Browsing by Type "Master Thesis"

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This study examines the performance of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) component political parties (i.e. PKR, PAS and DAP) in the 2011 Sarawak state elections. The 2011 Sarawak state elections was held in April 2011 and it was a tense battle between the ruling BN and the new comer opposition Pakatan Rakyat. The study is based on the assumption that there is a linkage between PR’s campaign strategies and election manifesto and the voters’ preference. Therefore, the study investigates the linkage between campaign strategies and manifesto of Pakatan Rakyat and its performance in the 2011 Sarawak State elections. It uses Martin Harrop and William L. Miller’s theory of competitive elections as a framework for analysis. This study uses qualitative method of research for analysis of data. The data were collected from the primary sources such as formal and informal interviews, party manifestos, newspapers, documents from the Election Commission (EC) and secondary sources such as books and scholarly articles. The study argues that the opposition for the first time collectively campaigned as a single opposition coalition under the name of Pakatan Rakyat. PR’s campaign strategies were quite sound and practical as it divided its campaign strategies into traditional and non-traditional campaign strategies. Besides that PR proposed several strategies which can be labeled as a new type of approach. The study found that even though PR did not get the two-thirds majority in the State Legislative Assembly, it succeeded to capture more seats; pointing to the fact that there is a shift of support from the incumbent BN government towards the opposition PR. However, the study also found that the main factor contributing to PR’s inability to capture more seats was its inability to reach an understanding with the local opposition political party: Sarawak National Party (SNAP). The study therefore, among others, recommends that PR should work out a strategy to integrate some important local political parties such as SNAP if it wants to control Sarawak state legislative assembly.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disorder that represents abnormality development of brain and its function. Few studies had seen the impact of early detection and intervention, and how it gives positive effect for the children to improve their life as good as other normal children. There are three major impairments of the autistic children namely: social interaction with others, communication and fine motor movements. A simple case of fine motor movements could be finger tapping, imitating other action and also managing their fingers towards objects. Many psychologists and psychiatrists diagnosed these autistic children as early as three years old. In Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies, finding shows the brain region such as prefrontal cortex (especially in the pre-motor cortex), occipital and etc, did involve in motor impairment in autistic children. Thus, it is possible to differentiate between normal and autistic children using motor imitation skills but all these process require the psychologists, psychiatrist or expert to monitor and make decision on their observations. However, fMRI is an expensive process and could not be automated and be used for masses. In this research, it aims to look at motor imitation skills for autistic children using electroencephalogram (EEG) approach. Preliminary result has shown great potential in identifying motor imitation skills impairment in autistic children. EEG device will be used to capture the brain signals, and two methods for analysis such as Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and Kernel Density Estimation (KDE). The Mutilayer Perceptron (MLP) will be adopted as the classifier. Although the MLP was used as classifier the end results shows great potential of using the EEG model approach based on the 2D affective space model (ASM) for early detection of motor imitation skills development disorder among autistic children.

This study is devoted to investigate the phase diagrams of 3-state Potts model with competing binary, ternary and quaternary interactions on Cayley tree. The 3-state Potts model was classified as the simplest quantum field-theory after Ising model and was an easily defined class of statistical mechanic model. The aim of this study is to analyze the phase diagrams of 3-state Potts model with competing interactions on Cayley tree of order 2 and 3. At vanishing temperature T, the phase diagrams are fully determined for all values of competing binary interactions J 1 , ternary interactions J t and quaternary interactions J q. The results show that there have significant change~ in the phase diagrams for the case of nonzero ]q. Lastly, we analyze in detail the set of modulated phases, with the phase being indicated by many different types of commensurate and incommensurate phases by plotting the wavevectors versus temperature. The Lyapunov exponent is computed to verify the stability of the large period phase in the narrow-interval modulated phase.

Road traffic accidents are increasingly recognised as a serious public health concern. Each year road traffic accidents cause 1.2 million deaths worldwide and the number is expected to increase by 65 percent in 20 years. One of the challenges to solving this issue is that many accident investigation studies employed methods that gave less emphasis on systemic factors of road traffic accidents such as enforcement and government policies but rely on a direct cause-effect chain to analyse an accident causation process. By contrast, more contemporary approaches of investigating accidents are based on systemic accident models that can be used to analyse the interactions between various components of a sociotechnical system. Different systemic accident models, however, can lead to different analyses and subsequently different conclusions. As such, this study sought to compare three different systemic accident models, namely, the Driving Reliability and Error Analysis Method (DREAM), System-Theoretic Accident Model and Process (STAMP), and AcciMap in analysing the accident causation process of the 2013 Genting Highlands Bus Crash, which was the deadliest road traffic accident in Malaysia. Using DREAM, this study found that most of the contributing factors originated from maintenance errors and road design issues. On the other hand, STAMP identified inadequate controls and flaws within the road transportation system as contributing factors while AcciMap indicated various direct and indirect factors across different levels within the system. Findings of this study suggest that DREAM can present the accident factors in a succinct graphical representation by using a classification system thus making it easy to carry out and simple to understand. In addition, although both AcciMap and STAMP analyse road traffic accident across different system levels, STAMP is more comprehensive and flexible. However, because STAMP is time consuming and complex, it is more suitable for analyzing major road traffic accidents.

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.

Several researchers have investigated the energy consumption of office buildings in Malaysia. In this study, energy consumption of low energy buildings, strategies, an overview of electricity usage in buildings, and performance evaluation of green buildings in Malaysia, will be conducted. The Faculty of Design and Architecture (FRSB), University Putra Malaysia (UPM) was selected as a case study for this research. The results of this study will become a reference for UPM, as the owner of the FRSB building, to become a pioneer of energy efficiency programs. These results will be compared with the Malaysian Code of Practice Standard for Energy Efficiency and Use of Renewable Energy for Non-Residential Building (MS 1525:2007); in order to identify compliance with that standard. This study will also identify the factors that contribute towards energy consumption for the FRSB building and provide recommendations for minimizing energy usage for education buildings; particularly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and create awareness for building designers and occupants alike. The findings will show that the FRSB building complied with MS 1525:2007, in terms of Overall Thermal Transfer Value (OTTV) and overall energy usage. The results presented in this study will confirm that this building’s electricity usage comes mostly from air conditioning and lighting systems. This study will provide suggestions for using a Building Management System (BMS) to control overall energy usage and for the installation of photovoltaic panels; which may help to provide energy by itself. The recommendations provided will attempt to overcome the problems caused by occupant’s behaviour towards energy use.

The facade plays a key role as both a barrier and a filter between the comfortable `indoors` and the uncontrolled `outdoors`. The degree to which the facade of a building embraces maintenance considerations has a major impact on its performance. In Malaysia, new buildings are erected everyday with modern design featuring complex building facade design which has common problems often found in different types of building facades. These problems have implications in the design, constructions and maintenance of buildings. Every building facade should always be maintained to a high standard so that it will look more value in its appearance and a longer life span. The value of buildings depends on the quality of the maintenance invested in them. Maintenance management involves obtaining maximum benefit from the investment made on the maintenance activities. Maintenance in buildings in Malaysia is on the increase regardless of size, type, location, and ownership. It is necessary to rectify building facade defects and for maintenance purposes as facades is exposed to the climatic condition. The study will find out the building facade defects and other maintenance problems that are heavily attributed to design deficiencies, material limitations and lack of maintenance knowledge. To achieve this aim, three objectives have been set: to identify the types of common building facade defects, to identify its effect on maintenance and to relate the facade defects with maintenance and to recommend the appropriate solutions to improve the establishment of standard building facade maintenance in Malaysia. A study was conducted in three government buildings in Putrajaya to identify the facade defects and its effect on maintenance. The data were analyzed using Relative Index formula. The current maintenance management procedures in Malaysia are, however, condition and reactive based. The weaknesses in the current procedures are the primary problems because they do not explicitly link maintenance needs with building performance with respect to the building users. Findings show that main problems that the maintenance contractors are currently facing are caused by building design deficiencies, poor construction quality, and choice of building material which affects maintenance.

Traditional Malay midwifery practices exhibit a wide vanatlon in plant materials selection. This study established that plant materials composition selection differs greatly with respect to stage of Malay midwifery practices, locality, environmental factors and culture. A total of 13 types of Malay midwifery practices were observed in 11 different states of Malaysia from 31 traditional midwives in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Perlis, N egeri Sembilan and Sarawak. Two practices were performed during prenatal treatment which is the process of lenggang perut and also prenatal diet confinement. 11 other practices were performed during postnatal treatment which can be classified into 4 categories; herbs treatment, heat treatment, massage and abstinence (pantang). The influence of plant materials composition of east coast over west coast in Malaysia or locality x culture x midwifery process x plant materials selection, in relation of creating Malay garden identity established that each factor had an effect on the composition of plant materials selection. However, the most influential factor appeared to be stage of Malay midwifery practices. Each practice has specific purposes and functions which later determine the accumulation of plant materials selection. Of all the Malay midwifery practices studied in this research we found that mandi serom is the most diverse plant species used which portray the habitat or type of environments in which these plant species origin or found. There may be similarities of some species due to similar knowledge, culture or environment; however the magnitude of these effects is not as great as plant materials composition selection and usaga. By identifying the key factors controlling plant materials selection and usage a greater understanding of how certain midwifery practices influence plant species selection and composition in response to interactions with environmental factors as well as culture, belief and taboos will emerge as potential softscape elements tools and indicator in creating identity of Malay landscape for specific culture and locality. Keywords: Malay midwifery, plant material, Malay landscape

The ongoing difference of opinions on ilahiyyah (divinity) has become a source of confusion among common people leading towards division in the Muslim community. Despite vast discussion on ilahiyyah (divinity), little is known about the methodologies of ʻAbd al-Wahhab al-Shaʻrani on its issues. This study provides an understanding of al-Shaʻrani’s synthesis of the methodologies of ahl al-fikr (people of cognitive knowledge) and ahl al-kashf (people of unveiling knowledge) on ilahiyyah (divinity). This study used two methods of assessment, namely data collection and data analysis. Through the method of documentation in the method of data collection, this study examines to two selected al-Shaʻrani’s work entitled al-Yawaqit wa al-Jawahir fi Bayan ʻAqa’id al-Akabir and al-Qawaʻid al-Kashfiyyah al-Muwaddihah li Maʻani al-Sifat al-Ilahiyyah. The study concludes that Al-Shaʻrani developed a more effective approach to understand ambiguous Qur’anic verses (mutashabihat). Al-Shaʻrani uses both methodologies with priority given to the usage of knowledge by presence (al-ʻilm al-huduri).

This present research is an attempt to explicate Abdullah bin Nuh’s critique on development of modern ideologies particularly in Indonesia after its independence. The development of modern ideologies particularly materialism, Marxism, and communism have become a matter of alarming since the early 20th century in Muslim world through colonization and imperialism. Indonesia as the one of the world’s largest Muslim population in the world did not miss on globalization of modern ideologies. Basically, Indonesia based on the Eastern and Islamic values, but after Western colonization, colonizers began to apply their ideologies in Indonesia through imperialism. As the result, clash has occurred between local ideologies and western ideologies through high tension in the forming of basic principle of state and governance system. Abdullah bin Nuh was one of the Indonesian scholars who are concerned with the affairs of Muslim in general and Indonesian Muslim in particular his responds and critiques to modern ideologies. This study attempts at examining Abdullah bin Nuh’s views in materialism, Marxism, and communism and his critiques of those modern ideologies. The approach of this study is based on textual analysis, using descriptive and analytical methods from various works of the subject under study. It seeks to discover several aspects of Abdullah bin Nuh’s thought of modern ideologies as well as Islamic thought such as the in coherent relationship of materialism and Marxism, Marxism and communism, with Islamic worldview and perspective. This study concludes that Abdullah bin Nuh devoted his live to counter modern ideologies which were developed in Indonesia with presenting the understanding of those ideologies and its detrimental to social live in Indonesia. He also asserted Marxism and communism are misled ideology based on materialism which have difference culture and values with Eastern Muslim countries particularly Indonesia. His noble struggle was successful for he end up with the foundation of Islamic Research Institute as the centre of Occidentalism studies.

This study focuses on two novels entitled "The Bamboo Stalk" by Saud Al-Sanousi and "Interlock" by Abdullah Hussein's . This study discusses the framework of social issues and artistic composition materialized in these novels. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate their creative abilities in composing the two novels, as well as to disclose the similarities and variations between them in terms of social issues and artistic structures. Analysis and comparison are the two approaches that the researcher employs. The researcher includes the novelists' biographies at the beginning of the study. This study also compares the two novels' social issues and artistic frameworks, identifying the manifestations of artistic innovation in each, before revealing their parallels and variances in terms of vision and formation between the two novels: Arabic and Malaysian. The researcher concluded that the two novels uncover common social issues highlighted by the novelists, including their dialogue of rural features, the journey to find a job, the preservation of religious rituals, symptoms of drug abuse, family disintegration, and concern for descendants. The cost of life, social cooperation, belief in witchcraft, and the issue of marriage were among the themes that they differed on. The two novels were comparable in their artistic structures in the utilisation of some artistic techniques, including the title metaphor and the fluency of the language, while the two diverged to varying degrees in the employment of certain other techniques.

Recently, there has been a development of modern ballistic armor due to the creation of high performance composite materials based on aramid fibers with better weight reduction, higher strength and toughness. The use of metal for many critical applications has dramatically decreased since the new composite materials such as aramids provide excellent protection against handgun level threats. However, aramid fibers (Kevlars) are very difficult to machine by conventional machining techniques which cause various forms of material damage such as delamination and fiber pullout that normally occur during the machining of composite materials. The processes also result to high tool wear rates and poor surface roughness which ultimately may cause costly secondary rework as well as part rejection. As the use of these composite ballistic materials is anticipated to be increasing in large volume, the processing costs will be an important factor in order to provide cost-effective components and to gain competitive advantages over other materials. In this thesis, abrasive water jet (AWJ) machining of a representative ballistic material namely Kevlar-reinforced phenolic, an aramid fibers and a product of Du Pont was used to conduct the machining experiments in order to determine the viability of the machining process for manufacturing protective components with the above materials. Design of experiments (DOE) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to measure systematically the various parametric combinations of pressure, standoff distance, traverse rate and abrasive flow rate on the kerf taper and the changes of surface roughness as a function of cutting depth for the Kevlar composite specimens. Stylus profilometry was used to measure the surface roughness and a visual inspection including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was conducted. It was found that a smoother surface is obtained at the mid region along the depth of the specimens compared to that at the region of jet entry and jet exit. It was also observed that a higher jet pressure and a low traverse rate produces a smoother surface. Width of the kerf both at the jet entry and the jet exit was found to have a decreasing tendency with increase in traverse rate. Mathematical models were formulated to predict the surface roughness and kerf taper in terms of the selected cutting parameters mentioned earlier for the Kevlar composite to the cutting depths of 9.2mm. The cut surface of this material using a band saw machine was compared with that of the water jet in terms of surface roughness and damages incurred.

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Islamic reformism has been the prime concern of Muslim scholars and intellectuals since the 18th century C.E. and as a means to arrest the mushrooming and all around decay in their societies. In northern Nigeria, Muslims are plunged into backwardness because of the colonial legacy and the rising of un-Islamic practices (bida` or innovations) that have been instrumental in instigating serious problems in the region as well as the entire country. Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi was a great reformer who stood firm to salvage the society from further religious decline during his time. He believed that the cause for the Muslims` decline in the area was their departure from practising the pristine Islam as laid down in the Qur`an and the authentic Sunnah. In his quest for a solution, Sheikh Gumi articulated a reformative drive, which contravened the long-aged traditions of northern Nigeria. Thus, this study examines the reformist ideas of Sheikh Gumi and the degree of their influence on the society. The study employs an analytical research method and is based on a collection of primary sources, particularly Sheikh Gumi`s masterpiece al-Aqidah al-Sahihah bi Muwafaqat al-Shariah (The Correct Belief in Line with the Shariah) and some of his other major writings. The roots or main features of Gumi`s thought, as well as his contributions to Islamic reformism in northern Nigeria, particularly in the educational, judicial and political fields, are highlighted.

Researchers have been investigating various factors for differences in academic achievement among students besides the emphasis on cognitive intelligence. In fact, it has been found that academic achievement is not determined by cognitive intelligence alone. Among the factors that are thought to contribute to students’ success and academic achievement is thinking style. It stems from the belief that people have similar patterns in governing themselves just like society does. Studies have shown that people have different thinking styles – legislative, executive, and judicial style which do affect the way they prefer to do their tasks. Legislative style is considered as creative thinking, executive style is viewed as following instruction, and judicial style is represented as critical thinking. It has been found that students from Islamic private schools in southern Thailand, in general, do not perform well in public examinations. Hence, this study investigated the thinking styles of three categories of students and their relationship to academic achievement. Three groups of academic achievers among students from 3 selected Islamic private schools in Nakhonsrithammarat – in upper southern Thailand were identified as the sample. It comprised 158 grade ten students and the three groups were classified into low achievers (N=36), average achievers (N=102), and high achievers (N=20) based on the Ordinary National Educational Test (O-NET) score. The sample was obtained using stratified random sampling for low and average achievers while purposive sampling was used for high achievers. The descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis, and Sternberg’s interpretation of the MSG scores were used in analyzing the data. The results reveal that the executive style was the predominant thinking style exhibited by all groups of academic achievers. Additionally, the judiciary style was the prevailing thinking style displayed by male students while the executive style was the most noticeable style presented by female students. Furthermore, only the legislative thinking style was found to be an indicator towards students’ levels of academic achievement. However, it was a weak one.

The study analyzes academic stress and strain among the undergraduate students of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUMM). It aims at investigating the effect of religious orientation on level of stress and experience of strain among those students. The sample consists of 218 bachelor's students studying in different departments of this university. The sample was cornposed of around 75% of Malay students and 25% of non-Malay. In terms of gender, it was 55% female and 45% male. Data were collected from the stressful situations questionnaire (SSQ) and role strain measures. Frequency analysis was used to examine the level of stress. strain, and religious orientation in the students. The results indicated that all the students in general experienced stress and strain and they also used religious orientation as coping mechanism, but they differed in degree of stress, strain, and religious experience. A series of analyses were done to examine the relationship between criterion and predictor variables, such as gender and nationality. With regard to gender differences, the results indicated that there was a significant difference in the perception of male and female toward stress and religious orientation, but they are not different in their level of strain. Female students reported more stress and they tended to use more religious orientation than do male students. Moreover, there appeared no significant main difference in the perception of Malay and non-Malay students toward stress, but it did appear Strain and religious orientation. Malay students were found to experience more strain and they made more frequent use of religious orientation than did non-Malay students. This analysis also indicated that religious orientation has nothing to do with stress and strain level. That is whether the students were religious or they did experience stress and strain.

This study explored the use of WhatsApp, a well-known smartphone application, among IIUM undergraduate students, and examined the relationships between its use and two dependent measures, i.e., students` perceived academic performance and learning gains. A convenience sample of 116 IIUM undergraduates completed an 18-item self-developed questionnaire measuring WhatsApp use, perceived academic performance, and learning gains on a 5-point response category ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree. The results revealed that a majority of the respondents used WhatsApp for about two hours daily, mostly for chatting (85%) and communicating with classmates (81%). Some prevalent academic uses of WhatsApp were discussing assignments (89%), discussing course content (70%), and exchanging learning ideas (66%). While the given academic uses of WhatsApp were widespread among the undergraduates, only moderate numbers perceived learning gains and improved academic achievement resulting from their use of the application. The figures suggest the usefulness of WhatsApp for connecting learners and lecturers, but less so for meaningful academic learning. Consistent with the descriptive results, a moderate positive relationship was found between undergraduates` academic use of WhatsApp and learning gains (r = .428), as well as with their perceived academic performance (r = .412). The results highlight the role that WhatsApp might play to improve the interaction and communication between students and faculty, in addition to facilitating the learning of simple, not too complex educational content.

This study intended to explore thorough discernments of educational leaders on the function of innovative leadership style in vitally contributing to the implementation of hybrid learning at the university level aiming to understand the role of educational leaders in reference to adopting innovative leadership style for the execution of the matter. The recent pandemic had forced drastic change in reshaping the approaches and designs in the setting of formal education which demands the implementation of hybrid learning to be executed comprehensively in order to accommodate the situation. Through a qualitative research design the targeted informants consisted of head of departments selected from various kulliyyahs in International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) using purposive sampling technique. The data collection method used was in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data gathered from the interviews were transcribed using thematic analysis and themes were extracted to answer all of the research questions. Findings had shown relevant support for the mentioned leadership style towards the effectiveness of hybrid learning, and had highlighted the challenges faced in abruptly implementing hybrid learning, and interesting suggestions for considerations.

The environmental setting in relation to reading habit causes a deficiency of reading persuasion among Malaysians. The mobile library facility provided by the government has not been fully utilized by the public, which induces the concept to stop operating. The insufficiency of organized reading programmes and activities lead to the reduction of reading interest among Malaysian citizens are the problems encountered by the Malaysian government in inculcating the culture of reading in the country. This research examines the acceptance of the mobile reading kiosk concept, where it supports the public to use their time to read. Self-completed questionnaire surveys were conducted among park visitors of Taman Tasik Titiwangsa aged below 35 years old with a sample of 350 respondents. Three findings have been identified. Firstly, reading preferences influence the reading enthusiasm of the respondents. Reading preferences have a significant relationship with the age and gender of respondents with more than 50% of respondents agreeing on reading at home and time spent on reading. Secondly, the park setting environment gives prompt impact on the reading enthusiasm of the respondents. The environmental setting is encouraged to be used, as it can promote and increase the reading enthusiasm of the public. Lastly, the mobile reading kiosk concept is still relevant and can still be implemented in leisurely manner and cozier environment. The provided facilities, and safe and pleasant environment for reading will attract readers among the park visitors to spend their time reading there. This concept may help inspire and cultivate the interest in reading among members of the community. Further study on exploring other environmental settings, such as the beach and neighbourhood park, can be done to expand research in the habit of reading. The knowledge acquired through this research can contribute to a better understanding of reading habits among Malaysians.