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Introduction
This is a case study focused on the evolution of the economy of the Malaysia state of Sarawak
APPENDIKS 3 since shortly after it’s joining Malaysia in August of 1963. It was carried out by examining the
life experiences of a small group of students who first entered the new government secondary
school in Lawas, Sarawak in January 1966. Thirty-three of the 38 former students, from three
distinct ethnic groups, were interviewed, with a focus on i) their parents’ occupations
and social economic circumstances; ii) the students’ backgrounds, their careers path, their
locations, the role of their faith communities in their education and their careers, and their
experiences in and with the public and private sectors in Sarawak; and iii) the educational,
occupational and locational choices of the adult children of the original students. 1
Sarawak’s Economic Development The central hypothesis of this research is that secondary education played a key role in the
since Joining Malaysia: structural transformation of the Sarawak economy and in the drastic social and economic
transformation of the lives of all major ethnic groups in the state. Further, the government
A Case Study of 1966-1968 Students played a critically important role in i) promoting the state’s social and economic development
at Lawas Government Secondary School * through the provision of this secondary education; ii) offering post secondary education
opportunities; and iii) providing productive employment opportunities to secondary school
graduates in a largely merit-based environment. The latter is particularly significant in modern
Malaysia as the country has moved more recently away from merit-based system of i) university
(Summary Version) admission and scholarships, and ii) hiring and promoting within the government sectors
toward a system that favors ethnic Malays at the expense of non-Malay Malaysians. (Othman
et al, 2008) The study also attempts to show the rural-urban migration over the past 4 decades
in Sarawak was sizeable, but unusually balanced in that it involved relatively little flow of
educated people to Kuala Lumpur, the national capital, or even to Kuching, the state capital.
Finally, the case study shows how educational and employment opportunities for women have
improve dramatically since independence in 1963.
At the time of the formation of Malaysia in 1963, the State of Sarawak on the Island of Borneo was
an overwhelmingly rural, agriculture, low-income, poorly connected set of distinct ethnic
and religious communities, with a small population (less then one million) thinly spread over
the state’s 124,000 sq.km. In the early 1960s, about 80 per cent of its labor force was in
agriculture and per capital annual income averaged about $200 (Schatz). And Lawas District,
Richard E. Schatz lying 800 km to the north of the state capital of Kuching, was an unusually isolated, sparsely
populated, and overwhelmingly agricultural region in the 1960s.
Presented at a Seminar Sponsored by the By 2008, Sarawak had become a largely urban, service and manufacturing-oriented economy
Faculty of Social Science, University of Malaysia, Sarawak with an average annual real economic growth rate over the past four decades of nearly 6 per
cent and per capital average income over $6000 (Yearbook Statistics, Sarawak 2007). Access
15 January 2009 to primary and secondary education had become universal, and there was a wide variety of
public and private institutions of tertiary education. Infrastructure throughout the state
improve dramatically, and Lawas District is now well connected by paved roads to Sabah,
Brunei and neighboring areas of Sarawak.
Methodology
This case study base on interviews with former students of Lawas Government Secondary
School who entered the first Form 1 class (approximately equivalent to the 7 or 8 grade
th
th
in the US system) of this school that was newly open in January of 1966. This was the first
secondary school in Lawas District, and this first class had 38 students. During the months
of May and June of 2008, the author visited Sarawak and interviewed 33 of these former students.
The other 5 had either passed away or could not be contacted. Of the 33 respondents, 27
were interviewed in person and 5 were interviewed by telephone. In all cases, a questionnaire
2
was employed as the basis of the interview. The interviews were conducted largely in English
with some clarifications in Bahasa Melayu, the national language, where necessary.
* Funding for this research was provided by the Council for Christian Colleges and
Universities Mini-Grant Program on Free Market Economics: Scholarship, Teaching
and Practice 1 From January 2006 through December 2008, the author worked as a US Peace Corps volunteer
teacher at the newly open Lawas Government Secondary School
2 In one case, the author interviewed the first cousin (Dr. Baru Langub) one of the students, Dr. Judson
Sakai Tagal, who was killed in a plane crash in 2004. Dr. Baru was classmate and close friend of Dr. Jusoh.
Dahulu Terasing Kini Terjalin | 253
This is a case study focused on the evolution of the economy of the Malaysia state of Sarawak
APPENDIKS 3 since shortly after it’s joining Malaysia in August of 1963. It was carried out by examining the
life experiences of a small group of students who first entered the new government secondary
school in Lawas, Sarawak in January 1966. Thirty-three of the 38 former students, from three
distinct ethnic groups, were interviewed, with a focus on i) their parents’ occupations
and social economic circumstances; ii) the students’ backgrounds, their careers path, their
locations, the role of their faith communities in their education and their careers, and their
experiences in and with the public and private sectors in Sarawak; and iii) the educational,
occupational and locational choices of the adult children of the original students. 1
Sarawak’s Economic Development The central hypothesis of this research is that secondary education played a key role in the
since Joining Malaysia: structural transformation of the Sarawak economy and in the drastic social and economic
transformation of the lives of all major ethnic groups in the state. Further, the government
A Case Study of 1966-1968 Students played a critically important role in i) promoting the state’s social and economic development
at Lawas Government Secondary School * through the provision of this secondary education; ii) offering post secondary education
opportunities; and iii) providing productive employment opportunities to secondary school
graduates in a largely merit-based environment. The latter is particularly significant in modern
Malaysia as the country has moved more recently away from merit-based system of i) university
(Summary Version) admission and scholarships, and ii) hiring and promoting within the government sectors
toward a system that favors ethnic Malays at the expense of non-Malay Malaysians. (Othman
et al, 2008) The study also attempts to show the rural-urban migration over the past 4 decades
in Sarawak was sizeable, but unusually balanced in that it involved relatively little flow of
educated people to Kuala Lumpur, the national capital, or even to Kuching, the state capital.
Finally, the case study shows how educational and employment opportunities for women have
improve dramatically since independence in 1963.
At the time of the formation of Malaysia in 1963, the State of Sarawak on the Island of Borneo was
an overwhelmingly rural, agriculture, low-income, poorly connected set of distinct ethnic
and religious communities, with a small population (less then one million) thinly spread over
the state’s 124,000 sq.km. In the early 1960s, about 80 per cent of its labor force was in
agriculture and per capital annual income averaged about $200 (Schatz). And Lawas District,
Richard E. Schatz lying 800 km to the north of the state capital of Kuching, was an unusually isolated, sparsely
populated, and overwhelmingly agricultural region in the 1960s.
Presented at a Seminar Sponsored by the By 2008, Sarawak had become a largely urban, service and manufacturing-oriented economy
Faculty of Social Science, University of Malaysia, Sarawak with an average annual real economic growth rate over the past four decades of nearly 6 per
cent and per capital average income over $6000 (Yearbook Statistics, Sarawak 2007). Access
15 January 2009 to primary and secondary education had become universal, and there was a wide variety of
public and private institutions of tertiary education. Infrastructure throughout the state
improve dramatically, and Lawas District is now well connected by paved roads to Sabah,
Brunei and neighboring areas of Sarawak.
Methodology
This case study base on interviews with former students of Lawas Government Secondary
School who entered the first Form 1 class (approximately equivalent to the 7 or 8 grade
th
th
in the US system) of this school that was newly open in January of 1966. This was the first
secondary school in Lawas District, and this first class had 38 students. During the months
of May and June of 2008, the author visited Sarawak and interviewed 33 of these former students.
The other 5 had either passed away or could not be contacted. Of the 33 respondents, 27
were interviewed in person and 5 were interviewed by telephone. In all cases, a questionnaire
2
was employed as the basis of the interview. The interviews were conducted largely in English
with some clarifications in Bahasa Melayu, the national language, where necessary.
* Funding for this research was provided by the Council for Christian Colleges and
Universities Mini-Grant Program on Free Market Economics: Scholarship, Teaching
and Practice 1 From January 2006 through December 2008, the author worked as a US Peace Corps volunteer
teacher at the newly open Lawas Government Secondary School
2 In one case, the author interviewed the first cousin (Dr. Baru Langub) one of the students, Dr. Judson
Sakai Tagal, who was killed in a plane crash in 2004. Dr. Baru was classmate and close friend of Dr. Jusoh.
Dahulu Terasing Kini Terjalin | 253
