Between Home and Restaurant: Living Conditions, Work Patterns, and Family Health among Minang Migrant Entrepreneurs in Kuala Lumpur

Abstract

This community service paper presents a field-based engagement program conducted with the Minang Saiyo Community in Kuala Lumpur, a group of Indonesian Minang migrant families whose livelihoods are closely tied to restaurant entrepreneurship. The program addressed the relationship between domestic living conditions, restaurant-based work patterns, and family health in migrant working households. Many participants lived in environments where residence, business support, storage, rest, and childcare overlapped, creating challenges related to ventilation, sanitation, spatial comfort, safety, and healthy daily routines.
The program was carried out by experts in architecture and building engineering through field observation, participatory discussion, environmental health education, and technical guidance on simple spatial improvements. The intervention focused on practical aspects of healthy living environments, including natural ventilation, lighting, sanitation, circulation safety, waste handling, moisture control, and clearer separation between clean and service areas. Recommendations were designed to be low-cost, gradual, and feasible within rented or spatially constrained settings.
The activity found that participants responded positively to practical and context-sensitive guidance that connected health, family well-being, and spatial arrangement. The program also showed that architecture-based community service can contribute meaningfully to strengthening healthy living practices among migrant entrepreneur families. More broadly, the study highlights the importance of spatial literacy as part of community empowerment in urban migrant settings.