obmar
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RAFT-HOUSES OF TEMERLOH14
GENDER AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF HOUSEHOLDS IN RAFT-HOUSES, TEMERLOH, PAHANG, PENINSULAR MALAYSIA
Asmah Ahmad
INTRODUCTION
Structural changes in the Malaysian economy, particularly since the 1970s, have resulted in the increased involvement of women in wage work. The shift in emphasis from primary industries to secondary and tertiary industries has consequently released a major portion of the workforce from subsistence agriculture to wage labour. With the advance of urbanisation (from 26 per cent in 1957 to 37 per cent in 1980) and industrialisation, Malaysian women too find themselves seeking wage labour.
Industrialisation and the pace of urbanisation in certain areas have provided a focal point for youth inmigration and the subsequent problem of shelter. Acute housing shortages, high house rental and poverty are often quoted as factors leading to squatting. In Kuala Lumpur, the capital city, for example, most studies tend to estimate the city’s squatter population at between one-fifth and one-quarter of its total population. This means that out of the city’s total population of 919,610 in 1980, between 185,000 and 230,000 inhabitants were squatters.
Whilst most shanty towns in Malaysia are found on land occupying low-lying riparian areas, disused mining sites and land adjoining railway lines, this chapter attempts to highlight a less common form of urban squatting, that is, living afloat on raft-houses. Although such a living environment is unusual in Peninsular Malaysia, it is without doubt an example of human ingenuity in overcoming the urban housing problem and the fight for survival both physically and economically.
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