Kabang: the living boat

Abstract

While the majority of world population are land-based, living in fixed abodes, there are people who preferred to pursue a different lifestyle. Nowadays, several groups of Southeast Asian boat nomads venture the sea and retain their nomadic marine life despite waves of change brought about by market economy, formation of nation state with clear-cut boundary, state policy on settling nomadic indigenes, urbanization and coastal/islands land grabs, ethnic and religious struggles for self-autonomy and political freedom. Although often referred to as sea nomads or sea gypsies, these people do not wander aimlessly across the sea. Instead, they usually have specific island(s) with which they associate and base themselves. The three main groups of sea nomads in Southeast Asia are the Bajau2 of the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines and Sulawesi in Indonesia ; the Orang Laut or Urak Lawoi of coastal areas, straits, and islands in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand ; and the Moken3 of the Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar and Thailand.