Amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the year 2020, educational platforms have been forced to change and adapt from conventional physical learning to virtual learning. Nearly all higher learning institutions worldwide are forced to follow the new educational setting through virtual platforms. Sabah is one of the poorest states in Malaysia with the poorest infrastructure, with the technology and communication facilities in the state remaining inept. With the changes in virtual platforms in all higher education institutions in Malaysia, higher learning institutions in Sabah are expected to follow the lead, despite the state lagging in its development. This has certainly impacted the overall productivity and performance of students in Sabah. Therefore, this study aims to explore the challenges of the implementation of virtual learning among students in Sabah. More specifically, this study seeks to identify vulnerable groups among students based on their geographical location. To achieve the objective of this study, a survey has been conducted on a total of 1,371 students in both private and public higher learning institutions in Sabah. The sample selection for this study was determined using a purposive sampling technique. Based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA), it was found that there are five challenges in virtual learning faced by students in higher learning institutions in Sabah. These are the unconducive learning environment (var(X) = 20.12%), the deterioration of physical health (var(X) = 13.40%), the decline of mental health (var(X) = 12.10%), the limited educational facilities (var(X) = 10.14%) and social isolation (var(X) = 7.47%). The K-Means Clustering analysis found that there are six student clusters in Sabah (Cluster A, B, C, D, E & F), each of which faces different challenges in participating in virtual learning. Based on the assessment of location, almost half of the total number of districts in Sabah are dominated by students from Cluster A (9 districts) and Cluster B (4 districts). More worryingly, both Cluster A and Cluster B are classified as highly vulnerable groups in relation to the implementation of virtual learning. The results of this study can be used by the local authorities and policymakers in Malaysia to improve the implementation of virtual learning in Sabah so that the education system can be more effective and systematic. Additionally, the improvement and empowerment of the learning environment are crucial to ensuring education is accessible and inclusive for all societies, in line with the fourth of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-4).

This study examines the state of migrants’ cultural adaptation in Malaysia, and how such an adaptation can help build our understanding of migrants’ life and employment experiences in the country. In doing so, this study has adopted a quantitative approach, with a completed survey towards 410 migrant respondents, living and working temporarily in Selangor, Malaysia. A multiple regression analysis finds that the three most significant predictors contributing to the respondents’ cultural adaptation are “positive experiences” (β = .677, p = .000), “closeness” (β = − .107, p = .008), and “social relationships” (β = .095, p = .032). While “positive experiences” and “social relationships” influence the migrant workers’ adaptation positively, the “closeness” predictor on the contrary (negative). Another predictor, “disconnection”, is found to be not statistically significant. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) reveals significant differences in the respondents’ cultural adaptation based on such demographic characteristics as age, gender, level of education, nationality, length of employment, and sector of employment. For instance, female migrants are strongly associated with a higher level of “positive experiences” [F(1, 408) = 6.321, p = .013] and “social relationships” [F(1, 408) = 5.634, p = .018], while male migrants tend to rely on cultural proximity (i.e., “closeness”) [F(1, 408) = 6.828, p = .009]. The discussion section highlights attributes such as the gender factor in cultural adaptation, preservation of cultural identities, and creation of migrants’ symbolic places to understand how cultural adaptation intersects with the migrant workers’ daily lives and experiences. This study concludes that as Malaysia’s economy continues to rely on migrant workers, it needs to better understand the workers’ cultural adaptation and their far-reaching impact on their life experiences and employment conditions in the country.

By focusing on child labor in oil palm production in Sabah (East Malaysia), this study contributes to the ongoing debate about unfree labor from three perspectives. First, the study highlights the importance of measuring the incidence of child labor from an individual basis and subsequently advances discourse on what is acceptable and unacceptable in the context of children’s involvement in oil palm production. Second, it advances children’s voices that reflect their perceptions, everyday realities, and social expectations behind their active participation in oil palm production. Third, it highlights the reoccurrence of unfree labor relations and conditions as a result of employment transition among working children within the agricultural sector and from agricultural to the fishing sector. Here we argue that, although not all children’s participation in oil palm production constitutes child labor, the presence of unfree and unacceptable labor relations and conditions suggests strong indicators of child labor. This study, however, cautions that the blanket use of child labor may not only ignore local dynamics and societal expectations but also hinder effective policy intervention and business actions.

There is a growing number of multinational companies disclosing their formal commitment to respect human rights. This derives partly from the escalation of various intergovernmental-led and market-based initiatives that urge companies and their suppliers to disclose human rights commitment and performance. Malaysia is the world's second-largest palm oil producer supplying to many global brands around the world. As such, palm oil companies in Malaysia are bound by the global market requirements to disclose their commitment to addressing human rights issues. Based on 16 samples among sustainably certified palm oil companies in Malaysia, this study argues that while human rights are becoming a common feature in their public disclosure, they lack further elaboration and substance. In most cases, companies do not disclose human rights risks they face and efforts undertaken to mitigate such risks, as well as the impacts of their business operations to the affected stakeholders. This raises concerns regarding their motives of disclosure and corporate accountability in addressing actual and potential human rights violations in the business sector.

Unlike economic migrants, the refugee population is often portrayed as a burden to hosting governments. They are seen to be economically passive and highly dependent on the hosting government’s generosity and international organizations and donors’ humanitarian assistances. In Malaysia, refugee population including the Rohingyas are no longer living in sprawling tents, isolated villages or any refugee settlement in remote areas. They make their way to semi-urban and major city areas in search of economic opportunities to make a living while waiting for durable solutions accorded to them. The absence of the right to work coupled with the mounting pressure to make a living caused the Rohingyas to engage in informal economy, undertaking a variety of occupations and income-generating activities albeit risks of arrest and exploitation. This study aims to analyze the relationship between the Rohingyas’ participation in informal economy and their livelihood. Resulting from two series of field works engaging the Rohingyas in Klang Valley between 2013 and 2016, the study found that despite the absence of their right to work, the Rohingyas persistently entered into informal labor market as temporary, unskilled and low wage workers in various sectors such as trade, services and automotive. For the self-employed Rohingyas, they tend to engage in small-scale and unregulated income generating activities. Their goods and services are offered beyond the needs of the Rohingyas but to a larger extent of consumers including other migrant groups and local community. The Rohingyas’ active participation in informal economy is an attempt to not dependent or less depend on the UNHCR’s assistance and government’s generosity. This debunks the misconception that the Rohingya population in Malaysia are physically and economically isolated from the domestic economic structure.