ORANG ASLI IN MALAYSIA

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE / ORANG ASLI

WHO IS ORANG ASLI?

The name "Orang Asli" means "original people" or "first people". They all live on the Peninsular of Malaysia. Nowadays there about 60.000 Orang Asli people, of which 60% still live in the rain forest. About 40% Orang Asli live along or near the coast. Each has its own language and culture, and perceives itself as different from the others. Linguistically, some of the northern Orang Asli groups speak languages, that suggest a historical link with the indigenous peoples in Burma, Thailand and Indo-China. 

They are classified into three groups:

• Senoi
• Orang Malayu Asli
• Negrito

Negrito	Senoi	Malayu Asli
Kintaq Lanok Kensiu Jahai Mendriq Bateq	Temiar Semai Mah Meri Che Wong Ja Hut Semoq Beri	Orang Selatar Jakun Orang Kuala Orang Kanaq Temuan Semelai

There is a lot of difference between those groups.  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. 

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 present 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 meant slave or dependent. Many elders still remember this sad period of their history, and all Orang Asli detest being called Sakai. 

Specimens and Souls 

The coming of the British administrators led to some outcry against the slavery of the Orang Asli, but there were no efforts to promote their welfare. Because of their 'primitiveness' and their 'uncivilized culture', Orang Asli were regarded as excellent subjects for anthropological research. That the Orang Asli were seen so can be gleaned from the fact that the earliest official act directed towards the Orang Asli was the setting up of the Perak Museum in Taiping, from where research into Orang Asli demography and ethnography was to be carried out.

Also, being regarded as 'uncivilized' and therefore, it follows, 'unsaved', placed the Orang Asli in good light for the zeal of missionary proselytizers. The Catholics began their missionary activities among the Temuans in the middle of the 19th Century. The Methodists started theirs in the 1930s. Bahai missionaries also had a following in the 1960s while Muslim missionary work became increasingly more active over the last two decades.

Interest in the Orang Asli therefore tended to revolve around their usefulness as anthropological curiosities or as convenient subjects for proselytization. Otherwise, the official attitude towards the Orang Asli was one of indifference.

Protection 

Until the late 1940s, there was no specific administration for the Orang Asli, but it became regarded as a responsibility of the Taiping Museum Curator to concern himself with research among Orang Asli in Perak. The Orang Asli continued to be regarded as noble savages, leading an idealized and romantic existence; the task of government was to protect and preserve them from the ravages of modern life.A rather detailed 1936 report by H.D. Noone, then the field ethnographer (and later, Director) of the Perak Museum at Taiping, sought to perpetuate the view of the British colonialists that the Orang Asli should remain in isolation from the rest of the Malayan population, and be given protection.Noone called for the establishment of large aboriginal land reservations where the Orang Asli would be free to live according to their own tradition and laws. Noone also proposed the creation of "patterned settlements" in less accessible areas, where the Orang Asli could be taught agricultural skills.  He also sought the encouragement and development of aboriginal arts and crafts, and the creation of other forms of employment among the Orang Asli.  Several protective measures were also proposed, such as the banning of alcohol in Orang Asli reserves and the controlled peddling of wares.Although not implemented by the government of the day, his 'Proposed Aboriginal Policy' did however lay the groundwork for future government policy towards the Orang Asli.