Community who lives on a small island has the highest number of mobility to go out of the island. The high mobility brings an influence in the abandoned area.
According to Prapti Murwani, S.Sos., M.Si., a lecturer at Faculty of Social and Political Sciences Universitas Pattimura, the high mobility makes the small islands lose its productive workforce, thus the life of the community in small islands will continue to be disadvantaged as experienced by Lease Island, the closest island to Ambon City.
“The history of Lease Island showed it had abundant natural resources and became one of the destinations of the world traders. Ironically, the local people tend to go out from the island toward Ambon City as their destination,” said Prapti Murwani during an open examination for Doctoral Programme at Graduate School UGM on Tuesday (30/1).
Prapti Murwani said all this while, a study on mobility is only done in the context of mobility which happens in the continental community while study on the mobility of small islands is barely conducted. With its typical characteristics, the study on the mobility of small islands is required to be done.
“Physically, big and small islands have different characteristics, including the mobility pattern of local people of Lease Island from its demographic aspect and their behavior in making decision, social capital as well as adaptation in Ambon City that have yet to be researched,” said Prapti while defending her dissertation entitled Mobility Pattern of Small Islands Communities, Case Study: Mobility of Local People from Lease Island to Ambon City.
The result of her research showed the existence of family in the destination becomes a factor that influenced the migrant to make a move. A solid family relationship and cultural values of the hometown have an essential role as a driver for the migrant to move.
“The factor that draws a person to move is social capital in the form of networks which are formed in the destination as well as the philosophy of the local people in small islands which become values and foundation of living in small islands,” she added.