The Vulnerability of Community Capitals as a Threat to Orang Kuala Community Development in Malaysia

Community development emphasizes the utilization of communityresources, also known as community capitals. However, it is often difficult for thecommunity to access these resources; this difficulty retards development. Such is thepredicament faced by the Orang Kuala, for whom coastal changes have resulted in greaterdifficulty in accessing their community resources. Nor is that the only threat that theyface. For affirmation of these threats, this article lists two objectives, that is, toidentify the accessibility of marine resources and to explain the types of threats facedby the Orang Kuala. To achieve these objectives, a study was conducted involving 51household heads and 5 Orang Kuala informants, all of whom are residents of Sungai Layauvillage in Johor, Malaysia. This study uses a mixed-method approach, the concurrentembedded design, and also interview-based questionnaires and in-depth interviewssimultaneously. For the first objective, the results show that the Orang Kuala can stillattain community resources in the form of marine products. However, the Orang Kualafaced three types of threats: trends, shocks, and seasonal changes. The most significantthreat to the Orang Kuala is the trend, that is, cost of living and social problems.These threats can reduce their chances of acquiring benefits from these communityresources. This condition is called “vulnerability of community capitals.” The objectiveof this article is to put forth proposals on how to increase the capacity of communityresources for the Orang Kuala so that their community can attain sustainabledevelopment. This proposal is based on the reality that the threats facing the OrangKuala are at a critical level and that they are ready to accept changes