THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OCCUPATIONAL STRESS, WORKING ENVIRONMENT, WORKLOAD AND JOB PERFORMANCE AMONG PALM OIL WORKERS IN KOTA TINGGI, JOHOR

Nur Shazwani Samsudin, Siti Nurhafizah Saleeza Ramlee — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0800

Palm oil workers are operating in physically demanding tasks, challenging working conditions, and high job demands, which may influence their job performance. Occupational stress, working environment, and excessive workload are among the key factors that influence workers’ ability to perform effectively in labour-intensive plantation settings. This study examines the relationships among occupational stress, the working environment, and workload and job performance among palm oil workers in Kota Tinggi, Johor. A quantitative research approach, data were collected from 113 palm oil workers employed under the Federal Land Development Authority Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) through structured questionnaires. The findings revealed that occupational stress has a significant positive relationship with job performance (r = 0.764, p = 0.001), indicating that manageable levels of stress may enhance workers’ focus and performance. Similarly, workload is positively and significantly associated with job performance (r = 0.752, p = 0.001), suggesting that an appropriate workload level can motivate workers to perform effectively. Moreover, the working environment demonstrates a significant positive relationship with job performance (r = 0.778, p = 0.001). Collectively, occupational stress, working environment, and workload explain a substantial proportion of the variance in job performance (R2 = 0.663). The findings highlight the importance of maintaining a supportive working environment, appropriately managing occupational stress, and regulating workload levels to enhance job performance. This study provides practical insights for plantation managers and policymakers on developing effective strategies to improve workers’ performance, safety, and well-being.

DECLARATIVE INTONATION IN MALAYSIAN MANDARIN: AN EXPLORATORY ACOUSTIC STUDY

Nong Chenglin, Adi Yasran Abdul Aziz, Ng Chwee Fang — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0800

This study adopts an experimental-phonetic approach to conduct a small-scale exploratory acoustic comparison of declarative intonation in Malaysian Mandarin and Mainland Mandarin. The participants consisted of two male Malaysian Chinese speakers and two male Mainland Chinese speakers. Four declarative sentences with controlled focus positions were used as speech materials, each representing one of the four Mandarin lexical tones. The analysis examined sentence pitch range, prosodic-word pitch range, syllable-level pitch range, and the in-sentence realization of lexical tones. Fundamental frequency data were extracted using Mini-Speech-Lab and converted from hertz into semitones and normalized percentage values. The results show that, in the present sample, the Malaysian Chinese speakers display a relatively narrower overall pitch range than the Mainland Chinese speakers, mainly due to a lower upper pitch limit, while the lower pitch limit differs less between the two groups. The two groups pattern similarly in the location of the lower pitch limit, but differ in upper pitch alignment and pitch fluctuation patterns. Malaysian Chinese speakers generally preserve the basic characteristics of the four lexical tones, although some tonal weakening and local deviation can be observed in connected speech. These findings should be interpreted as preliminary observations based on a small, controlled dataset.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES, PHILOSOPHY AND LANGUAGES (IJHPL)

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OCCUPATIONAL STRESS, WORKING ENVIRONMENT, WORKLOAD AND JOB PERFORMANCE AMONG PALM OIL WORKERS IN KOTA TINGGI, JOHOR

DECLARATIVE INTONATION IN MALAYSIAN MANDARIN: AN EXPLORATORY ACOUSTIC STUDY