1Malaysia concept is a vision to create a harmonious Malaysian society, which is vital for Malaysia to attain a successful and developed country status. The concept stresses on the acceptance and inclusion of other cultures within the Malaysian realm and unity is vital for a country with plural society like Malaysia. Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak asserted that the 1Malaysia concept is unique as it celebrates the diversity of cultures grounded within a unique potpourri of living patterns that is steeped in traditions yet able to accommodate and withstand the winds of change without losing her local cultural balance. Siapera (2010) opined that it is without doubt that the media is an important tool which ensures diverse cultures in a country are equally represented without neglecting the universal and common values practised by everyone. The 1Malaysia concept places importance on both celebrating the diversity of cultures and inculcating common values amongst its citizen. This is where mass media, especially television, can play a big role. Syed Hussin (2008: 171) commented that mass communication has not been used to its full effect to promote a better understanding of people of different cultures and values. How true is this notion? This paper will shed some light into these issues: how the culturally diverse society and the concept of 1Malaysia are being represented on television and how audiences make meanings from these representations. The methodology employed in this research is twofold, comprising content analysis and focus group discussion. The objective of content analysis is to analyse how the concept of 1Malaysia is being represented on local television programmes. The focus group discussion, meanwhile, discovers how adolescents negotiate the television text in the process of understanding the 1Malaysia concept.

Abstract. Studying abroad is an experience which can benefit both students' original and host countries. The Afghan government in their quest to improve the human capital have decided to send their students to pursue their studies abroad. It is hoped that these students not only succeed in their academic endeavor but also to learn from the context of cultural and social experience of others, of the technological and globalising world; and bring the rich experience home to help develop the country. The research uses the U-Curve model of intercultural adjustment (Lysgaard, 1955) as the foundation which describes adaptation as a process that moves from a "honeymoon" period into "culture shock" and on to recovery or "adjustment" and "mastery" stages. It looks at the experiences of Afghan students in their adaptation process. Data were obtained from three focus groups discussion done at three different public universities in Malaysia that enrolled the Afghan students. Studies showed that though students went through a bit of culture shock earlier, they are able to adapt in the end which is similar as to the stages discussed in the model.

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Social media does not only provide a space for individuals to communicate, but it also encourages individuals to find and share health information. This situation has led to a change in the patterns and functions of health opinion leaders that exist on social media. Health opinion leaders influence media users by sharing and delivering health information and are capable of fostering parasocial relationships with media users. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the process by which parasocial opinion leaders shape health messages on social media. In correspondence, this study sought to understand the level of acceptance of health messages among Twitter users of the information tweeted by parasocial opinion leaders. In-depth interviews were conducted on 25 followers of parasocial health opinion leaders on Twitter. This study found that the formation of health messages and information conveyed by parasocial health opinion leaders could influence their followers. Four forms of message reception were identified in this study: 1) information and complexity reduction (a description, information delivery style, information sharing, information, and health literacy, and correction of information and mythical perceptions), 2) health orientation, 3) stimulation of interest, and 4) strengthening of the image and ethics of professionalism. Additionally, this study also discovered that media users perceived health opinion leaders as mentors, family members, friends, and idols. Keywords: Health communication, opinion leader, parasocial opinion leaders, parasocial relationship, social media.

Abstract.Opinion leaders play an important role in mitigating health issues and are able to influence attitudes and health behaviors to a certain extent. However, in the world we are living today, individual health decision making no longer rely fully on doctor's advice, but often persuaded by people or organisations deemed reliable and trustworthy. Interestingly, one does not have to have a medical degree to be seen as "reliable" or "trustworthy" in giving out medical advices. Computermediated-communication changes the way opinion leaders emerge in virtual communities, specifically in the context of health. Through increased access to both traditional and online media, people have a fair access to communication technology and therefore, our definition of opinion leaders have shifted from how we used to understand it through Lazarsfeld's two-steps flow theory. In fact, the way opinion leaders operate via social media platform is very different from how it used to be through the traditional mass media. This paper will discuss on the characteristics of new media opinion leaders, particularly in the context of health, in hopes to learn new ways to promote health in future communication campaigns.