Over the past years, there have been great concerns over the global environmental issues. Human activities have contributed towards climate changes that are affecting the world. The rise of temperature has been noticeable and this strengthens the arguments of the greenhouse effect. Among the environmental concerns include carbon dioxide emissions by transportation, deforestation, open burning, excessive waste, river pollution and etc. These issues have raised the global need for environmental citizenship. It is a form of citizenship that prioritizes and emphasizes the importance of the environment and one that crosses the national territorial borders. It stresses the need to have citizens who inhibit greater awareness of the environment and try to maintain and preserve the earth by participating in ‘green’ activities and saving the earth. This research aimed at exploring the awareness, understanding, perception and participation of Malaysian youth with regards to environmental citizenship. Six focus groups were conducted within Klang Valley with each group comprising of 5-6 people. The informants consisted of Malay, Chinese and Indian youths between the age of 18-25. The questions were focused on the general and technical understanding of environmental issues, the sources of information on the environment and the role that these individuals and the community have played as environmental citizens

Background: The European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47) is becoming a widely used tool to measure health literacy (HL), including in Malaysia. There are efforts to reduce the 47-item scale to parsimonious short item scales that still reflect the assumptions and requirements of the conceptual model. This study used confirmatory factor analysis to reduce the 47-item scale to a short scale that can offer a feasible HL screening tool with sufficient psychometric properties. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on the Malaysian population based on ethnic distribution to ensure that the short version instrument reflects the country's varied ethnicities. The survey was administered by well-trained interviewers working for the Ministry of Health Malaysia. A total of 866 responses were obtained. Data was analysed using multi-factorial confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with categorical variables. Results: The analysis resulted in a satisfactory 18-item model. There were high correlations among the 18 items. The internal consistency reliability was robust, with no floor/ceiling effects. These results represented equivalence and consistency among the responses to items, suggesting that these items were homogenous in measuring Malaysian health literacy. The strong convergent and discriminant validity of the model makes the proposed 18 items a suitable short version of the health literacy instrument for Malaysia. Conclusions: The researchers propose the 18-item instrument to be named HLS-M-Q18. This short version instrument may be used in measuring health literacy in Malaysia as it achieved robust reliability, structural validity and construct validity that fulfilled goodness-of-fit criteria.

Health literacy is progressively seen as an indicator to describe a nation’s health status. To improve health literacy, countries need to address health inequalities by examining different social demographic factors across the population. This assessment is crucial to identify and evaluate the strengths and limitations of a country in addressing health issues. By addressing these health inequalities, a country would be better informed to take necessary steps to improve the nation’s health literacy. This study examines health literacy levels in Malaysia and analyses socio-demographic factors that are associated with health literacy. A cross-sectional survey was carried out using the HLS-M-Q18 instrument, which was validated for the Malaysian population. Multi-stage random sampling strategy was used in this study, utilising several sampling techniques including quota sampling, cluster sampling, and simple random sampling to allow random data collection. A total of 855 respondents were sampled. Our results showed that there were significant associations between health literacy and age, health status, and health problems. Our findings also suggest that lower health literacy levels were associated with the younger generation. This study’s findings have provided baseline data on Malaysians’ health literacy and provide evidence showing potential areas of intervention.

This paper explores Lysgaard (1955) U-Curve model which explains the process of adaptation in a new culture. Lysgaard (1955) stated that those who migrate to other places go through the following stages of adaptation; the honeymoon stage, culture shock, adjustment and recovery. The existence and rise of new media technologies have brought the world closer together and thus raises the question whether one still go through the stages stated by Lysgaard (1955) New media components such as Twitter, Facebook, Skype, Blogs and Online television has created an impact towards the adaptation process. Four focus group discussions were conducted among Malaysians who had been to either Australia or United Kingdom for their tertiary education and has since returned to Malaysia. The discussions centered on the experience of these students adapting into the new culture and how the Internet and the new media has played a role through their adaptation process. Findings from the research show that the new technologies have brought them closer to their own culture and at the same time assist them in adapting into the new culture.

Background: The European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47) is becoming a widely used tool to measure health literacy (HL), including in Malaysia. There are efforts to reduce the 47-item scale to parsimonious short item scales that still reflect the assumptions and requirements of the conceptual model. This study used confirmatory factor analysis to reduce the 47-item scale to a short scale that can offer a feasible HL screening tool with sufficient psychometric properties. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on the Malaysian population based on ethnic distribution to ensure that the short version instrument reflects the country’s varied ethnicities. The survey was administered by well-trained interviewers working for the Ministry of Health Malaysia. A total of 866 responses were obtained. Data was analysed using multi-factorial confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with categorical variables. Results: The analysis resulted in a satisfactory 18-item model. There were high correlations among the 18 items. The internal consistency reliability was robust, with no floor/ceiling effects. These results represented equivalence and consistency among the responses to items, suggesting that these items were homogenous in measuring Malaysian health literacy. The strong convergent and discriminant validity of the model makes the proposed 18 items a suitable short version of the health literacy instrument for Malaysia. Conclusions: The researchers propose the 18-item instrument to be named HLS-M-Q18. This short version instrument may be used in measuring health literacy in Malaysia as it achieved robust reliability, structural validity and construct validity that fulfilled goodness-of-fit criteria.