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Precast concrete is one of Industrialized Building System (IBS) types that is mainly used in Malaysia. Even though precast shows promising performance in ongoing project but in building maintenance, precast shows otherwise. This is due to the usage of the conventional method (paper-based report/unsystematic data of maintenance which is Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) and by integrating it with BIM technology will help in enhance maintenance. BIM shows its benefits through maintenance by showing its coordination in design and three-dimensional visualization. This paper help into identifying the requirement of integrating CMMS and BIM technology in precast building maintenance. An interview was conducted to gain the objective of the study. Results showed that there are two requirements to support CMMS and BIM integration in maintenance management which is a complete and organize data and a compilation of a standard requirement that stated by the department (e.g., Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia, Syarikat Air Selangor and JKR). This resulted in the creation of a crucial aspect of the maintenance management system that uses emerging technology to aid engineers at precast building in improving their present maintenance management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurial intention, as the preliminary idea of pursuing new ventures. Entrepreneurship is an important component to enhance the country's economic growth and sustainability as well as to meet the challenges of globalisation, such as increasing the unemployment rate among students. The objectives of this paper are to determine the relationship between personality, government support and entrepreneurship education with entrepreneurial intention among business students from selected public university in Malaysia and to measure the predictor of entrepreneurial intention. This study is quantitative in the form and questionnaires distributed to collect information from respondents based on the size of 100 samples and use convenience sampling method. The data obtained through questionnaires is analyzed and evaluated by correlation and regression testing. The results showed that all moderate linkages with entrepreneurial intentions. Government support also show the the most impact on the entrepreneurial intention. This paper provides a comprehensive framework that contributes to conceptualization and assists the Government and academic in enhancing skills and courses to increase the desire of business students to become future successful entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia is strategically located at the crossroad between East and West. Due to this ideally location, this country has been exposed to many foreign influences and cultures. The Portuguese was the first colonial power that set up their establishment in the Peninsular Malaysia. This was then followed by The Dutch and later on by The British. Among these three colonial powers, it was the British that ultimately secured their sovereignty on this land. Under British administration, Malaysia has adopted their architectural styles with strong local identities that fit with the climate of the country. These influences can be observed in many heritage hotel buildings across Malaysia especially Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Perak and Melaka. This paper will be focused on the heritage in colonial building, interior design of the landmarks and how this aspect provide profound heritage exemplar for Malaysia rich and long history. The purpose of this study is to identify the evolutionary features of the interior design and the sustainability of the original characteristics. The research will be carried on by studying the heritage colonial building include interior architecture requirement. Ultimately, recommendations and guidelines in designing interior architecture at colonial building areas with strong heritage inspiration can be published. In conclusion, this study is to discuss the condition or criteria of the interior architecture in heritage building for future references. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the country is not only focusing on the role of government alone. The private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also play important role in ensuring that the public will get the benefits of sustainable development. The NGOs play a major role at grassroot level since they are close to community for implementing the programmes that will benefit to the community as a whole. They do have expertise and skills to deliver the services to the communities. Understanding the important role of the NGOS, this paper will explore their roles and contributions towards the community development in Malaysia. The research focused on members of NGO in Malaysia. The questions asked about their roles and contributions towards communities. The descriptive analysis will be discussed throughout the paper. This paper also will highlight the future relationship that should be focused by the NGOs and other stakeholders like government and corporate organisations towards creating sustainable development for the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promotional activities are among the most significant aspects in ensuring continual visits and engagements from visitors to heritage sites and institutions, including museums. An ineffective marketing technique will make it challenging to attract visitors and communities. This leads to the decrease number of visitors, undermining the fundamental mission of museums as an informal educational establishment for the public. However, few studies have been done on a promotional strategy for museum management in Malaysia. This paper seeks to bridge the gap by exploring the current museum's marketing technique, using the Kelantan State Museum as a case study. It aims to look further into the museum's promotional strategy, the involvement of responsible bodies, and the challenges in promoting the museum, specifically during the covid-19 pandemic. The research employed a qualitative design with purposeful approaches and snowballing techniques by interviewing the personnel at the Kelantan State Museum. The collected data were then analysed by applying Braun and Clarke's six-step thematic analysis methodology. The results identified three main themes: marketing strategies and activities, collaboration between stakeholders and challenges going forward. The overarching findings highlighted major stakeholders and their degree of participation in museum promotion. This paper also discussed the challenges posed by the museum management in promoting their establishment to the public. This include issues such as visitor expectations, funding cuts and digital adaptation; and the cessation of many museum hubs for physical visitations due to the Covid-19, leading to new rules being presented to adapt to the recent changes in ensuring visitors' safety. It is believed that the new norm has impacted the museum management's efforts to promote their institution, necessitating the development of new strategies to increase public participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Coronavirus Disease 2021 or COVID-19 has affected almost all individuals around the globe. Consequently, Malaysia is one of the nations that has been facing tremendous changes in various sectors due to COVID-19. As the number of positive cases is on the rise, the Malaysian government has executed its National COVID-19 Immunization Program to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and the severity of disease in case a vaccinated person is infected. However, there are also individuals who have contributed to vaccine refusal due to many factors including misinformation about vaccines, religious beliefs, lack of knowledge, and awareness. Therefore, this paper presents a combination of instructional design and cognitive load theory named CoLoMo model, to increase the awareness of COVID-19 among parents. The CoLoMo model is a theory for mobile application development involving three elements in mobile instruction design which include platform, design, accessibility, and design page. These elements have been chosen prior to the target users which are parents or adults. The three cognitive load theory types in this model are intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. The combination of the mobile interaction design and cognitive load theory types will affect the user's cognitive performance which are concentration, learning capabilities and attributes. This paper also discusses the previous research on the implementation of cognitive load theory through mobile applications. Several strategies that emphasize different relevant cognitive processes which are useful to consider when developing mobile applications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The period of substantial economic ambiguity such as recession and economic crisis had urged us to boost the savings rate as people forgo their current consumption expenditure to compensate for an unpredictable financial future. The exigency of saving amid new normal endemic is vital for economic growth and recovery. Hence, this paper is aimed to analyze some macroeconomic factors such as interest rate, inflation rate, household income, government consumption expenditure, and the household final consumption expenditure that can influence the household savings in Malaysia by using the ordinary least square method (OLS). This paper utilizes the secondary data sources from the World Bank Data and Department of Statistics Malaysia over the period from 1999 to 2019. The findings manifest that a new predictor variable which is the government consumption expenditure, as well as the household final consumption expenditure had a negative significant effect on household savings whereas household income and interest rate are known as less significant factors. Nonetheless, inflation rate is found insignificant towards the household savings in Malaysia. Therefore, this paper implies the exploration of factors affecting household savings could be useful to policymakers, investors, and financial advisors to help sustaining the macroeconomic wellbeing and hence raise the standard of living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevalence of obesity in Malaysia is one of the highest among the Asian countries and it is one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease which is the main cause of death in Malaysia. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between obesity and mortality rate and find its association with sociodemographic factors such as education and household income. This time-series study used secondary data from World Bank data and Household Income Survey (HIS), and it used annual data from 1990 to 2019. ADF test is used to test the stationarity. Simple linear and multiple linear regression were used in this paper to study the relationship between mortality with obesity, education, and household income. Multicollinearity, heteroskedasticity and R-squared were used to define the best regression model in this study. This study found that mortality was positively associated with obesity. Besides, the findings also shows that there was an inverse relationship between obesity and education, meanwhile positive relationship appears between obesity and household income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia has targeted to achieve 40% of renewable energy (RE) by 2035. It is evident that solar energy shall contribute the largest portion of the target due to the abundant resources of solar in Malaysia. Nevertheless, Malaysia should not limit its' RE resources to only solar energy. This includes RE in the likes of wind energy. Although generally Malaysia has comparatively low annual average wind speed, numerous studies have shown that there are several areas with relatively higher annual average wind speed. These areas may potentially be considered for wind energy development. Several methodologies have been utilized by researchers to identify such areas. Several researchers opted to develop wind maps to identify the potential area in Malaysia for wind energy development. Interpolation methods such as Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) and Kriging are commonly utilised in wind mapping studies as these methods are effective to estimate the wind speed at unmeasured area. This paper reviews the comparison between the wind speed interpolation methods which are IDW and Kriging for wind energy applications in Malaysia. Among the interpolation parameters compared include input, results and validation. The way forward proposed by this paper will aid as a reference for future advances in wind mapping in Malaysia and its surrounding region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID 19 disease has spread worldwide, disrupting the economy, society, education, and health. It became crucial to understand the transmission curve and identify the best action in combating this highly transmissible epidemic. Epidemiological parameters of the deterministic Susceptible-Infected-Removed (SIR) model are widely used in explaining the characteristics and behavior of the disease spreading. Disease like COVID-19 is highly influenced by the uncontrolled factors of randomness, hence in this paper, the deterministic susceptible-infected-recovered-death (SIRD) model is extended to the stochastic SIRD (SSIRD) model. SSIRD model takes into consideration the noisy behavior of the process which explains the uncontrolled effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. The epidemiological parameter of the model changes throughout the epidemic due to external factors such as enforcement and public obedience to the control measures as well as the changes in healthcare facilities. These parameters need to be estimated. This paper estimates the epidemiological parameters of the SSIRD model using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method of the Metropolis Hasting algorithm. The COVID-19 data from Malaysia and Indonesia are used and the dynamical behavior of the COVID-19 outbreak in both countries is simulated. The results show the parameter changing due to the uncontrolled factors influencing the trend of the pandemic curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active urbanisation and industrialisation in Malaysia causing massive waste generation. Depleting of landfills is pushing for a new effective approach to solid waste management which is equally important in ensuring the environment is taken care of and free from pollution. Recently the Malaysian government decides to step up in a new holistic approach to a better waste management system where the new implementation of sorting and separation of waste according to a waste composition such as recyclable waste, residual waste and bulky/garden waste at source. This implementation in which requires people to separate their waste and sort the recyclable waste according to categories such as plastic, metal, paper and others. The idea to design and build an automatic waste sorting recycle bin is to support the initiative to separate different kind of trash according to specific categories at the early stage which is at domestic user such as at home and office. This paper discuss the current problem of waste management and how a prototype of smart sorting recycle bin is being developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing concerns over greenhouse gas emissions, volatile fossil fuel prices, and political instability have led to biomass as a renewable energy source. Close cooperation from the government supported by independent bodies also helps produce this effective and sustainable energy source. As a result, the current growth of solid biofuels has increased tremendously. Agricultural, municipal, forest, commercial waste and dedicated energy crops are the main sources of biomass. Due to this biomass's nature, the methods to produce them into solid biofuels are also different. The energy potential of these biomass sources is quite dependent on the use of technology and public awareness. Therefore, this paper review feedstock biomass, processing processes, product types and properties of solid biofuels in terms of mechanical and combustion. The paper also reviews the solid biofuel production situation in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A trade war between China and United States began on March 23, 2018, that affecting the Malaysian economy. Basically, China is Malaysia's most essential and largest trading partner. Meanwhile, the United States is Malaysia's third-largest export market, accounting for 9.5 per cent of total exports, or RM88.7 billion. Any trade liberalisation between these two countries would have a major impact on the economic development of Malaysia. Therefore, the first objective of this research is to investigate the effect of the US-China war trade on the Malaysian market by using network analysis. The second objective is to examine the network's topological properties over the specified period. The data is based on FTSE Emas Index on Bursa Malaysia. The duration is divided into three phases in which before the trade war, after the trade war and overall duration. The threshold network approach is employed to visualize the relationship between the components of the FTSE Emas Index. The results showed that the US-China trade war affect the linkages of the Malaysian stock market in which the stock is more correlated with each other during the trade war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cervical cancer is a common disease that can be carried by women. It is the 3rd leading cause of female cancer in Malaysia and the 4th most common type of cancer for women globally. Referring to the HPV Information Centre in 2018, it is estimated that 1682 women are diagnosed and 944 die from having cervical cells. In 2018, 569, 847 of the 18,078,957 cases were categorised as cervical cancer, which is 3.2%. With the advancement in science and technology, cervical cancer can be detected at an early stage by conducting a Pap smear test. This test will filter abnormal cervical cells and detect precancerous changes in cervical cells based on the colour and shape properties of their nuclei and cytoplasm. The problem is that performing the procedure manually can be time-consuming and cause inconsistencies and errors even further because the cervical cell itself does not show an obvious difference in texture and colour from normal cells. This paper will focus on colour contrast enhancement of the cervical cell using a few methods such as Contrast Stretching (CS), CLAHE, Histogram Equalization (HE), Image Adjustment, and Multi Scale Retinex (MSR). From this research, the cervical cell colour contrast can be enhanced to a better level and the detection of cervical cells can happen faster and more accurately. Hence, the errors in detecting can be reduced again so they can be treated soon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human-elephant conflict (HEC) poses significant challenges especially in areas impacted with land development and habitat fragmentation. Inadequate management of HEC is one of the factors affecting conservation concern in elephant range countries, including Malaysia. In addressing this issue, conflict prevention strategies methods have been widely utilized by combining multiple strategies and techniques including the establishment of protected areas, physical exclusion methods, acoustic deterrents, domestication and translocation of elephants. This paper reviews current HEC mitigation practices addressing the Asian elephant in Peninsular Malaysia with an emphasis to the physical exclusion method of constructing reinforced concrete (RC) wire rope fencing in preventing elephants from entering agricultural lands and human settlements. Presently, elephant fencing generally adapt an integration of the electrical fencing system which understandably requires periodic maintenance as well as costly. This paper discusses the various design criteria that needs to be addressed from an engineering perspective to ensure adequate performance of an unelectrified RC wire rope fencing system, thus providing a more economical approach to address HEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water services in Malaysia is a crucial element whereby there is an aggressive demand every year. Among the areas of concern are the water supply coverage and volume, sustainability of water quality, high operation and maintenance cost, high non-revenue water (NRW) and operational efficiency of the water industry. In this paper, the main objective is to analyse the occupational safety and health management system implementation towards contractor engagement related to the water industry in Malaysia, in relations to the management capability, knowledge resources and risk assessment. This paper provides preliminary overview of the OSH Management System related issues in water services through the interviews with 10 employees at different company levels, addressing perceptions of various safety management activities according to managers and operational personnel. The interview shows that managers and operational personnel at engineering construction agree that the significant effect measures aimed to improved safety continuously. At the end of this paper, the improvements including involving operational personnel in the design of procedures, contractor engagement, considering all risk dimensions that may affect OSH and challenging the value of specific OSH activities based on a detailed knowledge if the distinctive characteristics of workplace in engineering construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant issue exists when trying to provide mechatronic modules within the framework of a single-discipline degree program. This paper presents the implementation of a mechatronic problem-based learning approach using a new robotic project for teaching mechatronic modules for undergraduate mechanical engineering students at the Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. The robotic project consists of two main sections, theoretical aspects of robotic and laboratory work. In laboratory work, a problem-based learning approach is used for improving the outcome-based education learning process. It is perceived as an effective solution for teaching and learning process in mechatronic module. The paper explains the concept and model of this robotic teaching kit and how it is used in the problem-based learning (PBL) of the mechatronic module. Detail explanation on how the PBL robotic project is organised is deliberated and presented. The entry and exit surveys result of the students' achievement indicate a notable learning outcomes attainment at the end of the PBL project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tapioca production is very widespread in our country now. Malaysia is a relatively minor country in producing tapioca compared to Nigeria as the world's largest production of tapioca every year. Tapioca product seems to be a popular traditional food source for all communities in Malaysia so it can be expected that Malaysia will always have some domestic consumption. This is important because higher demand for processed tapioca products would improve the production, processing and selling of tapioca and raise revenues for farmers, processors and traders. From that, it can provide wide employment opportunities to new farmers and also young entrepreneurs can produce various products based on tapioca that can increase income and influence their job happiness to success in the field of entrepreneurship. This paper addresses three factors influencing young entrepreneurs' participation toward tapioca products which are attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the disruption factor of practising WFH towards productivity that affected higher education in Malaysia during the outbreak of COVID 19. There is a disagreement with the WFH itself, but this impact can be mitigated or even reversed when people prefer integration. This research analyzed, reviewed and clarified in depth the technology readiness factor from previous studies. For the sake of a lack of understanding, this paper acknowledges and discusses the conceptual practice of working from home that contributes to productivity in higher education in a single setting in developing countries. This research examined the factor of the technology readiness of WFH that affect the productivity of Malaysia's higher education learning. The analysis findings will shed some light on our perception of the problematic technology readiness element in WFH practice. It also offers the current information corpus to researchers and a pledge to extend the study stream on WFH processes. It also provides researchers with the existing corpus of knowledge and promises to expand the research stream on WFH practices. The empirical findings will suggest the challenge of technology readiness during working from home and how to face it by the academician in possible ways to obtain considerable potential for improving productivity a higher education institution in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to raise a concern about the context and framework that social entrepreneurship in environmental sustainability. Social entrepreneurship for sustainability to go further other than organization because of social entrepreneurship have social value and innovative idea in environmental sustainability goal. By discussing the historical backgrounds of this issues to achieve environmental sustainability goal. One objective of social entrepreneurship is to ensure that the solving of social problem. This study, therefore attempted to examine the relationship between social entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability in Malaysia. The paper therefore, recommends environmental sustainability review in order to involve social entrepreneurship social values to the community. A conclusion is made that if environmental sustainability framework is properly implemented and all the associated advantages harnessed, the high level of environmental pollution in the country will be drastically reduced. In this regard, all community worldwide should actively embrace and sustain the spirit of the emerging social entrepreneurship. For example, entrepreneurial development in Nigerian higher institutions of learning can begin by encouraging the students to replicate the products that have been invented elsewhere in any part of the world while effort is then made to create what the world will also copy from them. This can be attained through community in Malaysia also. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental sustainability is the study of how a natural system functions, remains diverse and produces everything it needs for the ecology to remain in balance. Sustainability considers how we might live in harmony with the natural world around us, protecting it from damage and destruction. Today, we live in a modern and largely urban existence throughout the developed world and consume a large amount of natural resources every day. Sustainability and sustainable development focuses on balancing that fine line between competing needs to move forward technologically and economically, and the needs to protect the environment in which we and others live. While Malaysia has been pegged among the top Electric & Electronic manufacturer worldwide, E-waste has continued to become a known problem across the globe. The objective of this paper is to identify the impact of the environmental sustainability implementation as well as to determine specific collaboration between vendor and suppliers in handling the environmental issue in a case study, named Company A. A series of interview session were conducted for data collection in the company. The narrative content of interviews and open-end survey questions was then analyzed for key patterns. From the data obtained, it was observed that major contributions towards sustainability come through strategic collaboration between both vendor and suppliers in maintaining their environmental requirement aspects. A positive data trend was identified to conclude the efficiency of this collaboration. The analyzed data revealed that effective implementation of environmental sustainability in industry will not only be advantageous to the earth as a whole, but it will also prove to be highly beneficial for the company itself. One of the obvious advantages for the company is the cost reduction when recycling and reusing processes are being implemented. Reducing the environmental impact of business will improve the sustainability in business. If a company is less dependent on natural resources as compared to its competitors and has means to deal with rising costs due to climate change, the business will have a greater chance of long-term survival and success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Efficient Management of Electrical Energy Regulation 2008 (EMEER 200) requires periodical reporting from affected installations every six months. To analyse the reports submitted to Energy Commission (EC) and present it in a meaningful way, the Energy Management Information System (EMIS) was developed and launched in 2018 to be usedby all parties involved in the compliance of EMEER 2008. Using the system, EC is able to manage the installation and Registered Electrical Energy Manager database more efficiently and track the performance of each installation thoroughlyin efforts of compliance to the regulation. This paper focuses on the need of EMIS replacing the old hard copy report submission method, as well as how EMIS functions and presents the data available in clear statistical manner for the benefitof all the users of the system. Examples of how the user data and analysis results are also presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the development of the spreadsheet-based simulator for Solar Rooftop Installation Assessment. The aim of this paper is to develop a simulator that can design a solar photovoltaic (PV) requirement on a rooftop building in Malaysia. The results and parameters of the developed simulator are tested and validated with a commercial software, Helioscope. Several sets of simulations by using the simulator are conducted at different specifications of panel by considering parameters such as the number of panels installed, output power and energy produced from the PV system. Other simulations at different methods of finding an area are conducted to validate the simulator with Helioscope online platform. The results of the simulations indicate that lengthwise across orientation offered a higher number of panels installed, output power generated, and energy produced compared to the lengthwise up orientation. The sizing calculation had decreased the estimated value of the simulation result to become the final value, especially on the model Sharp NU-AK300B with 5.74% of the percentage difference between its estimated value and final value. The comparison between different methods of finding an area presents that method 1 at 60% total area which located in the lengthwise across category and method 1 at 90% total area which located in the lengthwise up category with both of them had the smallest percentage of area covered on their respective category, shows the highest accuracy of the simulation result which is 1.3% percentage error for method 1 (60% total area) and 42.86% percentage error for method 1 (90% total area). Meanwhile, for maximum value category, the comparison of the method used with the Helioscope (without keepouts) result is much accurate which is 32.58% percentage error compared to the comparison with Helioscope (with keepouts) which is 51.94% percentage error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual analytics increases human cognition's capabilities through data exploration. Data exploration to further understand data that was produced was made possible by coupling interactive visualization with analytics which became known as visual analytics. With the increasing data production in everyday lives, there has been a notable rise in visual analytics research. However, there has yet to be any research that investigates the skills attained by students outside of the classroom and linking that to the learning outcomes set by the schools, faculties, or universities. This paper reports a phase of the study that was done in discovering the predictive the relationship between students' outcome-based education results with their out of classroom activities using visual analytics. In order to design the visual analytics system, there is a need to perform research on the suitable interactive visualization and data analysis to achieve the expected outcome. This paper reports the study that was done in discovering the predictive modelling technique that yields the highest accuracy result. This study makes use of students' semester results and the recorded out-of-classroom activities data of theirs from Universiti Malaysia Sabah' Accounting program. The dataset was tested with four algorithms which are Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, Neural Networks, and Support Vector Machine. Results showed that Random Forest yield the highest accuracy result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undergraduate education in the professional disciplines prioritizes acquisition of discipline-specific knowledge and skills. However, it is worth considering a more holistic approach to shape students into future professionals capable of embracing a keen sense of service to society alongside their professional identity. One way of achieving this is by providing them with opportunities to make meaningful contributions to society directly through their disciplinary education, while enabling them to see the benefits and experience the satisfaction of their involvement. This paper describes the transformative learning experiences of engineering undergraduates in Malaysia who were involved in a service-learning module employing a non-traditional approach. This approach uses their engineering knowledge and skills to directly engage with teenagers from underprivileged communities such as children's homes, orphanages, refugee schools and low-income housing projects. In the beginning many undertook this compulsory module with some reluctance, resigning themselves to it. However, upon completion their views changed, and it was apparent that a profound learning experience had occurred. This paper narrates this experience and uses survey responses and students' reflective journals to convey the outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reservoir lifetime can be interpreted as the number of years a reservoir can be used to fulfil its purpose. This study proposes an approach to predict the remaining life of Semenyih reservoir using an empirical method. The result of this study can help in making important decisions in the water supply. This paper mainly focuses on Semenyih dam which is one of the Klang Valley major dams in Selangor, Malaysia built in 1985, with a lifetime plan of 100 years. This watershed basin has one of the main rivers in the state of Selangor, which has been negatively affected by industrial and urban wastes since early 1990. The annual sedimentation rate plan of Semenyih Reservoir was estimated from 13,165,400 m3 in 2004 to 13,511,900m3 in 2010, however as calculated in 2016, sediment delivery reached 13,665,450 m3 in the Semenyih catchment. The proposed result of the Semenyih Reservoir remaining lifetime using the empirical method can be estimated by years, and this number then can be used as a reference to predict the remaining volume of Semenyih Reservoir dead storage using the sediment approach. In this paper the lifetime of the reservoir was estimated at 65 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interest rate has been a major issue worldwide, as well as in ASEAN countries. It shifts almost every minute driven by lots of factors. The main goal of this research is to look at the relationship between lending interest rate with the macroeconomic variables related to economic activities including during crisis periods and to forecast the rate in 2020. Approaches used in the study include line charts, multiple linear regression model and the ARIMA model. The paper utilized annual data period between 1971 and 2019 in.Malaysia which includes three crisis periods while forecasting into the fourth crisis as we currently face the COVID-19 period. The result shows that the lending interest rate has somewhat negative correlation with the macroeconomic variables throughout three major financial crises in Malaysia. The GDP growth and manufacturing are found to have significant effect on the lending interest rate via multiple linear regression. However, the industry and the agriculture have no significant impact on the lending interest rate. As COVID-19 fractured world economies and led countries to great depression, worldwide central banks decided to take action to lower interest rates to significantly boost consumer spending and cash flow. Due to this reason, the findings revealed the actual value of lending interest rate in 2020 is 3.51 while as the projected value of lending interest rate in 2020 is 4.85 which indicates that the actual value is slightly smaller compared to the forecasted value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rain attenuation is significantly affecting the FSO performance of a free-space optical communication system. Kuching/Samarahan region is situated in Malaysia state which is under tropical climate zone. The rain distribution is recorded high due to having rain season year-round. It worst when turn to monsoon season where the precipitation rate is expected high and dense. It is crucial to design the effect FSO system to ensure good quality transmission beam signal. This paper is focus on Kuching/Samarahan zone as the preliminary result to investigate the rain pattern and effect over FSO propagation. The investigation it focuses on that region is due to development that area to implement fully digital economy which need supported by high speed and capacity data that can be produced by optical technology. Therefore, FSO technology can perform this task. The rain data is collected from Malaysia Meteorology Department (Met Malaysia) which for three years 2017, 1018 and 2019. The performance will measure the effect of scattering coefficient, rain attenuation and geometrical loss. It is expected heavy rain will contribute the great impact over FSO link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused severe repercussions that has affected many lives in Malaysia especially university or college students who still struggle with studying in the ongoing pandemic which physical distancing and quarantine are in place. Most of the educational institutions in the world were closed and the teaching and learning activities were placed online. Students have been severely impacted both physically and mentally, as some students are unable to manage their time for academic work due to a lack of motivation caused by online learning and other factors. This study aims to investigate the impact of social media and time management during the pandemic for students and to develop a mobile app to assist students who are facing time management issues or social isolation during this pandemic. This paper presents the architecture and the tools being used to develop the mobile app. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Malaysia has been facing an alarming situation of municipal solid waste (MSW) issue that is becoming worse to date. Population growth is causing Malaysians to also have increasing domestic waste generation that has exceeded 200,000 tons per month. Management systems for waste disposal is very limited, and the main approach in Malaysia is landfilling which has many problems including little to no leachate treatment. This paper presents a proposal to add benefit to the MSW to be a new precursor to produce activated carbon that can be used to replace non-renewable fuels such as coal and crude oil as a precursor, for leachate treatment. In this study, the composition of MSW used were 77.6% organics and food waste, and 22.4% plastics. The proximate analysis shows that the MSW is suitable to be used as a precursor to produce activated carbon due to its high carbon content which is 45%. Physical activation method was implemented by heating the MSW-derived carbon using CO2 gas at 700 – 900°C. After activation, morphology of the MSW-derived activated carbon indicates a presence of pore structure. From this study, it has been observed that the higher the activation temperature, the greater the surface area and pore volume of the MSW-derived activated carbon. The average pore size of MSW-derived activated carbon was less than 5 nm, that would be able to filter out heavy metals found in the leachate which has an average diameter of 10 nm, hence suitable to be used for leachate treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studied the impact of COVID-19 on SME. We study the impact of COVID-19 in terms of demand, supply, employment, long term financing and short-term financing. Survival strategies for SME during COVID-19 are also incorporated in this study. To study the impact of COVID-19 on SMEs empirically, primary data will be collected using questionnaires and will be analysed by quantitative approach. The sample size of research is targeted to achieve 384 respondents. Methods used for data collection of this research are mainly adapted questionnaires which are sourced from the public documents of the US Bureau of Labour Statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, majority of universities in Malaysia commonly implement the teaching and learning practices on physical face to face basis. However, the pandemic had drastically changed the norm of the teaching and learning practices into online teaching and learning as one of the measures to curb the spread of the virus among the community. The drastic move had greatly affected the academic communities particularly the students. Some of the possible factors influencing online learning difficulties faced by the students include poor internet accessibility, lack of self-motivation, lack of active interaction with lecturers and peers, lack of conducive learning environment and poor time management. In this paper, the technique of Fuzzy DEMATEL is employed in analyzing the level of influence and relationships of the aforementioned factors in contributing to learning difficulties particularly among fifty mathematic students at a public university in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. The cause-and-effect analysis that take into consideration the interactions or interrelationships between factors discovered that poor internet accessibility was classified in the cause group whereas the remaining factors which are lack of self-motivation, lack of active interaction with lecturers and peers, lack of conducive learning environment and poor time management were in the effect group. The results indicate that poor internet accessibility has the highest degree of relation in terms of influencing other factors. Based on the prominence value, the lack of self-motivation turns out to be the leading factor contributing to online learning difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to develop the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) transmission model using the fractional-order differential equation defined by Caputo. This model is developed based on the susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered model, commonly known as the SEIR model. The basic reproduction number, denoted by R0, is computed using the next-generation matrix method. The disease-free equilibrium point is evaluated, and local stability analysis is performed. The analysis shows that the disease-free equilibrium is locally asymptotically stable when R0<1 and unstable when R0>1. In other words, the COVID-19 disease can be eliminated when R0< 1. Finally, numerical results are presented based on the real data of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, changed how we live in this world, from how we socialize to how we work, ushering in a new normal with new SOPs to which we must adhere. The unpredictability of COVID-19 forced us to maintain social distance while surviving multiple MCOs in Malaysia. People had no idea that MCOs had a drawback that harmed most of us, particularly those prone to mental health problems. This paper identifies the users' and psychological features and maladaptive coping for the development of mental health applications. An online questionnaire with demographic and psychological information was distributed randomly via social media. The information gathered was counted on an average basis. Respondents who are students or unemployed are more likely to have mental health issues, making them potential users of the proposed application. Unemployed respondents show few signs of mental health problems. This research will benefit application developers who are thinking about creating a mental health application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia mostly experiences long-distance tremors caused by earthquake events from nearby countries. The majority of low-rise to medium-rise residential reinforced concrete buildings in Malaysia are designed with inadequate reinforcement detailing to cater for lateral loading. This paper presents findings related to seismic assessment of multi- storey residential buildings using the fragility curve and capacity-demand response spectrum. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the vulnerability of residential multi-storey buildings with strong beam and weak column designed mechanisms subjected to Design Basis Earthquake and Maximum Considered Earthquake with peak ground acceleration of 0.12g and 0.22g, respectively. Ruaumoko2D programme was used to determine the load and displacement values of the building subjected to the 2015 Ranau earthquake with PGA 0.14g. The ductility of the prototype building was calculated from the load and displacement graph. The value of ductility was used to develop the fragility curve based on damage state characterization in accordance to FEMA273. The findings from the fragility curve show that the building would experience minor to moderate damage and can be repaired or retrofitted after the earthquake events with peak ground acceleration of 0.12g and 0.22g. This study also presents the result of the capacity-demand response spectrum of the building subjected to Design Basis Earthquake and Maximum Considered Earthquake in accordance with Eurocode 8 specifications. The result from the capacity demand response spectrum shows that the building would not survive when subjected to the earthquake excitation with peak ground acceleration 0.22g and exceeds more than 5.5 Richter Scale. This study is important to provide an understanding of the seismic behaviour of the multi-storey non-seismic designed for residential buildings in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The threat of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) attacks abroad is increasing, and it may even happen in Malaysia in the future. Over time, the development of UAV technology has grown rapidly. This proves that UAV attacks are very easy to be carried out by the enemy, and it is difficult to repel such attacks. Therefore, this study is an initial preparation to avoid any potential threats to Malaysia by UAV or drones in the future. The Malaysian force is required to prevent the enemy's UAV from entering Malaysia's airspace. Since its independence, Malaysia has never faced the threat of UAV attacks but with the rising number of UAV attacks internationally, the military must have the ability to defend and destroy the aerial threat source when national security is threatened. The more complex the UAV technology, the greater the threat it may pose. This paper aims to disclose the threats related to physical UAV attacks. This study aims to explore the UAV technologies, their capabilities and usage. This paper also addresses the current UAV threats and UAV threats assessments methodologies. This study establishes a critical literature review in which reflect on the process of analysing and modelling UAVs or drones' threat through attack defence tree in the next research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs Data Envelopment Analysis to measure the efficiency of seven NDUM research clusters during the years 2018 until 2020. In this study, both output-oriented CCR and BCC models were used and compared. The finding showed that one out of seven research clusters was consistently efficient. These efficiency results would be very helpful for university research and innovation management to identify the inefficient research cluster, develop performance strategy and enhance the research cluster's overall efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ministry of Higher Education sector in Malaysia has set in motion the Higher Education 4.0 in 2018, focusing on Knowledge, Industry and Humanity. In order to embrace Learning and Teaching 4.0 in Higher Educational Institution, it is vital to focus on Staff Professional Development. This paper is to review the current available methods of Professional Development in the education sector. Identifying the lack of professional development platform explains the deficiency in the staff development and hence their ability to adapt to Education 4.0. The objective of this paper is in alignment to one of the objectives of this conference which is to identify and discuss the problem faced by a sector, this paper is on the higher education institutions. Hence in the future higher education institutions need to develop an efficient and sustainable platform for professional development to bridge the human capital competency gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper detailed the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) that has been used widespread in IT system and other areas, and the initiative of this paper is to introduce the UTAUT theory evidences and relation in online distance learning at universities. This paper reviewed the literature on UTAUT from multiple perspectives on theoretical analysis of UTAUT and its expansion and continuing for research going forward. Based on Venkatesh (2003), framework of theory evaluation, this paper continuing UTAUT and its extensions developed from few sets of constructs as the parts of a theory and as the whole theory. This review identifies many distinctions of UTAUT, progress related to this theory that has further development, and it relation to online distance learning at IPTA in Malaysia. This paper will allow a significant future work, the theoretical contributions of UTAUT using expanding and cross-context concept. Our conclusion reveals several limitations that lead other researchers to continue a UTAUT study framework that can serve as the theoretical foundation for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capability of the Internet of Things (IoT) to electronically meter, path and monitor objects in the physical world has encouraged a flow of innovation and interest from many industries. It's probable to driving, chaotic changes across many sector offerings a myriad of potential services and applications. Smart home service, one of the symbolic developing technologies in the IoT era, has changed house equipment into being more intelligent, remote controllable, and interconnected. This paper is division of current the author's research on the adoption of IoT application for home building in Malaysia. The data and information presented in this paper were gathered from the reviews of the available relevant literature related to IoT and smart home in Malaysia. This paper addresses the major concern and challenges in IoT and smart home in Malaysia. Based on the analysis, it was found that three main challenges cited in the literature are perception of usefulness, confidentiality and privacy of consumer data, and absence of enterprise IoT applications in the country. As for Iot and smart home technology improvement in the near future, suggested tackling the current issues on home online education and working from home (WFH) especially because of the problematic pandemic Covid-19 worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Malaysia, the manufacturing SME's competitiveness plays a vital role in boosting the economy. The SMEs manufacturers need to react according to the changes driven by the Industry 4.0 concepts, which now become imperative for the manufacturers to improve their global competitiveness. To compete globally and aligning with the Industry 4.0 implementation, each SMEs can adopt by participating through the Industry4WRD readiness assessment (RA) program organized by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). Hence, the main objective for this paper is to conduct a case study to assess the current readiness levels of the SMEs, and to examine the relationship of various shift factors, thrust, and dimensions representing the key variables towards defining the Industry 4.0 readiness profile for the selected manufacturing SMEs. This paper presented and discussed RA case study methodology and processes of applying the Industry4WRD RA model to help the SMEs to identify the current baseline, gaps, and area for improvement plan towards Industry 4.0 full-scale implementation. The study has identified two manufacturing companies identified as SMEs A and SMEs B, which fall according to the SMEs definition by SME Corporation of Malaysia but in two different business portfolio in order to be able to gauge and compare the results quantitatively. The results will also focus on the qualitative finding of the Industry 4.0 strategy dimension between the two samples SMEs as a comparison and reference for future improvement and study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on case studies of safety incidents in chemical factories in Malaysia. The processes used for identifying and evaluating both existing and potential hazards in a palm-oil work site and the way of controlling it is hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control or known as HIRARC. Many that have already done risk assessments have recorded successful changes to their working procedures, and conditions of work in establishing and taking the appropriate effective actions. An ergonomic, physical and chemical hazards is a main factor in occurred in this study that could cause damage to humans, systems and environments. The assessment was done in estate area, involving the process of oil palm harvesting and collecting operation, oil palm manuring, and oil palm field upkeep and maintenance. The overall methodologies in this study consist of fishbone concept, HIRARC and PARETO analysis towards the working procedures at loading ramp station in palm factory. At the end of this paper, a list of recommendations is made to ensure the risk assessed can be minimzed in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequency response function (FRF) and modal parameters including the natural frequency, damping ratio and mode shapes need to be studied in order to aid the monitoring process as well as to avoid the resonance to the structure. This is important since these measurements will be used as reference for any operational methods for the dam structure. This paper will discuss the structural dynamic analysis of one of the dam available in Malaysia which is Kenyir Dam (Sultan Mahmud Power Station) in Terengganu. The study has been conducted on the spillway section of the dam structure. The CAD model of the structure has been designed based on real size structure (1:1 scale) with the consideration of real build-in materials. A finite element (FE) model of the structure is then constructed in ANSYS Workbench software to run the analysis. Meshing sensitivity analysis has been conducted and the boundary condition has been set before performing the analysis. 30 natural frequencies have been determined and 6 most significant mode shapes are chosen to be discussed in this paper. For the FRF, all three axes, x, y and z-direction have the same dominant natural frequency value of 19.6 Hz, where the highest deflection occurred at z-direction with 6.795 x 10−4 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses on the longevity factor and trend of government pensioners in Malaysia. Life expectancy has increased significantly over last few decades, and aging population gives burden to the government pension system. Besides, the need to determine independent variables that effect of longevity factor can be helpful to estimate the pensioners longevity. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyses on the trend of longevity factor and determines significant variables that contribute to calculating longevity factor. The objective is to find the longevity trend from government pensioners aged 55 to 60 and determine the significance of independent variable in calculating longevity factor. We are using the annuity theory to determine the longevity factor and analysis of regression model by using SPSS to determine the significance of independent variables. It is found that that the longevity factor will keep on showing a decreasing trend for all Family Models, for both survived pensioners and died pensioners. For survived pensioners, all independent variables are significant while for died pensioners, age of the pensioners and year of retirement are the only factors that significant. Even though there are two insignificant independent variables, the model still is significant as shown using F – test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To meet the local and international market's timber demands, Azadirachta excelsa, a native tree locally known as a Sentang, has been listed among the potential fast-growing species to be planted for forest plantation establishment in the mid -1990s by the Malaysian government. Understanding wood properties is well known as crucial for the industry to use it as a raw material properly. Because of the underrepresented and limited accessible data on the tree's qualities, the species' potential has been determined. The physical properties of the 25-year-old Sentang tree planted in Gurun, Kedah, Malaysia, were discussed in this paper. The impact of radial growth rates on moisture content, density, and shrinkage from the pith to the bark at the stump, DBH, middle, and top of the trees is investigated in this paper. As a result, three trees were cut and classed as slow, average, or fast-growing. The results were as follows. From the pith to the bark, the green MC of all classed trees continues to diminish. The density, on the other hand, did not follow the same pattern; however, fast-growing trees have lower densities than slower-growing trees at the bottom, DBH, middle, and top of the trees. Tangential, radial, and longitudinal shrinkage appeared to reduce as tree height climbed, then increase again at the trees' tops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Azadirachta excelsa, known as Sentang by a native, a fast-growing and light-hardwood tree, was one of the selected species included in forest plantation projects in the mid-1990s by the Malaysian government to supply timber demands for local and international markets. Ambiguity has been pointed out about the species potential due to understudied and limited data available regarding the properties of the tree. This paper investigates the physical properties of 26 years old Sentang tree planted at Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia. This paper focuses on the effects of radial growth rates on moisture content, density, and shrinkage from the pith to the bark at the stump, diameter-breast height (DBH), middle, and top of the trees. Three trees were categorized into slow, average, and fast growth rates were selected and harvested for this purpose. The green moisture content (MC) of all the categorized trees tends to decrease from the pith to the bark. However, the same tendency was not observed in the density. As predicted, the shrinkage in the tangential direction is higher than in radial and longitudinal directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrocarbon PVT data are one of the crucial inputs in reservoir engineering calculations. A laboratory study on reservoir fluids can be used to get these data, or they can be inferred from empirical correlations. Even though regulated reservoir conditions can improve the accuracy of laboratory results, the reliability of the hydrocarbon PVT is crucial. Empirically calculated PVT correlations can be used to estimate the physical reservoir fluid properties. It is useful in situations where experimental data cannot be collected or when it is necessary to cross-check the laboratory results. This paper outlines the development of the best correlation that has a superior result than any correlations in the market. The study employed a total of 93 PVT data collected from several offshore oil sites in Malaysia. The oil gravity range in the PVT data is 26.6 API to 53.2 API, and the bubble point pressures range from 790 psia to 3851 psia. The crudes have a low nitrogen concentration and are essentially hydrogen sulfide-free (maximum of 1.15 per cent). For Malaysian crudes, a new bubble point pressure black oil correlation was developed using multi-linear regression analysis. By doing a statistical and graphical error analysis, the precision of the new correlations was ascertained. The new bubble point pressure correlation has the lowest AAPRE (8.539%), lowest standard deviation (7.163%) and lowest maximum AAPRE (28.944%) as compared to the other correlations from the literature. The findings demonstrate that compared to previously known correlations found in the literature, the novel correlations provide more accuracy in determining reservoir fluid characteristics of Malaysian crudes. The new correlation result in low absolute average per cent relative error and standard deviation values as compared to the correlation from the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illustrates the development of a system dynamics model to predict the sustainability of small medium enterprises (SMEs) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic did impact the country's economy, especially on SMEs on both the supply and demand perspectives. SMEs struggled to maintain their business operation during this pandemic era. To survive in the new norm, SMEs must be adaptable and innovative. Thus, this study utilizes system dynamics modelling to analyze the sustainability of SMEs' business activity in Malaysia. The causal loop diagram (CLD) is developed to represent the dynamic hypothesis of the system behavior. Next the CLD is transformed to a stock and flow diagram (SFD) with model equations to simulate the system behavior. Later, few interventions are conducted to improve the sustainability of SMEs. The research finding shows that by utilizing online business platform, and financial aid provided by the government will improve the sustainability of SMEs in Malaysia. The SD-based analysis provides unique and valuable insights on how to better identify and make strategic choices when responding to future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been almost three years since COVID-19 spread in Malaysia and its daily infection cases are still at an alarming level. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly made changes in every sector in Malaysia. There are sectors ofthe economy that need to be closed to reduce the number of cases. Universities also need to be closed because without a proper SOP being conducted, the spread of COVID-19 will be hard to prevent. Due to this, lecturers need to conduct classesthrough online learning. These sudden changes have become challenges, especially for university students, as they need toattend online classes from home where most of the family members also need to work from home and have online classes. This study aims to understand the challenges to online learning among two university students in Malaysia due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The two universities that participated in the research are University Utara Malaysia (UUM) and University Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah (UniSHAMS). Out of 100 participants, 50 participants are from UUM and 50 participants are from UniSHAMS. The questionnaire is in Google form and the link will be given randomly to participants by personal contact through WhatsApp or Telegram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing number of major industrial accidents nowadays had eventually uplifted high possibilities of hazardous scenarios even at public facilities. In the present paper, knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) on emergency response preparedness among public facilities staff was examined thoroughly. The research was conducted at two public facilities in different prone areas in Malaysia. A descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted to analyze the obtained data thoroughly. A set of questionnaires which consist of two parts was distributed to the selected respondents. A total of 80 respondents in different education levels participated in the study. Furthermore, the feedback from the focus groups regarding familiarity, use and barriers to emergency response preparedness also studied. The results showed that knowledge, attitude, and practices are significantly associated with the staff readiness involving emergency response preparedness activities. However, the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices among staff towards emergency response and preparedness were identified significantly different between the selected public facilities. Therefore, knowledge, attitudes and practices play as main indicators in developing the readiness of staff to react towards emergency or crisis scenarios. In conclusion, the public facilities staff are comfortable and ready to some extent to deal with emergency or crisis scenarios at the early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]