Exploring Rural Transformation in Malaysia:
A Study of the Practice of Sustainable
Development Principles among Orang Asli
Community in Royal Belum, Perak
Photo: revbickers.blogspot.com
Dr. Khairul Hisyam Kamarudin
UTM RAZAK SCHOOL of Engineering and Advanced Technology
Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Ngah
Centre for Innovative Planning and Development (CiPD), UTM
January 2014
Introduction – “rural transformation and diversification of rural activities”
 There are series of concepts of rural transformation that emerged from the
debates about the nature of change affecting rural people on communities in
different world regions. Among them are post-productivist, de-agrarianization,
the new rural development paradigm, new rurality etc. (Mackayet.al, 2009;
Preston and Ngah, 2012; Bryceson, 1996; Gibson et.al, 2010; Kay, 2008).
 Rural transformation in Malaysia reflects the
multi-dimensional
changes
towards
diversification of rural activities with the
increase of the non-farm activities, and
broadening of farm or land based activities,
and the introduction of quality and local
distinctive products (Ngah et al., 2013).
 Understanding of the roles of non-farming
activities (including the new forms of
agriculture activities) are be crucial to inform
policy makers on the new development that
has taken place in the rural areas and
the need for appropriate policies to address
them (Ngah et al., 2013).
Photo: Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Ngah of CiPD UTM conducted a
field survey of Orang Asli at Royal Belum Forest Reserve
in Perak
This proposal is one of sub topic in a bigger scope of rural transformation study
Rural Transformation
Local Economic Development
and Poverty Alleviation:
Community based tourism
One Village One Product
Sustainable Agriculture and
Food Security
Sustainable Village Assessment
The use of indicators
Roles of non-agriculture and new
form of farming in rural livelihood
Sustainable rural development for less
developed region
Introduction
A Study of the Practice of Sustainable Development Principles
among Orang Asli Community in Royal Belum, Perak
 In the declaration of the Conference on Environment and
Development at Rio de Janeiro 1992, the role of indigenous
people in the environmental management and development for
achieving sustainability was because of their knowledge and
traditional practices (Kamarudin, 2005).
Indigenous people and their communities and other
local communities, have a vital role in environmental
management and development because of their
knowledge and traditional practices. States should
recognize and duly support their identity, culture and
interest and enable their effective participation in the
achievement of sustainable development.
(Earth Summit, 1992: 13)
Introduction
 Many studies had indicated the importance roles and
contributions of indigenous knowledge and practices which in
line with sustainable development principles (see Loomis, 2000,
Pulido and Bocco, 2003, Kerjala and Dewhurst, 2003, Kamarudin
and Ngah, 2007).
Introduction
 However, the value and traditional practices of the indigenous
communities today has gradually disappeared due to pressure
from modernization and influence of laissez-fair economy,
which penetrated them (Kamarudin, 2005; Kamarudin and
Ngah, 2007).
 This research intended to examine the extent to which
sustainable development principles are practiced among Orang
Asli community and how their local knowledge and practices
could be used to formulate a framework for sustainable
development strategies of the Orang Asli community.
Issues and Statement of Problem
Issues of development of Orang Asli (in
Malaysia in general) and in Royal Belum in
particular
Issues of indicators of sustainable rural
development
Issues of implementation of indicators in
measuring sustainability practices among
Orang Asli community (field test process)
Problem Statement
 As mentioned earlier, international bodies among other
researchers have acknowledged that traditional values and
(socio-economic) practices by Orang Asli are “sustainabilityfriendly”.
 Government agencies (e.g. JAKOA) have heavily invested (either
physically, human capital development, etc) in developing these
underprivileged communities to empower them and to enable
them to joint nation’s mainstream communities.
 Despite huge investment and initiatives given by government,
up to date, unfortunately, there is no measurement tool as to
indicate or to measure/assess performance and changes
received by the community.
Problem Statement
 This is where the role and function of indicators become crucial,
as a tool for measuring:
a. The ROI (return of investment) made government and
other agencies  Monetary and/or non monetary benefits,
etc.
b. The level of sustainable development principles practices
by the community from the four pillars of sustainability i.e.
economic, socio-culture, organisational and leadership, and
environmental.
Research Questions
1) What are the role and contributions of sustainability
indicators in assessing/measuring the level of
sustainability practices among Orang Asli community in
the study area?
2) To what extent does the current practices contribute
towards overall sustainable livelihood of the Orang Asli
in the study area?
3) What are the factors that encourage and/or hinder
sustainable development principles among Orang Asli
community in the study area?
Research Goal
The main goal of this research is to analyse the practice of
sustainable development principles among Orang Asli
community based on existing set of indicators (developed
after previous work).
A set of indicators will be used in a field test to determine
whether the indicators selected can be applied and
measured the community practices using the local
stakeholders survey approach.
Research Methodology
 Data collection  will be based on household surveys and
field observation in selected village clusters in Royal Belum.
 Three village clusters will be selected for the study including
those of varying economic based and location such as fishing
villages, conventional agriculture based villages, traditional
agriculture based villages and mixed economic based
villages (tourism based villages).
The phases of the study is as follows:
Phase 1 Preliminary Study
This will include further review on literatures related to the
previous study done elsewhere in South East Asia and
other parts of developing world.
In the preliminary study basic information on the current
status or profile of the five village clusters will be collected.
We aspect basic data on population and households, list of
economic activities, cultural practices and village
organization will be available from the district office or
other related agencies such as District Office, JAKOA, PTNP.
From this basic data then we can design proper methods
for field study.
Phase 2 Field study
Household surveys (Quantitative data)
socio-demographic data (age, gender, education, skills), ownership of
property, migration, employment (full time and part-time, reasons for
engaging in particular employment activities, and income of each
members of the households (by each economic activities engaged).
a.
The respondent’s perception about sustainable development
practices (guided by the list of indicators, but must cover all four
pillars i.e. economic, social/cultural, organisational and
environmental practices)
Selection of samples will be according to three village clusters
(estimated 60 samples of households for the three clusters, but actual
size of the samples will be calculated later).
“Limited” participant observation and interviews (Qualitative data)
Phase 3 Analysis and findings
Data from Household survey  Analysis will look into:
a. Discussions of the procedures in conducting the field test
including the survey of local stakeholders.
b. Discussion of the data analysis and respondents’ evaluation
of successful uptake of sustainable measures for
sustainable development practices (the application of
index score analysis.)
c. Presentation of data analysis results and discussion of the
respondents evaluation of successful uptake of economic,
socio-cultural, environment and organisational measures.
Activity
1. Preliminary works, literature review
and background of study area
2. Preparation of field works, Design of
questionnaires and pilot study
3. Household /Stakeholders ‘ Surveys
4. Field Observation and “Limited”
Participant Observation
5. Data analysis and interpretation
6. Report writing and papers for journal
Start Date
End Date
Expected Outcomes
 Impact on Knowledge
We expect there are wide ranges of activities in (social, economy) and
community’s interaction with their surrounding nature for their
livelihood. Their interaction (symbiotic relations), in turn might impact to
the local economy as community is depending on the natural resources as
source of income and to sustain other types of local economic activities.
Community might indicate a positive level of sustainability practices for
cultural and social values, while for economy and exploitation of
resources practices need to be given more attentions as sustainable
development required a balanced to be achieved between all the
components.
The findings of this research will contribute to the current debates on the
applicability and reliability of indicators in measuring the level of
community sustainability.
Expected Outcomes
 Publications
We targeted at least two publications on index
journals. One in Singapore Journal of Tropical
geography and another in Rural Studies or World
Development which in the past did published many
articles related to the topic.
Cluster: SUSTAINABILITY
ECOTOURISM
Work in Progress
EcoTourism, Protected Areas and Poverty Alleviation:
Perceptions and experiences of Orang Asli community in
Royal Belum State Park, Malaysia
PAS Grant (UTM) (RM20k)