Breaking new ground: from bejalai to recontruction of bilik families by Iban migrants in Kuching urban environment

Abstract

This paper examines how the lban migrants reconstruct their socio-economic space and livelihoods through off-farm economies. Breaking new ground requires redefining of their social-cultural obligations to bilik families in their longhouses while making adjustments to enable them adapting to and coping with new lifestyles in the urban environment and, at the same time, negotiating for a potential net gain from rural-urban migration. The discussion in this paper is drawn from a survey data concerning bilik families in new settlements, squatters and low-cost housing schemes in the Kuching district.