The present study investigates organizational flexibility (agility) and the training needs of staff working in the Sports Directorates of Local Government Organizations (LGOs), within the context of implementing sports programs for people with disabilities (PWDs). The research is based on a quantitative methodology, using structured Likert-scale questionnaires. The total sample included 332 municipalities across 13 regions and 180 staff members from Municipal Sports Directorates of LGOs, as well as an analysis of 93 municipalities regarding their digital readiness. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software, employing descriptive statistics, correlation analyses (Pearson), comparative tests (t-test, ANOVA), and multiple regression analysis. The reliability of the scales was particularly high (Cronbach’s α = 0.896–0.964). Electronic leadership is primarily influenced by responsiveness (β = 0.419), competence (β = 0.330), and flexibility (β = 0.234). At the same time, organizational agility remains low (M ≈ 2.35), alongside moderate development of digital skills and limited utilization of training in practice. At the same time, a significant relationship was identified between staff training and the provision of specialized programs. The findings highlight the need to strengthen education, technological competence, and administrative flexibility.
Keywords: People with disabilities (PWDs), local government, organizational agility, professional development, digital skills, digital leadership

This study analyzes the song Sebujur Bangkai, which literally means „a lifeless corpse‟ by Rhoma Irama through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to uncover its deeper messages about death and morality. As one of the most influential figures in Indonesian dangdut music, Rhoma Irama often conveys religious and social themes in his lyrics. This research examines how linguistic features, discursive strategies, and sociocultural contexts shape the song‟s meaning. Utilizing Fairclough‟s three-dimensional framework, the study explores the textual, discursive, and social dimensions of Sebujur Bangkai. The findings suggest that the song serves as a moral reminder, emphasizing human mortality, the futility of material wealth, and the importance of spiritual devotion. The discourse constructed in the lyrics reflects broader religious and cultural values in Indonesian society. This study contributes to the understanding of how music functions as a medium for ideological expression and social critique.
Keywords: after life, CDA, death, morality, mortality, religion

The background of this study is based on personal experiences during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic from 2021 to 2022. At this stage, the epidemic has not completely ended, and social life is still in a state of repeated lockdown, home isolation, and travel restrictions. And the emotions in this state are longer, quieter, and more of an inner loneliness. This study focuses on the visual reconstruction of "loneliness emotions" in painting during the pandemic, exploring how painting can serve as a medium for emotional expression and memory retelling, transforming personal isolation experiences into visual images that are viewable, perceivable, and empathetic. The research adopts a qualitative research method based on studio practice and is carried out through three paths: visual research, visual analysis, and artistic creation. Secondly, by combining The constructive memory theory and the visual method of re-narration, the works "The Window" and "Sleep" were finally completed. Researchers collected the results by conducting questionnaires among professional artists and scholars. The research findings indicate that the loneliness during the epidemic is mainly expressed through visual elements such as enclosed Spaces, still figures, soft but depressing tones, Windows, beds, plants and sleeping states. Through painting, researchers not only re-narrated individuals' feelings of loneliness during the pandemic, but also transformed private memories into emotional images that resonate with society.
Keywords: Emotion of loneliness, Re-Narrating, Epidemic Painting.

This study implements a praxis of relational comparison to reconfigure our understanding of 18th-century Sinitic vernacular fiction. Rather than evaluating Cao Xueqin’s masterwork through the standard linear progression of the Eurocentric novel, this paper establishes a cross-cultural triangulation between Homeric epic fate and late imperial allegorical structures. Specifically, I argue that Qin Keqing operates as a macro-cosmic somatic catalyst whose physical desire and early death drive the structural decline of the Jia clan. Drawing on Zhuangzi’s non-dualist philosophy of wuhua (物化 - the transformation of things), the study demonstrates that Keqing’s hyper-aestheticized bedroom functions as an active ontological threshold—resembling the performative "Ghost Gateway" (Guimendao) found in early Chinese drama. This spatial configuration creates a system of concentric spectatorship that actively destabilizes the objective gaze of the reader, transforming the act of reading into an ongoing, tactile performance of psychological transformation.

This study is motivated by the low level of students’ learning outcomes in the domain of understanding (C2) and the limited development of students’ collaborative skills (A2) in Social Studies learning. The purpose of this study is to describe the improvement in students’ comprehension abilities and collaborative skills in Social Studies instruction. This research employed a classroom action research design. The research subjects were fifth-grade students of SDN 36 Gunung Sarik, Padang. The research data consisted of information obtained from observation of the implemented actions, learning outcome tests, and observations of teacher activities during the learning process. The results of the study indicate that: (1) students’ cognitive learning outcomes increased from 65.38% in Cycle I to 80.77% in Cycle II; (2) students’ affective learning outcomes improved from 61.54% in Cycle I to 76.92% in Cycle II; and (3) observations of teacher activities showed an increase from 73.21% in Cycle I to 92.85% in Cycle II. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that there was a significant improvement in the Social Studies learning outcomes of fifth-grade students from Cycle I to Cycle II. The improvement in both cognitive and affective learning domains was achieved through the implementation of the Problem-Based Learning model, which effectively enhanced students’ understanding and collaborative skills during the learning process.
Keywords: Improving grade, Social science, Learning outcome, The problem based learning

This study of ravine forests in Kikwit, a city in the Kwilu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, aims primarily to conduct an inventory and in-depth analysis of the floristic diversity of the ravines in Kikwit, in order to understand their ecological role, assess the impact of human activities on these ecosystems, and propose appropriate conservation and restoration strategies. The results reveal a rich and diverse flora of 48 species belonging to 44 genera distributed across 28 families. Analysis of auto ecological characteristics shows the dominance of Mesophanerophyte (Msph) biological types with 17 species (35.41%), followed by Sarchochores (38%), Mesophylls (32 species, 67%), and Guineo-Congolian (49%). Observations regarding the current state of the vegetation formations in the ravines of Kikwit demonstrate their richness and floristic diversity. These formations require careful conservation while avoiding unsustainable exploitation by the local population.
Keywords: Forests, ravines, Kikwit

The Mokamo sector has experienced different-scale land conflicts. So this terroir has undergone enormous pressures which arouse questions about its future. The objective of this work is to understand the problems of land conflicts on local Mokamo sector development by identifying their causes, their socio-economic impacts as well as the strategies deployed to mitigate them. The methodology adopted is based on an approach focused on documentary review, field investigations and that of the processing, analysis of the data obtained. The results of our study show that: The causes of land conflicts are the demographic explosion, legal pluralism and the sale of land. The socio-economic impacts of land conflicts are migration, a break in trust between actors, family division, change of trade, food insecurity, impoverishment of populations and the sub-optimal and ineffective use of land. Conflicts include a positive side in the confrontation, they also include a negative and destructive slope. Land conflicts in their positive side are one of the best guiding sons to enter a Company. The complementarity between traditional and modern law is one of the strategies put in place to end land conflicts. Despite the strategies developed by the actors, the land question remains subject to management difficulties in the Mokamo sector.
Keywords: Impact, Land Conflict, Socio-economic life, Rural backgrounds, Mokamo

Physical fitness and cardiovascular adaptability during pregnancy are crucial for maternal and fetal health. This study evaluates the effects of a prenatal physiotherapy program on these parameters in pregnant women. Thirty-two pregnant womenat Lisanga Health and Maternity Center, Kinshasa, participated in a physiotherapy program. Physical fitness and exercise adaptation were assessed before and after intervention using the Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) and Ruffier-Dickson test. Variables measured included distance walked, maximal oxygen consumption (VO₂ max), heart rate at rest and post-exercise, blood pressure, and Ruffier index. Analyses were stratified by maternal age and gestational age. Significant improvements were observed in distance walked and VO₂ max among women aged 18–40 years, especially between 5.6 and 7 months of gestation. Heart rates at rest and post-exercise decreased significantly, indicating enhanced cardiovascular adaptation. Blood pressure remained stable throughout the intervention. In late pregnancy (8–9 months), improvements were less pronounced. The Ruffier index showed significant improvement, reflecting better exercise tolerance. The prenatal physiotherapy program effectively enhanced physical fitness and cardiovascular adaptation to exercise, particularly in the second and early third trimesters. These findings support the integration of tailored exercise programs in prenatal care to improve maternal health outcomes.
Keywords: 1, Pregnant women; 2, Prenatal rehabilitation; 3, Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT); 4, Ruffier 5; Kinshasa

Grandparents are increasingly recognised as important contributors to children’s early language and literacy experiences, particularly in multigenerational families where they participate in daily caregiving, storytelling, play, shared reading, digital interaction, and family language decision-making. This structured literature review examines how grandparents contribute to children’s oral language literacy within the home language environment. Drawing on recent studies published from 2022 onward, the paper synthesises evidence from early childhood education, family literacy, developmental psychology, bilingual education, and intergenerational family language policy. Recent research indicates that home language and literacy environments are associated with children’s language and literacy outcomes, although the strength of this association varies by cultural context, family resources, caregiver practices, and measurement approaches (Nag et al., 2024; Lyu, 2023). The review further shows that grandparents’ contribution is not limited to practical childcare; rather, they may provide conversational input, emotional security, cultural narratives, heritage language exposure, and interactional routines that support children’s vocabulary, listening comprehension, narrative ability, pragmatic communication, and school readiness (Keim et al., 2024; Xie et al., 2022). The paper concludes that grandparents should be viewed as active language socialisation agents within children’s oral language literacy development, especially in Asian and multigenerational family contexts.
Keywords: grandparents; oral language literacy; home literacy environment; intergenerational support; family language policy; early childhood education

When this journal was first drafted in 2012, Malawi's Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) was still finding its footing, taxpayers were still learning that 'Msonkho' was not a swear word, and the idea of filing a tax return from a mobile phone would have been met with polite scepticism. A decade and a half later, the fiscal landscape has shifted considerably, though not always in the ways anyone predicted. This modernised edition revisits and comprehensively updates the original study to reflect the policy, legislative and institutional developments of the 2021 to 2026 period, integrating the most recent available publications from the MRA, the Malawi Ministry of Finance, Deloitte, the IMF, and peer-reviewed academic literature.
The study examines the structure, administration and reform imperatives of the local taxation system in Malawi across the same thirteen thematic areas as the original journal, but with fresh eyes informed by a dramatically changed context: a Domestic Resource Mobilisation Strategy running from 2021 to 2026, an MRA that collected over K2.186 trillion in 2023/24 and exceeded its revenue target for the first time in recent memory, a VAT Electronic Invoicing System replacing ageing hardware-based Electronic Fiscal Devices, and a Taxpayer Charter launched in 2022 that for the first time set out in writing what taxpayers could actually expect from their tax authority. These are not small things. They represent, collectively, a tax administration that is learning to take itself seriously.
The research adopts a qualitative documentary analysis methodology, using primary official government publications from 2021 to 2026, Deloitte Malawi annual tax updates for 2023/24 and 2024/25, the MRA press communications, the Malawi 2024/25 and 2025/26 Budget Policy Statements, and peer-reviewed academic literature published within the past five years. Findings confirm that while structural challenges persist around the informal sector, digital infrastructure gaps and treaty network adequacy, the MRA has made measurable institutional progress. Specific reform recommendations are anchored in these contemporary realities rather than the aspirational language of earlier policy cycles.
Keywords: Local Taxation, Malawi Revenue Authority, Msonkho Online, VAT Electronic Invoicing System, PAYE, Withholding Tax, Domestic Resource Mobilisation Strategy 2021 to 2026, Deloitte Tax Update 2024/25, Double Taxation Relief, Estate Duty, Pension Taxation, MRA Taxpayer Charter 2022

This study examines how staff reward systems shape employee satisfaction at Banja La Mtsogolo (BLM), a leading sexual reproductive health organization operating across Malawi. The motivation for the inquiry arose from a recognized gap in the scholarly literature: while considerable attention has been paid to healthcare workforce challenges in sub-Saharan Africa broadly, relatively little empirical work has focused specifically on how monetary and non-monetary incentives function within sexual reproductive health settings constrained by limited resources. Three objectives framed the research: assessing prevailing satisfaction levels among BLM staff, interrogating the organization's existing reward architecture, and examining how different reward categories influence employee motivation and retention.
A mixed-methods design was adopted, drawing on survey data from 63 outreach and clinic employees alongside qualitative material gathered through semi-structured interviews. What emerged was a picture of pervasive dissatisfaction, felt most intensely by employees with the longest tenure. Inadequate salaries, precarious job security, and a sense of being overlooked surfaced repeatedly as the main sources of low morale. Monetary rewards were rated most highly in overall importance, but non-monetary incentives, especially professional development and genuine recognition, proved particularly meaningful to those in managerial roles. The study concludes that both reward categories carry real weight in shaping motivation and retention, and recommends that BLM pursue a thorough overhaul of its reward systems with equity, transparency, and sufficiency as guiding principles. Doing so, the evidence suggests, would strengthen workforce commitment and ultimately improve BLM's capacity to deliver quality sexual reproductive health services across the country.
Keywords: staff rewards, employee satisfaction, healthcare workers, Malawi, Banja La Mtsogolo, motivation, retention, non-monetary incentives

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into African economies have been rising lately; however, poverty levels in most countries remain high. This study investigates whether FDI alone can bring about poverty reduction or if it only influences poverty through technological innovation. Supported by Endogenous Growth Theory, Technology Transfer Theory, and Sustainable Development Theory, this paper identifies technological innovation as the major avenue of FDI's influence on poverty. Using panel data from 23 African countries (2005-2024) and employing mediation analysis, the findings demonstrate that FDI's influence on poverty is completely mediated by technological innovation. FDI per se will not bring about pro-poor outcomes unless it stimulates local innovation capabilities. The study concludes that policies aimed simply at attracting FDI may not be the most successful for poverty alleviation. African nations must invest in innovation-oriented policies especially human capital development, infrastructure, and institutions to capitalize on foreign investments.
Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Technological Innovation; Poverty Reduction; Africa; Mediation Analysis

In addition to sexual politics and interrelationship, the medieval vernacular fiction The Plum in the Golden Vase 金瓶梅 establishes a social web by focusing on the exchange of objects. Recalling a historical tradition of male actors cross dressing as female roles in Chinese theatrical performances, I will compare the minor character Shu-t‟ung with professional practitioners, and reflect upon Shut‟ung‟s embodied femininity within the diaclects of the real and the fictional. For Shu-t‟ung‟s gendered body, I will extend the notion of the object to the objecthood manifested in characters of the novel. In this regard, I read Shu-t‟ung as a human object that embodies the dynamics of circulation.
How does Shu-t‟ung perform his objecthood from his gendered body? To approach this question, I will focus on one scene on cross-dressing in Chapter 35 of the novel, wherein Ying Po-chüeh asks Shu-t‟ung to dress up as a female lead to entertain guests with southern songs. Why does Ying Po-chüeh initiate this demand for Shu-t‟ung to dress up as a female lead to entertain him? How do female mains react to lending clothes to Shu-t‟ung? How do the lyrics of the song relate to Shu-t‟ung per se?
The comparison between Shu-t‟ung and professionals leads me to reflect upon the degree of the authenticity of his femininity in a coerced performance, and the interrelation between his objecthood and gendered body. As gendered objects and gender constructs further formulate a figurative circulation of femininity, the novel has multi-layer objecthood manifested through Shu-t‟ung‟s body, his song lyrics, and his forced performance. I argue that Shu-t‟ung‟s body and his gender eventually serve as a sexually-neutral site for fabricated femininity and gestural performance of cross-dressing.

Platform-based business models have reorganised how value is created, distributed, and captured in ways that entrepreneurship scholarship is still working to fully comprehend. Traditional ventures generate value by producing and delivering goods or services along a linear chain; platform businesses generate value by orchestrating interactions among multiple user groups and scaling digital infrastructure in ways that asset-heavy firms cannot easily replicate. This paper offers a comparative analysis of both paradigms through a systematic secondary research methodology, drawing on peer-reviewed scholarship, institutional datasets, and authoritative publications from predominantly the past seven years. It examines theoretical foundations, value creation logics, technological requirements, scalability dynamics, risk profiles, and the strategic decisions entrepreneurs face when choosing between or combining these models. The findings indicate that platform configurations offer compelling growth potential under the right conditions, while traditional ventures retain durable advantages wherever regulatory complexity, physical presence, or community trust governs market behaviour. Rather than treating these paradigms as competitors, the paper argues for contextually intelligent hybrid configurations, anchored in the Contextual Innovation Performance Model (CIPM) advanced by Sambiri (2024).
Keywords: Platform Business Models, Traditional Entrepreneurship, Digital Entrepreneurship, Network Effects, Value Creation, Business Model Innovation, Technology-Driven Ventures, Secondary Research,

Change management has become the defining challenge of contemporary organisational life, yet its failure rate remains, by most credible estimates, somewhere around 70 per cent. That is not a new finding. What is new, and what this paper argues, is that the persistently high failure rate is not primarily a capability problem. It is a framing problem. Organisations reach for change management models when what they actually need is contextual intelligence: the ability to read an environment honestly, choose an approach that fits it, and lead people through uncertainty without pretending the uncertainty is not there.
This paper examines change management across ten interconnected dimensions, drawing exclusively on secondary literature published between 2018 and 2025. The dimensions addressed are: why organisational change is needed; the organisation development techniques through which it is initiated; the planned and emergent approaches available to leaders; the internal and external forces driving transformation; the sources and significance of resistance; four influential change management models; the role of action research as a practitioner inquiry methodology; the typology of organisational change; contemporary approaches encompassing digital transformation, agile methodology and artificial intelligence-enabled adaptation; and the cultural conditions through which innovative organisations sustain the psychological safety that genuine transformation requires.
Throughout the analysis, the Contextual Innovation Performance Model (CIPM) developed by Sambiri (2024) is applied as a unifying analytical lens. The CIPM insists on a straightforward but consistently neglected point: that the institutional environment, technological infrastructure, and human capital context in which an organisation operates are not background conditions to be acknowledged in a limitations section. They are the primary determinants of which change management approach will work and which will fail. That insistence runs through every section of this paper.
Keywords: Change Management, Organisational Change, Organisation Development, Resistance to Change, Psychological Safety, Digital Transformation, Innovation Culture, CIPM, Action Research, Agile Change Management