Resident’s Perceived Impacts Onkelantan International Kite Festivals: A Qualitative Enquiry
Authors: A. Ramely ; K. Kayat ; N. A. Mohd Nor
Pages: 1080-1085
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1080.1085
Abstract
Kelantan International Kite Festival (KIKF) is hosted by Kelantan State Government annually as one of the many products to attract tourists and visitors to the state as well as to provide recreational activities to local residents. Since first hosting it 37 years ago, the state believes that the festival is an important showcase of Kelantan Malay tradition and cultural heritage. However, no systematic investigation has been undertaken, thus far to understand the perceptions held by local residents towards the festival. Understanding resident perceptions are crucial in the process of promoting any local resources, including cultural resource, in tourism development. Using qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews with the residents, this study examines residents’ perceived impacts of KIKF. Specifically, this study was focused in understanding major impacts brought by KIKF as perceived by residents and whether these perceived impacts echo those mentioned by existing literature. Findings from this study indicate that respondents have the positive spirit with regards to KIKF especially because they perceive that KIKF has the potential to preserve their cultural traditions. This festival is something that the residents look forward for every year even when they know that the festival causes traffic congestion and that outsider are the ones benefitting from it economically.
Cycle Time Reduction in Automotive Manufacturing
Authors: Wesam Ali Husien ; Waleed Khalid Abduljabbar ; Saba Noori Attallh
Pages: 1086-1090
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1086.1090
Abstract
Today, there are a lot of problems occur in the Automotive Component Manufacturer Company. Amongst them, work not standardized on each process is the most serious one. Standardization work can help reduce the amount of time to complete the task without defects by efficiently guiding the operators. Other related problems include machines fail to clamp semi-finished products to the next station, stopper loose, and rework process which cause the car carpet size to miss the standards. All these common problems increased the cycle time of the car carpet assembly line. So, this study was aimed to investigate how to reduce cycle time of the car carpet assembly line in the Automotive Component Manufacturer Company which located at Port Klang area. Data was collected through interview and observation. To reduce the cycle time of the car carpet assembly line, Kaizen activity and line balancing are implemented. Kaizen is the continuous improvement process. Line balancing is used to manage the workloads among assemblers, to determine number of workstation and to reduce production cost of the company. The derived results show that the cycle time of the car carpet assembly line is reduced from 313 seconds to 131 seconds. This proves that kaizen activities and line balancing do improve the productivity up to 58%. However, to achieve more successful and effective improvement, further work standardization on each process is needed.
Towards Soft Skills Framework for Social Work Educators
Authors: Fuziah Shaffie ; Ruzlan Md-Ali ; Fahainis Mohd Yusof
Pages: 1091-1096
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1091.1096
Abstract
Social workers must be competence with their helping skills and need to be guided to acquire relevant soft skills. Hence, Social Work students need to have significant role models that they can look up to in order to become professionally and socially competent. Within the formal Social Work Education at the higher institutions, they can actually learn much from their lecturers or educators as their role models. This paper discusses conceptualizations of the soft skills which educators, currently as well as in the years to come, would need in order to sustain their competence as educators. In an exploratory study recently carried out, a Social Work expert was asked to describe the experiences of and viewpoints on, soft skills as part of the professional socialization of Social Work educators to become professionally and socially competent. It is important to raise awareness of soft skills competencies among Malaysian Social Work educators to help them in assessing themselves, and identify where and how they could actively improve themselves as educators within the context of their workplace. Embedding the soft skills competencies into their career as social workers is assumed as one of the effective and efficient method of achieving both professional and social competence. The propose soft skills, perhaps, provide early ideas and initiatives towards the construction of a ‘soft skill-framework for Social Work educators’, which can serve as guideline when facilitating and guiding future qualified social workers in Malaysia.
Translation Strategies in the Chinese and Indonesian Translations of English Christmas Carols
Authors: Olivia Eloise James ; Joyce Tan Yi Sean ; Mansour Amini
Pages: 1097-1104
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1097.1104
Abstract
This paper analyzed the translations of three English Christmas carols of Silent Night, Away In A Manger, and The First Noel, as the most popular carols that have been translated into many languages, adopted from the hymnal book by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The English versions were compared with their Chinese and Indonesian translations. The analysis was performed by classifying the stanzas individually based on Guerra (2012) fifteen translation strategies. Identification of equivalence as the most common strategy in the Chinese translation could be because of numerous “unnatural” English expressions in Chinese language and culture, whereas for the Indonesian translation, omission was the most common strategy, which helped to retain completeness, or the overall meaning of the stanzas, or completeness. Omission was also used to leave out redundant or insensible information throughout the translated carols in both languages and contributed to successful maintenance the original rhythm and rhyme in the translation of the three carols. Findings of this study could be further validated by analysing more Christmas carols in Chinese and Indonesian Languages, and other languages. Researchers could also look precisely into the cultural elements that could potentially affect this type of translation.
Pragmatic Presuppositions in Chinese Skin-Whitening Advertisements
Authors: Wang Min ; Mansour Amini
Pages: 1105-1110
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1105.1110
Abstract
Advertisements are used as a tool to build the communication bridge between producers and consumers, utilising cultural values and traditions. Applying presuppositions in advertisements helps to convey a message in a short and memorable way. While several pragmatic studies explored English advertisements and pragmatic presuppositions and triggers have been studied in countries like U.S.A, Malaysia, and Indonesia, no study addressed the presuppositions and triggers in skin-whitening advertisements in China. Thus, this study employed a mixed method, quantitative and qualitative designs, to investigate the pragmatic presuppositions and pragmatic presupposition triggers, and to identify the advertisers’ preference of pragmatic presupposition(s) and trigger(s) in the advertisements. The corpus was 34 print skin-whitening advertisements form Ray Li magazine, published in China from January to December 2017. After data collection, the advertisements were translated by an official translation agency in China. Yule’s (1996) six types of pragmatic presuppositions and Valeika and Verikaite’s (2010) ten types of triggers were used as data analysis framework. The findings revealed that all six types of pragmatic presuppositions, and only seven types of triggers were used in the advertisements. ‘Factive’ pragmatic presupposition, and ‘referring phrases’ of triggers were the most preferred types. The findings of this study may benefit advertisers to produce more language-effective advertisements in the very competitive Chinese market of women’s products. English language instructors and students could use this study to teach/learn about effective persuasive speech strategies in the advertisements. This study could raise awareness among consumers in analyzing the information about products. Future researchers are recommended to conduct similar studies on beauty advertisements in other languages and among other Asian countries, such as Korea and Japan, which have high consumption of beauty products.
The Structural Relationship Between Organisational-Information System Related Support, Technology Self-Efficacy, And End-User Satisfaction With E-HRM
Authors: Hadziroh Ibrahim ; Faridahwati Mohd Shamsuddin ; Yusliza Mohd Yusoff ; Md. Lazim Mohd Zin
Pages: 1111-1119
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1111.1119
Abstract
The study investigated the structural relationships between organisational information system (IS)-related support and end-user satisfaction with electronic human resource management (E-HRM) in government agencies in Malaysia, called human resource management information system (HRMIS). The moderating effect of technology self-efficacy on the relationships was also examined. A purposive sampling technique specifically judgment sampling was used to recruit participants in 14 state governments and ministries. To collect data, 990 questionnaires were distributed, of which 490 were used for data analysis. The results showed that of four dimensions of organisational IS-related support, only literacy support, technical support, and technology involvement support had significant and positive relationships with end-user satisfaction with HRMIS. Innovation support did not show any significant contribution. Unexpectedly, technology self-efficacy did not demonstrate any moderating effect, suggesting that organisational IS-related support is more crucial than prior computer skill to ensure the effective implementation of HRMIS in government agencies in Malaysia. The theoretical and managerial implications of the results are discussed.
Measuring the Technical Efficiency of Oceania Continent Airports: Does Workload Unit Matters?
Authors: VikniswariVija Kumaran ; Yew Yao Xi ; Fan Sui Feng ; Ho Xiao Jin ; MakKah Weng ; Teh Chun Pin ; Shelena Soosay Nathan
Pages: 1120-1124
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1120.1124
Abstract
Recently, there has been a rise in interest on measuring the efficiency and performances of international airports around the world by researchers. As there are more airlines in the industry competing with one another, airports as well started to compete with each other in order to become hub airports which provoke them to increase their efficiency. The principal objective of this research is to investigate and measure the efficiency of airports from the view of panel data analysis. We have applies a two-stage analysis methodology to determine the factors that could possibly sway the technical efficiency level by using ten different airports from year 2007 to 2016 in the Oceania continent countries. Model 2 shows that GDP per capita and Airport Hub significantly interact with Workload Unit (HUBXWLU) and towards the technical efficiency. In a nutshell, airport efficiency is important to many aspects of the society especially businesses that depends on better connectivity, airport operators that depends on passenger volume and governments that depends on economic development all of which are tools to building a more prosperous nation.
Muallaf Da’wah Activities in Kedah: Challenges and Solutions
Authors: Syahrul Faizaz Abdullah ; Ssuna Salim ; Mohd Akram Dahaman ; Solahuddin Abdul Hamid ; Mohd Nizho Abdul Rahman
Pages: 1125-1131
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1125.1131
Abstract
Islam is the fastest growing religion whose numbers are increasing daily over the entire world. This study is set out to scrutinize formal da’wah activities in the northern state of Kedah, focusing on its challenges and solutions. These activates are formally carried out by government organization being supported by none-government organization specifically responsible for this mission with informal activities go on alongside. This is a case study and it used interviews, observations and document analysis in its data collection, which were descriptively analysed. It was found out that both government and non-government organizations cooperated in conveying the message as well catering for muallaf needs after their conversion to Islam through guidance classes, financial assistance and training. Almost all these organization face acute administration problems, insufficient funds, lack of enough qualified human resource and the muallaf stance. The study is of the view that there organization need to collaborate their activities in order to overcome these difficulties to ensure a smooth running of these programs proficiently and thriftily and to fully accomplish their projected gaols.
Sociocultural Adaptation for Asian Immigrant English Language Learners
Authors: Mazlina Che Mustafa ; Azila Alias ; Juppri Bacotang
Pages: 1132-1138
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1132.1138
Abstract
This phenomenological study discusses sociocultural adaptation, as one of the findings emerged from the study, among Asian immigrant English language learners (ELLs) and their parents, as well as New Zealand early childhood teachers. The focus of the study is on the analysis of early childhood teachers’ beliefs about how they can support English acquisition among Asian immigrant ELLs and how these beliefs influence the teachers’ practices in early childhood education (ECE) settings as they adapt themselves.The theoretical framework of this research draws on a range of sociocultural perspectives, including (i) the sociocultural positions initially defined by Lev (1978); (ii) the notion of guided participation articulated by Barbara (2003) (iii) theories of second language acquisition discussed by Lantolf and Thorne (2000); and by Krashen (1982); Krashen (1985) and (iv) acculturation as addressed by Berry (2001). The main participants of this study were seven early childhood teachers and six Asian immigrant ELLs from two ECE centres. Four Asian parents participated in interviews to ascertain the parents’ perspectives about their children’s learning of English and their maintenance of home language. Research methods for the teachers included observations and semi-structured pre- and post-observation interviews. For each centre, observations were carried out over a six week period which enabled a series of snapshots of how the teachers supported the ELLs as they acquired English. The findings were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that there were dissonances between the teachers’ beliefs and their practices, as well as variation between individual teachers’ beliefs and practices. This study will provide a basis from which to consider how early childhood teachers in New Zealand can draw upon sociocultural perspectives to better support ELLs as they acquire English, while valuing and supporting their linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
Integrity Counseling in Protecting Golden Generation from Sexual Harassment
Authors: Titik Haryati ; Rahmi Marsinun ; Asni ; Dwi Dasalinda
Pages: 1139-1144
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1139.1144
Abstract
The number of sexual harassment victims (mostly children) are increasing every year. It shows that the government’s a wareness to protect the children is necessary. The victims will experience obstructions in growing and developing. Education, health and welfare are children’s basic needs that must be fulfilled in order to develop optimally. From 2011-2014, there are 2286 cases of sexual harassment including violence, sodomy, and pedophilia. Those cases were handled slowly so it was not enough to punished the perpetrator. Children that used to be victims could become perpetrators because of their disappointment, stress, frustration, depression, even for a revenge. Rehabilitation as a program to cure the trauma is needed in those cases. Unfortunately, rehabilitation often have limited facilities and experts so they usually facing difficulties in recovering traumatic patients. Professional psychologists and doctor specialist are also unable to cure the trauma. It is required integrated counseling from professional counselor to solving those trauma. Based on Presidential Instruction No 5 year in 2014, relevant ministries and government agencies should provide children rights protection through legal force. It is showed that protecting children as a goldenen generation is gone of government’s duty. Those duty could be done by using integrity counseling.
Perception of Tourists Towards Challenges Heritage Building Conservation
Authors: Nurhanisah Hazarudin ; Radzi Ismail ; Wan Nadzri Osman ; Fazdliel Aswad Ibrahim
Pages: 1145-1150
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1145.1150
Abstract
Building conservation is the key challenges to the heritage building. The main attractive element for tourist to visit heritage building is condition of building. This paper attempt to identifying the challenges in heritage building conservation. Quantitative method was used in this study which involved tourist as respondents. This study was conducted in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. Total numbers of returned questionnaires are 127. Descriptive analysis was used in this study to know the level of challenges in heritage building conservation. The results found that there are four challenges aspects; consist of building aspect, technicality aspect, social aspect and environment aspect. The first ranked of challenges in heritage building conservation scope is social aspect. Based on tourist perception, they believed social aspect become the main challenge in building conservation. Followed by building aspect, environment aspect and technical aspect. In social aspect, the results show that low involvement of young people with the heritage and conservation activity, public participation are still low with the heritage, program and lack of public awareness on heritage building conservation. These challenges resolve by increase the awareness and involvement the public people. Further research need to emphasis on how to increase public awareness in heritage building conservation.
Peacebuilding Model of Third-Party Mediation in the Philippines: Comparing Malaysia and the OIC
Authors: Shamsuddin Taya ; Rusdi Omar ; Che Mohd Aziz Yaacob ; Abdul Lantong
Pages: 1151-1157
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1151.1157
Abstract
Many nation-states have increasingly found themselves in a situation where they are unable to sort out their domestic conflicts without third party mediation. This is particularly true for a country like the Government of the Philippines (GPH) who has been fighting violent protracted internal conflicts for many decades against Bangsamoro revolutionary groups. Therefore, with respect to the above, the purpose of this article is to compare peacebuilding models of third party mediation to the Bangsamoro conflicts with particular focus between Malaysia and the Organization of Islamic Conference, presently Cooperation (OIC). Its approach is primarily an eclectic, by concentrating on the strengths and weaknesses of the peacebuilding models of the third party mediation as employed by both Malaysia and OIC. The article is divided into two major parts. The first part discussed both Malaysia and OIC’s diplomatic approaches in dealing with the Bangsamoro conflict, while the second part explained inclusivity versus exclusivity of both Malaysia and the OIC respectively. The study found that Malaysia’s model is more durable and successful when compared to OIC’s. In fact, Malaysia’s quiet diplomacy and less confrontational approach with greater inclusivity were more effective compared to elitist and confrontational approach of the OIC’s mediation to the Bangsamoro conflicts. Indeed, the Government of the Philippines and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (GPH-MILF) peace process is one of the most inclusive peace processes in the world. It may have some who were left out in the peace process, but they were all consulted by both Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as opposed to OIC mediated Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front (GRP-MNLF) peace negotiations. Therefore, it is pertinent to conclude that there is nothing that resembles the inclusivity of the GPH-MILF peace process that characterized the exclusivity of the GRP-MNLF peace process.
Problems and Solutions in English Translations of Malay Short Stories
Authors: Samantha Yap Choy Wan ; Adeela Abu Bakar ; Mansour Amini ; Shameem Rafik-Galea
Pages: 1158-1166
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1158.1166
Abstract
The Malay stories of Pelanduk yang Bijak, Peniup Seruling and Seuncang Padi were translated to English, and analysed to identify the translation problems. The procedures were also investigated to find solutions for the problems using translation procedures as the framework for data analysis. After the translation of the stories, the source and target texts were analysed to identify problems and procedures. The findings of the study indicated two types of problems in the Malay-English translations of the stories; structural or semantic problems, and problems arising from cultural differences. Among various translation procedures used in the translations, literal translation was the most common procedure in the translation of the Malay stories. The findings from translations and the analyses in this study could be utilised in translator and interpreter training classrooms. Finding solutions to the translation problems could improve translators’ ability to better theorise while translating, and thus produce “good” translations, particularly in the translation of literary works from Malay to English. This study could have pedagogical significance, as the Malay short stories contain moral lessons by which Malay culture could be further introduced and “exported” to the English-speaking audience through literature.
Crop Insurance Scheme Among Paddy Farmers in Kedah, Malaysia: Are They Willing to Pay?
Authors: Siti Aznor Ahmad ; Shamsul Bahrain Rawi ; Bakti Hassan Basri ; AmizamArzemi
Pages: 1167-1173
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1167.1173
Abstract
This study examines the farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) in contributing to the Crop Insurance Scheme (CIS) specifically among the paddy farmers in Kedah. The CIS reduces the risk that farmers face in the event of natural disaster such as flooding or crop failure causes from pest attack and crop diseases. In this study, we focus on three selected districts in Kedah. A total of 139 respondents were randomly selected from these areas. The CIS is based on a hypothetical product which contain of three main attributes; (1) type of coverage, (2) sum assured/benefit, (3) and premium payment or the price. Data are obtained by applying Choice Experiment (CE) technique and analyzed with the multinomial logit model (MNL). Two models are presented in this paper namely the basic model and the interaction model. The study shows, among others, that marginal willingness to pay to obtain protection from crop failure amongst the attributes ranges between RM33.69 to RM128.63 per year for the basic model. On the other hand the marginal willingness to pay for the interaction model ranges between RM19.42 to RM73.32.
Identifying Important Criteria for Staff Productivity in Relation to Malaysian Cultural Values: A Comparative Review
Authors: Norazrizal Aswad Abdul Rahman ; Razamin Ramli
Pages: 1174-1179
DOI:
doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1174.1179
Abstract
Malaysia is going towards being a developed country. One of the major benchmark for this is the capability of Malaysia to be a significant place for traders and investors. To achieve this, every company and corporate members in Malaysia has to play their roles to create a harmony environment to attract traders and investors. This can be done by focusing to improve the productivity of the company where this directly relates to staff’s productivity. There are a lot of physical attributes that can be used as a benchmark for productivity such as ability to gain profit and to initiate an innovation of a company, as well as their contribution to the society. Our research involves to two parts; 1. developing framework to identify important criteria from national cultural values involved and 2. to identify the key criteria involved quantitatively. Both parts are important, however, in this paper, we intend to focus on the framework development and the second part will be published separately in the future. For this purpose, some literature surveys and reviews is conducted and analysis is made. A comparative review between criteria is performed to identify which criteria are effective in driving staff productivity. To add on, a hierarchical model for finding the weights for measuring the importance is developed for future reference.
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Total Articles 180 |
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