Validating crime prevention through environmental design construct through checklist using structural equation modelling

To date, there has been limited empirical exploration of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) measures to appraise their efficiency. The intention of the present study is to validate CPTED dimensions and its respective indicators developed to measure the CPTED construct. This construct is measured using four main dimensions, namely natural surveillance, access control, territoriality and exterior maintenance. The aim of this study is to identify factors that contribute in measuring the CPTED construct. The scale was administered by using on-site observation of a sample of 164 respondents in a typical residential area in Penang, Malaysia. The validation is carried out by employing the Confirmatory Factor Analysis using AMOS. The analysis was conducted by testing the higher order dimensionality of the CFA driven first-order solution by examining a second-order model. The final CPTED construct consists of four main dimensions with its respective indicators.     

The opposition Pakatan Rakyat in the twelfth Malaysian parliament, 2008–12, and parliamentary behaviour on the budget process

In the post-2008 Malaysian general election, the opposition political parties the Parti KeADILan Rakyat, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party and the Democratic Action Party started to gain currency, especially when the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government was denied its two-thirds of the majority in parliament. The 2008 result indicated that there was a substantial shift in support from the incumbent BN to the opposition parties. The opposition later on was formed into a coalition known as Pakatan Rakyat (PR). The minor victory of the PR in the 2008 election suggested that it had secured a considerable number of seats in the twelfth Malaysian parliament. This article argues that the 2008 electoral outcome exhibited substantial competitive parliamentary behaviour despite the authoritarian nature of Malaysia. The article examines PR behaviour in the twelfth parliament with reference to the budget process. Besides elections, the Malaysian parliament is a very crucial indicator of the development of democratic governance in Malaysia. This article argues that the opposition PR is still relevant in the way in which it has fully exercised its legal parliamentary capability, especially its de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, in questioning and posing constraints on the ruling BN policies concerning the budget process.     

Ethnicity and education policy in Malaysia： Managing and mediating the ethnic diversity

This paper discusses the issues of ethnicity and how they have been involved in the production of Malaysian education policy in achieving the aim of uniting the multiethnic society of the nation. The central focus in this paper was a discussion of the educational policies in Malaysia that had been produced to mediate the multiple demands, varying interests and ideological differences within Malaysian pluralistic society and amongst its various ethnic groups. This article also considered issues of policy implementation. The focus was on education policy, the politics of ethnicity in education, and the issue of language in education policy production in relation to produce a Malaysian outlook education system.     

Recovering obliterated engraved marks on aluminium surfaces by etching technique

A study has been made of the characteristics of restoration of obliterated engraved marks on aluminium surfaces by etching technique. By etching different reagents on 0.61mm thick sheets of aluminium (99wt%) on which some engraved marks had been erased to different depths it was found that the reagent 60% hydrochloric acid and 40% sodium hydroxide on alternate swabbing on the surfaces was found to be the most sensitive one for these metal surfaces. This reagent was able to restore marks in the above plates erased down to 0.04mm below the bottom of the engraving. The marks also presented excellent contrast with the background. This reagent was further experimented with similar aluminium surfaces, but of relatively greater thickness of 1.5mm. It was noticed that the recovery depth increased slightly to 0.06mm; this suggested the dependence of recovery depth on the thickness of the sheet metal. Further, the depth of restoration decreased in cases where the original number was erased and over which a new number was engraved; the latter results are similar to those of steel surfaces reported earlier [M.A.M. Zaili, R. Kuppuswamy, H. Harun, Restoration of engraved marks on steel surfaces by etching technique, Forensic Sci. Int. 171 (2007) 27-32].     

Cutaneous (tPA) and Skeletal (TnI) mRNA as Markers of Aging in Contused Wound

Wound age estimation is one of the most important forensic aspects. Troponin I (TnI) and many cytokines, for example, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), are involved in wound inflammation and healing. Skeletal (TnI) and cutaneous (tPA) mRNA was detected using real‐time PCR in 25 female albino rats. They were divided into 5 groups: control and 4 injured groups. Injured groups were sacrificed 1, 6, 24, and 30 h after inflicting contused wound. The expression levels of cutaneous (tPA) were decreased significantly at 1, 6, and 30 h after contusion (71.7%, 30.7 and 16.9%), while the expression levels of skeletal (TnI) were increased significantly at 1 and 6 h post‐traumatic, then they gradually decreased until reaching normal levels at 24 h and assumed significantly lower levels at 30 h postcontusion. These results suggested that the determination of cutaneous (tPA) and skeletal (TnI) mRNA levels was useful for wound age estimation.     

Le théologien et le somnambule: un épisode récent de l'histoire almoravide en Mauritanie

In 2012, images of a mystical mermaid known locally as Mami Wata circulated on the Internet and via people's mobile phones, sparking rumours that Chinese labourers had captured her as they were installing underwater fibreoptic cables. Appearing as a grotesque sea-creature with a gnarled, shrivelled body, this new image of Mami Wata challenges older, popular depictions of her as a beautiful maiden. Further, in her deformed body, Mami Wata reveals new tensions arising from promises of wealth and modernisation promoted by both Chinese and Congolese governments. Accounts of rumours/urban legends and metaphors of contagion animate larger contemporary discussions concerning development projects, “otherness” and the influence of the Internet and mobile phone technology on production of popular African culture. The female siren, Mami Wata, is a recurring motif in Kinshasa's collective urban imaginary. Historically she has been an expression of modernity and hybridity through visual representation in popular painting, sculpture and television serials. Now Mami Wata appears in the digital world. In this article, in addition to analysing the ways in which contemporary technology mediates this archetypal figure, I draw on notions of otherness, recent historical, political and economic changes in the Democratic Republic of Congo to analyse the ways they inform the particular shape and meaning that Mami Wata takes when transformed into the digital domain.     

Discharge in bankruptcy: a comparative analysis of law and practice between Malaysia,Singapore and the United Kingdom (UK) – What can we learn?

In common law jurisdictions such as Malaysia, United Kingdom and Singapore, bankruptcy law is the legal mechanism in situations where individuals fall into bankruptcy. In the UK, automatic discharge was introduced fifteen years ago. Yet, no equivalent concept of automatic discharge has been introduced in Singapore, while in Malaysia, although a new provision allowing for an automatic discharge of bankrupt was proposed in the new Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2016, it has yet to come into force upon official announcement by the Malaysian authorities. This paper examines and compares the laws and practices of discharge of bankrupts in Malaysia, the UK and Singapore.     

When Law and Practice Collide: the Implementation of the Plea-Bargaining Process in Malaysia

The amendment of the Malaysian Criminal Procedure Code in 2010 formalised the plea-bargaining process and introduced two new sections, 172C and 172D. The new procedures are intended to reduce the backlog of cases in the criminal courts and as a swift alternative to a full criminal trial. However, the law in action does not appear to be in line with the law in the statute book because currently the actors involved in the process are avoiding the use of the new procedural law. Instead, those actors are following the old informal practice of plea-bargaining to achieve their personal goals which may be inconsistent with the organisational goals of the judiciary and prosecution. This paper adopts a qualitative methodology, in which the primary data is obtained from semi-structured interviews with twenty respondents comprising the stakeholders in the criminal justice system.