BUKU ABSTRAK - Universiti Putra Malaysia

Social Sciences
Community Participation in Community Development: A Case Study in a Planned
Village Settlement in Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Asnarulkhadi Abu Samah
Fariborz Aref
Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
+603-8946 7066; asnarul@putra.upm.edu.my
Historically, many community development initiatives in Malaysia are top-down approach. In such
approach it is always said that there is no participation. Participation is just a window dressing ceremony. As
a result, community empowerment is difficult to take places. However, not all state-development initiatives,
community empowerment and capacity building cannot be materialized. In a planned village settlement in
Malaysia, communities are encouraged to take their responsibilities to organize themselves, to form group, to
plan an activity and to mobilize group members participating to meet their needs. In this community propelling
initiatives, elements of individual empowerment and group empowerment emerged, and this characterised an
empowered community. In short, based on this reality, it can be said that genuine participation encouraged
community empowerment as shown in this case study.
Keywords: Participation, community empowerment, Malaysia
Determinants of Sustainable Development Dimension among Leaders of Rural
Community: A Case Study of Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahaman Abu Samah
Hayrol Azril Mohamed Shaffril, Jamilah Othman, Ezhar Tamam, Hanina Halimatusaadiah and Jeffrey
Lawrence D’Silva
Institute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
+603-8946 8599; hayrol82@gmail.com
Rural development researchers have identified a number of factors that affect sustainable development among
the rural community. Nevertheless, mix results were reported in literature. Hence, this study was conducted to
investigate on the constructs that affect sustainable development among members of Village Development and
Security Committee (VDSC) under the Vision Village Movement (VVM). A total of 235 respondents from 18
villages were involved encompassing three states in Malaysia. The final model derived from this study showed that
four pertinent constructs that fit into the sustainable development model are spirituality, leadership, beautification,
and education. It is believed that the findings of this study would add new perspective in understanding the
complexities associated with sustainable development among the rural community.
Keywords: Village development and security committee (VDSC), vision village movement (VVM), sustainable development,
rural community
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