Memahami permasalahan pelancongan di Kundasang, Sabah : kekuatan dan kelemahan pendekatan positivisme (Explaining the problems of tourism in Kundasang, Sabah: the strengths and limitations of the positivist perspective)

Abstract

Kertas ini secara asasnya cuba mengupas permasalahan pelancongan di Kundasang (Sabah) berdasarkan pendekatan epistemologi positivisme. Tujuannya ialah untuk (i) memaparkan beberapa aspek lahiriah (empirikal) kepincangan industri pelancongan di kawasan berkenaan, (ii) menjelaskan kepincangan ini dari perspektif postivisme sendiri, dan (iii) menunjukkan bagaimana penjelasan yang lebih bererti dapat dan harus didatangkan dari pendekatan-pendekatan epistemologi selain positivisme. Adalah didapati bahawa kekuatan perspektif positivisme ialah dalam mengenalpasti tiga faktor utama yang mempengaruhi kegagalan industri pelancongan sebagai katalis pembangunan Kundasang , iaitu pertumbuhan pusat urban yang lembab, kebocoran pendapatan, dan tahap ‛mandiri’ penduduk setempat yang lemah. Kelemahan perspektif positivisme ialah kegagalannya mengungkap dan menjawab dua persoalan kritikal yang mendasari permasalahan pelancongan di Kundasang, iaitu : (i) Mengapakah aliran modal asing yang masuk ke kawasan Kundasang gagal memberi kesan pengganda dan limpahan ekonomi di peringkat lokal ?; dan (ii) mengapakah kedatangan para pekerja migran yang agak besar jumlahnya tidak memberi sumbangan kepada pertumbuhan fungsi runcit dan perkhidmatan urbanisasi di Kundasang? Kertas ini menyimpulkan bahawa jawapan kepada dua persoalan dasar itu memerlukan aplikasi pendekatan bukan positivism.

Katakunci: epistemologi, industri pelancongan, kesan limpahan, penerangan, positivisme, Sabah

This paper is basically an attempt to explicate the problematique of tourism in Kundasang (Sabah) from the epistemological standpoint of positivism. The objectives are (i) to present several empirical aspects of the problems besetting the tourism industry in the study area, (ii) to account for those problems or shortcomings from the positivist perspective, and (iii) to show how more meaningful explanations could and should be obtained from epistemological perspectives other than positivism. It is found that the strength of the positivist perspective is in the empirical identification of three main factors that have led to the failure of the tourist industry as a development catalyst for Kundasang, namely the lethargic growth of the urban centre, leakages of incomes from the area, and the low level of positive attitudes and behavior on the part of the local populace. In contrast, the positivist perspective is found to be unable to frame and answer two fundamental critical questions that underline the problems and failure of the Kundasang tourist industry, viz : (a) why did the investment that flowed into Kundasang fail to generate the economic multiplier and spread effects at the local level ?; and (b) why did the significant presence of migrant foreign workers not contribute to the growth of the retail and urban services in Kundasang ? The paper concludes that answering such questions necessitates the application of non-positivist epistemologies.

Keywords: epistemology, explanation, positivism, Sabah, spread effects, tourist industry