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Two Semang (An Orang Asli Tribe) At Ulu Jelentoh
This photograph by Perak Museum curator Leonard Wray, is captioned 'Semang at Ulu Jelentoh, Gopeng, Kinta, with Nipah-Palms in background, newly cut for Thatchwork'.
European accounts from 19th century have repeatedly described the enslavement of the Orang Asli by the Malays. The term "Semang", an old word for 'Negrito', means 'debt-slave' and they were forced to move deeper in the interior during the era of slave-raiding and warfare in order to hide from the slave traders.
Until the 19th century, Orang Asli settlements were raided for slaves by Rawa and Mandailing migrants some headed by the Malay chiefs.
The Orang Asli living around Jelentoh are from the 'Semais' tribe. In the 19th century, Panglima Hamid (Rawa chief) raided the Semais settlements aound the Lata Kinjang waterfall on the Kampar-Tapah Road, known as 'The Rawa War'. The Semais were then sold as slaves to Batang Berjuntai and Batak Rabit in Lower Perak.
Among the Malays, the Orang Asli children were worth about thirty to forty dollars each, while the adults has no market value because they were 'untameable' and were likely to escape.
For a short introduction to the Malayan Aborigines, click here.
To read more about Leonard Wray of the Perak Museum, click here.
To find the details of The Kinta Valley Book: Pioneering Malaysia's Modern Development, click here.