Four research projects have been carried out with the objective of providing insights into some of the popular Asian investment myths and beliefs. The studies also throw some light on the efficiency of one Asian stock market. At the same time, the results reported in these research papers provide pragmatic investment guidelines for Asian emerging stock market investors. These research efforts add depth and breath (sic) to the existing emerging stock market investment literature, especially on Asian emerging stock markets. The Four Research Papers were : Research Paper I : Stock Selection Criteria During the Bull Run in the Malaysian Stock Market; Research Paper II : How Important Were Political Factors for Asian Stock Market Investors Throughout the Recent Financial Crisis?; Research Paper III : Active Equity Management versus Passive Equity Management - The Case of Malaysia from the Perspective of Foreign Investors; Research Paper IV : Stock Selection Criteria during the Bear Phase of the Malaysian Stock Market. Four popular myths/beliefs (myliefs) were selected for in-depth study with the conviction that the findings from these four studies could provide an insight into the emerging Malaysia stock market. The selection of the myliefs is mainly based on the popularity of the mylief as well as the applicability of the research results in the view of a foreigner investor / Doctor of Business Administration

The study of diaspora dictates a yearning to return home which finds its Chinese equivalent in the notion of louye-guigen ( 落葉歸根) - returning to the roots. However, reality is that diaspora comes to an end after settlement for two to three generations. We do see the prevailing trend of luodi-shenggen (落地生根) – the planting of permanent roots in the soils of different countries of Chinese overseas. In some Chinese communities, luodi-shenggen turns out to be a total assimilation while others developed a uniquely Chinese identity. This dissertation seeks to examine how the Sinophone as ennuciative tactic to afford a sense of homeliness to the Malaysian Chinese – Mahua (馬華) who maintain a practice of Sinitic languages in their daily life for generations while they unmistakably identify themselves as Malaysian. Such identification situates them in an inbetweenness where they engage in constant dialog to engender new speech act. Through the study of Chinese street names in George Town, Penang and the Sinophone cultural troupe Dongdiyin (動地吟), I argue that Sinitic languages afford the Malaysian Chinese a sense of home and that Sinitic languages are employed as a tactic in face of the grand narratives of their mother Chinese culture and the Malaysian national discourse, and to displace them. / published_or_final_version / Literary and Cultural Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The awareness of the unsustainable path we are heading and the pressing need to act has been growing for the last few decades. Organisations, in particular corporations, play an important role in the necessary changes and they are increasingly being obliged by a growing range of stakeholders to play a positive part in society as corporate citizens. This has led to the current proliferation of initiatives and standards on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and has created confusion and misunderstanding about what is a strategic corporate responsibility approach. We found that current CSR lacks principles of sustainability and a universal ethical guideline. This paper argues that current CSR can be made strategic by considering a scientifically relevant whole systems approach of sustainability as its fundamental objective. We present some implementation guidelines for CSR based on principles of sustainability and on the universal ethical principle of non-harm. Analysis of selected organisations in Brazil and Malaysia using the proposed guidelines provided recommendations and insights on how these organisations can contribute towards a sustainable society.

No description available.

The Malaysian granitoids form the backbone of the Malay Peninsula and have long been recognized as composed of two distinct granitic provinces separated by the Bentong-Raub suture zone: <table><ol><li>Early Permian to Late Triassic Eastern Province (Indochina – East Malaya) with mainly “I-type” hornblende-bearing granitoids, associated with Cu-Au deposits, and subordinate hornblende-free pluton roof-zones hosting limited Sn-W deposits; and</li> <li>Late Triassic Main Range Province, western Malaysia (Sibumasu) with mainly “S-type” hornblende-free granitoids, associated with Sn-W deposits, and subordinate hornblende-bearing granitoids.</li></ol></table> Field observations and new geochemical data suggested that the division of the Eastern Province and Main Range granitoids using Chappell and White’s (1974) I-S classification could be problematic, as there is a large degree of overlap between the two granitic provinces in terms of lithology, mineralogy and metallogenic affinity. The Main Range granitoids are more fractionated than the hornblende-bearing Eastern Province. Although the two granitic provinces were emplaced into different continental terranes, both granitic provinces exhibit common trace element geochemistry in the enrichment of high field strength elements (HFSE) and rare earth elements (REE) compared to typical Cordilleran I-S granites. Such enrichment is interpreted as an inheritance signature from the protoliths. The Kontum massif (an analogue of Indochina lower continental crust) comprises intraplate ortho-amphibolites and para-gneisses, which could serve as two hypothetical source end-members for the Malaysian granitoids. The model suggests that the geneses of the parental magmas of the Eastern Province and the Main Range Province were related to hybridization of melts derived from protoliths, geochemically and isotopically similar to these two source end-members, but in differing proportions. The fact that the granites from the two granitic provinces are so similar compositionally and metallogenically, suggests that similar protoliths were involved in their source. The incorporation of sedimentary-sourced melt makes the Main Range granitoids transitional I/S-type in nature, but this is unlikely to be true for the less evolved Eastern Province fractionated I-type granitoids. The hybridization of igneous- and sedimentary-sourced melts, and granite fractionation promotes Sn metallogenesis in the Main Range granitic province. Previous ages were obtained using whole rock Rb-Sr and biotite K-Ar geochronology in the 1970s and 1980s, dating methods that almost certainly do not accurately represent the crystallization age of granites. New ion microprobe U-Pb zircon ages are presented that provide new temporal constraints for the Malaysian granitic magmatism. Eastern Province granitoids have U-Pb zircon ages that range from 289 to 220 Ma, while Main Range Province magmatism is constrained between 227 and 201 Ma. A progressive westward younging trend is apparent across the Eastern Province, but becomes less obvious in the Main Range Province. In addition, the U-Pb zircon analysis of the Malaysian granitoids suggests that both granitic provinces have Cambro-Ordovician and Mesoproterozoic inheritance signatures, which match the ages of the Kontum intraplate ortho-amphibolites and para-gneisses, the two source end-members of the suspected Indochina basement. Two different tectonic models have been suggested to explain the formation and the emplacement of the Malaysian granitoids. Both models involve an east-dipping subduction zone during the Early and Mid-Triassic with Palaeo-Tethys lithosphere rolling back along the Bentong-Raub suture zone to produce westward younging ages in the Eastern Province granitoids. The first model (modified after Searle et al. 2012) suggests the younger Main Range granitoids were produced by another Late Triassic – Cretaceous east-dipping (Neo-Tethyan) subduction to the west of Sibumasu, after the Sibumasu – East Malaya collision. The transitional I/S-type geochemistry of the Main Range granitoids was caused by the partial melting of the more heterogeneous Sibumasu basement. The second model (Oliver et al. 2014) suggests the younger Main Range granitoids were produced by the westward underthrusting of Indochina crust of East Malaya beneath Sibumasu along the Bentong-Raub suture zone after the continental collision. In this model, the source of the Main Range granitoids was the pre-collision I-type Eastern Province granitoids. The second model is less likely, as no geological evidence for such underthrust is found in the Malay Peninsula.

L'enjeu des politiques anticorruption occupe une grande partie du discours politique en Malaisie. Après des événements tels que la crise financière de 1997, ou encore l'affaire Anwar en 1998, les politiques anticorruption ont été catapultées au sein du débat politique, dans lequel elles sont constamment observées, scrutées et critiquées. Ce mémoire étudie ces politiques à travers l'analyse du contrôle politique, notamment en ce qui concerne leur autonomie et leur indépendance bureaucratique. En se concentrant plus précisément sur le cas de l'agence anticorruption, notre mémoire offre un regard sur la nouvelle agence indépendante qui a récemment vu le jour en 2009, ainsi que celle qui la précède. Cette étude démontre que la nature du contrôle politique exercé a entravé et ralentit la mise en œuvre des politiques anticorruption. / The issue of anticorruption policies has permeated a significant part of the political discourse in Malaysia. After events such as the 1997 financial crisis, or the Anwar affair in 1998, anticorruption policies have been catapulted in the midst of political debate, in which their efficiency is constantly observed, scrutinized and criticized. This thesis examines anticorruption policies through the analytical lense of political control, specifically in regards to its bureaucratic independance and autonomy. Our study concentrates itself more specifically on the case of the independent anticorruption agency freshly instituted in 2009, as well as its predecessor. The conclusions drawn support the argument that the nature of the political control exercised on anticorruption policies have hampered and slowed down their implementation.

The Malaysian property development industry contends with economic challenges arising from increased competition and property glut in the market. The situation is further worsen by the onslaught of world disasters for example tsunamis, earthquakes, bird flu pandemic and terrorist attacks, thus weakening the spending power of property buyers and investors. This exploratory research therefore investigated the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in enhancing customer service for sustainable competitive advantage. Guided by an analytical framework, it reviewed the key issues in the context of customer service within the Malaysian property development industry, the existing challenges faced by Malaysian property development companies, emotional intelligence (EQ) and training and development.The identified research gaps permitted the crafting of three Research Propositions. The combined outputs from the literature review, analysis of the research data and conclusions provided useful insights on the research problem. The case study methodology, supplemented by two other categories of exploratory research, namely experience surveys and one-on-one interviews, were the research techniques used to test the research propositions.The participants involved in the experience survey and one-on-one interviews included Heads of Department from the case-study company, Frontline employees, existing clients and vendors supplying goods and services to the case-study company. The procedure of data analysis consisted of examining, categorising, tabulating and recombining the evidence to address the research problem and the related research questions.The testing, by this research, yielded useful insights on the research problem.First, in order for Malaysian property developers to gain a sustainable competitive advantage, there is a need for fresh emphasis and commitment towards customer service, placing special focus on the development of employees in the area of emotional intelligence (EQ) through the reinforcement of emotional competencies. Despite efforts to enhance customer service through training programmes, the lack of effectiveness needs to be addressed and new measures should be undertaken.Second, the need for Malaysian property development companies to understand the importance of building a service culture and to begin by formulating and implementing a service strategy and it is here that leadership plays a critical role in ensuring the success of every customer service programme throughout the entire organisation. This suggests that new approaches to creating a service culture are necessary, benchmarking with best practices of service leaders around the world, even from different industries. Third, the need for the customer service training model to be reviewed and revamped. It calls for new emphasis on the development of emotional intelligence (EQ) competencies, to ensure training effectiveness and the achievement of customer service excellence through human capital.Finally, the research findings permitted the construct of a policy framework for securing sustainable competitive advantage. The research yielded useful insights for theory and model building. In respect of enhancing customer service to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the Malaysian property development market, the research findings suggested a Service Culture Development Model that will ensure that customer service excellence can be maintained and delivered consistently, leading to a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. In respect of enhancing customer service through the development of EQ competencies in every employee and throughout the organisation, the research findings suggested a new Customer Service Training Model, where EQ competencies development programme becomes the pre-requisite foundational programme for all employees, prior to the training of customer service skill-sets. In order to create a service culture throughout the entire organisation, a customer service-oriented organisation will ensure that all employees, including top management personnel, participate in the EQ development programme.Follow-up research to test a model, based on this framework should further contribute to new theory development in emotional intelligence impacting customer service in the Malaysian property development industry.

Longitudinal medical research studies undertaken on an international scale by the World Health Organisation continue to confirm a better prognosis for mental illness in traditional societies than in more technologically developed societies. While various associations have been drawn or hypothesised between specific cultural factors and a more favourable outcome, attention has also frequently been drawn to the methodological, analytic and diagnostic inadequacies of these studies. The work for this thesis was undertaken with these criticisms in mind and also in part as a counter to the perceived inadequacies of a solely bio-medical approach to psychopathology. The specific purpose of the research was to assess the role that culture plays in the construction and experience of both psychological well-being and psychopathology in a "traditional" society in Sarawak, Malaysia. There was an equal concern to ascertain and examine the ways in which explanations and understandings about identity, illness and wellness differ from current western models and approaches and how they are realised and lived out in the experience of individuals. The ethnographic data was collected during intensive participant-observation conducted over two years in the Mukah District of Sarawak, Malaysia, a region which has a long association with the Melanau ethnic group. Drawing on the ethnographic evidence, this thesis argues that psychopathological experiences (as psychological phenomena) embody characteristics that make it possible to identify them as culturally constructed artifacts. A theory is advanced which locates the source of psychopathology within the context of human being-in-the-world and which suggests that features of the mental illness experience such as chronicity and stigma are historically and culturally constructed within the illness concept itself. The argument draws on the theory and insights of existentialism, phenomenology. Turner's ritual theory, and Jung's concept of the shadow, extended to include a concept of the cultural shadow. It concludes that a failure to take account of the cultural dimensions of mental illness may also result in a failure to perceive not only the source of our psychopathologies but also a solution.

This study aims to explore communication deviances and strategies in the negotiation discourse of Malaysian-Australian business encounters, from both a linguistic and nonlinguistic perspective. Specifically, it sees miscommunications/deviances as factors that may hinder the business communication process and prevent the negotiators from achieving their objectives. The study also focuses on strategies, or those discourse skills which promote successful business negotiation. The research method is based on the analysis of discourse generated from initial 'perception' interviews, business meetings, and post-meeting 'follow-up' interviews. The research involved a cross-section of Malaysian and Australian business people from various industries; such as tourism, information technology, hospitality and financial services. The initial 'perception' interviews were intended to gather data on the prior experiences of Malaysian and Australian businesspeople, both in terms of the reported difficulties and strengths in their business interactions and dealings in Western Australia. In the second stage of the analysis, the deviances which signalled miscommunication in the negotiation were identified in the recorded meeting data. Also identified were the strategies which were used by the negotiators to increase the likelihood that their goals will be achieved. The objective of the research was then to interpret why these strategies were being used, and their influence on the negotiation process. From the data a pattern emerged in the way that deviance occurred, and the way that strategies were being performed. This has made it possible to group deviance and strategies and present the findings thematically. Altogether, five themes identified, these were: Management of topics, Building rapport; Ethical business conduct; Building recognition; Styles in business practice. The study has shown that business communication discourse reflects the embedded culture of its speakers. Topic management was also found to play an important role in the business meetings as it enabled the participants to more effectively lead their discussion towards its intended goal. Both the deviance and strategies have been managed by the business negotiators in the way they select the appropriate topic categories in order to effectively maintain the discussion throughout the meeting.

The Malaysian property development industry contends with economic challenges arising from increased competition and property glut in the market. The situation is further worsen by the onslaught of world disasters for example tsunamis, earthquakes, bird flu pandemic and terrorist attacks, thus weakening the spending power of property buyers and investors. This exploratory research therefore investigated the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in enhancing customer service for sustainable competitive advantage. Guided by an analytical framework, it reviewed the key issues in the context of customer service within the Malaysian property development industry, the existing challenges faced by Malaysian property development companies, emotional intelligence (EQ) and training and development.The identified research gaps permitted the crafting of three Research Propositions. The combined outputs from the literature review, analysis of the research data and conclusions provided useful insights on the research problem. The case study methodology, supplemented by two other categories of exploratory research, namely experience surveys and one-on-one interviews, were the research techniques used to test the research propositions.The participants involved in the experience survey and one-on-one interviews included Heads of Department from the case-study company, Frontline employees, existing clients and vendors supplying goods and services to the case-study company. The procedure of data analysis consisted of examining, categorising, tabulating and recombining the evidence to address the research problem and the related research questions.The testing, by this research, yielded useful insights on the research problem.First, in order for Malaysian property developers to gain a sustainable competitive advantage, there is a need for fresh emphasis and commitment towards customer service, placing special focus on the development of employees in the area of emotional intelligence (EQ) through the reinforcement of emotional competencies. Despite efforts to enhance customer service through training programmes, the lack of effectiveness needs to be addressed and new measures should be undertaken.Second, the need for Malaysian property development companies to understand the importance of building a service culture and to begin by formulating and implementing a service strategy and it is here that leadership plays a critical role in ensuring the success of every customer service programme throughout the entire organisation. This suggests that new approaches to creating a service culture are necessary, benchmarking with best practices of service leaders around the world, even from different industries. Third, the need for the customer service training model to be reviewed and revamped. It calls for new emphasis on the development of emotional intelligence (EQ) competencies, to ensure training effectiveness and the achievement of customer service excellence through human capital.Finally, the research findings permitted the construct of a policy framework for securing sustainable competitive advantage. The research yielded useful insights for theory and model building. In respect of enhancing customer service to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the Malaysian property development market, the research findings suggested a Service Culture Development Model that will ensure that customer service excellence can be maintained and delivered consistently, leading to a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. In respect of enhancing customer service through the development of EQ competencies in every employee and throughout the organisation, the research findings suggested a new Customer Service Training Model, where EQ competencies development programme becomes the pre-requisite foundational programme for all employees, prior to the training of customer service skill-sets. In order to create a service culture throughout the entire organisation, a customer service-oriented organisation will ensure that all employees, including top management personnel, participate in the EQ development programme.Follow-up research to test a model, based on this framework should further contribute to new theory development in emotional intelligence impacting customer service in the Malaysian property development industry.