What is happiness Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

What is happiness - Research Paper Example Similarly, the conquest of and pursuit of happiness may be different to other based on the individual desires. There is no fixed or single definition to happiness and it can be defined differently by different experts and analysts from different professions. For example a historian will define happiness in the context of an emperor, ruler or other political or military mindset oriented individual who has had number of successes, in the same context, a philosopher may find happiness in the form of reaching to another level of thinking, or reaching to the minds and acceptance level of the readers or the students who follow that particular philosopher. Happiness also varies between the age groups. It may also vary between the societies, the surroundings and the geographical factors. For example a mere a smile may bring upon happiness and pleasure on any one’s face, to others happiness may mean earning millions and then continuing the process of striving further towards acquiring more wealth. Various questions entail the concept of happiness. These questions include the understanding of the phenomena with regard to the question such as the co relative and subjectively inductive understanding of happiness. What would the state of happiness be if it is in conflict with someone else, or if it is gained at the cost of discomfort, compromise or other damage or deprivation that may be felt by any other individual. In that case the definition of happiness would not stand fulfilled rather it would be termed as an envy, state of unhealthy competition or any other non productive bondage and affiliation in which the gain of one is the loss of other. Happiness in other words is a state of mind that is embodied by expectations. These expectations contain element of hope, future, pleasure, togetherness, completeness, accomplishment of the dreams that are held back in heart and mind and desired to be transformed into reality in the

Housing Industry In Malaysia Construction Essay

Housing Industry In Malaysia Construction Essay House is a basic need for human. This need must be fulfilling in order to make an individual live in good health and safety. Therefore, one of the social objectives in country development is to provide housing facilities to people not just to fulfil their basic need but also for economic growth of the country. To meet the increasing housing need, ministry of housing and local government always make a review of housing policy to draft more compressive national housing policy. The matters that government take into consideration in order to undertake the housing project is as follows: Need, demand and supply Land for housing Finance Human resources Technology, design of materials, standards Law Infrastructure, utilities and social services Socio-culture, socio-politic and socio-economic Research and development Maintenance of development and infrastructure Data centers and information of housing These policies implemented based on the Eighth Malaysia Plan (2001-2005) and continued during the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010). In the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the development of housing sectors continues to be focused in order to provide adequate house to people. Population growth rapidly especially in urban areas due to demographic factors, rapidity of industry sector, increase of investment, financial system and technology encourage housing policy to be continued in Ninth Malaysia Plan. By 2020, the population of Malaysia is expected to increase to 32 million people or 65% of the resident in urban areas. Due to population growth, the need and demand for house is also expected to increase. Housing is the important strategic sector in economic, so is expected the housing investment will be concentrated in urban areas. In 1994, housing industry produces 7.3 billion outputs and contributes 12% to national income (Ali Azhar, 2000). 2.2 HOUSING INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA In providing housing, government and the private sector has an important social responsibility. This responsibility includes the provision of social infrastructure and a healthy environment for residents. This responsibility is important in order to overcome the problems such as poverty and solidarity among the people. Housing industry in Malaysia involve public (Government) and private sector and also joint venture between the two sectors to meet the need of all community in Malaysia. Therefore, housing development in Malaysia is implemented by the public and private sector (National Housing Department). Housing provision for all community in Malaysia is carried out by public and private sector as follows: 2.2.1 Public Sector (Government sector) Integrated public housing program Project Perumahan Rakyat Bersepadu (PPR) Housing Loan Scheme Skim Pinjaman Perumahan (SPP) Housing under the Land and Regional Development Agencies. Perumahan Di Bawah Pembangunan Tanah dan Wilayah Housings Economic Development Agency Perumahan Kemajuan Ekonomi Government Quarters Perumahan Kakitangan Kerajaan PPR and SPP program in public sector is provide especially for lower income group to achieve the government aims which is to improve the quality of life and combat the poverty problem. This program was undertaken by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. For the Housing under the land and regional development agency such as FELDA, FELCRA, KEJORA, KETENGAH and so on is establish for the purpose to provide a home or house for people involved in land and regional planning and also include the local resident who moved due to the opening of new agricultural areas, while state economic development cooperation (PKEN) and urban development cooperation (UDA) are involved in the development of commercial, industrial and construction. For the government quarters, the aim is to provide the housing facilities to the government employees especially for low-income employees. 2.2.2 Private Sector Licensed Private Housing Developers Perumahan Pemaju Swasta Berlesen Cooperative Housing Perumahan Koperasi Special Low Cost Housing Perumahan Khas Perumahan Kos Rendah (PKPKR) Individual and Group Housing Perumahan Individu dan Kumpulan The housing that develops by private sector is like detached house, terrace, flat, apartments, shops and town house that consist of low, modest and high cost. Special low cost housing is a special program implemented during the period 1986 to 1989. This program is a partnership between public and private sector. Federal government and state government plays a role in providing incentives as well as the facilitator for the developer who participate in the program, while the private sector involved in construction activities. Individual and group housing include both formal and informal housing. Formal housing is housing that less than 4 units, and was develop with approval from local authorities, while not formal housing include the construction of residential houses without obtaining approval from relevant authorities such as traditional house, village house, squatters, labor camps and floating house (Elinawati, 2003). 2.3 LEGISLATIN IN THE MALAYSIA HOUSING INDUSTRY Currently there are about 700 federal acts in force in many fields and certain condition. In Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1996 is the key in controlling the activities of developers in order to protect the interest of home buyers. But there are other legislations that play an important role either directly or indirectly in the activities of housing industry. Therefore, all the weakness and imperfections of such laws will affect the housing industry. The following is a list of legislation that plays a role in the housing industry: Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1996 (act 118) Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (act 172) Roads, drains and building Act 1974 (act 133) Town Planning Act 1995 (act 538) Fire Service Act 1988 ( act 341) Bank and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (act 372) Contract Act 1950 (act 136) Government Contract Act 1949 (act 120) Environmental Quality Act 1974 (act 127) Regulations and Orders Land Acquisition Act 1960 (act 486) and the Rules Ordinances Acquisition of Land (compensation)(special provision)1948 [P.T.M.Ord.21/1948) Strata Titles Act 1948 (act 318) Licensed Land Surveyor Act 1958 (act 458) Quantity Surveyor Act 1967 ( act 487) National Land Code 1965 (act 56/1965) Additionally, by-law enacted according to Road, drains and building act is as follows: Uniform Building By Law 1984 Earthworks By Law 1985 While the by-law under the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) 1966 are: Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations 1989 Housing Developers ( Housing Development Account) Regulations 1991 2.4 PARTIES INVOLVED IN THE MALAYSIA HOUSING INDUSTRY In the housing industry, there are several organizations that play an important role as the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) or local authorities, developers, contractors, professionals and home buyer (Leong Seng, 2001) 2.4.1 Ministry of Housing and Local Government Ministry of Housing and Local Government was establishing on May 24, 1964 under the name of the Local Government and Housing. On July 18, 1978 the ministry has changed the organizations and reorganize under the name of Ministry of Housing and Local government. This establishment is the result of a combination of the ministry of housing and rural development with the local government which previously located under the Ministry of Local Government and Federal Territories (www.kpkt.gov.my). Ministry of Housing and Local Government has a number of divisions and department that are closely related to the housing industry as below: National Landscape Department Solid Waste Management Corporation and Public Cleansing Town and Country Department Fire and Rescue Department Local Government National Housing Department Solid Waste Management Department Training Institute of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. The main role of KPKT is to ensure the development of housing industry is in clean and maintained to ensure the interest of house buyers. The licensing and advisory services in KPKT are entrusted to manage issuance of licenses, advertising permits and sales to developers. Developer who built a house more than 4 units to sell is required to obtain licenses, advertising permits and sales from KPKT. Only private developers are required to obtain the licenses, advertising permits and sales, cooperative and state cooperation are exempted from the licenses, advertising permits and sales. However, private developer also can be exemption from the licenses, advertising permits and sales, but in certain condition that was stated below: Build less than 4 unit house. Construct more than 4 unit house, but not making any sales. Construct the houses but sold after a certificate of fitness (CFO) is full. To ensure the guaranteed of buyers interest, all housing developer is compulsory to open an account in bank or financial institution specifically for each housing project. The account is to ensure that the housing developers use the housing buyers money in appropriate manner. Under the Housing Developers (Housing Development Account) Regulations 1991 all the money collected from purchasers and all loan obtain by the developer from bank or financial institution must be put into this account. All withdrawals from this account must be comply with the objectives set out in regulation 7 in Housing Developer (Housing Development Account) Regulations 1991 and controlled by the bank or financial institution and a certificate from registered architect or engineer who is responsible for that housing project. The monitoring and Enforcement department of KPKT will monitor the project and enforce the law. Enforcement officer will visit the construction site to ensure that the progressing of the project follows the schedule. Because of too many housing projects and the small number of enforcement officer, surveillance is done at random and selectively. 2.4.2 National Housing Development (JPN) National housing development also plays a role in the housing industry in develop a progressive and integrated community. JPN has high commitment in assisting the state government to provide the affordable and comfortable house through the planning, provision, and implementation of low-cost public housing such as integrated public housing program (PPR). The functions of JPN are: Providing the basis of planning and policy related to the development of housing construction to help KPKT draft the policy, strategies and housing development plans for the country. Carry out research on building technology, construction and design with local universities as well as undertaking socio-economic studies and the effectiveness of the housing projects of public and private sectors. Help government and private developer in planning and coordination of their housing projects and the building. Provide technical consultancy service such as land surveying, architectural, civil and structural engineering, mechanical engineering, contract management, management in the public housing project. Providing loans to those who are not able to get loans to build or buy a house. 2.4.3 Housing Developer Public developer is consisting of government agency or the corporations that control by the state or federal government. Their responsibility is to implement policies, guideline and national housing policy to protect the welfare of the poor people. All of the activities that undertaken by the government agency or corporations are not subject to the Housing Developer (control and licensing) Act 1996 and its regulations as bound by their respective government. To achieve the national housing policy, government has planned a number of housing programs like the following below in order to meet the demand of low-income group. Integrated public housing program Housing Lon Scheme Housing under Land and Regional Development Agencies Economic Housing Development Agency Government Quarters For private developers companies, if they want to develop a housing project they should get the housing licenses from KPKT as stated in section 5 of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) act 1996. Private sector involvement is important in order to achieve the policy objective because without the private sector, government is not able to provide housing to meet community needs. In the private sector, the program implemented are diverse and in demand from time to time. The housing development by private sector involved various categories and type of housing especially a medium and high price. Housing program can be categorized as follows: Private Licensed Housing Developers Special Low cost Housing Program (PKPKR) Individual and Group Housing 2.4.4 The Contractor In a housing scheme, the contractor is the second most important after a housing developer because they would involve themselves directly in the construction process and implementation of the project. If contractor have problem, so indirectly it also bring the problem to the developer and thus affect the housing industry. This is because the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) act 1996 and regulations stipulated that the licensed developer need to complete the construction project within 2 years and if cannot be completed, developer must apply to extend the period of the development by giving the specific reasons. When developers get an approval for planning permission, they will appoint certain contractors to begin work on construction site. Normally the developer will appoint a main contractor who has a good record and demonstrated their ability to implement the project. After that, the main contractor will appoint contractors to carry out minor works in accordance with their respective areas of expertise. For the certain big developer company they not need to appoint a contractor to perform the construction work because they have their own contractors and expert team. The contractors involved in the construction industry need to get a license from the Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia or CIBD according to certain procedures. They will be given specific training in their respective field so that the quality of the construction industry can be enhanced from time to time. Contractors who wish to commence operations need to be registered in the Construction Service Centre (PKK), according to the ability of the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and their respective classes. 2.4.5 Professionals In housing scheme, developers is the first one who plan and identify the location that housing project want to be carried out. From the beginning of the implementation process until complete, developer need a expertise from various of field such as Real Estate Valuer, Architect, Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, Land Surveyor, financial institution and lawyer to provide all the conditions required by the government department. Developer needs the Property Valuers expertise to ensure that the proposed site is suitable to be developed. The valuers will examine factors such as the value of surrounding real estate market around, the distance from the city center to the site, the facilities in the surrounding, the ability and taste the local population, the types and the prices of house that suitable to develop in that site, so report can be prepared to the developer. If the Feasibility study report show that the site is potentially to be developed, the developer will get the site either by the way of purchasing the land or through Land Acquisition Act 1960 (Act 486). When the developer gets the land, he will appoint consultant to undertake the project. For a large development company, they usually have their own consultant and set it up as subsidiary. At this stage, consultant should prepare a site plan, layout plan, and drainage to the local authority for approval. If the land is developed to be bound by any condition or restriction of interest and need to apply for subdivision, partition, or amalgamation so the land surveyor will play a role in these process until the approval from the State Authority (PBN). Architect and Engineers play a role in providing design plans and building involved in the project implementation stage. Architect need to design the type of housing that will be developed based on the taste of buyers and accordance with current developments. According to Razali Agus, designing a house is important factor to attract house purchasers. Before the construction process begins, engineers need to require the quantity surveyor to identify the materials needed and the cost required in providing these materials. Engineer is responsible to ensuring that all construction work is follows the Building plan prepared by the architect and follow the development schedule. While for the lawyer, they involved in Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 requires the attorney to provide the letter of the agreement. He lawyer also responsible for ensuring that all content is understood by the buyer before signing the SPA. The role of financial institutions is financing the activities of housing development. The developer must obtain loan from financial institutions to finance the cost of housing project undertaken. Money that borrowed from financial institutions to the developer and the money paid by the purchaser should be put in housing development account and controlled by the institution. 2.4.6 House Purchaser House purchaser is the most important group in housing industry because the success of failure the industry will determine by them, whether in term of financial capability, taste, and desire to own a house. The main factor influencing the decision of the house buyers is the ability to buy a house. 2.5 GOVERNMENT HOUSING LOAN 2.5.1 Basic Condition for Government Housing Loan The basic condition for government housing loan is: Government employees with fixed position Malaysian Application form submitted 6 month before retirement or termination of service Have served at least 1 year The position have been confirm Not a bankrupt person or a debtor person or not capable or being disciplinary action 2.5.2 Qualification Rate of Housing Loan Qualification rate of the loan is applied for the judges, the civil officer and members of general forces in Malaysia. The eligible amount of loan is as follow table 2.1: NUM MONTHLY WAGE LOAN ELIGIBLITY 1. RM 3500 and above RM 300,000 2. RM 3000 to RM 3499 RM 250,000 3. RM 2500 to RM 2999 RM 220,000 4. RM 2000 to RM 2499 RM 200,000 5. RM 1500 to RM 1999 RM 160,000 6. RM 1200 to RM 1499 RM 130,000 7. RM 1000 to RM 1199 RM 100,000 8. RM 800 to RM 999 RM 80,000 9. RM 600 to RM 799 RM 60,000 10. RM 599 and below RM 40,000 Table 2.1: Wages and Eligibility Amount of Loan (Sources: http://www.treasury.gov.my) 2.6 FACTORS OF SURPLUS SUPPLY IN HOUSING INDUSTRY The factors that affect oversupply of housing is: 2.6.1 The Weak of Purchasers Income Growth According to the Malaysia Sixth and Eighth Plan, the weak of the purchaser income growth is the major factor lead to oversupply in housing sector. 2.6.2 Difficulty in Getting a Loan Malaysia sixth Plan also stated that difficulty in getting the government loan is also the factor of housing oversupply. The special loan scheme that introduced by Bank Negara Malaysia in 1982 and new condition imposed by the housing loan scheme reduced the demand for house. 2.6.3 Higher Interest Rate Higher interest rate is also a factor why the surplus in housing supplies. 2.6.4 Higher House Price Higher house prices are also among one of the factors that cause oversupply. Housing prices offered by the developer has reduced the high demand for housing units since most of them are not able to buy the house. 2.6.5 Location Location is also a factor in the oversupply of housing. If a house is locate far from the city center, from work place and from the public facilities is the factor why the purchaser not interested in that house. 2.6.6 Design Usually the design of the house that offers by the developer is simple and the spaces are limited. 2.7 CONCLUSION From the discussion of chapter 2, we can understand in general about the housing industry in Malaysia. In Malaysia, housing industry not just only run by the government but, also run by private parties. The government is also responsible to outlining and reviewing housing policies for the formulation of more comprehensive national housing policy. This policy is necessary to meet a proposed project to be implemented in the Malaysia Eighth Plan. Many people are involved in order to stabilize the housing industry in Malaysia. They play a vital role in helping the government to increase the housing industry. With the cooperation of all sectors or parties, the Malaysia housing industry sectors is expected to be more advanced and competitive in providing housing to meet requirement of the government and people, especially in Kelantan.

Why I Want To Attend College :: College Admission Essay

My purpose and goals in attending college is to make something of my life. Noone want's to be a nobody. But sometimes it takes time in order for one to realize this.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Upon graduation from highschool, I, like the majority of other highschool graduates, had no clue what direction my life was heading or even what I wanted to become. So after graduation I decided to explore my options at the University of Pittsburgh. Wow, was this a mistake. Not only was the college to big for my own well being, but the big University provided too many distractions. This is why I feel I have finally taken the right and first step in securing my future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Currently, I am attending Waynesburg college in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, majoring in computer science and minoring in business. I have always had a fascination when it comes to computers and I think that this is a very good

System Analysis and Design – Midterm

Town of Eden Bay 1. The town of Eden Bay has many workers that are all determined to succeed, but without having a strategic plan set in place, as well as a clear mission statement the employee’s are becoming frustrated. Some of the workers have mentioned that they work off a budget from year to year without any sight of a long-term plan set in place. This will surely add to their frustration and prevent the town from setting and reaching its desired long-term goals. 2. The Maintenance Department’s SWOT Analysis Possible Strengths: Dedicated Staff Possible Weaknesses: Using Legacy Systems Poor Records/Data HandlingPossible Opportunities: Improving on Current System Future Company GrowthPossible Threats: More Efficient/Organized Competitor 3. Specific Steps to Follow During Preliminary Investigation: a. Analyze Systems Request b. Make Recommendations c. Interview with Management and Staff d. Identify Constraints e. Report to Upper Management with Findings 4. Out of the f our tests of feasibility I would perform an operational feasibility analysis to determine whether the project is worthwhile and profitable to the company. Countrywide Construction 1. The correct duration would be 65 Days. 2. Critical Path:Prep Foundation (10d)> Assemble Building (4d)> Final Inspection (30d)> >Arrange for Sale (3d) 4. PERT/CPM Chart: Chapter 4 Review Questions 3. JAD and RAD are teams both composed of users, managers, and IT staff. They differ from traditional fact-finding methods because the users, managers, and IT staff all work together to gather information and define new system requirements, whereas traditional methods are composed of all IT staff. These teams get a wider range of input due to the diverse nature of the team members. However, this can be costly or not as efficient if too many people are involved. 4.Total Cost of Ownership is the sum of the direct and indirect costs of installing a system. This is important to determine the actual total cost of a system. 5. Closed-ended questions limit the response but yield more specific information. Open-ended questions encourage spontaneous and unstructured responses. Range-of-Response questions are closed-ended questions that ask a person to evaluate something by providing limited answers to specific responses. 7. The Hawthorne Effect is a theory that people are more productive when being observed regardless of whether their working conditions are better or worse.This is significant because people may not work as harder when not being watched. 8. An FDD diagram is a model of business functions and processes. This is used to show how business functions are organized into lower-level processes. To create an FDD you would list the steps and tasks in order. 10. I would give the presentation to users, management, and IT staff. For users I would focus on their daily routines. For management I would focus on TCO. For IT staff I would focus on the technical specs and operations of the system.

Education system between Romania and UK Essay

Nowadays an important and discussed issue by all countries is the education system. In many countries from year to year politician try to make changes in order to improve it. However, it happens that instead of improve it the system become more complicated and corrupted. In some countries is believed that is better to learn everything by heart but in others the practical part and students opinion is more important. Hence this essay is going to discuss the main differences and similarities between Romanian and United Kingdom education system. Although Romania and the UK have very different education systems there can be found some similarities. The age required to attend school is similar; in Romania six or seven and in UK six years old. In both countries primary and secondary schools are compulsory. Furthermore, in Romania as in the UK at the age of five-teen pupils have to pass an exam in order to follow further education, preparing them for university. The age required to enter the university in Romania is exactly the same as the one in UK, eight-teen or over. UK has the same three years of study in higher-education, just like Romania. In Romania as in the UK, in higher education, students have a number of credits they have to achieve along the academic year and there are also examinations periods: one in semester one and one in semester two. Both countries offer students the chance to choose from a variety of courses. Some of the courses are compulsory and vary from school to school while others optional and each student can choose which ones to take. (http://www.edu.ro, http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/educationoverview/uksystem/structure/) Important differences can be noticed between this two countries education system. In the UK is applied an interactive and efficient method of teaching, that is not applied in Romania, which encourages students to express themselves freely and participate to courses. The compulsory education of these two countries is different. The Romanian compulsory education last for ten years while the one from the UK for eleven years.  Children start school at the age of six or seven and follow the primary school, eight years. They have to take an examination at the end of primary school called the National Exam, based on assessments throughout the last four years. Based on their results they go to secondary school (high school) which last four years but first two are compulsory. However, students have to complete all four year in order to apply for higher education. At the end of secondary school students must submit the Romanian Baccalaureate exam form by an oral and written examination. Compared to Romania where the statutory schooling age is from six to eight-teen (if you want to follow a university after the secondary education) in the UK is from five to six-teen. The UK education system is divided in four Key Stages and pupils are assessed at the end of each stage. At the end of Key Stage Four pupils have to achieve General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in order to continue with further education. If they decide to follow a higher education they have to follow a further course at the end of which they have to achieve the GCE A-level (General Certificate of Education Advanced Level). From the financial point of view the education in the UK is far more expensive than in Romania. For example one year of university in UK is 3,075 £ whereas in Romania is only 420 £. The length of a master degree is of two years in Romania while in the UK it takes only one year. Moreover, UK students are encouraged to follow further education, although is expensive, because the government supports the students (for example students can apply for a student loan). By contrast, in Romania there are governmental funded universities, where students are admitted if they pass the admission exam with a high grade. The government funded slots are limited and are allocated to students according to their results. Furthermore another difference can be easily noticed in the marking system. In Romania compared to the UK, where the marking system is formed by letters (A* to G) or percentages, the grades are numbers and are from one to ten. Ten is the equivalent for A* or 100%. Moreover, Romania and the UK differ with regard to the policy of plagiarism. The rate of plagiarism is very high in Romania even among higher-education institutions because of the corrupted educational system. A considerable number of educational staff accept bribe because they are unsatisfied by their wages and work condition. (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm,http://www.edu.ro, http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/educationoverview/uksystem/structure/ ) To summarize, the major similarities and differences between Romanian and United Kingdom education systems are the one regarding compulsory education, marking system, qualification, structure of schooling year, the cost of studying, plagiarism and courses in higher-education. Many Romanians say that Romanian education system is better than others countries because students learn more things at a higher level. But what matters the most: the quantity or the quality? Is it better to learn more and forget everything in two days or is better to learn useful things for everyday life and forever? The answer of these questions depends from person to person, and only those we studied in both system can realize the advantages and disadvantages of these two education systems. BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www.edu.ro/, (2006), Official Website for the Romanian Educational System, (Accessed: 28 December 2007 ) http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm, (2005), Official Website of UK Government, Education and Learning Section, (Accessed: 28 December 2007 ) http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/educationoverview/uksystem/structure/, (2007), TeacherNET, (Accessed: 28 December 2007 )