Socio-economic under-development and social exclusion in Kuching: A case study of Kampung Kudei Baru and Kampung Sinar Budi Baru Batu Kawa

To what extent does social exclusion affect the socio-economic underdevelopment of a community? Urban Involution Theory and the Culture of Poverty Theory provide a theoretical framework for analysing underdevelopment issues brought about by social change, while Capability Approach provides an analytical tool to analyze the linkages between social reality and underdevelopment of a community. This study examined social exclusion factors that underpinned the underdevelopment of a Bumiputra community in Kuching. Primary data were gathered from field interviews of 75 household heads of the 251 households of Kampung Kudei Baru and Kampung Sinar Budi Baru Batu Kawa. The findings revealed that internal and external factors, including those of forced participation of the people had conspired to produce social exclusion of the Bumiputra community as manifested by their problematic accessibility to the support system . In conclusion, several factors contributed to the community’s under-development and social exclusion was one of them. This points to the imperative of addressing the social exclusion aspects of any future remedial policy, strategy and practices at individual, community and government levels in order to enhance the community’s capacity to participate fully in Kuching’s development process.