Vol. 17 No. 3(I) (2025)

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) form the backbone of Malaysia’s economy, accounting for nearly 97% of business establishments and contributing 39.1% to the GDP in 2023 (SME Corp Malaysia, 2024). This study provides a comprehensive review of the performance of the Malaysian MSME sector. This study synthesizes recent statistical data and empirical studies to explore MSMEs’ contributing factors, MSMEs establishment by size and sector, state, value of MSMES GDP and overall GDP, number and annual percentage change of employment, MSMEs’ employment by type of economic activity, value and annual percentage change of labor productivity, and ongoing challenges faced by MSMEs. In addition, this study discusses government policy and support, as well as the impact of technological adoption among MSMEs in Malaysia. Furthermore, this study highlights the overall performance of MSMEs in the manufacturing sector and their determinants. The key determinants include technological capability, managerial competence, financial access, supply chain integration, and government support. In conclusion, to enhance MSME performance, policymakers must streamline access to government support and incentivize digital transformation. These strategies will help manufacturing MSMEs become more resilient and competitive.

Although work–family conflict has been extensively studied over the years, research in this area continues to focus predominantly on its consequences. Incompatibility between work and family roles often leads to conflict, resulting in negative outcomes both in the workplace and within the home environment. This study examines the effects of work-family conflict on children from dual-earner households. The primary objective of this study is to comprehend the impact of work-family conflict on the offspring of dual-earners. A qualitative study design was utilised, employing thematic analysis of data gathered from ten dual-earners via semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The result identified multiple causes and effects of work-family conflict that directly affect children. These findings underscore the importance of comprehending how dualearner interactions affect child well-being. The knowledge acquired from this study is significant and beneficial for subsequent research and practice. To properly tackle this issue, it is imperative to implement complete coping mechanisms. This study shows that researchers and policymakers should pay more attention to how work-family conflict affects children in unique ways.

The oil and gas industry is one of the most complex and hazardous industries in the world, with operations that span across upstream, downstream, different environments, and countries. Drilling Activities are considered the most capital-intensive stage in the upstream oil and gas sector. Despite improvements in safety performance between 2018 and 2023, the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) highlighted that the industry still faces challenges of incidents and their adverse financial impact. Previous studies have used incident causation methods to identify causes and various factors that lead to the accidents, a “reactive approach”. However, there is a gap in research that explores the numerical relation between Safety Performance and each of Human, Organization factors, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) through a quantitative approach. The research objective was to explore underpinning theories, identify incidents and their human and organizational factors in the industry, examine the impact of Artificial Intelligence on that relation, construct a Conceptual Framework that describes that relation, and develop robust control measures considering the AI to minimize chances of accidents in the industry. The research methodology will incorporate a stratified sampling mechanism, involving the distribution of questionnaires to 425 employees across various drilling crews within drilling companies in the Middle East. Both validity and reliability will be implemented, and hypotheses will be tested. The correlation between dependent and independent variables will be analysed using the quantitative method SPSS and AMOS for data visualization, concluding in the development of a comprehensive conceptual framework, and the best robust control measures will be driven qualitatively.

The focus of this study is to examine the effects of macroeconomic and financial indicators on bond market performance in Asia countries. This study utilizes a regression analysis to measure the relationship between inflation, interest rate, stock market performance, and gold price in six selected nations: India, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Turkey, from 2014 to 2024. The validity of the data was diagnostically checked by performing a VIF procedure, autocorrelation test, and normality test on residuals, and the data were analysed via EViews software. The analysis showed mixed findings; however, two major variables that negatively affect the performance of bond markets in Asia are “inflation and stock market,” which reflect global economic stability in the selected countries. An abrupt or sudden rise in the lending interest rate can trigger market volatility, leading to losses for bondholders and potentially discouraging corporate investment (Alam & Uddin, 2009). Moreover, the monetary policy stances adopted by central banks have systemically important ramifications for the valuation of both bond and equity markets on a global scale (Jang & Atukeren, 2019). For practical implications, this study suggests that policymakers pay extra attention to inflation to ensure a sustainable economic condition. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the combination of both economic and financial shocks, along with gold price, both pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on Asia.

Poverty has long been a topic of conversation in all parts of the world. It is a big worry that one-fifth of the world's population is experiencing multidimensional poverty. According to the World Bank, poverty reduction is a complicated issue that must be addressed prudently and continuously. On that topic, Malaysia has also made great progress since its liberation from British colonialism decades ago. With a suitable strategy in place, the National Economic Planning (NEP) that was implemented from 1971 to 1990 resulted in significant economic growth, which translated into higher household incomes for citizens. Even though the NEP has made significant progress in lowering the poverty line, poverty has become more multidimensional, dividing the problem into a few sectors, such as rural poverty and urban poverty. Many states have removed their forests to establish rubber, oil palm, paddy, coconut, and vegetable crops as their agricultural sectors have expanded. FELDA, RISDA, and FELCRA are just a few of the government entities that are launching initiatives to provide land and employment to citizens. Solving poverty concerns is a difficult endeavor due to the dynamic complexity of demographics, ethnicity, education, and data reliability. Malaysia's government is working tirelessly to eliminate poverty, reduce economic inequality, and develop legislation to address the concerns, yet it is still not sufficient to eradicate poverty as a whole. This article will look at urban poverty among middleincome households (M40) and low-income households (B40) and how they cope with rising prices for necessities such as housing, food, services, health care, and education. The researcher aims to determine why M40 and B40 are the most affected and fall into urban poverty.

In today’s volatile information ecosystem, the proliferation of fake news and misinformation presents a new and underexplored risk to global supply chain operations. With supply chain decisions increasingly dependent on digital signals, market trends, and geopolitical narratives, inaccurate or deliberately misleading information can lead to poor procurement choices, supplier disengagement, inventory misalignments, and panic-driven disruptions. This paper conceptualizes the phenomenon of misinformation as a form of "informational contamination" within supply chain networks. Drawing on sensemaking theory and contingency theory, the paper develops a framework that traces how misinformation originates, propagates, and ultimately influences global supply chain decision-making. The proposed framework introduces constructs such as the misinformation source, transmission channels, organizational interpretation mechanisms, and the resulting strategic or operational responses. This study contributes to the literature on supply chain risk management by extending current frameworks to include informational asymmetry and digital signal reliability, while also offering guidance for mitigating misinformation risks through verification protocols, digital media monitoring, and cross-functional communication resilience.

The global wellness economy is undergoing a paradigm shift from reactive healthcare to proactive and integrative well-being. Malaysia, with its rich cultural heritage, biodiversity, and established medical infrastructure, could be uniquely positioned as part of the leading holistic health tourism providers. Malaysia’s health tourism sector traditionally emphasized medical services and has long been recognized to attract patients seeking quality and affordable healthcare. Yet the global shift toward preventive and integrative wellness presents a timely opportunity to expand the country’s health tourism offerings beyond conventional medical interventions to a holistic health tourism hub. This conceptual paper explores the potential of holistic health tourism in Malaysia, encompassing a wider spectrum of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing services. It examines Malaysia’s strengths, the challenges faced, and potential strategies to elevate the nation as a premier holistic health tourism destination in Asia. Drawing on a recent literature review, this paper suggests that by strategically developing and promoting the country’s diverse natural, cultural heritage, and wellness resources, Malaysia can tap into a growing market, diversify its tourism portfolio, and significantly contribute to its economic development. The paper concludes with strategic implications for policymakers, industry players, and future researchers.

This study investigates the determinants of perceived travel risk among travellers in Puncak Alam, Selangor, a growing suburban destination in Malaysia. In an era marked by global uncertainty, travellers’ perceptions of risk significantly influence travel behaviour, destination choice and engagement in tourism activities. This research examines how purchasers’ behaviour, legal challenges and insurance availability shape individual perceptions of travel-related risks. The study posits that these perceptions are further influenced by geographical and socio-economic characteristics of the host environment. This study adopted a quantitative descriptive research methodology design, collecting data from 150 respondents selected through convenience sampling, a type of non-probability sampling method. A structured questionnaire was used as the data collection tool, and the results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis with the help of SPSS software. The results will reveal that the three variables, which are the purchaser’s behaviour, legal frameworks, and insurance accessibility, play a significant role in shaping perceived travel risk. The findings might provide valuable insights for tourism operators, policymakers, and insurance providers in crafting targeted risk management strategies and communication frameworks. By understanding these contributing factors, stakeholders can enhance traveller safety perceptions, support informed travel decisions, and promote sustainable tourism development in emerging destinations. This research contributes to the broader literature on travel risk perception and offers practical implications for improving destination image and tourism service quality in Malaysia.

The combination of immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and the Metaverse is changing the educational patterns by offering interactive, personalized, engaging learning experiences. This research studied the student acceptance in immersive VR and Metaverse-based learning environments through the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) model. This research examined the influence of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and attitude on behavioral intention among university students in University Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Puncak Alam. By using a quantitative research design, data were collected from 103 undergraduate students via a structured questionnaire. Through regression analysis, it was revealed that only perceived ease of use and attitude significantly influenced students’ behavioral intentions to adopt virtual reality in their learning activities, but not perceived usefulness. These findings highlighted the importance of a friendly user interface and positive emotional engagement in the adoption of virtual reality. The results also contributed to the ongoing discussion on education technology acceptance and provided some insights for software designers, educators, and policymakers for designing and implementing the virtual environment online effectively. Some suggestions for future research were also suggested to explore more variables, such as trust, self-efficacy, and institutional support to further enhance the understanding of adoption behavior across diverse educational methods.

Market sentiment has been found to be one of the key determinants of stock market volatility, especially in globally interconnected economies such as Malaysia. With the growing influence of retail investors operating in advanced digital trading environments, understanding the role of sentiment in shaping market behavior has become more critical. Despite existing regulatory frameworks designed to protect investors from manipulation and misconduct, current surveillance practices still rely on traditional indicators such as price and trading volume. These indicators may not fully capture how the market works in a real investment setting. This study addresses a critical gap by empirically examining the effects of market sentiment (measured through the Consumer Sentiment Index) along with other macroeconomic variables on stock return and its volatility in Malaysia. Using the GARCH-X Model on stock return data from January 1990 until January 2025, we find that CSI has a positive and significant relationship with stock returns, indicating that Malaysia’s stock market returns were more strongly influenced by investor confidence than by geopolitical events and monetary policy factors. In addition, the results from the GARCH-X model show that the stock market does not always move in line with the macroeconomic fundamentals in the short term. Additionally, the model suggests that in the short term, stock returns become more volatile during periods of market instability, with volatility amplifying when new shocks emerge. However, in the long run, the market tends to adjust and return to equilibrium. These findings underscore the need for regulatory authorities to enhance real-time volatility monitoring tools and promote better access to structured, legal, and accessible data sharing in ensuring effective market responses during periods of crisis or adverse global events.