Co-living Among Indonesian Migrant Workers in Longhouse Communities in Sarawak

Abstract

Human mobility has increased greatly due to advances related to globalization. People from India and China have lived in Malaysia for a long time, and in recent years, the number of foreign workers from neighboring countries including the Philippines and Indonesia has increased. In Sarawak, employment of Indonesian workers has increased, especially since the 1990s, when the oil palm plantations required massive labor forces. Coexistence of minority foreign workers and local residents who comprise the majority of the nation-state has significant issues, as multiculturalism becomes common even in the inland rural communities. Considering these circumstances, this paper does not address human mobility from a state policy or institutional point of view. However, it discusses the ways of cooperation between Indonesian migrant workers and local residents in longhouse villages. The paper particularly focuses on the motivation of the Indonesian migrants in terms of them leaving their original villages in Indonesia to move to longhouses in Sarawak, and how they cooperate with local residents of longhouse villages. The cases of six Indonesian migrants who live in longhouses located in the Kapit Division are discussed in this article. These migrants originally worked in various sectors, including logging, oil palm harvesting, construction, or transportation, and now they live in the longhouses. As individuals enter the local longhouses, the daily relationships formed between the longhouse residents and these Indonesians is noteworthy, and another significant point is the formation of a communal space by people of various backgrounds. The Malaysian labor force is constantly insufficient, especially in the oil palm industry, and the existence of foreign workers is becoming unavoidable. This paper shows the viewpoint of a multicultural society by describing the daily practice of people who seek co-living and cooperation.