Page 82 - IJPS-9-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Development service in East Malaysia Suburban

opportunities of implementing sustainability practices in coal, peat, oil, and natural gas. Sarawak, together with
their operations to achieve the desired outcomes for better Sabah, is one of the states situated in Borneo. Kuching City
development service quality to the targeted stakeholders (and her south-western periphery, Batu Kawa), one of the
(e.g., Peter & Csaba, 2019). Understanding households’ most dynamic cities in Borneo, is located in south-western
socioeconomic strategies for sustainability is essential to Sarawak. Batu Kawa is exemplary for her fast and dynamic
help them more effectively (Sachs et al., 2021). Nevertheless, socioeconomic development as well as sustainability
the voices of the residents, typically in the suburban areas, practices.
are given scant attention, and the needs and expectations Batu Kawa, the periphery municipal area (Figure 1A),
of the suburb residents are often overlooked. is administered under the Kuching South City Council and
Therefore, this paper presents the empirical research specifically managed by the Padawan Municipal Council.
which aimed to explore and thereafter measure socio- The original major Batu Kawa settlement areas (after the
economic development services and residents’ satisfaction. Datuk Chong Kiun Kong Bridge) consist of 10 major roads
A suburb of Kuching City (Borneo), Batu Kawa, Sarawak, (kolong), with 10 primary schools and more than 5000
Malaysia, was selected for the intended investigation households, exceeding 10,000 population (in 2022). Batu
on the various sustainability initiatives for sustainable Kawa, which mainly consists of Chinese Hakka and Malay
socioeconomic development and family happiness. The residents, has undergone fast economic development
triple-bottom line measurement items of the natural, after the bridge was built in the early 1990s. For the past
economics, and social dimensions of sustainability were 10 years, there have been many housing development
included in the quantitative survey questionnaire. projects in this suburb and there are many households
with diverse ethnic cultures now. They are many Bidayuh
1.1. Socioeconomic development and Batu Kawa in and Iban families residing there. The occupations of Batu
Borneo Kawa residents include construction workers, clerks,
Borneo is the world’s third largest island and the largest technicians, salesman, teachers, government servants, and
island of Asia. It is a part of the Indonesian archipelago. others (Voon et al., 2021). Many of them are businessmen
Borneo is surrounded by the Java Sea to its south, the in the retailing sub-sector. The old Batu Kawa Bazaar has
Celebes Sea on its east, and the South China Sea to its 61 shops, 38 nearby the Bridge, and about 200 units of
north. Borneo is the only island in the world that is shared relatively new shop-houses at Sungai Moyan Junction and
by three different countries, namely: Indonesia (73%), along the Pan Borneo Highway to Musi.
Malaysia (26%), and Brunei (1%). The island of Borneo is The quality of life of this suburban population has been
rich in natural resources. Known metal deposits include generally improving. However, households in Batu Kawa
gold, silver, copper, tin, aluminum (as bauxite), and iron have been facing numerous socioeconomic challenges
ore. Most of the island is covered by tropical forests that such as relatively lower income, traffic jams, diminishing
produce tropical timber and other forest products. The land ownerships, poorer logistics and basic amenities,
coastal and offshore areas are underlain by deposits of and relatively lower family happiness, and the like.

A B

Figure 1. (A) Location of Batu Kawa in Sarawak. (B) Batu Kawa and the Sarawak River.
Note: In Figure 1b, the West bank of the Sarawak River refers to the old district (beyond the river and further away from Kuching City), whereas the East
bank refers to the new district (nearer to the city).
Source: https://mapcarta.com/15816902 (Figure 1A), https://mapcarta.com/15816902 (Figure 1B).

Volume 9 Issue 2 (2023) 76 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.442