Disadvantages fast food Essay

Fast food is pretty controversial. It has some advantages like saving time and money, but also some drawbacks, most of them related with one’s health condition. The popularity of fast food is on the rise in more and more countries of the world. Many people consider it a convenient source of food especially given the fact that the modern man is always in a hurry. This type of food is prepared and served very quickly and it can be excellent for busy people or for single persons who don’t have time or desire to cook. Even though it certainly comes with a bunch of advantages, there are also disadvantages of fast food which need to be considered carefully. Undoubtedly, the main advantage of fast food is the fact that it saves time. Home cooked meals don’t only require the actual time for preparing the food, but also time spent shopping and washing the dishes. Such problems simply don’t exist when going for fast food. This is also an excellent choice for people who don’t like or don’t know to cook or for single people who don’t feel like cooking for one. Fast food is definitely cheaper, especially for people who live on their own. When cooking for a single person, you almost always end up with more food than necessary. Fast food on the other hand comes at a lower price than home cooked meals. Even though the main disadvantages of fast food are health related, people on a diet can also find good options in the menu of most fast food chains. There are salads to choose from and whole wheat breads. Some fried products also have boiled alternatives. When it comes to drinks, one can skip the sugary ones and go for fresh juices or low fat milk. Fortunately, fast food is not very rich in desserts, so there is no temptation. People can also customize their orders and exclude unhealthy ingredients like mayonnaise for inst ance. Fast food opponents argue that there are many disadvantages of fast food for the health condition of the consumer. This type of food is richer in salt, fats, oils and artificial substances than home cooked meals. This increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Unfortunately, obesity is on the rise and it is strongly connected with the popularity of fast food. While the body definitely needs salt and fats, the amount of these ingredients in fast food is too high. Additionally, the cooking method of fast food usually implies frying which destroys most nutrients. The adverse effects of the fats, sugars, chemicals and salt in fast food are definitely enhanced by a  sedentary lifestyle. In most of the cases the people who eat lots of calories from fast food don’t burn these calories because they don’t exercise enough. The result is that the extra calories transform in fat and lead to obesity. Disadvantages of fast food are not only related with the health condition. If fast food is cheaper for a single person, things change when an entire family consumes such food regularly. Enemies of fast food also come up with the argument that eating ready to serve food reduces the quality time that a family can spend together cooking and eating. Ordering and eating in a fast food restaurant is very quick and people don’t take the time to enjoy food and to chat while eating. While there are undeniable benefits of fast food, there are also aspects which should worry regular consumers. As always, moderation is needed in consuming this type of food. Occasional visits at a fast food restaurant are not as harmful, especially if they are combined with plenty of physical activity. However, a sedentary lifestyle and constant consumption of fast food can lead to health problems. More than 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants in the United States itself, and over 8000 KFCs in 80 countries, only goes to reflect the popularity of fast food all over the world. Food that is prepared and served quickly is termed as ‘fast food’. Such type of food suits perfectly into the fast paced life of a working individual. There is nothing more than ready-made food that a hard-working professional living in the city away from family could ask for. However, those who are against fast food highlight the adverse effect that it has on our health. Despite all the debate about the advantages and disadvantages that fast food has, the industry is flourishing. Is fast food good or bad? The most evident advantage of fast food is that it saves time. In today’s fast-paced life, there is nothing better than getting a ready meal. No matter how much the chefs praise the benefits of fresh food, at the end of a hard-working day, when one returns home all tired and hungry, a pizza or a burger can be godsend. Besides the time an individual has to spend in the kitchen, cooking a meal also requires one to make a trip to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for the dish. Then there is the added effort and time consumed in washing and peeling the vegetables. All this  makes eating fast food score more preferably over cooking a meal for a busy individual. Besides time, cost saving gives fast food an edge over the meal prepared in the kitchen. If one lives alone, then it is cheaper to buy a meal at the supermarket instead of cooking it at home. Also certain fast foods like fries and burgers come pretty cheap. Fast food does raise health concerns. However, if careful, you can find some options on the menu of a fast food restaurant t hat could be healthier. Salads are a smart choice. Go for bread products that are made from wheat bread. Opt for lean meat. If you could choose between the fried and boiled options, order the boiled preparation. Avoid ordering carbonic drinks when you are thirsty. Go for fruit juices, low-fat milk, diet soda. Is there anything better than plain water to quench your thirst? These days, nutrition information of the food served (and ingredients used) is displayed in the menu card. You could always resort to the ‘make to order’ option that certain fast food outlets offer, where you could restrict the use of ingredients that are not healthy. As dessert does not play an important role in the fast food meal menu, you can keep yourself away from delicious and tempting sugary dishes. Usually, fast food is higher in soya, fat, sugar, oil, fried meat, salt, cheese, mayonnaise and obviously calories. The greatest disadvantage of fast food is the adverse effect that it has on one’s health. It is a fact that fast food is more unhealthy than home-cooked meals, as it contains higher amounts of unwanted nutrients like salt, fat and various types of additives (artificial chemicals). It may contain harmful bacteria too. Frying destroys most of the essential nutrients from the food. Very small amounts of vegetables and fruits are normally present in fast food. Moreover, ‘serving larger portions’ when most people don’t need extra portions has led to several health problems. We require a small amount of salt to maintain the health of the cells and tissues. Fast food being rich in salt, adversely affects the heart health and the overall health of an individual. Such type of food is an important contributor to obesity in the American population. Obesity is on the rise, and a direct link is being cited between fast food and obesity in children. Given the sedentary lifestyle that we lead today, the excess fats and calories that we take in with fast food is not used up completely. The result is that these accumulate in our body as fat deposits that cause complications like cardiovascular diseases and other related diseases of the  heart. With obesity come other problems like high blood pressure and diseases of the joints. It is like a chain reaction set off by fast food and carried forward by our unhealthy lifestyle. In fact, a recent study has shown that people who live within walking distance of a fast food restaurant are at 13% higher risk of suffering from strokes than those who live a considerable distance away. The greater the number of people at a meal in a fast food restaurant, the larger is the bill. Eating at fast food outlets is economical only for a single person. Going out to a fast food eating joint with family once in a while won’t matter much. However, frequent visits to such restaurants with one’s family can become quite an expensive affair, besides being unhealthy. Fast foods joints are also being seen as a factor that is making a number of families spend less and less time together. Family meal time is something that is considered as an opportunity for all the members to come together and share their experiences. However, the fast food centre is quickly eating into this quality time. This is especially true about youngsters for whom a fast food centre is a good place to hang out with friends and peers. Fast food is an invention of the modern times. Ready-made food being served fast and right in front of us is like a blessing after a hard day’s work. However, like everything, it has its own pros and cons. Citing a few points about the advantages of fast food does not mean that I am denying its drawbacks. It is a fact that high amounts of fats and salt in fast food are raising concerns about their adverse effect on health. However, by making some smart choices while placing the order and also resorting to an active lifestyle, we can definitely minimize the drawbacks of fast food.

Old Smoke Case Study

Their were some who would watch the every move of a supervisor or manager, hoping that they do or say something wrong, just so they can go and tell their boss. This was done with the intentions hoping to get them in trouble or possibly even terminated. All of this is a product of the cultural environment we work in. Describe the policy on smoking that you would recommend to Redwood Associates. The Implications of the work ethic for the future of American business are Imminent. A vast number of employees reject the very Idea of hard work and long hours.They believe In taking shortcuts or getting something done without much effort, usually by having someone else do it. If the task was a priority for upper level management or the individual would gain some type of recognition for its accomplishment that was the time in which maximum effort was applied. Other than that, most employees would just cruise through the Job stuff and wait for the big score. These are Just a few of the implicat ions that are drastically affecting business n America today.Explain how this case would change if what bothers Darlene is not old smoke but the smell of Lice's perfume or Franks body odor. It Is more reasonable to expect workers to be more devoted to their Jobs, more concerned with quality and customer service; especially with the state of today's economic situation in this country. For one, it is the right thing to do, regardless of now one may Tell auto management or ten JODI Tort Tanat matter. Second, you can not expect to get paid for doing nothing.If you take care of the customer, provide a quality product with service, you retain a regular patron, help the company earn a profit and in the end, probably maintain long term employment. Finally, we all have a moral obligation to do what is right and Just. Explain whether it is fair or reasonable for companies to ban employees from smoking in their cars in the company parking lot. The culture of the work environment and peer press ure are significant reasoning behind employee theft. Some employees want to be accepted or fit in with their co- workers.Some of them do not believe that they are paid enough. They would steal from the company to gain acceptance or use it as a means of getting over. They fail to envision the affect revenue loss has on the company as a result of employee theft. It is not my stuff. It belongs to the company. I Just work here is the mentality that most employees have. However, if the company or business was ran by them, a family member or someone they knew, they would not allow theft to occur. They would want someone to report it. References Insert References Here: (Cheesy)

Staycations vs Vacations

Staycations vs. Vacations In the past few years, staycations have become the most popular alternative to vacation traveling. Staying at home for the holidays is usually less expensive, safer and easier. So, it is no surprise to why back-porch vacations and poolside holidays are becoming the new trend for many middle-class Americans, especially in light of the recent state of our economy. However, there are some very specific reasons why traveling is a better alternative to staycations despite the cost and possible inconveniences.When considering staycation or vacation, one must consider the opportunity to experience heightened senses, life changing events, and meeting new people while traveling. First of all, traveling involves experiencing places with one’s own senses: seeing, touching, hearing and smelling the new, unusual and unique environments of places that people visit while on vacation. If someone described a new ice-cream flavor using a hundred words, but instead one could choose to simply taste it, most would prefer the actual experience. It is the same concept with traveling.Unlike watching Discovery Channel or National Geographic, reading about exotic places, and watching even the most exciting and fun podcasts about traveling, actually visiting the place is a much more powerful experience. In addition, one gets to form their own opinion about what was seen instead of just watching it through the eyes of a television director or through the lens of a photographer. Secondly, traveling is possibly one of the best sources of inspiration one could think of. Even if someone has been to the same place a few times, the next visit can leave impressions which are very different.One may have a new feeling or a fresh hint, since the weather, one’s mood and the people will almost always be different. An impression of a place can change drastically or just become fuller and mor fulfilling. Traveling always brings new discoveries, whether they are d iscoveries of the outer worlds externally or discoveries within one’s self. Traveling can be the best cure for depression, the feeling of inner confusion and fears for what the future may bring and which direction life is heading. Sometimes, a vacation to a new place or a place one knows very little about can do more than just broaden knowledge and inspire new emotions.It can change one’s whole life perspective and cause a complete review and revision of life values. So, it’s no wonder that people return from vacations completely changed and never go back to their old lifestyles. Finally, traveling means meeting new people. Unlike staycations, which normally revolve around the same group of people and friends, traveling brings together different people from various cultures and backgrounds. Traveling is always a chance to get to know others better and to learn to adjust to new traditions and other lifestyles.While on the road, people can meet others that they wo uld never get a chance to meet if they had stayed within their comfort zone, at home or with a group of people they have known for ages. Traveling is always a chance to make new friends and change the cycle of the everyday routine that people have gotten trapped in over the years. All in all, there is always a place for discussion of whether traveling is worth the money that will get spent on it or is it simply better to save up, spend a vacation at home and stay within one’s comfort zone.Traveling may seem like a challenge; it needs a great deal of planning, a budget, and a certain level of enthusiasm and willingness to welcome new challenges. If there is an overwhelming desire to see a place far away, people should not let the fears or perceived limitations stand in the way. Having once traveled, it will never again be a question whether to spend your vacation at home or travel, staycations will simply not be an option . ——————†”—————————- Top of Form

Securing the Cloud Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Securing the Cloud - Essay Example Cloud computing provides for dynamically scalable and virtualized sources on the internet for online business applications which utilize software and data resources which are stored in the servers. Cloud Computing has also been defined as a revolutionary development of certain existing computing technologies and approaches into a form that is capable of separating the application and database from the infrastructure and mechanisms that are employed to deliver them. Cloud computing augments the cooperation, suppleness, size, accessibility and also offers significant cost reduction with the use of optimized and competent computing techniques, (Armbrust, and Griffith, et al., 2009). Cloud computing is basically the use of group of services, data sources and technical applications, all of which can be swiftly rearranged, reconditioned, implemented and also decommissioned with the help of an allocation model. In order to increase the scope of the services offered, the resources are set away from the infrastructure that is employed to deliver the results. For example, for a particular service to be based upon cloud computing technology, the internet can be utilized for transport and the browser as an accessibility tool – which states that the sources are at all the times shared in a multi-tenant surroundings exterior to the â€Å"boundary.† The users, who are serviced through cloud computing services, do not possess any kind of infrastructure, the user only pays for the resources they utilize and therefore avoid the capital costs by renting the infrastructure from a third part owner. The infrastructure behind the cloud computing is composed of efficient services through the use of virtual data centers that are based upon virtualization technologies, (Armbrust, and Griffith, et al., 2009). The cloud computing services can be

Whistleblowing policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Whistleblowing policy - Essay Example In both public and private organizations, incidents of unethical and unprofessional conduct by the employees are common occurrences. The actions of such employees can take different forms, including sabotage, misappropriation of funds, espionage among other deeds against the professional ethics and conduct of an organization (PwC, 2011). The effects of such actions in an organization can be severe to both the company as well as the public, depending on the magnitude of the action. However, Boyle (1990) noted that any action that goes against the code of ethics of a particular organization, regardless of how small causes irreparable damage, which could herald greater economic and public image of the company. Adler and Daniels (1992) defined whistleblowing as â€Å"the public interest disclosure whereby a fellow worker reports a concern about the misconduct or omissions of the fellow colleague(s) and or employers that may cause danger to other people or the organization.† Most a ctions of misconduct involve theft and compromising on the safety of fellow workers and the public. The importance of whistleblowing in an organization cannot be overemphasized especially in the current competitive world market, which exposes organization to insecurity in order to undermine the competitive edge in business. In this regard, many corporations are increasingly formulating whistleblowing policies as a measure of preempting such attacks. Voluntarily instigated whistle blowing policy is one of such measures and according to Lewis (2001), the disclosure should be made in good faith, meaning that the confession should made out of real concern about a wrong action. In this regard, making maliciously motivated disclosures based on false accusations does not amount to whistle blowing. For whistleblowing to perform in the best interests of the company, Lewis (2001) notes that the whistleblower should have reasonable conviction that the information in his or her knowledge is sig nificantly correct even if it could turn to be untrue later. Raising grievances or complaining does not amount to whistle blowing because such talk in an organization is usually personalized, where employees could complain of being mistreated or sabotaged. In this case, a whistle blower should not be a person who has direct personal interests on the result of any given exploration or investigation to their concerns that they might have raised. A whistleblower should raise real concerns so that other in authority can address the problem (Jesse, 2010). Organizations have different areas of concern and they include but not limited to the incidents where an employee defrauds the organization, physical or emotional abuse of patients such as the elderly and vulnerable groups in medical setting. Moreover, faulty machines or equipment that expose operators and clients to risk in addition to situations where employees are bribed to award grants tenders and other approved monetary transaction s in an organization(Jesse, 2010). Whistleblowing could serve in an organization’s interest by enhancing better risk management practices (Adler and Daniels, 1992). However, employees should be empowered so that they can have enough confidence to report matters of concern without suffering from any form of physical, psychological and financial consequence. It is important for organizations to have effective risk management practices to prevent incidents of costly litigations, higher insurance premiums, damaged reputation of the organization in addition to loss of lives, jobs and even being subjected to stringent investigations (Adler and Daniels, 1992). In this regard, instigated voluntary whistle blowing can help in triggering early warning systems for employers. This could enable organizations to enforce effective policies that provide clear framework for taking action against culpable employees and employers. If employees voluntarily voice their concerns in an organization without being forced to approach an external authority, employers would often have the

Re-Engineering Technique of Lightco Company Essay - 14

Re-Engineering Technique of Lightco Company - Essay Example As mentioned in the case, the company was divided into six departments. Each department was working separately. Engineers had occupied the executive level, while they did not have adequate experience or sufficient ability to manage people. It was one of the factors that affected the Job performance and the â€Å"Leading ability† based on the job performance equation: â€Å"Job performance = Abilities X Motivation X Org. Support†. II. Stressful, the relation between stress and lack of communication states that â€Å"poor employee communication causes employee stress†. The employees were unaware and worried about the (BPI) attitude towards them; therefore, the employees’ morale went down once again and this time it was at an all-time low. The stress affected employees; hence, both the pilot projects had adverse effects on the employees. For instance, by the centralization of the Customer Services processes, 150 employees were worried about their careers. According to Health Magazine, Customer Services was ranked as the eighth most stressful job. Nonetheless, the pilot project increased the employees’ stress and made their situation even more complicated. Also, it seemed that the Re-engineering Technique was the major contributor to high levels of stress.   III. Inequity, The probability of inequity was a common belief among Lights employees. Not only the employees but even White had promised to commit to employment equity. According to the Equity Theory, an employee will usually compare himself/ herself with others. The prejudice is clear in Lights situation, as Coral emphasized, "I received a one-day training session while the manager was getting a four-day training session". She was dissatisfied and believed that it was unfair. She thought that she would be given more attention during the implementation of the culture change technique but this was not what happened.

Anti-aging food Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Anti-aging food - Research Paper Example They eat whatever comes their way and this is how a vicious cycle starts. Initially they spend money on fast food and as a result of which they start falling ill frequently and then they spend on medicines to get back their lost health and in this process they end up wasting a lot of money, in addition to this it also causes them a lot of trouble which can easily be avoided. Lifestyle is another factor which has serious ramifications on our health; the way one lives determines their life expectancy. People who eat healthy live a healthy life; people who do not do so are deprived of living a healthy life. Anti-aging food has been a revelation, by eating anti-aging food one can live longer and one can also live a very healthy life. People who have tried anti-aging food have been really happy with the results. â€Å"Antioxidant foods called super foods are what provides anti aging health benefits throughout the entire body. Total anti aging health provided by super foods may be the proverbial â€Å"Fountain of Youth†. Instead of 50 being middle age research is now showing that we can extend this middle age to 100 years and do it quite easily. I have been doing this kind of research for over 20 years now. It has become my passion.† (Antioxidant Foods) Not much is known about these foods but it is a well known fact that they are more than capable of curing life-threatening diseases. Diseases like cancer, diabetes and several heart diseases can be cured should one decide to feed on these anti-aging foods. â€Å"Aging is biological process which leads to progressive degenerative changes in all living creatures on earth. Aging is normal and inevitable. Throughout in the human history, people are interested in finding solutions for preventing this aging process. Anti-aging study  is certainly a wide and tough area of research for the scientists. Nowadays, the concept of

Informative Speech on Current Marketing or Presentation

Informative on Current Marketing - Speech or Presentation Example Researchers have found that shopping habits are ingrained in consumers and they are often characterized by collecting certain items from one store and other items from a different store, that is, consumers will go to a toy store to get toys and go to a supermarket to get basic household commodities. Retailers must therefore place themselves in a position that allows them to take advantage of this complex environment (Krafft and Mantrala 7). Having been in existence for over a century, the Target Corporation an American retailing company has proved to be up to the challenge and has subsequently thrived in the retail industry. Through one of its employees, Target was able to create a model that allows the store to predict human behavior and thus preempt their competitors by meeting the individual needs of their customers. The challenge the store was facing was convincing their customers that they could shop for all they need at their store as opposed to getting specific items only wher e mostly it has been toiletries, cleaning supplies and socks. The biggest constraint was that consumers’ having their shopping habits ingrained which makes it difficult to convince them to adopt new ones. This restraint was presented by the marketers to one of the employees at the store that is a statistician. They explained that in every person’s life time there was a point at which their loyalties could be shifted. One such point is when expecting a baby where expectant mothers will look to brands offering them the best deals and in the past companies had caught up on this and resulted to sending them coupons. This was because companies can access birth records as they are made public. The challenge was now to preempt these companies by identifying a way to reach the expectant mothers while still in their early stages of pregnancy (Duhigg). The company already had a medium for collecting information but what they needed now was a way of predicting behavior. These two would then be integrated to allow the store capture customers as the data collected would be analyzed and be used to establish patterns that dictate shopping habits. This trend has been identified as predictive analytics and has been supported by a study that showed our thinking on issues such as dieting are influenced by habits rather than conscious decision-making which has allowed doctors to conjure up treatments for addictions, depression among other illnesses. Target tasked Andrew Pole the statistician employee with identifying when their customers’ shopping habits are particularly flexible so as to design suitable advertisements or coupons, which would lead the customers to have new, large spending habits. In essence, the store was striving to push psychological buttons after establishing a cue-routine-reward loop using a calculator designed by Pole. However, the issue of privacy came up as customers were bound to become worried about how Target was finding out such in formation. The company then decided to camouflage their intentions by sending ads for items that expectant mothers would need alongside other unrelated items so as to eliminate the fear of intrusion on privacy. Their most impressive story was where the company was able to determine a girl was pregnant even before her own father knew, leading them to send her coupons for expectant mothers (Duhigg). Predictive analytics raises the concept of shopper marketing as opposed to

Vignette 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Vignette 1 - Essay Example This program will be a compulsory for all students in Mr Smith’s general science class which will be focused at improving their interpersonal skills. The proposed plan will revolve around one main aspect which will be to gauge the students’ interpersonal skills and also to get their views as to why they act dormant in the class so as to reason on what is the best step on improving the student-teacher relationship. In order for the selected instructional coaching program to be implemented effectively, there is need to ensure that leaders play a significant role in selecting coaches that are well trained, developing a well-structured coaching strategy and also making sure that the student performance levels will be met(Glickman, Gordon & Ross Gordon, 2010). Together with Mr Smith, will generate a proper selection and guidelines for the entire instructional coaching program. This will enable the program to start with a well-focused goal on improving the area of concern which is the minimal level of the student teacher relationship. With regards to the self-assessment process of supervision, Mr Smith will start off the process by regularly reflecting and self-analysing his teaching performance as well as incorporating supervision strategies. The strategies to be used will involve an analysis of Mr Smith’s videotaped instruction, peer observation, analysis of the students learning, implemen tation of the professional goals and participation in various self-assessment activities. To initiate the self-assessment process of supervision there is need to effectively use the coaching skills inventory and instrument. There are a lot of factors that are involved in the coaching skill inventory instrument. Such factors revolve around the incorporation of communication skills and the relevant resources. Therefore, this step will be steered up

Experiences - Life's a school Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Experiences - Life's a school - Essay Example At this point, my true learning experience had started. As a result of this, I began to go paintballing regularly. I went so often that the workers at the course knew my name. At this stage, I was 13 years old and needed to find some employment in order to make some extra money for myself. I took a week-long training course in how to be a paintball referee. I learned how to fill up nitro tanks and handle irritated customers. The one thing that concerned me as a referee was if someone took their mask off while they were on the field. I was constantly watching players who though that their eye would win against a paintball. In fact, this happened several times. Quite often, the person who did this would apologize and promise not to do it again. Despite this, there was always someone who thought that they were too cool for everyone else. Inevitably, these kinds of people were ejected from the facility and given a time-out. It wasn’t just the offending individual who had to leave; the whole group had to go out. It was my responsibility to ensure that a group of people would enjoy themselves enough to want to come back. However, I also had to act like a professional. The month I spent there taught me more than I ever

Write an article with a right wing and left wing about exclusions and Essay

Write an article with a right wing and left wing about exclusions and the summer riots - Essay Example The department of education acknowledges that there was eminent occurrence of school exclusion among the pupils brought before the court. Exclusion is materially and socially established. Exclusion has substituted the older phrases of expulsion and suspension which were the approaches for elimination of unruly students from school. Exclusion of students from school has repercussions that widen outside education to the capability for the young individuals to take part entirely in the general public later on. This acts as punishment for those students who go against the rules and regulations of school settings. Recently, a study on socially excluded students and pupils in United Kingdom showed that they were not enrolled in any education institution, had no education, employment and training qualifications, live on state assistances and engrossed in minor crimes. This estrangement from training and schooling attributes to educational, social or emotional problems that were not adequately addressed in their early years of education. In the summer riots, young people looted stalls and corporations. Such acts are beyond reasonable doubt contrary to the penal code and subject to punishment. The young people are â€Å"outside the social mainstream and live in a culture at odds with any cannons of proper behaviours†. One of the primary roles of educational institutions is to bring up a morally upright society. Since the institutions cannot condone such unethical behaviours; the only solution is always to eliminate the indiscipline students from the institutions. Education institutions should heighten discipline among the students through setting up standards of behavior. The schools should also review their behavioural standards and policies and publicize to the students and parents. Once a student is found with indiscipline cases, he or she should be reprimanded, removed from the class, lose privileges or a letter send to the parents or

Social Science Essay Example for Free

Social Science Essay I must admit that before my trip to the California African American Museum I was skeptical that I would learn anything of value to myself from that experience. Being of foreign descent, American History is a bit alien to me and even more so for African American history. Yet as the day went on, I found myself staring in awe at the displays and gaining a profound respect for the African American culture. The first thing which caught my attention was that the California African American Museum was adorned all over by Afrocentric artwork. It was strange the way the paintings attracted by attention. Normally I don’t pay attention to paintings but there was something about these paintings that struck me. The history and beauty of the African American culture was unlike any I had ever seen or experienced previously. On a personal level, the relevance of this to me is that I too am of a different race. I have my own unique culture and I deeply cherish this. Seeing this display made me realize the beauty of my own culture. I began to understand how strong a people can be as long as they appreciate and cherish their own culture. I am not ashamed to admit my roots and my culture. In fact, I can proudly say that because of my experience at this museum I have come to accept more my culture and come to a better understanding of who I am in this world. Another profound feeling I got from my visit was the manner by which this place was designed. The California African American Museum is a fairly large space and has plenty to offer its visitors from painting to sculpture to multimedia installations by African-American artists. Perhaps the most amazing of all the displays is the rotating exhibits of the Rhythms of the Soul, a showcase of the instruments of Africa (Kennedy 2007). One can clearly see how rich the cultural heritage of the African American culture is. In the same line of thinking, one can imagine how cultures and races have evolved from their primitive origins into what they are today. These items are some of the many wonderful pieces that I saw at the California African American Museum. The piece on the left most portion is a head-dress from Nigeria while the one on the right most portion is a face-mask from the Republic of Congo. Being of foreign descent, I had never previously encountered such strange things and so when I first saw these things I had to admit that I was a bit dumbfounded by it and could make neither heads nor tails of them. Along with these ceremonial masks were decorative household implements from across Sub-Saharan Africa. These works show the type of art historical context that African Americans participated in prior to coming to the United States (Kennedy 2007). It was a context that was based on communal well being that encompassed ritual, mythology and cosmology that connected the people with their environment (Gerstle 2002). I dare say that my appreciation for this place has a lot to do with the many races and cultures in the area. The United States is a melting pot of many different cultures. There are so many diverse people in a single location and they all bring their heritage with them. The result is a rich tapestry of culture that is unlike any that can be found in the world (Gerstle 2002). The thing that makes this even more special is the acceptance of the people for the uniqueness of others. This is why I feel that this museum is one of my favorite locations because it is a testament to that spirit of acceptance and mutual respect. As I continue through my favorite place, I see that there are more surprises in store for me as inside the galleries of the California African-American Museum are treasures of African-American art, history and culture. A kaleidoscope of art and history exhibitions is designed to enhance the publics knowledge of the African-Americans contributions, both past and present. Quite a number of these exhibitions also explore little-known African-American contributions to the fields of science, sports, medicine, and technological invention. Upcoming exhibits feature Blacks in golf, science, technology and the California gold rush. As a whole, I think that the California African American Museum is my favorite place because it is very enlightening. While not totally ignorant of the plight of the early African Americans in the United States, I saw another side of this culture. One that is very diverse and full of mysticism and full of talent. The African Americans are a proud people and the California African American Museum has shown that they indeed have every right to be proud. With a background as colorful and magical as theirs, the African Americans and perhaps the rest of the world should all join in to preserve and to develop whatever remains of that proud and beautiful heritage of theirs. Works Cited: Minchin, Timothy. Hiring Black Worker: The Racial Integration of the Southern Textile Industry. North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press, 1999. Roth, Byron. Prescription for Failure: Race Relations in the Age of Social Science. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1994. Swain, Carol. The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Kennedy, David, Cohen, Lizabeth, and Piehl, Mel (2007) The Brief American Pageant: A History of the Republic Wadsworth Publishing Company 7th Edition ISBN: 0618776125 Hollitz, John (2006) Contending Voices: Biographical Explorations of the American Past, Volume II: Since 1865 (Second Edition) (Paperback) Wadsworth Publishing; 2 edition (June 22, 2006) ISBN-10: 0618660887 Gerstle, Gary (2002) American Crucible: Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century (Paperback) Princeton University Press (August 5, 2002) ISBN-10: 0691102775

Perceptions Towards Islamic Banking and Insurance

Perceptions Towards Islamic Banking and Insurance Introduction In the first chapter of this research study, an introduction on insurance will be presented. While, on the other hand, there will be a highlight on the differences between conventional and Islamic insurance. Following this, will be the problem discussion and the objectives of this study. Finally, there will be the justification and significance, following by organization of the study. What Exactly Is Insurance Means Buying insurance has become a trend in this twentieth century. According to The Star daily(2007), in the first half of year 2007, the combined premium income for insurance industry increase 9.8 percent compared to the same period for year 2006. The industry is further expanded in line with the favorable economics performance. People bought the insurance for their car, family, and business. People spend a lot of money on paying the insurance premium annually. While, do they actually clear on what kind of plan they had bought and what had they insured for their life, property and so on? Do they really distinct on the concept of the insurance that they had disbursed so much? According to Bank Negara Malaysia, insurance is the transfer of risk by an individual, such as yourself or an organization, such as your business to an insurance company. You or your organization will then be known as policy holder or insured while the insurance company is the insurer. The insurance company receives the payment in the form of premium. Then the insurance company utilized the premium collect from their policy holder to make some investment for their company. They will compensate their policy holder in the event of losses or damages which is sustained by the premium paid. In other word, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss by paying an amount of premium. It is an effective risk transfer mechanism for insured to exchange their uncertainty financial loss with the certain amount of premium (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). This kind of insurance we titled as conventional insurance which is the ordinary type of insurance that accepted by the society in general. While, other than the conventional insurance which we normally approached to, there are another type of insurance which we called as Islamic insurance. The Islamic insurance was step into Malaysia insurance market since November of year 1984 (Renat Bekkin, 2008). The first Islamic insurance company established in Malaysia was Takaful Malaysia Berhad. Early than that, Islamic insurance has stepping into the market of Sudan and Arab. What is Islamic insurance Islamic insurance is a mode of financial management which compliance to Shariah law. Islamic insurance is provided under a principle called Takaful. According to Islamic Banking, the term Takaful is derived from the Arabic word Kafaala meaning guaranteeing. Takaful means guaranteeing each other and refer to the concept of permissible Islamic insurance or Halal insurance. While by referring to Takaful Act 1984, Article 2, Takaful means a scheme based on brotherhood, solidarity and mutual assistance which provides for mutual financial aid and assistance to the participants in case of need whereby the participants mutually agree to contribute for that purpose. Literally, Takaful defines responsibility, shared guarantee, collective assurance and mutual undertakings. (Masum Billah, 2007) Some Muslims believe insurance is unnecessary, as society should helps its victims. Muslims can no longer ignore the fact that they live, they trade and communicate with open global systems, and they can no longer ignore the need for banking and insurance (Dr Aly Khorshid, 2004). In the eyes of Muslims, the concepts used by conventional insurance are against the law of Shariah. This is because conventional insurance is based on a contract of exchange (sale) between the insurance company and the covered person. This contract is void because it has the elements which are not permissible from Shariahs perspective. The elements are Gharar which means uncertainty. Conventional insurance has an element of Gharar due to the promise to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of unsuspected events. The other elements are Maysir which refer to gambling. Existence of Gharar (uncertainties) leads to Maysir (gambling) in conventional insurance. The insured may either lose the entire premium he has paid or be compensated for the losses he incurs for the insured event. Riba was also one of the not permissible elements in the law of Shariah. Riba means interest. The investment of insurance funds in interest bearing securities such bonds and stocks, which do not comply with the Shariah principles, pose a major Muslims who purchase the conventional insurance (Alburn Mountain, 2008). In conventional insurance, vendors, the insurance company, sells their insurance plans to their clients, which we called as policy holder in the other way and invest the premium paid for the profit of its shareholder. Then, the policy holders do enjoy the risk transference that they are receiving the compensation if they face the financial loss on the events they insured. According to Islamic Banking, Takaful was grant as Islamic insurance because of the apparent similarity between the contract of kafaala and insurance. Takaful is an Islamic concept which grounded in Islamic Mualamat which define as banking transaction (SP Media, 2009). This concept already practices in diverse form over 1400 years long (Salam, 2008). Generally, Takaful is an insurance plan which based on Shariah principles. The members are to contribute a certain amount of money to a common pool which is Takaful fund in the form of participative contribution that also called as Tabarru. Tabarru means a donation, charity or gift which cannot be taken back (Dr Qaradawi, 2002). In general Takaful, a percentage of the participants contribution is considered as Tabarru, thus it cannot be taken back by the participants as it is the joint guarantee principle to help other participants. A portion of a participants contribution will be allocate through Tabarru principle to help participants from a sudden but defined risks. After contributing the money into Takaful mutual fund, they will undertake a contract which called as Aqad in Islam, to become one of the participants by agreeing to mutually help each other, should any of the participants suffer a defined loss (Arshad Shaikh, 2007). In Islamic insurance, participants (policyholders) are co-operating among themselves for their common goods. Every participants are to pay a part of the contribution (premium) as a donation to help those need assistance. Other than that, in Takaful system, losses are divided and liabilities spread according to the community pooling system. In order to eliminate the element of uncertainty in Takaful contract, the concept of Tabarru is incorporated. This is to enable the participant to fulfill his obligation of mutual help and joint guarantee should any of his fellow participants suffer a defined loss. In conventional insurance, policy holder can buy more than one policy or plan to hedge the particular risk in the event of loss or damage. By this, the policy holders are lessening the claims of the insurance company because the same amount of compensation has now burden by two companies. This is called reinsurance which an insurance company can transfer to another insurer, the reinsurer all or part of its liabilities in respect of claims arising under the contracts of insurance. This is to protect itself against the risk that its total claims costs in any year may wiping out of its profits and cause it to insolvent. As same in Islamic insurance, participants can buy more than one plan from other licensed Takaful operator. This is called as Retakaful in Islamic insurance (Bahrain, 2005). Why Takaful Insurance instead of Conventional Insurance In Islamic view, the concept used in conventional insurance is in conflict with the injunction of Islam (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). The conflicts were not against the concepts used by conventional insurance that trades and contracts were appeared in the concept. While the struggling are the weaknesses and the imperfect phrase which existed in the insurance contract. The objections are actually against the phrase of Gharar which means uncertainty, Maisir refers to gambling and the word Riba which point to the interest. The criticism was the word of Gharar is happened in the contract of insurance. Other than that, the phrase of gambling is presenting in its extreme form. Whats more is the element of interest is existed in the contract. These three phrases were the points appeared in the contract of conventional insurance that prohibited in Islamic view. Thus, they lead to the contradiction between conventional insurance and Islamic view (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). While, there are the person who does not agree the above matters. According to Dr Yusof al-Qaradawi (2002), he does not think that the concept used in conventional insurance is conflict with Islamic law, but he agrees that the conventional insurance is in need of some improvement to move in line with Islamic teachings. Problem Statement People are following the track of buying insurance nowadays. People buy insurance when there is a new born baby. They buy insurance during their travelling. Insurance also bought when people purchase a residential property. People also buy insurance for the sake of retiring. People buy insurance whenever they think there was an unseen risk hidden, but do they really know what is about insurance and what type of insurance is available in the market? Throughout a number of searching by using the Google search engine and the library in campus, which was found that there are the surveys doing on Islamic Banking which may mentioned in various perspectives for instances the growth of Islamic banking in the world. Like what mentioning by Radio Australia, Islamic banking was one of the fastest growing sectors in the finance world which reveals by the value of the industry which worth of USD 1 Trillion in the year 2008. An addition, according to the bankers Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution survey, assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009). Other than that, what was found is there are quite a number of researches which study on the topic related to insurance. There are talked about the insurance expansion in the industry, growth of the insurance industry, the rate of market penetration. According to KCLAU (2007), the market penetration of life insurance as measured in terms of the total number of policies in force to total population, grew to 39.3 percent as at end of June 2007. While, besides the conventional which is generally accepted by the society, there are another type of risk transfer mechanism which is Islamic insurance was emerged in the other part of the globe. Islamic insurance was first widely spread over the Islamic country like Sudan, Arabic, India, South East Asia, and some other place in the world. The Islamic insurance also practiced in the region which is non Islamic country like European country and United of State. Since the growing of Islamic insurance throughout the world is in such a fast track, while, the doubt appeared was, it was hard to find the study on Islamic insurance rather than the conventional insurance. Another doubt was appeared that what is the reason to separate insurance into Islamic and conventional? What is the different perspective between Islamic insurance and conventional insurance? While, the most is, do people aware of the existence of Islamic insurance in the insurance industry which they approached ordinarily? Following by this, is the discussion on conventional and Islamic insurance. Research Objectives The general objective of this study is to clarify the different perspectives between conventional and Islamic insurance. While the other specific objectives as stated below which I am to study in this research. The specific objectives: To investigate the different perception of Muslim and Non Muslim towards conventional and Islamic insurance To investigate the determinants of demand for insurance in Malaysians To determine the level of awareness on Islamic insurance in the region of Malaysia Significance of Study This study may help the Malaysian Islamic Finance market to move a step up due to the hike up of the level of awareness on the conventional and Islamic insurance. Other than that, the study also provides the Muslim and Non Muslim within Malaysia to walk out of the religious teachings and some other factors in order to know more about the issues of insurance. Therefrom, Malaysias Islamic finance market may improve follow by the fast track in other country like what happened to the Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution, that assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009). Other than impacts on the country income and economic condition, this study also might helpful to the family or person who thinks of purchase insurance. By gone through this study, they are able to better analyze the product available in the market whether from the conventional insurance company or the Takaful operator which offer the Shariah compliance products and services. Then they are able to choose the best product which suit to them in terms of their needs, budget and also the religious teachings. Other than this, the study also may help the insurance company or the operators to determine the consumers intention of buying on their product. They may use the useful information to improve their products in order to enhance or even develop a better market position for their company. The growing in the insurance market plays an important role in the economic growth of the country. The growing may bring the country to a higher position in the world financial sector. Thus, Malaysia will stand still on the top of the world in the financial sector which playing the role of developing the conventional and Islamic insurance to the various country on the globe. Organization of Study This research report comprises of five chapters. The first chapter serves the introduction on insurance. It consists of the detail for conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. Problem statement and research objective is also discussed. Following the significance of study is presented. Lastly, the chapter one will end by the organization of study which show the flow out of the whole research project. Basically, chapter two will present the literature review which forms the foundation of this study. It consists of the related empirical study which done by other researchers previously. There are few factors which impact on the demand of insurance and influential to customers perception are included in this chapter. In chapter three, the research methodology of the study will be discussed. The research framework will be shown together with the hypothesis developed link together the variables in the study. Other than that, the sample planning, sources of data and data collection will also be carried out. Questionnaire design will also be laid out in this chapter following by the data analysis method which is the last part of this chapter. Following by this is chapter four which describe the results and discussion. Hence, the graph and table will be widely used to better interpret the findings and result of the study. Finally, chapter five will be the conclusion and the recommendation of this research. The level of awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will finally be presented and end this study. Chapter Two Literature Review INTRODUCTION Continue with the first chapter presented previously, this study is to observe the perception of Malaysia towards conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. For the sake of gaining a clearer view on this, exploring to the related literature is a must. Following, the overview of insurance and takaful will be presented. In 2.2, the discussion about the determinants impact on demand for insurance will be presented. Then, the study will indicate the perception of consumers towards conventional and Islamic methods of finance in few factors like the service quality, accessibility, convenience and status of the organizations. Lastly in 2.4, the awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will be discussed. Overview of Insurance and Islamic Insurance Insurance is a form of risk-management which transfer the possible risks like accident, theft, natural disaster and illness of ones or a group to the more financially sound entity, insurers in exchange with a small amount of payment which we called as premium. The meaning of insurance is essentially to understand for everybody who is considering of purchase an insurance policy or to understand the basics of what if finance. This instrument is used in hedging risk precautionary against the future contingent losses (Stanley St Labs, n.d). While, according to Insurance Info, insurance is being categorized two main categories which are life insurance and general insurance. The risks that covered by life insurance including premature death, income during retirement and illness. While the main products in life insurance are Whole life, Endowment, Term, Investment-linked, Life annuity plan, Medical and health. For general insurance, it is basically a policy that protects you from losses and damages which other than those covered by life insurance, for instance, property loss like stolen car and burnt house. Other than that, liability arising from damage caused by oneself to a third party, accidental death or injury also covered by the general insurance. The products offered under general insurance are Motor insurance, Fire/House owner/Householder insurance, Personal accident insurance, Medical and health insurance and Travel insurance. While for Islamic insurance, takaful, is a protection plan based on Shariah principles compliance. By contributing a sum of money to a common takaful fund in the form of participative contribution (tabarru), the person is undertaking a contract (aqad) to become one of the participants which agree to mutually help each other if any of the participants suffer a defined loss. Both takaul and insurance have similar basic principles where the insured must have a legitimate financial interest in the risk you are insuring, which means the insured must suffer a financial loss when the insured event occurred. In takaful, the life insurance is granted as family takaful. The products offered under family takaful are Family Takaful, Investment linked takaful, Child education takaful, Medical and health takaful. While for general takaful, there are Home takaful, Motor takaful and Personal accidents takaful. Perception towards Conventional and Islamic Insurance Perception, as defined by Stephen P. Robbins (2005) is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. Perception is important in decision making process. An individual must fully understand the decision must make along with all of the facts and information involved. If an individual has a bad perception of the situation and do not consider all of the facts that are involved like the external factors which anyone else have no control over the individual may lead to a wrong decision. In turn, this will cause negative consequences for the organization and the individual. In order to have a good perception on any given situation, an individual must analyze all of the significant information involved in a timely manner, without making a hasty decision (Wally Sparks, 2007). Service Quality According to Shahril Bin Shafie (2003), quality is sought by all organizations, especially in the service sector. Service quality is commonly noted as a critical prerequisite for establishing and sustaining satisfying relationships between organization and the customers (Lassar et al., 2000). According to Yap, S.F., and Kew, M.L., there are many researchers who have defined service quality in different ways. Among them, Bitner, Booms and Mohr (1994) define service quality as the consumers overall impression of the relative inferiority or superiority of the organization and its services. While, other researchers like Cronin and Taylor (1994), view service quality as a form of attitude representing a long run overall evaluation. Service quality has determining the repeated purchase and customer loyalty to an organization. When a customer choose a provider that provides service quality that meets or exceeds his or her expectations, then the customer is more likely to choose the same pro vider again. According to Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider. By referring to a study conduct by Erdener Kaynak and Talha D. Harcar (2005) is found that, the service quality provide by conventional banking system is excellent than the others. The study indicated that the customer maintain a higher level of confidence in conventional bank rather than Islamic bank. In this study, the service being tested including the swiftness in correcting errors, fast and efficient service, and consumer complains handling and the courtesy personnel. While according to Hendrik, L., Hirun, A., Razli, C.R., Halim, M.L., Khairul, A. A., and Darwina, A.A. (n.d), indicate that customer satisfaction on Islamic banking products and services is different across the cities. The service quality is satisfied within Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Penang because these cities are bigger which also contains more populations, and are more economically developed. Due to these reasons, the service provided is more satisfactory because of the customers characteristics which different from income level, gender and also educational level.Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider. The emergence of the Internet provides an opportunity for organizations to conduct business in cyberspace. Steven et al (2002), Soliman (2003), Wirtz (2001), Coltman (2001) had studied that Internet adoption and factors influencing the propensity and pattern of adoption among different sectors and sizes of organizations worldwide and in Malaysia, empirical data on online insurance has been limited (Fatimah et al, 2000; Yusserie at el, 2002). One of the reasons may be because the insurance industry has been slow to respond to the usage of Internet for business,, as compared to the other financial service (Esters, 1997). In 1999, recognizing the potential of the Internet, Bank Negara Malaysia allowed a group of insurers to establish the industry first interactive insurance website, which enabled policy owners to transact on the line for renewal of policy and also premium payment(BNM 2000). Internet via individual companys website allows customers to gain more information about the product and services offered by the companies (Ruquet, 2001). While, not all the business organizations are adopting Internet in their business due to various reasons like customer readiness, cost and the risks involved. Zinkewicz (2000) said that business do not use the Internet for business because customers do not trust the process involved, instead, they prefer human interactions (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003). Accessibility Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product or service is accessible by as many people as possible. It also viewed as the ability to access the functionality and possible benefits of some system or entity like information of the particular products and services (Wikipedia, 2009). In Malaysia, there are total up 1,752 numbers of registered insurance agencies distributed throughout the thirteen states and two federal territories. Among of all, there are agencies which offer both life insurance and also general insurance business like American International Assurance Bhd, Etiqa Insurance Berhad, Hong Leong Assurance Berhad and so on (BNM, 2008). Other than that, there are only eight licensed Takaful operator in Malaysia which are CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad, Etiqa Takaful Berhad, Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful Berhad, HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, MAA Takaful Berhad, Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad,Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Berhad and also Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd (BNM, 2008). Convenience Convenience is composed of number factors including the availability of parking space, location of branches, long operation hours. (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Customers will always prefer the products and services are available near to their working place or house area for the convenience of visiting. The sufficient parking space and long operation hours is for the convenience when visiting to the branch. Internet adoption is a type of convenience which offered by the insurance companies to their consumers, where consumers can get the products and services information through the website (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003). Other than that, interior comfort and external design also included affect the consumers perception on the convenience of selecting financial products. Status Status of an organization show measured through the strength of financial position, reputation and also the risk. As Islamic finance continue to expand. Islamic principles strong emphasis on the economic, ethical, moral and social dimensions, to enhance equality and fairness for the good of society as a whole should also have appeal for the ethnically minded (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Study which conducted by Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki (2009) also revealed that banks name and reputation is a strong effect on selecting a bank. In order to penetrate the youth market, Takaful Malaysia announced on 11th November, that RM 15 million has been pumped into the companys rebranding exercise. After twenty-five years of leading in Islamic insurance company in the country, Takaful Malaysia is setting on conquering the insurance industry by transforming itself into a more youthful outfit. Reflective of its tagline of modern, young and energetic, the company will unveils its new fresh-looking logo, a color fusion of apple green and olive green, described by Takaful Malaysia group director Datuk Hassan Kamil as vibrant and energetic. Takaful Malaysia believes that its latest approach will enhance its image and make it more appealing to the younger age-group which Hassan deems as a highly potential market segment (Joseph Kaos JR, 2009). Others Other than the above criteria, according to a study conducted in Jordan indicated that profit motivated criteria was an important factor to choose a bank service. However, other findings are that peer group influence plays an important role in selecting Islamic banks as depository institution. Other than that, politeness and friendliness of the personnel will also impact on the customers perception towards the financial institutions (Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki, 2009). Determinants of demand for insurance Insurance has become an important part of a financial sector over the past forty years. It provides a range of investments product for consumers. It also becomes the major source of investment in the capital market. Yet, the reasons for consumption of insurance are various across the countries. Demographic factors were amongst (Thorsten Beck, 2003; Ian Webb, 2003, Yvette Reisinger, 2009). While according to the study conducted by Truett et al. (1990), the consumption of insurance is depend on the price of insurance, income level of individual, and also the demographic factors such as age of individual insured and also the educational level. Gender The majority women of American have health insurance through either employer or through a public program. There are 66.67 percents of all women aged from 18 to 64 owned insurance through their employer, while another 16 percents through public program in year 2007. In contrast, there is 7 percents of nonelderly women in year 2007 purchase health coverage directly from insurance companies which we known as the individual market. Yet, the National Womens Law Centre (NWLC) investigated two phenomena, the gender gap which refers to the difference in premium charged to female and male applicants of the same age and health status. Another phenomenon is the availability and affordability of coverage for maternity care across the country. Based on the research, NWLC (2008) found that the individual market is a place which is very hard for women to purchase the health coverage. This is because insurance companies can refuse to sell women coverage due to the historic data that women have a higher percentage compared to men in suffering from a chronic condition which requiring ongoing treatment for instances asthma or arthritis. In addition, if the insurers discovered that an applicant underwent a Caesarean Section (C-Section) during the medical underwriting process, the company may charge a higher premium, or impose an exclusionary period which it refuses to cover another C-Section or pregnancy. New reports also revealed that women are more likely than men in taking prescription medication on a regular basis. In these conditions, the insurance company may reject the applications. On the other hand, it is difficult and costly for women to find health insurance that cover maternity care. A limited number of insurers offered this in separately for an additional fees which known as rider. Yet, this supplemental coverage is often far higher than ordinary plan. So typically, women have no other choice to select more or less comprehensive rider policy (NWLC, 2008). Educational Level According to Tienyu Hwang (2003) and Simon Gao (2003), the level of education plays a very important role in affecting the demand of insurance. It has been shown that the increasing of the educated population in a country, the recognition of the availability of insurance products will also be increased. Thus, the demand for insurance will also be growing in the country. Despite the education level in China is relatively low (Truett and monitor, 1996; World Bank, 1998), the increase in the education level will lead to a large number of people being realizing and able to recognize the essentiality of insurance. Therefore, it is likely to create a demand to purchase insurance. On the other hand, although the level of education in China remains low, china has made a great progress in improving the education system since the economic reform. This has increase the education level which leads to a greater awareness and understanding on the role of insurance. Hence, the level of education and demand for insurance is positively correlated. However, Szpiro and Outreville (198) proved that higher education leads to lower risk aversion, and that, in turn, leads to more risk taking by skilled and well educated people. While accor Perceptions Towards Islamic Banking and Insurance Perceptions Towards Islamic Banking and Insurance Introduction In the first chapter of this research study, an introduction on insurance will be presented. While, on the other hand, there will be a highlight on the differences between conventional and Islamic insurance. Following this, will be the problem discussion and the objectives of this study. Finally, there will be the justification and significance, following by organization of the study. What Exactly Is Insurance Means Buying insurance has become a trend in this twentieth century. According to The Star daily(2007), in the first half of year 2007, the combined premium income for insurance industry increase 9.8 percent compared to the same period for year 2006. The industry is further expanded in line with the favorable economics performance. People bought the insurance for their car, family, and business. People spend a lot of money on paying the insurance premium annually. While, do they actually clear on what kind of plan they had bought and what had they insured for their life, property and so on? Do they really distinct on the concept of the insurance that they had disbursed so much? According to Bank Negara Malaysia, insurance is the transfer of risk by an individual, such as yourself or an organization, such as your business to an insurance company. You or your organization will then be known as policy holder or insured while the insurance company is the insurer. The insurance company receives the payment in the form of premium. Then the insurance company utilized the premium collect from their policy holder to make some investment for their company. They will compensate their policy holder in the event of losses or damages which is sustained by the premium paid. In other word, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss by paying an amount of premium. It is an effective risk transfer mechanism for insured to exchange their uncertainty financial loss with the certain amount of premium (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). This kind of insurance we titled as conventional insurance which is the ordinary type of insurance that accepted by the society in general. While, other than the conventional insurance which we normally approached to, there are another type of insurance which we called as Islamic insurance. The Islamic insurance was step into Malaysia insurance market since November of year 1984 (Renat Bekkin, 2008). The first Islamic insurance company established in Malaysia was Takaful Malaysia Berhad. Early than that, Islamic insurance has stepping into the market of Sudan and Arab. What is Islamic insurance Islamic insurance is a mode of financial management which compliance to Shariah law. Islamic insurance is provided under a principle called Takaful. According to Islamic Banking, the term Takaful is derived from the Arabic word Kafaala meaning guaranteeing. Takaful means guaranteeing each other and refer to the concept of permissible Islamic insurance or Halal insurance. While by referring to Takaful Act 1984, Article 2, Takaful means a scheme based on brotherhood, solidarity and mutual assistance which provides for mutual financial aid and assistance to the participants in case of need whereby the participants mutually agree to contribute for that purpose. Literally, Takaful defines responsibility, shared guarantee, collective assurance and mutual undertakings. (Masum Billah, 2007) Some Muslims believe insurance is unnecessary, as society should helps its victims. Muslims can no longer ignore the fact that they live, they trade and communicate with open global systems, and they can no longer ignore the need for banking and insurance (Dr Aly Khorshid, 2004). In the eyes of Muslims, the concepts used by conventional insurance are against the law of Shariah. This is because conventional insurance is based on a contract of exchange (sale) between the insurance company and the covered person. This contract is void because it has the elements which are not permissible from Shariahs perspective. The elements are Gharar which means uncertainty. Conventional insurance has an element of Gharar due to the promise to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of unsuspected events. The other elements are Maysir which refer to gambling. Existence of Gharar (uncertainties) leads to Maysir (gambling) in conventional insurance. The insured may either lose the entire premium he has paid or be compensated for the losses he incurs for the insured event. Riba was also one of the not permissible elements in the law of Shariah. Riba means interest. The investment of insurance funds in interest bearing securities such bonds and stocks, which do not comply with the Shariah principles, pose a major Muslims who purchase the conventional insurance (Alburn Mountain, 2008). In conventional insurance, vendors, the insurance company, sells their insurance plans to their clients, which we called as policy holder in the other way and invest the premium paid for the profit of its shareholder. Then, the policy holders do enjoy the risk transference that they are receiving the compensation if they face the financial loss on the events they insured. According to Islamic Banking, Takaful was grant as Islamic insurance because of the apparent similarity between the contract of kafaala and insurance. Takaful is an Islamic concept which grounded in Islamic Mualamat which define as banking transaction (SP Media, 2009). This concept already practices in diverse form over 1400 years long (Salam, 2008). Generally, Takaful is an insurance plan which based on Shariah principles. The members are to contribute a certain amount of money to a common pool which is Takaful fund in the form of participative contribution that also called as Tabarru. Tabarru means a donation, charity or gift which cannot be taken back (Dr Qaradawi, 2002). In general Takaful, a percentage of the participants contribution is considered as Tabarru, thus it cannot be taken back by the participants as it is the joint guarantee principle to help other participants. A portion of a participants contribution will be allocate through Tabarru principle to help participants from a sudden but defined risks. After contributing the money into Takaful mutual fund, they will undertake a contract which called as Aqad in Islam, to become one of the participants by agreeing to mutually help each other, should any of the participants suffer a defined loss (Arshad Shaikh, 2007). In Islamic insurance, participants (policyholders) are co-operating among themselves for their common goods. Every participants are to pay a part of the contribution (premium) as a donation to help those need assistance. Other than that, in Takaful system, losses are divided and liabilities spread according to the community pooling system. In order to eliminate the element of uncertainty in Takaful contract, the concept of Tabarru is incorporated. This is to enable the participant to fulfill his obligation of mutual help and joint guarantee should any of his fellow participants suffer a defined loss. In conventional insurance, policy holder can buy more than one policy or plan to hedge the particular risk in the event of loss or damage. By this, the policy holders are lessening the claims of the insurance company because the same amount of compensation has now burden by two companies. This is called reinsurance which an insurance company can transfer to another insurer, the reinsurer all or part of its liabilities in respect of claims arising under the contracts of insurance. This is to protect itself against the risk that its total claims costs in any year may wiping out of its profits and cause it to insolvent. As same in Islamic insurance, participants can buy more than one plan from other licensed Takaful operator. This is called as Retakaful in Islamic insurance (Bahrain, 2005). Why Takaful Insurance instead of Conventional Insurance In Islamic view, the concept used in conventional insurance is in conflict with the injunction of Islam (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). The conflicts were not against the concepts used by conventional insurance that trades and contracts were appeared in the concept. While the struggling are the weaknesses and the imperfect phrase which existed in the insurance contract. The objections are actually against the phrase of Gharar which means uncertainty, Maisir refers to gambling and the word Riba which point to the interest. The criticism was the word of Gharar is happened in the contract of insurance. Other than that, the phrase of gambling is presenting in its extreme form. Whats more is the element of interest is existed in the contract. These three phrases were the points appeared in the contract of conventional insurance that prohibited in Islamic view. Thus, they lead to the contradiction between conventional insurance and Islamic view (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). While, there are the person who does not agree the above matters. According to Dr Yusof al-Qaradawi (2002), he does not think that the concept used in conventional insurance is conflict with Islamic law, but he agrees that the conventional insurance is in need of some improvement to move in line with Islamic teachings. Problem Statement People are following the track of buying insurance nowadays. People buy insurance when there is a new born baby. They buy insurance during their travelling. Insurance also bought when people purchase a residential property. People also buy insurance for the sake of retiring. People buy insurance whenever they think there was an unseen risk hidden, but do they really know what is about insurance and what type of insurance is available in the market? Throughout a number of searching by using the Google search engine and the library in campus, which was found that there are the surveys doing on Islamic Banking which may mentioned in various perspectives for instances the growth of Islamic banking in the world. Like what mentioning by Radio Australia, Islamic banking was one of the fastest growing sectors in the finance world which reveals by the value of the industry which worth of USD 1 Trillion in the year 2008. An addition, according to the bankers Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution survey, assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009). Other than that, what was found is there are quite a number of researches which study on the topic related to insurance. There are talked about the insurance expansion in the industry, growth of the insurance industry, the rate of market penetration. According to KCLAU (2007), the market penetration of life insurance as measured in terms of the total number of policies in force to total population, grew to 39.3 percent as at end of June 2007. While, besides the conventional which is generally accepted by the society, there are another type of risk transfer mechanism which is Islamic insurance was emerged in the other part of the globe. Islamic insurance was first widely spread over the Islamic country like Sudan, Arabic, India, South East Asia, and some other place in the world. The Islamic insurance also practiced in the region which is non Islamic country like European country and United of State. Since the growing of Islamic insurance throughout the world is in such a fast track, while, the doubt appeared was, it was hard to find the study on Islamic insurance rather than the conventional insurance. Another doubt was appeared that what is the reason to separate insurance into Islamic and conventional? What is the different perspective between Islamic insurance and conventional insurance? While, the most is, do people aware of the existence of Islamic insurance in the insurance industry which they approached ordinarily? Following by this, is the discussion on conventional and Islamic insurance. Research Objectives The general objective of this study is to clarify the different perspectives between conventional and Islamic insurance. While the other specific objectives as stated below which I am to study in this research. The specific objectives: To investigate the different perception of Muslim and Non Muslim towards conventional and Islamic insurance To investigate the determinants of demand for insurance in Malaysians To determine the level of awareness on Islamic insurance in the region of Malaysia Significance of Study This study may help the Malaysian Islamic Finance market to move a step up due to the hike up of the level of awareness on the conventional and Islamic insurance. Other than that, the study also provides the Muslim and Non Muslim within Malaysia to walk out of the religious teachings and some other factors in order to know more about the issues of insurance. Therefrom, Malaysias Islamic finance market may improve follow by the fast track in other country like what happened to the Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution, that assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009). Other than impacts on the country income and economic condition, this study also might helpful to the family or person who thinks of purchase insurance. By gone through this study, they are able to better analyze the product available in the market whether from the conventional insurance company or the Takaful operator which offer the Shariah compliance products and services. Then they are able to choose the best product which suit to them in terms of their needs, budget and also the religious teachings. Other than this, the study also may help the insurance company or the operators to determine the consumers intention of buying on their product. They may use the useful information to improve their products in order to enhance or even develop a better market position for their company. The growing in the insurance market plays an important role in the economic growth of the country. The growing may bring the country to a higher position in the world financial sector. Thus, Malaysia will stand still on the top of the world in the financial sector which playing the role of developing the conventional and Islamic insurance to the various country on the globe. Organization of Study This research report comprises of five chapters. The first chapter serves the introduction on insurance. It consists of the detail for conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. Problem statement and research objective is also discussed. Following the significance of study is presented. Lastly, the chapter one will end by the organization of study which show the flow out of the whole research project. Basically, chapter two will present the literature review which forms the foundation of this study. It consists of the related empirical study which done by other researchers previously. There are few factors which impact on the demand of insurance and influential to customers perception are included in this chapter. In chapter three, the research methodology of the study will be discussed. The research framework will be shown together with the hypothesis developed link together the variables in the study. Other than that, the sample planning, sources of data and data collection will also be carried out. Questionnaire design will also be laid out in this chapter following by the data analysis method which is the last part of this chapter. Following by this is chapter four which describe the results and discussion. Hence, the graph and table will be widely used to better interpret the findings and result of the study. Finally, chapter five will be the conclusion and the recommendation of this research. The level of awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will finally be presented and end this study. Chapter Two Literature Review INTRODUCTION Continue with the first chapter presented previously, this study is to observe the perception of Malaysia towards conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. For the sake of gaining a clearer view on this, exploring to the related literature is a must. Following, the overview of insurance and takaful will be presented. In 2.2, the discussion about the determinants impact on demand for insurance will be presented. Then, the study will indicate the perception of consumers towards conventional and Islamic methods of finance in few factors like the service quality, accessibility, convenience and status of the organizations. Lastly in 2.4, the awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will be discussed. Overview of Insurance and Islamic Insurance Insurance is a form of risk-management which transfer the possible risks like accident, theft, natural disaster and illness of ones or a group to the more financially sound entity, insurers in exchange with a small amount of payment which we called as premium. The meaning of insurance is essentially to understand for everybody who is considering of purchase an insurance policy or to understand the basics of what if finance. This instrument is used in hedging risk precautionary against the future contingent losses (Stanley St Labs, n.d). While, according to Insurance Info, insurance is being categorized two main categories which are life insurance and general insurance. The risks that covered by life insurance including premature death, income during retirement and illness. While the main products in life insurance are Whole life, Endowment, Term, Investment-linked, Life annuity plan, Medical and health. For general insurance, it is basically a policy that protects you from losses and damages which other than those covered by life insurance, for instance, property loss like stolen car and burnt house. Other than that, liability arising from damage caused by oneself to a third party, accidental death or injury also covered by the general insurance. The products offered under general insurance are Motor insurance, Fire/House owner/Householder insurance, Personal accident insurance, Medical and health insurance and Travel insurance. While for Islamic insurance, takaful, is a protection plan based on Shariah principles compliance. By contributing a sum of money to a common takaful fund in the form of participative contribution (tabarru), the person is undertaking a contract (aqad) to become one of the participants which agree to mutually help each other if any of the participants suffer a defined loss. Both takaul and insurance have similar basic principles where the insured must have a legitimate financial interest in the risk you are insuring, which means the insured must suffer a financial loss when the insured event occurred. In takaful, the life insurance is granted as family takaful. The products offered under family takaful are Family Takaful, Investment linked takaful, Child education takaful, Medical and health takaful. While for general takaful, there are Home takaful, Motor takaful and Personal accidents takaful. Perception towards Conventional and Islamic Insurance Perception, as defined by Stephen P. Robbins (2005) is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. Perception is important in decision making process. An individual must fully understand the decision must make along with all of the facts and information involved. If an individual has a bad perception of the situation and do not consider all of the facts that are involved like the external factors which anyone else have no control over the individual may lead to a wrong decision. In turn, this will cause negative consequences for the organization and the individual. In order to have a good perception on any given situation, an individual must analyze all of the significant information involved in a timely manner, without making a hasty decision (Wally Sparks, 2007). Service Quality According to Shahril Bin Shafie (2003), quality is sought by all organizations, especially in the service sector. Service quality is commonly noted as a critical prerequisite for establishing and sustaining satisfying relationships between organization and the customers (Lassar et al., 2000). According to Yap, S.F., and Kew, M.L., there are many researchers who have defined service quality in different ways. Among them, Bitner, Booms and Mohr (1994) define service quality as the consumers overall impression of the relative inferiority or superiority of the organization and its services. While, other researchers like Cronin and Taylor (1994), view service quality as a form of attitude representing a long run overall evaluation. Service quality has determining the repeated purchase and customer loyalty to an organization. When a customer choose a provider that provides service quality that meets or exceeds his or her expectations, then the customer is more likely to choose the same pro vider again. According to Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider. By referring to a study conduct by Erdener Kaynak and Talha D. Harcar (2005) is found that, the service quality provide by conventional banking system is excellent than the others. The study indicated that the customer maintain a higher level of confidence in conventional bank rather than Islamic bank. In this study, the service being tested including the swiftness in correcting errors, fast and efficient service, and consumer complains handling and the courtesy personnel. While according to Hendrik, L., Hirun, A., Razli, C.R., Halim, M.L., Khairul, A. A., and Darwina, A.A. (n.d), indicate that customer satisfaction on Islamic banking products and services is different across the cities. The service quality is satisfied within Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Penang because these cities are bigger which also contains more populations, and are more economically developed. Due to these reasons, the service provided is more satisfactory because of the customers characteristics which different from income level, gender and also educational level.Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider. The emergence of the Internet provides an opportunity for organizations to conduct business in cyberspace. Steven et al (2002), Soliman (2003), Wirtz (2001), Coltman (2001) had studied that Internet adoption and factors influencing the propensity and pattern of adoption among different sectors and sizes of organizations worldwide and in Malaysia, empirical data on online insurance has been limited (Fatimah et al, 2000; Yusserie at el, 2002). One of the reasons may be because the insurance industry has been slow to respond to the usage of Internet for business,, as compared to the other financial service (Esters, 1997). In 1999, recognizing the potential of the Internet, Bank Negara Malaysia allowed a group of insurers to establish the industry first interactive insurance website, which enabled policy owners to transact on the line for renewal of policy and also premium payment(BNM 2000). Internet via individual companys website allows customers to gain more information about the product and services offered by the companies (Ruquet, 2001). While, not all the business organizations are adopting Internet in their business due to various reasons like customer readiness, cost and the risks involved. Zinkewicz (2000) said that business do not use the Internet for business because customers do not trust the process involved, instead, they prefer human interactions (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003). Accessibility Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product or service is accessible by as many people as possible. It also viewed as the ability to access the functionality and possible benefits of some system or entity like information of the particular products and services (Wikipedia, 2009). In Malaysia, there are total up 1,752 numbers of registered insurance agencies distributed throughout the thirteen states and two federal territories. Among of all, there are agencies which offer both life insurance and also general insurance business like American International Assurance Bhd, Etiqa Insurance Berhad, Hong Leong Assurance Berhad and so on (BNM, 2008). Other than that, there are only eight licensed Takaful operator in Malaysia which are CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad, Etiqa Takaful Berhad, Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful Berhad, HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, MAA Takaful Berhad, Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad,Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Berhad and also Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd (BNM, 2008). Convenience Convenience is composed of number factors including the availability of parking space, location of branches, long operation hours. (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Customers will always prefer the products and services are available near to their working place or house area for the convenience of visiting. The sufficient parking space and long operation hours is for the convenience when visiting to the branch. Internet adoption is a type of convenience which offered by the insurance companies to their consumers, where consumers can get the products and services information through the website (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003). Other than that, interior comfort and external design also included affect the consumers perception on the convenience of selecting financial products. Status Status of an organization show measured through the strength of financial position, reputation and also the risk. As Islamic finance continue to expand. Islamic principles strong emphasis on the economic, ethical, moral and social dimensions, to enhance equality and fairness for the good of society as a whole should also have appeal for the ethnically minded (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Study which conducted by Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki (2009) also revealed that banks name and reputation is a strong effect on selecting a bank. In order to penetrate the youth market, Takaful Malaysia announced on 11th November, that RM 15 million has been pumped into the companys rebranding exercise. After twenty-five years of leading in Islamic insurance company in the country, Takaful Malaysia is setting on conquering the insurance industry by transforming itself into a more youthful outfit. Reflective of its tagline of modern, young and energetic, the company will unveils its new fresh-looking logo, a color fusion of apple green and olive green, described by Takaful Malaysia group director Datuk Hassan Kamil as vibrant and energetic. Takaful Malaysia believes that its latest approach will enhance its image and make it more appealing to the younger age-group which Hassan deems as a highly potential market segment (Joseph Kaos JR, 2009). Others Other than the above criteria, according to a study conducted in Jordan indicated that profit motivated criteria was an important factor to choose a bank service. However, other findings are that peer group influence plays an important role in selecting Islamic banks as depository institution. Other than that, politeness and friendliness of the personnel will also impact on the customers perception towards the financial institutions (Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki, 2009). Determinants of demand for insurance Insurance has become an important part of a financial sector over the past forty years. It provides a range of investments product for consumers. It also becomes the major source of investment in the capital market. Yet, the reasons for consumption of insurance are various across the countries. Demographic factors were amongst (Thorsten Beck, 2003; Ian Webb, 2003, Yvette Reisinger, 2009). While according to the study conducted by Truett et al. (1990), the consumption of insurance is depend on the price of insurance, income level of individual, and also the demographic factors such as age of individual insured and also the educational level. Gender The majority women of American have health insurance through either employer or through a public program. There are 66.67 percents of all women aged from 18 to 64 owned insurance through their employer, while another 16 percents through public program in year 2007. In contrast, there is 7 percents of nonelderly women in year 2007 purchase health coverage directly from insurance companies which we known as the individual market. Yet, the National Womens Law Centre (NWLC) investigated two phenomena, the gender gap which refers to the difference in premium charged to female and male applicants of the same age and health status. Another phenomenon is the availability and affordability of coverage for maternity care across the country. Based on the research, NWLC (2008) found that the individual market is a place which is very hard for women to purchase the health coverage. This is because insurance companies can refuse to sell women coverage due to the historic data that women have a higher percentage compared to men in suffering from a chronic condition which requiring ongoing treatment for instances asthma or arthritis. In addition, if the insurers discovered that an applicant underwent a Caesarean Section (C-Section) during the medical underwriting process, the company may charge a higher premium, or impose an exclusionary period which it refuses to cover another C-Section or pregnancy. New reports also revealed that women are more likely than men in taking prescription medication on a regular basis. In these conditions, the insurance company may reject the applications. On the other hand, it is difficult and costly for women to find health insurance that cover maternity care. A limited number of insurers offered this in separately for an additional fees which known as rider. Yet, this supplemental coverage is often far higher than ordinary plan. So typically, women have no other choice to select more or less comprehensive rider policy (NWLC, 2008). Educational Level According to Tienyu Hwang (2003) and Simon Gao (2003), the level of education plays a very important role in affecting the demand of insurance. It has been shown that the increasing of the educated population in a country, the recognition of the availability of insurance products will also be increased. Thus, the demand for insurance will also be growing in the country. Despite the education level in China is relatively low (Truett and monitor, 1996; World Bank, 1998), the increase in the education level will lead to a large number of people being realizing and able to recognize the essentiality of insurance. Therefore, it is likely to create a demand to purchase insurance. On the other hand, although the level of education in China remains low, china has made a great progress in improving the education system since the economic reform. This has increase the education level which leads to a greater awareness and understanding on the role of insurance. Hence, the level of education and demand for insurance is positively correlated. However, Szpiro and Outreville (198) proved that higher education leads to lower risk aversion, and that, in turn, leads to more risk taking by skilled and well educated people. While accor