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Linking Social Capital

Besides, the DAF also played an essential role in building linking social capital as it involved
collaboration from the authority, which is the Public Works Department (Jabatan Kerja Raya - JKR). Before
the festival is conducted, this department works closely with the organisers, as they are responsible for
inspecting the structure of the wooden jetty to ensure the safety of the visitors throughout the festival.
On top of that, this festival also got recognition from the Terengganu State Arts and Culture Department
(Jabatan Kesenian dan Kebudayaan Negeri Terengganu) after two years of its establishment, as they
received financial support from them. One of the members of the organisers mentions that:

"... for the first two years of its organisation, DAF was financially supported by the locals, non-
governmental organisations, individuals and independent support groups. The DAF only received official
recognition from the government agency in 2017 as they helped us with the funding to organise this
festival. What is more intriguing is that the DAF was listed on Visit Terengganu's calendar."

Figure 7

The Jetty of Kampung Pulau Duyong

According to the study, the social spaces associated with this festival, such as the riverside and
jetty, clearly serve as a pivotal platform for actors to engage in this kind of social capital. The government
organisations that support the Duyong Art Festival with financing and a pool of technical resources are the
major actors involved in linking social capital. This collaboration serves as a compelling illustration of how
linking social capital works in the study area. In this instance, it is clear that linking social capital is crucial
to the local communities since it can boost the resources (Claridge, 2018; Cofré-Bravo et al., 2019) that
made the festival a reality. It appears that this type of social network benefits both local communities and
government organizations. As a result of their cooperation, the actors are more tolerant and socially
cohesive because they have gained confidence and trust in the social structure's transparency and
accuracy of all information. Therefore, this study suggests that the formation of social capital sustainability
among the actors was shaped by the practices of these social capital values.

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