Uncontrolled drug and substance use (DSU) may pose unprecedented threats to nation building and a country’s socioeconomic development. Despite considerable efforts made and resources used to address DSU concerns, Malaysia has seen a significant annual rise in cases of DSU. The bulk of the reported cases originate from youth between the ages of 15 and 40 years. To date, data related to DSU in Malaysia have been entirely dependent on operation statistics, arrest counts, and reported cases; DSU may therefore be under-reported and the data obtained not representative at the national level. This study aims to determine the prevalence of DSU among Malaysian youth through a large nationwide representative survey. Of the population of 11,129,316 youth aged 15–40 years, the prevalence of DSU among lifetime users was found to be 5.5%, while for those who had taken drugs in the past 30 days or who currently use them, the prevalence of DSU was found to be 3.5%. The most popular drugs for lifetime users were kratom or Mitragyna speciosa, while for current users the most popular drug was cannabis. The current study reports the magnitude of the problem at a country-wide level, which is a crucial preliminary effort for crafting evidence-based and well-informed policies.

The lack of comfort due to workplace environment impact could trim down job performance and organizational productivity. Literature reviews indicate that ergonomic workplace environment that is strongly associated with the job performance. Employees’ perceptions to be examined by the organizations to ensure the excellent job performance. Thus, 295 officers were selected using proportionate stratified random sampling with two-section questionnaire. The data were analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) and analysis of a moment structure (AMOS) software. The research findings show that acoustic is the most crucial factor (0.928) followed by lighting (0.898), workstation design (0.846), working hours (0.670), and chair (0.563). Ventilation is still significant to the whole environment although scored the lowest coefficient value (0.385). These findings provide valuable information to organizations in their attempts to sustain the human resources so that they are always competitive and productive in facing the challenges of the environmental change.

Good agricultural practice (GAP) helps increase productivity by producing fresh fruit bunches (FFBs), and selling FFBs will increase Independent Smallholders’ (ISH) income. However, although GAP promotes increased productivity, the effectiveness of GAP in delivering the well-being of the ISH in oil palm production areas remains to be determined. To that end, this study (i) measures the smallholder’s well-being index, (ii) compares the well-being index by states in Malaysia, and (iii) maps the relationship between GAP implementation, productivity, and well-being. The study selected respondents using purposive sampling (PS). PS identifies and selects individuals with Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification and knowledge and experience of GAP. As a result, the research interviewed 564 ISHs with MSPO certification from 162 Sustainable Palm Oil Clusters (SPOC). The study used Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and the Structural Equation Model (SEM) framework to achieve the objectives. The study found that the average ISH well-being index was 0.62, and ISHs in Sabah had the highest well-being, with 0.73 compared to other states. The study also found that GAP influences productivity and is positively and significantly related to well-being. Therefore, it indicates to ISHs and the government the importance of GAP implementation to increase ISHs’ productivity and well-being.

Rangsangan motivasi perjalanan pelancong merupakan satu aspek penting dalam kajian literature pelancongan. Kajian ini menganalisis faktor motivasi tolakan dan tarikan berdasarkan sampel 200 responden daripada empat kawasan iaitu Asia Tenggara, Asia Barat, Eropah dan Amerika. Pemilihan empat region ini adalah disebabkan oleh beberapa alasan di mana, i) Pasaran Asia Tenggara merupakan pembekal utama ketibaan pelancong, ii) Pasaran Asia Barat pula menunjukkan peningkatan ketibaan yang tinggi kesan daripada insiden 11 September, iii) Pasaran Eropah dan Amerika adalah untuk mewakili pasaran dari negara maju. Analisis min digunakan dalam kajian ini untuk menerangkan kepentingan setiap faktor rangsangan motivasi pelancong. Analisis jurang (perbezaan antara min) bagi semua pemboleh ubah tolakan dan tarikan turut dilakukan. Setiap faktor ransangan diukur dengan item-item yang mempunyai darjah kebolehpercayaan yang tinggi. Dapatan kajian rangsangan motivasi tolakan menunjukkan bahawa pemboleh ubah tolakan yang paling penting ialah untuk mengalami sesuatu yang berbeza. Manakala kesejahteraan dan keselamatan adalah pemboleh ubah terpenting untuk rangsangan motivasi tarikan. Bagaimanapun, hasil ujian perbandingan rangsangan motivasi pelancong adalah berbeza-beza mengikut kawasan. Dengan itu, kerajaan perlu menitikberatkan aspek kesejahteraan dan keselamatan serta menjadikan faktor-faktor lain hasil dapatan kajian ini sebagai panduan dalam membuat dasar berkaitan pelancongan. Hasil kerja ini dapat dijadikan panduan kepada pembuat dasar dalam mengetahui perkara sebenar yang meransang ketibaan pelancong ke Malaysia dan seterusnya memperbaiki kelemahan fasiliti dan tarikan yang diperlukan oleh para pelancong.