This paper reveals the womens' socio-economic activities in the Belawai fishing village, located at the coastal areas of Sarawak, Malaysia

Abd. Gapor, S.

Selamat, N.H.

English

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:-^'The Performance of Entrepreneurships Skills among Belawai \ilomenin Sarawak, Malaysia through Collective ActionsBySelamat, N. H and Abd. Gapor, SSchool of Social Sciences, University of Science Malaysia, 11800 Penang.hafiz@usm.mv; farina@usm.myIntroductionThis paper reveals the womens' socio-economic activities in the Belawai fishingvillage, located at the coastal areas of Sarawak, Malaysia. Based on an anthropologicalstudy, this paper examines the characteristics and nature of their entrepreneur skillsthrough collective action, which has influenced the success of their businesses. Theirsuccess is also influenced by their creativity, strong character and perseverance attifudeof the women in managing their small-scale businesses activities, together with theirrelentless search for markets and multiple strategies to expand their marketing targets,most interestingly done without assistance from the men. Interestingly many of theirbusiness products are also based from primary raw materials from their ownenvironment, which in a way guarantees the sustainability of output products producedby the women, especially the production of sesar unjur (smoked shrimp).Women, Entrepreneurship and Collective ActionThere is no doubt that female entreprenerus are increasingly prominent asemployers, suppliers and competitors in global market but the research and thedissemination of information about female entrepreneurship are not in parallel with theimpact these women aird their enterprises have had on the economy (Greene, et.al, 2003).The first academic paper on women's entrepreneurship was only published in 1976 in theJoulnal of Contemporary Business (Greene, 2003). Based on the combination ofexploratory and descriptive research, Schwart (1976) revealed that there were fewdifferences in the personal attributes of male and female entrepreneurs). Research on theperformance of entrepreneurial skills between men and women-owned businesses foundthat women-owned firms had "higher odds of discontinuing, fewer resources at start-upand were launched on a smaller scale" (Williams and Reynolds, 1997). Self-efficacyseems to be the reason for women's choice of smaller retail and traditional businesseirather than those in non-traditional business. Women in traditional businesses are claimedto be having highel venture efficacy for opportunity recognition and higher careerexpectations of life balance and security and placed more importance on th. financialsupport received from others (Anna" Chandler, Jansen and Mero, 2000). There has alsobeen a change in the pattern of women's participation in economic development inMalaysia. Traditionally, women used to be involved in the agricultural sectori, but theproportion has declined from 40 percent in1970 to 30 percent in tggS (Ahmad, l99g).The number is expected to decline further, with rapid absorption of women into themanufacturing and the services sector.Collective action has numerous different definitions, depending on the aspectsemphasized by the study. However, collective action is usually related to joilt action byu gtoup of commgnity for the common benefits of the participants. Marshall (1988)defines collective action as action taken by a group (either directly or on its behalfthrough an organization) in pursuit of member's perceived shared interests. Meinzein-Dick-et al, 1Z-00+; define collective action as "the involvement of a group of people,requiring shared interest within the group, involving some kind of common action whichworks in pursuit of that shared interest and is voluntary. The collective action can workformal or informally. In the case of Belawai women - both. Other related concept tocollective action is agency and social capital. The success of a collective action groupsdepends on the role and charismatic leadership of its leader, as well as the seriousness*d .o-ritment of the formal agencies involved. In this case, the collective actiongroup of the Belawai women is also attributed to the strong leaderships of a fewdominant women involved in the prografirmes. At the same time, the BelawaiFishermen's Association (BFA) and Malaysian Fishery Development Authority (LKIM)are both fi.rlly committed working towards enhancing the livelihoods of the communitiesin the areas, regardless ofgender.Social capital is also related to collective action. Pretty (2001) described socialcapital as related to relations of tnrst, reciprocity and exchanges, common rules, nonnsand sanctions, and connectedness, networks and groups. There are basically two types ofsocial capital horizontal ties among a group (bonding social capital) and vertical tiesbetween different groups (bridging social capital) (Ostrom, 1999). In the case of theBelawai women, the social capital is both of the bridging and bonding type.Bridging in away that the relationship can be heterogenous, focusing on work and networking,especially searching for markets of their products. It qan also be bonding, moredomestically oriented organisation that is informal, in the case of other socio-culturalactivities, mainly for the local communities and care activities, such as"hadrah" (a formof traditional singing performance, influenced by the Islamic-Arab culture, usuallyperformed in festivities especially wedding).Research SettingBelawai village is under Mukah district, one of the newest administration districtsin lsarawak at one of the tributaries of Rejang River facing the South China sea.Historically, the town was one of the important outposts of the Sultanate of Brunei butnow it is famous as the center of Melanau culture, one of the ethnic groups in Sarawakand also the major fishing area. The coastal village of Belawai is only accessible by air orboat where one can take 3 hours boat ride from Sibu through the Rejang River, thelongest and most extensive river system in Malaysia to get to Tanjong Manis, widelyknown as an anchorage point for loading of logs and timber products for export since theearly 1940's. From there, another 30 minutes journey by private cab or van will bring usto the coastal village of Belawai which is home to different ethnic groups includingMalay, Chinese, Muslim Iban and the largest is Melanau (98 percent of the population).Its total land area is 3,730 acres and its population is about 3,155. About three quarter ofits population is engaged in fishing and agricultural industries while the rests are self-employed businessmen, civil servant and factory workers, mainly at saw mills' Since thelocal economy is mainiy based on fishing, Beiawai village is famously known with itsmarine based products particularly smoked fish and shrimp'Malaysian Fishery Development Authority (LKIM) and Fishermen's WivesAssociation (KUNITA): The Organisation StructureThe Belawai Fishermen's Association (BFA) is under the control of theMalaysian Fishery Development Authority (LKIM), which consisted of 6 areas includingBelawai village. in 2003, there are 756 members of BFA where Belawai has the largestmembers, 395. BFA is considered to be one of the most productive FishermenAssociations in Sarawak recording 94,801.71 kg of fish landing in 2003 with the value ofRM348,130.06 (PNK profile, 20-03). With the aim to diversiff its sources.of income,BFA has involved in several businesses such as ice factory plant, fish marketing, kitchengas, diesel and petrol distributors. Other fishing related do.wnstream activities are alsoru11i"a out, Some seasonally in according to the catch seasons, such as fish crackers,dried fish, dried squid, and smoked shrimp and fish. Recently, the BFA, LKIM and thelocal tourism offrce are planning to develop Belawai village as an agro-tourismdestination. Several potential products have been identified for agro-tourism attractionsuch as sport fishing, natural athaction such as the Belawai beaches, homestay, grilledfish center, songkei weaving center and annual festival such as Kaul festival (seaappeasing festival) and Belawai festival. Owing to its active involvement in variousbuiinessJs, BFA has won several awards at the state and national level, which amongthem are Best Fishermen's Association for the first, second and third place at the nationallevel from 1998 and 3 years in a row from2002.For Belawai people, BFA is viewed not only as a vital government agency thatbecomes the mobiliser to local economic activity but it also plays a role in strengtheningthe social solidarity and bonding between villagers in the community. Solidarity amongthe village is also equally attributed by the active role played by the Fishermen's WivesAssociation (KIJNITA), which has become the backbone to the development of BFA andalso a catalyst to the development of entrepreneurship activities among Belawai women.KUNITA, which is of the same level as BFA, is an organization established by LKIM toincrease the socio-economic status of fishing families, together with strengthening theinstitution of fishing communities. Members are encouraged to venture into small-scalebusinesses particularly based on marine products. The Belawai KUNITA was establishedin 1993 with the total members of 195 in 2003. Various kinds of businesses have beenventured by the KUNITA members which among them are marine-based products suchas fish balls and fishcakes, fish crackers and non-marine products such as the processingof yellow noodle, tofu, traditional cakes, bean sprout and tailoring.By only paying RM25as registration fee and RM3 fee annually, members are accessible to various courses andtrainings organized by LKIM and Fisheries Department to expose and enhance their skillswhich is essential as a starting point to venture into entrepreneurial activities. KUNITA isnot only focusing on economic activities but also actively involved in socio-culturalactivities where the group is often invited either to perform at wedding ceremony or asvolunteer group to entertain guests at special functions at the village./,/'/ "Getting Together": Performing Entrepreneurial Activities by Belawai WomenThe sense of entrepreneurship has long been cultivated or instilled in the Belawaicommunity due to their traditional life that is based on fishing and agricultural activities.In the past, exchanging of forest products :rmong villagers was a common practice.Today, since the village is far from the town centre, selling their agricultural product totheir fellow villagers is a typical activity in the village. Today, this sense ofentrepreneurship has been expanded into a more formal setting or organisation such asKUNITA. KUNITA organization has become an example of how collective action isbeing emphasized in the local entrepreneurial activities. KUNITA is so well organizedthat most of their business ideas can easily be implemented. The way the organization isbeing structured has helped the members in setting up sub-committees that areresponsible in running its four core businesses, which include KUNITA cafe, yellow-noodle processing, traditional dried cakes and tayloring. Each of these projects has itsown committee group. For example, KUNITA caf6' has one committee that isresponsible for the running of the caf6. This committee group is divided into 3 sub-committees. Each group selects its own leader, secretary, treasurer and ordinary membersworking based on weekly rotation schedule. Although, structurally the group is based onhierarchy system but in reality, each of the members has an equal authority or decision-making power. This can be reflected through the division of labour that is very muchbased on collective action where there is no specific task for them. Anyone can performdifferent task by being the chel dishwasher, waitress to cashier. Every end of the month,l0 percent of the earning will be contributed to KUNITA fund while the rest will bedivided equally among the commiffee members. Similar to KUNITA caf6, there is alsocommittee group for yellow-noodle processing, which consists of 4 groups that is alsowork based on weekly rotation schedule. Every morning, as early as 6 am, a group ofKUNITA women will gather at the processing center to start the process of makingyellow noodle. Most of the product will be marketed to the local shops, school canteenand households, while KUNITA caf6 is the regular customer of this product.The above illustration shows that these different committees create "positive"competitive environment, which motivate them to work collectively in performing theirentrepreneurial skills. The committee is not only functioned as motivator but also as amedium for them to share their problems or exchange ideas about their businessexperiences. Although, they may be engaging in different business but each of thecommittees are very much connected as they work collectively to achieve their goal inenhancing individual socio-economic status as well as to provide sustainable fund to theorganization. Another good example of this collective action in Belawai entrepreneurshipactivities is through the making of smoked shrimp (sesar unjur), a traditional and mostexpensive product of all the smoked shrimp produced in Sarawak, only made and sold bythe Belawai villagers.The making of Sescr Unjur (Smoked Shrimp)In the rural sectors, division of labour has always been clearly marked, in a waythat men collect the raw materials, while women processed them, such as weaving mats is4naturally the work of the women but collecting rattan as raw materials are harvested bymen. Of course, this might not necessarily true, especially when men are absent from thevillage, migrating e$9 yhere for jobs or if the *o."o ar! single. This study also revealsthe stark division of labour between men and women in the production oi ,rro, unjur,whereby men go to the sea to catch shrimp, while women process the shrimp. fnprocess of making this smoked shrimp is a representation of a communal activity andvery much based on collective action, whereby ihitdren and the elderly are also involvedln ft: process by helping to peel the shrimps and an€mge them on th, ,qu*" bagbooboard called lcclak. In Belawai, almost all householis, either under KUNITA orindividual processed the sesar unjur.Belawai's smoked shrimp is considered to be the most "authentic" because it ismade purely from special shrimp called red shrimp and instead of roasting method, theshrimp will be arranged on a squae "board" made-from bamboo and the board will thenbe placed slantingly beside the fire. Another aspect that determines the good quality ofBelawai smoked shriln is the usage of mangrove tree as firewood as ttris-wi1 proaule aspecial aroma that makes th9 $rimps tastiei. Although, the women *"r. puid for theirinvolvement but they claimed that it was not so much about the money il6; enjoymentof doing it together. Indirectly, this activity gives the opportunity to enhance bondingbetween them- The process is based on reciirocal, whereby all groups help each other inthe processing activities. Every group will join to tretp the other memUei of the goupdoing the same activity. Howevei, thl participation does not involve every stage of thepro.cess' The processing of smoked shrimp involved different stages, which includesboiling 9f ghrimp, skin peeling, smoking, drying and fackaging. However, only twoslages of this process are done in a group, th" rlit l"e[n[ and utt*ggglrnt of shrimps onthe board. All these process are normaliy done in the coLpound of the host,s house. Asthe host and owner of the business, she will invites several local women, especially hernearest neighbours and relatives together with their children to help her in those twoactivities- Firstly, the host will take fresh shrimp from the local fisherman, usrm[ybetween 30 -70 kilogrammes of shrimps for every'session. Seventy kilogrammes of rawt-E-p.t can produce.around 7 kilogrammes of smoked shrimp Gne tenih of the wholeshrimp)' For a 60 kilogrammes of s-hrimps, it will take a group of 13 members to finishin one and a half hours. The delicate and intricate pro""i, of making this sesar and itsmall end-products quantity explains the expensive price of sesar uniurl,The shrimp will then be boiled for two minutes so that the skin is easier to'peelwhich also involves the removal of the shrimp's head and tail. This is the most enjoyableexperience of the whole process because it involves the entire family and neighboursfrom different ag€ group ranging from 8 to 60 years ota- Chitaren are the most excited asthey will be paid for every kiloihrimps that 1L ueen p"rl.d, usually 50 cents for everykilogramme and manage to get RM5 per session. ttre diticate process of sesarmaking ismenelat that is to arrange the peeled shrimp side by side on the square board (calledkelok)' This exercise needs a-lot-of patience and skills because only the skilled p"oon r*make the shrimp stick to the bamboo.bTd: The next process will be the smoking,yhereby all these fulyl will be placed slantingly around trre main fire. This will take thelongest time, about 4 hours. nr-e nnA stage Jf this process is the packaging. The dried, :..'.',,'/t..,.... .. .i.rr.sesar uniur will be packed in a plastic bag and for every 5 kilogrammes package will besold between RM50 to 55 and usually the price varies depending on the location of themarket, such as Tanjung Manis and Sarikei. For example, the same 5 kilogrammespackage is sold for RM300 in Sibu, about 3 hours boat drive from the village.The above description demonstrates that business and enhepreneurship skills ofthe Belawai women are being shaped through their involvement in KUNITA. One of theimportant factors that help in developing the Belawai women's sense of entrepreneurshipis through the practice instilled by the micro-credit scheme termed as the Amanah lldhiirMalrysia (AIM) where most of these women are members to this scheme. AIM is theoldest micro-finance institution in Malaysia and one of the largest Grameen bankreplications in Asia. Since its establishment in 1987, AIM provided micro-creditfinancing to about 69,000 poor families with interest-free loans of RM300 millionprovided by the govemment (Distribution Section, EPU, 2002). For the Belawai women,AIM has opened a new route for local women to the world of entrepreneurship that hasgradually improved their status of income.ConclusionCollective actions can change and improve the livelihoods of a rural community,1s lepresented by the Belawai village. This is demonstrated by KUNITA and theindividual households processing smoGd shrimp. KUNITA's socio-economic and socio-cultural activities are based on formal collective actions, guided and managed by LKIM.Smoked shrimp processing is based on both formal 1rufNmn1 and inforiral collectiveactions (individual households). KUNITA's active participation in small-scale businesseshas boosted up the Belawai women status in the commtrnity where their creativity,potential and intelligence are recognized not only by the local men but also those in thefishing industry. This is evidenced when one of tire kUNtre members has been selectedas one of the Executive Board Members of local Fishermen's Association. This study is atestimony that women, if given a proper guidance and emphasizing the element ofcollective action, can become a significant contributor in upgrading thei socio-economicstatus, utilizing their environmental products in a sustainablJ manner and finallystrengthening the social structure of their own communi$.References:Greeneo P et.al (2003). llomen Entrepreneurs: Moving Front and Center: An Oventiewof Research and Theory. Minority and Women Divistn. United States Association forSmall Business and Enterpreneurship : US.Schwartz, E- 1976. Entrepreneurship: A new Female Frontier. Journal of ConremporaryBussiness 5(l),47-76.lnnual Report of Achievetnents and Performance of LKIM, Belowai, Sarawak. 2003.Lembaga Kemajuan lkan Malaysia.6

Entrepreneurship: A new Female Frontier.

et.al (2003). llomen Entrepreneurs: Moving Front and Center: An Oventiew of Research and Theory. Minority and Women Divistn. United States Association for Small Business and Enterpreneurship :

lnnual Report of Achievetnents and Performance of LKIM,

The Performance Of Enterpreneurships Skills Among Belawai Women In Sarawak, Malaysia Through Collective Actions.

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The Performance Of Enterpreneurships Skills Among Belawai Women In Sarawak, Malaysia Through Collective Actions.

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