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The fight against corruption is a necessary precondition for the civil and economic development of a country.

Corruption is a kind of social injustice based on a moral vice, as Thomas Aquinas explained in his Summa Theologiae.

There have been many social injustices throughout history, and this specific form that is corruption has emerged prevalent especially in the last 100 years with the growth of the state apparatus and its pervasiveness in most areas of society’s life (Thomas & Meyer, 1984).

Fighting corruption requires adequate laws and public strategies, but a public ‘system’ is not enough: individuals must also be educated in morality.

This appreciation of morality was the ideal of the political prophet Giuseppe Mazzini, who had disciples all over the world, including the Pan-African leaders Lembede and Nkrumah. This ‘spiritualist’ philosophy does not devalue the economy, but it does not put it first, because it believes that without a deep-rooted morality in individuals nothing can flourish, not even the economy and its management. In this critique to economism, Mazzini differed from both Marxism and capitalist liberalism.

The deepest level of moral education is not built in the universities, but in the family, parents are the first educators of honest citizens. In this ideal Mazzini’s teaching can be met with a suggestion from the Ubuntu philosophy.

The rise of “strong man” politics in the Philippines brings attention to manhood narratives. Machismo remains a strong presence in the upper echelons of society, despite gender equality initiatives and a strong feminist movement. With Rodrigo Duterte portraying the “father-figure” of the nation, one questions what this type of manhood means for the Filipino family.

This study traces the construction of Filipino manhood in relation to the country’s strongest unit of the family. Utilizing a systematic review of seminal outputs on masculinity, this piece explores the definition of Filipino manhood using texts from various Filipino gender and development scholars. Sikolohiyang Pilipino or Indigenous Filipino Psychology frames the identified themes that surround the image of a Tunay na Lalaki or True Man. The labas (outer world) and loob (inner self) are then framed in relation to Filipino men’s roles. Intersections between one’s peer group, socio-economic class, and the situation in the global migration context inform the formation of one’s labas (outer self/identity). The findings indicate that Filipino manhood traits, as seen in one’s loob (inner self) contextualize one’s understanding of manhood’s construction as familial. By unearthing the nuances of manhood in the archipelago, this chapter showcases masculinities from the subaltern and purports possible ways of decolonizing “from below.”

This study aims to examine the effect of entrepreneurial skills, market orientation, sales orientations and networking on entrepreneurial competency and performance of micro-enterprises in Kelantan, Malaysia.

Adopting a cross-sectional design, this paper collected data through structured interviews from 403 micro-entrepreneurs from “Majlis Amanah Rakyat,” Kelantan and “Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Istiadat,” Kelantan.

The findings reveal that entrepreneurial skills, market orientation and networking have a positive effect on entrepreneurial competency. Then, entrepreneurial competency, entrepreneurial skills and networking have a positive effect on enterprise performance. The findings show a significant mediation effect of entrepreneurial competency on the relationships between entrepreneurial skills, market orientation and networking and enterprise performance.

Addressing the understudied “human factor” in entrepreneurship, this paper extends the resource-based view and enriches the existing entrepreneurship literature in Malaysia. It provides useful insights into the improvement of micro-enterprise performance, which is crucial for promoting entrepreneurial activities and for enhancing socio-economic conditions among low-income households in Malaysia. Thus, the government and developmental organizations should focus on the development of entrepreneurial skills, market-oriented approach, networking traits and entrepreneurial competencies and subsequently encourage poor households to perform entrepreneurial activities.