Article and photos contributed by Adilah Ariffin On 11 February 2010, the Bar Council (BC) held a press conference to highlight serious complaints against the management and administration of the Jabatan Hal-Ehwal Orang Asli (JHEOA) Hospital in Gombak and also various other issues faced by Orang Asli. The press conference was addressed by Ragunath Kesavan, the President of the Malaysian Bar, and also Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan, the immediate past President.
The complaints came through a letter sent to BC from Dr Selva Vathany Kanapathi Pillai, who is practising at the hospital. The doctor highlighted various complaints, including:
1. The high rate of malnutrition amongst the Orang Asli children, which should not happen in a developing country like Malaysia, due to rigid rationing of medication and milk formula for babies;
2. The JHEOA Hospital in Gombak is the one and only hospital meant for Orang Asli, but the administration has allowed admission to the general public, which led to insufficient supplies of medicines for Orang Asli;
3. The hospital is run by the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development, which is an anomaly, as it should come under the Ministry of Health;
4. The unprofessional administrative staff at the hospital and the elements of cronyism practised by the management; and
5. The discrimination against Orang Asli where 90% of staff members at the hospital are not Orang Asli, thus they lack understanding of the specific circumstances and issues faced by the Orang Asli. In addition, the minority Orang Asli staff are not given the required training and support.
BC called on the Government to investigate the structure and administration of the hospital, and reorganise it where necessary. BC also offered to be part of an independent investigation body, if such a body is set up to investigate the complaints.
Other general issues raised were:
(1) Orang Asli rights to ancestral land;
(2) Access to education and health care; and
(3) Lack of satisfactory infrastructure.
BC stressed that there are only 150,000 Orang Asli in the Peninsula and there is a serious need to identify and address the many issues affecting this marginalised community.
About 40 Orang Asli from Kuala Lumpur, Perak and Pahang turned up at the press conference and did a closed-door “picketing” with placards to draw attention to the myriad of issues of concern to them.
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