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“Musuh dari Gunung”: Penelitian Semula Terhadap Kedudukan Hizbul Muslimin dalam Sejarah Perjuangan Kemerdekaan Tanah Melayu: “Enemy from the Mountain”: Re-Examination of the Position of Hizbul Muslimin in the Malaya’s History of Independence Struggle
Get PDFHizbul Muslimin (HM) is a movement often labelled as a “left-wing” and supporting the communist ideology. Several questions frequently arise in relation to HM, leading to inaccurate interpretations, like supporting the communist ideology and not fighting for independence and the arrest of their leaders due to the declaration of emergency, apart from being banned by the British. However, recent British records have led to the emergence of alternative views in answering the question. This study aims to re-examine HM’s position in Malaya’s history of independence struggle. A qualitative approach, using a library research method, was adopted by examining various primary sources and secondary sources. The findings indicate that the more appropriate label for HM is a religious movement that functioned as a middle movement and adopted a strategy of cooperating with “right-wing” and “left-wing” movements. HM also rejected the communist ideology; in fact, their cooperation with the communists was just to get rid of the British. The arrest of their leaders was a double-edged sword for the British to continue their colonialism in Malaya and curb the anti-British struggle. HM was also never banned, but was instead dissolved by its own leaders.
Hizbul Muslimin (HM) merupakan sebuah pertubuhan yang sering dilabel sebagai gerakan “kiri” dan menyokong ideologi komunis. Beberapa persoalan yang sering timbul berkaitan HM sehingga menimbulkan tafsiran yang kurang tepat adalah seperti menyokong ideologi komunis dan tidak memperjuangkan kemerdekaan serta penangkapan pemimpinnya yang disebabkan oleh pengisytiharan darurat, selain telah diharamkan oleh British. Namun demikian, bukti terkini daripada rekod British mengakibatkan kemunculan pandangan alternatif bagi menjawab persoalan tersebut. Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk meneliti semula kedudukan HM dalam sejarah perjuangan kemerdekaan Tanah Melayu. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif, iaitu kaedah kajian kepustakaan dengan meneliti pelbagai sumber primer dan sumber sekunder. Kajian menunjukkan bahawa HM lebih sesuai dilabel sebagai gerakan agama yang berfungsi sebagai gerakan tengah dan menggunakan strategi bekerjasama dengan gerakan “kanan” dan gerakan “kiri”. HM juga menolak ideologi komunis, bahkan kerjasama dengan komunis hanyalah satu bentuk strategi politik bagi menyingkirkan British. Penangkapan pemimpin HM pula merupakan serampang dua mata British bagi meneruskan kelangsungan penjajahan mereka di Tanah Melayu serta mengekang perjuangan anti-British. HM juga tidak pernah diharamkan, sebaliknya dibubarkan oleh pemimpin mereka sendiri
Defining Optimal Timed Up and Go Test Cut-Offs for Fall Risk in Older Adults in Institutional Care in Malaysia
Get PDFBackground: The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test effectively identifies risk of fall, especially in institutional care settings with limited resources. This is the first Malaysian study assessing the validity of the TUG test against the Downton Fall Risk Index (DFRI) and establishing an optimal TUG cut-off for institutional settings.
Methods: This cross-sectional study included residents aged > 60 years who could ambulate independently with or without aid from Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheras. Demographic data, TUG test scores, and DFRI scores were collected for fall risk assessment. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the validity of TUG, with the area under the curve (AUC) measuring sensitivity and specificity, and the Youden Index identifying the optimal cut-off.
Results: Of the 192 residents, 92 (47.9%) fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The mean age was 72.24 years (standard deviation, SD = 8.42), and 33.7% were classified as having a high risk of falling (DFRI >= 3). The TUG test showed an AUC of 0.65 (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.54–0.77, P = 0.018), indicating moderate validity. A cut-off of 12.5 s achieved high sensitivity (93.5%) and low specificity (34.4%).
Conclusion: The TUG test cut-off point identified was 12.5 s, which is lower than the standard 13.5 s reported for community-dwelling older adults. This difference reflects the unique characteristics of institutionalised older adults, who often experience greater physical and cognitive impairments. Environmental factors and methodological variations may contribute to this discrepancy, emphasising the need to set specific cut-off points to assess risk of fall in this population accurately
Exploring Out-of-Pocket Costs and Health-Related Quality of Life among Patients with Cancer and Diabetes in Malaysia
Get PDFBackground: Out-of-pocket costs for chronic illnesses have become significant barriers to continuing treatment, given the already substantial cost of the diseases. This study aims to estimate out-of-pocket costs and determine the health-related quality of life of patients with cancer and diabetes.
Methods: A purposive cross-sectional study (January 2021–January 2022) was conducted to assess health-related quality of life and out-of-pocket costs among Malaysian adults with cancer or diabetes. Using the validated EQ-5D-5L and a three-section questionnaire, 571 participants from three hospitals and online surveys provided data on five cost categories expressed in 2021 MYR and USD.
Results: Significant differences were observed across all cost categories between patients with cancer and diabetes. Diagnostic imaging had a larger effect size (P < 0.0001, r = 0.467). Annual outpatient and hospitalisation costs among patients with cancer were found to be 42 and 11 times higher than for patients with diabetes, respectively. Overall, the out-of-pocket expenditure per year for patients with cancer was MYR 88,346.12 and MYR 9,010.60 for patients with diabetes. Additionally, patients with cancer rated their health-related quality of life using the EQ-VAS score lower than patients with diabetes (EQ-VAS = 63.7, SD = 19.2 and EQ-VAS = 71.6, SD = 18.7).
Conclusion: Cancer and diabetes impose significant financial and quality of life burdens on patients in Malaysia. This study highlights gaps in insurance coverage and public assistance, calling for more comprehensive support for medical and nonmedical expenses and psychological support for patients. The analysis, which focuses on annual costs, may underestimate the long-term financial impact, especially for patients with cancer. Future research should examine household spending and the ability to pay for treatment costs to better understand the full economic burden of these chronic diseases
Brain Shift Patterns: Upward, Lateral and Downward Herniation, Its Correlation with Clinical Patterns in Acute Intracranial Pathologies and Management
Get PDFBrain shift represents a critical radiological indicator of intracranial mass effect, reflecting displacement of neural structures due to hematoma, tumour, infarction, or cerebral oedema. Depending on the direction of displacement, brain herniation may manifest as downward (transtentorial), upward (reverse transtentorial), or lateral (midline) shifts (MLSs). Understanding these patterns and their correlation with neurological deterioration remains vital for timely diagnosis and management. The purpose of this analysis is to classify brain shift patterns — downward, lateral, and upward transtentorial herniations — and to correlate radiological findings with clinical parameters including level of consciousness, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), pupillary size and reactivity, and predicted intracranial pressure (ICP) values. We compare data from radiological imaging (CT and MRI) and clinical observations of patients with acute intracranial pathology. Downward transtentorial herniation was graded into four stages based on the caudal migration of the mammillary bodies and related structures; upward transtentorial herniation was classified into three progressive stages based on cerebellar and brainstem displacement. Midline shift (MLS) was correlated with GCS, pupillary changes, and ICP through comparative analysis of previous literature and observed patient data. A progressive relationship was observed between the degree of brain displacement and neurological decline. Increasing MLS correlated inversely with GCS and directly with anisocoria and elevated ICP. Downward and upward transtentorial herniations demonstrated distinct sequential imaging and clinical features, ranging from subtle diencephalic dysfunction to brainstem failure. Brain shift patterns — downward, upward, and lateral — are key indicators of neurological deterioration and prognosis in acute intracranial pathologies. Establishing a standardised correlation between imaging and clinical parameters enhances early recognition, facilitates surgical intervention, and improves patient outcomes
Personalised English for Specific Purposes in Indonesian Higher Education: A Look Through the Teachers’ Lens
Get PDFDespite extensive studies on personalised learning (PL), its implementation in higher education (HE) English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classes remains underexplored. This study addressed the paucity by exploring HE ESP teachers’ views of PL based on their teaching experiences and their preferences among its three types (i.e., personalisation, differentiation, and individualisation) in Indonesia, where ESP courses are often characterised by heterogeneous and large classes. Through semi-structured interviews with eight purposively selected Indonesian HE ESP teachers and document analysis, this study employed Matthew B. Miles et al.’s qualitative data analysis framework to uncover key insights. Findings showed that while the participants acknowledged the potential of implementing PL in HE ESP classes, its implementation centred on certain prerequisites. Challenges such as learners’ lack of autonomy and teachers’ heavy workload further complicated its feasibility. Considering Phillip Kerr’s outline on the types of PL, the participants expressed a preference for individualisation. The findings underscored the need for targeted professional development and institutional policies that support PL-based ESP classes, ensuring their practical integration into Indonesia’s HE classes
Navigating Artificial Intelligence (AI) Integration in English Language Teaching: Challenges, Opportunities and Future Directions
Get PDFThis article overviews a study on integrating generative AI tools into education. English language education is critical for AI integration due to its reliance on text-based learning, communication skills and adaptive instructional approaches. Employing a systematic literature review to analyse existing research on AI tools in English language education, it focuses on their benefits and challenges. Articles from Scopus-indexed journals and other scholarly sources published between 2021 and 2024 were reviewed. The study discusses four significant findings: the classification of generative AI, key research topics on AI, the role of AI in cognitive offloading and academic dishonesty and the phenomenon of AI-generated hallucinations. The findings highlight the need for educators to stay updated with AI advancements and adapt their teaching practices accordingly. While AI offers opportunities for personalised learning, it also raises concerns about academic integrity and the reliability of AI-generated content. The review is limited to studies published between 2021 and 2024 and may not encompass all relevant research. Additionally, the focus is primarily on English language education, which may not fully represent the impact of AI tools across other educational contexts. Future research could explore the broader implications of AI integration across different subject areas and examine its long-term effects on pedagogy and student learning outcomes
Biblio-Systematic Review of the Factors Affecting Selection of Religious Translation Strategies
Get PDFReligious translation is a very sensitive task since it deals with God’s words and transcendentalcommandments; taking into consideration that religion is an integral part of culture puts more onus ontranslators to understand the target culture, inter alia, word’s connotations and denotations, author’sintention, context, and other factors in order to choose the most effective communication translation strategy.This study aims to conduct a bibliometric review of the most cited papers, authors and journals that areinterested in religious translation, in addition to the content analysis of the papers to identify the mostinfluential factors which affect religious terms’ translation strategies. This biblio-systematic paper addressesall the articles published in Google Scholar and SCOPUS indexed database, that have “translation,religious” in the title, and “Arabic” as a keyword (anywhere in the article). SCOPUS and google scholarsearch resulted in 17 articles related to the paper’s subject which is "the Factors Affecting Selection ofReligious Translation Strategies between Arabic and English Languages. Bibliometric review results showthat the top-cited journal is International Journal of English Linguistics. Top cited authors are ElShiekh, andM Saleh for their paper “Translation versus transliteration of religious terms in contemporary Islamicdiscourse in western communities”. Regarding publications per year, the review shows that 2016 witnessedthe highest production by six papers and that Indonesia was the most producing country. The study concludedthat the most influential factor which affects religious translation is ideology and religious belief, and themost used religious translation strategy is literal translation. 
Literacy Practices of Tamil Youth in Singapore
Get PDFThis study analyses the literacy skills of Singapore youth in Tamil and their experiences with literacy. Despite Tamilbeing one of the four official languages in Singapore, the community is documented to be experiencing language shift(Gopinathan, Lakshmi, & Saravanan, 2019). It is therefore important to understand the factors that influence theacquisition of literacy practices at various stages of one’s life. To do so the study adopts Barton’s (2007) ecologicalframework of analysing reading and writing skills through three stages: home (emergent), school and youth and ifyouth literacy practices were influenced by emergent and school literacy practices. Interviews were conducted withten Tamil youth between 21-30 years of age from varied backgrounds to understand their language learningexperiences at the three different stages. This study reveals that the literacy practices of youth are influenced by homesupport, religious practices and parents’ attitude towards the language more than school practices. The finding ofthis study can inform researchers in the field of language maintenance and shift studies to use Barton’s framework ofliteracies as an additional methodology. 
Effectiveness of BME Strategy in Improving Writing Skills among Low Proficiency English Language Learners
Get PDFThis study investigates the effects of Beginning-Middle-End (BME) strategy on the improvement of English writing skills among the lower proficiency language learners in a secondary school located in the state of Kedah. Utilising the BME within language classroom is seen as a valuable approach which offers assistance to lower proficient learners to progress in their English writing skills. Writing is a common issue affecting most second language learners (ESL) as these would lead the learners to lose motivation in learning writing in English. Although writing is without doubt the most challenging proficiency to be acquired, it is a vital skill to measure learners’ level of proficiency in English language. The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of BME strategy in improving writing skills among secondary school learners. This quasiexperimental study was conducted within a 4 month period where twenty seven samples were given one writing lesson per week involving an in-depth BME intervention. Data was collected via the pre- and post-test. The post-test scores indicate that learners have developed better writing skill with the intervention of BME strategy. The findings identified that participants improved significantly in their writing skills. Implementation of BME to improve writing skill is a worthy strategy which ought to be adopted in teaching lower proficiency English language learners
A Study of Systemic Variation and Frequency of Modified Idioms In Forbes Asia and The Economist
Get PDFModified idioms or idioms with variation are figurative language that pose many semantic problems especially to non-native speakers of English. Apparently, a change in idiom form causes the message to be misunderstood by the non-native speakers as they lack familiarity of the modified idioms. Therefore, this case study aims to investigate the type and frequency of systemic variation of modified idioms found in Forbes Asia and The Economist. Glucksberg’s (2001) textual analysis framework on modified idioms is applied as part of the qualitative analysis. The results of the study indicate that omitted, modified idioms with noun variation, and modified idioms with verb variation are types of systemic variation of modified idioms that are familiar to users. The findings of this study contributes toward identifying the type and frequency of modified idioms which affect familiarity and comprehension among readers of Forbes Asia and The Economist. Thus, the promotion of variation of modified idioms should focus more on types of variations with none or limited emergence of familiarity