Chewong
Chewong Economic and Social Changes [anthology chapter review]
Anthropologists have characterized many hunting and gathering societies as “immediate return,” a phrase that describes people who consume their food immediately since they have no way of accumulating and storing surplus. Such foraging societies often lack competition and are highly egalitarian. The Chewong certainly fit that description. In contrast, “delayed return” societies, especially peoples who […]
Chewong Peacefulness Despite Social Changes [anthology chapter review]
The Chewong of Malaysia experience, or at least they used to experience, absolutely no violence within their society. They see themselves as peaceful and timid, people without leaders, individuals who forage for their needs in the forests. In contrast, they view others, primarily neighboring Malays and Chinese, as violent, fearless, powerful, demanding and angry, people […]
Good Chewong Video, Great Ifaluk Video
Many lingering views of cute kids highlight a charming video of the Chewong community located at Lanchang, next to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary in Malaysia’s Pahang State. Uploaded to YouTube last Thursday, January 26th, the video shows scenes of the community: adults raking their gardens, kids mugging for the camera, men cutting grass with […]
Tourist Facility for the Chewong
A Chewong community in Malaysia has a new building designed to display village crafts for tourists, according to a news story last week. Kampung Kuala Gandah, near Temerloh, has used a poorly made building as a store for many years, but the new facility, costing RM200,000 (US$62,000) will significantly boost the ability of the villagers […]
Development of the Orang Asli Societies
Last week, Bernama, the Malaysian national news agency, issued a five-part series of feature articles on the Orang Asli societies, the Original People of Malaysia. The focus of the articles was on the assistance provided to the Semai, Batek, Chewong and 15 others groups by the Department of Orang Asli Affairs (JHEOA), the national agency […]
Chewong Village Must Make Way for Progress and Money [video review]
The video opens in an Orang Asli community: a teenage girl carries a baby up a ladder into a house; a woman tends a cooking fire; two babies reach out and touch one another. A man plays a flute in the background to introduce a peaceful, bucolic village. Last Wednesday, the Center for Orang Asli […]
Problems with Orang Asli Education
The Chewong, Batek, Semai, and other Orang Asli (Original People) of Malaysia realize that their lack of education causes them some difficulties, but the reasons for the problem are debatable. The Malaysia Star on Sunday published an analysis of the issue. The statistics of Orang Asli successes in education are unimpressive—large numbers of students drop […]
Chewong Refuse to Move
The Star from Malaysia reported last week that a Chewong community has decided they would refuse to move from their current location despite the proposed construction of the Kelau Dam. The paper quoted a 25-year old villager named Manau to the effect that the elders of the community would not agree to move. He felt […]
Orang Asli Lands in a Malay World [journal article review]
According to a young Semai person, the Orang Asli “only know that the police are government, and the government can have them arrested.” Alice M. Nah interviewed the Semai individual for a recent journal article on the indigeneity of the Orang Asli, the “Original People,” of Malaysia. She begins her piece with a history of […]
Removing the Chewong Will Make Room for More Valuable People
Although a Chewong community in Malaysia is well above the flood level of a proposed dam, the government is going to remove the people from their traditional lands anyway. A five-minute movie, “Do They Have a Choice: The Chewong People of Kelau,” by San Hui, was released to the Internet on January 5 to explain […]
