Beyond emergence of global Halal industry, Halal is one of the significant bloc markets. The South Korean food industry endeavours to advance its competition in the global Halal food market under various and active industry supports of government. However, South Korean government involvement shows lack of framework and contains limits in its support system. Criticism toward ineffective government support arises as one of the major issues surrounding Halal food industry development and export promotion, the goal of South Korea. This research highlights three major segments, which are identification and comparison of Malaysian and South Korean government’s involvement framework in Halal food industry development. Lastly, the emphases on the applicability of Malaysian experience of government involvement methods and approaches into South Korean government. The study applies qualitative research methodology that included two tracks of data collection which are literature review and interviews. During data collection, library research sources, existing literatures such as government documents, journal articles and related reports utilized. In the case of interviews, open-ended interviews of ten practitioners conducted. Data was collected and analyzed under inductive sorting out procedure, and the utilization of Atlas.ti software to visualize outcomes. This study determines the framework of two government involvement cases through visualized structure map, and compares its differences based on designed criteria. To suggest applicable framework in South Korea which is based on Malaysian experiences, several theoretical concepts are applied. In this study, South Korean government’s involvement in Halal food industry development is categorized under three criteria which are approach, action, and framework level which needs be customized in non-Muslim countries and their environment.

This study qualitatively examines the implications of Shari’ah objectives for sustainability practices among businesses. While there is growing recognition of the importance of adopting an integrated approach to sustainability, many businesses, including those in the halal industry, remain focused on profit maximisation, often at the expense of environmental and social sustainability. As such, there is a pressing need for studies that highlight effective sustainability practices, specifically to guide halal businesses in meeting current needs without compromising future generations. To address this gap, this research employed a qualitative design, utilizing semi-structured interviews to gather data from ten Shari’ah scholars in Malaysia. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. The findings reveal that there are robust justifications from a Shari’ah perspective for integrating sustainability practices into business operations. Furthermore, the study underscores the need for heightened awareness among halal businesses regarding the adoption of a holistic sustainability approach. Key recommendations include formulating and implementing comprehensive sustainability strategies, ensuring alignment with Shari’ah principles, and adhering to environmental and social standards. This study offers valuable insights into the intersection of Shari’ah objectives and corporate sustainability, with significant implications for businesses, especially in the halal sector, to better integrate sustainability into their core practices.

The popularity of the concept of Islamic tourism has given more focus on providing guides that may suit the needs of the Muslims travelers. This study seeks to establish knowledge on the notion of Muslim tourism, competencies involved in offering Muslim-friendly tour guiding services, and the current competency level of the tour guides in Malaysia in order to come up with a model of core competencies that anticipates the satisfaction of Muslim tourists. The study sets out four primary objectives: For the first study, to understand the idea of Muslim friendly tour guides in Islamic tourism, to establish what competencies are necessary for tour guides to enhance the Muslim friendly experience, to evaluate the existing competency levels of tour guides serving the Muslim tourist, and for the last, to suggest a framework for the core competencies of Muslim friendly tour guides in Malaysia. Hence, a qualitative research design was adopted, accompanied by in-depth interviews with the tour guides, tourism agencies in Malaysia, also academicians who specialized in tourism industry to provide verbal data, giving a vivid and credible account of respondent’s experience/views. The study identified six key elements essential for a competent Muslim-friendly tour guide: culture and religion awareness, destination knowledge, awareness of Halal food, language barriers, respect tourists’ professional handling treating equally and handling of emergencies situations. On the mentioned elements, all of the participants confirmed the awareness but came up with more enhancements for a broader competency model. The study entails the use of these competencies in an effort to enhance a Muslim-friendly experience; and contributes to the formulation of training frameworks for tourist guides of the Malaysian region. The research importance also points to the need for specific competencies among the tour guides with a view of improving the Islamic tourisms and thus the proposed model of core competencies helps as a directory for the tour guides’ training and development since they have to meet the expectation of the Islamic tourists in all aspects. Thus, this research enriches the knowledge about Islamic tourism and the position of the tour guides in this domain. It will also highlight gaps in the preparation of tour guides and also it can be used to chart the training and assessing of tour guides regarding the area. Besides, this research serves the development of Muslim-friendly tourism and is useful for tourism institutions, operators, trainers, and developers of tour guides for Islamic countries.

Electrospun nanofibers have been extensively studied for wound healing application due to their remarkable properties. The incorporation of plant extract in electrospun nanofibers has contributed to the development of bioactive dressings enabling the effective and efficient wound repair. In this work, the fabrication of such nanofibers was undertaken following halal built-in concept. Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) fibre mats containing Aquilaria malaccensis leaf extract (ALEX) [5, 10 and 15 %(w/w)] were fabricated by electrospinning for wound healing application. Prior to the fabrication of ALEX-loaded PVA nanofibers, the phytochemical constituents of both derivatized and non-derivatized ALEX were identified using gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The anti-bacterial activity of ALEX against Escherichia coli, Vibrio vulnificus, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus was evaluated by modified Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. The anti-inflammatory activity of ALEX was performed via in-vitro lipoxygenase assay. GC-MS analysis of ALEX confirmed the occurrence of a total 127 compounds from the derivatized sample and only 22 compounds in the non-derivatized sample. ALEX showed comparable anti-bacterial activity with zone of inhibition of 10.2 - 21.7 mm for gram positive bacteria and 10.7 - 19.7 mm for gram negative bacteria. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of ALEX against these bacteria ranged from 5.625 mg/ml to 0.352 mg/ml. ALEX also showed high lipoxygenase inhibitory activity with an IC50 of 21.365 μg/ml in comparison to the positive control, nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) with an IC50 of 6.383 μg/ml. These results supported the use of ALEX as an active ingredient in the fibre mats. The nanofibers were uniform, beadless and randomly oriented with average diameters ranged between 195.27 – 281.20 nm. The presence of ALEX in the PVA nanofibers were evaluated by Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared microscopy (ATR-FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Next, the mechanical properties, swelling degree and weight loss of nanofiber mats were also determined. ALEX was rapidly released from the ALEX-loaded PVA nanofibers in the first 12 hours followed by gradual release afterwards. The released rate was dependent on ALEX content in the PVA nanofibers. Swelling degree and porosity of the nanofibers were found to be between 241.66 – 305.86% and 64.53 – 30.81%, respectively. Meanwhile, the tensile stress and maximum elongation at break for all electrospun nanofiber mats were in the range of 8.56 – 2.68 MPa and 205.94 – 166.31%, respectively. The nanofiber mats inhibited growth of Escherichia coli, Vibrio vulnificus, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus with zone of inhibition of 7.5 - 15.0 mm for gram positive bacteria and 6.1 - 11.7 mm for gram negative bacteria. ALEX-loaded PVA nanofibers also showed potent anti-inflammatory activity against lipoxygenase with percentage of inhibition between 80.887 – 86.977%. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that ALEX-loaded PVA nanofibers have the desired properties of bioactive wound dressing and could open up new horizon in the fabrication of wound dressing through its halal built-in concept.

Unifying Halal certification is essential for regulatory standardizing in Nigeria. However, in Nigeria, the halal industry is still evolving. The certification of halal attracts companies with or without Islam alliance due to growing demand in halal products. This certification is issued by religious certification bodies and standard certification bodies in case of Nigeria. When too many halal certification providers are available without any intervention in supervision of their practices, it may create confusion as to which company certification to rely on. Due to this confusion, this paper is an attempt to explore the possibility of having a unified and standardize halal certification in Nigeria. This paper explores the importance of having unified halal certification frameworks and proposes strategies for achieving unified standards. The study adopts qualitative methodology with the use of interviews and library research to collect data. The data is thematically analysed to answer the research question. The benefits of unification include enhanced consumer trust, simplified market access for businesses, and improved regulatory oversight. The present study proposes a streamlined methodology for Halal certification that fosters global market integrity, transparency, and credibility by means of cooperation between certifying organizations, regulating organizations, and stakeholders. This paper concludes that the unification of halal certification is possible to achieve but it needs the active involvement of government.

Turmeric has been a popular spice throughout South Eastern Asia from earlier times which even until now are used in culinary as spice, traditional medicine, and even as dye. Its iconic yellow colour is caused by a compound called curcumin, which is known to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties aside from various other health benefits. This research sought to investigate the potential of curcumin, which was extracted from turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizome as a ‘Halalan Toyyiban’ alternative for synthetic colourant while studying its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. The curcumin was extracted by using two extraction method, which then characterised and quantified using HPLC analysis. The extracted curcumin was tested for antimicrobial activity using the disc diffusion test, and tested for antioxidant property using the DPPH radical scavenging assay. The extracted curcumin, in both free state and in PLA polymer, was also tested for chromaticity stability where its colour changes was observed and analysed using the CIELab colour space system after it was exposed to different environmental factors as an indicator of its stability. The results showed that alkaline extraction produced higher curcumin yield compared to chemical based extraction. The extracted curcumin showed positive antimicrobial activity towards most of the tested microbes and the same inhibition activity for antioxidant test as shown from previous studies. The stability test using CIELab colour system showed that curcumin in both free state and in PLA polymer is very vulnerable towards degradation under the exposure of light, compared to any other environmental factor it was exposed to in this research. These results showed that curcumin retained, if not improved, its antimicrobial and antioxidant properties after being extracted from rhizome of Curcuma longa, and was easily degraded under the exposure of light.

A rapid increase of bacterial resistance particularly Gram-negative bacteria is a major threat to human health as many standard antibiotics have become less effective in treating infectious diseases. With the fairly dry discovery and development pipeline of novel drugs, it is very unlikely to obtain new drugs in the near future. Polymyxins, an ‘old’ antibiotic class, has been revived as the last-line therapeutic arsenal for infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria. Nevertheless, its application in clinical practice was restrained due to a number of nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity cases reported. Plant-based therapy has been considered safe, effective and has been promisingly integrated with modern medicine. Combination therapy is a potential approach in the fight against Gram-negative bacteria or ‘superbugs’ which comply with the toyyiban viewpoint in Halal pharmaceutical. Toyyib is an important aspect to ensure that the medicines must be non-hazardous, non-intoxicating, and safe for clinical practice according to the prescribed dosage. This study sought to investigate the effect of local medicinal plant extracts in combination with polymyxin B against Gram-negative bacteria. Selected plants such as Annona muricata, Andrographis paniculate, Piper sarmentosum, Clinacanthus nutans and Aquilaria malaccensis which are known for their antimicrobial property were extracted by soxhlet method. The crude ethanolic extracts were screened for their antibacterial activity and assessed for their killing activity in combination with polymyxin B against Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The selected extract was analyzed for their chemical constituents using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The study revealed that, throughout ten plants that have been tested, only five plants possessed an antibacterial activity, with the highest was A. malaccensis leaves against A. baumannii ATCC 19606 and K. pneumoniae ATCC 10031. The combination of A. malaccensis extract (64 mg/mL) and polymyxin B (1 mg/L) was found to be able to inhibit the bacteria growth and exhibit a better bacterial killing compared to polymyxin B alone. A. malaccensis extract at 64 mg/mL also showed a bactericidal effect with a reduction of ≥ 3 log10 CFU/mL below the initial inoculum at 24 h against both A. baumannii and K. pneumoniae isolates. GC-MS analysis identified phytol, 9,12-octadecadienal, oleic acid, n-hexadecanoic acid, squalene which likely correlated to the antibacterial activity observed from the extract. The results highlighted the potential of polymyxin B and A. malaccensis extract combination to be further leveraged for the treatment against MDR Gram-negative bacteria. In addition, A. malaccensis extract is importantly a subject of potential antibiotic to be explored and developed.

The halal industry in Malaysia is set to become the new world leader. The continuous demand for halal products and services among consumers locally and globally have attracted marketers to strategize their marketing plan to break through the halal market. Realizing the great demand of halal products nowadays, efforts have been made by the government to turn Malaysia into a regional hub for halal products. Although the awareness among marketers with regards to halal certification have increased, the Muslim consumers, are still found to be lacking in terms of understanding the deeper concept of halal, especially in relation to halal certification. Malaysia, being a Muslim majority population country does not guarantee the awareness among consumers regarding halal products and certification. Living in a society of Muslim majority may give consumers the confidence to consume products made by the same society as halal legit. There are several cases of food poisoning in the state of Terengganu where the food products bought were contaminated. In an extreme case, in 2017, the issue of food poisoning has led to the death of a doctor was highlighted by media to public attention. Even though it was an isolated case, it shows the lack of concern and sensitivity among consumers to the actual concept of halalan tayyiban in day-to-day consumption. Therefore, this study is conducted in order to identify the level of halal awareness among Muslim consumers in Kuala Terengganu. This study focuses on the demographics influence towards consumers’ perception and knowledge pertaining to halal products and certification among Muslims in Kuala Terengganu. For this purpose, several analyses were performed such as the one-way ANOVA and Mann Whitney U test in order to find the difference in the variables. In addition to that, a regression analysis was conducted to identify the factors contributing to consumers’ awareness. This particular study had successfully gathered 301 Muslim consumers in Kuala Terengganu as respondents through convenient sampling. From the analysis, it is deduced that consumers’ perception and knowledge do contribute to consumers’ awareness on halal consumption. Furthermore, it is also found that several demographic elements do influence consumers’ perception and knowledge regarding halal products and certification. Specifically, the study found that there are significant differences between the demographic elements (age, level of education, occupation and level of income as the p values equal to .016, .000, .012, & .036 respectively) and consumers’ perception. However, in terms of consumers’ knowledge, the study found that there are two demographic elements that show significant difference; namely, gender and level of education, as the p values equal to .046 and .014 for each element which are less than the alpha value .05. Finally, the study found that the level of halal awareness among Muslim consumers in Kuala Terengganu pertaining to halal products and certification are at a high level.

Research funding plays an important role in financing a research project. Besides covering the expenses of the research, it enables researchers to produce tangible output from their work. Research outputs not only demonstrate the productivity of the researcher but also provide valuable contributions to others in related fields. The objective of the study was to analyse the trend of research funding and output in halal-related research projects at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and develop a framework for effective assessment of research funding trends and outputs. Content analysis method was performed to examine the funding trends and outputs from 41 projects (from the year 2012 until 2022) obtained from the Research Management Centre. Taking into consideration all the issues that arise during the process involved, self-reflection method was also used during the process to develop a framework for assessment of research funding trends and outputs. It was found that the amount of grant received was between RM10,000 to RM300,000. The Ministry of Higher Education was found to be the main funder. Most of the talents nurtured were at Master’s level. A total of 77 journals were published, of which 75% were indexed in either Science (WOS), Scopus, or MyCite with one journal article indexed as Q2. Only 12.5% of the projects were reported to have commercialization output. No significant correlation was found between the total grant (RM) and i) total publications, or ii) talent produced. The developed framework would be useful for other researchers in diverse fields to adopt hence facilitate the process of collection and analysis of the data. In conclusion, the halal-related research in IIUM is progressing. The findings will not only benefit the research centre at the university, but also the other parties to open more opportunities, particularly in the area of priority of halal research and development.

Gelatin is commonly used as the ingredients in food, beverages, pharmaceutical, personal care and many more. It can be extracted from animal’s bones and hides. However, Halal and Haram issues on the source of gelatin are widely debates among Muslim scholars. Scientists have made a lot of effort to detect the origin of gelatin sources by using various methods. Therefore, the assessment of browning index from Maillard reaction of different sources of gelatin have been performed with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as the latest reliable chemical approach in gelatin authentication. The objectives of this study are to optimize the factors affecting the browning index of Maillard reaction of fish, bovine and porcine gelatin by one-factorat- a-time and Response Surface Methodology, to differentiate the browning index of Maillard reaction using UV-Vis spectroscopy combined with PCA and to characterize the browning compound from Maillard reaction of different sources of gelatin with FTIR and GC-TOF/MS. All factors affecting Maillard reaction such as pH, type and concentration of reducing sugar, type and concentration of metal ions, reaction temperature and time were investigated based on one-factor-at-a-time experiment. Response Surface Methodology was also used to optimize the Maillard reaction. The absorbance of browning compound of each sample was obtained by using UV-Vis spectroscopy in the range of 200 nm to 600 nm and converted into browning index. Next, the browning compound was characterized by using FTIR and GC-TOF/MS to compare the gelatin sample before and after subjected to Maillard reaction. Finally, the differentiation of browning index from fish, bovine and porcine gelatin were established through PCA. In general, the result showed high browning index can be obtained from 0.5 M of xylose at high temperature and long reaction time with the presence of metal ions Cu2+. However, the effect of pH was insignificant and can be ignored in Maillard reaction of gelatin. From optimisation experiment, reaction temperature at 95°C for 9 hours were suitable for all types of gelatin but 5 mM of metal ions Cu2+ only required for bovine gelatin. In comparison with the raw gelatin standard, the browning compound in Maillard reaction of gelatin was successfully characterized by FTIR and GC-TOF/MS. In conclusion, the result from PCA revealed a notable differentiation between the browning index of fish, bovine and porcine gelatins after undergoing Maillard reaction. All the results demonstrated the success of the proposed combination methods of browning index and PCA analysis in achieving the objectives of this study.

The modern Malay community today prefers to spend their daily routines in accordance with the current available advancements; be it in terms of education, fashion, food, lifestyle, or health. Currently, traditional knowledge of Malay midwifery practices has been sadly neglected because of the poor transmission of knowledge, and the poor understanding of the importance or benefits it can provide to women. The lack of published research has also caused these practices to disappear. The current research attempted to provide supporting data collection of medicinal plants used in Malay traditional postpartum bath and supportive scientific data based on the identification of the carotenoid content and its antimicrobial activities. Through high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis, all 20 species were found to have at least four individual carotenoid pigments with a relatively high concentration of lutein and β-carotene and lower concentrations of zeaxanthin. The highest amount of lutein was found in Nilam (1488.4±49.6 μg/g DW) and the highest amount of β-Carotene was found in Pisang kelat (405.17±81.20 μg/g DW). The carotenoid extracts were further investigated for its antimicrobial activities against 12 human pathogens using disk diffusion test (Kirby – Bauer Method). Based on the observation made, among 12 strains, S. pyogenes was detected as to be the most inhibited strain with the highest inhibition zone was 18.0 ± 1.0 mm against 1 mg/disc of carotenoid extraction of C. longa. The significant outcome of the research was a new findings of new natural bioactive compound sources as health promoting agents which covers not only the Shariah requirement, but also safety aspects. Moreover, it will preserve the traditional knowledge of Malay traditional bath practices.

This study examines the participation of Micro-Industry Women Entrepreneurs (MIWEs) in the halal food sector of Perlis, Malaysia, focusing on the challenges and opportunities related to halal certification. Women's involvement in the workforce is crucial for economic growth, especially in the halal industry, which has seen increased demand from a growing Muslim consumer base. However, the number of halal-certified establishments in Perlis is low, with only 53 out of 7,150 MSMEs holding halal certificates in 2023, highlighting a significant gap in certification among women-owned businesses. Women's participation in entrepreneurship is notably lower than their representation in the Malaysian population. Research indicates that women face disparities in social and cultural expectations compared to men, which, along with various challenges in their business ventures, restricts their economic engagement. Thus, the study aims to explore MIWEs’ involvement in the Perlis halal food industry, identify challenges hindering their access to halal certification, examine opportunities available, and propose guidelines for obtaining certification. A qualitative approach was adopted, utilising semi-structured interviews with fifteen participants, including seven women entrepreneurs and eight experts from various backgrounds. Data analysis involved inductive and deductive methods to identify themes related to the study objectives. The findings revealed that the external challenges consisted of limited employees for halal certification, inadequate facilities, low product marketability, and insufficient consumer demand for halal products. Internal challenges included a lack of IT skills in handling the MYeHALAL portal, a lack of positive attitude, and limited proactive engagement with government agencies. Several opportunities linked to obtaining halal certification revealed global demand for halal products, its significance in both local and international markets, customer satisfaction with halal certification, proactive government support for coaching MIWEs, and the positive impact of halal certification on business performance. The resulting guidelines for MIWEs are structured as a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) comprising three phases: pre-application, application, and post-application, detailing 23 steps. This research provides valuable insights and resources for MIWEs to thrive in the halal industry while contributing to the existing literature on halal certification and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Carotenoids are coloured Carotenoids are coloured pigments that found in nature which have their specific colour range of yellow, orange and red colours. Colour plays an important role to make sure the products are attractive to the consumers. The natural colorant is colouring that can be obtained from natural sources such as plants, vegetables, animals and minerals. This study established that the working scheme via open column chromatography (OCC) established from pumpkin and sweet potato demonstrated that isolation of the β-carotene and lutein pigment were successful with 97.2% and 95.46% purity with the coefficient of correlation of 0.9961 and 0.9959 respectively. The β-carotene extract has presented strong activity on DPPH scavenging radicals with the percentage of inhibition at 99.45% in 0.008 mg/ml concentration as compared to lutein, which contributed 65.6% at 0.5mg/ml. As for antimicrobial activity, a positive result for both β-carotene and lutein pigment for bacterial and fungal species except for Tricho sp. In this study, the results from chromaticity stability of PLA-β-carotene and lutein coating from 1mg/ml up to 3mg/ml treated with different pH value from 3.0 to 11.0, as well as the time of exposure from day 1 until day 15 revealed that there is no stable relationship between pH, yellow colour concentration and period of time in response to light. Marked differences were observed for PLA-β-carotene coating treated with different concentration of NaCl for 1 and 2 mg/ml concentration of carotenoid pigment for a period of time of 10 days and PLA-lutein coating treated with different temperature from -25°C to 50°C when exposed for 6 hours. In term of light exposure, PLA-β-carotene coating with lower concentration and PLA-lutein with higher concentration were found to slow the degradation process. In conclusion, this data suggests that although different carotenoid pigment concentrations had influenced chromaticity stability, light and time also affected pigment colour difference.

Muslim friendly or Shari’ah compliant hospitality services have emerged in recent years as part of the development of global halal industry. Malaysia has become one of the key players in this fast-growing and lucrative market and has been rated the world`s top Muslim-friendly holiday destination for the past few years by various rating agencies. As one of the most important service providers for tourism and travel related activities, the travel agencies play an important and essential role in worldwide tourism development and their role has been expanded in recent years with the global growth of Muslim friendly tourism and hospitality services. Despite this remarkable development, there have been many consumer complaints related to hospitality services in Malaysia. In fact, consumer claims against the travel agents were the top in the list of services cases filed in the Tribunal for Consumer Claims (TCC) for the past many years. In 2014, the TCC received 1,585 complaints against travel agencies especially related to umrah package. Thus the question arises as to whether the rights of Muslim travellers are well protected under the relevant laws in Malaysia. Adopting a doctrinal and content analysis methodology, the study aims to identify consumers’ issues in relation to travel agencies services in Malaysia. The main focus is to examine the relevant framework which include relevant laws, regulations, guidelines, codes of ethics which are related to Muslim friendly travel agencies services. The laws including Tourism Industry Act 1992 and Tourism Industry (Tour Operating Business and Travel Agency Business regulations 1992), MATTA Code of Ethics and Malaysian Standard MS 2610:2015 Muslim Friendly Hospitality Services-requirements. The purpose is to analyse the adequacy of the existing consumer protection laws in protecting Muslim travellers. The study discovers the lacunae in the existing legal protection for consumers which renders the protection to be inadequate. Hence, the study proposes recommendations to improve and enhance protection for consumers in dealing with Muslim friendly travel agencies.

Muslim friendly hospitality services (MFHS) is one of the most lucrative and one of the fastest growing sectors in the global tourism industry. The popularity of the Muslim friendly hospitality services have spread across the globe, with Malaysia being a clear front runner. Malaysia has offered wide ranges of hospitality services to satisfy the specific needs of the Muslim consumers especially in travel agents and tour operators offering Muslim friendly services, restaurants providing halal food and beverages, Muslim friendly accommodations, Muslim friendly airlines and etc. In Muslim friendly hospitality services, the consumers must get the services which adhere to the value of Islam. Due to the unique needs of the consumers in hospitality services as well as unique faith-based needs of the consumers in Muslim friendly hospitality services, there are many consumer complaints related to this services as it is not easy to ensure proper provision all the time. Other than that, the ignorance and “too trusting” attitude of Muslim consumers in the services also contribute to the increase in the number of complaints. The complaints among others are fraud, misleading advertisement, low-quality and inefficient services, etc. by the services providers in hospitality services and Muslim friendly hospitality services. As a result, the consumers in the hospitality services as well as in the Muslim friendly hospitality services need to have adequate and efficient redress mechanisms to protect their rights. At the present time, there are existing redress mechanisms in Malaysia. However, based on the analysis made on the cases decided by the Tribunals, Ministry and Complaint Centres on the existing redress mechanisms, the result of the research shows that the mechanisms are still inadequate and inefficient in handling complaints and resolving consumers’ disputes. The semi-structured interview conducted in this research also proves that improvements should be made to enhance the efficiency and adequacy of the existing redress mechanisms in Malaysia. By the end of this research, the researcher outlines several consumer protections guidelines and proposes a structure of a special agency/unit/one-stop-service-centre to handle consumers’ complaints and resolve consumers’ disputes in hospitality services as well as Muslim friendly hospitality services. It really hopes that this research will provide a great contribution to all major stakeholders in hospitality services industry as well as in Muslim friendly hospitality services industry particularly policy makers, service providers/industrial players and consumers.

The concept of halal is based on the Hadith narrated by Imam Muslim “Allah is Pure and Takes Nothing except that which is Pure”. This is not limited to the consumable things but it relates to all activities of one’s life. Indeed, the life is given to each human for nothing but for worshipping Allah alone. Worship in Islam takes many different ways, which one of them is through the business and trading. Business itself is broken down into many different kinds, one of those which has become nowadays trend is Multi Level Marketing (MLM). MLM business is a business model that involves selling and recruitment of new distributors inside the company. Multi Level Marketing is seen to be good as it helps many people to achieve their dreams, but in contrary, it is observed as a medium of cheating that promises wealth to a few by oppressing the poor and uneducated ones. With its players reaching to 2 million in Malaysia since its establishment in early 1990s, MLM’s presence in the business industry should not be taken lightly.This factors include the system itself manufacturing, the distribution channels, the after-sales service, and the long-run vision of the company. By doing this, it is aimed that the doubtful or even the unlawful (haram) practice of MLM can be eliminated and abstained by the Muslim players and better MLM companies can be established, using proper S.O.P and guidelines. The objectives of the research are gained through the library method and interviews.

The rapid innovation of technology leads to the availability of a variety of products, including medical and dental products which may contain ingredients that are from prohibited sources. The presence of pig derivatives, such as porcine gelatine, in any products is prohibited to be consumed by Muslim. The presence of gelatine is not limited to food products but has also been found in medical and dental products. Most dental materials available in Malaysia are imported from other countries and might contain gelatine which is a protein derived either from porcine, bovine or other animal sources. Authentication of gelatine is crucial due to religious and health concerns. Therefore, this study aimed to detect porcine and bovine gelatine in dental materials using attenuated total reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) combined with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Forty-two dental material samples were analyzed in this study. ATR-FTIR analysis was carried out in order to distinguish the spectra between gelatine bovine and porcine gelatine standards. These spectra were then compared to the spectra of the dental material samples. All acquired data from ATR-FTIR were subjected to data pre-processing followed by PCA. Detection and discrimination of gelatine standards (bovine and porcine) and gelatine in dental materials were successfully achieved using ATR-FTIR combined with PCA within a small region, which is between wavenumber 1756-1584 cm-1 (Amide ? and Amide II). Detection and discrimination of porcine and bovine gelatine were also carried out using conventional PCR. PCR methods were run to verify the presence of porcine and bovine in dental materials. Species-specific primers targeting the 212 bp porcine Cytochrome b gene and 271 bp bovine Cytochrome b were used to amplify both DNA in nine dental material samples. The species-specific primers were found to be specific and sensitive. The detection limit of DNA concentration was 0.001 ng/?L and 0.0001 ng/?L for bovine and porcine gelatines, respectively. Using PCR, one sample, BDM 01 was found to contain porcine DNA while two samples (BDM 01 and BDM 14) were found to be positive for bovine DNA. The presence of porcine DNA was also evaluated using commercial Mericon pig kit. However, the pig kit did not detect the presence of porcine DNA in all dental material samples. The findings suggested that ATR-FTIR combined with PCA and conventional PCR are applicable in the identification of porcine and bovine gelatine in highly processed products such as dental materials.

Nowadays, street food especially ready to eat (RTE) burgers are very popular in Malaysia. However, it is very hard to find halal certificate shown at burger stalls thus the halal status of RTE burgers sold at street markets is questionable. This research aimed to determine the halal status of street burger stalls around Shah Alam and Kuantan towns and verified the microbiological quality of the burger as halalan - toyyiban indicator. Respondents of this study comprised of 47 RTE burger entrepreneurs in Kuantan and 80 RTE burger entrepreneurs in Shah Alam. The halal status was identified through survey and observation using a specific questionnaire. For microbiology verification, about 68 samples were convenient randomly purchased from RTE burger stalls in Kuantan and the samples were examined for Total Plate Count (TPC), Coliform, Faecal coliform, E. coli and S. aureus. About 14 samples of RTE burgers from one burger stall at Kuantan town were also purchased at one time to evaluate their microbiological growth. The samples were divided into seven groups which are then left at ambient temperature for seven interval holding hours before the analysis. About 30-100% of RTE burgers sold at street markets contain raw ingredients that are from animal or mix-animal sources and about five to 15% of the raw materials have no halal logo or certificate. The observation during the survey also found that there is still no indicator of halal packaging used for RTE burgers sold at street markets. The results show that RTE halal street burger samples had low to high risks where TPC was less than 3.3x103 cfu/g (low risk), mean Coliform count were 1.96x102 MPN/g (high risk) and mean F. coliform count was 5.6x102 MPN/g (high risk). Pathogenic E. coli were not detected (low risk) and S. aureus counts less than 3.3 x 103 cfu/g (medium risk). Microbial growth study showed that RTE street burger is still safe to consume even though after left at ambient temperature up to 24 hours. The overall study shows that RTE burgers sold at street markets have syubhah ingredients especially from raw materials and have some microbiological risks even though they can be consumed up to 24 hours. Thus, the implementation of halal certification on street burger stalls is vital to ensure the halalan – toyyibah aspect of street RTE burgers.

In the past, landscape nursery management as well as maintenance of plants has always been neglected and as such, emphasis should be given so that plants will always remain attractive. Basically, landscape nursery management and maintenance will focus on the management of human resources, choice of plant species and plant care concerning mulching, staking, weeding, irrigation, fertilizing, pruning, pest and disease control. Landscape nursery plants inventory, maintenance and management, will be made much easier if all those problems are maintained within one efficient and cost-effective integrated system. Therefore, there is a need to change the strategies in the landscape nursery management system to satisfy the needs of the more technologically advanced market. To put these strategies into reality, this research aimed to develop fully computerized audit trail and database model system for Landscape Nursery Management using 2D barcode to enable real-time monitoring and recording of landscape maintenance and management activities. The system will also enable monitoring of the human resources management as well as indexing plants for landscape inventory purpose. Sasapadu Nursery (Nilai, Negeri Sembilan) and Tien Cheng Nursery (Muar, Johor) were selected as the site studies to develop the system. The data on both nurseries components such as nursery spatial organization and built-up areas, plant inventories and human resources were collected and established. Consequently, a prototype version of model system was tested to view on default operation system. As a result, a model system was created to improve the audit trail and database upon landscape nursery management. In this system, from supplier to end customer, we can trace all the operation activities. Anticipated benefit from this research is a new kind of barcode that we refer to as 3D barcode can be developed. It encodes data in three dimensions: width, height and color. It can be printed on paper as well as displayed on screens of mobile or spatial devices. On top of that, for future research, one of the most promising new urban tree and nursery management techniques is the development of integrated landscape management system using barcode and RFID technology

The concept of Muslim-friendly hotels has been discussed since 1982. However, although in Malaysia there are nearly 3000 hotels that contribute to a capacity of about 200,000 rooms, only less than 10% out of that are considered as Muslim-friendly. Consequently, this research sought to create an auditing checklist guideline for Muslim-friendly hotel rooms, which will lead to the understanding of the facilities, services, as well as its elements and requirements. There were three objectives for this research, namely to identify the Islamic elements for a Muslim-friendly hotel room in Malaysia, to develop the audit checklist for Muslim-friendly hotel rooms (AC-MFHR) in Malaysia, and to assess the existing Islamic elements in conventional hotel rooms and in self-proclaimed Muslim-friendly hotel rooms in Malaysia. The followed methodology was literature research, observation and expert reviewed discussions, which were triangulated for validation in qualitative research. By selecting eight hotels as samples, and involving two types of hotel managements, the findings revealed that there are significant differences in the compliance and non-compliance criteria with the Islamic elements in the hotel rooms. They indicated four categories, namely prayer amenities, entertainment, environment, and interior infrastructure. Additionally, there are sixteen Islamic elements for Muslim-friendly hotel rooms, namely adequate praying space, bed and toilet position, decoration, TV channel programming, hygiene and cleanliness, toilet fitted with a bidet shower, Kiblat pointing signage, Qur’an with translation, female prayer garment, information on prayer times, halal toiletries, mini bar, no consumption of non-halal food and beverages, the day and night curtain, and the workable system. Moreover, the extent and availability of existing hotel management of incorporating Muslim-friendly concepts are different. 77% of elements compliance was scored in ‘self-proclaimed’ Muslim-friendly hotels rooms, while conventional hotel rooms received less than 54% of elements compliance. Furthermore, this proposed AC-MFHR was verified through validation by reviewed discussions by experts. Therefore, the developed AC-MFHR has been identified as a key finding to standardise Islamic elements in facilities and services. The results will facilitate improvements in the hotel industry, especially for those who are interested in substituting their hotel management toward the concept of Muslim-friendly hotel rooms.