The Malaysian Bar - Orang Asli want development in sync with native rights

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Orang Asli want development in sync with native rights

Thursday, 01 November 2007 08:51am

©New Straits Times (Used by permission)
by Evangeline Majawat

KUALA LUMPUR: The Orang Asli are not against development provided this does not interfere with their culture, customs and rights, a conference was told yesterday.

Tijah Yok Chopil, an Orang Asli representative from Bidor, Perak, said that for a long time, the indigenous people had been accused of being anti-development.

Tijah, from the Senoi tribe, said development was welcomed as long as native culture, customs and rights were respected.

At the 14th Malaysian Law Conference on Orang Asli and the Constitution, she said: “We want development but only if it doesn’t separate us from our customs and culture.”

Centre for Orang Asli Concerns co-ordinator Colin Nicholas said the community had a strong attachment to a particular locality or ecological niche.

“This attachment is a notable aspect of their culture and is according to their adat,” he said.

“To the Orang Asli, the environment is more than a collection of water, animals, plants and landforms.

“It’s the basis of their spirituality and the source of their identity. It is to be treated with respect and must be kept in balance.”

Universiti Malaya deputy dean (research and development) in the Faculty of Law Dr Ramy Bulan said the preservation and maintenance of native culture was fundamental to the Orang Asli’s existence and to their identity.

It was something that must be safeguarded. The authorities must ensure that development projects for the Orang Asli benefited them instead of others, he said.

The speakers said the country’s indigenous people had been sidelined for far too long.

“The Orang Asli were clearly left out when the Constitution was drafted,” Nicholas said.

“There are very few laws protecting their rights. This makes them an easy prey to unscrupulous parties.”

He said some of the land approved for gazetting as Orang Asli Reserves as far back as the 1960s was never administratively gazetted, which made them vulnerable.

“Some of these areas have been reclassified as state land or Malay Reserve Land or given to individuals or corporations without the Orang Asli’s knowledge, let alone consent.”

In 1990, 20,666.96ha was gazetted as Orang Asli Reserves. However, by 2003, only 19,222.15ha remained, with 1,444.81ha degazetted.

During the same period, there was an increase in applications for Orang Asli Reserves, from 67,019.46ha to79,715.53ha.

“A majority of these new applications were to replace Orang Asli lands de-gazetted for development projects, such as the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Selangor Dam, or for new resettlement schemes.”