beta Value of 0.119. This estimation of Beta Value notifies the
amount of increase in Tourists’ Perception towards Homestay in Sabah would be predicted
by a one unit increase in the predictor namely Service Quality.

Research Objective 2: To identify the strength of relationship between infrastructure and

tourist perception towards Homestay in Sabah.

Table 2 Infrastructure Coefficients

Unstandardized Standardized
Model Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
(Constant) 4.051 .576 7.031 .000
1
Infrastructure -.457 .127 -.207 -3.603 .000
a. Dependent Variable: Tourist Perception

The result shows the independent variable had negative relationship with the
dependent variable. According to Sekaran 2010, the significant level below 0.05 (p < 0.05) is
generally accepted conventional level in social science research. The finding shows p-value
for Infrastructure is below 0.05 (p=0.00). This tells us that the variable named Infrastructure
is significant to the research. Based on the standardized coefficients, the Infrastructure
represents the Beta Value of -0.207. This estimation of Beta Value notifies the amount of
increase in Tourists’ Perception towards Homestay in Sabah would be predicted by a one
unit decrease in the predictor namely Infrastructure.

Table 3 Model Summary of Regression

b
Model Summary
Model
R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate
a
1 .318 .308 .325
.563
a. Predictors: (Constant), Service Quality, Infrastructure
b. Dependent Variable: Tourist Perception

The linear regression test of the model disclosed that R Square of the model is
0.318. It illustrates that 31.8% of the variance in Tourist Perception on Sabah Homestay has
 856

been significantly explained by Service Quality and Infrastructure in this research.

Meanwhile, the remaining 68.2% cannot be explained. That means there were other factors
that can determine tourist perception towards Sabah Homestay.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The result of the study indicates the important of tourist perception towards homestay
in Sabah. Among the two dimension of tourist perception towards homestay in Sabah,
“Service Quality” was rated as the most important factor followed by Infrastructure. It seems
that tourists were not very particular about infrastructure but more concern on service offered
by their host. Even though there were many literature reviews on positive impact of
infrastructures but it won’t affect tourist perception towards homestays in Sabah.
Then, the development of tourism sector will also lead to the development of other
related industries. With the encouragement and financial support from the government
agency, the arrivals of tourists (domestic and foreign) into Sabah would increase in a
consistent manner each year. On the local front, Sabah Tourism Board work closely with
players of the tourism industry to intensify their promotions as well as development of their
products and services in meeting the expected influx of tourists into Sabah.
In conclusion, as part of the vision 2020, Sabah will continue to strive in the nation’s
collaboration in both regionally and international fore. Sabah was determined to continue
and make homestay one of the most important pillars in the overall economic development.
One of the main driving factors of the nation homestay industry will be in the form of Joint
promotional efforts towards a “multi country – multi destination” such as the UNESCO 1-2-3
Package initiative. The diverse cultures, political and societal stability, and wide variety of
attractions and activities make Malaysia the perfect destinations for foreign travelers.
Furthermore, with the favorable exchange rate, Sabah offers more value-for-money as a
holiday destination.

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 857

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 859

Relationship between Self-Motivation, Leadership Skill and

Market Demand Influenced Sarawak Indian Entrepreneur Business
Success
Siti Farah binti Edwin
Graduated from Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak

Angelina anak Sangop

Undergraduate, Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
angelina.sangop95@gmail.com

Jati Kasuma Ali

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
jati@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Jennifah Nordin
Lecturer, Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
jenni235@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Irwan Shahrinaz
Postgraduate, Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak
ishahrinaz@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The Indian Muslim community in Kuching has a long and varied history. However, there is no
documented evidence specifically about the Indian Muslim arrival in Kuching. Many of the
Indian Muslims in Kuching were traders in traditional businesses such as textile retailing,
restaurants, and bookshops, money-changing and sundry shops. The early Indian Muslims
were generally socio-economically better off than the Telegus and other early Indian
immigrants to Sarawak. The early Indian Muslims started textile, spice and food businesses,
which were concentrated in the present day India and Gambier Street where they remain
even today. Thus, this study would like to investigate further the participation of Sarawak
Indian Muslim in business particularly looking at Self-Motivation and Market Demand. The
result reveals that both Self-Motivation and Market Demand has relationship with
participation of Sarawak Indian Muslims in business. Implication and future research also
presented.

Keywords: Indian, Self-Motivation, Leadership Skill, Market Demand, Business Success

INTRODUCTION

Since the beginning of its history, Malaysia has been a meeting place for a diverse
range of external cultures and religions. As a result of their external influences, a new unified
but distinguished Malay culture has emerged. Contemporary Malaysia represents a unique
fusion of Malay, Chinese and Indian traditions, creating a pluralistic and multicultural nation
that has its character strongly rooted in social harmony, religion and pride in its ancestral
 860

background. People of Indian descent comprise about 7% of the population. South Indian
Tamil have been coming to Malaysia since the 11th century. Inflow of Indian migrants began
during the establishment of the Straits Settlements. They were brought in as laborers,
traders, policeman, and construction workers. Large-scale migration took place in the early
1900s to work in the rubber plantations. The Tamils are concentrated on the West Coast of
peninsular Malaysia. The Indian community is made up mostly of Tamils, but also includes
Bangalis, Malayalis, Punjabis, Telugus, Gujaratis, and Sindhis. The main religions are
Hinduism and Sikhism (Bhasin, 2009).
The Indian Muslim community in Kuching has a long and varied history. However,
there is no documented evidence specifically about the Indian Muslim arrival in Kuching.
Moreover, Singh (1993) stated that the Indian Muslims in East Malaysia did not come as
Indian laborers but as textile merchants, who played a significant role in retail business.
Personal communication with three older respondents (above 60 years of age) of the Indian
Muslim community in Kuching also revealed that the first generation men generally came on
their own from South India as textile merchants and later ventured into spice and food
businesses. Many of them married local Malay women in Kuching, while some returned to
India to look for wives, with whom they returned and settled down in Kuching. Some had two
wives, one in India and the other in Kuching.
Social networking among community members was intense and remains high. The
Indian Muslims, who operated their family textile and spice businesses along India and
Gambier Streets, came into contact with one another regularly for their daily prayers at the
surau. Despite of that, they would meet to discuss business matters in the Indian Muslim
Chamber of Commerce building, which was located a few hundred meters away from their
business premises. The social networking pertaining to business matters was carried out
actively, and that they received grants from the federal and state governments to support
their business ventures, which have greatly increased in number.
There are several dimensions identified in an effort to recognize and determining the
business success factors of Indian entrepreneurs at India Street Kuching. The proposed
dimensions are Self-Motivation, Leadership Skill and Market Demand may be used by Indian
entrepreneur to better position their business and for solving the critical problems that might
arise in the future. Thus, the objective of this research are to identify the relationship
between self-motivation, leadership skill and market demand towards Indian entrepreneur
business success.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Indian Entrepreneur Business Success in Sarawak

The diversity of Indian societies persists to the present. As noted, Indian nations range
from the very small to the quite large in both geography and population at Sarawak. In terms
of standards of material living, for decades Kuching Indians on reservations have been the
poorest identifiable group in the Sarawak. Notwithstanding the much publicized growth and
celebration of many type festivals such as Deepavali, Hari Gawai, Hari Raya, Chinese New
Year and more would make an incomes to them in order to provide the customer wants and
needs. Despite of that, they can get a Malaysia Identity Card if they are staying here more
than 10 years. Therefore, they can gain many benefits from it. For example like making loan
bank, hospitality and others.
Despite of that the concept of knowledge transfer derives from the field of innovation
(Major and Cordey-Hayes, 2000). Most of Indian people in Kuching are making knowledge
transfer from one place, person, and ownership to another. The concept of the transfer must
involve more than one party. Furthermore, many Indian businesses that exist in Kuching are
actually belonging to their father or grandfather. Their family will guide and sharing all the
knowledge among each other. Hence, it makes them become a better person right now. The
 861

creation and transfer of knowledge has become a critical factor in an organization’s success
and competitiveness (Deepak Chawla and Himanshu Joshi, 2010).
The rapid economic growth seen in the 1990s where so many Indian people come to
Kuching in order to make the business or even working here as a servant. The income of
Indian people is getting slow down when both the surge in economic development and the
improvement in areas such as housing, education, and health, which became evident in the
last decade of the 20th century. It indicates that lot of shopping mall are developed as it did
elsewhere in 2008 that create the Indian entrepreneur to find the other strategy although to
get profit.
In short, the rapid changes and development progress we see that Indian people still
looking outside the Malaysia country which they want to get the source of their product and
make it become various type of product. Importantly, research also consistently finds that the
economic and social transformation that is occurring across the Indian people is not the
product of cultural change where sometime they can’t get the high income for two or three
months. Hence, they can’t go outside the country in order to update their new products.
Prior to the 2000s, the Indian people of the Kuching area were subjected to essentially
that price are not the main factor to attract customer nowadays rather than the value of their
product itself. That is why they will ensure that people will satisfy after buying their quality
product and willing to come again over there.
The term knowledge is also used to mean the confident understanding of a subject
with the ability to use it for a specific purpose if appropriate. According to Davenport et al.
(1998) knowledge is information combined with experience, context, interpretation and
reflection. Generally when some is transferred one party loses and other gains. But,
knowledge being an intangible asset, it does not necessarily have to be given up by one
party to be gained by the other (Deepak Chawla and Himanshu Joshi, 2010).
However, the Indian people in Kuching did not think the high education is very
important in order to be success in their business. The important thing is that the experience
that people gain and attitude. This attitude is the main factor that can make the business
success and extending it into the other places. Yet, they can gain high income and become
rich like the other people too in Kuching Sarawak. That is why most of them pretend to be
working at private sector rather than the public sector. They will have double income rather
than working as a government servant or with other people’s company.

Self-Motivation

Competitive advantage can be gaining through a good in market awareness and

position, service and product those valuable, rare and non-substitutable resources distinctive
to other company. Therefore, it needs mental and psychological support concerning self-
confidence, advise, a sounding board, role models, family support, coaching, support by
seeking financial resources, support in finding other resources in terms of specific expertise.
Moreover, create a goal statement and write it down. The more detailed the goal is, the
easier it will be to determine how to achieve it. Thus, motivation is the driving force which
causes us to achieve goals (Mt. San Jacinto College, 2013).

Leadership Skill

Despite of that, a good leadership would measure a better firm performance in the
business such as a good return on investment, return on assets, return on sales and overall
profitability. The example, the presence of exclusive relationship with unique suppliers can
enable a company to successfully pursue either a unique differentiation strategy or a low
cost strategy (Alan Davis & Eric M. Olson, 2008).
A research carried out by Javed et al., (2011) additionally reason that administration
abilities, basic leadership skill, administration aptitudes and expert connection with the
business is likewise vital in making progress of the business. In their research regarding
SME’s business success, leadership skills happened to be one of the factors that influence
 862

business success. Also, based on a critical literature analysis carried by Phil et al., (2012)
they concluded that leadership style is an effective tool used by project manager as an
influencer to the outcome of a certain project, it can also be established that lack of this trait
(leadership style) can produce a negative outcome such as project failure.

Market Demand

On an organizational level, the success is influenced by a thorough business plan

(Brem, 2008; Rauch, 2000), a clear strategy/mark analysis/competitor analyses and
aggressive competitor strategy (Brem, 2008; Rauch, 2000), the usage of an innovation as a
business idea (Brem, 2008; Rauch, 2000), being a member of a formal network (Nandram &
Boemans, 2001), having an advisory board (Nandram & Boemans, 2001) and active
marketing (Brem, 2008). Hence, it showing that how important of they need to be more
innovative in creating the ideas and marketing in order to enhance the customer. The more
they are being innovative, the more it would make them become actively in the business. Lot
of customers will come if they create or provide with variety of products. Therefore, it will
give them in generate a high revenue and profit in that market.

METHODOLOGY

A quantitative data based research has been designed, and a survey questionnaire
was employed as an instrument to collect data. The target respondent for this research is the
Indian entrepreneur along the India Street Kuching, Sarawak. Stratified sampling method is
used for data collection. A total of 50 questionnaires were distributed among the target
population and collected. As suggested by Roscoe (1975), sample size larger than 30 and
less than 500 are appropriate for most studies. 5 Point of Likert Scale was used to assess
respondents’ level of agreement. The questions for each variable are adopted from multiple
resources and combined together to create the questionnaire. Under the independent
variable section, Self-Motivation questions were adopted from Don Macke et al. (2003).
Leadership Skill questions were adopted from Gall (2013), Market Demand questions were
adopted from RVC (2013) and as for the dependent variable; questions for Success Factors
were adopted from Vallone (2008).

ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS

Demographic Analysis

In term of gender distribution, 45 were male which represent 90% and the remaining 5
were female which represent 10%. Under the Age distribution sector, majority of the
respondents are 41-50 years old which represent 48.0% of the sample, followed by 31-40
years old with 10 respondents (20%), 50-above years old with 9 respondents (14%), 21-30
years old with 5 respondents (10%) and less than 20 years old with 2 respondents (4%).
Most respondents’ income belong in the range of RM4001-5000 with 32 respondents (64%),
followed by RM2001-3000 with 10 respondents (20%), above RM5000 with 5 respondents
(10%) and RM3001-4000 with 3 respondents (6%). Majority of them are food based
entrepreneur with 25 respondents (50%), followed by Textiles with 13 respondents (26%),
Carpets with 7 respondents (24%) and Others with 5 respondents (10%).
Correlation Analysis

Research Objective 1: To identify the relationship between self-motivation and Indian

Entrepreneur Business Success.
 863

Table 1 Pearson Correlation Analysis of Self-Motivation and Indian Entrepreneur Business

Success

Model Indian Entrepreneur

Business Success
**
Pearson Correlation .523
Self-Motivation Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 50
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Based on Pearson Correlation Analysis for Self-Motivation, it shows that there is a

positive relationship between Self-Motivation and Indian Entrepreneur Business Success
with a significant value of r=0.523 that indicates the strength of the relationship between
each dimension are moderate and positive, (p value = 0.000) is significant at the 0.01 level
(2 – tailed). This means, the objective of this study is met as the result shows that Indian
Entrepreneur Business Success is influenced by Self-Motivation.

Research Objective 2: To identify the relationship between Leadership Skill and Indian
Entrepreneur Business Success.

Table 2 Pearson Correlation Analysis of Leadership Skill and Indian Entrepreneur Business
Success

Model Indian Entrepreneur

Business Success
**
Pearson Correlation -.186
Leadership Skill Sig. (2-tailed) .197
N 50
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Based on Pearson Correlation Analysis for Leadership Skill, it shows that there is a
negative relationship between Leadership Skill and Indian Entrepreneur Business Success
with a significant value of r=-.186 that indicates the strength of the relationship between each
dimension are weak and negative, (p value = 0.197) is not significant at the 0.01 level (2 –
tailed). This means, the objective of this study is met as the result shows that Indian
Entrepreneur Business Success is not influenced by Leadership Skill.

Research Objective 3: To identify the relationship between Market Demand and Indian
Entrepreneur Business Success.

Table 3 Pearson Correlation Analysis of Market Demand and Indian Entrepreneur Business
Success

Model Indian Entrepreneur

Business Success
**
Pearson Correlation .383
Market Demand Sig. (2-tailed) .006
N 50
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Based on Pearson Correlation Analysis for Market Demand, it shows that there is a
positive relationship between Market Demand and Indian Entrepreneur Business Success
with a significant value of r=0.383 that indicates the strength of the relationship between
each dimension are weak and positive, (p value = 0.006) is significant at the 0.01 level (2 –
tailed). This means, the objective of this study is met as the result shows that Indian
Entrepreneur Business Success is influenced by Market Demand.
 864

Research Objective 3: To determine the strongest relationship among Self-Motivation,

Leadership Skill and Market Demand towards Indian Entrepreneur Business Success.

The linear regression test of the model based on Table 4 below disclosed that R
Square of the model is 0.392.It illustrates that 39.2% of the variance in Indian Entrepreneur
Business Success has been significantly explained by Self-Motivation, Leadership Skill and
Market Demand in this research. Meanwhile, the remaining 60.8% cannot be explained. That
means there were other factors that can determine Indian Entrepreneur Business Success.

Table 4 Regression Analysis

b
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square
a
1 .392 .352
.626
a. Predictors: (Constant), Self-Motivation, Leadership Skill, Market Demand
b. Dependent Variable: Indian Entrepreneur Business Success

Table 5 Standardized Coefficient Based on Beta Value

Coefficient*
Standardized Coefficient
Model 1 Beta t Sig.
(Constant) .370 .713
Self-Motivation .471 3.958 .000
Leadership Skill -.082 -.691 .493
Market Demand .341 2.946 .005
a. Dependent Variable: Mean Indian Entrepreneur Business Success

The result on Table 5 shown above signifies that all the independent variables had
relationship with the dependent variable. According to Sekaran 2010, the significant below of
p < 0.05 is generally accepted conventional level in social science research. The finding
shows that significant level for variable name Self-Motivation and Market Demand is
significant with p-value is less than 0.05 (p=0.000; p=0.005). However, as for variable name
Leadership Skill, the significant level is more than 0.05 (p=0.493) which signifies that this
variable is not significant to the study. Based on the standardized coefficients, the variable
name Self-Motivation of found to have the highest Beta Value of 0.471 followed Market
Demand with 0.341 and Leadership Skill with -0.082. This estimation of Beta Value notifies
the amount of increase in Indian Entrepreneur Business Success would be predicted by a
one unit increase in the predictor namely Self-Motivation, and Market Demand. However, an
increase in Indian Entrepreneur Business Success would be predicted by one unit decrease
in Leadership skill. Thus, it shows that Self-Motivation leads to the most critical effect size
towards Indian Entrepreneur Business Success.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Self-Motivation becomes the most important criteria for Indian Entrepreneur Business
Success, followed by Market Demand. However, Leadership Skill seems to be in significant
and possesses negative relationship to the study. The result of this study also shows the
association between almost all independent variables towards Indian Entrepreneur Business
Success. Further examinations of these associations indicate that the most significant factor
that influencing Indian Entrepreneur Business Success is Self-Motivation. This finding may
assist entrepreneur in general and particularly Indian entrepreneur to better understand the
factors influencing their business success. As recommendations, more variables need to be
explored in determining the best variable that can better enhance business success. Hence,
 865

to give wider perspective the trends across cultures in other countries could be established.
These factors can be considered as areas for future research.

REFERENCES

Alan Davis & Eric M. Olson., (2008). “Critical competitive strategy issue every entrepreneur
should consider before going to the business”, Kelley School of Business.

Bhasin, B., & Venkataramany, S. (2009). Foreign direct investment: Replacing the “contract
of work” system in Indonesia. International Business & Economics Research Journal,
8(8), 37–38

Brem, A. (2008). The Boundaries of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Wiesbaden: Erlangen-

Nürnberg.

Davenport, T.; De Long, D.; & Beers, M. (1998) Successful Knowledge Management
Projects. Sloan Management Review. Winter. pp. 43 – 57

Deepak Chawla & Himanshu Josh, (2010), “Knowledge Management Initiatives In Indian
Public And Private Sector Organizations”, Journal of Knowledge Management.

Don Macke & Deb Markley., (2003), “Entrepreneur Self-Test”, Centre for Rural
Entrepreneurship.

Javed, M. J., Muhammad, A. K., Ahmed, I. H., Rana, A. U. R., Rauf, I. A., (2011),
"Determinants of Business Success of Small and Medium Enterprises", International
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Major, E. & Cordey-Hayes, M. (2000), ‘‘Knowledge translation: a new perspective on

knowledge transfer and foresight’’, Foresight, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 411-23.

Mt. San Jacinto College, (2013). The Counseling Department Presents: Becoming the Better
YOU!

Nandram, S. S., & Boemans, M. (2001). De beste ondernemer: Condities voor

ondernemerssucces. Breukelen: Universiteit Nyenrode.

Phil Nixon, Megan Harrington, David Parker, (2012),"Leadership performance is significant

to project success or failure: a critical analysis", International Journal of Productivity
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Rauch, A. (2000), “Success Factors of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises”, University van
Amsterdam, Amsterdam.

Roscoe, J.T. (1975) Fundamental Research Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd
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RVC, (2013), Analytical study of the success factors Russian high-tech companies in
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SINGH, R. D. S. (1993). “Indians in East Malaysia”, in: K. S. Sandhu and A. Mani (Eds).
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584.
 866

The Study of Ethical Work Behaviour and Job Performance

Nur Diana Hassan
Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
dianahassan@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nor Ananiza Azhar

Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
norana0884@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Mazlifa Md Daud
Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA
mazlifa338@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Mohd Firdaus Ruslan

Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
firdaus438@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The study aimed to measure the relationship of ethical guidance and ethical values toward
job performance. It is important to measure the impact of ethical work behaviour as it has
critically become a challenge to organizational performance, as reported by Oladunni in
2002. The study uses a quantitative method with two hypotheses stated in the direct form.
Convenience sampling method was applied and the researchers receive 60 respondents
that submitted their feedback and the result was analyzed with the aid of appropriate test
statistics. Findings revealed that ethical behaviour has effects on the performance of an
organization and also the good ethical behaviour has a positive correlation with work
performance. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed along with suggestions
for future research.

Keywords: Ethical work behaviour, ethical guidance, ethical values, job performance

INTRODUCTION

The researchers discovered that many modern organizations are faced with many
challenges such illegal behaviour and unethical in their work. Oladunni reported in 2002 that
company CEOs feels that it is challenging to evaluate the employees’ work ethic whereas its
impact of this ethical behaviour is critical to organizational performance. As mentioned by
Yousef, 2001, work ethic could help prevent problems that would interfere with the
organization and the employee.
This would allow furnishing additional information that would be valuable for the ethical
behaviour and good attitude of performances of works. The result of this study is hoped
would allow the ethical behaviour to become more related to performance of works and easy
maximizing objectives through ethical guidance and ethical values in the heart of workers to
achieve the good performance.
Ethics can be referred to as set of principles relating to oral, especially when applied
to human behaviour, in a particular time, the work ethic is about morally correct and
honourable accepted by a larger majority of the people in an organization (Omisore, 2015).
Several researchers reported a significant positive impact between work ethics ( eg ; Koh &
Boo, 2004; Okpara & Wynn 2008). Other than that, today the work ethic is important for
 867

employee behaviour and they strongly contributed to the success of the organization in
carrying out its work. (Ali & Azim, 1995; Valentine & Barnett, 2007)
From (Carrington,1980; Quinn, 1983; Yankelorich,& Immer Wahr,1984), work ethic are
cultural norms that put a positive moral values to do a good job and is based on trust work
has intrinsic value alone. Besides that, Steinberg (1994) states that ethics in organizations
involving ordinary decency that covers areas such as integrity, honesty and fairness.
Organizations that focus on developing a work ethic related to the issues faced by
workers will lead to employees behave ethically (Valentine & Barnett, 2007). Work ethics are
an effective way to improve organizational performance, especially when organizations use
different approaches in creating an ethical culture among workers (Valentine et al., 2011).
The issue that was focused in this study was the relationship of ethical behavior and
employees’ work performance in the area of Gua Musang, Kelantan. The particular unit of
analysis that was being study was semi-government and private offices workers in the
neighboring area.
Previously, studies were conducted related to this topic, particularly focusing on the
value of ethics and how it affects the ethical conduct within the organization (Joyner, Payne,
& Raiborn, 2002). In addition, there is also considerable research on how alignment between
the organization and the employee can affect the productivity and commitment (Valentine,
Godkin & Lucero, 2002).

Study Objectives

This study focuses on examining the relationship between ethical behaviour and
workers’ job performance. Ethical behaviour is represented by two antecedents are ethical
guidance and ethical value. The objectives of this study are simply put as;

1. To identify the relationship between ethical guidance and work performance

2. To identify the relationship between ethical value and work performance

LITERATURE REVIEW

Previous studies have measured the work ethic with a variety of indicators. The
indicators include self-interest, profits, efficiency, attention teams, social responsibility, moral
person, company rules and procedures, laws, codes of conduct (Elzi & Alpkan, 2009); wise
and selfish attitudes (Cullen et al., 2003); communication, training and training period, the
code of ethics (Valentine & Fleischman, 2008). Whereas, in the topic of law and ethics are
concerned, the dimensions includes agency, regulatory, autonomy (Victor & Cullen, 1988);
worked as the goal, as well as the use of time and hard work (Ali, 1988).
Many factors affect job performance. These factors include the social, psychological
and financial (Jewell, 1998); peer and supervisor support (Gu & Siu, 2009); labor itself,
wages or salary, supervision, promotion, teamwork (Luthans, 2006); the tension arising from
the employment relationship, intrinsic motivation, confidence in the ability of management
(Leat and El-Kot, 2009); personal health, quality of life, personal development and
relationships between colleagues, between a supervisor and employee (Chileshe & Haupt,
2010). Job satisfaction does not only reflect the success or failure of the life of workers but
also affects the attitude of the employees and their lives. According to Ros, Schwarts,
Surkiss, 1999, job satisfaction is related to an improper ends (such as high salaries) or
behaviour (working with people).

Ethical Guidance

Ethical guidance is the presentation of ethical behaviour with the help of personal
and interpersonal affairs and to submit that study to followers through communication and
assist in decision-making (Saeed, r., Shakeel, m., & Lodhni, rn (2013). As mentioned by
 868

Paine, 1994, ethical guidance can further be explained as coaching role which is important in
the development of the organization especially when motivating the employees. That's the
way they emphasize a look at the values, laws and general terms would have been followed
by the employees. They learned so much from their leaders that the results set the
foundation for ethical behaviour that the organization wants to implement.

Ethical Value

The values and code of ethics are the conditions that tell us about the procedure
(Saeed, r., Shakeel, m., & Lodhni, rn (2013). Corporate ethical values can be either even out
the institute's weapons used for the registration and selection of employees in ethical
foundation for organizational goals and objectives. Furthermore, recent investigations have
shown that the values of corporate ethics is the chief source for the development of ethical
and social responsibility cream of the crop and the organization's staff.
Employees develop a sense of belonging to the organization as well as the ethical
values when they are supporting to be creative (Oliver et al., 2009). Moreover recently have
studies conducted (Valentine et al., 2010) found that ethical values should be developed
organizational mindset is critical, related to creativity. In addition, the specific context of the
work for which the value can be used and is defined as the interest on specific results
obtained in the context of the work (Elizur, 1984). The work ethic has also established the
Japan working as hard work, respect time, and the drive to collect (Sagie et al., 1996).

Job Performance

For the purposes of this study, job performance can be defined in relation to the
activities of employees should be mainly in terms of efficiency / day, week, month or year
(Carmel, 2013). In addition, the performance of the tasks is defined as the effectiveness with
which the task of carrying out activities that contribute to the technical core organizations
(Borman and Motowidlo, 1997). The performance of employees is critical elements in any
organization and the most important factor for the success of the organization and its
performance (Kamran Ali Shah, M.yameen 2012).

Figure 1 Adopted from Saeed, R., Shakeel, M., & Lodhni, R. N. (2013). Ethical Behaviour and
Employess Job Performance in Education Sector of Pakistan. Middlest East Journal of
Scientific Research

Ethical Guidance

Job Performance

Ethical Value

Research hypotheses
H1: There is a correlation between ethical guidance and job performance.
H2: There is a correlation between the values of ethics and job performance.
 869

METHODOLOGY

A quantitative research methodology was used to measure the performance of work

at administration departments of semi-government and private offices workers in
GuaMusang, Kelantan. Sekaran (2005) noted that quantitative approach is a technique that
analyzes the mass group and provides significant information to answer research
hypotheses. With that, information required were obtained through self-administered
questionnaires with the administrative unit of analysis. Shaw and Wright (1967) mentioned
that the self-reported survey is one of the best ways in collecting data on human feelings,
perceptions, attitudes or any activity from the selected respondents.
A total of 65 employees were surveyed and this amount is considered sufficient
(Salkind, 1997). As previously mentioned, a self-administered questionnaire has been
designed in gathering the required information for this study. Hence, the language and
wording used in the instrument were made sure to be appropriate to the level of
understanding as it is to tap their attitudes, perceptions and feelings toward thesis
accomplishment (Sekaran, 2010).
This study adopted an identical five point scale for each section in the questionnaire
as it allows the respondents to better express themselves, and at the same time increases
the responses’ rate and the quality of the data obtained (Babakus & Mangold, 1992). The
data gathering process was personally administered by the researcher and respondents
were informed that information provided by them was strictly confidential and that no
individual employee would be identified. Good responses with a total of 60 completed
questionnaires were collected. The data collected was then analyzed using a Statistical
Package of Social Science (SPSS), Version 24.0.

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

Reliability Analysis

Test of internal reliability was undertaken before proceeding into analysis addressing
the objectives and research questions of the study using Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient.
Alpha coefficients were calculated using the Statistical Package for the Social Science
(SPSS) Version 24.0. Sekaran (2003) explains that the reliability of measurements by
testing for both consistency and stability. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient shows how
the items in a set are positive to each other. If the Cronbach’s alpha is closer to 1, the
higher the internal consistency reliability is.

Table 1 Reliability Coefficients for Each Section of the Questionnaire

Variables Item Cronbach’s Alpha Strength of

Association
Ethical Value 7 .860 Very Good
Ethical Guidance 7 .920 Excellent
Performance of Work 7 .919 Excellent

Looking at the table above, the dimension of the Alpha coefficient of ethical value is
very good at 0.860. For guidance on ethics, scale impressively exhibited higher coefficient
at 0.920, and performance of work exhibited excellent association at 0.919. All these values
were accepted as suggested by Chandon et al (1996) that when measuring attitude, an
alpha score of 0.50 and above is usually acceptable. In conclusion, the independent
variables, which are ethical values and ethical guidelines is essential to the defendant
variable, employee performance.
 870

Correlation Analysis

The Pearson correlation test was used to determine the relationship between independent
and dependent variables. In general, Sekaran (2003) emphasized that the Correlation
Coefficient can be interpreted using indicators as stated below:

Table 2 Correlation Interpretation

Correlations Interpretation
0.01 – 0.09 Very low relationship
0.10 – 0.29 Low relationship
0.30 – 0.49 Moderate relationship
0.50 – 0.69 Strong relationship
0.7 – 10 Very strong relationship

Table 3 Pearson Correlations Matrix of Study Variables

Ethical Values Ethical Guidance Work Performance

Ethical Values 1
Ethical Guidance -.120 1

Work Performance -.025 .361** 1

The correlation coefficient was used to measure the strength of association between
the variables used. Table 2 above shows that pairing record variable correlation with the
double star has a strong relationship and produce tangible results. Therefore, all of these
variables showed positive and likely to support the hypothesis statements.
Based on the results displayed in Table 3, “r” value of ethical values is -0.025 which
shows a weak relationship between the values of ethics and job performance. Meanwhile,
there is a moderate relationship between ethical guidelines and work performance with “r”
value of 0.361. In conclusion, the study found that both independent variables, namely
values of ethics and ethical guidelines are related to work performance.

DISCUSSION

The result of the study might not reflect the actual situation for the entire organization
of administrative sector at Gua Musang, Kelantan. Based on the findings and conclusions,
several recommendations for organization were made to ensure this issue can be solved
from time to time. The researchers suggested that organization should focus on solutions on
how to increase the ethical guidance that can gives high impact performance of work by
providing etiquette training courses for their employees. Future research could also look into
aspects of ethical behavior in administrative work and how ethics can affect organizational
performance.

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 873

Causal Influence on Corporate Fraud: Perceptions among MARA’s

Employee
Muhammad Aiman Bin Awalluddin
Faculty of Administration Science and Policy Studies
aimanawalluddin@gmail.com

Dr Tuan Nooriani Bt Tuan Ismail

Faculty of Administration Science and Policy Studies
tnsya800@salam.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Corporate fraud and misconducts remain a constant risk that posing a serious threat to the
organization. The cases are getting more sophisticated due to the innovative ways, well-
planned and intelligent of perpetrator raising the complexity of fraud activities and are
supported by various reasons. The purpose of this study is to measure the relationship
between perceived pressure, perceived opportunity and perceived rationalization on
corporate fraud propensity at Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) or Indigenous People’s Trust
Council. With scant research evidence concerning fraud propensity in Malaysia, this
research is hopefully able to fill the evidence gap and will be well documented. From 338
surveys that have been randomly distributed to multiple department’s employee working in
the MARA; 52% response rate was collected (n = 177). The KMO and Bartlett’s Test shows
significance of the study (KMO value = 0.849> 0.05) and thereby shows the validity and
suitability of the responses collected to the problem being addressed through the study, and
there is no evidence of multicollinearity. The multiple regression analysis has found that
perceived pressure (β=0.53, p < 0.005), perceived opportunity (β=0.451, p < 0.005), and
perceived rationalization (β= -0.97, p < 0.005). The result of the current study is consistent
with prior studies that found that perceived pressure, perceived opportunity and perceived
rationalization were positively affect corporate fraud propensity. The findings are significant
in assisting and improving the present fraud control policy implementation in the organization
and for the organization to remains competitive and sustainable.

Keywords: Pressure, Opportunity, Rationalization, Corporate fraud propensity

INTRODUCTION

Recent decades, have witnessed the greed of individuals and organizations increase
sharply and they already acquired an inevitable presence in our lives and society. The fall of
Enron, WorldCom and recent fraud scandal of Toshiba and Wells Fargo scams has shaken
public confidence toward corporation. In Malaysia, similar cases take place in local
corporations such as PKFZ, Perwaja Steel and fraud scandal in Bank Rakyat in 1977 which
received public crowd attention. Corporate fraud and misconduct remains a constant feature
posing a threat both from the macro and micro prospective of the economy (Gupta & Gupta,
2015). CIMA (2009) defines fraud involves using deception to make a personal gain for
oneself and/or create a loss for another, fraud is type of criminal activity, defines as ‘abuse of
position, or false representation, or prejudicing someone’s right for personal gain.
This study was conducted at MARA due to its contributions towards the development
of the Malay and Bumiputra. The organization owned many subsidiaries ranging from
education institution, public transport, investment body and incoming first rural bank
managed by MARA known as Bank Luar Bandar Malaysia (BLBM) or Rural Bank of
Malaysia (RBM). Perhaps, MARA can be addressed as the biggest trustee organization in
 874

Malaysia. This research aims to study perceive factors that influence employees to commit
corporate fraud. The factors are derived from “Fraud Triangle Framework” proposed by
Cressey in 1953. Cressey categorized fraud into three conditions namely;
pressure/incentive, opportunity and attitude/rationalization. The model are widely recognized
by professional bodies such as Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), Auditing
Standard Boards (ASB) and International Auditing and Assurance Standard Board (IAASB).

LITERATURE REVIEW

Corporate fraud activities dominantly perpetrated by white collar workers. Thus, the
offence also known as white collar crime. White collar crime refers to financially motivated
nonviolent crime committed by business and government professional, white collar
criminality in business is expressed most frequently in the form of misrepresentation in
financial statement, manipulation stock exchange, commercial bribery, bribery of public
official in order to secure favorable contract and legislation, misrepresentation in advertising
and salesmanship, embezzlement and misapplication of funds, tax fraud, and misapplication
of funds in receiverships and bankruptcies (Sutherland, 1940). Fraud triangle can be
addressed as the first model to explain factors influencing individual to commit occupational
fraud. The theory was invented in 1950 by Cressey, when he started the study of fraud to
find the factors what lead people to commit fraud. He interviewed 250 criminals whose
behavior met two criteria: (i) initially, people accepting responsibilities in a bona fide (good
faith) and (ii) circumstances make them violate such deeds given to them. He underlined
three factors influence people to breach the trust given to them, namely; pressure,
opportunity and rationalization. For instances, pressure: financial strain or to meet company
goals, opportunity; situation that enables fraud to occur such as weak of internal control or
none existent, and rationalization; mindsets of human that justifies us to do fraud, (Cressey
& Sutherland, 1951). In order for fraud to take place, the three elements must be present
which are; pressure, opportunity and rationalization.

Pressure

Opportunity Rationalization

Source: Fraud Triangle Model by Cressey (1953)

Pressure

The pressure or “need” that a person feels which could also be a perceived financial
need, whereby a person driven by lust of materials or in quandary state to settle their
financial problem through fraud action. According to Cressey (1953), the pioneer of fraud
triangle, he asserted that the pressure to commit fraud can identified with an individual
motives, either financially or non-financially. He also mentioned pressure can be classified
into three types: personal pressure related to lifestyle, pressure by the employer to meet
company objectives, and external pressure. In a study done by (Levi, 2008) the finding
revealed that individuals who commit fraud driven by the wealth maximization or pure
economic motivations. Likewise, pressure may include strong desire to against system,
dissatisfaction, feeling to vengeance, debt-ridden and greed. People motivation manifests in
the form of unshareable pressure, either financial pressure or may not be financial pressure.
 875

The culprit may have gambling problem, drug problems, or personal problems that forced
him to commit fraud. Goldstraw, Smith, & Sakurai (2005) contend that greed, gambling,
financial problem, either personal or business, feasibility of business; and influence of others
are the major factors spur illegal behaviors among employees. For instance, (Crofts, 2002)
aver that gambling-related activity is the major factors that spark corporate fraud activity in
Australia

Opportunity

Opportunity is sometimes referred as perceived opportunity, which defines the

method of committing crimes of frauds. Turner, Mock & Srivastava (2003) claimed that
personal motive is not enough for perpetrator to commit fraud unless there is an opportunity.
People tend to do fraud when there is poor internal control, poor job division and audit not
performed in a regular basis. There are several factors that trigger ones opportunity to
commit fraud include – the knowledge of the weaknesses of the company’s internal control
systems, access to accounting records or assets, lack of supervision, unethical management
leadership and overconfident they will not get caught. In fact, Mackevicius & Giriunas (2013)
propound that opportunity will increase fraud propensity due to poor control of the company’s
assest, procedure, accounting, especially if the conditions for fraud are favourable to the
employees. Opportunity fraud element is regarded as the heart of fraud action. In
accordance with Cressey model, pressure alone will not motivate fraud commitment. Despite
of high incentive/motivation, an individual will not dare to carry corporate fraud if there is no
gap in the system, structure or organization. This gap either possessed by them (such as
know-how knowledge), created by human errors, system malfunction, carelessness, failure
of organization to provide ethics training, and embedded ethical value in organization.

Rationalization

The context of rationalization refers to an attempt by employee to justify an act of

committing fraud. It is a mental process by which an individual can come to understanding in
their mind and to justify any acts or act they will participate. According to Duffield &
Grabosky (2001) the fraud element commonly described as an excuse or justification for
fraud committing such as “borrowing” and planned to pay back when financial situation
turned around, “no one will suffer”, “for a noble purpose, “executives deserve even more,
because they exploit me” and employees working extra hours without commensurate pay
increase. Rationalization is a crucial element in most fraud action. In doing fraud,
rationalization is important to comfort perpetrator’s feeling by making them belief that they
are doing right thing or everyone will do it if there is a chance. Rationalization involves
perpetrator reconciling his/her behavior with the commonly accepted notions of decency and
trust. Some common rationalizations for fraud action are; committing fraud is justified to save
family member or loved one, the person believe they will lose everything such as cars, home
if not they do not take the money, and no one will help them, they are on their own (Duffield
& Grabosky, 2001)

MEASUREMENT

The instrument developed by Cressey (1953), Deloitte (2003) and CIMA (2009) for
perceived pressure, perceived opportunity and perceived rationalization scale has been
adopted in this study. The instrument for corporate fraud propensity was adopted from
Cassarino (2013). The items was assessed along a five-point Likert Scale with the point (1)
strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree. For corporate fraud propensity the scale range from
(1) poor to (5) excellent.
RESULT
 876

Around 338 surveys have been randomly distributed to multiple department’s

employee working in the MARA. The response rate of 177 (52%) acceptable rate suggested
by Babbie (1973) and Kidder (1981) of whom where 122 (68.9%) were female and 55
(31.1%) were male, ranged from 18 to 45 and above of age with 61.6% of them have 6 years
and above service with the organization. The KMO and Bartlett’s Test shows the significance
of the study (KMO value = 0.849> 0.05) and thereby shows the validity and suitability of the
responses collected to the problem being addressed through the study, and there is no
evidence of multicollinearity. Table 2 and Table 3 show summary of Model Summary and
ANOVA of this study. The Durbin-Watson of this study is 1.693 which is acceptable
according to (Sheridan, Coakes, & Steed, 2003) the value must within 1.5 – 2.5 to ensure
the assumption of independence of residual is not violated.
Next, R squared is a statistical measure of how close the data are to be fitted in
regression line. It is also known as the coefficient of determination, or the coefficient of
multiple determination for multiple regression. If R square 0% indicates that the model
explains none of the variability of the response data around its mean. If its 100% indicates
that the model explains all the variability of the response data around its mean. In general,
the higher the R-square, the better the models fits the data. The result shows the variation is
21%, which means it is not very fixed and not very significant where the relationship between
independent variables and dependent variables are not too much related. However,
according to (Frost, 2013) it is entirely expected that R-square values will be low for field that
attempts to predict human behavior, such as psychology, which typically has R-square
values lower than 50%. This is because human behavior is harder to predict. Therefore, 21%
is considered fit as this study is predicting human behavior in relating to fraud propensity.

Table 2 Model Summary

b
Model Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Std. Error of Durbin-

Square the Estimate Watson
a
1 .457 .209 .196 .71980 1.693
a. Predictors: (Constant), IVRationalization, IVOpportunity, IVPressure
b. Dependent Variable: Fraud

Table 3 ANOVA
a
ANOVA
Model Sum of df Mean Square F Sig.
Squares
b
Regression 23.725 3 7.908 15.264 .000
1 Residual 89.633 173 .518
Total 113.358 176
a. Dependent Variable: Fraud
b. Predictors: (Constant), IVRationalization, IVOpportunity, IVPressure

The ANNOVA table shows that there are significant on the test for three independent
variables; pressure, opportunity and rationalization with dependent variable; fraud propensity
as the significant value is 0.000. The F ratio indicate whether the overall regression model is
a good fit for data. The findings show that independent variables statistically significantly
predict the dependent variable F(3,173)=15.264, p< .0005 which indicate the regression
 877

model is a good fit of the data. It signifies that the model did a good job of predicting the
outcome variable and that there is a significant relationship between the set of predictor and
the dependent variable.
For collinearity statistic, the tolerance must above than 0.3 and VIF must less than 4.
According to Hair et al. (2010), tolerance refers to the amount of variability specified
independent variables that is not explained by other variables, whereas the VIF is an
indicator of the effect that other independent variables have on the standard error of
regression. Based on the table, there is no issues with the multicollinearity. Besides, the
value of tolerance is greater than >0.3 and VIF is less than <4. After the evaluation of the F-
value and R-squared. It is important to evaluate the highest coefficient have a strong
relationship. The beta coefficients can be negative or positive and have a t-value and
significant of that t-value. The beta coefficients can be negative or positive and have a t-
value and significant of that t-value associated with it. If the beta coefficient is not statistically
significant, t-value will not significant, no statistical significant can be interpreted from that
predictor.
Based on the table 4, the most influent variable is opportunity as the Beta equal to
β=0.451 as compare to pressure β=0.53. Yet, independent variable of rationalization shows
less contribution to the fraud propensity as the value is β= -0.98. Furthermore, if the t-value
is 0.000, it shows that there are strong relationship between independent variable and
dependent variable. The t-significant value should less than 0.05. If the value is above than
0.05, the independent variable do not have strong relationship or significant relationship with
dependent variable. From the table below, t significant value is high for pressure 0.509 and
0.181 for rationalization. But, it is significant for opportunity 0.000 < 0.05. In conclusion,
perceived opportunity has strong influence on dependent variable, fraud propensity.

Table 4 Coefficient Table

Model Unstandardized Standardize t Sig. Collinearity Statistics

Coefficients d
Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta Tolerance VIF
(Constant) 1.647 .303 5.439 .000
IVPressure .048 .073 .053 .662 .509 .707 1.414
1
IVOpportunity .483 .086 .451 5.619 .000 .709 1.410
IVRationalization -.097 .072 -.098 -1.342 .181 .865 1.156
a. Dependent Variable: Fraud
Table 5 Summary Table of Multiregression Analysis

Category Fraud Propensity

R Square 21% (Fits)
Durbin-Watson 1.693 (Acceptable)
ANNOVA 0.000 (Significant)
F-value F(3,173)=15.264, p< .0005 (Good)
Tolerance:
Pressure 0.707 (Significant)
Opportunity 0.709 (Significant)
Rationalization 0.865 (Significant)
VIF:
Pressure 1.414 (Significant)
Opportunity 1.410 (Significant)
Rationalization 1.156 (Significant)
Beta:
Pressure 0.053
Opportunity 0.451
Rationalization -0.98
 878

t-value
Pressure 0.509 (Not significant)
Opportunity 0.000 (Significant)
Rationalization 0.181 (Not significant)

In conclusion, all the independent variables have good assumptions/positive

relationship with the dependent variable. Although, only the opportunity has significant status
in t-value, it is assume all hypotheses are supported. The data shows that opportunity has
strong relationship with fraud propensity. Therefore, the most influential factor on corporate
fraud propensity is opportunity

H1: There is positive relationship between pressure and corporate fraud propensity.
H2: There is positive and strong relationship between opportunity and corporate fraud
propensity.
H3: There is positive relationship between rationalization and corporate fraud propensity.

CONCLUSION

This study which is focusing on measuring the relationship between perceived

pressure, perceived opportunity and perceived rationalization on corporate fraud propensity
at MARA, has proved that these factors do ignite a certain role in the case. The findings
reveal that all three elements from Fraud Triangle Framework as proposed by Cressey is
usable in Malaysia. From the analysis, perceived pressure, perceived opportunity and
perceived rationalization may influence an employee to commit corporate fraud.
Furthermore, MARA employees opined that opportunity plays significant role in influencing
an employee to commit fraud offence. Opportunity is related with the internal control and
system of the organization. The loopholes in opportunity is created by weak of internal
controls, poor management, poor corporate governance and lack of supervision. If proper
procedures are not established and enforced, the employee activities can go undetected and
may resulted fraud occurrence. In addition, without pressure and rationalization, fraud can
still occur if there is an opportunity. These shows that opportunity is a key for corporate fraud
activities. Therefore, it is imperative for organizations to review, produce, implement and
enforce internal controls to minimize opportunity loopholes within organization structure.

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 879

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Sutherland, E. H. (1940). White Collar Criminality. American Sociological Review, 5, 1-2.

Sheridan, J., Coakes, J., & Steed, L. G. (2003). SPSS: Analysis Without Anguish Using
SPSS Version 11.0 for Windows. wiley.

Turner, J. L., J.Mock, T., & P.Srivastava, R. (2003). An Analysis of the Fraud Triangle. The
University of Memphis Working Paper.
 880

Effects of Strong Internal Audit Departmental Setting in Assessing

Practice and Evaluation of Organizational Performance
Zulkifli Baharud-din
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
zulki999@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Alagan Shokiyah
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam Selangor
alaganshokiyah@gmail.com

Mohd Serjana Ibrahim

Internal Audit Division,
Ministry Of Science, Technology & Innovation Malaysia
mserjana@mosti.gov.my

ABSTRACT

The key roles of Internal Audit are to act as an internal control mechanism for the
organization, in place by reviewing policies and practices in the organization in order to avoid
loss of financial resources, noncompliance and also to provide reasonable assurance that
public money has been spent in an efficient and effective manner. This study is concerned
with understanding the existing Internal Audit's establishment in the Malaysian Public Sector
of its structure and planning processes. The scope of this study covers the internal auditors
that work in the ministries in Putrajaya. This paper identifies two essential contributing
factors to strong Internal Audit departmental settings. While strong Internal Audit structure
ensures organization achieve its objectives through a systematic, disciplined approach to
evaluate and determine the effectiveness of control and governance processes,
independence of internal auditing is vital to leverage the degree of autonomy, conducting
audit work without fear and favor and independence of auditors would not be considered to
be impaired if the auditors do not appear to act in a capacity equivalent to a member of client
management or as an employee. The result showed that there were significant positive
relationships among the factors analyzed in this study such as auditor independence and
objectivity to the effectiveness of internal audit. Understanding of the institutional profile of
the activities is a gaining factor that audit activities can be part of an entity's corporate
governance process.

Keywords: Internal Audit, Internal Audit Structure, Independence

INTRODUCTION

The establishment of IA function is important as it can enhance organizational

governance by ensuring the compliance to policies and procedures. IA activity has become
an essential internal assurance mechanism in public financial controls and tool for
monitoring and evaluating financial management activities in government agencies by
ensuring that public spending is within budgetary provisions, disbursement comply with
specified procedures, provides for timely reconciliation of accounts and effective system for
managing and accounting physical and financial assets (Amrin Buang, 2008). Thus, IA
function will assist government organizations to achieve accountability and integrity, improve
 881

the implementation of government programs and develop confidence among citizens and
stakeholders as well as to cater any risk of mismanagement of public fund.
Based on the government emphasize on IA function, audit services can no longer move out
of their customary ways of thinking and common work. Audit services also can help
organization for the success of better financial management in public service by playing the
effective and efficient roles to promote better governance in managing public money.
The study will examine on what the factor that may contribute to the effectiveness of
IA in order to perform their duties effectively and indirectly can assist the public sector in
managing the public resources efficiently. The issues of weaknesses in PFM such as high
cost of public procurement, payment done without proper approval, uncollected revenue and
other issues of noncompliance with government rules and regulation had raised serious
questions about the quality and reliability of the IA department in government office. In some
extent, the standard of auditing which carried out by IA also has been questioned by the
stakeholder (Government) as the weaknesses occur will portray that the government has
done nothing to overcome these weaknesses. The study also will examine on how
management support to the role of IA in response to the weaknesses raised by IA for the
improvement and corrective action of weaknesses while executing government program and
activities.

Problem Statement

One of the key roles of IA is to act as an internal control mechanism for the
organization. This role is to determine that internal control is in place by reviewing policies
and practices in the organization in order to avoid loss of financial resources, noncompliance
and also to provide reasonable assurance that public money has been spent in an efficient
and effective manner. However, every year weaknesses and irregularities in spending public
money have been highlighted by the Auditor General (AG) in his annual report. Some of
these weaknesses and irregularities involve serious violation of established financial
management guidelines and procedures such as poor planning of procurement, equipments
supplied, work done and services rendered not in accordance with the original specification,
cost overrun due to delays in project completion, improper payment made for equipments
not supplied, work not done and services not rendered, equipment and good procured at a
much higher cost than marketvalue, procurement not done according to established
regulations.
For example, AG Report for the year 2010 once again places the spotlight over the
ministries and its alleged misappropriation of funds. The AG report revealed that nine
ministries and government departments had overspent last year’s overall operational
allocation by a total of RM3.73 billion. The report also stated that RM194 million or 72
percent of procurement for advertising in 2009 and 2010 were acquired through direct
bookings or direct negotiation in one ministry.
All the issues regarding to the administration of public money carry a lot of concern to
government’s financial management whether it was executed in an efficient and effective
manner as it should be. A constant question also rose toward the existence of the IA function
in a government office as an internal control mechanism in public office and as government
eyes to keep watch and assist the management look into safeguarding the government
resources. The effectiveness of IA in public office should affect and determine the
confidence level of all parties toward efficient public administration. The effective IA function
will lead to effective control on government’s financial management, which may become the
key factor to increase the accountability and integrity in government office.
The research examined on what factors that contribute to IA departmental setting in
order to perform effective duty and indirectly can assist the public sector in managing the
public resources efficiently. Factors such as internal audit structure and independence and
objectivity of Internal auditors may be the causes that affect the effectiveness of IA function.
 882

LITERATURE REVIEW

The strength of the IA structure plays an important role in the organization,

governance process and this role become more challenging in the current world business
condition. Amongst the main duties of IA in the public sector include reviewing and
determining the compliance with the government financial regulation, instruction and
procedures, the risks of loss of financial resources and others control risks. IA also is
responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of internal control system of the organization and
reviewing the reliability and integrity, financial report as well as to responsible evaluating the
economy and effectiveness of financial and other resources used in the government office.
Federal Treasury Circular No. 9/2004 stipulates the responsibilities of IA as an
independent function, which provides assurance and advisory services objectively to add
value and improve an organization's operation. The objective of the Internal Audit Unit is to
help the organization achieve its objectives through a systematic, disciplined approach to
evaluate and determine the effectiveness of control and governance processes. The IA
Department is responsible for conducting audits of financial management and performance
audit where the financial management, audit includes examination of financial systems,
internal controls and financial records to determine whether expenses, revenues, assets and
stores have been handled in accordance with the laws, regulations and instructions.
Whereas Performance audit is included assessing the programs and activities of an
organization to define its goals have been achieved and the resources used in a prudent,
efficient and effective manner. This circular gives the mandate to IA to perform at best, of
interest on behalf of government. It also indicates that the government has recognized IA
roles as an important department in the organization that can act to safeguard the public
resources by objectively assessing the government's financial management and activities.
Internal auditors perform an especially important function in those aspects of governance
that are crucial in the public sector for promoting credibility, equity, and appropriate behavior
of government officials, while reducing the risk of public corruption (Zeleke Belay, 2007).
Jack Diamond (2002) suggested that in order to make clear appreciation of the work of IA in
the organization, the scope of IA should be extended as part of management tool in
formulated better internal controls, reviewing inconsistent procedures within organizations,
adapt the information technology technique in auditing and formulating the convincing audit
plan recognized by top management. The performance standard of the IIA requires the IA
unit to plan and perform the work in order to arrive at useful audit findings and
recommendation for improvement.
As an important department in the organization, the IA should have its own mission,
IA charter and IA manual as standard and procedures during execution of audit work. This is
very important in the IA organizational set up as it will ensure the integrity and capability of
IA department. Besides that, internal auditors need to understand the overall organizational
structure, program and activities which allow them to successfully carry on the effective audit
work on the strategic issues. Institute Francais de I’Audit du Controle Internes (2005) in its
study found that a large majority of the internal audit departments have an internal audit
charter, formally approve by top management. The concern of internal auditors appears to
be of particular importance for their position within government should help the management
on the day to day management process, but they have never enjoyed public recognition (A
Md Ali, A Ahmi and MH Shahdan, 2007).
On the study by Albert L. Nagy and Willian J. Cenker (2002) found that some
interesting organizational structure arises from the newly define the internal audit role which
relate to the IA organization setting on how is the IA department perceived and evaluated by
the management. In addition, he also relates the IA scope of work that must be changed and
the support of management in assessing the business risk and identify the importance of
audit area. It is becoming to the understanding that IA roles has migrated from traditional
assurance function toward the consulting role within organizations and this make IA service
will be fully utilized and their recommendations will be respected (Flesher and Zanzig, 2000).
The challenges for the reform of IA may be affected by the certain factors such as,
 883

perception and ownership of the internal audit unit, organization and governance framework
of organization, professionalism which can recognized within organizations and the outsider
(stakeholder), a conceptual framework with regards of auditing standard and resources of
funding and staffing (Cecilia Nordin Van Gansberghe, 2005). The study by Zekele Belay
(2007) concluded that Internal Audit function in the public sector has less satisfactory
involvement to assess the effectiveness of governance structures because of some issues
which affect the IA function such as the absence of approved mandate, career path for
auditors in the IA unit less attractive, less satisfactory of leadership, and no corrective action
taken based on IA findings.
As to ensure the reliability and effectiveness of IA function, the professional guidance
of the Institute of Internal Audit (IIA), states that an effective public sector audit activity to
strengthen the governance process is by materially increasing the IA structure's ability to
hold the whole organization accountable. Special function if IA in this aspect of governance
is crucial in the public sector for promoting credibility of management. An effective IA in
government sector much relate to organizational independent, audit charter, unrestricted
access to any form of audit evidence, sufficient staff, sufficient funding, competent
leadership and staff, stakeholder support and the existing of audit standard (Zeleke Belay,
2007). National Audit Office, United Kingdom (2012) suggested for the key characteristics of
an effective internal audit service in terms of the focus and quality of its work consist of 7
elements. They are - IA has overall objectives that are fully aligned with organisational
objectives; IA clearly understands how its activities contribute to the overall assurance
available to management; IA provides robust; evidence-based challenge to management’s
response; IA works to ensure key stakeholders show an active interest in its work and
opinions; IA provides objective assurance to key areas of management risk; IA provides
appropriate assurance on controls over core information and other systems; IA provides
assurance proactively and internal control is built in; IA consider how its work can provide
assurance on controls over common and cross-government risks and IA has an open
dialogue to develop and learn, and open communication with its key stakeholders.
Thus, setting up the effective IA function should consider all these attributes as to
make the IA department is respected department in the organization. Therefore, the strong
IA department in the organization is the one of the key factors that contributes to the
effectiveness of IA function.

Organizational setting of IA

According to Patrick V. Reed (2012) the Internal Audit Structure begins by

understanding the existing Internal Audit's establishment of its program, structure and
staffing, risk assessment and planning processes. Furthermore, it relates to the relationships
across the system within the organization and reporting flow practices that constitute the
accountability framework in the organization. In addition, the understanding of the
institutional profile of the activities is a gaining factor that audit activities can be part of an
entity's corporate governance process.
Auditors Competency and Proficiency
IIA defines auditor competency is the ability of an individual to perform a job or task
properly, being a set of defined knowledge, skills, and behavior. The competency and
proficiency is measured in terms of academic level, experience, skill and the effort of the
staffs for continuing professional development. Competency determines the efficiency of the
auditor in setting a systematic and disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the
effectiveness of the organization’s activities and financial management as well as
governance processes. (Angus Okechukwa Unegbu, Mohamad Isa Kida, 2011). The
appropriate staffing of an internal audit department and good management of the staff can
also relate to the effectiveness of IA function which allow its staff for necessary education,
training, experience and professional development.
 884

Independence and objectivity of Internal Auditors

The other factor that may contribute to the effective government audit activities is the
need of organizational independence and objectivity which can allow the audit activity to
conduct work without interference by any party for the audit task. The independence and
objectivity of internal auditing is with respect to both assurance services and consulting for
the organization
Christopher, Sarens & Leung (2009) aim to critically analyze the independence of the
internal audit function through its relationship with management and the audit committee
found there are the threats to independence of IA included considering the internal auditor
as a “partner” with management. Shroeder (1981) found that the independence of the
internal audit department and the level of authority to which the internal audit staff report are
the two most important criteria influencing the objectivity of their work. Whereas Van
Peursem (2005), based on interviews with Australian internal auditors, concluded that
independence from management is a dominant feature of successful auditing programs.
Those auditors able to set their own agenda seem to be the most powerful in this respect
because their selection of what to audit and when they can include assessments of senior
managers as well as assessments for them (Van Peursem, 2005). Greater quality of the
auditing work and great organizational independently were positively related to auditing
quality and auditees’ evaluations. The correlations were stronger in the case of
organizational independence (A.Cohen and G. Sayag 2010).
Thus, the argument relating the independence of IA is worth to be subject of study of
IA effectiveness. In recognition of the potential for conflict, the Institute of Internal Auditors
(IIA) has issued a number of professional standards and guidelines with respect to
independence and objectivity. In fact, in 2001 the IIA published “Independence and
Objectivity: A Framework for Internal Auditors” (IIA, 2001) as a guide for managing threats to
objectivity. The framework identifies seven key traits: self-review, social pressure, economic
interest, personal relationship, familiarity, cultural and cognitive biases. It also identifies a
variety of safeguards against these threats. In Malaysia, internal auditors that positioned in
the IA department in various ministries and departments are seconded staffing of the
National Audit Department in order to ensure the independence of auditing work.

Management support

Management support in internal audit function is defined as when high level

managers in a corporation seek to help the internal audit department to ensure the
effectiveness of the audit work and to develop an ethical behavior in the organization. In an
organization, management support and tone at the top is very important in determining the
effectiveness of internal audit as top management play a crucial role in the organization
(StudyMode, 2011). Top management must support internal audit if an effective internal
audit function and this can be done in many ways such as defines clear the authority of
internal audit, by allowing free and easy access to senior management and the audit
committee and ensure the response to the audit finding and recommendations.
 885

Figure 1 Diagram Shows the Relationship How the Effectiveness of IA Measured by the Quality
of Audit Work will Influence by Auditors Competency and Proficiency, Independence and
Objectivity of IA and Management Support

Independent Variables

Auditors Competency

Independence of IA
Internal Audit
Effectiveness

Internal Audit Departmental

Strength
Management Support

METHODOLOGY

The study employed non-experimental quantitative research design utilizing

descriptive-correlational technique. Malaysian Government ministries had formally
established their IA department by adopting the staffing of the National Audit Department.
Questionnaires were distributed randomly to the IA Department of ministries located in
Putrajaya.
The questionnaires are divided into three sections which are demographic profiles of
the respondents, internal audit structure, and independence/objectivity of internal auditors.
The items asked in the questionnaire are developed based on a previous study approach by
Zeleke Belay [17] and Aaron Cohen & Gabriel Sayag [2]. Certain modification has been
made to the questionnaires accordingly as to accommodate with this study objective. The
independent variables were measured on a five-point Likert scale of: Strongly disagree = 1,
disagree = 2, neither agree nor disagree = 3, agree = 4, strongly agree = 5.

RESULT

Demographic Profile of the Respondents

The sample size was 191 IA auditors of which depict that most of the respondents
were females(57.1%). In addition majority of the respondents (65.0%) are at the age of
below 39 years old. (83.2%) of respondents are married. (94.3%) holds tertiary level
education with either diploma, bachelor or master degree.The table also shows that most
respondents are at the grade of middle managers and below (86.3%). On having any
affiliation to a professional body only (28.3%) were members to either national or
international body. In terms of auditing experience (57.6%) has experience 10 years and
below. On income, the majority of the respondents (83.2%) were from the income group that
earns less than RM5000 per month.
 886

Correlation between Variables

Table 1 Correlation between Internal Audit Effectiveness and Internal Audit

Departmental Structure

Variables Mean SD 1 2 3
Auditor’s Competency 4.1466 .4845
Independence/Objectivity .
of IA 4.0073 .4468 .662**

Management Support 4.0471 .4601 .724** .703**

Effectiveness of IA 4.1291 .4328 .640** .602** .659**

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Result of Pearson Correlation statistic of relationship among the variables. The result
shows that the correlations among the independent variables were high as ‘r’ values are in
positive. The strongest positive correlation among the independent variables is between
Auditors competency and Proficiency and Management support where r value is 0.724
(r=0.724). This relation indicates that the better government support to internal audit function
will accordingly increase the auditor competency and proficiency.
As to determine the relationship between the dependent variable (effectiveness of internal
audit) and independent variables, it is found that their relationship also in the positive
correlated. Base of Table 1, there is significant correlation between auditor competency and
proficiency to the quality of audit work - dimensions of internal audit effectiveness (r=0.640).
This correlation gives the evidence that the higher auditor competency and proficiency are
positively related to the quality of audit work.
Table 1 also shows the positive correlation between independence and objectivity of
IA to quality of audit work (r = 0.602). This means the more independent and objective of
internal audit will positively affect the effectiveness of internal audit function in the form of
quality of audit work.
Lastly, there is also shows the positive correlation between management support to
quality of audit work (r = 0.659). This means the greater management support toward to the
existing internal audit establishment will positively affect the effectiveness of internal audit
function in form of quality of audit work. The management support also becomes the highest
correlated factor to the quality of audit work.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

It can be assumed that internal auditors working in the public sector have relatively
still lack of qualified, skill and experience of the auditors. This finding is also supported by
Zeleke Beley [17], that organizations have problems of human resource by not having
sufficient staff, non-existence qualified staff, insufficient of skill and experience, inflexible
staffing strategy which contribute to the setback to the effort of strengthening the internal
audit function of the organization.
Pearson Correlation statistic found that there are significant positive correlation
between independence/objectivity of IA and Internal audit structure to the effectiveness of IA.
As such any negative factor that affected to these factors will give a significant change in the
effectiveness of IA. Krisnamoorthy [1] concluded that it is futile to attempt a rank ordering of
the factors of objectivity, work performance and competence are interrelated and no single
factor can be used in isolation to make an overall evaluation of the strength of IA function.
Internal Audit Structure is the most influencing factor among the factors that contribute to the
variation of quality audit work and this obviously crucial factor to the effective IA function.
 887

REFERENCES

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Audit Function, Managerial Accounting Journal, 17/3. Pp 130-137

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Discharging Effective Governance, Keynote Address Paper Internal Audit, Internal
Contro & Compliance Conference Sept 12, 2011, Auditor General Office of
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Angus Okechukwu Unegbu, Mohammed Isa Kida (2011), Effectiveness of Internal Audit as
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Cecilia Nordin Van Gansberghe (2005) Internal Audit: Finding its Place in Public Finance
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Christopher, J., Sarens, G. and Leung, P. (2009), “A critical analysis of the independence of
the internal audit function: evidence from Australia”, Accounting, Auditing and
Accountability Journal, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp.200-220.

Diamond. J (2002), The Role of Internal Audit in Government Financial Management:An

International Perspective, Working Paper, International Monetory Fund WP/02/94, pp
1-35

Flesyer. D and Zanzig.j (2000), ‘Management Accountnt Express a desire for change in the
functioning of internal auditing’ , Managerial Accounting Journal, Vol. 15 No. 7, Pp
331-7

Institute Francais de I’Audit du Controle Internes (2005), Resultats de L’enquete sur la

Pratique de L’audit interne en France en 2005, The Institue of Internal Auditor
France, Paris, IFACI, available at : www.ifaci.com – retrieved on April 3, 2013

Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) (1999), Definition of Internal Auditing, [Accessed

http://www.theiia.org/guidance/standards-and-guidance/ippf/definition-of-internal-
auditing/. Retrieved on May 22, 2013

Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) (2009a), International Standards for the Professional
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http://www.theiia.org/guidance/standards-and-guidance/ippf/practice-advisories/ .
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 888

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Internal Auditors. The Institute of Internal Auditors: Altamonte Springs, FL.

Institute of Internal Auditors, (IIA), (2000) Code of Ethics, The Institute of Internal Auditors,
Altamonte Spring

Krishnamoorthy, G. 2002. A Multistage Approach to External Auditors’ Evaluation of the

Internal Audit Function. AUDITING: A Journal of Practice and Theory (Spring): 95-
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 889

Revisiting the Malaysia 13th General Election: The Second

‘Tsunami’ of Politics? And Lessons Learned
Norhayati Mohd Salleh
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Seremban 3, Negeri
Sembilan
noran@ns.uitm.edu.my

Jasmine Ahmad
Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Seremban 3, Negeri
Sembilan
Institute of Leadership & Development, Bandar Enstek, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan
jasmi661@salam.uitm.edu.my

Mohd Ramlan Mohd Arshad

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, UiTM Kampus Seremban 3
mramlan2957@ns.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Malaysian 13th General Election (GE13) recorded the highest turnout of voters and increase
of new voters in the history of Malaysia’s General Election. The result of GE13 recorded a
narrow victory for Barisan Nasional (BN). Analysis on the result of GE13 was numerous and
one influential term associated with the result is 'tsunami' of politics. Generally the 'tsunami'
is understood as a series of large waves caused by major disruptions in the ocean floor,
which resulted in significant changes to the destruction of the earth. In the context of the
political landscape of this country GE13 results showed a significant change in the control of
a parliamentary majority (P) and the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) by the ruling party
i.e. Barisan Nasional (BN) has been reduced and shifted to a sharp increase dominance of
opposition parties under Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
The ‘tsunami’ was further illustrated with different situation. Some parties perceived it as a
'tsunami' of politics of the Chinese voters. Other parties looked it as a 'tsunami' of politics of
urban versus rural voters. Another party responded as 'tsunami' of politics of young people
versus senior citizens. This paper aims to investigate the actuality of 'tsunami' of politics
during the 13th General Election (GE), the political forces that caused such 'tsunami' and its
possible effects to the coming General Election (GE14). A comparative analysis based on
the composition, location, candidates who contested and the entire voting pattern were
applied, using two main sources of information namely The Sun and Suara Keadilan.

Keywords: GE13, 'tsunami' of politics, Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Rakyat and voters

INTRODUCTION

5th May 2013 was a date waited eagerly by political leaders, the academia, and
other interested parties with the political development of Malaysia as it was the date of the
Malaysian 13th General Election (GE13) conducted in the country. Many described the
results of the GE 13 as another 'tsunami' of politics after the 12th General Election (GE12) in
2008. Generally the 'tsunami' is understood as a series of large waves caused by major
disruptions in the ocean floor, which resulted in significant changes to the destruction of the
earth. In the context of the political landscape of this country GE13 results showed a
significant change in the control of a parliamentary majority (P) and the State Legislative
 890

Assembly (DUN) by the ruling party i.e. Barisan Nasional (BN) has been reduced and shifted
to a sharp increase dominance of opposition parties under Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
In this connection, there were several terms used among political interpreters by
which some of them named the situation as a 'tsunami' of Chinese politics, 'tsunami' of
Malaysian politics, 'tsunami' of rural vs. urban politics and 'tsunami' of young people politics.
Therefore, various explanations have been made as a justification of such terms. The
sequence of scenario required an analysis should be made so that the situation can be
understood and scientifically valid, and free from any negative sentiment based on the
number of votes obtained by candidates during GE13 and GE12 particularly in Peninsular
Malaysia. Comparative analysis is based on the composition, location, candidates who
contested and the entire voting pattern (The Sun; 8th May 2013, Suara Keadilan, 10th May
2013).
The analysis is expected to be able to answer the following questions;
i. Was it true that 'tsunami' of politics took place?
ii. What kind of 'tsunami' that hit the GE13?
iii. Will the 'tsunami' (if relevant) continue to the 14th Malaysian Election (GE14)?

LITERATURE REVIEW

Per the official result, BN emerged as the winner from the elections on 5 May 2013,
with 133 out of 222 seats in the parliament. Even though they had lost seven seats in
comparison to 2008 (140), they still held a comfortable government majority. PR received 89
seats in the parliament, a gain of seven mandates in contrast to 2008 (82 seats) and it
remained as the opposition. The total percent of voters cast their ballot is 84.8 per cent, it
was the highest voter turnout in Malaysia’s history. Table 1 shows the performance of
Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.

Table 1 Comparison of Achievement BN and PR in Parliament, Assembly and Percentage of

Vote Secured by PR and BN

Parliamentary BN PR Total Seats Loss of Seats

Seats (by BN)
th
12 GE 140 82 222 n.a
th
13 GE 133 89 222 7

State Assembly BN PR Total Seats Loss of Seats

Seats (by BN)
th
12 GE 344 181 505 n.a
th
13 GE 275 230 505 71

Popular Votes BN PR Percentage of

Votes
th
12 GE 4.0 million 3.7 million 51.9
th
13 GE 5.2 million 5.5 million 48.6
th
Source : The New Straits Times, 7 May 2013 :pg 4

GE 13 shows Barisan Nasional loss another 7 seats to133, however, if deep analysis
made, there are components parties showed improvement especially the Malay based party
UMNO. The Indian based party, MIC manage to capture 1 seats from the opposition where
parties in Sabah and Sarawak kept excellent performance in 2013. Table 2 shows the
Parliamentary seats distribution among the component parties in Barisan Nasional and
Pakatan Rakyat.
 891

Table 2 Seats Distribution

Barisan Nasional GE 12
Total seats 133 (-7) 140
UMNO 88 (+9) 79
MCA 7 (-8) 15
MIC 4 (+1) 3
SABAH AND SARAWAK 33 33
Pakatan Rakyat
Total seats 89 (+7) 82
DAP 38 (+10) 28
PKR 30 (-1) 31
PAS 21 (-2) 23
Source: SPR, 2013

General Election 13 shows the swung of votes among the Chinese communities in
Malaysia. They re-aligned their support from the ruling party by voting the opposition
especially Democratic Action Party (DAP). DAP continued the winning trend in all the
Chinese two third majority seats in General Election from 2008 to 2013. ‘A Chinese Tsunami’
whereby the large majority of Chinese votes went to the opposition when they won 89
parliamentary, representing 40% seats at federal level, the largely Chinese-based DAP
obtained 38 parliamentary seats compared to 30 for PKR and 21 for PAS (Hing and Pong,
2014). DAP has also the largest number of state seats with 95 compared to 85 for PKR and
49 for PAS. In contrast, the three BN Chinese-based parties performed very badly (Hing and
Pong, 2014). The MCA won only 7 parliamentary and 11 state assembly seats. GERAKAN
won only one parliamentary seat while the SUPP retained one parliamentary seat out of the
six it contested. These three BN parties performed even worse than in GE12. The seven
seats won by the MCA were in constituencies where non-Chinese voters were in the
majority. Table 3 shows the trend of Chinese vote in GE 13, GE 12 and GE 11.

Table 3 Seats, Votes and Percent of Votes Secured by BN and PR in Seats Chinese as Two
Third Majority Voters

Year No Barisan Nasional Pakatan Rakyat

Seats Votes, N Votes, % Seats Votes, N Votes, %

2004 13 3 274, 956 47.6 10 301,715 52.2

2008 13 0 181, 515 28.7 13 450,672 71.3
2013 13 0 156,672 20.1 13 630,881 79.9
Source: Mohd Fuad et al (2014), Malaysia GE-13: The realignment of Chinese Voters

The political culture shifted in Malaysia with the young generation had played a
decisive role in determining the federal government of Malaysia. The incumbent ruling party
Barisan Nasional (BN) lose the two third majority in Parliament to 133 seats out of 222
parliamentary seats, the previous election shows the ruling party loss two third majority for
the first time since independent now had to contend with two party system in the house of
representative, which means more competitive for the ruling party to govern the nation
(Welsh, 2013). In a view, it can be said that the “political tsunami “did existed in the previous
election. However, if deep analysis taken, there is some argument can be made on Najib
Razak statement in the evening of 5th May 2013. There is a claimed, "A Chinese tsunami"
was how the outcome of the keenly-contested Thirteenth General Elections (GE13) came to
 892

be described by Najib Razak and other Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders on the evening of 5
May 2013 (Tan, 2013). In contrast the support for the Pakatan Rakyat inclined in eleven
states included Federal Territories and states which the Malays are the majority voters such
as Perlis, Terengganu, and Pahang which these states more than seventy percent are
Malays voters. Table 4 explained the increased in support for the Pakatan Rakyat by the
Malays voters.

Table 4 Percentage of Malays Votes for Pakatan Rakyat

State BN 2008 BN 2013 PR 2008 PR 2013 BN PR

Difference Difference
Perlis 60.1% 55.4% 39.9% 44.3% -4.8% 4.4%
Terengganu 55.1% 51.4% 44.7% 48.5% -3.7% 3.7%
Pahang 59.5% 55.2% 40.5% 44.4% -4.3% 3.8%
Source: Ong (2013), Keputusan PRU 13 Membuktikan Tsunami Malaysia bukan Tsunami Cina

This fact supported the result from Election Commission of Malaysia which proved
there are 23 seats which the Malays are majority (more than 50 percent), and they swung
vote to the opposition. Due to this occasion, some scholars believed there is urban versus
rural political tsunami. By looking at the result, UMNO’s Chinese coalition partners were
decisively weakened by the 2013 elections. The BN received only 24.4 per cent of the
Chinese vote, which is about 20 percentage points less than in 2008. Immediately after the
polls, the MCA announced its intention not to take over any ministry. Gerakan, the other
preponderantly Chinese party within the BN and for a long time the ruling party in Penang,
has been insignificant since 2008 and even more so since the 2013 elections. Among BN
components only UMNO managed to improve its performance in the parliamentary and state
assembly seats during 13th GE (in the peninsula). The comparison of the performance can
be seen in Table 5 below.

Table 5 Performance of BN Components

BN Components GE 12 Percentage (%) GE 13 Percentage (%)

of Votes of Votes
Secured Secured
UMNO
Parliamentary Seats 117 (T) : 79 (M) 67.5 120 (T) : 88 (M) 73.3
State Assembly 338 (T) : 239 (M) 70.7 339 (T) : 244 (M) 72
Seats
MCA
Parliamentary Seats 40 (T) : 15 (M) 37.5 37 (T) : 7 (M) 18.9
State Assembly 90 (T) : 32 (M) 35.6 90 (T) : 11 (M) 12.2
Seats
Gerakan
Parliamentary Seats 12 (T) : 2 (M) 16.6 11 (T) : 1 (M) 0.9
State Assembly 31 (T) : 4 (M) 12.9 31 (T) : 3 (M) 0.97
Seats
MIC
Parliamentary Seats 9 (T) : 3 (M) 33.3 9 (T) : 4 (M) 44.4
State Assembly 19 (T) : 7 (M) 36.8 18 (T) : 5 (M) 27.8
Seats
th
Source : The New Straits Times, 7 May 2013 : page 4
(T)* = Contested
(M)* = Victory

The scenario in Sarawak and Sabah recorded that the achievements of BN

component such as PBB, PRS, SPDP, UMNO and UPKO were still impressive. In Sarawak
PBB, PRS and SPDP could retain all parliamentary seats they contested. While in Sabah
 893

UPKO only lost 1 of 4 parliamentary seats and 2 of the 6 state seats it contested. In the two
states that although BN has lost 5 seats in Sarawak and two parliamentary seats in Sabah
but the BN was still able to maintain a two-thirds majority of the seats contested.
All this indicates that ethnicity and religion are mirrored in the election results;
although, predicated on the existing data, it is impossible to disentangle in detail the causal
relations between primordial identities and/or class interests and voting behaviour. According
to the Merdeka Center, women and poorer Malaysians voted predominantly for BN, while
men and middle- and upper-class voters tended to side with Pakatan Rakyat parties (The
Malaysian Insider, 2013a). BN voters typically live in rural areas, have benefitted from the
BR1M initiative, and generally support the defence of Malay rights. Thus unsurprisingly, the
BN gained a majority of Malay votes with 61.6 per cent (The Malaysian Insider, 2013b).
UMNO won in 78 out of the 99 rural Malay constituencies, but only in 5 of the 20 urban
Malay seats; in Kuala Lumpur, for instance, the BN won only 12.3 per cent support. This
supported the views of some political experts such Mohd Fuad et al (2014) which claimed
that there is urban political tsunami in General Election 13. Table 6 shows the result for
urban constituents for GE 13 which shows the opposition swept almost all the Parliamentary
seats is urban area as compare to ruling party.

Table 6 Result for Capital Cities in General Election 13

Seats Party
Perlis (Kangar) Shaharuddin Ismail, BN-UMNO
Kedah (Alor Setar) Gooi Hsiao Leung, PR-PKR (PH-PKR)
Kelantan (Kota Bharu) Takiyuddin Hassan, PR-PAS (GS-PAS)
Terengganu (Kuala Terengganu) Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah, PR-PAS(AMANAH)
Penang (Tanjong) Ng Wei Aik, PR-Dap (PH-Dap)
Perak (Ipoh Barat dan Timur) Keng Siong, Kulasegaran, PR-Dap (PH-Dap)
Pahang (Kuantan) Fuziah Salleh, PR-PKR (PH-PKR)
Selangor (Shah Alam) Khalid Samad, PR-PAS (AMANAH)
Kuala Lumpur PR won 9 out 11 seats
Putrajaya Tengku Adnan, BN-UMNO
Negeri Sembilan (Seremban) Loke Siew Fook, PR-Dap (PH-Dap)
Melaka (Kota Melaka) Sim Tong Him, PR-Dap(PH-Dap)
Johor (Johor Bahru) Shahrir Samad, BN-UMNO
Labuan Rozman Isli, BN-UMNO
Sabah (Kota Kinabalu) Wong Sze Phin, PR-Dap (PH-Dap)
Sarawal (Kuching) Chong Chien Jen, PR-Dap (PH-Dap)
Sources: SPR, 2013

General Election 14 Trajectories

Currently, there are three major alliances that will contesting in upcoming general
election. The Barisan Nasional for sure will be placed their candidates in all Parliamentary
seats and State seats. As the ruling party, the Chairman of Barisan Nasional will not allow
the case of P. 022, Parliament Pasir Mas where the UMNO candidate named Johan Che Pa
withdrew from contesting the seat during the nomination to allow straight fight between the
Independent candidate, Datuk Ibrahim Ali and Nik Abduh Datuk Nik Aziz, the son of late
Spiritual Leader of Parti al-Islam SeMalaysia, (PAS). This are the historical event as for the
first time the ruling party did not contesting in all Parliamentary seats during general election.
For Barisan Nasional, the issues of distributing the seats among the components parties are
not the major issue. This is because the ruling party stick to their agreement where the seats
that majority of the voters are Malays will go to United Malays National Organization(UMNO)
while for the Chinese majority will be contested by Malaysian Chinese Association, (MCA) or
to the Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (GERAKAN) and for Malaysian Indian Congress,
(MIC) the Indian as majority plus the decision by the high council of Barisan Nasional. This is
because of limited seats where the Indian are majority and the spirit of Barisan Nasional
 894

allow MIC to contest in other area for example P.094, Hulu Selangor, the Malays majority
area but hold by the incumbent MP, P. Kamalanathan whom later appointed as the Deputy
Education Minister. The rest of the seats which contested by the Pesaka Bumiputra
Bersatu,(PBB) the other components parties from Sarawak and several component parties
in Sabah such as Parti Bersatu Sabah, (PBS) and United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun
Organization, (UPKO). By having this condition, the Barisan Nasional look more structured
and ready for the election and only the contemporary issues that must be solving by the
ruling party to ensure they remain relevant as the fighter for the benefits of the citizen at all
layer of social classes.
The next alliances are the Pakatan Harapan (PH)/Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia
(PPBM). The previous coalition of opposition named by Pakatan Rakyat establish on 1st of
April 2008 are dissolved officially in 16th of June 2015 (Guan Eng, 16 June 2015) when the
Secretary-General of Democratic Action Party, (DAP) declared the pact was dissolved after
contradiction of political ideology with Parti al-Islam SeMalaysia, (PAS) lead by Tuan Guru
Datuk Haji Abdul Hadi Awang. Later on, the new fragmented party from PAS was registered
by taking over the current Malaysia Worker’s Party, and re-named to Parti Amanah Negara,
(AMANAH) which lead by the defeated Vice President candidate of PAS, Tuan Haji
Mohammad Sabu. AMANAH is seem as the replacement of PAS in Pakatan
Harapan/PPBM. However, much works need to be done as the party defeated in the last two
Parliamentary by-elections in Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar. The scenario is getting
much complex when the sacked Vice President of UMNO, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin set up
the new Malays based party named as Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) and become
the President while Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir the son of the well-known “Bapa
Permodenan Malaysia” Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad became the Vice President. The current
PH/PPBM is comprises of 2 Malays based party which is AMANAH, PPBM and the Chinese
based party DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) which is multi-races party. The issue in
distributing the seats is the major issue in PH/PPBM as which parties willingly to sacrifice
their traditional seats to the components parties in PH/PPBM. Ibrahim (2016) recognize this
complexity by stated that the co-operation between PH and PPBM making it more complex
as the PH is now on the process of distributing the seats among the current parties.
However, the performances of PH in two states which is in Selangor and Pulau Pinang will
be the eyes catching by the voters for the next upcoming election (Goh, 2015). The research
done during the State Assembly by the Pemantau Dun Rakyat Pulau Pinang shown that the
performance of UMNO, PKR and DAP state assemblyman are at the same par (Loone,
2014).
The third forces that will be contested in General Election 14 is Gagasan Sejahtera
(GS). The new form of opposition pact which lead by the PAS is formed on 13 August 2016
with Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (IKATAN) and Berjasa Parti Koperasi (BERJASA) (Syed
Jaymal, 13 August 2016), thus officially there will be three forces will be contesting in the
upcoming General Election 14. The problem with GS is the three parties are Malay based
political parties. The burden is more on PAS as the most experienced party in Malaysian
politics. This argument is supported by th Zaid Ibrahim the former President of Parti
Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (KITA) that there are no third forces, it is between wrong or
right side (Syed Jaymal, 17 March 2016). The unique composition of Malaysia make it
difficult for GS as they must ensure the non-Malays also can accept the coalition political
ideology. GS is upholding the Islamic States and Law as their political struggle and their
moderate critics on the government can be assume as one of the way to ensure they
achieved the goals. The direction of GS as stated by Mursyidul Am PAS, Hashim Jasin
which is not focus only to win the election but to ensure the leadership is remain lead by the
Malay-Islam leader (Muhammad, 28 November 2016). The movement made by the GS lead
by PAS in introducing the private Bill to amend the RUU 355 might attract the Malay-Islam
voters however, it is difficult to predict how GS will win the hearts of the Chinese, Indian and
the Sarawakians and Sabahans in next general election.
 895

METHODOLOGY

The data were collected from books, magazines, newspapers and newspaper reports
on the internet up to 2016. The search used phrases like ‘GE’, ‘comments on GE’, and
‘feedbacks on GE’. The selection was narrowed down to the view of the political
analyst/researchers and the comments from the Rakyat. The analysis results in depiction of
feedback from them.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

Was the 'Tsunami' of Politics a Reality?

The evaluation on the history of elections in the country, namely from the First
Election (1955) up to the 13th GE (2013), all elections were won by the BN (previously
Alliance or Perikatan). Chronologically, there were three unsatisfactory electoral results
secured by the Alliance / BN, namely in 1969, 2008 and 2013. With reference to Table 1, the
result of the GE13 was worse compared to the 12th GE where BN lost seven parliamentary
and 71 state seats. In terms of percent of the vote, BN only secured 48.6% in the 13th GE
compared to 51.9% in 2008. The results for GE13 also worse than the BN election in 1969 in
which the Alliance won 66 of 104 parliamentary seats i.e. about 63.5% and the situation can
be seen from Table 3 below.

Table 3 Percentage of Votes and the Number of Parliamentary Seats Secured by the Alliance /
BN

Year Percentage of Parliamentary Number of Seats Percentage of

Votes Secured Seats Won Seats Secured
1969 49.3 144 95 66.0
2008 51.9 222 140 63.06
2013 48.6 222 133 59.9
th
Source: Syed Husin Ali, 1984: pg.128, The New Straits Times, 7 May 2013: pg.4)

Comparatively, the GE13 showed severe deterioration among BN component

parties except UMNO and PBB (see Table 2). MCA won only 7 seats to 15 during GE12.
The movement managed to win only one seat compared to two seats in the 12th General
Election. People's Progressive Party (PPP) were defeated in all of its constituencies. In this
regard, some of the prevalent names in national politics and BN in particular have been
defeated, including those who hold the Minister and Deputy Minister posts. They were the
Transport Minister (Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha), Federal Territories Minister (Datuk Raja Nong
Chik Raja Zainal Abidin), Minister of Housing and Local Government Minister (Datuk Seri
Chor Chee Heung), Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities (Tan Sri Bernard
Giluk Dompok), Johor Menteri Besar (Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman) and Melaka Chief
Minister (Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam). In addition, the Deputy Minister Datuk Saifuddin
Abdullah, Datuk Puad Zarkashi and Datuk Lee Chee Leong were also defeated in this
Election. Meanwhile the five Prime Minister's Special officers were also lost in contesting the
respective seats. They were Datuk Shahlan Ismail in Pokok Sena MP, Datuk Latt Shariman
in DUN Kubang Rotan, Datuk Mohd Shafei Abdullah in Wangsa Maju, Datuk Mohd Fahmi
Che Salleh in Kota Baru and Datuk Mohd Sufffian Awang in Kuantan Parliamentary
constituencies (Suara Keadilan, 7th May 2013).
A new phenomenon that took place was that the success of the opposition parties
in encroaching Johor and secured more seats in Sarawak as well as managed to capture
many seats across the country. Although BN succeeded to win back Kedah and Perak, the
position of PR maintained in Selangor, Penang and Kelantan even they increased their
domination with more than two-thirds seat. BN was almost defeated in Terengganu, whereby
 896

it won 17 of 32 seats (simple majority). The analysis on deteriorated BN's performance

during the 13th GE support the situation which can be regarded as 'tsunami' of politics.

What Kind of 'Tsunami' that Took Place during GE 13?

According to the Election Commission (EC), BN experienced great declination during

the 13th GE in terms of popular vote in several Parliament and state assembly
constituencies. At the parliamentary level, BN only secured 5,237,699 votes against
5,623,984 secured by PR. BN at the state level also gained 4,513,977 votes against
4,879,699 for PR. In proportion, BN only obtained 48% of votes compared with a PR of 52%
(see Table 2). In relation to the above mentioned subject, some people associated these
things with the shift of the Chinese votes from BN to PR. Since the Chinese represent 30%
of the total population in this country, it is impossible to get PR popular vote in such a way in
the Parliamentary and state assemblies constituencies without the support of other races,
especially the Malays who are considered dominant in the country. This does not mean that
the Chinese are not in favor of the opposition (PR) but there are several other factors that
contribute to a situation such as geographical factor, age, income, safety, education and IT
(internet) as well as the cost of living (which is beyond the limit of the people’s purchasing
power).
A survey conducted by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research (an opinion
research firm) before the 13th General Election showed that voters in rural areas were likely
to vote for BN and voters in the urban area were more to PR. The agency also found that
older people were in favor of the BN and younger people were in favor of PR. In addition,
low-income groups prefer to support the BN and the high income groups tend to support PR.
Those who did not have the access to the Internet prefer to support BN while those who
have internet prefer to PR.
Furthermore, before the 13th General Election it was said that the Chinese voters and
those who have the access to the internet facilities have been influenced by various issues
in social media such as corruption and abuse of power. Although not all situations are real or
accurate, unfortunately BN administration also acknowledged shortcomings such as National
Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal that intensified the negative perception on the BN
government as it was permeated with elements of "impurities" and requires a drastic change
(The Sun, 8th May 2013; Suara Keadilan, 10th May 2013). BN also did not aware of the anti-
bribery sentiment among voters. For example BN had used improper tactics such as calling
the Korean singer, PSY who was sponsored by certain parties to perform during the
celebration of Chinese New Year in 2013. The sponsorship of the show have intensified their
perception that BN is a corrupt government and needs to be replaced with a more efficient,
transparent and clean namely the PR government.
Another scenario identified was preferences among Chinese voters, young and
urban voters to PR candidates who exhibited more professional, capable and attractive
personalities. The candidates were relatively young, proficient, virtuous and confident in
addressing the issues raised, On the other hand, some of the candidates presented by BN
exhibited lack of ethical behavior (The Sun, 8th May 2013; Suara Keadilan, the 7 th of May
2013; The New Straits Times, 11th May 2013). For example, candidates who contested in
Pandan parliamentary constituency, a lawyer was alleged to have violated legal ethics in
which show-cause letters sent to him was discovered by his rival candidate of PR, namely
Rafizi Ramli. The candidate was defeated by a large vote difference (more than 7,000
votes).
Therefore, it can be said that 'tsunami of politics” against the BN was due to the perception
of corruption, adoption of the wrong approach to attract voters, the result of
misunderstanding, the aspirations of the Chinese and the requirements of young voters,
voters' perception of the urban voters as well as differences in the quality of the candidates
that contested in the Election. In other words it is a reality 'tsunami' of new Malaysian
politics.
 897

Will the 'Tsunami' of Politics Continue to 14th General Election (GE14)?

If this is true, the study by Merdeka Center expressed that support for BN is stronger
among those in rural, poor and no internet access. Then, BN should address this as well as
possible so as not to recur in GE14.
In line with the current rapid development of the rural areas is the widespread
urbanization (in rural areas) in the future (The Sun, 8th May 2013). This means that the more
rural areas will be transformed to be the town / city. Such a situation is followed by
'extinction' of older generation in which they will demise. Another change that will occur is
the increasing number of people with high income and access to internet facility that will be
enjoyed by more people. This means that, with the Malaysian move towards developed
nation status, the more the BN traditionally dominated constituencies will be the target area
of PR (The Sun, 8th May 2013; Suara Keadilan, 10th May 2013). Therefore it is important for
BN to understand why many voters shifted to PR and against BN whereas some it has
conducted some efforts to reach the voters. It is important for BN to understand why the
voters in the city, young, rich, educated and have access to the internet facilities are more
likely to support the opposition.
Additionally, GE13 results have provided an opportunity for Prime Minister to lead
the BN and rule Malaysia for a period of another five years. If he aspires BN prolonged
lifespan and extended his reign in the future then he should take reasonable steps to deal
with the above mentioned concerns. Thus, a political transformation must be done as he had
performed in the field of economic transformation and national administration. Initial efforts
may be instituted by the transformation among BN component parties which suffered a
serious defeat like MCA, MIC, Gerakan and PPP. In relations to this point, Najib as BN
chairman may propose to the parties concerned to be dissolved and its members absorbed
into the UMNO, which is in line with the 1 Malaysia slogan. Thus, UMNO (United Malays
National Organisation) will be converted into UMNO (United Malaysians National
Organisation). Of course, such a proposal will encounter an opposition from the existing
UMNO members because they felt that their position will be indiscreet. This subject has
been described by Dato 'Onn Jaafar (UMNO's first president) who deemed the letter' M
'(Malays) in UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) should be replaced with the word'
Malayan '(United Malayan National Organisation). Such opinion has been associated with
the vociferous attitude of Dato 'Onn Jaafar but such point have transpired over 60 years ago
(The Sun, 7th May 2012; The New Straits Times, 11th May 2013). Times have changed and
Malaysia also have changed. Is the BN still relevant or could continue in power without
making any changes as demanded by the people?

CONCLUSION

GE13 was the third 'tsunami' of politics, in addition to GE 1969 and GE 12 in

Malaysia. 'Tsunami' of politics was a valid term used as BN could only secured 46.53% of
votes. This is due to incapacity of BN to understand some of the aspirations of the people in
this country. BN has failed to understand the aspirations of most other increasingly
'sophisticated' Malaysians such as the increasing number of urban people, young people,
the highly educated, high-income people and people who have internet facilities in line with
the current development of the country and the more advanced world. Therefore, BN needs
to make a political transformation to ensure that it remains relevant and accepted by most
people in this country.
 898

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Press

Daily News, 8th May 2013

Daily News, 11th May 2013

The FOCUS Malaysia, 27th April 2013

The FOCUS Malaysia, 3rd May 2013

The New Straits Times, 7th May 2013

The New Straits Times, 8th May 2013

The New Straits Times, 9th May 2013

The New Straits Times, 10th May 2013

The New Straits Times, 11th May 2013

The New Straits Times, 12th May 2013

The Sun, 8th May 2013

Suara Keadilan, 7th May 2013

Suara Keadilan, 10th May 2013

Suara Keadilan, 12th May 2013

Internet

www.themalaysianinsider.com as on 10th May 2013

www.themalaysianinsider.com as on 1 Jun 2013 (a)

www.themalaysianinsider.com as on 28th May 2013 (b)

http://www.merdeka.org/pages/04_inNews01.html as on 10th May 2013

http://www.spr.gov.my/index.php/component/content/article?layout=edit&id=74= as on 30
December 2016
 900

The Study of the Social Capital Endowment on Zakat Applicants in

Melaka
Azhana Othman
Faculty of Business and Management,
University Technology of MARA (UiTM) Melaka
azhana395@melaka.uitm.edu.my

Khalilah Ibrahim
Faculty of Business and Management,
University Technology of MARA (UiTM) Melaka
khalilah375@melaka.uitm.edu.my

Noor Azzura Mohamed

Faculty of Business and Management,
University Technology of MARA (UiTM) Melaka
noorazzuramohamed@gmail.com

Mohammad Bastyian Mahmud

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies,
University Technology of MARA (UiTM) Negeri Sembilan
bastyian474@ns.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Some studies have used large datasets to examine the impact of economic wellbeing on
social capital either aggregate or individual levels. Nevertheless, individual economic well-
being usually has not been the primary concern of these studies, and the findings regarding
it are mixed. This study focuses on the relationships between social capital and economic
well-being at the individual level. The total of 507 respondents of new and reapplication of
zakat aid were interviewed. The interviews were conducted using closed, fixed-response
interview. As this study conducted as a pilot study, a descriptive statistic was used to test the
data. The dependent variable (DV) is personal income and the independent variables (IV)
are including social behavior, social relationships and territorial and environmental context.
The result showed that social relationship was playing an important role in social capital and
the respondents stated disagreement that their current income was sufficient to support the
family’s basic needs.

Keywords: Social behavior, social relationship, territorial and environmental context, poor self-
perceived poverty or subjective poverty

INTRODUCTION

Study done by Guagnano, Santarell & Santini (2013) disclosed that self-perceived
poverty in European countries is associated with at least three aspects: the household
socioeconomic conditions, the degree of family and social distress and the level of social
capital endowment.
Their outcomes have important policy implications where public policies actually can
improve household welfare and alleviate poverty not only through traditional income support
measures but also by enhancing the development of the desirable forms of social capital in
the areas where households live. The social capital covered social networks and
connections cross boundaries of social class, ethnicity and gender and which strengthen
mutual trust as voluntary initiatives.
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Grootaert (1999) empirically estimates how social capital affects household welfare
and poverty in Indonesia. His focus: household memberships in local associations, an
aspect of social capital especially relevant to daily household decisions that affect welfare
and consumption.
At the macro level, social capital includes institutions such as government, the rule of
law, civil and political liberties, etc. There is overwhelming evidence that such macrolevel
social capital has a measurable impact on national economic performance (Knack, 1999). At
the micro and meso levels, social capital refers to the networks and norms that govern
interactions among individuals, households and communities Grootaert (1999).

PROBLEM STATEMENT

One of the main purposes of zakat fund is to help asnaf priority given to the poor and
needy to have better opportunities to uplift themselves to higher socioeconomic. When the
poor and needy receive the financial aids from zakat institution, they have better
opportunities to uplift themselves to higher socio-economic levels.
In Malaysia, zakat institutions are responsible for ensuring zakat fund is distributed to
the rightful zakat recipients. The zakat institution is often blamed for not identifying the poor
and needy Muslims. In addition, there are potential asnaf who felt they are poor, yet their
applications were being rejected by zakat institutions. These issues gave concerns on why
individuals felt they deserve to receive zakat but, unfortunately the poverty measurement
suggests that they are not poor. Currently, zakat institutions monetary utilized measures
such as Poverty Line Income (PLI) and had al kifayah to determine the poor households.
Thus, the issue arise is why those potential zakat recipients feel they are poor but their
application being rejected by zakat institutions. Additionally, there are those eligible to
receive zakat but ignore or refuse to apply zakat fund.
The possible solutions to avoid the situation where individuals are wrongly defined as
poor or non-poor are to combine both objective and subjective indicators (Nolan &
Whellan,1993). However, the study on subjective poverty in Malaysia is still lack and dearth.
Adapted the framework from Guagnano, Santarelli, Santini (2013) that explained self-
perceived poverty (subjective poverty) is associated with at least three aspects: the
household socioeconomic conditions; the degree of family and social distress; the level of
social capital endowment. Nevertheless, this study will focus on the impact of economic well-
being (in terms of the poor self-perceived poverty or subjective poverty) on the social capital
endowment.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Social Capital

Social capital is an economic idea that refers to the connections between individuals
and entities that can be economically valuable. Social networks that include people who trust
and assist each other can be a powerful asset. The processes through which these two
social capital forms are expected to impact people are quite different. Bonding capital is
viewed as critical for people to get by in their daily lives, because it can provide emotional
and material supports to meet daily life needs. However, because people in these networks
are similar in their economic and social backgrounds, bonding capital is less likely to provide
new information and resources helpful in economic advancement, such as finding a job
(Briggs, 1998; Putnam, 2002).
On the other hand, bridging capital extends social networks to people with diverse
social and economic backgrounds, which is more likely to transmit important information for
people that could improve their economic status, and hence to get ahead (Briggs, 1998). In
empirical research, bonding capital is often measured through networks with kin and friends,
 902

because people within this type of networks are more likely to have similar social and
economic backgrounds (Barnes, 2003; Beugelsdijk & Smulders, 2003; Briggs, 1998). In
comparison, bridging capital is often measured through affiliations with various voluntary
group organizations, because these organizations are more likely to include people with
diverse social and economic backgrounds (Barnes, 2003; Beugelsdijk & Smulders, 2003;
Putnam, 2002)
Individual social capital views social capital as a personal belonging, and uses
measures such as the size of individual social networks to gauge his/her stock of social
capital. In contrast, aggregate social capital views social capital as a collective belonging of
a community or even a nation; it thus serves as a kind of societal context in which people are
embedded. The potential for social capital to make a positive contribution to outcomes in
diverse areas of social concern such as health, community safety and education has
captured the interest of policy makers, social analysts and researchers. This interest has led
to a demand for statistics that measure the concept of social capital, and that can be applied
to informing policy development and further research.

Household/Community Social Capital Endowment

The household/community social capital endowment three complex indexes social behaviour
(SB), social relationships (SR) and territorial and environmental context (TC):

Social Behaviour

Perceived crime, violence and vandalism as well as rate of crime are proxy indicators
of those characteristics of the territorial context which hinder the development of economic
and social cooperative behaviour. Local crime and perceived crime may promote fear and
suspicion of neighbors that inhibit socializing and building long-term relationships (Santini
and De Pascale (2012) and Guagnano, Santarelli, Santini (2013).

Social Relationships

Social relationships indicators are concerned, a distinction has been made between
real and virtual relationships. Real relationships are those based on face-to-face formal or
informal socializing which can be transformed in durable networks that provide access to
resources, information or assistance and from which one can derive market and nonmarket
benefits (i.e. better social status, better educational and professional achievement). Virtual
relationships provide the same benefits of real relationships but are based on networks of
heterogeneous contacts generated via-computer over the internet (Santini and De Pascale
(2012) and Guagnano, Santarelli, Santini (2013).
Social connections markers are concerned, a refinement has been made amongst
genuine and virtual connections. Genuine connections are those considering up close and
personal formal or casual mingling which can be changed in solid systems that give access
to assets, data or help and from which one can infer advertise and nonmarket benefits (i.e.
better economic wellbeing, better instructive and expert accomplishment). Virtual
connections give similar advantages of genuine connections yet depend on systems of
heterogeneous contacts produced by means of PC over the web (Santini and De Pascale
(2012) and Guagnano, Santarelli, Santini (2013).

Territorial and environmental Context

A set of territorial and environment indicators have been selected as they are
significant determinants of social capital formation (Loopmans, 2001; Glaeser et al., 2002). A
higher urbanization rate should encourage social and economic networking although, in
large urban centers, people’ behavior seems, more and more, individualistic; moreover, a
higher overcrowding rate should be a symptom of poor living conditions which could have a
 903

negative effect on the quality of family relationships. This aspect is further emphasized by
the introduction of additional variables on housing and environment conditions such as
features of the house or the dwelling, relationships with neighbors, urban population
exposure to air pollution and greenhouse gas emission.

DATA AND METHODOLOGY

Our approach is to begin by looking at demographic or characteristics of the zakat

applicants categorized as asnaf poor and needy in Melaka. Those characteristics include
gender, their age, level of education, job status, job type and monthly income. Then, these
characteristics were examined either it will directly effect on how they feel poor and thus,
they think deserve to receive zakat aid.

Figure 1 Theoretical Framework

Social Behaviour (SB)

Poor Self-Perceived
Social Relationship (SR)
Poverty or Subjective
Poverty
Territorial &

Adapted from: Guagnano, Santarelli, Santini (2013)

DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

In this section, the researchers would discuss the findings of the data that have been
analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and the results of
statistically analysis are presented as follows:

Descriptive Statistic (Frequency Distribution of Respondents Background)

A Frequency Analysis shows the frequency of occurrence of each score value of our
research data. The objective is to obtain a count of number of responses associated with
different values of the variable. This analysis is appropriate and suitable to analyze the
questions in Section 1 (Respondent Background). The results of frequency analysis are
shown in a Table 1. This table shows the frequencies of 6 items in the respondents'
background of the total survey group among the asnaf poor and needy.

Table 1 Respondents Profile

Items Female Male

Gender of head of household 269 238

Age:
Less 18 1 1
18-27 19 20
28-37 67 51
38-47 74 66
48-57 56 62
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58-62 28 12
Above 62 45 26
Education Qualification:

No formal educational 35 15
Primary school 56 49
Secondary school 72 59
SRP/PMR 29 17
SPM/SPVM 65 85
STPM/Diploma 7 7
Degree above 4 3
Vocational Skills 1 3

Job status:

Employed 116 146

Unemployed 22 19
Retired 2 7
Not active looking for job 124 66
Job Type:

Doing village work 21 65

Factory worker 24 30
Own small business 47 32
Doing irregular work 38 29
Not working 106 62
Others 28 24

Monthly Income(RM):

No income 111 58
Below RM 500 41 30
RM601-RM900 78 88
RM901-1000 24 45
RM1001-2000 1 9
RM 2001-3000 1 1
RM3001-4000 2 1
Above RM5000 0 1

Descriptive Statistic (Measure of Central Tendency and Variability)

Referring to Table 2, the highest mean of individual/community social capital

endowment is 3.369 for social relationship to fulfill the basic needs including handphone,
television, computer, internet access, and build a strong relationship with the society to
survive in today’s environment.

Table 2 Mean of Individual/Community Social Capital Endowment

Items Mean
Social behavior 3.176
Social relationship 3.369
Specific territorial and environmental characteristics 2.849
 905

Based on Table 3, 48.7% of the respondents agree that they were satisfied with the
level of hygiene in their neighborhood and 52.7% agree that the relationship among the
neighborhood were good. For specific territorial and environmental characteristic, 41.0% of
them not agree that the electric or water supply are not sufficient. While for Table 4, it was
stated clearly that 41.6% of them disagree that their current income was sufficient to support
the family’s basic needs.

Table 3 Descriptive Results for Independent Variables

Items Scale Respondents Percentage (%)

Social behavior Agree 247 48.7
Social relationship Agree 267 52.7
Specific territorial and environmental characteristics Disagree 208 41.0

Table 4 Descriptive Results for Dependent Variable

Poor Self-Perceived Poverty or Subjective Poverty Respondents Percentage (%)

Strongly disagree 111 21.9
Disagree 211 41.6
Not sure 106 20.9
Agree 64 12.6
Strongly agree 15 3.0

Conclusion

Social relationship showed the most important variable in the household/community

social capital endowment compared to social behavior and territorial and environmental
context. In this survey, most of the respondents agreed that the relationship among them
was good and this indicates the genuine connections is needed for better economic
wellbeing instead of having virtual connections. For social behavior, the study showed that
they perceived crime, violence and vandalism does effects the socialize and relationship
among the people. When this occurs, it will hinder the economic development and lower
cooperation’s in the neighborhood. While for territorial and environmental context, it also
showed that family size could increase the expenses for the family. This subjective poverty is
supported by the insufficient current income and different social and income background.
The conditions of their house and exposure to the pollutions also affect the relationship in
the family and surrounding. By managing the social capital policy, it can enhance the
household economic well-being and alleviate poverty not only through traditional income
support measures but also facilitating the development of desirable forms of social capital
which could strengthen mutual trust and foster model behavior.

REFERENCES

Barnes, S. (2003). Determinants of individual neighborhood ties and social resource in poor
urban neighborhoods. Sociological Spectrum, 23, 463-497.

Beugelsdijk, S. &. (2003). Bridging and bonding social capital: Which type is good for
economic growth. In W. Arts, J. Hagenaars & L. Halman (Eds.), Leiden: Brill. 147-184

Briggs, X. S. (1998). Brown kids in white su (Briggs, 1998)burbs: Housing mobility and the
many faces of social capital. Housing Policy Debate, 9. 177–221
 906

Guagnano,G., Santarelli,E. , Santini,I. (2013). Subjective Poverty in Europe: The Role of

Household Socioeconomic Characteristics and Social Capital. Working paper n. 113.
Retrieved on 24 December,2015 from https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/11978439.pdf

Guagnano,G., Santarelli,E. , Santini,I. (2010). Can Social Capital Affect Subjective Poverty
in Europe? An Empirical Analysis Based on A Generalized Ordered Logit Model.
Retrieved on 1 December,2016 from
http://eprints.bice.rm.cnr.it/8702/1/WP127TestoONLINE.pdf

Isabella Santini and Anna De Pascale, Social Capital and Household Poverty: The Case of
European Union, Working Paper 109, Universita Degli Studi di Roma (La Sapienza).

Loopmans, M. (2001).Spatial structure and the origin of social capital: a geographical

reapproach of social theory’, Proceedings of the Congress on Social Capital:
Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Exeter, 15–20 September, pp.41– 60.

Putnam, R. D. (Ed.). (2002). Democracies in flux: The evolution of social capital in

contemporary society. New York: Oxford University Press US.

Zhang, S. (2010). The relationships between social capital and economic well-being—an
individual level analysis (Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign).
 907

The Development of Corporate Legitimacy Measurement for

Government-Linked Companies in Malaysia
Mahadir Ladisma @ Awis
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Seremban 3
mahadir_ladisma@ns.uitm.edu.my

Hazman Shah Vijayan Abdullah

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam,
Selangor
hazman@salam,uitm.edu.my

Norziana Lokman
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam,
Selangor
norzi716@salam.uitm.edu.my

Roshima Said
Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kedah
roshima712@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to develop the measurement of corporate legitimacy among
Government-linked Companies (GLCs) in Malaysia. Corporate legitimacy is important for
determining the survival of the corporation. The term of legitimacy can be classified into
three different aspects, namely; political, economic and social legitimacy. Political legitimacy
indicates the right of govern and rule; economic legitimacy reflects on success through
product selling, customers’ satisfaction and providing better services and goods. However, in
the corporate sectors, corporate social responsibility is used as a platform not only to gain
economic legitimacy, but most importantly to achieve social legitimacy. Social legitimacy
focuses on corporation as a societal institution that is more complex by combining the social
norms, values and expectation. With the above argument, this paper explores how corporate
social responsibility (or corporate responsibility) can be used to show societal acceptance
reflecting their corporate legitimacy. The corporations are expected to be socially
acceptable; according to social norms, values and beliefs. The growth of the corporation has
faced a number of challenges in gaining and maintaining their existence. While the
corporations are expected to deal with the challenges effectively, the corporation must also
be relevant in the eyes of the stakeholders. To establish this, corporation emphasized on
gaining and maintaining legitimacy through various mechanisms. The principles of legitimacy
are related to the conformity to the norms, values and expectation of their stakeholders’
engagement through corporate social activities. The study employed a cross-sectional
sample survey designed to collect data from a pre-selected list of non-governmental
organization (NGOs) obtained from the Registrar of Societies, Malaysia. From a list of about
22,000 societies, 377 were shortlisted covering five categories of societies; community
welfare, education, sport, social and recreation, business and trade union. This study
measured three dimensions of corporate legitimacy comprising pragmatic, moral and
cognitive legitimacy. Using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM),
this study found that there is high level of corporate legitimacy from the perspective of
NGOs, which indicated that the NGOs highly view the corporate legitimacy of Malaysian
GLCs through their corporate responsibility activities.
 908

Keywords: corporate legitimacy, corporate responsibility activities, Government-linked

Companies, non-governmental organization

INTRODUCTION

As corporations are becoming more aware of the need to engage in corporate

responsibility and also being compelled in that direction through coercive and normative
forces, it is important that corporations’ engagement with their stakeholder (or non-
governmental organization) to develop and create corporate responsibility values. In that
sense, corporation must seek legitimacy to receive continuous support from their
stakeholders. Minahan (2005) explained that legitimacy reflected the credibility of
corporations and allow them to have access to resources that are needed for survival and
development. Government-Linked Companies24 (GLCs) without legitimacy tend to be
ineffective in attracting grants, subsidies and sponsorships (Suchman, 1995). It is crucially
imperative to understand legitimacy because it may provide insights into how the corporation
survives. Stryker (2000) postulated that an organization must gain internal and external
acknowledgment to achieve legitimacy.
The concept of legitimacy can be classified into three different aspects, namely;
political, economic and social legitimacy. Political legitimacy refers to the right to govern and
rule which is indicated by the popular acceptance of authority through the policies, law, and
system of government that secures political stability. This is in contrast with economic
legitimacy, which is indicated by the economic success through product selling, customers’
satisfaction, and providing better services and goods. In the corporate sectors, corporate
responsibility (CR) is used as a platform not only to gain economic legitimacy, but most
importantly to achieve social legitimacy. Social legitimacy focuses on corporation as a
societal institution that is more complex by combining the social norms, values and
expectation.
Corporation that lose its legitimacy may find it difficult to maintain the process of
social exchanges, as its partners do not rely on its compliance with social rules. From a
sociology perspective, legitimacy can also be understood as the conformation with social
norms, values and expectations (Oliver, 1996). Scott (1987) viewed corporations as rational
systems – social machines designed efficiently to transform material from inputs into
outputs. In the case of GLCs, in order to be more relevant in the eyes of stakeholders, they
must be able to meet the expectations and play their roles as societal institutions. In spite of
the above arguments, there is an important question to be answered; the needs of
legitimacy. GLCs seek legitimacy for many reasons. This includes drawing the conclusions
on the importance, difficulty, and effectiveness of legitimation efforts which may depend on
the objectives against which these efforts are measured. Two particularly important
dimensions in this regards are: (a) the distinction between pursuing continuity and credibility;
and (b) the distinction to seek support (passive and active supports) (Suchman, 1995).
With the above argument, this paper aims to develop corporate legitimacy
measurement for Government-Linked Companies in Malaysia. The process to build the ideal
corporate legitimacy measurement is determined through the corporate social responsibility
(or corporate responsibility) among GLCs in Malaysia.

Understanding Corporate Legitimacy

24
According to Khazanah National Berhad, GLCs are defined as: “companies that have a primary commercial
objective and in which the Malaysian Government has a direct controlling stake. Controlling stake refers to the
Government’s ability (not just percentage ownership) to appoint BOD members, senior management, make major
decisions (e.g.; contract awards, strategy, restructuring and financing, acquisitions and divestments etc.) for
GLCs either directly or through GLICs” (http://www.khazanah.com.my).
 909

Prior studies have evidently noted the importance of corporate legitimacy (Ladisma,
2016; Reimann, Ehrgott, Kaufmann & Carter, 2012; Gifford, Kestler & Anand, 2010; Levi,
Sacks &Tyler, 2009; Bansal & Clelland, 2004; and Massesy, 2001). The next discussion
further illustrates an assortment of views to understand corporate legitimacy. Suchman
(1995) highlighted that corporate legitimacy is necessary to ensure access to the resources
for the organization to survive. Although the organization resources can come from many
ways, Gupta, Dirsmith and Fogarty (1994) suggested that it is necessary for the
organizations to adopt and understand the norms of their wider environment and society.
This is because the bigger the organization that operates, the greater dependency for its
survival through the support of external constituents surrounding it. At this stage, the norms
and values of the society are being met. However, conformity to accept social norms can be
a tricky challenge to be tackled particularly when the organization and the external domains
are in a constant state of flux.
Specifically, very few researches have been conducted on corporate legitimacy
(Ladisma, 2016; Reimann, Ehrgott, Kaufmann & Carter, 2012; Gifford, Kestler & Anand,
2010; and Minahan, 2005). Study by Hager, Galaskiewicz, Bielefeld and Pins (1999),
suggested that corporate legitimacy played a crucial role to understand the organizational
survival. If the organization is perceived as unimportant or non-essential, it is considered as
an important factor in deciding to close down its operation. Kostova and Zaheer (1999)
supported that there is a need to study and understand the roles played by both internal and
external stakeholders. Their roles are important to determine the direction of the organization
that reflects the needs of the society (Selvarajh et al., 2012; Rich & Weaver 1998; Smith &
Deering, 1984; Schlozman & Tierney 1986). Most studies focussed on how the external and
internal legitimacy are gained and maintained as both factors are equally important. Meyer,
Scott and Strang (1987) included the analysis of the interaction between external funding
and internal structures, and control systems in arts organizations. The findings showed a
significant discovery on how internal and external factor shaped the legitimate organization.
Meanwhile, a study conducted by Ashforth and Gibbs (1990) ascertained that
legitimacy is always challenging. There are issues beyond the control of the organization.
The fluctuating demands, perception and complex expectations that come from the
stakeholders contribute to the chaotic status quo within the organization. In order to
understand the challenges of legitimacy, Ashforth and Gibbs (1990) explained three reasons
for the corporation to be legitimate in the eyes of the stakeholders. Table 1 illuminates
briefly.

Table 1 Legitimation as a Function of the Purpose of Legitimation

Purpose of Legitimation
To Extend
To Maintain Legitimacy To Defend Legitimacy
Legitimacy
Legitimacy Problematic Non-problematic Problematic
Constituent scrutiny High Low High
Intensity of legitimation activities High Low High
Mix of legitimation activities Proactive: Routinized: Reactive:
Substantive and Substantive and Primarily symbolic
symbolic symbolic (at least in short-run)
Source: Ashforth & Gibbs (1990). The Double-Edge of Organizational Legitimation. p.182.

Firstly, the purpose known as extending legitimacy which occurred when new
activities, structure or process were first introduced. The concept of “liability of newness” will
be experienced by the corporation especially when little is known, cause-and-effect and
whenever the society is doubtful. Secondly, maintaining legitimacy when the corporation has
adequate activities that contribute to its existence, manipulating symbols and avoiding
potential conflicts that may jeopardize the legitimation process. Thirdly, defending legitimacy
which is practised when threatened from its external factors. At this phase, significant
activities are crucial to be introduced to fight the conflicts from external challenges. To
 910

conclude Ashforth’s and Gibbs’ (1990) discussion, there are two main points that can be
digested; first, the more challenging the organization’s legitimacy, the more scrutiny and the
lower expectations from the constituents; and the more dependent the organization is
towards limited resources, the more complicated the legitimacy become.

Types of Legitimacy: Normative (Moral), Cognitive and Pragmatic Legitimacy

The following discussion explains the different types of legitimacy. It is important to

distinguish each type to get a clear picture of legitimacy. As stated earlier, this paper defines
legitimacy as a general perception or assumption that the organizational behaviours are
desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values,
beliefs and definitions (Suchman, 1995). Studies by Ruef and Scott (1998), Zimmerman and
Zeitz (2002), Jee (2010) and Ladisma (2016) have agreed on three types of legitimacy
based on the institutional theory: regulatory legitimacy, normative (moral) legitimacy, and
cognitive legitimacy. Along with these types of legitimacy, Suchman (1995) added the
pragmatic legitimacy. However, each type of legitimacy rests on somewhat different
behavioural dynamics. Table 2 shows prior studies that had applied and examined the four
types of legitimacy.

Table 2 Types of Legitimacy

Types of Legitimacy Operationalization Applied

Regulatory An organization is legitimated when it Financial legitimacy (Deephouse
Legitimacy follows regulatory process, rules, & Carter, 2005)
standards, and expectations created by
governments or professional
associations.
Normative (Moral) An organization is legitimated when it Managerial legitimacy & technical
Legitimacy follows social values and standards in legitimacy (Reuf & Scott, 1998)
which the organization exists. Organizational legitimacy
(Massey, 2001)
Cognitive Legitimacy An organization is legitimated when it is N/A
perceived as taken-for-granted.
Pragmatic An organization is legitimated when it N/A
Legitimacy satisfies an individual or the public’s
interests.

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY AS ANTECEDENT TO CORPORATE LEGITIMACY

Earlier studies on corporate responsibility had proven that the existence of

corporates focused mainly on how to maximize their profits for the benefit of their
shareholders (Friedman, 1970) although corporate responsibility may not directly reflect the
nature of being profit-oriented. But, through the perspective of capitalist societies, business
firms must earn profits (Sundaram & Inkpen, 2004). McWilliams and Siegel (2001) supported
this perspective because the rationale of corporate to invest in corporate responsibility
initiatives is to earn extra profits. The former chairman of Marks and Spencer said that;
“business only contributes fully to society if it is efficient, profitable and socially responsible”
(Md Zabid & Saadiatul, 2002).
The statements above are relevant to the corporate world. The interesting part is
that, the notion of “socially responsible” comes after the corporates are classified as efficient
and they are making profit. At this point, corporates may have started to think to contribute to
the society. This may also be implicitly assumed as true within many empirical studies on
corporate social performance – corporate financial performance relationship; it has been
argued that the link between corporate and society is “inherently normative, because it seeks
 911

to explain what corporations should or should not do on behalf of the social good” (Swanson,
1999, p. 506). Whether the corporate like it or not, we all live and share the same
environment. There is a mutual impact between corporate and society, and there is also a
need to understand their expectations from the corporate’s perspective (Bronn & Vrioni,
2001). Achieving the corporates’ objectives must come together with meeting the demands
of their stakeholders (Heal, 2004).
In the eyes of their stakeholders, corporate responsibility has become a platform for
corporates to share some values. Peloza and Shang (2011), associated values as
experience, either good/bad, positive/negative, or favourable/unfavourable that might
indicate personal preferences. Every corporate responsibility activity is to instil some values
to their stakeholders. At the same time, corporate responsibility had been used as a tool to
respond to the demands from their stakeholders. There is a need to ensure that the
corporate activities are aligned with “broader community values” (Swanson, 1999: 517). The
corporate must act consistently “with the moral foundations of society” (Epstein & Votaw,
1979:3). These bring about Friedman’s (1970) intention who concluded that corporates have
to conform “to the basic rules of the society, both that embodied in law and those embodied
in ethical custom” (p.3).
In other words, corporate responsibility is the indication that this social obligation can
be considered as social contracts in which corporates are accountable towards the demands
and expectations from the society. It has also been argued that corporate responsibilities act
as a tool in legitimizing corporate activities and enhancing the reputation and image of the
corporate. Evidence from empirical research suggested that the more corporates contribute
towards social obligation, the better their reputation. Bronn and Vrioni (2001) proved that
positive corporate performance is associated with better reputation. Responsive corporates
have significant impact towards their reputation and image.

METHODOLOGY

Research Paradigm

According to Guba and Lincoln (1994) paradigm is “the basic belief system or
worldview that guides the investigator, not only in choices of method but in ontologically and
epistemologically fundamental ways” (p.105). There are four paradigms outlined by Guba
(1990), they are; positivism, post-positivism, critical theory (ideology) and constructivism.
However, according to Guba (1990), none of these four is more important than the others. It
is a paradigm of choice. It gives an alternative and each has their own merits. In sum, the
positivist paradigm and quantitative approach best reflect the research paradigm of this
paper for the following reasons. Firstly, this paper was designed as a cross sectional study
that tested the relationship between the corporate responsibility activities and the corporate
legitimacy. The data analysis which carried out indicated as value-free and thus limits the
data changes. The data is considered as “one-way mirror” (Healy & Perry, 2000). Secondly,
this paper had also developed the variables from extensive literature review, then applied
with the procedure of objectivity to construct the measurement, and tested the reliability and
the validity of data.

Research Design

This study employed a cross-sectional survey study where the data gathered just
once or in one-shot manner to examine the (association/relationship).
 912

Unit of Analysis

The unit of analysis for this study is the organization i.e. the registered NGOs with the
Registrar of Societies (ROS) as at December 2014.

Population

The population of this study consisted of NGOs that had registered with ROS as at
December 2014. The data was provided by ROS and only NGOs that registered with it were
selected as the population. There were 22, 119 NGOs involved which represent various
interests such as community welfare, education, sport, social and recreation, business and
trade union.

Measurement of Corporate Legitimacy

This study had adopted and adapted the measurement of corporate legitimacy which
has been extensively used and tested in previous researches (Suchman, 1995; Patel &
Xavier, 2005; Palazzo & Scherer, 2006; Ruef & Scott, 1998; Ioan & Sandu, 2009;
Zimmerman & Zeitz, 2002; and Jee, 2010). Table 3 shows the central statement capturing
the essence of the meaning for each facet of corporate legitimacy.

Table 3 Measurement of Corporate Legitimacy - Dependent Variables

Corporate
Legitimacy Measurement Element of construct
Dimension
Pragmatic  Audience based self-interest Three elements constructed:
 Self-interest of the legitimacy authority  Conform to demands
(Bitektine, 2011; Johnson & Holub, 2003)  Select markets
o Exchange, influence and dispositional  Advertise
legitimacy
Moral  Positive normative evaluation of the Three elements constructed:
organisation and its activities  Conform to ideals
 How favourable (or unfavourably) the  Select domain
organization is viewed by its constituency  Persuade
(Greenwood et al., 2002; Rindova, Pollock &
Haywood, 2006)
o Consequential, procedural, structural
and personal
Cognitive  Taken-for-granted cultural Three elements constructed:
 Lacking specific judgement and is by  Conform to models
definition related to external legitimacy  Select labels
(Tost, 2011)  Institutionalize
 Organizational activity is predictable,
meaningful and inviting

Table 3 shows the extensive literature that explained how the variables have been
defined and the number of dimensions involved (Bitektine, 2011; Johnson & Holub, 2003;
Greenwood et al., 2002; Rindova, Pollock & Haywood, 2006; and Tost, 2011). Based on
prior studies mentioned above, the discussion below explains the measurement items for
corporate legitimacy.
 913

Measurement Items for Corporate Legitimacy

Dimension 1: Pragmatic legitimacy

 Respond to the needs of customers
 Have comprehensive cooperation among GLCs
 Build reputation of GLCs
 Build honest GLCs
 Share GLCs values
 Build trustworthy GLCs
 Build wise GLCs
 Advertise product/services of GLCs
 Project a positive image of GLCs

Dimension 2: Moral legitimacy

 Produce proper outcomes
 To instil corporate responsibility activity in institutions
 Making a good-faith effort to achieve value
 Build positive moral value
 Define goals
 Demonstrate success
 GLCs is a worthy organization to support

Dimension 3: Cognitive legitimacy

 Replicate standards
 Formalize operations
 Professionalize operations
 Seek certification
 GLCs activities are appropriate
 Popularize new models
 Standardize new models
 GLCs activities are clear

The selection of three dimensions of corporate legitimacy, namely; pragmatic, moral

and cognitive were based on unique criteria that they represent. As Suchman (1995), Ruef
and Scott (1998), Zimmerman and Zeitz (2002), and Jee (2010) explained, corporate
legitimacy is referred to as the general perception or assumption that the organizational
behaviours are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of
norms, values, beliefs and definitions. Each dimension reflected and represented the
corporate legitimacy definition. Pragmatic legitimacy is the outcome of self-interested of
individual as an audience (Suchman, 1995); moral legitimacy emphasizes on rules and
values of society (Zimmerman & Zeitz, 2002) and cognitive legitimacy is indicated by the
understanding of the societal values such as appropriate, proper and desirable. Brinkerhoff
(2005) classified that the structure, procedures and activities are “making sense”. As a
conclusion, all three dimensions of corporate legitimacy are the most precise to measure
corporate legitimacy among GLCs.

Data Analysis

For the purpose of data analysis and hypothesis testing, the data collected had been
keyed-in into the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software and transformed to
Comma Separated Values File (CSV) for further analysis using Partial Least Squares-
Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).
 914

RESEARCH FINDINGS

There are six components to explain the characteristic of NGOs. There were 266
NGOs selected using purposive sampling method that involved with corporate responsibility
activities of GLCs. All NGOs selected must be registered with Registrar of Societies (ROS)
as at December 2014.

Profile of Respondents (NGOs)

There were five characteristics of NGOs highlighted in the study, namely; types of
organization, date of establishment, number of members and staffs and sources of fund. The
data was presented using the frequencies and percentage. Table 4 and Table 5 illustrated in
details.

Table 4 Profile of NGOs (Types, years of establishment and members/staffs) (N = 266)

Characteristics Frequency Percent (%)

Types of organization
Religion 19 7.1
Youth 25 9.4
Community welfare 112 42.1
Culture 6 2.3
Education 22 8.3
Politic 5 1.9
Sport 7 2.6
Women 11 4.1
Social & recreation 10 3.8
Business 20 7.5
Trade Union 7 2.6
Others 22 8.3

Date of Establishment
Below 10 years 69 25.9
11 - 20 years 74 27.8
21 - 30 years 56 21.1
31 - 40 years 23 8.6
41 - 50 years 19 7.1
51 - 60 years 9 3.4
61 - 70 years 10 3.8
71 - 80 years 3 1.1
81 - 90 years 1 0.4
91 years and more 2 0.8
Mean : 1990.76
Std. Deviation : 18.787

Number of Organization Members

0-200 138 51.9
201-400 26 9.8
401-600 17 6.4
601-800 7 2.6
801-1000 16 5.3
1000 and more 64 24.1
Mean : 1846.24
Std. Deviation : 5629.981

Number of Staffs (Salaried and Volunteers)

0-50 179 67.3
 915

51-100 39 14.7
101-150 9 3.4
151-200 5 1.9
201-250 4 1.5
251 and more 30 11.3
Mean : 149.76
Std. Deviation : 473.580

Table 4 shows the type of organizations. Out of the 266 NGOs, 42.1% (n = 112) were
community welfare. The remaining 57.9% were from various types of groups such as
religious, youth, culture, education, politic, sport, women, social and recreation, business,
trade union and others. The majority of the NGOs 74.8% (n = 199) were within the age of
less than 30 years and 25.2% (n = 67) of the NGOs were within the age of more than 30
years. The sample was therefore predominantly established as less than 30 years.
Furthermore, the mean value for the years of establishment of the NGOs was 1990.76 while
the standard deviation was 1.152. The data was not normally distributed with skewness -
1.460 and kurtosis 2.737 (Pallant, 2011 suggested that the skewness and kurtosis values
must be between -1 or +1 to be considered as normally distributed). In terms of numbers of
members, more than 51% (n = 138) or more than half of the NGOs were having less than
200 members. About 24.8% (n = 66) of the NGOs had members between 201 – 1000 and
the remaining 24.1% (n = 64) had above 1000 members. In addition, the mean value for the
numbers of membership was 1846.24 and the standard deviation was 5629.981. The data
was also non-normally distributed with the skewness and kurtosis values more than -1 or +1.
While for the number of staff in NGOs, 67.3% (n = 179) of them had between 0 – 50 staff,
followed by 14.7% (n = 39) of NGOs with 51 – 100 staff. Then 11% (n = 30) of them had 251
staffs and above, and finally about 6% (n = 18) between 101 – 250 staffs. The mean value
was 149.76 and the standard deviation was 473.580. The distribution of number of staffs
was also non-normally distributed with the skewness and kurtosis values more than -1 or +1.
Table 5 shows that there were four sources of fund, namely; government allocation,
self-funded, donations and others. However, there were other sources of fund such as fund
from international body, grants and many others.

Table 5 Sources of Fund (N = 266)

Proportion Government
Self-funded Donations Others sources
based on allocation
percentage N % N % N % N %
0 percent 92 34.6 74 27.8 43 16.2 238 89.5
1 - 25 percent 72 27.1 86 32.3 45 16.9 18 6.8
26 - 50 percent 74 27.8 55 20.7 86 32.3 5 1.9
51 - 75 percent 16 6.0 18 6.8 34 12.8 1 0.4
76 - 99 percent 2 0.7 9 3.4 29 10.9 0 0
100 percent 10 3.8 24 9.0 29 10.9 4 1.5

As stated in Table 5, none of the four categories of fund sources dominantly funded
the NGOs. About 27% were funded by the government allocations, which contributed
between 1 -25 % (n = 72) and 26 – 50% (n = 74). Only 3.8% (n = 10) NGOs had received
100% government allocation. The remaining NGOs received between 0.7% - 6% of the
government allocation. More than 34.6% (n = 92) were not receiving any funds from the
government. Self-funded showed that more than 32.3% (n = 86) NGOs received funds
between 1 – 25 %, and 9% (n = 24) NGOs depended on these sources. More than 27% (n =
 916

74) of NGOs were not using this method as sources of fund. Donations showed that more
than 32% (n = 86) of NGOs used this as their source of funds. More that 10% (n = 29) NGOs
received funds from this category. The remaining between 10% - 16% were dependent on
donations. Lastly, other sources showed that only 1.5% (4) NGOs were receiving fund from
this category. The data also showed that more than 89% of NGOs were not depending on
this method as their source of funds.

Goodness of the Measurement

The following discussion is to highlight the process of measurement model, construct

validity, reliability, normality and response bias test. Figure 1 illustrates the structure model

Figures 1: Results of the Structure Model - Corporate Responsibility Activities and

Corporate Legitimacy (Path-coefficients and T-values)

Measurement Model

Table 6 explains the measurement model that showed items loading, average
variance extracted (AVE) and composite reliability. Fornell and Larker (1981) proposed AVE
as a measure of the shared or common variance in a Latent Variable (LV). LV is also known
as hidden variables opposed to observable variables that are not directly observed. The
relationship between AVE and LV is captured in the amount of variance due to measurement
error (Dillon & Goldstein, 1984). Reflective measurement model is a type of measurement
model setup in which the direction of the arrow is from the construct to the indicator,
indicating the assumption that the construct causes the measurement model of the indicator
variables (Hair et. al., 2014). Reflective indicators are represented as single-headed arrows
pointing from the latent construct outward to the indicator variables; the associated
coefficients for these relationships are called outer loading in PLS-SEM (Hair, Ringle &
Sarstedt, 2011).
 917

Table 6 Measurement Model

a Composite
Construct Items Loading AVE
Reliability
Corporate Legitimacy
Pragmatic PB1p 0.751 0.640 0.941
PB2p 0.791
PB3p 0.818
PB4p 0.836
PB5p 0.845
PB6p 0.857
PB7p 0.835
PB8p 0.651
PB9p 0.798
Moral PB10m 0.833 0.672 0.935
PB11m 0.864
PB12m 0.853
PB13m 0.837
PB14m 0.824
PB15m 0.806
PB16m 0.713
Cognitive PB17c 0.764 0.596 0.922
PB18c 0.827
PB19c 0.767
PB20c 0.811
PB21c 0.768
PB22c 0.744
PB23c 0.736
PB24c 0.754
a
AVE = Average Variance Extracted, both (AVE and composite reliability) NA (not applicable) for
formative scale.

Factor Analysis

In the process to develop construct validity and to identify the structure of

relationships among variables, factor analysis allowed all variables to run simultaneously
with the assumption that no distinction between the variables (IV and DV). Construct validity
in Table 7 was performed using PLS-SEM. In achieving items reduction, Hair et al., (2010)
suggested that there are two guiding principles applied; first, identify the larger set of
variables that is representative, and second, create the new set of variables to replace the
original set of variables. To decide the right factor loading for each item, there are a few
criteria of data that need to be considered, the criteria are:
 Factor loading ≥ .5 were selected as factor loading. Hair et al., (2010), loadings ± .5
or greater is practically significant.
 the difference between loading ≥ .10
 Factors meet a specific percentage of variance explained 60% and more (Hair et al.,
2010).
 918

Table 7 Factor analysis: Factor Loadings (bolded) and Cross Loadings

Corporate Legitimacy
Construct Items Pragmatic Moral Cognitive
Factor 1: Pragmatic PB1p 0.751 0.632 0.579
PB2p 0.791 0.696 0.656
PB3p 0.819 0.673 0.640
PB4p 0.836 0.680 0.598
PB5p 0.845 0.705 0.657
PB6p 0.857 0.747 0.661
PB7p 0.835 0.703 0.683
PB8p 0.651 0.499 0.518
PB9p 0.798 0.663 0.578
Factor 2: Moral PB10m 0.718 0.833 0.694
PB11m 0.714 0.864 0.683
PB12m 0.691 0.853 0.634
PB13m 0.692 0.837 0.600
PB14m 0.678 0.825 0.621
PB15m 0.699 0.806 0.645
PB16m 0.602 0.713 0.685
Factor 3: Cognitive PB17c 0.606 0.624 0.764
PB18c 0.665 0.659 0.827
PB19c 0.641 0.657 0.767
PB20c 0.656 0.613 0.811
PB21c 0.584 0.648 0.768
PB22c 0.548 0.524 0.744
PB23c 0.564 0.568 0.736
PB24c 0.510 0.604 0.754

Discriminant Validity

The term discriminant validity refers to “the extent to which a construct is truly distinct
from other constructs by empirical standards” (Hair et al., 2011, 104). In other words,
discriminant validity indicated the relationship of the off-diagonal term of Rxx and Ryy with Rxy
(Fornell & Larcker, 1981). As the x variables and y variables are the indicators of different
constructs, discriminant validity is exhibited only if all the correlations in R xx and Ryy
(measurement) are statistically significant and each of these correlations is larger than all
correlations in Rxy. The results of discriminant validity of variables construct is presented in
Table 8.

Table 8 Discriminant Validity (Intercorrelations) of Variable Construct

Variable 1 2 3 4
1 CL 0.743
2 Pragmatic 0.944 0.800
3 Moral 0.938 0.837 0.820
4 Cognitive 0.912 0.776 0.795 0.772
Note: Diagonal elements are the square root of the AVE of the reflective scales while the diagonals
are the correlations between constructs
 919

Reliability

There are two important reasons in performing reliability tests; firstly, to show that the
research instrument is free from random error, and secondly, to indicate internal consistency
(Pallant, 2011). Random error explained the error of measurement that defines the deviation
of the mean value. Field (2009: 11) referred to reliability as “consistently across different
situations”. On the other hand, Nunnally (1978) as cited in Pallant (2011) recommended that
instruments used in basic research should have the reliability of about .70 or better.

Table 9 Reliability

Construct No. of items Cronbach’s Alpha

Dependent Variable:
Corporate Legitimacy 24 0.964
Pragmatic 9 0.929
Moral 7 0.918
Cognitive 8 0.903

Table 9 shows that all constructs showed satisfactory reliability results. Corporate
legitimacy with the total of 24 items indicated 0.964 Cronbach’s alpha (pragmatic 0.929,
moral 0.918, and cognitive 0.903 Cronbach’s alpha).

CORPORATE LEGITIMACY MEASUREMENT

The following empirical result is to examine the corporate legitimacy among GLCs
from the NGOs’ perspective. Table 10 shows that there were three components of corporate
legitimacy, namely pragmatic, moral and cognitive legitimacy.

Table 10: Perception of Corporate Legitimacy (N=266)

Variables Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

Corporate Legitimacy 2.00 5.00 3.905 .579
Pragmatic 1.78 5.00 3.947 .624
Moral 2.00 5.00 3.964 .625
Cognitive 2.00 5.00 3.808 .618
Note: All items used a 5 – points Likert scale with (1 = Strongly disagree and 5 = Strongly agree)

Table 10 explains the descriptive statistics highlighting the minimum, maximum,

mean and standard deviation values for each component of corporate legitimacy and overall
corporate legitimacy. The data showed that, the level of corporate legitimacy with the mean
values at 3.905 and standard deviations at 0.579. Comparatively, moral legitimacy showed
the highest values of mean with 3.964 and 0.624 standard deviation. The mean values for
pragmatic and cognitive were 3.947 (0.624 standard deviation) and 3.808 (0.618 standard
deviation) respectively.
Table 11 explains each factor of corporate legitimacy constructs. The interpretation of
constructs indicated through the mean and standard deviation values.

Table 11 Corporate Legitimacy Constructs (N=266)

Std.
Construct Min. Max. Mean
Deviation
Factor 1: Pragmatic 1.78 5.00 3.947 .624
PB1p - Respond to the needs of customers 1.00 5.00 3.951 .768
PB2p - Have comprehensive cooperation among GLCs 1.00 5.00 3.887 .798
PB3p - Build reputation of GLCs 1.00 5.00 3.985 .777
PB4p - Build honest GLCs 1.00 5.00 3.959 .825
PB5p - Share GLCs values 1.00 5.00 3.921 .756
 920

PB6p - Build trustworthy GLCs 2.00 5.00 3.951 .733

PB7p - Build wise GLCs 2.00 5.00 3.981 .779
PB8p - Advertise product/services of GLCs 2.00 5.00 3.786 .848
PB9p - Project a positive image of GLCs 2.00 5.00 4.105 .765
Factor 2: Moral 2.00 5.00 3.964 .625
PB10m - Produce proper outcomes 2.00 5.00 3.820 .799
PB11m - To instill CR activity in institutions 2.00 5.00 3.857 .783
PB12m - Making a good-faith effort to achieve value 2.00 5.00 4.023 .716
PB13m - Build positive morel value 2.00 5.00 4.079 .761
PB14m - Define goals 2.00 5.00 4.000 .727
PB15m - Demonstrate success 2.00 5.00 4.049 .753
PB16m - GLC is worthy organization to support 2.00 5.00 3.917 .806
Factor 3: Cognitive 2.00 5.00 3.808 .618
PB17c - Replicate standards 1.00 5.00 3.763 .815
PB18c - Formalize operations 1.00 5.00 3.846 .764
PB19c - Professionalize operations 1.00 5.00 3.914 .760
PB20c - Seek certification 2.00 5.00 3.883 .776
PB21c - GLCs activities are appropriate 2.00 5.00 3.857 .798
PB22c - Popularize new models 1.00 5.00 3.680 .837
PB23c - Standardize new models 1.00 5.00 3.613 .849
PB24c - GLCs activities are clear 2.00 5.00 3.910 .815

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The main purpose of this paper is to determine the ideal corporate legitimacy
constructs for GLCs from the perspective of NGOs in Malaysia. This paper presented three
dimensions of corporate legitimacy constructs, namely; pragmatic, moral and cognitive
legitimacy. Each different construct contributes uniquely to the development of corporate
legitimacy measurement. The construct of corporate legitimacy among NGOs are dominantly
influenced by its moral values, followed by pragmatic and lastly cognitive legitimacy. The
corporate is legitimated when it complies with the norms and values such as a fair treatment
of the employees which can be conferred upon the firms operating within them, industry’s
standards, norms, practices and technology (Zimmerman & Zeitz, 2002). Views from
resource-dependence theory mentioned that the moral legitimacy is achieved by the “right
things to do” that will be judged by the general public (Suchman, 1995).
The corporation is considered legitimated when it does the right things, such as
apologizing to the public for its operational mistakes (Jee, 2010). Moreover, moral legitimacy
is also referred to as conscious moral judgments on the organization’s output, procedures,
structures and leaders. Suchman (1995) described the moral legitimacy of an organization
as a result of explicit public discussions and in his view; corporates can win moral legitimacy
only through their vigorous participation in these discussions. Besides, moral legitimacy also
reflects a positive normative evaluation of the organization and its activities (Aldrich & Fiol,
1994).
The findings of this study also discovered that pragmatic legitimacy play significant
role to construct corporates’ legitimacy measurement. As the second ranked dimension,
pragmatic legitimacy is related to corporates’ strategies to ascribe their legitimacy to their
stakeholders and the wider public. Through this approach, corporates (GLCs) are challenged
to influence individual’s assessment of the usefulness of their operations, structure and
leadership behaviour towards the society. To gain legitimacy in a pragmatic way, companies
create strategies to provide direct benefits, for instance, management roles for their
constituents. In other words, gaining legitimacy through pragmatic dimension is how the
GLCs used strategic manipulation of the perceptions of their stakeholders.
The last component to develop ideal corporate legitimacy is cognitive legitimacy.
Cognitive elements are more basic, providing frameworks on which normative and regulative
systems are constructed (Jee, 2010). Nevertheless, organizational cognitive legitimacy may
 921

collapse if subconscious acceptance is substituted by explicit considerations; it may also

lead to rejection if practices are perceived to be unacceptable (Palazzo & Scherer, 2006).
Aldrich and Fiol (1994), highlighted that when an activity is publicly known, there is a
tendency of taken for grantedness. It is also an indication of whether the public knows about
the latest activities introduced by the organization. High-cognitive legitimacy is conditioned
when high dependency towards new products, process and services occur.
Additionally, Suddaby and Greenwood (2005) mentioned that during the early stages
of cognitive legitimacy, a particular organization is at the adoption process; the process to
understand and accommodate the existing culture. As Zimmerman and Zeitz (2002) pointed
out, there are two elements held by the organization, roles (what is expected from them) and
identities (who they are). These two aspects must be synchronized to what their environment
is expected of them. In a wider perspective, cognitive legitimacy is like a game where the
actor or an organization needs to demonstrate the right roles and identities to be accepted in
its operation.

Implications for Policy and Practices

This study has significant implications to the development of policy and guidelines for
decision-making or policy makers to develop effective corporate strategies in dealing with
the complexity of society. To be relevant in the eyes of the NGOs and to legitimize the
corporation’s existence, PCG, board of directors, managers and shareholders of GLCs must
consistently implement corporate responsibility activities. Indirectly, these findings provide
some guidelines and indications for practitioners especially the policy or decision makers in
GLCs to strategize their corporate responsibility activities. These findings present a clearer
picture for practitioners on what factors can legitimatize the existence of GLCs in the eyes of
NGOs. There are two major parties implicated directly or indirectly, namely; NGOs, and
GLCs (PCG, board of directors, managers and shareholders of GLCs) that will benefits from
this study.

Implications to NGOs

The roles of NGOs are significantly important as the representative of a wider

society. The findings of this study can be used as a guideline for NGOs to react as the
medium for local communities to voice their interest. This study had significantly provided
useful information for NGOs to evaluate and assess what have been done by GLCs to help
the society in creating relevant corporate responsibility activities that can benefit them. This
is considered as unique due to the feedback from the NGOs – which among the
stakeholders that is “independent”, “representing the society”, “powerful”, and “have rights”
to evaluate the GLCs corporate responsibility activities. NGOs have strong connections with
many parties because they represented various interests groups from different components
in a larger society. The interests and demands are important to be voiced out by the NGOs.
With greater responsibility played by them, their roles are vital as a check and balance
whether GLCs are responsible in helping the community through their corporate
responsibility activities. The demands from the community indicate that these corporate
responsibility activities are becoming highly significant to shape the attitude and behaviours
in creating a sustainable development.

Implication to GLCs

This study is significant for PCG to monitor the GLCs’ corporate responsibility
activities and performance. The findings can help the committee in strengthening the policies
that are already been implemented especially those that are related to corporate
responsibility initiatives. The findings of this study had revealed that NGOs have higher
perception on corporate legitimacy of GLCs. Through these findings, Putrajaya Committee
on GLCs, board of directors, managers and shareholder of GLCs need to re-evaluate their
 922

current practices and strategies to develop effective corporate responsibility activities for
continuous improvement. This requires involvement from all important parties to ensure that
GLCs are still relevant and legitimate in the eyes of their stakeholders. This study suggests
for PCG, board of directors, managers and shareholders of GLCs designing and formulating
effective corporate responsibility activities that have a significant impact on their
stakeholders.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, this study found that there is a high perception of corporate legitimacy
of GLCs among the selected NGOs. It can be interpreted that Malaysian GLCs have higher
corporate legitimacy in the eyes of NGOs. Corporate legitimacy is highly significant to attract
more investors to invest. High level of corporate legitimacy can increase the level of trust
among investors as well as stakeholders. This will give flexibility and opportunity for the
corporate body to initiate activities or programmes that can benefit both, the corporations
and their stakeholders. This indicated that GLCs with high level of corporate legitimacy are
corporate bodies that are trusted, reliable and responsible entities. In additions, corporate
legitimacy has become a major challenge for GLCs that are also known as the top
performers or G20. Most of the directives of GLCs are led by Putrajaya Committee on GLC
High-Performance chaired by Prime Minister and Khazanah National. Balancing the
government’s requirements and demands by the stakeholders are the most critical tasks to
be performed. However, being legitimate corporations will increase the scrutiny in
developing local legitimacy through sustainable community development and environment
engagements. This finding had also become an evidence that there is a high
interdependency among socially responsible corporations towards their society.

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 927

Survival-of-the-Fittest: Embracing Change through Enhanced

Supply Chain Resilience Capabilities
Ainul Haniza Mohd Rashid
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kedah Branch, Malaysia
haniza496@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Noorain Omar
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kedah Branch, Malaysia
noorain@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Change is inevitable in today’s interconnected, volatile, global economy and high-risk world,
where supply chains have become increasingly vulnerable to disruptions caused by natural
and man-made events. Resilience is a dynamic capability that emphasizes the ability of an
enterprise to embrace and respond to change. However, organizations tend to become less
resilient as they grow more complex. Hence, they must learn when to anticipate, absorb and
overcome disruptions since one-size-fits-all is not an effective approach to managing supply
chains. Supply chain management literature suggests that organizational resilience can be
cultivated by understanding their supply chain vulnerabilities and by developing specific
managerial capabilities to cope with unpredictable disruptions more effectively than their
competitors. The purpose of this article is to review and identify the capabilities needed by
organizations from contingent and resource-based perspectives. The electronics industry in
Malaysia is still highly dependent on sourcing electrical parts from the USA, Japan, China
and Thailand although being natural disaster prone countries. This study will provide
important implications for the management in this industry to develop a portfolio of
capabilities in order to address important resilient gaps and thus strengthen overall
competitiveness. Supply chain resilience strategies can proactively assist in managerial
decision-making under uncertainty, with risk so as to understand how (and if) supply chains
can return to an original or different functioning state, for survival and business continuity.

Keywords: Supply Chain Capabilities, Risk, Resilience, Business Continuity

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, supply chain disruptions have impacted the performance of

companies. The case of Ericsson is well known in this domain (Norrman and Jansson, 2004;
Ho, Zheng, Yildiz and Talluri, 2015). Due to a fire at a Philips semiconductor plant in 2000,
the production was disrupted, which eventually led to Ericsson’s $400 million loss (Chopra
and Sodhi, 2004). The earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear crises that occurred in
Japan in 2011 caused Toyota’s production to drop by 40,000 vehicles, costing $72 million in
profits per day (Pettit, Croxton and Fiksel, 2013). Rashid and Loke (2016) in their case study
of a dyad relationship between electronics industry players in Malaysia revealed that a new
high-end model series launching was delayed for 2 months due to a customised IC was
sourced from a supplier in Japan at that time. The catastrophic flooding of October 2011 also
affected the supply chains of computer manufacturers dependent on hard discs, and
disrupted the supply chains of Japanese automotive companies with plants in Thailand
(Chopra and Sodhi, 2014). Vulnerabilities of the extended supply chains are serious and real
as a result of just-in-time and lean production methods (Pettit et al., 2013). Supply chain
disturbances can be internal or external, affecting products, services, or resources, but all
resulting from some type of change (Christopher and Peck, 2004a). There is evidence that
 928

natural and man-made disasters are on the rise (Wagner and Neshat, 2010). Frequent
occurrences of natural disasters (Svensson, 2000) and the aftermaths impacts are
enormous on firms in terms of financial losses (Hendricks and Singhal, 2005). Tang (2006)
noted that disruptions such as hurricanes and earthquakes can become a significant threat
to the business continuity. Increased uncertainties and potential losses caused by natural
disasters exposes firms to greater level of catastrophic risks.
In the wake of the events, the issue of uncertainty caused by exposures to
catastrophes has raised the need to develop business continuity planning (Rashid and Loke,
2016). The Council on Competitiveness (2007) argues that “managing this rapidly changing
risk landscape is an emerging competitive challenge” and meeting that challenge demands
resilience. Hence, building resilience enables the company to embrace change in a turbulent
and complex business environment by expanding their portfolio of capabilities. Indeed, an
effective and efficient supply chain leads to greater competitiveness (Manuj and Mentzer,
2008). According to the Association for Operations Management (APICS, 2011), risk
management helps to generate best practices within the supply chain environment and firms
that are embracing such practices are able to react rapidly and derive competitive
advantage. One important aspect of risk management in supply chain is the timing of
management actions. Hence firms must learn when to anticipate, absorb and overcome
disruptions ((Pickett, 2006) since one-size-fits-all is not an effective approach to managing
supply chains (Fisher, 1997). Recent studies call for more research on how firm reacts to
risk incidents that strike its supply chain (Sodhi et al. 2012).
Supply chain risk management (SCRM) remains a key managerial challenge that
affects the performance of organizations (Altay and Ramirez, 2010). SCRM relates to the
coordination or collaboration efforts in managing supply chain risks among the partners in
order to ensure the firm’s profitability and continuity (Brindley, 2004). SCRM involves the
firm’s effort to (1) recognize and identify the risk (2) evaluate and assess the risk, (3) mitigate
the risk and (4) respond to risk incident for both operational risks and catastrophic (Sodhi,
Son, and Tang, 2012). The uncertainty caused by exposures to catastrophes has raised the
need to develop a disaster recovery and business continuity planning, Hauser (2003) argued
that SCRM is dissimilar to disaster response and it focuses more on keeping the complex
process moving efficiently with minimum costs so that the product quality or customer
satisfaction can be maintained. The ability to respond to a real time risk event is a must to
lower the impending impact and it can hasten the recovery process. When a firm failed in
curbing a risk incident from occuring, it must be responded in a creative and swift manner.
Highlighted by Sodhi et al. (2012), only a few studies (e.g., Kleindorfer and Saad, 2005;
Norrman and Jansson, 2004) have studied the catastrophic risks. Contingency theory is the
appropriate lens for investigating how environmental variables influence the behaviours of
organizations (Lawrence and Lorsh, 1967 as cited in Chang, Ellinger and Blackhurst, 2015).
Sodhi (2005) found that the electronics industry is more exposed to greater risk
because of shortened product life cycle as well as constant fluctuation on customer
demands. Blos, Quaddus, Wee, and Watanabe (2009) highlighted that “Apparently, the
electronics companies are more vulnerable to supply chain risks. One reason is that the high
dependence on Asian market and due to the nature of the products, there is a need for
careful packaging, fragile handling and transportation” (p. 250). Vavany, Zailani and Pujawan
(2009) in their comprehensive review on the SCRM demonstrated that SCRM is mostly
being applied in the automotive, electronics and aerospace sectors. Through a systematic
literature review (SLR) on SCRM, Kilubi and Haasis (2015), highlighted the different terms
being used to refer to SCRM strategies as antecedents (Braunscheidel and Suresh, 2009;
Jüttner, Peck and Christopher, 2003), or moderators (Manuj and Mentzer, 2008). Others call
them activities (Chen, Sohal and Prajogo, 2013; Sheffi and Rice, 2005) or principles
(Kleindorfer and Saad, 2005). Kilubi and Haasis (2015) have adopted the term enablers and
have revealed through their SLR 12 top enablers across various journal articles namely (1)
visibility, (2) flexibility, (3) relationships, (4) redundancy, (5) coordination, (6) postponement,
(7) multiple sourcing (8) collaboration, (9) risk awareness, agility, (10) avoidance,
contingency planning, (11) risk monitoring, (12) transferring and sharing risks.
 929

We aim to summarise the existing research findings to provide a clear overview. The
purpose of this paper is to review and identify the resilience capabilities needed by
organizations in order to cope with unpredictable disruptions. The paper at hand is
structured as follows: Firstly the literature that is related to supply chain resilience and
business continuity is summarised to set a background for the topic discussed. Secondly the
literature review leading to the identification of the resilience capabilities are presented in
order to have a better understanding. After a brief discussion of the research methodology,
the paper finishes by providing a brief conclusion.

LITERATURE REVIEW ON SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE

Supply chain resilience derives from the foundations of many disciplines, including
ecology (Folke et al. 2002, 2004; Perrings 2006), psychology (Bonanno 2004; Gorman et al.
2005), sociology (Adger 2000), risk management (Starr et al. 2003; Wagner and Bode
2008), and network theory (Callaway et al. 2000). Following a series of major disruptive
events in global economies, several in-depth studies were conducted to better understand
how supply chains can more effectively adapt to change (Cranfield University 2002, 2003;
Sheffi 2005). Business scholars and researchers then investigated enterprise attributes that
contribute to supply chain disruptions and attributes that assist enterprises in preventing and
coping with those disruptions (Hamel and Valikangas 2003; Rice and Caniato 2003;
Christopher and Peck 2004; Kleindorfer and Saad 2005; Tang 2006; Blackhurst et al. 2011).
The author has found in the literature some of the definition: The concept of resilience
in supply chains can be found along with studies of supply chain vulnerabilities, defined by
Svensson (2002) as “unexpected deviations from the norm and their negative
consequences.” Coutu (2002) termed resilience as “the ability to bounce back from
hardship”. Based on an empirical research conducted by the Cranfield University in 2003,
Christopher and Peck (2004b) developed an initial framework for a resilient supply chain with
four underlying principles (1) resilience can be built into a system in advance of a disruption
(i.e., re-engineering), (2) a high level of collaboration is required to identify and managed
risks, (3) agility is essential to react quickly to unforeseen events and (4) the culture of risk
management is a necessity. In parallel to the Cranfield studies, researchers at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) analysed many case studies of supply chain
disruptions with a focus on identifying vulnerability characteristics and management
responses such as flexibility, redundancy, security and collaboration (Sheffi, 2005).
Fiksel (2006) defines “Resilience as the capacity for an enterprise to survive, adapt
and grow in the face of turbulent change”. Based on research in management, economics,
ecology and sociology, the concept resilience has emerged as a critical characteristics of a
complex, dynamic systems such as business enterprises. Flynn (2008) defines resilience
with the “four Rs”—robustness, resourcefulness, recovery, and review. Rice and Caniato
(2003) and Sheffi (2005, 2008) focus resilience on redundancy and flexibility, recommending
leaders to develop a “flexibility DNA” through communications, distributed authority, passion
for the mission, deferring to experience, and conditioning for disruptions. In our paper, we
adopted the definition provided by Pettit, Fiksel and Croxton (2013) in the business context
as “the capacity for an enterprise to survive, adapt, and grow in in the face of change and
uncertainty. Supplt chain resilience is an operational capability that enables a disrupted or
broken supply chain to reconstruct itself and be stronger than before (Brusset and Teller,
2017). Supply chain resilience specifically enhances manufacturer’s ability in the preparation
for unpredictable circumstances; in responding to interferences and ultimately to recover
from these situation (Ponomarov and Holcomb 2009). Scholars relied on the assumption that
some risk events are inevitable when examining the supply chain resiliency (Jüttner and
Maklan 2011). Organizations tend to become less resilient as they grow more complex.
However, they can cultivate resilience by understanding their supply chain vulnerabilities and
developing specific capabilities to cope with disruptions. Resilient systems do not fail in the
 930

face of disturbances; rather they adapt. Depending on the type of disturbances, the
adaptation can be rapid or gradual.
Supply chain resilience specifically enhances manufacturer’s ability in the preparation
for unpredictable circumstances; in responding to interference and ultimately to recover from
these situations (Ponomarov and Halcomb, 2009). Early adopters of resilience thinking have
demonstrated how they can enhance traditional risk management practices with new
capabilities that help them to anticipate, prepare for, adapt to and recover from disruptions.
Hence, periodic assessment of the resilience of the supply chain is necessary. Managers
therefore can develop a portfolio of capabilities to address important resilience gaps and
strengthen overall competitiveness. Pettit et al., (2013) suggested a correlation between
increased resilience and improved supply chain performance.
A resilience approach demands undertaking a set of processes consisting of (1)
sensing, (2) anticipate, (3) adaptation, and (4) learning (Park, Seager, Rao, Convertino, and
Linkov, 2013). Based on the empirical findings, previous researchers such as Rice and
Caniato (2003), Christopher and Peck (2004) and Sheffi (2005) concluded that a firm’s
capability to overcome the disruptive changes require inputs from the resilience strategies.
Strategic resilience imperatives call for supply chains to be less brittle and more adaptive to
change through (1) supply chain design, (2) focus on business process management to
enhance capabilities across the supply chain, (3) visibility to demand and supply throughout
the supply chain, (4) supplier and customer relationship management, and (5) infusing a
culture of resilience (Wisdomnet, 2006).

LITERATURE REVIEW ON BUSINESS CONTINUITY

Organizations are at a greater risk of system failure because of the massive

interdependency throughout the supply chain, hence continuity is the main concern of any
supplier. Business continuity involves effective strategy formulation and implementation to
provide alternatives to modulate operational interruption (Hiles and Barnes, 2001). According
to Herbane, Elliott and Swartz (2004) another risk management process known as business
continuity management (BCM), incorporates elements from disaster recovery planning and
crisis management including how to respond to disruptions and maintain backup capacity for
operational systems. Managing supply chain resilience of a firm is a proactive method that
can complement and enhance traditional risk management and business continuity planning
(Pettit et al., 2010). While firms have no control over environmental variables such as natural
disasters and catastrophic events, adoption of risk management practices provide a safety
net in buffering firms from operational disruption and business discontinuity (Rashid and
Loke, 2016)

METHODOLOGY

There is extensive study and literature on Supply Chain Risk and Resilience in the
past. In order to identify and review the capabilities in managing Supply Chain Risk, we have
searched in online databases such as SCOPUS, Science Direct (Elsevier), Emerald Insight,
Taylor & Francis Group, Business Source Complete (EBSCHO Host) and ProQuest as well
as proceedings papers. We entered the search phrases to include such as Supply Chain
Risk, Resilience, Supply Chain Capabilities and Business Continuity. We have removed the
duplicates and eventually reviewed 43 articles selected and grouped according to the
relevance to the research review.
 931

RESILIENCE CAPABILITIES

Pettit, Fiksel and Croxton (2010) argued that supply chain vulnerabilities are
fundamental factors that makes an enterprise supply chain susceptible to disruptions. In
order to counteract vulnerabilities, research has shown that a supply chain can develop
capabilities that assure long-time survival. Capabilities are attributes that enable an
enterprise to anticipate and overcome disruptions. Lee (2004 presents methods to overcome
both short and long-term change based on three key capabilities: agility, adaptability and
alignment. Other important capability include flexibility in sourcing, flexibility in order
fulfillment, capacity, efficiency, visibility, adaptability, anticipation, recovery, dispersion,
collaboration, organizations, market position, security and financial strength (Pettit, et.al.,
2010). Kilubi and Haasis (2015) highlighted the top enablers (or capabilities) in SCRM
research from 2000 to the beginning of 2015 are in the following order of frequency (1)
visibility, (2) flexibility, (3) relationship, (4) redundancy, (5) coordination, (6) postponement,
(7) multiple sourcing, (8) collaboration, (9) risk awareness, (10) agility, (11) avoidance, (12)
contingency planning, (13) risk monitoring and (14) transferring and sharing risks.
It is important for the management to have insight of their strengths, weaknesses and
priorities. By identifying highly rated capabilities, managers will have a detailed information
on their strengths. This is in line with the resource-based approach to strategy analysis as
noted by Grant (1991), where firms must identify their current strengths. McManus, Seville,
Brunsdon and Vargo (2007) acknowledged that under certain circumstances where the firm
is forced to deal with unexpected disruption in its supply chain, its ability to survive can be
demonstrated through the level of supply chain resilience. The higher the level of a firm’s
resilience, the greater the ability is for the firm to bounce back to its original functioning state
(Christopher & Peck, 2004). Organizations must learn to anticipate, absorb, and overcome
disruptions (Pickett, 2006). Hence, a resilient supply chain enables firms to quickly return to
its initiate state even when its operational functions are interrupted. Previous empirical
finding showed that resilience strategies are required for firms that are challenged by
disruptive changes (Christopher & Peck, 2004; Sheffi, 2001). According to Ponomarov and
Halcomb (2009), these supply chain resilience strategies are useful for dealing with
unexpected events so that firms can return to its initiation stage. Moreover, resilience can be
a source of competitive edge if the firm responds better and faster than its rivals. This could
greatly enhance the firm’s competitiveness and survival.
Brusset and Teller (2017) in a survey of 171 managers tested a conceptual model that
proposes a relationship between supply chain capabilities and resilience as well as the
moderating role of supply chain risks revealed that the perception of supplier risk helps
motivate supply chain manager to enhance integration capabilities and thus achieve higher
resilience. Other operational capabilities included in the study were external capabilities and
flexibility capabilities. Overall, resilience is a critical capability for success needed in supply
chain redesign and re-engineering and it is important to have the right mix of capabilities to
build resilience in the type of environment best suited for the industry.

CONCLUSIONS

Globalization has made anticipating disruptions and managing them when they do
occur more becomes challenging. The potential risks of disruptions are often out of sight,
and the potential impacts may not be comprehended. This often results in “black swan”
events that can be understood only after it happens. (Taleb, 2007). A well-managed firm
continually examines its turbulent environment and realigns its resources faster than its
rivals (Hamel and Valikangas, 2003; Lummus, Duclos and Vokurka, 2003). Disruptions “can
offer an opportunity to impress customers and win their loyalty” (Knemeyer, Corsi, and
Murphy, 2003), and “successful recovery and adaption to new market forces can lead to
 932

competitive advantage: (Rice and Caniato, 2003). Eventhough change not only presents
threats to business continuity, but also embracing change creates opportunities for business
value creation. When disruption change the competitive landscape, a resilient company can
often take advantage by introducing business innovations, increasing market share, and
enhancing its reputation. Risk interventions through resilience techniques and capabilities
deriving from deep understanding of the operating phenomenon needs to be further explored
so as to enhance the ability to anticipate, the ability to respond and the ability to adapt to
changes for survival.

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 933

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 936

Exploring the Influence of Cultural Similarities and Workforce

Diversity Management on Turnover Intention of Foreign Workers in
Malaysia

Yong Azrina Ali Akbar

Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kedah
yong198@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nurul Azzah Nafisah Azmi Murat

Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kedah

Nik Ramli Nik Abdul Rashid

Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kedah

ABSTRACT

Employee turnover became one of the most devastating issues faced by multinational
organizations as additional costs of rehiring and training need to be incurred by the
employers. In Malaysia, an added negative impact of employee turnover is incurred if it
involved a foreign worker who have absconded from his or her workplace. The viewpoint of
the Malaysian government is that, the responsibility for absconded foreign workers falls upon
the employers, and the penalty can be in a form of a hefty fine. To address this issue, a
theoretical framework is developed based on the Herzberg Two Factor Theory. The extrinsic
or hygine factors are represented by perception of workforce diversity management and
supervisory support. While the intrinsic or the motivator factors are represented by job
satisfaction and cultural similarities. These four independent variables are hypothesized to
have a significant impact on employee turnover intention. A survey was conducted at
Flextronics Technology (Malaysia) which employs a number of foreign workforce from Nepal,
Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Indonesia. A survey using questionaire were distributed to one
hundred and twenty foreign workers, and multiple regression analysis was carried out using
SPSS ver. 22. As expected the overall regression model was found to be significant. While
both intrinsic factors did have an influence on turnover intention, only one of the extrinsic
factor (supervisor support) is found to be significant. Perceived workforce diversity
management is not significant. A possible reason for this unexpected result is due to the fact
that diversity management policies by management was not being made explicit to all the
foreign employees. Most of the diversity management policies implemented were for the
purpose of complience with legal standard and ethical norms.

Keywords: workforce diversity management, job satisfaction, cultural similarities, supervisor

support, turnover intention.

INTRODUCTION

Employee turnover became one of the most devastating issues faced by

multinational organizations as additional costs of rehiring and training need to be incurred by
the employers. In Malaysia, an added negative impact of employee turnover is incurred if it
involved a foreign worker who has absconded from his or her workplace. Employee
 937

abscondment occurs “when a foreign employee leaves the workplace without notifying the
employers with the intention to escape, and also when they return to the workplace after
coming back from origin country” (Immigration Department Website, 2017). It is the
responsibility of the employers to notify the Immigration Department, and they will be
blacklisted and their security bonds will be confiscated as well. According to a survey carried
out by the Malaysian Employers Federation (2014), abscondment among foreign workers is
ranked second among some of the other main issues and challenges faced by employers in
Malaysia (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Issues and Challenges with Foreign Workers (Source: MEF, 2014)

Communication problem 55.6%

Abscondment 46.7%

Cultural Differences 46.7%

Period of employment too short 31.1%

Conflict between foreign workers

from different nationalities 22,2%

Others 20%

This research explores the issue of turnover intention among foreign workers in
Malaysia, and its relations to several extrinsic and intrinsic organizational factors. A
theoretical framework is developed based on the Herzberg Two Factor Theory of human
motivation and behavior. The extrinsic or hygine factors are represented by employee
perception toward workforce diversity management and supervisory support. While the
intrinsic or the motivator factors are represented by job satisfaction and cultural similarities.
These four independent variables are hypothesized to have a significant impact on
employee turnover intention.
 938

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Figure 2 The Theoretical Framework

HERZBERG TWO-FACTOR THEORY

INTRINSIC FACTORS

o JOB SATISFACTION
o CULTURAL SIMILARITIES TURNOVER INTENTION
AMONG FOREIGN
EXTRINSIC FACTORS WORKERS

o WORKFORCE DIVERSITY
MANAGEMENT
o SUPERVISORY SUPPORT
INDEPENDENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT VARIABLES

LITERATURE REVIEW

Turnover Intention

Turnover intention (TI) refers to the awareness and purposeful willingness to leave
the organization and has been one of the major problems organizations faced. In the
literature, turnover intention has been portrayed to be highly connected with actual turnover
(Han and Jekel, 2011; Shahnawaz and Jafri, 2009). According to Droege and Hoobler
(2003), employees’ actual turnover is a bad sign for the organization as it includes
considerably obvious and unseen cost. Organizational efficiency is decreased by recruitment
and training of new employees (Alexander et al., 1994), etc. In 2008, a survey of 600
organizations indicated that 81 percent of them viewed employee retention as a critical
business priority as accordance to Kreitner and Kinicki (2010). An abundance of studies
have been devoted to understanding and predicting employees’ turnover intention (Han and
Jekel, 2011; Shahnawaz and Jafri, 2009) and the relationship between job satisfaction (JS)
and turnover is negative (Kreitner and Kinicki, 2010).

Workforce Diversity Management

This research will examine employees’ perception towards workforce diversity

management in the organization and the relationship with turnover intention. It is suggested
by researchers that diversity provides benefits to organization as it able to attract and retain
the best talent available, reducing costs due to low turnover (Cox, 1993; Cox and Blake,
1991; Cox, 1991; Robinson and Dechant, 1997; Carlozzi, 1999; Griscombe and Mattis,
2002; McAllister, 1997; Watson et al., 1993). On the other hand, there is different
perspective as researchers managed to show that diversity is negatively related to
organizational performance through lower employee satisfaction and higher turnover
(O’Reilly et al., 1989). Given these different results additional research on diversity is
needed. Harrison and Sin (2006) stated that several inconsistencies in diversity research
and point out questions of how diversity is defined and what should be measured.

H1: There is a negative and significant relationship between perception towards diversity
management and turnover intention.

Supervisor Support
 939

In general, prior research has shown that supervisor support importantly forecasts
employee levels of job satisfaction (e.g., Baral & Bhargava, 2010; Parasuraman & Alutto,
1984; & Straub, 2012). For this research, the relationship between supervisor support and
turnover intention will be discovered. A study by Eisenberger et al., (2002), argued that there
is no proof indicating the correlation between supervisor supports and turnover intentions,
however, supervisor supports had significant relationship with turnover intentions only when
the relationship was mediated by perceived organizational supports. According to Maertz et
al., (2007), support from supervisor influenced employees’ turnover as it is also affecting
their attitudes and perception towards the organization itself.

H2: There is a negative and significant relationship between supervisor support and turnover
intention.

Cultural Similarities

Theoretically, cultural similarity has been tied to the bigger concept of ‘‘cultural
capital’’ (Bour- dieu, 1984). Straubhaar conducted a qualitative case study in Brazil, during
which he performed 228 in-depth interviews over a 10-year period. He found evidence of
cultural similarities or proximity resulting from varying levels of cultural capital among
different social classes (Straubhaar, 2003). His research suggests that a great many more
discrete variables may be at play in determining cultural proximity. La Pastina and
Straubhaar claim, ‘‘there are other levels of similarity or proximity, based in cultural elements
per se: dress, ethnic types, gestures, body language, definitions of humor, ideas about story
pacing, music traditions, religious elements, etc.’’ (La Pastina & Straubhaar, 2005, p. 274).
Relationship between cultural similarities and turnover intention has not been discovered
hence it becomes one of the research objectives to unfold the answer whether there is a
significant and negative relationship between cultural similarities and turnover intention.

H3: There is a negative and significant relationship between cultural similarities and turnover
intention.

Job Satisfaction

A number of western studies have generally supported a negative relationship

between job satisfaction and employee turnover (Griffeth et al., 2000; Kinicki et al., 2002;
Price, 1977, 2001), although in some cases it is not strongly related (Mobley et al., 1979;
Wong et al., 2001). This research is trying to identify if there is any changes occurs to the
relationship of job satisfaction and turnover intention as the previous research done was on
2001. Even though there is a well established negative correlation between job satisfaction
and employee turnover, some researchers have argued that determinants of job satisfaction
may differ between cultures and countries, thus affecting the relationship with employee
turnover intention (Spector, 2000; Kirkman and Shapiro, 2001).

H4: There is a negative and significant relationship between job satisfaction and turnover
intention.

METHODOLOGY

The population for this research comprises the migrant workers who are working as
direct labours in Flextronics Technology (Malaysia). This research used probability sampling
or simple random sampling. Selection of sample was done based on the sampling frame
which is the name list of migrant workers provided by Human Resources Department.
Population of migrant workers in the seven Flex plants are 450 migrant workers.
 940

Questionnaires were distributed only to two plants which are 120 workers but the returned
response collected was only 106 acceptable and 14 had been rejected. Data collected from
the respondents have been analyzed by using the Statistics Package for Social Science,
version 22 (SPSS). For this research, analyses involved are frequency distribution analysis,
descriptive analysis, cross tabulation analysis, reliability analysis, face validity analysis,
correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis.

FINDINGS

Sample Description

Majority of respondents are male (93.4%) with the age 21-30 years old. 71.1% of
respondents come from Nepal with high school level (85%) and still single (62.3%). Most of
them have 1-5 years (55.7%) working experience at Flextronics Technology (Malaysia).

Descriptive Statistics

Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics. In this research, the mean score for the
dependent variable which is the turnover intention is 1.85. It shows that respondents
disagreed to the statements which stated the intention to leave the organization. The mean
score had shown that their turnover intention is low. Moving on to the mean score of the
independents variable which is the perception towards diversity management in the
organization, the mean score is 4.08. This shows that the respondents agreed to the
statements that portrays good diversity management in the organization. Respondents
agreed that the managers work well with employees with different backgrounds, concern
about employees’ customs and values, given fair treatment to all employees, and
opportunities to grow in the organization exists even though the employees came from other
backgrounds. Diversity management in the company is giving positive impact to the migrant
workers. Next are cultural similarities. Questions that were asked in the questionnaires
regarding this independent variables is to determine whether respondents can acknowledge
any similarities between the culture from their country of origin and Malaysia. The mean
score obtained is 2.51 which concluded that the respondents disagreed. The respondents do
not feel like the culture in the organization and their home country is similar. Another
independent variable is job satisfaction. For job satisfaction, the mean score is 4.30 which
represent the respondents’ agreement on the statements regarding job. To measure job
satisfaction among the migrant workers, measures used will show high level of satisfaction
among workers if they agree to the statements. Lastly, the mean score for supervisor
support is 3.82. Respondents are neither agreed nor disagreed with most of the questions
asked on this variable. It shows that the level of supervisor support in the organization is still
at the average. Respondents cannot decide whether they feel the support from supervisor.

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics

Std.
N Minimum Maximum Mean
Deviation
TI 106 1.00 4.20 1.85 0.71
PTD 106 2.60 5.00 4.08 0.72
CS 106 1.00 4.33 2.51 0.98
JS 106 2.60 5.00 4.30 0.55
SS 106 1.20 5.00 3.82 1.02
 941

Valid N
106
(listwise)
Statistical Analysis

Reliability analysis was carried out for all the independent variables. The Cronbach’s
Alpha for the dependent variable, turnover intention (TI) is 0.812 which according to Hair et
al (2008), is good. The next one is the independent variable, job satisfaction (JS).
Cronbach’s Alpha for job satisfaction is 0.801 which can be considered good too. From the
table, the Cronbach’s Alpha for supervisor support (SS) is 0.890. It shows that the
instrument for this independent variable is good. Followed by cultural similarities (CS), with
0.755 Cronbach’s Alpha, it makes the instrument for this independent variable questionable.
Lastly, the Cronbach’s Alpha for perceptions toward diversity management in the
organization (PTD) is only 0.679 which indicated that the instrument for this variable is also
questionable as according to Hair et al (2008). However, according to Malhotra (2010), 0.6
Cronbach’s alpha is still acceptable. Since most of the instruments in this research are good,
it can be considered that questionnaires for this research are reliable.
To test the relationship between independent and dependent variables, multiple
regression analysis was done which resulted that the four independent variables can be
used to explain 18.2% of the variance in the dependent variable (R²= 0.182). Job satisfaction
(Beta -0.427), supervisor support (Beta -0.330), and cultural similarities (Beta -0.282) were
found to has significant and negative influence on turnover intention. However, perception
towards diversity management is not significant to turnover intention, and the Beta value is -
0.248 while the p-value is more than 0.05. Hence, the hypotheses 2, hypotheses 3, and
hypotheses 4 are accepted, while hypotheses 1 is rejected. The summary of the analysis
result can be seen in Table 2 as below.

Table 2 Multiple Regression Analysis

Independent Variables Dependent Variable

(Standardized Coefficient-
Beta)
Turnover Intention

Workforce Diversity Management -0.248

Job Satisfaction -0.427**
Supervisor Support -0.330*
Cultural Similarities -0.282*

R² 0.182
F Change 5.384
p <.05* ; p < .01**

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

For Future Research

The information and findings of this research will be more meaningful if it is followed
by further studies by other researchers in the future. For the researchers who wish to pursue
the studies on this topic, there are some suggestions that could help to minimize implications
and limitations of the research.
 942

First, it is suggested for future research to expand the scope of the study. If more
respondents can get involved in the research, data from the study can be more meaningful.
Migrant workers are scattered all over Malaysia, they work with manufacturing companies
and also construction company. It is appropriate to conduct the research in these sectors as
data collection process has a higher potential to become smooth.
Second, questionnaires instruments constructed have to be more accurate. It is
important to choose suitable questions in order to measure a variable and it is also vital to
allocate enough time for questionnaires distribution process. Prepare the questionnaires in
respondents’ native language to make it easier for them to understand the questions.
Lastly, the research only discovers the existence of relationship between variables
and whether they are significance or not. It is believed that job satisfaction can become a
mediator between other independent variables and turnover intention. Due to lack of time
and number of respondents, the role of job satisfaction as mediator cannot be investigated in
this research. Therefore, it is suggested to future researchers to discover the role of job
satisfaction as a mediator between the relationship of independent variables and dependent
variable.

For Organization

In order to reduce employee turnover, especially involving the migrant workers,

company should never neglect the importance of workforce diversity management.
Employees from different country of origins have to go through difficult time in adjusting to
new environment. With absence of cultural similarities between home country and host
country, it could be challenging for them to work comfortably. What can be done to ensure
that migrant workers feel accepted into the organization is to always include them in
company’s activities. Example of employee engagement activities that can be conducted is
celebration of employees’ birthdays and cultural activities. Be concern about their customs
and cultures from home country. Employers should let the migrant workers to celebrate their
traditional celebrations in the company for example, Navratri celebration for Nepalese.
Migrant workers should also be given fair opportunities in developing their careers. They
should be given a chance to learn different tasks in daily working hours. Discrimination
should never occur in the company’s workplace.
Other than that, creating a cheerful and comfortable workplace environment can also
increase their job satisfaction. Create a harmony environment within the workplace,
familiarize the local and migrant workers by giving them a chance to work together as for
example, in organizing an event. With this kind of opportunity, employees can engage with
each other and build friendly relationship among locals and foreigners.
Lastly, it is recommended for supervisors, managers and superiors to give chance to
migrant workers in expressing their opinions. Give them enough support and training so that
they can be more effective at completing their tasks. Give regular feedbacks on their
performance and treat them with respect. Supervisors should be the person whom migrant
workers can trust. Being apart from families and home country will somehow impact their
emotional stability. Therefore, supervisor should be more caring and understanding. Try to
listen to their problems before taking disciplinary actions. Be open to talk about non-work
issues so that the migrant workers feel appreciated and treated with respect.
By doing all these recommendations, turnover intention among migrant workers is
believed to become lesser. Employees will never intend to leave if they receive sufficient fair
treatment and comfortable with their working environment. Despite the differences between
foreign workers and local, it is possible to unite in diversity, as long as we respect each other
and always helpful to each other, diversity can become very positive.

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 946

Undergraduate Students Satisfaction in the Context of Teaching

and Non Teaching, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Noorfadzilah bt Mohd Fadzil
Undergraduate, Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis
noorfadzilah1993@gmail.com

Shamshul Anaz Kassim

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis
shamsulanaz@perlis.uitm.edu.my

Nurul Farihin Mhd Nasir

Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis
nurulfarihin@perlis.uitm.edu.my

Jati Kasuma Ali

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sarawak
jati@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

This paper outlines an empirical study, which seeks to identify the determinants of academic
experience, faculty and teaching quality, campus life, facilities, placement and internship
support, and competencies towards undergraduate students satisfaction at Universiti
Teknologi MARA (UiTM). The purpose of this study is to investigate undergraduate students
satisfaction in the context of higher education. This study investigate the relationship
between academic experience, faculty and teaching quality, campus life, facilities, placement
and internship support and competencies. The total of 340 respondents were involved in this
study. The survey result from the undergraduate students show four independent variables
which have a positive impact on the undergraduate students satisfaction: facilities,
placement and internship support, competencies and academic experience. In addition,
faculty and teaching quality and campus life did not contribute much to undergraduate
students satisfaction.

Keywords: Students Satisfaction, Teaching and Non-Teaching Elements, Academic

Experience, Faculty and Teaching Quality, Campus Life, Facilities, Placement and Internship
Support, Competencies

INTRODUCTION

Student satisfaction is well researched topic based on a study teaching and non-
teaching elements and constructs that enable higher education institutions to predict
retention and to inform marketing planning in a highly competitive higher education
environment. According to Carter and Yeo (2016) stated that the competitiveness and
 947

sustainability are now representations amongst education organizations in Malaysia’s

education sector. The higher education (HE) sector in Malaysia is getting more competitive
with 414 private colleges, 37 private universities, 18 public universities, 20 university
colleges and eight foreign branch campuses competing for the same group of the local
eligible students population and regional students, along with Singapore, Philippines, Hong
Kong and Indonesia.
Students’ satisfaction studies are essential in determining whether colleges and
universities are fulfilling their mission. It is well known that the most vital product of
educational institutions is competent graduates. In order to best arrange students, they are
required upon graduation, an actual programme is desirable. Therefore, sustainability is
crucial to all the higher educational institutions at present and in the direct for future. This
statement also supported by Carter and Yeo (2016) given the heavy competition similarly a
sure sign that the education market is progressively development in Malaysia for one of the
ways to enable the organisation to sustain itself is to maintain or increase its level of income
from its “core market” (domestic) and/or increase its level of income from overseas students
via increased numbers or tuition fees.
Students are known to choose higher education institutions and programmes to enrol
on the basis of factors such as the study environment, delivery method, time availability,
on/off campus requirements and place to access learning materials by (Cohen et al., 2001;
Poh and Abu Samah, 2006; Gruber et al., 2010; Elliot and Healy, 2001; Lagrosen et al.,
2004). Students are also found to place great importance for academic quality, degree
acceptance and the higher education institution’s reputation in the selection of a higher
education institution (Chun, 2005; Alves and Raposo, 2010; Brown and Mazzarol, 2009;
Gruber et al., 2010).
In this study, the factors that gives positive impacts on the undergraduate students
provide more awareness and acceptance to study at university. Besides that, this research
also helps the service quality for the student satisfaction in the organization of the
educational institutions should focus on a study teaching and non-teaching elements to
increase the satisfaction and retention of the students. Thus, the researcher believes that the
independent variables in this research would best describe those factors that student
satisfaction in higher education institutions.

RESEARCH PROBLEM AND OBJECTIVES

In Malaysia today there is greater opportunity for secondary school students to attend
universities. Moreover, students are able to select their preference from a large group of
universities nevertheless of whether they are public institution of higher education
institutions. According to study by Sohail, Rajadurai and Rahman (2003), the competition for
higher education institutions to recruit more students and retain them has become fiercer
than ever before. Facing a growing competitive environment, the higher education
institutions have dramatically increased the competition for enrolling and retaining students
by providing a high quality service as the solution to compete in unsettled market. Due to the
increasing competitive forces for marketing education in Malaysia, marketers need to be
more aware of the underlying factors considered by students when selecting higher
education institutions (Hassan and Sheriff, 2006) if they want to survive in this competitive
environment (Vaira, 2004). Therefore, it plays an important role for marketers to know the
elements that influence the student satisfaction and to understand the nature of relationship
among them.
Furthermore, the previous researchers identified many attributes that influenced
student satisfaction in choosing the higher education institutions; the characteristics that
differentiate competing services form one another have not been clearly described. In other
words, the determinant attributes that cause students to choose to attend a particular higher
education institution are undetermined. Determinant attributes are referred to some way may
down the list of service characteristics that are essential to students, but they are the
 948

distinguish attributes that allow students to differentiate between the competing alternatives
(Lovelock, 2007). It is typical for higher education marketers to identify the element attributes
that motivate students to attend a higher education institution as these determinant attributes
are the essence for higher education institution marketers to gain a competitive advantage in
their crafting strategies for student recruitment.
According to O’ Driscoll (2012) stated that the student satisfaction in higher education
institution also found that issues such as quality of student life and other non-institutional
factors need to be accounted for in offering a more comprehensive explanation of student
satisfaction. The formation process of student satisfaction, as well as valid and reliable ways
to measure it, should be the task of educational institutions understanding that suggest by
Alves and Raposo, (2009). Reliable measurements of student satisfaction will enable
educational institutions to have a clear view of their existing situation and allow comparisons
with other educational institutions. Other than that, the researcher noted that focusing on
student satisfaction enables universities to re-engineer their organizations to adapt to
students’ needs and, at the same time, create a system that allows continuous monitoring of
the effectiveness of meeting or exceeding their needs (Elliot and Shin , 2002).
This study attempted to investigate the level of students’ satisfaction between the
academic experience, faculty and teaching quality, campus life, facilities, placement and
internship support and competencies in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).

Student Satisfaction

The student is viewed as the fundamental customer among various customers and
partners in the preparation and instructive organizations (Abdullah, 2006a). There are crucial
things to consider when measuring student reaction to administration quality. Student
reaction is important for execution upgrade, including the showing perspective and
educational modules outline (Nair et al., 2011). Sirvanci (1996) as said in (Mahapatra and
Khan, 2007) determines that the fundamental customers of learning establishments are
students and they assume different parts in the organization. Other than that, satisfaction is
an all-around looked into point in both academic and non-academic (working environment)
settings. In academic settings, students' satisfaction information helps universities and
colleges make their educational modules more receptive to the necessities of an evolving
commercial centre (Eyck, Tews and Ballester, 2009; Witowski, 2008). In making educational
modules more compelling and responsive, it is essential to assess adequacy measures
concerning the educational modules of every school, division, and program (Ratcliff, 1992;
Elliott and Healy, 2001; Özgüngör, 2010; Peters, 1988; Billups, 2008; Aman, 2009). The
viability of an educational programs can be assessed utilizing direct execution measures
(e.g., extensive exams, undertakings, and presentations) and by roundabout execution
measures (e.g., students' satisfaction with the educational programs) (Jamelske, 2009;
Witowski, 2008).

Academic Experience

Academic experience shows that the competitive academic environment where

students have many options available to them, factors that enable educational institutions to
attract and retain students should be seriously studied. Higher education institutions, which
want to gain competitive edge in the future, may need to begin searching for effective and
creative ways to attract, retain and foster stronger relationships with students (Hishamuddin,
Azleen, Rahida & Mohd Zulheflee, 2008). According to the study by Kanji, Abdul Malek and
Wallace (1999) did give some insights on the real situation of the Higher Education
Institutions in Malaysia. Most institutions do give a great deal of importance to meeting
customers' expectations which is similar to business organization, but they still lack
customer awareness among the staff, and it has become a common drawback for many
institutions. The individuals who instructor serve as academic administrators in higher
education institutions confront a wide assortment of difficulties in their endeavours to convey
 949

the best educational experience to their students. How establishments and educators
characterize and assess the educational encounters they offer is one of the centre
determinants in choosing what sorts of instructive encounters are advertised. A few
instructors stress liberator, equitable, and pluralistic objectives of sustainability education
(Wals and Jickling, 2002; Hempel, 2002; Alvarez and Rogers, 2006), while others
accentuate the more down to earth objectives of aptitudes building, viable applications,
integrating disciplines, and employment position (Wille, 1997; Foster, 1999; Jucker, 2001;
DiConti, 2005; Stelmack et al., 2005).
According to Umbach and Porter (2002) highlighted the importance of faculty
members and the great influence that good faculty had on the satisfaction of students in
higher education through their interactions with undergraduates.

FACULTY AND TEACHING QUALITY

The quality of faculty is also to student satisfaction. Wilkins and Balakrishnan (2012)
in their research noted that quality of lecturers and effective uses of technology were strong
determinants of student satisfaction. In a research conducted by Arambewela and Hall
(2009) added that the elements of feedback from lecturers, good access to lecturers and
quality of teaching were perceived to be the most important variables influencing student
satisfaction. While another researcher by Long, Zaiton Ibrahim, & Kowang, (2014) stated
that the teaching and learning are two measurements of the academic world and both rely
on upon lecturers capabilities in this manner, a compelling lecturer has been conceptualized
as one who produces sought results over the span of his obligation as a lecturer. According
to Meacham (2002), faculty who are skilled teachers because of their profession tend to
enrich student learning in foundation and general education courses. With contingent faculty
being used to teach foundation courses and are who temporary at best, we question the
commitment institutions have toward the social and intellectual development of students
(Pascarella and Terenzini, 2005), as well as the process of adequately preparing them for
upper division course work, work in their major, and graduate studies.

CAMPUS LIFE

Campus life showed that due to increased pressure of the competition in the
education administration industry, the higher education institutions are concentrating more
on the student satisfaction. Concocting procedures to attract in student and making proficient
and powerful learning situations is a piece of the arrangement actualized by the executives
in these establishments with a specific end goal to connection academic accomplishment to
ideas, for example, maintenance and enrolment (De Shields Jr, Kara et al. 2005, Helgesen
and Nesset, 2007). The organizations can pick up student satisfaction through conveyance
of brilliant administration qualities and this is an essential part in securing an economical
upper hand in today's global instructive market (Huang, Binney et al. 2012). Therefore,
Tessema, Kathryn, & Yu, 2012) stated that the campus life given the importance of student
satisfaction levels at higher educational institutions, there has been a growing interest in
examining factors affecting students’ satisfaction. Despite the amount of the researchers
done, just restricted writing is accessible in regards to education and quality inside
Malaysian higher education institutions (Wei and Ramalu, 2011). Likewise, it is crucial to
characterize the apparent elements to concentrate the administration quality that will in the
long run decide students’ level of satisfaction, for this situation, among one of the Malaysian
public universities.

FACILITIES
 950

Organizations and institutions often fail to recognize the importance of facility

management (FM) to their business performance and success (Sarel Lavy, 2008). According
to study by Atkin and Brooks (2005) noted that facilities management received recognition
as a profession only in the late 1970s, as defined within US and Canadian corporations. The
Facility Management Institute has described FM as managing and coordinating interrelated
“people, process, and place” issues and functions within the corporation or organization
(Teicholz, 2001). In addition, there are studies which adjust these measurements to a few
specific measurements known as engaging facilities, and figuring facilities (Athiyaman 1997,
Ford, Joseph et al. 1999, Sohail and Shaikh, 2004). Based on the research of Sohail and
Shaikh (2004), the physical facilities of the higher education institutions contain the lighting
of the lecture halls, campus building appearance, design of lecture halls, and cleanliness of
the campus as well the easement of the classrooms and study rooms.

PLACEMENT AND INTERNSHIP SUPPORT

Placement and internship support is claimed to benefit educational outcomes in

undergraduate programmes, with students gaining employability skills and the application of
skill-sets in “real world” situations. Most courses incorporate experiential learning; however,
work placements remain exclusive to the aims of the academic programme (James P.
Gavin, & Ian Coleman, 2014). Work placements are seen as conducive to educational
outcomes (Little and Harvey, 2006; Mandilaras, 2004). Short-term experiential learning, such
as laboratory practical, presents a unique and valuable educational opportunity. Yet, unlike
more long-term placements, they lack a behavioural environment, insomuch that the student
has less responsibility and ownership of their actions (Potter et al., 2013). In line with that,
Kolb & Kolb, 2005) stated that the experiential learning methods in higher education are
well-documented. However, to date, it remains unclear how work placements may influence
student learning motivations. The outdoor work placements may foster pro-environmental
behavior, allowing the student to become the active enquirer (Nicol, 2013). Considering
educational performance, the inclusion of a placement year has been seen to benefit
academic grades regardless of course subject, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status
(Reddy & Moores, 2012). There may be lasting benefits for personal development following
long-term direct experience, yet during, the course characteristics may guide learning
motivation, and therefore course outcomes (McKenzie, 2000).

COMPETENCIES

In the field of university education, sustained development could be considered as a

reference point in the process of selecting key competencies (Rieckmann, 2007).
Nonetheless, educational literature deals with competencies in general and with
competencies referring to sustainability matters in particular, and its terminology becomes
very ambiguous, since “competencies” are associated with skills, capacities, qualification,
and other terms (Baartman, Bastiaens, Kirschner, & van der Vleuten, 2007). Since the early
2000s, sustainability education aims to structure activities that foster the step-by-step
development of key competencies in sustainability over the course of an educational
program by Brundiers et al., (2010). Yet, little attention has been paid to how instructors can
facilitate the initial development of such competencies in students from different disciplinary,
social and cultural backgrounds, for example in international education. Cumulative attention
has focused on competencies as central for the development of curricula in sustainability
(Barth, 2015). Other than that, Richards (2006) highlighted in his research that this factor
can attract customer to satisfy with any definition of lecturer competence depends on
teaching in a particular setting, the culture and values held in the community. It also depends
on the innumerable lecturer and student features and the classroom context. Through the
above definitions we conclude that lecturer primary aim is to make students learn effectively
 951

and efficiently. In doing so, a lecturer has to do several activities such as plan classroom
activity accurately, provide effective instruction and evaluate the learning using appropriate
methods and techniques. The effectiveness or ineffectiveness of teaching is closely linked to
lecturer competencies.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Figure 1 Theoretical framework

Academic Experience (AE)

Faculty and Teaching Quality (FTQ)

Campus Life (CL)

Facilities (FAC) Students Satisfaction

Placement and Internship Support

(PIS)

Competencies (COM)

Hypothesis

H1: Academic experience has a positive relationship with student satisfaction in UiTM,
Perlis.
H2: Faculty and teaching quality has a positive with student satisfaction in UiTM, Perlis.
H3: Campus life has a positive relationship with student satisfaction in UiTM, Perlis.
H4: Facilities has a positive relationship with student satisfaction in UiTM, Perlis.
H5: Placement and internship support has a positive relationship with student satisfaction
in UiTM, Perlis.
H6: Competencies has a positive relationship with student satisfaction in UiTM, Perlis.

METHODOLOGY

This research used sample size is the numbers of elements to be included in the
study. A large sample size is needed to overcome the responsibility of non-response
problem. The sample was among students to answer questionnaire. So, the researcher
decided to distribute 340 sets of questionnaires to respondents. In this study, researcher had
chosen students at UiTM, Perlis as respondents. The population of this study were
undergraduate students amounted of 7,282. The sample size was 340 students that from
undergraduate students. The researcher used stratified random sampling and gather the
data using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) window version 22.0. The
period of time to complete this study takes four months accordingly.
 952

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

Table 1 Pearson Correlation Analysis

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Student -
satisfaction
Academic .51** -
experience
Faculty and .48** .66** -
quality
Campus life .42** .40** .60** -
Facilities .60** .40** .51** .62** -
Placement .60** .40** .40** .50** .60** -
and internship
support
Competencies .60** .50** .60** .52** .52** .62** -
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

From the above table, it shows that the relationship between dependent variable
(student satisfaction) and six independent variables (academic experience, faculty and
teaching quality, campus life, facilities, placement and internship support and competencies).
The first correlation is between academic experience and student satisfaction was r= 0.51 0r
51%, p< 0.01. According to the rule of thumb, this value represents a strong relationship.
The second is faculty and teaching quality and student satisfaction was r = 0.48 or 48%,
p<0.01. According to the rule of thumb, this figure represents a moderate relationship. The
third correlation between campus life and student satisfaction was r = 0.42 or 42%, p<0.01.
According to the rule of thumb, this value represents a moderate relationship. The forth
correlation is facilities was r = 0.60 or 60%, p<0.01. It means that there is significant and
strong relationship. Next, the correlation continues to correlate between placement and
internship support and student satisfaction was r = 0.60 or 60%, p<0.01. It means that there
is significant and strong relationship. Lastly is a correlation between competencies and
student satisfaction was r = 0.60 or 60%, p<0.01. So the dependent variable and
independent variables have a significant relationship in the correlation analysis. This showed
that the academic experience, faculty and teaching quality, campus life, facilities, placement
and internship support, and competencies have a high influence toward students’
satisfaction at UiTM Perlis.

Table 2 Regression Analysis

Dependent Variable
Student Satisfaction
Independent Variable: Beta Sig.Value
Academic Experience .32 .000
Faculty And Teaching .04 .524
Quality
Campus Life -0.09 .115
Facilities 0.30 .000
Placement And Internship 0.30 .000
Support
Competencies 0.15 .007
2
R .72
2
Adjusted R .52
F-Value 55.74
 953

Result of regression analysis is presented in Table 2. It shows that the majority of all
independent variables for academic experience was 0.000, facilities was 0.000 and
placement and internship support was 0.000 and competencies was 0.007 had significant
relationship with dependent variable while independent variables for faculty and teaching
quality was 0.524, and campus life was 0.115 had insignificant relationship with dependent
variable.
SUGGESTIONS

Student Satisfaction

In the future researches, the quality of management of the institute in managing

services to students is also an important predictor of students’ satisfaction. Efficiency and
quality of management include the capabilities to deliver services as promised, good record-
keeping of student’s information, suitable working time, and effective management of input
system. All of these have a direct impact on supporting training activities. The suggestion of
management aspects such as strategic planning, setting rules and procedures, creating a
system of assessment, accountability, quality management and human resource
management determine the extent of the service quality offered by the institution (Zuhdi,
Nizam & Ruhizan, 2014).

Academic Experience

For the future researches suggest the academic experience appear to be important
in student satisfaction. This statement was supported by Carter and Yeo (2016) showed that
the faculty and teaching quality, where the institution engages not only high-quality teaching
staff (and industry savvy) but ensuring that they are completely drawn in with/approachable
to students during the student stay by repeated informal interactions with students,
esteeming their considerations and conclusions by means of our classroom connection and
the quality of feedback on coursework. Staff availability, formally and informally, as well as
academic advice on what to study next to enrich their academic experience was also valued
by students.

Faculty and Teaching Quality

For the future researches could also look at adding more variables to lecturer’s
competencies, such as industrial training supervision. This is an area where most studies do
not cover as more focus are geared towards classroom learning and not off-campus training.
The researchers in the past may have excluded this as industrial training is not common
back then; in fact to some extent even formal institutions are relatively not accessible at
certain areas (Long, Zaiton & Kowang, 2014). This development has changed in the past
decade where most higher learning institutions make it a required for the students to go for
practical training at least for 3 months. The arrangement might differ from one institution to
another, but the idea is the same. Thus, this could be a wonderful opportunity for future
researchers to do some studies on it, particularly in the domain of lecturers’ competencies
and its link to students’ outcomes.

Campus Life

In the future researches, the results suggest there should be opportunities to gain
access to scholarships, loans and work study programmes. In addition, this statement was
supported by Carter and Yeo (2016) whereby the campus life needs to be secure with good
social opportunities and activities, especially for those students who are domiciled a long
way from the campus. Therefore, the campus life should support services such as
counselling services, orientation programmes, student involvement and representation,
 954

appropriate regulations, safety and well-being, and career assistance (Zuhdi, Nizam and
Ruhizan, 2014).

Facilities

In the future researches suggest the availability and quality of physical facilities offer
some clue of efficiency and quality of educational (Wilkinson & Yussof, 2005). Institutes
should be responsible for enhancing the quality of physical facilities including classrooms
and workshops, training equipment, sports and recreational, cafeteria, and accommodations.
In addition, according to Carter and Yeo (2016) said that the higher education institution
appears to need to provide excellent facilities like library, shops, cafeterias and IT facilities.
Although these were not seen as particularly significant in student retention but in
progression.

Placement and internship support

For the future researches could provide the more opportunities for work placements
and support in both obtaining them and staff support, whilst in themselves were seen as
important in terms of satisfaction, were not significant factors to retention by Carter and Yeo
(2016). From a marketing point of view, it seems rational to suggest that these elements are
now of secondary importance and a “given” in any public higher education institution and so
no longer a significant competitive differentiator.

Competencies

For the future researches suggest that the establishing such a learning culture
enlarges the learning space and facilitates better learning opportunities for emerging future-
oriented competencies across different contexts (Barth, Jasmin, Marco and Stoltenberg,
2007). In addition to professional-vocational education it aims at a personal improvement
that allows individuals to manage with difficult situations, to be able to act and to decide
reflectively, to take responsibility, to consider ethical criteria while acting and to be able to
predict consequences in student satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

Higher education industry for services also increasing recognized and accepted by
students at the university. Therefore, this research was conducted to investigate what has
made student satisfaction with services at universities provided. In this research the
variables that used were academic experience, faculty and teaching quality, campus life,
facilities, placement and internship support and competencies which found to be major
influence to student satisfaction. For academic experience was positive relationship with
student satisfaction. It occurs when academic was high, the student satisfaction will
increased and vice versa. For second variable is faculty and teaching quality was negative
relationship with student satisfaction. It occurs when faculty and teaching quality was
decreased, the student satisfaction quality will decreased and vice versa. The third variable
is campus life also negative relationship with student satisfaction. It occurs when campus life
was decreased, the student satisfaction will decreased and vice versa. The forth variable is
facilities were positive relationship with student satisfaction. It occurs when facilities were
high, the student satisfaction will increased and vice versa. Next, the placement and
internship support was relationship with student satisfaction. It occur when placement and
internship support was high, the student satisfaction will increased and vice versa. Lastly,
the competencies were relationship with student satisfaction. It occurs when the
competencies were high, the student satisfaction will increased and vice versa.
 955

Therefore, it can be concluded that not all independent variables were significant and
positive to dependent variables. This means the independent variables that influence
dependent variables were only academic experience, facilities and placement and internship
support, competencies while faculty and teaching quality, and campus life obtained
insignificant result.

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 957

A Study of Digital Piracy Behavior among Undergraduate Students

in the Context of Higher Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Rokiah bt Ahmad Fuaad
Undergraduate,Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis
rokiahfuaad@gmail.com

Shamshul Anaz Kassim

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis
shamsulanaz@perlis.uitm.edu.my

Nurul Farihin Mhd Nasir

Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis
nurulfarihin@perlis.uitm.edu.my

Jati Kasuma Ali

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sarawak
jati@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

This paper outlines an empirical study, which seeks to identify digital piracy behavior among
undergraduate students, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). This study was conducted to
find out the factors such as moral equity, relativism, attitude, religiosity and social influence
and how they affect digital piracy behavior towards UiTM undergraduate students. By
investigating these factors, the researcher will be able to know the most critical factor that
contributes to the digital piracy behavior. The respondents were undergraduate students with
the total of 340 respondents. The technique used was stratified random sampling. All five
independent variables were found significant relationship with digital piracy behavior. The
most significant and related to the digital piracy behavior were relativism, attitude and
religiosity. Moral equity, relativism, attitude, religiosity and social influence were found to
have a relationship to digital piracy behavior among undergraduate students.

Keywords: Digital Piracy Behavior, Undergraduate Students, Moral Equity, Relativism,

Attitude,Religiosity, Social Influence

INTRODUCTION

Digital piracy is a copy of digital materials, folder, audios and visual illegally without
asking lawful consent on authorized holder for any circumstances for several purposes
(Hesty, 2014). This digital piracy practice increases rapidly as there is an improvement of
technology from internet. It influences not just the piracy variation although also the value of
the duplication product itself. After the improvement of the internet, the quality of copy
materials diminished less and reaches high similarity than the original materials (Hesty,
2014).
According to Sigi (2010), piracy materials can be categorized into two parts; file
sharing and hard goods piracy. Illegal practices and production of tangible materials is one
of it. For instance music DVD, CD, visual or software is known as hard good piracy, while file
sharing piracy is known as practices which gain-sharing communities by using internet. Sigi
 958

(2010) advanced, with regard to the type of pirated software, much prior work has theorized
that entertainment and games software are the most common. It has been contended that
one factor for this emphasis on entertainment software is that piracy is often used by
adolescents.
According to Krawczyk (2014), students tend to be influenced with recent social
influence and depend likely towards the surroundings. In contrast, they could be low in
tending to follow standard of self-norms in their life experience compared to other adults.
Recently, the usage of digital piracy by students in university and Internet-savvy college
through digital piracy practices such as duplicating and copying digital song or visual have
brought such losses to the copyright authorization and music company (Hohn, Muftic, &
Wolf, 2006). IIPA (International Intellectual Property Alliance, 2008) made some current
report by stated that in 2007, 60% internet penetration occurs in Malaysia which hosted
about 15 million internet user though the broadband access has remain low.
As recorded by industry report, it is not an odd situation when digital piracy has
turned as a trouble to the copyright authorization in Malaysia. In a same record, it was
expressed which a critical increment in a number of breach of software contract found on the
web expanded from instances 705 per month in 2006 to 1134 per month in 2007, a
rapidly increase of 61%. It is demonstrates that digital piracy is clearly as a critical problem in
context of Malaysia (Kin, 2006).
As a result of the increasing of digital piracy usage, there is some study needs to be
investigated behind this phenomenon of digital piracy usage among university students to
use digital piracy. It is important for marketers to understand the usage of digital piracy
among students to maintain sales and market share especially for who involved in
information technology industries.

RESEARCH PROBLEM AND OBJECTIVES

With the increasing of development in technology and the expanding worldwide

accessibility and availability of computerized channels, practices of downloading and make a
duplication of digital piracy materials remain to disturb software owner and researchers as
well. Digital piracy represents a growing trouble to the welfare of both software owner
and customer (Phau and Ng, 2010; Sinha et al., 2010). Unfortunately, it has also been
recorded that there was exist a downloading a pirate materials among students in the US
(Lysonski&Durvasula, 2008). Similar report recorded by IIPA (International Intellectual
Property Alliance, 2008), high amount of university students are committed in digital piracy,
hence it is forced for more study to be done to know the factors that forceful of the practices
of digital piracy.
It has been recorded that there was exist a downloading pirate materials among
students in the US (Lysonski & Durvasula, 2008). Similar report recorded by IIPA
(International Intellectual Property Alliance, 2008), high number of university students are
committed in digital piracy. Mastura et al. (2008) stated that there was a record of a usage of
digital pirated software involved in students in one of the university in Malaysia as her recent
study. Thus it is forced for more research to be done to understand the factors that driving of
the practices of digital piracy which are moral equity, relativism, attitude, religiosity and social
influence.
Mahbubur (2000) also advanced university students did not see digital piracy as a
moral issue. Records from university students stated that 71% believes that duplicating
original software was acceptable socially and ethically. Likewise, in the Gallup Poll (2003)
survey, 83% of young people especially university students believe that downloading free
music in the internet was morally acceptable. Young adults have self-financing compared to
students which have financially constrained, thus it may reduce their intention to purchase
original materials. Students also may easily attract to commit digital piracy based on their
observation among friends and colleagues as the social norm makes they feel it is safe and
acceptable (Kin, 2006).
 959

Malaysia represents almost 15 million of users, which shows of 60% internet

penetration; however it shows low of broadband penetration as a most recent report by IIPA
(International Intellectual Property Alliance, 2008). It is not surprising that digital piracy
practices might be as threat to the authorized owner based on the industry statistics
(Mastura et al. 2008). There was recorded a steadily increasing in the number of digital
piracy practices and the increasing from approximately 705 instances per month in a year
2006 to 1134 per month in the 2007. It shows a 61% dramatic increase of digital piracy
practices in Malaysia. It is obviously shows that digital piracy is a critical issue in Malaysia.
There was recorded a result that shows positive relationship in terms of attitude and
influence in the intention to pirated software. The effect on based of the study also shows
that all the information and internet materials which are fun and enjoyable should be free as
it is agree and acceptable by the students itself. Also, they tend to beliefs that digital piracy
materials in internet makes they feel convenience and costless thus it might encouraged
their attitude towards it.

TRENDS AND LAW

Nowadays, the pattern of digital piracy has become expanded. Subsequently, India,
Thailand, China and Malaysia are known as the 'home for piracy’. Digital piracy is right now
viewed as most popular amongst the most prevalent types of internet piracy
burglary and has been described as a illegal in the USA based on Copyright Act 1976.
Duplication of digital goods, audios, documents and visual illegally without asking for
lawful permission from the owner of the authorization for any reason beside back up
purposes is defined by Software Publishers Association (SPA) in Gopal et al. (2002). These
problems stressed by Kin (2006) suggestion that behavior towards software piracy will not
be easily control by law and legal act. Intellectual property protection is unaffordable to
certain people. It is apparent that the problem of digital piracy is not simply as illegal issue
and will not be settled by law and regulations.

DIGITAL PIRACY BEHAVIOR

Duplication of digital materials, audios, documents and visual illegally without asking
for lawful authorization from the owner of the holder for any reason and circumstance
intention and purposes is stated by Software Publishers Association (SPA) (1997b). Thus,
people who commit in digital piracy do not see their behavior as wrong behavior and felt
guilty when commit in digital piracy. According to Ahasanul (2009), digital piracy passes on
significantly more hazard to any economy and social well-being generally acknowledged by
the consumers. Study on online piracy has no exemption to a general tendency of relying on
students. This is true regardless of location, as testified by examples from China Bai and
Waldfogel (2012). For time being, the practice of digital piracy by Internet-savvy college and
university students through downloading and copying digital music or videos has incurred
tremendous loss to the software companies (Hohn, Muftic, & Wolf, 2006).
Mass copyright violations of films and music were made a crime offense by the
Piracy and Counterfeiting Amendments Act and revised to include the sharing of copyrighted
materials over the web by No Electronic Theft Act (Higgins et al., 2009). Besides, digital
piracy is existing copyright laws. Programming designers ensured by laws where
unauthorized utilize distributed the copies of the software without any consent categorized
as illegal (Mahbubur, 2000). With speedy advances in technology and the increasing
global availability and accessibility of digital channels for information/media distribution,
illicit behavior as regards digital goods continues to disturb practitioners and researchers
alike.
 960

MORAL EQUITY

Moral equity examines essential issues of good and bad. It indicates a universal
ethics construct and is the prior evaluative criterion for ethical judgment (Arli, 2015). Arli
(2015) advanced despite increased attention on digital piracy behavior; studies on the
ethicality of digital piracy have recorded different results. Kin (2016) found that among
college students, software piracy was considered acceptable and normal. Individuals face
with ethical issues traditionally attempts to resolution them by pleasing to moral standards
and moral reasoning. Moral standards can be applied at either the organizational or the
individual level. At the organizational level, moral standards influence policies and
regulations concerning the ethical use of software. Unfortunately, traditional moral might not
distinguish the digital piracy issue (Judith, 2003).
Some study have found the problem of how morality affect person in a different
research that take morality as an independent variable, Kin (2006) study the cause of
traditional Chinese morality on the utilize of pirated materials. Chinese cultural norms
highlight interpersonal relations and assess behavior according to how well it serves to
enhance the hierarchical norms of society Kin (2006). Therefore, Kini et al. (2000) estimated
that higher level of moral improvement would be interrelated with fewer usage of digital
piracy. They study a sample of 263 undergraduate and graduate students in the USA,
expecting that the graduate students, because of their higher maturity, would be operating at
a higher moral level and using less in pirated materials. This argument turned out not to be
the case. In fact, the graduate students used more pirated materials than the
undergraduates.
In the West, software piracy is commonly defined as legal, moral or ethical problem.
Data used in previous research mainly came from student samples in the USA, where
software copyright law has long figured very prominently. This influence is especially evident
in the generous protection afforded to software developers against software piracy. This is
one instance of the general emphasis on protecting individual and personal interests that
characterizes Western society. This personality, individualistic emphasis may be responsible
for Western researchers’ attention to “moral-rights” doctrines and ethical decision-making
processes when examining digital piracy.Individuals confronted with ethical problems
traditionally attempt to resolve themby appealing to moral standards and moral reasoning.
Moral standards can be appliedat either the organizational or the individual level. At the
organizational level, moralstandards influence policies and regulations concerning the ethical
use of software (Lysonski and Durvasula, 2008).

RELATIVISM

Relativism used to measure behavior. Relativism measures an individual's behavior.

Relativists’ refuse basic moral standards and feel that the ethical that they practices relies on
the circumstance and individuals involved as stated by Mahalia, (2014). Relativist believes
their behavior is accepted by others. People with low relativism argue that morality requires
acting in ways that are along together with moral principles. Mahalia (2014) advanced that
person with high relativists will have high intentions to involve in digital piracy compared to
low relativists.
People with high relativism suggest that local or cultural ethical norms are the
important source for ethical standards and believe the old saying, “when in Rome do as
Romans do”. Melé and Sánchez-Runde (2013) stated that, nevertheless, people who only
act inaccordance with their home cultural values and norms are often accused of
being“ethnocentric” or in certain cases “cultural imperialists”.
The past study suggested that relativism as an ethical ideology plays a significant
role in people’s ethical decision-making processes (Hastings and Finegan,2011). Previous
research has shown that relativism often connotes ethical leniency (Forsyth et al., 2008).
 961

For instance, people high in relativism were found to be more likely to tolerate
questionable budgetary practices (Douglas and Wier, 2005) than that low in relativism.
Relativists were found to be negatively related to corporate ethics and less likely to report
wrongdoers at work (Barnett et al., 1996). Similarly, Fan-Hua and Huang (2013) found that,
among auditors for the Big Four accounting firms in Taiwan, universalism was significantly
and positively related to their sensitivity to the doubtful behavior of clients, whereas
relativism was significantly and positively associated with their tolerance of clients’ illegal
actions.
According to Mahalia (2014), person with high relativism are more likely to commit
digital piracy. The result of the study shows Barbadians are highly relativism which recorded
that approximately 78% in her study. So many individuals do not feel much guilt about
committing piracy. This suggests that they believe that copyright holders were losing money
due to piracy. They may even trust those copyright owners are assembly too much money to
start with. Local anti-piracy campaigns and laws should demonstrate that digital piracy is a
real crime as opposed to a petty offence, and will be penalized as such. In general, studies
show that an individual’s perception of ethically questionable actions is affected by their
ethical ideology, where relativism correlates with a lower level of ethically (Lu and Lu, 2010).

ATTITUDE

Attitude is one of the evidence to determine the utilization of digital piracy among web
suffers (Chen et al, 2009). In addition, attitudes bring the meaning of an individual’s feelings
of happy, relax, pleasure, distaste or discontentment with respect to a particular behavior
and it has long been acknowledged as the main construct in social psychology. Mahalia
(2009) adds that attitudes are the main antecedents of intentions for individuals based on
theory of planned behavior and many studies have a support for the assumption.
Mahalia (2009) advanced that attitude was the best indicator of intention in 29 out of
30 studies. As it relates to piracy, several studies have shown that individuals who strongly
view piracy as unethical will have a lower intent to pirate and vice versa (Taylor et al., 2009).
Thus, this study postulates that there is a negative relationship between
attitudes and digital piracy intentions. The scale items were adapted from Wangetal (2005).
One additional item: “buying illegal copies of music, movies, and software is sinful”, is added
to suit the research context of the present study. Attitude towards behavior sometimes
depends on the practices of the behavior which it is positive or negative act (Ajzen, 2012). In
the previous study, it shows attitude to be the antecedent of behavioral (Liu et al., 2012;
Min-Young et al., 2008; Teresa et al., 2006). In the digital piracy scope, individual's attitude
towards digital piracy was found to have a strong effect on digital piracy intention. Person
who has a positive view about digital piracy might commit digital piracy because they do not
think that it is wrongful practices (Cronan and Al-Rafee, 2008; Phau et al., 2014a). In the
same circumstance, person who have negative view about digital piracy might not involve in
digital piracy practices (Loch and Conger, 1996). According to Azjen (2012), attitudes is one
of the main clues of the intention of people towards digital piracy itself as there are much
empirical research which agree based on the theory of planned behavior.
Denni et al. (2015) stated that Asians have easy-going attitude toward digital piracy
rather than Americans. Piracy has been accepted by Asians. They are tending to do
duplicating the software, buy illegally pirate materials, and do not to criticize those who do
so. Given the many, well-documented differences between Western and Eastern culture
such an assumption would seem to be simplistic. Westerners tend to view morality in
absolute terms based on principles of right and wrong that are not considered to be highly
dependent upon the situation. For the Chinese, “good” and “bad” are the social evaluations,
rather than objectively defined cognitive objects. One would be very shocked if the same
factors that produce software piracy in the USA operated in the same way, and with the save
effect, in Asia. The problem gains importance when one considers that Asia is a “black spot”
with respect to piracy, accounting for millions of lost revenue dollars per year (BSA, 2002).
 962

RELIGIOSITY

According to Zafar (2015), religiosity is the religious duty of people towards their
faith(s). In the utilization world setting,religious commitment and convince on peoples’
behavior and feeling towards a range of products, such as food, nourishment, beauty
equipment and pharmaceutical products (Jamal, 2003; Essoo and Dibb, 2004; Mullen et al.,
2000). In overwhelming Muslim nations like Malaysia, the level of religious duty among
individuals is high in the consequences, thus itpossible to observe the impact of religiosity for
digital piracy behavior (Kamaruddin, 2009).Galbraith (2007) found that, “religious beliefs are
associated with ‘good’ economic attitudes, where ‘good’ is defined as conducive to higher
per capita income and growth” (2002, p. 1).
Research in the past has found mixed results in regards to the influence of
religiousness and digital piracy. Barna (2004) found no difference between Christians and
non-Christians in terms of attitude towards digital piracy. Similarly, Lewer et al. (2008) found
no relationship between Christian education and digital piracy attitude and behavior. A more
recent study by Fawcett et al. (2013) however, found that personal bible reading and Sunday
church attendance are significantly related with attitude towards digital piracy. It should be
noted that Barna (2004) and Lewer et al. (2008) focused on a person's religion per se
whereas Fawcett et al. (2013) focused on more personalized variables such as church
attendance and personal bible reading. In view of the limited experimental support for the
link between religiousness and digital piracy attitude, this study seeks to examine how an
individual's religiousness may affect his/her attitude towards digital piracy. It is postulate that
highly religious individuals tend to have negative attitude towards digital piracy due to their
strong ethical cognitions.
Previous studies have shown an evidence supporting that people with high religious
commitment are low practices to involved in unethical behavior including consumption of
alcohol (Mellor and Freeborn, 2011; Sanchez et al., 2011; Wagener et al., 2003), illicit drug
(Brechting et al., 2010; Brown et al., 2001; Lambert et al., 2010), and robbery (Rostosky et
al., 2004; Stack et al., 2004).
In this study, it is shows that people with high in religiosity are less intention to
commit digital piracy compared to person who are less in religiosity. This may be attributed
to their own moral conscience or the influence of other referents. Only partial support was
found to the hypotheses relating to the effects of religiousness on respondents’ attitude
towards digital piracy. According to Lindrige (2015), people with high religious have more
negative perception regarding digital piracy rather to less religious respondents.

SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Social influence explained how others influence the convictions, emotions and
conduct such as behavior (Ting et. al., 2011). Harunet. al., (2015) claims that social
influence as a method for others or the nature will influence the behavior of the consumers.
In accordance to Suki (2013) states that social influence will affect in terms of mood,
behavior internally connected to an individual. According to Klobas and Clyde (2001); Ting
et. al., (2011), individuals are not always aware of the social influence because they are so
prevalent. Users may gain social influence through observation, perception on exception or
expectation of a decision made by others (Suki, 2013). Suki (2013) also noted that the
influences of social class, culture and subculture although less significant, become important
input factors that are internalized and affect how consumers evaluate and approve the
product. The intention to purchase a brand is based on consumer’s attitude towards brand
and also the influence of social norms and expectations of others (Jamil and Wong, 2010).
 963

Theoretical Framework

Figure 1 Theoretical framework

Moral equity

Relativism

Attitude
Digital piracy behavior
Religiosity

Social influence

Hypothesis:

H1: Moral equity has a negative relationship with university student’s usage of digital
piracy.
H2: Relativism has a positive relationship with student’s usage of digital piracy.
H3: Attitude has a positive relationship with student’s usage of digital piracy.
H4: Religiosity has a negative relationship with student’s usage of digital piracy.
H5: Social influence has a positive relationship with student’s usage of digital piracy.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The respondents were degree undergraduate students in UiTM Perlis with the total of
340 respondents. The technique used was stratified random sampling. In order to gather the
necessary data, the researcher used questionnaire that have been distributed
to the respondents. Based on their own experience, they will provide their own perception
towards their usage of internet and the utilization of digital piracy in their daily life. This
research uses qualitative data which the data collected through questionnaire. According to
Malhotra and Peterson (2006), the questionnaire is being used for collecting data in which it
consists of a set of questions either in written or verbal that responders need to answer in a
structured technique. In this research paper, there are 49 questions altogether being used to
determine the student’s demographic profile, digital piracy behavior, relativism, attitude,
religiosity and social influence. There are 7 sections in each set of questionnaire that has
been distributed to the target population. The sections of the questionnaires were: section A:
Demographic, section B: Digital piracy behaviour, section C: Moral Equity, section D:
Relativism, section E: Attitude, section F: Religiosity and section G: Social influence.
Respondents are given 7 options to answer in likert scale which is 1: Entirely disagree, 2:
Mostly disagee, 3: Somewhat disagree, 4: Neutral, 5: Somewhat agree, 6: Mostly agree, and
7: Entirely agree. The questionnaires were distributed in UiTM Perlis. The constructs were
adopted from the questionnaires of the previous studies before they modified to fit in the
current study.
 964

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

Pearson Correlation Analysis

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6
Digital Piracy -
Behavior
Moral Equity -.18** -
Relativism .23** -.11* -
Attitude .19** -.12* -.00 -
Religiosity -.31** .03 -.17** -.12 -
Social Influence .15** -.09 .01 -.01 -.07

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed), *0.05 level (2-tailed)

As according to the table, the relationship between the independent variables which
are moral equity, relativism, attitude and social influence are indicated to be positive and
significantly associated with digital piracy behavior. As can be seen, moral equity is
correlated negatively with digital piracy behavior, r= -0.18 or -18%, p<0.01, it shows both of
the variables have low negative significant relationship. For relativism, it was correlated
positively with digital piracy behavior and indicates low positive significant relationship with
r=0.23 or 23%, p<0.01. For attitude, it has low positively correlated with digital piracy
behavior, it shows 0.19 or 19%, p<0.01. For religiosity, it has a moderate correlated
negatively relationship with digital piracy behavior which is -0.31 or 31%. Next, for social
influence, it shows very low positively correlated with digital piracy behavior which is 0.15 or
15%, p<0.01.

Regression Analysis

Independent Variable Dependency Variable:

Digital Piracy Behavior
Beta Sig. values
Moral Equity -.12 .02**
Relativism .16 .00**
Attitude .18 .00**
Religiosity -.27 .00**
Social Influence .12 .02**
R2 .20
Adjusted R2 .18
F Value 15.33
** Significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed), *Significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

The results of the analysis can be seen that all five independent variables had
significant relationship with the dependent variable. The most significant and related to
the digital piracy behavior was relativism, attitude and religiosity. The most significant and
related to the digital piracy behavior was relativism, attitude and religiosity. As according to
the table, the relationship between the independent variables which are moral equity,
relativism, attitude and social influence are indicated to be positive and significantly
associated with digital piracy behavior. As can be seen, moral equity is correlated negatively
with digital piracy behavior, r= -0.18 or -18%, p<0.01, it shows both of the variables have low
negative significant relationship. For relativism, it was correlated positively with digital piracy
behavior and indicates low positive significant relationship with r=0.23 or 23%, p<0.01. For
attitude, it has low positively correlated with digital piracy behavior, it shows 0.19 or 19%,
p<0.01. For religiosity, it has a moderate correlated negatively relationship with digital piracy
behavior which is -0.31 or 31%. Next, for social influence, it shows very low positively
correlated with digital piracy behavior which is 0.15 or 15%, p<0.01.
 965

Hypothesis 1 explained the relationship between moral equity and digital piracy
behavior. The findings showed that there was a significant and negative relationship
between moral equity and digital piracy behavior. Beta value negative which is -0.12 means
that when the moral equity increases, the digital piracy behavior will decreases and vice
versa. Thus, hypothesis 1 was accepted.
Hypothesis 2 explained the relationship between relativism and digital piracy
behavior. The findings showed that there was a significant and positive relationship between
relativism and digital piracy behavior. Beta value positive which is 0.16 means
that when the relativism increases, the digital piracy behavior will also increase and vice
versa. Thus, hypothesis 2 was accepted.
Hypothesis 3 explained the relationship between attitude and digital piracy behavior.
The findings showed that there was a significant and positive relationship between attitude
and digital piracy behavior. Beta value positive which is 0.18 indicates that when positive
attitude is towards digital piracy increases, digital piracy behavior will also increases and vice
versa. The hypothesis 3 is accepted.
Hypothesis 4 explained the relationship between religiosity and digital piracy
behavior. The findings showed that there was a significant and negative relationship
between religiosity and digital piracy behavior. Beta value negative which is -0.27 indicates
that when religiosity increases, digital piracy behavior will decreases and vice versa. The
hypothesis 4 is accepted.
Hypothesis 5 explained the relationship between social influence and digital piracy
behavior. The findings showed that there was a significant and positive relationship between
social influence and digital piracy behavior. Beta value positive 0.12 indicates that when the
social influence increases, the digital piracy behavior will also increase and vice versa.
Hypothesis 5 is accepted.

SUGGESTIONS

According to the study made by researcher, it can be concluded that students who
have high moral equity tend to have less usage of digital piracy materials (T. Ramayah,
2009). Thus, it is pivotal for the university’s administrator to consider implementing more
stringent rules and regulations pertaining to digital piracy among the students to restrain
such unethical conduct as well as to create awareness that such behavior is both legally and
morally wrong. The researcher suggests the marketers to create an original application
which is interesting and high in quality at the affordable cost. Thus, it will change student’s
behavior towards digital piracy materials and start to use original materials for education
purposes (Mike, 2016). Moral equity has a negative relationship and insignificant relationship
with digital piracy behavior. It is suggested that marketers should promote their original
products using advertising to encourage students to use original materials rather than pirate
materials. According to the study made by researcher, it can be concluded that students who
have high moral equity tend to have less usage of digital piracy materials (T. Ramayah,
2009). Thus, it is pivotal for the university’s administrator to consider implementing more
stringent rules and regulations pertaining to digital piracy among the students to restrain
such unethical conduct as well as to create awareness that such behavior is both legally and
morally wrong. In this study, religiosity has a negative relationship with digital piracy behavior
among students. Thus, students with high religiosity will tend to have less usage of digital
piracy materials. Based on the findings of this study, the government should make greater
efforts in appealing to religious leaders in university such as lecturer to make a stand against
digital piracy. Informing and educating the religious leader about digital piracy could have a
significant impact on the member of the religious community which in turn could discourage
their members from engaging in digital piracy behavior (Arli, 2013). Since the statistical
populations of this study were university students in UiTM Perlis only and they are
represents only one race of the society which is Malay, then the results are not expandable
 966

to other parts of the society. The researcher can use other social sample such as races of
Indian and Chinese as a sample and not specified to Malay students only.

CONCLUSION

There is a growing trend in usage of digital piracy among university students. This
digital piracy practices expands rapidly as the evolution of technology of internet and also
computer. It influences not only the piracy itself but also the quality of copy product. This
study was conducted to examine the digital piracy behavior towards university students. The
variables predicted to be the major influencers were moral equity, relativism, attitude,
religiosity and social influence. For moral equity, there was a negative relationship with
digital piracy behavior towards UiTM students. It occurs when moral equity increases, the
digital piracy behavior will decreases and vice versa. Next, relativism have positive
relationship with digital piracy behavior, which when the relativism increases, the digital
piracy behavior will also increase and vice versa. For the third independent variable, attitude
has positive relationship with digital piracy behavior. When attitude towards digital piracy is
increase, digital piracy behavior will also increase and vice versa. Next, religiosity has a
negative relationship with digital piracy among UiTM students. It shows that when religiosity
increases, the digital piracy behavior will be decreases and vice versa. Lastly, the
independent variable 5 which is social influence, explained the positive relationship with
digital piracy behavior among UiTM students.
When social influence is increases, the digital piracy behavior will also increase and
vice versa. Therefore, all variable tested were reliable and it is also shown that the
respondents agreed that moral equity, relativism, attitude, religiosity and social influence
have contribute to digital piracy behavior among university students.

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 969

The Influence of Organizational Climate Dimensions on

Ergonomics Citizenship Behaviour: A Conceptual Framework
Che Norazri bin Che Din
Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
cnorazri@gmail.com

Nik Ramli bin Nik Abdul Rashid

Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
cnorazri@gmail.com
nikramli@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) is one of the occupational diseases which are caused by
exposure of workers to ergonomic risk factors. Statistics from the Malaysian Department of
Occupational Safety and Health showed a staggering 160% increase in work-related MSD
from 2005 to 2009. In an effort to address this issue, many studies had been conducted to
improve workplace ergonomic condition and behaviour. While most MSD-studies have been
focusing on the work method and body posture, this article explore an alternative intra-group
dynamic construct of employee proactive behaviour towards ergonomics or Ergonomic
Citizenship Behaviour (ECB) which is believed could positively influence workplace
ergonomics issues. The concept of ECB is adopted from Organizational Citizenship
Behaviour (OCB) which had been linked with various positive outcomes. Specific
organizational climate factors (employee autonomy, participative decision making, and
supervisory support) are also discussed as the predictor variables of the theoretical
framework. The Social Exchange Theory is applied to strengthen the empirical justifications
and explains the theoretical framework that draws attention to the mutually contingent and
rewarding transactional process between both the workers and the organization.

Keywords: Ergonomic Citizenship Behaviour, Musculoskeletal Disorder, Organizational

Climate, Social Exchange Theory, Occupational Safety and Health

INTRODUCTION

Musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) is a disease which can effect to muscles, joints and
tendons. This disease can cause pain, numbness, tingling, stiff joints, limited movement,
muscle loss, and sometimes paralysis. This disease can progress over the time from mild to
severe. MSD had been listed as Occupational Disease by EU communities in 1990 and 12
years later this disease had been listed in ILO list of Occupational Disease (Kim & Kang,
2013). MSD is a serious issues in the world of occupational as it may cause serious health
effect and also lost to the workers around the world. According to the statistic from Health
and Safety Executive of United Kingdom, within 2014 and 2015 MSD has contributed 44% of
total reported case of Occupational Diseases in Great Britain, 169,000 were reported as new
MSD cases and 9.5 million lost days were estimated due to this disease. While the Bureau
of Labor Statistic reported that there were 356,910 MSD cases were recorded in US which
represent 31% of total occupational illness cases for the year 2015. In Malaysia, the
Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) reported that there were 5960
reported cases of Occupational Diseases and Poisoning in 2015, manufacturing sectors
contributed 86.4% to this statistic. While MSD cases shows significant increase from 161
cases in 2009 to 675 cases in 2014.
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According to HSE (2015) the occurrence of MSD at the workplace is caused by two
(2) main factors namely as physical factors and psychosocial factors. The physical factors
are much related to the workplace conditions which not adequately fit with worker physical
capability. This may lead to the exposure of employee with ergonomic risk factors such as
awkward posture, repetitive move, static posture in long hour, sudden or quick motion,
compression or contact stress, vibration and cold temperature (OSHA, 2000). Previous
researches confirmed on relationship between exposure to ergonomic risk factors and
development of MSD symptomps (Norasyikin et al, 2014; Ozturk & Esin, 2011). While
workplace psychosocial factors such as safety climate, organizational culture and human
factors may create the condition of MSD to be occurred (HSE UK, 2015). Most of
ergonomics research works are emphasized on workplace ergonomic intervention such as
alterations to workplace lay out, new invention of ergonomics working tools and
reccomendation of correct body posture at workplace. While some of researchers developed
ergonomic related model such as intervention model and ergonomic management model.
Eventhough a lot of research works had been done to address this issue, the
reported MSD cases in Malaysia are still escalate over the year. Hence the research works
on ergonomics shall not limited to only correct body posture or workplace changes.
Alternative measures which involve employee proactive behaviour towards workplace
improvement is much needed. In this case, the employee proactive behaviour towards
ergonomics or Ergonomic Citizenship Behaviour (ECB) is assumed as one of appropriate
alternative measures in prevention of new MSD symptomps. Like Safety Citizenship
Behaviour (SCB), the concept of ECB is adapted from Organizational Citizenship Behaviour
(OCB) which can be defined as employee proactive behaviour which goes beyond their
normal functions and without expecting any reward from management. OCB may promote
organizational effectiveness and positive outcome. As such, it motivated various researchers
in determination of factors that would predict OCB. Instead of general OCB, previous
researchers had also explored on specific domains of OCB such as Safety Citizenship
Behaviour (Xuesheng & Xintao, 2011), Organizational Citizenship Behavior toward the
Environment (Lamm et al., 2013), Service-oriented Organizational Citizenship Behavior
(Chou & Rodriguez, 2013), Tourist Citizenship Behaviours (Liu & Tsaur, 2014) and e-
Customer Citizenship Behaviors (Anaza & Zhao, 2014). However there is paucity in the
literature with regards to predicting variables of Ergonomic Citizenship Behaviour (ECB)
especially in the context of Malaysian industrial working culture. Therefore the main objective
of this conceptual paper is to discuss and propose on specific organizational climate namely
autonomy, participative decision making, and supervisory support as the predictor variables
of Ergonomic Citizenship Behaviour (ECB).

LITERATURE REVIEW

Ergonomic Citizenship Behaviour (ECB)

Ergonomics is considered as part of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)

construct. Previous researchers concluded that ergonomics and OSH are considered as a
mother-daughter relationship and should not be separated from each other (Herman &
Peteghem, 2006). In line with this conclusion, Khandan et al. (2013) adapted safety
behaviour definition to define ergonomics behaviour. Therefore it explains that the definition
and construct of ECB could be adapted from Safety Citizenship Behaviour (SCB). However
due to ergonomics and OSH is much related, it looks like SCB itself could adequately
resolve most of workplace ill-health issues including ergonomics. However this assumption
would be inappropriate for Malaysia because of Malaysian working culture, ergonomics
awareness and also OSH legislation are differ from other countries. According to Sirat et al.
(2011), ergonomics are not adequately being addressed in Malaysian OSH legislations
namely Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (OSHA94) and Factory and Machinery Act
1967 (FMA67).
 971

Furthermore an assumption of Malaysian employees toward OSH might be limited to

prevention of injury which relate to occupational safety, while injuries related to occupational
health such as MSD might become least priority. This argument explains on the contrast
performance between occupational accident rate and reported MSD case in Malaysia. The
statistic from Department of Occupational Safety and Health shows that workplace accident
rate in Malaysia are decrease while reported MSD cases show escalation from year to year.
Therefore the separation of proactive ergonomics behaviour or ECB from SCB is relevant in
Malaysia.
Like SCB, the definition of ECB is adapted from Xuesheng & Xintao (2011) definition
of SCB. Therefore ECB is defined as employee proactive behaviour towards ergonomics
such as reporting of unsafe act/condition, initiating changes, helping co-workers and keeping
informed on matters pertaining to ergonomics. Xuesheng & Xintao (2011) discussed that
SCB is a stem from Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB). Therefore the concept of
ECB is going to adapt the SCB construct as well as OCB construct. While Lee et al. (2007)
discussed that different researchers proposed different set of OCB dimensions. Randhawa &
Kaur (2015) cited that Organ (1988) suggested that OCB is constructed with five (5)
dimensions namely altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, courtesy and civic virtue.
These dimensions were later on being categorised into OCB towards individual (OCBI) and
OCB towards organization (OCBO). The dimensions of altruism and courtesy are
categorised in OCBI while conscientiousness, sportsmanship and civic virtue are
categorised in OCBO. This construct is going to be adapted in this conceptual paper.

Organizational Climate

Generally organizational climate is an employee perception towards their

organization, whereas this perception is reflected by actual behaviour in organization.
Shahin (2013) concluded that organizational climate represent life style of people in the
organization such as cooperation, friendship, mutual trust and protecting each other. While
Qureshi et al. (2014) mentioned that “Organizational Climate is a driving force in the
organization behaviour which provides foundations to many physical and psychological
phenomena to the employees”. Despite of general organizational climate, previous
researchers had also show their interest towards specific area of climate such as safety
climate, service climate and psychological climate which being further explained by
Patterson et al. (2005).
As to date the literature that explains relationship between Organizational Climate
and ECB are not much found. However some of the empirical findings might be useful in
developing a conceptual framework with regards to ECB. For instance previous researchers
demonstrated that Organizational Climate is positively associated with worker’s health
(Viitala et al., 2015), safety climate (Neal et al., 2000) and OCB (Randhawa & Kaur, 2015).
While Safety Climate is associated with Safety Citizenship Behaviour (Xuesheng & Xintao,
2011) and Ergonomic behaviour (Khandan et al., 2013). All of these findings are valuable in
predicting of ECB.
For the purpose of climate measurements, the set of dimensions were established
(Patterson et al., 2005). There are several set of Organizational Climate dimensions which
being introduced by previous researchers. This differences give more variations to the
researchers in conducting their research work. For instance Randhawa & Kaur (2015) use
the Organizational Climate dimensions which being introduced by Patterson et al., (2005),
while Oge & Erdogan (2015), Qureshi et al. (2014) and Shahin et al. (2013) adopted different
set of Organizational Climate dimensions. Patterson et al. (2005) proposed on categorization
of the dimensions into four quadrants namely Human Relations (such as Involvement,
Autonomy, Supervisory Support, Integration, Welfare, Training, and Effort), Internal Process
(such as Formalization and Tradition), Open Systems (such as Reflexivity, Innovation &
Flexibility, and Outward Focus) and Rational Goal (such as Clarity of Organizational Goals,
Pressure to Produce, Quality, Performance Feedback and Efficiency). This conceptual paper
is focus on three (3) specific Organizational Climate dimensions which are categorised in
 972

Human Relations quadrants. The relationship between these dimensions (Autonomy,

Involvement (known as participative decision making and Supervisory Support) with ECB is
going to be investigated.

Autonomy and ECB

Autonomy was discussed as the extent which employee has been authorised to
choose their own way to complete the task (Volmer et al., 2012). While Patterson et al.
(2005) has defined autonomy as “designing jobs in ways which give employees wide scope
to enact work”. Therefore employee with high autonomy would be more proactive in
completing the work as they are not much rely to the instruction. Furthermore autonomy
would enhance employee confident level. Previous researcher demonstrated that Autonomy
is signifantly associated with OCB (Randhawa & Kaur, 2015; Yadav & Ragnekar, 2014;
Krishnan et al., 2013; Patterson et al., 2005). As mentioned earlier that the concept of ECB
is adapted from OCB. Threfore we assume that workers with high autonomy would
demonstrate proactive behaviour towards ergonomic. From that argument we would like to
propose below hypothesis.
H1: Autonomy is positively related with ECB

Participative Decision Making (PDM) and ECB

In previous literature, the term participation is referred to the participation of

employee in the process of decision making (Patterson et al., 2005). The importance of PDM
is undeniable as elements of PDM is written in Malaysian OSH legislation and OSHMS
guideline. The OSHA94 promote PDM through establishment of OSH committee at the
workplace. While in OSHMS guideline there is specific requirements with regard to
“employee participation”, whereas organizations shall encourage their employee to
participate in improvement of workplace OSH management.
Employee would feel that their existence in the organization is appreciated by
management if they are involved in PDM. Then employee become more committed to work
and thus they reciprocate OCB as an exchange (Yadav & Ragnekar, 2014). Previous
researchers had demonstrate that there is a positively relationship between PDM and OCB
(Yadav & Ragnekar, 2014; Randhawa & Kaur, 2015). As such in this study we would like to
propose below hypothesis.
H2: Participative decision making is positively related with ECB

Supervisory Support and ECB

Middle management such as personnel at supervisory level is one of key position in the
organization because most of responsibilities to execute company’s strategy, objectives and
directions are relied to them (Yadav & Ragnekar, 2014). While Patterson et al., 2005
explained that supervisory support is an employee perception towards supportive and
understanding action of their supervisor which based on their real experience.
Supervisor has strong influence on employee behaviour including employee
proactive behaviour or OCB. Previous researchers demonstrated that there is a positive
relationship between supervisory support and OCB (Randhawa & Kaur, 2015; Yadav &
Ragnekar, 2014). Employee feel being appreciated when their supervisor show supportive
action towards their initiatives to improve workplace conditions, as an exchange the
employee feel obligation to demonstrate OCB. As ECB adapted from SCB and SCB adapted
from OCB, therefore below hypothesis is proposed.
H3: Supervisory support is positively related with ECB
 973

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Underpinning Theory

The Social Exchange Theory (Blau, 1964) is one of preferred theoretical perspective
in the area of management, sociology and social psychology. The theory explained about
exchange that occur between two parties for mutual benefits. The party who receive such
benefit would response positively in return back the benefit which being received. According
to Jain et al. (2013), “The theory is also associated with close emotional attachment, as well
as informal, personal and more transparent obligations”. Therefore, Social Exchange Theory
drives an individual to perform OCB even without a formal reward from another party (Yadav
& Rangnekar, 2014). The theory being widely used by researchers in various research area.
For instance, Yadav & Rangnekar (2014), Jain et al. (2013) and Konovsky & Pugh (1994)
used this theory in argument of OCB’s predicting variables. While Huang et al. (2016)
explained about Safety Climate influence which goes beyond safety outcome. Furthermore
Li et al. (2016) discussed on privacy disclosure in social network system. Other research
areas such as Knowledge sharing in online health communities conducted by Yan et al.
(2016), employee eco-initiatives (Raineri et al., 2016) and influence of social exchange
towards safety management (Dejoy, 2010) were also discussed in the context of social
exchange.
While in this conceptual paper, the Social Exchange Theory is applied to explain the
relationship between proposed variables. Whereas employee who received special
privileges from their organization (such autonomy, supervisory support and participative in
decision making pertaining to workplace ergonomics), may develop a perception that
organization values their contribution. In return, the employee feel obliged to demonstrate
ECB as an exchange to the privileges received by employee. Based on this argument, the
positive relationship between autonomy, supervisory support, participative decision making
and ECB would be expected.

Framework and Hypothesis

After reviewed of various literatures, a conceptual framework is developed as

illustrated in Figure 1. The framework proposed for an investigation on relationship between
Autonomy, Supervisory support, Participative decision making and Ergonomic Citizenship
Behaviour (ECB). Based on the framework three (3) hypotheses are proposed for further
investigation;

H1: Autonomy is positively related with ECB

H2: Participative decision making is positively related with ECB
H3: Supervisory support is positively related with ECB
 974

Figure 1 Conceptual Framework

H1

H2

H3

CONCLUSION

Workplace ergonomic improvements are essential for prevention of new MSD cases
at the workplace. The research on ergonomic shall be extended beyond the scope of
workplace lay out alteration and correct body posture assessment. The effluence of
organization towards ergonomic improvements shall be further investigated. Organizational
factors such as safety climate, culture and size of the organization are part of contributing
factor that lead to the occurrence of MSD cases at the workplace (HSE, 2015; Sirat et al.,
2011). Therefore this conceptual paper is emphasized on the assumption that there is a
positive relationship between specific organizational climate (Autonomy, Supervisory
support, Participative decision making and ECB), the Social Exchange Theory is used to
explain this relationship.

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Waqf Implementation in Public Universities from the Legal

Perspective
Rohayati Hussin
Faculty of Law,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kedah
roha427@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Dr. Rusnadewi Abdul Rashid

Faculty of Law
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis
rusnadewi@perlis.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The 90% reliance of public universities on the government funding is no longer feasible as
universities all over the world only rely on 40%-50% of public funds. In recent times, Minister
of Higher Education has announced that public universities need to set up waqf funds as an
alternative generating source in a way to reduce the reliance of the universities on the
government funds. Considering the uniqueness of waqf thru its pillars viz. irrevocability,
perpetuity, and inalienability, Malaysia has put the effort to include waqf as one of the ten
shifts in Malaysian Education Blueprint 2015-2025 (Higher Education) to enhance university
income generation. Additionally, the way forward to establish waqf funds in public
universities should be in line with the laws in Malaysia to legalize its operation. Therefore,
this study will be concentrating on how waqf to be implemented in public universities as well
as the legal aspects that should be taken into consideration. The research methodology
adopted in this study is a qualitative approach which involves data collection from primary as
well as secondary sources. The data collected will be analyzed based on content analysis
approach.

Keywords: Blueprint, Education, Legal, Universities, and Waqf,

INTRODUCTION

Malaysia’s public universities bear the brunt of cuts due to economy slow. The budget
allocations slashed require public universities to find other alternatives to ensure the
education system will not be affected. In relation to this, waqf has been identified as one of
the potential resources that could be institutionalized to generate funding. Waqf also is
realized as the alternative instrument to provide and accommodate the operating cost of the
universities. Through this initiative, the university can also generate fund from waqf
contribution or endowment which later can be used for educational activities (Zaid Ahmad,
Amaludin Ab. Rahman, & Siti Zaleha Muhammad, 2016). Despite this, the implementation of
waqf in university also provides a space for Muslims to do good deeds. It is believed that a
university requires adequate finance in helping students, providing research facilities and
other academic and research activities that would finally contribute to the advancement of
knowledge and human capital development. Sharifah Zubaidah Syed Abdul Kader (2014)
indicates the same that educational institutions could benefit waqf as a way out of being too
dependent on government funds.
It is apparent, some Malaysia’s public universities have taken further steps in
executing the waqf funding instrument for their respective universities, such as Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Sains Islam
 978

Malaysia (USIM). However, the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) expects waqf to be
implemented in more public universities in line with the Blueprint 2015- 2025 to reduce their
dependency on the government fund. In relation to that, the Minister Idris Jusoh urged the
universities to establish waqf fund the end of last year. In responding to the Minister’s
request, several other public universities start to set up waqf fund based on the guidelines
provided in the Purple Book with the assistance of Purple Book’s team members. Equally
important, the way forward to establish waqf fund and managing waqf assets in the
universities should be in compliance with the laws in Malaysia as well as Shari‘ah principles.
Thus, this paper attempt to address the legal requirement that needs to be observed
by public universities which comprehend in several sections starting with the introduction.
The second section of this paper discusses briefly the methodology employed in this study.
The third section provides on a little enlightenment on waqf. Subsequently, the fourth section
looks into waqf laws in Malaysia. The remaining section proceeds to focus on State Islamic
Religious Council (SIRC). Next section discusses detail on the legal requirements for waqf
fund establishment in the university. Then, the final section concludes and explicates the
overall of the discussion.

METHODOLOGY

The methodology of this study based on library research. The primary data are
obtained through books, documents, statutes, journals and others. The data collected will be
analyzed based on content analysis approach. It is hoped that this paper would contribute to
the betterment of waqf implementation in Malaysian public universities.

AN OVERVIEW OF WAQF

Waqf means ‘a dedication of property either in express terms or by implication, for any
charitable or religious object, or to secure any benefit to human beings’ (Siti Mashitoh
Mahamood & Asmak Ab Rahman, 2015). The Department of Awqaf, Zakat, and Hajj,
Malaysia (JAWHAR) exemplifies waqf as a private possession or asset in any form that has
been put under an injunction from any transaction including sale, inheritance, hibah and
wasiyyah whilst its physical source remains intact and unchanged. Waqf connotes
philanthropic dedication of property or benefits in perpetuity for general and specific
purposes. It is a voluntary act that shares similar nature with charitable acts such as
donation, sadaqah, zakat or any other charitable acts (Nor Asiah Mohamad, 2015).
Although Al-Qur’an does not mention or specify any institution called waqf,
nevertheless, many verses are interpreted as instructing Muslims to establish such
foundations to serve as charitable organizations for the Islamic community (Babacan, 2011).
As can be seen in (Al-Baqarah: 261) Allah said:
“The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed [of
grain] which grows seven spikes; in each spike is a hundred grains. And Allah
multiplies [His reward] for whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and
Knowing.”
The above verse shows that the waqif (the endowers) will continue to receive Allah’s
rewards even after his/her death as long as the waqf property is used in a good manner.
One way to be a donor is through waqf. Not only that, waqf is the best instrument to do
charity because the property endowed will be managed by the authorized person/institution
known as mutawalli to ensure the permanence of the awqaf assets. There is also a hadith
interpreting related to waqf as started by Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be
Upon Him) when Umar who asked the Prophet (PBUH), what to do with a palm orchard he
owned in the city of Khaibar and the Prophet (PBUH), said:
 979

"Give it in charity (i.e. as an endowment) with its land and trees on the condition that
the land and trees will neither be sold nor given as a present, nor bequeathed, but the
fruits are to be spent in charity."25

WAQF LAWS IN MALAYSIA

Malaysia as a federation country comprises of 13 states and three federal territories.

They have their own local governments that possess certain administrative autonomy.
Federal Constitution of Malaysia is the supreme law of Federation and highest legal authority
as explained under Article 4 which binds all the 13 States and three federal territories. Article
3 of Federal Constitution mentions that Islam is the official religion, but other religions may
be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of Federation.
Based on Federal Constitution, Islamic matters (except Federal Territories) are
positioned in the Ninth Schedule List II (State List) which a Ruler (King) is the head of the
religion (Islam). Out of 13 states, there are 9 States which have monarchy leaders known as
Sultans and amongst these Sultans; one is elected as the King of Malaysia (Duli Yang Maha
Mulia Yang di-Pertuan Agong) for a tenure of 5 years. Additionally, in Federal Constitution,
the authority on Islamic religious affairs fall under the accountability of the Sultans, and
under the respective States Enactments, these administrative powers are delegated to the
State Islamic Religious Councils (Majlis Agama Islam Negeri or MAINs). Whereas, in the
case of a state without a Ruler or Sultan such as Sabah, Sarawak, Malacca and Penang, the
head of Islam is the King of Malaysia (Duli Yang Maha Mulia Yang di-Pertuan Agong) and in
the same manner, these administrative powers are delegated to the respective State Islamic
Religious Council (SIRCs) or Majlis Agama Islam Negeri (MAINs) (Azri Ahmad, Syarqawi
Muhammad, & Mohd Asyran Safwan Kamaruzaman, 2012). In each state, SIRC is formed
to advise the Rulers on all Islamic matters and each state has enacted its own Islamic
legislation. Waqf as one of the Muslim affairs of the country has been receiving considerable
attention from the Ruler. This is pursuant to Article 74 (2) of Federal Constitutions which
mentions that:
“…Wakafs and the definition and regulation of charitable and religious trusts, the
appointment of trustees and the incorporation of persons in respect of Islamic religious
and charitable endowments, institutions, trusts, charities and charitable institutions
operating wholly within the State…”
Statues or legislations governing waqf have been introduced under Article 74, read together
with the State List of the Ninth Schedule. The Islamic state department will enforce all the
legislations accordingly. Different states will have a different set of legislations (Hisham
Yaacob, 2013).
At present, only four states have instituted their own waqf legislations with several
administrative and substantive provisions namely Wakaf (State of Selangor) Enactment
2015, Wakaf (Perak) Enactment 2015, Wakaf (State of Malacca) Enactment 2005 and
Wakaf (Negeri Sembilan) Enactment 2005. These legislations demonstrate diverse legal
stipulations governing waqf in different states in Malaysia. Sharifah Zubaidah Syed Abdul
Kader (2014), asserts that the states which have a specific waqf enactment, like Selangor,
would have a better structure of waqf administration compared to states that do not have
such enactment. The advantage of having a waqf enactment is to empower the waqf
administrators to manage better and develop waqf property instead of relying on old and
existing work procedures. In the effort to provide a more concerted effort in the development
and utilization of waqf assets in Malaysia, the Federal Government has set up Jabatan
Waqf, Zakat dan Haji (JAWHAR) under the Department of the Prime Minister. JAWHAR has
thus far been able to provide a platform which helps to synchronize SIRCs of different states
in Malaysia on matters relating to waqf.

25
Narrated by Bukhory
 980

STATE ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS COUNCIL (SIRC) OR MAJLIS AS A SOLE TRUSTEE

According to Siti Mashitoh Mahamood (2011), Majlis or SIRC refers to the body
constituted under the provisions of the Islamic Administrative legislation of each state as
passed by their respective Legislative Assemblies and for the Federal Territories of Kuala
Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya by the Parliament. An illustration could be perceived in
section 4(1), Wakaf (State of Selangor) Enactment 2015 (Enactment 15) which elaborates:
“The Majlis shall be the sole trustee for all wakaf situated in the State of Selangor…”
The term “sole trustee” infers that the Majlis of each state has been legally appointed by their
respective legislations to supervise all waqf assets and be responsible for their management
and development. In relation to this, SIRCs must realize their role as muttawali of the waqf
property as carrying a trust to hold the waqf property which belongs to Allah which is indeed
a very heavy duty that should be carried out as efficiently as possible and with the highest
degree of integrity. Can one create waqf outside of the SIRCs? No, and that is the position in
Malaysia except in cases from past, i.e., before the promulgation of the Islamic
administrative laws of the states. Nonetheless, if a person desires to create waqf and does
not wish to have the SIRC becomes the sole trustee, then the other option for this person is
to create a trust instead. All the state enactments on the administration of Muslim law in
Malaysia have excluded the concept of ‘trust’ under the Trustee Act 1949 from the definition
of waqf (Sharifah Zubaidah Syed Abdul Kader, 2014).

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR WAQF IMPLEMENTATION IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

The sole trustee power hold by SIRC, require the universities to get the approval
before implementing waqf in their institutions. This approval can be obtained by conducting a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) as were done by UKM and UPM (Mohd Mizan
Mohammad Aslam & Wan Mohd Dhaiyudeen Helmy Wan Mohar, 2015). Collecting waqf
fund without the approval of SIRC is considered opposing the Malaysian laws (Siti Fatahiyah
Mahamood & Siti Mashitoh Mahamood, 2016). It is pursuant to Section 45 of Wakaf (State
of Selangor) Enactment 2015 (Enactment 15) which explains the following:
“ Any person who administers or manages wakaf am or wakaf khas without the
written permission of Majlis or Corporation commits an offence and shall, on
conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand ringgit or to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding six months or to both.”
Equally important, it also the discretion power of SIRC to award the governance status
to a university. Practically, there are three different statuses normally granted by SIRC to the
university which are; An-Nazir, Al- Mutawalli, and Al-Qayyim. An-Nazir in the context of waqf
university refers to SIRC as the sole trustee of all waqf assets. Al- Mutawwali on the other
hand, manages waqf fund for the university under the supervision of SIRC. With the
mutawwali title, universities may have autonomy to manage their own institution even though
SIRC is still controlling them. Then, al-qayyim is considered an agent to SIRC which has
lesser power to manage waqf funds autonomously compared to al-mutawwali. Based on the
exploratory study conducted, practically public universities acquired different status
depending on which state the universities located. As far as this study is concerned, no
specific requirements fixed by SIRCs in granting a university a status. Apart from that, there
is no particular section provided in any waqf enactment regarding this matter. In the mean
times, several public universities have been awarded the title as mutawwali such as USIM
and UNISZA. UKM, on the contrary, has been granted a status as al-qayyim (Rohayati
Hussin, Rusnadewi Abdul Rashid, & Noor Inayah Yaakub, 2016). Difference title attained by
the universities reflect the power owned by them in managing their own waqf fund. As far as
this study is concerned, no specific requirements fixed by SIRCs in granting a university a
status as al-mutawwali or al-qayyim. SIRCs need to come out with specific guidelines in
respect of granting a proper status to university. Besides, they have to map out a yearly plan
 981

of action on the development of waqf properties in their states and should include university
as their place for evaluation and monitoring.
Though waqf is the state matter nonetheless, the implementation of waqf in public
universities should be compliance with Federal laws as education is listed under Federal List
in the Ninth Schedule. A public university is a statutory body established under the Statutory
Bodies (Discipline and Surcharge) Act 2000 and the Universities and University Colleges Act
1971 (UCCA) ). UCCA 1971, on the other hand, is the primary law for a public university (Siti
Umairah Ali Hamdan, 2016). Also, Under section 6 (1) (a) of UUCA 1971, Yang Di Pertuan
Agong has the power to give approval to the establishment of a university which shall be a
body corporate. He may by order, allow a university is to provide, promote, and develop
higher education in all such branches of learning. The effect of incorporation has been
detailed out in section 7 of UCCA 1971. In addition, according to First Schedule, Section 8
Part 1, Section 3 (c) of UUCA 1971, a university has power to take, accept and hold any
such property which may become vested in it by virtue of any such purchase, or by any
exchange, grant, donation, lease testamentary disposition or otherwise. Hence, based on
the provisions mentioned, a university has authority to engage in any properties transaction
including acquiring, sale and purchase movable or immovable, lease, donation, and others.
It is apparent that university has the power to establish Trust Fund for that purpose. Waqf
unit also may be formed legitimately based on the same provision as explained by Siti
Umairah Ali Hamdan (2016).
Moreover, the Constitution of University permits a university to receive funds from
individual, government agencies national or international and charitable organizations for the
development of education. The fund received by a university could be made in various forms
such as donation, gift, and bequest. Even though waqf term does not specifically mention in
the above provisions, however, waqf could be categorized as perpetuity donation. However,
the researchers in the opinion that the waqf term should be inserted into higher education
laws to show a particular attention on waqf. In the same way, special regulations or rules
are vital in governing the overall system of universities based on waqf. This is due to waqf
has some exclusive features, and some strict Shari‘ah principles need to be followed (Siti
Mashitoh Mahamood & Asmak Ab Rahman, 2015).
In the same way, to ensure the sustainability of waqf fund, it is viable for public
universities to collaborate with other agencies such as financial intermediaries and other
corporate bodies. Thus, in this context, there should be a proper agreement made based on
Law of Contract and Law of Agency in Malaysia. The agreement signed between the parties
involved could be enforced according to the law if any discrepancies occur. Therefore, is
expected that all terms are made known to everyone involves in the philanthropy venture.
For the collaboration to sustain in the long term all the terms agreed must be obliged by all
the parties involve.

CONCLUSION

The establishment of waqf fund in the current globalized and economic downturn is viable to
release the pressure of public universities as a consequence of budgeting slashed. Having
waqf fund in the universities also, open the door to Muslims philanthropist to donate their
assets for the betterment of ummah. Additionally, waqf is not only shined during these days,
but it was also practiced and successfully brought the light to the Muslim world in early ages
of Islam. In the same way, waqf with its unique pillars, allows the public universities to deliver
greater value and attain higher levels of quality. Not to be forgotten, to ensure the
preservation of waqf in the university, all the expected issues that might ruin the waqf fund
should be circumvented from the initial stage. Hence, it is hoped that the legal requirements
discussed above should be conformed accordingly.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research is financially supported by [FRGS/1/2016/SSI10/UITM/02/4]. A great

appreciation and gratitude to the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia for providing this
grant.

REFERENCES

Azri Ahmad, Syarqawi Muhammad, & Mohd Asyran Safwan Kamaruzaman. (2012).
Education development through waqf. In 3rd International Conference on Islam and
Higher Education (pp. 1–22).

Babacan, M. (2011). Economics of philanthropic institutions , regulation and governance in

Turkey. Journal of Economic and Social Research, 13(2), 61–89.

Hisham Yaacob. (2013). Waqf history and legislation in Malaysia : a contemporary

perspective. Journal of Islamic and Human Advanced Research, 3(6), 387–402.

Mohd Mizan Mohammad Aslam, & Wan Mohd Dhaiyudeen Helmy Wan Mohar. (2015).
Kelestarian program akademik dan kewangan dalam pengajian tinggi islam. Journal
of Asian Islamic Higher Institutions (JAIHI), 1(1), 1–6.

Nor Asiah Mohamad. (2015). Looking into adequacy of waqf protection in the National Land
Code 1965: Towards sustainability of waqf land. In Proceedings of the International
Conference on Waqf 2015 (ICW2015), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA),
Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu (pp. 90–100).

Rohayati Hussin, Rusnadewi Abdul Rashid, & Noor Inayah Yaakub. (2016). Exploratory
study on waqf implementation in Malaysian public and private Universities: With
special reference to Turkish universities. International Journal of Business,
Economics and Law, 9(4), 399–409.

Sharifah Zubaidah Syed Abdul Kader. (2014). Legal and administrative challenges in the
development of waqf in Malaysia.

Siti Fatahiyah Mahamood, & Siti Mashitoh Mahamood. (2016). Instilling islamic spiritually in
management of waqf for higher education. In Rafeah Saidon et al. (Ed.), Wakaf
Pendidikan Tinggi Prospek dan Cabaran (1st ed., pp. 197–205). UiTM.

Siti Mashitoh Mahamood. (2011). Law of waqf in Malaysia:Recent developments. In M. Khaf

& Siti Mashitoh Mahamood (Eds.), Essential Readings in Contemporary Waqf Issues
(pp. 77–106). CERT Publications Sdn Bhd.

Siti Mashitoh Mahamood, & Asmak Ab Rahman. (2015). Financing universities through waqf
, pious endowment : Is it possible ? Emerald Insight Humanomics, 31(4), 430–453.
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Siti Umairah Ali Hamdan. (2016). Konsep dan pelaksanaan wakaf korporat di institusi
pengajian tinggi di negeri Selangor : Kajian menurut perspektif perundangan.
Universiti Malaya.
 983

Tabung Wakaf di Universiti Awam: Sejauh Mana ia Mampu

Dilaksanakan dan Dilestarikan?
Rohayati Hussin
Fakulti Undang- Undang,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kedah
roha427@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Dr. Rusnadewi Abdul Rashid

Fakulti Undang- Undang,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis
rusnadewi@perlis.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRAK

Kebergantungan kepada dana kerajaan bukan lagi satu kelebihan kepada Universiti Awam
untuk kesinambungan. Ini kerana Universiti Awam disaran mencari alternatif lain untuk
mengurangkan kerbantungan kepada dana kerajaan. Wakaf pada masa kini dilihat
mempunyai potensi yang besar sebagai salah satu alternatif untuk menampung kekurangan
dana di Universiti Awam. Bertepatan dengan itu, Menteri Pendidikan Tinggi, Datuk Seri Idris
Jusoh telah menyarankan supaya Universiti Awam menubuhkan Tabung Wakaf pada
penghujung 2016 untuk mendepani cabaran kekurangan dana pada tahun yang mendatang.
Pelbagai reaksi timbul terhadap saranan itu namun, ia perlu dilihat kepada konteks yang
lebih luas. Sehingga kini beberapa Universiti Awam telah menyahut saranan tersebut
dengan menubuhkan Tabung Wakaf. Namun begitu, wujud beberapa persoalan sejauh
mana ia mampu dilaksanakan di samping beberapa cabaran yang timbul. Oleh itu, artikel ini
akan mengupas mengenai beberapa isu yang timbul berkaitan pelaksanaan wakaf di
Universiti Awam di samping pendekatan yang perlu diambil untuk memastikan Tabung
Wakaf dapat diwujudkan dengan jayanya. Berteraskan kepada kajian kualitatif yang
menggunapakai kaedah analisa kandungan (content analysis), artikel ini diharap dapat
membuka mata semua pihak yang terlibat dalam usaha mewujudkan Tabung Wakaf di
Universiti Awam. Pengalaman beberapa universiti di luar negara dalam menerajui dana
wakaf perlu dipelajari demi kelangsungan wakaf di universiti di Malaysia.

Kata kunci: Buku Ungu, Dana,Tabung Wakaf dan Universiti Awam

PENDAHULUAN

Sumber dana yang mencukupi menjadi tulang belakang kepada kejayaan sesebuah
institusi pendidikan. Tanpa dana yang mencukupi dan konsisten, sesebuah institusi
pendidikan pasti sukar untuk beroperasi dengan baik.Kemelesetan ekonomi global memberi
kesan kepada universiti di seluruh dunia termasuk Malaysia. Namun, harapan untuk
memberikan pendidikan tinggi terbaik kepada rakyat di negara ini sentiasa menjadi agenda
utama kerajaan. Kerajaan dalam masa yang sama mengharapkan Universiti Awam lebih
berdikari selaras dengan pengurangan pembiayaan kepada institusi mereka. Universiti
Awam perlu menerima ketentuan bahawa bantuan kerajaan kepada institusi mereka bukan
lagi satu kelebihan malahan mereka perlu memikirkan inisiatif dan pendekatan baru untuk
kelangsungan sistem pendidikan mereka pada masa hadapan. Pada masa kini Universiti
Awam di Malaysia bergantung kepada dana kerajaan sebanyak 80 hingga 90 peratus
berbanding universiti terbaik di dunia yang hanya bergantung 30- 50 peratus sahaja
(Zanariah Abd Mutalib, 2016). Menteri Pendidikan Tinggi, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh dalam
 984

temubual pada 24 Ogos 2016 menyatakan bahawa kerajaan akan mengurangkan

kebergantungan kepada 70 peratus sedikit demi sikit.
Wakaf dilihat sebagai satu instrumen ke arah kemandirian kewangan dalam sistem
pendidikan tinggi di Malaysia. Melalui dana wakaf itu sendiri sebenarnya boleh
dikembangkan dan dilaburkan bagi menjana keuntungan yang lebih mapan. Pelaksanaan
wakaf dalam institusi pendidikan tinggi bukanlah instrumen yang baru malahan ia telah
dilaksanakan dibeberapa universiti terkemuka di negara-negara seperti Mesir, Turki,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Singapura dan sebagainya. Di Turki contohnya, wakaf
menjadi salah satu sumber penjanaan kepada 68 universiti di sana (Siti Mashitoh
Mahamood & Asmak Ab Rahman, 2015). Kebanyakan universiti ini mempunyai mekanisme
dan kaedah tersendiri dalam pengumpulan dana tetapi menggunakan metod yang sama
iaitu wakaf. Dana wakaf yang disumbangkan bukan sahaja melibatkan individu sahaja
bahkan pertubuhan dan syarikat korporat juga turut sama berganding bahu dalam
melaksanakan tanggungjawab sosial kepada masyarakat. Kejumudan pemikiran sesetengah
masyarakat bahawa wakaf hanya dikaitkan dengan tanah kubur dan masjid wakaf perlu
diperbetulkan supaya wakaf dapat dimanfaatkan dengan lebih meluas terutama dalam
sektor pendidikan tinggi.
Bagi melihat wakaf dilaksanakan dengan lebih serius di Malaysia, maka Menteri
Pendidikan Tinggi, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh telah menyarankan agar Universiti Awam
menubuhkan Tabung Wakaf pada penghujung tahun 2016. Agenda tersebut juga telah
direalisasikan oleh Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi dengan mengangkat wakaf sebagai
agenda penting sebagai penjanaan ekonomi Universiti Awam dengan mewujudkan garis
panduan sepertimana yang telah dinyatakan dalam Buku Ungu (Purple Book) oleh pihak
Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi di bawah Program Transformasi Universiti (UNiTP). Namun,
perancangan pelaksanaan Tabung Wakaf di Universiti Awam sudah tentu akan menghadapi
beberapa cabaran kerana ia baru diperingkat permulaan. Di samping itu, timbul beberapa
persoalan, dalam mengharungi kemelut kos sara hidup yang tinggi sekarang, mampukah
Tabung Wakaf menjana pendapatan supaya pihak pentadbiran universiti dapat
mengurangkan kos pendidikan tinggi rakyat? Apakah tahap kefahaman warga kampus
terhadap peranan Tabung Wakaf di universiti?
Oleh itu, objektif artikel ini adalah untuk mengupas mengenai beberapa cabaran dan
isu yang timbul berkaitan pelaksanaan wakaf di UA di samping pendekatan yang perlu
diambil untuk memastikan Tabung Wakaf dapat diwujudkan dengan jayanya. Artikel ini
dibahagikan kepada enam bahagian, iaitu bahagian pertama menerangkan pendahuluan.
Bahagian kedua artikel ini membincangkan secara ringkas mengenai tafsiran wakaf dan dalil
pensyariatan. Bahagian seterusnya, penulis menghuraikan mengenai perkembangan
pelaksanaan wakaf di univeristi awam di Malaysia. Kemudian, bahagian keempat, penulis
mengupas secara terperinci cabaran dan isu berbangkit mengenai pelaksanaan wakaf di
Universiti Awam. Seterusnya beberapa cadangan penambahbaikan diutarakan. Bahagian
terakhir kertas kerja ini penulis membuat kesimpulan terhadap persoalan sejauh mana
wakaf dapat dilaksanakan dan direalisasikan di Universiti Awam.

TAFSIRAN WAKAF

Menurut Siti Umairah Ali Hamdan (2016) istilah wakaf tidak dinyatakan secara
langsung di dalam al-Quran atau al-hadith. Dari sudut bahasa, wakaf berasal dari perkataan
Arab iaitu waqf. Waqf merupakan nama terbitan (masdar) dari kata kerja waqafa. Ia
mempunyai pelbagai makna mengikut tujuan dan penggunaan ayat itu sendiri. Manakala
menurut istilah, wakaf merujuk kepada apa-apa harta yang boleh dinikmati manfaat atau
faedahnya untuk apa-apa tujuan khairat sama ada sebagai wakaf am atau khas
berdasarkan hukum syarak (Ahmad Shaifful Anuar Ahmad Shukor, 2015). Menurut Kamus
Dewan pula, wakaf membawa maksud sesuatu yg diberikan untuk kegunaan orang ramai
(sebagai derma) atau sesuatu yang diberikan dan diperuntukkan bagi keperluan yang
 985

berkaitan dengan agama Islam. Dalam konteks amalan di Malaysia, merujuk kepada
seksyen 2 Enakmen Wakaf (Negeri Selangor) 1999, wakaf ertinya:

“menyerahkan apa-apa harta yang boleh dinikmati manfaat atau faedahnya untuk
apa-apa tujuan kebajikan sama ada sebagai wakaf am atau wakaf khas menurut
Hukum Syarak tetapi tidak termasuk amanah sebagaimana yang ditakrifkan di
bawah Akta Pemegang Amanah 1949” (Razali Othman, 2014).

DALIL PENSYARIATAN WAKAF

Walaupun istilah wakaf tidak disebut secara langsung di dalam al-Quran namun, istilah
wakaf sering dikaitkan dengan kebajikan dan pahala yang berterusan. Pemberi wakaf juga
sedia maklum bahawa banyak manfaat yang akan diperolehi di dunia dan di akhirat dengan
memberi sumbangan dalam bentuk wakaf. Kesedaran pemberi wakaf untuk menyumbang
adalah bertepatan dengan dalil di dalam al-Quran dan al-hadith yang menyeru agar manusia
berbuat kebajikan daripada harta yang mereka perolehi. Antara dalil tersebut Allah s.w.t
telah berfirman di dalam surah al-Baqarah 2: 261 :

“ Bandingan (pahala) orang-orang yang membelanjakan harta mereka pada jalan Allah
umpama sebiji benih yang tumbuh menerbitkan tujuh tangkai dan tiap-tiap tangkai itu
pula terdapat seratus biji. Dan ingatlah Allah akan melipatgandakan pahala bagi
sesiapa yang dikehendaki-Nya dan Allah Maha Luas (Kurnia-Nya) lagi Maha
Mengetahui”

Sabda Rasulullah s.a.w pula dalam satu hadith yang bermaksud

“Apabila mati seseorang manusia, habislah amalnya (tidak bertambah lagi kebaikan
amalnya itu) kecuali tiga perkara; sedekah jariyah, ilmu yang bermanfaat, dan anak
yang soleh yang mendoakan kedua ibubapanya”

(Hadis Riwayat Muslim)

Merujuk ulama’ tafsir, perkataan sadaqah jariyah dalam hadith berkenaan adalah
merujuk kepada amalan perwakafan kerana bentuk-bentuk sedekah yang lain tidak
mempunyai elemen berpanjangan atau kekal sepertimana wakaf (Mohd Ali Muhamad Don,
2016; Siti Umairah Ali Hamdan, 2016).

PENGALAMAN PENUBUHAN TABUNG WAKAF DI UNIVERSITI AWAM

Pelaksanaan wakaf sebagai instrumen untuk pembangunan fasiliti dan kemudahan di

Universiti Awam di Malaysia pada masa kini dilihat semakin berkembang. Beberapa
Universiti Awam telah mengorak langkah lebih awal dengan memperkenalkan model wakaf
secara integratif dalam sistem pendidikan mereka iaitu Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM),
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) dan
Universiti Islam Antarbangsa Malaysia (UIAM) (Aminah Md Yusof, 2016; Syarimie Wosley,
2016). Beberapa Universiti Awam yang lain seperti Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti
Teknologi Mara(UiTM) dan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) turut mengorak langkah
yang sama selaras dengan saranan dan harapan Menteri Pendidikan Tinggi, Datuk Seri Idris
Jusoh untuk menurangkan kebergantungan Universiti Awam kepada sumber dana kerajaan.
Razali Othman (2017) menyatakan bahawa wakaf terus mendapat tempat dan diterima
sebagai asas penting dalam penjanaan sumber pendapatan pendidikan tinggi negara.
Perkara ini ditegaskan sendiri oleh Yang Berhormat Menteri Pendidikan Tinggi Datuk Seri
Idris Jusoh dalam Majlis Amanat Menteri Pendidikan Tinggi pada 12 Januari 2017. Beliau
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turut berkongsi mengenai dana wakaf yang telah dikumpul oleh tujuh Universiti Awam iaitu
sebanyak RM13.25 juta. Jumlah kutipan ini tentu akan menjadi lebih besar dengan
mengambil kira kutipan dana wakaf yang telah dikutip oleh UPM, USIM, UKM, USM, UTM
dan UNISZA. Penerimaan warga Universiti Awam ini menuntut supaya setiap ruang dibuka
seluas-luasnya untuk membolehkan wakaf terus diterima dan mendapat tempat di hati
mereka. Sekali gus, peranan dan sumbangan wakaf dalam dunia pendidikan dapat
diserlahkan.
Harapan Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi untuk melihat lebih banyak Universiti Awam
menjana pendapatan sendiri melalui instrumen wakaf telah direalisasikan dengan
mewujudkan Buku Ungu (Purple Book). Buku Ungu ini merupakan garis panduan kepada
Universiti Awam untuk melaksanakan inisiatif tersebut yang meliputi aspek penjanaan
pendapatan, penyediaan kemudahan dan infrastruktur bagi pendidikan tinggi di Malaysia.
Bagi Universiti Awam yang baru ingin menubuhkan Tabung Wakaf, Buku Ungu ini perlu
dijadikan panduan. Bagi Universiti Awam yang terlebih dahulu menubuhkan Tabung Wakaf,
Buku Ungu ini dijadikan rujukan untuk memantapkan lagi pengurusan wakaf di institusi
mereka. Di antara contoh pelaksanaan wakaf di Universiti Awam di Malaysia pada masa kini
adalah seperti:

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

Dana Wakaf Ilmu UKM (DWIUKM) diwujudkan dengan kerjasama Perbadanan Wakaf
Selangor (PWS) iaitu sebuah agensi di bawah Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS)
yang merupakan mutawalli tunggal di Negeri Selangor. Dana ini telah dilancarkan
pada tahun 2010 di bawah kelolaan Yayasan Canselor UKM. Matlamat pengenalan
program wakaf ini adalah untuk memobilisasikan sumbangan dana wakaf dan infak,
menjana pendapatan univeristi, mengagihkan pendapatan dari harta wakaf dan infak
kepada yang berkelayakan di samping meningkatkan kesedaran warga dan alumni
serta masyarakat umumnya tentang kelebihan menginfakkan harta fisabilillah.
Kewujudan DWIUKM membolehkan para pewakif yang budiman berwakaf kepada
UKM. Selain itu, penubuhan DWIUKM adalah selari dengan hasrat universiti bagi
mewujudkan satu bentuk infrastruktur kewangan yang lestari bagi membantu menjaga
kebajikan pelajar UKM khususnya serta keseluruhan warga UKM secara amnya.
Selain daripada objektif utama ini, DWIUKM juga akan berfungsi bagi merancakkan
lagi program-program akademik, penyelidikan, jaringan industri dan mobiliti pelajar di
UKM (http://www.ukm.my/yc/dana-wakaf-ilmu-ukm-dwiukm/). Terdapat 3 skim yang
disediakan iaitu; Skim Hadiah dan Derma UKM, Skim Wakaf Tunai UKM. Skim Waqaf
Takaful UKM. Manfaatnya diagihkan untuk Skim Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Pelajar,
Skim Pembangunan Pelajar, Skim Pembangunan Akademik dan Penyelidikan dan
Skim Jaringan UKM Industri dan Masyarakat. Walau bagaimanapun sehingga kini
manfaat wakaf terkumpul belum dapat diagihkan kerana masih sedikit dan tidak
mencukupi (Mohd Ali Muhamad Don, 2016).

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)

Pelaksanaan wakaf secara serius di UPM dapat dilihat melalui penubuhan Dana
Wakaf Ilmu UPM (DWI). Nuruliman Ibrahim (2016) menjelaskan bahawa penubuhan
DWI diluluskan oleh Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS) pada 16 Ogos 2011 dan
telah dirasmikan oleh DYMM Tuanku Canselor pada 19 Ogos 2011. Perjanjian
pelaksanaan DWI telah ditandatangani pada 2 Februari 2012 untuk tempoh tiga tahun.
Dana Wakaf Ilmu UPM bermaksud inisiatif program penjanaan dana di UPM yang
menggunapakai kaedah wakaf melalui sumbangan individu, sumbangan korporat,
koperasi dan badan bukan kerajaan, pulangan dari hartanah wakaf, hasil projek sektor
pertanian dan perladangan, hasil projek sektor perindustrian dan pulangan portfolio
pasaran wang dan modal bertujuan untuk mewujudkan suatu infrastruktur jangka
panjang yang lestari bagi memenuhi sebahagian keperluan dan pembiayaan aktiviti
 987

akademik melibatkan Warga UPM. Terdapat empat skim pilihan dalam DWI iaitu Skim
Wakaf Umum, Skim Wakaf Kitab, Skim Wakaf Fasiliti dan Skim Wakaf Kenderaan
Khas. Matlamat DWI adalah untuk menjadi penggerak kepada amalan sedekah jariah
melalui dana wakaf, memberi peluang kepada semua lapisan masyarakat untuk
melaksanakan aktiviti kebajikan dan memainkan peranan tersebut adalah untuk aktiviti
pengajaran dan pembelajaran, aktiviti dakwah, penyelidikan dan inovasi serta khidmat
komuniti (Nur Saadah Rozali, Suhaili Alma’amun, & Shifa Mohd Nor, 2016). DWI UPM
boleh disertai oleh sesiapa sahaja menerusi pelbagai pilihan kaedah kutipan seperti:
(i) Kaunter (Tunai/Kad/Cek/Pelarasan antara PTJ);
(ii) Tabung/Peti Derma;
(iii) CIMBclicks/FPX;
(iv) Skim Potongan Gaji (untuk staf UPM sahaja);
(v) Sistem E-Claims (untuk staf UPM sahaja); dan
(vi) Lain-lain kaedah yang diluluskan oleh Jawatankuasa Pemegang Amanah
Dana Wakaf Ilmu ( http://fund4knowledge.upm.edu.my/).

Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia(USIM)

Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) telah mewujudkan Dana Wakaf Al-Abrar USIM
yang diterajui oleh pusat tanggungjawab Universiti, Pusat Pembangunan Pembiayaan
Wakaf (PPPW). Penubuhan dana ini telah diluluskan dan didaftarkan dengan Majlis
Agama Islam Negeri Sembilan (MAINS). Objektif utama penubuhan PPPW adalah
menguruskan kutipan dan agihan tabung amanah. Tujuan penubuhan Dana Wakaf Al-
Abrar USIM adalah untuk menjadi penggerak dan penganjur utama kepada amalan
sedekah jariah dan pengimarahan ilmu melalui sumbangan dana wakaf dan infak
sebagai wadah meningkatkan ketaqwaan kepada Allah S.W.T. USIM telah dilantik
oleh MAINS sebagai Mutawalli Dana Wakaf pada 22 Julai 2013. Berdasarkan
pelantikan sebagai Mutawalli tersebut, pertama USIM boleh membangun dan
menguruskan Dana Wakaf. Kedua, USIM boleh mengagihkan manfaat kepada
golongan sasaran yang dihasratkan wakif. USIM sebagai Mutawalli Dana Wakaf perlu
mengemukakan laporan kewangan tahunan kepada MAINS untuk rujukan dan
perekodan. Sebagai sebuah universiti yang mempelopori Sains Islam, pihak
pengurusan USIM merasakan adalah suatu kewajipan warga Universiti untuk
menjayakan pengurusan pembiayaan wakaf supaya kepakaran yang ada di USIM
dapat memberi manfaat kepada ummah dari segi pemantapan pendidikan Islam. Idea
mewujudkan universiti hybrid yang ingin dilaksanakan USIM adalah gabungan konsep
social enterprise, syariah compliant dan waqf financing. Naib Canselor USIM, Prof.
Dato’ Dr Asma Ismail, dalam ucapan Tahun Baharu 2013, beliau telah mengenal pasti
pembiayaan wakaf sebagai sumber pembiayaan yang lestari untuk pembangunan di
USIM untuk kegunaan warga universiti dan masyarakat (http://pppw.usim.edu.my/).

CABARAN PELAKSANAAN TABUNG WAKAF DI UNIVERISTI AWAM

Pelaksanaan wakaf dalam Universiti Awam masih dalam tahap permulaan dan
memerlukan pemerhatian yang lebih serius oleh pelbagai pihak untuk memajukannya. Isu-
isu dan cabaran yang timbul harus diketengahkan dalam mengarusperdanakan wakaf
diperingkat global. Persoalan sejauhmana Tabung Wakaf dapat dilaksanakan dan
dilestarikan akan terungkai dan terjawab apabila apabila isu-isu yang timbul diberi perhatian
dan cuba diselesaikan. Oleh itu, penulis merasakan bahawa isu dan cabaran perlu
diketengahkan dalam kertas kerja ini supaya ia dapat membuka mata pelbagai pihak dalam
usaha menjadikan wakaf sebagai penjanaan pendapat kepada Universiti Awam. Maka,
perbincangan seterusnya adalah menfokuskan kepada cabaran yang dihadapi oleh
Universiti Awam dalam usaha menubuhkan Tabung Wakaf di institusi mereka.
 988

Penerimaan Pihak Pentadbir Tertinggi dan Pemahaman Warga Universiti

Bagi merealisasikan pelaksanaan wakaf di Universiti Awam, persoalan timbul sejauh

mana pentadbir tertinggi di universiti menerima cadangan Menteri Pendidikan Tinggi untuk
menubuhkan Tabung wakaf? Sokongan dan pemahaman pentadbir tertingi di UA mengenai
konsep wakaf untuk pendidikan tinggi amat penting supaya saranan itu dapat direalisasikan.
Berdasarkan pemerhatian penulis di media sosial serta pernicangan bersama beberapa
orang pentadbir wakaf dan para akademik di Universiti Awam penulis dapat membuat
kesimpulan bahawa pihak tertinggi di universiti menyokong saranan kerajaan untuk
menubuhkan Tabung Wakaf. Akan tetapi beberapa kerisauan yang timbul bagi
merealisaikan saranan tersebut. Mewujudkan Tabung Wakaf mungkin tidak begitu sukar
tetapi untuk memastikan matlamat penubuhan tabung itu berjaya menjadi cabaran sekiranya
warga universiti seperti pentadbir, pensyarah dan pelajar tidak memahami akan konsep
wakaf itu sendiri. Ismail Omar (2016) menyatakan bahawa hanya 20 peratus sahaja tenaga
pekerja di universiti yang memahami pengertian wakaf dalam erti kata sebenar. Kenyataan
beliau adalah berdasarkan kepada kajian yang dijalankan Universiti Awam. Manakala,
sebanyak 80 peratus lagi kurang memahami konsep wakaf. Walaupun konsep wakaf sudah
diperkenalkan di peringkat universiti tetapi masih ada para intelek yang tidak nampak
potensi wakaf malahan ada yang melihat wakaf hanyalah tempat duduk dan tempat berhenti
atau pondok tempat beristirehat. Ada juga pensyarah yang kurang faham tentang perbezaan
antara wakaf dengan endowmen. Ada pula keliru dengan wakaf buku dan wakaf harta
intelek (IP).

Tadbir Urus Tabung Wakaf

Gerakan mewujudkan Tabung Wakaf sudah semestinya dapat melestarikan pengajian

tinggi pada masa akan datang sekiranya direalisasikan dan diuruskan secara profesional.
Jika ini menjadi kenyataan maka universiti mampu beroperasi tanpa kenaikan yuran ketara
yang dapat menimbulkan rasa kurang senang di kalangan pelajar dan masyarakat. Dalam
usaha mengumpul dana untuk Tabung Wakaf Universiti Awam, pelbagai instrumen dan
kaedah penjanaan telah digunapakai dan metod yang paling popular digunapakai adalah
wakaf tunai. Wakaf tunai dijana melalui pelbagai kaedah seperti yang telah diamalkan dan
dibincangkan di Universiti Awam sebelum ini. Dana wakaf yang terkumpul perlu ditadbir oleh
profesional yang mahir bagi menjana pendapatan sebagaimana dibenarkan oleh undang-
undang dan mematuhi kehendak syariah. Tabung Wakaf yang ditadbir dan diurus dengan
baik berpotensi mempunyai masa depan yang cerah. Namun, kekurangan pakar dan
professional untuk mentadbir Tabung Wakaf di universiti menjadi kekangan kepada
matlamat menjayakan Tabung Wakaf. Dari aspek pelaburan, banyak aspek yang perlu dikaji
sebelum dana wakaf digunakan untuk pelaburan. Aspek modal insan untuk mentadbir dan
menguruskannya perlu diberi keutamaan. Maksud modal insan profesional bukan sekadar
mengetahui ilmu asas berkaitan wakaf semata-mata, malahan mempunyai pengalaman
dalam pentadbiran wakaf yang mendalam dan praktikal. Pentadbir Tabung Wakaf perlu
mengetahui mengetahui dengan mendalam hukum-hakam berkaitan wakaf seperti peranan
dan tugas mutawalli dan nazir. Pada masa sama, mereka juga perlu memahami dengan
mendalam perundangan yang berkaitan tanah, hartanah, proses pembangunan tanah,
strategi perniagaan wakaf, risiko dan ketidakpastian dalam membangunkan wakaf dan
sebagainya. Justeru, perkara ini perlu diberi perhatian serius semua pentadbir Tabung
Wakaf yang prihatin untuk memajukan Tabung Wakaf universiti.

Kekurangan Dana Untuk Pembangunan Wakaf

Kekurangan dana untuk membangunkan projek-projek wakaf yang dirancang menjadi

kerisauan pentadbir wakaf di Universiti Awam. Cabaran kekurangan dana ini perlu difikirkan
dari awal penubuhan Tabung Wakaf supaya strategi yang lebih proaktif dan kreatif dapat
diwujudkan agar usaha pembangunan wakaf berjalan lancar. Universiti pula tidak boleh
 989

hanya berharap sumbangan orang ramai dan alumni sahaja. Kajian penulis dan juga
beberapa penyelidik lain seperti Van Diepen and Wiepking menunjukkan bahawa terlalu
kerap ‘meminta’ akan menyebabkan donor fatigue26 yang akan memberi kesan negatif
kepada tabung wakaf atau endowmen organisasi pada masa akan datang. Oleh itu,
pentadbiran Tabung Wakaf perlu lebih proaktif mengintai dan meneroka peluang penjanaan
pendapatan dan ini perlu diurus oleh mereka yang profesional dalam bidang berkaitan
(Aminah Md Yusof, 2016).

Kesederan Masyarakat Terhadap Penubuhan Tabung Wakaf di Universiti Awam

Beberapa Universiti Awam di Malaysia telah berjaya mengumpul sejumlah dana bagi
Tabung Wakaf mereka, tetapi sambutan masyarakat masih kurang berkemungkinan
kurangnya pendedahan dan yang diberikan. Walau bagaiamanpun, sekiranya masyarakat
diberikan pendedahan berkaitan berkaitan pelaksanaan wakaf di universiti, sumbangan
mereka mungkin lebih tinggi (Suhaili Sarif, Nor ’Azzah Kamri, Siti Mashitoh Mahamood, &
Muhammad Zaid Suhaimi, 2015). Ismail Omar (2016a) dalam artikelnya menyatakan
kebimbangan mampukah Universiti Awam menjana pendapatan melalui wakaf di samping
masyarakat bergelut dengan kos sara hidup yang tinggi sekarang.

Kekurangan Panduan yang Jelas Sebagai Rujukan

Dalam keterujaan Universiti Awam menubuhkan Tabung Wakaf, terdapat beberapa

perundangan berkaitan pendidikan tinggi yang perlu disemak dan diteliti agar tidak berlaku
sebarang isu kemudian hari. Antaranya termasuklah Akta Universiti dan Kolej Universiti
(AUKU) 1971, Perlembagaan Universiti, Akta Syarikat 1965, Kanun Tanah Negara (KTN)
1965 dan yang lain-lain. Selain itu, menurut Ismail Omar (2016a) dasar yang jelas
diperlukan oleh Universiti Awam bagi memastikan pencapaian dan keberhasilan penubuhan
Tabung Wakaf. Dasar merupakan idea atau pelan untuk bertindak dalam situasi tertentu
yang dipersetujui oleh organisasi, kerajaan atau kesatuan. Maknanya, dasar adalah
peraturan yang memandu dan memacu kegiatan manusia. Persoalannya adakah Buku
Ungu yang dikeluarkan oleh Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi sudah cukup sebagai panduan
untuk penubuhan dan pengendalian Tabung Wakaf sepenuhnya? Ismail Omar (2016b)
berpendapat bahawa Buku Ungu hanyalah sekadar nota dan bukanlah panduan yang
menjadi dasar untuk penubuhan dan Pengendalian Tabung Wakaf sepenuhnya. Sehingga
kini belum ada dasar khas yang menjadi rujukan Universiti Awam selain daripada Buku
Ungu. Dalam konteks Perlembagaan Universiti pula, istilah wakaf tidak disebut secara
langsung. Namun begitu, ia tidak menafikan hak universiti untuk mengumpul dana melalui
istrumen wakaf kerana universiti sebagai entiti korporat mempunyai kuasa menurut undang-
undang berdasarkan Jadual 1, seksyen 8, di bahagian 1 (Perlembangaan), perkara 3 (3c)
AUKU 1971. Peruntukan ini menjelaskan bahawa sesebuah universiti mempunyai kapasiti
untuk melaksanakan sebarang transaksi berbentuk kehartaan termasuk dalam hal memiliki
harta, menjual dan membeli sebrang harta sama ada harta alih dan tidak alih, membuat
pajakan, pertukaran, sumbangan dan sebagainya.

CADANGAN PENAMBAHBAIKAN KE ARAH KELESTARIAN WAKAF DI UNIVERSITI

AWAM

Pembudayaan Wakaf di Universiti

Pembudayaan wakaf di universiti perlu dilaksanakan dengan mengadakan aktiviti

permasaran dan promosi yang efektif agar kesedaran mengenai wakaf dapat dipupuk dan
disebarkan luaskan. Selain itu, penulis merasakan adalah menjadi keperluan agak konsep

26
Rakyat tidak lagi menderma kepada badan amal, walaupun mereka pernah menderma pada masa lalu.
 990

wakaf dimasukkan dalam subjek tertentu di universiti agar konsep itu difahami dan
diterapkan dari akar umbi lagi. Diharapakn pemahaman yang diterapkan diperingkat
universiti dapat dimanfaatkan kepada masyarakat di luar pada masa akan datang. Persepsi
masyarakat bahawa wakaf hanya untuk kubur dan masjid perlu diperbetulkan dengan
adanya promosi dan penerangan tentang makna sebenar wakaf secara meluas (Ismail
Omar, 2016).

Tadbir Urus Tabung Wakaf Secara Professional

Pihak pentadbir wakaf di Universiti Awam merupakan mutawwali berkelayakan yang

dilantik sebagai pemegang amanah untuk menguruskan dana wakaf. Mereka
bertanggungjawab untuk mentadbir dan mengurus aset wakaf dengan sebaik mungkin
berlandaskan syariah dan undang-undang di Malaysia serta mengekalkan prinsip wakaf
pada harta wakaf. Siti Umairah Ali Hamdan (2016) menjelaskan bahawa mutawwali yang
dilantik perlu menguruskan wakaf dengan nilai-nilai etika seperti kesepakatan, ketelusan,
kebergantunggjawaban, keadilan, perancangan yang mantap bagi memastikan harta dan
manfaat wakaf mampu digunakan secara berterusan. Di samping itu, Ismail Omar (2016b)
mencadangkan agar pihak yang terlibat dalam mentadbir dan mengurus dana wakaf
mewujudkan pelan pembangunan dan garis panduan untuk menjalankan aktiviti wakaf
supaya kegiatan wakaf boleh djalankan dengan professional. Governan wakaf yang
bermasalah boleh mengundang fitnah dan persepsi negatif masyarakat terhadap pelaksaan
wakaf di Universiti Awam. Cadangan di dalam Buku Ungu agar pembentukan jawatankuasa
dan pembentukan badan pengurusan khas berkaitan wakaf amat relevan supaya dana
wakaf dapat diuruskan dan dilaksanakan dengan lebih baik dan terfokus.
Selain daripada wakil universiti, jawatankuasa yang ingin dibentuk perlu terdiri
daripada mereka yang mempunyai kepakaran pelbagai bidang seperti hukum syarak,
undang-undang, percukaian,kewangan islam dan lain-lain (Siti Mashitoh Mahamood, 2016).
Penglibatan Majlis Agama Islam Negeri dalam Jawatankuasa yang ditubuhkan itu amat
penting dalam menyelia dan mengawal operasi perjalanan unit wakaf itu. Dalam konteks
pelaksanaan gerak kerja pula, budaya kerja Islam perlu diterapkan dalam organisasi
governan wakaf disamping amalan kod etika khas dalam pengurusan wakaf untuk mencapai
kecemerlangan sebagaimana institusi terdahulu adalah amat wajar diberi perhatian.

Memperluaskan Skop Kutipan Wakaf dan Pemantapan Strategi Pelaburan

Isu kekurangan dana untuk membangunkan projek wakaf diharapkan dapat ditangani
sekiranya Universiti Awam lebih kreatif dan proaktif dalam mempromosikan Tabung Wakaf
mereka. Keterbukaan pihak pentadbir wakaf untuk mewujudkan jalinan rangkaian yang luas
dengan pelbagai pihak, tentunya dapat memperluaskan skop kutipan wakaf. Skop kutipan
perlu diperluaskan dan tidak hanya bergantung kepada warga kakitangan dan pelajar
institusi itu sendiri, tetapi juga dari mana-mana syarikat atau individu dalam negara
mahupun luar negara juga boleh diperoleh dan diterima. Bagi perolehan dana yang lebih
besar, perlu adanya kekuatan dalam persediaan perancangan kertas cadangan yang
lengkap dari permulaan hingga kepada perjalanan projek selepas disiapkan merangkumi
sebab keperluan projek dijalankan hingga kepada bagaimana pengurusan perolehan akan
digunakan. Ia diperlukan bagi menambahkan keyakinan institusi korporat yang mahu
menyumbang atau membiayai projek-projek yang hendak dilaksanakan menggunakan dana
yang besar. Skop Harta wakaf yang terkumpul perlu diproduktif dan dikomersialkan. Dalam
usaha meningkatkan hasil dana wakaf, penglibatan secara komersial seperti
membangunkan bangunan-bangunan perniagaan untuk disewa, memajukan projek-projek
perumahan dan perniagaan runcit (seperti stesen minyak) dan perhotelan. Hasil tersebut
mampu untuk meningkatkan perolehan dana wakaf seperti hasil bayaran sewaan dan
keuntungan bank dari akaun tetap dan semasa.
Antara usaha lain yang boleh dilakukan ialah dengan melaburkan di dalam saham
korporat, pertanian dan perikanan, projek-projek perkhidmatan kesihatan dan kemudahan,
 991

dan lain-lain lagi (Siti Zakiah Ali & Hairunnizam Wahid, 2014). Seterusnya Siti Umairah Ali
Hamdan (2016) mencadangkan agar syarikat subsidiari di bawah universiti ditubuhkan
supaya dapat membantu universiti membuat pelaburan dana secara lebih kormersil.
Peranan syarikat adalah sebagai pengurus dalam memastikan aktiviti pelaburan wakaf
dijalankan secara teratur dan sistematik serta menjana keunutngan wakaf dalam jangka
masa panjang. Aktiviti pertanian dan perladaangan ini juga boleh dimanfaatkan oleh pelajar
dari jurusan yang berkaitan dengan melakukan aktivit amali di atas tanah berkenaan.

Jalinan Kerjasama Antara Pihak Berkepentingan

Pihak univerisiti perlu menjalinkan kerjasama dengan Agensi Berkaitan Wakaf (ABW)
terutama Majlis Agama Islam Negeri (MAIN) untuk mengelakkan perlanggaran berkaitan
bidang kuasa kerana wakaf adalah perihal keagamaan yang terletak di bawah kuasa
kerajaan negeri di bawah Jadual 9 Senarai II Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Aspek kerjasama
ini juga mempunyai peri pentingnya terutamanya berkaitan kelulusan MAIN untuk melantik
Universiti Awam sebagai pentadbir dan pengurus dana wakaf. Di samping itu, kerjasama ini
diperlukan bukan sahaja untuk pemantauan, malah ianya membuka ruang kerjasama dan
perbincangan yang lebih luas di antara pentadbir dan pengurus wakaf IPT dan MAIN dalam
usaha merancakkan lagi aktiviti wakaf pendidikan dan mencapai objektif yang digariskan.
Kerjasama MAIN untuk sama-sama membantu bagi mempromosikan wakaf kepada seluruh
rakyat negeri masing-masing adalah satu tindakan yang memberi impak yang sangat
memberansangkan dan positif dalam pertumbuhan dan pembangunan universiti itu sendiri.
Selain itu, jalinan rangkaian dan hubungan yang luas seperti dengan pihak dana wakaf
yang lain perlu diwujudkan. Ini kerana dana wakaf institusi pendidikan tinggi ini tidak
mewujudkan persaingan daripada segi dana wakaf institusi kecuali dalam usaha-usaha
meraih wakaf dari syarikat- syarikat korporat. Hubungan yang baik dengan syarikat-syarikat
korporat dalam dan luar negara, pelopor wakaf yang telah maju ke depan seperti JohorCorp
dan berbagai-bagai lagi adalah amat penting (Siti Zakiah Ali & Hairunnizam Wahid, 2014).

Polisi yang Seragam sebagai Panduan

Polisi wakaf untuk pendidikan tinggi perlu dibina agar ia menjadi panduan semua pihak.
Seterusnya, polisi yang dibina diharapkan dapat digunakan untuk memandu dan memacu
pembangunan Tabung Wakaf pendidikan tinggi. Undang-undang yang dirujuk berkaitan
wakaf perlu diharmonikan dan dipinda, jika perlu. Tentunya usaha ini perlu mendapat
kerjasama yang jitu daripada pihak Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi, agensi berkaitan wakaf
dan Universiti Awam bagi memastikan keseraagaman dasar dan peraturan demi
menjayakan Tabung Wakaf di Universiti Awam. Selain itu, MAIN juga perlu mewujudkan
dasar yang jelas berkaitan penubuhan Tabung Wakaf di Universiti Awam buka hanya
sekadar merujuk kepada undang-undang sedia ada secara umum berkaitan wakaf untuk
memperkasakan lagi wakaf di institusi pendidikan tinggi pada masa akan datang.

KESIMPULAN

Pelaksanaan wakaf dengan menubuhkan Tabung Wakaf diharapakn dapat mengurangkan

bajet kerajaan dalam menyalurkan dana kepada Universiti Awam. Namun sejauh mana ia
mampu dilaksanakan dan direalisasikan bermula dari akar umbi perancangan. Segala isu-
isu dan cabaran yang diketengahkan bukan sekadar dibincangkan tetapi memerlukan
tindakan susulan agar wakaf dapat direalisasikan di Universiti Awam dengan jayanya
selaras dengan kejayaan universiti-universti wakaf terkemuka dunia. Namun begitu, penulis
percaya bahawa dengan semangat prokatif pelbagai pihak terutama warga universiti itu
sendiri maka, pada masa akan datang hasilnya diharapakan dapat dimanfaatkan oleh
generasi akan datang. Selain itu, keberkesanan wakaf adalah bergantung kepada
sejauhmana pelaksanaan wakaf diinstitusi yang terlibat mampu mencapai objektif wakaf
 992

iaitu penyaluran manfaat seperti yang ditetapkan dalam Islam. Ini kerana wakaf mempunyai
nilai estetika yang tinggi bagi melahirkan sebuah institusi pendidikan yang lestari dan
cemerlang. Pengalaman beberapa universiti wakaf terkemuka di luar negara dalam
menerajui dana wakaf perlu dipelajari demi kelangsungan wakaf di universiti di Malaysia.

PENGHARGAAN

Kertas kerja ini adalah sebahagian daripada kajian dalam geran

[FRGS/1/2016/SSI10/UITM/02/4]. Terima kasih kepada Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi
kerana membiayai penyelidikan ini.

RUJUKAN

Ahmad Shaifful Anuar Ahmad Shukor. (2015). Potensi wakaf pendidikan tinggi di Malaysia.
Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Aminah Md Yusof. (2016). Wakaf universiti: Di mana kita? Utusan Online. Diambil daripada
http://www.utusan.com.my/rencana/wakaf-universiti-di-mana-kita-1.424757

Dana Wakaf Ilmu UKM (DWIUKM). Diambil pada 18 Januari 2017 daripada
http://www.ukm.my/yc/dana-wakaf-ilmu-ukm-dwiukm/

Ismail Omar. (2016a). Cabaran tabung wakaf universiti awam. Utusan Online. Diambil
daripada http://www.utusan.com.my/rencana/cabaran-tabung-wakaf-universiti-awam-
1.379845

Ismail Omar. (2016b). Keperluan wakaf di universiti. Utusan Online. Diambil daripada
http://www.utusan.com.my/rencana/keperluan-wakaf-di-universiti-
1.426210#sthash.53K397s8.dpuf

Mohd Ali Muhamad Don. (2016). Peranan wakaf untuk pembangunan pendidikan tinggi ;
Sejarah silam dan contoh pelaksanaan di Malaysia. Dalam Prosiding 3rd International
Conference on Arabic Studies and Islamic Civilization (pp. 188–194).

Nur Saadah Rozali, Suhaili Alma’amun, & Shifa Mohd Nor. (2016). Dana untuk pendidikan di
universiti melalui crowdfunding: Satu kajian awal. Dalam Prosiding 3rd Conference on
Malaysian Islamic Economics and Finance (CMIEF) 2016 (pp. 78–88).

Nuruliman Ibrahim. (2016). Pengalaman wakaf ilmu UPM. In Seminar Wakaf Pengajian
Tinggi.

Razali Othman. (2014). Penggunaan wang sebagai instrumen wakaf tunai: Satu teoretis.
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang.

Razali Othman (2017, Januari 12). Wakaf Terus Mendapat Tempat di Hati Warga Universiti
Awam. Diambil daripada https://www.facebook.com/razaliupm?pnref=story.

Siti Mashitoh Mahamood. (2016). Cabaran wakaf pendidikan IPT masakini.

Siti Mashitoh Mahamood, & Asmak Ab Rahman. (2015). Financing universities through waqf
, pious endowment : Is it possible ? Emerald Insight Humanomics, 31(4), 430–453.
http://doi.org/10.1108/H-02-2015-0010
 993

Siti Umairah Ali Hamdan. (2016). Konsep dan pelaksanaan wakaf korporat di institusi
pengajian tinggi di negeri Selangor : Kajian menurut perspektif perundangan. Universiti
Malaya.

Suhaili Sarif, Nor ’Azzah Kamri, Siti Mashitoh Mahamood, & Muhammad Zaid Suhaimi.
(2015). Komunikasi dan pelaporan sebagai mekanisme tadbir urus dan kemampanan
wakaf pendidikan tinggi. Baharuddin Sayin (Ed.), Wakaf Pendidikan Tinggi di Malaysia
Satu Penantian (pp. 85–99). Universiti Teknologi Mara.

Syarimie Wosley. (2016). UMK anjur seminar pembangunan wakaf pendidikan tinggi, pupuk
kefahaman masyarakat pelaksanaan agenda wakaf di universiti awam. Berita
Universiti Malaysia Kelantan. Diambil daripada
http://www.umk.edu.my/index.php/my/component/k2/itemlist/category/78-latest-news

Tabung dana wakaf ilmu. Diambil pada 18 Januari 2017 daripada

http://fund4knowledge.upm.edu.my/

Zanariah Abd Mutalib. (24 Ogos 2016 ). Tabung wakaf tampung kos universiti. Berita Harian.
Diambil daripada
http://www.umlib.um.edu.my/newscut_details.asp?cutid=17340#sthash.QxMusjXi.dpbs

Diambil pada 18 Januari 2017, daripada http://pppw.usim.edu.my/

 994

Idea Development Process: Current Trends and Needs in Industry

Ahmad Fazlan Ahmad Zamri
Faculty of Art and Design, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
fazlan7538@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Fadila Mohd Yusof

Faculty of Art and Design, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
fadila675@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Azhari Md Hashim
Faculty of Art and Design, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
azhari033@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Azmir Mamat Nawi

Faculty of Art and Design, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
cokeash77@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Abu Hanifa Ab Hamid

Faculty of Art and Design, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
hanifa762@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Hasnul Azwan Azizan

Faculty of Art and Design, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia
hasnul622@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Idea development is known as one of the processes involved through teaching and learning
in industrial design area. This process is important during an early stage of ideas before
continuing to the next design stage. This study was conducted to investigate the comparison
between academic syllabus and industry practice whether these processes are highly
dependent on the idea generation and interaction related to the designer and to the student
itself. The data were gathered through an observation of industry practice during conceptual
design phase and teaching and learning process in academic through Video Protocol
Analysis (VPA) method. The findings may possibly contribute to the teaching and learning
process especially on the improvement of industrial design syllabus in order to meet the
industry demands.

Keywords: Idea Development, Industrial Design, Industry Needs

INTRODUCTION

The employability of graduates in Malaysia has slightly increased from the past,
which is 1 percent for both public and private universities, including polytechnics and
community colleges (The Star, 2016). Hence, due to the economic situation nowadays,
graduates should have good employability skills parallel with their hard skills and knowledge
that they gain through their studies as a part of achieving the employing requirement from
the industry (Ang, 2015; Harvey, 2001). Moreover, individual factors such as behaviour and
attitude, the labour market and organizational practice might also affect the employability
factor of the graduates (Yusof, N. and Jamalud, Z., 2015). According to Ang (2015), there is
a gap between six critical skills among graduates which are commercial awareness or
 995

knowledge about the business (most significant gap), self-management, computer literacy,
information retrieval, planning, and resolving conflict.
In the creative industry, it is crucial for the graduates to fulfil the requirements needed
as the industry always relies on highly skilled workers to face the workforce challenges. The
graduates in the creative industry not also face the challenges to meet the requirements
from the creative industry but also to ensure their skills are relevant (Haukka, 2011). Apart
from that, the design process is a part of their work that requires these graduates to become
high skilled workers in order to meet the requirements in creative industry. In addition,
individual hard skills such as sketching contribute in resolving the design problem and
enhancing the design outcome especially during the design process (Cham and Yang,
2005).
Sketching is a powerful tool and important medium to communicate between
designers and clients. This intangible activity exits during design development stages where
the conceptual idea is still at early phase. Designers suggested sketching as an efficient way
to speed up the process of developing idea in real life. Sketches are useful for designers
who work in groups and it is proven to be delivering communication easily and faster for
quick brief and idea during the activity. There are many techniques or steps to produce
reliable and informative sketches. Among these techniques, an ideation sketches is one of
the useful techniques where designers develop an idea of a conceptual product, transport
and furniture. This type of sketch is mainly produced roughly by designer without considering
the details.
This preliminary study identified different skills that contribute to a designer’s and
Diploma Industrial design students sketching ability and explore how those skills might be
related and equivalent to sketching techniques, ideation and idea development in industrial
design process.
Cham, J. G., and Yang, M. C., (2005) suggested that sketching activity during design
can take many different forms, depending on intent and the type of idea manipulation they
represent. It is clear that sketching serves a role in aiding cognition during the mechanical
design process, and has the potential to impact the design outcome. Supported by
Verstijnen, I.M., et al (1998) added that sketches are used to capture and communicate
ideas generated during design and have been closely linked with design thinking. In addition,
Goel, V.,(1995) justify that sketches are inherent in the cognitive activities that facilitate
concept generation and the ability to “think visually” is a necessary skill for developing
innovative solutions.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

i. What is the method used in idea searching to implement learning and teaching
process in industrial design?
ii. How creative industries develop their idea development in design process?

OBJECTIVE

i. To know the sketching techniques process on idea development in industrial design

based.
ii. To know the equivalence of preliminary sketching idea development between
industrial design student and industrial design practitioner.
 996

SCOPES AND LIMITATION

The scope of this project consists of a few steps and needs to be properly planed so that this
project can achieve all the objectives. There are many processes involved in order to
produce the product. The scopes of work in this project:
i. Literature review which needs information about design development and ideation
processes from any possible resources such as internet, books and others.
ii. Observation through video protocol analysis (VPA)-The observation was recorded
between industry practitioners and student of Diploma in Industrial Design in order for
researchers to measure the equivalent of design development process.
This study will focus on design development and ideation processes that involved
through teaching and learning in industrial (automotive) design area.

METHOD

In this study, the researchers employed qualitative methods to gather pertinent data and
information in order to answer the research question. In order for researchers to measure
the equivalent of design development process between two of industry practitioners and
students of Diploma in Industrial Design, two of industrial design students were conveniently
selected as the sample for the study. The observation was recorded through video protocol
analysis (VPA) on developing conceptual design phase and current learning and teaching
process in academic phase. From this study, the findings were established to interpret their
skills idea development sketching techniques.
The use of this VPA can show how respondents make a sketch ideation and idea
development through video recordings. In the process of design sketches, there are various
methods of design .According, Jaarsveld, S., & Van Leeuwen, C. (2005) justify in principle,
the design process may depend on preliminary sketches in several ways. During the first
stage, the sketches are used to decide which direction to pursue toward the solution.
Secondly, the intermediate products enable the designer to represent and compare
alternatives, and they help designer to see the consequences of a decision. Finally, the
sketches enable the designer to evaluate the intermediate state of the design in relation to
the design criteria and his or her own interpretations of the design task. Furthermore,
sketches mark the junctions of a design process, and hence, an analysis of sketches is most
likely to provide us with insight as to how the design evolved.
Yang, M.C. (2005) posits that performance on the sketching tasks was correlated
with design sketch activity, as captured through design log book, and also correlated with
design outcome during three-week engineering design class project.

Observational Study of Sketching Ability

Sketching activity during idea development involves an exploration of many different

forms, depending on intent and the type of idea manipulation. During the observation, the
respondents consist of students who have completed a survey in order to assess their
sketch skill on idea development. The surveys were conducted by introducing the
respondents with one project brief. The respondents were given an approximately one hour
to complete the survey. The main questions were examined whether performance on these
tasks correlate to design development by industrial practitioners during sketching techniques
in the industrial design process. Suwa, M. and B. Tversky (1997) suggested that drawing is
not simply an illustration of design cognition, but an important vehicle for the design thought
process.
 997

Assessment of Sketching Skills

Performance on the sketching techniques task was assessed by determining a basic

ideation and sketching activity on idea development according to the method which
respondents preferred most. The task namely motorcycle design project were participated by
students and industrial practitioners or designers. The idea development task was
undertaken by designers while developing an early idea of motorcycle. It is mainly roughly
made and produced without any further details. The earlier idea development task was
created to explain the form and structure of the design concept. It is made readable for
everyone. A clear sketch on the basics of the sketch’s accuracy on how they do the early
ideation and through ideation they develop it to an idea development before then proceed to
the design development. The questions arise whether both respondents use the same
technique to develop idea development in sketching techniques. The survey made to explore
which equivalent sketching skills can be linked to design activity development in industrial
design syllabus between industrial design practitioners. Sketches for each respondent were
arranged separately in figure 1.

Figure 1 Analysis Result - Representative sketches by students and designers

\
 998

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 1 shows the analysis result produced by Diploma Industrial Design students
and Industrial Design Practitioners at Modenas. The results from observational study
indicated that sketching designs were produced by using similar methods between both of
the respondents.
The respondent (students 1) produced a design sketches based on the existing
motor design process. The respondent tried to carriy out the existing ideation design from
existing motorcycle and follow the motorcycle frame. The respondent (student 2) developed
the idea based on motorcycle casis form. The primary idea development sketches for the
character of the motor design were done in form and shape of motorcycle casis. Koos
Eissen & Roselian Steur (2007) stated that in this drawing approach, the above analysis is
the starting point. The drawings all begin with a basic block shape and an ellipse. Details
then were added last. For the analysis of ideas development, student 1 and student 2 show
that they developed the idea through the early ideation process. The design then were
continued for the outer body of motorcycle.

Diagram 1 Show Student’s Industrial Design Idea Development Sketching Techniques

Picture 1: Idea development - Student 1 shows the idea developmet is developed more to outer body
directly through the motorcycle and developed the cover set.. For the development of this student
design, there is no significant difference between self-ideation and idea development.

Picture 2: Idea development - Student 2 shows the idea development through ideation based on
motorcycle frame. The respondent tried to identify the design of motorcycle through casis form and
shape. The resulting design still has no detailing.

According to Nagai, Y. and H. Noguchi (2003), the designers constantly translate

non-visual textual specifications for a design into ones that are visual. Paul Rodgers and
Alex Milton (2011), during the concept stage, designers have to visualize through a variety of
 999

techniques as yet non-existent product concepts. They are heavily involved in the process of
taking a product from a description of users’ needs and want to develop brief, make initial
sketches, prepare detailed drawings, and make models and working prototypes (Paul
Rodgers and Alex Milton, 2011). In the early stage of idea development, designers have
designed sketches based on the benchmarking of their research.

Diagram 2 Show Industrial Design Practitioners Ideation and Idea Development Sketching
Techniques

Picture 3: Idea development – Designer 1 developed the ideation with detailing. And completed his idea
development with color to show the actual presentation in design.

Picture 4: Idea development – Designer 2 used a patchwork approaches to get an early idea and traced
the development design based on patchwork technique.

Designer 1 has identified the context, depth and breadth of his design approach.
Designer tries to adapt the analogical thinking to transfer an idea from one context to
another context. Direct analogical thinking brings together a problem from one domain with
familiar knowledge of another domain as a way to gain insight. Designer 2 also developed
his idea through patchwork approaches. He used some motor designs that are available to
be used as a guideline. According to Paul Rodgers and Alex Milton (2011), successful
designers use a variety of techniques for generating concept design proposals that address
the requirements laid out in the PDS (Product Design Specification).

CONCLUSION

Sketching techniques were successfully developed for detection of equivalent method using
by designers and diploma students during design development. Sketching is the simplest
 1000

means of a process that supports the creative process of generating ideas and an idea of an
individual. Without being bound by any rules and conditions, sketching ideas is a unique
work to the designers in the industrial practice or students themselves and it is not an idea
that needs to be reproduced. Although design development processes between industrial
design syllabus and industry practitioners are equivalence, the practitioner does not start
from concrete parts of analyzer ideas. The designer produced an idea with an objectives and
reasons, searching an ideas with sketching from the first idea up to the final stage in the
design process while the students’ needs to start from the early stage of sketching process
in developing ideas to support every creative process, related and equivalent to sketching
techniques and more detailed idea development towards finalizing the solution and contain
clear design solutions in industrial design process. The identification of specific idea
generation will add to new knowledge of this area. It is also beneficial for designers and
educational institutions as they can identify and overcome the problems in preliminary
design development. The findings may contribute to the teaching and learning process
especially on industrial design based.

REFERENCES

Ang, M. C. H. (2015).Graduate employability awareness: A gendered perspective. Elsevier

Procedia of Social and Behavioural Sciences, 211, pp. 192-198.

Cham, J. G., and Yang, M. C., 2005, “Does Sketching Skill Relate to Good Design?” Proc.
Of
IDETC/CIE 2005 ASME 2005 International Design Engineering Technical
ConferencesComputers and Information in EngineeringConference, Long Beach, CA,
ASME, New York. Goel V., Sketches of thought. 1995, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
Press. xv, 279.

Harvey, L. (2001). Defining and measuring employability. Quality in Higher Education, 7(2),
97-109.

Haukka, S. (2011). Education-to-work transitions of aspiring creatives. Cultural Trends,

No. 1,
March 2011, 41-64

Jaarsveld, S. & Van Leeuwen, C. (2005). Sketches from a Design Process: Creative
Cognition
Inferred from Intermediate Products. Cognitive Science, 95, 79-107.

Nagai, Y. and H. Noguchi, An experimental study on the design thinking process started
from
difficult keywords: modeling the thinking process of creative design. Journal of
Engineering Design, 2003. 14(4): p.429 - 437.

Paul Rodgers and Alex Milton, Product Design, Laurence King Publishing Ltd. 2011
Schütze, M.,
P. Sachse, and A. Römer, Support value of sketching in the design
process.Research in
Engineering Design, 2003. 14(2): p. 89-97

Suwa, M. and B. Tversky, What Do Architects and Students Perceive in their Design
Sketches?
A Protocol Analysis. Design Studies, 1997. 18(4): p. 385-403
 1001

The Star (2016). Making Malaysian graduates more employable a reality. Retrieved
September 14 2016 from http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/online-exclusive/whats-
your-status/2016/07/14/making-malaysian-graduates-more-employable/

Ullman, D.G., S. Wood, and D. Craig, The Importance of Drawing in the Mechanical Design
Process. Computers & Graphics, 1990. 14(2): p. 263-274.

Verstijnen, I.M., et al., Sketching and creative discovery. Design Studies, 1998. 19(4): p.
519- 546.

Yang, M.C. An Examination of Prototyping and Design Outcome. in 2004 ASME Design
Engineering Technical Conferences. 2004. Salt Lake City, Utah USA.

Yusof, N. and Jamalud, Z. (2015). Graduate employability and preparedness: A case

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 1002

Transition of Cataloging Standard: Anglo American Cataloging

Rules (AACR) to Resource Description and Access (RDA)
Zuraidah binti Arif
Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani
zuraidah_arif@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Zati Atiqah binti Mohamad Tanuri

Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani
zatiatiqah@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nordibradini binti Selamat

Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani
nordi314@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Rosnita binti Sahrani

Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani
ros0224@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Siti Khadijah binti Rafie

Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Cawangan Kedah, Kampus Sungai Petani
khadijahrafie@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to highlight the differences between the new cataloging standard Resource
Description and Access (RDA) and Anglo American Cataloging Rules (AACR). Anglo
American Cataloging Rules was published in 1967 as cataloging rules to organize
information resources. It has been revised and update in 1988, 1998, and 2002. Resource
Description and Access been developed to cater the organization audio visual (AV)
collections in library. The implementation of the cataloging standard RDA will have the major
impact on the library system. Indirectly, librarian will need to adapt to new terminology of this
new standard. The purpose of this paper to explore the advantages of using Resources
Description and Access (RDA). This paper also describes the development of cataloging
standard that been used internationally. A review of literare has been done to support the
content of this paper.

Keywords: Anglo American Cataloging Rules; AACR; Resource Description and Access;
RDA; Cataloging Standard; Library

INTRODUCTION TO RESOURCE DESCRIPTION AND ACCESS (RDA)

Resource Description and Access (RDA) was been developed as a replacement to

Anglo American Cataloging Rules, 2nd edition, 2022 revision (AACR2). Libraries using
AACR2R to organize and catalog library materials based on specific standard and code.
Implementation of RDA offers an opportunity to consider new approaches to end user
search and display options, RDA also allow the librarian to create bibliographic and
 1003

authority data more broadly available in semantic web (Glennan, 2012). This new standard
was designed for the digital world also act as a web based tool optimized for use as an
online product (Tillett, 2013). Most of libraries have utilized RDA since 2013. The changes
from AACR2 to RDA affect all libraries world wide in term of how the librarian organize their
materials.

DEVELOPMENT OF CATALOGING STANDARD

Library cataloging rules and codes was developed and published since nineteen
centuries. Many library codes and standard were establish in order to organize and arrange
library materials for easy retrieval. History of the development of cataloguing standard
started with the development of British Museum Cataloging Rules in 1839. The rules were
published as a guide for the compilation of British Museum Catalogs and also reflects
functions of catalog as an inventory and finding list.
Later in 1853, Jewett’s Rule were developed by Charles C. Jewett, which consist of
thirty three rules base on Panizzi’s Rules. Jewett’s Rules represent the first codifying of
subject heading practise for organizing information. In 1876, Cutter’s Rules became the
foundation for dictionary catalog and widely used for cataloguing practise in general libraries
in United States. AA (1908) represented the first join effort between American and British
librarians in developing a cataloguing code (Chan, 2007). The codes aim to meet the
requirement of academic and research libraries. In AA (1908), alternatives rules were
provided as a guide for small libraries.
Prussian Instruction (PI) were established as a standardized cataloguing practice
used by most libraries in Germanic and Scandinavian countries. PI code choose entry under
title rather than title corporate entry which differ from rules and code provided by Anglo
American Cataloging.The development of Vatican Codes is to compile the general catalogs
for printed books in Vatican Libray. The codes comprises rules for entry, description, subject
heading, and filing.
ALA (1941 Draft) were developed to revises Anglo American cataloguing codes. The
code consist of two parts which dealing with entry and heading and the other with description
(Chan, 2007).Library of Congress, Rules for Descriptive Cataloging in the Library of
Congress were developed in 1949 covered bibliographic description description which
exclude choice of entries and forms of headings.
ALA (1949) and LC (1949) seved as the standards for descriptive cataloging for
American Libraries until the appearance of the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules in 1967
(Chan, 2007).
Anglo American Cataloging Rules was published in 1967 as cataloging rules to
organize information resources. It has been revised and update in 1988, 1998, and 2002.
The latest revision is Anglo American Cataloging Rules 2nd ed., AACR2R (2002), comprises
treatment of electronic resources.
Starting 2013, the new revised version of AACR2R has been used internationally.
The new standard, which is Resource Description and Access (RDA) was developed to cater
the organization audio visual (AV) collections in library. Other than that, according to
Kiorgaard and Kartus (2006) RDA implementation is more principle -based, catalogers can
use judgement rather than have to learn so many different rules. The implementation of the
cataloging standard RDA have the major impact on the library system. Indirectly, librarian
will need to adapt to new terminology of this new standard.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AACR2 AND RDA

Aglo-American Cataloguing Rules Second Edition (AACR2) and Resouce Description

and Access (RDA) are both an established standard to catalog recorded information. But
 1004

they are differ to each other. The differences between AACR2 and RDA can be discussed in
3 different aspects, which are its foundation, terminology used and recording data.

Foundation

AACR2 is focus on library staff, where standard is more to how to record the
information. Contras to RDA is focus on user, whereby it is more to how to record. Each
section explicit related to user tasks, apply fewer abbreviations and omissions and no
limitations on number of access point. Thus making the RDA easy to be used and
understood by the user in order to retrieve their needed information.
Moreover, AACR2 is based on ISBD (International Standard Bibliographic
Description). ISBD is more concern on Main Entry (ME) and Added Entry/ies (AE) and the
description of recorded information based on 8 areas. While RDA is based on FRBR
(Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records). FRBR is a structured framework for
relating the data recorded in bibliographic records to the needs of users. FRBR identifies and
defines the data requirements of what user expert to find in a bibliographic record and how
they used that information. FRBR works with FRAD (Functional Requirements for Authority
Data) and FRSAD (Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Data). FRBR is concern
on relationship and the description of recorded information based on WEMI (Works,
Expression, Manifestation, and Item). RDA is greater emphasis on “cataloger’s judgement”.

Terminology

There are several different terminologies used in both cataloguing standard/rule.

AACR2/Current term RDA

8 Area Element
Authority control Access point control
Main entry Authorized access point
Added entry Access point
Uniform title Preferred title for a work
Chief source Preferred source of information
Heading Authorized access point
See references Variant access point
[No real equivalent – some possible Relationship designator (indicates the
parallels in MARC relator codes and relator nature of a relationship/role, e.g. author,
terms] arranger of music; abridgement of [work],
contained in [work]; alternate identify, family
member, employee)
Recording data
There is no longer a rule of three.

In AACR2 if there were three names or less on the title page, listed them all. If there
were more than three, listed only the first one.
In RDA, catalogers are instructed to list all of the authors, along with any additional
information that appears with the name. However, heading only required to give the first
statement of responsibility.
Example:
Book title page:
 1005

Library today
by
Jeremy Renner,
Megan Fox,
Jacqueline Smith,
and Elton Black.

Edited by
Lilian Brown,
Amy Adams,
Billy Watson Thornton
and Marry Kate.
Illustrations by Mark Adam.

In AACR2 this information would have appeared as:

Library today / by Jeremy Renner … [et al.] ; edited by Lilian Brown… [et al.] ;
illustrations by Mark Adam.
In RDA this information may appear as:
Library today / by Jeremy Renner, Megan Fox, Jacqueline Smith, and Elton Black.
The editor, contributors and illustrator are not required in RDA. (There is an
exception whereby illustrators for children’s book is a required element). All of the authors in
the first statement of responsibility are entered, along with information about them that
appears on the title page.
Providing access to contributors has changed.
In AACR2 cataloger provided access to the authors listed in the statement of
responsibility. But in RDA catalogers are required to provide an access point for the creator
of the work, but all other access points for names are optional.
Example from the same book above:

In AACR2: In RDA:
700 Brown, Lilian 100 Renner, Jeremy
700 Adam, Mark
The creator is given the 100 field for creator even if there are more than three, as
long as this work is a collaboration. The rules are different for compilations by more than one
author. Although all of the names in the first statement of responsibility are given in the
record, we are not required to provide access points for them. There is a recommendation
currently supported to add relationship terms to the creator. So the above entry would
appear as “100 Renner, Jeremy, author”. A cataloger has the option to add additional access
points, with or without the relationship designators.
No more abbreviations.

In transcription RDA only uses abbreviations when they appear as such on the work
itself (i.e. the title page has “v.” or “Dept.” on it.) Furthermore, Latin abbreviations will no
longer be used, unless they appear on the work itself.
Examples:

AACR2 RDA
260 $a [S.l. : $b s.n.], $c 2017 260 $a [Place of publication not
identified] : $b [publisher not identified],
$c 2017
300 $a 300 p. : ill. (some col.) 300 $a 300 pages : illustrations (some
colour)
 1006

In RDA catalogers are encouraged to supply a possible place of publication and date
when they can, so most records will have this information, with a question mark if necessary.
Example: [Spain?] : [publisher not identified], [2012?]
The GMD [general material designation] is gone.

In AACR2 this appeared near the title. It is the element that told you if this was a
“videorecording” or “electronic resource” etc. In RDA this element is being replaced by three
new fields. These fields will supply information on the content, the media, and the carrier.
Examples:

AACR RDA
245 00 $a Library today $h 245 00 $a Library today / $c by Jeremy
[videorecording] / $c Jeremy Renner, Megan Fox, Jacqueline
Renner … [et al.] ; edited by Smith, and Elton Black.
Lilian Brown… [et al.] ; 336 $a two-dimensional moving image
illustrations by Mark Adam. $b tdi $c rdacontent
337 $a video $b v $c rdamedia
338 $a videodisc $b vd $c rdacarrier
Take as what you see
There is a specific rules the catalogers need to follow when describing bibliographic
data. But using RDA, catalogers need to take what they see and accept what they get.
Example :

Information from title page:

Information
MANAGEMENT
By
SITI AHMAD

AACR RDA
245 00 $a Information management / $c 245 00 $a Information MANAGEMENT /
by $c by SITI AHMAD
Siti Ahmad

Rules in AACR requires only the 1st letter of the title is capital. But in RDA,
description of the data is based on what we see.
These are just some of the changes that will come with RDA. There are also
significant changes happening to Bible entries, music cataloging, and other more specific
materials. RDA has more minimal requirements for bibliographic records than AACR2.
Overall, RDA provides a framework to describe materials in a manner that allows users to
find, identify, select and obtain the works.

ADVANTAGES OF RDA

Oliver (2010) defined Resource Description and Access (RDA) as a set of guiding
principle and directions on arranging data to support users in finding out resources. RDA has
been planned to be companionable with AACR2 records. In order to give benefits to the
users, RDA is based on the conceptual model of Functional Requirements for Bibliographic
Records (FRBR) and on the International Cataloguing Principles, which both focus the end
users. FRBR highlights four users’ method in relation to the resources – these user tasks is
 1007

to search, recognize, select, and retrieve the resources they want, which is the main
objective of the library catalog.
The end user is the main focus in the International Cataloguing Principles, with the
first principle being “handiness of the user.” RDA provides guidelines for cataloging by
indicating what data to record in the bibliographic record to assist the user in finding the
resources they seek, by providing as many access points as possible thus meeting the
FRBR user tasks as well as the first International Cataloging Principle. End users will
discover it more easily to understand the information in the search list with RDA cataloging
due to the data reflects a more exact representation of the resource. The fundamental
guideline of RDA tracks the second International Cataloging Principle of “representation”
(Tillet, 2013). In following this principle, data is entered as it is found on the resource, for
example, titles, degrees, and honors associated with a name are entered in the statement of
responsibility; when there are more than three authors, all names may be listed in the
statement of responsibility rather than just the first name as with AACR2; and publisher’s
names are entered as found on the resource rather than being shortened as with AACR2.
Fewer abbreviations are used with RDA (Keenan, 2014). Words in transcribed areas are
only abbreviated if abbreviated on the resource that is being cataloged. Terms such as
edition, pages, unnumbered pages, volume, illustrations, color, sound, etc., will be spelled
out as will Latin abbreviations such as “[et al.]”, “[S.l.]”, “[s.n.]”, ”ca.”, etc. Also more common
usage terms such as CD, DVD, and CD-ROM will be used.
More relationships will be given in RDA records. Relationship designators such as
author, editor, conductor, producer, illustrator, composer, and translator may be utilized with
names to show the contribution of the person to the resource. Relationship designators
such as remake of, paraphrase of, translation of, adaptation of, and based on, may be
indicated to show the connection of one resource to another resource. Relationships will
help users search and classify what they are looking for, and make them alert of other
available resources that may be match with their needs. RDA provides more access points
to the users. When a resource is written by more than three authors, all the authors names
may be listed and access points (added entries) created for each author. With AACR2 when
there are more than three authors, only the author’s name that is listed first on the resource
is entered and given an access point.
Many of the RDA guidelines will ease end users in discovering materials as the
bibliographic records that are easier to understand and read which results will assist users to
more easily search, recognize, select, and retrieve the library collections they are searching
for. Another advantages in the application of RDA is it will help modernize library catalogs
because of it have new characteristics of library catalogs including; arranging of results,
facets to constricted searching, and have more picture results such as book covers, table of
contents, reviews. These features will attract end users in searching materials. Another
objective of RDA is to make the cataloging process effortless for the library staffs (O’Dell,
2015).

DISADVANTAGES OF RDA

RDA does not do something new. It is not different enough from Functional Requirements for
Bibliographic Records (FRBR) that have been used nowadays. RDA also incomplete by
MARC because of the RDA records itself full with MARC, it really does not operate as RDA
itself, or it will not function without FRBR. Another disadvantage of using RDA is divide
headings with the same entity represented by two or more headings which might confused
the users. For example, catalog users may possibly see both “Department” (RDA form) and
“Dept.” (AACR2 form) used in different headings contain in the same bibliographic record if
no systematic method done to track changes in bibliographic record (Mak, 2013).
Another issue in RDA implementation is training for the staffs. The training concern is
about the method on how the training should be done. The most preferred technique for
 1008

conveying RDA training was in-person training; either one-on-one or small groups
(Tosaka&Park, 2014).
The use of full term in RDA also became a problem in understanding the records. For
example, previously in AACR, term “ca” was used to represent approximately regardless of
the language which can be understand by all users all over the world. But, with the
implementation of RDA, the full term must be used in cataloging and the term “ca” must be
replaced with the local language. It brings difficulties for other users to understand catalog
record in another language. Furthermore, the use of punctuation might also confused the
users. In RDA, the use of punctuation in catalog record is just an option depends on library
policy. Before this, if the catalog is available in other language, other users will be able to
understand the records based on the punctuation used. With the implementation of RDA, if
the library did not use punctuation, other users will never understand their records.

RECOMMENDATION & CONCLUSION

It is recommended that a further research need to be done on training for RDA. Most of
librarian have exposure in using cataloging rules in RDA. However, there is lack of study
which focus on the effectives of the RDA training for librarian. This kind of study is important
to identify the ability and competency of librarians in using the new cataloging rules. Further
research should also highlight the effectiveness of using RDA in organizing resources in
library.
In a conclusion, a reshuffle of the cataloging rules is not the exact revolution for
libraries. The library catalog has go through few changes from a simple bibliography to an
integrated database that serves both library administration and end users. In order headed
for enhancing detailed cataloging rules for libraries, we have to to come to a decision
whether the user will view a common bibliographic tool that unites users and the collections
no matter their source, or continue to view a library stock, that need users to look at another
place for other information they might need. In line with that, we need a severe effort to work
with interested non-library groups to pertain philosophy of systems analysis to define the
functional requirements and use cases that can help in focusing the general principles for
bibliographic description. Structuring this effort using a proven approach should allow some
useful examination of the assumptions that hobble us as we attempt to move forward.
However, there are certainly librarians who understand both the need for a detailed
reassessment of the library catalog and the dangers of ongoing to holdup the basic changes
that are needed.

REFERENCES

Chan, L. M. (2007). Cataloging and classification: An introduction (3rd ed.) Maryland:

Scarecrow Press.

Glennan, K. (2012). The development of Resource Description & Access and its impact on
music materials. Notes 68(3), 526-534. doi: 10.2307/41412167

Kiorgaard, D. & Kartus, E. (2006). A rose by any other name?: From AACR2 to
Resource Description and Access. Retrieved from
https://www.vala.org.au/direcdownload/vala2006-proceedings/221-vala2006-session-
9-kiorgaard-paper/file

Mak, L. (2013). Coping with the storm: Automating name authority record updates
and bibliographic file maintenance. OCLC Systems & Services: International Digital
Library Perspectives, 29(4): 235-245. Doi: 10.1108/OCLC-02-2013-0006.
 1009

Oliver, C. (2010), Introducing RDA: A Guide to the Basics. American Library

Association Chicago, IL.

Paradis, D. (2010). RDA resources description and access. Retrieved from Http:// www.rda-
jsc.org

Quintana, I. C. (2013). Differences between bibliographic records created in RDA and in

AACR2. Retrieved from http://www.anssacrl.wordpress.com

Tillett, B. (2013). The international development of RDA: Resource Description and Access.
Alexandria 24 (2), 1-10. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.7227/ALX.0004

Tosaka, Y. & Park, J. (2014). RDA: Training and continuing education needs in
academic libraries. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 55: 3-
25. Retrieved from:
http://search.proquest.com/openview/246272d8bf61756526d866069cab5d1b/1?pq-
origsite=gscholar

Wynne, S. C. (2011). RDA and AACR2: what’s the differences? Retrieved from
http://www.academia.edu./1701030/RDA_and_AARC2_whats_the_difference?
 1010

Network Security Policy: The Challenges and Solutions in an

Organization
Jasmin Ilyani Ahmad
Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences,
UiTM Kedah, 08400 Merbok, Kedah
jasmin464@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Noor Hasnita Abdul Talib

Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences,
UiTM Kedah, 08400 Merbok, Kedah
nhasnita@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nor Hafizah Abdul Razak

Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences,
UiTM Kedah, 08400 Merbok, Kedah
hafizah466@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nur Darina Ahmad

Faculty of Electrical Engineering,
UiTM Pulau Pinang, 13500 Permatang Pauh, Pulau Pinang
nurdarina9183@uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

People nowadays are exposed to the use of technology in order to perform their daily
activities and tasks. The technology can be embedded in other areas such as banking,
business, communication, entertainment and education which can be applied anywhere and
anytime. This is because of the evolving of mobile technology together with the online
technology which can promise a very comfort zone to the users. Due to the promises of the
technology, the organizations also take this opportunity to manage their data, information,
resources and assets. However, there are also people who take advantage and misuse the
technology. Because of that, technology threats and criminal issues are widespread rapidly.
Therefore, this conceptual paper is aim to discuss the challenges in implementing network
security policy and propose the solutions that the organization can take to overcome those
challenges.

Keywords: network security, attacks, intruders, virus and threats

INTRODUCTION

Organizations nowadays are relies on computer and communication technology to

perform their task; including to store and manage information. In business, the technology
affected global production, work and business approaches and trade and consumption
trends in and between enterprises and consumers (Alam and Mohammad Noor, 2009).
Therefore, it is important to protect their computers, data, information and communication
from loss, destructions and abuse. Organizations must take actions on how to protect their
computers and information from security risks that may cause damage or profit loss to the
organization. Thus, the organizations should place a network security policy to be followed
by the administrators and employees in implementing their tasks. However, there are
challenges to be faced by the organizations in applying network security policy to perform
their business activities. Therefore, to overcome those challenges, the organizations must
 1011

provide the solutions and actions to be taken to ensure that they are safe against the
computer security risks.

TECHNOLOGY PHENOMENON IN AN ORGANIZATION

The computer and communication technology have affected progress in many areas,
including industries, offices, businesses, medicals, educations and others. The technology
had increased the efficiency and innovation for the organization (Dewett and Jones, 2001).
Other than that, with the adopting of the technology in the organization, the communication
among employees also increased, thus increase knowledge and information among them.
This will improve the quality of services, accountability and efficiency (Gupta, Dasgupta and
Gupta, 2008). They use the technology to input data, process, produce output, store the
information and to support the communication field. According to Antonova, Csepregi and
Angel (2011) the technology is a tool that plays a role to transfer knowledge among people.
For input data, the organization collects data, captures raw materials using computer
and networking facility. Then, with the computer system it will process the raw materials by
manipulating, calculating and working with the materials to produce output such as
generating report, display the results on screen or in printed form. According to Dewett and
Jones (2001), the managers use the technology to transmits, communicates, or processes
company relevant information electronically for decision making purpose.The output then
can be used for communication purposes such as through email, mobile phones, faxes,
intranet, extranet and the Internet. Besides, the application such as audio video conferencing
is also available that can support online meeting and discussion. From the communication,
the users such as clients, customers, operators and managers can share the results,
information and get feedback from each other.
Moreover, the way they keep the file also affected instead of keep in the physical
drawer or cabinet, they can store their organization’s information in computer’s hard disks,
magnetic tapes, memory, and any other storage medium. They can also manage their files
using the online database which is help them a lot in organizing and managing their files
including avoid data redundancy and easy to retrieve in the future. For instance they can use
database to manage staff records and customer records effectively and efficiently.
Thus, by using the technology, the organizations become more productive, able to
handle large amount of information very fast and accurate; and capable to send and receive
information in an effective way. Furthermore, the technology can assist the organization with
specific tools and software such as presentation software, spreadsheet software, word
processor, accounting software, database software and many more. The technology gives
impact on how the organization should react to apply the technology in their organization.
The security system is the most crucial to have success management in their organization.
According to Fenz, Heurix, Neubauer and Pechstein (2014) all of the assets should be
protected by the organizations such as computers, servers, documents, files, source code,
databases or software applications. They have to make sure that their organizations are
ready to use the technology including to set up a guidelines and policy; and actions to be
taken as a safeguard against the Internet and network security risks such as virus,
unauthorized users, intruders, thefts and system failure. Other than that, the organization
must make sure that their employees are working in a safe electronic environment and
applying the technology with ethics. Referring to Be´langer and Carter (2008) the technology
adoption is based on users’ trust which provides accurate information and secure
transactions. Therefore, the data and network security is very important to ensure every
organization activities are in their intended uses and purposes.
 1012

NETWORK SECURITY POLICY

A network security policy is defined as the policy or rules for data access, web
browsing, password and encryption usage, email practice and any other activities related to
network security environment that should be applied in the organizations. By applying this
policy, the organization can control data access, where it can protect confidential or personal
information from unauthorized users or intruders to access those data. Other than that, the
organization can control their staff in receiving or sending email attachment to third party,
thus will reduce the network security risk and threats.
Because of the technology phenomenon in the organization, they are exposed to
network security risk and it becomes the challenges to the organization. According to
Khidzir, Mohamed and Arshad (2010) these security risks are caused by lack of control on
threats and vulnerabilities. Therefore, it is enforced to set up the network security policy as a
rules and guidelines to be followed by their employees and employers for security purposes.

THE TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES

Technology challenges can be defined as security risk. According to Noraini,

Anthony, Rozi and Masrah (2015) risk is considered as something that might go wrong in an
establishing process. Figure 1 show the challenges that the organizations should faced
includes the Internet and network attacks, unauthorized access and use, thefts and system
failure. The following subsections are the discussion about those challenges.

Figure 1 The Technology Challenges

Internet and
Network
Attacks

Unauthorized
System Technology Access and
Failure Challenges Use

Theft

Internet and Network Attacks

The attacks on the Internet and network include computer viruses, worms and Trojan
horses; botnets; denial of service attacks; back doors; and spoofing. Computer virus is
defined as a computer program that can cause damage to the computer system, information
and communication. The virus can spread from one machine to another and will make the
computer works improperly and abnormal without users knowledge (Natarajan and
Rajarajesware, 2014).
Whereas a worm is a self-replicating computer program which can copy itself
repeatedly in computer memory or on a network (Rajesh, Janardhan and Kumar, 2015).
Worms can use up the computer or networks resources and capable to shut down the
 1013

system without warnings. Virus and worms can replicate themselves to other computers.
They can infect other computers through data transmission on networks or when users open
the infected files on their computers.
On the other hand, a Trojan horse is a program that hides behind other programs and
look legal to users. With the hidden program, the users do not aware of the Trojan horse
existence thus they have no action against it.
A botnet attack is a situation where the computer owner is unaware that their computer
is controlled by the other people which are unauthorized person remotely. Those people with
bad intention use botnets to send spam through email, spread viruses and others. According
to Karim, Salleh, Shiraz, Shah, Awan and Anuar (2014) the botnet has become the most
frightening situation and shown its damaging effect on network communities.

Unauthorized Access and Use

One of the challenges faced by the organizations is the access and use of computers
and its resources by unauthorized people. These unauthorized people use the organization
computers and its resources without permission for their personal use or business that can
give benefit for them.
It is very dangerous when the confidential information of the organizations can be
accessed by outsiders, where they can manipulate and alter information in the system. This
situation can give bad impact to the organization because it involves with the organization
reputation, credibility and reliability.

Theft

Theft can be classified into three categories which are hardware theft, software theft
and information theft. Hardware is referring to all physical equipments of computing
resources such as computers, laptops, printers and scanners. The organizations with those
equipments are exposed to the hardware thefts maybe among their employees or third party.
Software is a tool that is use to complete specific task. Some of the software with
special purpose is available for the company with license. The license is limited to number of
users at a time or the expired date to use it. The organization has to pay for the software
package chosen. This is why people steal others’ software for their personal use or business
purpose.
Information is the data being processed. The information can give potent meaning as it
is meaningful for others when they have it. People can use the information to upgrade their
knowledge, understandings and thus can increase sales of a company through unethical and
without manners.

System Failure

System failure is defined as the breakdown of a computer system. This failure comes
from many factors including natural disasters, old hardware usage, expire software, electrical
power problem, virus spread and worms attacks. This can cause destroy of the equipments,
systems and its resources. System failure can affect the maintenance and recovery cost as it
will also affect the organization’s profits and loss.

DISCUSSION OF THE SOLUTIONS TAKEN BY THE ORGANIZATIONS TO OVERCOME

THE CHALLENGES

The organization can take few actions to overcome the Internet and network attacks.
They can install antivirus program on each computers and laptops in the organization. Other
than that, the organization can send employees for training where they are taught about how
 1014

to take the precautions steps in avoiding the attack. For instance, they never switch on the
computer with removable media plugged in the ports or never open unexpected email from
unknown users. More than that, the organization should install firewall that can filter data
coming from the outsiders. This will reduce the risks of virus spread through the data
transmission on network.
In order to solve the problem of unauthorized access and use, the organization can
install firewall system. Firewall can be hardware or software that filters data from outside to
the organization through network. Files that is suspicious containing unknown data that may
be virus can be blocked at the filtering level, thus secure the organization’s network, systems
and applications. Other than that, the organization also can apply access control system
where the scope of accessing data is limited based on their employees’ job scope. So the
employees cannot access more than what they are supposed to. Thus, the organization’s
confidential data cannot be viewed by others except to authenticate users. This situation will
reduce the data security risks.
Furthermore, the organization can apply identification and authentication system as a
precaution steps in order to avoid from unauthorized users. Identification and authentication
procedure can be applied using password, possessed object or biometric authentication. In
ensuring the password used by the employees and managers are strong and difficult to
brake by others or illegal users, the organization can set password with the combination of
letters and numbers. The longer password will take a long time to break it. In addition, the
organization can use biometric authentication such as employees fingerprint, voice detection
system or iris detection system. This can prevent the unauthorized users to access the
system or information in the organization.
On the other hand, to prevent the physical equipment from being stolen by thefts, the
organization can lock all of the equipments using cables. Besides, to overcome the problem
with software theft and information thefts, organization can apply license agreement to use
the software. Only the authorized users can use the software as it is control by license.
Identification and authentication system can also be applied to prevent from information theft
by using password and biometric authentication. In addition, to prevent from information theft
the organization can apply encryption system for secure data transmission. With encryption,
data is sends in unreadable form as the intruders cannot understand the information being
sent. Thus, it will increase the security standard in an organization.
Besides, organization also has to take precautions steps to prevent or recover from
system failure. They have to have information back up as well as duplicate the computers
and equipments.

CONCLUSION

Overall, network security policy is very important to be applied in an organization as a

standard to be followed by the employers and employees. This is because the network
security risks are always there to attack the computers, system or the organization network.
With applying the policy, everybody in the organization has to play their roles and
understand what they can do and what to avoid in order ensuring the security place on the
right track. The organizations have to play their role in providing steps to be taken to protect
from attacks, threats and intruders. Besides, they also have to prepare with the actions to be
taken to recover from attacks, failure and loss.
 1015

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Critical Threats and Vulnerabilities in ICT Outsourcing, Information Retrieval &
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Threat. International Journal of Innovative Research & Development, 3(7), 229 – 302.

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IT Governance: A Systematic Literature Review, Journal of Theoretical and Applied
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Science & Technology (IJARCST 2015),3(2).
 1016

Auditory- Visual Effect on the Users’ Responses towards the Form

Design of Noisy Product
Abu Hanifa Ab. Hamid
Faculty of Art & Design, UiTM Kedah
hanifa762@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Mohd Hamidi Adha Mohd Amin

Faculty of Art & Design, UiTM Kedah
hamidiadha@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Juaini Jamaludin
Faculty of Art & Design, UiTM Kedah
juaini@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, products should not only be attractive in design, but also be able to provide
comfort and pleasant feeling to its users while functioning. However, some products have
difficulty in providing comfort and pleasantness to their users such as noisy products. Noisy
products refer to products that produce noise while functioning such as the vacuum cleaner.
The noise emitted by the vacuum cleaner has a potential to influence the user’s response
both in a positive and negative way. Thus, this study focuses on investigating the visual
(form design) and auditory (noise) interaction through the response of the vacuum cleaner
users. The aim of this study is to determine whether the attractive form design of a vacuum
cleaner can reduce the negative response of the users on its noise. This study will offer a
new knowledge of design education about the user’s response to the form design of a
product that produces noise while functioning. To achieve the aim and objectives in this
study, a mixed method has been chosen as the research method to be used for the data
collection. Through the study, it can be concluded that the attractive form of the product
could reduce the negative response of the users on its noise. Moreover, the attractive form
design such as modern and simple designs with a strong streamlined and curved shape
have a greater ability to provide positive influence to the users. However, an attractive form
has a greater influence in reducing the user’s negative response if the users have
knowledge and previous experience with the product.

Keywords: Product Noise, Product Form, Users Response

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, the form of the product has been confirmed to have the ability to
communicate with its users by presenting an attractive design as a way of attracting the
user’s attention to approach the product. Moreover, form design can also communicate well
with the users to use the product. Products that are capable of communicating with its users
will reflect the quality image identity of their users (Bloch, 1995). Recent product design
studies also show that the product design helps generate users‟ emotion and illustrate ideas
to improve their lives (Jensen, 1999; Alessi, 2000). Besides, throughout the years, the user
has become more appreciative to a product that has visual appeal. They also began to
appreciate products with attractive designs as that can please them (Csikszentmihalyi and
Robinson, 1990).
 1017

Products with an attractive form design have quickly grown in quantity in parallel with
the advance technology developments. This situation causes the users to become familiar
with a variety of attractive product design, especially the product with modern design. This is
because the modern design of a product can attract the user’s attention to approach the
product (Creusen and Schoormans, 2005; 2011). However, when a product with a modern
form design is more available in the market, consumers’ demands also increases. They
begin to choose products that are not only beautiful and have unique designs, but also
products that are able to bring great product usage experiences. In addition, the designed
product is also required to fulfil the users’ expectation in many aspects. It includes the
product should provide pleasantness and pleasurable feeling to the user while using the
product.
Moreover, when talking about pleasantness product, there are a few products that
have modern design, but still lacking in providing a pleasant feeling to the users while using
the product. Especially products that produce a consequential sound while functioning such
as a vacuum cleaner and a hair dryer (Ӧzcan and Egmond, 2009; 2010). This is because
consequential sound disturbs the users’ auditory and also affects their mind response in a
negative way. If the product elicits a negative belief and response such as emitting
consequential sound while functioning, it may negatively influence the judgements of the
users of the product such as they distance themselves from the product (Bloch, 1995; Lyon,
2000; Egmond, 2008). Apart from that, the consequential sound of the product can also be
recognized as noise. This is because noise refers to the same characteristics of
consequential sound which is a loud, unpleasant and unwanted sound (Thompson, 1995;
Webster, 2016).
Hence, a new situation is arising when the designed product provides both positive
and negative usage experience to the users. For example, a modern vacuum cleaner design
might bring a pleasant feeling to their users besides pleasing them through its function. But
at the same time, it provides an unpleasant feeling to the users through its noise.

THE INTERRELATION BETWEEN AUDITORY AND VISUAL

Based on the McGurk (1976)’s theory on “Effect” (Figure 1), when the human mind is
evaluating the object using different types of senses (visual and auditory) simultaneously,
the responses might be different from usual. This occurs because our minds can easily
respond to the interpreted object through a single sense at one time such as using auditory
to evaluate sounds. But not when it involves interpretation through other senses at the same
time, such as a visual interpretation (Haverkamp, 2009). This is because our mind might
automatically link both received information through visual-auditory interpretations and
combine it into a new one (McGurk and MacDonald, 1976).

Figure 1 A Example of McGurk Effect’s Result When Our Mind Receiving Two Types of
Information from Different Sensory
 1018

By applying these theories on products with a modern design that produces

unwanted sound (noise), the researcher hopes to find an interesting visual-auditory
interpretation and responses from the vacuum cleaner users. This is because the modern
design of a product has the capability to provide a positive response of the product user to
approach the product and also please them to use the product (Creusen and Schoormans,
2005). But, unwanted sounds (noise) emitted from the product works conversely, which will
make the product users feel unpleasant to use the product and also distance themselves
(Lyon, 2000; Egmond, 2008 and Haverkamp, 2009). Moreover, according to Fenko,
Schifferstein and Hekkert (2011), their study is about to find which context is greater to
product noise. As a result, they found that the sound of the product has a greater extend to
the noisy product than the product appearance which is patterned and coloured. Yet, since
they only focus on the pattern and colour of the product, they also suggest that there are
opportunities for future study involving research regarding the role of product shape (form)
on noisy product through the users’ responses. Besides, Creusen (2011) and Hamid (2014)
also added that it is important to explore the interaction between product form and design
towards the users’ responses.

RESEARCH QUESTION

Based on discussion on the theory that is related to this study, several research questions
were made as a path to control the possibility result of this study.

1. Does the attractive product form help to increase the users’ positive response on
noisy product?

2. What are the characteristics of product form that can help increase the positive
response of users?

3. How does the product form affect the users’ response on the noisy product?

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The researcher has also outlined three research objectives to control the research process
as stated below:

1. To compare the different type of form design of noisy product and its effect to the
users’ responses.

2. To identify the types of form design of noisy products that brings the significance
response to the users’ on the noisy product.

3. To specify the characteristic of the product's form that help increase the positive
response of the users’ on the noisy product.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION

This study focuses on investigating the product users’ responses on form design
while evaluating the noisy product through a vacuum cleaner. In this study, the existing
design of vacuum cleaner was selected as a sample product because the vacuum cleaner
can provide both positive and negative usage experience to its users. This is because the
design of the vacuum cleaner can positively influence the response from the user, but the
 1019

consequential sound emitted by vacuum cleaner might cause a negative impression. Apart
from that, for data collection purpose, thirty five married respondents were selected for the
questionnaire and fifteen married respondents were selected for the semi-structured
interview. The subjects were purposely selected among vacuum cleaner users in the
Lembah Bujang, Merbok residential area, ranging in ages from 24 to 40 years old. The study
only analyses the data gained from the respondents’ response to the questions given
including the demographic data of the respondents. The existing vacuum cleaners were
selected as a sample of noisy products, but the investigation only focuses on the user’s
response between its form design and emitted sound.

METHOD

In this study, the researcher uses two different methods to analyse the different types
of data gained. The data gained from the questionnaire is in a quantitative format and the
best way to analyse this type of data is by using the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social
Science) software. The SPSS software is frequently used by researchers to analyse the
quantitative data format (Creswell, 2003). According to Creswell (2003), the SPSS software
is useful to manage the data systematically as it can also help the researcher to get an
instant result. However, since the data from the questionnaire have a different variation
according to the chosen products, it is necessary to analyse the data systematically in order
to avoid any missing value or misinterpretation of the findings.
Hence, to analyse the quantitative data that have been collected through the
questionnaire, the researcher uses the SPSS software to analyse and extract the data into a
numeric value. Then, Descriptive Statistical analysis was used to clearly describe the data
based on its Frequencies Distribution and also Cross Tabulation analysis. Apart from that,
the Content Analysis method is used in the analysing process for the qualitative data
collected through the semi-structured interview. Content analysis is a technique for making
inferences by objectively and systematically identifying specified characteristics of messages
(Holsti, 1969).

SAMPLE OF PRODUCT

Basically, the samples of product were divided into two major groups based on their
characteristic of form design and the volume of its noise (Table 1). All of these samples have
been extracted through the pilot study process. These samples were chosen because the
researcher identified that these samples have the potential to influence the respondents to
give different varieties of answers. The researcher also believes that the samples would help
fulfil the objectives of this study.

Table 1 The Group of Samples with Its Characteristics

Groups Samples Images Combination of Characteristics

Major Minor Vacuum Cleaner Form Design Noise

1. Traditional look.
Low / soft
2. Less styling.
A Product A vacuum cleaner
3. Streamlined and
noise
curved shape.
 1020

1. Traditional look.
2. Less styling. Low / soft
Product B 3. Angle-line and vacuum cleaner
straight / sharp noise
shape.

1. Modern look with

Loud / hard
styling.
Product C vacuum cleaner
2. Streamlined and
Noise
curved shape.
B
1. Modern look with
Loud / hard
styling.
Product D vacuum cleaner
2. Curved and
noise
rounded Shape.

The respondents are required to evaluate all of these samples thoroughly. In

addition, they are also required to choose one of these samples based on their personal
opinion and interest. To evaluate the sample, first, they are given four sample images of the
existing vacuum cleaner and also a sample of its noise. In this step, all of the four samples
are viewed together in one slide through the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1’s screen (Figure 2).
The purpose of this approach to avoid any feelings of discomfort from the respondents such
as questioning on how many samples do they need to evaluate for the survey.

Figure 2 All Samples Are Viewed At Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Screen

Besides that, there is a possibility that the respondents would be disturbed by the
environmental noise. For that reason, the researcher also provided a corded semi-full
headphone to ensure that the respondents could hear the provided sample vacuum cleaner
sound (noise) clearly. This corded semi-full headphone is then being connected on the
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to ensure that the samples of the vacuum cleaner noise are
directly heard by the respondents. Through these samples, the researcher only combined
two characteristics of the vacuum cleaner which is its form design and its noise. The form of
the vacuum cleaner can attract the user’s attention to evaluate the product through its
aesthetics and beauty. Furthermore, the design of the product plays an important role in
 1021

influencing the first impression of the user. The human mind will automatically evaluate and
spontaneously judge the product through its physical properties using the visual senses
during the first impression (Bar and Neta, 2006).

USER RESPONSES ON FORM DESIGN

A good form or design of a product will interact with the consumers. It will attract
them to use the product and then provide quality usage experience for the consumers
(Bloch, 1995). Moreover, people in every culture and time can evaluate products only
through their visual senses. They have also continuously created and produce objects that
are beautiful and can please them (Csikszentmihalyi and Robinson, 1990).
The interaction between product appearances and users are only possible when the
product users are satisfied with other important characteristics of the products. This includes
some issues such as the safety guaranteed while using the product, the utility of the product
and comfort. Once these issues have been assessed and the product users are satisfied,
their intention will shift forward to the design of the product, decoration, emotional and
symbolic of design. Hence, in this context, these appearance properties of the product might
become more important than its tangible character (Crilly, Moultrie and Clarkson, 2004;
Viemeister, 2001).
Users’ response to product is extracted from the communication process of its
design. The communication of design includes how the designed product is being introduced
and perceived by the users or consumers. However, designers have ability to control these
responses through their designed product (Crilly, Moultrie and Clarkson, 2004). The users’
responses on the product are divided into three basic aspects such as: Cognition (cognitive),
Affect (affective) and Behaviour (Bloch, 1995; O’Shaughnessy, 1992; Crilly, Moultrie and
Clarkson, 2004). However, in this study, the researcher focuses on the behavioural response
from the user. Behavioural response relates to the psychological response made by the
users of the product which is how they behave upon the encountering the product. The
behavioural responses of the user on the product are commonly distinguished in terms of
approach and avoid.

Behaviour Response - Approach and Avoid

An approach term describes the users’ interest while the term ‘avoid’ indicates the
users’ disinterest on the product. Marketers frequently hope that their product can evoke
interest for the users to approach the product. If the user is interested in approaching the
product, the product has an advantage to be evaluated thoroughly in its overall design, utility
and most importantly influence the users’ purchase decision (Bloch, 1995; Crilly, Moultrie
and Clarkson, 2004). While the avoid response might cause the user to ignore the product
and consequently cause the user to not purchase the product. A product is considered to be
successful if it can interest the users’ to approach and buy the product. However, when
associated with the users’ experience (cognitive and affective response) and the users are
not satisfied after using it, the product might be exposed to product abuse such as the user
hiding the product (Bloch, 1995; Crilly, Moultrie and Clarkson, 2004).

PRODUCT NOISE AND USER RESPONSE

Many household products are designed to help users complete their household
chores more efficiently, besides giving them comfort while doing their work. This situation
encourages the consumers to continuously buy household products on a yearly basis to
equip their homes and also to improve their quality of life. Besides,
consumers’ spending on household equipment and maintenance has increased from 1994 to
 1022

2010 (The Department of Statistic Malaysia, 2011). This situation has open more
opportunities for companies to manufacture household products. Thus, many companies are
interested in manufacturing innovative new products as a way to compete with other brands,
besides attracting the consumers to buy their products. Additionally, this situation is
important in providing the consumers with more choices in purchasing a product.
However, some of the household equipments may become a noisemaker while it
functions such as vacuum cleaners and a few other kitchen appliances. Although their
contribution as a noisemaker is not very large (Suter, 1991) compared to other noisemaker
sources such as the human activity outside or from natural phenomenon, it still might
contribute to the noise pollution especially in the house itself. This problem will continuously
occur every day as long as the users are still using the product.
The negative emotional response through unacceptable auditory experience will
negatively influence the judgements of the consumers on the product (Lyon, 2000; Egmond,
2008). A product might also cause the consumers to distance themselves from it as long as
the product evokes a negative response and belief from the consumers (Bloch, 1995). For
example, the alarm clock sound is useful, but nonetheless, it can become aggravating if it is
too loud and sharp. Additionally, the vacuum cleaner processing sound might cause a
negative impression to consumers and it might also disturb their hearing. These examples
portray the reflex of the human emotional response towards the product sound. These
responses may affect the expectations of the consumers on the product functionality and
also their purchasing decision (Ӧzcan and Egmond, 2009).

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

In relation to McGurk’s (1976) Effect theory, our mind tends to combine two different
information from our senses to form new information. Based on the analysis results of this
study, the researcher found supporting data that are relevant to McGurk’s theory. When the
user encounters a vacuum cleaner that has an attractive design, but emits disturbing (loud)
noise, their response of the noise is slightly changed. An attractive design of a noisy vacuum
cleaner can influence the user to evoke a positive response of its noise. To analyse the
characteristics of the selected design features and answering the second research question.
By adapting Abidin, Warell and Liem (2011) and Akner-Koler’s (2000) basic visual elements,
the researcher separated the selected design components on the table below (Table 2).

Table 2 The Evaluation of Attractive Design Features

Product A Product C

Form entity in Form entity in

solid as viewed by solid as viewed by
respondents respondents
 1023

Gestalt: Gestalt:
 No attraction  No attraction

Attractive design Attractive design

components components
(‘x’ stand for (‘x’ stand for
times) times)

Features: Features:
 Streamline (7x,  Streamline (2x,
2x) 2x)

Features:
 Fillet / curved-
shape (8x) Features:
 Streamlined  Streamlined
shape (8x) shape
 Flat / straight (8x,8x,8x,2x)
shape (2x)

Components:
Components:
 Button shape /
 Button location
location (9x, 3x)
(7x)
 Outlet hose
 Outlet hose
connector
connector
location (3x)
location (6x)

Through these selected features, it can be seen that the majority of the users was
attracted to highlight the shape features rather than lines while gestalt was out of the
selection. Based on Bar and Neta’s (2006) statement, the users will visually evaluate a
whole product form before moving on to the specific features that attract their visual senses.
Thus, in this case, it can be assumed that the users did not select the gestalt of the product
form because they had focused on the specific features or components of the product while
answering the question. Besides, the users might also be making these selections because
they were influenced by their personal opinion. The reason is because some users had
highlighted that the streamline shape of the vacuum cleaner makes the product look bulky
and illustrate its dust container capacity. The users also assumed that the products with
sleek streamlined shape features are easier to be taken care of, such as easy to wipe off its
dirt or dust. Nevertheless, the gestalt of the product seems useful especially when the users
related the form gestalt of the product with their living environment. It is shown when the
 1024

users highlighted that the vacuum cleaner seems suitable with their housing space as the
form makes the vacuum cleaner easier to lift, locate and store in a limited housing space.
Regarding to the third research question, the researcher discovers that about 40.0%
of the users consciously select the noisy but attractive vacuum cleaner (Product C), which is
the same value gained from the low noise vacuum cleaner (Product A). The researcher has
also discovered that an attractive design which is modern and simple helps in positively
influencing the user’s first impression while encountering the product. Moreover, the
attractive design of the product also attracts the user’s attention to approach the product and
this will open up an opportunity for the user to evaluate the product features and
characteristics such as its functions and utility. It appears that a modern and simple design
can evoke a cognitive response through the user’s aesthetic impression and semantic
interpretation. This is because the aesthetic impression is influenced by the visual
interpretation by the user based on the appearance representation of the product (Crilly,
Moultrie and Clarkson, 2004).

Figure 3 The Framework of the User’s Response in the Study

Noisy Product
(Vacuum Cleaner)

Design Noise

Senses Interpretation

Visual Auditory

Expectatio
Function, Personal
Attractivenes n
Utility and Experiences
s
Quality Knowledge

Cognitive Response

Emotion
Affect Response
Feeling

Believed Product Acceptance

Satisfied

Behaviour Response
(Approach )

A positive aesthetic impression occurs when the appearance design of the product
communicates well with the user’s personal understanding (Crilly, 2005). In relation to the
findings, the researcher discovered that the modern but noisy vacuum cleaner brings a
greater satisfaction feeling to the users compared with the vacuum cleaner with low noise
but has a poor design (traditional and cheap design look).
 1025

Unexpectedly, the users who chose the modern vacuum cleaner preferred to stick
with the product even though they have already acknowledged that the vacuum cleaner has
a loud and disturbing noise. Meanwhile, the users who have selected the low noise vacuum
cleaner preferred to change their selection if the vacuum cleaner has a disturbing noise even
though they admitted the design is attractive. It was discovered in this study that the users
would accept the noise emitted by the vacuum cleaner if they are influenced through the
design of the vacuum cleaner. Hence, through these discussions, the researcher has
outlined a framework (Figure 3) for a clearer explanation about the responses made by the
users of the noisy product.
This successful combination will positively influence the users in evoking cognitive
(visual interpretation) response through their aesthetic impression (attractiveness), semantic
interpretation (function; utility; quality) and symbolic association (user’s personal life) on the
design of the product. In order to positively evoke a cognitive response, the user will relate
the information gained through product appearance with their personal experience.

CONCLUSION

Through this response, it can be summarized that the user still appreciates the
product if they admire its design even though they face difficulty in accepting the
weaknesses of the product. Thus, it can be summarized that an attractive design has the
ability to reduce a negative response of the users on the noise emitted by the product.
Besides that, the researcher assumed that the users were attracted to the product due to its
eyes catching design features. The gestalt helps them in comparing the form design of the
product with other products and at the same time, relates its fittings with their living
environment. Then, they let the design features and components help them in interpreting
the product.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research was financially supported by Research Excellent Fund, UiTM Kedah (Project
Number: 600-UiTMKDH(PJI. 5/4/1/26/15). This support is gracefully acknowledged.

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ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

van Egmond, R. (2008). The experience of product sounds. In H. N. J. Schifferstein, &

P.Hekkert (Eds.), Product Experience. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
 1027

Viemeister, T (2001), ‘Beautility’ innovation. The Journal of the Industrial Designers Society
of America, Vol 20 No 3 38-41.

Webster, M. (2016). Merriam-Webster.com. Available: http://www.merriamwebster. com/

dictionary/ noise [Assessed on 2016, 5 September].
 1028

Kempen Makan Malam Tanpa Gajet :

Cabaran Komunikasi Kekeluargaan
Anisafina Maidin
Fakulti Komunikasi dan Pengajian Media, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Melaka
anisafina@melaka.uitm.edu.my

Siti Najah Raihan Sakrani

Fakulti Komunikasi dan Pengajian Media, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Melaka
najahraihan@melaka.uitm.edu.my

Shafezah Abdul Wahab

Fakulti Komunikasi dan Pengajian Media, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Melaka
shafezah@melaka.uitm.edu.my

Prof Madya Dr. Mohd Adnan Hashim

Fakulti Komunikasi dan Pengajian Media, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Shah Alam
adnanh@melaka.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRAK

Era komunikasi dan media terus berkembang dengan begitu pesat. Sifat dinamik bukan
sekadar merubah cara manusia berinteraksi bahkan mencipta pelantar baru setiap ketika
untuk tujuan komunikasi. Kewujudan gajet dengan aplikasi pintar menjadikannya semakin
sempurna sebagai sebuah alat pendamping. Gajet pintar ini telah membentuk komunikasi
baharu dalam budaya masyarakat termasuk aspek kualiti gaya hidup, pekerjaan
sehinggalah hubungan kekeluargaan. Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan
Masyarakat Malaysia (KPWKM) ada menggerakkan kempen 'No Mobile During Dinner'
(Makan Malam Tanpa Gajet) bagi menggalakkan ahli keluarga berinteraksi secara terus di
meja makan. Persoalannya, adakah penggunaan gajet ketika di meja makan menjejaskan
kualiti komunikasi kekeluargaan ataupun penggunaanya mampu mengeratkan lagi
hubungan kekeluargaan? Kajian ini membawa kepada temubual bersama pihak yang
signifikan seterusnya meninjau persoalan secara lebih terperinci. Hasil kajian ini dapat
merungkai keperluan dan kualiti penggunaan gajet ketika menikmati makan malam
seterusnya memberi satu hala tuju signifikan pengarahan terhadap kempen yang dijalankan.

Kata kunci : Komunikasi, Keluarga, Gajet

PENDAHULUAN

Institusi keluarga merupakan komponen sosial yang amat penting dalam sesebuah
masyarakat. Institusi keluarga yang bahagia menjadi rencah dalam pembentukan sesebuah
negara yang maju, bermaruah dan dihormati. Keghairahan masyarakat untuk seiring dengan
perkembangan teknologi dalam komunikasi sedikit sebanyak telah membawa kesan
terhadap kerukunan institusi keluarga itu sendiri. Menidakkan kehadiran teknologi dalam
komunikasi keluarga pula dilihat perkara yang melanggar norma. Ini kerana teknologi dalam
berkomunikasi jelas dapat mempermudah penyaluran dan perkongsian maklumat antara ahli
keluarga.
Peranan komunikasi dalam sesebuah keluarga itu sendiri diakui penting
berdasarkan kepada penulisan ilmiah oleh para sarjana. Namun begitu, keberkesanan
komunikasi dalam sesebuah keluarga kini disaingi oleh peranan berbagai elemen yang
lain yang mencabar keakraban hubungan kekeluargaan. Salah satu daripada elemen
 1029

berkenaan ialah gajet. Namun apakah kehadiran gajet ini menjauhkan anggota keluarga
karena masing-masing sibuk dengan urusan masing-masing?
Kehadiran gajet dalam teknologi komunikasi dilihat sebagai satu fenomena yang
sangat luar biasa. Ianya bukan sekadar alat menjadi penghubung antara teman dan sanak
saudara tetapi pelbagai aplikasi lain turut dihidangkan seperti melayari internet, mendengar
muzik, merakam video dan gambar serta pelbagai aplikasi multimedia yang lain. Kehebatan
gajet ini telah mengundang pelbagai reaksi dan kesan positif dan tidak kurang yang negatif
di kalangan masyarakat.

Latar Belakang Kajian

Kajian ini adalah berkaitan kempen makan malam tanpa gejat dari kalangan
masyarakat Malaysia. Ini bererti kajian ini melihat keaktifan serta komitmen ahli keluarga
dalam kempen ini bagi memastikan cabaran komunikasi dalam kekeluargaan sentiasa
terjalin baik.
Kajian ini menumpukan kepada golongan masyarakat berperingkat dari segi kategori
belia, umur produktif dan warga emas.

Pernyataan Masalah

Pernahkah kita berhadapan dengan senario di mana bapa sibuk membaca komen di
aplikasi Facebook (FB) di komputer ribanya, ibu pula sibuk bergelak-tawa bersama teman
melalui aplikasi Whatsapp di telefon bimbitnya, kakak pula seronok berbual dengan
temannya menerusi aplikasi Skype di tabletnya dan manakala si adik dihidangkan dengan
permainan atas talian sedangkan kesemua ahli keluarga tersebut sedang bersama
menikmati hidangan makan malam? Wujudkah komunikasi langsung antara mereka?
Persoalan inilah yang ingin dirungkai menerusi kaji selidik Kempen Makan Malam Tanpa
Gajet : Cabaran Komunikasi Kekeluargaan.

Objektif Kajian

Secara khususnya kajian ini bertujuan mendapatkan maklumat berkaitan kempen

makan malam tapa gajet dari kalangan masyarakat Malaysia sekaligus melihat cabaran
komunikasi kekeluargaan pada arus penggunaan gajet tanpa sempadan ini. Justeru, tiga
objektif telah digariskan bagi menentukan hala tuju kajian ini;

1. Mengetahui tujuan penggunaan gajet dari kalangan ahli keluarga semasa maka
malam.
2. Mengenalpasti hubungan kekeluargaan antara keluarga yang menggunakan gajet
semasa makan malam.
3. Melihat sejauh mana penggunaan gajet semasa makan malam memberi impak
kepada hubungan keluarga.

Persoalan Kajian

Berdasarkan objektif-objektif kajian yang telah dinyatakan, persoalan-persoalan

kajian berikut digarapkan melalui analisis kandungan kualitatif.

1. Apakah tujuan penggunaan gajet dari kalangan ahli keluarga semasa makan malam?
2. Bagaimanakah hubungan kekeluargaan antara keluarga yang menggunakan gajet
ketika makan malam?
3. Sejauh mana penggunaan gajet semasa makan malam member impak kepada
hubungan keluarga?
 1030

Kepentingan Kajian

Kajian ini penting memandangkan kecenderungan masyarakat menggunakan gajet

mempengaruhi gaya hidup yang kian menjadi ikutan. Hal ini berikutan kemudahan aplikasi
gajet yang mudah dan menarik menjadi penanda aras sosial kehidupan masyarakat kini.

Batasan Kajian

Kajian ini menumpukan hanya kepada tiga kategori umum masyarakat secara rawak
di Malaysia yang menggunakan gajet. Kajian pada skala kecil ini tidak dapat mewakili
keseluruhan responden bagi kempen ini.

Skop Kajian

Kajian ini memberi tumpuan kepada tiga kumpulan umum masyarakat Malaysia yang
terdiri daripada :

i. Belia:

Menurut Kamus Dewan (2016), istilah dan definisi belia bermaksud muda belia,
sangat muda, golongan muda secara keseluruhannya yang terdiri daripada pemuda
dan pemudi. Di Malaysia, belia dikategorikan mereka yang berusia di antara 16
hingga 40 tahun.

ii. Umur Pertengahan:

Kategori sampel bagi umur ini adalah mereka yang berumur 41 hingga 59. Di mana
kumpulan pertengahan di antara belia dan warga emas.

iii. Warga Emas:

Warga emas ditakrifkan mereka yang berumur 60 tahun ke atas. Takrifan ini
berpandukan kepada takrifan yang dibuat di “World Assembly On Ageing 1982” di
Vienna.

SOROTAN LITERATUR

Keluarga merupakan sebuah sistem sosial yang terdiri dari ayah, ibu, dan anak, yang
memiliki ikatan darah, perkawinan, atau adopsi serta tinggal bersama. Dalam sebuah sistem
sosial keluarga memiliki peranan serta fungsinya masing-masing untuk mencapai tujuan dari
sistem sosial tersebut. Tujuan terbentuknya keluarga tersebut ialah menciptakan keluarga
yang sejahtera, baik secara fisik, materi, spiritual, serta meningkatkan kedudukan keluarga
dalam masyarakat. Dalam hubungan kekeluargaan yang sebenar, komunikasi merupakan
sesuatu yang harus dibina, sehingga setiap ahli keluarga dapat merasakan ikatan yang
mendalam serta saling memerlukan antara satu sama lain. (Rahmawati Priska Pandin,
2016).
Komunikasi berkesan dalam sesebuah keluarga perlu melalui penyatuan elemen
yang pelbagai dan mendalam. Komunikasi keluarga adalah suatu pengorganisasian yang
menggunakan kata-kata, sikap tubuh (gesture), intonasi suara, tindakan untuk menciptakan
harapan (image), ungkapan perasaan serta saling membagi pengertian (Achdiat, 2012).
Komunikasi tanpa emosi sama ada oleh si penyampai atau si penerima dapat
diumpamakan seperti lagu tanpa irama atau si uda tanpa si dara. Meletakkan emosi atau
empati pada topik bicara adalah pelengkap komunikasi itu sendiri. Berempati artinya
membayangkan diri kita pada kejadian yang menimpa orang lain. Dengan empati kita
 1031

berusaha melihat seperti orang lain melihat, merasakan seperti orang lain merasakan
(Rakhmat, 2001).
Namun dewasa ini, kehadiran gajet seolah-olah mematikan seni dalam komunikasi
keluarga itu sendiri. Salah satu dari implikasi penggunaan gajet ialah kewujudan apa yang
dikenali sebagai jurang generasi yang seringkali merujuk kepada perbezaan yang wujud
antara generasi yang menyebabkan wujudnya konflik dan komunikasi yang mencabar. Jelas
bahawa sangat perlu dilakukan usaha-usaha untuk merapatkan jurang-jurang tersebut
bermula dalam unit-unit keluarga (Rafidah Aziz, Utusan Malaysia, Mac 2015).
Dalam persoalan ini siapa yang perlu dipertanggungjawabkan? Siapakah yang perlu
memainkan peranan utama? Namun, menuding jari bukanlah jalan penyelesaian yang
terbaik. Apa yang paling mustahak ialah memperkukuhkan institusi kekeluargaan sebagai
teras masyarakat yang harmoni dan stabil dari sudut rohani dan intelektual dalam
memerangi keruntuhan sosial dan moral. Di sinilah peranan ibu bapa sebagai agen
pemangkin perubahan sosialisasi.
Keruntuhan moral disebabkan oleh hakisan nilai-nilai moral dan etika hanya boleh
diatasi bukan sahaja melalui undang-undang atau peraturan tetapi dengan menaik taraf
kualiti hidup keluarga dengan memberi penekanan kepada disiplin dan perilaku moral yang
baik (Lee Lam Thye, Utusan Malaysia, Julai 2015).
Kita seringkali dimomokkan dengan situasi keruntuhan sosial sejagat kesan dari
teknologi. Ibu bapa perlu akur dan seterusnya mengambil langkah proaktif yang
sewajarnya. Ibu bapa perlu melengkapkan diri mereka dengan kemahiran yang sesuai
untuk menghadapi perubahan dalam institusi keluarga dan kualiti hidup akibat daripada
pembangunan ekonomi negara yang pesat, kesan dari teknologi dan perubahan
persekitaran yang pelbagai. Sikap dan sistem nilai yang diamalkan oleh keluarga
membentuk asas kepada keluarga yang kuat, stabil dan bahagia (Lee Lam Thye, Utusan
Malaysia, Julai 2015).

METODOLOGI KAJIAN

Menurut Burn (1995), Merriem (1998) dan Yin (1995) penggunaan rekabentuk
penyelidikkan kajian kes menggunakan kaedah kualitatif amat sesuai apabila melibatkan
pemerhatian terhadap individu atau unit, satu kumpulan manusia, satu kelas, sekolah,
masyarakat, peristiwa atau budaya. Satu kajian kes haruslah memfokuskan kepada subjek
yang mempunyai kriteria atau ciri yang ingin dikaji. Ini bermakna sesuatu kajian kes
kebanyakkannya mengkaji tentang individu atau peristiwa dalam lingkungan budaya atau
persekitaran mereka (Burn, 1995).
Beberapa penyelidik kebelakangan ini telah menekankan tentang kebaikan kajian
kes. Sebagai contoh Merriem (1998), menyatakan kajian kes telah meningkatkan
kefahaman yang mendalam terhadap subjek yang dikaji, memfokuskan lebih kepada proses
berbanding output serta mementingkan penemuan lebih daripada pengesahan teori atau
dapatan kajian.
Menurut Yin (1995), kajian kes adalah strategi penyelidikkan yang memfokus kepada
persoalan ‘siapa’, ‘mengapa’ dan ‘apakah’. Ini bermakna kajian kes dapat dilaksanakan
secara menyeluruh dan lebih holistik bagi mengetahui ciri – ciri dalam sesuatu peristiwa atau
kehidupan sebenar. Untuk mendapatkan gambaran yang lengkap, sesuatu kajian kes
perlulah melakukan pengumpulan data dari pelbagai sumber bagi membolehkan
pemahaman yang mendalam terhadap sesuatu kajian (Burn, 1995).
Kaedah ini memberatkan usaha untuk mencari dan memberikan keterangan serta
pemerhatian bukan numerikal walaupun terdapat keterangan yang merujuk kepada statistik.
Kebanyakan kajian dalam bidang ini memberikan keterangan, interpretasi, atau makna
dalam sesuatu proses komunikasi.
Kaedah ini juga lebih merupakan usaha untuk memberikan keterangan tentang sifat
dan keadaan manusia dengan menggunakan pandangan umum tentang apa-apa saja
 1032

tindakan sosial. Justeru, penyelidikan kualitatif tidak tertumpu ke arah pengutipan maklumat
yang banyak.
Sebaliknya, kaedah ini berusaha untuk memperoleh maklumat berkualiti dengan
memberikan tumpuan terhadap sampel yang kecil. Antara kaedah kajian kualitatif yang
digunakan dalam penyelidikkan mengenai penggunaan gajet semasa makan malam
bersama keluarga adalah seperti yang berikut:

1) Kajian Kes dan Kajian Interpretatif

Kajian melibatkan pertanyaan intensif tentang peristiwa, pihak, atau unit sosial tertentu;
pendekatan ini cuba mencari tema atau cerita yang boleh membantu usaha
menginterpretasikan atau memahami kes. Contohnya, mengkaji persekitaran peningkatan
trend penggunaan gajet ketika makan malam bersama keluarga.

2) Kajian Pemerhatian Penyertaan

Pengkaji memainkan peranan sebagai agen aktif dalam keadaan yang sedang dikaji.
Contohnya, mengkaji proses penghasilan dan penulisan berita mengenai kempen makan
malam tanpa gajet.

ANALISA KAJIAN

Metodologi kajian menggunakan apparatus temubual untuk kajian ini secara rawak
telah melibatkan enam orang awam sebagai informan. Kajian ini telah mengkaji tujuan dan
mengenalpasti hubungan kekeluargaan antara keluarga serta melihat sejauh mana
penggunaan gajet semasa makan malam memberi impak kepada hubungan kekeluargaan.

Latar Belakang Informan

Maklumat berkaitan latar belakang informan adalah seperti di jadual 1.

Jadual 1 Latar Belakang Informan

Informan Jantina Kumpulan Umur

Informan 1 Lelaki 26
Informan 2 Perempuan 19
Informan 3 Lelaki 41
Informan 4 Perempuan 52
Informan 5 Lelaki 61
Informan 6 Perempuan 63

Tujuan Penggunaan Gajet Dari Kalangan Ahli Keluarga Semasa Makan Malam

1. Apakah laman web / aplikasi pilihan untuk dilayari ketika makan malam bersama
keluarga?
 1033

Jadual 2: Web / Aplikasi Pilihan Untuk Dilayari

Web / aplikasi Respon

Informan 1: “Semestinya media sosial menjadi keutamaan.
Setiap notifikasi menarik minat saya untuk memberi respon”.

Media Sosial Informan 2: “Saya memilih untuk melayari aplikasi Instagram

dan Whatsapp. Biasanya saya akan muat naik gambar
makanan dan tempat makan”.

Informan 3: “Saya lebih tertumpu kepada applikasi Whatsapp”

Informan 4: “Saya gemar membaca dan membalas Whatsapp

yang dihantar oleh teman-teman dan juga bahan yang terpapar
di FB serta instagram”

Informan 5: “Saya cuma menjawab Whatsapp dari kalangan

ahli keluarga dan sesekali melihat info terkini di FB.

Informan 6: “Whatsapp menjadi pilihan saya kerana ada

perbualan secara langsung dengan keluarga atau rakan”.

Informasi Informan 1: “Saya akan pastikan setiap pagi untuk melayari

web berita untuk mendapatkan berita-berita terkini”.

Majoriti sampel (informan) yang terlibat dalam kajian ini memilih untuk melayari
media sosial semasa menggunakan gajet ketika menikmati makan malam bersama
keluarga. Antara aplikasi popular yang menjadi pilihan adalah Whatsapp, FB dan
instagram. Hanya seorang sampel (informan) yang memilih untuk melayari web yang
menghidangkan informasi terkini dan waktu melayari hanyalah di waktu pagi.

2. Di manakah tempat menjadi pilihan menggunakan gajet ketika makan malam

bersama keluarga?

Jadual 3 Tempat Pilihan Menggunakan Gajet

Tempat Respon
Kedai Makan Dan Informan 1: “Saya tidak memilih. Kedua-dua tempat tetap gajet
Rumah di tangan”.

Informan 2: “Saya lebih kerap berdamping dengan gajet ketika

makan malam di luar berbanding di rumah. Tetapi di rumah
juga saya tetap berdamping dengan gajet walaupun
kekerapannya tidak sama seperti makan malam di luar”.

Informan 3: “Waktu makan di kedua-dua tempat saya

menggunakan gajet”.

Informan 5: “Tiada beza. Saya menggunakan gajet ketika

makan bersama keluarga di luar atau di dalam rumah”.
Kedai Makan Informan 4: “Di rumah saya langsung tidak menggunakan
gajet ketika makan bersama keluarga. Saya sibuk
menyediakan keperluan makan ketika itu”.

Informan 6: “Saya cuma bersama gajet ketika makan bersama

keluarga di luar kerana masa ketika di rumah saya
menggunakan sepenuh masa melayani keluarga”.
 1034

Majoriti sampel (informan) menyatakan penggunaan gajet adalah ketika menikmati

makan malam samada di rumah atau pun di luar. Mereka tidak menghadkan situasi atau
keadaan untuk melayari gajet. Terdapat juga sampel (informan) yang hanya menggunakan
gajet ketika makan malam di luar dan memberikan tumpuan sepenuhnya kepada keluarga
ketika makan malam di rumah.

Mengenalpasti Hubungan Kekeluargaan Antara Keluarga yang Menggunakan Gajet

Semasa Makan Malam

1. Bagaimana hubungan komunikasi antara keluarga ketika menggunakan gajet

semasa makan malam bersama keluarga?

Jadual 4: Komunikasi Antara Keluarga Ketika Menggunakan Gajet

Hubungan Respon
Mesra Informan 1: “Kami tetap berbual dan mesra. Kerap kali topik
yang menjadi bualan adalah apa yang dibaca melalui gajet.
Kami juga menghormati antara satu sama lain, jika ada isu
penting yang dibincangkan, gajet pasti akan diletakkan”.

Informan 4: “Walaupun bentuk topik perbualan tidak begitu

serius namun kami tetap berbual antara satu sama lain”.

Informan 5: “Keluarga yang ada bersama semasa makan

malam tidak saya abaikan. Saya tetap memberikan perhatian
sepenuhnya kepada mereka walaupun gajet di tangan kerana
bukan setiap masa saya menggunakan gajet tersebut. Hanya
masa tertentu sahaja”.

Informan 6: “Sesekali sahaja tumpuan saya teralih kepada

gajet. Contohnya jika ada notifikasi Whatsapp. Yang
selebihnya tumpuan kepada keluarga yang ada bersama”.

Kurang Mesra Informan 2: “Bila setiap ahli keluarga sibuk dengan gajet
sendiri, maka perbualan menjadi kurang mesra. Sekadar
perbualan biasa dan tidak menyentuh perkara yang lebih
beremosi dan menyentuh aspek kekeluargaan yang lebih
mendalam”.

Informan 3: “Jarang ada komunikasi antara kami kerana saya

dan isteri lebih fokus kepada gajet. Manakala anak-anak yang
lain sibuk sesama mereka”.

Menurut sampel (informan) secara majoriti mengatakan kemesraan tetap terjalin

antara mereka semasa menikmati makan malam walau pun ketika menggunakan gajet.
Perhatian dan keutamaan tetap diberikan kepada ahli keluarga yang berada di sekeliling
ketika itu. Namun tetap juga ada sampel (informan) yang mengatakan komunikasi yang
terjalin kurang mesra.

2. Adakah penggunaan gajet ketika makan malam bersama keluarga di lakukan

secara sendirian atau beramai-ramai antara ahli keluarga?
 1035

Jadual 5 Penggunaan Gajet Dilakukan Secara Sendirian Atau Bersama Ahli

Keluarga

Penggunaan gajet Respon

Bersama Ahli Keluarga Informan 1: “Setiap ahli keluarga menggunakan gajet masing-
masing”.

Informan 2: “Tiada ahli keluarga yang terkecuali dari

menggunakan gajet sendiri”.

Informan 4: “Kesemua ahli keluarga bermain gajet masing-

masing.

Informan 5: “Mereka menggunakan gajet sendiri tetapi tidaklah

setiap masa. Cuma sesekali”.

Informan 6: “Ada juga ahli keluarga yang kerap bermain gajet

tetapi ada juga yang sekali sekala sahaja”.

Hanya Berdua Informan 3: “Hanya saya dan isteri bermain gajet. Anak-anak
tidak diberikan gajet maka mereka bergurau atau berbual
sesama mereka.”

Hampir keseluruhan sampel (informan) menyatakan setiap ahli keluarga

menggunakan gajet masing-masing ketika makan malam bersama. Namun tidak pula
mengabaikan kehadiran keluarga yang bersama ketika itu. Seorang sampel (informan) pula
menyatakan mereka berdua (suami isteri atau ibu dan ayah) sahaja yang menggunakan
gajet.

Sejauh Mana Penggunaan Gajet Semasa Makan Malam Memberi Impak Kepada
Hubungan Keluarga

1. Respon atau interaksi antara ahli keluarga semasa penggunaan gajet ketika
makan malam bersama keluarga?

Jadual 6 Respon Atau Interaksi Antara Ahli Keluarga Semasa Penggunaan Gajet

Respon / Respon
interaksi
Tegur Informan 1: “Ibu bapa saya pasti akan tegur dengan tegas. Kami diminta
untuk meletakkan gajet ketika sama-sama menikmati makan malam”

Informan 2: “Kami saling menegur setiap ahli keluarga yang melayari gajet.
Adakalanya saya juga menegur ibu bapa saya dan mereka menerima
dengan positif”

Tidak Informan 3: “Anak-anak tidak masalah bila saya bermain gajet kerana
Kisah kadang-kala mereka turut sama melihat apa yang saya layari”.

Informan 4: “Kami ada pahaman yang sama. Akan ada satu masa semua
gajet diletakkan ke tepi dan fokus pada makan dan perbualan in situ”.

Informan 5: “Tidak ada yang memberikan reaksi negatif kerana mereka

faham dan hormati keadaan”.

Informan 6: “Tiada masalah yang timbul kerana setiap ahli keluarga tahu
peranan”.
 1036

Secara majoritinya sampel (informan) mamaklumkan ahli keluarga tidak memberikan

reaksi yang negatif ketika ahli keluarga yang lain menggunakan gajet. Keadaan ini
terdorong berlandaskan tatacara pemakaian gajet yang masih lagi terkawal oleh setiap ahli
keluarga. Namun tetap ada ahli keluarga yang menegur perbuatan menggunakan ketika
makan malam bersama keluarga sepertimana yang dimaklumkan oleh dua sampel
(informan).

2. Bagaimana kualiti komunikasi antara keluarga ketika menggunakan gajet di meja

makan bersama keluarga?

Jadual 7 Kualiti Komunikasi Ketika Menggunakan Gajet

Kualiti Komunikasi Respon

Kurang Berkualiti Informan 1: “Tiada kualiti dalam berkomunikasi. Sekadar
perbualan biasa dan tidak menyentuh perkara yang lebih
beremosi dan menyentuh aspek kekeluargaan yang lebih
mendalam.

Informan 2: “Perkara ini seharusnya dielakkan. Kempen yang

dibuat oleh Kementerian ini patut diperluaskan dan saya amat
menyokong kerana waktu makan sepatunya merupakan masa
untuk bersama keluarga”
Informan 3: “Jarang ada komunikasi yang baik atau berkualiti”.
Berkualiti Informan 4: “Bila waktu bermain gajet telah tamat, maka tiada
masalah untuk memberikan perhatian sepenuhnya kepada
situasi semasa”.

Informan 5: “Saya akan memberhentikan penggunaan gajet

serta merta jika ada perbualan berlangsung. Jadi tumpuan
saya 100% kepada ahli keluarga di hadapan”.

Informan 6: “Tumpuan memang saya lebihkan kepada ahli

keluarga yang sedang duduk bersama”.

Hasil dapatan bagi persoalan ini menunjukkan tiga sampel (informan) menyatakan
komunikasi kualiti tetap terjalin walaupun ketika menggunakan gajet. Tiga lagi sampel
(informan) pula menyatakan komunikasi yang tidak berkualiti terjalin sesama mereka.

KESIMPULAN

Waktu makan merupakan satu aktiviti yang sewajarnya menjadi satu masa berkualiti
bagi mengeratkan hubungan kekeluargaan. Waktu makan malam pula dilihat sebagai satu
aktiviti paling mudah menjadi pengerat hubungan memandangkan masa ini adalah diluar
waktu rasmi bekerja yakni diluar waktu pejabat. Ini merupakan kesempatan terbaik bagi
setiap ahli untuk berkumpul dan bertemu setelah menyudahkan tugasan harian.
Berdasarkan kajian skala kecil ini penggunaan gajet masih terkawal dikalangan
setiap peringkat umur informan menjadikan aktiviti makan malam tidak terganggu-gugat.
Justeru, kempen yang dianjurkan oleh pihak kementerian ini dilihat sebagai satu cara
mendidik dan mengekalkan gaya hidup berkomunikasi erat. Kempen ini wajar diperluaskan
agar ia dilihat sebagai ‘peringatan’ dan panduan agar kecenderungan menggunakan gajet
tanpa batasan sehingga menjejejaskan kualiti komunikasi kekeluargaan dapat dipelihara.
 1037

RUJUKAN

Achdiat (2012). “Pengertian Komunikasi Keluarga” Yogyakarta.

Che Su Binti Mustafa, Nan Zakiah Megat Ibrahim (2014). “Persepsi Dan Penggunaan
Media Sosial Dari Perspektif Ibu Bapa: Satu Analisis Kualitatif, Jurnal Komunikasi
Jilid 30.

Dr. Aminudin Mansor (2015). “Keberkesanan Didikan Di Rumah: Didikan Ibu Tiga Kali
Lebih Berkesan Berbanding Bapa, Utusan Malaysia.

Dr. Jessica Ong Hai Liaw (2012). “Tempias Kecanggihan Teknologi Maklumat”, Utusan
Malaysia.

Lee Lam Thye (2015). “Perkukuh Institusi Keluarga”, Utusan Malaysia.

Mohd. Ghazali Alias (2017). “Kehidupan Maya Gen Z”, Kosmo.

Rafidah Aziz (2015). “Jurang generasi: Kesan Dalam Keluarga, Masyarakat”, Utusan
Malaysia.

Rahmawati Priska Pandin (2016). “Fungsi Keluarga Dalam Mendidik Anak Putus Sekolah
Di Kampung Suaran Kecamatan Sambaliung Kabupaten Berau” Jakarta.

Rakhmat, Djalaludin (2001). “Metode Penelitian Komunikasi” Bandung.

Rozaman Ismail (2016). “Sesekali Bebaskan Diri ‘Diikat’ Telefon Bimbit”, Utusan Malaysia.
 1038

Gagasan Madrasah al-Zahra’:

Reaksi Said Nursi Ke Arah Penubuhan Universiti Islam di Akhir
Kerajaan Uthmaniyah
Dr. Mohd Nasir Ayub
Akademi Pengajian Islam Kontemporari, Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah
mnasir251@kedah.uitm.edu.my.

Mohd Marbawi Taha

Akademi Pengajian Islam Kontemporari, Universiti Teknologi MARA Pulau Pinang
mohdmarbawi620@ppinang.uitm.edu.my

Surita Hartini Mat Hassan

Pusat Kajian Pengurusan Pembangunan Islam (ISDEV), Universiti Sains Malaysia
hartinihassan79@yahoo.com

ABSTRAK

Aspek Pendidikan amat ditekankan dalam ajaran Islam. Pendidikan yang berkualiti menurut
kaca mata Islam akan membentuk sahsiah Muslim yang beriman serta cemerlang dunia dan
akhirat. Dalam konteks yang lebih menyeluruh penubuhan universiti sebagai medan ilmu
yang lebih bersistematik telah lama dipraktikkan di negara umat Islam, khususnya dengan
kewujudan Universiti Al-Azhar, yang merupakan universiti tertua di dunia. Namun, apakah
penubuhan universiti-uiniversiti di negara umat Islam kini memenuhi keperluan umat Islam
itu sendiri sekaligus menepati ciri-ciri ketamadunan Islam. Kertas kerja ini berhasrat
mencungkil idea-idea pendidikan oleh seorang pemikir Islam di akhir pemerintahan kerajaan
Uthmani di Turki, iaitu Syeikh Badiuzzaman Said Nursi yang dianggap tokoh yang telah
menemukan ilmu agama dan ilmu sains dalam kerangka yang satu berdasarkan model
Madrasah al-Zahra’. Kajian ini adalah kajian kepustakaan dan analisisnya pula berdasarkan
kerangka analisis kandungan. Kajian ini mendapati bahawa idea penubuhan Universiti Islam
Madrasah al-Zahra’ oleh Syeikh Badiuzzaman Said Nursi amat selari dengan tuntutan
agama, memenuhi keperluan umat Islam serta mengembalikan kekuatan umat Islam dalam
mendepani penjajahan kuasa Barat pada ketika itu.

Kata kunci: Madrasah al-Zahra’, Said Nursi, Universiti Islam, Kerajaan Uthmani

PENDAHULUAN

Pembangunan sahsiah dan moral umat Islam menjadi agenda utama masyarakat
Islam seluruh dunia. Negara Islam masing-masing berkongsi idea untuk mencari
penyelesaian terhadap permasalahan yang dihadapi dalam sistem pendidikan negara-
negara umat Islam. Terdapat banyak kajian, penyelidikan, seminar, konferensi, penulisan
dan sebagainya dibuat bagi merumus permasalahan yang dihadapi seterusnya mencari
jalan penyelesaian terhadap sistem pendidikan negara masing-masing dalam kerangka
penyelesaian yang sebenar. Ada juga negara Islam dengan sewenangnya mengambil
sistem pendidikan Barat untuk menyelesaikan masalah sosial yang membelengu mereka.
Akibat daripada pelaksanaan sistem pendidikan yang tidak menepati kehendak
Islam, maka ia menjauhkan umat Islam kepada agamanya sekali gus telah menghakis asas-
asas akidah Islam yang tertanam selama kini. Ditambah pula dengan lambakan ideologi
peninggalan penjajah Barat menambahkan lagi kecelaruan pemikiran umat Islam. Faham
Sekularisme, Liberalisme, Sosialisme, Marxisme dan pelbagai lagi isme-isme telah berakar
dan meresap masuk dalam sistem kehidupan umat Islam sehinggakan sukar untuk dibuang
 1039

lagi.
Oleh itu, pembangunan pendidikan umat Islam hendaklah selari dengan pemikiran
pendidikan Islam yang menepati keseluruhan acuan al-Quran itu sendiri. Akhirnya akan
melahirkan manusia yang terdidik untuk mentaati Allah SWT dan RasulNya (Mohd Nasir,
2015). Penekanan terhadap pendidikan ummah yang memenuhi keperluan semasa dan
menyeluruh sifatnya yang mampu menangkis segala ideologi liar daripada meresap masuk
dalam pemikiran umat Islam khususnya di Malaysia.

MENGENALI SYEIKH BADIUZZAMAN SAID NURSI

Syeikh Badiuzzaman Said Nursi dilahirkan pada tahun 1877 M. di perkampungan

Nurs yang berada di wilayah Bitlis. Bitlis merupakan satu wilayah yang terletak di Timur
Turki (Ian S. Markham and Suendam Birinci, 2011; Sarwat Saulat, 1981). Nursi adalah
gelaran kepada Said Nursi yang mengambil nama sempena nama kampungnya Nurs.
Manakala nama sebenarnya ialah “Said”. (Sukran Wahide, 1992).
Nursi dibesarkan dalam sebuah keluarga berbangsa Kurdis yang hidup dengan
penuh kesederhanan dan kasih sayang. Ayahnya bernama Mirza bin Ali bin Khidir bin Mirza
Khalid bin Mirza Rasyad (Muhammad Zahid al-Mullarzkirdi, 1983:49) yang berkerja sebagai
petani dan kuat berpegang dengan amalan sufi manakala ibunya bernama Nuriyyah binti
Mulla Tahir merupakan wanita yang taat kepada perintah Allah. Asuhan yang begitu teliti
oleh Mirza dan Nuriyyah telah mempengaruhi pembentukan fizikal dan mental Nursi.
Kekuatan akal Nursi terserlah apabila mampu menimbulkan persoalan-persoalan yang
hanya difikirkan oleh mereka yang dewasa sahaja. Nursi cuba mendapatkan jawapan bagi
persoalan yang menarik perhatiannya. Pada suatu malam, Nursi pernah menanyakan
kepada ibunya tentang kejadian gerhana bulan, maka ibunya pun menjawab pertanyaan
tersebut. Akhirnya jawapan sebenar tentang gerhana itu diperolehi selang beberapa tahun
ketika beliau mendalami ilmu astronomi (S.Vahide:4). Nursi juga berminat mengetahui
tentang kehidupan dan kematian, sumbangan ulama kepada masyarakat, menghadiri siri-siri
perdebatan serta perbincangan ilmiah yang di adakan dirumah ayahnya (Mohamad Zaidin
Mat, 2001:7). Kitab al-Syu’a’at menggambarkan keintelektualan Nursi seperti yang
dinukilkan oleh Ihsan Qasim al-Salihi (2003:9).

“Ketika aku masih kecil, imajinasiku bertanya kepadaku: Manakah dianggap

lebih baik dari dua masalah? Apakah hidup bahagia selama seribu-ribu
tahun dalam kemewahan dunia dan berkuasa namun berakhir dengan
ketiadaan atau kehidupan yang abadi namun ditempuhi dengan penuh
derita?. Kemudian aku melihat imajinasiku lebih cenderong memilih yang
kedua daripada yang pertama dengan menyatakan: Aku tidak inginkan
ketiadaan, bahkan aku menginginkan keabadian walaupun dalam
kebinasaan”.

Karakter yang dibentuk sejak beliau kecil lagi sehinggalah dewasa akhirnya
membuahkan sifat-sifat murni sebagai seorang remaja Islam sejati. Kekuatan inilah yang
digunakan oleh Nursi dalam mengasah bakatnya untuk terus menimba ilmu agama
sebanyak mungkin di Timur Turki. Manakala penguasaan Nursi dalam bidang sains moden
apabila beliau berpeluang menelaah kitab tersebut semasa berada di perpustakaan
persendirian Tahir Pasha, Gebenor Van pada ketika itu. Nursi memanfaatkan sepenuhnya
peluang tersebut untuk mendalami ilmu sejarah, geografi, matematik, geologi, fizik, kimia,
astronomi dan juga falsafah (S. Vahide:24).
Melihat kepada keupayaan Nursi yang menguasai pelbagai disiplin ilmu termasuklah
dapat mengadunkan ilmu agama dan ilmu sains moden dalam metodologi pengajaran yang
baik serta sesi perdebatannya yang mengkagumkan, maka ulama-ulama dan masyarakat
pada masa itu mengiktiraf keilmuan Nursi dan menggelarkan beliau sebagai Bediuzzaman
Said Nursi yang bermaksud Said Nursi Bintang Zaman atau The Wonder of The Age (Hasan
Horkuc, 2004:105).
 1040

Pada hari rabu 5 Ramadhan 1379H bersamaan 23 Mac 1960 dalam usia 83 tahun,
Nursi kembali ke Rahmatullah menemui Rabb al-Jalil (I. S. Markham, 2011:16). Berita
kematian Nursi disiarkan di dalam akhbar-akhbar di Istanbul dan Ankara. Beribu-ribu orang
dari seluruh Turki datang menziarahi Nursi dan menghadiahkan solat jenazah kepada tokoh
ulama yang ikhlas memperjuangkan Islam. Dalam Sirah Zatiyah telah menceritakan
bagaimana pasar-pasar di bandar Urfa di tutup serta orang ramai keluar ke jalan-jalan dan
juga memenuhi masjid. Akhirnya jenazah selamat dikebumikan di perkuburan Ulu Jami’
(Masjid Ulu) pada hari khamis, 24 Mac selepas solat asar (Nursi, 2011)

KECELARUAN SISTEM PENDIDIKAN DI NEGARA UMAT ISLAM

Sistem pendidikan secara formal dan tidak formal telah lama bertapak dan sebati
dalam kehidupan umat Islam. Sistem pendidikan umat Islam kini menampakkan
kemajuannya dalam pelbagai sudut, namun ia masih dalam aliran perubahan kepada yang
lebih baik. A.L Tibawi (1972) turut membincangkan perkembangan pendidikan kebanyakan
negara-negara umat Islam yang semakin terbuka selepas Perang Dunia II, khususnya
setelah mendapat kemerdekaan daripada kuasa penjajah. Kesan peninggalan penjajah
menyebabkan berlakunya beberapa kecelaruan dalam pemikiran pendidikan umat Islam.
Untuk mengatasi masalah itu, cendekiawan Muslim seluruh dunia hadir ke kota suci Mekah
dalam Persidangan Sedunia Pertama Tentang Pendidikan Islam tahun 1977 dengan tujuan
mencari penyelesaian terhadap kecelaruan yang berlaku. Akhirnya sebuah buku yang
bertajuk Crisis in Muslim Education tahun 1979 berjaya diterbitkan di Universiti Raja Abdul
Aziz, Jeddah (Syed Sajjad Husain & Syed Ali Ashraf,1989). Reaksi terhadap permasalahan
pendidikan umat Islam bukan sahaja bermula pada persidangan tersebut, bahkan sepuluh
tahun sebelum itu telah pun dibincangkan oleh para ilmuwan Islam seperti Abu Hasan ‘Ali al-
Nadwi (1969) dalam buku beliau Nahwu al-Tarbiyyah al-Islamiyyah al-Hurrah sebagai usaha
membebaskan sistem pendidikan umat Islam daripada dimasuki anasir luar dan ideologi
asing serta menyediakan jalan penyelesaiannya. Manakala menurut penelitian al-Faruqi
(1982) dan Abdul Halim Ramli (2007), teras kepada permasalahan yang berlaku berpunca
daripada kelemahan dalam pendidikan umat Islam itu sendiri.
Zaiuddin Sardar (2000) amat kritis dalam permasalahan ini. Beliau membawa
perbincangan dalam konteks pendidikan yang lebih terkini dengan melihat kelompangan
dalam sistem pendidikan umat Islam serta institusinya. Beliau berusaha memaut dan
mendekatkan kembali pola pemikiran tokoh-tokoh Islam agar bersedia menghadapi cabaran
dunia semasa yang lebih hebat, di samping penubuhan universiti Islam yang lebih bermakna
dan efisien. Manakala Muhammad Qutb (1985) dan Yusuf al-Qardawi (2002) menyebutkan
bahawa bukan setakat dalam bidang pendidikan, kerosakan telah memusnah sendi
kehidupan umat Islam umumnya termasuklah kerosakan dalam pemikiran, tingkah laku,
politik, sosial, moral, seni budaya dan sebagainya lagi. Berdasarkan pengamatan al-Faruqi
(1988), sistem pendidikan umat Islam merupakan suatu tragedi yang paling teruk sekali dan
memudaratkan. Menurut Seyyed Hossein Nasr dalam kata aluannya terhadap karya Osman
Bakar (1992), antara punca kecelaruan dan kemunduran sistem pendidikan umat Islam di
sebahagian besar negara-negara Islam kini adalah kerana pengabaian kepada visi
klasifikasi ilmu yang selari dengan asas intelektual Islam sebagaimana yang telah dirintis
oleh para intelektual Muslim di zaman silam tersebut. Manakala al-Nadawi (1969) kurang
yakin dengan sistem pendidikan umat Islam sedia ada. Menurut beliau, umat Islam gagal
menunjukkan sistem pendidikan yang berpaksikan kepada akidah, risalah dan dakwah.
Sistem ini masih tidak wujud di dalam negara umat Islam lebih-lebih lagi dalam sistem
pendidikan Barat.
Situasi yang sama juga berlaku di Malaysia seperti mana yang dirasai oleh beberapa
ilmuwan terhadap kelompangan dalam pelaksanaan sistem pendidikan di Malaysia.
Ungkapan Mohd Kamal Hasan (1988) sebagai pembinaan falsafah pendidikan yang
memperkecilkan peranan agama dalam pendidikan keduniaan. Kerisauan ini turut
digambarkan oleh Sidek Baba tentang ketaksuban terhadap satu bidang dan mengabaikan
 1041

bidang yang lain. Dalam pada itu, pembangunan pendidikan di Malaysia juga memerlukan
kepada perancangan yang teliti serta berdasarkan falsafah pendidikan yang berkualiti.
Merujuk kepada matlamat Falsafah Pendidikan Negara (FPN) “membangun peribadi yang
seimbang dan harmonis” ianya mestilah menepati nilai sepadu dan islamik. Maka
ketaksuban ilmu sains semata-mata akan membawa padah sehingga meninggalkan faktor
holistik dan integratif dalam ilmu agama, ilmu sejarah dan budaya yang menemukan jati diri
umat Islam itu sendiri (Sidek Baba, 2003). Kecelaruan juga turut melibatkan ketidakupayaan
guru-guru dan para asatizah untuk menjalankan pembelajaran dan pengajaran yang
berkesan kepada pelajar serta kekurangan pengalaman untuk menangani disiplin pelajar
sekolah (Kamarul Azmi Jasmi, 2011,
http://eprints.utm.my/41072/2/KamarulAzmiJasmi2011_ Pendidikan Islam CabaranAlafBaru.
pdf ).
Jelas bahawa terdapat kelompangan yang ketara dalam sistem pendidikan umat
Islam kini seperti ketidakfahaman terhadap falsafah pendidikan Islam, metodologi
pengajaran, matlamat penubuhan Universiti Islam dan sebagainya. Tindakan segera perlu
dilakukan bagi memastikan bahawa kelompangan yang wujud dalam sistem pendidikan
umat Islam perlu terus diperbaiki lagi. Anjakan paradigma baharu perlu dilakukan bagi
memenuhi tuntutan kecemerlangan ummah dalam kontek pendidikan umat Islam yang
menyeluruh.

AMALAN PENDIDIKAN ISLAM DI AKHIR KERAJAAN UTHMANIYAH

Pada zaman kegemilangan kerajaan Uthmaniyah, khususnya semasa pemerintahan

Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih, pengajian agama dan sains moden diajarkan di sekolah-sekolah
dengan amat cemerlang sekali. Dalam kitab Hadiqah al-Azhar wa al-Rayahin mencatatkan
beberapa tokoh kerajaan Uthmaniyah yang cintakan ilmu dan membantu membangunkan
pendidikan dan keintelektualan khilafah Uthmaniyah ialah seperti Sultan Bayazid II, Sultan
Sulaiman bin Sultan Salim I, Sultan Murad III bin Sultan Salim II, Sultan Ahmad I bin Sultan
Muhammad III serta Sultan Mustafa II bin Sultan Muhammad IV (Abdul-Ramae Sulong,
2013). Namun begitu perkembangan ini semakin malap setelah berakhirnya Tanzimat (iaitu
proses pembaharuan politik oleh Sultan Abdul Majid pada 1839), ia menjadi perlahan
khususnya pada zaman pemerintahan Parti Kesatuan). Berdasarkan mengamatan Justin
(1997), walaupun bidang pendidikan bergerak secara perlahan namun dibandingkan dalam
bidang ekonomi, ia jauh lebih berjaya.
Pada zaman Tanzimat dan era kejatuhan Uthmaniyah, beberapa tokoh
bertanggungjawab terhadap kemunduran sistem pendidikan kerajaan Uthmaniyah seperti
Mustafa Rasyid Pasha, Fuad Pasha yang bertanggungjawab membuang pelajaran sains di
madrasah. Manakala semasa Mithat Pasha dan Talat Pasha yang bertanggungjawab
mengurangkan mata pelajaran agama di madrasah. Bahkan Mithat Pasha telah merancang
untuk menyerang Islam dan al-Quran melalui perancangan yang amat jijik sekali (Waqf
Ikhlas Publications, 1986).
Proses Tanzimat melihat banyak perubahan berlaku dalam sistem pendidikan
Uthmaniyah. merekodkan penubuhan Kementerian Pelajaran Umum bagi menyelaras
penubuhan sekolah-sekolah sekular. Pendidikan al-Quran peringkat rendah harus
disertakan dengan pendidikan sekular peringkat rendah. Maka wujudlah peringkat Rushdiye
(4 tahun), I‘dadi (3 tahun) dan Sultani. Namun golongan bukan Islam mendominasi sistem
pendidikan ini berbanding anak-anak Islam. Penubuhan institusi pendidikan tinggi oleh
warga asing makin bertambah. Monroe (1985) mencatatkan kebangkitan kolej-kolej dan
Universiti yang dibiayai oleh Barat seperti Kristian Protestan dan Roman Catholic Mission.
Gerakan misionari Protestan mempunyai 527 sekolah dengan 23 572 orang pelajar.
Terdapat juga 45 kolej dengan jumlah 3004 orang pelajar di seluruh kerajaan Uthmaniyah.
Mengambil contoh Universiti Robert tahun 1863 (sekarang ini Universiti Bosforus atau
Bogazici) dan Maktab Protestan Syria tahun 1866 (sekarang ini American University of
Beirut). Kedua-duanya institusi tersebut dibina oleh warga Amerika. Dasar keterbukaan ini
 1042

membuka peluang kepada bukan Islam khususnya orang Kristian untuk memasuki jawatan-
jawatan dalam perkhidmatan awam kerajaan Uthmaniyah
Usaha pertama membangunkan institusi pendidikan tinggi kerajaan Uthmaniyah
bernama Darulfunun iaitu semasa pemerintahan Sultan Abdul Majid (1839-1861), di era
Tanzimat. Namun, Darulfunun dalam proses awal penawarannya tahun 1846 kurang berjaya
dan tawaran universiti yang kurang teratur tahun 1860-an. Universiti Darulfunun dibuka
semula tahun 1870-1871 dan kemudiannya tahun 1900 (Lois A. Aroian & Richard P.
Mitchell, 1991). Tahun 1900, mahasiswa baharu mengalami zaman pemodenan sistem
universiti dengan mengambil model universiti di Amerika dan Eropah termasuk penubuhan
fakulti sains dan kedoktoran. Setelah menjadi Republik Turki, Darulfunun menjadi Universiti
Istanbul dan Muhendishane menjadi Universiti Teknikal Istanbul yang merupakan institusi
pendidikan tinggi yang pertama di era Turki moden.(John Freely, t.t)
Fazlur Rahman ada merekodkan, di masa pemerintahan Sultan Abdul Hamid II
memang ada rancangan pendidikan yang menyeluruh. Perdana Menteri mengusulkan untuk
didirikan setiap wilayah dalam kerajaan Uthmani sebuah universiti dan lembaga ilmu
teknologi tinggi dan menjadikan semua lembaga tinggi ilmu keagamaan (Islam, Kristian dan
lain-lain), dengan menubuhkan fakulti teologi di universiti-universiti bagi pemeluk masing-
masing, namun rancangan ini gagal. Bahkan pendidikan sekular lebih mendahului.
Berdasarkan penelitian Rashid Redha, kegagalan penstrukturan institusi pendidikan di Turki
dan Mesir disebabkan tiada komitmen dan perancangan yang menyeluruh. Kalau pun ada
sistem pendidikan formal yang ditubuhkan oleh pemerintah, namun ia hanya memenuhi
keperluan pemerintah dalam menguruskan pemerintahan negara juga kepentingan
sesetengah pemimpin yang korup (Mappangaro, 1989).
Lanjutan dari itu, tahun 1909, Madrasah Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih dihidupkan bagi
meraikan golongan Barat (Westernis) dan Islamis agar dilaksanakan kurikulum yang sintesis
dan diperbaharui. Lembaga ini mempunyai empat fakulti iaitu fakulti ilmu-ilmu agama (mata
pelajaran tradisional dan juga etika), fakulti ilmu-ilmu hikmat (ilmu filsafat, matematik dan
ilmu-ilmu alam), fakulti ilmu sejarah (termasuk riwayat hidup Nabi s.a.w.) serta fakulti bahasa
(Arab, Turki dan Parsi). Beberapa tahun berikutnya tanggungjawab membangunkan
pendidikan Islam daripada Syeikh Islam diserahkan kepada Kementerian Pendidikan.
Seterusnya wujud pengklasifikasian ilmu iaitu ilmu agama sebagai ilmu yang kekal dan tak
berubah, manakala ilmu sains sebagai ilmu yang boleh berubah. Maka berlakulah dualisme
dalam pendidikan dan ilmu sains terus di perhebatkan berbanding ilmu agama yang
semakin terpinggir. Sehinggalah 1916, Mustafa Kamal mengusulkan Undang-Undang
Penyatuan Pendidikan yang menghapuskan pendidikan agama (Fazlur Rahman, 1985).
Madrasah Khur Khur yang dikelolakan oleh Nursi sebagai peringkat asas atau tapak (al-
ibtida’iyyah) kepada Madrasah al-Zahra’ juga mengalami nasib yang sama diarah untuk
menamatkan operasinya (Nursi, 2011).
Walaupun undang-undang ini ditentang oleh majoriti masyarakat Turki, namun
Mustafa tetap melaksanakannya demi menjadikan Turki maju seperti Barat. Situasi ini
sebenarnya menjauhkan lagi umat Islam dengan agama yang dianuti. Apabila
membelakangi syariat Allah, maka berlaku kecelaruan dalam tindakan dan perancangan.
Amaran Nursi (2011) dalam Sirah Zatiyah, ilmu yang sepatutnya menjadi penyelesai itu
telah menjadi wasilah untuk melakukan kezaliman. Maka, berlakulah pentadbir yang dilantik
bukan di kalangan ahlinya, begitu juga di sekolah-sekolah agama. Jalan penyelesaiannya
ialah dengan melaksanakan pengkhususan sekolah-sekolah dan juga universiti mengikut
kecenderungannya secara fitrah, menepati urusan maknawi untuk mencapai hikmah yang
azali (hikmah Allah).
Menurut pengamatan Nursi lagi, jalan untuk mengembalikan kemajuan umat Islam
ialah dengan kembali kepada agama Islam dan bukannya menuruti kemajuan Barat secara
melulu. Nursi meyakini bahawa tindakan yang perlu ialah dengan membuka pengajian ilmu-
ilmu sains moden sama ada memasukkan ilmu moden ini ke dalam sekolah-sekolah agama,
seterusnya dengan idea penubuhan universiti Islam yang mengajarkan ilmu-ilmu sains tabii,
fizik, astronomi dan sebagainya di samping pengajaran ilmu-ilmu agama dan pengajian al-
Quran.
 1043

Keyakinan Nursi bersandarkan kepada amalan di sekolah Khur Khur kelolaannya

sendiri di Van. Sukran Vahide (2003) mencatatkan kejayaan amalan ini apabila berjaya
menolak tanggapan negatif masyarakat Turki bahawa ilmu agama dan sains tidak boleh
bersatu adalah tidak benar sama sekali. Sedikit demi sedikit usaha beliau menampakkan
hasil yang positif dalam mengubah minda muridnya. Mereka mulai sedar bahawa kedua ilmu
itu memberi manfaat kepada umat Islam seluruhnya. Kejayaan di sekolah Khur Khur ini
menyebabkan bercambahnya madrasah-madrasah di timur Turki yang menerapkan ilmu
agama dan ilmu moden kepada pelajar-pelajar dan mereka berjaya menguasai kedua-
duanya. Alangkah baiknya sekiranya cara ini dilaksanakan di sekolah-sekolah seluruh Turki
(Abdul Latip Talib, 2012). Menurut Faridah Sairi (2012), Nursi berjaya mengubah sistem
pembelajaran pada masa itu yang bersifat sekular. Sebelum itu, tiada sekolah, madrasah
atau institusi pengajian tinggi di Turki yang menggabungkan ilmu tradisional agama dengan
ilmu sains moden. Usaha Nursi (2011) untuk melonjakkan lagi prestasi sekolah Khur Khur
terhalang apabila wujud peraturan dan polisi kerajaan bagi menutup semua jenis sekolah
agama di Turki pada masa itu. Manakala menurut al-Dabbagh (t.t) sebelum undang-undang
penyatuan pendidikan oleh Mustafa Kamal, Nursi juga telah ke Istanbul untuk
membincangkan gagasan pendidikan ini, namun usaha dan sensitiviti Nursi tidak juga
dipedulikan oleh pihak istana Yildiz. Hal ini sebenarnya mempercepatkan lagi cita-cita
Gladstone suatu ketika dulu yang ingin menjauhkan umat Islam dengan al-Quran (Abdul
Latip Talib, 2012).

NURSI DAN GAGASAN MADRASAH AL-ZAHRA’

Madrasah al-Zahra’ merupakan gagasan untuk membangunkan sistem pendidikan

umat Islam yang lebih menyeluruh khususnya di timur Turki. Nursi melihat sistem pendidikan
yang betul adalah penyelesaian terhadap kemunduran umat Islam di akhir kejatuhan
kerajaan Uthmaniyah pada masa itu. Rentetan daripada itu, Nursi (2011) menyebut “menjadi
permasalahan besar dalam sistem pendidikan umat Islam apabila ilmu sains teknologi
moden diangkat secara melampau dan berlebih lebihan sehingga mengabaikan ilmu agama.
Pada ketika itu ilmu agama sebagai pengikut sahaja”.
Apabila umat Islam meninggalkan ajaran al-Quran dan terpesona dengan idea
Barat, maka mudah bagi musuh-musuh Islam menguasai pemikiran ummah dan bersedia
untuk dijajah. Satu peristiwa yang amat terkesan kepada Nursi dan seluruh umat Islam
apabila Gladstone (Menteri Tanah Jajahan Britain) di dalam Dewan Rakyatnya secara
angkuh menyatakan (Nursi, 2011; Maryam Jameelah, 1983):

“Selama mana al-Quran ini masih berada di tangan orang-orang Islam

(sambil menunjukkan al-Quran ditangannya), maka (selama itulah) kita tidak
akan dapat menguasai mereka dengan sebenar-benarnya. Maka hendaklah
kita longgarkan ikatan al-Quran dari pegangannya”.

Berpijak daripada penghinaan Gladstone kepada al-Quran dan umat Islam

seluruhnya, maka Nursi bercita-cita mengembalikan nur al-Quran dan meletakkan umat
Islam di kedudukan yang sewajarnya. Bermulalah usaha beliau memperjuangkan universiti
Islam di timur Turki yang diberi nama Madrasah al-Zahra’ sebagai usaha mempertingkatkan
lagi mutu pendidikan umat Islam dalam mengharungi arus modenisasi dan teknologi Barat.
Nursi (2011) merumuskan terdapat dua cara untuk mengekalkan kesejahteraan dan
keamanan di timur Turki iaitu, pertama, menulis kitab Rasail al-Nur. Kedua, menubuhkan
universiti Madrasah al-Zahra yang berperanan mengukuhkan keimanan dan ukhuwah umat
Islam, buktinya Nursi menulis dalam suasana kezaliman dan kekerasan, kesan di masa
akan datang kepada umat Islam dan Eropah dan Amerika, menolak dan mencantas falsafah
ateis dan faham Sekularisme Barat. Manakala penubuhan universiti Madrasah al-Zahra’
berperanan sebagai pusat keilmuan di Asia setelah Universiti Al-Azhar di utara Afrika.
 1044

Universiti al-Azhar, Mesir menjadi model penubuhan Madrasah al-Zahra’ kerana

kekuatan dan kehebatan sejarah kerajaan Fatimiyah itu sendiri dan jolokan yang
dianugerahkan oleh umat Islam terhadapnya. Menurut John Freely (t.t), zaman
kegemilangan kerajaan Fatimiyah di Mesir merupakan kerajaan yang paling kuat dunia
Islam. Wilayah Afrika, utara Syria, Hijaz, Sicily dan Kaherah menjadi pusat kebudayaan
mengungguli Baghdad. Manakala Philip K. Hitti (2005) menyebutkan bahawa Khalifah al-
‘Aziz yang bertanggungjawab mengembangkan masjid Al-Azhar menjadi universiti al-Azhar.
Sumbangan terbesar Fatimiyah di Mesir ialah pembangunan Dar al-Hikmah (Rumah
Kebijaksanaan) atau Dar al-‘Ilmi (Rumah Ilmu) yang didirikan oleh khalifah al-Hakim pada
1005 M. sebagai pusat penyebaran ajaran syiah yang ekstrim. Khalifah al-Hakim menyuntik
dana sebanyak 257 dinar dalam usaha membiayai, menyalin pelbagai naskhah,
memperbaiki buku dan pemuliharaan umum lainnya. Kurikulum meliputi ilmu-ilmu keislaman,
astronomi, dan kedoktoran. Universiti al-Azhar dinobatkan sebagai universiti tertua sekali di
dunia (Fadzlullah Hj Shuib, 2005).
‘Abd al-Wadud Syalabi (1999) memetik kata-kata Abu al-Kalam Azad (pemimpin
Muslim di India) tentang Al-Azhar, “Apabila kiblat kaum Muslimin dalam solat lima waktu di
ka’bah, maka kiblat yang lain bagi umat Islam pada setiap masa iaitu Al-Azhar”.
Madrasah al-Zahra’ merupakan sekolah mengajarkan sains moden dan dalam masa
yang sama mengajarkan ilmu-ilmu Islam. Pemilihan tempat disebabkan Asia lebih besar
daripada Afrika yang mewakili bangsa Arab, India, Iran, Caucasus, Turki dan Kurdis serta
mengharapkan agar ukhuwah mereka lebih terjamin (Nursi, 2011). Bertepatan dengan
firman Allah SWT yang bermaksud:

“Sebenarnya orang-orang yang beriman itu adalah bersaudara, maka

damaikanlah di antara dua saudara kamu (yang bertelagah) itu; dan
bertaqwalah kepada Allah supaya kamu beroleh rahmat”.

(surah al-Hujurat, 49: 10)

Dalam majalah The Pen, isu 15, tahun 2012 (http://www. thepenmagazine.
net/educational-reform-centring-on-madrasatuz-zahra/.) menyebutkan keperluan mendesak
penubuhan Madrasah al-Zahra’ serta kepentingannya yang amat sangat. Madrasah al-
Zahra’ akan menghimpunkan tiga jenis aliran yang sedia ada (aliran sains moden, agama
dan tariqat) menjadi satu:

“We need the Madrasatu’z-Zahra Project of Bediuzzaman much more now

than at any time in the past in order to establish Islamic unity and develop
our countries and the Islamic world, and to nurture peace in the global
sphere. The solution to this need should not be postponed. The Islamic
countries and the non-government organizations should lay claim to this
project, which brings the modern school, the madrasa and the Sufi lodge
together to develop the minds and hearts of the coming generations both
materially and spiritually”.

Inilah yang cuba dibangunkan oleh Nursi dalam pembaharuan pendidikan di

Madarsah al-Zahra’. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Barghuth (2006) mencatatkan bahawa inspirasi Nursi
bukan sekadar untuk menyampaikan maklumat, ilmu dan pemikiran, atau untuk mendidik
beberapa amalan yang zahir, atau untuk mengubati kecelaruan akidah dan akhlak umat
Islam, tetapi pendidikan yang lebih memenuhi syarak sifatnya bagi membina insan yang
bertamadun dan kehidupan masyarakat yang seimbang. Dengan itu, hakikat ketinggian
universiti itu akan terserlah apabila apabila semua ahlinya berpegang dengan budaya ilmu.
Kecemerlangan akademik di sesebuah universiti tidak akan tercapai jika tidak diasaskan
kepada pembinaan budaya ilmu yang bersepadu, jitu dan kudus. (Zaini Ujang, 2012).
Nursi berjuang untuk menubuhkan Madrasah al-Zahra’ di timur Turki ini menjalani
masa yang agak panjang bermula pada zaman Khalifah Uthmaniyah terakhir Sultan Abdul
 1045

Hamid II, seterusnya Presiden Mustafa Kamal al-Tarturk daripada Parti Republik Rakyat
sehinggalah Presiden Jalal Bayar daripada Parti Demokratik Rakyat. Nursi meyakini bahawa
jalan penyelesaian terhadap segala permasalahan umat Islam seluruhnya adalah kembali
kepada syariat dan membangunkan ilmu pengetahuan yang seimbang.
Dalam Sirah Zatiyah ada merekodkan secara terperinci, Sultan Muhammad Rasyad
(1814-1918) meluluskan sebanyak 20 ribu lira bagi membina Madrasah al-Zahra’ (Wan
Jaffree Wan Sulaiman,1987). Ketika Nursi kembali dari menjadi tawanan Perang Dunia I,
Majlis Perwakilan meluluskan 150 ribu lira untuk tujuan yang sama. Begitulah keperluan
yang teramat sangat membina universiti di wilayah Van dengan nama Madrasah al-Zahra’
yang mengambil sempena al-Azhar al-Syarif, sehinggakan beliau sendiri meletakkan batu
asas penubuhannya. Ia berpusat di Bitlis dan mempunyai cawangannya di Van dan
Diyarbakir. Tetapi usaha itu tidak kesampaian apabila tercetusnya Perang Dunia I, yang
menyaksikan Nursi mengetuai pasukan bantuan (firaq al-Ansar) bersama dengan murid-
muridnya melawan tentera Rusia di Bitlis. Setelah 6 tahun berikutnya, Nursi ke Ankara
dengan maksud yang sama. Sepakat perwakilan 163 orang daripada 200 orang meluluskan
pembinaan Madrasah al-Zahra’ dengan peruntukan pendahuluan sebanyak 15 ribu lira.
Namun hasrat sekali lagi tidak tercapai setelah posisi pergantungan sekolah-sekolah agama
seluruh Turki oleh pemerintah (Nursi, 2011). Menjelang tahun 1950, setelah 15 tahun
berlalu, Presiden Jalal Bayar dan Menteri Pendidikan, Taufiq Elri sebagai memenuhi cita-cita
Madrasah al-Zahra’ di Van dengan nama Universiti Timur (Jami’ah al-Syarq) dengan
peruntukan dana sebanyak 60 juta lira bagi kos operasinya. Usaha Nursi selama 40 tahun
sebelumnya itu tertunai dengan izin Allah (Nursi, 2011).
Dari segi faedah dan kepentingan kewujudan Madrasah al-Zahra’ amat banyak.
Paling penting, membuka minda umat Islam dan para ulama yang sekian lama tertutup
bahawa untuk mencapai kebahagiaan di dunia ialah dengan menguasai ilmu agama dan
ilmu sains moden serta kepentingan memahaminya (Nursi, 2011). Memandangkan wilayah
timur Turki dianggap terkebelakang dalam arus pendidikan negara berbanding wilayah-
wilayah lain, bahkan ramai yang masih tidak mengetahui bahasa Turki. Hanya sekolah
agama menjadi pilihan mereka untuk mendapatkan ilmu. Maka wujud elemen ketaksuban,
tersebarnya syubhah, perpecahan puak dan menyanjung Barat kerana kejahilan mereka.
Nursi menyebut, perlunya usaha menghidupkan sekolah di wilayah Kurdis, menghidupkan
ilmu dan membina kekuatan antara mereka yang semakin lemah akibat perselisihan
dalaman terhadap kerajaan, begitu juga untuk membina kekuatan dalam menghadapi
musuh dari luar (Nursi, 2011). Nursi menyatakan,“ ..madrasah ini menjadi batu asas
pembebasan kesejahteraan di Timur Tengah, benteng yang kukuh, menghasilkan faedah
menyeluruh bagi membaiki negara dan umat ini dengan izin Allah. Ilmu-ilmu Islam menjadi
asas di universiti ini kerana kekuatan dari luar berupa ateis telah memadamkan semangat
(umat Islam) dan tidak ada yang dapat menghentikannya kecuali dengan menyediakan
kekuatan semangat yang hebat juga (yakni menegakkan syariat). Di samping menganjurkan
kesejahteraan antarabangsa di antara umat Islam di wilayah Timur yang hampir 400 juta
orang dan kelompok dunia Kristian. Kesejahteraan antarabangsa itu sebenarnya
berdasarkan dua natijah yang telus dan tinggi iaitu mempamerkan Islam dan menyebarkan
hakikat al-Quran kepada semua (Nursi, 2011).
Nursi menyimpulkan idea Madrasah al-Zahra’ kepada tiga kepentingan umum iaitu:
Pertama; menjamin kesejahteraan ulama bangsa Kurdis dan bangsa Turki di masa akan
datang. Kedua; menyebarkan ilmu pengetahuan di kawasan Kurdistan dengan cara
mendirikan madrasah-madrasah. Ketiga, menzahirkan kebaikan dalam proses
perlembagaan (al-Masyrutiyyah) dan kebebasan (al-Hurriyyah) oleh kerajaan dan
mengambil faedah dari proses keduanya (Nursi, 2011; Zaidin Mat, 2003). Kepentingan
secara terperinci dijelaskan seperti berikut:

a) Menyatukan (tauhid) sekolah agama dan melaksanakan penambahbaikan (al-islah).

b) Membebaskan Islam dari cerita-cerita mitos, Israiliyat dan taksub kebencian.
c) Membuka pintu menyebarkan keelokan perlembagaan negara (al-Masyrutiyah).
 1046

d) Membuka jalan mengalirnya ilmu alam moden ke sekolah agama dan penerimaan
sekolah agama terhadap ilmu sains moden. Salah faham terbesar ialah - wujud
pertentangan antara zahir Islam dan beberapa permasalahan tentang ilmu. Sebab
terbesar umat Islam negatif terhadap kesenangan dunia, menghalang orang asing
dari mengecapi akhirat, menghijab mentari Islam dan mengerhanakannya ialah salah
faham tentang ilmu, keraguan terhadap sifat Islam serta menyalahi hakikat keilmuan.
e) Mencantumkan membaiki antara sekolah agama (al-diniyyah), sekolah sains (al-
hadithah) dan sekolah tarekat (al-takaya). Sekurang-kurangnya bersatu dalam
mencapai tujuan (al-maqsad). Apabila ia tidak disatukan akan timbul ketaksuban
yang melampau yang membawa kepada ifrat dan tafrit. Sama ada dengan
menyesatkan mereka atau dari pihak yang lain menjahilkan mereka (Nursi, 2011).

Dalam pada itu, Nursi meletakkan beberapa syarat penubuhan Madrasah al-Zahra’
agar segala perancangan yang diatur berjalan dengan lancar. Dalam Sirah Zatiyah, Nursi
meletakkan tujuh syarat untuk menubuhkan Madrasah al-Zahra’ iaitu:
a) Dinamakan dengan “al-Madrasah” kerana dekat dan hampir dan menepati, sebagai
iktibar terhadap hakikat yang terkandung di dalamnya.
b) Mencampurkan ilmu alam moden dengan ilmu agama dan menjadikan bahasa Arab
sebagai bahasa wajib digunakan, bahasa Kurdi diharuskan dan bahasa Turki
digalakkan. Sesungguhnya sinaran hati dengan ilmu agama, cahaya akal dengan
ilmu moden. Mencampurkan keduanya akan terungkaplah (tajalli) hakikat. Maka
akan membentuk semangat pelajar dan meninggikan keduanya. Membezakan
keduanya akan melahirkan sikap taksub pada pertama (ilmu agama) dan condong,
syubhah kepada kedua (ilmu moden).
c) Pemilihan guru. Sama ada daripada ulama Kurdis yang mahir dalam dua bidang itu
yang berada kawasan bangsa Kurdis atau kawasan bangsa Turki, atau mereka yang
mengetahui bahasa setempat bagi menjinakkan minat pelajar.
d) Ia hendaklah dibawa mesyuarat (al-Istisyarah) bagi melihat persiapan orang-orang
Kurdis dan penerimaan mereka sebagai mendapatkan impak yang sewajarnya.
Berapa banyak pakaian (persekitaran) yang sesuai terhadap sesuatu kaum tetapi
buruk bagi orang lain. Begitu juga pengajian bagi anak-anak itu kadang-kadang
melalui kekerasan ataupun juga dengan melihat kecenderungan mereka.
e) Melaksanakan kaedah pembahagian kerja “taqsim al-a‘mal” sehingga melahirkan
pelajar yang mahir dan mendalami dalam satu-satu bidang. Mengikuti dan mentaati
undang-undang (qanun) penyempurnaan diri dan pendakian menuju Allah adalah
fardu dan wajib kecuali ketaatan yang tidak memenuhi hak keduanya.
f) Mencari jalan menjamin kemajuan pelajar, teliti dan lengkap sehingga menyamai
graduan sekolah tinggi. Bergaul bersama dengan pelajar sekolah tinggi dan kolej-
kolej kerajaan. Menjadikan peperiksaan pun sama taraf dengan sekolah umum,
tanpa ketinggalan sedikit pun.
g) Membuat kerjasama dengan Kolej Perguruan (Dar al-Mu‘allimin) - untuk sementara -
dengan tujuan fokus kepada sekolah dan proses integrasi, memudahkan
penyusunan dan melengkapkan ilmu kedua-dua bidang agama dan sains.

Dapat disimpulkan di sini, bahawa kesungguhan Nursi membangunkan Madrasah al-

Zahra’ menunjukkan keperluannya yang mendesak kepada umat Islam serta bagi
memastikan keutuhan umat Islam terpelihara. Kejahilan akan menjadikan umat Islam jauh
daripada petunjuk Allah dan bersedia menerima gaya hidup Barat yang menyeleweng.

PENUTUP

Dapat disimpulkan di sini, bahawa kesepaduan ilmu dunia dan ilmu akhirat menjadi
asas penubuhan madrasah al-Zahra’. Nursi melihat kepincangan yang berlaku dalam sistem
pendidikan umat Islam rata-rata hanya menekankan ilmu agama dan meminggirkan ilmu
 1047

sains moden. Manakala satu pihak yang lain, menekankan pengajian ilmu moden dengan
mengenepikan pengisian ilmu agama. Di samping sikap umat Islam yang tidak mahu
menumpukan ketekunan dalam membangunkan ilmu sains Islam secara menyeluruh. Umat
Islam hendaklah membina acuannya tersendiri dalam sistem pendidikan yang lebih holistik.
Berdasarkan idea Nursi, Gagasan Madrasah al-Zahra’ adalah contoh model pelaksanaan
pendidikan umat Islam yang benar-benar menepati keperluan zaman.
Justeru itu, kekuatan umat Islam akan terserlah dan digeruni apabila umat Islam
berjaya melonjakkan diri dari segi keilmuan dan membina model pendidikan yang bermutu
dan sepadu merangkumi penguasaan ilmu keduniaan dan juga ilmu keakhiratan. Ilmu
keagamaan hendaklah diperkasakan, manakala ilmu sains moden dihidupkan semula dalam
kehidupan umat Islam. Penggabungan kedua ilmu ini sebenarnya merancakkan lagi
pembangunan umat Islam itu sendiri seterusnya menjadikan sistem pendidikan sebagai
penggerak utama ke arah pembinaan tamadun

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 1050

Determinants of Subjective Well-Being: Perspectives of Malay

Muslims
Dr. Nor Hafizah Mohamed Harith
Faculty Administrative Science & Policy Studies, UiTM Selangor
norha561@salam.uitm.edu.my

Associate Professor Dr Hazizan Md. Noon

International Islamic University Malaysia
hazizan@iium.edu.my

ABSTRACT

In modern and industrialized societies, the level of quality of life or life style is measured
objectively by economic parameters such as income inequality rate, literacy rate and life
expectancy. Many economists believe that money buys happiness, and so, income is the
sole measure of well-being. Economists typically equate economic development with per
capita income or product, and they usually measure inequality and poverty in terms of real
income or consumptions. However, in the early 1970s, Easterlin found that happiness, from
the perspective of SWB, does not seem to rise systematically with income. Indeed, this
finding seems to be in contradiction with the basic assumption of many economists.
Therefore, it is important to provide an insight into the issue on how significant the meaning
of happiness or life satisfaction among people. Thus, the main objective of this study is to
determine the meaning of well-being among the Malay Muslim respondents. The study
adopted a qualitative approach that involved 16 people who worked in University MARA
Technology Shah Alam. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and NVivo 9 was
utilized as data management software. Results of the study shows that the themes were
centered on 1) the need of spiritual need 2) the economic satisfaction needs & 3) the social
needs. The study also revealed significant impacts to policy implications in Malaysia.

Keywords: Subjective Well-Being; Quality of Life; Malays Muslim

INTRODUCTION

Malaysia is one the fast growing economy in the world and ranked 62 in the High
Human Development Category with 0.6% poverty rate in 2015 (Malaysia Millennium
Development Goals Report, 2015) Looking into this scenario, Malaysia citizens or “rakyat”
of Malaysia have enjoyed the prosperity of the economy growth. Since independence in
1957, through its Malaysian Plan strategies, the quality of life of Malaysians have increased
tremendously. For instance, Malaysia’s absolute poverty rate at the national level fell by
more than half from 16.5 per cent in 1990 to 8.5 per cent in 1999 and to 0.6 per cent in 2014.
Indeed, the number of poor households also fell from 409,300 to 40,000 households
between 1999 and 2014(Malaysian Development Report, 2015).
Even though the economic growth have flourished tremendously, have subjective
well-being of the people of Malaysia’s quality of life have risen simultaneously? This issue
ponders most of the subjective well-being scholars when Easterlin in 1970s have found that
subjective well-being seems not to arise simultaneously with the rising income. Therefore, it
is important to provide an insight into the issue on how significant the meaning of happiness
or life satisfaction among people of the majority population in Malaysia. Hence, it is high time
that the social policies in Malaysia also be evaluated with respect to the impacts of the
national subjective well-being, not just economic or job-related outcomes. Therefore, the
 1051

main objective of this study is to determine the meaning of well-being among the Malay
Muslim respondents.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Quality of life consists of multi-faceted dimensions and its definition varies according
to the discipline of study (Rapley, 2003; Searle, 2008 & Bowling and Windsor, 2001). For
instance, according to Bowling and Windsor (2001), quality implies the degree of excellence
of a characteristic, but the concept of the quality of life may mean different things to different
people. In short, Bowling and Windsor (2001) have arguably defined the term as what one
has lost or lacks rather than what one has. On the whole, one may conclude that in general
the term quality can be described as a grade of goodness or that it is about the goodness of
life.
Despite the controversial and ill-defined concept of the quality of life, it may serve as
a good and useful purpose in the investigation of social life (Bestuzhev-Lada, 1980).
Bestuzhev-Lada (1980) argues that the conceptual framework of quality of life should be
understood as an evaluation of gratification which people derive from the degree to which
their material and environmental needs are actually satisfied. The quality of life cannot be
simply determined by measuring how many hours people work and how many hours they
spend on leisure. Rather it is important to find out how rich and interesting their work is and
how satisfied they are with it (Bestuzhev-Lada, 1980). Thus, they have proposed the
conceptual approach of quality of life that integrates the concepts of standard of living,
quality of life, and life-style. To this end, the importance of satisfaction may serve as a point
of reference in the quality of life research.
On the other hand, Zapf (1980) defines quality of life as the well-being of individuals
and households measured by social indicators that show the degree of goal attainment in
the selected goal areas or social concerns. Thus, the quality of life is viewed as an ultimate
goal of public welfare policies and private pursuits of happiness. This means that the public
welfare would include objective life conditions of individuals and the objective system
conditions, i.e. distributional patterns and perceived life quality (Zapf, 1980). Meanwhile,
World Health Organization (WHO, 1997:1) has a broader definition of quality of life. It has
defined quality of life as happiness, life satisfaction, well-being, self-actualization, freedom
from want, objective functioning; a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being,
not merely the absence of disease. These various notions of quality of life may serve as
indicators for determining how good one’s life is within the context of the definition of a
particular discipline of study.
Rapley (2003) divides the definition of the quality of life into two levels of constructs;
the population and the individual levels. The population level of construct contains
dimensions that are important to a particular nation and its indicators vary according to
different authorities. In contrast, the individual construct contains dimensions for assessing
the individual’s subjective experiences. For instance the Australian Bureau of Statistics
(ABS) introduced major social indicators for measuring well-being according to important
aspects of life and the most pressing social issues. The ABS (cited in Rapley, 2003: 32)
offers the following definition of well-being/ quality of life:

From birth to death, life enmeshes individuals within a dynamic

culture consisting of the natural environment(light, heat, air, land,
water, minerals, flora and fauna), the human made environment
(material objects, buildings, roads, machinery, appliances,
technology), social arrangements(families, social networks,
associations, institutions, economies),and human consciousness
(knowledge, belief, understanding, skills, traditions). Well-being
depends on all the factors that interact within this culture and can
be seen as a state of health or sufficiency in all aspects of life.
 1052

Measuring well-being therefore involves mapping the whole of

life, and considering each life event or social context that has
potential to affect the quality of individual lives or the cohesion of
society. At the individual level, this can include the physical,
emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of life. At the
broader level, the social, material and natural environments
surrounding each individual, through interdependency, become
part of the well-being equation.

However, within the context of Malaysia, the Malaysian Economic Planning Unit
(EPU, 2004) defines quality of life as follows:

Quality of life is defined as encompassing personal

advancements, a healthy lifestyle, access and freedom to
pursue knowledge and a standard of living which surpasses
the fulfillment of the basic needs of individuals and their
psychological needs, to achieve a level of social well-being
compatible with the nation’s aspirations

The above definition comprises the main dimensions of quality of life that can be
divided into three main themes; 1) the economic 2) the social and 3) the environmental
factor that enable people to live successfully and happily within the environment. The
Malaysian Economic Planning Unit (EPU) has identified eleven domains of quality of life
(EPU, 2004). They are income and distribution, working life, transport and communications,
health, education, housing, environment, family life, social participation, public safety, culture
and leisure. These domains are measured by sub-indicators that represent the total quality
of life. In Malaysia, the MQLI is measured based on the basic needs approach which are
evaluated quantitatively with forty-two sub-indicators. In June 2012, the MQLI Report 2011
was launched. It provides insights into the changes and improvements in the quality of life of
Malaysian. In particular, most of the indices have shown increase. Nevertheless, the main
point to highlight is: to what extent the objective indicators reflect the subjective meaning of
life satisfaction experienced by the people themselves? This is the main question that the
research intends to explore and the one which also defines in general the scope of this
study.
The research on life satisfaction was to measure the people’s assessment of their life
satisfaction as a whole and it has become an important social indicator that measures the
quality of life (Kesebir and Diener, 2008 & Oishi and Gilbert, 2016). This is as a result of the
limitations of economic indicators to capture various societal domains such as health,
education, and human rights. Prior research on well-being has been dominated by
economic indicators. Certainly, economic progress and affluence are the primary focus of
policy makers today, such emphasis on materialism, however, can be detrimental to well-
being. Easterlin pioneered the research on the economics of happiness. His empirical study
revealed why even when their incomes and consumptions increase, people are not
necessarily happier as a result. This phenomenon has been called the Easterlin Paradox
(Krishna Dutt and Radcliff, 2009).
In addition, we also add spiritual life domain which we thought is significant in the
context of this study. This we do because firstly, this domain is absent in Allardt’s framework
and secondly, in the context of this study, the spiritual or religiosity domain is to our mind
important in measuring the quality of life of Malaysians, especially the Malay Muslims.
Furthermore, the contribution of the spiritual domain in the prediction of the personal
well-being index has also been considered by some scholars. For example, spirituality has
been included as a new domain in the Personal Well-being Index by Cummins et al. (Wills,
2009).
Even though, the majority of the published research on quality of life, SWB and
religiosity has been carried out in the context of Western Judeo-Christian culture, these
 1053

studies have indicated positive relationship between religiosity and SWB (Cummins, 2003;
Ellison, 1991) and the results have shown that the satisfaction with spirituality and religiosity
to PWI was significant. Based on these results, one can conclude that, even in the West,
spirituality contributes to satisfaction with life. Only a few studies were carried out on Muslim
societies (Tilioune et al., 2009 & Abdel-Khalek; 2012). These studies, which were conducted
based on quantitative measures, have also shown empirically the positive relationship
between the Islamic religiosity and satisfaction with life.
Based on the above, the researcher decided to include the spiritual needs domain
into the framework. To incorporate all the elements mentioned above into the framework the
researcher has modified the Allardt’s model which can be re-presented as follows:

Table 1 Allardt’s Modified Needs Theory & Its Corresponding Objective & Subjective Indicators

ALLARDT’S TYPES WHAT IT MEASURES? MQLI’S ELEVEN DOMAINS

OF NEEDS
Income, health, education,
Level of living and housings, public safety, working
HAVING environmental life, transport and
conditions communication, environment.
LOVING Relationships with Family life, Social Participation
(SOCIAL NEEDS) others
BEING NEEDS
(NEEDS FOR Relationship with Culture and leisure
PERSONAL externalities
GROWTH)

SPIRITUAL NEEDS Spirituality and Not in MQLI

religiousness

As indicated earlier, Allardt’s framework provides the general frame and basis for this
study. To suit the purpose of our investigation, we identify and group the MQLI’s eleven
domains into the three main types of need proposed by Allardt. In addition, we also add
spiritual life domain which we thought is significant in the context of this study. This we do
because firstly, this domain is absent in Allardt’s framework and secondly, in the context of
this study, the spiritual or religiosity domain is to our mind important in measuring the quality
of life of Malaysians, especially the Malay Muslims.

RESEARCH METHOD

Research World View

This research is mainly grounded within a social constructivionist philosophical

position or interpretivism. This interpretivistism epistemological perspective assumes that
reality is socially constructed. In this worldview, there is no single observable reality only.
Rather there exist multiple realities and interpretations of a single event (Merriam, 2009).
The aim of the research is not to test a theory or measure anything, rather to understand the
meanings people have constructed about their world and experiences. Therefore, unlike the
post-positivism approach to research, the goal of this research is to uncover the meaning of
people’s understandings of their world, specifically regarding subjective life satisfaction. As
indicated a single case study with embedded multiple unit analysis is a preferred case study
design (Yin, 2009). The main rationale for a single case with embedded multiple units of
analysis designs is that it is a representative or a typical case. The main objective is to
 1054

capture the circumstances and conditions of an everyday or common place situation. It is

hoped that the lessons learned from these multiple unit analysis are informative concerning
the experiences of the subject (s) of the study (Yin, 2009).

Research Design

The qualitative research design, in particular a case study research design, was
preferred due to a number of reasons. A case study is a form of research inquiry that
involves the study of a phenomenon explored through one or more cases within a bounded
system i.e. a setting, a context (Miles and Huberman, 1994; Creswell, 2013 & Yin, 2009).

Research Setting

This study was carried out in University of Mara Technology (UiTM) that is located in
Shah Alam city. UiTM was selected as the location of study because it is situated in the
capital city of Selangor and it contains the majority of Malay civil servants. The main subjects
for this study were individual Malay civil servants who work in UiTM and live in Shah Alam
urban residential area.

The Sampling Method

Purposive sampling method, in which the required essential criteria were preselected,
was utilized to choose the appropriate population or sites to be studied. Patton (2002 as
cited in Merriam, 2009) explains that the reason for the choice of purposeful sampling is
most effective in selecting information-rich cases for an in depth study. In criteria-based
selection, a list of the requisite attributes is created and then the researcher proceeds to
locate the participants. Thus, in this study, the selection criteria were first determined. The
type of purposeful sampling employed was the maximum variation sampling. This type
suited the scope of the study, which aims to examine any common patterns that emerge
from great variation. This could capture the core experiences that are central within the
setting or phenomenon (Patton, 2002 as cited in Merriam, 2009).

Techniques of Data Collection

Two techniques of data collection were employed in this research. An in-depth

interview was the first and the main method of data collection, while the second one was a
written feedback. Both techniques were chosen to enable the researcher to triangulate their
evidence in order to ensure the accuracy and validity of the data (Stake, 2010).

FINDINGS

The findings of this research have revealed some important insights into the meaning
of life satisfaction among the participants. There were eleven initial themes emerged namely:
1) need for increment, 2) involvement in community service, 3) having financial freedom, 4)
improved education, 5) migrating to lower living places, 6) doing extra job, 7) having a
peaceful retirement, 8) being promoted, 9) spiritual enhancement, 10) remaining in the
workforce or job security and 11) repaying parents’ sacrifices. These categories were found
in each of the sixteen participants’ narratives although the way they spoke of them were
varied. These sub-themes can be grouped into three main themes, which support the central
concept namely life improvement. These themes are: 1) the need for spiritual development,
2) the need for economic satisfaction and 3) the social need. These themes can be regarded
as the important aspects that constituted the meaning of subjective life satisfaction among
the respondents as shown in Figure 1 below.
 1055

Figure 1

The Spiritual
Spiritual enhancement
Development Need

Having Financial Freedom

Being Promoted

Remaining in the workforce or job security

The Economic Doing Extra Job

Subjective Well-being
Satisfaction Need

Migrating to Lower Living Places

Need for Increament

Having a Peaceful Retirement

Repaying parents’ sacrifices

The Social Need Improved education

Involvement in community service

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The meaning of life satisfaction among the respondents can be inferred from and was
mainly centered around three main needs namely spiritual, economic and social needs. This
means the respondents viewed life as being meaningful when it embraces both its material
and non-material aspects of life with the first two being the main priorities for the participants.
With regards to the spiritual need, the study found that the majority of the participants
expressed their dream to improve their religious knowledge and devotion (ibadat) as this has
been regarded as an important source of their happiness. From here it can be detected that
there is strong connection between spirituality and life satisfaction among the participants.
This is especially so for the Muslims as the nature of the Islamic faith has provided such
teachings for dealing with life in this world and life in the hereafter.
Thus, it can be concluded that there is an existence of a strong connection between
spiritual needs and SWB among the participants of the study. It also may be the case for the
Muslim population that is associated with the nature of the Islamic faith because it provides
teachings for dealing with life comprehensively. Islam is a religion of tolerance and ease,
which ensures happiness for people here and in the hereafter. According to Omar, the Holy
Quran draws Muslim’s attention to the fact that the worldly life is temporary and will someday
end. While happiness in the hereafter is eternal. With encouragement not to abandon or
neglect the worldly life (al-Hadid: 20). Thus, striking a balance between earthly duties
 1056

through total submission to Allah SWT has made participants not to be deluded by life’s
materialism and delights (Al-Attas,1993).
With regard to the need for economic satisfaction, issues related to income have
revolved around the fact that it is very difficult to sustain and survive in the high cost living
environment. This is in line with the findings of life satisfaction among the Chinese urban
residents, which found that the residents living in a society with dramatic change,
competition and increasing inequalities would experience such difficulties (Wang and
VanderWeele, 2011).
The above findings can also be discussed in the light of Maslow’s theory of need
(1970) which says that before one could satisfy the higher level of life needs, one must
gratify the lower level of needs. In other words, if the basic needs were not fulfilled, an
individual would work hard to fulfill them. Oishi, Diener, Lucas & Suh (1999) have adopted
the Maslow’s theory in their study and found that financial satisfaction is more strongly
associated with life satisfaction in poorer nations. This suggests that satisfying lower level
needs like income and housing is necessary as these are naturally very basic for life in
poorer nations. As far as the findings of this study are concerned, the slight difference of
experience and perception on the economic and financial necessity among participants of
different salary grades or scales does demonstrate similarity to this theory.
Lastly, with regards to the social need which is the last important aspect that gives
meaning to participants’ satisfaction, finding similar to that of number two (economic need)
can be found whereby majority of the participants were more concerned with their social
relationship and connection with their immediate family members. As reported, majority felt
that taking care of children and aging parents’ was their main priority. This finding is also
consistent with the findings of some other studies (World Happiness Report 2016; Inoguchi
& Fiji, 2009; Tambyah, et al., 2009 & Wang & VanderWeele, 2011).
On this note, it can be concluded that life satisfaction to the participants is more than
satisfying the material needs per se, but it includes also and more importantly the non-
material ones particularly the spiritual and social needs. As reported earlier, the findings of
this research have revealed that both male and female participants did share similar views
on the factors of life satisfaction.
In conclusion, the aspects of life satisfaction among the Malay Muslims. Despite of the
struggling in meeting the needs of modern life, the Malay Muslims emphasis the need of
spiritual need, the economic satisfaction needs and the social needs are the most significant
aspects in lives. The meaning of life satisfaction for the participants is centered on both the
material and non-material needs with the former being more worthy and central to the middle
and lower administrative staff. Despite the deficiency in their income, the non-material needs
remain significant in the life of the Malay Muslims. This study provides a strong case that
non-material needs do influence people’s life satisfaction especially within the context of the
Muslim population in Malaysia.

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 1059

Knowledge Sharing among Academicians: The Role of the Big Five

Personality Traits
Arenawati Sehat Binti Omar
Faculty Administrative Science & Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi Mara, Cawangan Sarawak
arena481@sarawak.uitm.edu.my

Associate Professor Dr Shahren Ahmad Zaidi Adruce

Institute of Borneo Studies
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
azshahren@unimas.my

ABSTRACT

Although it is generally believed that “knowledge is power”, knowledge does not become
powerful until it is shared (Robertson 2003). Having recognised the importance of knowledge
to their establishment, most organisations invest a large part of their resources in enhancing
the employees' knowledge. However, getting those same employees to share their
knowledge and experience is a challenging task. This study aims to expand our
understanding of the influence of the Big-Five personality (BFP) dimensions of an
individual’s knowledge-sharing behaviour. There are evidences that the individual’s
characteristics and personality trait dimensions can influence knowledge-sharing behaviour
(Hsu et al., 2007; Matzler et al. 2008; Gupta 2008). Within the individual characteristics,
personality is an important psychological factor that guides the individuals’ behaviour. In this
regard, the aim of this study is to enhance the understanding of the relationship between
personality and knowledge sharing. Based on this aim, the objective of this study is to
investigate the influence of personality trait dimensions (namely agreeableness, openness,
neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness) on knowledge-sharing behaviour. This
paper will guide researchers with hopes that it will enhance their understanding of the
influence of individual factors on knowledge sharing in the organisations, particularly the
influence of personality trait dimensions on the individuals’ knowledge-sharing behaviour.

Keywords: Personality, Big Five, Knowledge, knowledge management, knowledge-sharing

behaviour

INTRODUCTION

Organisations today are focused on obtaining and maintaining a competitive

advantage via the use of knowledge management. Knowledge management has been
defined as a practice that finds valuable information and transforms it into necessary
knowledge that is critical to decision making and action (Van Beveren, 2002, p. 18). That
being said, the journey to inculcate and establish knowledge-sharing behaviour in
organisations remains incomplete. Across all of the studies on knowledge sharing, human
behaviour stands out as a significant variable. Knowledge-sharing behaviour among
individuals are assumed to be influenced by personality trait (Yaakub et al., 2013, p. 13). As
stated by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), knowledge management cannot be successful
without the complement of individuals. In addition, Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) posit that
knowledge is in the minds of individuals.
Sallis and Jones (2002) describe that academics are expert knowledge workers
engaged in teaching, writing, and research, and their academic institutions generate value
using their intellectual assets. For academicians in particular, to share knowledge is part of
 1060

their daily job and work activities. They create, manage, disseminate, and share knowledge
with each other and with students (Sohail & Daud, 2009). Moreover, the knowledge created,
stored, and shared serve as a knowledge repository for academicians, researchers, and
students to both distinguish the academic institution, as well as to enhance their own
knowledge and help them advance in their careers (Basu & Sengupta, 2007). Therefore,
realizing the importance of knowledge sharing for academics in terms of promoting their own
learning and innovation (Reige, 2005) will certainly encourage them to practice it. During the
last few years, there has been increased awareness on the benefits of knowledge sharing
and a growing number of organisations have been adopting its strategies. Yet despite this,
almost none of those organisations are in the higher education sector (Sallis & Jones, 2002;
Metcalf, 2006). Considering the importance of individuals in knowledge sharing, it is quite
imperative for a research to be conducted to investigate the relationship between personality
and knowledge-sharing behaviour.

DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS

KNOWLEDGE

Considering the unclear distinction between the terms data, information and
knowledge, De Long and Fahey (2000) define knowledge as a product of human reflection
and experience. In addition, Alavi and Leidner (2001) refer to knowledge as the inflow of new
stimuli that is initiated by human cognitive processes. Van der Spek and Spiljkeet (1997), on
the other hand, consider knowledge as a whole set of insights, experiences and procedures
that are regarded to be correct and true, and are therefore guiding the thoughts, behaviours
and communication of people. They suggested that knowledge is always applicable in
several situations and over a relatively long period of time.In this study, the definition of
knowledge that will be adopted is the one proposed by Probst et al. (2000, p. 24):
“…knowledge is the whole body of cognition and skill which individuals use to solve
problems. It includes both theories and practical, everyday rules and instruction for action.
Based on data and information but unlike these, it is always bound to (a) person.
Constructed by individuals and represents their beliefs about causal relationships”. This
definition has been adopted based on the fact that it more or less embraces the definition of
knowledge given by various scholars (Bhatt, 2001; Van der Spek and Spiljkeet, 1997;
Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995).

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (KM)

The concept of KM is defined as the process of applying a systematic approach to

capturing, structuring, managing, and disseminating knowledge throughout an organization
to allow its employees to work faster, reuse best practices, and reduce costly rework from
project to project (Nonaka& Takeuchi, 1995). Since the early 1990’s, interest in the topic of
knowledge (e.g., knowledge management, knowledge sharing, knowledge creation, etc.) as
it relates to organisations and value creation for organisations has increased dramatically in
both the popular and scholarly literature (Von Krogh, Ichijo, &Nonaka, 2000). In its totality,
knowledge management can be broadly defined as “any process or practice of creating,
acquiring, capturing, sharing, and using knowledge, wherever it resides, to enhance learning
and performance in organisations” (Scarbrough, Swan, & Preston, 1999, p. 1).

KNOWLEDGE SHARING

Today’s business environment is a highly competitive environment, which is often

characterized by radical changes. One essential tool for the survival of many organisations is
an understanding of knowledge management (Wheatley, 2001). Furthermore, in the
literature concerning knowledge management within an organisation, most researchers
 1061

acknowledge the important role of knowledge sharing (for example: Small & Sage, 2005;
Cummings, 2003; Alavi & Leidner, 2001 cited by Bartol & Srivastava, 2002). Knowledge
sharing is one of the knowledge management processes which includes: knowledge
creation/ generation and knowledge acquisition; knowledge codification; knowledge sharing,
which is similar to knowledge transfer; and knowledge use or application (Alavi & Leidner,
2001; Davenport & Prusak, 1998; Liebowitz & Megbolugbe, 2003; Scarbrough et al., 1999).
Knowledge sharing is also one of the knowledge processes that constitutes the knowledge
life cycle within an organisation,specifically the diffusion of knowledge throughout the
organisation (Birkinshaw & Sheehan, 2002). Additionally, both researchers and practitioners
argue that it is an essential part of effective knowledge management (Alavi & Leidner, 2001;
Bock & Kim, 2002; Islamabad, 2002; Pan & Scarbrough, 1998; Stewart, 2000; Woods,
2001). In other words, knowledge sharing is a way to enhance the access to knowledge. The
more knowledge is shared, the higher the likelihood that there will be more returns from the
knowledge and more insight can be developed into it (Ismail and Fakir, 2004).

LITERATURE REVIEW

This section is devoted to synthesising some existing literature that relate to this study.
A few previous studies on knowledge sharing is examined, followed by a discussion on the
big five personality theory which serves as the underpinning theory for this study. Based on
the findings of the literature review, a proposed research model is suggested by this study in
order to provide further research direction for future studies.

PREVIOUS STUDIES ON KNOWLEDGE SHARING

Knowledge sharing has been a relatively popular topic for discussion and research by
many researchers and practitioners as illustrated by the volume of relevant papers dedicated
to the topic (Huysman& de Wit, 2003). This may be due to the fact that knowledge sharing is
one of the core blocks of knowledge management, making it the most important aspect of
knowledge management itself. Knowledge sharing is denoted as the edge to create
knowledge which contributes to the increase in employees’ performance and harnesses
innovation (Libowitz and Chen, 2001). Knowledge sharing is essential for achieving
sustainable competitive advantages for organisations. Indeed, organisations appear to be
more productive when they can successfully create an environment in which employees
share knowledge and when the knowledge shared is actually used by the recipients of
information (Quigley, Tesluk, Locke, & Bartol, 2007).

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND: THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY THEORY

The research on the effect of personality traits on the process of knowledge sharing
has gained growing popularity in the field of knowledge management. According to Goldberg
(1990), evidence is accumulating which suggests that virtually all personality measures can
be reduced or categorised under the umbrella of a five factor model of personality. The
stability, applicability, and dimensionality of the five factors have been agreed upon by many
researchers (McCrae and Costa, 1997; Pulver, Allik, Pulkkinen, and Hamalainen, 1995;
Salgado, 1997; Costa and McCrae, 1988, Digman, 1989). It is widely agreed that the big five
personality model includes -neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness to
experience, and consciousness–, that it is one of the most mature and stable ways of
classifying personality traits, and that it has contributed to a new way of looking at
personality (Peabody & Goldberg, 1989).
According to Barrick & Mount (1991), the big five personality model strongly predicts
work behaviour across time, contexts, and cultures in various settings. It also postulates the
 1062

causal relationship between career success and personalities (Judge, Higgins, Thoresen,
Barrick 1999). The five factor structure serves as a latitude and longitude for personality
research; in terms of organising, harmonizing, and integrating previously disconnected
taxonomies and findings (Funder, 2006; Ozer and Reise, 1994, p.361). Elaborating on
individual behaviours influencing knowledge sharing, several authors (Haslamu and Fiske,
1999; Bock and Kim, 2002; Bock et al., 2005; Cabrera and Cabrera, 2005) introduced a
number of theories with the purpose of explaining people’s knowledge-sharing behaviour.
This study is explicated from the perspective of the Big Five or Five Factor Model of
Personality as introduced by McCrae and John (1992).

PERSONALITY TRAIT DIMENSIONS AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING

The effects of individual characteristics such as individual personality on knowledge

sharing still remain as one of the important research agendas in this field (Wang and Noe,
2010). This section will examine the relationship between the personality trait dimensions,
which are independent variables namely agreeableness, openness, neuroticism,
extraversion, and conscientiousness, with knowledge sharing behaviour.
One of the personality traits is agreeableness. This personality dimension is denoted
by individuals high in agreeableness who are helpful, good natured, forgiving, generous,
cheerful, courteous and cooperative (Barrick and Mount 1991). Knowledge sharing is
described as a practice where individuals commonly exchange both tacit and explicit
knowledge to jointly create a new knowledge (Rivera-Vazquez et al, 2009). This study
suggests that since people high in agreeableness are very helpful, good natured, and
cooperative with others, they will most probably participate in knowledge sharing. Their
friendly nature can enable them to easily maintain a close relationship with others. Previous
studies have suggested that people with high agreeableness rarely hesitate to share their
information, experience, and best practices. Matzler et al. (2008) found that agreeableness
has influence on knowledge sharing.
Another personality trait is openness to experience. Bozionelos (2004) defines
openness as an attitude that encompasses a variety of interests, a tendency to develop
novel ideas, flexibility of thought, receptivity of new ideas, and inventiveness. Since
openness is associated with active imagination, attentiveness to inner feelings, intellectual
curiosity, originality, and preference for variety (Costa and McCrae, 1992), individuals with
the openness characteristics will most likely want to participate in knowledge sharing.
Previous studies have supported this relationship. The study conducted by Matzler et al.
(2008) claimed that individuals high in openness to new experience are more engaged in
contributing and seeking knowledge. Furthermore, Hsu et al. (2007) also suggest that
openness will positively influence knowledge sharing.
The next personality trait is neuroticism. It encompasses different negative moods
such as anxiety, sadness, and nervous tension (Benet-Martinez and John, 1998). It is likely
that individuals high in neuroticism will not interact and share knowledge with others.
According to Gupta (2008) individuals high in neuroticism tend to be anxious, depressed,
angry, embarrassed, worried, and insecure. Therefore, this study suggests that a sense of
neuroticism will influence an individual’s interaction with other people. Consequently, it can
possibly influence their participation in knowledge sharing activities. However, previous
studies did not find a significant relationship between neuroticism and knowledge sharing.
Studies conducted by Wang and Yang (2007) showed no significant relationship between
neuroticism and the intention to share knowledge.
In the case of extraversion, it is characterized by an individual’s tendency to be
sociable, assertive, active, bold, energetic, adventuresome, and expressive (Barrick et al.,
2002). Thus, it can be said that individuals who display high extraversion will participate
more in knowledge sharing. Indeed, previous studies, such as the ones conducted by De
Vrieset et al., (2006), found extraversion to have a positive influence on knowledge sharing.
A recent study conducted by Wang and Yang (2011) found that extrovert individuals will
 1063

share their knowledge whether there is a reward or no reward. A possible explanation for
this finding may be that there is a relationship between extraversion and a need to gain
status as suggested by Barrick et al. (2005).
Lastly, is the personality trait of conscientiousness. Barrick and Mount (1991) describe
the characteristics of individuals with high conscientiousness as being dependable, dutiful,
organised, responsible, achievement oriented, and hardworking. It can be argued that
individuals with high conscientiousness will be more willing to participate in knowledge
sharing because previous studies have found a relationship between the behaviour and the
activity. Existing studies conducted by Matzler et al., (2008) as well as Wang and Yang,
(2007) found a significant relationship to knowledge sharing. However, studies conducted by
Cabrera et al. (2006) and Teh, et al., (2011) shows that there is no significant relationship
between conscientiousness and knowledge sharing.

PROPOSED RESEARCH MODEL

This paper attempts to investigate the big five personality which comprises of
agreeableness, openness to experience, neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness
(independent variable) toward knowledge-sharing behaviour (dependent variable) as shown
in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Conceptual Framework

Independent variables Dependent variable

Big Five Personality

Agreeableness
Knowledge-Sharing
Openness to Experience
Behaviour
Neuroticism
Extraversion
Conscientiousness

PROPOSED METHODOLOGY

POPULATION AND SAMPLE SIZE

The population for this study will comprise of academicians from three Public
Institutions of Higher Learning in Sarawak; namely Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak,
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and Politeknik Kuching. Professors, Associate Professors,
Senior Lecturers, lecturers and tutors are categorized as the academicians in this research.
Therefore, the KSB (Knowledge-sharing Behaviour) among academicians is the concern of
this study. The sample unit in this study are the academicians working in the same three
Public Institutions of Higher Learning named above which are located in Sarawak. The
respondents of the research will be selected through a sampling method which uses the
 1064

procedures of probability sampling. The stratified random sampling (SRS) method will be
adopted to collect data from the samples, who represent all the population’s characteristics.

DATA COLLECTION

The study is based mainly on primary data that will be collected from the academicians
of Public Institutions of Higher Learning in Sarawak, namely Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
(UNIMAS); Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Sarawak branch; and Politeknik Kuching.
The total population of academicians in these three public universities in Sarawak is 1524.
Based on Krejcie, & Morgan (1970), a representative sample size of this study is seven
hundred and ninety-eight. Therefore, a minimum of seven hundred and ninety- eight
instruments will be examined to ensure content validity and reliability within the target
context. A pretest of the questionnaire will be performed to assess logical consistencies,
ease of understanding, question item sequence adequacy, and context fitness.

CONSTRUCT MEASUREMENT

The items used to measure knowledge-sharing behaviour as dependent variables are

adapted and slightly modified from Ramayah et al (2023). KSBS consists of 25 items
measuring four dimensions of knowledge-sharing behaviour, namely written contributions (4
items), organisational communications (8 items), personal interactions (6 items), and
communities of practice (7 items) on a 7-point Likert- type response scale in which 1= never,
2= rarely, 3= occasionally, 4= sometimes 5= often, 6= very often and 7= always. Meanwhile,
the instrument to measure personality will use a 44-question version of the Big Five
inventory based on McCrae & Costa (1990). The test begins with the statement “I see myself
as someone who...” and then presents the subject with 44 phrases to complete the
sentence. The subject rates each question on a 1 to 5 scale, where 1 indicates “Strongly
Disagree” and 5 indicates “Strongly Agree”.

CONCLUSION

This study seeks to identify how personality affects knowledge-sharing behaviour

among academicians. Knowledge sharing plays a key role in the success of any
organisation, whether in the public or private sector. Increasing knowledge sharing is not a
simple task. To achieve this, there are certain strategies that need to be followed. Those
strategies include providing the right kind of motivation; hiring the right personalities;
providing the right job characteristics; and perceiving knowledge sharing positively.
Personality plays an important role in the prediction of a work-related outcome. Since
knowledge sharing is also a performance related outcome which is part of a work-related
outcome, different researchers have analysed the relationship between knowledge sharing
behaviour and personality traits. In this regard, the Big Five model of personality traits has
been used many times due to its grasp on overall personality traits.
 1065

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 1070

Human Security as a Bulwark against Terrorism? A Malaysian

Perspective
Hj. Ahmad Nazzan bin Abdullah
PhD Candidate
School of Social Science
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
anazz77@live.com

Nur Mohammad Majumdar

PhD Candidate, School of Social Science
Universiti Sains Malaysia,Penang, Malaysia
majumder.sustedu@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Malaysia’s encounter with terrorism was during the Communist Emergency period of 1948 to
1960. In order to counter terrorism, several measures were undertaken, where the approach
was the employment of soft and hard policies. These policies were improved, modified and
new methods incorporated with emphasis on human security. As such this study intends to
investigate the role of the principles of human security and its ability to help prevent
terrorism, taking into consideration the Malaysian perspective. As such the objective is to
find out if the implementation of the basic principles of human security can help other nations
to prevent terrorism, as undertaken by Malaysia. The methodology used here is mainly using
secondary data, in particular library search.

Keywords: Human security, terrorism, policies, Malaysia

INTRODUCTION

In 1994, when Maghbul ul Haq published the United Nations Development Report, he
outlined the important principles of human security. This report became a milestone in
outlining the cardinal principles, necessary for nations to implement, so as to achieve peace
and prosperity.
The report opens its findings by stating that the world can never be at peace unless
people have security in their lives (UNDP Report, 1994). The emphasis here is that
individual or human security is more important than state security. (Tadjbakhsh & Chenoy,
2007). Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands and several other countries
have adopted human security as the cornerstone of their national policies.
What is human security, and how can it contribute in preventing terrorism? This is
what this study intends to find out, keeping in mind the Malaysian perspective. Why
Malaysia? This nation is one of the few countries in Asia to have successfully implemented
the principles of human security, thus avoiding the perils of terrorism, that other nations have
been unable to avoid.
As such, it is intended to investigate the connection between human security and the
role it plays in preventing terrorism, taking into consideration Malaysia’s comprehensive
policies that include the main principles of human security
 1071

TERRORISM

Terrorism has become a global threat, leaving behind a trail of destruction, carnage
and failed states (Gunaratna, 2002). In spite of global efforts to combat terrorism, this
menace has struck almost every corner of our universe (Lutz, 2008).
This study is based on the Malaysian perspective as Malaysia is one of the few
countries in the world to successfully overcome the terror period of 1948-1960, employing
the soft power approach (Tan, 2007), and at the same time employing hard power tactics,
that led to the Communist terrorists of the Emergency period being defeated (Azam, 2006).
According to Andrew Tan (2007), Malaysia’s approach has been the comprehensive
approach, whereby it used the soft approach, that includes the principles of human security
as well as the hard approach, that is the use of force, when necessary. In fact on the 4th of
July 2012, the Malaysian representative to the United Nations, His Excellency Dato Hussein
Haniff, told the 66th plenary session of the UN, that Malaysia would continue to advocate a
comprehensive approach to threats such as international terrorism. The Malaysian Prime
Minister has emphasized on many occasions, Malaysia’s Globel Movement of Moderates,
that it will do everything in its capacity to cooperate with international organizations in
combating terrorism.

HUMAN SECURITY

The UNDP Report of 1994, introduced human security as a new concept that
equates security with people rather than with territorial states (Guan, 2012),. The report
outlined the seven dimensions necessary for nations to adhere to, in order to ensure their
citizens live in peace and achieve sustainable livelihood and economic growth (UNDP
Report, 1994). The seven dimensions or principles stated include, political security,
economic security, social security, food security, water security, health security and
environmental security. However, for this study only three principles will be emphasized as
issue at stake is terrorism.. To include all principals would be too wide a scope of this study.
Human security focusses primarily on protecting people while promoting peace and
ensuring sustainable development (Williams, 2002). The report stresses that the world can
never be at peace unless people have security in their lives. Since the Westphalia
agreement of 1648, the emphasis has always been the security of the state, taking
precedence over all other components of society. The state came first and the emphasis is
that its security is of utmost importance. On the other hand the emphasis of this report is that
the security of the individual is of primary importance, when all other factors are taken into
consideration. In fact Surin Pitsuwan, the former foreign minister of Thailand and the
secretary General of ASEAN, cites Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, that human security is the
primary purpose of organizing a state in the beginning (Ramakrishna, 2002). Incidentally,
this report has attracted the attention of many countries such as Japan, Norway, Switzerland
and Canada, where its principles, such as freedom from want and freedom from fear, have
been incorporated into their country's policies (Dom.2002).
Human security is of utmost importance as there is no state without humans. Failed
states or failing states such as Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan are good
examples of how human security is vital to the very existence of a nation (Wilkinson, 2011).
These nations are struggling to provide security for its people as their interests have been
compromised in the pursuit of national aims, goals and national security.
Accordingly, the seven mentioned principles of human security are important for an
individual to feel safe and secure in his surroundings, in his own community and in his own
country. Implementation of these principles can ensure a safer environment for survival for
an individual (Alkire, 2003). The argument here is that if nations can ensure the ststed
securities, there is ample room and opportunitiy for any society or nation to ahieve peace,
tranquility progress and advancement , the recipe for nation states (Sen,1999).Interestingly,
Alkire (2003), had noted that the absence of, or failure to achieve the above securities was
 1072

also a recipe for anarchy, destabilization and destruction as seen amongst many third world
nations struggling to ensure their citizens a rightful place on this earth.
Sabina Alkire, a a noted contributer to the workings of human security, states that
human security is deliberatively protective. She adds that people and communities are fatally
threatened by events beyond their control such as terrorism. In fact she says that the
objective of human security is to safeguard the vital core of all human lives from critical
pervasive threats, in a way that is consistent with long term human fulfilment.
Having said that, there is a multitude of threats to human security and nations are
faced with great challenges to either control or subdue these challenges. Some are natural
such as earthquakes, tsunamis, drought and diseases, whilst others are caused by human
factors such as environmental pollution, wars and conflicts.

THE IMPACT OF TERRORISM ON HUMAN SECURITY

Terrorism, which remains a serious problem for the international community, can
destroy and devastate the human security of any nation (Wilkinson, 2011). Wilkinson states
that terrorism is the systemic use of coercive intimidation, usually to service political ends.
He goes on to say that it is used to create and exploit a climate of fear amongst a wider
target group than the immediate victims of the violence, and to publicize a cause as well as
to choose a target according to the terrorists' aims. In fact the Human Security Report of
2005, states that the greatest threat to human security is ‘ international terrorism ‘. The
report states that ‘ international terrorism is the only form of political violence that appears to
be getting worse. Like genocide, terrorism is primarily directed against civilians.” The report
stresses that international terrorism is a development issue for the global South, as well as
being a vital security issue for both the North and South.
Terrorist attacks across the world has shattered the confidence and steadfastness of
many societies that felt all along that their human security status was stable (Robertson,
2007). Even the mighty superpower was not spared. The myth that the US security was
impregnable, was proven wrong when the security of its citizens in New York was shattered
by by both terrorist attacks on the twin towers in New York in 2001. Terrorism has proven
that no society is safe from its devastation. (Cremshaw, 2007). The death of more than three
thousand people and the destruction of several buildings showed how vulnerable was
human security, even in the most powerful nation in the world.. Throughout the world,
nations, whether big or small, are becoming victims of this vicious attack by terrorists. (Lutz,
2008). Human security is under threat and many nations are scrambling to safeguard the
security of their citizens. The fight against terrorism will be the most defining challenge of this
millennium (Chandler& Gunaratna, 2007). Kamarulzaman (2005), asserts that the ultimate
and long term solution to international terrorism, however, lies in eliminating its underlying
causes, poverty, ignorance, injustice and alienation.
Great Britain, one of the great powers of the world also succumbed to terrorist
attacks in 2005, when backpack carrying youths stunned the nation with their devastating
destruction of the train tunnel services, while at the same time exploding at a bus load of
British citizens. In 2004, Spain witnessed a train disaster when terrorists exploded ten
bombs, in a packed train in Madrid, killing scores and wounding hundreds, sending shock
waves throughout Europe. The paradise island of Bali, in Indonesia was rocked on the night
of the 12th of October 2002, when terrorists bombed the Pati Night Club killing more than
two hundred party goers who were mainly Australian citizens. The terrorist attacks in
Mumbai, India, the massacre and the hostage crisis of the Taj Hotel in 2008, is a reminder
of what terrorism can inflict if successful preventive measures are not undertaken.
According to Wilkinson (2007), terrorism remains a serious problem for the international
community. In his findings, he states that in the period January 2006 to December 2009,
over 60% of of the nations in the world were affected by terrorism.
Whatever their beliefs, goals or targets, their horrific acts only hastened the desire of
society to scramble for answers to counter this global menace called terrorism (Robertson,
 1073

2007). National, international and international actions in the form of cooperations have
been taken to pool the resources to combat this ever growing curse of the twentieth century,
as the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 had stated ‘ any act of terrorism per
se is a threat to international peace and security” (Tan, 2007).

THE MALAYSIAN EXPERIENCE. THE EMERGENCY PERIOD 1948-1960

Interestingly, Malaysia was the subject of terrorist attacks during the Communist
Emergency period of 1948 to 1960 ( Jessy, 1961). The struggle against communism and the
quest for independence saw disgruntled groups using terror as a weapon against authority
(Azam, 2006). Large numbers of civilians became victims of terrorist attack, whose aim was
to instill fear among the masses (Chapman, 1977). Their aim was also to make the
authorities appear weak and incapable of ensuring and safeguarding the security of the
masses. Indiscriminate bombings and killings were undertaken to frighten the populace to
support their struggle (Ramakrishna, 2002). Counter terrorism actions of this early period
employed both hard power as well as soft power (Azam, 2006). The soft power approach
was similar to the principles of human security, where individual security was given
prominence.
A point to note here is the address of His Excellency the Regent of Malaysia, who
noted in his keynote address at the official opening ceremony at the Peace and Security
Forum 2013, held at the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Kuala Lumpur, that “ human security or insecurity knows no nationality. It knows no
religion. And it knows no race or ethnicity”. (New Straits Times, Saturday, May 18, 2013)
Incidentally, another remark on the Communist Emergency in Malaya is by the former
Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi, who in his forward remark of the
launching of a book, ‘The Malayan Emergency Revisited 1948-1960’, added that,
“ The communists in Malaya used terror as a weapon to achieve their goals. This episode
still has relevance to us today, as we see terror being waged in many parts of the globe.
While we must do all to battle these evil forces, we must also continue to win the hearts and
minds of our people; we must assure people that violence can never be justified and that
terror has no place in this world (Azam, 2006).
In fact Malaysia overcame the vicious terrorist attacks, when it put in place multiple
measurements that ensured that terror will never breed again (Tan, 2007). During the early
period, the Communists resorted to terror, to implement their agenda. The terror tactics
found a breeding ground amongst the Chinese living in the fringes of society, where the
Communists instilled fear among the Chinese of an uncertain future, after a Malay led
independence. The poor economic conditions of the Chinese and exploited workers,
particularly the Indians became a good breeding ground for Communist ideology
(Ramakrishna, 2002). According to Mohd. Azam (2006), the Communist terror movement
was political, but capitalized on economic deprivation and unhappiness amongst the
Chinese and non-Msalay populace.
In order to defeat the terrorists, the authorities initiated a two pronged approach. One
was the soft power approach, where great importance was given to human security,
involving social, economic and political initiatives. The other was the use of hard power, that
is the police and military. In order to accomplish this mammoth task, the following initiatives
were undertaken.
The Briggs Plan and the Gerald Templar initiatives were the beginning of the
employment of what is today termed as soft and hard power approach to deal with terrorism
in Malaysia. The Briggs plan is similar to the soft power approach where human economic
and social necessities are addressed and given priority. In fact the idea of New Villages was
to separate the local Chinese peasants and resettle them in new villages far from the fringes
of jungles. (Azam, 2006). Once resettled, their social and economic needs were addressed,
as part of the human security approach.
 1074

The Templar initiatives emphasized on the hard power approach, such as the
establishment of the Special Constabulary, to deal specifically with Communist terrorists, the
issuance of identification cards ( Kad Pengenalan ), to every citizen and punishment of
anyone who collaborated with the terrorists. Templar requested and obtained additional
security forces to combat the terrorist movement during that period. (Jessy, 1961). As such,
it can be seen clearly that what is termed as soft power and hard power in dealing with
terrorism, as explained by Crelinsten (2009), was already being practiced during the
Emergency period, even though it was not termed as such. Subsequently, these initiatives
were worked upon, modified, improved, legislated and implemented for what is today in
Malaysia. Many of the political, economic and social policies that were introduced during the
five year plans are similar to the advocates of the principles of human security. To date,
Malaysia continues to combine the use of coercion and a hearts and minds ideology as part
of its security ideology (Humphreys, 2010).

PROBLEM STATEMENT

As stated earlier, terrorism is a global threat, where many nations are scrambling to
find ways to combat this phenomena. This problem that has been plaguing the world
community of late, needs a solution, and a very good one As such this study intends to find
answers to the problem of terrorism.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to find a solution to combat or prevent terrorism, taking
into consideration Malaysia;s comprehensive approach, where the principles of human
security were given great emphasis.

RESEARCH QUESTION

1. Can effective implementation of the principle of human security help prevent

terrorism?

SCOPE OF STUDY

As stated in the UNDP Report of 1994, there are seven cardinal principles oh human
security. However, for this research, only three of the principles will be focussed, namely,
political security, economic security and social security, as these play vital roles in wanting to
prevent the phenomenon of terrorism.

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The significance of this study is that not much has been written, connecting human
security to terrorism. According to Lutz (2008) there is a mamoth of books written on the
subject of terrorism but very little, connecting human security and terrorism, Furthermore not
much literature is available on how Malaysia has handled or succeeded in preventing
terrorism. This phenomenon has wrecked havoc in many of the countries of Asia, but
Malaysia has come out literally unscathed from this global menace. As such it will be
significant to find out how Malaysia employed the principles of human security in overcoming
this global threat.
 1075

METHODOLOGY

In this study, secondary data will play a vital role in providing substance and
evidence. Basically it is going to be library search from books, journals and magazines. In
addition the writer would also use his knowledge of this subject, gained from the 60s as a
student, till to date.
First of all, the three important principles of human security, namely political,
economic and social would be probed and explained. Subsequently effort will be made to
show how the citizens benefit from the implementation, taking the Malaysian context as an
example. Similtaneously a comparison will be made of other countries that are victims of
terrorism, where such principles have not been implemented. Here a critical analysis will be
made and argued on the benefits of human security and the defects if these are not given
prominence.

POLITICAL SECURITY

According to Walter Laqueur, there is no one accepted definition of terrorism. In fact,

he states that there are more than 109 definitions of terrorism. Likewise, to begin with, there
is no specific definition of political security.
As such, this study will try to find an acceptable explanation of the term political,
security, before venturing into its role in helping to prevent the phenomenon of terrorism.
Incidentally, the UNDP Report of 1994 states that political security is the prevention of
government repression, systemic violation of human rights and threats of militarization.
Costa (2008), states that, “ although the concept is widely used in the rhetoric of decision
making or in the compilation of a variety of subjects of security problems, political security is
not an unequivocal label”. The writer goes on to state that democracy or the installation of
democratic regimes is a component of political security. The term political, security does not
avail itself of a clear operational definition. Political security addresses the nature of
government, the set of relationship between individual and groups on the one hand and the
state as the other, for the exercise of rights and obligations in the distribution of power.
Human rights are at the core of political security (Costa, 2008).
Therefore, it can be construed that political security is the sense of feeling secure as
far as the political governance of a country is concerned. Individuals in a country need to
have a sense of feeling secure of their human rights and feel free to participate in the daily
management or governance of a nation.
Political security also refers to the presence of the various components of political
activities and development. For instance the individual is given the opportunity to participate
in the political development of the country, which may be termed as participatory politics.
Citizens are given the free choice to choose or elect the representatives or political parties of
their choice to form governments to rule the country. The basic human rights such as one
person, one vote, needs to be exercised without fear or intimidation. The right to exercise
that choice needs to be there and also enshrined in the constitution of the nation. Elections
should be free and fair and the right to change governments must be in the hands of the
citizens. As enshrined in the The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, there
needs to the freedom of choice, speech and movement. A representative parliament should
be instituted that allows the people's representatives to debate national issues and pass
laws for the benefit of the nation and its citizens. The citizens should be given the right to
choose the political ideology they prefer, without any intimidation or duress from external
forces.
The above political rights and exercises need to be guarded and implemented. In
order to achieve this, an impartial and independent judiciary is essential to uphold the
principles of democracy and the rights of every citizen is ensured as stated in the
constitution. An essential component of political security is the presence of the separation of
powers, so that an impartial system of governance exists.
 1076

As such, if the above requirements are met, it can be safely stated that there is
political, security, an important component of human security.
Incidentally, it is important, as mentioned earlier, to probe whether these components are
present in Malaysia. If these components are present, then it can be safely accepted that
Malaysia gives emphasis to human security. Furthermore, if that is the case, did this
presence of political, security contribute to Malaysian efforts in preventing terrorism.
Ever since the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tengku Abdul Rahman, the emphasis has
always been about the existence of political security as one of the cardinal pillars of this
nation. This was enhanced by the existence and practice of “ the Social Contract “,
(Lijphart,1968) an unwritten convention, where the three main races in Malaysia will respect
and adhere to the principles laid down in the Federal Constitution. This understanding has
been passed down to all the subsequent Prime Ministers, who regularly remind the citizens
of the social contract, agreed upon by the founders. Besides the Social Contract, the other
principle or dynamics of political security in Malaysia will be discussed at length in the
section on discussions.
If this is the case in Malaysia and accepting that it has worked positively, then how
about nations that have become victims of terrorism. How is the scenario there. Let us take
three other countries as a comparison.
Firstly, Somalia is a good example. It is an independent nation, where the majority
are Muslims, with a central government, elected by its citizens. However, it cannot be denied
that Somalia has witnessed countless terrorist attacks, and is considered by many as a
failed state. (Sahnoun,1994). In terms of political security, there has never been an occasion
for a free and fair election. Al Shabaab, the shadowy terror group has been using threat,
intimidation and outright kidnapings to force people not to participate in elections. The
country is controlled by War Lords, who yield extensive powers and can determine political
developments at their whims and fancies.
Another interesting example would be Pakistan. A Muslim majority nation which
gained independence long before Malaysia, and practicing parliamentary democracy. In
addition, it implements Syaria Law to appease the Muslim population. However, it is home to
the Pakistan Taliban (Rashid, 2000), Al Qaeda Supremo Osama Ben Laden was shot in
Abbatobad, a scenic mountain area of Pakistan. Sectarian violence between the Sunni and
Shia Islam is a regular episode (Ahmad, 2012). The Army yields more power than the
elected civilian governments. Since independence the country has witnessed countless
military coups, where the generals set the rules and human security or political security did
not mean much to the Coup leaders ( Shah, 2014). Political instability is common due to
member states demanding more autonomy from the central government. The dynamics of
political security are glaringly missing or absent here, thus becoming a thriving base for
sectarian violence and proliferation of terror groups.
More examples can be given, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and even Lebanon, but it
would suffice to show that in all of these states, the absence or lack of political, security has
given rise to conflicts and sectarian violence, using terror as a tool.

ECONOMIC SECURITY

An interesting argument that usually pitches politicians and economists is, which is
more important. Political stability or economic stability. It depends on which side you are.
Principally, political stability is more important, as the political masters can either make good
and proper judgements towards prosperity or bungle the nation's future by undertaking
negative approaches. Neither economic security, nor economic stability can be achieved if
there is political instability.
Having said that, economic security refers to the situation where the individual is
assured of an income, and an assurance of this continuing in the future, which can
guarantee a prosperous life for the individual and his family.
 1077

In many of the advanced and western countries, economic security plays a vital role
in their achievement of a high standard of living of its people. Where there is economic
security, there is employment, money to provide good education for the children and a
pension or guarantee of basic necessities for the elderly and aged. As stated in the UNDP
Report of 1994, there should be freedom from want. Economic security also refers to proper
utilization of natural resources, so that the wealth of the nation is utilized and distributed so
that the citizens enjoy the fruits of economic security, a stable economy, high level of
employment, low poverty rate and a comfortable standard of living. These are the
ingredients necessary for economic security.
Malaysia has had a long period of political stability. Economically, the country has
achieved steady growth, where the citizens enjoy a good standard of living, low
unemployment rate and considered an economic powerhouse in ASEAN. During the tenure
of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the country recorded an economic growth of 7%. It
was regarded as one the Asian Tigers, in terms of GDP and economic growth. Therefore,
this presence of economic security, coupled with political, security, has assured that the
country has a bulwark against terrorism, which thrives on political instability and economic
deprivation.
On the other hand, Somalia is one of the poorest countries in the world.
Economically, it has nothing to produce or sell, except violence and destruction, an important
component of terrorism. Pakistan on the other hand is gifted with natural resources,
agriculture, tourism and neghbours to trade with. However, corruption, political instability,
ethnic conflicts and fanatism, have driven this nation closer to the extremists who use terror
to achieve their targets. Other nations such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Syiria, to name a few,
have squandered natural resources such as oil, leading to economic insecurity, thus
becoming a haven for terrorist activities.

SOCIAL SECURITY

This is an important dynamics of human security as described in the UNDP Report of

1994. It plays a vital role in that it acts as a very important fabric that tends to hold the
community together. The social apparatus in a society such as education, welfare and
religious activities, helps to cement the multi cultural topography of the society. Where there
is social security, there is togetherness that bonds the citizens together to prosper as a
nation.
Incidentally, where there is a threat to social security, there tend to be opportunities
for conflicts, such as sectarian violence, ethnic conflict and sometimes, boiling into open
confrontation. Terrorism thrives on such a scenario (Lutz, 2008), as seen in Pakistan,
Somalia, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, the Zhinjiang Province of China, to name a few.
According to Bruce Hoffman (2007), terrorism has become religious based. He calls
this New Terrorism. Cremshaw (2011), also states that social insecurity can lead to tensions
and weaken the strength of the different communities in a country.
In all the countries mentioned, there is religious intolerance, extremism and violence,
that threatens social security to its very core. It also falls into the trap laid by extremists.
Terrorists exploit such situations and carry out terror acts to divide the people, thus
weakening their resolve to thrive as a peaceful and prosperous nation.
The Malaysian context, needs to be emphasized here. Malaysia is considered a
potpourri of cultures. It is a mosaic of different races and cultures. Its fabric of
multiculturalism has been recognized, not only by ASEAN but also by the United nations,
when it put forward the Global Movement of Moderates. In spite of the fact that it is a multi-
cultural and multi-ethnic country, it has a long history of tolerance and peaceful living. Article
(10) of the Federal Constitution guarantees freedom of worship, language and cultures.
Since independence, every Prime Minister has worked to ensure this is implemented as part
of the Social Contract agreed upon.
 1078

DISCUSSION

As had been stated earlier, the aim of this study is to investigate the role of human
security in helping to prevent terrorism, taking the Malaysian experience into consideration.
Andrew Tan(2007), had stated that it is the comprehensive approach that has helped
Malaysia to prevent this phenomenon from causing destruction and death. Humphreys
(2010), asserts that it is the experiences of the Communist period that have aided Malaysia
to formulate this comprehensive approach. Kumar Ramakrishna (2002), concurs by giving
examples of how winning the hearts and the minds of the Malayans led to the defeat of the
Communist terrorists. The present leadership has added moderation, in the wake of Islamic
extremism.
As such, it is imperative to discuss, implore and explore the impact, role and status of
human security in helping to prevent terrorism. While many countries were unprepared to
deal with this tragic phenomenon, Malaysia has updated an approach that takes root from
the experiences of the Communist Emergency period of 1948 to 1960.
Azam, explains that the strategy is based on the twin approach of using hard and soft
power. Hard power refers to the use of force or military (Crelensten, 2009), while the soft
approach refers to winning the hearts and minds of the citizens, by giving emphasis to daily
requirements (Nye, 2004). This twin pronged approach finally brought to an end the terror
war waged by the Communists and Chin Peng finally gave up the struggle of using terror to
fight the government of Malaya.
As an important component of discussion, it is imperative to flash back at the problem
statement, objective of this study and the research question. .
The problem here is terrorism. The objective is to find solutions to terrorism, taking into
account Malaysia’s comprehensive policy which gave emphasis to human security/ As such
the research question is whether effective implementation of the principles of human security
help to prevent terrorism.
To begin with, it is essential to find out why terrorists do what they do. What are their
grievances? Why do they resort to violence, death and destruction to achieve their aims?
Here causes of terrorism may prop up.
Samuel Huntington (1996), considers this as part of the clash of civilizations. Rohan
Gunaratna (2002), considers terrorism as a reaction to poverty, marginalzation and
discrimination.

Political Security

For example, in Southern Philippines, Abu Sayaf and NILF, are waging terrorist
attacks due to the lack of political security. They have been demanding autonomy for the
Moro population as against control and rule from the authorities in Manila. Political insecurity
led to the guerilla warfare and the use of terror tactics by the groups involved
(Mendosa&Taylor, 2010). All that is needed is an application or implementation of the
Conflict Resolution theory of Johan Galtung and implements the principles of human
security, such as political security, and wait for the results. God willing, there could be a
solution to this very long conflict.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam sought political security in the form of autonomy
for the Jaffna Peninsula in the North and the East Coast of Sri Lanka, which had a majority
Tamil population (Mohan, 2015). Instead of guranteeing political security, the Army ploughed
through the Tamil areas, killing more than sixty thousand people and rendering another two
hundred and fifty thousang, homeless and becoming refugees in their own country.
The Norwegians worked tirelessly so as to bring both the warring factions to the
negotiation tables and come to an amicable situation of guranteeing political security for the
Tamil populace. In 2009,Sinhalese leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa opted for the use of hard
power and drove thousands from their homes. Many are still in refugee camps, even though
the conflict ended in 2009 (Hammer, 2015).
 1079

Could it be that if those in power had recognized the importance of human security
and implemented it, the above conflicts could have been avoided?

Economic Security

In 1909, the Anglo Siamese Treaty carved out the Southern portion of Thailand,
which was referred to as Patani, to become part of Thailand. This Southern region is
populated by Malay Muslims, in contrast to the rest of Thailand where the people are mainly
Buddhists.
The Buddhist majority nation imposed many laws, rule and regulations with little
regard for the Muslims in the South (Rajakumar, 2016). The greatest complain there was the
lack of economic growth. Everything was concentrated in the North, the seat of power.
This feeling of economic insecurity was to lead to the conflict in the South, where the
Patani Liberation Front used terror to demand autonomy from the central government
(Melvin, 2007). As mentioned by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir
Mohammad, all that is needed is consultation, not confrontation.

Social Security

Another important component of human security is social security. It plays a vital role
in the peace, progress and stability of a nation.
Indonesia, a Muslim majority nation, had accepted ‘Pancasila’ as the national charter,
where different cultures and religions were given their rightful place (Arif, 2016). The
important criteria were respect for one another culture and religion. However, modernization
and globalization led to many changes in the cultural practices of the populace. Western
liberal practices seeped into the society without taking into consideration the conservative
and religious sentiments of the majority. The masses felt that their social security was being
eroded, with the influx of western liberal concepts.
The counter reaction to this was shown, when in 2002, members of the Jemaah
Islamiah carried out a terrorist attack on the Patti Bar in Kuta Street, in the Indonesian
holiday resort of Bali (Collison, 2008). This was in effect a reaction to the sprouting of night
clubs, revelling and the behavior of foreigners, who had little regard for the feelings,
sentiments, culture and social etiquette of the Indonesians. More than 200 people were
killed, mostly Australians.
As such, it is imperative to understand and implement the principles of human
security, which has helped Malaysia, and could help others in dealing with the phenomenon
of terrorism.

REFERENCES

Abuza, Z. (2003). Militant Islam in South East Asia. Crucibles of Terrorism. Lynne Reinner

Abuza, Z. (2009), Conspiracy of Silence: The Insurgency in Southern Thailand, United States
of Peace Process, Washington,DC

Ahmad, K. (2012). Sectarian War. Oxford University Press

Alkire, S. (2003). Conceptual Framework of Human Security: Excerpts from from

workingdefinitions and execitive Summaries. Human Security Journal-Issue1-April
2006

Andrew, H. (1995). Who won the Malayan Emergency. Graham Brash(Pte). Singapore
 1080

Arif, S. (2016). Falsafah Kebangsaan Pancasila. Gramedia Pustaka Utara

Askandar, K. (2005). Understanding and Managing Militant Movements in South East Asia
SEACSN Publications

Azam, M. (2006). The Malayan Emergency Revisited. 1948-1960.AMR Holdings SDN BHD

Baldwin, D. (1997). The concept of Security. Princeton University

Barber, N, (1972). The War of the Running Dogs: Malaya 1948-1960.Cassell Military
Paperback

Chandler, M & Gunaratna, R (2007). Countering Terrorism. Reaktion Books

Chapman, F. S. (1971). The Jungle is Neutral. Mayflower Books

Collison, K. B. (2008). Crescent moon Rising-The Bali Bombings. Sid Harta Publishers

Crelinsten, R. (2009). Counterterrorism. Polity Press

Cremshaw, M. (1981). The Causes of Terrorism. JSTOR

Dom,W. (2011). Human Security, an Overview. Pearson Peacekeeping Centre

Galtung, J. (1969). Violence, Peace and Peace Research. Journal of Peace Research

Ghows, M.A.M.H (2006). The Malayan Emergency Revisited. 1948-1960. AMR

Guan, B.T.C. (2012). Human Security. Securing East Asia’s Future. Springer

Gunaratna, R. (2003). Inside Al Qaeda Berkley Books. New York

Hammer, J. (2015). The Terrible War for Sri Lanka. The New York Review

Hoffman, D. (2007). Terrorism in History. Journal Of Conflict Studies

Humphrey, A. (2010). Malaysia’s Post 9/11 Strategy. Winning Hearts and Minds. Kajian
Malaysia: VOL: 28 No.. 1. 2010

Huntington, S. (1996). The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Simon &
Schuster

Jessy, J.S. (1961). History of Malaya (1400-1959). United Publishers Penang

Kassim, Y.R. (2011). Issues in Human Security in Asia. SRSSIS

Laqueur, W. (2003). No End to War: Terrorism in the 21st Century. Bloomsbury

Laqueur, W. (2010). A history of Terrorism. Transaction Publishers

Lijphart, A. (1977). Democracy in Plural Societies. Yale University Press

Lijphart, A. (1968). The Politics of Accomodation. University of California Press

Lutz, J.M. (2008). Global Terrorism. Routledge

 1081

Melvin, N.J. (2007). Conflict in Southern Thailand. Islamism, violence and the State in Patani
Insurgency SIPRI Policy Paper No. 20. Gruppen, Brommo

Mendosa, M.B.& Taylor,V.M., (2010). Challenges to Human Security in complex situations

The Case of conflict in Southern Philippines. ADRRN

Mohan, R. (2014). The Seasons of Trouble: Life Amid the Ruins of Sri Lanka Civil War.
Verso Nye, J. (2004). Soft Power. Public Affairs. New York

Paris, R. (2001). Human Security: Paradigm shift or hot air? MIT Press

Rajakumar, V. (2016). Insurgency in Southern Thailand. RSIS Singapore

Ramakrishna, K. (2002). Emergency Propaganda: The winning of the Malaysian

Rashid, A. (2000). Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism. Yale University Press

Robertson, A.E. (2007). Terrorism and Global Security. Facts on File

Sahnoun, M. (1994). Somalia, the missed opportunities. USIP

Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. New York. Alfred A. Knope

Shah, A. (2014). The Army and Democracy: Military Politics in Pakistan. Harward University

Singh, B. (2007). The Talibanization of South East Asia. Praeger Security International
Strategic Studies

Stewart, B. (2004). Smashing Terrorism in the Malayan Emergency. Pelanduk

Tadjbakhsh & Chenoy. (2007). Human Security: Concepts and implications.

Taylor and FrancisTan, A. (2007). A Handbook of Terrorism and Insurgency in South East
Asia. Edgar Elgar. UK

Williams, P. (2008). Security Studies. An Introduction. Routledge

Wilkinson, P. (2011). Terrorism Versus Democracy. Routledge

Yusoff, M.A. (2002). Managing Terrorism through Peaceful political Negotiations:

Zwitter, S. (2011). Human Security, Law and the prevention of Terrorism. Routledge
 1082

Orthodoxies on Whistleblower: Leaving One at the Crossroad

Shahriza Ilyana Ramli
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, UiTM Kedah

Dr Hafizah Besar Said

Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, UiTM Kedah

Noorayuni Rusli
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, UiTM Kedah

Diana Hassan
Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA, UiTM Kedah

Azni Syafena Andin Salamat

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA, UiTM Kedah

ABSTRACT

Whistleblowing is the disclosure of information by organizational members (former or

current) of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices under the control of their employers, to
persons or organizations that may be able to effect action. He might choose to act alone,
personally put effort to stopping it and perhaps, try to correcting the wrong. The
whistleblowing initiative is not easy- hindered by hesitation of telling truth on the
wrongdoings he has learnt from his organizational members or his immediate superior.
Loyalty seems to be a predictor to whistleblowing out of many other predictors. Some
studies suggested that the person who tried so hard to correcting the wrong in the
organization might be because of his deep attachment to the organization. The act is
regarded as constructional ideas to the organization. On the other hand, some studies
suggested that the action of reporting the wrong is a betrayal to the organization as it might
ruin the good organizational name and somehow, would tarnish the organizational image.
Thus, this concept paper is attempt to discuss on the loyalty issue of the whistleblower.

Keywords: Whistleblowing, Organizational Attachment, Loyalty

INTRODUCTION

Whistle blowing was a word created in 1970s in Western countries. It is a metaphor

used for a foul in a sporting event; where referee would blow the whistle to correct the fault.
Whistleblowing is a type of response which requires one to go outside normal procedure and
report the wrongdoings to trust others who are willing and able to take action to stop the
wrong. In Malaysia, the act was only enforced on 15th December 2010 by its name
Whistleblower Protection Act 2010, under the Act 117.
 1083

WHISTLEBLOWING

Near and Miceli, (1985) have defined whistleblowing as the disclosure of information
by organizational members (former or current) of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices
under the control of their employers, to persons or organizations that may be able to effect
action. Whistleblowing is not simply means informing. The term whistle blowing should not
be regarded as a general informer because there are many other types of informer out there;
only when the whistleblower- informing the other party; internally or externally about the
perceived wrongdoings (might be comprised of fraud, misconduct, corruption or any bad
news). Either way an individual or some individual or an organization is accused and
challenged by the process. It involves present or former organization members reporting
illegal, unethical, or illegitimate activities under the control of organization leaders to parties
who are willing and able to take action to correct the wrongdoing.
To note, whistleblowing is defined as the release of information by a member or
former member of an organization who has an evidence of illegal and/ or immoral conduct in
the organization that is not in the public interest (Boatright, 2003). The central idea here is
the need to blow the whistle on the notion of the public interest. It is in aligned with the
concept proposed by De Maria, (1994) where she stated that the whistleblower is a
concerned citizen, totally, or predominantly motivated by notions of public interest, who
initiates of her or his own free will, an open disclosure about significant wrongdoing directly
perceived in a particular occupational role, to a person or agency capable of investigating
the complaint and facilitating the correction of wrongdoing. Added to the point, Keenan and
Mclain, (1992) have highlighted that wrongdoing includes behavior which is morally wrong as
well as behavior which is illegal, unethical, wasteful, inefficient, neglectful, an abuse of
power, or violates organizational rules or professional standards.

PERCEIVED RETALIATION

Many researchers have highlighted the retaliation issue towards whistleblower. Many
have suggested that potential whistleblowers who perceive a threat of retaliation (for
instances by their organization, supervisors or colleagues) seem to resort to less reporting
on wrongdoings rather than those who do not have such a climate (Keenan, 1995; Near &
Miceli, 1996). A passive response, that is doing nothing may occur when an individual is
either apathetic toward the wrongdoing or judges his or her personal power to stop the
wrong to be low while risk of retaliation is believed to be higher.
In the study by Parmerlee et al., (1982), in response to the act of whistleblowing,
there are several possible forms of retaliation for examples like firing, denial of training and
denial of promotion. It is including the organizational steps to undermine the complaint
process, isolation of the whistleblower, character defamation, and imposition of hardship or
disgrace upon the whistleblower, exclusion from meetings, elimination of perquisites and
other form of discrimination or harassment (Parmerlee et al., 1982).
Cortina and Magley, (2003) in their studies found two correlated factors, which are,
first, social retaliation (e.g; name-calling, ostracism) and secondly, work related retaliation
(e.g; involuntary transfer, demotion) (as cited in Rehg et al., 2008). “Retaliation may recur in
a series of events and it may escalate if the desired outcome of discouraging the
whistleblower is not accomplished” (Miceli and Near, 1992). Adding to that point, in the study
of Rothschild & Miethe, (1999) stated that about two thirds of the whistleblowers experienced
several forms of retaliation as the price that they had to pay for the disclosure they had
made. The ranges are as follows:

1) 69% of the respondents lost their job or were forced to retire

2) 64% of the respondents received negative job performance evaluations
3) 68% of the respondents said that they had to work more closely monitored by
supervisors
 1084

4) 69% of the respondents were criticized or avoided by their coworkers

5) 64% of the respondents were blacklisted from getting another job in their field

Basically, fear of the retaliation causes a person to keep the unlawful activity that
he/she has seen silently. But the question is; whether the act of blowing a whistle is noble
and benevolent act -referring to his loyalty as a valuable input to the organization or vice
versa- when the disclosure of information is seen as to betray or being disloyal to the
organization?

WHISTLEBLOWER: AT THE CROSSROAD OF LOYALTY

The concept of commitment in the workplace is still one of the most challenging and
researched concepts in management, organizational behavior, and Human Resources
Management. Positive psychological attachment is an important indicator of successful
completion of projects. For any organization to have a competitive advantage among others,
the employees need to be highly committed, dedicated, focused and well-engaged in their
organization. Organizational psychological attachment is an individual’s feelings about the
organization as a whole, the psychological bond that an employee has with an organization
(Mowday et al., 1982,as cited in Joo & Park, 2010). Organizational psychological attachment
can be identified under three areas such as affective, normative and continuance which view
commitment as a psychological state that characterizes the employees’ relationship with the
organization and has the implications for the decision to continue membership of it and have
different implications for work-relevant behavior (Nawab & Bhatti, 2011). Thus, when
employees are rationally and emotionally committed to an organization, they willingly go
above and beyond the call of duty. On top of that, a committed employee is one that will
remain with the organization. In other words, the organizational psychological attachment
typology is the loyalty of an employee.
The arguments on whistleblower loyalty are clashes between scholars to another.
Some viewed the act as good and in need to repair the organizational loopholes. On the
other leaf, some scholars argued that, only disloyal employees would blow the whistle on the
wrongdoings of his colleagues or superior. Why? Because by letting outsiders to know the
internal crisis happened, it would somehow tarnish an organizational image. A speech by
James M. Roche in 1971, who was chairman of the board of General Motors Corporation at
the time explain the phenomenon better:

“Some critics are now busy eroding another support of free

enterprise-the loyalty of a management team, with its unifying
values of cooperative work. Some of the enemies of business now
encourage an employee to be disloyal to the enterprise. They
want to create suspicion and disharmony, and pry into proprietary
interests of the business. However, this is labelled- industrial
espionage, whistle blowing, or professional responsibility- it is
another tactic for spreading disunity and creating conflict.” (Roche
1971, quoted in Boatright 2003).

Farrell, (1983) and Hirschman, (1970) in their journals have highlighted that the
employee exercises voice by blowing the whistle; alternatively, the employee could exit the
organization, or remain silent out of loyalty or neglect. Hirschman, (1970) argued that loyalty
of customers and employees could provide the catalyst for these actors to choose voicing
rather than exit. On top of that, Jubb, (1999) in his writing stated that the person who is
about to blow the whistle might has dilemma in choosing to act based on his integrity
(loyalty to himself) and perceived responsibilities to others; his professional association or
the general public. He said that a whistleblower that informs on perpetrators or takes an
action that others refuse to do is likely to be accused of loyalty to peers.
 1085

Most of managers may view external whistle blowers as disloyal, because most
companies believe that they have adequate internal reporting mechanisms, most often open
door policy that they believe the employees must make use of it rather that to report it
externally (Dworkin & Baucus, 1998). The act of blowing the whistle is sometimes
considered as breach of trust or disloyal to the organization by which one is attached to.
Whistle blowing is often regarded as akin to betrayal, a decision to bring the organization
into disrepute (Gobert & Punch, 2000). De George (2006) in his book has written that
internal whistleblowing usually involves disloyalty and disobedience to one’s immediate
superior or disloyalty to one’s fellow workers. He added that, the whistle blowing initiative is
done to stop dishonesty in order to protect the interest of the company or to increase the
company’s profits.

CONCLUDING REMARKS: THE TOOLKIT TO ORGANIZATION

In a nutshell, as discussed above, the orthodoxies or doctrines of whistle blowing

leaves a whistle blower at the loyalty crossroad. Whistleblower rarely seen as a hero.
Instead, they have been labelled as traitors, betrayals and people who disloyal to the
organization. Thus, the honesty would be retaliated. One might hesitate of retaliation
perceived when telling the truth on the wrongdoings he has learnt from his organizational
members especially if it is done by his immediate superior. Many studies have suggested
that a high degree of retaliation could tarnish the one’s motivation to stopping the
wrong. In the same vein, the big question that comes later is how we are going to
correct the wrong or even to stop the wrong if this issue hinders us from doing so.
When we talk about good deeds or benevolent act in organization, it is undeniable
that two strong elements must be considered; these two are the will and the
capacity. Not only by the whistleblower him/herself; the organization he/she is
working in and the government’s role is essentially crucial. A climate of free and
open communication in the organization would increase the tendency of the
wrongdoings to be shared. So, it can be corrected. On the other leaf, if this is not
observe, it could lead to a more serious disease where nobody is willing to address the
problem. The clouds would become hazier and worse come to worse; it could embed as an
organizational bad culture where everyone certain that no actions are taken against them if
they engage with it.

REFERENCES

Boatright, J. R. (2003). Ethics and the conduct of business. (4th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson
Education, Inc.

Cortina, L. & Magley, V. (2003). Raising voice, risking retaliation: Events following
interpersonal mistreatment in the workplace. Journal of Occupational Health
Psychology. 8 (4), 247-265.

De George, R. T. (2006). Business ethics. (6th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

De Maria, (1994) W. Queensland whistleblowers study: Unshielding the shadow culture

(Result release one, April 1994 [Ph.D Thesis]. St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia:
University of Queensland, Department of Social Work and Social Policy, Brisbane.

Dworkin, T. M., & Baucus, M. S. (1998). Internal vs external whistleblowers: A comparison of

whistleblowing process. Journal of Business Ethics, 17, 1281-1298.
 1086

Farrell, D. (1983). `Exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect as responses to job dissatisfaction: A
multidimensional scaling study', Academy of Management Journal, 26, 596-607

Gobert J, Punch M (2000) Whistle-Blowers, the Public Interest, and the Public Interest
Disclosure Act, 1998. The Modern Law Review 63, 25–54.

Hirschman, A. O. (1970). Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms,

Organizations, and States, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Joo, B. K., & Park, S. (2010). Career satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover
intention: The effects of goal orientation, organizational learning culture and
development feedback. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(6), 482-
500.

Jubb PB (1999). Whistleblowing: A restrictive definition and interpretation. Journal of

Business Ethics, 21(1):77-94.

Keenan, J.P. (1995). Whistleblowing and the first-level manager: Determinants of feeling
obliged to blow the whistle. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 10(3), 571-
584.

Keenan, J. P., & Mclain, D. L. (1992). Whistleblowing: a conceptualization and model.

Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings, 10, 348-352

Miceli, M. P., & Near, J. P. (1992). Blowing the whistle: The organizational & legal
implications for companies and employees. New York: Lexington Books.

Nawab, S., & Bhatti, K.K. (2011). Influence of employee compensation on organizational
commitment and job satisfaction: A case study of educational sector of Pakistan.
International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(8).

Near, J. P., & Miceli, M. P. (1985). Organizational dissidence: The case of whistleblowing.
Journal of Business Ethics, 4, 1-16.

Near, J. P., & Miceli, M. P. (1996). Whistle-blowing: myth and reality. Journal of
Management, 22 (3), 507-526

Parmerlee, M. A., Near, J. P., and Jensen, T. C., (1982), "Correlates of whistle-blowers'
perceptions of organizational retaliation", Administrative Science Quarterly, 1(27), 17-
24.

Regh MT, Miceli MP, Near JP & Van Scotter JR (2008), Antecedents and outcomes of
retaliation against whistleblowers: Gender differences and power relationship,
Organization Science 19(2): 221-240.

Rothschild, J. and T. D. Miethe: 1999, ‘Whistle-blower disclosures and management

retaliation’. Work and Occupations 26, 107–128.
 1087

Job Stressors and Job Burnout

Azni Syafena Andin Salamat
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
azni_syafena@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Noorlailahusna Mohd Yusof

Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
lailahusna@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Syazliyati Ibrahim
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
syazliyati@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Nurulaini Zamhury
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
nurulaini0999@kedah.uitm.edu.my

Shahriza Ilyana Ramli

Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
ilyana@kedah.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

In the 21st century, the issue of stress cannot be avoided due to competitive opportunities
faced by employees particularly in the workplace. Basically, stress will affect individuals
differently and the type of work individuals perform also contribute to their stress level. As
mentioned by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the occurrence of
stress is related to work. Among the helping professions, nurses form the largest group with
the mission to nurture and care for people who are ill. Nurses have been trained in the roles
as caretakers. The increasing number of patients and shortage of nurses also causes the
increasing work burden and this contributes to stress. Due to this, nurses will be led to
experience burnout which will potentially lead to future problems. Other than that, this paper
aims to discuss the relationship between job stressors and job burnout among nurses at a
hospital. The job stressors included job ambiguity, job conflict, role overload and lack of
supportive management. A set of questionnaire was distributed to 186 respondents. Based
on the analysis, the results indicated that there were significant positive relationship between
job stressors and job burnout. Moreover, job conflict was found as the dominant job stressor
that influenced job burnout.

Keywords: job stressor, job burnout and nurse

INTRODUCTION

Among the helping professions, nurses form the largest group with the mission to
nurture and care for people in health or illness. Services provided by nurses are a variety in
nature: hospitals, long-term care facilities, homes and communities. Since nurses provide
the majority of patient care, having enough qualified, professional nurses becomes a
challenge to hospitals and other health care institutions. Due to these situations, stress level
amongst the nurses will rise and lead to burnout and also other future problems. If this
matter keeps occurring, patients will be affected too.
 1088

Referring to Norzihan Ayub, Ferlis Bahari and Beddu Salam Baco (2008), based on
the statistics by the Ministry of Health Malaysia, in 2008 there were 71,905 nurses who
worked in Malaysia with 51,350 nurses worked at the government hospitals and 17,555
nurses worked at the private hospitals. In the next ten years, the Ministry of Health
estimates that that the nation will be needing about 110,185 nurses in order to fulfill the
demand from the patients. The ratio of the number of nurses proportionate to the number of
patients as aimed by the Ministry of Health is 1:200 but the current ratio is 1:770. In addition,
as reported by Bernama.com (2009), there was a case at Hospital Sungai Petani at which
the baby had suffered a broken arm due to a nurse’s carelessness in taking care of the
baby. The increasing number of patients and shortage of nurses also caused the increasing
work burdens and contributing to stress. Job stress will make those nurses lose their focus
in serving the patients and become ineffective in their jobs. As a result, some of them
experienced burnout which leads them to do mistakes when delivering the services.
The review of literature will discuss the relationship between job stressors and job
burnout among nurses. Job stress has been labelled as one of the most occupational
hazards of modern time in industrialized countries (Muhammed Jamal & Baba, 2000). As
stated by Ozyurt, Hayran & Sur (2006), a broad range of professions (including nurses,
physicians and educators) can experience burnout and burnout has special significance in
healthcare where staff experience both psychological-emotional and physical stress. Forty
percent (40%) of hospital nurses have burnout levels that exceed the norms for health care
workers (Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, Sochalski & Silber, 2002).
The choice of nurses as subjects was based on the rationale that this occupation is
traditionally seen as more prone to high stress level and burnout because of the very nature
of work involved in those jobs (Muhammed Jmal & Vishwanath V. Baba, 2000). As
discussed by Togia (2005), burnout is a work related syndrome that mostly affects service
professionals. Referring to the previous research by Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001),
burnout is a prolonged response to chronic exposure to a variety of job stressors, and it
consists of three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal
accomplishment. Emotional exhaustion is the first dimension in the job burnout and it has
become the main dimension analyzed or the center of job burnout dimension being
analyzed. Based on research done by Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001), between the
three aspects of burnout, exhaustion is the most widely reported and the most thoroughly
analyzed. Emotional exhaustion measures fatigue without referring to other people as the
source of one’s tiredness (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). Burnout as a process and emotional
exhaustion as the central dimension of that process were found to be strong predictors of a
wide range of behaviors and attitudes in the workplace such as job and life satisfaction,
subsequent job performance, absenteeism, commitment, and turnover intentions
(Muhammad & Hamdy, 2005).
The second dimension is depersonalization which is an attempt to put distance
between oneself and service recipients by actively ignoring the qualities that make them
unique and engaging people (Maslach, Schaufeli & Leiter, 2001). Depersonalization also
refers as withdrawal and decreasing involvement in the job, especially by persons who have
been highly involved in their work (Sonnentag, Brodbeck, Heinbokel & Stolte, 1994).
Research conducted by Kuruuzum, Anafarta & Irmak (2007), stated that depersonalization is
characterized by negative and inappropriate attitudes towards customers, frustration, loss of
idealism and withdrawal. Besides that, depersonalization also refers to a cognitive distance
that is expressed by an attitude of indifference and cynicism towards clients, colleagues and
supervisors (Schick, Gordon & Haka, 1990).
The third dimension is lack of personal accomplishment. This dimension is more
complex compared to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. A research done by
Thanacoody, Bartram & Casimir (2009), stated that in some instances it appears to be a
function, to some degree, of either exhaustion, cynicism, or a combination of the two. Lack
of accomplishment encompasses both social and non-social aspects of occupational
accomplishments (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). Lack of personal accomplishment is marked
 1089

by a sense on ineffectiveness and inadequacy in relation to job performance accompanied

by negative self-evaluation (Togia, 2005).
Job stressors are divided into four types which are role ambiguity, role conflict, role
overload and lack of supportive management. From Babin & Boles (1996), job ambiguity is
a stressful condition caused by employee’s confusion concerning expectation of his/ her job
responsibilities. According to Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001), role ambiguity occurs
when there is a lack of adequate information to do the job well and has the highest
correlation to job dissatisfaction. Even though it is important for employees to work
independently, but at the same time it is important for employers to provide the guidelines
and procedures that explain what the essential activities are need to be performed. The
employees also need to be informed on the criteria of performance evaluation, so they can
focus on such criteria or tasks.
Referring to the research conducted by Fogarty, Singh, Rhoads & Moore (2000), job
conflict characterizes the difference of how employees perceive job expectation as conveyed
by multiple sources. The most frequent role conflicts are (1) those between the individual’s
values and those of the superior or the organization; (2) the conflict between the demands of
the workplace and the worker’s personal life; and the conflict between employee abilities and
organizational expectations. Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001), stated that role conflict
occurs when conflicting demands at the job have to be met. In numerous studies, role
conflict has been associated with low job satisfaction, frustration, decreased trust and
respect, low confidence in the organization, morale problems and high degrees of stress.
The effect of role conflict towards employees can cause poor performance of an organization
as their productivity will become decrease.
Maslach, Jackson & Leiter (1996), hypothesize that the presence of specific
demands such as role overload predicts burnout, which is expected to lead to various
negative outcomes such as physical illness, turnover, absenteeism and diminished
organizational commitment. Role overload also affect the poor performance or quality of
tasks as the employees are unable to concentrate on their tasks. Quantitative job demands
(e.g too much work for the available time) have been studied by many burnout researchers,
and the findings support the general notion that burnout is a response to overload (Maslach,
Schaufeli and Leiter, 2001). Experienced workload and time pressure are strongly and
consistently related to burnout, particularly the exhaustion dimension. Research done by
Maslach & Jackson (1984), Kahn (1978) and Pines & Maslach (1978), role overload can also
be classified into quantitative and qualitative overload. When individuals feel that they lack
the necessary skills to complete an assigned task, they are considered to be experiencing
qualitative role overload. Whereas, quantitative role overload is when an individual finds it is
difficult to complete an assigned task within a stipulated time. Role overload can happen
due to lack of employees’ skills or abilities and also due to time limitation to perform tasks.
Bhanugopan & Fish (2004), concluded that all three dimensions of burnout are
influenced by perception of high work pressure and low involvement of administrator.
Research done by La Rocco, House & French (1980), demonstrated that social support is an
important resource that facilitates the psychological, physical and overall well-being of
individuals. Social support can be provided by three main sources which are family and
friends, work colleagues and the immediate supervisor. As mentioned by Schwab, Jackson
& Schuler (1986), the absence of support group can also lead to job burnout. An effective
support group includes people who provide emotional comfort, confront the individual in
human ways when the individual’s behaviors are inappropriate, provide technical support in
work-related areas, present technical challenges that encourage individual growth, serve as
active listeners and share similar values, beliefs and perceptions of reality.
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MATERIALS & METHODS

This study is focused on identifying job burnout among nurses at one of the hospitals
in Kedah. Therefore, the unit of analysis will be the nurse. This study concentrated on
hypothesis testing to recognize the relationship between independent variables and
dependent variables. According to Sekaran (2003), hypothesis testing basically explains the
nature of certain relationships, or establish the differences among groups or independence
of two or more factors in a situation. The use of hypothesis testing in this study is to identify
the relationship between role overload, role ambiguity, role conflict and lack of supportive
management as the independent variables and job burnout among nurses as the dependent
variable.
Data collection: The data collection method in this study was personally administered
questionnaires. Administering questionnaires to large numbers of individual at the same
time is less expensive and consume less time than interviewing (Sekaran, 2003). Due to
this advantage, questionnaires are best administered personally to groups of people. By
using the questionnaires, it can capture the data on job stressors and job burnout among
nurses.
Data analysis: There are three objectives of data analysis which are: getting a feel for
the data, testing the goodness of data, and testing the hypotheses developed for the
research (Sekaran, 2003). For this study, the data analysis included Cronbach’s Coefficient
Alpha, Descriptive Analysis, Pearson Correlation and Multi-Regressions Analysis.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha: Cronbach’s alpha is a reliability coefficient that

indicates how well the items in a set are positively correlated to one another. Cronbach’s
alpha is computed in terms of the average inter correlations among the items measuring the
concept. The closer Cronbach’s alpha is to 1, the higher the internal consistency reliability.
In almost every case, Cronbach’s alpha is an adequate test of internal consistency reliability
(Sekaran, 2003). For this study, the Cronbach’s alpha value shows 0.882 which is higher
than 0.6; thus this can be concluded that the items tested in the questionnaire are reliable
and understood by the respondents.

Table 1 Gender of Respondents

Gender Frequency Percentage

Male 36 19.4
Female 150 80.6
Total 186 100

Descriptive Analysis: Based on Table 1, from the 186 respondents, female nurses
were the majorities with 150 respondents (80.6%) and the rest were male nurses with 36
respondents (19.4%)

Table 2 Age of Respondents

Age Frequency Percentage

21-30 62 33.3
31-40 60 32.3
41-50 26 14.0
51 and above 38 24.0
Total 186 100
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Table 2 shows the age of respondents. The age group between 21-30 years old
comprised 62 respondents (33.3%) followed by the age group between 31-40 years old
which comprised 60 respondents (32.3%). The age group between 41-50 years old
comprised 26 respondents (14.0%) and the age group for 51 and above years old comprised
38 respondents (20.4%).

Table 3 Lengths of Service

Lengths of Service Frequency Percentage

5 years and below 36 19.4
6-10 years 37 19.9
11-15 years 49 26.3
16-20 years 15 8.1
More than 20 years 49 26.3
Total 186 100

Table 3 shows the length of service of the respondents. Lengths of service within the
range of 5 years and below had 36 respondents (19.4%) and the range between 6-10 years
had 37 respondents (19.9%). The length of service within the range 11-15 years had 49
respondents (26.3%), the range between 16-20 years had 15 respondents (8.1%) and lastly,
the range for more than 20 years had 49 respondents (26.3%).

Table 4 The Relationship between Job Ambiguity and Job Burnout

Job Ambiguity Job Burnout

Pearson Correlation 1 .411**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 186 186
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Pearson Correlation: Based on Table 4, it shows a bivariate correlation that was

undertaken between job ambiguity and job burnout among nurses. Results of the correlation
indicate that greater job ambiguity faced by nurses are associated with greater job burnout
among them, r = .411 and p < .05 (p = 0.000). From the results obtained, the hypothesis is
accepted as there is a positive relationship between job ambiguity and job burnout.

Table 5 The Relationship between Job Conflict and Job Burnout

Job Ambiguity Job Burnout

Pearson Correlation 1 .519**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 186 186
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Table 5 shows a bivariate correlation that was undertaken between job conflict and
job burnout among nurses. Results of the correlation indicate that greater job conflict
amongst nurses were associated with greater job burnout amongst them, r = .519 and p <
.05 (p = 0.000). Through the results obtained, the hypothesis is accepted as there is a
positive relationship between job conflict and job burnout.

Table 6 The Relationship between Role Overload and Job Burnout

Job Ambiguity Job Burnout

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Pearson Correlation 1 .357**

Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 186 186
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Based on Table 6, it shows a bivariate correlation that was undertaken between role
overload and job burnout among nurses. Results of the correlation indicated that greater
role overload burdened the nurses that was associated with greater job burnout among
them, r = .357 and p < .05 (P=0.000). Based on the results obtained, the hypothesis is
accepted as there is a positive relationship between job conflict and job burnout.

Table 7: The Relationship between Lack of Supportive Management and Job

Burnout

Job Ambiguity Job Burnout

Pearson Correlation 1 .380**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 186 186
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Table 3.7 shows a bivariate correlation that was undertaken between lack of
supportive management and job burnout among nurses. It was hypothesized that a positive
relationship would exist between these two variables. Results of the correlation indicated
that higher lack of supportive management for the nurses was associated with higher job
burnout among them, r = .380 and p < .05 (p = 0.000). Based on the result, the hypothesis
is accepted because there is a positive relationship existed between supportive
management and job burnout.

Table 8 (a): Model Summary (b)

Model R R Square Adjusted R Std. Error of

Square the Estimate
1 .547(a) .300 .284 .3587

a. Predictors: (Constant), Job Ambiguity, Job Conflict, Job Overload, Lack of

Supportive Management
b. Dependent Variable: Job Burnout

Table 8 (b): ANOVA (b)

Model Sum of df Mean F Sig.

Squares Square
1 Regression 9.934 4 2.484 19.350 .000a
Residual 23.232 181 .128
Total 33.166 185
a. Predictors: (Constant), Job Ambiguity, Job Conflict, Job Overload, Lack of
Supportive Management
b. Dependent Variable: Job Burnout

Table 8 (c): Coefficients (a)

Model Unstandardized Standardized t Sig.

Coefficients Coefficients
 1093

B Std. Beta
error
1 (Constant) 1.226 .191 6.436 .000
Job .036 .079 .046 .460 .646
Ambiguity
Job Conflict .288 .083 .389 3.460 .001
Role .032 .076 .036 .414 .679
Overload
Lack of .151 .069 .172 2.199 .029
Supportive
Management

a. Dependent Variable: Job Burnout

This study applied standard and stepwise linear multiple regression analysis to find
out the most dominant predictor among all four predictors that influenced job burnout among
nurses at a hospital. Based on the above table, it demonstrates that all elements of job
stressors influence job burnout among nurses: job ambiguity, job conflict, role overload and
lack of supportive management. Specifically, job conflict was the dominant job stressor that
contributed to job burnout among nurses with the highest value of beta in Table 4.3.3 (c)
which is 0.038. These results have been supported by Cordes & Dougherty (1993) and
Maslach, Schaufeli & Leiter (2001) whereby these researchers found that job conflict was
the dominant job stressor that influenced job burnout.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

In order to enhance supportive management towards the nurse, there are some
strategies that can be taken. Supervisors should be more accepting and supportive of the
nurses. They also need to acknowledge and appreciate the contributions and good jobs
performed by the nurses. Besides, nurses are encouraged to be supportive of each other by
providing assistance and advise to their colleagues in performing their work.
For future research, other factors that lead to burnout can be further investigated.
Future research also can be focused on other people-oriented professions such as doctors,
teachers and policemen as these professions are also prone to burnout.

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