A video of Orang Asli from the Jahai tribe near Tasik Belum
Demography
This map is reproduced from Robert Knox Dentan et. al. Malaysia and the Original People: A Case Study of the Impact of Development on Indigenous Peoples. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997 and was adapted from Geoffrey Benjamin's In the Long Term: Three Themes in Malayan Cultural Ecology in Southeast Asia. Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies: Ann Arbor, 1985. The historically-known maximal distributions are indicated here. At the present time, most Orang Asli occupy smaller and more discontinuous territories.
Source: http://www.keene.edu/library/orangasli/map1.cfm
It is estimated that there are only 0.5% which is around 148 000 of Orang Asli among the overall population of Malaysia. The Senois, is one of the largest group in the Orang Asli population, consituting about 54%. While the balance percentage are Proto-Malays, 43% and Semang, 3%.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orang_asli
Groups of Orang Asli
The name "Negrito" suggest, that these people come from Papua New Guinea or East Africa. They also have dark-skinned and frizzy-hair. Other groups of the Orang Asli are more light-skinned and have straight hair.
The Negrito's live in the North and North East of the Peninsular and mostly they live in the jungle. They are the semi-nomadic tribes of the Orang Asli. Only a few of them also live in urban areas and are engaged in both waged and salaried jobs.
It is thought that the Negrito's arrived in Malaya 8,000 years ago. Their forefathers were also hunters and gatherers who lived in caves and rock shelters. They knew the use of fire and cooked their food with the aid of crude instruments made from stone. They hunt for food and gather fruits as well as forest products for medical use.
Many Senoi live in the Cameron Highlands. They just look like a real Malaysians, although the dark ones look like Negrito's. Originally they must have come from the hills in Vietnam, Cambodia or Northern Thailand, about 6000 - 8000 years ago
In the highlands the Senoi live as wage-earners, working on the highland tea estates. Others you can see in the streets of Kuala Lumpur in jeans and a T-shirt. They have obtained jobs as varied as government employees and taxi drivers
When you have left the highway you'll see a sign with "Orang Asli" village on it.
The members of the Proto-Malay tribes, whose ancestors were believed to have migrated from the Indonesian islands to the south of the peninsula, speak dialects which belong to the same Austronesian family of languages as Malay, with the exceptions of the Semelai and Temoq dialects (which are Austroasiatic).
The Orang Asli have equally varied occupations and ways of life. The Orang Laut, Orang Seletar and Mah Meri, for example, live close to the coast and are mainly fishermen. Some Temuan, Jakun and Semai people have taken to permanent agriculture and now manage their own rubber, oil palm or cocoa farms.
Of the 869 Orang Asli communities in the peninsula, 37.2 per cent are in interior/forest areas while 61.4 per cent are in forest-fringe or rural areas. Only 1.4 per cent of the Orang Asli settlements are in, or close to, urban centers. Many of the communities living live close to, or within forested areas – including Semai, Temiar, Chewong, Jah Hut, Semelai and Semoq Beri – still engage in swiddening (hill rice cultivation) and do some hunting, fishing and gathering. These communities also trade in petai, durian, rattan and resins to earn cash incomes.
A very small number, especially among the Negrito groups (such as Jahai and Batek) are still semi-nomadic, preferring to take advantage of the seasonal bounties of the forest. A significant number of Orang Asli also have salaried jobs or are self-employed.
Nevertheless, one fact remains the same for all Orang Asli: they are the descendants of the earliest inhabitants of the peninsula and they have retained much of their identity which is distinct from the mainstream society.
Source: http://www.malaysiasite.nl/orangeng.htm & http://www.coac.org.my/
Slavery
Slave raids into Orang Asli settlements were not an uncommon feature in the 18th and 19th centuries. The slave-raiders were mainly Malays and Bataks, who considered the Orang Asli as ‘kafirs’, ‘non-humans’, ‘savages’ and ‘jungle-beasts.’
The modus operandi was basically to swoop down on a settlement and kill off all the adult men. Women and children were preferred as they were less likely to run away and were ‘easier to tame’. The Orang Asli slaves were sold off or given to local rulers and chieftains to gain their favour.
A considerable trade in slaves thus soon developed – and even continued into the last century despite the official abolition of all forms of slavery in 1884. In fact, the derogatory term Sakai used to refer to the Orang Asli until the middle of this century was often taken to mean ‘slave’ or ‘dependent’. Many Orang Asli elders still remember this sad period of their history, and all Orang Asli detest being called Sakai.
Source: http://www.coac.org.my
What I Have To Say
Based on my research, I have found out that many Orang Asli have taken various steps to assert their rights. Some have them have even resort to the courts for help.
These animosity revolved around the feeling of insecure of ownership towards their ancestor land, the lack of consultation matters that affect them, discrimination in distributive justice and others having full control of their department instead of them. Infect, it is stated by the government that, Orang Asli are anti-progress or in other words avoid being develop with the modern world. On contrary, they wish they would be included with the vast development of the country, but ask that they be consulted before such 'development' is enfocre to them.
This would require an approach that centres on forging a new culture of respect, cooperation, freedom and social justice. It would involve reforming the regime of laws, policies and the institutions that have directed the administration of Orang Asli affairs thus far. It would also involve the developing and strengthening of national dispute-resolution arrangements especially in relation to the settlement of Orang Asli claims to land and resource rights.
Reference
http://www.coac.org.my/codenavia/portals/coacv2/code/main/main_art.php?parentID=11400226426398&artID=11543326156596
http://www.iias.nl/nl/35/IIAS_NL35_10.pdf
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/7/5/nation/6607039&sec=nation
http://www.klpos.com/news/2010/07/05/5.html
http://www.iseas.edu.sg/viewpoint/ri10mar10.pdf
This map is reproduced from Robert Knox Dentan et. al. Malaysia and the Original People: A Case Study of the Impact of Development on Indigenous Peoples. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997 and was adapted from Geoffrey Benjamin's In the Long Term: Three Themes in Malayan Cultural Ecology in Southeast Asia. Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies: Ann Arbor, 1985. The historically-known maximal distributions are indicated here. At the present time, most Orang Asli occupy smaller and more discontinuous territories.Source: http://www.keene.edu/library/orangasli/map1.cfm
It is estimated that there are only 0.5% which is around 148 000 of Orang Asli among the overall population of Malaysia. The Senois, is one of the largest group in the Orang Asli population, consituting about 54%. While the balance percentage are Proto-Malays, 43% and Semang, 3%.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orang_asli
Groups of Orang Asli
The name "Negrito" suggest, that these people come from Papua New Guinea or East Africa. They also have dark-skinned and frizzy-hair. Other groups of the Orang Asli are more light-skinned and have straight hair.
The Negrito's live in the North and North East of the Peninsular and mostly they live in the jungle. They are the semi-nomadic tribes of the Orang Asli. Only a few of them also live in urban areas and are engaged in both waged and salaried jobs.
It is thought that the Negrito's arrived in Malaya 8,000 years ago. Their forefathers were also hunters and gatherers who lived in caves and rock shelters. They knew the use of fire and cooked their food with the aid of crude instruments made from stone. They hunt for food and gather fruits as well as forest products for medical use.
Many Senoi live in the Cameron Highlands. They just look like a real Malaysians, although the dark ones look like Negrito's. Originally they must have come from the hills in Vietnam, Cambodia or Northern Thailand, about 6000 - 8000 years ago
In the highlands the Senoi live as wage-earners, working on the highland tea estates. Others you can see in the streets of Kuala Lumpur in jeans and a T-shirt. They have obtained jobs as varied as government employees and taxi drivers
When you have left the highway you'll see a sign with "Orang Asli" village on it.
The members of the Proto-Malay tribes, whose ancestors were believed to have migrated from the Indonesian islands to the south of the peninsula, speak dialects which belong to the same Austronesian family of languages as Malay, with the exceptions of the Semelai and Temoq dialects (which are Austroasiatic).
The Orang Asli have equally varied occupations and ways of life. The Orang Laut, Orang Seletar and Mah Meri, for example, live close to the coast and are mainly fishermen. Some Temuan, Jakun and Semai people have taken to permanent agriculture and now manage their own rubber, oil palm or cocoa farms.
Of the 869 Orang Asli communities in the peninsula, 37.2 per cent are in interior/forest areas while 61.4 per cent are in forest-fringe or rural areas. Only 1.4 per cent of the Orang Asli settlements are in, or close to, urban centers. Many of the communities living live close to, or within forested areas – including Semai, Temiar, Chewong, Jah Hut, Semelai and Semoq Beri – still engage in swiddening (hill rice cultivation) and do some hunting, fishing and gathering. These communities also trade in petai, durian, rattan and resins to earn cash incomes.
A very small number, especially among the Negrito groups (such as Jahai and Batek) are still semi-nomadic, preferring to take advantage of the seasonal bounties of the forest. A significant number of Orang Asli also have salaried jobs or are self-employed.
Nevertheless, one fact remains the same for all Orang Asli: they are the descendants of the earliest inhabitants of the peninsula and they have retained much of their identity which is distinct from the mainstream society.
Source: http://www.malaysiasite.nl/orangeng.htm & http://www.coac.org.my/
Slavery
Slave raids into Orang Asli settlements were not an uncommon feature in the 18th and 19th centuries. The slave-raiders were mainly Malays and Bataks, who considered the Orang Asli as ‘kafirs’, ‘non-humans’, ‘savages’ and ‘jungle-beasts.’
The modus operandi was basically to swoop down on a settlement and kill off all the adult men. Women and children were preferred as they were less likely to run away and were ‘easier to tame’. The Orang Asli slaves were sold off or given to local rulers and chieftains to gain their favour.
A considerable trade in slaves thus soon developed – and even continued into the last century despite the official abolition of all forms of slavery in 1884. In fact, the derogatory term Sakai used to refer to the Orang Asli until the middle of this century was often taken to mean ‘slave’ or ‘dependent’. Many Orang Asli elders still remember this sad period of their history, and all Orang Asli detest being called Sakai.
Source: http://www.coac.org.my
What I Have To Say
Based on my research, I have found out that many Orang Asli have taken various steps to assert their rights. Some have them have even resort to the courts for help.
These animosity revolved around the feeling of insecure of ownership towards their ancestor land, the lack of consultation matters that affect them, discrimination in distributive justice and others having full control of their department instead of them. Infect, it is stated by the government that, Orang Asli are anti-progress or in other words avoid being develop with the modern world. On contrary, they wish they would be included with the vast development of the country, but ask that they be consulted before such 'development' is enfocre to them.
This would require an approach that centres on forging a new culture of respect, cooperation, freedom and social justice. It would involve reforming the regime of laws, policies and the institutions that have directed the administration of Orang Asli affairs thus far. It would also involve the developing and strengthening of national dispute-resolution arrangements especially in relation to the settlement of Orang Asli claims to land and resource rights.
Reference
http://www.coac.org.my/codenavia/portals/coacv2/code/main/main_art.php?parentID=11400226426398&artID=11543326156596
http://www.iias.nl/nl/35/IIAS_NL35_10.pdf
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/7/5/nation/6607039&sec=nation
http://www.klpos.com/news/2010/07/05/5.html
http://www.iseas.edu.sg/viewpoint/ri10mar10.pdf
1 comments:
Interesting video, thank you for sharing.
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