The Orang Asli Problem
By: Dev Nair
Tags: Social Justice, Orang Asli, Change, Indigenous

The Orang Asli Problem

By: Dev Nair

The new world is synonymous with the age of digital progress and technologically savviness. The alarming school dropout rate among Orang Asli in Malaysia indicates a gap in knowledge between the Orang Asli and other Malaysians.

Scholars Muhammad Zulhelmi b Ramli and Fitri Suraya Mohamad from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak did a study on the indigenous people titled “Investigating The State of Education Among Orang Asli Children in 21st Century Malaysia”. They found that half of the entire Orang Asli children who are enrolled in school usually drop out after Year 6.

Up until 2006, the Department of Orang Asli Affairs reports that the Orang Asli population made up 0.6% of Malaysian population. Between Negrito, Senoi and Proto Malaya, Senoi is the largest ethnic group constituting about 55% of the total population of Orang Asli, followed by Proto Malaya, 42% and the smallest community is made up of the Negritos. It has been reported that there are approximately 147,412 Orang Asli people living mainly in Pahang and Perak in West Malaysia.

According The Discourse of Protection and the Orang Asli in Malaysia article written by R. Idrus, The Orang Asli are viewed as less civilized group, and are widely perceived to be an object of intellectual curiosity rather than one of administrative intent.

In early 18th and 19th centuries, Orang Asli people mostly kept as slaves. History records described how they were treated unfairly and called by disrespectful names, such as “jungle beast” and “sakai” which carried the meaning of “slave” or “dependent”.

There are many factors contributing to this issue, geographical location, a flawed academic system, and lack of motivation. As reported by Bernama journalists, The Director General of the Department of Orang Asli Affairs Malaysia said that the government body built to prepare the students for primary schools had multiple flaws within itself.

Many of the volunteers were not equipped to educate the children. They also did not have educators to teach the Malay language professionally. The organisation itself lacked funding to ensure quality preparation for the students.

K-9 schools had hostels built in to overcome the geographic location issue. The statistics display an increase in likeliness of students to return to secondary school.

In terms of lack of motivation, this problem is deeply rooted in the Orange Asli’s family situation. Most of The Orang Asli population still depend on utilizing the forest products as their main source of family income. This causes the kids to leave school at an earlier age because they want to work to help their family.

In conclusion, the education system has to encompass the needs of the students itself. Clearly, the current system to be improved to cater to the needs of the Orang Asli population. SUKA Society is a registered non-governmental organization set up to protect and preserve the best interests of children. In recent years, they have initiated a programme to prepare indigenous children with pre-school education for primary school. As they are an NGO, they are always in need of funding.

Currently, the project is supporting six indigenous pre-school classes located in the villages near Slim River, Gopeng, Gerik, Tapah and Gua Musang. There are currently over 150 students between the ages of 4 and 6 years old attending the pre-school classes regularly.

Log on to http://www.sukasociety.org/how-can-you-help/ to see how you can help the Suka Society change the lives of thousands of children.