No abstract

Covid-19 had created not only a health crisis but also a social and economic crisis. The need to control the pandemic forced the Malaysian Government to impose partial lockdown, disrupting the economic sector, resulting in hardship on the vulnerable groups. This pandemic allows the country's social security framework to provide assistance. To ensure the vulnerable groups are continued to be protected, the government had rolled out various assistance. This article examined the existing social security framework in responding to the pandemic. It also attempted to assess the said response in order to understand the effectiveness of the social security framework.

Globally, social protection schemes are considered as effective tools in ensuring the well-being of the poor, disempowered and otherwise marginalised people of society. It is applicable in cases of elderly people who are comparatively vulnerable due to their old age, and at times poverty or the lack of financial security.The proportion of elderly people in poverty is higher than that in the working age population, indicating the increasing likelihood of people falling into poverty as they leave or retire from the workforce. Therefore, one way of addressing poverty among the elderly is through social protection mechanisms. Malaysia and the Philippines are two Southeast Asian countries on their way to becoming ageing nations. As such, both these countries have already adopted numerous social protection schemes to ensure the well-being of the marginalised segments of society, including the elderly. Thus, based on existing literature, this paper is an attempt to revisit and re-examine the role and adequacy of existing social protection schemes available in Malaysia and the Philippines.

Industrial relations is one of the most delicate and complex issues in a modern industrial society. Industrial progress is well-nigh impossible without the cooperation of the labour force and the harmonious relationship between employers and employees. Therefore, it is in the interest of all to create and maintain the good relationship between employers and employees. Malaysia, as one of the South East Asian countries, hopes to be a high-income nation by 2024. In order to achieve the status of high income nation, the government of Malaysia has introduced the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). ETP will help Malaysia to triple its Gross National Income (GNI) from RM 660 billion in 2009 to RM 1.7 trillion in 2020. The status of high income nation is said to be achieved, among others, via innovation, creativity, higher productivity, new technology and the development of a multi-skilled and highly skilled workforce as well as healthy industrial relations. As such, in underlining industrial relations in a high-income nation, this article is an attempt to examine the role of the Malaysian industrial relations of today. It will also portray whether changes are required in Malaysian industrial relations in order to be relevant in a high-income nation.

The United Nations have projected that there will be more than 2 billion elder population in the world by 2050. In order to prepare the affected countries for the huge increase in elder population, the United Nations had initiated various international documents emphasising on the wellbeing of the elderly. Malaysia and Bangladesh have been influenced by these international documents in tackling elder issues including abuse. Both countries have introduced strategies in preventing elder abuse through policy and legal framework. This paper highlights and examines the issue of elder abuse and the strategies undertaken by both countries to overcome the issue.