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The traditional courtyard shophouses modifications, alterations and deterioration over the years have become a source of concern to major stakeholders. In George Town World Heritage Site Malaysia, studies have shown that the worst hit among its various shophouses are the Straits Chinese traditional courtyard eclectic style shophouses. This paper investigates the traditional courtyard shophouses concerning the role of architectural formation design components, and how this can sustain the place identity of the Straits Chinese typology.

The methodological approach regards the collection of data and analysis of 30 face-to-face interviews and the observation of Lots number 3, 5 and 7, located along Lorong Ikan, George Town World Heritage Site.

It was found that these Lots express the place identity of the Straits Chinese, and its major exterior architecture components to be observed are the column head (Chi Tou) capital, parapet wall, bressummer beam and ionic column, and gable and gable ends.

This paper is limited to the role of architectural formation design components. Future research is needed to expand the scope of participant elements via a quantitative approach. This will enhance the validation of findings from this paper.

It is recommended the use of the proposed checklist to enhance the sustainability of the architectural components regarding the place identity of these styles of shophouses, which provides salutary lessons on how to preserve the heritage buildings. Also, major stakeholders with leading evidence from relevant government agencies should ensure the preservation of these cultural and heritage buildings for the next generation.

This paper found that the family beliefs and social impact were the components that express the place identity of the Straits Chinese.

This paper demonstrates that the role of architectural formation design components regarding place identity of Straits Chinese traditional courtyard eclectic style shophouses cannot be over-emphasised.

The purpose of this paper is to look at the physical tourism impacts experienced by the communities of Redang Island and Perhentian Island – two tourist islands located close to the coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The physical tourism impacts are examined via environmental and infrastructure related attributes (19 attributes), which are further categorized into sustainability, environment, greenhouse effects, public and tourist facilities maintenance, sewage system management, rural areas and deforestation. All of these indicators indirectly measure the impact of climate change in these island destinations.

The paper uses a questionnaire survey with an instrument based on prior work by Ap and Cromptom (1998) with regard to air pollution, deforestation and land fertility; Tetlow and Hanusch (2012) in relation to biodiversity; Sunlu (2003) in line with greenhouse effects, water quality, natural landscape and solid waste; and Cessford and Dingwall (1999), corresponding to physical impacts.

Results for Perhentian Island indicate serious physical impacts resulting from tourism development, compared with less serious impacts on Redang Island. Both islands were observed to experience tourism development progress that is well-blended with their natural environment, and the level of physical impact dependency on tourism development can be assessed using the environmental and infrastructure variables.

While the paper reports on findings from both Perhentian and Redang Islands, results from this paper could well represent other communities in many other Malaysian island locations (or perhaps the wider region), facing a similar phenomenon.

The paper contributes to an understanding of how to investigate each variable independently, as each island is undergoing a different lifecycle phase, regardless of the fact that some islands may be mirroring each other. In addition, the paper envisages the importance of integrating social exchange theory and integrated threat theory, when it comes to evaluating how people judge the consequences of their actions.

This study aims to examine the relationship between recreation specialization and diver's underwater behavior in Perhentian Island.

Data were collected using a pilot survey on 50 divers in Perhentian Island. In‐depth interviews with several dive operators were also conducted to support the findings.

Specialized divers tend to recognize unacceptable behavior rather than less specialized divers. Skilled specialized divers tend not to touch the reefs and not to collect dead pieces of the corals compared to less skilled divers.

Specialization and skills of divers can be used as an input to study diver underwater behavior while simultaneously providing insights on coral preservation.

It is important to manage diver behavior as there are now several diving operators who offer unlimited diving packages catering to day and night diving from shore. Divers can minimize their impacts by practicing responsible diving behavior. Measures emanating from this study on diver underwater behavior may be implemented to encourage responsible scuba diving activity among divers and ensure longevity of the coral reefs.