Purpose Globally, several studies have shown that biosphere reserves faced severe threats related to climate and human changes. Community participation in environmental sustainability may mitigate these threats in biosphere reserve destinations. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the community perceptions regarding the proposed Penang Hill Biosphere Reserve with the support of Community Readiness Theory to the framework via qualitative research. Design/methodology/approach To achieve this, 13 face-to-face interviews were conducted that covered major communities within the hill and validated via secondary sources. Phenomenological type of qualitative research and a combination of purposeful and snowball type of non-probability sampling techniques were used. Findings This paper found that Penang Hill Corporation does collaborate with communities around the hill in matters connected with hill conservation. Research limitations/implications This paper is limited to investigating community perceptions regarding the proposed Penang Hill Biosphere Reserve. Future research is needed to further investigate the framework and the supporting theory (Community Readiness Theory). Practical implications This paper recommended that Penang Hill Corporation should build more effective communication capacity for the communities around the hill via coordinated synergy within the various agencies and communities. Also, the act that established the corporation should be reviewed to capture the provision of liaison offices for agencies controlling various sections of the hill. Originality/value This paper demonstrates that positive community engagement will enhance environmental sustainability and possibly facilitate recognition by UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme.

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Located in one of the famous natural and cultural tourist destinations of northern Malaysia, Penang Hill serves as an ideal destination for both local and international tourists. The objective of this study was to understand and explore key stakeholders perspectives to enhance management for the aim of conservation, economic development, and recreation in Penang Hill. Data was collected from three key stakeholders of Penang Hill using semi-structured in-depth interviews. Stakeholders showed robust interests in environmental protection , cultural conservation, economic activities, awareness, and empowerment . This paper concludes by stating that Penang Hill is under strong management, and stakeholders are continuously engaged in the destination. The management authority collaborates with the key stakeholders of Penang Hill and incorporates their interests and viewpoint to ensure the ecotourism process goes smoothly and Penang Hill becomes one of the top ecotourism destinations.

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Problem statement:The purposes of this study are twofold: First, to recommend a range of angles for driving posture comfort from measurement of participants and second, to investigate the relationships between drivers' anthropometric characteristics, comfortable postural angles and seat adjustment. Approach: Forty five participants were involved in the study. Both anthropometric data and postural angles were measured and recorded by using the photographic technique and analyzed further using software. During the study, each participant was required to sit on the driver's seat in his or her preferred comfortable driving postures. Images of the participant's driving posture were taken after 5 min he or she has been in the driving position to allow him/her to adapt with the seat environment and fabrics. The seat adjustment data were measured manually after the seat is adjusted for comfort by the participant. Prior to that, 10 anthropometric data of each participant was measured and recorded. Data on comfortable driving postural angles, anthropometry and seat adjustment were analyzed statistically with Pearson correlation using the SPSS software. Results: From the study, a range of angles are proposed based on the participant's perception on comfort. The ranges of comfortable angles for Malaysian citizen proposed shows significant different between Caucasian and Korean populations. The relationships between the comfortable postural angles, anthropometric data and seat adjustment were analyzed and discussed with several outcome shows that taller participants preferred a driving posture with their arms outstretched in order to achieve comfort, participants with bigger body dimension have a tendency to sit farther back from the steering wheels and smaller participants prefer to sit closer to the steering wheels with a slightly greater trunk thigh angle. Conclusion: The result obtained and discussed in this study can be applied in the driver's car seat design and construction to ensure comfort and safety.

Oil palm workers perform daily activities that exposed themselves to various ergonomics risk factors. To harvest oil palm fruits from tall trees, specific technique is required. To quantify the ergonomics risks factors, postural analysis was conducted using Quick Exposure Check (QEC) system. It was found oil palm workers were exposed to many postural problems while performing harvesting and collecting fresh fruit bunch (FFB) activities. However, to quantify the actual load, many limitations of the QEC have been revealed such the missing of legs assessment, the crude analysis for arm and shoulder, no pushing and pulling assessment and the biased may be existed due to the workers' perception on the ergonomics factors. Thus, it can be concluded that QEC system was not suitable for conducting postural analysis during harvesting in oil palm plantation especially in tall trees due to the above limitations.

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