Since at least half of the world’s population resides and works within coastal land, the coastal zone processes and resource management is of great economic and social importance. One of the fundamental issues for coastal city planners, researchers, managers, and engineers is the coastal city land-use suitability. Land-use suitability is the ability of a given type of land to support a defined use. Rapid urbanization and consequent haphazard growth of cities result in deterioration of infrastructure facilities, loss of agricultural land, water bodies, open spaces, and many micro-climatic changes. Hence, accurate data on coastal city hazards are essential and valuable tools for coastal planning and management, sustainable coastal development, coastal environment conservation, selection of a site for coastal city structures, and coastal resources. In this investigation, the Delphi and Analytical Hierarchy Process (D-AHP) Hybrid model and Geographic Information System (GIS) technique for Coastal Land-Use Assessment (CLUA) are mapped to detect the most suitable and unsuitable areas in the Kuala Terengganu coastal zone. Furthermore, this research offered information not only on the present urban land-use trend and established amenity status in Kuala Terengganu, but also on the suitability of land for the potential establishment of urban facilities for improved urban planning and appropriate decision-making. Using the D-AHP Hybrid model and GIS tool for coastal city management is broadly practical for government, policymakers, and planners to appropriately strategize and plan for the future of coastal cities in Malaysia and other analog coastal cities around the world.

Climate change is regarded as a serious threat to both environment and humanity, and as a result, it has piqued worldwide attention in the twenty-first century. Natural hazards are expected to have major effects in the coastal cities of the globe. At the same time, about two-thirds of the world’s human population lives in the coastal margins. One of the fundamental issues for coastal city planners is the coastal cities’ environmental change. This paper presents the application of a model framework for the management and sustainable development of coastal cities under a changing climate in Kuala Terengganu Malaysia. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is performed in the Expert Choice software for coastal city hazard management. This approach enables decision-makers to evaluate and identify the relative priorities of vulnerability and hazard criteria and sub-criteria based on a set of preferences, criteria, and alternatives. This paper also presents a hierarchy erosion design applied in Kuala Terengganu to choose the important sustainable weights of criteria and sub-criteria as well as the zone as an alternative model.

Coastal hazards are an urgent issue of global concern considering the increasing population pressure in coastal regions, retreating coastlines, and rising seawater levels. Here we demonstrate the process of assessing the vulnerability of a coastal urban environment using the case of Kuala Terengganu, a coastal town in Malaysia, and evaluating the potential social, environmental, and economic impacts. Uncertainties in the human dimensions of global change deeply affect the assessment and responses to environmental, climatic, and non-climate impacts on coastal city population growth and communities. We address these uncertainties by combining a Delphi-Analytical Hierarchy Process (Delphi-AHP) model and Geographic Information System (GIS)tools to determine mitigation and adaptation probabilities as part of a Coastal City Vulnerability Assessment. We conclude by presenting calculations of the short- and long-term suitability for land use and recommending hazard mitigation measures to equip city planners and decision-makers in evaluating hazards and potential impacts on coastal city areas.

The effects of global warming are putting the world’s coasts at risk. Coastal planners need relatively accurate projections of the rate of sea-level rise and its possible consequences, such as extreme sea-level changes, flooding, and coastal erosion. The east coast of Peninsular Malaysia is vulnerable to sea-level change. The purpose of this study is to present an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model to analyse sea-level change based on observed data of tide gauge, rainfall, sea level pressure, sea surface temperature, and wind. A Feed-forward Neural Network (FNN) approach was used on observed data from 1991 to 2012 to simulate and predict the sea level change until 2020 from five tide gauge stations in Kuala Terengganu along the East Coast of Malaysia. From 1991 to 2020, predictions estimate that sea level would increase at a pace of roughly 4.60 mm/year on average, with a rate of 2.05 ± 7.16 mm on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. This study shows that Peninsular Malaysia’s East Coast is vulnerable to sea-level rise, particularly at Kula Terengganu, Terengganu state, with a rate of 1.38 ± 7.59 mm/year, and Tanjung Gelang, Pahang state, with a rate of 1.87 ± 7.33 mm/year. As a result, strategies and planning for long-term adaptation are needed to control potential consequences. Our research provides crucial information for decision-makers seeking to protect coastal cities from the risks of rising sea levels.

The paper emphasises the potentials of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) to be adopted and implemented in Central Terengganu, referring to three districts, namely Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu and Marang. The territorial waters of Terengganu Central are demarcated by the protected boundaries of the marine parks, namely Redang, Lang Tengah and Kapas Islands. These three marine park islands are major ecotourism destinations in Central Terengganu, but the development that has been carried out on the islands and areas surroundings their gateways in the mainland, to some extent, is not integrated and sustainable. The purpose of this study is to seek the answers to what extent the current and future development trends in Central Terengganu have addressed the multiple competing and conflicting uses related to socioeconomic development, marine/ocean governance and conservation. The qualitative techniques were used for analysis and a case study was used to understand the nature of government policies and management as well as the existing and future plans. To summarize, this study concluded that MSP is the best option for the Terengganu State Government to improve the management of coastal and marine resources for environmental sustainability and socio-economic planning in Central Terengganu.

Children form an essential component of a society. The role of children has been acknowledged key to the survival, development as well as prosperity of that society. A child’s development stage is the most crucial and warrants serious attention from parents and teachers in order to assure their growth into mature adults, who are able to contribute to the society. One of the factors that may hamper their growth is child abuse. There are basically five main forms of child abuse known to take place in Malaysia namely physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect as well as abandonment. These forms of abuse have been given legal attention and recognition except emotional or psychological abuse. One common type of emotional abuse is verbal abuse, which is a form of abusive behavior involving the use of language. Alternatively known as reviling, it is a pattern of behavior that can seriously interfere with one’s positive emotional development and over time, it can lead to significant detriment to one’s self-esteem, emotional well-being and physical state. Although verbal abuse does not leave any outer mark or proof, a verbally abused victim usually suffers by having lower self-worth and low self-esteem. A child, who suffers verbal abuse may grow up to become a low self-esteem adult. Thus, verbal abuse may be considered as grave and must be given serious attention. Laws are the reflection of the attitude of a particular society. Since the function of law is mainly to maintain societal peace and order, it is through law that we can infer how society regards a particular issue, in this regard, verbal abuse on children. This paper aims to highlight firstly, on verbal abuse as another significant form of child abuse needing to be given serious consideration by the society and secondly, on the parameters of child abuse under the Malaysian Child Act 2001; and finally concludes with whether the provisions under the Malaysian Child Act 2001 are sufficient to protect children from verbal abuse.