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A Short Introduction To The Malay Peninsular Orang Asli With Video
The picture shows a Temiar Senoi aborigine in Ulu Sungai Pluscutting down a tree to clear the ground (known as a Ladang) for planting. He is using the small springy axe favoured by the Orang Asli for this task.
Platforms often had to be built to allow the axeman to make the cut above the wide buttress roots of some of the trees. Smaller trees and saplings were cut with a jungle knife by the women and young boys.
Hillsides were preferred for Ladangs as although it made working the land more difficult, it did ensure a good uopdraft for burning. If the slope was suitable most of the trees on the lower slopes would be only part cut through. Higher up a very large tree would be selected and felled which in turn would cause the others to crash to the ground one after the other. The felled timber would be left to dry for up to six weeks before being torched with burning palm leaves. Not long after early season planting would start.
The name "Orang Asli" means, in the Malay language "the original or natural people" in other words the indigineous people or Aborigines of the Malay peninsula. It is said that, on average, there are about 150,000 Orang Asli people, most of whom still live in the rain forest. Each group has its own language and culture, and are seen as quite different from each other. In Peninsular Malaysia they comprise of 18 ethnic subgroups classified under the Negrito, Senoi and Proto Malay (Nicholas, 2005). They make up only 0.6% of the total Malaysian population. Senoi is the largest ethnic group constituting about 55% of the total population of Orang Asli, followed by the Proto Malays and the Negritos at 42% and 3% respectively. According to the Annual Report of the Department of Orang Asli Development or JAKOA (formerly known as the Department of Orang Asli Affairs or JHEOA), in 2006, there were about 147,412 Orang Asli living mostly in Pahang and Perak (Department of Orang Asli Affairs, 2006). However, 76.9% of the Orang Asli population remains below the poverty line. 35.2% is classified as living in hard-core poverty, compared to 1.4% nationally (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2010). The national infant mortality rate is at 8.9 out of 1,000 live births, yet Orang Asli infant mortality rate is at a high of 51.7. The average life expectancy for Orang Asli is 53 years, compared to the national average of 73 years (Rusaslina, 2010).
To see a video about the Orang Asli in the Malyan Jungles click on the video below. However - WARNING, if you are offended by scantily dressed females please do not view this historic video.