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Built heritage constitutes the uniqueness and identity of a place. While being overlooked in existing research, built heritage in small towns is increasingly threatened by dilapidation, exhaustion and disappearance. Therefore, this study aims to examine the challenges in protecting the unique features and identity of small towns with regard to building regulations, guidelines and policies.

A semi-structured interview was conducted amongst a purposive sample of nine stakeholders from different organizations involved in heritage matters in Malaysia to investigate the issues and challenges facing the protection of small towns’ identity with regard to existing protection mechanisms impacting development of the towns. The data were then analyzed using the qualitative software package NVivo 8.0. The summary models imported from NVivo were created to visualize the connections between various dimensions of constructs, concepts and categories identified in the interviews.

The study found that the current issues of built heritage protection at the local level can be classified into five emergent themes: legislative, institutional, economic, social and technical issues. While absence of specific guideline for identifying local cultural places has been identified as the most fundamental issues facing the protection of unique and distinct resources in small Malaysia towns, the paper concludes with a framework of measures that can then be used for identification and protection of small town identity.

This study is the first of many fruitful contributions that examine heritage identification and protection mechanisms at the local level.

Each place possesses characteristics that confer on it a sense of place and identity through the meanings and values that they provide. The role of the physical built environment in place and identity development has not received adequate attention in built environment literature. This paper attempts to identify the unique and exceptional characteristics of places which create a unique environment and make a continuing contribution to the overall sense of the place. A preliminary survey was conducted in Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB), a small town in the northern part of the Malaysian state of Selangor; to examine the characteristics of the place that influence and contribute to the identity of the town. The survey results demonstrate that the cultural heritage of the physical built environment acts as an important trigger for the town’s identity. While it is undeniable that cultural heritage is indeed greatly the product of non-visual sources; subjective meanings, experiences, beliefs, ideology and past history of the place, this paper highlights the significance of the physical built environment in influencing the very individuality of the place.

Providing quality low-cost high-rise residential housing for poor households remains a major concern worldwide and especially in Malaysia. Despite government effort to maintain the quality of the housing through the Housing Maintenance Program and 1Malaysia Maintenance Fund Program (TP1M), the maintenance industry is still faced with serious housing quality problems in terms of facilities, one of which is the lift system. As the most expensive and important transportation system in a high-rise building, a lift system requires regular maintenance and inspection to provide safe and effective service to occupants. Unfortunately, most lift systems in Malaysia are not effectively maintained. The purpose of this paper is to examine contributing factors to the breakdown of lift systems, which greatly affect resident satisfaction in low-cost high-rise residential buildings.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three stakeholders involved in maintenance management to identify the common causes of lift breakdown. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey was used to investigate resident satisfaction with the system.

The results demonstrate vandalism as the most common cause for the frequent breakdown of lift system in low-cost housing. The study also reveals that there is a significant relationship between system breakdown rate and residents’ satisfaction.

The paper concludes with the recommendation that stakeholders, including both maintenance personnel and residents, should commit themselves to ensuring that the use and care of lift system are correct

This research paper aims to provide recommendations for enhancing the service quality of coworking spaces in Malaysia through effective workplace management. This study emphasizes the importance of avoiding over-promising and under-delivering, prioritizing cleanliness, functionality and customer satisfaction over profit to prevent user attrition.

Questionnaire surveys were administered to users of selected coworking spaces in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Respondents were asked to assess both their expectations and perceived performance of various coworking space features. The resulting gap scores were then analyzed to develop recommendations for enhancing the overall performance of these coworking spaces.

The analysis of the responses indicated that users had higher expectations for “location” and “facilities services,” while the actual service performance in these areas was less satisfactory. Among the nine sub-attributes under “facilities and services,” three (opening hours, coffee and tea corner, café or restaurant) received negative gap scores, significantly affecting overall user satisfaction. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that coworking space managers prioritize the consistent provision and maintenance of these key features to better meet user demands and enhance satisfaction levels.

This study is innovative in applying a gap analysis approach to coworking spaces, identifying discrepancies between user expectations and actual service performance. This method provides a deeper understanding of the areas that require improvement, contributing to more user-centered coworking space management.

Digital twin (DT) and building information modeling (BIM) are interconnected in some ways. However, there has been some misconception about how DT differs from BIM. As a result, industry professionals reject DT even in BIM-based construction projects due to reluctance to innovate. Furthermore, researchers have repeatedly developed tools and techniques with the same goals using DT and BIM to assist practitioners in construction projects. Therefore, this study aims to assist industry professionals and researchers in understanding the relationship between DT and BIM and synthesize existing works on DT and BIM.

A systematic review was conducted on published articles related to DT and BIM. A total record of 54 journal articles were identified and analyzed.

The analysis of the selected journal articles revealed four types of relationships between DT and BIM: BIM is a subset of DT, DT is a subset of BIM, BIM is DT, and no relationship between BIM and DT. The existing research on DT and BIM in construction projects targets improvements in five areas: planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning. In addition, several areas have emerged, such as developing geo-referencing approaches for infrastructure projects, applying the proposed methodology to other construction geometries and creating 3D visualization using color schemes.

This study contributed to the existing body of knowledge by overviewing existing research related to DT and BIM in construction projects. Also, it reveals research gaps in the body of knowledge to point out directions for future research.

Refurbishment is inherently more sustainable than building new. However, planned and actual costs of refurbishment projects are bound to vary due to the complex nature of most such projects. This can affect the performance of refurbishment work. The purpose of this paper is to examine factors responsible for elemental cost variations between the actual and planned costs of refurbishment projects. The study also examines factors that contribute to differences in actual and planned cost between refurbishment and new build projects.

A quantitative approach was adopted for this study. A literature review identified factors responsible for elemental cost variations in refurbishment projects, as well as factors responsible for differences in actual and planned cost of new build and refurbishment projects. This was followed by a questionnaire survey of refurbishment projects across Malaysia. A total of 55 respondents provided input through a questionnaire survey to identify these factors.

This study demonstrates that procurement strategy (PS), inappropriate contractors (IC), poor project management (PPM), availability of funding, materials and equipment, and force majeure (FM) significantly affect refurbishment cost performance. Electrical installations, firefighting equipment, and painting were the building elements most affected by cost variations. A regression model for refurbishment cost prediction indicates that PS, IC, PPM, availability of funding, materials and equipment, and FM were significant predictors of building refurbishment cost performance.

This paper provides insight into the major factors affecting elemental cost variation of refurbishment works, as well as building elements most affected by cost variations and provides a model for predicting refurbishment cost performance.

Malaysia’s building regulation is mainly based on the Uniform Building By-Laws (UBBL) 1984 which provides guidelines on the procedures for building plans approval and other means of development control. However, the application of these by-laws varies between local authorities, as they are gazetted by different state governments. The formulation of UBBL 1984 which was originally formulated to address the need for a standardized set of building regulations for the country is now perceived as inconsistent and complex. Therefore, this research attempts to examine the discrepancies between state by-laws, particularly Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and national UBBL 1984.

Critical review of the content of the UBBL (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) 1985 and national UBBL 1984 was carried out to pinpoint discrepancies between the two by-laws.

Differences between national UBBL and Kuala Lumpur By-laws fall into four main categories particularly terminology, prescriptive requirements, presence of terms and by-laws. Three editorial spelling and typing errors were also found in the national UBBL 1984. It is argued that the errors and differences lead to confusion and pose unnecessary regulatory burden to the construction industry which ultimately discourage people to disobey the rules. The identified discrepancies between these by-laws showed an urgent need to review the current building by-laws considering today’s technologies, norms and citizen needs.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of many fruitful contributions that examine discrepancies between by-laws that govern building control matters in Malaysia. Although centred on legislation in Malaysia, the findings are relevant for governments around the world working towards improving public service delivery.

Islamic finance and Halal product sectors are thriving successfully. This chapter is a general review of the perception of Asian consumers on Islamic finance and Halal sectors in the global Halal economy.

The first section will briefly describe the Halal concept in both Islamic finance and Halal industries, and the growth of both sectors in Asian countries. The second part highlights the review of Asian consumers’ perception towards Islamic finance products and Halal products.

The review found that the consumers’ perception towards the Islamic finance products and Halal products is distinctive. This is due to the diversity of Asian countries in terms of geography, religion, culture, ethnic, school of thoughts (madzahib), income per capita and government’s involvement.

The third part of the chapter concentrates on planning towards Halal marketing, which involves the move and future challenges in different layers of industries to gear up and strengthen the Halal economy.

The main value in a culture of tolerance is wasatiyyah. The fragility of relationships and misunderstanding between Muslim and non-Muslim communities occurs when attention to values of tolerance which need more attention on moderation was not practiced especially in the life of a new Muslim convert community. Thus, the practice of moderation is one mechanism proposed by the government to ensure a harmonious continuation of life in a religious community can be achieved. For that, a qualitative study design was used to describe the current status of a phenomenon that occurs among new Muslim converts. The purposive sampling method is used to determine the applications of wasatiyyah in new Muslims’ life tolerance at Kota Kinabalu (East Malaysia) and Kuala Terengganu (West Malaysia). Although the study was conducted at two different locations, there is a relationship between religious phenomena that occur in the new Muslims community in Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to see the practical concept of moderation in the life of new Muslims and their relation with Muslims and non-Muslims. The results showed that the value of moderation was applied in the aspect of tolerance. The application of Wasatiyyah in practice of tolerance had helped non-Muslims family members to change their attitudes and perception towards Islam. This study suggests the values of wasatiyyah in the life of religious tolerance, need to be nourished especially in multiethnic society when sharing a living places, education and employment for better social development as well as a well-being pluralistic society.

The study was conducted through descriptive data qualitative methods. Purposive sampling was used which refers to a group that has the characteristics of samples required by researchers (Mohd Najib Abdul Ghafar 2003). This study applies the method of in-depth interview with the selected new Muslims around Kota Kinabalu (representing East Malaysia) and around Kuala Terengganu (representing Peninsular Malaysia/West Malaysia). Thus, data accumulation involves new Muslims (new Converts) from various ethnics (Sabahan and Sarawakian) which comprise Kadazandusun, Murut, Rungus, Sino and Iban. Secondly, those are from the Peninsular Malaysia which includes Chinese and Indian. Whereas in Kuala Terengganu, data accumulation involves new Muslims from various ethnics (Chinese, Indian, Sarawakian and others). The result of the interview is shown through descriptive narratives which display the practice of tolerance in the form of supportive interaction from the non-Muslim families towards the new Muslims in Islamic lifestyle.

The concept of wasatiyyah has nurturing tolerance among Muslim, newly Muslim and non-Muslim as well as fostering harmony among the diverse ethnics in Malaysia. Based on the discussion, it was observed that the concept of wasatiyyah had a great influence on the relationship among Muslim, newly Muslim and non-Muslim, as it had a strong link with the value of akhlaq that have been embedded in the Muslim community. The wasatiyyah is the main element that shapes the relationship, and it is the results of interaction with social norms, for it has bred certain social values that include tolerance, compromise, modesty, respect and cooperation as transpired when they (Muslim and newly Muslim) interact among themselves or with other communities. Furthermore, the main goal for the concept is to maintain peace and built well-being in the society as well as bracing racial ties in Malaysia, especially among Muslim, newly Muslim and non-Muslim.

Tolerance is a culture that founded the co-existence of pluralistic society in Malaysia. The culture of tolerance can only be built if ethnic tolerance and religious tolerance is accepted as a common practice – Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The description of wasatiyyah in the practice of religious tolerance among the families of new Muslims is the platform towards the acculturation of tolerance in the societal life from different faith and ethnics. It can be said that the higher the tolerance of ethnic, the higher is the religious tolerance, which is manifested through the application of wasatiyyah between people from different religions. This situation is highlighted in the relations of Muslim, newly Muslim and non-Muslim in Sabah and Terengganu where the culture of tolerance is apparent in the life together. Extensive interaction through encounters, acquaintance and co-existence that shape the friendship, brotherhood and kinship is the best formula in nurturing the culture of tolerance in the pluralistic society of Malaysia. Perhaps, the concept of wasatiyyah may be implemented in the whole aspect of life in the context of Malaysia. It is because the term wasatiyyah has the main sources of Islamic epistemology as well as sustaining the well-being pluralistic society without destroying the differences.