Occupational and Spatial Mobility in an Overseas Chinese Agricultural Community: The Hakkas of Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia

Abstract

ManyHakka communities in Southeast Asia were, and some remain, mainly agricultural. This paper, based mainly upon genealogies collected in the field, traces the manner in which a small community, at first almost entirely agricultural, has become occupational ly diversified. Hakkas of Kudat origin, probably in part because of the emphasis on education, especially in English, for both men and women, now have an occupational profile strongly weighted towards sen ices and the professions. Occupational mobility has been accompanied by substantial change in predominant place of residence, reflecting not only the continuance of Kudat as a largely agricultural district in which there was, and still is, limited scope for upward occupational mobility, but also the apparent attractions of places outside the district and the state. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence suggests that international chain migration in the group may be commencing.