The name "Orang Asli" means "original people" or "first people". They all live on the Peninsular of Malaysia. Nowadays there about 60.000 Orang Asli people, of which 60% still live in the rain forest. About 40% Orang Asli live along or near the coast. Each has its own language and culture, and perceives itself as different from the others. Linguistically, some of the northern Orang Asli groups speak languages, that suggest a historical link with the indigenous peoples in Burma, Thailand and Indo-China.
They are classified into three groups:- Senoi
- Negrito
- Proto-Malay
Ethnics
Negrito
The Negrito's live in the North and North East of the Peninsular and mostly they live in the jungle. They are the semi-nomadic tribes of the Orang Asli. Only a few of them also live in urban areas and are engaged in both waged and salaried jobs.
It is thought that the Negrito's arrived in Malaya 8,000 years ago. Their forefathers were also hunters and gatherers who lived in caves and rock shelters. They knew the use of fire and cooked their food with the aid of crude instruments made from stone. They hunt for food and gather fruits as well as forest products for medical use.
Senoi
Many Senoi live in the Cameron Highlands. They just look like a real Malaysians, although the dark ones look like Negrito's. Originally they must have come from the hills in Vietnam, Cambodia or Northern Thailand, about 6000 - 8000 years ago.
In the highlands the Senoi live as wage-earners, working on the highland tea estates. Others you can see in the streets of Kuala Lumpur in jeans and a T-shirt. They have obtained jobs as varied as government employees and taxi drivers.
Proto-Malay
The members of the Proto-Malay tribes, whose ancestors were believed to have migrated from the Indonesian islands to the south of the peninsula, speak dialects which belong to the same Austronesian family of languages as Malay, with the exceptions of the Semelai and Temoq dialects (which are Austroasiatic).
This is how the ethnics are divide of:
| Negrito | Senoi | Proto-Malay |
| Kintaq Lanok Kensiu Jahai Mendriq Bateq | Temiar Semai Mah Meri Che Wong Ja Hut Semoq Beri | Orang Selatar Jakum Orang Kuala Orang Kanaq Temuan Semelai |
Traditions
- Blowpipes
The Orang Asli ( mostly Negrito),who live in the jungle, hunt with blowpipes for birds and little monkeys. The blowpipe is made from bamboo. The mouth piece is made from damar, a resin obtained from the dipterocarp trees. Darts are made from the split leaf-stalks of Arenga palm cone is made of light weight pitch and the tip is coated with a lethal preparation made from the sap of the lpol tree (Antiaris toxicaria) and carried in a carefully closed bamboo tube. As for the windage, a soft fluffy "wool' is made from as kind of bark. Blowpipe is deadly accurate within 20 meters.
- Fear of Spirits
- Tribes
The Orang Asli live in small tribes in the jungle. The tribe we visited had about 10 houses. They were made from leaves (te roof) and the floor was made of wood. They didn't live far from the river. They always remain living in a place, untill something happens, like a death or severe illness. Then they move to another place. The chief, every tribe has one, decides whether they will move. Building a house takes about two or three hours.
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