The paper emphasises the potentials of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) to be adopted and implemented in Central Terengganu, referring to three districts, namely Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu and Marang. The territorial waters of Terengganu Central are demarcated by the protected boundaries of the marine parks, namely Redang, Lang Tengah and Kapas Islands. These three marine park islands are major ecotourism destinations in Central Terengganu, but the development that has been carried out on the islands and areas surroundings their gateways in the mainland, to some extent, is not integrated and sustainable. The purpose of this study is to seek the answers to what extent the current and future development trends in Central Terengganu have addressed the multiple competing and conflicting uses related to socioeconomic development, marine/ocean governance and conservation. The qualitative techniques were used for analysis and a case study was used to understand the nature of government policies and management as well as the existing and future plans. To summarize, this study concluded that MSP is the best option for the Terengganu State Government to improve the management of coastal and marine resources for environmental sustainability and socio-economic planning in Central Terengganu.

This study examines factors of unemployment and career path challenges commonly faced by youth in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The study employed a quantitative approach which involved a total of 1,083 youths in Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu selected at random. Descriptive and multiple regression analysis (OLS) methods were used to analyze demographic distribution of youth in determining factors influencing unemployment among them. The results reveal that the majority of youth respondents in the East Coast states of Malaysia are still unemployed and actively seeking employment. Demographic profiles are based on the survey results, youths seeking employment with 36 per cent distribution in Kelantan, 34 per cent in Pahang, and 30 per cent in Terengganu. Majority of the respondents were youths aged 20 to 24 years with a 40.9 percent percentage. The findings show that there are differences in factors affecting youth unemployment in the three states of East Coast, Malaysia. For Kelantan (age, experience, work mobility, marital status), Pahang (experience, marital status) and Terengganu (experience, gender, marital status, training). This study suggests that youths should be wise in preparing for their career by choosing the right career as well as doing side jobs to gain experience before they pursue for a real job.

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Since fishing is a primary source of income to the coastal communities, conservation of marine natural resources is crucial to safeguard its sustainable supply. Therefore, intensive measures should be taken by all the stakeholders – from the authorities to the local fishermen. The precious coral reefs should be protected as important breeding habitat of various commercially valued species of marine resources and. Thus, in carrying out the political process of designating marine protected areas (MPAs) as marine parks, the local communities must also be engaged by the government due to their proximity to and dependency on the environment as direct resources users. Co-management or collaborative management by engaging the local communities, or community-based management, is the concept that could be able to remedy ineffective MPAs management in Peninsular Malaysia. Co-management or collaborative management approach between the authorities and the communities must be strategised by factoring in their local knowledge of living within and off the marine environment and resources. This study utilises content analysis method on the primary data, namely the national policies, federal acts, and state enactments. While the secondary data in form of official reports, scholarly articles and others deemed relevant are used to supplement and support the findings. This paper dwells on the possibility of shifting the process of MPAs designation from political process to co-management in Peninsular Malaysia, in order to achieve both environmental stability and the livelihood sustainability of the local communities.

There is a wide spectrum in academia that representatives of the citizens should act in line with the interests of those who are being represented. Knowledge about citizens' preferences, however, is still limited in the field of political representation in Malaysia. This paper examines the MPs' roles as the citizens' representatives in Malaysia from the perspective of the citizens themselves. Based on the survey (n=598), the voters' preferences that are being analysed through three models of representative-delegates, trustee and partisan. The research findings indicate that the constituents place a high priority on the MPs in bringing development to the constituency rather than in the law making and advocating. To this end, more expectations are for the MPs assemble to delegate model. Citizens perceive the MPs' main role as a legislator as a minor role. This perception could reflect on the political situation in Malaysia. Accordingly, this paper suggests that the MPs should focus on their main functions in policy making, to participate in the parliamentary debates actively and to represent their constituencies at the national level. The MPs should take the local issues for national policies implementation to be contextualized in their respective local constituencies.

PurposeThis study examined the economic and social impact of Malaysian universities on their communities from stakeholders' perspectives. It analysed whether university stakeholders' spending, human capital (HC) and knowledge exploration (KE) will impact aggregate income (AI), quality of life (QOL) and business growth (BG) in surrounding communities.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted among 540 university stakeholders from the southern, northern and eastern regions of Malaysia, representing the alumni, community and industry. Data were subjected to factor analysis using structural equation modelling (SEM).FindingsResults showed that universities impacted communities' economic development and wellbeing, thereby fulfilling their community-related role.Originality/valueThis study addressed universities' role in communities' economic growth and social development. Universities' contributions towards communities can be improved through the proposed model, which suggests ways to maximise their impact. A more detailed study of a particular university is needed to identify other factors that can strengthen universities' impact, even at national and global levels.

Many wetlands have experienced rapid degradation that is due to unstainable development practices globally. Oftentimes, uncoordinated economic development plans in wetlands and surrounding areas have affected the ecological functions of these sensitive ecosystems. This study examined Setiu Wetland, a wetland with diverse ecosystems on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The main objective of this study was to analyse the potential of marine spatial planning (MSP) to be adopted there. MSP is an integrated coastal zone management tool to govern conflicting uses of an area considering environmental sustainably. Like other coastal zone managements adopted in Southeast Asia, MSP requires participation and awareness of the local community to ensure sustainable development targets are achieved. This paper addresses the local community’s awareness of the ecosystem importance of Setiu Wetland and the socio-economic activities in the area. The study employed a quantitative approach using a survey method to examine, in particular, the local community’s awareness of the oyster habitat that has a direct impact on the Setiu Wetland ecosystems. The research findings indicate that awareness of the importance of oyster habitats to the wetland ecosystems is high among the local community. The community strongly supports the idea of protecting and preserving the wetland to ensure the healthy functioning of ecosystems.