Orang Asli and Religion

Assalamualaikum friends..

Have you ever know what is the religion of Orang Asli?
Are they Muslims? Christians? Hindus? or Buddhists?

Let me share some knowledge that i got from our visit to Orang Asli Museum.

During the visit, there was a staff of the museum who give a very detail explanation about Orang Asli. One thing that I interested in is about religion of Orang Asli. Do you know why I'm interested in it? This is because, when I visits around the museum, I did not find any written material about their religion, the staff is only the one who explained about it as he had spent his time with Orang Asli since childhood.

From what had been told by the staff, most of Orang Asli are atheists. Atheists is those who did not embrace any religion. If there are Muslims who comes and spread da'wah to them, they will embrace Islam, if there is Christians who comes and tell them about Christians, they will embrace Christian. Sometimes they will easily change their religion.

As the staff shared about this, I keep wondering why this happened. And the conclusion that I can make is that they did not have much information about religions. They only heard about religion when there are people who comes and tell them about it. They did not have access to the internet which makes them only know about religion on the surface. The religious people also should play their part. They cannot just share about the religion on the surface for one and two times only. They should do follow up and keep giving information about the religion until the community there really understand it.

Boyan is my neighbour

The history of Boyan (Bawean) 

Boyan is one of the Jawa tribe. The community of Malacca and Malaysia are more familiar with Boyan pronunciation of subsidiaries and in their view Boyan means the driver and gardener (kephun in subsidiary), because most of the public profession of origin Bawean is working in the garden or as a driver. People Bawean is a small group of community that comes from Bawean Island, located in the Java Sea between the two large islands of Borneo to the north and south of the island of Java. Bawean Island is located about 80 miles north of Surabaya and Gresik regency sign. Bawean Island consists of two districts, the districts and sub-districts Sangkapura Causeway. Diponggo is one of the villages of 30 villages on the island of subsidiaries whose language differs considerably from other villages. Community Diponggo semi Java language, which is the legacy of a female scholar who lived in the village, the territories Zainab, who was a descendant of Sunan Ampel.

It is difficult to determine the exact time of arrival of those subsidiaries to Malacca because there is no evidence and documentation of the history of their arrival. There is no official record of their arrival in Malacca. The views expressed are not able to show the correct time. The first opinion says that there are people named Tok Ayar came to Malacca in 1819. The second view says that the Baweanese came in 1824, approximately during British rule in Malacca, in the notes to the Government of the Colony of Singapore on in 1849 there were 763 people Bawean and it continues to grow in number. While in record Bawean Association Malaysia in 1891 there were 3,161 people scattered subsidiaries in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Melaka, Seremban and Ipoh. The third opinion says the existing subsidiaries in Malacca before 1900 and that year was a lot of people Bawean in Malacca. Bawean people generally live in the city or an area close to the city, like in Kampung Mata Kuching, CAKUNG Besar, Limbongan, Sheep and vicinity Malacca General Hospital. Bawean rare people who live in areas far from the city and the number of people who are in Malacca Sukma is not expected to exceed one thousand people.

Than in Malacca, the subsidiaries are also scattered in the Klang Valley, such as in the area of ​​Ampang, Gombak, Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam. They buy land and build houses in groups. In Gelugor, Penang, there are at least two large families of people subsidiaries. They use the Penang Malay dialect to speak with someone not subsidiaries. pic credit to google

Boyan and me

Nowadays, Boyan people increase their population and became bigger and bigger day by day. In Gombak, which is Sg Chincin is the place that have largest amount of them. If we mention about Kampung Sungai Chincin, then other people will automatically know that place has been conquered by them.  Many of us afraid and have negative thought when we talk about their culture, but for me who has experiencing myself living together in their residential it really different. My first time go there to look for rent house is really awkward. I am feel like I am alone in that area of housing while they are having strong relation among themselves only. I think, they have a bad habit, arrogant and “as-sobiyah”. 

But after one week stay there, I started to realize that, it is not like the rumors said. My neighbors are friendly and concern about other neighbor especially me and my husband because I am newbie there. They treat me like their relatives and children. Every day, when I want to go out they will great me with nice word and smile in their faces. Sometimes, they also invite me to share their food. I really feel like living together with my “pak cik mak cik”… so, moral of the story, don’t judge book by its cover ok?

ASSUMPTIONS & CHARACTERISTICS IN MULTICULTURALISM

Today I found another interesting article and I think I want to share it here. The article is about cross-cultural counseling, for sure. The author of the article, Alvia Repetto, she shared some information about the assumptions and characteristics that can be identified in multiculturalism.

  

FIVE ASSUMPTION THAT CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN MULTICULTURALISM

• Multiculturalism accepts the existence of many points of view, none of which are considered good or bad, correct or incorrect.
• It involves social constructionism, in that people construct their worlds through social processes (historical, cultural and social experiences) which contain cultural symbols and metaphors.
• It is contextualistic in that conduct can only be understood within the context in which it takes place. This challenges the psychological and counseling theories that arise out of a specific cultural context.
• It offers different approaches to the world because each perspective captures a different, valid approach.
•  It defends a relational sense for language rather than just a representational one, because language has a high correlation with culture and the perception of reality. The relational approach allows truths and realities to be seen beyond western scientific traditions. 

 

TEN CHARACTERISTICS THAT CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN MULTICULTURALISM

1. It values cultural pluralism, teaching the value of diversity
2. It is a matter of social justice, cultural democracy and equity
3. It helps people to acquire the attitudes, knowledge and skills that are necessary for functioning efficiently in a demographic, pluralistic society and for backgrounds.
4. It is more than just race, class, gender and ethnicity, and includes diversity of religion, national origin, sexual orientation, skills and handicaps, age, geographic origin, etc.
5. It welcomes the contributions and achievements of our culture and that of others.
6. It is an essential component of analytical thought.
7. It respects and values other approaches, but is not natural to valies, thus implying a commitment towards changing social conditions.
8. It brings change on an individual, organizational and social level
9. It implies tension, dissatisfaction and a will to face matters with honesty
10. It means positive individual, community and social attainments because it values. 

 

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CROSS-CULTURAL COUNSELING

At first, let us be clear that cross-cultural counseling here we refer to counseling for persons with different cultures. In the Mediterranean civilizations of ancient Egypt or the Roman Empire, the difficulties arising from the cultural differences between the dominating and the dominated people were a matter of concern, including the question of the cultural superiority of the ruling people. Here I would like to share some history of cross-cultural counseling that I have read.

HISTORY OF CROSS-CULTURAL COUNSELING

• Cross-cultural counseling arose in the United States in the middle of the 20th century.
• Its history is linked to that of the American Counseling Association (ACA) that was created in 1955 under the name of the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA).
• The objective of counseling for minorities during the fifties was to assimilate them into the dominant North American culture rather than to emphasize the differences as in multicultural counseling. “Counseling for all” was considered as the principle or an objective to be met at that time.
• In 60th, counselors began to feel more responsible for counseling different populations.
• 1966: APGA convention marked a turning point when the first call was made for counseling for the culturally-disadvantaged.
• Interest in cross-cultural counseling grew substantially during the 70th, with a number of studies carried out into counseling for people from different cultures or the culturally-disadvantaged.
• 1972: The creation of the Association for Non-White Concerns was the basis for today’s Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development founded in 1985.
• Then the word “Multicultural counseling” referred to all minority groups, including people of different race or ethnic group, women, the handicapped or those subject to discrimination because of their differences.
• 80th & 90th: Multicultural counseling developed tremendously not only through research but also in practical applications.
• It has been acknowledged that the theories, techniques, strategies, and interventions learnt and used by counselors are unsuitable for working with diverse groups.

Take A Glance on Orang Asli Community

Every community and place has their own culture. Being a teacher or school teacher requires us to know and get familiar with other cultures, especially the culture of our students and the place where we work. Have you ever imagine to work in Orang Asli village? Well, it is not impossible, right? It gonna be so interesting actually if we manage to adapt well with them.

Okay, just in case we get the chance to work with this community, I believe this post will help us a little bit later on. First and foremost, we need to get to know who Orang Asli are and what their cultures are.

Just to share, our instructor, Mdm Siti Kholijah brought my classmates and I to Orang Asli Museum in Gombak for educational visit to expose us with other culture. See, how learning process could be done in variety to allow us to learn non-stop.

This post is going to be very long because I think there are lot of things that I would like to share. Hope you could be able to bear with it. It is good to know. Get ready with pop-corn and cokes while reading.

HISTORY OF ORANG ASLI MUSEUM

Orang Asli Museum started in year 1987 at an old wooden building which was the official residence of former Director of Orang Asli Affairs Department (JHEOA). Later in year 1995 (end of 6th Malaysian Plan) the JHEOA official built a new brick museum at cost of RM 3.5 million. It was completed and hand-over to the JHEOA on 19th June 1998. The museum was officiated by the 11th Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Agong, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Alhaj on 2nd March 2000 and was known as the Orang Asli Museum.

OBJECTIVES OF ORANG ASLI MUSEUM ESTABLISHMENT

1.      To document the past of the Orang Asli as part of history.

2.      To collect all objects and materials significant to the culture and life of the Orang Asli from various tribes in Peninsular Malaysia for future generation.
3.      As source of research, ancient customs and tradition.

Okay, those are about the museum itself. It is good to know a little bit about its history and its objectives of establishment. Now we will focus more on the Orang Asli part. Who are they? What they do? What they play? What they wear? What are their beliefs? And many more. Let us get started.

1.      WHO ARE THE ORANG ASLI?

The Orang Asli is considered to be part of the natives of this country, Malaysia. In December 2010, their population is approximately 171 193 and they are divided into three main tribes which are Negrito, Senoi and Proto-Malays (Aboriginal Malays). Each tribe is divided nto six smaller tribes and they speak different dialect, apart from the local Malay dialect.

(It will be explained further about these tribes in the next post later)

2.      WHAT ORANG ASLI WEAR AS CLOTHES?

Clothes are material used to cover the private parts of both the male and the female. Originally, their clothes were made of leaves and the outer layer of wood. Technology and development have existed for a long time in the Orang Asli and this is evident from the process of making clothes from wood with its very high artistic value.

3.      DO ORANG ASLI HAVE JEWELLERIES?

Jewelleries are used to attract the male and the female. Some jewelleries are made of roots, beads and flowers which are then designed to form bracelets, necklace comb and others.

4.      HOW ORANG ASLI HUNT TO SURVIVE?

The Orang Asli uses many different types of hunting weapons that are basically made of material available around them. The weapon includes blow-pipe, spears and traps. Fishing equipment includes ‘bubu’, ‘lukah’, ‘tuar’, and other. At present, these tools are still being used especially by the Orang Asli living in the remote areas.

 

5.      WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DO ORANG ASLI PLAY?

Music forms part of their lives. It is used as a form of entertainment. Basically their music is produced using the instruments that need to be drummed, blown, violin-like and hit likethe ‘gong’, ‘centong’, ‘bamboo guitar’, ‘kreb’, ‘pensol’ and ‘centong-centong’.

 

6.      HOW ORANG ASLI GET MARRIED?

Yes, these Orang Asli also get married. They also have their own wedding ceremony. The Orang Asli have unique wedding rituals but at the same time, there are certain elements of their wedding rituals which are similar to the Malay wedding. For example, ‘merisik’, ‘meminang’. And the wedding rituals that are still being practiced by the Mah Meri in Kampung Tanjung Sepat, Selangor are ritualto get rid of bad luck, sharpen the teeth, set up mosquito net, colour the fingernails, the dancing ceremony and the ritual where they bathe the groom and bride.

7.      WOOD CARVING AND CRAFTS ARE ORANG ASLI PRODUCTS OF CREATIVITY?

Wood carving and crafts are the products of the Orang Asli creativity based on nature and their beleifs, especially in weaving of mengkuang and pandan leaves, bamboo and cane. In wood carving, all creation depend on imaination and dream that depict good or evil forces which are related to their believes and lifestyle.

8.      WHAT ARE ORANG ASLI BELIEFS?

Most of the Orang Asli still believes in the power of spirits who are said to be their source of help in time of need. Traditional medicine-men or witch-doctors act as a medium to communicate with the invisible power. This communication process is carried out during rituals on special days suc as ‘Puja Pantai’ for the Mah Merii, ‘Genggulang’ for the Semai. ‘Sewang’ for the Semai and Temiar and ‘Berjerom’ for the Jakun.

 

9.      WHAT IS SENOI PRAAQ?

Senoi Praaq is a term that means The Fighting People. It refers to the battalion of the Police Field Force (PPH) whose members are almost exclusively Orang Asli and was originally formed in 1957 to counter the influence of the communists insurgents on the Orang Asli community deep in the jungles of Malaysia. In 1968, the Senoi Praaq was absorbed into the PPH. The unit has two battalions, the Battalion 19 based in Pengkalan Hulu (formerly known as Kroh Camp) and the Battalion 20 baesd in Bidor Camp, Perak. Today, both battalions consists of 2,000 personnel and were known as the General Operations Force (PGA).

By knowing a little bit about Orang Asli community, hopefully it will be able to help us to deal with this kind of clients later on so that we manage to have effective counseling session. Just to be honest, knowing this community theoretically is not the same as knowing them through real life experience. 

Learning Other Cultures Through Movie

Hello guys. Hello readers. Are you still following us here? Wow! Really appreciate that. Thanks a lot.

If you notice, previously I have posted and shared with all of you some ideas about multiculturalism based on my reading. Well, by just reading I think is not enough yet and sometimes it can be bored. Do you agree? Haha. I am sure you are nodding your head with smile as a sign of agreement to what I said.

So this time let me share with you something related to our field but based on what I have watched. Yeah, it is not through reading. Sounds interesting, right? 

Okay, let us proceed. What kind of movie do you usually watched? Hollywood? Malay? Chinese? Korean? How about Bollywood? 

Ha Ah... Bollywood. Have you ever watched a Bollywood movie entitled "Chennai Express"? Or have you ever come across to this title? If you have come across or watch it, it is very nice. But if do not yet, never mind. Let me share a little bit about its story.

"YOU OFTEN MEET YOUR DESTINY ON THE ROAD YOU TAKE TO AVOID IT!"

'Chennai Express' is the story of a 40-year-old bachelor Rahul (starred by Shah Rukh Khan). who lands up in a totally unexpected journey that makes him realize the importance of Love, Life, Relationship and Sacrifice.

A stimulating train voyage that not only takes Rahul, accidentally to his destination but also makes him realize the power of true love. It is a hilarious journey which teaches you about the serious relationships in life.

That is a little bit about the story that I could share. It is not the story itself that I want to stress here. But it is more about the content of the story, especially regarding to the culture in India and Indians. Through this story I manage to learn a lot of new things about their culture. One of the obvious things that is very crucial is that the importance of knowing and understanding other languages in order to have effective communication. The same thing goes to our counseling session. If the counselor and client do not understand the language used by each other, it may hinder the session from becoming effectively conducted. 

Apart from that, I could notice as well in this movie that different places have different culture, although they live in the same country. When we go to other place, we need to know their culture and try to adapt with it well. We also need to respect their culture even though it is contradict with ours. We cannot be judgmental as well. There are a lot more that we could learn through this Rohit Shetty film. Learning has many ways and this is one of them. I believe you will not regret to watch this movie if you make your intention to learn. As you watch it, try to find important element and relate to your field, specifically in cross cultural counseling. Enjoy watching. It is a popcorn movie time. :) 

Towards Effective Multicultural Counseling

How to have effective counseling session when dealing with clients from diverse background? 

Do you know that developing multicultural competencies is very crucial?

Do you aware and understand about all these things?

Well, as I have mentioned in previous post that multicultural does not necessary mean different in culture. So we, as counselor, must broaden our awareness and understanding of the key roles that a client's culture, identity, ethnicity, race, gender, and other aspects of diversity play in the counseling process. Just to be honest, learning about culturally-competent counseling practices, current theoretical approaches, and practicing self-reflection in this area will definitely help us to acquire the required skills in engaging with the diverse background clients. 

In this post, I would like to share about some important aspects that may drive us towards effective and competent multicultural counseling. Based on my previous reading, there are about 5 aspects that I would like to ponder.

 

1. DEFINE MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING

• Sound simplistic? Never mind. But to define MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING, it is something like what occurs when the professional counselor works with a client from a different cultural group and how that might affect interactions that takes place within the counseling relationship. 
• Not only that, it is also expanded to include dissimilarities in religion and spirituality, sexual orientation, gender, age and maturity, socioeconomic class, family history, and even geographic location. 
• Identifying and acknowledging these differences between the counselor and client is the first step to effective multicultural counseling.

2. IDENTIFY CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

• Direct approach techniques (e.g: use of body language, eye contact, open-ended questions) might not compatible to all cultures. Some native American feel that this directness is too invasive. Meanwhile Asian American said that this method is impolite.
• That is why recognizing and being sensitive to cultural differences is essential for establishing the trust necessary to conduct effective counseling sessions.

3. UNDERSTAND AND ADDRESS CULTURAL ISSUES IN MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING

• This is one of the most effective tools to engage with clients from other culture.
• The key is doing it in such a way that does not undermine the client’s belief that you will be able to offer professional help and potential solutions.
• Building rapport is a sign of our willingness to learn more about, and showing respect for worldview, belief systems, and means of problem-solving.
•  Learning about and addressing the client’s realities will allow us to create culturally-sensitive interventions.

4. ROLE OF SELF IN MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING

• Self-reflection is vital to become a culturally-competent counselor. Identify our own worldview and personal beliefs about those who are different from us.
• It assists us in uncovering our own prejudices, feelings, and stereotypical ideas about clients from other cultures.
• Be open-minded and willing to educate ourselves about culturally different groups.
• Become self-aware is an on-going practice. Allowing new information to play a part in shaping our professional identity is a valuable tool. 

5. ON-GOING EDUCATION REQUIRED IN MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING

• To understand every unique cultural difference is a continual state of learning. Even professional counselors can never master this ability. 
• When we work with greater number of diverse clients, our knowledge base will grow, but it does not mean that the learning process just stops there.
• Always remember that working in this area of professional counseling will continually provide us with opportunities to gain new insights and skills with each new client.

 

 

To conclude, these 5 aspects are very important in order to be competent in multicultural counseling. As we already knew about these, so let us together work towards achieving it. Learning is a continuous process, right. So, do not stop but keep learning and improve ourselves from time to time.

Orang Asli Museum

In Gombak, Selangor there were an Orang Asli Museum (Muzium Orang Asli). This museum not far from IIUM Gombak. My classmates, lecturer of Cross Cultural subject (Madam Kholijah) and I was go there last month to visit the museum. 
The museum was set up in 1987. A proper museum was erected in 1995 and wad opened on 19 June 1998. On 2 March 2000, an official opening ceremony was carried out by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Salahuddin Shah.
Orang Asli museum is aimed:

•  to increase the income of Orang Asli and raise them above the poverty line
• to expand the scope of coverage of infrastructure and social amenities to all Orang Asli villages
• to empower the Orang Asli community through a comprehensive human capital development programme
• to improve the health of Orang Asli to achieve well-being
• to conserve and highlight the traditional knowledge and heritage of the Orang asli, and
• to improve the effectiveness of the organization by adopting and embracing good governance

Orang Asli Museum in Gombak were displayed a lot of items that was using by their culture such as hunting weapons, traps, and musical instruments like simpai. 
However Orang Asli in Gombak no longer hold on their culture on their life. Their culture already mixed by other culture. Besides, there are mubaligh that was come to their place and was changed their beliefs.