Achieving gender equality and women's empowerment is integral to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and it has been emphasised that women have a key role in achieving SDGs. Towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, what is the reality of gender equality in women's entrepreneurship? The Malaysian government has provided various platforms to increase women's participation in entrepreneurship. However, the relatively meagre research exploring the lived experiences of women entrepreneurs in Malaysia where patriarchy is strongly embedded in the society has created a big gap in the literature. By using the gender lens and Kandiyoti's concept of bargaining patriarchy, this article explores how women entrepreneurs are constantly negotiating and at the same time conforming to patriarchal norms to earn their own "space and freedom" in running and managing their business activities. Ten women entrepreneurs of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) were interviewed. It is revealed that women entrepreneurs have to constantly juggle their time between performing their domestic duties and their entrepreneurship through constant negotiation with the patriarchal norms. This study offers new insights on negotiating patriarchy used by the women entrepreneurs as a strategy to run their business activities. The gender lens used managed to unravel the fact that Malay Muslim women entrepreneurs are not just Nor Hafizah Selamat and Noraida Endut 12 passive recipients of patriarchal norms, but consciously and constantly strategise and negotiate their way within the constraints of living in a patriarchal society.

As a moderate Muslim nation, the mobility of Malay Muslim women in Malaysia is not legally restricted by the state. However, their movements are constrained by factors such as their roles, responsibilities, and the need to preserve values related to their religious and custom requirements. These constraints are shaped by patriarchal gender norms where women are expected to be obedient to a system of institutionalized male power. Our paper seeks to understand the constraints subjected to Malay Muslim women in travelling for leisure and study how they negotiate those constraints using technology. Based on ten qualitative, in-depth interviews conducted with Malay Muslim women aged between 22 to 37 years old, the findings showed that women are gaining the support, trust and freedom to travel via technology. Using the Hierarchical Constraint Model, the findings indicate that culture is significant wherein several constraints faced by MMW differ from those faced by Western or other Asian women. The new insights generated from this paper are unique as they reflect on the unexplored segment of Asian women where Malay Muslim women are becoming the testament of transformation. The finding indicates their departure from the gendered patriarchy norms as technology becomes their tool to negotiate constraints while facilitating the growth of female travel market. A significant association between travel constraints and negotiation illustrates that women are empowered by using technology to travel.

No abstract

This article examines how exposure to crime, perceptions of safety, negative affect associated with exposure to crime and social connectedness predict subjective happiness. A survey was conducted with 240 residents from three gated urban residential areas in Penang Island, Malaysia. The survey assessed background information, exposure to crime, perceptions of safety, negative affect associated with exposure to crime, social connectedness and subjective happiness. The study found social connectedness to be a significant predictor for negative affect associated with crime and subjective happiness. Relationships between exposure to crime, perceptions of safety and subjective happiness were less clear. Exposure to crime and perceptions of safety for this sample may represent more specific experiences that bear lower implications for global assessment such as subjective happiness. This study highlights the need to understand the complex relationships between exposure to crime, perceptions of safety and other contextual factors, all in the context of urban living.

This study aims to give an account of the Malaysian Homestay Tourism industry through a case study of the Relau Homestay Program. By using a qualitative approach based on participant observation and interviews, this paper will examine the Relau Homestay Program in regard to three themes. These are a) the issue of 'authenticity' in the host culture and in the tourist experience, b) women's participation in the homestay program, and c) the filial dynamic of the host-guest relationship, which is discussed with reference to the concept of 'fictive kinship'. The Relau program was found to be a cogent model of homestay operation, in many respects due to the participation and major role of female operators. Therefore, we recommend more efforts are taken by the local government to recognize the contribution of women, and enhance opportunities for their training and further education.