8/2/2019 Maklumat Orang asli

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Maklumat Orang asli

The name "Orang Asli" means "original people" or "first people". They all live on the Peninsular of

Malaysia. Nowadays there about 60.000 Orang Asli people, of which 60% still live in the rain

forest. About 40% Orang Asli live along or near the coast. Each has its own language and culture,

and perceives itself as different from the others. Linguistically, some of the northern Orang

Asli groups speak languages, that suggest a historical link with the indigenous peoples inBurma, Thailand and Indo-China.

They are classified into three groups:

- Senoi

- Orang Malayu Asli

- Negrito

As I said, there's a lot of difference between those groups. The name "Negrito" suggest, that

these people come from Papua New Guinea or East Africa. They also have dark-skinned and

frizzy-hair. Other groups of the Orang Asli are more light-skinned and have straight hair.

The Negrito's live in the North and North East of the Peninsular and mostly they live in the jungle.

They are the semi-nomadic tribes of the Orang Asli. Only a few of them also live in urban areas

and are engaged in both waged and salaried jobs.

It is thought that the Negrito's arrived in Malaya 8,000 years ago. Their forefathers were also

hunters and gatherers who lived in caves and rock shelters. They knew the use of fire and

cooked their food with the aid of crude instruments made from stone. They hunt for food and

gather fruits as well as forest products for medical use.

Many Senoi live in the Cameron Highlands. They just look like a real Malaysians, although

the dark ones look like Negrito's. Originally they must have come from the hills in Vietnam,

Cambodia or Northern Thailand, about 6000 - 8000 years ago

In the highlands the Senoi live as wage-earners, working on the highland tea estates. Others you

can see in the streets of Kuala Lumpur in jeans and a T-shirt. They have obtained jobs as varied

as government employees and taxi driversWhen you have left the highway you'll see a sign with "Orang Asli" village on it.

The Orang Asli ( mostly Negrito),who live in the jungle, hunt with blowpipes for birds and little

monkeys. The blowpipe is made from bamboo. The mouth piece is made from damar, a resin

obtained from the dipterocarp trees. Darts are made from the split leaf-stalks of Arenga palm

cone is made of light weight pitch and the tip is coated with a lethal preparation made from the

sap of the lpol tree (Antiaris toxicaria) and carried in a carefully closed bamboo tube. As for the

windage, a soft fluffy "wool' is made from as kind of bark. Blowpipe is deadly accurate within 20

meters.

Fear of the spirits of dead ancestors and hunted animals is very strong amongst them, and it is an

unwritten law that all animals caught, in the forest should suffer no pain.

The Orang Asli live in small tribes in the jungle. The tribe we visited had about 10 houses. They

were made from leaves (te roof) and the floor was made of wood. They didn't l ive far from the

river. They always remain living in a place, untill something happens, like a death or severe

illness. Then they move to another place. The chief, every tribe has one, decides whether they

will move. Building a house takes about two or three hours.

The government built for the tribe we visited long wooden houses. They lived a few days in it and

then they decided to move back into the jungle. They never returned to their government houses.