We've tried to ensure the information displayed here is as accurate as possible. Should there be any inaccuracies, we would be grateful if you could let us know at info@ipohworld.org . All images and content are copyright.
(Please click on the thumbnail for a bigger image.)
Two Semais Using Blowpipes Near Kampar
This photograph reproduced from The Semai : A Nonviolent People of Malaysia, was taken by Louis Gerard of the Kampar SEK in the 1930s. It shows two Semais using blowpipes.
The Orang Asli traditinally did not have a concept of permanent ownership of land. The land belongs to whoever cultivates or occupies it. Hence, most of the young married couples would clear new land for cultivation, sometimes returning to the old settlements after a few years.
However, most of the fertile land had been taken up by miners or rubber planters during the expansion of the modern tin-mining and rubber plantation economy in the Kinta Valley.
After the 1930s, most of the Orang Asli habitats around Kinta Valley had been gazetted as forest reserve, Malay reserves and state land. During the transitional period, many of the Orang Asli became shifting smallholders, rattan-collectors and small-scale tin-miners. They also performed jungle-clearing work for tin mines and rubber plantations.
To read more about the book ‘Kinta Valley’, click here.