Adapting Identity in Sabah
The talk will be held in English.
The full title of this talk is "The Land of the Disappearing Identity: Adaptability in the Sabahan Ethnic Landscape".
What happens to identity when daily life changes faster than tradition can adapt? This talk explores identity shifts in modern-day Sabah through the lens of mixed families, migration, language use, urban work, and online life. It also asks what it means to be Sabahan now and in the future.
Culture in Sabah is not standing still. People move for work, marry across communities, speak multiple languages at home, and live more of their lives online. Some worry that this means identity is "disappearing". Others see it as a natural evolution.
In this talk, we'll explore what "disappearing" and "adapting" really look like. Rather than broad slogans, we will explore the everyday choices that shape identity:
Family and marriage: How mixed heritage and kinship shape language, customs, and self-identification.
Language shift: Why some families keep a heritage language and others don't, and what new multilingual habits mean for belonging.
Town vs. kampung life: How schooling, work, and city routines change ritual practice, foodways, and community ties.
Faith and tradition: Where religious practice supports or replaces older customs and how people balance both.
Digital culture: The role of social media in reviving, remixing, or reshaping "who we are".
Labels and paperwork: How census categories, school forms, and official documents influence people's identities.
Rather than declaring identity "lost", the speaker will argue that identity in Sabah is adaptive: it bends, blends, and sometimes re-roots itself. Expect candid examples, time for questions, and a discussion of what meaningful cultural continuity can look like without nostalgia or fatalism.
This event is ideal for Sabahans of any background, Malaysians curious about East Malaysia's diversity, students, educators, community organizers, and anyone thinking about heritage in a changing world.
Guest Speaker
Dr. Trixie Tangit is an anthropologist specializing in indigenous studies and linguistics at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). She has written extensively on the identities of the Kadazan people.
More Info
About the Sabah Society
The Sabah Society is a non-governmental/non-profit organisation founded in 1960 by a group of enthusiasts who wished to record and preserve interesting and important aspects of Sabah's history, culture and natural history.
How to get to this event?
The Sabah Society
No. 46, Lot 34, 1st Floor, Damai Plaza Phase 4, Luyang, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.