Mortality among elder abuse victims in rural Malaysia: A two-year population-based descriptive study

Our study aims at describing mortality among reported elder abuse experiences in rural Malaysia. This is a population-based cohort study with a multistage cluster sampling method. Older adults in Kuala Pilah (n = 1,927) were interviewed from November 2013 to May 2014. Mortality was traced after 2 years using the National Registration Department database. Overall, 139 (7.2%) respondents died. Fifteen (9.6%) abuse victims died compared to 124 (7.0%) not abused. Mortality was highest with financial abuse (13%), followed by psychological abuse (10.8%). There was a dose-response relationship between mortality and clustering of abuse: 7%, 7.7%, and 14.0% for no abuse, one type, and two types or more, respectively. Among abuse victims, 40% of deaths had ill-defined causes, 33% were respiratory-related, and 27% had cardiovascular and metabolic origin. Results suggest a link between abuse and mortality. Death proportions varied according to abuse subtypes and gender.     

Indonesian immigrant settlements in peninsular Malaysia

For over 2 decades, until the economic crisis in mid-1997, Malaysia's rapid economic growth attracted an influx of foreign labor, mostly from Indonesia, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. In 1997 the number of registered workers was estimated at 1.2 million and undocumented ones at approximately 800,000. The influx created various problems, of which housing is one of the most serious, especially in the Kelang Valley. This paper examines the ways and means by which Indonesian workers, the largest group among foreigners, overcame their accommodation problem. Two types of settlements are identified, that is, illegal ones in the squatter areas and legal ones, which are largely in Malay Reservation Areas. The settlements, which signify Indonesians' success in finding a foothold in Malaysia, today have become a base for more in-migration.     

Health Divide: Economic and Demographic Factors Associated with Self-Reported Health Among Older Malaysians

Data from the 2004 Survey of Economic and Financial Aspects of Aging in Malaysia were analyzed to determine factors associated with self-reported health status among older Malaysians. Odds of self-reporting health as bad versus moderate or good were higher for respondents who were in lower income quintiles, who perceived their financial situation as bad, who were older and who were not married. Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Bumiputra ethnic groups had lower odds of perceiving their health to be bad as compared with those in other ethnic groups.     

Adoption as a means of child protection: the law and practice in Malaysia

Adoption in Malaysia is of two kinds; firstly, taking the child of another as a person's own child, where as a result, the adopted child will stand in equal footing with the natural children of the adoptive parents; and secondly, taking a child of another into a person's custody without affecting the biological status of the adopted child. This article wishes to discuss the law and practice of adoption in Malaysia as one of the means of child protection. The article will also examine as to whether the law is adequate to protect children who are the subjects of adoption.     

Research on Consumer Well-Being in Malaysia

This research note provides an overview of consumer well-being research in Malaysia, and highlights a major research study on consumer well-being by Masud et al. (2010). Masud et al.??s data indicate that Malaysian consumers enjoyed their rights as consumers, held some level of acceptable consumer values, possessed reasonable levels of knowledge, and practiced good consumer principles. Nevertheless, some consumers indicated a low level of overall well-being. The data also revealed the need for strong support from government and market sectors to enhance the well-being of consumers in Malaysia. More studies on consumer well-being in Malaysia are suggested and universities and research institutes are urged to intensify their efforts to convince policy makers and grant providers to appropriate funds for research on consumer well-being in Malaysia.     

Gender Differences in Income Sources of the Elderly in Peninsular Malaysia

Objectives of this study were to identify and compare the sources and amounts of income received by elderly males and females. Specifically, this study examined gender differences in income receipt for a sample of 1,841 residents of Peninsular Malaysia who were aged 55–75. Significant differences were found in the source and amount of income of elderly males and females. Although the majority of elderly of both genders received income from their children, there were profound gender differences in the receipt of work-related and investment-related income.     

Modelling market shares by segments using volatility

This paper presents the results of market share modelling for individual segments of the UK tea market using scanner panel data. The study is novel in its introduction of the use of volatility as one of the bases for segmentation, others being usage, loyalty or switching between product types and product forms. The segmentation is undertaken on an a priori, quasi-experimental basis, allowing nested tests of constancy of elasticities across segments. The estimated equations (using seemingly unrelated regressions) benefit from extensive specification, including four diff erent forms for the price variable, four variables for promotion, and six for product characteristic, distribution and macroeconomic variables. Tests for the constancy of the parameters across segments show the segmentation to be successful.     

Iconizing “Muslim Terrorism” in a British Newspaper and Public Perception

By examining a news story and reader responses published in the Daily Mail Online (DMO), our study discursively argues that this daily newspaper promotes an Orientalist perception of Islam and Muslims. The religion and its adherents are both framed and perceived as a threat to British society and its “Western values”, thus reinforcing Islamophobia within society. This study also argues that the DMO espouses the perceived Orientalist threat posed by Islam through juxtaposition, exaggeration and manipulation of facts, through lexical choices and visual images that eventually establishes the perception of a cultural clash. In addition, by examining the readers’ responses toward the news story, this study demonstrates that the vast majority of respondents perceive Islam and Muslims as a threat to “the West”. Their comments, as triggered by the text, also contribute to the discourse of Islamophobia and the perceived Orientalist view of an Islamic threat.     

Subtypes of Nonsocial Play and Psychosocial Adjustment in Malaysian Preschool Children

This study examined subtypes of nonsocial play and their relation to psychosocial adjustment in Malaysian preschool children (N = 141, 72 boys, M age = 4.65 years). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a three‐factor model that distinguished social reticence, solitary‐active play, and solitary‐passive play fit the data reasonably well, and also fit the data better than the alternative one‐ and two‐factor models. The distinction among the three subtypes of nonsocial play was found for both boys and girls. Controlling for children's age, gender, and parents' education, social reticence was related to teachers' ratings of anxious behavior, unsociability, and peer exclusion. Solitary‐active play was associated with parents' ratings of inattentiveness, child difficultness, and teachers' ratings of hyperactivity–distractibility. Solitary‐passive play was related to teachers' ratings of unsociability. The findings provide support for a multidimensional view of nonsocial play in Malaysian children.     

Protection of Rights of Adopted Children in Relation to Duties of Adoptive Parents Under the Law in Malaysia

The relationship between parents and children can be established either through “blood,” marriage, or adoption. This relationship gives rise to certain rights and obligations. This article seeks to examine the protection of those rights of adopted children under the law in Malaysia and to evaluate the extent to which the law protects the rights of adopted children. This article will also examine whether the law in Malaysia imposes certain duties on the adoptive parents in fulfilling such rights.