Social and cultural dimensions in regional development: some observations for Sabah

Abstract

Any development, be it sectoral, regional or urban, has the welfare of the people at heart. The focus of each development strategy is to raise the general economic well-being of certain target population, to uplift the people's social condition and to promote the growth of society and the individuals therein so that they will lead a rewarding life with equal access to wealth, modern amenities and facilities. Since Independence, Sabah has been putting its thoughts, wealth and manpower to achieve those goals. The position and importance of these social and cultural factors in regional development for Sabah must be seen in its proper context (Figure 1). In the diagram, Sabah society can be perceived to be located in the centre of a triangle representing the physical, social, economic and psychological milieu of the State. In this society, various communities are found to inhabit areas distributed all over the state. These communities are organized into villages within which the people have developed cultural traits appropriate to the general physical, social, and economic environment. Each set of the environmental factors affects each community which in turn affects the environments. At a micro level, therefore, a community adapts to its surroundings, both physical and social. After a period of time, it develops its own ways of life, its own organizations and institutions, which may be place and time specific. At the same time, the behaviour of the various communities are also subjected to the behaviour of the state. The state within the Federation of Malaysia plays a major role in determining and directing the course of the development of the Sabah society. To this end, the state sets the development goals for the people which, directly or indirectly, centre on raising the welfare of the communities to achieve prosperity and reduce ethnic polarisation in a united and peaceful society. However, success in the attainment of the objectives is contingent upon the external factors.