BACHELOR OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT WITH HONOURS

MAY 2022 / SEMESTER 3

TUGASAN

OUMH 1203

ENGLISH FOR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

NO. MATRIKULASI : 890629135584001

NO. KAD PENGENALAN : 890629135584
NO. TELEFON : 0193126131
E-MEL : cristine_89@oum.edu.my

PUSAT PEMBELAJARAN : OUM KUCHING, SARAWAK

Question 1

OUTLINE FORMAT

Introduction
- The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
epidemic outbreak emerged in December 2019 from Wuhan City, Hubei
Province, China and spread to the rest of the world. This disease was named
COVID-19 by World Health Organization.
- Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia In Malaysia, the Movement Control
Order (MCO) was implemented on the 18th March and was in place until the 28th
April to control the spread of COVID-19 nationwide. The government imposed 6
restrictions.

Body
1. Economic growth in the tourism sector
- Fast digitalisation has significantly impacted those working in the tourism
industry, such as hotel booking. Hence, moving forward, they have to identify the
potential of new technology to alter front- and back-office processes, such as e-
commerce platforms, which may provide a seamless consumer experience and
enhance productivity. Besides that, due to the pandemic, people will expect more
things to be contactless, so the industry will sooner or later have to adapt to
contactless paying or services.
2. Encouraging economic inclusions – goverment debt will affected growth.
3. Migration may become a problem. Make too many unskilled workers may enter a
country
4. Makes it easier to smuggle unwanted things into the country

Conclusion
- Relaxing travel restriction in Malaysia have many disadvantages and advantages.

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 The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
epidemic outbreak emerged in December 2019 from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China
and spread to the rest of the world. This disease was named COVID-19 by World Health
Organization. Since the beginning of time, the world has been rocked by a large number
and variety of extremely infectious diseases that have managed to achieve the level of a
pandemic. These include well-known ones such as the Spanish Flu, which killed 40 to 50
million people, and the Bubonic Plague, which killed around 200 million people.
Thankfully, these outbreaks tend to occur less frequently in modern society. 
The tourism industry worldwide took a massive hit due to state-wide lockdowns
that prohibited local and international travel. Over 2 million people have been infected
globally and over 140,000 lives have been lost. Not only are people suffering from this
tragedy, the economy is also at its mercy, with countries imposing lockdowns or
movement control orders (MCO), causing a severe economic impact on the global supply
chain, bankruptcies, plummeting stock markets, and unemployment. Overall, it is
destroying the world’s economies, one of them being Malaysia’s economy. The ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic has evolved into a global health crisis that has significantly
weakened the growth prospects of vast majority of countries, including the most major
advanced and emerging market economy – United States of America (Outlook and Policy
in 2020, accessed on 10th August 2020). The measures taken by Malaysia to contain the
spread of COVID-19 such as the implementation of the Movement Control Order
(MCO), are critically suppressing private sector activities, both in the domestic-oriented
and tourism-related sectors. This implementation, alas, had caused a sharp downshift in
the economic growth and simultaneously disrupted the demand and supply chain not only
in Malaysia, but the entire globe as well (Bank Negara Malaysia, accessed on 10 th
August 2020). As you may surmise, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a highly
transmittable and pathogenic viral infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which emerged in Wuhan, China (Elengoe, accessed on
10th August 2020). On 25 January 2020, the new SARSCoV-2 virus, which causes the
novel disease – COVID-19 had first arrived in Malaysia. Due to the COVID-19 being
transmitted globally in a rapid pace, businesses and services deemed to be non-essential

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in Malaysia were forced to shut down (ISIS Policy Brief, accessed on 10th August 2020).
Hence, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of Malaysia had been continuously
contracted by 17.1% in the second quarter of 2020, as stated by Bank Negara Malaysia
(Bank Negara Malaysia, accessed on 10th August 2020). This decline had indeed
reflected the unprecedented impact of stringent containment measures enforced by the
government of Malaysia. In this essay, I shall discuss the 3 policies in which a finance
minister would implement, along with its rational factors and the causal nexus between
these policies and the future economy growth, given that the policies had been fully
implemented. Long before the partial lockdown measures in Malaysia were implemented,
the COVID-19 outbreak in China had significantly disrupted several aspects of the
economy, including the supply and demand chain, exchange rate developments, traveling
and manufacturing worldwide. Due to the pandemic, wide-ranging supply and demand
shocks had been reverberating across the globe. The sole factor was the production cut
faced by global manufacturers as Chinese factories are being locked down. Subsequently,
the collapse of Chinese demand had forced commodity experts to brave lower prices in
production and supply. The most highly exposed economies in the region to Chinese
demand and supply – Malaysia, had indeed faced the knock-on effects on the economy.
With the liquidity squeeze that was disproportionately felt by small-and-medium
enterprises (SMEs) and vulnerable groups, businesses are now left insolvent, individuals
are facing bankruptcy and the financial system is saddled with non-performing loans
(ISIS Policy Brief, accessed on 29th August 2020). Apart from disrupting the supply-and-
demand chain, the exchange rate developments in Malaysia had faced severe depreciation
as the ringgit depreciated to RM 4.08 against the US dollar in the first quarter of 2020
(FRED, accessed on 29th August 2020). This weakening and uncertain outlook to global
growth had affected investor sentiments as global risk aversion intensified (Siaran
Akhbar, accessed on 29th August 2020). Moreover, the broad-based restriction and
aversion implemented by Malaysia had adversely impacted tourism-related sectors,
which accounts for 11.8% of Malaysia’s GDP. In the first two months of 2020, airport
passenger traffic had declined by 8.2% and the tourist arrivals are now expecting a drastic
decline (Outlook and Policy in 2020, accessed on 29th August 2020). As one would
expect, these substantial and pervasive economic scars caused by the novel disease had

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indeed brought unanticipated backlash to the livelihoods of Malaysians, regardless of
their status quo.
Daniel Bainbridge, UK & Europe Regional Director for Malaysia Airlines,
commented that he was delighted to see that the Malaysian Government is removing all
pre-entry and arrival testing requirements for fully vaccinated traveller. This has the
potential to be positive for the Malaysian tourism industry, with other countries in Asia
still maintaining their own unique set of travel restrictions. As a result, this move could
enable Malaysia to gain an early competitive advantage over its Asian counterparts.
Adult traveller and children over the age of 12 will no longer be required to take a pre-
travel test, or quarantine on arrival. On the ground, wearing masks outdoors will be made
optional, and social distancing measures will be dropped. Some entry restrictions will,
however, remain in place for unvaccinated traveller. Although relaxing restrictions is
good news for the Malaysian travel industry, governmental authorities need to exercise
some caution and ensure contingency plans are in place. Measures to be removed include
pre-travel testing and the requirement to wear masks in public areas from next month.
However, with the threat of future COVID-19 variants, backup plans must be put in
place. Moving forwards, it will be a balancing act for authorities as the world learns to
live with the disease. Malaysia Airlines is the only airline offering direct flights from the
UK to Malaysia, and with international arrivals increasing dramatically since the border
officially opened on 1 April, this further removal of entry requirements is an even clearer
sign that Malaysia is fully open to the world. This means that Malaysia’s removal of
travel restrictions for fully vaccinated traveller could potentially make 2022’s summer
tourism season a pivotal time for the Malaysian tourism industry. Fast digitalisation has
significantly impacted those working in the tourism industry, such as hotel booking.
Hence, moving forward, they have to identify the potential of new technology to alter
front- and back-office processes, such as e-commerce platforms, which may provide a
seamless consumer experience and enhance productivity. Besides that, due to the
pandemic, people will expect more things to be contactless, so the industry will sooner or
later have to adapt to contactless paying or services.

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 Apart from the numerous advantages of open borders, there are still some
downsides related to this concept. For example, one problem with open borders is that
excessive migration can become an issue. In fact, while a moderate number of migrants is
not a big deal, migration can become a problem if the number of migrants becomes too
high. Thus, if too many people decide to migrate to a country, it could make sense to
close borders. While some migrants have a quite high skill level and will find a job quite
soon, a big fraction of migrants will not have too high education levels and many of those
people will end up unemployed sooner or later. In turn, expenses related to
unemployment benefits would increase as well, which would imply an additional burden
on government finances. Another disadvantage of open borders is that it makes it easier
to smuggle unwanted goods into a country. In fact, large amounts of illegal substances
are shipped to several countries all over the world each year. Immigrants bring new
perspectives, experiences, and ideas to their local communities. With this added
diversification, there is more strength to be found within the community. Immigrants start
businesses, earn an income, and support others on the local level. This creates an increase
in local production, which creates more profits, which further helps the economy. Strong
economies that are based on immigrant perspectives tend to find the most success.

In conclusion, the coronavirus outbreak in the early months of 2020 already

imposed a significant threat to the tourism industry in Malaysia. There was a massive
drop in tourists from Singapore and China as many countries were already imposing
travel restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. Hence, the tourism industry suffered a
huge loss. This is especially so for the airline and hotel industries. For example, at least
120 hotels were closed either temporarily or permanently due to the pandemic.
Additionally, travel prohibitions and falling demand worldwide have put the airline
industry at risk of bankruptcy. As a result, AirAsia, Malindo Air, and Malaysia Airlines,
Malaysia’s three largest airlines, have implemented wage cuts as well as unpaid leave,
depending on the income range and position.

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 relaxing travel restrictions can give a big impact to Malaysian economy especially
in tourism and economies sector. It also facilitate of movement for every people. The
virus and lockdown crisis forced people to do things differently. Some people have
discovered options that will cause them to make different choices in the future. For
example, some businesses will use online meeting technology more intensely in the
future, expanding work-at-home opportunities and potentially cutting back on travel to
meetings. Some doctors and patients have discovered that online doctor visits work well
compared to office visits. Some educational institutions and students may even find that
online education works well and is more economical than in-person education. Some
people have learned to cook and others discovered how to enhance their living spaces.
These changes will exert a positive impact on some sectors of the economy and an
adverse impact on others.

(2505 words)

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References
World Health Organization [Internet] Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019 situation
reports. 2020 Available from:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports.

Coronavirus Outbreak [Internet] COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. 2020

Available from: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

2018 Hakcipta Terpelihara Kumpulan Karangkraf

https://www.sinarharian.com.my/article/198336/KHAS/Covid-19/Peralihan-endemik-
pembukaan-sempadan-bantu-tingkat-ekonomi-negara

Sarah Knapton, ‘Lockdown may cost 200,000 lives, government report shows’,
Telegraph (£), 19 July 2020

Dale Fisher and David Heymann. Q&a: The novel coronavirus outbreak causing covid-
19. BMC medicine, 18(1):1–3, 2020.

Alpert, G., 2020. Can Infrastructure Spending Really Stimulate The Economy?. [online]
Investopedia.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/080816/caninfrastructure-spending-
really-stimulate-economy.asp

Bnm.gov.my. 2020. Siaran Akhbar: Economic and Financial Developments in Malaysia

in the First Quarter of 2020.
https://www.bnm.gov.my/files/publication/qb/2020/Q1/Q1_en.pdf

Bnm.gov.my. 2020. Siaran Akhbar: Economic and Financial Developments in Malaysia

in the Second Quarter of 2020
https://www.bnm.gov.my/files/publication/qb/2020/Q2/Q2_en.pdf

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Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US), Malaysia / U.S. Foreign
Exchange Rate [EXMAUS], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis;
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/EXMAUS

Cheng, C., 2020. COVID-19 In Malaysia: Economic Impacts & Fiscal Responses - ISIS.
https://www.isis.org.my/2020/03/26/covid-19-in-malaysiaeconomic-impacts-fiscal-
responses/

COVID-19 Malaysia. 2020. COVID-19 Malaysia Updates

http://covid-19.moh.gov.my

Elengoe, 2020. COVID-19 Outbreak in Malaysia

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7258884

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Question 2a
Text messaging is my preferred method of written communication. I combined
WhatsApp, Instagram Direct Messages and Telegram to do it. This is due to the fact that
it saves time, free and is simple to use. Majority of mobile phone users have one of these
applications installed, it would be the most convenient way to contact them through these
channels. Apart from that, Instagram Direct Message and Telegram save space by
allowing us to select which media to save in order to preserve space on the phone's
memory. Adding on, WhatsApp and Telegram allow to create groups for multiple
participants to join in the communication thus it helps in discussion as well.

Picture 1

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Question 2b

One of my challenge when writing an essay is to build the sentences. It is because I do

not have to much vocabulary in my mind. For overcome this, I tried to build it by reading
dictionary and listening to English song. Besides that, I am notice that I am hard in
elaborating my ideas into sentences due to lack of opinion, creativity and sense of
audience.
Finally, actually I do not have confident level to writing an essay because I afraid my
English was broken when I writing the sentences.

Picture 2

Soalan 2c
Name of the activity – Purchase order fulfilment for construction company
Number of classmates in the activity: 3
The pros and cons of construction company the collaborative activity are as below:

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I enjoy writing collaboratively because it allows for more ideas and solutions to be shared
among the participants. We have to look up into every nook and cranny to accelerate the
process and avoid any trouble when fulfilling an order, therefore when we collaborate,
we have more than one brain to design the work plan. Furthermore, I find it engaging to
write collectively since it creates chemistry among us. It assists me in understanding my
teammates' vision, writing style, and how they see things from their perspective.
Furthermore, collaborative writing exposes me to new words and phrases, which benefits
in my vocabulary mastery. As a result of this situation, I also face various challenges
when working collaboratively, such as time limitations for gathering information.
Because we come from different families, putting down the work plan from where we are
takes some time management and I cannot force my team members to submit according
to my schedule. Aside from that, I find it tough to write jointly when we have significant
knowledge gaps and it is difficult to incorporate the best solution. To acquire the greatest
result, it requires a lot of time and work to reach an agreement.

Picture 3

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Picture 4

Picture 5

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