An Indigenous perspective of development: Social and cultural resilience in Long Lamai

communityTariq Zaman

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

ISITI is supported by:Long Lamai JKKK, Rurum Kelabit Sarawak

Long Lamai

Kuching

• 116 Households and 598 population

• Church building and Primary school

• No health clinic• Limited access to electricity

and mobile coverage• Telecentre since 2009• Semi Nomads

Recent past…

• 1950’s: settled at current location• Transformation:– from nomadic to semi-nomadic and settled– from hunter-gatherers to farmer

• 1991, lost forest (primary) in massive fire incident

• Migration of youth to nearby town

March 5, 2012

Education a lifeline for Penan kids Wilson Bian, Long Lamai Headman, says that the Internet has opened their eyes to the world outside and to tourism, which many welcome as a sustainable source of badly needed income.

“I understand tourism can bring about changes. There are fears of negative influences, but we have faith that we can manage these changes with clearly set rules. There are many ways to make a project successful so that it benefits the community. We are keen to learn new things,” says Wilson.

Lessons learned

Long-term prior agreements

Local capacity building

Community cohesion

Thanks