No abstract

Water becomes a crucial issue in the 21 st century because of rising population and increasing development. Water is needed for agriculture, energy production, recreation, and manufacturing. This study investigates the impact of economic indicators and climate change on water demand for 13 states in Malaysia. Using annual data from 2007 to 2015, the panel data approach is used to assess the impact of these determinants on water demand. The dependent variable is water resources, and independent variables comprise real income, total consumption per capita, agriculture sector, population density and climate change. The real income is a nonlinear equation and indicates a threshold in economic development because the welfare of residents and industry will decline after the optimum point due to the shortage of water resources. The results indicate that total consumption per capita, agriculture, and population density have a positive impact on water demand. The agriculture sector exerts high demand on water resources. The climate change is a correct sign that represents an increase in demand for water resources during dry periods and leading to water stress. This finding is useful for improving the prediction of climate change to managing the water resources sustainably, particularly in the agriculture sector.

Background: The study is to explore food consumption based on the Malaysian Food Pyramid guideline and dietary related issues among low-income single mothers classified by their Body Mass Index (BMI). Methods: Data were obtained from 519 low-income, single mothers who resided in Kuala Nerus, a district in the state of Terengganu in Malaysia. This study employed the Chi-square test to identify the differences in the tested parameters between the lean/normal and overweight/obese subjects. Results: The current study presented the information of single mothers with low-income, and their food consumption and preference based on the Malaysian Food Pyramid. The subjects were categorised into lean/normal BMI of < 25 and an overweight/obese BMI of > 25. There were significant differences (p-value < 0.05) in the food consumption for the food categories of rice, noodles, bread and cereals and vegetables and fruits between the lean/normal and overweight/obese subjects. Nevertheless, there were insignificant differences (p-value > 0.05) in the food consumption for the food categories of dairy, fish, chicken, meat, legumes and fat, oil, sugar and salt between lean/normal and overweight/obese subjects. There were also mixed results on the dietary related issue between the lean/normal and overweight/obese subjects. Conclusion: Even though there were differences in food consumption of two food categories between both BMI groups, the food consumption was closely consistent with the Malaysian Food Pyramid guideline. The findings had provided relevant evidence and also call for a necessary action from stakeholders to support a healthy diet and nutrition intake, not limited to low-income single mothers', but also other lower socioeconomic status (SES) groups.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost all sectors including the higher education sector. Some students have lost their jobs and income due to the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) by the government. This situation has led to the limitation of various activities such as economic, social, and educational sectors to operate, further leading to financial problems among students. The main objective of this study is to identify the extent of students’ literacy level, students’ financial problems and the factors that influence their financial behaviours in fulfilling their needs and wants as a student. These factors will be explored in terms of attitude, influence, fulfilling basic needs and wants and online purchases. The level of literacy will be examined through the value of the score obtained from the questionnaires. The respondents consisted of 100 students from various courses and faculties at UMT. The finding shows that the level of financial literacy for UMT students is at a low level. For statistical items, the study used quantitative analysis including two sample t-test, ANOVA test, correlation test and multiple regression analysis. These finding also shows that there is a significant relationship between basic needs (r=0.285, sig=0.004) and wants (r=0.535, sig=0.000) with financial behaviours. These findings also indicate that there is a significant influence of the basic needs (β=0.397, p-value = 0.01) on the student's financial problems. Therefore, students need to be given financial knowledge to improve their level of financial literacy and given the incentives to ease their financial problems in students to survive themselves.

Culture and heritage activities have always relied heavily on assembling a group of people to bring the event to life. However, during the pandemic COVID-19, these events cannot be held due to the restrictions and the danger it could bring in spreading the diseases. As a result, new options should be made available to ensure that cultural and heritage activities can continue in the face of adversity. This study describes the researcher’s experience in a knowledge transfer project on the long-term sustainability and conservation of community-based cultural and heritage activities during the COVID-19 epidemic. To preserve and sustain cultural activities, the article suggests a digital approach to culture and heritage activities. The research is based on the researcher’s observations and fieldwork experience. The result indicated that Lambo Sari and the research team kept track of each participant’s progress during the monitoring phase, which was the fourth step of this effort. In addition, the WhatsApp messaging service was used to track the project leader’s core communication with the participants. Apart from the monitoring phase, the fifth phase consists of a webinar delivered by the researcher and team to the general public and participants to increase awareness about the importance of cultural and historical preservation. In conclusion, cultural heritage conservation has been rendered extremely difficult due to the epidemic. If physical preservation of cultural heritage was done back then, revolutionization is required to stay up with the present period and make use of new technologies.