W. A. Amir Zal

The Vulnerability of Community Capitals as a Threat to Orang Kuala Community Development in Malaysia

Community development emphasizes the utilization of community resources, also known as community capitals. However, it is often difficult for the community to access these resources; this difficulty retards development. Such is the predicament faced by the Orang Kuala, for whom coastal changes have resulted in greater difficulty in accessing their community resources. Nor is that the only threat that they face. For affirmation of these threats, this article lists two objectives, that is, to identify the accessibility of marine resources and to explain the types of threats faced by the Orang Kuala. To achieve these objectives, a study was conducted involving 51 household heads and 5 Orang Kuala informants, all of whom are residents of Sungai Layau village in Johor, Malaysia. This study uses a mixed-method approach, the concurrent embedded design, and also interview-based questionnaires and in-depth interviews simultaneously. For the first objective, the results show that the Orang Kuala can still attain community resources in the form of marine products. However, the Orang Kuala faced three types of threats: trends, shocks, and seasonal changes. The most significant threat to the Orang Kuala is the trend, that is, cost of living and social problems. These threats can reduce their chances of acquiring benefits from these community resources. This condition is called “vulnerability of community capitals.” The objective of this article is to put forth proposals on how to increase the capacity of community resources for the Orang Kuala so that their community can attain sustainable development. This proposal is based on the reality that the threats facing the Orang Kuala are at a critical level and that they are ready to accept changes.

The Effect of the Ownership and Usage of New Human Capital Change on the Economic Empowerment Amongst Orang Kuala in Malaysia

Orang Kuala as the sub tribe of Orang Asli (indigenous people in Malaysia) cannot avoid the changes in which occurs around them. For the indigenous people, the change is always perceived as a threat which endangering their traditional human capital. It is rarely that the change is observed from a positive view in which it give them a chance to change their life and compete with the other community. In case of Orang Kuala, they are now participating in business-base economic activities and left the former traditional economic activities as fishermen. Their participation in business activities will alter their traditional human capital and push them to use a new human capital. The positive side of their involvement is that their economic activities will be empowered. This occurs due to the assumption that their engagement in business activities can help them to achieve economic empowerment. To scrutinize the truth, this article has two objectives; to identify the ownership and use of new human capital and to identify whether the new human capital is a factor to economic empowerment. This paper used a quantitative approach which has been conducted on 267 Orang Kuala in Johor, Malaysia. The study showed, the ownership and the use of new human capital are greater amongst businessmen as compared to fishermen. The study also showed that the ownership of new human capital is the factor of economic empowerment without differential amongst the difference of Orang Kualas occupations.

The terminologies associated with development and marginalisation for Orang Asli in Malaysia

ABSTRACT Previously, any failure of Orang Asli development activity in Malaysia, was characterised by using a single term in all situations − “marginalisation”. This generalisation was unfair to everyone involved in the Orang Asli development process, made it difficult to resolve problems, and resulted in tendencies to blame certain people. Based on ethnographic research in Kuala Gandah, Pahang, Malaysia, this article allocates three terms in the Orang Asli development marginalisation discourse: “secluded”, “isolated”, and “marginalised”. “Secluded” refers to development activity that accidentally marginalises. “Isolated” refers to development activity that directly and deliberately marginalises. “Marginalised” refers to the Che Wong that were eliminating or avoiding development. These terms were exposed by weaknesses in the implementation of development, namely the role of a single dominant approach in development activities – the top-down approach – and a tendency to generalise the marginalisation of the Orang Asli. This article recommends that more care be taken to apply a development approach that deals with situations on a case-by-case basis and that utilises the partnership approach to development, involving all parties in all phases.