Citation: Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Health, Malaysia, 2012
Fact sheet: http://moh.gov.my/images/gallery/Report/GATS_Malaysia.pdf
Datasets: GATS_Malaysia_National_2011_SPSS.zip
https://nccd.cdc.gov/GTSSDataSurveyResources/Ancillary/DataReports.aspx?CAID=2
Study name: Global Adults Tobacco Survey (GATS-2011)
Relatively less comprehensive web based programme has been developed for detecting risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and further impart preventive strategies and lifestyle education. Thus, this study has developed a comprehensive web based programme for early screening of risk of MCI together with education package for preventing MCI known as WESIHAT 2.0. WESIHAT 2.0 is a senior friendly website which has appropriate design interface facilitating access of older people especially with the use of touch-screen technology. WESIHAT 2.0 has incorporated four major components namely TUA WELLNESS screening tool, which is a comprehensive, online based, 10-item screening tool for detecting risk of MCI, 10-guides for preventing MCI, health diary and healthy food. Evaluation of acceptance of WESIHAT 2.0 was done among 71 people which comprised of 30 older people and 30 caregivers, chosen equally based on ethnic composition and 11 health care professionals who has experience working in the field of geriatric and 2 freelance website developer. All older people and caregivers stated that the content of website was very useful for preventing MCI, however, about 36.4% of health professionals stated several improvements needed to be done before releasing the end-product to the users. Comments given were smaller font size (27.3), addition of more pictures (27.3%), using simpler terms (36.4%) and changing certain design for better view of older people (18.2%). Amendments were made based on each comment given and the finalized website were used for a 6-month intervention programme for neuroprotection among older people who failed to achieve successful aging. It is timely for an online based approach for prevention of MCI. WESIHAT 2.0 is the first website in Malaysia which has been accepted by all older people and caregiver and more than half of healthcare professionals to prevent memory decline.
Introduction: There are increasing trend in using information and communication technology to enhance the deliverance of reminiscence work for people with dementia. Thus this study aimed to explore the feasibility of Digital Memory Album (DMA) to support reminiscence work and subsequently evaluate the psychosocial benefits of the DMA system for older adults with dementia living in community. Method: This was an exploratory case study involved five participants with mild to moderate dementia and their primary caregivers. Each participant had an opportunity to review their own life history using Life Review Experience Form (LREF) with the researcher for 8 consecutive weeks in which subsequently facilitated in development of a personalised digital life story. Caregivers provided additional information to support the development of DMA. The whole process was audio recorded. The digital life story was presented in multimedia format and displayed using the DMA. The DMA was given to the participants for review. Qualitative data was collected using semi structure questions with the participants and caregivers immediately after the completion of DMA and 6 weeks after having the DMA as a gift. Results: Analysis of the audio-records and interview data indicated that DMA promoted psychosocial wellbeing which included enjoyment, comfort, stimulate long term memory and enhanced communication and social interactions with family members and friends. Caregivers expressed the DMA helped them in recollecting the past and better understanding of their loved ones. It also reoriented their focus on their loved ones from their disability to the remaining strength. Conclusion: For the first time, this study demonstrates the feasibility of using DMA in improving the psychosocial wellbeing for people with dementia in Malaysia.
Commonly, teenage marriage affects schooling and being gainfully employed to support the family in later life. Most studies focused on the effects of marriage at the young age. However, less research is focusing on the experience of marriage from the perspective of the teenagers who get married at the teen age. This article aims to answer the following questions: (1) what are the experiences of teenage marriages, and (2) what are their views on teenage marriage. The article is based on semi-structured interviews with seven girls recruited by snowball technique, aged 15 to 23 years, married and living in Kuching, Sarawak. Data were analyzed by thematic analysis. Seven themes emerged on marriage experiences: being independent, nourishing patience, maintaining social boundaries, developing responsible behaviour, being inspired, staying positive and doubting their ability as a husband or wife. Moreover, four main themes described informants' views on teenage marriage: to avoid immorality, immaturity, making decisions wisely and accountability. It can be concluded that a person who gets married at the teen age is in need of help from various parties, especially parents and friends as well as community not to be stigmatized for being married at the teen age.
The quality of life is an indicator of well-being that is seen as important in the establishment of policies to improve the welfare of senior citizens. The establishment of the Elderly Activity Center (PAWE) in urban and rural areas throughout Malaysia is one of the government's initiatives in preparation to be an old country by 2030. Nevertheless, since the establishment of PAWE in 2001, there has been scarce research about services provided to senior citizens at PAWE. Therefore, this study is conducted to identify level of quality of life among senior citizens at PAWE in urban and rural areas. The survey was conducted on 156 respondents in four PAWE locations namely PAWE Sungai Buloh, PAWE Cheras, PAWE Jenjarom and PAWE Sabak Bernam. The data were collected by using Older People Quality of Life (OPQOL-35) questionnaire. The data were then analyzed using Statistical Package Social Science (SPSS) by using descriptive analysis to identify the quality of life according to the respondents' demographic information. The results showed that the quality of life among urban respondents were higher than rural respondents, quality of life of male respondents were higher than female respondents while the quality of life among Chinese respondents was higher than Malay and Indian respondents. For the quality of life according to age, respondents aged 71 to 80 years were higher in qulity of life level than respondents aged 60 to 70 years and 81 to 90 years. This study is expected to give impact on the awareness to concerned parties about the advantages of community-based activity center which can increase the qualilty of life among elderly.
This article attempts to present the trend among young offenders undergone Community Service Order (CSO) in Malaysia. An archival time series analysis approach was applied to identify the ethnicity, gender, type of crime and the total number of young offenders undergone CSO across Malaysia from 2009 until 2015. Relevant information was gathered after obtaining official statistic from the Department of Social Welfare Malaysia. In sum, a total number of 13,896 cases were reported in six-year duration throughout Malaysia. The highest number of cases were recorded in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (545 cases). Moreover, an overall number of 2,989 young offenders have successfully undergone CSO from 2009 until 2015. The resultant data also indicated that majority of male young offenders undergone CSO are Malays in ethnicity (67.79%) and most of them have involved in property-related crime (47%). As an overall impact, the study provided implications to the concerned parties and key personnel such as welfare officers, criminal justice authorities and policies makers to reinforce the implementation of a community-based approach to recuperate young offenders who have involved in criminal activities.
The behaviour of many financial time series cannot be modeled solely by linear time series model. Phenomena such as mean reversion, volatility of stock markets and structural breaks cannot be modelled implicitly using simple linear time series model. Thus, to overcome this problem, nonlinear time series models are typically designed to accommodate these nonlinear features in the data. In this paper, we use portmanteau test and structural change test to detect nonlinear feature in three ASEAN countries exchange rates (Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand). It is found that the null hypothesis of linearity is rejected and there is evidence of structural breaks in the exchange rates series. Therefore, the decision of using regime switching model in this study is justified. Using model selection criteria (AIC, SBC, HQC), we compare the in-sample fitting between two types of regime switching model. The two regime switching models we considered were the Self-Exciting Threshold Autoregressive (SETAR) model and the Markov switching Autoregressive (MS-AR) model where these models can explain the abrupt changes in a time series but differ as how they model the movement between regimes. From the AIC, SBC and HQC values, it is found that the MS -AR model is the best fitted model for all the return series. In addition, the regime switching model also found to perform better than simple autoregressive model in in-sample fitting. This result justified that nonlinear model give better in-sample fitting than linear model.
Characterisation of the leaching behaviour of coal fly ash from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) by using tank leaching test method has been reported. The leachability of the constituents such as major elements and toxic metals in the coal fly ash was studied. Eight renewed leachant solutions after 6 hours, 1, 2, 5, 8, 21, 36 and 64 days were investigated after filtration. The parameters namely pH, cumulative release regarding the major elements and toxic metals to duration were presented. The results showed that the pH solutions increased from pH 4 to neutral and remained stable during the test. It might have resulted from the large buffering capacity of the coal fly ashes. Five major elements namely Al, Ca, K, Mg and Na were detected with Ca concentration in the leachant solutions was the highest for all samples. Toxic metals such as As, Ba, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn were found and the test showed consistent results on the As, Ba, Mn, Se and Zn in leachant solutions. The findings also showed that some of the toxic metal concentrations namely As, Ba, Cr, Pb and Se exceeded the maximum allowance of the guideline of drinking water quality in Malaysia and WHO. Obviously, proper waste management has to be applied in this scenario.
Biomass burning is one of the main sources of air pollution in South East Asia, predominantly during the dry period between June and October each year. Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia, have been identified as the regions connected to biomass burning due to their involvement in agricultural activities. In Sumatra, the Province of Riau has always been found to have had the highest number of hotspots during haze episodes. This study aims to determine the concentration of five major pollutants (PM10, SO2, NO2, CO and O3) in Riau, Indonesia, for 2006 and 2007. It will also correlate the level of air pollutants to the number of hotspots recorded, using the hotspot information system introduced by the Malaysian Centre for Remote Sensing (MACRES). Overall, the concentration of air pollutants recorded was found to increase with the number of hotspots. Nevertheless, only the concentration of PM10 during a haze episode is significantly different when compared to its concentration in non-haze conditions. In fact, in August 2006, when the highest number of hotspots was recorded the concentration of PM10 was found to increase by more than 20% from its normal concentration. The dispersion pattern, as simulated by the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model (HYSPLIT), showed that the distribution of PM10 was greatly influenced by the wind direction. Furthermore, the particles had the capacity to reach the Peninsular Malaysia within 42 hours of emission from the point sources as a consequence of the South West monsoon.
This paper presents the application of TOPMODEL in the Pinang catchment of Malaysia for stream flow simulation. An attempt has been made to use remote-sensing data (ASTER DEM of 30 m resolution) as a primary input for TOPMODEL in order to simulate the stream flow pattern of this tropical catchment. A calibration period was executed based on 2007-2008 hydro-meteorological dataset which gave a satisfactory Nash-Sutcliffe model (NS) model efficiency of 0.749 and a relative volume error (RVE) of -19.2. The recession curve parameter (m) and soil transmissivity at saturation zone (To), were established as the most sensitive parameters through a sensitivity analysis processes. Hydro-meteorological datasets for the period between 2009 and 2010 were used to validate the model which resulted in satisfactory efficiencies of 0.774 (NS) and -19.84 (RVE), respectively. This study demonstrated the ability ASTER DEM acquired from remote sensing to generate the required TOPMODEL parameters for stream flow simulation which gives insights into better management of available water resources.
The present research has been designed to understand the histomorphological development of lymphatic tissues of Cobb 500 strains of postnatal broiler chickens, aged between day old and D14 of Kelantan, Malaysia by gross and histological study. In the present study, it was found that the gross weight, length and width of the thymus, bursa of Fabricius and spleen were increased with the advancement of ages of the broiler chickens and was found higher from D14 to D28. Fine septa of connective tissue divide the thymus into lobes and lobules. The cortex of lobule is densely populated with lymphocytes. The bursal follicles were composed of a peripheral cortex which was rich in bursal cells and centrally depopulated medulla. The mucosal folds of the bursa were lined by pseudostratified columnar epithelium. The spleen has two compartments, the red and white pulp. The red pulp consisted principally of red blood cells, while the majority of the populations of white pulp were the lymphocytes. The histological mean length and width of the thymic lobules, bursal follicles and white pulp of the spleen were grown faster with the advancement of ages at D14 and D28. In conclusion, the increment of gross and histological parameters of lymphoid organs of broilers in the present study was due to aging of broilers.
Studies have shown that some characters, such as morphological, biochemical and behavioural characteristics were shared among con-specifics of closely related frog species. It is hypothesized that closely related frogs would have similar vocal apparatus structure to produce similar call characteristics, in order to be recognized by con-specifics. The vocal apparatus structures of the frogs from Ranidae were, thus, investigated and calls were recorded from various locations in Sarawak, Borneo. The vocal apparatus was sliced and stained using haematoxylin and eosin staining method. The prepared slides were scanned using Dotslide System Olympus BX51. Captured images were further measured using Microscope Olympus BX51. The results showed that the vocal apparatus structure of ranids in Sarawak differed in length between pulvinar vocale and posterior margin (pvpm) or known as vocal cord stricter. This character was deemed to be the most significant character to discriminate the Sarawak ranids. It is suggested that histological analysis is also a good method for study of phenotypic variation of frog species, as shown by the vocal apparatus structure of the anurans. This study provides an alternative method to differentiate taxonomic identity among frog species.
The process of drug rehabilitation is an important agenda for the National Anti-Drug Agency (NADA). Various efforts have been taken to aid NADA in treating drug addicts. This study focuses on identifying the mental health status and psychological factors to design appropriate treatment strategies. Therefore, this research aims to determine the level of family functioning, cognitive distortion and resilience among clients of CCRC and C&C. A total of 495 clients from these institutions took part in this study. The instruments used were FACES III to measure family functioning, CDS to measure cognitive distortion and Resilience Scale to measure resilience. Results indicate that clients’ family functioning is at a moderate level, clients’ cognitive distortion is at a low level, whilst their resilence is at a high level. This indicates that the rehabilitation programs conducted at the institution had an impact on clients’ resiliency and cognitive distortion.The implications of the study can be attributed to the counseling intervention at NADA.
This research is about the Malay adolescent's understanding on the concept of love in Islam and its relationship with rational thinking. Two instruments were developed to measure the level of understanding, attitudes and practices of the adolescents in selected Malaysian universities embracing the concept of love through the psychological and Islamic approaches, and the level of rationality while in love. This quantitative studies involved adolescents in public and private universities with two instruments constructed specifically for this study. Through the 599 respondents this study found a significant relationship between demographic factors, category of university attended, background and status of love with the understanding of the concept of love in Islam and rational thinking. The findings are useful for increasing the understanding and appreciation of love from the Islamic perspective and to address problems arising from moral decadence stem from the misunderstanding of the concept of love.
1Malaysia concept was introduced by Datuk Seri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak on April 3, 2009 with the theme, "People First, Achievement Is Priority", 1Malaysia seen as an attempt to foster unity among the various races in Malaysia with 8 important values as the catalyst for social transformation that leads to the growth and well-being of people. This descriptive study was conducted to investigate the source and extent of the understanding of 1Malaysia concept among the three groups of primary school (n = 100), secondary school (n = 100) and university students (n = 98). Data were collected through a survey method with the use of a set of questionnaires and were then analysed with SPSS software. The results showed that the main source of this concept for all three groups of students is through television, followed by the newspaper. For the understanding of the concept, it was found that almost 70% of the respondents do understand some basic aspects related to it. However, there are still aspects which respondents still do not know about. Thus there is a need for the educators to play an important role to explain in detail to the students so that the concept can be understood and appreciated, and that it is not misinterpreted to cause negative impact on race relations in Malaysia.
Social emotional intelligence, a combination between emotion and social intelligence, is a very important aspect of one's self. It is divided into five components which is intrapersonal, interpersonal, stress management, adaptation and general mood. Social emotional intelligence directly affects the behavior, emotion and decision making of an individual. Secondary school students are a group of early teenager and still in the process of identity formation. Therefore, it is important to know the social emotional intelligence of adaptability skills especially among school students as it has long-term impact on their performance. The main objective of this study is to examine the social emotional intelligence scores among high school students in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The sample in this study consisted of Form One to Form Six students from various schools around Kota Kinabalu. A set of questionnaire used in this study is The Emotional Quotient Inventory Youth Version (EQ-i: YV) designed by Bar-On and Parker (2000) contains 60 questions with four likert scale. The data obtained were analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 24.0. The results of this study showed that the social emotional intelligence as a whole is at a moderate level. Meanwhile, there are differences in adaptability skills between male and female students, where the mean score for male students is higher than female students. As for the implication, related parties such as ministries of education, parents and the community can obtain relevant information for the purpose of implementation of programs and activities to enhance emotional intelligence and adaptability skills that are appropriate to the current generation Z.
The HIV positive cases in Malaysia and the world are increasing from day to day among individuals of all races and ages. However, the issue of social support for HIV positive patients still needs to be discussed in detail as this issue will have an impact on the lives of HIV positive patients in Malaysia. The focus of this study is to examine social support among HIV positive people in Malaysia. This study used a full qualitative method to collect and analyze data. Five male informants with HIV positive were involved in this study. All informants were interviewed separately using semi structured interview methods. Among the topics discussed in this study were family acceptance, the type of social support they received and the social support resources. The findings showed that, four out of five informants were infected with the HIV viruses from sharing needle and one informant was infected from unprotected sex. The results showed that they received adequate social support in terms of emotions, information, instrumental and networking from various sources. Nevertheless, social support for HIV positive people in Malaysia still needs to be discussed and promoted to ensure their psychological well-being.
The scenario of drug addiction is a chain of threats to individual, families and communities. This is shown through the increasing statistics in addiction relapse causing epidemic to communities. The effects of drug relapse affect individual’s health with problems of comorbidity, psychopathology and psychosocial. After 40 years, Malaysia undertook various efforts in treatment and rehabilitation programs, but these efforts do not indicate success. This situation has led to the study of various factors that contribute towards high-risk situations in drug relapse. Hence this study aims to identify intrapersonal factors consisting of motivation to change and coping strategy as mediator of high-risk situations for drug relapse, which include negative emotions, interpersonal conflict and social pressure. This study employed a cross sectional design which utilized questionnaires administered to 600 clients in the Cure & Care Clinic, Malaysia. The questionnaires used were The Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES), Brief COPE and the tendency of high risk situation for drug relapse scale. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis and PROCESS for SPSS. Results showed significant influences of intrapersonal factors and coping strategies towards high-risk situations for drug relapse. In addition, coping strategy mediated the relationship between motivation to change and the tendency of high-risk situations for drug relapse. These findings should be taken into account in establishing treatment and rehabilitation programs for drug relapse in Malaysia.
Keywords: motivation to change, coping strategy, addiction relapse, high risk situations, mediator
Excessive stress during adolescence might contribute to various problems. Given that female adolescents tend to perceive more stress than male adolescents, the present study aimed to determine the relationships between parent-adolescent relationship, prosocial behaviour, academic self-efficacy, and stress among female adolescents in Malacca, Malaysia. Participants of the present study are 235 female school-going adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years old. Results of Pearson correlation analysis revealed that parent-adolescent relationship, prosocial behaviour, and academic self-efficacy were negatively correlated with stress. Additionally, all the three independent variables significantly predicted stress among female adolescents, where parent-adolescent relationship was the strongest predictor of stress. In essence, female adolescents who reported more positive relationship with parent, higher prosocial behaviour, and higher academic self-efficacy tend to have lower stress. The current findings highlight the significant role of parents and individual factors in combating stress among female adolescents. Parents should maintain affectionate relationship with their female adolescent-aged children. Related authorities as well as parents can help promote prosocial behaviour and academic selfefficacy among adolescents.
Anochetus maryatiae, a new species of Formicidae from the subfamily Ponerinae, tribe Ponerini from Ulu Gombak is described and illustrated. This ant genus was last studied in Malaysia by Brown in 1978. Observations were made on morphometric characters which included parameter measurements of total length, head length, head width, mandible length, scape length, antenna length, maximum eye length, oculomandibular distance, funicular length segment 1 to 4, pronotum width, propodeum height, petiole length, petiole height, dorsal petiole width, cephalix index and mandibular index. It was followed by a brief diagnosis, description of morphological structure, microsculpture, pilosity and discussion. Although it has resemblance with Anochetus tua, it could be easily distinguished from other species in having reticulate pronotum. This is the only species from Malaysia with such microsculpture on the pronotum. In addition to that, A. maryatie varies with A. tua in having smaller total length, less than 7.5 mm and lighter colour.