The Life of the Indigenous People in West Malaysia: Integration of Orang Asli into Malays

Authors

  • Kamarulzaman Kamaruddin

Keywords:

Indigenous People, Orang Asli, West Malaysia, Malays, Rural

Abstract

The Orang Asli is one the indigenous community in Malaysia and it is believed that they are the earliest settlers in the country. In most past studies, the Orang Asli were descended from the Hoabinhians, stone toolusing hunter-gatherers who occupied the peninsular Malaysia as early as 11,000 B.C. Today the Orang Asli comprise at least nineteen culturally and linguistically distinct groups (Bellwood 1997). The largest are the Semai, Temiar, Jakun (Orang Hulu), and Temuan. In 2005 they numbered about 140,000, less than 0.5% of the total Malaysian population (Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli, 2006). Orang Asli once were thinly scattered throughout the peninsula, but most were pushed back into the interior montane forests as the Malay population grew on the coastal plains and major river valleys. Most Orang Asli still live in rural and remote areas. Until recently they lived by various combinations of hunting, fishing, gathering, swidden farming, aboriculture, and trading forest products. Nowadays land development projects and government programs have turned many into rural peasants or day laborers.

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Published

2006-11-30

How to Cite

Kamaruddin, K. (2006). The Life of the Indigenous People in West Malaysia: Integration of Orang Asli into Malays. Jurnal Peradaban Melayu, 4, 77–92. Retrieved from https://ejournal.upsi.edu.my/index.php/JPM/article/view/3221