Malaysia’s childcare industry has expanded dramatically over the years. Because of the vital role that formal early childhood education plays, the number of childcare centres in Malaysia has steadily increased and will continue to rise in the future. The expansion and improvement of comprehensive early childhood care and development programmes and services, particularly for the most vulnerable and underprivileged children, is one of the fundamental components of Malaysian childhood education. A good quality childcare centre provides overwhelming effects on the children’s development, survival, and growth because of their childcare experiences gained based on the wise enrolment decision made by their parents. Furthermore, the quality of early childhood service and staff is a trademark of early childhood care and education programmes since the study on brain development has shown that the quality of childcare enhances children’s development. Therefore, it is believed that the quality of childcare nurtures healthy brain development in the first five years of development. Research has also shown that the quality of childcare contributes to successful later learning. The role of childcare employee is crucial in ensuring the development of children under their care. Studies showed that high job satisfaction among childcare employees contributed to a high level of commitment among them. Hence, the main objective of this book is to discuss a new standard of safety and quality assurance model of childcare to safeguard our future leaders or generations from receiving poor service. This book considers ways to increase and sustain a person’s mental health, to cope with child abuse crises, as guidance to foster self-control and to cope with aggression. It also highlights the ways to build social concern, kindness, and learning to value different cultures. This book is suitable for use by all university students for reference purposes in their daily learning. In addition, this book is also suitable to be read by all employers and employees of the childcare centres as well as parents who send their children to the childcare centres to be used as a guide in their daily child’s care and management. In other words, this book is suitable to be read by all communities for self-awareness.

This book attempts to understand Najibnomics-economic policies advocated by the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, since he helmed office on April 3, 2009. Najibnomics refers to a new approach to Malaysia’s economic development which is typified by three main characteristics: knowledge, innovation and freedom. It is a set of strategies, programmes and measures meant to transform Malaysia into a high-income and developed nation by the year 2020. This book analyses Najibnomics in action, or rather attempts to problematise Najibnomics at the level of its implementation. Through Najibnomics, the Malaysian government strives to keep the momentum of a sustainable growth trajectory, to enhance the well-being of the rakyat (people) and ensure the country gets out of the “middle-income trap” to become a high-income and developed economy by the year 2020.

The rural development approach should be flexible and dynamic to correspond with the transformation of the rural economy and society. Therefore, the phases of rural development in Malaysia illustrate the transformation of rural development approaches in Malaysia and how these approaches have changed the overall rural landscape. Different from other books on rural development, this book presents discussion and analysis on rural development approaches since after independence until during the COVID-19 pandemic. The content of the book is a mixture of primary and secondary information gathered from literature reviews, interviews, and on-site observation. It provides a diverse and rich discussion on various aspects of rural development approaches. The early phase of development approach which was at macro level targeting the mass of rural poverty since the poverty incidence was high. The goal of rural development was two prongs; to develop the economy, infrastructure and facility of the rural areas and to alleviate poverty. As the incidence of poverty has reduced remarkably, the development approach has separated from the poverty alleviation programmes. Development initiatives was more to provide basic urban infrastructure and facilities, to develop human resources through skill-training and improve level of education of the rural residents. In addition, rural development provides employment opportunities through decentralization of industrial sector to rural areas and fosters entrepreneurship activities. Meanwhile, the poverty alleviation programmes are tackled at micro level, that is more towards individual or a household level. The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic alters the approach of rural development focusing on providing facilities, services and assistance to preserve the well-being of rural community, especially the low-income group.

In this highly original and much-anticipated ethnography, Anna Tsing challenges not only anthropologists and feminists but all those who study culture to reconsider some of their dearest assumptions. By choosing to locate her study among Meratus Dayaks, a marginal and marginalized group in the deep rainforest of South Kalimantan, Indonesia, Tsing deliberately sets into motion the familiar and stubborn urban fantasies of self and other. Unusual encounters with her remarkably creative and unconventional Meratus friends and teachers, however, provide the opportunity to rethink notions of tradition, community, culture, power, and gender--and the doing of anthropology. Tsing's masterful weaving of ethnography and theory, as well as her humor and lucidity, allow for an extraordinary reading experience for students, scholars, and anyone interested in the complexities of culture. Engaging Meratus in wider conversations involving Indonesian bureaucrats, family planners, experts in international development, Javanese soldiers, American and French feminists, Asian-Americans, right-to-life advocates, and Western intellectuals, Tsing looks not for consensus and coherence in Meratus culture but rather allows individual Meratus men and women to return our gaze. Bearing the fruit from the lively contemporary conversations between anthropology and cultural studies, In the Realm of the Diamond Queen will prove to be a model for thinking and writing about gender, power, and the politics of identity.

This is an open access book. The 12th UUM International Legal Conference 2023“REFLECTING ON THE FUTURE: ADVANCES IN LAW”Aims of the Conference To provide a platform for intellectuals from various fields to discuss and share experiences on contemporary legal issues.To enhance network and collaboration among the participants from various disciplines.To encounter legal issues from different perspectives both globally and locally.

There is a vast literature for and against privatizing public services. Those who are against privatization are often confronted with the objection that they present no alternative. This book takes up that challenge by establishing theoretical models for what does (and does not) constitute an alternative to privatization, and what might make them ‘successful’, backed up by a comprehensive set of empirical data on public services initiatives in over 40 countries. This is the first such global survey of its kind, providing a rigorous and robust platform for evaluating different alternatives and allowing for comparisons across regions and sectors. The book helps to conceptualize and evaluate what has become an important and widespread movement for better public services in the global South. The contributors explore historical, existing and proposed non-commercialized alternatives for primary health, water/sanitation and electricity. The objectives of the research have been to develop conceptual and methodological frameworks for identifying and analyzing alternatives to privatization, and testing these models against actually existing alternatives on the ground in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Information of this type is urgently required for practitioners and analysts, both of whom are seeking reliable knowledge on what kind of public models work, how transferable they are from one place to another and what their main strengths and weaknesses are.

“The foundational text that gave me life-changing context, helping me to understand who I was and who came before me.”—Tourmaline, activist and filmmaker Transgender Warriors is an essential read for trans people of all ages who want to learn about the towering figures who have come before them—and for everyone who is part of the fight for trans liberation This groundbreaking book—far ahead of its time when first published in 1996 and still galvanizing today—interweaves history, memoir, and gender studies to show that transgender people, far from being a modern phenomenon, have always existed and have exerted their influence throughout history. Leslie Feinberg—hirself a lifelong transgender revolutionary—reveals the origin of the check-one-box-only gender system and shows how zie found empowerment in the lives of transgender warriors around the world, from the Two Spirits of the Americas to the many genders of India, from the trans shamans of East Asia to the gender-bending Queen Nzinga of Angola, from Joan of Arc to Marsha P. Johnson and beyond. This book was published with two different covers. Customers will be shipped the book with one of the available covers.