Jamalunlaili Abdullah

HOUSING AND TRANSPORT EXPENDITURE: AN ASSESSMENT OF LOCATION HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

In every country, the ability to own a house is vital for the housing market. During the past five years, housing prices in the urban area in Malaysia are becoming severely unaffordable. Housing affordability ensures that housing provided is affordable for every income groups, especially the low and middle income group. The measurement of housing affordability uses household income and housing cost but disregards transportation expenditure which is a substantial amount of household expenditure. Location of housing influences transportation expenditure. The research determines the Location Housing Affordability for the low and middle income group in an urban area. This study quantitatively examines Putra Height as one of the mature residential neighbourhoods in Selangor as well as due to the availability of public transit in the area. Housing affordability and transportation affordability create an integrated Location Housing Affordability Index. Data analysis utilizes the measurement of Location Housing Affordability Index. The findings showed that Location Housing Affordability Index recognizes location as influential factor to housing affordability of 179 respondents from low and middle income group. The findings also suggested that the houses in the urban area were seriously unaffordable for the low and middle income groups. The contribution of the research is the emphasis on location as a part of housing affordability measurement.

Resettlement of Orang Asli (Aborigines) in Malaysia—Marginalization or Demarginalization of an Ethnic Group

The Orang Asli, the aboriginal of Malaysia, is the smallest and most marginalized community in Peninsular Malaysia. They are geographically and socio-economically marginalized, due to their geographic settings in and near the forests and the community’s low education and income levels. Despite working on the land and foraging the forest for generations, they do not have land titles which put them at the disadvantaged in Malaysia’s Torrent Land Law system. To provide better health and education services and to improve their socio-economic conditions, the government has embarked on various resettlement and redevelopment programs for the community. While generally the programs have demarginalized many Orang Asli, there are some who have become more marginalized due to their inability to cope in a newer and more modern settings. This chapter evaluates this situation in three such schemes.

The financial costs of urban sprawl: Case study of Penang State

The financial cost of urban sprawl is the additional or incremental costs measured relative to the type, density and location of sprawl development compared to inner city development. The costs are incurred by both the public and private sectors. Numerous studies on costs of sprawl found that there is an increase in infrastructure costs associated with sprawl development compared to compact development. Sprawl increases infrastructure costs in several ways. Lower density means each yard of linear infrastructure such as water and sewer serves fewer households. Housing type and location affect the number of water and sewer laterals and resultant costs. Road network cost increases as well. The increase in costs compels researchers to examine what type and which location of development should be encouraged. This paper adopts a case study approach in examining housing development costs of eleven housing projects in Penang State, Malaysia. Mathematical and statistical analysis are applied on actual data. The results of cross tabulation reveal that costs per unit of housing development, based on traditional development calculations, are cheaper with greater distance from CBD. However, when additional development costs data (infrastructure costs such as roadworks, sewerage and water lines from housing projects to the sub-service centres) are factored in, the results show that the cost per unit is higher with greater distance from CBD. These results support international findings that cost per unit of development rises as distance increases and densities decreases, characteristics of sprawl development. This is perhaps the first empirical results on financial costs of sprawl in Malaysia and hope to be a springboard to future studies on costs of urban sprawl in Malaysia.

THE SUBURBANISATION OF THE KUALA LUMPUR METROPOLITAN REGION

The Klang Valley has been experiencing rapid urbanisation especially during the past two decades. The area has expanded to become a larger entity known as the Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan Region (KLMR). But this development comes at the expense of Kuala Lumpur. The city had consistently recorded net-out migration during the period. This development has consequences on the urban fabric of the city and can lead to the problem

Highlands Developments in Malaysia

The main Titiwangsa mountain range straddles north to south of Peninsular Malaysia and soars to more than 3000 m a.s.l. After independence of 1957, Genting Highlands in Pahang was the first intensive highland development with a casino and a theme city. Due to recent economic development pressure, more intensive developments of these highlands have been proposed and carried out by the government and developers. Some were received warmly by the people while others were hotly contested by the public, especially by non-governmental organizations. Hill resort development which was small scales and sustainable in nature could be found in Fraser Hill, Penang Hill, and Cameron Highlands. This paper analyzes these highland developments and the public’s responses to them. In addition it analyzes the government responses to the public oppositions and the measures taken to improve the sustainability of these highland developments. Some notable cases presented are the proposed Penang Hill development and the Cameron Highlands tourism activities. The paper analyzes these highland developments descriptively and is a rather fairly comprehensive overview of highland development in Peninsular Malaysia.

The Expectations of Muslim and Non-Muslim Restaurant Entrepreneurs Towards Halal Certification in Malaysia

Halal certification is very prominent to the restaurant industry in Malaysia, but the actual implementation of its standards is crucial for the comprehension of those who are unfamiliar with Islamic dietary rules. The purpose of this study is to determine the expectations of Muslim and non-Muslim restaurant entrepreneurs towards halal certification in Malaysia as the demand for halal food is growing at fast pace. A nationwide mail survey has been conducted involving 13 states and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur that covered halal-certified, halal-claimant and non-halal restaurants. Three techniques that include factor and cluster analysis and independent t-test were conducted to show a clear difference between the Muslim and non-Muslim restaurant entrepreneurs. Factor analysis has listed that there were seven dimensions of halal certification, whereas the cluster analysis showed that the respondents were separated into three distinct groups that include ‘Certification Advocates’, ‘Certification Ambivalents’ and ‘Compliance Cost Focussed’. It is gathered that there were significant differences between Muslim and non-Muslim respondents on factors like market signals, Islamic attributes, marketing benefits, cost of compliance and local awareness. However, cost of certification and non-Islamic attributes showed that the differences were not significant. This study is the first to investigate the expectations of restaurateurs with different religious backgrounds towards halal certification with the implication for restaurant operators and hospitality industry practitioners to recognize the importance of halal certification for both Muslim and non-Muslim restaurant patrons.