EDITORIAL BOARD MARA INNOVATION JOURNAL Volume 4 Issue 02 Dec 2015 ISSN: 2289-2818 Patron Datuk Ibrahim bin Ahmad Director General Majlis Amanah Rakyat Ketua Editor Amir Hassan Abdul Wahid Editor Hanirus Osman Khairiah Abdullah Dr. Sarinah Sulaiman Sharida Hashim Sundarambal Gengatharan Pewasit Prof. Madya Dr. Azila Abd. Aziz, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Dr. Jainabee Kassim Dr. Fatimah Ehsan, Bhg Dasar dan Perancangan Strategik MARA MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4 Issue 02, Dec 2015 Welcome to MARA Innovation Journal The MARA Innovation Journal (MIJ) is an independent, peer-reviewed journal devoted to sharing ideas and discussing issues related to innovation. The MIJ is also a forum for exchange of imaginative ideas readers wish to share. Invitation to Submit Papers The editorial board in Innovation and Research Unit, Majlis Amanah Rakyat invites researchers and writers to contribute articles to MARA Innovation Journal in the field of research and innovation. For further information, please visit http://uni.mara.gov.my Published by: Innovation and Research Unit Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) No. 21, Jalan Raja Laut 50609 Kuala Lumpur Tel : (03) 26134457 Faks : (03) 26910486 Copyright © MARA 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. ii Content Pages TWITTER AS A MEDIUM FOR PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING 1 - 19 Bazilah A. Talip COMPARISON OF ORTHOSIPHON STAMINEUS LEAF FROM DIFFERENT ORIGINS BY USING CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS AND CHEMOMETRICS – ASSISTED INTERPRETATION OF FTIR SPECTRA 20 - 29 Nur Farah Amalina Mughni Fatin Fathiah Yusop Zhari Ismail THE VIENNA CONVENTION ON CONTRACTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS 1980 (CISG) AND MALAYSIAN CONTRACT ACT 1950 (ACT 136): A COMPARISON ON THE FORMATION OF CONTRACT Ahmad Shahriman Ahamad Tekmezi iii 30 - 42 MARA Innovation Journal ISSN : 2289-2818, Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 www.uni.mara.gov.my TWITTER AS A MEDIUM FOR PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING Bazilah A. Talip1&2 1Malaysian Institute of Information Technology (MIIT), Universiti Kuala Lumpur University of Technology (QUT), Australia 2Queensland Abstract This study aims to explore the use of Twitter for professional purposes. The researcher discovered that Twitter is widely perceived as an information ground in online spaces. Information grounds are social settings where information, people, and places come together to create an information flow within a physical environment. Twitter provides a sense of place as well as a sense of belonging that enables IT professionals to use Twitter for professional development. The data for this study were collected using online observations and interviews. The online observations helped the researcher to distinguish the ‘information behaviours’ (the objective and observable actions) of the participants. The interviews were used to understand the way IT professionals use Twitter for professional purposes through their own individual perspectives. The data were analysed using a constructive grounded theory. The findings show that building professional networking is extremely important to IT professionals; rather than the information-seeking and information-sharing aspects of Twitter. Building professional networking in microblogging has a significant influence on an individual’s professional development. The results also demonstrate that IT professionals are more likely to exploit their weak-ties rather than their strong-ties on Twitter. In short, these users experience Twitter as a real place or ‘information grounds’ where they meet and socialise with experts. Keywords: Information Grounds, Microblogging, Professionals, Twitter I. Introduction Information grounds are social settings where people meet on an unplanned basis at any physical location and serendipitously exchange information. It is, however, restricted to a physical space and hence to the number of participants that can be part of the communication at any physical information grounds venue such as an office tearoom or café (Karen Fisher, Durrance, & Hinton, 2004). Instead, social media can create a sense of belonging and a sense of place, as well as develop communities of practice dynamically. In this ambient, the serendipity of information discovery and the dynamics of the information flow emerge significantly from within online spaces (Williamson & Roberts, 2010). This is due to the proliferation of the Internet and 1 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 the manner in which it is embedded in our daily activities, hence aiding the productivity and interactivity within online interactions in social media (Wellman, 2004). The qualities of openness, transparency, and availability in social media have also helped users to share, disseminate, and find information in online spaces (Campbell, Ellis, & Adebonojo, 2012). This concept of information grounds is valuable for this study in order to understand the transition process between physical and online interactions for professional purposes. Information grounds initiate information flow and behaviour within physical and virtual environments (Fisher, Landry, & Naumer, 2007). This information flow perspective focuses on the information and the processes it undergoes, but does not throw light on the ‘experiences’ of the people creating, sharing, and receiving that information. The findings of this study are consistent with the conclusions of Fisher et al. (2004), namely, that the people-place-information trichotomy is the key that influences the manner in which information grounds are dynamically created in certain spaces. A key difference between physical information grounds and social media is that, in social media, people are not bound by any sense of physical space or even time. In contrast, with traditional information grounds, people are bound by their physical environment more or less simultaneously (Fisher et al., 2007). This research hypothesises that Twitter shares many of the characteristics of information grounds except that information, people, and online platforms (space) come together to create an information flow in a much less restrictive way. As a result, this enables effective information-sharing geographically across any number of physical spaces and results in significant influences on professional development (Power, 2015). Twitter provides a sense of belonging and a sense of place – or information grounds – and uses it for professional purposes such as forming communities of practice (Narayan, Talip, Watson, & Edwards, 2013). Although information exchanges via Twitter are limited to only 140-characters per message, it nevertheless creates brevity of communication among collaborators (Miller, 2008). In fact, this limitation has succeeded in influencing the creative and effective use of Twitter messages; hence Jansen, Zhang, Sobel, and Chowdury (2009) posited that Twitter is a powerful online word-of-mouth marketing tool. The limitation does not impact on the conduct of inter-disciplinary collaboration; instead, it changes the research collaboration spectrum and has a significant impact on the development of communities of practice. The literature reveals no existing empirical study which investigates the notion of microblogging as a ‘place’ that is similar to the physical space described in the information grounds theory (Counts & Fisher, 2010). This study aims to fill that research gap. The main research question that this study will address is: how the concept of information grounds in microblogging changes within an individual’s life. 2 MARA Innovation Journal II. Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 Background Social media for professional use Previously, websites were used simply to display information digitally or just to enable users to interact with an information system without much user-to-user interaction. They had no three-way communication features to allow users to engage with other users, provide feedback and comments on particular topics or also to see others’ input. Web 2.0 technologies, such as Twitter, provide space for such social interactions and aid community formation; such collaborative projects are termed collectively as social media (Lave & Wenger, 2000). Examples of social media include: blogs, wikis, Google documents, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, and microblogs such as Twitter. Social media applications have influenced the ways in which professionals communicate in general. It has transformed the conservative approaches towards professional networking (Power, 2015) and enabled collaboration from linear to more dynamic and innovative ways (Bruns & Bahnisch, 2009). Deborah Lupton, a professional researcher has described how microblogging through Twitter has helped her engage and provide feedback and comments on particular topics and career development (Dlupton, 2012). Schirmer (2011) states that Twitter enables education professionals to announce and brainstorm new work virtually and find a community of experts, as well as using it as a launching pad to other online spaces, such as blogs and other social working sites. All these examples illustrate that social media has impacted the way in which professionals interact online, without restrictions being imposed upon the availability of location, time, resources, and people. The social media phenomenon has radically changed the way in which IT professionals seek, share, communicate, collaborate, and disseminate information. For example, previously, email was the primary way to communicate with fellow professionals around the world outside of professional conferences. However, due to delays in getting responses in this asynchronous method of communication, email is no longer the preferred method for frequent communications (Schirmer, 2011). This asynchronous method is similar to face-to-face communication at any physical space. Face-to-face communication has limitations due to reasons of both time and space – professionals from across the world cannot meet as often in-person as they can do on social media. Counts and Fisher (2010) proposed that mobile-device social networking acts as an online ‘place’ for information-sharing in a more dynamic manner with the information flow coming from many directions. Thus, online spaces help make the conversation among users occur dynamically and more conveniently, thus significantly impacting the manner of social interactions. To date, social media has been widely used for networking within professional conferences; not only for information-sharing about conference activities to the people who cannot attend, but also between people who are already present at the conference – almost every conference now publishes its own official hashtag that people can use (Campbell et al., 2012). Microblogs enable users to participate in and access conference resources conveniently (Ross, Terras, Warwick, & Welsh, 2012) and the participants’ online interactions also influence the information 3 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 flow within the online spaces (McNely, 2009). However, the social network relationship between such online and offline interactions has not yet been investigated – that is, how physical place and cyberspace influence the social interactions and serendipity of information discovery and information-sharing in different ways, and how this can impact on professional networking. The current study aims to fill this research gap. Pierson and Heyman (2011) highlighted that a weak-tie relationship has a significant influence on information diffusion and information portability, in addition to online community organisations in online spaces. They found that individual relationships impact the growth of collaboration in virtual spaces as social media facilitates ‘phatic communication’. Phatic communication is a type of communication – small talk – whose main purpose is a social one and not one of communicating any information. Such communication helps people develop their online communities through seemingly personal but inconsequential small conversation (Jansen et al., 2009). This notion of phatic communication or ‘small talk’ plays an important role for professional development in Twitter. Skågeby (2012) stated that social media relationships differ between strong-tie and weak-tie type users as described by Granovetter (1973). This relationship has significantly influenced the way in which professionals use social media for professional purposes. Strong-tie type users consider their online social networks as ‘real’ and just as interactive as their offline interactions, where the networks are carefully selected. For the weaktie users “the online network can be something qualitatively different, where privacy is virtually non-existent” (Skågeby, 2012, p. 332). Skågeby (2012) examined three other studies that used ethnographic studies of Facebook, Flickr, and a music-sharing site in order to arrive at these findings, and the people examined were not part of a professional network. This study will also explore the relationships between strong and weak-ties relationships and their implications on IT professionals’ use of Twitter. Microblogs can be considered one example of social media that enables professionals to collaborate and interact with experts around the globe. Twitter provides a sense of place and a sense of belonging that allows professionals to develop professional networks and share their knowledge in online spaces (Power, 2015). Twitter also helps professionals to present themselves and be acknowledged as experts in their fields. Consequently, this has significantly influenced the way they use Twitter for professional purposes. The sense of place and the sense of belonging in Twitter facilitate an information ground in online spaces as it maps well with an information grounds theory. This is consistent with the findings of Pettigrew et al. (1998) who explored information-sharing within an online library community, while Fisher et al. (2004) investigated the use of the Internet by immigrants for fulfilling their information needs. They found that the engagement they have created initiates information flow. The information flow has a significant influence in the development of information grounds in both physical and online spaces. Counts and Fisher (2010) proposed that mobile-based social networking can be perceived as information grounds, with the information flow facilitating interactive information-sharing and overcoming the limitation that occurs in physical information grounds (e.g. availability of information, and geographical barriers). Mobile-based social networking has similar characteristics with Twitter (e.g. mobility, accessibility and availability to information). Therefore, this study aims to investigate Twitter as an information ground and the manner in 4 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 which it influences IT professionals’ information behaviour while using Twitter for professional purposes. Twitter for professional use Twitter allows anyone to follow anyone unlike Facebook where one cannot follow a person who does not permit you or add you as a friend. Twitter provides high usability through a simple inter-face and easy navigability. Twitter enables users to repurpose the tool so as to meet their needs; hence, it is quite easy for professionals to build a social presence on Twitter over a relatively short time with some judicious effort (Kwon, Park, & Kim, 2014; Power, 2015). Twitter functions as an electronic word-of-mouth tool that can increase the scope and breadth of one’s reach within any given professional context (Dunlap & Lowenthal, 2009). The attributes of Twitter mentioned above, such as presence, usability, navigability, and word-of-mouth communication, combined with the immediacy and ubiquity of social media provide a valuable ‘affordance’ for users of Twitter. Affordances are “attributes of something in the environment to an interactive activity by an agent who has some ability, and an ability relates attributes of an agent to an inter-active activity with something in the environment that has some affordance” (Greeno, 1994, p. 338). This affordance has influenced the way Twitter is perceived as an information ground since it enables professionals to create their own community of practice and use it for professional purposes. Twitter has been widely used for collaboration, information sharing, and as a digital backchannel during conferences. It is also evident that Twitter has been used during scientific conferences (Reinhardt, Ebner, Beham, & Costa, 2009) and digital humanities conferences as a digital backchannel (Ross et al., 2012). Twitter is a useful tool during conferences as a digital backchannel that helps professionals to promote scholarly discussion and debate. In addition, it is helpful for engaging with others so as to propagate information to a wider audience than those who actually attended the conferences (Ferguson et al., 2014). Collectively, it is evident that Twitter is a useful tool for conferences, however, the ability of the medium to promote scientific knowledge development remains underexplored (Murthy & Lewis, 2015). Twitter has the potential to be used more for professional purposes rather than merely being limited to personal usage. Recently, Power (2015) proposed the theory of Twitter’s potential to enhance professional networking. He suggests that it is vital for professionals to carefully create their profile on Twitter as it encourages people to follow because of their expertise and knowledge. For example, Power (2015) highlights that “live tweeting at conferences is revolutionising professional networking and information-sharing” (p. 44), as it encourages “proficient ‘tweeters’ to share their expertise with novices so as to empower and encourage them to engage” (Power, 2015, p. 45). This situation demonstrates that Twitter is no longer useful for personal purposes but instead provides a place for professionals to enhance their professional networks in online spaces. There is as yet no indicator that demonstrates how professionals form and establish their professional networks on Twitter. Thus, this study aims to investigate the manner in which Twitter influences IT professionals’ use of Twitter for professional purposes. 5 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 To date, research into Twitter use for professional purposes has examined a diverse range of foci. However, up to this point, there have been no prior studies that have explored the information behaviour of IT professionals while using Twitter for professional purposes. This study seeks to fill that gap. III. Research Design Twitter was chosen over Facebook and other social media, since it is more wide reaching than Facebook. Facebook generally connects friends or people who already know each other, whereas Twitter connects friends and strangers with common topical interests. Twitter does not require mutual sharing; rather, it enables the participant to follow person A, while person A is not required to follow the participant (Al-Hadidi, 2011). This research also studied Twitter in order to learn if this phenomenon is different from traditional methods of professional communication in the context of IT professionals. Eleven recognised IT professionals who self-identified as IT professionals were recruited for this study (each participant was given an identifying code from P1 to P11). Each of them was followed online for two weeks between 1 September 2013 and 31 December 2013 and their tweets were downloaded with their permission. A total of 734 tweets were downloaded and analysed using the constructivist grounded theory approach. The tweets were coded, categorised and constantly compared between participants and between codes. This enabled the emergent findings from the data to arise organically. In addition to categorising and analysing, the participants’ information behaviours were documented explicitly. The connection between the participants’ tweets and information behaviours enabled us to develop effective interview questions so as to better understand their personal experiences. It also aided us to examine the extent to which they used Twitter for professional networking rather than just as a part of their job description (e.g. social media policy-maker, social media manager). After following the participants on Twitter for two weeks, each participant was contacted for a one-on-one interview. Each of the interviews was conducted within a timeframe of 30-60 minutes. Online observations and interviews were used in this study and the data were analysed using a constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006). The online observations were used to map the structure and content of the online social media interactions. These observations helped the researcher to discern the information behaviours or the objectives and observable actions of the participants. This was followed up by the interviews in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the participants’ thoughts, feelings and motivations. The interviews were coded until the emergent categories were saturated (Dick, 2005). The downloaded tweets and the interview transcripts were manually coded by the researcher using the constructive grounded theory until saturation was reached based on grounded theory methods. This approach did not only help to identify existing themes in the literature, but it also helped to discover new emergent themes from the data. In the grounded theory method, saturation is achieved when no new findings emerge from the data and the same codes begin to appear over and over again. However, not all aspects of constructive grounded theory were appropriate for this study. For 6 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 example, we did not conduct co-construction of the data with the participants, as it would not have been practical – or in most cases even possible – to schedule additional time with the IT professionals to ask them to code their own data. IV. Findings Microblogging is perceived as online information grounds Microblogging sites such as Twitter are perceived as information grounds that provide a sense of place and a sense of belonging thus enabling IT professionals to build their professional networks and create their own communities of practice. Microblogging also allows IT professionals to use it as a digital backchannel that allows the “spontaneous co-construction of digital artefacts” by involving note-taking, information-sharing and real-time engagement in events, including conference presentations and social activities (Ross et al., 2012). Traditionally, information sharing is one of the main activities in physical information grounds, where it is limited and restricted to a certain number of people. This study found that the participants regularly attended conferences or professional networks. As Participant 7 (P7) said in the interview: I have always done a lot of things like going to events and networking at, you know, professional events and conferences and things like that. (P7) This was similar for Participant 2 who attended professional events, in which he said “just shows up at network events for networking” (P2) and followed by Participant 4 (P4) who went to trainings, conferences, or library events for professional networking: “I guess we go to a lot of training sessions, we go to conferences, and we go to events, sort of library events, so you do meet people there.” (P4) They found that sometimes it was difficult to engage with people during professional events because the time maybe wasn’t right for making conversation. As Participant 4 (P4) stated in the interview: “Often when you meet people, you don’t get the chance to talk even if you do see them. It’s a professional event and it’s not the right place and you don’t think of the right questions.”(P4) In contrast, microblogging provides a sense of place that enables IT professionals to share their knowledge with a wider audience as “I think when you have microblogs it encourages you to just say it out.”(P4) Further, it allows the participant to create and engage with their communities of practice or professional networks “because you can sort of see what’s happening in a lot of people’s lives to some extent and [engage with them] professionally to some extent.” (P4) The participant pointed out that, in his experience of attending conferences or networking events, communicating or engaging with many people was difficult. As Participant 10 (P10) indicated: 7 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 “I go to a conference, you know, over 3 or 4-days. I really can talk to maybe 20 different people. You know, although you interact with hundreds of them, the real conversation is down to 20 people and the real message gets only to about 20.” (P10) Twitter, however, has successfully overcome the limitation of physical information grounds, “I find that [Twitter] is useful and it actually is quite a good way of networking with other people in the conference as well.” (P4) This scenario demonstrates that social media (in particular, microblogging) helped the participants to extend their professional connections as it can reach wider audiences. Over time, the use of microblogging has changed in that it is no longer primarily about sharing information or being present online; rather, the use of microblogging is more focused on the networks themselves that are built on the microblogging site. As Participant 3 (P3) said in the interview: “I started the Twitter account four or five years ago as a way to connect with professionals like in the BPM, in the process base, to follow-up their work and to share articles. I think in a couple of years I was using it actively to build that professional network and connections to academics and industry departments.” (P3) The diagram in Figure 1 illustrates the way in which physical information grounds focus on information behaviours; whereas, over time, the information ground in microblogging sites has transformed information-related behaviour to a people-based network. Figure 1. Transition of information-related behaviours to people-based networks In physical information grounds, IT professionals go to places where they already have an agenda or something to do prior to their visit to particular places. However, in microblogging (specifically Twitter), it is not required for them to be present all the time since they can catch up on what they have missed at any time. As Participant 1 described: “Twitter is not important if you missed things, it is just an option.”(P1) They can trace back the information they have missed, and also easily contact their connections on Twitter. The outcomes of this study have 8 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 shown that Twitter provides temporal settings that influence the way IT professionals use this medium as a place for communication. Microblogging provides temporal settings that are not limited to the Twitter stream or Twitter feeds but also includes hashtags. This study revealed that the participants did not fully utilise the use of hashtags; however, the use of hashtags did impact on broadcasting information to wider audiences. The reason for this is because the participants did not really understand the way hashtags work for disseminating information to wider audiences. As Participant 2 (P2) said in the interview, “It was confusing for me to begin with because I didn’t understand what the term “hashtag” meant. If I want to go to broader audiences, I use hashtag; sometimes it is the correct one and sometimes it is not and sometimes I create a new hashtag without thinking about it.” (P2) Further, it was found that the participants use hashtags for emphasising a word that can be a keyword for their tweets thus enabling the tweets to be discovered. As Participant 6 (P6) pointed out: “I use hashtag in sentences where I think that a particular word is worth emphasising so anyone who would like or who is interested in that particular word might see my tweet.” (P6) The participant also pointed out that they use the hashtag function to promote their work “like #angelahighlight that I publish every week. I put a hashtag on it, but Angela Js. community created the hashtag. So, it means that other people who are interested in it can find those tweets.” (P1) The results indicate that information acts as a catalyst in microblogging sites rather than as a currency. This scenario occurred because Twitter enables the participants to use hashtag for a specific word or keyword to which people can go to retrieve particular information. In this way, the required information is directly available rather than simply looking at the conversation within a temporal setting or directly seeking the information. The following excerpt from the interview with Participant 4 illustrates how information acts as a catalyst in microblogging: “I will follow a hashtag and see what other people are saying. So I might retweet if I think what they’ve said is good.” (P4) The outcomes of this study demonstrate that Twitter provides a temporal setting as proposed by information grounds. However, the significant difference is that the temporal setting is not just a place; rather, in Twitter, the information itself can act as a temporal setting. The fact that the information acts as a temporal setting has had a significant influence on the development of professional networks. “I’ve experienced the benefits of putting hashtags in tweets and getting more followers because of that.” (P3) 9 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 Gaining more followers substantially expands the professional networks of IT professionals as well as enhancing the general perception of their being experts in their fields of expertise. Moreover, the information flows facilitate interaction between IT professionals who access Twitter to keep in touch with information which subsequently leads to the establishment of human net-works. Participant 4 emphasises that: “it actually is quite a good way of networking with other people in the conference as well.” (P4) Over time, the IT professionals develop their networks with experts who share valuable workrelated information. The credibility of the information has a significant influence on their online presence and helps IT professionals to be acknowledged in their fields. As Participant 3 stated in the interview: “I’m trying to get a presence or a profile within Twitter. I actively use it to connect with people and share information. If I hadn’t followed a few people or gotten into followers per day or per week, I would have used it a lot to actually try to boost up my networking.” (P3) This study yielded interesting results indicating that IT professionals use microblogging sites for the purpose of establishing professional networks rather than merely gathering or sharing information. Information sharing via microblogging occurs more dynamically compared to conventional information sharing. Participant 6 explained the reason behind the decision to follow experts on microblogging sites because of their knowledge: “Most of them I never met. I just follow them because of their work and their contribution. I don’t like just following people. I normally filter it out.” (P6) The findings highlight that microblogging is beneficial for networking and knowledge sharing. According to Participant 5: “Twitter is very popular with the library community and with the humanity community. So, it was a way to kind of keep in touch with people who I met at conferences.”(P5) The networking that begins on microblogging sites remains intact and the relationships continue in a closed network platform to further the discussion due to issues of privacy and confidentiality. Participant 11 described this as follows: “The communication that we put on Twitter is more about general information. But, if we need more information about the details, we will use direct message on Twitter or we will use Skype or email. Then, we will continue the conversation using email because we don’t want that information to be published publicly on the Internet.” (P11) In summary, the connection started by the IT professionals on microblogging sites remains intact and the relationship is continued in a closed network platform and also endures in physical information grounds. Information grounds in microblogs overcome the restrictions encountered by traditional information grounds. First, limited access to geo-location has a significant 10 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 impact on the smoothness of information sharing in physical-based information grounds. Second, the restriction on the number of people who can gain access to information influences the success and effectiveness of communities of practice in mobile-based social networking. This can be attributed to microblogging being a public space that impacts on the way in which IT professionals further their conversations or collaboration with their own community of practice. Moreover, the results of this study provide fundamental understanding as to how Twitter is perceived as an online information ground and show the differences and similarities between physical information grounds and online information grounds. Professional networking Microblogging provides places for IT professionals to communicate, collaborate and engage with experts in different research fields around the globe. In addition, it influences users’ information behaviour and information experience thereby having a significant impact on the way they use Twitter for purposes of information sharing (Bunce, Partridge, & Davis, 2012). Microblogging sites such as Twitter are perceived as an information ground providing a sense of place – “a place to be in, a place to go, a place to gather, or a place to be seen in” (Narayan et al., 2013, p. 127) and eliminate restrictions as to the number of participants and geographical barriers. In relation to the investigation into the use of Twitter in the present study, Participant 7 stated: “I guess I’m forming those relationships online with these people as much as I’m forming them in person - probably more actually forming them online than forming them in person and replicating them online. So, they kind of tend to grow in social media but also I follow a whole bunch of people who are just interesting and don’t have any idea who I am and I don’t know them personally but they tweet interesting stuff.” (P7) Ease of use, availability of and accessibility to information influences IT professionals’ use of microblogging for engagement purposes. Participant 11 pointed out that the main reason he used Twitter was to be part of the community in his field. “Nowadays, IT professionals prefer to use online tools to communicate with their communities. […] Twitter enabled me to communicate with the other security practitioners.” (P11) Moreover, IT professionals use microblogging because of their job demands, often having had collaboration projects with experts from around the world. “I would be happy to join them online for code submitting and also code discussion, but for meetings or annual planning, I would prefer a physical meeting as it is the best way so far rather than an online meeting.” (P11) The literature confirms that microblogging is useful for work-related purposes and this is also evident in the present study. For example, Twitter encourages users to actively participate in online discussions far more than face-to-face discussions (Rankin, 2009). Subsequently, the 11 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 usefulness of Twitter successfully helps information professionals form Socratic circles (The Unquiet Librarian, 2014). However, this study highlights that information flows initiate research networks and the nature of microblogging – freely available, easy to use, and having accessibility to information – has a significant influence on its use by IT professionals more often for professional networking purposes. Participant 3 described this situation as follows: “I find that I create online connections with individuals first normally because I follow their work or we share a common interest. Then, as happened today, sometimes they are physically, geographically located close by and you can make that faceto-face connection. So, in a way, it’s almost turned itself on its head because I actively seek those online connections and create that relationship. Then, when possible, you have that physical face-to-face connection as well, whereas in the past you only had face-to-face connection. I’m finding the good thing with this is that you can create a profile and an understanding of individuals online and then use that as information as to whether you want to also talk to this person face-to-face and continue to develop that relationship with that network. That’s powerful.” (P3) In short, microblogging is a tool that is comparatively adaptable enabling IT professionals to modify the tool by which to meet their information needs by “modifying Twitter API to integrate my Twitter feeds with my database.” (P11) Accordingly, the participant is able to refer back to their tweets for references to be used for his/her work. Twitter also allows the participant to create their own communities of practice and to share their knowledge. As one participant stated: “I’m doing my Masters in Information Security and at the same time I’m working in the computer security industry. So, I create two communities in my Twitter that I can channel all conversations or discussions. [...] I use Twitter to share something related with my work or something that is within my interest, [which] like computer security related stuff.” (P6) This can be attributed to Twitter providing a sense of place and a sense of belonging that enables IT professionals “to keep in-touch with experts around the globe” (P6) and “to keep them up-to-date with news.” (P2) It also facilitates obtaining research opportunities (such as research grants, research data, or scholarships) in their research areas. As Participant 10 pointed out in the interview, “It’s really helping in that sense to both, you know, advertise my research and get access to researchers more effectively. You also get to know about [research] data available and, if some-body is tweeting about the data, I decide that ‘I’ll have a look at it.’ (P10) IT professionals also tend to treat their connections on microblogging sites like a real-life relationship despite being busy with work. As Participant 7 said in the interview: “I used to be really constantly connected and I probably will be when I finish writing my thesis as well. It’s kind of harder to tweet all day when you’re writing but, yeah, it’s like I have real relationships in there and I have to maintain those relationships.” (P7) 12 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 This study discovered that knowledge sharing happens in real time much easier than with physical knowledge sharing and has the ability to reach wider audiences. This is evident in the current research, as shown in the following description by Participant 10: “I think [Twitter] is becoming more useful in disseminating my research. But it has also be-come more useful in finding opportunities, because people are promoting their papers and especially, they’re promoting camera pre-print papers. So, supposing the notification for a conference comes today, people will tweet about it. They put in the title and you read it and say ‘Sure, that’s interesting’. Then you ping them and say ‘Can you give me the paper?’ Instead, if you didn’t have Twitter, you would only have found it out when you were at the conference [physical location] or maybe a few days before when they put up the program.” (P10) Previously, knowledge sharing and research networking activities were limited to a certain number of researchers and restricted within four walls. Microblogging has transformed research networking from physical to online collaboration and from interdisciplinary to multidisciplinary research. The findings of this study not only show what microblogging sites such as Twitter can do for professional purposes, but also highlight that an information ground in a microblogging site is not about the information but rather the network itself. One of the participants pointed out that Twitter is such a powerful tool because it provides an informative place for networking, as follows: “It’ll tell me that you might also like to follow these two or three people as well. So that association I find really powerful because I often find that I didn’t realise that one person was connected to this individual and I often will also follow two or three other people at the same time. Instead of targeting one person, I might pick other people as well. It’s an interesting thing to me because of that social network of who is connected to whom. So, if I know that a certain person has published a paper or a certain article, I can see who else has received that tweet. Who else is interested perhaps in that person’s publications? I think that’s informative from a professional aspect.” (P3) This indicates that the network in Twitter is complex and rich subsequently helping the participant to create and establish his/her professional networking within Twitter. The findings highlight that Twitter is not intended simply for information sharing but involves the development of professional networks. Participant 3 also emphasised that the use of hashtags has influenced the ability to gain followers. “I’ve experienced the benefits of putting hashtags in tweets and getting more followers because of that.” (P3) This indicates that the Twitter environment is complex and the content is extremely rich, suggesting that sooner or later one of the followers will become a closed network. Participant 9 stated that he knows “very few of them and if I know them I’ve only met them through Twitter” (P9). This example demonstrates that Twitter can assist IT professionals to expand their professional connections. Participant 7 also emphasised that an expert she has followed is now becoming her colleague and that their collaboration actually started on Twitter. 13 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 “Some of the people I only know [initially] through social media. I have developed a relationship with them there [Twitter]. For example, before [Person A] came to work with us, about probably two years before that we started connecting on social media and we wrote papers together but we’d never actually met in person.” (P7) In summary, the findings of this study map well to the strong-weak ties framework (Granovetter, 1973) that has a significant impact on collaboration and knowledge sharing. In essence, the participants used microblogging sites to self-promote their expertise and extend their professional connections in their fields with experts worldwide. The weak-tie connection overshadows the strong-tie relationships on microblogging sites, as the participants engaged with experts and created mutual relationships with them. This phenomenon occurred when they stumbled upon information that led to mutual relationships with experts in their fields. The participants used Facebook more often to communicate and interact with their strong-tie connections. However, this current study does not investigate the participants’ engagement on Facebook. This study aims to understand the information behaviour and information experience of IT professionals on microblogging sites only, with a particular focus on Twitter. V. Discussion The study yielded some interesting results, namely, that over time, IT professionals’ perceptions of Twitter significantly change the way in which they use this forum. The use of Twitter is not limited to information sharing but has also evolved to formation of human networks. The connection the IT professional has started on Twitter remains intact and the relationship is continued in physical information grounds and also endures in a closed network platform. Information grounds in microblogs overcome the restrictions that traditional information grounds encounter. First, limited access to geo-location has a significant impact on the smoothness of information sharing in physical-based information grounds. Second, the restriction on the number of people who can gain access to information influences the success and effectiveness of communities of practice in mobile-based social networking. In contrast, information on Twitter lasts longer and there is no limitation on the number of people who can access the information and communities of practice as well as there being no restriction due to geographical barriers. While the availability of and accessibility to information and people are not a constraint of an information ground in Twitter, the privacy and confidentiality issues have a significant impact on the IT professionals’ establishment of communities of practice. Twitter provides a sense of place and a sense of belonging that enables IT professionals to access both physical and online information grounds. This is consistent with the findings of the existing study as stated by Counts and Fisher (2010), that Twitter is perceived as an information ground in microblogging, where IT professionals engage with information and subsequently establish human networks. The IT professionals in the present study reported that they did not feel any obligation to be present on Twitter all the time. They can go to Twitter and commit to their collaborative works there at any time, at the same time having a mutual agreement with their collaborators. The social interaction that occurs in an online information ground 14 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 is a key to the successful creation of communities of practice. Information sharing is no longer the main priority for IT professionals; rather, they use Twitter to keep up-to-date on information and experts from around the world. The important thing for them is be present online and to be acknowledged as an expert in their respective areas. IT professionals tend to use Twitter as a tool to develop and establish their professional connections where information simply plays the role of a catalyst. In other words, the information flow is simply facilitating the interaction between IT professionals and, at the same time, helping them to expand their networks and facilitate communities of practice of their own. Twitter is more about creating connections with others who may not be real friends (Miners, 2010). Previously, casual communication and information sharing were the main activities on Twitter (Huberman, Romero, & Wu, 2009). However, the current study highlights that this perspective has changed in that IT professionals now use Twitter more for professional networking rather than merely for information sharing. IT professionals access Twitter to keep in touch with colleagues and also for professional development rather than simply to gather or share information. This finding is consistent with traditional information grounds where people go to carry out everyday activities such as eating and having their hair cut (Karen Fisher et al., 2004), but ultimately result in seeking and sharing information because its public spaces (and physical) provide social settings. Twitter enables IT professionals to engage and communicate with experts around the world, thereby making it a powerful tool for professional networking (Power, 2015). This study revealed that IT professionals utilise Twitter to establish their networks because they value the information from experts and want to be acknowledged as experts in their areas. Moreover, IT professionals are quite particular concerning the way they represent themselves in online spaces. Hence, this significantly influences the way they use Twitter for professional purposes. They can ensure the information they share is validated and they also learn and gain insights on Twitter from experts in their fields. The information acts as a trigger in creating human networks in microblogging because the acts of encountering and sharing information are more likely to help them to unexpectedly result in contact with experts. This scenario occurs due to the complexity of the networks, with the information that has been shared on Twitter reaching wider audiences. This serendipity of information sharing is consistent with Erdelez (1999) who suggested that this feature often occurs when people encounter information and share information. People often find information unexpectedly as they engage in other activities, with some of it being “information they did not know they needed until they heard or read it” (Williamson, 1998, p. 24). This study aids theoretical understanding of the incidental information acquisition that is not restricted to discovery of new information but rather, involves serendipitous human networks on Twitter. The findings also point to the validity of an information behaviour framework called the information grounds theory (Pettigrew, 1998), which posits that a space becomes conducive to rich information exchange wherever people, place, and information meet and where information is generated dynamically and also in a serendipitous manner. This coming together of an information ground and the serendipity of information exchanges are evident within Twitter. But more importantly, this serendipity is not simply concerned with information. It is about making connections with experts in their field whose tweets happen to appear in their feeds, or more excitingly, when an expert re-tweets something that one has previously posted. 15 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 Re-tweeting is a form of conversation in Twitter that has transformed the way in which people communicate in online spaces. The information that has been re-tweeted can trigger significant social interactions with weak-tie connections. Weak-tie users are qualitatively different to strong-tie users within the online network, and privacy is virtually non-existent for the weak-tie users (Skågeby, 2012). Weak-ties are more useful sources of new information because individuals with strong-ties usually possess the same information. Pan and Saramaki (2012) argue that strong-ties are important by which to connect and enhance the information flow across scientific collaboration networks within a closed network. Although strong-ties have a significant impact on collaboration, this study investigated IT professionals’ information behaviour in the context of Twitter only. The significant difference is that those strong-tie users considered their online social networks to be as ‘real’ and interactive as their offline interactions, where their networks are carefully selected. IT professionals engage more with weak-tie than strongtie connections on Twitter as they use Twitter heavily for professional purposes rather than for personal usage. This study highlighted the way in which the complexity of the networks has subsequently helped IT professionals expand their professional networks. The act of following experts on Twitter will be fruitful sooner or later since the more IT professionals share information related to his/her expertise, the higher will be the chances of being noticed or acknowledged as an expert on Twitter. This scenario shows that Twitter is a seemingly valuable microblogging application for professional networking. IT professionals also tend to establish their professional networks by authenticating the experts who they unexpectedly discover on Twitter. This is usually performed by a background check via Google search engine and LinkedIn before following them. In short, the findings from this study have the potential to inform our understanding of microblogging in various ways. It provides a foundational understanding of the ways in which microblogging can be used for professional purposes. Not only does this understanding help researchers, but can also assist IT professionals who are not yet using social media. The findings can help organisations understand and provide for this emerging channel of professional information sharing for its staff and its stakeholders. VI. Conclusion Twitter provides a ‘place’ where IT professionals can engage and communicate with experts around the world. It also creates virtual information grounds, which have a more significant impact on users than do physical information grounds. Previously, information grounds focusing on information exchange and currency of information were the key; they had a significant focus on serendipitous discovery of information, and information sharing was the main activity. On Twitter though, the focus is not merely on information, but also about the network itself. This is because information on Twitter simply acts as a catalyst that triggers the formation of human networks. However, the human networks created on Twitter are broader and less 16 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 strong compared to that of other collaborative platforms that are more private; for instance, Facebook. The findings of this research establish that IT professionals are concerned with their online image in order to avoid personal reputation damage, and this has influenced the way in which they use Twitter. This finding maps well to Goffman’s theory of representation of self in everyday life (Goffman, 1971) wherein IT professionals present themselves online on Twitter in order to be acknowledged in their fields and project their self-image using text-based communication in a computer-mediated environment. As a result, IT professionals carefully choose what information they share and are selective when connecting with people. To adopt a new technology for a traditional function is a challenging concept for any professional. However, Twitter is an adaptable tool and it enables users to repurpose or modify the tool in order to meet their needs (Straumsheim, 2014). Twitter is also easy to use, as it does not take too long for the users to understand how Twitter works as a back channel for the Socratic circle (Rankin, 2009). Miners (2010) proposed that organisations should use services like Twitter, blogs, or E-mail newsletters for better service delivery. This research highlights that Twitter is also more useful for the purpose of building networks in the professional world compared to other social networking sites, since Twitter is more concerned with creating connections with others who may not be real friends. These findings offered a foundational understanding of the ways in which microblogging is used for professional purposes. Not only does this understanding assist researchers, but it also helps IT professionals who are not using social media. It also could help organisations understand and use this emerging channel of professional information by sharing issues over social media with its staffs and its stakeholders. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Majlis Amanah Rakyat, Malaysia (MARA) for sponsoring my PhD research at QUT, Brisbane, Australia. I also would like to convey my sincere thanks to my supervisors – Dr. Bhuva Narayan, Dr. Jason Watson, and Prof. Sylvia L. Edwards for their support and the encouragement that they have given to me to achieve success in both my personal and professional life. References Al-Hadidi, Gehad Subhi. (2011). The audience and the advertiser: measuring the impact of social media in Lebanon. https://scholarworks.aub.edu.lb/handle/10938/8709 Bruns, A., & Bahnisch, M. (2009). Social media: Tools for user-generated content: Social drivers behind growing consumer participation in user-led content generation. 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Library and Information Science Research, 20(1), 23-40. Williamson, K., & Roberts, J. (2010). Developing and sustaining a sense of place: The role of social information Library & Information Science Research, 32, 281-287. 20 MARA Innovation Journal ISSN : 2289-2818, Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 www.uni.mara.gov.my COMPARISON OF ORTHOSIPHON STAMINEUS LEAF FROM DIFFERENT ORIGINS BY USING CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS AND CHEMOMETRICS – ASSISTED INTERPRETATION OF FTIR SPECTRA Nur Farah Amalina Mughni1, Fatin Fathiah Yusop1, Zhari Ismail1 1School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia amalina@kktmlenggong.edu.my Abstract A flavonoid compound was isolated from the leaf water extract of Orthosiphon stamineus. The compound was characterized as 5-hydroxy-6,7,3’,4’-tetrametoxyflavone by using ultraviolet, infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies. The plant chemical profiles of methanolic leaf extracts from 10 different locations were determined qualitatively by using IR spectroscopic, high performance liquid chromatography and high performance thin layer chromatography analysis. The marker compounds rosmarinic acid, sinensetin, eupatorin and 5-hydroxy-6,7,3’,4’-tetrametoxyflavone were analyzed quantitatively by using HPLC and the content were in the range between 2.12% - 14.01%, 0.25% - 1.04%, 0.23% - 1.00% and 0.17% - 0.6%, respectively. The principal component analysis (PCA) was done as a tool for extracting relevant chemical information from the obtained infrared data. The result showed the samples were separated in different regions in PCA plot due to the significant difference in the concentration of markers compounds between extracts from different locations. Keywords: Orthosiphon stamineus, 5-hydroxy-6,7,3’,4’-tetramethoxyflavone, High performance liquid chromatography, High performance thin layer chromatography, Principle component analysis 20 MARA Innovation Journal 1. Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 Introduction Orthosiphon stamineus Benth. is locally known as Misai kucing. All part of this plant contributes to therapeutic properties. The leaf is believed to contain antioxidant activity (Akowuah et al., 2005; Khamsah et al.,2006), anti-inflammatory activity (Masuda et al.,1992; Yam et al., 2008) and diuretic activity (Arafat et al., 2008). Flavanoids are a diverse group of phytochemicals which produced by various plants in high quantities. More than 800 compounds of flavonoid structure have been identified (Hossain and Ismail, 2003). The large number of compounds ascends from many combinations of multiple hydroxyl and methoxyl groups substituting the basic flavonoids skeleton (Hossain et al., 2008) Chemometrics is the field of extracting information from multivariate chemical data using statistics and mathematics tools and is a growing field with pertinent applications in analytical chemistry. Chemometrics study and model data gained from complex chemical systems, improve the accuracy of current data interpretation methods, and provide an easier and more efficient way to perform the vast calculations that results from the analyses of large data sets. An unsupervised pattern recognition technique such as Principle Components Analysis (PCA) is the most often used method for handling multivariate data without prior knowledge about the studied samples (Miller, 2000). This study proved the potential relationship between the complex chemical constituents and geographical origin of the samples. The study also aimed to extend the used of FTIR spectroscopy combined with the appropriate chemometric methods (PCA) to classify Orthosiphon stamineus Benth. based on its geographical origin from the obtained characteristic infrared spectrum. 2. Methods 2.1 Plant Materials The raw material of Orthosiphon stamineus leaf were collected from Pulau Pinang (KBPP), Perak (CJPK), Johor (DSJM), Melaka (SUMM), Terengganu (SKTM), Selangor (HLSM), Kelantan (PPKM), Perak (TPPM), Negeri Sembilan (PNSM) and Negeri Sembilan (SNSM). The leaf was collected in September 2012. 2.2 Extraction and isolation For preparation of water extract, the dried powdered leaf (800g) of Orthosiphon stamineus was extracted by reflux with distilled water for 8 hrs. The filtrate was evaporated to yield 20g residue. The water extract was partitioned into a chloroform and water mixture (1:1). The chloroform phase was evaporated to yield 1.9g chloroform extract and the aqueous phase yielded 18.1g of water extract. The dried chloroform extract was subjected to column chromatography using hexane and increasing proportions of ethyl acetate as eluents. Fractions of 25 mL were collected, and those displaying similar R f values on thin layer chromatograpgy were pooled. Fraction eluted from 21 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 hexane and ethyl acetate (6:4) were again subjected to column chromatography using chloroform and hexane (6:4) to yield a yellow powder, 6 mg (compound F1). The structure of F1 was characterized and elucidated by UV, IR and NMR spectra and confirmed by the comparison of its spectra data with those reported previously1 (Okuno and Miyazawa, 2004; Hossain and Rahman, 2011). 2.3 Chemical profiling 2.3.1 Chromatographic condition The HPLC analysis was carried out according to the method described by Siddiqui and Zhari (2011). The HPTLC analysis was carried out on HPTLC plates (10 x 20 cm) silica gel 60 F 254 (Merck). The test extracts (5µL) were applied to HPTLC plates. Solvent mixture of chloroform: ethyl acetate (7:3 v/v) was used to develop test spotted methanol extract of Orthosiphon stamineus for different locations. 2.4 Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy The extracts were analyzed by single-bounce Attenuated Total Reflection FT-IR (ATR-FT-IT) scan technique. The extracts (3mg) were placed directly onto the diamond crystal for data acquisition. Samples data were recorded in the Mid IR range of 4000-650 cm-1. 2.5 Data Preprocessing and Chemometric Data Analysis (Principle Component Analysis, PCA) Prior to data analysis, each spectrum was baseline corrected and the absorbance was normalized so that peak absorbance of the most intense band is set to unity. The spectra were transferred into statistical software program The Unscrambler®10.0. 3. Results and Discussions Compound F1: Yellowish powder, m.p. 195oC; Key 1H NMR (CDCl 3 ) ppm: δ 3.93 (s, H-6), 3.97 (s, H-4’), 3.98 (s, H-7), 3.99 (s, H-5’), 6.60 (s, H-3), 6.55 (s, H-8), 7.53 (dd, J1=2, J2=8.5 Hz, H-6’), 6.98 (d,J-8.5 Hz, H-5’), 7.34 (d,J=2Hz, H-2’), 12.76 (OH). Key 13C-NMR (CDCl 3 ) ppm: δ 163.98 (C-2), 106.19 (C-3), 182.62 (C-4), 152.34 (C-5), 149.39 (C-6), 158.76 (C-7), 90.61 (C8), 153.24 (C-9), 111.21 (C-10), 123.84 (C-1’), 108.86 (C-2’), 149.6 (C-3’), 153.11 (C-4’), 109 (C-5’), 120.09 (C’6), 60.87 (C-6), 56.34 (C-7), 56.13 (C-3’) and 56.16 (C-4’). From all the above date together with literature comparison, compound F1 was unambiguously assigned as 5hydroxy-6,7,3’,4’-tetramethoxyflavone (Figure 1). The presence of marker compounds in methanolic leaf extracts of Orthosiphon stamineus were confirmed by the HPTLC analysis. Methanolic extracts from different origin were analyzed for the presence of spots of the same colour and the same R f values as the marker compounds. Figure 2A & Figure 2B showed sinensetin can be seen under UV 254nm and UV 366nm while 22 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 compound F1 can be seen under UV 254nm. . The presentation of HPTLC spectrum in 3-D at 330nm (Fig. 2C) further enhanced the visualization of the standards location in the extracts. HPLC analysis was carried out to determine the concentration of selected marker compounds in the leaf of Orthosiphon stamineus from different locations in Malaysia. Polyphenols are the main components present in the leaf extracts of O. stamineus. In the present study, two methoxylated flavones: sinensetin (SIN) and eupatorin (EUP) and a caffeic acid derivative: rosmarinic acid (RA) were used as the marker compounds. The identification of the main polyphenols was performed by the comparison of retention times with the reference standards (Figure 3). The order of elution is based on the compounds polarity which the most polar compound will elute first before the less polar compounds on the non-polar stationary phase. The chromatograms showed a good separation of the main components. O. stamineus leaf extracts showed a wide range in the concentrations of the marker compounds in the samples from the different locations. The concentration of RA was in the range from 5.76% to 14.61% of total dry leaf weight. Concentrations of SIN, EUP and compound F1 ranged from 0.34% to 1.04%, 0.29% to 1.00% and 0.17% - 0.6%, respectively. The variation obtained may be ascribed to environmental factors and variation in sample sourcing. The chemical composition of the leaf could be affected by the soil, fertility levels, climatic effect and the age of the plants. Comparison of spectra was conducted using infrared (IR) spectroscopy because it is a simple and rapid instrumental technique that can provide evidence for the presence of various functional groups. In this study, IR was used to comparing spectrum with the other IR spectrum of the same plant but in different locations due to the fingerprint features as a fingerprint rule is distinguishing different substances, as no molecules can have the same absorption unless they are identical (Akowuah et al., 2005; Khamsah et al., 2006). The hydroxyl groups of phenols are identified and it can be proved in IR spectra by their broad band O-H stretching absorption at 3200-3500 cm-1 region. The presence of sharp peak at 2925 cm-1 and narrow peak at 2853 cm-1 indicates the presence of aliphatic hydrocarbon (C-H) and methoxy compound (C-H). Aromatic hydrocarbons showed absorptions in the regions of 1634-1500 cm1 . The sharp absorption was detected and was assigned as C=O, which is known as carbonyl group is one of important group that give a prominent absorption peak in IR spectra. The presence of carboxylic C-O band of triterpenoids and phenolic acid constituents were effected a strong band at 1400 cm-1. The similarities of certain main chemical components observed among all samples from different location of Orthosiphon stamineus leaf. However, the intensity of the peaks absorption at certain wavelength between the spectra did differ from each other which were not visible to the naked eyes. So, incorporating appropriate chemometric method is needed for the aid of interpreting the obtained measurement results from spectroscopic analysis. Hence, Principle Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out as tools for extracting relevant chemical information from the obtained infrared data. PCA was applied in this study to identify the similarities and differences between sample spectra and therefore to view the interrelationship among the locations and to detect and interpret sample patterns and groupings (classification). Principle Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out using 10 data with six replicates of each in the range of the selected spectral region 4000-650cm-1. Natural grouping of O. stamineus from ten different locations (ten samples) were visualized in the two-dimensional scores plot as Figure 4. The most commonly used plot in PCA is the score plot for PC1 versus PC2 since these are the two directions along 23 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 which the data swarm exhibits the largest and the second largest variances. Figure 4 shows the scatter plot of the standardized frequency data in two dimensions two dimensional score plot defined by PC1 and PC2 and shows a good separation of the samples between different regions. PC1 explains 80% of the original variance while PC2 explains 14%. This shows that PC1 and PC2 together describe 94% of the total variation. Each number in the PCA scores plot stands for a particular sample from different locations. Four groups (I, II, III and IV) of spectra were clearly separated from negatives to positives values of the first score PC1. The loading plot indicated the corresponding possible variables that differentiated each group. The loading plot indicated the corresponding possible variables that differentiated each group. The samples with relative high IR intensity at ~1600 cm -1, which was due to the carbonyl group (C=O) and also indicated high concentration of marker compound content (eupatorin and sinensetin), were clustered into group 1V (Figure 4). In contrast, Group III and Group I showed the lowest IR intensity at ~1600 cm -1 and also indicated low concentration of sinensetin and eupatorin content in the samples respectively. The results indicate that the plant materials of four groups were metabolically different from each other. It is a fact that metabolic content of the plants are influenced by a number of factors like environmental variations. The variations in these conditions lead to the inconsistency in efficacy, a main problem associated with natural products. By controlling these factors, industry can produce standardized products. 4. Conclusion The compound isolated from the water extract of Orthosiphon stamineus leaf was determined as 5-hydroxyl-6,7,3’,4’-tetramethoxyflavone. A characteristics plant fingerprinting for all analysis indicates the same identity for all methanol extracts of Orthosiphon stamineus leaf from different geographical locations. This study revealed that the superimposed chromatograms and spectrum of all samples were almost qualitatively identical. Acknowledgement The author is grateful to University Sains Malaysia, especially School of Pharmacy for providing facilities. The author is also grateful to MARA for providing a scholarship. 24 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 Refferences Akowuah, G., Ismail, Z., Norhayati, I., Sadikun, A. (2005). The effects of different extraction solvents of varying polarities on polyphenols of Orthosiphon stamineus and evaluation of the free radical-scavenging activity. Food Chemistry, 93(2), 311-317. Arafat, O., Tham, S., Sadikun, A., Zhari, I., Haughton, P., Asmawi, M. (2008). Studies on diuretic and hypouricemic effects of Orthosiphon stamineus methanol extracts in rats. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 118(3), 354-360. Hossain, M., Ismail, Z. (2003). Hydroxy betulinic acid from the leaves of Orthosiphon stamineus. ACGC Chemical Research Communications, 16, 69-73. Hossain, M. A., Ismail, Z., Rahman, A., Kang, S. C. (2008). Chemical composition and antifungal properties of the essential oils and crude extracts of Orthosiphon stamineus Benth. Industrial crops and Products, 27(3), 328-334. Hossain, M. A., Mizanur Rahman, S. (2011). Isolation and characterisation of flavonoids from the leaves of medicinal plant Orthosiphon stamineus. Arabian Journal of Chemistry. Khamsah, S., Akowah, G., Zhari, I. (2006). Antioxidant activity and phenolic content of Orthosiphon stamineus benth from different geographical origin. Journal of Sustainability Science and Management, 1(2), 14-20. Masuda, T., Masuda, K., Shiragami, S., Jitoe, A., Nakatani, N. (1992). Orthosiphol A and B, novel diterpenoid inhibitors of TPA (12- O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate)-induced inflammation, from Orthosiphon stamineus. Tetrahedron, 48(33), 6787-6792. Miller, C. E. (2000). Chemometrics for on‐line spectroscopy applications—theory and practice. Journal of Chemometrics, 14(5‐6), 513-528. Okuno, Y., Miyazawa, M. (2004). Biotransformation of sinesetin by the larvae of the common cutworm (Spodoptera litura). Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 27(8), 12891292. Siddiqui, M. J. A., Ismail, Z. (2011). Simultaneous Analysis of Bioactive Markers from Orthosiphon Stamineus Benth Leaves Extracts by Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 10(1). Yam, M. F., Asmawi, M. Z., & Basir, R. (2008). An investigation of the antiinflammatory and analgesic effects of Orthosiphon stamineus leaf extract. Journal of medicinal food, 11(2), 362-368. 25 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 FIGURE 1 26 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 FIGURE 2 27 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 FIGURE 3 28 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 FIGURE 4 29 MARA Innovation Journal ISSN : 2289-2818, Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 www.uni.mara.gov.my THE VIENNA CONVENTION ON CONTRACTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS 1980 (CISG) AND MALAYSIAN CONTRACT ACT 1950 (ACT 136): A COMPARISON ON THE FORMATION OF CONTRACT Ahmad Shahriman Ahamad Tekmezi Accounting Department, Kolej Profesional MARA Seri Iskandar ashahriman@kpmsi.edu.my Abstract This article intends to make a comparison between two legislations which are related to contract; CISG and Malaysian Contracts Act 1950. The main focus is on the formation of contract. Since Malaysia, as of today, does not ratify the CISG, this article will look at the similarities and differences between the two laws which is highlighted through two fundamental elements; offer and acceptance. Based on document analysis, the author found that there are slight differences between these laws as regards to both elements which will not significantly impact any parties to the contract, especially if contracting with another entity from CISG member states. In fact, it is good for Malaysia if it ratifies the CISG because most of the main principles of making a contract are the same. Keywords: CISG, Contracts Act, contracts formation, offer, acceptance I. INTRODUCTION Before the 21st century, since international laws, specifically international trade law were not developed, domestic national laws were applied in solving most legal issues in international trade at that time. The law of merchants or lex mercatoria were only emerged at the beginning of the 21st century, which governs cross border or international business transactions. One of the laws is the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods 1980 (CISG) which was signed in Vienna on 11th April 1980 by the United Nations and enforced on 1st January 1988. The CISG has marked a milestone in the development of the governing law of most export and import of goods transactions. Since globalization of trade is emphasized for cross border transaction, The CISG provides a modern, uniform and fair regime for contracts for the international sale of goods. As of 26th September 2014, there are 83 countries which have adopted the CISG (Kritzer, 2014). Most of them are the great trading countries of the world such as United States of America (USA), Russia, China and most of the European Union (EU) member states. Even 30 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 though United Kingdom (UK) is an active member of the EU, it does not, until now, ratify the law. Malaysia is one of the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1st January 1995. WTO acts as a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements; a place for them to settle trade disputes and operates a system of trade rules. However, as far as the CISG is concerned, Malaysia has never ratified the CISG. Since the British occupation, most Malaysian laws are based on the English law, one of them includes Malaysian Contract Act 1950 (Act 136), which in itself is a codification of English contract law concepts. It is not surprising to find judges, in reading a Malaysian case, refer to English law for precedents and case principles (Trakic, et al., 2014). Hence, it can be assumed that Malaysia will only ratify the CISG if the British do the same. However, Malaysia can rely on the CISG if it chooses to opt for the law in their cross-border commercial transaction by applying “choice-of-law” clause in the contract. CISG, which is characterized as lingua franca of international trade, eliminates legal barriers to cross border transactions (Sono, 2007). As this applies when both parties to the contract of sale have their places of business in different States that are both Contracting States (CISG) 1, only then the states will enjoy benefits of harmonization of contract law. If a company from any of the contracting states enters into a contract with a Malaysian company (Malaysia is not a member of CISG as of today), CISG cannot be applied because one of the parties has its place of business in non-contracting state. The purpose of this article is to highlight the similarities and differences between CISG and Malaysian Contract Act 1950 in the formation of contract so as Malaysian companies can anticipate the possible barriers and take appropriate action before entering into contract with contracting states’ companies. II. THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF CONTRACT FORMATION It is a clear statement in the CISG that: “A contract of sale need not to be concluded in or evidenced by writing and is not subject to any other requirements as to form. It may be proved by any means, including witnesses.” (CISG) 2 Based on the above-mentioned article, international sale of goods contract can be concluded in or evidenced by writing, oral and any other forms such as by conduct. It is not necessary for the parties involved in the transaction to put in writing for what have been agreed by them. The CISG was drafted to meet the want of the parties who wish to carry out their business without restrictions imposed by formalistic requirements. Hence, all documentations, correspondence or action in accordance with the contract can be admissible to prove a contract. The usage and practices of the parties are automatically incorporated into any agreement governed by the CISG, unless expressly excluded by the parties (Butler, 2007). For an international and cross-border transaction, a written document is very important. In fact, the reality is that formal documentation is a must in order to make a smooth transaction. It can avoid misunderstanding between the parties and reduce legal dispute. Even though the CISG 1 2 See Article 1(1)(a) See Article 11 31 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 does not make written agreement as compulsory in forming the agreement, all parties are ready to take into account the importance of having it in their transaction. In addition, if a state does not agree to the article, the state can choose not to be bound by the article and its content related to the article. For example, the People’s Republic of China declared not to be bound by the article when they ratified the CISG. It is because the Law of the People's Republic of China on Economic Contracts Involving Foreign Interest applicable in international trade requires contracts to be concluded in writing form, which was inconsistent with the Article 11 of the Convention. However, China promulgated the Contract Law, and abolished the Law of the People's Republic of China on Economic Contracts Involving Foreign Interest in 1999. The new applicable Contract Law does not requires contract forms. In other words, a contract can be concluded in any forms, which has been consistent with the content of Article 11 of the Convention. In consequence, the government of China has officially notified the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations to withdraw the declaration that "The People's Republic of China does not consider itself to be bound by article 11 as well as the provisions in the Convention relating to the content of article 11” concerning the CISG. The Malaysian Contract Act 1950 does not mention clearly the method of forming a contract. To support the statement, we can refer to the relevant section of the Act which states: “So far as the proposal or acceptance of any promise is made in words, the promise is said to be express. So far as the proposal or acceptance is made otherwise than in word, the promise is said to be implied” (Contracts Act 1950, 2014) 3 Unlike the CISG, this section tries to divide the form of contract into two, which are express and implied. Without doubt, by referring to the above section, we can say that the Act is similar to the CISG with regards to the forms of contract and its applicability. The Act does not make it compulsory for all parties to form a written agreement. The contract can also be made verbally and by conduct or performance of an act. In the case of any dispute between the parties, they can prove it by any means including the witnesses. It is important to note here that, despite not being a requirement, all the written documents will act as conclusive evidence in the court of law. We can refer to the case of Syed Jaafar bin Syed Ibrahim v Maju Mehar Singh Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd 4. In this case, Plaintiff entered into an oral agreement with the defendant’s Managing Director that he would provide the passengers and the defendant would provide tickets and visas. There were no documentary evidences to prove their transaction because the offer as well as the acceptance have been made verbally. The contract was held as a valid contract, despite the agreement was made verbally, by the High Court Judge, Kamalanathan Ratnam, J. and both parties were bound by the contract. 3 4 Section 9 See Syed Jaafar bin Syed Ibrahim v Maju Mehar Singh Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd [1999] 4 MLJ 413 32 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 Formation of Contract According to Treitel, 5 a contract is an agreement giving rise to obligations which are enforced or recognized by the law. The factor which distinguishes contractual obligation from other legal obligations is that they are based on the agreement of the contracting parties. In order to form a contract, all the parties involved must agree to the contents, terms, conditions and every related matter that are important for their transaction. They should have the same understanding and intention in the first place before concluding the contract. After a contract is formed, no party cannot deny the rights, duties, responsibilities and liabilities which have been set up in the contract. Normally, a lawful contract will act as a primary source of law in case of any dispute between the parties. To form a valid contract, there are a few elements that need to be fulfilled. As far as the CISG is concerned, it adopts the traditional theory, using “offer” and “acceptance” as the elements that are important in forming a contract. To make it detail, the Contract Act 1950 states other elements such as “consideration”, “capacity” and “consent of parties”. For the purpose of this article, only two fundamental elements are highlighted, which are “offer” and “acceptance”. III. OFFER In forming a contract, there is no doubt that, offer is always and must be the first element to be fulfilled by any party involved in the transaction. An attractive offer will influence another party to accept it before a valid contract between the parties is formed. It is obvious that the word “offer” and “proposal” are being used interchangeably to bring the same meaning and impact. Instead of using “offer”, the Contract Act prefers to use “proposal” which could have a wider meaning as compared to “offer” (Adnan Trakic, 2012). Definition of offer Basically, an offer is made by the offeror to the offeree. It can be defined as an expression of willingness to contract on certain terms, made by the offeror with the intention that it shall become binding as soon as it is accepted by the person to whom it is addressed, which is the offeree. The CISG states that, “a proposal for concluding a contract addressed to one or more specific persons constitute an offer, if it is sufficiently definite and indicates of the intention of the offeror to be bound in the case of acceptance”. 6 On the other hand, the Contract Act 1950 explains offer as “when one person signifies to another his willingness to do or to abstain from doing anything, with a view to obtaining the assent of that other to the act or abstinence, he is said to make a proposal”. 7 5 Sir Guenter Heinz Treitel, QC, MA, DCL, FBA, is a German-born English academic and retired Vinerian Professor of English Law. Article 14 (1) 7 Section 2 (a) 6 33 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 We will compare the formation of contract under both the CISG and the Contract Act 1950 by looking at the three basic criteria that has been set up in the definition under Article 14 (1) of the CISG and Section 2 (a) of the Contract Act 1950. a) Addressed to one or more specific person In order to convert a statement into an offer, it must be communicated to the specific offeree. An offeror can make a statement to a public at large but it will not be considered as a valid offer. For example, the offer can be made to the public by displaying goods with prices, advertisement or make a public offer. In the same article, it further states that, “a proposal other than one addressed to one or more specific persons is to be considered merely as an invitation to make offers” (CISG) 8. The offeror tries to invite other people to come and make an offer to buy, instead of making an offer to sell. In this point, the CISG and the Contract Act have, again, a similar approach. Even though Section 2 (a) of the Contract Act does not mention the word “specific person”, the wording “with a view to obtaining the assent of that other” indicates that the need to convey the offer to specific person. The offeror will be hopeful of getting the agreement of the other person only if the other is known to the offeror. Imagine that an offer is made to the public at large, such as an advertisement in a newspaper; we do not know with whom we will deal in future. Furthermore, not all people reading the advertisement are ready to make an arrangement for the transaction. Legally speaking, invitation to make offers is not a valid offer as what had been decided in the case of Fischer v. Bell 9. In this case, the defendant was charged with offering for a sale of flick-knife in his shop window which was contrary to the law. The court held that, the display of goods in a shop window is an invitation to make offers, and not an offer to sell. However, there are certain states which recognize that an offer made to public is a valid offer. For example, in Turkey, one of the states which had ratified the CISG, the Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO) mentions that, “the display of goods with price quotation is considered as an offer”10. Of course, it will bring a great impact as to the formation of contract especially when the other party wants to accept the offer (Zorlu, 2011). This can be illustrated in the leading French case of Deme Dehen’s exploding lemonade bottle 11. A bottle of lemonade exploded at the cashier counter before it was paid. The court ruled that, the sale was complete when the customer, having chosen from the shelf an article offered for sale at a posted price when he accepted, placeed it in the basket which was provided and which was bound to be used until the goods were checked out at the cash-desk (Offers and Acceptance in shops , 2010). If the judges were to decide the case according to the CISG, it would never have been a contract since display of goods was a mere invitation to make an offer. The customer was the one who would pick up the goods and make an offer to buy. Here, we can say that, a proposal may be an offer under the CISG as well as the Malaysia Contract Act only if it is addressed to one or more specific persons. While, an offer made to 8 Article 14 (2) 9 [1961] 1 QB 394 CA 10 11 Article 7 (3) of the Turkish Code of Obligation (TCO) Deme Dehen v. Soc. des Eaux de Vittel (1961) et Cass. Civ. (1) 34 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 public at large cannot be considered as a valid offer, but only as an invitation to make an offer. Accepting the invitation to make an offer will not bring any legal impacts as to the formation of contract (Md Abdul Jalil, 2011). For this reason, no contract is formed under both the CISG and the Contract Act 1950. b) Sufficiently definite Instead of addressing the offer to one or more specific persons, the offer made by the offeror must be definite. For an offer to be considered definite, a reasonable person must be capable of readily understand the terms. In determining whether the terms are definite, we need to review the clarity which has been stated in Article 14 (1) (CISG), “a proposal is sufficiently definite if it indicates the goods and expressly or implicitly fixes or makes provision for determining the quantity and the price”. As a rule, under the sale contract, determining the price and the quantity of the goods which are related to the transaction is always considered as an essential terms to make a real offer. In contrast to the CISG, the Contract Act does not mention and identify clearly the essential terms of the contract. However, we can say that, impliedly both terms are stated under the other element, which is consideration. In the Contract Act, it states that, “when at the desire of the promisor, the promisee or any other person has done or abstained from doing, or does or abstains from doing, or promises to do or to abstain from doing something, such act or abstinence or promise is called a consideration” (Contracts Act 1950, 2014) 12. In short, consideration is something given, promised or done in exchange of something else. The offeree or the promisee must give something in return for the promise made by the offeror or the promisor. The exchange of the promises must have some value in the eyes of the law which includes the price paid for the certain goods or services. For example, John promises Michael RM50 if Michael agrees to sell his book to John. If Michael agrees and sells the book, John is contractually bound to pay Michael RM50. Therefore, John’s promise is enforceable because it has been ‘bought’ for a ‘price’ required by him. Based on Article 14 of the CISG, a contract cannot be concluded if the price is undeterminable. It shows that the indication of the price is very important which acts as an essential terms of the offer, before a contract can be formed. To illustrate this, we can refer to the case of Malev Hungarian Airlines case 13. The seller, an American manufacturer of aircraft engines, further to extensive negotiations with the buyer, a Hungarian manufacturer of Tupolev aircraft, made two alternative offers of different types of aircraft engines without quoting an exact price. The buyer chose the type of engine from the ones offered and placed an order. At issue was whether a valid contract was concluded. The court of first instance held that a valid contract had been concluded on the ground that the offer indicated the goods and made provision for determining the quantity and the price. 12 Section 2(d) United Technologies International Inc. Pratt and Whitney Commercial Engine Business v. Magyar Légi Közlekedési Vállalat (Málev Hungarian Airlines), 13 Journal of Law & Commerce (1993) 31-47 Available at http://cisgw3.law.pace.edu/cases/920925h1.html 13 35 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 The Supreme Court found that the offer and the acceptance were vague and, as such, ineffective since they failed to explicitly or implicitly fix or make provision for determining the price of the engines ordered (Article 14(1) of the CISG). The Supreme Court considered that the acceptance was a mere expression of the intentions of the buyer to conclude a contract for the purchase of the engines chosen and, as such, the acceptance could not operate as a counter-offer. The Supreme Court therefore overturned the decision of the first instance and held that there was no valid contract concluded (László Szlávnits, 2007). In short, the offer made was not sufficiently definite because there were no market prices for the aircraft engines. The main issue to be questioned here is how the price is fixed. Definitely, the Contract Act is silent on the determination of the price. We can only presumed it impliedly exists by referring to the other element, which is consideration. If the parties do not fix the price, there are no provisions in the Act which determine the price of the goods. However, in the CISG, it provides a guideline in determining the price of the goods. According to Article 55, “the price generally charged at the time of the conclusion of the contract for such goods sold under comparable circumstances in the trade concerned”. (CISG) 14 According to Professor Honnold 15, these two Articles (Article 14 and 55 of the CISG) should be read together as the latter provides a gap-filling reference to the price. Incidentally, it is parallel with the aims of the CISG which intend to unify the rules and provide quickest and safest trade for the international sale of goods. Based on the above, in order to make a real offer, it must be sufficiently definite. The CISG expressly mentions this requirement by referring to Article 14 and 55. Even though in Malaysia Contract Act does not have specific provision which clearly touch on this, we can imply Section 2 (d) of the Act to show this requirement exists. c) Indication of intent to be bound. In order to form a valid contract, an offer must be made with a real intention of the offeror to be bound in case of acceptance made by the offeree. Once the proposal constitutes an offer, the offeror must be ready to fulfil his duties and responsibilities that have been set up if the offeree agrees to that offer. Sometimes, the offeror is not serious about his offer. For example, making a joke, mere statement of intention or mere supply of information. In these circumstances, it would not be construed as an offer and it would be as an invitation to make an offer. It is related with the state of mind of the offeror and of course, it is subjective in nature. Due to that, it often cannot be fully ascertained as we cannot read and will never know the state of the mind of the others. It can only be determined by the interpretation of the parties’ intention. Under this, both the Contract Act and the CISG have similar provision regarding this subject. The offer must be made with real intention of the offeror. 14 Article 55 From the years 1969-1975, Professor Honnold was Chief of the United Nations Trade Law Branch, in charge of legal work for the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). 15 36 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 Communication of offer An offer must be communicated from the offeror to the offeree. Even though the previous article states that an offer needs to be addressed to a specific person, the person is not necessarily be the offeree. Therefore, once the offeror made the proposal, the offer only exists if it comes to the knowledge of the offeree. The offer is only effective if it reaches the offeree (CISG) 16. This article is similar to what has been stated in the Contract Act, the communication of a proposal is complete when it comes to the knowledge to whom it is made (Contracts Act 1950, 2014) 17. If the offeror uses a third party to convey his proposal, or uses post as a medium of communication, the offer only exists when the offeree receives or has the knowledge about the offer. Withdrawal, Revocation and Termination of Offer The CISG provides that the offeror can withdraw the offer made if the withdrawal reaches the offeree before or at the same time as the offer (CISG) 18. As the offer has not yet in existence, it can be withdrawn even if it is irrevocable. In another article, the CISG states that the offeror can revoke the offer after such offer has been received by the offeree as long as the revocation made before the offeree dispatches his acceptance (CISG) 19. Here, there are two different words which bring different meanings; “withdrawal” in Article 15 (2) and “revocation” in Article 16 (1). Basically, both withdrawal and revocation refer to the act of taking back the offer by the offeror such that it can no longer be accepted by the offeree (Morrisey & Graves, 2008). If we read both articles carefully, the major difference between them lies in timing. As for withdrawal, it can only be done before the offer is effective because no expectations have been created in the offeree. So, the act of withdrawing at this stage will bring no harm towards both parties. By contrast, revocation can be made even after the offeree receives the offer made by the offeror with condition that the acceptance has never been made. In other words, an offeror can revoke the offer before the offeree dispatches his acceptance. Despite the difference, both withdrawal and revocation will bring the same result which the offeree can no longer accept the offer. Due to the types of offer set up by the CISG, which are revocable and irrevocable, the withdrawal is applied in the case of irrevocable offer, as long as the offeree has not received yet the offer. If we refer to another article in the CISG, an offer even if it is irrevocable, is terminated when rejection reaches the offeror (CISG) 20. Once the offer has been rejected, the offer is no longer in existence and the offeror is free to contract with someone else without fear. Even if the offeree changes his mind and makes an attempt to accept the offer, there is no contract between them because the offeree accepts something which is no longer in existence. In the Contracts Act, it is much simpler as the Act does not categorize the offer into revocable and irrevocable. An offer can be revoked at any time before the communication of acceptance is complete (Contracts Act 1950, 2014) 21. Even though the Act only uses the word “revocation” 16 Article 15 (1) Section 4 (1) 18 Article 15 (2) 19 Article 16 (1) 20 Article 17 21 Section 5 (1) 17 37 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 to show the act of taking back the offer, people always use the words “withdrawal”, “revocation” and “termination” interchangeably. It is presumed that all the three words bring the same meaning, unlike the CISG which are used in three different situations. Based on the Contract Act 22, the offer can be revoked by the notice of revocation or by lapse of time or reasonable time or failures of the acceptor to fulfil condition precedent to acceptance or by the death of the offeror but it must be in accordance with Section 5 which states that revocation must be made before the acceptance. However, there are no provisions in the CISG which discuss the matter. In such situations domestic law continues to govern the effects of such events if the parties choose to apply it. IV. ACCEPTANCE A contract is not formed until the offer is accepted by the offeree. The acceptance is the offeree’s manifestation of the intention to be bound to the terms of the offer (Schaffer, Agusti, & Earle, 2010). There is no difference between the CISG and the Contract Act as how they define acceptance. In the CISG, a statement made by or other conduct of the offeree indicating assent to an offer is an acceptance (CISG) 23. While the Contract Act states that “when a person to whom the proposal is made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted” (Contracts Act 1950, 2014) 24. Both indicate that approval or agreement of the offeree to the terms of the offer is considered as an acceptance. The assent by the offeree is very important before an acceptance is concluded. Communication of Acceptance Under the CISG, an acceptance can be made in the form of a statement, whether it is written or verbal, and by conduct of the offeree indicating assent to the offer made. In some situations, the offeree will respond to the offer, not in written or verbal form but simply by doing some acts which are related to their transaction. For example, the offeree can do this by shipping the goods or make the payment for the price provided that the parties have established it as a common practice between them and the act must be within the fixed time or within reasonable time (CISG) 25. In order to make an effective acceptance, the offeree must be aware of the time to accept the offer. Again, there are no differences between the CISG and the Contract Act. If the acceptance is made in words, the Act considers it as expressed acceptance and if it is made other than that, it is called implied acceptance (Contracts Act 1950, 2014) 26. Based on this section, the Malaysian Contract Law does recognize all forms of acceptance, be it in written statement, verbally or by performing some acts which are related to the transaction. As mentioned in the previous discussion in revocation of offer, an offer will be terminated by the lapse of time. In other words, the offeree must respond to the proposal made by the offeror within the time 22 Section 6 Article 18 (1) 24 Section 2 (b) 25 Article 18 (2) 26 Section 9 23 38 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 specified. If no time is given, the response must be within reasonable time, depending on the nature of the transaction. In the Contract Act, acceptance must be expressed in some usual and reasonable manner (Contracts Act 1950, 2014) 27. Sometimes, the act done is usual but it is unreasonable. For example, the offeror, who lives in a two storey terrace house which is next to the offeree, proposes to sell his house to the offeree. In his response, the offeree agrees and sends the letter of acceptance by mail. Even though sending a letter of acceptance by post is usual, looking at the fact that they live next to each other, the acceptance made is unreasonable. It is important to note here that acceptance must involve some positive acts. The absence of response or just total disregard of the proposal is not an acceptance as there is no positive act that can be related to the proposal. The offeror cannot place the burden on the offeree to a positive act of acceptance by saying for instance: “if I do not hear from you within a week, I shall assume that you have accepted my proposal”. It is in accordance with the law which says that silence or inactivity does not in itself amount to acceptance (CISG) 28. Furthermore, silent does not amount to usual manner in accepting something because there is no confirmation made on whether the offeree takes the offer or not. However, there is an exception to this, where the parties can agree that silence does amount to acceptance. If the offeror makes the offer and the offeree replies, “If you do not hear anything from me by tomorrow evening, deliver the goods to my office”, then the offeree has made the silence an acceptance. Counter-offer In the CISG, a reply to an offer which purports to be an acceptance but contains additions, limitations or other modifications is a rejection of the offer and constitutes a counteroffer (CISG) 29. This provision is known as “mirror image” rule. Under this rule, the offeree must accept the offer as it is without any additions, limitations or modifications which are considered as a counter-offer, thus automatically rejects the original offer. If the additions, limitations or modifications do not change the terms of the offer materially, then it is allowed. The question is, how do we know whether the modification is material. The CISG provides that lists. If the additional or different terms relating, inter alia, to the price, payment, quality and quantity of the goods, place and time of delivery, extent of one party's liability to the other or the settlement of disputes are considered to alter the terms of the offer materially (CISG) 30. If the modifications are only related to unessential terms of the contract, the contract is presumed to be binding. This mirror image rule is similar to what has been stated in the Contract Act. In order to convert a proposal into a promise, the acceptance must be absolute and unqualified (Contracts Act 27 Section 7 (b) Article 18 (1) Article 19 (1) 30 Article 19 (3) 28 29 39 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 1950, 2014) 31. The acceptance must be made on exactly the same terms as proposed without modifications or variations. However, the Act does not provide any guidelines to determine the essential terms of the contract. It may be determined according to the nature of the transaction or general practices and usages which parties have established between them. Perhaps we can say that the CISG has adopted a much more detailed provisions regarding the counter offer as compared to Malaysia. Withdrawal of Acceptance Can an offeree withdraw the acceptance made? Basically, both the CISG and the Contract Act have the answer for this issue. In the CISG, the withdrawal of an acceptance is effective if it reaches the offeror before or at the time as the acceptance would have become effective (CISG) 32. While in the Contract Act, a person can withdraw his acceptance before or at the same time the communication of the acceptance is complete (Contracts Act 1950, 2014) 33. Both discuss the same method of withdrawing an acceptance. In order to apply both provisions, there must be some time for the acceptance to reach the offeror. This can be done if the parties involved use the medium of communication which takes time before the communication reaches the other party. If they apply direct communication such as face to face, phone call or video conference, it is impossible for the offeree to withdraw his acceptance as it is effectively communicated. According to our previous discussion, acceptance is effective the moment the indication of assent reaches the offeror. Therefore, before his intention reaches the offeror, the offeree may withdraw the acceptance. To make it clear, we can refer to this illustration (Contracts Act 1950, 2014) 34. A proposes by a letter sent by post to sell his house to B. B accepts the proposal by a letter sent by post. B may revoke his acceptance at any time before or at the moment when the letter communicating it reaches A, but not afterwards. There is not much discussion on the withdrawal of acceptance as compared to withdrawal of offer whereby the CISG tries to differentiate between withdrawal, revocation and termination of offer. Effect of Acceptance It can be said that, the CISG and the Contract Act have adopted the same approach regarding the above matter. In the CISG, the contract is concluded at the time when an acceptance becomes effective (CISG) 35. Again, the acceptance is effective once the offeror has the knowledge about the acceptance. 31 Section 7 (a) Article 22 33 Section 5 (2) 34 Illustration to the Section 5 (2) 35 Article 23 32 40 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 For Malaysian Contract Act, the effect of acceptance has been mentioned in the definition section. When a person to whom the proposal is made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted, a proposal when accepted becomes a promise (Contracts Act 1950, 2014) 36. This provision needs to be read carefully because the wording “a proposal when accepted becomes a promise” is too general. There are two things here; a proposal when accepted and becomes a promise. The Contract Act mentions the word “accepted”, whereas in the CISG, it uses the word “when an acceptance becomes effective”. If we read literally, the time of the conclusion of the contract is different between the CISG and the Contract Act. For the latter, once the offeree accepts the offer, the contract is concluded even though the offeror does not know about the acceptance yet. This statement can be related to the common law rule which is called postal rule (Contracts Act 1950, 2014). 37 Where the parties have contemplated the used of the post as means of communication: The communication of an acceptance is complete: a) As against the proposer, when it is put in a course of transmission him, so as to be out of the power of the acceptor; b) As against the acceptor, when it comes to the knowledge of the proposer. To make it clear, we can refer to this illustration. (Contracts Act 1950, 2014) 38 B accepts A’s proposal by a letter sent by post. The communication of the acceptance is complete: As against A, when the letter is posted; As against B, when the letter is received by A. Based on the above illustration, when B accepts the proposal made by A and uses post as the medium of communication, the acceptance is complete once B puts the letter into the post box. It does not matter even if A does not know about the acceptance or if the letter is lost due to the mistake of the postal authority. That is why the Contract Act mentions a proposal becomes a promise once it is accepted, not once it is effectively reached the offeror. We can further refer to the judgment made by Lord Denning 39. When an acceptance is made by post it is a clear law throughout the common law countries that the acceptance is complete as soon as the letter is put into the post box, and that is the place where the contract is made. Secondly, the Contract Act prefers to use the word “promise” instead of using “contract”. The word “promise” is commonly used, which brings the same meaning as “contract”. In fact, if we look at the definition of contract, it is defined as a legally binding promise. Hence, there is no issue here as regard to the wording used in the Contract Act. In general, we can say that the effect of acceptance is the same between the CISG and the Malaysian Contract Act which leads to the conclusion of the contract. However, it is just a matter of time as to the conclusion of the contract. Under the CISG, a contract is complete 36 Section 2 (b) Section 4 (2) Illustration (b) to the Section 4 39 See Judgment in the case of Entores Ltd v Far East Corporation (1955) 2 All E.R. 493 37 38 41 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 when acceptance becomes effective while the Contract Act, which applies the postal rule, states that a contract is concluded once it is accepted, even though the offeror does not know about the acceptance. V. CONCLUSION As a principle, international trade is a cross border transaction and it should be free from any barriers. That is why we need an international law which has no border. Due to that, unifying and harmonizing the rules governing the international trade transaction are the main purposes of the CISG. In order to achieve the aim, the drafters of the CISG have considered a few relevant laws especially the common law and the civil law, which are commonly used by many countries. In conclusion, the CISG and the Malaysian Contract Act have many similarities regarding to the formation of the contract. It may be presumed that the similarities arise because Malaysia is a common law country like the United Kingdom and most of the laws in Malaysia were adopted from British law including the Contract Act 1950. To have such similarities is good for Malaysia. Consequently, it will not be a major problem if the government chooses to ratify the CISG in the future. References Adnan Trakic, D. (2012). Offer and Its Significance for Formation of Contracts: The Malaysian Perspective. MLJ, cxlvii. Butler, A. (2007). A Practical Guide to the CISG: Negotiations through Litigation. USA: Aspen Publisher. CISG. (n.d.). Retrieved from United Nations Commission on International Trade Law: http://www.uncitral.org/pdf/english/texts/sales/cisg/V1056997-CISG-e-book.pdf. Contracts Act 1950. (2014). Petaling Jaya: International Law Book Services. Kritzer, A. H. (2014, October 2). CISG: Table of Contracting States. Retrieved from Pace Law School Institute of International Commercial Law: http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu/cisg/countries/cntries.html László Szlávnits, D. (2007, February 15). CISG Case Presentation. Retrieved from Pace Law School Institute of International Commercial Law: http://cisgw3.law.pace.edu/cases/920925h1.html Md Abdul Jalil, D. (2011). Adoption of the Principle of the Invitation to Treat in Islamic Law of Contracts. International Journal on Management and Technology, 1(1). Morrisey, J., & Graves, J. (2008). International Sales Law and Arbitration: Problems, Cases and Commentary. The Netherland: Kluwer Law International. Offers and Acceptance in shops . (2010, November 2). Retrieved from Jame's Blog: http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/jnetto/entry/offers_and_acceptance Schaffer, R., Agusti, F., & Earle, B. (2010). International Business Law and Its Environment (7th Ed.). USA: South-Western Legal Studies in Business. Sono, H. (2007). Contract Law Harmonization and Non-Contracting States: The Case of CISG. 1. Trakic, A., Ramasamy, N., Sum, C. Y., Andrews, P. L., Murugan, S. B., Vijayganesh, P., & Chandran, K. (2014). Law for Business. Selangor: Sweet & Maxwell. 42 MARA Innovation Journal Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2015 Zorlu, S. A. (2011). CISG and Turkish Code of Obligation. Retrieved from Zorlu Law: http://zorluhukuk.com/dosyalar/cisg.pdf 43