Zaidi Isa

Since transit-oriented development (TOD) was introduced in the 1990s, most developed cities have shifted their focus toward urban regeneration, aiming to create walkable and sustainable environments that encourage public transportation usage. The redevelopment typically involved brownfield areas such as former docklands, waterfronts, or industrial sites, which were transformed into mixed-use developments integrated with public transit. This approach has led to the emergence of waterfront transit-oriented development (WTOD). In Malaysia, only two established WTODs: KL Sentral and Penang Sentral WTOD. In achieving successful implementation, it is crucial for WTOD to be contextually integrated with its surroundings, which, in this case, is the waterfront. The notion of integrating urban development with its local context has been emphasised by most prominent urban design thinkers, with legibility being one of the key principles highlighted. Legibility enhances the experiential qualities while navigating the city and provides people with a clear understanding of how the spaces are connected. Nine (9) attributes concerning legibility were identified, including street condition, pedestrian walkway along the waterfront/ street, transit access to taxi/ bus stop, ground-level porosity, integration of parking with development, signage toward the water body, waterfront link to the TOD, direct access to water body and visual access to water body. Therefore, this research aimed to examine the legibility principle that contributes to the experiential qualities of KL Sentral and Penang Sentral WTOD in terms of their level of contextual integration with the waterfront. A mixed method approach was employed, involving physical observations and questionnaire surveys with 597 respondents across 38 zones in KL Sentral WTOD and 490 respondents across 26 zones in Penang Sentral WTOD. Content and descriptive analyses were used to evaluate the experiential qualities of contextual integration for both WTODs. The findings implied that users’ experience regarding the level of contextual integration for legibility in each WTOD varied, highlighting the importance of aligning WTOD with its surroundings.

Analisis Penyampulan Data (APD) ialah kaedah analisis bukan parametrik yang boleh menghitung skor kecekapan dengan mempertimbangkan input dan output. Model APD telah melalui beberapa semakan sejak awal diperkenalkan oleh Farrell pada tahun 1957. Model awal, yang dikenali sebagai Model CCR, telah diperkenalkan oleh Charnes, Cooper dan Rhodes pada tahun 1978. Ini diikuti oleh Model BCC, dibangunkan oleh Bankers, Charnes, dan Cooper pada tahun 1984. Dari masa ke masa, APD telah berkembang menjadi model yang lebih rumit yang dikenali sebagai APD Dinamik. Contohnya, Model TT, yang diasaskan oleh Tone dan Tsutsui pada tahun 2010. Penggunaan Model TT memfokuskan kepada pengiraan kecekapan yang mengambil kira kesinambungan aktiviti bawaan atau peralihan. Oleh itu, objektif kajian ini adalah untuk menentukan model APD yang paling sesuai untuk mengukur kecekapan. Tiga model APD yang diuji ialah BCC, CCR dan TT. Data kajian merangkumi data input dan output institusi wakaf di Malaysia yang merangkumi tahun 2014 hingga 2021. Bagi Model BCC dan CCR, 4 data input digunakan terdiri daripada perbelanjaan kutipan dana, perbelanjaan gaji kakitangan, perbelanjaan operasi dan kutipan dana wakaf tunai. Manakala 2 data output merangkumi nilai projek wakaf dan keuntungan pelaburan dana wakaf tunai. Berbeza dengan Model TT yang mempunyai tambahan data baharu menerusi aktiviti bawaan atau peralihan iaitu kutipan dana wakaf tunai. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan Model BCC mengatasi dua model lain. Penemuan ini mengukuhkan dan mempertingkatkan kedudukan Model BCC sebagai APD termaju yang menggabungkan andaian yang lebih tepat melalui Pulangan Berubah Mengikut Skala. Penemuan kajian dijangka menawarkan pandangan yang berharga kepada ahli akademik, menunjukkan bahawa model berasaskan andaian yang lebih realistik mempunyai kesan yang lebih besar, menggambarkan kecekapan sebenar dengan tepat dan mendedahkan kesinambungan aktiviti bawaan atau peralihan yang tidak membantu dalam memberikan skor kecekapan yang lebih tinggi. Tambahan pula, adalah penting untuk mengakui kepentingan menggabungkan Model BCC dengan model lain sebagai penanda aras perbandingan dalam mana-mana kajian yang berkaitan dengan APD.

Risk management is a systematic approach of dealing with the inherent uncertainty of risks in a deliberate manner. Workers' risk perception and risk tolerance are two elements that may impact how a firm handles risk and how secure it is, depending on how comparable their risk perceptions and tolerances are. There exists a disparity between the phase of evaluating operational hazards and the phase of comprehending them. The role of workers towards risk management remains limited. Hence, the objective of this study is to ascertain the correlation between the perception of risk and the willingness to take risks, in connection to the workers' safety environment in refinery plants. An analysis utilising the Partial Least Squares-SEM model was performed on the data obtained from a valid research questionnaire. Results illustrate that risk perception of employees and their level of readiness to accept risks (tolerance) are remarkably impacted by the safety climate. Moreover, it explained how an individual's viewpoint on risk perception significantly impacts their willingness to embrace risk. This study increases employee awareness, which promotes a safety culture and enhances understanding of the company's risk management strategies. As a result, there will be a notable decline in occurrences pertaining to safety in general.

The ageing global population and changing labor force participation are having a profound impact on state pension programs worldwide, including Malaysia. However, the effects of an ageing workforce and declining fertility rates are having a significant impact on future trends in labor force participation and the duration of retirement. This paper presents an innovative examination of labor force participation rate (LFPR) forecasting within the context of an aging workforce, utilizing the Lee-Carter and Cairns-Blake Dowd stochastic models, traditionally applied to mortality data. By adapting these models to LFPR data, the study offers a novel perspective on predicting workforce participation trends and understanding the dynamics of retirement planning from year 2001 to 2047. Additionally, by incorporating the mortality forecasts from the United Nations, the research navigates through the complexities of applying actuarial methods to labor economics, revealing differentiated pathways for male and female participation in the labor market and the anticipated length of retirement. This study offers a unique comparison between the Lee-Carter and the Cairns-Blake-Dowd (CBD) LFPR models. It focuses on fitting and forecasting the LFPR of senior employees aged 50 to 64. The results highlighted discrepancies among models that demonstrated evidence of model risk for extended retirement duration.

The study analyzes and assess the traditional generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model with the Markov regime-switching GARCH model (MRS GARCH). Evaluation based on the accuracy of forecasting volatility and risk of Malaysia natural rubber grade Standard Malaysia Rubber 20 (SMR20). We fitted these models under six distributions which are normal, Student-t, generalized error distribution (GED), and their skewed version. Based on log-likelihood (LL), Akaike information criterion (AIC), and Bayesian information criterion (BIC), we found that the MRS GARCH models outperform the traditional GARCH models. We also found that the SMR20 returns are fat tails and skewedly distributed. Further, we forecasted one-day Value-at-Risk (VaR) for each model and compared their adequacy using the conditional coverage (CC) test and Dynamic Quantile (DQ) test. We discovered that the best accurate VaR prediction for SMR20 risk management comes from the MRS GARCH model of skewed Student-t distribution.

The world population is aging, which along with recent shifts in the labor force participation (LFP), is having a significant longevity influence on state pension programs across the board, including Canada, Finland, Japan, and Germany. Except Japan, these countries have set their statutory re-tirement age at 65, but the impact of aging workforce and declined fertility rates create wonders on the estimate future trends in the LFP, as well as the length of retirement. In this study, we fit the LFP rates of these countries, representing continents from Asia, Europe and North America among the OECD countries, using the Lee-Carter and Cairns-Blake-Dowd (CBD) stochastic models. The es-timates are then used for the projection of future LFP rates (1989-2066), and by combining the mortality forecasts from the United Nations, we project the expected length of retirement (1989-2066). This study provided a novel comparison between the Lee-Carter and the CBD LFP models by fitting and forecasting the LFP rates of senior employees between 50- to 74-year-olds. The results revealed disparities between models that provided proof of the presence of model risk for longer retirement durations. The study findings emphasized the importance for decision-makers in pension industry to have awareness of potential risks and limits associated with the LFP models. The Lee-Carter model outperformed the CBD model even though the CBD model is known for its ac-curate prediction in higher ages. Population aging should be considered in any analysis of the long-term viability of pensions, together with the participation rate trends for a sustainable labor market future.

The objective of this study is to estimate the retirement wealth adequacy of future retirees under defined contribution (DC) plan in Malaysia using wealth-need model and simulation approach. Several feasible scenarios are projected, including the best case (or optimistic) and worse case (or pessimistic) scenarios, based on several related assumptions. The results show that 36% of households are projected to have adequate retirement benefits under the pessimistic scenario, while 84% of households are projected to have adequate retirement benefits under the optimistic scenario.

Retirement adequacy is estimated using Malaysian Household Income Survey (HIS) 2009 data based on 5881 sample of households with information on income, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of each household.The adequacy of retirement income is assessed by comparing accumulated projected wealth of an individual’s work life at retirement age with his/her total consumption (needs) in retirement. From the idea of life cycle model, the desired retirement income is to maintain the preretirement level of living throughout retirement.Therefore, retirement wealth can be defined as adequate if the total retirement income is equal or greater than the total desired retirement consumption.Based on the wealth-need ratio projections, 69% of households are adequately prepared for retirement.Besides the projection of retirement adequacy, a logistic regression is performed to determine the demographic and socioeconomic determinants of retirement adequacy. In addition, optimistic and pessimistic scenarios are projected to discern the effects of retirement and investment factors on retirement wealth adequacy

Adequacy of retirement income is very important to maintain a comfortable living standard during retirement. Under a life cycle model, assets are mainly accumulated during an individual’s work life to finance consumption after retirement. A generally accepted goal of retirement planning is to provide enough income during retirement to prevent the level of living from dropping much below the pre-retirement level. Retirement wealth can be defined as adequate if the total retirement income is equal or greater than the desired total retirement consumption (or needs). In this study, retirement adequacy is projected using the Malaysian Household Income Survey (HIS) 2009 data which is based on 5881 sample of households and contains information on income, demographic and socioeconomic status of each household. Besides the projection of retirement adequacy, a regression of the ratio of projected wealth to needs (or wealth-needs ratio) is performed to investigate the demographic and socioeconomic determinants of retirement adequacy in Malaysia. The results show that 69% of households in Malaysia are adequately prepared for retirement.