Examining the Housing Experiences in Malaysia: a Qualitative Research on Pakistani Immigrant Labours

This research is concerns about the housing experiences of Pakistani immigrant labours in Malaysia including the access to adequate, affordable and suitable housing as a prominent aspect of successful settlement and integration. Malaysia is a popular country for Pakistani labour. However, few studies conducted to examine the barriers and challenges that Pakistani faced in Malaysia. To fill this gap, a qualitative research was employed on 21 Pakistani immigrant labours from Klang Valley, Malaysia. The responses regarding housing experiences were collected through interviews. Findings represented that few Pakistani were satisfied with the housing but the other prefer to live in the rental housing due to the inadequate and unsuitable housing provided by employers. They faced issues of damp properties, pest infiltration and over-crowding. In the rental market, they faced the issue of affordability. Social network played a significant role to handle these issues. Based on the finding, it is recommended that policy-makers should ensure the proper implementation of housing policies and update these policies as per requirement. For Malaysian government to succeed in retaining and attracting labour in Malaysia, they should make proper check and balance of adequate, affordable and suitable housing services provided by employers.