The Malaysian Bar - SPECIAL REPORT: Malaysian Bar responds to Orang Asli's SOS call

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SPECIAL REPORT: Malaysian Bar responds to Orang Asli's SOS call

Contributed by Noreen Ahmad Ariff

Monday, 05 February 2007 08:27am

The 11 Team Members

KAHANG: On February 1, the Malaysian Bar went to the aid of 109 Orang Asli families in Kahang who were affected by the recent floods. (Please click here to view the Picture Gallery)

11 members of the Malaysian Bar led by Edmund Bon and comprising Richard Wee, Ng Chung Yee, Desmond Ho, Dara Waheda Bt Mohd Rufin, Agnes Chow, Nik Elin Zurina Bt Nik Abdul Rashid, Amer Hamzah Arshad, Tan Yann Lee, Teh Yoke Hooi and I set out on a journey to Kahang in Kluang, Johor to hand out basic necessities to 6 Orang Asli settlements. Like victims in Kota Tinggi, these settlements were also affected by the floods that raged the state.

This is my personal account of the recent National Young Lawyers Committee’s Flood Fund initiative to aid the flood victims in Johor.

Transforming my thoughts into words is something that usually requires no effort but when thoughts were mixed up with a new learning experience, I was dumbfounded.

Our mission was simple - to ease their hardship and help in whatever little way we could - as well as to display the Bar’s humanity to the less fortunate.

Except for Desmond and Nik Elin, the team started their journey together and gathered at the Kluang Train Station at around 7am. On the way, we picked up Desmond from Malacca. We had breakfast while waiting for Nik Elin to arrive from Kota Bharu, Kelantan by train.

As soon as she arrived, we drove to Kahang which is a small town about 20 minutes from Kluang. Shopping was done at the town where we bought essential provisions of rice, sardines, biscuits, sugar, flour, coffee, tea, condensed milk and cooking oil. Donations of talcum powder, insect repellent, facial cleanser, bath gel, sweets and snacks were also obtained from a manufacturer in Kuala Lumpur.

At about 930am, we embarked to fulfil our first mission - to aid the families at Kampung Sri Tanjung (Batu 18).

The 4WD Convoy Armed with the necessities in three 4 WDs and good cheers, the team was welcomed with open arms. One of the villagers was kind enough to show Agnes and me the river at the back of the village. The “friendly” river turned “foe” when it overflowed almost submerging the whole village. The villagers were trapped for days and during the second wave of floods, for two weeks. Although things are slowly returning to normal, their main sources of income from the cows they reared, and frogs and fish from the river, have been severely affected.

The second village was Kampung Air Pasir and it took us about 50 minutes to get there from the first village. We had to travel off-road and just as the name suggests, Air Pasir was covered with water, sand and mud during the first and second waves of floods. Air Pasir appeared more developed than Sri Tanjung with a small community hall and kindergarten. However, the floods trapped the 27 families with no fresh food and clean water as all the roads leading to Kahang town from the village were underwater.

While waiting for the floods to recede, the villagers had no water to drink and cook. Two of the three wells in the village were covered with mud, leaving only one left for all to share. As for drinking water, they had to wait and rely on the Red Crescent Society who supplied them with mineral water.

After distribution of food and essentials, we noticed officials from the Jabatan Hal-Ehwal Orang Asli at the village with the locals. We informed the Jabatan officials and Tok Batin Sidon (who is also the Tok Batin for Kampung Kuala Sengka) that we planned to proceed to the next village, Kuala Sengka.

Many questions were asked of us by the Jabatan officials. We were also discouraged to proceed to Kuala Sengka by them on the pretext that all roads into the village were inaccessible. We were advised to leave the aid for Kuala Sengka at Air Pasir, and the officials would ask the Kuala Sengka villagers to pick them up.

We wondered why the officials were suspicious of us, and wanted us not to go further. Edmund insisted we go there anyway, and with the guidance of three trusted Orang Asli friends, we proceeded after thanking the officials for the information.

Thus, our drivers had to find another way to go to Kampung Kuala Sengka and we had to take one big round just to go to an otherwise nearby village. The off-road paths were rough and only very skilled drivers would have been able to deal with the challenge. True enough, we almost could not get through. The paths were narrow and had large indents caused by the floods. I was afraid that our 20-year old Orang Asli driver, Zamari Juki could not do it and our 4WD would overturn. It was only after he successfully drove us across breaks, deep puddles, through narrow paths in thick oil palm plantations and what seemed like “impossible” routes that I was confident with his driving capabilities. It was a “Camel Trophy” experience for me!

Our Orang Asli friend, Jali Bin Yusof, informed us that these incidents were common when there is a massive flood. It is hard to drive in the area because there are no proper roads and they have to rely solely on “natural signboards” which were usually trees. A great deal of reliance is also placed on one’s own senses to avoid getting lost.

Jali asked me to imagine the extreme hardship of a pregnant woman if she wanted to go for check-ups or whenever a medical emergency arises, or the long drives schoolchildren had to endure just to go to school. I told him I would not want to be in those situations. Driving on the uneven paths could cause a miscarriage! The only word that came to my mind: “TERRIBLE”.

Noreen Ariff It made me wonder why are there no efforts to improve the access roads in these areas because they are very different from those in Felda Air Tawar, Desaru, Kota Tinggi. Is it because Kahang is not a tourist destination that its residents do not deserve better roads?

Despite this, Jali seemed hopeful that the Government would do something - he said even if it meant only 1km of tar roads a year - it is still better than having to drive through the current dreadful paths for almost 50 years.

Jali became more talkative and continued to vent his frustrations while Dara, Desmond and I listened attentively. It became a moving discussion on the problems of the Orang Asli so much so that we did not realise our arrival at Kuala Sengka, the third village.

Due to the village being further than the others, they had not received much help. They were very grateful that we arrived with assistance. Most societies and groups preferred to go to the nearer and more accessible villages. Villages such as Kuala Sengka were usually neglected. Now, this may explain the insistence of the Jabatan officials in dissuading us.

As the others were busy distributing the food and essentials, I saw Nik Elin talking to one of the villagers. I went up to them and joined in the conversation. It was interesting to note that the girl had a Malay name but she is not a practising Muslim. I was informed that this is a norm among the Orang Asli. Many of the Orang Asli are Muslims but do not practise the religion.

As a Muslim, this is something which concerns me but does not seem to concern the religious authorities. Nothing has been done to educate them about Islam.

I then took the opportunity to talk to some of the other villagers. Complaints about the lack of frequent access to medical and food aid were made. Whatever food aid given was also insufficient. Some of the villagers had to swim in the flood water to obtain necessary provisions. I find this very disturbing because nobody knows what is under the dirty flood water at that time.

We stopped for lunch at around 130pm and went to buy more essentials for the next three villages. Desmond, Dara and I decided to go with Jali again. Jali was surprised that we wanted to listen to more of his grievances. I told him I enjoyed listening to him and was willing to listen more. Who knows, I might be able to help?

On the way to the fourth village, I was all ears. I was appalled to learn that the Orang Asli are not entitled to own land of more than 6 acres. I suppose we live in a world of irony where the original pri-bumis are not even allowed to own lands that are rightfully theirs since centuries ago!

Kampung Sri Kenangan (Batu 26) was the fourth village with 17 families. I liked this village because the Tok Batin and his wife were adorable. Tok Batin Deraman Daman and his wife are small in built but approachable, camera-friendly and laughed a lot.

Deraman saw the positive side to the floods. “The floods brought in the tilapias in the water which made wonderful fish dishes”, he said in Malay.

Sri Kenangan was badly hit when the flood water reached their roofs. During this time, the entire village was evacuated. Their furniture, stoves and clothes were damaged and money was spent to buy new ones. With much loss suffered, I was surprised that Deraman and his wife were still in high spirits - always smiling and laughing.

Our next stop was Kampung Sungai Peroh. Peroh is a kind of fruit. Sungai Peroh has 21 families with Ogek anak Gantok as the Tok Batin of the village. The situation is better at Sungai Peroh because they are geographically situated at a hilly place. Although their homes were not badly affected, they have lost their only source of income - the oil palm plantations.

Most of them have not been able to work since the floods destroyed the plantations. Now that the flood is over, there is the continuing fear that they might get sick as the environment is dirty and dusty. More accidents may occur as the off-road paths have many muddy holes.

One thing I noticed about this village is that they were organised. As soon as we got the necessities unloaded, they were divided for distribution at the community hall. Ogek thanked the Bar’s generous contribution, and was very grateful.

“I’m sorry that we would not be able to repay the kindness and aid given to us. We are very thankful”, he said to Edmund.

I was informed that the village had received some food contributions before but not in the manner or form as the Bar’s. This was probably due to the fact that our three Orang Asli friends knew what was necessary and informed us accordingly.

Tired but still high-spirited, we set out to the last village, Kampung Pucur which is the furthest village in our trip. It is on the way to the Endau-Rompin National Park, and the drive was worse than riding an old horse - unstable, rocky and dull.

Kampung Pucur has 12 families situated in what looked like a “ghost cowboy town”. When the second wave hit, the water level covered the roofs of the houses, and brought down some. On both occasions, the villagers had to flee their houses at night and find safe haven at the house of the owner of the lime plantations. They went home after the water receded only to find the doors of their houses damaged, and their main source of income - oil palms - in water. In addition, their stoves, furniture and clothes were also lost.

I asked one of the villagers whether they received any assistance after the floods. One of them said they received mineral water but nothing else anymore. They cook, drink and wash from the unfiltered rain water collected. The villagers were very happy that we gave and did what we could.

The journey from the last village to Kahang town of about 69 km took us an hour due to the conditions of the road. We had to be fast as the road was to be closed after 6pm due to the fear of wild elephants which roamed the place at night.

We arrived back at Kahang town around 7pm, took some pictures, said our goodbyes to our Orang Asli friends, and headed for home.

In sum, it was a learning experience for me. Looking at the Orang Asli made me reflect on my life. Any “trouble” seemed like a tiny drop of water in an ocean compared to the problems of the Orang Asli.

I wish we could do more. The provisions that we gave may last them for about a month but what more after that? What will happen if the floods occurred again? How do we raise their standards of living?

Jali said that it all depended on the attitudes of both the Orang Asli and the authorities. He hoped that there will be more policy decision-makers from the Orang Asli because only then will they truly understand and empathise with the plight of the Orang Asli.