Letter to the Editor
By Assoc Prof Dr Nadzirah Zainordin
When we imagine Sarawak’s future, we often picture cities. We see a more connected Kuching, digitally enabled public services, intelligent transport systems, modern infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and new economic opportunities created through technology. These are important aspirations, and they reflect Sarawak’s determination to position itself for a rapidly changing global economy.
Yet, as we look towards this future, perhaps we should ask a slightly different question: what happens beyond the city?
For a State as geographically extensive and socially diverse as Sarawak, development cannot be defined by its urban centres alone. Kuching, Miri, Sibu, Bintulu, and other cities and towns will undoubtedly remain important engines of economic activity, education, healthcare, innovation, and public administration.
But they exist within a much larger landscape of smaller towns, villages, and rural communities. These communities are sometimes discussed primarily in terms of distance, infrastructure gaps or limited access to services.
Perhaps it is time to look at them differently.
Sarawak’s smartest future may begin in its villages. This is not an argument against urbanisation. Cities matter. They concentrate talent, institutions, businesses, infrastructure, and knowledge, and they will continue to play a central role in Sarawak’s economic transformation. The opportunity, however, is to connect the strengths of these cities with the strengths of the communities beyond them.
The smart city concept provides a useful starting point. Around the world, cities increasingly use sensors, data analytics, artificial intelligence, digital platforms, and connected infrastructure to improve how they function. These technologies can support transport management, environmental monitoring, public services, infrastructure planning, and economic activity. Sarawak’s own digital transformation creates considerable opportunities in this regard.
But for Sarawak, the smart-city conversation should not end at the city boundary. Perhaps the next question should be whether we can build not simply smart cities, but a connected Sarawak.
A smart city seeks to improve the performance of an urban area. A connected region seeks to distribute opportunity across geographical boundaries.
This distinction matters in a State where distance can shape access to education, healthcare, markets, government services, and employment opportunities. For someone living in Kuching, many of these services may be relatively accessible. For someone living in a rural community, the same opportunity may involve hours of travel.
Digital connectivity can change this equation. A broadband connection is infrastructure. But what people can do with that connection is development. This distinction is critical. A village may have access to high-speed internet, but if people lack digital skills, relevant content, affordable devices or confidence in using digital services, connectivity alone will not transform lives.
This is where education becomes central to Sarawak’s digital future. Universities, schools, technical institutions, industry, and communities should not operate as separate systems. They can become part of a wider knowledge ecosystem in which expertise moves beyond institutional boundaries and reaches the communities that need it.
Universities can play a much broader role. They can become knowledge connectors between government, industry, and communities. Research can be connected to real-world challenges. Students can participate in community-based innovation. Industry can work with academic institutions to develop technologies suited to local conditions. Government agencies can collaborate with researchers to evaluate programmes and develop evidence-based interventions.
At the same time, communities should not be viewed simply as recipients of knowledge, as they possess knowledge of their own. This is especially important in Sarawak, where communities have developed deep relationships with their environments over generations. Local knowledge can provide insights into rivers, forests, agriculture, weather patterns, biodiversity and cultural landscapes that may not be immediately visible through conventional datasets.
The future should therefore not be framed as a choice between technology and tradition. It should bring different forms of knowledge together.
This principle has significant implications for areas such as agriculture, tourism, environmental management, disaster preparedness, and community development. The most sophisticated technology is not necessarily the most useful. The better question is whether a particular technology is appropriate, accessible, affordable and relevant to the people who will use it.
Rather than trying to make every village look like a city, we could focus on ensuring that every community has meaningful access to knowledge, services and opportunity.
A village can remain a village. It can retain its cultural identity, relationship with nature, and community character while connecting to wider markets, institutions, and knowledge networks.
Urbanisation is not inherently negative. Cities offer opportunities that smaller communities may not always provide. But if leaving home becomes the only pathway towards education, employment, and economic advancement, rural communities will continue to lose talent.
This is why a connected Sarawak deserves consideration alongside the smart-city agenda. Connectivity should not be understood only as broadband coverage. It should include physical, digital, knowledge, economic, and institutional connectivity.
Roads, bridges, and transport networks remain essential because people and goods still need to move physically. Digital networks allow information, knowledge and services to move across distance. Universities and schools connect people to knowledge. Businesses connect communities to markets. Government institutions connect citizens to public services.
When these systems work together, geographical distance becomes less powerful in determining who can participate in development. Cities therefore do not lose their role.
Kuching can function as a knowledge, administrative, and innovation hub. Miri can continue building on its strengths in energy, technology, and regional economic activity. Sibu and Bintulu can strengthen their economic and logistical roles. Smaller towns can serve as regional service centres and economic nodes.
The objective is not to make every part of Sarawak identical—the objective is to connect its diversity. This could also strengthen Sarawak’s resilience.
A connected community can receive information more quickly. A connected government can coordinate more effectively. A connected university can provide expertise. A connected business community can support recovery. Most importantly, a connected society can learn from experience.
Perhaps this is the direction Sarawak’s smart-city conversation should take—from smart cities to a smart and connected region.
The challenge is to ensure that geography does not unnecessarily determine people’s access to opportunity. This is particularly relevant as Sarawak considers its long-term position in the regional and global economy. The State’s natural resources will remain important, but human capability, knowledge, innovation, and connectivity will increasingly shape competitiveness.
Sarawak therefore does not have to choose between cities and villages. Imagine a Sarawak where a student in a rural community can access world-class learning; where a farmer can reach wider markets; where a small business can participate in the digital economy; where communities can preserve and share their knowledge; where public services can reach beyond major urban centres; and where young people can remain connected to their communities while participating in a global economy.
That would be more than a smart city. It would be a smart society. And perhaps the most meaningful measure of Sarawak’s digital transformation will not be how intelligent its cities become, but how far those benefits reach.
Sarawak’s future should not be concentrated in a handful of urban centres. It should connect the state, allowing cities, towns, and villages to contribute their different strengths to a common future. Perhaps, then, when we talk about building the Sarawak of tomorrow, we should look beyond the skyline.
Because Sarawak’s smartest future may begin in its villages.
Assoc Prof Dr Nadzirah Zainordin is an academic and researcher at the Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas). Her research focuses on sustainable development, smart cities, digital transformation, and the built environment, with particular interest in human-centred and resilient development.
This is the personal opinion of the author(s) and does not necessarily represent the views of DayakDaily. Letters to the Editor may be lightly edited for clarity.
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