land rights
Possible Government Support for the Semai
Malaysia’s Perak State appears to be responding to criticism about its history of repressive practices toward the Semai. The new chief minister of the state says things will change. A news story last week in Bernama, the Malaysian National News Agency, indicated that the current Menteri Besar (chief minister) of Perak, Dr. Zambri Abdul Kadir, […]
Semai Protest a Botanical Garden—Update
A news story published two days ago provides additional details about a proposed botanical garden in northern Malaysia which poses a threat to a nearby Semai community. Initial reports, covered here on March 29, gave only sketchy details about the dispute. A reporter for the Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS) interviewed a number of […]
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 […]
Ju/’hoansi Still Losing Lands in Namibia
Thousands of San in Namibia, including many members of the Ju/’hoansi society, continue to survive in conditions that are as bad, or worse, than when the country gained its independence in 1990. According to Clement Daniels, chair of the Namibian Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), “it is a disgrace that 17 years after independence, one group […]
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 […]
