In rural tourism destinations, residents serve as representatives of the area, and their involvement in tourism and discretionary behavior contributes to the destination’s success. The objectives of this study were to explore the community citizenship behavior (CCB) model and to examine the relationship among residents’ attachment, quality of life (QOL), and five dimensions of CCB, including involving, keeping interpersonal harmony, protecting, helping, and recommending behavior, across two stages of rural tourism destinations in Thailand. A multivariate quantitative research method was employed. A total of 1,052 samples were retrieved from residents living in 10 selective rural tourism destinations, with 526 respondents per development stage. The results of the structural models and multigroup analysis reveal that community attachment and QOL are positively affected by five dimensions of CCB. Helping behavior turns out to be the most important discretionary action to benefit others. The results also indicate that residents in development-stage destinations perceived less quality of life than residents in early-stage development destinations. This finding highlights the need for heeding residents’ QOL in the development stage of rural tourism destinations. A long-term improvement plan for residents’ QOL needs to be emphasized. Furthermore, this study extended the theoretical perspective of the CCB dimensions in various stages of rural tourism development destinations in Thailand.

The Japanese invaded Vietnam and Indonesia in late 1940 and early 1942, respectively. During the occupation, the Japanese deployed different strategies and policies to govern and exploit the occupied territories. Dutch officials in Indonesia were replaced by Japanese administrators, whereas the French administration in Vietnam was largely retained until the coup d’état of March 1945. Natural resources and economic facilities of both countries were exploited for the Japanese war efforts. The economic exploitation by the Japanese worsened economic conditions, causing terrible famines in Indonesia and Vietnam at the time of independence. However, the Japanese invasion and occupation also led to the dismantlement of the structure of colonial economies in the two countries. The purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the relationship between the Japanese occupation and the economic decolonization in Vietnam and Indonesia during World War II. Special attention is given to the Japanese economic policies and their impacts on the destruction of colonial economies in the two countries. While underlining the negative economic consequences of the Japanese occupation, the study also explains how important the Japanese occupation period was in terms of accelerating the economic decolonization in Indonesia and Vietnam.

Medical populism, a performance-based political style that orchestrates antagonistic relations between the people and medical establishments, has served as a concept for analyzing the politicization of healthcare. With its four fundamental features, that is, invoking knowledge claims contrary to medical experts’ advice, simplifying discourse, dramatizing responses to public health crises, and forging divisions, medical populism compromises our access to accurate medical or public health information. Populist leaders abuse their epistemic authority and betray public trust when they propagate false information, medical or otherwise. And insofar as accurate medical or public health information is an epistemic good that we have the right to access, and not having so harms us precisely as knowers, we claim that medical populism violates our epistemic rights.

This paper examines the case of the Philippines in formulating its sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) excise tax policy through the lens of the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF). This case study used qualitative techniques to establish the networks and analyze the dynamics and interactions between the local sugar industry leaders and beverage manufacturing companies, as well as their advocacy strategies that influenced policy brokers from the government. The paper also highlights the complexities and the delicate balance needed to reconcile the differing interests of well-established political and economic groups and their effects on policy formulation. Their interactions were examined through the ACF, a tool that has been used to study existing tensions between and among stakeholders in the policy arena.

Premarital education in Malaysia is recognized as exemplary, given that it has become a model for the development of similar endeavors in other countries in Southeast Asia. Several studies have been conducted to evaluate the provision of premarital education in Malaysia. However, it was found that an evaluation through a moral-educational framework was missing, even though premarital education should be viewed as part of moral education. To fill this gap, this paper offers an analysis and assessment of Islamic premarital education in Malaysia through Sanger and Osguthorpe’s (2005) two-level framework. Data were collected from official documents, non-participant observation, and in-depth interviews with administrators, instructors, and class participants at the Premarital Course Centre TTDI, Kuala Lumpur. The findings showed the framework to be a powerful analytical tool. A clear picture was shown of Islamic premarital education as moral education, which at the same time threw light on its inconsistencies between (a) moral content, moral assumptions, and Islamic moral teachings; (b) moral content and programmatic ends; and (c) the method of instruction, psychological assumptions, and programmatic ends. These inconsistencies provide a basis for further development of Islamic premarital education as effective moral education in the future.

Despite the growing emphasis on the role of brand gestalt in marketing research, a discernible gap persists in empirical investigations regarding the interplay among brand gestalt, repurchase intention (RI), and customer citizenship behavior (CCB). More precisely, existing studies have yet to delve into the importance of brand gestalt within the distinctive context of traditional products and crafts. Focusing its investigative lens on Noken, a sustainable traditional woven bag with roots in Papua, Indonesia, this study seeks to deepen the understanding of the interplay between brand gestalt and customer behaviors in the context of a cherished traditional product. A research design employing an explanatory causal approach was used, involving the gathering of primary data through a self-administered online survey. This survey gathered responses from 302 individuals in the Papua region of Indonesia who regularly wear and use the Noken in their daily activities. The acquired quantitative data underwent a thorough partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to rigorously test the hypotheses and address the research questions. The findings of this study underscore a significant and positive influence of brand gestalt on repurchase intention. Furthermore, it is revealed that the dimensions constituting the brand gestalt wield a significant and positive influence on shaping CCB. The outcomes of this study illuminate the potential for leveraging brand gestalt to enhance customer engagement, loyalty, and active participation within the context of traditional products, thereby laying a foundation for strategic decision-making and future academic investigations. This study offers the inaugural empirical evidence that explores the multidimensional impact of brand gestalt on both RI and CCB within the realm of traditional products.

When scholars, stakeholders, and the international community consider revitalizing democracy in Bangladesh a terrific challenge, the substantive question arises: did the country hold democracy in the true sense under any regime? Throughout its long political history, it has attained some structural democracy, but it still falls short of institutional democratic standards. Following a glorious, challenging, and victorious struggle for independence, it underwent post-independence governance, military dictatorship, and the democratic movement that resulted in structural democracy and “particracy.” The essay offers a comprehensive examination and critique of the political regime’s perspectives in Bangladesh with respect to this issue. This article helps readers better comprehend Bangladesh’s governance, political and democratic processes, and development phenomena under different regimes.

This study examines the formation of Nishi-Kawaguchi Chinatown, a new, socially accepted neighborhood in the suburbs of a greater metropolitan area in Japan, with a growing settlement of foreign residents. The study highlights factors leading to the formation of ethnic towns in Japan’s regional communities and their social and economic impact by addressing three research questions: What factors led to Chinese immigrants settling in Nishi-Kawaguchi? Why are there so many Chinese restaurants in Nishi-Kawaguchi? How did the formation of Nishi-Kawaguchi Chinatown impact the local economy? An interview survey of restaurant owners in Nishi-Kawaguchi Chinatown was conducted, and the resultant data were analyzed. The study found that Chinese people settled in Nishi-Kawaguchi because (a) the rentals and land prices were low and (b) the area offered easy access to the city center. These factors led to the concentration of Chinese restaurants in Nishi-Kawaguchi. The results suggest that the formation of Nishi-Kawaguchi Chinatown by Chinese ethnopreneurs has revitalized the local economy by attracting Japanese tourists, as the multi-ethnicity found in Nishi-Kawaguchi Chinatown is rare in Japan.

This study aims to identify the roles of cross-border cooperation in managing the mobility of people at the disputed border area between Indonesia and Malaysia. The two countries disputed exclusive economic zones in the Sulawesi Sea, which led to political and armed tensions. Nevertheless, local people keep practicing cross-border mobility in the disputed area due to family, cultural, and economic ties. Therefore, Indonesia and Malaysia have initiated cross-border cooperation to manage the mobility of people at the border. Using a qualitative method with a case study approach, this study involves document reviews, interviews, and observation to collect the data. The results show that cross-border cooperation has played hypothetical roles in reducing physical and psychological barriers, enhancing socio-economic well-being, and securing border crossers from transnational crime acts, as well as two novel roles in reducing the criminalization of cross-border fishermen from complex legal procedures and creating a proper condition for the conflict resolution process.

Ethnic boundaries and friendship are intricately related in Malaysia. Many concerns have arisen about this issue, especially when it could indicate inter-ethnic acceptance, tolerance, and understanding. The objective of this paper is to discuss the importance of ethnic boundaries in Malaysian youth friendships. The data were drawn from ethnographic fieldwork conducted through in-depth interviews with Malaysian students in two universities located inside and outside Malaysia’s geographical territory. A comparative study was selected due to the possibility that variations might exist across Malaysia’s boundary. Through a comparative analysis in Penang in Malaysia and Glasgow in Scotland, this article demonstrates how, when, and why ethnicity becomes essential within Malaysian friendships. The findings demonstrate that the respondents’ friendships worked within cultural boundaries—religion and language—but at different levels depending on the location of the interview. It can be inferred that ethnicity and its boundaries within the friendship are not fixed but are socially constructed, maintained, and heightened depending on social actors’ particular needs, situations, and socio-political context.