Introduction

Accelerated urbanization in Sarawak in the last four decades has far reaching ramifications on the lives of people. The consequences of rural-urban migration such as changes in family structure, the breakdown of traditional support networks, advancement of technology, changes in communication networks and opportunities for employment have all been well documented. On the other hand, it needs to be noted that urbanization is not a uniform process, but a highly differentiated one. Firstly, state policies in Sarawak have seen a concentration of development in the urban centres, mainly in the major towns of Kuching, Sibu, Miri and later Bintulu. Secondly, the impact of urbanization is differently experienced by people in Sarawak not only as a result of this urban bias, but also because the impact of urbanization is mediated by class, ethnicity, gender and age.

How has urbanization impacted on women? What are the changes and adjustments that they have to make in their encounters with urbanization? Are they active agents or passive recipients? This chapter focuses on the lived experiences of elderly women in the urbanization process of Sarawak and examines how it has had an impact on them. Quantitative data presented aims to show key demographic characteristics of these women and whenever relevant, comparisons will be made to elderly men. Qualitative data based on in-depth interviews with several selected women were presented in the form of vignettes which sought to privilege their personal accounts of their journeys through the urbanization process. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data, emerging themes and issues are highlighted in the concluding section of this chapter.

Brief Background to the Study

Primary data in this chapter are drawn from a larger study, “Ageing in Sarawak: Needs, Impact and Emerging Issues”, commissioned by the Ministry of Social Development and Urbanization, Sarawak. The main aim of this study was to examine demographic trends and assess the needs and emerging issues of the older population. The findings of the study would assist the state government in formulating policies and programmes for the elderly. The research team decided to use the government retirement age of 55 as the starting age for the definition of elderly persons. Such a starting age is also justified on the grounds that life expectancy in Malaysia, as in other developing countries, is shorter than in developed nations.