What are the Orang Asli Angry about?
By Nigel Aw
It didn’t make it to the front-page of the local dailies, but less than a week ago, about 2,000 Orang Asli participated in an organized demonstration unlike anything the country has ever seen.
The aborigins, some clad in their traditional headgear and loin cloth, gathered at Putrajaya to protest an impending amendment to the National Land Code.
Some 2,000 Orang Asli gathered at Putrajaya last Wednesday. Photo source: Malaysiakini
For many years they have remained silent despite not gaining much from the country’s development. However they are now protesting on changes that will affect their way of life.
According to the Centre for Orang Asli Concern (COAC), their land occupies almost 130,000 hectares however only about 20,000 hectares have been gazetted as Orang Asli reserves.
The government is attempting to address this problem by redrawing the Orang Asli land policy and recognising only 76,000 hectares of land as Orang Asli reserves.
The Orang Asli unlike other ethnic groups in Malaysia draws their identity and culture from their lands. It is their belief in being one with nature.
With the prospect of losing almost half of their customary lands and their way of life,
coupled with unfair rules strapped to it, the need for the Orang Asli to do the unconventional culminated in their show of force last week.
The Orang Asli living in Peninsular Malaysia are beyond doubt sons of the soil but unlike their counterparts in Sabah and Sarawak, they have oddly been forgotten by our founding fathers when Article 153 of the Federal Constitution was put together.
Nonetheless, Article 8(5)(c) provides affirmative actions towards Orang Asli with regards to their ‘protection, well-being or advancement’ including the “reservation of land” and “reasonable proportion of suitable positions in the public service”.
The Orang Asli lack political representation but if it is able to sustain the kind of organisation as demonstrated, they will certainly be able to make their stand against those who seek to exploit their lands and make their voice heard.
