Human Security in Southeast Asia – A Perspective from Bangi

Selangor, Malaysia, Dec 5, 2012 – (ACN Newswire) – Rashila Ramli and colleagues from Universiti Kebangsaan in Malaysia have developed a model to improve human security in Southeast Asia. The so-called “Bangi approach to Human Security (BAGHUS)” is outlined in the latest edition of the Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Human security as promoted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1994, has seven dimensions; economic, environmental, political, food, personal, health and community with the eighth dimension of cultural security added more recently by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Although the UN approaches are universally accessible, they often required modification to suit local needs and circumstances. Therefore Ramli and colleagues propose the addition of a ninth dimension: social security with their BAGHUS approach.

They argue that social security is the most important component of human security. People need a reasonable assurance of economic and social safety to thrive. In other words, human security for the SE Asian Archipelago encompasses security from within (freedom from fear) and the needs for human development (freedom from want).

Personal security is interconnected with that of the community due to a strong sense of individuals as members of a community in the region. Cultural security also focuses on the gender equality in BAGHUS whereas the UN focuses on protecting certain ethnic or minority groups.

The new model allows a more holistic analysis of human security and peace. Whereas as the models emanating from the UN Agencies tends to be universal, BAGHUS takes into account the specificities of the region. Other regions may have different conditions than SE Asia, so the model has to be applied creatively by taking into account their specificities. Nevertheless, BAGHUS provides a starting point for those wishing to more successfully apply UN approaches in a particular region.

Reference:
Rashila Ramli, Zarina Othman*, Nor Azizan Idris and Sity Daud (2012) Towards a Modified Approach to Human Security in Southeast Asia – A Perspective from Bangi. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 20 (3): 577-588.

The paper is available from this link: http://www.acnnewswire.com/clientreports/1019/1205.pdf

About Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities (JSSH)

Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities (JSSH) is published by Universiti Putra Malaysia in English and is open to authors around the world regardless of nationality. It is published four times a year in March, June, September and December. Other Pertanika series include Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science (JTAS), and Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology (JST).

JSSH aims to develop as a pioneer journal for the social sciences with a focus on emerging issues pertaining to the social and behavioural sciences as well as the humanities. Areas relevant to the scope of the journal include Social Sciences-Accounting, anthropology, Archaeology and history, Architecture and habitat, Consumer and family economics, Economics, Education, Finance, Geography, Law, Management studies, Media and communication studies, Political sciences and public policy, Population studies, Psychology, Sociology, Technology management, Tourism; Humanities-Arts and culture, Dance, Historical and civilisation studies, Language and Linguistics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Religious studies, Sports.

The journal publishes original academic articles dealing with research on issues of worldwide relevance. The journals cater for scientists, professors, researchers, post-docs, scholars and students who wish to promote and communicate advances in the fields of Social Sciences & Humanities research. Website: http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/

For more information on the research, please contact:

Zarina Othman
School of History, Politics and Strategic Studies
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600
Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Email: zaiothman02@yahoo.com
Tel: +603 8921 3267; Mobile: +6 016 217 9030

For more information about the journal, contact:

The Chief Executive Editor
Journal Division
Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (R&I)
IDEA Tower 2, UPM-MDTC Technology Centre
Universiti Putra Malaysia
43400 Serdang, Selangor
Malaysia
Phone: +603 8947 1622 | +6 016 217 4050
Email: nayan@upm.my

Press release distributed by ResearchSEA for Pertanika Journal.