The Chinese minority plays a dominant role in the economies of Indonesia and Malaysia, a fact that evokes indigenous resentment. However, Indonesia and Malaysia dealt differently with the issue. Malaysia legislated the Malays into the economy and protected Chinese citizenship, making them an integral part of a multicultural state. By contrast, New Order Indonesia adopted policies of economic manipulation, forced assimilation, and unequal citizenship. Only when the New Order regime fell did Chinese integration begin. The policy trajectories of Indonesia and Malaysia offer important lessons for plural states.
Matched MeSH terms: Social Conditions/economics; Social Conditions/history; Social Conditions/legislation & jurisprudence
Decision-makers require useful tools, such as indicators, to help them make environmentally sound decisions leading to effective management of hazardous wastes. Four hazardous waste indicators are being tested for such a purpose by several countries within the Sustainable Development Indicator Programme of the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development. However, these indicators only address the 'down-stream' end-of-pipe industrial situation. More creative thinking is clearly needed to develop a wider range of indicators that not only reflects all aspects of industrial production that generates hazardous waste but considers socio-economic implications of the waste as well. Sets of useful and innovative indicators are proposed that could be applied to the emerging paradigm shift away from conventional end-of-pipe management actions and towards preventive strategies that are being increasingly adopted by industry often in association with local and national governments. A methodological and conceptual framework for the development of a core-set of hazardous waste indicators has been developed. Some of the indicator sets outlined quantify preventive waste management strategies (including indicators for cleaner production, hazardous waste reduction/minimization and life cycle analysis), whilst other sets address proactive strategies (including changes in production and consumption patterns, eco-efficiency, eco-intensity and resource productivity). Indicators for quantifying transport of hazardous wastes are also described. It was concluded that a number of the indicators proposed could now be usefully implemented as management tools using existing industrial and economic data. As cleaner production technologies and waste minimization approaches are more widely deployed, and industry integrates environmental concerns at all levels of decision-making, it is expected that the necessary data for construction of the remaining indicators will soon become available.
Land-use change models are important tools for integrated environmental management. Through scenario analysis they can help to identify near-future critical locations in the face of environmental change. A dynamic, spatially explicit, land-use change model is presented for the regional scale: CLUE-S. The model is specifically developed for the analysis of land use in small regions (e.g., a watershed or province) at a fine spatial resolution. The model structure is based on systems theory to allow the integrated analysis of land-use change in relation to socio-economic and biophysical driving factors. The model explicitly addresses the hierarchical organization of land use systems, spatial connectivity between locations and stability. Stability is incorporated by a set of variables that define the relative elasticity of the actual land-use type to conversion. The user can specify these settings based on expert knowledge or survey data. Two applications of the model in the Philippines and Malaysia are used to illustrate the functioning of the model and its validation.
Undeniably, peace and long-term sustainable economic development are the prime agenda of all countries. This study aims to empirically evaluate the impact of military spending on economic growth for a panel of 35 non-OECD countries over 1988-2019. A multivariate regression model based on the augmented production function is used to achieve the objective of the study. The panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL)/pooled mean group (PMG) technique is employed, while, in addition the robust least squares and fixed-effect estimators are implemented for the robustness of the results. This study found a clear negative effect of military spending on economic growth. The pairwise Dumitrescu Hurlin panel causality test results exhibit bi-directional causality between military expenses and economic growth. Overall, these estimates provide strong support that military expenditure is not beneficial rather detrimental to economic growth. The empirical findings of this study suggest that policymakers need to redesign the military budget to stimulate economic growth and improve social welfare.
Indicators, whether referred to as ecological, biological or environmental, help us in assessing environmental conditions. Hypothetically, joint influences are predicted of the parameters associated with the number of water-borne, food-borne and vector-borne cases in study areas. Regression analysis of the dependent variables in water—borne diseases such as Cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery and Hepatitis indicated that the total coly°orm, fecal colform, residual chlorine, mean monthly rainfall and temperature influence almost hay of the cases in the 3 District of Serernban. Thus, coordinated monitoring of physical, chemical and biological parameters is needed to continue to build databases and to develop models integrating environnrental and social conditions, consequences and costs.
Ergonomics is generally to design for human use and optimizing the working and living conditions. The comfort, safety and ease of use of systems, products and machines require the principles of ergonomics to be incorporated into the design. Anthropometry is a part of ergonomics which deals with the measurement of body dimensions, its capability and limitations of the human ability. Studies have indicated that body dimensions differ for various populations, depending on ethnic group, sex and age. The measurement of physical characteristics and abilities of people provides information that is essential for the appropriate design of occupational and non- occupational environments, as well as for the design of consumer products, clothing, tools and equipment. It has been considered as the very basic core of ergonomics in an attempt to resolve the dilemma of 'fitting people to machines'. It has also been regarded as a branch of anthropology which deals with physical characteristics of the man in time and space, particularly with individual variation, ontogenesis and generic development. Knowledge about man from the point of view of physical anthropometry is very useful for the purpose of ergonomics and design. Thus it is important that an anthropometric database for each nation is developed to ensure design of products and systems are compatible with the user population. In Malaysia, many researchers have conducted anthropometric studies on various groups of people, focused on a small sample size and used for specific designs. Unfortunately, the measurements are not representatives of the population. The work has been individually based, confined to certain group of researchers in various universities and there is no concerted effort towards developing a national anthropometric database.This paper discusses some of the anthropometry work conducted in Malaysia, the problems and challenges in developing the national database, the importance of anthropometry and the roles that the government has to play in developing the database.
China is responsible for the biggest shellfish and macroalgae production in the world. In this study, comprehensive methods were used to assess the CO2 release and sequestration by maricultured shellfish and macroalgae in China. Through considering CaCO3 production and CO2 release coefficient (Φ, moles of CO2 released per mole of CaCO3 formed) in different waters, we find that cultured shellfish released 0.741 ± 0.008 Tg C yr-1 through calcification based on the data of 2016-2020. In addition to calcification, maricultured shellfish released 0.580 ± 0.004 Tg C yr-1 by respiration. Meanwhile, shellfish sequestered 0.145 ± 0.001 and 0.0387 ± 0.0004 Tg C yr-1 organic carbon in sediments and shells, respectively. Therefore, the net released CO2 by maricultured shellfish was 1.136 ± 0.011 Tg C yr-1, which is about four times higher than that maricultured macroalgae could sequester (0.280 ± 0.010 Tg C yr-1). To achieve carbon neutrality within the mariculture system, shellfish culture may need to be restricted and meanwhile the expansion of macroalgae cultivation should be carried out. The mean carbon sequestration rate of seven kinds of macroalgae was 174 ± 6 g m-2 yr-1 while some cultivated macroalgae had higher CO2 sequestration rates, e.g. 356 ± 24 g C m-2 yr-1 for Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis and 331 ± 17 g C m-2 yr-1 for Undaria pinnatifida. In scenario 0.5 (CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage) sequesters 0.5 Gt CO2 per year), using macroalgae culture cannot achieve China's carbon neutrality by 2060 but in scenarios 1.0 and 1.5 (CCUS sequesters 1.0 and 1.5 Gt CO2 per year, respectively) it is feasible to achieve carbon neutrality using some macroalgae species with high carbon sequestration rates. This study provides important insights into how to develop mariculture in the context of carbon-neutrality and climate change mitigation.
Despite several studies attempting to identify the risk factors for dementia, little is known about the impact of childhood living conditions on cognitive function in later life. The present study aims to examine the unique contribution of food insufficiency in childhood to dementia in old age.
Matched MeSH terms: Social Conditions/statistics & numerical data
This discussion of an episode of mass hysteria in a Malay college in West Malaysia examines stress and conflict in relation to the interpretive process within a specific social setting. Unlike previous studies, which conceptualize mass hysteria as a cathartic response to accumulated stress, the present study treats stress as a matter of definition in a specific sociocultural context rather than as an objective given from which predictions can be made. Objections are raised to the logic of explanations that attribute mass hysteria to environmental stress. What is of concern is how meanings are assigned to events that are experienced as stressful, how participants and observers explain these events, and the consequences that follow from their interpretations.
The Sulu-Sulawesi Sea, with neighboring Indonesian Seas and South China Sea, lies at the center of the world's tropical marine biodiversity. Encircled by 3 populous, developing nations, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, the Sea and its adjacent coastal and terrestrial ecosystems, supports ca. 33 million people, most with subsistence livelihoods heavily reliant on its renewable natural resources. These resources are being impacted severely by rapid population growth (> 2% yr-1, with expected doubling by 2035) and widespread poverty, coupled with increasing international market demand and rapid technological changes, compounded by inefficiencies in governance and a lack of awareness and/or acceptance of some laws among local populations, particularly in parts of the Philippines and Indonesia. These key root causes all contribute to illegal practices and corruption, and are resulting in severe resource depletion and degradation of water catchments, river, lacustrine, estuarine, coastal, and marine ecosystems. The Sulu-Sulawesi Sea forms a major geopolitical focus, with porous borders, transmigration, separatist movements, piracy, and illegal fishing all contributing to environmental degradation, human suffering and political instability, and inhibiting strong trilateral support for interventions. This review analyzes these multifarious environmental and socioeconomic impacts and their root causes, provides a future prognosis of status by 2020, and recommends policy options aimed at amelioration through sustainable management and development.