Shufri Johari, Zakmalisa Erna Md Zaki, Noraihan Mohamad, Ain’Shamimi Arifin

The Effectiveness of Community Engagement Program Towards Urban Poor Community Development: A Study Of MSU MyNeighbours Program

Introduction

The effectiveness of community engagement program towards urban poor community development: a study of msu myneighbours program . Discover how MSU's MyNeighbours program empowers urban poor communities. This study shows it significantly improves economic capabilities, skills, knowledge, and living standards.

Abstract

MyNeighbours initiative has gained significance in recent years, collaborating with Management and Science University (MSU) to support the urban poor. HeARTS, aiming to realize Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, employs its community project, MyNeighbours, to promote community and collaboration. MyNeighbours, themed "Nurturing Generation, Building Society," aims to enhance the economic capabilities of the urban poor through knowledge and skills. The program offers free courses such as basic business design, basic sewing, make up, a food costing guide, cooking and baking workshop, establishing a knowledge transfer bridge between the university and the community. This research aims to assess the effectiveness of the MyNeighbours program on the perceptions of 40 urban poor regarding their standards of living, entrepreneurship, skills and knowledge. By exploring these factors, the study aims to provide insights into the significance of the MyNeighbours program for the urban poor. To gather the data, the researchers employed structured interviews, utilizing the qualitative descriptive method implemented through questionnaires, which are essentially interviews. The data collection involved face-to-face interviews, drawing upon previously collected data in the form of videos and voice notes. Most of the interviewees expressed that the MyNeighbours program played a crucial role in enhancing their standard of living, enabling them to sustain themselves. A significant number of respondents who participated in the program provided positive feedback, stating that it contributed to their improvement and proficiency in managing their businesses. The program exhibited a favorable impact on individuals' skills, knowledge, and the development of a supportive community. The research successfully achieved its objective, as it established a positive correlation between the effectiveness of the MyNeighbours program and the respondents' standard of living, entrepreneurship, skills, and knowledge.

Review

This paper addresses a highly relevant and timely topic, exploring the effectiveness of the MSU MyNeighbours program in fostering urban poor community development, aligning well with Sustainable Development Goal 11. The program's multi-faceted approach, offering various skills and knowledge transfer initiatives from the university to the community, is commendable. The research successfully identifies positive perceptions among participants, indicating that the program has significantly enhanced their perceived standard of living, entrepreneurship capabilities, and overall skills and knowledge. The focus on participant feedback provides valuable insights into the immediate and self-reported benefits of such community engagement initiatives. However, the methodology described in the abstract raises several critical concerns that warrant further clarification. The description of employing "structured interviews, utilizing the qualitative descriptive method implemented through questionnaires, which are essentially interviews" is ambiguous and confusing. It blurs the lines between data collection tools and methods, and it is unclear how "questionnaires" are "essentially interviews." Furthermore, the claim of establishing a "positive correlation" between the program's effectiveness and the respondents' various life aspects, while using a "qualitative descriptive method," is a significant methodological inconsistency. Qualitative research typically identifies themes, patterns, and connections, but does not establish statistical correlations, which are quantitative measures. The integration of "previously collected data in the form of videos and voice notes" is also not sufficiently explained; its purpose and how it was analyzed alongside the new interviews are unclear. To strengthen this study, several recommendations should be considered. The authors must clarify the exact methodological approach, precisely differentiating between interviews and questionnaires, and explaining how the "qualitative descriptive method" yielded a "correlation." If quantitative measures were indeed employed, they need to be explicitly detailed. Future iterations of this research would greatly benefit from incorporating more objective measures of effectiveness (e.g., actual income changes, business survival rates, formal skill accreditation) rather than solely relying on self-reported perceptions, which can be subject to social desirability bias. Expanding the sample size or providing richer qualitative data (e.g., direct participant quotes or detailed case studies) would also enhance the depth and rigor of the findings.

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