Indonesian Journal of Cultural and Community Development
Vol 4 (2019): September
Village Development Articles

Cultural Adaptation by Bangladeshi Migrant Workers in Sarawak, Malaysia: An Empirical Study
Adaptasi Budaya oleh Pekerja Migran Bangladesh di Sarawak, Malaysia: Sebuah Studi Empiris


View Article
  • Md Mizanur Rahman*,
  • Mohamad Taha Arif,
  • Razitasham Safii,
  • Zainab Tambi,
  • Cliffton Akoi,
  • Zulkifli Jantan,
  • Syahrizal Abdul Halim,
  • Ahmad Hafiz
Md Mizanur Rahman
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia *
Mohamad Taha Arif
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
Razitasham Safii
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
Zainab Tambi
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
Cliffton Akoi
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
Zulkifli Jantan
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
Syahrizal Abdul Halim
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
Ahmad Hafiz
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia

(*) Corresponding Author
Picture in here are illustration from public domain image or provided by the author, as part of their works
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21070/ijccd.v4i3.91
Published September 23, 2019
Keywords
  • Cultural adaptation,
  • Migrant workers,
  • bangladesh,
  • serawak,
  • malaysia
How to Cite
Rahman, M. M., Arif, M. T., Safii, R., Tambi, Z., Akoi, C., Jantan, Z., Halim, S. A., & Hafiz, A. (2019). Cultural Adaptation by Bangladeshi Migrant Workers in Sarawak, Malaysia: An Empirical Study . Indonesian Journal of Cultural and Community Development, 4(3), 10.21070/ijccd.v2i3.91. https://doi.org/10.21070/ijccd.v4i3.91

Copyright (c) 2019 Md Mizanur Rahman, Mohamad Taha Arif

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Funding data

  • Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
    Grant numbers This study was conducted by a small grant of Nusantra Chair from Institute of Borneo Studies, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Ref: F05/(NRC)/1335/2016(1).

Abstract

Cultural adaptation occurs in a wide range of socio-cultural contexts which describe the acquisition of skills and knowledge. The aim of the study was to assess the process of cultural adaptation by the Bangladeshi workers in Sarawak and to compare it with their own culture. This was a cross-sectional study conducted among the Bangladeshi migrant workers in the selected districts in Sarawak. A total of 314 Bangladeshi workers were successfully interviewed using structured questionnaire. Data were collected by face-to-face interview. Data analysis was done by IBM SPSS version 22.0. Data analysis was done in three domains of cultural adaptation which was language adaptation, cultural behaviour and cultural knowledge using 22 items of question. Analysis revealed that language adaptation was quick and sustained which accounted for 53%, while, gaining cultural knowledge was 24% and cultural behaviour was 21%. Overall, 34% adapt local culture of the country of destination and 67% practiced their own culture and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that nature of job, income, mode of payment, marital status and health insurance appeared to be important motivating factors for cultural adaptation in Malaysia (p<0.05). The findings suggest that Bangladeshi migrant workers are integrating into Malaysian society, keeping uphold their own culture. Though this study did not depict the overall scenarios, a cross-cultural issues with a rigorous working framework are warranted to get more in-depth cultural adaptation and process among the migrant workers in the country of destination.

View Article

References

  1. “International Organization for Migration. (2018). World Migration Report 2018 [Organization]. Retrieved May 2, 2018, from https://www.iom.in t/wmr/world-migration-report-2018,” International Organization for Migration, 2018.
  2. “Malaysian Trades Union Congress. (2015). Migrant Workers: Malaysia’s ‘Invisible’ Workforce -. Retrieved May 2, 2018, from http://www.mtuc.org.my/migrant-workers-ma laysias-invisible-workforce/,” 2015. [Online]. Avail- able: http://www.mtuc.org.my/migrant-workers- malaysias-invisible-workforce/
  3. H. B. Lasimbang, W. T. Tong, and W. Y. Low, “Migrant Workers in Sabah, East Malaysia: The Importance of Legislation and Policy to Uphold Equity on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Best Practice & Research,” Clinical Obstet- rics & Gynaecology, vol. 32, pp. 113–123, 2016.
  4. Department of Statistics, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Malaysia, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://www. dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/pdfPrev&id=
  5. RldLdXFnQUppeGM5Yk1HODlTMVl6UT09
  6. “Oxford Dictionaries. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2018, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/,” 2018. [Online]. Available: https://en.oxforddictionaries. com/
  8. “University of North Carolina. (2018). Cul- tural Adjustment Stages [University of North Carolina]. Retrieved May 2, 2018, from https://writingcenter.unc.edu/esl/resources/cu ltural-adjustment-stages/,” 2018. [Online]. Avail- able: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/esl/resources/ cultural-adjustment-stages/
  9. R. Sarker, “Sarker, R. (2014). Migration and Employment: A Study of Bangladeshi Male Migrant Workers in Malaysia. https://doi.org/10.1007/97 8-981-287-712-3 7,” 2014. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-712-3 7
  10. Merriam-Webster, “Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Def- inition of Culture. Retrieved May 2, 2018, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionar y/culture,” 2018. [Online]. Available: https:
  11. //www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture
  12. Y. Y. Kim, “Kim, Y. Y. (2017). Cross-Cultural Adap- tation. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Commu- nication. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/97801902 28613.013.21,” 2017. [Online]. Available: https:
  13. //doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.21
  14. M. Akhtaruzzaman and M. Hoque, “A Study on Cul- tural Adaptation of Bangladeshi Male Students at UIA, Malaysia,” American Journal of Sociological Research, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1–8, 2011.
  15. Z. N. Khaliman, “Socio-cultural Adaptation of Migrants: Theoretical and Methodological Aspect,” American-Eurasian Journal of Scientific Research, vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 187–192, 2012.
  16. “United Nations. (n.d.). United Nations Population Division — Department of Economic and Social Affairs [Organization]. Retrieved May 2, 2018, from http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/popu lation/,” 2018. [Online]. Available: http://www.un. org/en/development/desa/population/
  17. E. J. Calzada, K. Y. Huang, M. Covas, D. Ramirez, and L. M. Brotman, “A Longitudinal Study of Cultural Adaptation among Mexican and Domini- can Immigrant Women,” Journal of International Migration and Integration, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 1049– 1063, 2016.
  18. J. W. Reich, A. J. Zautra, and J. S. Hall, “Cultural Adaptation and Resilience: Controversies, Issues, and Emerging Models,” in Handbook of Adult Resilience. The Guilford Press, 2010, pp. 540–540.
  19. O. Yakushko, “Stress and Coping Strategies in the Lives of Recent Immigrants: A Grounded Theory Model,” International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 256–273, 2010.
  20. B. C. H. Kuo, “Coping, Acculturation, and Psycho- logical Adaptation Among Migrants: A Theoretical and Empirical Review and Synthesis of the Litera- ture,” Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 16–33, 2014.
  21. A. Z. Karim, N. M. Diah, S. Mustari, and M. S. I. Sarker, “Work Performances and Adaptability of the Bangladeshi Workers in Malaysia. a Socio- Anthropological Study,” In South Asian Anthropol- ogists. Kuala Lumpur, 2013.
  22. Y. Peng, W. Chang, H. Zhou, H. Hu, and W. Liang, “Factors Associated with Health-Seeking Behavior Among Migrant Workers in Beijing,” China. BMC Health Services Research, vol. 10, pp. 69–69, 2010.
  23. D. Drankus, “Drankus, D. (n.d.). Indicators of Acculturation: A Bilinear, Multidimensional Approach — University of Chicago - SSA [University]. Retrieved May 2, 2018, from http://ssa
  24. .uchicago.edu/indicators-acculturation-bilinear-mul tidimensional-approach,” 2018. [Online]. Available: http://ssa.uchicago.edu/indicators-acculturation- bilinear-multidimensional-approach
  25. I. Spss, IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows (Version 22). Armonk, New York, USA: IBM SPSS, 2013.
  26. A. Islam, Acculturation Preference Among Bangladeshi Immigrant in London and Malmoe (Thesis), London, 2008. [Online]. Available: http:
  27. //lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile& recordOId=1320098&fileOId=1320099
  28. L. Valenzuela, “Valenzuela, L. (2012). Inter- national Worker Cultural Adaptation: A Qual- itative Study. Electronic Theses and Disser- tations. Retrieved from http://stars.library.ucf.e du/etd/2239,” 2012. [Online]. Available: http:
  29. //stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2239
  30. K. S. Farid, “Home Away Home: Adjustment Expe- rience of Bangladeshi Immigrants in the Nether- lands,” Journal of the Bangladesh Agricultural Uni- versity, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 345–350, 2014.