AN EMERGENT SELF HELP SETTLEMENT FOR MARGINALIZED INDIANS

Abstract

This project takes place in a rural Indian village at the northern Malaysian town of Sagil. The village is occupied by oil palm estate workers since pre-independence. In recent years, because of the migration of villagers to urban centers, half of the village is left vacant and unused. Indian migration to the cities, however, does not ease the livelihood of the estate Indians leaving in the hope for a better living, as the majority of estate Indians do not possess sufficient educational training to earn a decent living in the cities, where living costs are high. The aim of this project is to allow the community to get involved in the re-building of their part-deserted village, in which process; they gain the agency in defining their existence. In the process of acting out their own lives, they actively write the script of their history and presence, and start to take control of their own destiny. Instead of being passive spectators in the cities – where luxuries of the cities often eludes them – they become active actors of their existence.