DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION OF HINDU TEMPLES IN MALAYSIA: PRAGMATIC RESPONSES OF INDIAN HINDU COMMUNITIES IN PENANG

<p>This thesis examines the pragmatic responses of Indian Hindus when their century-old Hindu community temples face threats of demolition by the Malaysian government. I argue that their compliance with the demolition is a subtle and pragmatic political act that manipulates their political standing as a minority community in order to safeguard their temples. I analyse the effectiveness of such pragmatic acts of compliance by the Indian Hindu communities, and the implications of their compliance for the political and social significance, as well as the sacredness of their demolished temples. My ethnographic data is derived from in-depth interviews of the management committees and community members of three Hindu temples in Penang, and field observations of the rituals and ceremonies in these temples. During my fieldwork, these temples have either been demolished or are in the process of demolition. The management committees of these temples have relocated the statues of the deities into temporary buildings. My findings show that the Indian Hindu communities acquiesced to government demolition of their community Hindu temples to make way for development. In return for their compliance, the Hindu communities expected that the government is obligated to find new locations for them to rebuild their community temples. Their attempts to ensure the temples continuously exist in the area suggest that these temples, regardless of their shapes and sizes, have significance for the local Hindu communities. This significance it true both for members of the temple committee and the local Hindu community. Their compliance also suggests that the portability of these temples as sacred places. The importance of the thesis is in its insistence that Malaysian Indian Hindus as minorities are not necessarily powerless in the face of dominance of the government. Instead, these Hindu communities are actively engaging with their political and social realities with pragmatic and subtle political actions such as demonstrating compliance. By complying with the demolition of their community temples, the Hindu communities are not only able to manoeuvre their ways through the dominance of the government, but they can also Hindu communities.</p>

DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION OF HINDU TEMPLES IN MALAYSIA: PRAGMATIC RESPONSES OF INDIAN HINDU COMMUNITIES IN PENANG

<p>This thesis examines the pragmatic responses of Indian Hindus when their century-old Hindu community temples face threats of demolition by the Malaysian government. I argue that their compliance with the demolition is a subtle and pragmatic political act that manipulates their political standing as a minority community in order to safeguard their temples. I analyse the effectiveness of such pragmatic acts of compliance by the Indian Hindu communities, and the implications of their compliance for the political and social significance, as well as the sacredness of their demolished temples. My ethnographic data is derived from in-depth interviews of the management committees and community members of three Hindu temples in Penang, and field observations of the rituals and ceremonies in these temples. During my fieldwork, these temples have either been demolished or are in the process of demolition. The management committees of these temples have relocated the statues of the deities into temporary buildings. My findings show that the Indian Hindu communities acquiesced to government demolition of their community Hindu temples to make way for development. In return for their compliance, the Hindu communities expected that the government is obligated to find new locations for them to rebuild their community temples. Their attempts to ensure the temples continuously exist in the area suggest that these temples, regardless of their shapes and sizes, have significance for the local Hindu communities. This significance it true both for members of the temple committee and the local Hindu community. Their compliance also suggests that the portability of these temples as sacred places. The importance of the thesis is in its insistence that Malaysian Indian Hindus as minorities are not necessarily powerless in the face of dominance of the government. Instead, these Hindu communities are actively engaging with their political and social realities with pragmatic and subtle political actions such as demonstrating compliance. By complying with the demolition of their community temples, the Hindu communities are not only able to manoeuvre their ways through the dominance of the government, but they can also Hindu communities.</p>

Evaluation of fish diversity and abundance in the Kabul River with comparisons between reaches above and below Kabul City, Afghanistan

The fish fauna of the Kabul River downstream of the City of Kabul face threats from increasing human population such as pollution, overfishing, and increased development. Despite the rapid increase of these activities leading to threats to fishes in the Kabul River, no studies have examined the changes in diversity, distribution, and abundance of fish fauna in the Kabul River surrounding of Kabul City. In this study, the Kabul River was divided into two zones (upstream and downstream) consisting of six sampling sites (3 sites per zone). Of the total of 1,190 fishes collected, Cypriniformes was the dominant order with one family, six genera, and eight species. Cyprinidae was the dominant family of that order with 81.4% (n= 969) of total individuals. Species abundance was higher in the upstream reaches in almost all analyses. Upstream sites recorded 11 species, while seven species were recorded from downstream sites. Fish species richness was significantly higher upstream versus downstream reaches (9.67 ± 1.53 vs. 6.33 ± .58; U= .00, z= -1.99, p= .04, r= .81). Species diversity upstream was significantly higher than downstream (H’= 1.90 ± 0.15, D1= 0.81 ± 0.02). Similarly, species evenness was also higher upstream than downstream (J’= 0.84 ± 0.01). Low diversity, abundance, and evenness in downstream reaches are likely due to anthropogenic activities affecting the river in and around Kabul City.

Chad aims to co-opt rebels to reduce their threat

Significance The government’s attention is now shifting to rebels. The authorities face threats from multiple sides -- rebel groups, Boko Haram, the turmoil in the Central African Republic and the transition in Sudan -- and placating at least some rebels would help the ruling Military Transition Council (CMT) to narrow its list of concerns. Impacts Further rebel incursions would swiftly draw the attention of France, which has intervened multiple times on behalf of Chadian governments. The authorities are likely to set a date for the inclusive national dialogue soon, especially if they can secure some rebel participation. The national dialogue will symbolise confidence in the transition, but not substantive unity.

Global commons law: norms to safeguard the planet and humanity’s heritage

The Global Commons – the high seas and the seabed, Antarctica, the atmosphere (including the ozone layer and the climate system), and outer space – have a distinctive status in international relations because these domains play a vital role in ensuring humankind’s survival, the subsistence of the planet, and the intergenerational custodianship of the human heritage. I call global commons law an ‘uncommon’ realm within international law that is composed of principles and practices that dovetail with treaties aimed at protecting humankind. These laws have an atypical purpose and are characterized by a commonality of interests based on the view that safeguarding these domains is in the interests of developing and developed countries alike, with scientists, activists, and international institutions jointly having a convening power to maintain peace. To elaborate on the impact and implications of the global commons law, I explain three of its functions: guardianship of future generations; creation of a comity for peace and peaceful settlement of disputes; and setting norms as the foundation for peaceful relations. These norms in turn have four key objectives: they provide common ground for peace and cooperation; ensure equity between rich and poor countries; create a forum for equitable burden-sharing; and prevent future harm. The Global Commons face threats – melting ice caps, greenhouse gases, and overfishing – that imperil the survival of humanity. This is then the moment to update and strengthen the mechanisms of global commons law.

"So you're saying": the interrogation of Jordan Peterson

<p class="p1">In this article, I analyse the infamous Cathy Newman interview with Jordan Peterson on the 16th of January 2018 and subsequent viewer comments on Channel 4's YouTube channel. My first hypothesis is that Newman's frequent attribution of statements to Peterson using the now notorious "so you are saying" gambit (YSG) is what triggered outrage among Peterson's followers, which, in turn, generated media interest. My second hypothesis is that the interview is best understood as a series of Face threats by Newman on Peterson using the YSG. To ascertain if my hypotheses are true, I performed corpus linguistic analyses on the interview and comments to provide objective descriptions of both.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Episodes in which the YSG were used were identified and analysed using Goffman's (1967) Facework approach. My analysis shows that the YSG was indeed a salient feature of the interviewer's discourse and was used to attack the interviewee's Face.</p>

Group Communication Support in Supporting the Resilience of Families and Survivors of Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic originating from Wuhan has caused a lot of problems in people’s life aside from the economic costs. The Covid-19 has also taken its toll in almost every country in the world. Millions have died. Families need communication supports to face Covid-19. Group communication support has a very important role in sustaining the Covid-19 survivors and their families. To understand how it can sustain the Covid-19 survivors and their families, the researcher used the case-study approach and collected data through in-depth interviews with three respondents and analyzed them. This study aims to find out how the role of group communication support for survivors in supporting their resilience against Covid-19. The result shows that group communication supports link with five skills in designing supportive messages, i.e.: clarifying supportive intentions, buffering face threats, using other-centered messages, framing messages, and giving advice. These five skills provide a positive influence to the survivors and their families. The support messages have helped them go through difficult times caused by Covid-19. The research also found other sustaining aspects: the ability of the three respondents to see the calamities positively according to their religions and their strong personalities. Their personalities have enabled them to show positive attitudes to their children. In turn, their children also have the same resolute, strong, and resilient attitude in facing their calamities. Pandemi Covid-19 yang berasal dari Wuhan, telah menimbulkan banyak masalah bagi kehidupan manusia, tidak hanya kerugian secara ekonomi saja. Covid-19 juga telah merenggut banyak nyawa manusia hampir di semua belahan dunia. Jutaan nyawa melayang dan jutaan keluarga membutuhkan adanya dukungan komunikasi sebagai akibat serangan Covid-19 ini. Dukungan komunikasi kelompok memiliki peranan yang sangat penting guna menunjang ketahanan dari keluarga dan juga penyintas Covid-19 ini. Untuk mengetahui bagaimana dukungan komunikasi kelompok bisa menunjang ketahanan keluarga dan penyintas Covid-19, maka dilakukan penelitian dengan pendekatan studi kasus, yakni mengumpulkan data melalui wawancara mendalam kepada tiga informan dan selanjutnya menganalisisnya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menemukan bagaimana peranan dukungan komunikasi kelompok terhadap penyintas dalam menunjang ketahanan mereka menghadapi Covid-19. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa, dukungan komunikasi dari kelompok terkait dengan lima kemampuan mengemas pesan yang mendukung (support message), antara lain; clarify supportive intentions, buffering face threats, other centered message, framing, giving advice. Kelima keterampilan ini memberi pengaruh yang positif, kepada keluarga dan korban Covid-19. Adanya support message ini, membuat keluarga dan penyintas Covid-19 mampu melewati masa sulit sebagai akibat dari Covid-19 ini. Penelitian ini juga menemukan, bahwa terdapat aspek lainnya yakni, kemampuan yang dimiliki ketiga informan untuk melihat musibah yang mereka alami secara positif sesuai dengan ajaran agama yang mereka yakini, dan juga kekuatan kepribadian mereka yang tangguh. Kepribadian yang kuat, yang mereka miliki membuat mereka berhasil menunjukkan sikap positif kepada anak-anak mereka. Sebagai akibatnya, anak-anak merekapun memiliki sikap yang sama yakni tegar, kuat, tabah menjalani musibah yang mereka alami.

Lightweight Authentication Protocol for NFC based Anti-Counterfeiting System in IoT Infrastructure

Counterfeit medications are known as the medications that were manufactured for the purpose of deceptively representing as authentic, effective and original in the market. Such medications cause severe health issues for patients. Counterfeited drugs have an inimical effect on the human health. The legal manufacturing companies also face threats to their revenue loss due to these counterfeited medicines. In this paper, we introduce a novel authentication protocol for anti-counterfeited drugs systems based on Internet of Things (IoT) to help checking the validity of drugs ‘‘unit dosage’’. Our protocol uses the near-field communication (NFC) as it is convenient for mobile environment. The protocol also offers reliable update phase for NFC. Furthermore, our scheme is complemented with performance evaluation along with the use of random oracle model for formal security analysis.

Predator-specific responses and emergent multi-predator effects on oviposition site choice in grey treefrogs, Hyla chrysoscelis

Predators affect prey through both consumptive and non-consumptive effects (NCEs), and prey typically face threats from multiple simultaneous predators. While different predators have a variety of NCEs on prey, little is known regarding effects of simultaneous multiple predators on demographic habitat selection. Demographic habitat selection is unique among NCEs, especially in discrete habitat patches; decisions directly affect both distribution and abundance of species across habitat patches, rather than simply abundance and performance within patches. Our goal was to determine strength of avoidance responses to multiple species/species combinations of predatory fish, and responses to predator richness. We assessed responses of ovipositing grey treefrogs ( Hyla chrysoscelis ) to three predatory fish species and substitutive combination of species. In single-species treatments, treefrogs avoided only one species, Notemigonus crysoleucas . All two-species combinations, and the three-species combination, were avoided, including the Fundulus chrysotus × Noturus phaeus combination, of which neither were avoided alone. This suggests emergent properties of multiple predators, with potential interactive effects among cues themselves or in the perception of cues by treefrogs. Our results indicate effects of multiple predators are not predictable based on individual effects, and illustrate the importance and complexity of effects of demographic habitat selection on distribution and abundance.