Financial Literacy and Retirement Planning among Government Officers in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

This study examines the level of financial literacy, financial behaviour and retirement planning behaviour and its dynamics among Malaysian government officers involving 320 employees working in the federal government administrative centre in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur using a questionnaire. Findings show high level of financial literacy, good financial behaviour but a mediocre in retirement planning behaviour, and only education and personal income positively influence financial literacy. Age and gender of officers do not influence financial literacy. Furthermore, financial literacy does not correlate with retirement planning and neither does it mediate the relationship between financial behaviour and retirement planning.     

The Role of Non -Economic Drivers in Development Planning: The Case of South Korea and Turkey

ABSTRACT

The relationships between economic growth and planning strategies have been debated in different disciplines of social science. However, the emphasis has been more on structural and theoretical assumptions of planning and economics at the expense of other important non-economic and institutional factors that include social, cultural, political, and administrative dimensions. To explain the different approaches and outcomes of development planning, one needs to examine other factors that influence the nature of these plans and why they have been adopted. Using rigorous systematic and thematic review of government reports, academic publications and data from international organizations, this comparative study reveal the unique role non-economic factors play in countries’ development. It has been revealed that these factors not only influence the nature of planning strategies adopted by governments but also affect how these plans are implemented. Since South Korea and Turkey have achieved impressive economic growth over the last half a century, they have been selected as a case study to examine the role non-economic factors in their respective developments.     

Coping Alone: Examining the Prospects of Adolescent Victims of Child Abuse Placed in Foster Care

The ability of a young person to cope effectively with stressful life events appears to be associated with their previous experiences and relationships. Young people in foster care who have histories of child abuse, therefore, may find they cannot cope effectively with the situation they find themselves in. This paper attempts to highlight the problems they face. A group of 21 young people were interviewed and were asked to complete the Frydenberg and Lewis Adolescent Coping Scales. Their social workers provided information on their past history both in care and prior to coming in to care. It emerged that the young people who had experienced physical and/or sexual abuse were significantly (p < 0.02) more likely to be/have been involved in problem, or Crisis, foster placements. Additionally these young people displayed less adaptive coping strategies than the young people who had not been abused. The most significant differences indicated that the victims of abuse were more likely to try and cope with stressful situations by themselves, while the other foster adolescents were significantly (p < 0.004) more likely to find support from their friends. Case studies, with reference to the teenager's own accounts, help to illustrate how a history of abuse can complicate the already difficult fostering processes, and can also affect the long-term coping abilities of the victims. The consequences of these issues are discussed.     

论信息时代的媒体定位策划

在当今传媒业竞争激烈的态势下,媒体战略策划的得当与否决定着自身的兴衰存亡。这就要求媒体市场定位策划,必须考察和实现受众需求;媒体内容定位策划,要注重培养核心竞争力;媒体目标定位策划,需要培养和确立品牌。     

Equity,access, and outcomes: The status of the art

A rationale for including analyses of outcome in evaluation of the impact and equity of changes in health care policy for the poor is presented. We first discuss problems in defining equity in and access to health care. Equity in access to health care requires equality of access only to those services that are believed to be efficacious. Three cost-containment strategies (restrictions in eligibility, coinsurance, and capitation) are then examined, and their limitations are discussed. Finally, directions for future research focusing on outcomes are suggested. Rather than using access to care to assess outcome, outcome is viewed as the framework for assessing access and equity.     

对城中村改造的思考

改革开放后,国民经济得到了迅猛发展,城市化进程大大加快,但由于社会管理具有相对经济发展的滞后性,农村就业、户籍、社会保障等政策没有相应程度的改变,造成了现在的种种遗留问题。为此,应制定城市房地产发展政策,聚积资金,逐步实施改造,定位于发展廉租公寓,根据城市规划的要求,将新村纳入整个城市发展空间,多方筹集改造资金,改革集体资产产权制度,建立股份公司,对转制后的城中村,统一实行社会化管理。     

对当前幼儿园保育工作问题及对策的思考

当前,幼儿园保育工作中存在着重视力度小、保育员队伍不健全、保育工作质量难以保证等诸多问题.针对这一现状,全园上下要树立起正确的保育观,通过优化管理,建设稳定、合理的保育员队伍,注重保育员的业务学习,全面提高保育工作质量,从而为幼儿的全面发展创造最佳的保育条件.     

Karl Marx and the economics of communism: anniversary recollections

This paper grew out of the author's Karl Marx studies and his practical knowledge of Soviet-type communist economies. It covers a broad spectrum of ideas and practices prevalent in those economies, which— rightly or wrongly—have become associated with Marx's teaching and predictions. Chapter I tries to explain the reasons for Marx's continuous popularity. Chapter II critically examines the validity of the claim about Marxian socialism being “scientific” as opposed to “utopian”. The article, especially in chapter III elaborates on a number of other Marxian ideas, like that of the so-called “anarchy of the market”, which for many decades exerted a negative influence on his followers—theoreticians and practitioners engaged in building what they believed to be a communist economy and society. One of the quintessential features of Marx's teaching, which he took over from Smith and Ricardo, was the labor theory of value and the “law of value” in particular. The latter, interpreted by Stalin as “the law of value under socialism”, was used by him for ideological and propaganda purposes, but after his death has in turn been utilized by Marxists, non-Marxists and anti-Marxists to discredit the Stalinist economic system, and to advance propositions ranking from profound, relevant and commendable to vague and frivolous. Tracing in Chapter IV the peripetia of this “law” provides a deeper insight into both the essential weaknesses of the Marxian theory and the acute dilemmas of the Soviet-type economies.     

浅论强化村级医疗卫生网络建设

村级医疗卫生网络机构是县级医疗卫生体系中的最基层网络组织,是解决农民看病难、看病贵问题的有效途径。结合玉屏自治县的调查情况,对其发展状况、存在的问题进行了详细的分析,提出了加强组织建设、加大财政投入、改善村医待遇、加强教育培训等五个方面的对策。     

人口与计生组织网络参与地方应急处置重大突发事件的优势和作用探析

本文从"人的问题"是应急处置重大突发事件过程中的核心问题这一基本命题出发,比较系统地分析了人口与计生组织网络参与地方应急处置重大突发事件的优势和作用,并就如何进一步发挥人口和计生组织网络在参与地方应急处置重大突发事件中的重要作用提出了具体的政策建议。