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This article unravels the concept of the grey area phenomenon which is getting more specific and intense. The complexity of borders remains a core point regarding boundaries, informal cross border trade, and threats to national security. This article focuses on investigating the survival of informal economic activities in Sebatik Island. This study uses a qualitative approach in the form of field observations and interviews as the main source of primary data of this writing. The results suggest that the grey area phenomenon concentrated in Sebatik Island creates benefits and detriment related to both countries' survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mainstream rise of "bundle" clothing consumption in Malaysia mirrors the global trend of thrift shopping. Theories about this phenomenon range from the birth of recessionistas, to environmental conservation and identity construction. In this paper, I examine the trend of "selam bundle", or diving into clothingbundles in thrift shops, where people deliberately purchase material goods to communicate their fashion tastes to the public. Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and field are also used to elucidate this phenomenon. I theorise that the act of thrift shopping, or "selam bundle" here is not caused entirely due to a lack of funds based on social class, as individuals from various levels of income participate in this activity. Instead, I view "selam bundle" as an act of increasing one's "street cred" or social capital, where the more unique the find, the more "street cred" one achieves. This is also an activity that is common among the hipster subculture. Observations about thrift shopping or "selam bundle" were made using a mixed-method approach, combining visits to thrift stores, watching YouTube videos of thrift bloggers, reading their blogs, obtaining newspaper interviews and feature stories about thrift shoppers and thrift shops, and obtaining data from social media, as well as data from a large-scale survey titled Platform Integrasi:Pendekatan 'Top-Down' dan 'Bottom-Up' Dalam Mendepani Cabaran Kesepaduan Sosial (Integration Platforms: 'Top-Down' and 'Bottom-Up' Approaches to Facing Challenges in Social Cohesion). As this is a shopping act that transcends the usual social categories of social class, I theorise that "selam bundle" can be seen as a potential platform of social integration, driven by the grassroots or everyday-defined approach to constructing identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the world economy created its own footprint as a result of the phenomenon. 1/3 of that space is owned by the informal economy also referred to as the Local Economy or System D. The connotation is to imagine a work phenomenon that is truly universal without a clear basis for labor. This increasingly sophisticated and world-class phenomenon takes the place of economic space left by the formal economy. The manipulation of the vast resources, the dynamic practices that take place in the legal and illegal dimensions, provide a guarantee of employment shadowed by survival. This paper traces the phenomenon occurring on the Sebatik Islands of Malaysia and Indonesia. The study method was qualitative based on the interviews of key informants. The results suggest that this phenomenon occurs due to the fact that economic space and opportunities can be exploited for the sake of sustainability in meeting economic demands, especially marginalized groups at the border. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights how Chinese-educated Chinese Malaysian undergraduate youth display a preference for not only collectivist but also individualist values, as indicated by the cultural capital based on preference in books. The study is based on the theoretical framework of cultural capital as introduced by sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, and the choice of book preference as indicator follows a large scale study of modern China by Wang, Davis and Yanjie (2006). It is found that contrary to literature which suggests that the Chinese diaspora are more prone to collectivism, respondents of this small-scale study show openness to both collectivist and individualistic values. This indicates a cultural homogenisation effect on the cultural capital possession of respondents. As the study only includes a convenience sample of Chinese Malaysian undergraduates pursuing their undergraduate study through a Chinese-language medium, the findings are not meant to generalise the entire population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]