SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Using the approach of political ecology and the concept of elite capture, this chapter examines the implications of the Bakun Dam construction for the Orang Ulu after 18 years of resettlement. It addresses wider socioeconomic and political drivers of large dam-building and the role of Chinese actors as financiers and dam-builders in the context where Malaysian political and economic as well as national and sub-regional elite interests dominate. The chapter provides a fieldwork which was conducted at Sungei Asap over a period of several months, from April to September 2014, while the institutional interviews were conducted between 2013 and 2016. Interviews with longhouse residents were guided by four major themes, namely: life before resettlement, promises made prior to resettlement, life after resettlement and future hopes and aspirations. According to the interviews, livelihood and lifestyle changes amount to major adjustments in work patterns, resource access and food production systems.