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This paper examines the national solidarity in Brunei Darussalam during the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequential impact on younger generations. Utilising Emile Durkheim's solidarity theories, I examine how young people's social media use builds on state discourse in the pandemic. I contend that a shift towards an organic society is visible through a social cohesion that is based on differentiated roles. I argue that the citizenry plays a vital role in the forward momentum toward Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0, which illustrates that solidarity cannot be forged as a top-down directive. By prompting economic and creative divisions of labour, the local use of social media in a public health crisis has shown the government a new way to foster solidarity. Significant implications for youth as future leaders of the nation are discussed.

The consolidation behavior of prefabricated vertical drain (PVD)-installed soft deposits mainly depends on the PVD performance. The purpose of this study is to propose a numerical solution for the consolidation of PVD-installed soft soil using the large-strain theory, in which the reduction of discharge capacity of PVD according to depth and time is simultaneously considered.

The proposed solution also takes into account the general constitute relationship of soft soil. Subsequently, the proposed solution is applied to analyze and compare with the monitoring data of two cases, one is the experimental test and another is the test embankment in Saga airport.

The results show that the reduction of PVD discharge capacity according to depth and time increased the duration required to achieve a certain degree of consolidation. The consolidation rate is more sensitive to the reduction of PVD discharge capacity according to time than that according to the depth. The effects of the reduction of PVD discharge capacity according to depth are more evident when PVD discharge capacity decreases. The predicted results using the proposed numerical solution were validated well with the monitoring data for both cases in verification.

In this study, the variation of PVD discharge capacity is only considered in one-dimensional consolidation. However, it is challenging to implement a general expression for discharge capacity variation according to time in the two-dimensional numerical solution (two-dimensional plane strain model). This is the motivation for further study.

A geotechnical engineer could use the proposed numerical solution to predict the consolidation behavior of the drainage-improved soft deposit considering the PVD discharge capacity variation.

The large-strain consolidation of PVD-installed soft deposits could be predicted well by using the proposed numerical solution considering the PVD discharge capacity variations according to depth and time.

The fundamentals of total quality management (TQM) are revisited for providing a relevant perspective on business excellence. Judging from the experience of the Japanese TQM movement, there is a need for a step‐by‐step approach towards TQ. As a result of exploratory research, a model called TQMEX, standing for TQM Excellence Model, has been developed based on sound TQM practices. Both the theoretical background, personal experience, and results of an intensive questionnaire survey conducted in Hong Kong, Japan, and the UK have highlighted the importance of the Japanese 5‐S, DPR, QCC, ISO 9000 and TPM on TQM practice. The findings are useful for firms wanting to benchmark against the business excellence of leading firms which have survived and grown despite the two global oil crises and the recent Asian financial turmoil.