Page 734 - Proceedings Collega2023

Bridging Social Capital

Meanwhile, the findings discovered that the riverside, jetty and Kota Lama Duyong are the most
significant social spaces that contributed to the bridging social capital establishment of the locals. These
spaces facilitate an annual activity considered as a cultural festival, which is the Duyong Art Festival (DAF).
The DAF was originally initiated by the local community in 2015. The objective of this festival was to
revitalise the ambiance of Kampung Pulau Duyong and promote this village as a traditional settlement
with high heritage values. The festival lasted for a month, with the highlight of the festival occurring over
three consecutive days. Numerous cultural activities were held throughout the festival, which successfully
promoted and encouraged collaborations with different kinds of actors, including independent support
groups, institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and individuals who come from all over
Malaysia.

The riverside and jetty accommodate most of the activities, namely music performance, poem
recital, shadow puppet show (wayang kulit) and boat decoration competition, as the main stage known as
Pentas Kemboja is located near the area. While Kota Lama Duyong accommodates passive activities such
as heritage exhibitions and photography competitions, as shown in Figure 6. According to an interview
with a 33-year-old Malay guy who is one of the organisers, said that:

“Riverside and Kota Lama Duyong played a crucial role in the success of this festival. These spaces have
integrated and united all actors through a range of cultural activities.”

Figure 6

The Photography Competition at Kota Lama Duyong

The social spaces fostered a sense of community inclusion and positive bridging social capital
development as the actors built consensus by collaborating and sharing knowledge, goals and ideas based
on their similar aspirations and efforts towards the preservation of the traditional settlement. Cognitively,
their integration promotes social capital values like understanding, tolerance, sharing and cooperation
(Philips & Pittman, 2015), which were the foundation upon which indigenous wisdom was built (Syed,
Hamzah & Ibrahim, 2019; Ajisman, 2020). Thus, the study reveals that the practice of good values rooted
in the lives of communities would strengthen the social bonds between the actors, leading to the
formation of social capital sustainability in traditional settlements.

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