Read on Twitter
For the third and hopefully last of my threads on early human migrations into the Malay peninsula, I think it's only right to do one about that community that many pretend doesn't exist, the orang asli https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1181865326868254720?s=19
Orang asal (meaning "original people") is the collective term for the indigenous people of Malaysia, while orang asli is used specifically for the tribes of peninsular Malaysia. The orang asli were historically known by other names like sakai (meaning slave) but uh that won't fly
Misconceptions about the community peddled by ethno-nationalists include "Orang asli are Malays", "Orang asli are Proto-Malays", and "Malay is the orang asli language". I'm about to debunk it all https://twitter.com/drake_yeah/status/1163080558966001665?s=19
The orang asli are not one single group. There are many tribes, but they can be divided into three categories. The earliest is the Semang, who the Europeans referred to as Negritos meaning "little blacks". Let's try to phase out this word OK?
Due to their negroid-like features, they were (and sometimes still are) assumed to be of African descent but the similarity is only superficial. DNA analysis shows they're genetically among the most distant from Africans than anyone else on the planet
I don't care how much you support black pride and all, claiming all dark-skinned people as African or a single "black" category is nonsensical neo-colonialism. But anyway they're characterised by tightly curled hair and a dark skin tone
The second and most numerous group are the Senoi. They're what usually comes to mind when we imagine the orang asli. The Mah Meri are a well known example, known for their woodcarvings, their nipah weaving, and their clothes made from beaten tree bark
The Senoi Praaq unit is the pride of PDRM, made up of orang asli known for their skill in tracking
The third and final group to arrive are who the colonists called Proto-Malays (Melayu Asli). Of all the orang asli, they're the most similar to Malays in physical appearance and language. Examples include the Jakun and Temuan
Of these three groups, only the Proto-Malays speak Austronesian languages. The Semang and Senoi languages come from the Aslian branch of the Austroasiatic family, to which Khmer and Vietnamese belong
What this means is that the majority of orang asli (other than the Proto-Malays) do not fit any definition of "Malay". Neither the Semang nor Senoi are Austronesian, and the Semang didn't even come under Blumenbach's "brown race" category
I've explained numerous times that the Malay race concept was created by the European colonists, but even they didn't consider all the orang asli Malay. Proto-Malays were often called "heathen Malay tribes", but Senoi and Semang were usually not
https://www.jstor.org/journal/jstraitsrsa
https://www.jstor.org/journal/jstraitsrsa
The Semang, as previously stated, were considered "black". The Senoi were categorised as Melanesians. This term has no relation to Melayu but comes from the Greek "melas", also meaning black
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australo-Melanesian
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australo-Melanesian
Even the word Proto-Malay itself, though it does have a linguistic and genetic basis, was also a colonial term. Proto-Malay communities have always viewed their tribal group as their identity, and they still do. No Jakun or Temuan would call themselves Malay
No matter how broadly one defines the term "Malay" it simply does not include the orang asli. This makes their very existence an inconvenience and embarrassment to ethno-nationalists. The response has been assimilation
https://www.ismaweb.net/2019/06/25/dakwah-islam-kepada-orang-asli-tak-langgar-perlembagaan/
https://www.ismaweb.net/2019/06/25/dakwah-islam-kepada-orang-asli-tak-langgar-perlembagaan/
"When the orang asli become Malays, the Malays become orang asli"
IIRC, I heard this line from an orang asli activist. It might as well be the missionary slogan. Because assimilating the orang asli into the Malay community would make the supremacist dream a reality
IIRC, I heard this line from an orang asli activist. It might as well be the missionary slogan. Because assimilating the orang asli into the Malay community would make the supremacist dream a reality
And people were encouraged to do so. Incentives are offered for converting and marrying orang asli women https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2006/06/27/incentives-for-marrying-and-converting-orang-asli
Who can forget the famous plan to convert ALL orang asli to Islam. Can you imagine if the Indian govt announced that they'd convert all Muslims to Hinduism? Or if Thailand planned to convert all the Muslims to Buddhism? https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/2019/06/21/kelantan-sasar-islamkan-semua-orang-asli-dalam-30-tahun/
The conversions are hardly willing, and are often the result of trickery. Christian missionaries have used similar tactics elsewhere, but it's made easier in Malaysia where all they have to do is clandestinely add "Islam" to a person's MyKad https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/170097
There is zero consideration for their own religion. Foreigners have written more on orang asli beliefs than locals have. Their animism is downplayed as "tiada agama". You'll often hear this about pre-Islamic Malays too https://m.malaysiakini.com/news/486026
Because some tribes have adopted Arabic religious terms like Allah, taala, and iblis, revisionists from both sides have claimed that the orang asli are "basically" Muslim or Christian, and that it proves those religions are true
As with aboriginals around the world, the orang asli continue to be discriminated against and excluded from the national narrative. Making up less than 1% of the population makes them politically powerless. @ernamh says it well here https://www.malaymail.com/news/opinion/2015/09/16/orang-asli-the-forgotten-malaysians/970687
The theft of orang asli land is well known. Not "reclamation", but theft, often by force https://thediplomat.com/2019/08/the-orang-asli-fighting-for-ancestral-land-in-malaysia/
What's less well known is that the people appointed in charge of orang asli affairs have often been puppets of the state. The headman (tok batin) of each tribe is chosen and bought off by government ministers. Sound familiar? https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1129673867474006016?s=19
And yet the privileged elite have the audacity to whine, nag, and throw tantrums about the majority being under siege, losing out to "immigrants" http://www.financetwitter.com/2019/10/malays-dignity-klings-silly-racist-statements-have-done-more-damage-than-good-to-mahathir.html
http://www.financetwitter.com/2019/10/malays-dignity-klings-silly-racist-statements-have-done-more-damage-than-good-to-mahathir.html
White supremacists in the US conveniently forget that the original people of their land were the Native Americans. Malay supremacists employ similar tactics and arguments to dismiss the orang asli as the first inhabitants of the land
One of ISMA's demands was "mewartakan Melayu sebagai penduduk asal". @RajaPetra and this poorly-written pseudo-academic paper all use the Proto-Malay excuse to justify racial supremacy and discrimination
https://ukm.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/legitimacy-of-the-malays-as-the-sons-of-the-soil
https://ukm.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/legitimacy-of-the-malays-as-the-sons-of-the-soil
As stated previously, the Proto-Malays were not the first but the last group of orang asli to settle here, and even they're not the same Iron Age Deutero-Malays that came later https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1181867474737696774?s=19
The assertion that Malays and orang asli are the same is only ever made by racists. Not "conservatives". Racists. It's an insidious lie designed to legitimise Malay hegemony. Like this right here https://m.malaysiakini.com/letters/60596
As a Temuan said, who rules makes little difference to the orang asli. Whether it's Malay kings or British colonists, they kept to themselves in the jungle. For most of them, they like it that way. And they have every right to
So when modern developers take their land, when missionaries erase their culture, it's nothing less than colonialism. It's the local Zionism. And that's not even an exaggeration https://m.malaysiakini.com/news/440891
But half of modernisation is indoctrination. Many are convinced that the orang asli need "help" in a sense that the rest of us can relate with. And when the community doesn't want the kind of "help" that's offered, they're labelled ungrateful and stupid https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2012/08/24/helping-orang-asli-celebrate-hari-raya
You might've heard it before
"The government does help orang asli but they don't want it. We build them houses but they wont live there. We give them schools but they drop out"
Even a few younger modernised orang asli have fallen into this inferiority trap
"The government does help orang asli but they don't want it. We build them houses but they wont live there. We give them schools but they drop out"
Even a few younger modernised orang asli have fallen into this inferiority trap
Nobody bothers to ask the question, what do they want. Not what you think is best for them, but ideally what do the orang asli actually want. Because for most of them, they'd just like to be left to decide for themselves
But they're not being allowed to do that. Others decide what's best for them. This goes even for the aboriginals of East Malaysia
So when one group can call itself "penduduk asal" and put itself on par with the orang asli just by being in the majority, it's both dishonest and unfair. It's like if Trump called himself an Apache. Malays are not orang asli, and orang asli are not Malays
