Chewong
Biodiversity and Sustainable Development in Malaysia [unpublished paper review]
The Orang Asli, the Original People of Peninsular Malaysia, have linguistic, ancestral, and spiritual ties to the land that allow them to effectively manage and conserve their natural resources. The Semai, Batek, Chewong, and other Orang Asli peoples “live in areas that are rich in biodiversity,” according to Colin Nicholas, and outsiders, such as loggers, […]
Orang Asli Naming [anthology chapter review]
Romeo vaults over a wall, enters the Capulet family garden, and hears his new-found love standing at a window bemoaning the fact that their families hate each other. “`Tis but thy name that is my enemy,” Juliet says abstractly, her young friend still unseen below. She continues with the famous lines, “What’s in a name? […]
Orang Asli Rarely Have Headaches
According to the Malaysia Star on July 10th, the Orang Asli don’t suffer from headaches as much as modern city dwellers do. Prof. Dr. Raymond Azaman Ali, a neurologist at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, indicated at an annual neurosciences conference in Petaling Jaya that 60 percent of the patients in neuro clinics in Malaysian city […]
Malaysian Discrimination against the Orang Asli
The New Straits Times of Malaysia has taken a much more balanced approach to the Malaysian government’s treatment of the Orang Asli than it did earlier this year. Their story on February 24 clearly sympathized with the government’s official position, which is that it was necessary for the Batek to accept government resettlement schemes. Two […]
Religious Basis for Malaysian Discrimination against Orang Asli [anthology chapter review]
“When all Orang Asli have become Malays, then Malays will become Orang Asli,” one Semai man explained, getting right to the heart of a major problem for his society. In a recent article, Kirk Endicott and Robert Knox Dentan review many facets of the continuing Malaysian commitment to assimilating the Orang Asli societies—the Semai, the […]
