Indigenous women and gender roles: migrant Orang Asli women in the Klang Valley, Malaysia
Creators: name: JEGATESEN, Govindran
Publisher: name: RMIT University
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 441004
subject: Social change
classificationCode: 441016
subject: Urban sociology and community studies
classificationCode: 449901
subject: Studies of Asian society

description: This thesis examines the lives of indigenous Orang Asli individuals in Peninsular Malaysia who migrate from the rural regions of their settlements into Malaysia’s wealthiest and most urbanised space – the Klang Valley – for paid employment; and the implications of this movement on Orang Asli gender roles and identities. Concurrently, the thesis examines the effects of Malaysia’s developmental and modernisation initiatives for the Orang Asli, which is framed against the backdrop of the nation’s discourse on development and indigeneity.

By first introducing the social profile of the Orang Asli through an examination of a number of socio-economic indicators – gathered from governmental and NGO bodies – to investigate issues including health, education and infrastructure among the Orang Asli and within their settlements, the thesis begins by providing an insight into some of the issues and complexities facing Orang Asli communities in contemporary Malaysia.

This study engages a participatory research approach with regards to its ethnographic undertaking and research instruments. The necessity of decolonising indigenous research and deconstructing the colonial research apparatus when working with Orang Asli communities – particularly when attempting a research model that aims to prioritise the narratives of the marginalised in an attempt to bring to the fore the varied experiences, struggles, negotiations and resistances of Orang Asli women – forms an important consideration in the thesis.

The notion of indigeneity – an issue that even at face value is a complex consideration – is discussed within the Malaysian context and framed against the administration’s discourse on indigeneity and the nation’s racial politics. The discussion brings to the fore the role of Islam as a primary definitive indicator of indigeneity as framed by the Malay-Muslim administration, and the positioning of the Orang Asli within this discourse by the government. Although complex, an understanding of the above prior to the discussion on the administration’s modernisation and development initiatives for the nation and the Orang Asli – as discussed in the New Economic Policy and the Malaysia Plans – is essential in understanding how the two aforementioned socio-economic policies intersect with Malaysia’s racial politics.

The implications of the administration’s largely agricultural development and modernisation plans for rural Orang Asli communities suggest that Orang Asli economies centered on cash crop agriculture have experienced an increase in the stratification of gender roles, as well as decreased overall quality of life caused by the loss of traditional subsistence activities – findings that are buttressed by the scholarly work of contemporary Orang Asli researchers. Furthermore, the administration’s extensive influence into almost every facet of contemporary Orang Asli life has contributed to a greater normalization of mainstream patriarchal heteronormatives among Orang Asli communities – particularly with regards to the role of men as leaders and decision makers.

The above observations notwithstanding, this study’s purpose is to depart from conventional narratives of victimisation so often found in the discourse surrounding the Orang Asli. The study finds that rural-urban Orang Asli migration presents an interesting insight into indigenous resilience in Malaysia’s urban spaces. Enduring connections are formed and maintained between migrant Orang Asli individuals at the urban space with their rural settlements through unique sociocultural connections, primarily through the three structures of i) marriage and divorce, ii) the sociality of sharing, and, iii) the role of the community as mediators. The attempts by respondents to create innovative economic networks in addition to existing sociocultural connections reflect not only their resilience as indigenous peoples in the face of a modernising Malaysia, but their view of the urban space as a source of economic opportunities – one that they engage to positively affect their own socio-economic circumstances, as well as those of their communities at the rural settlements of Peninsular Malaysia.