Technology THE VIRTUAL SER
Science
e-proceedings
Social Sciences
& Humanities
International Conference 2021
IES (TeSSHI 2021)
e ISBN 978-967-2948-10-0 DivulgingNew Vistas in the New Norm
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E-PROCEEDINGS
TECHNOLOGY, SCIENCE, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND
HUMANITIES INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
TeSSHI 2021: THE VIRTUAL SERIES
Divulging New Vistas in the New Norm
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Syatirah Abu Bakar
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Rohayati Hussin (Dr.)
Papers presented online at
Technology, Science, Social Sciences and Humanities
International Conference 2021 (TeSSHI 2021)
3 June 2021
UiTM Cawangan Kedah, Merbok
Kedah, Malaysia
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA CAWANGAN KEDAH
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Foreword
The papers compiled in these e-proceedings are papers presented online at Technology,
Science, Social Sciences and Humanities International Conference 2021 (TeSSHI 2021)
held on 3 June 2021 at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Cawangan Kedah, Kedah,
Malaysia. With the theme, Divulging New Vistas in the New Norm, the conference has
brought together presenters of diverse background who shared their conceptual and
empirical papers in broad areas that are subsumed under the fields of Technology,
Science, Social Sciences and Humanities. These e-proceedings comprise current
researches that were undertaken with the rigorous endeavour of knowledge
enhancement to ensure that the world of academia will continue to flourish. It is thus
hoped that readers will significantly benefit from knowledge contained in these
proceedings.
TeSSHI 2021 and these e-proceedings would not have been possible without the great
efforts from the presenters, and the generous support from the TeSSHI 2021 committee
members and the Rector of UiTM Cawangan Kedah, Prof. Dr. Mohamad Abdullah Hemdi.
A heartfelt gratitude is extended to all involved. It is hoped that these e-proceedings will
be an impetus to stimulate futher studies and research that benefit the society at large.
Table of Contents
1. A Review on Malay Archetypal Figures in the Malay Culture 1
Syazliyati Ibrahim, Mohamad Rashidi Mohd Pakri & Norlizawati Md Tahir
2. Board of Visitors under the Child Act 2001, Child Act (Amendment) 2016 And
Other Related Legislations: The Roles and Duties 7
Salmah Roslim, Nurul Mazrah Manshor, Rohayati Hussin & Nur Irinah Mohamad Sirat
3. COVID-19 Contact Tracing: The Legal Issues and Concerns Raised by 12
MySejahtera App
Nur Irinah Mohamad Sirat & Syatirah Abu Bakar
4. Digital Labor on Social Media in China 19
Pan Dongke & Shahrul Nazmi Sannusi
5. Economic Sustainability Practices in Malaysian Rural Libraries 30
Siti Khadijah Rafie, Roziya Abu, Nurliyana Abas & Siti Khairunnisa Sheikh Abdul
Mutalib
6. Ergonomic and Anthropometric Study of Home Office for Work-From-Home 35
(WFH) During Pandemic COVID-19
Wan Nur Rukiah Binti Mohd Arshard, Ahmad Faiz Bin Hassan Naziri & Nor Diyana
Binti Mustapa
7. Ergonomics, Learning Environment Student Architecture: A Personal View 43
Ahmad Faiz Bin Hassan Naziri, Wan Nur Rukiah Binti Mohd Arshard, Ismail Bin
Samsuddin & Izzat Bin Anuar
8. Etika Kewartawanan dalam Pelaporan Berita Portal di Malaysia 50
Marasida Omar & Shahrul Nazmi Sannusi 54
9. Framing Responsibility in Pandemic: A Content Analysis of COVID-19
Coverage in Chinese Media
Weilun Ju, Shahrul Nazmi Sanussi & Emma Mohamad
10. From ‘Darek’ To ‘Rantau’: The Architecture Morphology of Minangkabau 65
Traditional House
Mohamad Hanif Abdul Wahab, Azizi Bahauddin & Nor Aniswati Awang Lah
11. Is This Organization Effective? Effective Organization in the Post COVID
Situation: From the Employee’s Perspective 80
Azfahanee Zakaria, Syed Mohammed Alhady Bin Syed Ahmad Alhady, Sarah Sabir
Ahmad & Azlan Abdul Rahman
12. Konsep Bias Media dalam Portal Berita Atas Talian Berdasarkan Teori Bias 85
Media
Suhana Saad & Shahrul Nazmi Sannusi
13. Language and Culture: What Is Apt for the ESL Classroom 94
Syakirah Mohammed & Robekhah Harun
i
14. Life Is Short, Don`t Take for Granted: The Flood Mitigation by Wetland 100
Syazuani binti Mohd Shariff
15. Mobile Journalism in Indonesia: Practices and Challenges 107
Sofia Aunul & Shahrul Nazmi Sannusi
16. Mural Art’s Sustainability and Prospective in the Urban Landscape 113
Environment
Muhammad Falihin Jasmi
17. Nature Imitating Attribute Adapted in Design Learning Process via Users’ 120
Perspectives
Azhari Md Hashim & Muhammad Faiq Hilmi Mohamad Zamberi
18. Nilai Tarbiyah di Sebalik Pengungkapan Lafaz Al-Ma’ dalam Al-Qur’an 129
Muhamad Khairul Anuar Bin Zulkepli & Mohd Zulkhairi Abd Hamid
19. Product Awareness, Quality of Services and Advertising Strategy on Islamic
Banking Products Towards Bank Profitability 139
Sarah Sabir Ahmad, Norashikin Abdul Hamid, Muhammad Khairul Zamir Abdul Aziz,
Noor Azraniza Idris & Azfahanee Zakaria
20. Raising Intercultural Awareness via Short Stories – A Conceptual
Understanding 147
Norlizawati Md Tahir, Syazliyati Ibrahim, Sharina Saad, Rafidah Amat & Muhammad
Aiman Afiq Mohd Noor
21. Students' Satisfaction on Open and Distance Learning (ODL): An Investigation
on ICT Infrastructure and Household Income Inequality 156
Zaidatulhusna binti Mohd Isnani, Haslinda Noradzan, Wan Aryati Wan Ghani, Sri
Yusmawati binti Mohd Yunus & Saliza binti Ramly
22. The Application of Social Innovation Economic Transfer Model in Generating
Income of Community: A Case Study in Malaysia Through Marketing of
Eco-Friendly Traditional Cookies 167
Marzlin Marzuki, Syazliyati Ibrahim, Maznah Wan Omar & Asrol Hasan
23. The Effectiveness of Instagram as Marketing Communication Tool for
Naelofar Hijab 182
Nornatasya Farina Binti Jasman, Mohamed Razeef Bin Abdul Razak & Azahar Bin
Harun
24. The Impact of Knowledge Sharing to Employee Engagement: A Case Study 183
in XYZ Company
Azfahanee Zakaria, Syed Mohammed Alhady Bin Syed Ahmad Alhady & Sarah
Sabir Ahmad
25. The Impact on a Seamless Application Development in a Cloud Environment 188
Mohd Norafizal Abd Aziz, Siti Aishah Mohamad & Eily Azer
ii
26. The Relationship between Servicescape and Value Co-Creation Behavior 196
Among Hotel Guests in Malaysia
Sabrina Tarmudi & Norsiah Jaharuddin
27. The Satisfaction Level of Building Information Modelling in the Interior 205
Design Industry
Muhammad Danial Ismail, Abu Bakar Abd Hamid & Nor Hazirah Hasri
28. Variasi Lafaz Awan dalam Al-Qur’an Mengikut Konteks 215
Muhamad Khairul Anuar Bin Zulkepli & Mohd Zulkhairi Abd Hamid
29. Waqf Management for Higher Education under the Concept of Nazir, 225
Mutawalli and Qayyim
Rohayati Hussin
30. The Impact of Office Environment on Employee Performance at Penang Port
Sdn. Bhd 235
Sarah Sabir Ahmad, Norsyuhada Wazir, Azfahanee Zakaria & Mhd Azmin Mat Seman
iii
A Review on Malay Archetypal Figures in the Malay Culture
Syazliyati Ibrahim
Academy of Language Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah Branch
[email protected]
Mohamad Rashidi Mohd Pakri
School of Humanities
University Sains Malaysia.
[email protected]
Norlizawati Md Tahir
Academy of Language Studies,
Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah Branch
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
Understanding the minds of the characters in any literary works has always been a highly
pertinent approach in literary analysis. In doing so, the critics will be able to explore the psyche of
the characters and relate the analysis to a variety of life lessons which can be shared with the
readers. One of the widely used reading approaches is by analysing the archetypes inherent in the
representations of the literary characters. Archetypes is a concept developed by a renowned
psychologist, Carl Jung. Carl Jung posits that there are three layers of our psyche which are the ego
(consciousness), personal unconscious and collective unconscious. The importance of
understanding the workings of our psyche is that we will be able to embrace our unconscious minds
and when this is achieved, we will be able to work towards individuation or self-fulfilment that will
eventually lead to an arcane understanding of the self. Concomitantly, this paper aspires to link the
concepts of Jung’ s archetypes to the Malay historical characters available in the Malay culture.
These archetypal figures will be identified via a literature review of the studies on the Malay
historiography. By highlighting the archetypal figures, this exploration will be beneficial to other
researchers to utilise the concepts of Malay archetypal figures and apply such understanding in their
studies. In the context of literary studies, the identification of the Malay archetypal figures will help
to provide a useful framework for greater appreciation on the workings of the Malay minds especially
in any works portraying Malay characters.
Keywords: archetypes, archetypal figures, Carl Jung, Malay culture.
INTRODUCTION
Literary analysis may be approached in any plausible means depending on the focus of the
study. One of the most significantly popular approaches is analysing the literary text via the
psychoanalytical method. One of the branches of literary analysis which develops from
psychoanalysis is the study of archetypes in the texts. This approach is based on the clinical
psychologist, Carl Jung’s conception in his works on the psyche of the human mind. Archetypal
studies in fact, is prevalent not only in literary analysis but can be found in other fields of studies
such as business, medicine and management. For this paper, the objective is to reify the concept of
archetypes in the Malay culture. The conception of archetypes can be manifested in the archetypal
1
figures which represent certain culture. In order to delineate such a conception, a literature review
has been conducted on the concept of archetypes and archetypal figures in the Malay culture which
are represented by Malay literature, Malay folklores, Malay arts and media and Malay historical
writings.
COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS AND ARCHETYPES
The theory on archetypes sprouts from psychoanalysis mainly from the works of Carl S. Jung
who diverted from the original psychoanalytic studies founded by Sigmund Freud. Jung was Freud’s
friend and disciple but as time passes by, Jung develops his own focus in psychoanalysis which
concentrates on the deeper level of the unconscious mind which are divided into three which are the
ego, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious which differs from Freud who believes
that the unconscious only consists of a personal phenomenon (Bal, 2017). Jung advocates that in
the unconscious level of our psyche, there exists a collection of primordial images or an inborn mode
of psychic apprehension called archetype that has been there since time immemorial (Jung, 1969).
Jung further posits that human are not born with a clean slate but are equipped with unconscious
and hidden images deep in the mind. Since all these hidden, unconscious images are conferred to
us from birth, humans essentially have similar kinds of imprints deep in their psyche. These imprints
are shared by all humans and are called the collective unconscious. It is within this collective
unconscious domain that the elemental images are formed and named the archetypes (Jung, 1969).
These archetypes can be manifested in myths, dreams, legends, folklores and even superstitions
inherent in a certain community.
Jung’s opponents contest his theories by stating that his ideas are too subjective, unscientific
and not empirical (Neher, 1996). Nevertheless, despite all these disputations, Jung’s theories of
collective unconscious and archetypes become more popular until today and have been tried and
tested in a myriad of scholarships from business, management, medical to literature. The relevance
of Jung’s theories of collective unconscious and archetype are still prevalent in many areas of our
lives and flourish despite the opposing voices to their establishment. The most probable reason why
Jung’s theories on archetypes are pertinent in our lives is the tested archetypes are proven time and
again to be reflective of the lived experiences of the people. The lived experiences are closely related
to the development of one’s personality. This development of one’s personality is a lifelong journey
of a phenomenon termed as individuation (Jung, 1969). Individuation is the process of becoming of
the self (Jung,1969). The goal of the individuation process is the synthesis of the self or the
integrated personality. Even though the self-archetype is almost impossible to achieve but moving
towards this direction is one’s hope to attain self-knowledge and comprehension, so that one can
overcome fear, selfishness, arrogance and careerism (Adamski, 2011).
Jung further contends that deep in our psyche we share similar notions of certain images
regardless of our geographical location. Jung’s examples of central archetypes include the Mother,
the Father, the Shadow and the Persona (Walters, 1994). The Mother archetype can be represented
by any nurturing images such as the earth, the forest, the vegetation and even the ocean. The Father
archetype is demonstrated by images displaying power and authority such as a tall and huge
building, a high-powered car and the tiger. The Shadow archetype is the weakness and negativities
that humans are inclined to hide in themselves. Such an archetype can be presented by the images
of thunder, storms and any natural disasters. Lastly, the Persona is the archetype that humans utilise
to represent their presence to others. The Persona acts like a mask that humans wear when they
divulge themselves to the world. It can be embodied by our title at the workplace, our name and
even our attire (Walters, 1994). Throughout the human experience, all cultures generally share all
these attributes except that these archetypes may take different forms according to specific cultures
in which they are transpired (Adamski, 2011).
2
In the light of this paper, the archetypal figures which will be uncovered will be those bearing
the Malay background. However, the prevailing idea or the image of a nurturing entity that has been
purported by Jung will be the one that links this notion to the Malay archetypal figure.
MALAY ARCHETYPAL FIGURES
This section discusses the prevalence of archetypes in the Malay world which have been reviewed
in various areas which are Malay literature, Malay folklores and Malay arts and media. Concurrently,
it is hoped that the archetypal figures which emerge in the Malay world can show a substantial
pattern which can then help to stipulate valuable insights into the Malay psyche.
The Malays since long ago have integrated archetypes, symbols, superstitions and images in their
lives. As Hussain (2008) accedes, myths, legends as well as superstitions (Ahmad Nazri & Maznah,
2019) have been intertwined in numerous historical texts in the Malay history because the Malays
consign such aspects as having great significance in their lives. Even though Islam has long been
accepted as the way of life for the Malays, the Malay psyche is still overwhelmed with superstitions
(Ahmad Nazri & Maznah, 2019). The important historical texts in the Malay world like Sejarah
Melayu, Hikayat Raja-raja Pasai and Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa for instance all encompass
myths and legends in the narratives. Othman (2008) also expounds that these myths and legends
should be seen as part of the Malay life because it reflects the extent of significance such elements
possess in the Malay lives. Moreover, as elucidated by Norazimah et al. (2019), myth stories in the
Malay world become the foundation in providing answers to the curiosity of the people in the past as
well as befalling a source of knowledge to the younger generation regarding the thoughts and the
world view of that society in the past.
Other archetypes or ancient images which play major roles in the Malay culture from eons
ago are the Hindu images. Tropes related to Hinduism have been discovered to leave their marks
as early as 500 BC with the archaeological remains unearthed at Sungai Batu, Merbok, Kedah
(Abdul Mutalib et al.,2016). Hinduism has long since planted its roots in the Malay land prior to the
arrival of Islam. The earlier colonial records by Winstedt (1925, as cited by Mohd Farhan et al., 2020)
and Mazwell (1881) have described in details various aspects of Hindu elements in Malay life. For
instance, Hindu tropes in the writings of Maxwell (1881) include a humungous bird called Gerda
(Garuda or the eagle of Vishnu, a Hindu God) and the symbolism of sunset or senjakala that can be
the dangerous time of the day due to wandering evil spirits as explained in its original Sanskrit form
(sandhya kala). Another more prevalent Hindu element that permeates the Malay lives until today
lies in the family archetype. A family starts with a couple getting married commences with adat
merisik (families of the couple getting to know each other), bertunang (engagement) and berinai
(henna-wearing ceremony) (Kogila & Mammar, 2018). These three steps are originally the steps
undertaken by the Hindu families prior to marriage since long ago but this tradition is also practised
by the Malays until now (Kogila & Muammar, 2018).
Notwithstanding, with the ever-strong Islamic influences due to the adoption of the faith as
the official religion as stated in the Constitution, more Islamic tropes have proven to be pervasive
among the current Malay generation. Hence, starting from 1292 in Pasai, Sumatera (Mohd Farhan
et al., 2020), Islam has imbued all aspects of Malay life until today. In fact, a Malay can only be
considered belonging to that ethnic if she/he is a Muslim, as stated in the Malaysian Constitution.
Today, the tropes of Islam are omnipresent in Malaysia such as veiling which is more commonly
known as the hijab or tudung and is linked as an ethnic identifier for the Malays (Yang & Md. Sidin
(2011), as cited in Nurzihan et al., 2015).
As such, it can be asserted that the principal archetypes predominant in the Malay culture
are rooted in the myths, legends and superstitions. However, these myths, legends and superstitions
are altered according to the overriding or hegemonic influences that changed with time. Earlier on,
Hindu played major influences in forming the tropes in the Malay life. Nevertheless, after the arrival
3
of Islam, Hindu symbolisms and images have been eroded but the traces still remain in certain Malay
aspects of life. Until now, the superseding influence in the Malay culture is Islam and its supremacy
can be perceived in various aspects of Malay life like clothing, food, mannerisms and day-to-day
practices.
Malay literature
Very few studies on Malay literature delve into analysing the psyche or thoughts of the male
or female characters. Various studies in Malay literature (on women) for instance, tend to study the
representations of the female characters from the feminist point of view or Islamic point of view.
However, one available study by (Hooker, 1999) who analyses the book Panglima Awang (published
in 1957) by Harun Aminurrashid, delineates that the book was written based on The Malay Annals
and Hikayat Hang Tuah. Hence, some recurring patterns of thoughts prevalent in the two historical
texts such as absolute loyalty to the ruler and Islam as the pillar of life are noticeable. The protagonist
of the novel, Awang, is also seemingly modelled after the archetypal Malay hero, Hang Tuah
(Hooker, 1999). However, Awang’s character has been extended to contain more modern concepts
than the traditional Malay culture when he displays understanding and acceptance towards the ideas
of citizenship, equality, internationalism and loyalty to the homeland instead of total allegiance to the
ruler (Hooker, 1999). Another study by Zaini-Lajoubert (2010) has also expounded in her analysis
that a significant number of modern Malay literary texts are based on the historical Malay texts like
The Malay Annals and The Epic of Hang Tuah. Zaini-Lajoubert (2010) has listed the novel of Dang
Anum (1958), the movies Tun Teja (1961), Puteri Gunung Ledang (1961), Tun Fatimah (1962),
Puteri Gunung Ledang, Cerita Cinta Agung (2004), a poetry collection - Balada Tun Fatimah (1986),
a play - Tun Fatimah (2004) and a dance drama - Hang Li Po (early 1960s) as utilising the historical
characters as the main players in the stories. Hence, to this far these are the two accessible studies
on Malay literature which have attempted to demarcate the connection between the ancient images
in the historical texts and the more modern and current texts.
Malay folklores
Menon (2009) in her study on archetypal patterns in selected Malaysian folktales has
managed to prove that the selected Malaysian tale which is Bawang Merah Bawang Putih
corresponded to Jung’s theory of archetype. Hence, Menon (2009) claims that archetypal patterns
do exist in Malaysian folktales.
Quah et al., (2019) in their study of Sang Kancil as a cultural artefact scrutinise how the trope
of a trickster is utilised to depict the triumph of wit and ingenuity against oppressions and injustice.
The image of a trickster as represented by Sang Kancil has been left indelible on the national
consciousness of Malaysia and a highly popular character in the Malay folklore (Quah et al., 2019).
Comparing Sang Kancil with other trickster characters from other cultures such as Reynard the fox
from Europe and Brer Rabbit from North America, Quah et al. (2019) further concur the similarities
and differences between these trickster tropes (original Jungian archetype) and how ultimately, they
are linked to the archetype of a jester or a magician neo-archetypes.
Malay arts and media
Jamaluddin et al. (2011) purport how archetypal imageries are depicted in Malaysian festival
TV advertisements. Their analysis of the characterisation and leitmotif in the TV advertisements
proposes that archetypal images are infused by cultural nuances. Nevertheless, these cultural
nuances are inexorably universally relevant.
Fara Dayana et al. (2018) investigate archetypal representations of the main characters in
the Wayang Kulit Kelantan (WKK). Their findings include that the main characters designed for WKK
which are based on the Ramayana epic borrowed from the Hindu culture have been manifested in
the archetypal image of Seri Rama, Rawana and Sita Dewi. Wayang Kulit or shadow puppet, not
4
just WKK, used to be highly popular among the villagers especially in Johor (known as purwo shadow
play), Kedah and Perlis (known as gedek shadow play) and Kelantan and Terengganu (known as
WKK) (Samikkanu et al., 2021).
Malay historical texts
Noor Azah (2006) has studied the archetypes of ideal men and dreamed women in The Malay
Annals version by John Leyden. Using Jung’s theory of archetypes and Derrida’s deconstructions
Noor Azah (2006) has managed uncover how the presupposed strong men in the historical accounts
were actually men with their own weaknesses and the cuckoo-clock type women in the text were
actually resilient characters due to their predicament.
Tan (2020) has examined the portrayal of Raja Bersiong or The Fanged King in Hikayat
Merong Mahawangsa which documents the royal lineage and historiography of the Kedah state. Tan
(2020) finds that Raja Bersiong has been represented as the archetype of cruelty whose fascination
with cannibalism and bestiality only promotes the urgency and the exigency for Islam.
CONCLUSION
As can be traced from the studies in the Malay literature, Malay folklores, Malay arts and
media as well as Malay historical texts, it is apparent that conception of archetype has been regarded
as rather important since it is studied in such diverse areas in Malay studies. The notion of archetype
as reified by Jung has managed to unearth various archetypal figures prevalent in the collective
unconscious of the Malays. Such archetypal figures and their characterisation can be used to provide
deeper insights into the Malay psyche generally.
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6
BOARD OF VISITORS UNDER THE CHILD ACT 2001, CHILD
ACT (AMENDMENT) 2016 AND OTHER RELATED
LEGISLATIONS: THE ROLES AND DUTIES
Salmah Roslim
Faculty of Law
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
[email protected]
Nurul Mazrah Manshor
Faculty of Law
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
[email protected]
Rohayati Hussin
Faculty of Law
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
[email protected]
Nur Irinah Mohamad Sirat
Faculty of Law
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the concept of the Board of Visitors under the Child Act 2001, Child
Act (Amendment) 2016 and other related legislations. It also analyses the roles and duties of
the Board of Visitors under the Child Act 2001, Child Act (Amendment) 2016 and other related
legislations. Generally, the duties of the Board of Visitors are to protect the interest, welfare
and supervise the development level of child and young offenders. The members inspect the
place of safety, place of refuge and approved school and ensure that the basic welfare of the
child and young offender is taken care of. In addition, their responsibilities go beyond
addressing complaints as they are also required to ensure that the administration and
operations of the safety place is run smoothly. Methodologically, this paper employs a
qualitative approach by analysing the roles of the Board of Visitors under the Child Act 2001,
the Child Act (Amendment) 2016 and other related legislations. Therefore, this paper will aid
the conceptualisation towards the efficiency of the Board of Visitors under the Child Act 2001,
the Child Act (Amendment) 2016 and other related legislations. The findings would greatly
benefit the policy makers, the judiciary, the enforcement agencies and public at large. This
paper also calls for deeper collaboration in research among the scholars, lawyers, and
regulators. Further research, both empirical and non-empirical, must be done to uncover more
issues pertaining to the efficiency of the roles and duties of the Board of Visitors. It is also
suggested for those who are interested to embark on further study relating to the Board of
Visitors to investigate the possibility of unifying and harmonising statutory provisions in the
statutes with the international framework.
Keywords: Board of Visitors, duties, Child Act 2001, Child Act (Amendment) 2016.
7
INTRODUCTION
The Board of Visitors in Malaysian justice system is appointed by the Women, Family
and Community Development Minister to perform such duties and functions as the Minister
may prescribe pursuant to section 82 of the Child Act 2001. In exercise of the powers conferred
by section 82 of the Child Act 2001, the Board of Visitors will carry out the functions pursuant
to Child (Places of Safety) Regulations 2017, Child (Approved School) Regulations 2017 and
Child (Place of Refuge) Regulations 2017.
According to Regulation 3 of the Child (Places of Safety) Regulations 2017, it provides
the duties and functions of the Board. Basically, their duties are to protect the interest and
welfare of the child in a place of safety; supervise the overall level of development of the child;
and supervise the management of the place of safety to be in accordance with this
Regulations.
Furthermore, Regulation 4 of the Child (Places of Safety) Regulations 2017 also
provides that the Board of Visitors shall have the power to do all things necessary or expedient
for or in connection with the performance of its duties and functions. Sub regulation (2) stated
that without prejudice to the generality of sub regulation (1), the powers of the Board of
Visitors shall include the following (a) to conduct inspection at the place of safety, to ensure
that the health, welfare and development of the inmates are cared for, (b) to enter into any
negotiation, agreement or arrangement with any person that the Board of Visitors thinks fit
in performing its duties and functions, and (c) to seek advice from any institution, organization,
company or individual with the appropriate experience, knowledge and expertise for the
purpose of organizing any activity, training or programme in the place of safety.
Regulation 9 of the Child (Places of Safety) Regulations 2017, it provides that the Board
of Visitors shall convene its meetings not less than six times in a year at such time and place
as the Chairman may determine. The Board of Visitors may invite any officer of the
Department of Social Welfare or any person with relevant expertise to attend any of its
meetings, and such officer or person may take part in the discussions during the meeting but
shall not be entitled to vote.
Accordingly, this paper seeks to explore several issues and challenges regarding the
effectiveness of the Board of Visitors under the Child Act 2001, the Child Act (Amendment)
2016 and other related legislations in carrying out their duties. Methodologically, it employs a
qualitative approach by analysing the roles of the Board of Visitors under the Child Act 2001,
the Child Act (Amendment) 2016 and other related legislations. Therefore, this paper will aid
the conceptualisation towards the efficiency of the Board of Visitors under the Child Act 2001,
the Child Act (Amendment) 2016 and other related legislations. The findings would greatly
benefit the policy makers, the judiciary, the enforcement agencies and public at large. This
paper also calls for deeper collaboration in research among the scholars, lawyers, and
regulators. Further research, both empirical and non-empirical, must be done to uncover more
issues pertaining to the efficiency of the roles and duties of the Board of Visitors. It is also
suggested for those who are interested to embark on further study relating to the Board of
Visitors to investigate the possibility of unifying and harmonising statutory provisions in the
statutes with the international framework.
OBJECTIVES
1. To discuss the concept of the Board of Visitors under the Child Act 2001, Child Act
(Amendment) 2016 and other related legislations;
2. To analyse the roles and duties of the Board of Visitors under the Child Act 2001, Child
Act (Amendment) 2016 and other related legislations;
3. To propose some recommendations to the existing laws.
8
METHODOLOGY
This paper uses a qualitative method by looking into the existing Child Act 2001, Child
Act (Amendment) 2016 and other related legislations. Data collection involves primary and
secondary sources which includes the statutes and relevant websites. This paper has used
content analysis manually to analyse the relevant provisions in the abovementioned statutes.
BOARD OF VISITORS UNDER THE CHILD ACT 2001, CHILD ACT (AMENDMENT) 2016
AND OTHER RELEVANT LEGISLATIONS
Definition
Section 2 of the Child Act 2001 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
define a “child” as a person under the age of eighteen years. The Child Act 2001 (hereinafter
referred to as the Act 611) is the country’s legislation for the protection, care, and rehabilitation
of children. By virtue of section 2 of the Act 611, the Board of Visitors is appointed by the
Minister under section 82 of the Act 611. The Minister may appoint for each place of safety,
place of refuge and approved school a Board of Visitors to perform such duties and functions
as the Minister may prescribe. Under section 54 (1) of the Act 611, the Minister may, by
notification in the Gazette, establish or appoint any place, institution, or centre to be a place
of safety for the care and protection of children. Subsection (2) further provide that the Minister
may at any time direct the closing of any place of safety established or appointed under
subsection (1). Section 55 (1) provides that, the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette,
establish or appoint any place, institution, or centre to be a place of refuge for the protection
and rehabilitation of children. Furthermore, section 65 (1) states that, the Minister may, by
notification in the Gazette, establish or appoint such approved schools as may be required for
the education, training, and detention of children to be sent there in pursuance of this Act 611.
Subsection (2) further provided that the Minister may classify such approved schools (a)
according to the ages of the persons for whom they are intended; and (b) in such other ways
as he may think fit to ensure that a child sent to an approved school is sent to a school
appropriate to his case.
Section 82 of the Child Act 2001, the Board of Visitors for each place of safety shall
consist of not less than seven members and not more than fifteen members and shall be at
least three women or three men as stated in Regulation 5 of the Child (Places of Safety)
Regulations 2017. Regulation 6 of the Child (Places of Safety) Regulations 2017 provides that
the appointment of a member shall be for a period not exceeding three years, and such
member is eligible to be considered for reappointment subject to the condition that the
appointment shall not be for a period of two consecutive terms and the age of the member
appointed, does not exceed seventy years.
Under Regulation 8 of the Child (Places of Safety) Regulations 2017, it stated that the
Minister may, at any time, revoke the appointment of any member of the Board of Visitors.
Sub regulation (2) further provides that any member of the Board of Visitors may, at any time,
resign by giving one month written notice to the Minister.
Roles and Duties
Regulation 3 of the Child (Places of Safety) Regulations 2017 provides that the duties
and functions of the Board of Visitors are (a) to supervise on the overall development and well-
being of the inmates, and make recommendations to the Director General, State Director,
Director or Principal on the improvement of the overall development and well-being of the
inmates, (b) to supervise on the administration of the place of safety and make
9
recommendations to the Director General, State Director, Director or Principal on the
improvement of the administration of the place of safety in ensuring that the purpose of the
place of safety is fulfilled, (c) to provide fund for the activities, trainings or programmes
conducted by the place of safety, (d) to organize activities or programmes to improve the
physical, cognitive, mental and psychosocial development of the inmates, (e) to advise the
Principal in ensuring that the environment of the place of safety is safe, clean and suitable for
the inmates, (f) to advise the Director General on any matter relating to the care, protection
and development of the inmates, (g) to inform the Director General of any weaknesses in the
care and protection programme or any other programme conducted in the place of safety, (h)
to visit the place of safety at least once a month, and (i) to do such other things as may be
directed by the Minister.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
This paper reveals that there is no standard manual of practice for the Boards of Visitors
in the Child Act 2001, Child Act (Amendment) 2016 and other related legislations. It can be
assumed that the Board of Visitors at the place of safety will refer to the provisions in the Act
and they will rely on their expertise to ensure the smooth running of their duties and functions.
It is recommended that the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development should
consider introducing a detailed handbook or manual for members of the Board of Visitors,
clearly outlining its role, responsibilities, and main functions, to avoid any confusion
surrounding the remit of the Board. The Board may set up some committees as an initiative
taken in exercising their roles and duties effectively. The job scope of the committees may be
included in the handbook for future reference.
Under Regulation 10 of the Child (Places of Safety) Regulations 2017, the Board of
Visitors may establish any committee as the Board of Visitors considers necessary or
expedient to assist the Board of Visitors in the performance of its duties and functions or in
the exercise of its powers. The Board of Visitors may appoint any person to be a member of
any committee and shall determine the duties and functions of every committee and be chaired
by a member of the Board of Visitors. From this regulation, the Board of Visitors had a vast
power to appoint the committee since the regulation did not specify the criteria of the
committee and how they can be appointed.
This paper disclosed that there is provision in Regulation 7 as to the allowances provided
for the Board of Visitors under the Child (Places of Safety) Regulations 2017. The members
of the Board of Visitors may be paid such allowances as may be determined by the Minister.
It is suggested that the regulations should detail out the minimum and maximum number of
allowances that is suitable to be given to the Board.
There are no provisions related to the training for the Members of the Board of Visitors
in the Child Act 2001, Child Act (Amendment) 2016 and other related legislations to exercise
their functions as the Board of Visitors. Training is a vital element in ensuring that the Board
will exercise their function effectively. It is suggested that the Board of Visitors should attend
the training courses. An induction period should also be introduced for new members of the
Board, including basic and security training. For instance, a security talk is given to new
members. This training process should also include training for members in terms of security
procedures and protocols, to ensure members are adequately informed of the methods
necessary to protect their personal safety.
To ensure the Boards of Visitors executes their roles and duties efficiently, there is a
need to have systematic monitoring by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community
Development. Currently, there are no provisions provided in the Child Act 2001, Child Act
(Amendment) 2016 and other related legislations to monitor the Boards of Visitors. It is
10
recommended that the Ministry should organize a roundtable discussion with the members of
the Board of Visitors at least once for tenure to tackle the issues involved and the agreed
solutions.
CONCLUSION
It is irrefutable that the Child Act 2001 and Child Act (Amendment) 2016 are not
conclusive with regards to the roles and duties of the Board of Visitors. Besides, the roles and
duties of the Board of Visitors are not comprehensively practiced in Malaysia. There is also a
lack of discussions and research conducted in this area. Therefore, this paper proposes some
recommendations to the existing laws as the following (i) it is recommended that the Ministry
of Women, Family and Community Development should consider introducing a detailed
handbook or manual for members of the Board of Visitors, clearly outlining its role,
responsibilities, and main functions, in order to avoid any confusion surrounding the remit of
the Board, (ii) it is suggested that the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development
to provide the Board with some allowances as a token of appreciations for them to carry out
their roles and duties as the Board of Visitors, (iii) it is suggested that the Board of Visitors
should attend the training courses, and (iv) it is recommended that the Ministry should
organize a roundtable discussion with the members of the Board of Visitors at least once for
tenure to tackle the issues involved and the agreed solutions.
This paper shows that there are areas for improvement in the existing legislation and
regulations. The law needs to be updated so that it will be in tandem with the current
international development. It is suggested for those who are interested to embark on further
study relating to the Board of Visitors to investigate the possibility of unifying and harmonising
statutory provisions in the statutes with the international framework. The purpose is to
establish the effectiveness of duty by the Board of Visitors.
REFERENCES
Child Act 2001
Child Act (Amendment) 2016
Child (Approved School) Regulations 2017
Child (Place of Safety) Regulations 2017
Child (Place of Refuge) Regulations 2017
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
Website: https://www.jkm.gov.my/
Website: https://www.kpwkm.gov.my/kpwkm/index.php?r=portal/index
Website: https://www.agc.gov.my/
11
COVID-19 Contact Tracing: The Legal Issues and Concerns
Raised by MySejahtera App
Nur Irinah Mohamad Sirat
Faculty of Law
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Malaysia
[email protected]
Syatirah Abu Bakar
Faculty of Law
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Malaysia
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
The emergence and spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has led to a
significant number of loss of human life worldwide and caused unprecedented challenges to global
health and economy. As part of the measures to reign in the spread of the disease, new
technologies such as contact tracing applications, have been adopted in many countries to assist
public health authorities to trace and track infected persons, and to monitor the outbreak. In
Malaysia, the government has decided to mandate the use of a contact tracing app ‘MySejahtera’
especially in areas with stable internet connectivity, as one of the core measures to combat the
spread of COVID-19. However, the use of the contact tracing app presents its own set of legal
issues and concerns especially when a massive volume of personal data is being collected,
processed and retained in the name of the containment of the pandemic. Against this backdrop,
this study uses a doctrinal legal analysis to examine some of the related legal issues and concerns
and look into whether the existing law is sufficient to address these issues and concerns. It
highlights that while digital contact tracing has proven effective in slowing the spread of the
COVID-19virus, the existing law must be further strengthened especially in relation to the areas of
public authorities accountability, data privacy and confidentiality, data retention and transparency.
Sufficient legal safeguards must be put in place to ensure that the data collected is well taken care
of and protected from any potential misuse and abuse.
Keywords: COVID-19, contact tracing, MySejahtera app, legal issues.
INTRODUCTION
The emergence and spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has led to a
massive loss of human life worldwide and caused unprecedented challenges to global health.
Billions of people have been ordered to stay at home as a result of lockdowns worldwide, while
more than three million global deaths from COVID-19 was reported as of April 2021 (Ralph Ellis,
2021). In response, the governments across the globe have imposed varying degrees of
restrictions on civil liberties and movement and have taken various measures including the
implementation of social distancing restrictions, rapid testing and targeted quarantines, vaccination
programmes as well contact tracing to break the chain of COVID-19.
The term contact tracing generally refers to the process of identifying and monitoring people
who have been in contact with someone infected with a contagious disease, in order to locate
other potentially infected individuals quickly and take targeted control measures (such as
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quarantines) to prevent a broader spread of the illness. (Holmes, Eric N. and Linebaugh, Chris D.,
2020). Contact tracing involves a variety of techniques to identify people who may have come into
contact with a positively diagnosed individual, and take appropriate action to inform, isolate, and
treat those contacts (World Health Organization, 2020). When systematically applied, contact
tracing will break the chains of transmission of an infectious disease and is thus an essential public
health tool for controlling infectious disease outbreaks. (World Health Organization, 2020).
Conventional contact tracing methods of manually identifying infected persons, their contacts and
following up with the contacts, however, can be time consuming and labour intensive. Thus, to
supplement the conventional contact tracing methods, many countries have turned to digital
contact tracing apps to assist their public health authorities to trace and track infected persons and
contacts, and to monitor the outbreak. These countries include Australia which launched its contact
tracing app ‘the COVIDSafe App’ on April 26, 2020, France, which introduced its StopCovid app on
June 2, 2020, Singapore, which launched TraceTogether on March 20,2020, and Malaysia, with its
MySejahtera introduced on April 20, 2020, to name a few.
Nevertheless, the use of contact tracing apps has raised a number of legal issues and
concerns as a huge volume of data including personal information, contact details, location, health
status etc. is collected, processed and retained. Against this background, this study uses a
doctrinal legal analysis to examine some of the related legal issues and challenges and look into
whether the existing law is sufficient to address these issues and concerns. This paper ends with
some recommendations to be adopted to address the issues and concerns to ensure that the data
collected is properly safeguarded from possible misuse and abuse.
THE BIRTH OF MySejahtera APP IN THE AGE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC
The Malaysian government has adopted the contact tracing app, MySejahtera, as one of
the core measures in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. Mysejahtera which was developed
by a local company, KPISOFT Sdn. Bhd (Yiswaree Palansamy, 2020) and launched on April 20
last year, had about 24.5 million users as of December 2020 (Opalyn Mok, 2020). Recently, the
app is used by around 70% of the country’s’ population with 20,000 to 30,000 daily downloads
(Opalyn Mok, 2020). MySejahtera was developed to support the implementation of the Prevention
and Control of Infectious Disease Act 1988 [Act 342] and is administered by the Health Ministry
with assistance from the National Security Council (NSC) and the Malaysian Administrative
Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU). The app was developed through a
strategic cooperation between the National Security Council (NSC) and the Malaysian
Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), the Malaysian
Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Science Technology and Innovation
Ministry (MOSTI).
MySejahtera collects personal information of individuals for the following purposes i.e. to
assess the individual's risk of infection based on the personal information that the individual is
required to provide to the app; to provide advice to the individual on whether the individual requires
attention of a healthcare provider; to respond to the individual’s comment or inquiry; to assist
people in locating the nearest clinic; to assist in identifying 'hotspot' areas (i.e. areas where Covid-
19 cases are reported); to perform contact-tracing activities (i.e. tracing places an individual has
visited) once a Covid-19 case is reported in a location; and to ensure compliance to all rules and
guidelines issued under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (MySejahtera
Privacy Policy, 2020).
With the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, the initiative by the government in
introducing MySejahtera is significant in order to monitor and curb the spread of COVID-19.
MySejahtera app now is part of the new norm that the government is encouraging members of the
public to adopt (The Star, 2020). Public users can use it to perform health self-assessment and
13
can track the location of positive COVID-19 individuals by using the hotspot tracker which is
included in the app (Madihah Mohd Saudi, 2020). In addition, public users can also use
MySejahtera to register themselves before entering any premises. On February 9 2021, Senior
Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the MySejahtera app is now
compulsory in areas with internet connectivity (The Star, 2021). However, those without
smartphones or in areas without internet connectivity may record their name and phone number in
the logbook every time they enter a premise.
DATA PROTECTION LAW
The Personal Data Protection Act 2010 [Act 709] (“PDPA”) is the primary legislation in
Malaysia that governs personal data protection. The PDPA regulates on how personal data is
processed in commercial transactions to prevent personal data from being exploited. The PDPA
gives users more control over their data which includes full name, identification card (IC), photo,
phone number, email, fingerprints, and home address. Section 4 of the PDPA provides a wide
definition of “personal data” which includes any information in respect of commercial transactions
which is being processed or recorded by a ‘data user’, where that personal data relates to an
individual who is termed a ‘data subject’. Section 4 also provides for the definition of “sensitive
personal data” as any personal data consisting of information as to the physical or mental health or
condition of a ‘data subject.’ The general principle under Sections 6 and 40 of the PDPA with
regard to “sensitive personal data” is that the data shall not be used except with the explicit
consent of the data subject.
Section 3 (1) of the PDPA, however, states that Act shall not apply to the Federal
Government and State Governments. It is clear from the provision that the Act give exemptions to
the public sector and government. In relation to Covid-19 pandemic, the PDPA has certain
provisions which allow for the collection of necessary data in situations which require the protection
of “vital interest relating to the life, death or security of the data subject. (Section 4 of the Personal
Data Protection Act 2010). Section 40 of the PDPA also provides that the “sensitive personal data”
may still be processed if it is necessary to, among others, protect the ‘vital interests’ of the data
subject or another person.
The government, nonetheless, has assured that the collection of personal data by
MySejahtera is aligned with the PDPA. The app will not record user's personal data except with the
permission and voluntarily provided by the user. The data collected is used for monitoring and
enforcement purposes by public authorities in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and will not be
shared with other organizations for other purposes unless specifically stated. The data collected by
the app will be kept confidential in accordance with the privacy policy and in accordance with any
applicable laws. The user’s data also will only be stored for a period of 90 days and would be
purged thereafter (MySejahtera Privacy Policy, 2020)
LEGAL ISSUES AND CONCERNS
There are a number of legal issues and concerns raised regarding the security, privacy and
protection of the data collected via MySejahtera app. These include:
Accountability
The Deputy Health Minister of Malaysia, Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali, has given his assurance
that protection of data on the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) Covid-19 management and contact
tracing mobile app follows the provisions under the PDPA, even though the legislation does not
apply to government (Boo Su-lyn, 2020). Despite the reassurance given, it is clear from section
14
3(1) of the PDPA that the legislation only applies to private entities to protect individual data related
to commercial or service transactions whereas the public authorities are exempted from complying
with the PDPA. This exemption would provide a an escape clause for possible abuse and misuse
of the data. The PDPA, thus, is inadequate in term of ensuring accountability for data breaches by
the public authorities. As a result, they may not be accountable for any data leak even due to
negligence. In this context, Prof Abu Bakar Munir expressed his opinion that in order to improve
the contact tracing system, it is necessary to show the government’s accountability and one of
ways to do this is by amending the PDPA to extend its scope of application to the government not
just the private entities (The Star, 2020).
Data Privacy and Confidentiality
Another issue is the privacy and confidentiality of the data collected. In the context of
MySejahtera, the public has to agree to disclose some of their personal information with the
government, including as their names, contact information, and the places they frequent for the
purpose of COVID-19 monitoring. MySejahtera declares that the personal data collected by the app
will be kept confidential in accordance with this Privacy Policy in accordance with any applicable laws which
may take effect from time to time (MySejahtera Privacy Policy, 2020).
While the government has given an assurance that they would not share the data with any
organisations for other purposes (MySejahtera Privacy Policy, 2020) and the personal data stored
MySejahtera app is treated as confidential patient information under the Medical Act 1971 and the
Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Boo Su-lyn, 2020), concerns were
expressed regarding privacy and confidentiality of the data collected including potential use of the
data for data harvesting and government surveillance measures (Muhd Amin Naharul, 2020). The
absence of specific legislation governing privacy in Malaysia and the exemption of the federal and
state government from compliance to the PDPA in relation to data privacy, further exacerbate
apprehension that the existing laws are inadequate to prevent the data from being exploited.
Data Retention
On the issue of data retention, the government has stated that the information collected by
the MySejahtera app would be 'deleted' after a period of 90 days (MySejahtera Privacy Policy,
2020), which is in line with the Retention Principle under Section 10 of the PDPA. Section 10(1) of
the PDPA states that “the personal data processed for any purpose shall not be kept longer than is
necessary for the fulfilment of that purpose” and Section 10 (2) states that “it shall be the duty of a
data user to take all reasonable steps to ensure that all personal data is destroyed or permanently
deleted if it is no longer required for the purpose for which it was to be processed”. Thus,
MySejahtera seems to comply with the provision of law when the ‘check in’ data in MySejahtera is
kept for 90 days and would be purged thereafter. The official information provided to the public has
however has not been consistent, as it was noted that other statement released by officials
mentioned that the data would be stored for 30 days (Mathew Sebastian, 2021). Thus, a timeline
for any data collected to be destroyed after the pandemic ends must be set. This is important to
strike a balance between individual privacy and the health and safety of the community. (Simmhan,
Y, 2020). The government could also allow the users to delete all the data on their own when it is
no longer needed after the pandemic comes to an end.
Transparency
In addition, lack of transparency about how the data is used and managed by the public
authorities is another issue to be addressed. It has been noted that ensuring that the PDPA
principles are followed would be challenging due to the government's lack of transparency over
how data is handled (which may actually be a breach of the General Principle under the PDPA)
15
(Mathew Sebastian, 2021). There should be a guideline on lawful processing of data for COVID-19
pandemic purposes and the public authorities must verify that the data they utilise is secure and
not misused. Another measure to ensure transparency is by having monitoring and audit by
independent external body. This must be followed by enforcement where breach of data protection
manifest.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The initiative taken by the government in introducing MySejahtera contact tracing app is a
significant measure in controlling the spread of COVID-19. While the digital contact tracing app has
proven effective in slowing the spread of the virus, appropriate and sufficient legal measures must
be in place to protect the personal data of the users against potential misuse and abuse. The
assurances given by the government that the public authorities will comply with the principles and
procedures provided under the PDPA in relation to the collection, use and retention of data
gathered by the app would not carry much weight unless it is accompanied by adequate legal
provisions and measures to ensure compliance with the legislation. The existing laws are still
insufficient to properly addressed the issues of accountability, data privacy and confidentiality, data
retention and transparency raised by the use of MySejahtera app. The PDPA in particular needs to
be amended to govern not only data collection and use by private entities but also public bodies.
The law should also provide for monitoring, evaluation and audit process to ensure that preventive
measures are taken to warrant proper use and management of the data collected so that the
personal data is not used or disclosed for any other purposes other than for purposes necessary
for COVID-19 control and monitoring, and in line with the provisions of the law and international
standards. The challenge for the law and policy makers, thus, is to find a right balance between the
personal data protection and public health security.
REFERENCES
Contact Tracing: More transparency wanted. (2020, November 1) The Star Online. Retrieved from
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/focus/2020/11/01/more-transparency-and-details-wanted
Contact Tracing around the World. (2020, November 1) The Star Online. Retrieved from
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/focus/2020/11/01/contact-tracing-around-the-world
Madihah Binti Mohd Saudi (2020, November 9) "MySejahtera: Am I Safe?" Bernama. Retrieved
from https://www.bernama.com/en/thoughts/news.php?id=1898962
Dina Murad (2020, November 1) Your data of your life: Can we have both? The Star Online.
Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com.my/news/focus/2020/11/01/data-or-your-life-can-
we-have-both
Dina Murad (2020, November 1) Contact tracing apps: How much information is enough? The Star
Online. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com.my/news/focus/2020/11/01/contact-tracing-
apps-how-much-information-is-enough
Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) on MySejahtera App. (2020) Retrieved from
https://mysejahtera.malaysia.gov.my/FAQ_en/.
16
Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) on MySejahtera Check in Feature for Retail, Construction &
Industry (2020) Retrieved from https://amcham.com.my/wp-
content/uploads/ENGLISH_FAQ_MYSEJAHTERA-CHECK-IN_BUSINESS-1.pdf
Holmes, Eric N. ; Linebaugh, Chris D. (2020, July 9 ) Covid 19: Digital Contact Tracing and Privacy
Law COVID-19: Digital Contact Tracing and Privacy Law. Hein Online. Retrieved from
https://heinonline-org.ezaccess.library.uitm.edu.my/HOL/Page?collection=covidcol&handle
=hein .crs/govdauo0001&id=1&men_tab=srchresults
Lee Lin Li and Kah Yee Chong (2020, May 6) Malaysia: Data Privacy In The Covid-19 Pandemic.
Retrieved from https://www.mondaq.com/data-protection/926938/data-privacy-in-the-covid-
19-pandemic
Mathew Sebastian (2021) Privacy And Ethical Concerns With MySejahtera Mobile Contract
Tracing App. Volume 1, 2021 The Current Law Journal xxxix.
MySejahtera Privacy Policy (2020) Retrieved from https://mysejahtera.malaysia.gov.my/privasi_en/
MySejahtera safe to use, personal data fully protected - Ismail Sabri (2020, December 2) The Sun
Daily Retrieved from https://www.thesundaily.my/local/mysejahtera-safe-to-use-personal-
data-fully-protected-ismail-sabri-LY5427841
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Digital Labor on Social Media in China
Pan Dongke
Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
The National University of Malaysia
[email protected]
Shahrul Nazmi Sannusi
Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
The National University of Malaysia
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
In the context of the expansion of digital capitalism, the Internet, once described by
Habermas as the public domain, is increasingly becoming a tool for commercial interests. In the era
of mobile Internet, audiences have to use the Internet, so they are brought into the communication
structure dominated by social media. The digital survival predicted by Negroponte has arrived. At
the same time, thanks to the development of network technology, audiences have released
unprecedented desire for expression and participation, and are able to produce and disseminate
content for new media voluntarily. As a result, social media increasingly relies on user contributions
to content, and users increasingly rely on social media for emotional satisfaction. However, the profit-
seeking nature of capital drives Internet companies to exploit users' labor on the pretext of satisfying
their feelings, so as to achieve the purpose of commercial profit. Therefore, social media users
become digital labor of digital capital operation. This paper first introduces the theory of digital labor,
including the era background, theoretical origin, definition and form of labor. Then according to the
development of information technology in China, this paper introduces the digital labor of Chinese
social media users. Finally, this paper analyzes the exploitation logic of social media capital.
Keywords: digital labor, social media, audience commodity.
INTRODUCTION：DIGITAL LABOR
In 2000, the Italian scholar, Terranova (2000) published Free Labor: Producing Culture for the
Digital Economy. After this paper, the concept of digital labor has attracted great interest from many
scholars, and theoretical results on the study of digital labor from a variety of theoretical perspectives
have emerged, which provides a rich theoretical basis for the formation and development of the
theory of digital labor.
1. Research Background of Digital Labor
The theory of digital labor is formed and developed based on the understanding and
exploration of the economy, politics, culture and other aspects of capitalist society.
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The Rise of Digital Capitalism
The development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has greatly
changed the way capitalism is produced and accumulated. New Technologies, represented by cloud
computing, big data and the Internet of Things, have reconfigured various factors of production and
resources. Under the influence of expansionary market logic, it drives the transformation of political
economy to digital capitalism (Schiller, 1999). According to Castels (2001,71), "the diffusion of
networked logic substantially changes the operation and results in the process of production,
experience, power and culture, and constructs a new form of our society". This new form is digital
capitalism.
Focus (2005) put forward that the social background of digital labor is the current stage of
the development of capitalist society, that is, the stage of transnational information capitalism. Fuchs
concludes that, for Marx, the rise of information productivity is intrinsically related to the need of
capital to obtain more profit accumulation through technological means. Then, the society becomes
the information society to some extent, it is the inevitable result of the development of capitalism.
The Return of Marxism
Since the outbreak of the capitalist financial crisis in 2008, people have increasingly
questioned the structural problems of capitalism. And Marx's criticism of capitalist society has
attracted more and more people's interest. Scholars have also begun to use Marxist theory to
analyze practical problems. According to Jameson (1991), the occurrence and development of the
capitalist crisis shows the scientific nature of Marxist theory and the importance of the first volume
of Das Kapital for analyzing the current capitalist crisis. Fuchs applies Marx's theory to the study of
Internet and social media, revealing and analyzing the veil behind Internet technology.
Development of Social Media
Social media are interactive technologies that allow the creation or sharing/exchange of
information, ideas, career interests, and other forms of expression via virtual
communities and networks (Obar & Wildman, 2015). Since 2003, the first social networking site in
the United States, LinkedIn, was founded, social networking sites have been established one after
another. From Facebook in 2004 to Twitter in 2006, and then Instagram, especially after 2008, these
social media have achieved a strong momentum of development, the number of users keeps rising,
and the income also keeps increasing. The birth of these social media has an impact on people's
lives. More and more people begin to use social media for online communication and establishment
of community and other services.
Some of the most popular social media websites, with over 100 million registered users,
include Facebook, TikTok, WeChat, Instagram, QZone, Weibo, Twitter, Tumblr, Baidu Tieba, and
LinkedIn. Depending on interpretation, other popular platforms that are sometimes referred to as
social media services include YouTube, QQ, Quora, Telegram, WhatsApp, LINE, Snapchat,
Pinterest, Viber, Reddit, Discord, VK, Microsoft Teams, and more.
2. Theoretical Origin
The digital labor theory has absorbed the nutrition of Marx's labor value theory and Smythe's
audience commodity theory and combined with the reality of the digital media era on this basis.
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i. Marx's Labor Theory of Value
According to Marx (1867), capitalists make efforts to transform the production environment
and introduce production equipment to improve their own production speed and make their own
labor time shorter than the socially necessary labor time. And the value of goods is determined by
the amount of socially necessary labor time, which makes the capitalist get more value in the same
amount of time. This way of improving production efficiency also changes the exploitation mode of
capitalists, from the exploitation of absolute surplus value to the exploitation of relative surplus value.
The only thing that does not change is the nature of exploitation. And this infinite exploitation of
surplus value is the main way of capital accumulation.
ii. Audience commodity theory
In 1977, Dallas Smythe put forward Audience Commodity by his seminal articles
Communications: Blindspot of Western Marxism (Smythe, 1977). By discussing the threefold
relationship among audience, media and advertiser under the capitalist commercial communication
system, this theory reveals that the main commodity produced by media under the capitalist system
is audience.
According to the audience commodity theory (Smythe, 1977), the commodities produced by
the media whose main economic source is advertising income are not radio and television programs,
but audiences, a special commodity. The mass media produce news, ideas, images, entertainment,
speech and information, but they are not its most important products. They are just "free lunches"
whose purpose is to lure audiences to the production site - the television set.
Also, according to Smythe (1977), the audience becomes the labor of the advertiser. They
work for the advertiser and use their income to buy certain brands of consumer goods and services,
thus creating material demand for the capitalist market (Smythe, 1977). The mass media produces
audience, a tradable commodity, and sells it to advertisers. The audience creates value in labor and
constantly reproduces labor force. All time in advanced capitalist societies is labor time. The main
labor of the audience is to learn to buy a particular product on the one hand and accept the marketing
of the product by advertisers on the other hand. This kind of audience labor not only costs the
audience's income, but also creates new commodity demand.
In recent years, with the development of Internet technology and digital media, the concept of
audience goods of Smythe has been given a new meaning. Austrian scholar Focus proposed the
concept of Prosumer Commodity (Fuchs, 2011) from the perspective of Marxism. As early as in the
1980s, Toffler (1984) creatively proposed the concept of Prosumer (produce plus consumer) to
replace the audience (Wu, 2015). Prosumer Commodity believes that Internet users, as the
prosumer of digital labor, mainly realize their own labor value in two ways: the first is the UGC (User
Generated Content), and the second is the time of users (Fuchs, 2011). Therefore, Smythe's
audience commodity theory is very suitable for digital labor analysis on network social networking
platforms and provides an important theoretical basis for the construction of digital labor theory.
3. The Definition of Digital Labor
As for the definition of digital labor, opinions vary, and there is still no consensus. According to
the literature, there are two views on the definition of digital labor in the academic circle. One is that
digital labor is the contemporary form of immaterial labor. Another view is that digital labor is
essentially material labor.
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i. Digital Labor as Immaterial Labor
Terranova (2000), an Italian scholar, believes that digital labor is immaterial labor accompanied
by the development of digital economy, which is embodied in the free online labor of Internet users,
such as Internet users' online labor of browsing web pages, chatting, publishing dynamics, reading,
watching videos, playing games and so on. She also borrows the concept of the "high-tech Gift
Economy" (Barbrook, 2001), in which people exchange and spread information online not for market
resources and government funds, but for the pleasure of collaborating and connecting themselves.
He creatively proposed the concept of "free labor" (Terranova, 2000:35), that is, when people simply
consume culture, their behavior is transformed into behavior beyond productivity, and this behavior
is happily exploited, and often shamelessly exploited.
In short, according to Terranova (2000), digital labor is a form of "free labor", which is embodied in
the online labor of Internet users, such as browsing web pages, chatting, publishing dynamic
information, reading, watching videos and playing games.
ii. Digital Labor as Material Labor
Fuchs believes that digital labor is still, in the final analysis, material labor. He focuses on the
labor-capital relations in the international digital division of labor system, and understands and
analyzes the concept of digital labor from the perspective of Raymond Williams' cultural materialism
and Marx's labor view. He believes that digital labor is the digital form of material labor that consumes
human time depending on digital information technology. It is not only limited to the information field,
but also penetrates into many fields such as industry, agriculture and service industry.
In short, Fuchs (2014, 464) "argue for a broad definition of digital labor that takes into account
the various forms of mental and manual labor that are needed for the production, circulation and use
of digital media".
4. Forms of Digital Labor
According to the different definitions of digital labor, the academic circles also have different
classifications of the forms of digital labor. Based on existing literature, this paper divides the forms
of digital labor into Internet professional labor, unpaid labor, gig work on the Internet platform and all
forms of labor on the value chain of the ICT industry.
i. Internet Professional Labor
Professional labor can be understood as "technical jobs performed by workers with specialized
technical knowledge", such as programming, web design, and application software development.
Internet professionals are full-time workers who hold formal positions at Internet companies and are
paid a regular salary. Such as web designers and Internet professionals. All these jobs require
workers to have a good educational background, rich professional knowledge and solid professional
skills, so they are called Internet professional labor.
ii. Unpaid Labor on the Internet Platforms
Unpaid labor in the Internet platform is a typical form of digital labor, which is the online labor
that users create surplus value for enterprises free of charge on the Internet platforms, such as news
webpage, search platform, chat software, game space, music sharing and video watching (Huang,
2017). Some scholars believe that unpaid labor has become an important tool for Internet companies
to make profits (Wang, 2019), and is (in the majority of circumstances) hyper-exploited (Fuchs, 2010,
2011, 2012, 2013; Brown, 2014).
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iii. Odd Jobs on Internet
With the development of the Internet, the gig economy was born. The gig economy is mainly
a new way of employment that uses the Internet platform to engage in various types of freelance
work. Such as the live webcast, ride-hailing drivers, contracting digital platform providing tasks,
undertaking delivery orders through takeout platforms, etc. Many governments also see the great
development potential of digital labor and believe that employment opportunities can be created for
the country through the Internet. Digital Malaysia, for example, aims to empower low-income people
to make ends meet using Digital jobs and online freelancing (Graham, 2017).
iv. Labor on ICT Industry
According to Fuchs (2014), the mining behavior of mining workers, the labor of electronic
equipment assembly workers, the labor of software engineers, and the unpaid labor of digital
platforms are all manifestations of digital labor, because these labor are related to digital media and
digital content production.
DIGITAL LABOR ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN CHINA
In China, a new type of network society is gradually taking shape (Wu, 2015). For example,
during the Chinese New Year in recent years, all Chinese people were caught up in the "Hong Bao"
(red envelope) marketing campaigns orchestrated by Internet companies. Internet giants such as
Alipay, Pinduoduo and Tik Tok distribute billions of dollars of red envelopes to attract people to their
activities, and drive a lot of traffic to their apps. According to iiMedia Research (2021), 61.4% of
users participated in Alipay's "Five Blessings Collection" activity, and 54.2% participated in WeChat's
"Lucky Money cover" activity. Also, in daily life, more and more people are becoming phubbers. On
the Chinese subway, almost everyone is playing games, surfing the web, watching videos, chatting
and so on with their phones. Children's leisure activities are no longer playing with friends, but in
front of the mobile phone to enjoy the fun of the game. Thus, China has entered the digital society.
This section focuses on digital labor on social media in China. This paper defines digital labor
on social media as unpaid Labor on the Internet Platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
etc. Narrowly, digital labor refers to social media users. Let's take Chinese social media users as an
example to discuss their specific labor.
1. Social media in China
In China, the social media market is very large. The emergence of social media such as
WeChat, Weibo and Tik Tok has shaped people's media usage habits. Data from NBS (National
Bureau of Statistics) shows that until December 2020, 989 million people had access to the Internet,
including 986 million through mobile phones, and the Internet penetration rate was 70.4%. According
to iiMedia Research (2020), there are 862 million social media users in China. At present, China's
social media has surpassed the search engine and become the largest traffic entrance of the
Internet. Social media is developing into an ecological platform to connect everything.
Although many western social media sites are banned in China, Chinese social media is
entering an era of greater diversity (China Social Media Impact Report, 2018). In addition to
traditional social media, such as Weibo and WeChat, the social attributes of e-commerce, music and
other platforms are rising rapidly. In addition, the social properties of platforms such as instant
messaging, video or live broadcasting, news, forum, O2O and life service are all developing and
growing to varying degrees. In short, a new pattern of diversification of social media networks in
China is taking shape.
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Top 6 Social Media Channels in China:
Sina Weibo
It's a twitter-like platform where people can share the latest news, gossip and daily life
through text, photos, videos and long articles. The app makes it easy to share this news with
friends.
Douyin
Douyin (also known as Tik Tok) is an application that allows users to create short videos with
fashionable and special effects, and then share them on the shaking platform.
WeChat
Everyone in China uses Wechat to communicate with friends. It uses apps such as applets,
games, Wechat payments, moments, and allows people to buy products and listen to Article
subscriptions about the latest news, entertainment, and guidance.
Little Red Book
If you want to buy a facial mask, which product is better? You can find answers to all these
questions in a convenient place - little red book or red. People will share what they buy, food,
drinks, travel, basic living, even shopping and coupons tips.
Bilibili
A highly concentrated cultural community and video platform for the young generation in
China, and an ACG (animation, manga, games) content creation and sharing video site. At
present, it covers more than 7000 circles of interest.
Zhihu
Like Quora in Chinese. Zhihu is an online Q & A community that connects users from all
walks of life. Users share knowledge, experience and opinions to provide continuous and
diversified information flow for Chinese Internet.
2. The Labor Form of Users
Digital labor, in the form of free labor for social media users, is increasingly an indispensable
form of labor for contemporary capitalism.
i. User Content Production
In the Internet era, Internet companies absorb and integrate the leisure time of netizens,
make them produce content information, and realize the production mode of digital capital
multiplication. As Smythe (1981, 47) said, "For most people, 24 hours in a day is working time". For
example, Sina Weibo is regarded as the Chinese version of Twitter, it is highly open and interactive.
Users can share the new things around them, participate in the hot topics, record their mood, collect
information, comment or forward other people's micro-blog contents anytime and anywhere. In order
to maximize profits, the website operators formed a strong fan attraction by attracting stars at the
beginning of the establishment of the platform, and created a system specially set for star-chasing,
attracting a large number of fans to register, and using their free labor to realize capital appreciation.
From this perspective, Internet users are not so much "users" of Sina Weibo as "digital laborers"
who build websites.
In addition, the production of users' personal information enables social media to achieve
precise positioning of commercial advertisements, and drive their capital production and commercial
proliferation. When users register personal data, they have to agree to the service agreement of
social media by default, and there are some terms hidden in the agreement. For example, Sina
Weibo has this clause "You acknowledge and agree that, to the extent permitted by existing laws
24
and regulations, Weibo may use your personal non-private information for marketing and other
purposes". In other words, it allows Internet companies to use and commercialize large amounts of
personal user data for commercial purposes. In this business logic, users become the unpaid digital
labor of Internet companies. According to Sina Finance (2021), it had 521 million monthly and 225
million daily active users as of December 2020, and net income attributable to Weibo was $313.4
million. As a result, users become the core force for digital capital accumulation on social media
platforms.
ii. Production of Micro-Video
At present, the aggregation attribution of micro-video platforms is outstanding, which can
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the United States. In 2011, the first social micro-video app Viddly was launched, then YouTube
became popular. More than 2 billion people log on to YouTube every month, according to Alphabet
(2021). In China, micro-video social media has become the third force after Weibo and WeChat. As
the data of CNNIC (2021) showed, user scale of China's micro-video industry grew to 873 million
people by 2020, accounting for 88.3 percent of the total Internet users, so it is becoming a new
national application industry. Therefore, the mobile short video market in China is huge.
Users of video websites display their original video content to other users through the video
platform, thereby gaining thumb up, comments and fans. In this mode, the video production,
uploading and promotion of users on the network video platform become a new kind of digital labor,
and the fruits of its labor are coveted by Internet companies. Take Douyin as an example. According
to the Douyin in 2020 Data Report (2021), its daily active users exceeded 600 million and the
average number of daily video searches exceeded 400 million. Most of Douyin's short videos are
produced and uploaded by users themselves. Most of them are funny, knowledgeable, romantic,
which add a lot of interest to our lives, but also become the objects of digital capital commodification,
because the fruits of their labor end up in the platform.
At the same time, users have become veritable producers and consumers. For example,
Douyin's short videos are used in many commercial advertisements. The background will analyze
users' preferences based on their browsing data and broadcast advertising information in a targeted
way, so as to obtain profits from advertisers. On the other hand, data and information produced by
users, including uploaded videos and browsing interests of users, become intangible assets of the
platform and are privatized and commercialized by the platform. That is to say, without knowing it,
users become the producers, disseminators and consumers of micro-video contents and work for
the Internet platform free of charge.
THE EXPLOITATIVE LOGIC OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Fuchs (2012) identifies three ways in which commercial capital exploits digital labor. One is
coercion. As everyday communication and social relations are networked and digitized, people are
forced to use the Internet. The second one is alienation. Internet companies, rather than users
themselves, own the platform and make profits from it. The last one is dual commercialization of
producers. The user itself is a commodity, and the information produced by the user is also a
commodity. Combined with the Chinese context, this paper summarizes the logic of exploitation of
social media capital.
1.Commoditization of Users
According to audience commodity theory (Smythe, 1977), the programs, information and
entertainment produced by the media are not their main commodities, they are merely "free lunches"
provided to attract the audience, the real commodity is the audience. Nowadays, commercialization
25
is the pursuit of all platforms, the social media with huge traffic has become the favored place for
many enterprises to market and advertise. Social media sell users to advertisers in the form of
embedded ads. Take Douyin for example, the main way to make money on the platform is through
advertising. Its advertisement form has the open screen advertisement, the information flow
advertisement, the sticker advertisement and the expert cooperation advertisement. Compared with
the traditional advertisement, the advertisement implantation of the short video platform is more in
line with the acceptance demand of the audience. Although the form has some changes, its essence
is to sell the audience to advertisers.
In addition, social media platforms use users' personal and behavioral information as their
own data capital. Based on a series of behavioral information such as browsing, following, thumb
up, searching and commenting, the platform provides a complete portrait of user behavior and
provides a perfect insight into users' content preferences. For example, Tencent can accurately
predict how Chinese people will look when they get old, because over the years, people have
uploaded a large number of photos to Qzone and WeChat Moments (Ma, 2017). In short, Data has
actually become the means of production for platforms and capital.
2. Commoditization of Labor
Fuchs (2012) believes the user itself is a kind of commodity, the information produced by the
user is also a kind of commodity. Wu (2015) summarized two kinds of commoditization of labor. The
first is the commercialization of user-generated content (UGC). The second one is the
commoditization of users' online behavior.
i. Commoditization of UGC
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines UGC as
"content that involves some creative effort and is publicly available on the web, produced by
amateurs through non-professional channels". The term UGC comes from the Internet field. With
the advent of the era of Web2.0, which is mainly characterized by users' active creation, network
users have realized the transformation from passively receiving information to actively publishing
information.
The generation of user content is a creative activity, and that content is the fuel that feeds
the platform. Douyin is a platform that relies more on content than relationships, producing around
40,000 new videos a day (Liu, 2020). According to a report released by Bytedance Computing
Center, these videos have a rich variety, involving fashion, food, cute pets, travel, sports and other
areas of life, which can be said to firmly grasp the requirements of all the people. These things
depend on the huge user base of the entire platform. Although the platform allows users with a large
number of followers to earn some income through live broadcast, the fees paid by the platform are
small, when compared with the economic value created by the high-quality content it contributed to
the platform.
ii. Commoditization of User's Online Behavior
In the Internet industry, in addition to the content produced by users, the behavior of users'
network use has also been commercialized, which has become an important way for their capital
accumulation. At the China Development Forum 2018, Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu, said
publicly, "Chinese people are more open and less sensitive about privacy issues, if they can trade
their privacy for convenience, security or efficiency. In many cases, that's what they're willing to do."
This statement highlights how blind the tech giants are to the core interests of their users. User's
online behavior will be recorded in the browser cache, also called a cookie, this is a kind of
independent computer code byte, to temporarily record user information, including user IP address,
26
card number, username, password, web browsing, and residence time, etc. In order to improve the
speed of browsing the web or automatic login already login page, almost all commercial Internet
companies are forcing the recording of users' private information. Users will leave their mobile phone
number, email and other private information when registering on social media, or leave their personal
preferences such as browsing records on websites or APPs, which can be traded and sold on the
platform. Whenever we open the APP, we will find a variety of products and services that are in line
with our preferences, and some merchants will push products in the form of text messages and
phone calls. Therefore, the transaction and sale of user data has become an important way for
Internet companies to make profits.
3. Surplus value production
Marx thinks that exploitation is the unpaid appropriation of the surplus value of the worker.
The surplus value is the core concept of Marxism theory, and it is also an important issue in the
study of digital labor. According to Marx, the definition of surplus value is that the capitalist wants to
produce goods of greater value than the total value used to produce them. Fuchs (2012) has made
a detailed analysis of the surplus value production of social media users, pointing out that the digital
labor process is a process of increasing value multiplication, which is the infinite possession and
continuous exploitation of the unremunerated labor of users by capitalists.
i. The Extension of Working Hours
In the digital age, labor time has broken the boundaries of body and society and achieved
the absolute extension of labor time. For social media users, their working time is no longer limited
by time and space, and they do not regard the time they spend on the Internet and leisure as labor
time, thus unconsciously producing surplus value for Internet companies. For social media platforms,
all the time users spend online is labor time producing surplus value. For example, data from China's
Internet audio-visual development research report (2020) shows that by June 2020, short video
surpassed instant messaging with 110 minutes per person per day. Therefore, social media has
become a time-killer for users.
ii. An Increase in the Intensity of Labor
Because of the richness, diversity and novelty of social media, users spend more time and
energy on the Internet, thus producing more data products and creating profits for capitalists. As the
timeline between working and living becomes blurred, users spend almost all their time producing
data goods. From this perspective, digital capital realizes surplus value production by strengthening
labor intensity of laborers.
iii. The Disappearance of Wages
In the production of residual value of digital labor, network capital uses the right to use the
Internet platform to attract users to produce content, but does not pay any economic remuneration
to users, and users' online behavior becomes a form of unpaid labor serving capitalists.
Summarizing, the popularization of Internet technology, the growth of Internet users and the increase
of Internet users' online time have provided an inexhaustible power for Internet companies' capital
accumulation and surplus value production.
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CONCLUSION
Labor is the way of human existence, is the most basic practice of human activities, is the
basis of the existence and development of human society. Digital labor, mainly in the form of free
labor of users on social media platforms, is the product of the combination of digital information
technology and political economy, and is the concrete representation of social production in the era
of digital economy. The development and popularity of the Internet make our mode of production,
the production place changed, people work and life, has become increasingly blurred the boundaries
between work and play, people are enjoying the advantages of the Internet as well as their
contributions to the Internet platform "invisible labor", become the Internet free digital labor capital.
Based on the theoretical literature of digital labor research in recent years, this paper first
introduces the theory of digital labor, including the era background, theoretical origin, definition and
form of labor. Then, according to the development of information technology in China, this paper
introduces the digital labor of Chinese social media users, and considers that UGC and micro-video
production are the main forms of labor. Finally, this paper analyzes the exploitation logic of social
media capital and concludes that social media platforms exploit users' labor through two ways: the
commercialization of users' labor and the production of users' surplus value.
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29
Economic Sustainability Practices in Malaysian Rural Libraries
Siti Khadijah Rafie
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Malaysia
[email protected]
Prof. Madya Dr. Roziya Abu
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Selangor, Malaysia
[email protected]
Nurliyana Abas
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Malaysia
[email protected]
Dr. Siti Khairunnisa Sheikh Abdul Mutalib
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Malaysia
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
The key purpose of this study was to investigate the implementation of economic
sustainability practices in Malaysian rural libraries. A qualitative approach was employed through
interviews with the rural libraries’ staffs, users and non-users, observations, and examinations of
documents related to the six (6) rural libraries which were involved in this study. Thematic analysis
has been used to identify the economic sustainability characters for the rural libraries in Malaysia.
This study concluded that rural libraries in Malaysia had not fully implemented the economic
sustainability elements which are identified as an important element in rural libraries and community
development. Nevertheless, rural libraries in Malaysia had put good effort into economic
sustainability practices.
Keywords: rural libraries, economic sustainability, qualitative method.
INTRODUCTION
Libraries play a crucial role in community development by fulfilling the information needs and
providing information to the community. Public libraries, especially rural libraries are a trustable
medium of information, making them a suitable place to assist the rural community in their local
economic activities. Economic sustainability had guided conventional development science in the
past by increasing their growth and productivity. Economic sustainability is also defined as
continuous growth of the economy in order to avoid an economic crisis (Moldan et al., 2012;
Spangenberg, 2005). Sustainable development in the economic aspect expands the development’s
concern with fiscal capital to consider natural, social and human capital. Economic growth which
supports these elements will be favoured (Basiago, 1999).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Economic sustainability is closely associated with social and environmental sustainability
(Reddy & Thomson, 2015; Spangenberg, 2005). It is due to the reason that the economy will not be
sustainable if the natural resources are used beyond the limits (environment), and the community
30
(social) will never be happy about that situation. Economics must be environmentally, socially and
institutionally sustainable to ensure economic sustainability. The economic sustainability in the
library is about the assistance provided by the library to be part of the local economic activities
(Vanda Ferreira dos Santos, 2009). Local economic activities are the local community activities to
gain profit (Skrzeszewski & Cubberley, 1997). The Croydon public library cooperated with the Local
Council’s Economic and Strategic Development Unit, compiled over 2,000 businesses in the
website, thus helping the community economic revival. In the website, they provide; 1) community
information on the local clubs, societies and services, 2) health information related with hospitals
and health centres, 3) educational information links with schools to produce interactive projects, 4)
local council information to enable anyone to contact public servants using electronic mail, 5)
business information which provides special information and advisory services. 6) tourism and
leisure information and 7) library catalogue in order to assist users to find materials available at the
library. This information helps the community to expand their businesses as well as developing the
business networks, marketing and so on.
Libraries should play a vital role in the local economic activities through their services and
collections (Skrzeszewski & Cubberley, 1997). Rural libraries have strong potential functions as the
economic booster for the rural community (Bharat Mehra, Bishop, & Partee, 2017, 2018). In rural
areas, rural libraries provide the rural community information needed which contribute to their social
development thus leading to economic development (Islam & Zabed Ahmed, 2012). Rural public
libraries should contribute to the local economic activities whereby a study in Tennessee found that
their rural libraries assist the community in their daily economic activities by providing collections,
services and programs related to that. Rural public libraries should cooperate with small businesses
and agencies to sustain the economic activities in the community (Mehra, Bishop, & Partee, 2016).
Rural libraries can cooperate with other agencies to assist small entrepreneurs by organizing
workshops, seminars and training to enhance their entrepreneur skills (Carlos A. Manjarrez, Jessica
Cigna, 2007; Mehra et al., 2017). There are various ways rural libraries are able to help small
businesses such as providing Internet access and computers for the community to do their business,
providing space to conduct meetings, seminars or trainings, access to educational materials related
to their business, providing assistance to market the products or services and providing local
information which might not be available in the book to the entrepreneurs. Rural libraries must play
effective roles in assisting the rural community towards a healthy economy, ensuring that the
community can benefit from the use of their rural libraries in daily economic activities.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In order to explore the economic sustainability practices in Malaysian rural libraries, a
qualitative approach used through semi-structured interviews. The researchers granted approval
from National Library of Malaysia (NLM) to conduct study on rural libraries managed by NLM. There
are six (6) rural libraries selected for this study, and the data of rural libraries involved are from the
Research Department, NLM. Six (6) rural libraries involved in this study consisted of two (2) most
active rural libraries (labelled as RL 1 and RL2), two (2) average performing rural libraries (labelled
as RL3 and RL4), and two (2) least active rural libraries (labelled as RL5 and RL6).
A multiple case study approach is the most suitable method to understand and compare rural
libraries’ economic sustainability practices (Roziya, Grace, & Caroll, 2011). The staff, users and non-
users of each rural library were interviewed to collect the data. The interview session took
approximately 10-40 minutes individually depending on their feedback. The researchers used
ATLAS.ti version 7 to analyse the data. There are hundreds of coding produced through data
analysis, which led to thematic analysis of this study.
31
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Based on the study, all of the six (6) rural libraries have shown an astounding effort in
adapting economic sustainability where some even have planned the future preparation for local
economic development. Total numbers of sixty-two (62) respondents were interviewed in this study
which consists of twelve (12) rural library staff, twenty-three (23) rural library users and twenty-seven
(27) non-users. Opinions from non-user respondents revealed that almost all respondents agreed
that the rural library should support local economic activities except for one (1) non-user respondent
who stated otherwise.
Table I: Summary of Case Studies
Library Staff Users Non-Users
RL1 1. Cooperation with 1. Cooperation with
RL2 other agencies 1. Cooperation with other agencies
RL3 other agencies
RL4 1. Cooperation with 2. Generate income 1. Cooperation with
other agencies from the library other agencies
RL5 programmes 2. Conduct activities to
RL6 1. Cooking class 1. Cooperation with generate income
2.Flower other agencies
arrangement class 2. Generate income 1. Cooking class
3. Carving class from the library 2. Baking class
programmes
1. Cooperation with 1. Cooking class 3. Sewing class
other agencies 2. Flower arrangement
2. Makeup class class 1. Cooperation with
3. Baking class other agencies
1. Cooperation with 4. Sewing class 2. Sewing class
other agencies 1. Cooperation with 3. Baking class
2. Cooking class other agencies 4. Organise activities
2. Baking class to generate income
1.Cooking class 3. Cooking class 1. Cooperation with
2.Flower other agencies
arrangement class 1. Cooperation with
3.Makeup class other agencies 1.Cooperation with
4.Handicraft class 2. Cooking class other agencies
3. Sewing class
4. Flower arrangement
class
5. No suggestion
1.Cooking class
2.Sewing class
3.Cooperation with
other agencies
32
Rural libraries are known to have good potential in supporting local economic activities.
Economic development in rural areas can be minimal since they are located in remote places;
therefore, rural libraries can take part in enhancing local economic activities (Dent, 2007).
Referring to the Table I above, it can be seen that all of these rural libraries are committed to
supporting local economic activities. Apart from conducting classes to enhance skills for local
community, they also act as a medium of engagement by providing areas for the members to do
meeting or discussion with several related agencies such as Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), Jabatan
Kemajuan Masyarakat (KEMAS) and others. One of the strategies that rural libraries can do to help
local economic activities is through collaborating with other agencies. Hence, this is also one of the
methods of engagement between librarians and the local community (Smith, 2014). Based on the
interviews, it was revealed that Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat (KEMAS) was one of the agencies
that actively participated with the rural libraries in facilitating with the local community day to day
economic activities. Other than KEMAS, the respondents also mentioned the involvement of another
agency which is Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) in facilitating their local economic activities. AIM also
works together with rural libraries in looking for potential entrepreneurs and those who are interested
in its services. SME Corp as well is one of the agencies that collaborate with rural libraries in
assisting small entrepreneurs in the local community to expand their businesses. Based on the
interview with the respondents, there are numerous skill classes proposed by the respondents in
order to assist them in generating side income. The proposed classes are namely cooking classes,
baking classes, carving classes, flower arrangement classes, sewing classes, and handicraft
classes. These skill classes could be arranged with the local agencies like KEMAS, SME Corp, AIM,
and many more. KEMAS is focusing on skill classes, whereas AIM and SME Corp could organize
training and seminars relevant to the local community’s businesses.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This study has made a huge effort to cover the practices of economic sustainability in rural
libraries in Malaysia. Although this study only looked into six (6) selected rural libraries, it also as
well can be generalized to other rural libraries in Malaysia. In summary, results derived from the
interview with the respondents (staff, user, and non-users) show that economic sustainability should
be highly included in the sustainability measurement framework for rural libraries in Malaysia.
Furthermore, the rural libraries also need to take part in facilitating the rural community in their day-
to-day economic activities. The economic sustainability element in every rural library might not be
the same depending on the economic activities of the community that they deal with to guarantee
the usefulness of the economic sustainability implementation.
REFERENCES
Basiago, A. D. (1999). Economic, social, and environmental sustainability in development theory
and urban planning practice. The Environmentalist, 19, 145–161.
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006697118620
Carlos A. Manjarrez, Jessica Cigna, B. B. (2007). Making cities stronger public library contributions
to local economic development. In Chemistry & Retrieved from
http://webarchive.urban.org/UploadedPDF/1001075_stronger_cities.pdf%0Ahttp://www.urb
an.org/url.cfm?id=1001075&RSSFeed=UI_U.S.Cities/Communities.xml
Dent, Valeda Frances. (2007). Local economic development in Uganda and the connection to rural
community libraries and literacy. New Library World, 108(5/6), 203–217.
https://doi.org/10.1108/03074800710748777
33
Islam, S., & Zabed Ahmed, S. M. (2012). Rural library services. New Library World, 113(3/4), 118–
138. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074801211218462
Mehra, B., Bishop, B. W., & Partee, R. P. (2016). Information science professionals as community
action researchers to further the role of rural public libraries in small business economic
development: A case study of tennessee. [Les professionnels des sciences de l’information
en tant que chercheurs en. Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science, 40(4), 289–
299.
Mehra, Bharat, Bishop, B. W., & Partee, R. P. (2017). Small business perspectives on the role of
rural libraries in economic development. Library Quarterly, 87(1), 17–35.
https://doi.org/10.1086/689312
Mehra, Bharat, Bishop, B. W., & Partee, R. P. (2018). A gap analysis of the perspectives of small
businesses and rural librarians in Tennessee: Developments toward a blueprint for a public
library small business toolkit. Advances in Librarianship, 43, 97–121.
https://doi.org/10.1108/S0065-283020170000043005
Moldan, B., Janoušková, S., & Hák, T. (2012). How to understand and measure environmental
sustainability: Indicators and targets. Ecological Indicators, 17, 4–13.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.04.033
Reddy, T., & Thomson, R. (2015). Environmental, social and economic sustainability: Implications
for actuarial science. Actuaries Institute 2015 ASTIN, AFIR/ERM and IACA Colloquia, 61, 1–
28.
Roziya Abu, Grace, M., & Carroll, M. (2011). The role of the rural public library in community
development and empowerment. International Journal of the Book, 8(2), 63–74.
Skrzeszewski, S., & Cubberley, M. (1997). Community-based economic development and the
library: A concept paper. Library Management, 18(7), 323–327.
https://doi.org/10.1108/01435129710170379
Smith, D. (2014). Collaboration between rural school and public youth services librarians. New
Library World, 115(3/4), 160–174. https://doi.org/10.1108/NLW-01-2014-0014
Spangenberg, J. H. (2005). Economic sustainability of the economy: Concepts and indicators.
International Journal of Sustainable Development, 8(1/2), 47–65.
https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSD.2005.007374
Vanda Ferreira dos Santos, L. (2009). Public libraries and their contribution towards economic
development: A discussion. Libres, 19(2), 1–9.
34
Ergonomic and Anthropometric Study of Home Office for
Work-From-Home (WFH) during Pandemic COVID-19
Wan Nur Rukiah Binti Mohd Arshard
Department of Built Environment Studies and Technology
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
[email protected]
Ahmad Faiz Bin Hassan Naziri
Department of Built Environment Studies and Technology
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
[email protected]
Nor Diyana Binti Mustapa
Department of Interior Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Ekistics
Universiti Malaysia Kelantan
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
Home plays an important role for work-from-home (WFH) during pandemic COVID-19
phenomenon as the nature of work systems across the globe has changed. However, it has become
a concern as the spaces at home are limited, especially for the B40 group in Malaysia that live in
types of houses that have quite small sizes. This study aims to investigate the ergonomics of home
office specifically among B40 groups. This study employed a qualitative approach that involved
observation and survey methods for data collection. Results indicate that most of the respondents
used the living area as their home office as they have limited spaces at home. In addition, they are
comfortable using the living area as their home office as they can share the space with other family
members for other purposes such as online classes. However, they prefer to have a study room as
their home office to be more focused and concentrated. Findings suggest that the home office
ergonomics is important for safety and health reasons. Having an ergonomic home office during this
pandemic COVID-19 will ensure the employee maintains productivity while WFH.
Keywords: anthropometrics, ergonomics, work-from-home, study-from-home.
INTRODUCTION
Amidst the pandemic of COVID-19 that had been ongoing for more than a year now, normal
office employees are being forced to work from home (WFH) in order to maintain regular tasks that
should be done at work to prevent further spread of the virus. Home is of vital importance not only
for everyday tasks, but it also serves as a workspace as a new norm during this pandemic. However,
several difficulties have been faced by the employees at WFH. Studies have shown that WFH has
affected the quality of work of the employees. For instance, working parents have difficulties in
managing their work and family life. Working parents have to share the same tools and spaces with
their children. This phenomenon is worse for the B40 group as most of the people in this group live
in types of houses that have limited areas and sizes. Moreover, when working parents have to work
at the same time their children have online classes. Limited spaces at home make it difficult for
working parents to focus and this situation affects their performance. It is important to ensure the
working area or home office is comfortable to ensure the work performances and productivity is
35
good. Also, if the work space is uncomforted, it may result in a sudden onset of body pain that may
lead to more severe issues in the future (Davis et al., 2020).
There are many factors that can be considered to ensure an individual's efficiency and
comfort at an individual workspace. One of the factors is the ergonomic factor. According to
Ravindran (2019), ergonomics of a workspace plays an important role that influences an individual
performance. An ergonomics workspace resulting in individuals working in a pleasant and
comfortable environment. The study found that a single workspace has a positive effect on
productivity compared to employees who had to share their workplace with other members. In a
report on the configuration dimensions that have the best ergonomic efficiency in the workstation,
Iqbal et al., (2020), stated that there are three varied parameters in the workstation: scope distance,
scope height, and chair height. The height and width of human beings when working will differ based
on the distance of the person facing the job on the table, whether it is a laptop or a sheet of paper,
as well as the pose and position of that person. Body lengths, breadths, and girths may be used to
measure a population's physical height, and the resulting data can be used to construct workplaces,
appliances, and goods that fit people's measurements, according to A. S. Nicholson (1991).
According to V et al., (2019), different variables such as workstation height, sitting chair stability,
anthropometry results, reach region, and worker capacity are effectively used for workspace analysis
and development.
The employees usually are unaware that the ergonomics in the workspaces can affect their
mental and physical abilities in performing responsible tasks. During the pre-pandemic era,
employees' workspaces usually have ergonomic adjustments so that they can be comfortable doing
various types of work at once or in various positions. According to V et al., (2019), successful
ergonomic nature can be achieved by applying the concepts of ergonomics in manufacturing
workstations. Meanwhile Peteri (2017) stated that the concept of ergonomic static according to the
workplace atmosphere or open space is the vision of industrial designers with their contemporary
workspaces. He suggests the designers in this industry may create chairs and tables that fit the
space of a house or a small space that are ergonomically designed to fit the current situation. A
proper work space with a suitable measurement is important for a successful ergonomic design. For
example, as for chairs, working in a seated posture for an extended period of time would induce
back pains if the chair used does not fit the human body's position and also does not have any
lumbar support. On the other hand, when designing a desk workstation intervention, the cost of an
ergonomic chair is a vital factor to remember. These desks are normally designed ergonomically to
accommodate all programming and writing tasks (Wills & Louw, 2015).
Given the importance of ergonomic home offices during this pandemic and the consequence
of not having one; hence, it is crucial to have a basic understanding of the current scenario of
ergonomics and anthropometry of home offices especially among B40 who have limited spaces at
home. An ergonomic home office is crucial for performance, productivity, as well as health. Thus,
this study aims to investigate the ergonomics and anthropometry of home office among B40 groups
of people.
METHODOLOGY
This study employed a qualitative approach to achieve the aim. Observation and survey
methods were used for data collection. Observations were conducted at two types of residential of
B40 groups which are at two terrace houses and two-storey apartments of different areas.
Meanwhile, surveys were distributed randomly using google form among employees who WFH.
However, there are few limitations for observation because of the pandemic COVID-19 and the
researcher needs to follow the Standard Operation Procedure (SOP).
36
Observation
Observations were conducted at two story house Jalan Nuri, Section 7, Kota Damansara
Selangor and cluster house Taman Melewar, Kampung Padang Balang, Kuala Lumpur. Observation
checklist was referred to during the observation. The checklist covered the house layout, spaces
commonly used as home offices, numbers of households, furniture at home offices and the
dimensions of the furniture used. A house was selected from each chosen residential. The area of
selected house at Kota Damansara is 1,680 square feet/ 156.07 square meter. Meanwhile, the area
of selected house at Taman Melewar, Kampung Padang Balang, Kuala Lumpur is 700 square feet /
65.03 square meter
Survey
Surveys were randomly distributed to respondents who WFH. Just eight open-ended
questions were given, each explaining the experience of working at home in relation to the ease of
the ergonomic room used during the day. The concerns are: sort of house occupied, residence, room
in the house, working hours, space used to live, working at home comfortable or uncomfortable,
space or furniture that offers warmth when working, and finally, space that needs to be changed for
space work at home. Total number of replies to the survey is 23 in two weeks.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Spaces at Home
Item Answer Percentage
How many 16.7%
households living in 1-2 person 62.5%
the house 20.8%
3-5 person 37.5%
The space planning 6-7 person 33.3%
of the house 25.0%
Working time 1 living, 1 kitchen, 3 bedrooms (700 sqft to 890 sqft) 16.7%
29.2%
1 living + 1 Dining, 1 kitchen, 3 bedrooms + study room (1,000sft)
8.00am – 5.00pm
9.00am – 6.00 pm
Flexible working hours
Case studies were conducted according to the room requirements, with an emphasis on the
ergonomics of the respondents while working at home. The living room in both houses is the main
portion of the space used in the home, which is ideal for use as a workstation, so it has more space
or space to be used as a workstation. The use of space and furniture that offer warmth is emphasized
by survey respondents. 62.5 percent of respondents said they lived in a family of three to five
individuals. The majority of the 37.5 percent of respondents who live in apartments/flats have a
house size of 700 square feet to 890 square feet. They will be given the same amount of time working
at home, but they will be able to adjust that based on the amount of work they have to do. Day hours
for 25.0 percent of respondents are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 29.2 percent have flexible working hours
at home. Certain businesses open at 9.30 a.m. and close at 7.30 p.m., with no operation on
Saturday.
37
Spaces Commonly Used for Home Office
Item Answer Percentage
The spaces you do for your work- Living Room 37.5%
from-home (WFH) 29,0%
Bedroom 16.7%
Its working space at home Small Space in Living room 47.8%
comfortable 29.2%
Yes
No
The living room is where most work from home events take place. The living room is the
subject of office work, according to 37.5 percent of respondents. If the living room is too cramped
with chairs, the rest of them do their office job in the bedroom. The majority of WFH respondents
(47.8%) said that working at home makes it easier to walk around and do other things like eat and
relax. Working at home makes it easier for people to balance their activities at work and at home
when we are living in a new norm where children learn and play at home. As a result, respondents
will change their time more easily to control their lives.
Furniture at Home Office
Item Answer Percentage
Between working at office and at Chair 37.5%
home, which part / furniture make Space 25.0%
you comfortable Private 25.0%
Living Room 20.8%
Which space at home that you Bedroom 12.5%
think could be used to add a Study Room 62.5%
working space
There are pieces and furniture that limit the convenience of respondents in the workplace
room at home, with 37.5 percent of respondents stating that the chair used is not appropriate for the
role to do work within 8 hours, while 25.0 percent of respondents stating that the area is not suitable
for office and end until 25.0 percent of respondents stating no privacy in carrying out their duties. An
appropriate space for use as a workspace was proposed by respondents. A study space was
proposed by 62.5 percent of respondents as a working place, while a living room was suggested by
20.8 percent of respondents as a second option for WFH.
Ergonomic Working Area at Home
Base on observation the discussion on case study has been chosen to analyse on figure on
ergonomic living room various size and style of home. The first home A double-story terrace house
in Kota Damansara's Jalan Nuri. It has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room,
and a car porch. Two adults and two children make up the household of four members. There are
three sofas and a small table in this living room. The respondent establishes a new office room near
the corner after removing one small sofa from another place. This room was chosen by respondents
because it was convenient to get to the kitchen and had a relaxed working environment. Figure 1
shows the dimension of living room in millimetre, the space has added a new workstation for WFH
and the size of the living 208.06 square feet /19.33 square meter so comfortable circulation using
the space. Figure 2 depicts working spaces on the left side of the living room facing the entrance
door, with two sofas, and Figure 3 depicts working spaces on the right side of the living room, with
one couch, one shoe case, and an exercise body unit.
38
Figure: 1 Dimension of living room
Figure 2: left side living room Figure 3: right side living room
The selected House B cluster house in Kuala Lumpur's Taman Melewar, Kampung Padang
Balang. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, and a balcony. Two adult’s
members living in this house. After covid-19, the living room has two small sofas and office quarters,
with a total area of 103.54 square feet / 9.62 square meter. Before that, the living room had one
dining table and one small sofa. Since the house is just 700 square feet / 65.03 square meter with
one living room, one kitchen, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms, respondents have no choice but
to find working spaces at home. The respondent does not feel at ease in this environment because
the chair does not suit his or her body shape. This house is too cramped with furniture to be
ergonomic. Figure 4 depicts the respondent's work environment, which is not ergonomically sound
39
for the human body. Figure 5 depicts the general living room, which is so cramped that the house's
airflow is inconvenient. Figure 6 show dimension of living room so compact with furniture.
Figure 4: near entrance door Figure 5: overall living room
Figure 6: Dimension of living room
Tables 1 display the living spaces and furniture for terrace and cluster houses, respectively.
This house is different in size, especially in the living room, but House B has a lot of furniture in a
tiny living room. Working space design is dependent on the availability of space to incorporate
working spaces other than a table and chair.
Table 1: Compare the space and furniture for working space
House A House B
Working Size Furniture Working House Size Furniture Working House
Spaces Living spaces holds Living spaces holds
Room Room
Living 3 Sofa Corner 4 2 Sofa Near 2
Room 208.06 1 Table near Person 103.54 entrance Person
sqft / sqft /
19.33 Kitchen 9.62 door
sqm sqm
40
CONCLUSION
The results of this study suggest that the most common spaces used for home offices are
living areas and most of the respondents are comfortable using living areas as their home office
while WFH. However, the spaces are not ergonomic and uncomfortable for an individual to work in
a long hour, and this may cause an impact on individual health in the future. Besides, with the new
norm, people should be aware of the importance of an ergonomic home office for their own mental
and physical health. The furniture manufacturer should be aware of these issues and provide more
affordable ergonomic furniture to be used at home offices so that everyone can enjoy a comfortable
home office or work space. Surprisingly, this study also found that some respondents enjoy WFH;
hence it is important for them to be aware of a comfortable home office or work space. This study
also found that having less furniture in a small house can help people feel more at ease in an
environment. The culture of keeping things that are not used need to be changed. Awareness on
organizing and designing small size houses need to be practiced. In conclusion, individual as well
as the designers should be aware of the importance of an ergonomic home office in this new norm.
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Ergonomics, Learning Environment Student Architecture: A
Personal View
Ahmad Faiz Bin Hassan Naziri
Department of Built Environment Studies and Technology,
Universiti Technologi MARA, Malaysia.
[email protected]
Wan Nur Rukiah Binti Mohd Arshard
Department of Built Environment Studies and Technology,
Universiti Technologi MARA, Malaysia.
[email protected]
Ismail Bin Samsuddin
Department of Built Environment Studies and Technology,
Universiti Technologi MARA, Malaysia.
[email protected]
Izzat Bin Anuar
Department of Built Environment Studies and Technology,
Universiti Technologi MARA, Malaysia.
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
This study examines the atmosphere of architecture students studying at home using
ergonomic space in the house as a learning space in the midst of covid-19 pandemic situation. To
ensure a reasonably comfortable atmosphere for architecture students, the learning space's
environment is calculated utilizing ergonomics for each space in the building. After the beginning of
the Movement Control Order (MCO) in March 2020, all public universities in Malaysia have made it
mandatory for their students to study from home. Students' learning can be distinguished based on
the classes they take. For example, business students are well-suited to online learning, while
architecture students need adequate space and a proper drafting table to complete drawings that
must be manually shown to their lecturers. Architecture students are more comfortable working in
the studio space compared to their spaces available at home. However, due to the limitations of the
covid-19 pandemic scenario, which required students to study-from-home (SFH), students are very
uncomfortable in terms of space quality due to space sharing with siblings or other family members,
and the space itself is not conducive enough due to the space's size. This ergonomics study will
provide insight into the condition of students who learn at home. The purpose of this study is to
identify the ergonomic environment in the house for architecture students to carry out activities to do
their assignment such as drawings and other works, within a comfortable environment. The
approach was used in this analysis, along with observation process to compare and analyse the
learning environment space and descriptive analysis based on observation. The findings of the
research method can represent the current situation faced by students in the use of space in the
home, as well as the need to develop and open a larger or more versatile space as desired by
architecture students. This research has the ability to provide ideas to all Malaysian architecture
students on how to adapt space based on the house's condition and size.
Keywords: study-from-home (SFH), architecture students, ergonomics, learning spaces.
43
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