THE STAR
Saturday, September 9, 2000
Off The Beaten Track
A walk in pristine woods
Story and pictures by Liz Price
THERE are not many places left in Peninsular Malaysia which have been unexplored, but Belum may be one such locality.
Belum comprises a large area of virgin forest in northern Perak and although a few areas are now opened up for tourism, the remainder of the Belum area is inaccessible and seldom visited, as it still remains a security area. This is left over from the days when it was a black area, due to the activities of the Communist Party of Malaya.
The CPM engaged in guerilla warfare against the Malayan government. The govemment declared a State of Emergency which lasted from 1948 until 1960. During this time there were many skirmishes between the authorities and the communist bandits and most of the mountainous and forested areas of Semenanjung were known as black areas, where the security forces were operating. The CPM finally surrendered in 1989 and it was only in 1991 that the curfew in Belum was lifted.
pic The safest way to negotiate river crossings is to form a human chain.
Prior to the 1990s, Belum had been largely unexplored, and it was only when the Malaysian Nature Society began a two-year scientific expedition there in 1993 that it was realised how rich Belum Forest is in terms of flora and fauna. There is virgin forest with valleys and mountains, crystal clear streams, waterfalls, and a few limestone outcrops. The area is inhabited by Orang Asli and there are many wild animals especially the larger mammals rarely seen now in other parts of Malaysia, such as tiger, elephant, seladang, bears and deer.
Belum is in Ulu Perak and includes the Temengor and Belum Forest Reserves covering an area of over 113,000ha . It straddles the East - West highway.
Today the tourist areas are those in the south, at Pulau Banding and Sungai Kenyir. People can enter with a special permit, but the easiest way is to join a tour group. So I went along with Yusof Aziz from Try Adventures, an adventure outfit that deals in specialised tours to the more ulu areas.
The adventure began in the small town of Gerik. From there, we drove 38km to Temengor Dam, going past the smaller lake of Bersia. The road was littered with elephant dung, obviously these creatures had been in the area recently. At the dam, we transferred to two boats and set off on the one hour ride across the lake. At one stage Yusof told us we were just passing over the site of a village, which was drowned when the dam was created in 1978.
Of course there was nothing to be seen. A couple of limestone outcrops caught my eye, but there was no sign of any caves. I noticed there were very few dead trees sticking up out of the water, whereas on a previous visit to the Sungai Halong area, dead trees were a part of the landscape.
We landed at Sungai Kenyir, one of the southern fingers of the lake. There is an Orang Asli village close by. The Temiar tribespeople are very shy and gentle, but amazingly strong. Three of these Temiars accompanied our group as guides/porters. One of them was laden with a full rucksack with three tents tied -- I tried to lift the pack, and could hardly raise it off the floor let alone carry it for three hours.
The trek to our camping site took about three hours at a moderately slow pace, the only obstacles being one hill and six river crossings. In fact, we had to do the first crossing immediately upon starting, even before we entered the forest. The water was amazingly clear, such a treat to see. But the current was deceptively strong and the safest way to cross was to hold hands and form a human chain. No one wanted an unexpected dunking whilst laden with luggage, so crossing in twos or threes proved to be the best way.
As we trekked further in, we soon noticed the differences in vegetation in various areas. One of our guides, Ramli, said this area is known as the Bamboo Area, because of these abundant plants growing all around.
Bamboo is a member of the grass family, and is one of the most versatile and useful of all the plants in the forest. It can be used for constructing shelters and furniture, as water containers and cooking pots, utensils, musical instruments and, of course, as food. Ramli knows this forest well, having served here during the Emergency days, so he was a mine of useful and interesting information.
We were shown wild Tongkat Ali, medicinal herbs, lianas which contain water safe to drink, wild bananas and gingers. Gingers are among the flashier members of the plant world, with showy flowers, and some have red coloured canes with dark red inflorescences on the stem. The dipterocarp trees are impressive through their sheer size, with straight trunks piercing the sky high above. We saw meranti, chegal and keruing.
Unfortunately there was no sign of any animals at all except for leeches. These made their presence known, in fact they were everywhere. They must have been very hungry and we donated much blood to them. For some of the real city dwellers amongst the group, it was their first encounter with these wriggly blood suckers, and it was interesting to watch their reactions as the leeches latched on to their human prey. Leeches are actually quite interesting, with their 34 internal body segments, 10 eyes and three horny jaws. Not forgetting the muscular suctional disk at each end of the body. Seeing leeches is a good sign that there are other mammals living in the area, so it shows that Belum has a resident fauna population.
Our camp was set up by the river. The open air bathroom had an abundance of clear pure free-flowing water, admittedly rather cold, but so clean you can safely drink it straight from the river. Dinner was prepared and the Orang Asli started a fire, using bamboo kindling. That night we drifted off to sleep lulled by the sounds of the river surging by.
pic There are two main groups of orang asli living in Belum, the Jahai and the Temiar.
The next day we trekked up to Kelawah waterfalls. There are a series of eight waterfalls, and we went as far as the second. Many people swam in the pool at the base of the fall, but the water was definitely chilly. It was cold even just sitting around by the fall as the wind was blowing the spray. Despite the cold, there is something fascinating sitting and staring at water, especially when faced with such a beautiful fall as this. We were mesmerised by the beauty of the place. However we moved to a more sheltered spot for lunch, and a couple of us climbed up to the top of this fall to look down on the others sitting below.
The following day, we trekked back to Kuala Kenyir and that evening the Orang Asli arranged a bersewang (traditional dance) for us. The women sing and play instruments made out of differing lengths of bamboo which are banged on a log, whilst the men dance. Of course our group was expected to join in with the merrymaking and were given hats made from coconut leaves.
On the final day, we visited the Orang Asli village as the doctor in our group was asked to look at one of the village elders. The bamboo houses were perched high above the lake, with a few food crops growing between the houses. As we headed back for the Temengor Dam, we stopped at Syra Tersau which is a small sulphur lake and hot springs. Animals come here to drink the water, and there were signs that elephants had been recent visitors. Our boats then carded us back across the lake, homeward bound.
Our visit was made all the more enjoyable and fun with having such knowledgeable guides like Yusof and Ramli explaining the secrets of the forest to us city dwellers. Between them, they were a mine of information as they certainly knew the jungle and were willing to share with us their knowledge. They were also very concerned about group safety and made sure everyone was safe especially when doing the river crossings. Thanks guys.
Try Adventures runs regular trips to Belum forest. Contact Yusof on
03-61379221 or H/p 019 3165427, or email tryadventure@yahoo.com
Living peaceably
There are 18 tribes of orang asli in Peninsular Malaysia, and those at Belum consist of two main groups, the Senoi and the Negrito. The Jahai is the main sUb-ethnic group among the Negrito, whilst the Temiar forms the main group for the Senoi.
Semi-nomadic Jahai
The Jahai are generally shorter, with darker skin and more curly hair than the Temiars. And the Jahai lead a semi nomadic life whereas the Temiar prefer a sedentary life. Some are employed as guides and porters. Today they enjoy medical and educational facilities and have police protection. They are less mobile than in the past due to the gradual change from shifting cultivation to semi-sedentary agricultural cultivation.
Both live at the edge of the Temengor lake. Their staple food is tapioca which they cultivate around their villages, and they collect fruits from the forest and hunt small mammals and fish. They harvest rattan and bamboo which has a multitude of uses.
Sedentary Temiars
H.D.Noone, who was the first anthropologist to study the Temiars, called them the 'happy people'. They are very shy and gentle, living in an extended family social structure. They used to live in longhouses but today most have individual houses made of split bamboo.
They work on plantations or ladang where they grow tapioca, and maybe maize and even hill rice. They used to grow their own fruit and vegetables, tobacco and medicinal herbs, but now buy these products. There is one headman in each village or community; this is a heredity post. They are traditionally animists.
Dreams play an important role in the daily lives of these indigenous people. To them a dream is a mystical experience in which the person's soul wanders about the forests in search of guidance. Even their dances and songs are dream inspired.
There are no hard and fast rules in Temiar society. As long as man does not harm or endanger others, he may do as he pleases.
Enjoy!!!
Showing posts with label orang asli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label orang asli. Show all posts
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Orang Asli Museum, Gombak 2005
THE STAR
Saturday June 4, 2005
Know them, understand them
Story & pictures by Liz Price
An Orang Asli statue.
How many KL-ites have visited the Orang Asli Museum in Gombak? It is in the city, yet few people seem to go there. Indeed, I wonder how many people are knowledgeable about the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia? Do you know how many different tribes there are?
Questions like these are answered as soon as you step inside the entrance hall of the museum. On the display boards, I counted 18 different tribes in all.
These tribes belong to three main groups: Negritos, Senoi and Proto-Malays.
The Negritos are hunter-gatherers. They were the ones who decorated cave walls with their charcoal drawings, including in the Lenggong area of Ulu Perak. The Senois are shifting cultivators and the Proto-Malays are farmers or fishermen.
Did you now that the Jakuns (Proto-Malays) lived in the Batu Caves area a century ago. In 1885, William Hornaday, a famous American naturalist, wrote about the “Jacoons’’ who accompanied him on hunting trips.
The Orang Asli population totalled 92,529 people in 1993. They live in areas covering the length of the peninsula, from the Malaysia-Thai border to Johor. Contrary to popular belief, not all Orang Asli are jungle dwellers.
While most live in the jungle at elevations between 610m and and 1,830m above sea level, some 40% of Orang Asli are actually lowland and coastal dwellers. Thousands of them are found at the fringe of Malay villages along the west coast. There are also many Orang Asli groups who are sea-gypsies and island dwellers.
The entrance hall at the museum houses a display on the Senoi Praaq, “the fighting people’’. The term refers to the two battalions of the Police Field Force whose members were almost exclusively Orang Asli. The first battalion was formed in 1957 and operated as an independent unit. It proved to be a very successful jungle-fighting unit and was instrumental in helping the security forces win the jungle war against the communist terrorists. The second battalion was formed in 1970.
The items used by the early battalions are on display here and the battalions themselves still exist to this day.
In the next room, are items used by the various aboriginal groups for personal adornment. The traditional tunics are bark cloth, made from the bark of trees such as the wild breadfruit tree.
You can read about how these clothes were made and see them on mannequins. The Temiar men used to wear loincloth and the women dressed in short skirts. These days the men favour shirt and trousers and the women, sarung kebaya.
Bamboo and wood combs and pins are popular hair adornments. Jewellery include bracelets, armlets and leglets made from coloured beads, seed, river shells and even the teeth of monkeys. The Negritos paint their faces and bodies with red, black and white dyes extracted from vegetables. Some highland males used to have their noses pierced and inserted with porcupine quills. Women used flowers to adorn their ears.
For rituals, headdresses made of certain leaves considered sacred to the community are worn.
Music has always been important to these people. They have string instruments, drums and wind instruments made from bamboo and wood. The nose flute, and the genggong (Jew’s harp) are still the hallmark of the Orang Asli musical repertoire. The sounds produced resemble the singing of birds and the chirping of insects in the forest.
In the southern part of the Malay peninsula, especially among the Temuans, bamboo, string instruments and gongs are favoured, along with the violin. They are used at all wedding ceremonies and are often played to the beat of modern Malay songs. The gongs are their only metal-based instruments.
There is a tableau here that shows a wedding group. Some of the cloth pieces are stunning with the vivid colours of reds and yellows contrasting against black patterns. The handicrafts on display include rattan baskets, bags and hats.
Upstairs you’ll find scale models of bamboo rafts and dug-out canoes. Some rafts consist of just six bamboo poles tied together. Larger rafts have 50 or more poles expertly lashed together, forming two layers. Small dug-out canoes were used in the south of the peninsula, but today they have been replaced with motorboats.
The Orang Asli museum helps you understand the people better.
Food
Many of the Orang Asli groups live deep in the forest and depend on nature for food. Their main food consists of hill rice, millet, maize, tapioca, sweet potato and long beans. Fishing and hunting are also common.
The Orang Asli generally have a large kitchen in the middle of their dwelling, which is shared by a number of families. They employ various methods of cooking, such as roasting in bamboo, cooking on a tripod or grilling over an open fire.
Things like bamboo containers, rattan baskets and plates made of large leaves are also common. Ladles are made of half coconut shells attached with a wooden handle. Bottles are made of gourds.
The museum also gives you an idea of the Orang Asli’s leisure activities, medicine and beliefs.
Hunting is vital for the Orang Asli, and the blowpipe is the preferred weapon. It is made of bamboo and artistically decorated.
The darts are usually made from the bertam palm and the tips are rubbed with poison from the Ipoh tree. The blow pipe has a range of up to 40m and is a very accurate and dangerous weapon in the hands of a skilled hunter.
The hunters also use bamboo caltrops, which are spikes planted in the ground with the sharpened ends facing upwards. The intended victims are usually pigs and wild boars. Aside from their hunting implements, the Orang Asli do not have any other weapons because they are non-violent people.
Traditional dwellings
Semi-nomadic communities like the Negritos stay in simple sheds, made in a semi-circle or horseshoe shape, with a big fireplace in the middle. These dwellings are easy to construct, and require minimum amount of material, labour and time.
The sedentary Temiars used to have longhouses which were smaller than the Iban longhouses of Sarawak. Many were between 40m and 50m in length, about 10m wide and raised 3m off the ground. The basic materials used were bamboo, timber and nipah leaves. No nails were ever used. Each family would have its own cubicle, with a corridor running down the middle of the house.
The central area had a fireplace, and here ceremonies, dances and other group activities were held. Today, longhouses give way to individual housing units as the extended family system dies off and their self-sufficient ways are replaced by the cash economy.
Many Orang Asli are animists who believe in the existence of spirits. As with most tribal people, the halaaq or “medicine man” plays a central role in communicating with the spirits and vice versa.
Outside the museum is a handicraft shop that stocks many wood (usually merbau) carvings made by the the Mah Meri of Pulau Carey, Selangor and the Jah Hut of the Krau Game Reserve, Pahang.
The museum, opened in 1998, aims to preserve the history of the aborigines, gather material on their culture and facilitate research. Maybe this is one of the places you should take the kids to this school holiday? W
Getting there The Gombak Orang Asli Museum is about 23km northeast of Kuala Lumpur. The museum, on Jalan Gombak, is open daily from 9am-5pm (except Friday). Admission is free.
Saturday June 4, 2005
Know them, understand them
Story & pictures by Liz Price
An Orang Asli statue.
How many KL-ites have visited the Orang Asli Museum in Gombak? It is in the city, yet few people seem to go there. Indeed, I wonder how many people are knowledgeable about the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia? Do you know how many different tribes there are?
Questions like these are answered as soon as you step inside the entrance hall of the museum. On the display boards, I counted 18 different tribes in all.
These tribes belong to three main groups: Negritos, Senoi and Proto-Malays.
The Negritos are hunter-gatherers. They were the ones who decorated cave walls with their charcoal drawings, including in the Lenggong area of Ulu Perak. The Senois are shifting cultivators and the Proto-Malays are farmers or fishermen.
Did you now that the Jakuns (Proto-Malays) lived in the Batu Caves area a century ago. In 1885, William Hornaday, a famous American naturalist, wrote about the “Jacoons’’ who accompanied him on hunting trips.
The Orang Asli population totalled 92,529 people in 1993. They live in areas covering the length of the peninsula, from the Malaysia-Thai border to Johor. Contrary to popular belief, not all Orang Asli are jungle dwellers.
While most live in the jungle at elevations between 610m and and 1,830m above sea level, some 40% of Orang Asli are actually lowland and coastal dwellers. Thousands of them are found at the fringe of Malay villages along the west coast. There are also many Orang Asli groups who are sea-gypsies and island dwellers.
The entrance hall at the museum houses a display on the Senoi Praaq, “the fighting people’’. The term refers to the two battalions of the Police Field Force whose members were almost exclusively Orang Asli. The first battalion was formed in 1957 and operated as an independent unit. It proved to be a very successful jungle-fighting unit and was instrumental in helping the security forces win the jungle war against the communist terrorists. The second battalion was formed in 1970.
The items used by the early battalions are on display here and the battalions themselves still exist to this day.
In the next room, are items used by the various aboriginal groups for personal adornment. The traditional tunics are bark cloth, made from the bark of trees such as the wild breadfruit tree.
You can read about how these clothes were made and see them on mannequins. The Temiar men used to wear loincloth and the women dressed in short skirts. These days the men favour shirt and trousers and the women, sarung kebaya.
Bamboo and wood combs and pins are popular hair adornments. Jewellery include bracelets, armlets and leglets made from coloured beads, seed, river shells and even the teeth of monkeys. The Negritos paint their faces and bodies with red, black and white dyes extracted from vegetables. Some highland males used to have their noses pierced and inserted with porcupine quills. Women used flowers to adorn their ears.
For rituals, headdresses made of certain leaves considered sacred to the community are worn.
Music has always been important to these people. They have string instruments, drums and wind instruments made from bamboo and wood. The nose flute, and the genggong (Jew’s harp) are still the hallmark of the Orang Asli musical repertoire. The sounds produced resemble the singing of birds and the chirping of insects in the forest.
In the southern part of the Malay peninsula, especially among the Temuans, bamboo, string instruments and gongs are favoured, along with the violin. They are used at all wedding ceremonies and are often played to the beat of modern Malay songs. The gongs are their only metal-based instruments.
There is a tableau here that shows a wedding group. Some of the cloth pieces are stunning with the vivid colours of reds and yellows contrasting against black patterns. The handicrafts on display include rattan baskets, bags and hats.
Upstairs you’ll find scale models of bamboo rafts and dug-out canoes. Some rafts consist of just six bamboo poles tied together. Larger rafts have 50 or more poles expertly lashed together, forming two layers. Small dug-out canoes were used in the south of the peninsula, but today they have been replaced with motorboats.
The Orang Asli museum helps you understand the people better.
Food
Many of the Orang Asli groups live deep in the forest and depend on nature for food. Their main food consists of hill rice, millet, maize, tapioca, sweet potato and long beans. Fishing and hunting are also common.
The Orang Asli generally have a large kitchen in the middle of their dwelling, which is shared by a number of families. They employ various methods of cooking, such as roasting in bamboo, cooking on a tripod or grilling over an open fire.
Things like bamboo containers, rattan baskets and plates made of large leaves are also common. Ladles are made of half coconut shells attached with a wooden handle. Bottles are made of gourds.
The museum also gives you an idea of the Orang Asli’s leisure activities, medicine and beliefs.
Hunting is vital for the Orang Asli, and the blowpipe is the preferred weapon. It is made of bamboo and artistically decorated.
The darts are usually made from the bertam palm and the tips are rubbed with poison from the Ipoh tree. The blow pipe has a range of up to 40m and is a very accurate and dangerous weapon in the hands of a skilled hunter.
The hunters also use bamboo caltrops, which are spikes planted in the ground with the sharpened ends facing upwards. The intended victims are usually pigs and wild boars. Aside from their hunting implements, the Orang Asli do not have any other weapons because they are non-violent people.
Traditional dwellings
Semi-nomadic communities like the Negritos stay in simple sheds, made in a semi-circle or horseshoe shape, with a big fireplace in the middle. These dwellings are easy to construct, and require minimum amount of material, labour and time.
The sedentary Temiars used to have longhouses which were smaller than the Iban longhouses of Sarawak. Many were between 40m and 50m in length, about 10m wide and raised 3m off the ground. The basic materials used were bamboo, timber and nipah leaves. No nails were ever used. Each family would have its own cubicle, with a corridor running down the middle of the house.
The central area had a fireplace, and here ceremonies, dances and other group activities were held. Today, longhouses give way to individual housing units as the extended family system dies off and their self-sufficient ways are replaced by the cash economy.
Many Orang Asli are animists who believe in the existence of spirits. As with most tribal people, the halaaq or “medicine man” plays a central role in communicating with the spirits and vice versa.
Outside the museum is a handicraft shop that stocks many wood (usually merbau) carvings made by the the Mah Meri of Pulau Carey, Selangor and the Jah Hut of the Krau Game Reserve, Pahang.
The museum, opened in 1998, aims to preserve the history of the aborigines, gather material on their culture and facilitate research. Maybe this is one of the places you should take the kids to this school holiday? W
Getting there The Gombak Orang Asli Museum is about 23km northeast of Kuala Lumpur. The museum, on Jalan Gombak, is open daily from 9am-5pm (except Friday). Admission is free.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Orang asli at Tras, Pahang
I joined a group of more than 20 from St Andrews Presbyterian Church in KL, 21 August 2010, to visit the orang asli group they help support in Pahang.
The location is at Tras, which is on the Raub to Frasers Hill road, just east of the tiny town of Tras. The place is part of the Semoa project, which is an NGO that serves orang asli communities in Selangor, Pahang and Negeri Sembilan.
The centre is quite new and is funded with donations from various churches and companies. There are 30 children, aged 5-12, staying in the centre and schooling in Tras. During school holidays they return to their own village which is a 2 hour trek up in the hills.
View from the gate
Kids waiting to meet us -
These orang asli are farmers, and have no skills in crafts etc. At the centre, they have dorms which are cleverly made from cargo containers, and each one sleeps 6. Cleverly disguised container -
The central area is used for meetings, and as a place to do homework etc. There is a separate new building which is the library and resource centre,
and upstairs they have brand new computers just connected to the internet. I was quite impressed as the computers are latest models, slimline, with Windows 7.
New washing machines -
A fish pond is currently being built, and will contain patin and tilapia for food.
One of the donors
There are also lime / lemon trees. In the future there will be a fruit and vegetable farm.
Sample Temuan house -
We timed our visit for the durian season, and after lunch, we pigged out on durians.
And as we drove back to Bentong, I bought some more durians to take home, RM5 a kg.
© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission
The location is at Tras, which is on the Raub to Frasers Hill road, just east of the tiny town of Tras. The place is part of the Semoa project, which is an NGO that serves orang asli communities in Selangor, Pahang and Negeri Sembilan.
The centre is quite new and is funded with donations from various churches and companies. There are 30 children, aged 5-12, staying in the centre and schooling in Tras. During school holidays they return to their own village which is a 2 hour trek up in the hills.
Kids waiting to meet us -
they are a bit shy, unsure of us
These orang asli are farmers, and have no skills in crafts etc. At the centre, they have dorms which are cleverly made from cargo containers, and each one sleeps 6. Cleverly disguised container -
A fish pond is currently being built, and will contain patin and tilapia for food.
We timed our visit for the durian season, and after lunch, we pigged out on durians.
© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Belum's Indigenous Peoples - Wildasia
Belum's Indigenous Peoples
The Jahai and Temiar are the two main orang asli groups of Belum Temengor rainforests in Perak. LIZ PRICE describes some of the characteristics of these Malaysian indigenous forest dwellers.
[published on Wildasia.net 15 June 2002]
There are 18 tribes of orang asli in Peninsular Malaysia, and those at Belum consist of two main groups, the Senoi and the Negrito. The Jahai is the main sub-ethnic group among the Negrito, whilst the Temiar forms the main group for the Senoi.
Semi-nomadic Jahai
The Jahai are generally shorter, with darker skin and more curly hair than the Temiars. And the Jahai lead a semi nomadic life whereas the Temiar prefer a sedentary life. Some are employed as guides and porters. Today they enjoy medical and educational facilities and have police protection. They are less mobile than in the past due to the gradual change from shifting cultivation to semi-sedentary agricultural cultivation.
Both live at the edge of the Temengor lake. Their staple food is tapioca which they cultivate around their villages, and they collect fruits from the forest and hunt small mammals and fish. They harvest rattan and bamboo which has a multitude of uses.
Sedentary Temiars
H.D.Noone, who was the first anthropologist to study the Temiars, called them the 'happy people'. They are very shy and gentle, living in an extended family social structure. They used to live in longhouses but today most have individual houses made of split bamboo.
They work on plantations or ladang where they grow tapioca, and maybe maize and even hill rice. They used to grow their own fruit and vegetables, tobacco and medicinal herbs, but now buy these products. There is one headman in each village or community; this is a heredity post. They are traditionally animists.
Dreams play an important role in the daily lives of these indigenous people. To them a dream is a mystical experience in which the person's soul wanders about the forests in search of guidance. Even their dances and songs are dream inspired. There are no hard and fast rules in Temiar society. As long as man does not harm or endanger others, he may do as he pleases.
Learning more about the Orang Asli
If you are in Kuala Lumpur, it may be worth your while to spend sometime in the Orang Asli Museum in Gombak (on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, somewhat near Batu Caves).
From KL centre, you can hop onto a bus at Lebuh Ampang around the corner from Masjid Jamek LRT (Putra and Star) stations. This bus will take you a 30 minutes drive out of KL towards Genting Highlands along Jalan Gombak. Just ask your driver to tell you when you are at the Orang Asli Museum.
The Orang Asli museum is set on top of a small hill off the main road. The walk is not at all long (about 50 metres) or difficult, but there are a couple of shops at the bus stop so you can have some refreshment before or after visiting the museum. This museum has been opened for a couple of years and gives a fantastic insight into the diversity of Orang Asli tribes and their cultural identities. Exhibits include examples of their house designs, their tools for working, clothes, jewelry, masks and ornaments. No entrance fee is charged, but there is a donation box to help run the center and fund small developmental projects.
All the exhibits on the ground floor have labels in English and Malay, but when I was last there the upper floor still only had labels in Malay. It is a lovely quiet museum, but you will be surprised at the number of visitors recorded in their guestbook each day.
© Liz Price - article may only be republished with the author's permission.
The Jahai and Temiar are the two main orang asli groups of Belum Temengor rainforests in Perak. LIZ PRICE describes some of the characteristics of these Malaysian indigenous forest dwellers.
[published on Wildasia.net 15 June 2002]
There are 18 tribes of orang asli in Peninsular Malaysia, and those at Belum consist of two main groups, the Senoi and the Negrito. The Jahai is the main sub-ethnic group among the Negrito, whilst the Temiar forms the main group for the Senoi.
Semi-nomadic Jahai
The Jahai are generally shorter, with darker skin and more curly hair than the Temiars. And the Jahai lead a semi nomadic life whereas the Temiar prefer a sedentary life. Some are employed as guides and porters. Today they enjoy medical and educational facilities and have police protection. They are less mobile than in the past due to the gradual change from shifting cultivation to semi-sedentary agricultural cultivation.
Both live at the edge of the Temengor lake. Their staple food is tapioca which they cultivate around their villages, and they collect fruits from the forest and hunt small mammals and fish. They harvest rattan and bamboo which has a multitude of uses.
Sedentary Temiars
H.D.Noone, who was the first anthropologist to study the Temiars, called them the 'happy people'. They are very shy and gentle, living in an extended family social structure. They used to live in longhouses but today most have individual houses made of split bamboo.
They work on plantations or ladang where they grow tapioca, and maybe maize and even hill rice. They used to grow their own fruit and vegetables, tobacco and medicinal herbs, but now buy these products. There is one headman in each village or community; this is a heredity post. They are traditionally animists.
Dreams play an important role in the daily lives of these indigenous people. To them a dream is a mystical experience in which the person's soul wanders about the forests in search of guidance. Even their dances and songs are dream inspired. There are no hard and fast rules in Temiar society. As long as man does not harm or endanger others, he may do as he pleases.
Learning more about the Orang Asli
If you are in Kuala Lumpur, it may be worth your while to spend sometime in the Orang Asli Museum in Gombak (on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, somewhat near Batu Caves).
From KL centre, you can hop onto a bus at Lebuh Ampang around the corner from Masjid Jamek LRT (Putra and Star) stations. This bus will take you a 30 minutes drive out of KL towards Genting Highlands along Jalan Gombak. Just ask your driver to tell you when you are at the Orang Asli Museum.
The Orang Asli museum is set on top of a small hill off the main road. The walk is not at all long (about 50 metres) or difficult, but there are a couple of shops at the bus stop so you can have some refreshment before or after visiting the museum. This museum has been opened for a couple of years and gives a fantastic insight into the diversity of Orang Asli tribes and their cultural identities. Exhibits include examples of their house designs, their tools for working, clothes, jewelry, masks and ornaments. No entrance fee is charged, but there is a donation box to help run the center and fund small developmental projects.
All the exhibits on the ground floor have labels in English and Malay, but when I was last there the upper floor still only had labels in Malay. It is a lovely quiet museum, but you will be surprised at the number of visitors recorded in their guestbook each day.
© Liz Price - article may only be republished with the author's permission.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Orang Asli museum Gombak - Brunei Times
Orang Asli Museum in Gombak, Selangor
Published on The Brunei Times
Malay Peninsula Orang Asli
Liz Price
KUALA LUMPUR
Saturday, July 14, 2007
I WONDER how many KL residents have visited the Orang Asli Museum in Gombak, or are knowledgeable about the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia? How many different tribes are there? Questions like this are answered as soon as you step inside the museum. On the display boards, I counted 18 different tribes in all, belonging to three main groups: Negritos, Senoi and Proto-Malays.
The Negritos are hunter-gatherers. They were the ones who decorated cave walls with their charcoal drawings, especially in the Lenggong area of Ulu Perak. The Senois are shifting cultivators and the Proto-Malays are farmers or fishermen. The Jakuns (Proto-Malays) lived in the Batu Caves area a century ago. In 1885, William Hornaday, an American naturalist, wrote about the "Jacoons" who accompanied him on hunting trips.
Today the Orang Asli live in areas covering the length of the peninsula, from the Malaysia-Thai border to Johor. Contrary to popular belief, not all Orang Asli are jungle dwellers.
While most live in the jungle at elevations between 610m and and 1,830m above sea level, some 40 per cent of Orang Asli are actually lowland and coastal dwellers. Thousands of them are found at the fringe of Malay villages along the west coast. There are also many Orang Asli groups who are sea-gypsies and island dwellers.
The entrance hall at the museum houses a display on the Senoi Praaq, "the fighting people". The term refers to the two battalions of the Police Field Force whose members were almost exclusively Orang Asli. The first battalion was formed in 1957 and operated as an independent unit. It proved to be a very successful jungle-fighting unit and was instrumental in helping the security forces win the jungle war against the communist terrorists. The second battalion was formed in 1970. The items used by the early battalions are on display here and the battalions themselves still exist to this day.
In the next room are items used by the various aboriginal groups for personal adornment. The traditional tunics are bark cloth, made from the bark of trees such as the wild breadfruit tree. You can read about how these clothes were made and see them on mannequins. The Temiar men used to wear loincloth and the women dressed in short skirts. These days the men favour shirt and trousers and the women, sarung kebaya.
Bamboo and wood combs and pins are popular hair adornments. Jewellery include bracelets, armlets and leglets made from coloured beads, seed, river shells and even the teeth of monkeys. The Negritos paint their faces and bodies with red, black and white dyes extracted from vegetables. Some highland males used to have their noses pierced and inserted with porcupine quills. Women used flowers to adorn their ears. For rituals, headdresses made of certain leaves considered sacred to the community are worn.
Music has always been important to these people. They have string instruments, drums and wind instruments made from bamboo and wood. The nose flute, and the genggong (Jew's harp) are still the hallmark of the Orang Asli musical repertoire. The sounds produced resemble the singing of birds and the chirping of insects in the forest.
In the southern part of the Malay peninsula, especially among the Temuans, bamboo, string instruments and gongs are favoured, along with the violin. They are used at all wedding ceremonies and are often played to the beat of modern Malay songs. The gongs are their only metal-based instruments.
There is a tableau that shows a wedding group. Some of the cloth pieces are stunning with the vivid colours of reds and yellows contrasting against black patterns. The handicrafts on display include rattan baskets, bags and hats.
Upstairs you'll find scale models of bamboo rafts and dug-out canoes. Some rafts consist of just six bamboo poles tied together. Larger rafts have 50 or more poles expertly lashed together, forming two layers. Small dug-out canoes were used in the south of the peninsula, but today they have been replaced with motorboats.
Many of the Orang Asli groups live deep in the forest and depend on nature for food. Their main food consists of hill rice, millet, maize, tapioca, sweet potato and long beans. Fishing and hunting are also common.
The Orang Asli generally have a large kitchen in the middle of their dwelling, which is shared by a number of families. They employ various methods of cooking, such as roasting in bamboo, cooking on a tripod or grilling over an open fire.
Things like bamboo containers, rattan baskets and plates made of large leaves are also common. Ladles are made of half coconut shells attached with a wooden handle. Bottles are made of gourds.
The museum also gives you an idea of the Orang Asli's leisure activities, medicine and beliefs. Hunting is vital for the Orang Asli, and the blowpipe is the preferred weapon. It is made of bamboo and artistically decorated.
The darts are usually made from the bertam palm and the tips are rubbed with poison from the Ipoh tree. The blow pipe has a range of up to 40m and is a very accurate and dangerous weapon in the hands of a skilled hunter.
The hunters also use bamboo caltrops, which are spikes planted in the ground with the sharpened ends facing upwards. The intended victims are usually pigs and wild boars. Aside from their hunting implements, the Orang Asli do not have any other weapons as they are a non-violent people.
Semi-nomadic communities like the Negritos stay in simple sheds, made in a semi-circle or horseshoe shape, with a big fireplace in the middle. These dwellings are easy to construct, and require minimum amount of material, labour and time.
The sedentary Temiars used to have longhouses which were smaller than the Iban longhouses of Sarawak. Many were between 40m and 50m in length, about 10m wide and raised three metres off the ground. The basic materials used were bamboo, timber and nipah leaves. No nails were ever used. Each family would have its own cubicle, with a corridor running down the middle of the house.
The central area had a fireplace, and here ceremonies, dances and other group activities were held. Today, longhouses give way to individual housing units as the extended family system dies off and their self-sufficient ways are replaced by the cash economy.
Many Orang Asli are animists who believe in the existence of spirits. As with most tribal people, the halaaq or "medicine man" plays a central role in communicating with the spirits.
Outside the museum is a handicraft shop that stocks many wood carvings made by the the Mah Meri of Pulau Carey, Selangor and the Jah Hut of the Krau Game Reserve, Pahang.
The museum, opened in 1998, aims to preserve the history of the aborigines, gather material on their culture and facilitate research. Maybe this is one of the places you should take the kids to this school holiday?
The Brunei Times
Source URL:http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/classification/life/features/2007/07/14/malay_peninsula_orang_asli
Published on The Brunei Times
Malay Peninsula Orang Asli
Liz Price
KUALA LUMPUR
Saturday, July 14, 2007
I WONDER how many KL residents have visited the Orang Asli Museum in Gombak, or are knowledgeable about the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia? How many different tribes are there? Questions like this are answered as soon as you step inside the museum. On the display boards, I counted 18 different tribes in all, belonging to three main groups: Negritos, Senoi and Proto-Malays.
The Negritos are hunter-gatherers. They were the ones who decorated cave walls with their charcoal drawings, especially in the Lenggong area of Ulu Perak. The Senois are shifting cultivators and the Proto-Malays are farmers or fishermen. The Jakuns (Proto-Malays) lived in the Batu Caves area a century ago. In 1885, William Hornaday, an American naturalist, wrote about the "Jacoons" who accompanied him on hunting trips.
Today the Orang Asli live in areas covering the length of the peninsula, from the Malaysia-Thai border to Johor. Contrary to popular belief, not all Orang Asli are jungle dwellers.
While most live in the jungle at elevations between 610m and and 1,830m above sea level, some 40 per cent of Orang Asli are actually lowland and coastal dwellers. Thousands of them are found at the fringe of Malay villages along the west coast. There are also many Orang Asli groups who are sea-gypsies and island dwellers.
The entrance hall at the museum houses a display on the Senoi Praaq, "the fighting people". The term refers to the two battalions of the Police Field Force whose members were almost exclusively Orang Asli. The first battalion was formed in 1957 and operated as an independent unit. It proved to be a very successful jungle-fighting unit and was instrumental in helping the security forces win the jungle war against the communist terrorists. The second battalion was formed in 1970. The items used by the early battalions are on display here and the battalions themselves still exist to this day.
In the next room are items used by the various aboriginal groups for personal adornment. The traditional tunics are bark cloth, made from the bark of trees such as the wild breadfruit tree. You can read about how these clothes were made and see them on mannequins. The Temiar men used to wear loincloth and the women dressed in short skirts. These days the men favour shirt and trousers and the women, sarung kebaya.
Bamboo and wood combs and pins are popular hair adornments. Jewellery include bracelets, armlets and leglets made from coloured beads, seed, river shells and even the teeth of monkeys. The Negritos paint their faces and bodies with red, black and white dyes extracted from vegetables. Some highland males used to have their noses pierced and inserted with porcupine quills. Women used flowers to adorn their ears. For rituals, headdresses made of certain leaves considered sacred to the community are worn.
Music has always been important to these people. They have string instruments, drums and wind instruments made from bamboo and wood. The nose flute, and the genggong (Jew's harp) are still the hallmark of the Orang Asli musical repertoire. The sounds produced resemble the singing of birds and the chirping of insects in the forest.
In the southern part of the Malay peninsula, especially among the Temuans, bamboo, string instruments and gongs are favoured, along with the violin. They are used at all wedding ceremonies and are often played to the beat of modern Malay songs. The gongs are their only metal-based instruments.
There is a tableau that shows a wedding group. Some of the cloth pieces are stunning with the vivid colours of reds and yellows contrasting against black patterns. The handicrafts on display include rattan baskets, bags and hats.
Upstairs you'll find scale models of bamboo rafts and dug-out canoes. Some rafts consist of just six bamboo poles tied together. Larger rafts have 50 or more poles expertly lashed together, forming two layers. Small dug-out canoes were used in the south of the peninsula, but today they have been replaced with motorboats.
Many of the Orang Asli groups live deep in the forest and depend on nature for food. Their main food consists of hill rice, millet, maize, tapioca, sweet potato and long beans. Fishing and hunting are also common.
The Orang Asli generally have a large kitchen in the middle of their dwelling, which is shared by a number of families. They employ various methods of cooking, such as roasting in bamboo, cooking on a tripod or grilling over an open fire.
Things like bamboo containers, rattan baskets and plates made of large leaves are also common. Ladles are made of half coconut shells attached with a wooden handle. Bottles are made of gourds.
The museum also gives you an idea of the Orang Asli's leisure activities, medicine and beliefs. Hunting is vital for the Orang Asli, and the blowpipe is the preferred weapon. It is made of bamboo and artistically decorated.
The darts are usually made from the bertam palm and the tips are rubbed with poison from the Ipoh tree. The blow pipe has a range of up to 40m and is a very accurate and dangerous weapon in the hands of a skilled hunter.
The hunters also use bamboo caltrops, which are spikes planted in the ground with the sharpened ends facing upwards. The intended victims are usually pigs and wild boars. Aside from their hunting implements, the Orang Asli do not have any other weapons as they are a non-violent people.
Semi-nomadic communities like the Negritos stay in simple sheds, made in a semi-circle or horseshoe shape, with a big fireplace in the middle. These dwellings are easy to construct, and require minimum amount of material, labour and time.
The sedentary Temiars used to have longhouses which were smaller than the Iban longhouses of Sarawak. Many were between 40m and 50m in length, about 10m wide and raised three metres off the ground. The basic materials used were bamboo, timber and nipah leaves. No nails were ever used. Each family would have its own cubicle, with a corridor running down the middle of the house.
The central area had a fireplace, and here ceremonies, dances and other group activities were held. Today, longhouses give way to individual housing units as the extended family system dies off and their self-sufficient ways are replaced by the cash economy.
Many Orang Asli are animists who believe in the existence of spirits. As with most tribal people, the halaaq or "medicine man" plays a central role in communicating with the spirits.
Outside the museum is a handicraft shop that stocks many wood carvings made by the the Mah Meri of Pulau Carey, Selangor and the Jah Hut of the Krau Game Reserve, Pahang.
The museum, opened in 1998, aims to preserve the history of the aborigines, gather material on their culture and facilitate research. Maybe this is one of the places you should take the kids to this school holiday?
The Brunei Times
Source URL:http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/classification/life/features/2007/07/14/malay_peninsula_orang_asli
4WD in Ulu Slim, Perak - Brunei Times
4WD trip in the Slim River area in Perak, with MORE. We also saw the hot springs at Ulu Slim, and orang asli village.
Published on The Brunei Times
Rolling on an off-road trek
Liz Price
KUALA LUMPUR
Friday, July 6, 2007
LET'S ROLL! This was the familiar message given by our commander when it was time for the convoy to start moving. The convoy kept in contact via walkie talkie, each car having a call sign such as Alpha 1, Bravo 2. The commander could ensure that all cars were moving and the sweeper would inform him when all cars had cleared obstacles such as traffic lights and road junctions.
We were in a group of 11 vehicles on an introductory off-road adventure with MORE (Malaysia Off-Road Explorer), a group of dedicated and experienced 4WDrivers who organise light, medium and semi-hardcore off-road outings. For our group of German visitors it was a perfect way to experience Malaysia's off-road terrain and nature, namely plantations and jungle.
The journey from Kuala Lumpur to Slim River in Perak was smooth and we then headed for the first off-road section designed as a familiarisation stage. This took us through a rubber plantation and the drivers were able to explain the basics of driving off-road. After a while we stopped to see the process of rubber tapping. This is the natural source of the expensive tyres our cars were using. We were shown how the tree is cut so that the latex drips down into the cup. It's hard to imagine that this sticky white liquid is used to make the familiar hard black rubber used on vehicles worldwide.
Our next stop was the hot springs at Ulu Slim. With a water temperature of 104C, these springs are reputed to be the fifth hottest in the world. Steam was rising off the surface of the water, and the pond was a mix of colours with green algae and shades of brown from minerals, but there was only a very slight smell of sulphur. One of the drivers had brought along some eggs, and they soon cooked in the super-hot water. A concrete walkway gives access to the main source of the spring, where even the rocks are almost too hot to touch.
We went past a lake with wallowing buffaloes, and then the real fun began. We headed off-road onto a sandy track and began to drive on rough terrain, where the participants were given the chance to drive.
Unfortunately there had been no rain so the track was very dry, meaning that even the steep hills posed little problem. I can imagine they would be a real challenge when wet and muddy. There were three metre deep ruts on one side and a steep drop down the hillslope on the other. My car had one interesting moment when the driver tried to change gear going up a steep hill and stalled. It took a lot of revs to get us going again; luckily we didn't roll back too far!
We stopped at an oil palm plantation and as we passed a trailer laden with bunches of oil palm fruits, everyone was keen to take photos. I always think these clusters of fruits resemble porcupines. The plantation gave way to jungle and at one point we were driving close to a stream which had clear water and looked quite beautiful. The orange flowers of the Saraca trees provided a contrast to the jungle greens and the blue sky.
A river crossing was the next challenge. It was fun to watch each car go through, some drivers approaching quite gingerly whereas others rushed it, making a big splash. By now everyone was ready for lunch.
We turned into the MORE campsite and I was surprised to see men in chef's hats putting the final touches to a table laden with food. The campsite is ideally situated at the confluence of two streams. It has running water transported by bamboo pipes and even flushable toilets and a shower! No need to dig holes in the ground here. The food was delicious and there was plenty of it, and everyone was happy.
After lunch one driver was thrown into the river. He was on his maiden voyage with MORE, so this was his initiation dunking. He took it in good spirit and was soon joined by others. After the obligatory group photo, it was time to head back.
We had some fun on the second river crossing, when one car went into a deep section and then had to be winched out. At least this gave us a chance to see winching in action. Other drivers decided to chicken out and went over the bridge instead.
On the return we stopped at an Orang Asli settlement. The people are a mix of Semai and Sewang. They are used to seeing the 4WD convoys pass through, although some of the younger children still hid from the cameras. We gave some goodies to the children and it was a satisfying end to an excellent day.
MORE runs a variety of 4WD packages, from one day to about 10 days. These are adventure tours in the Malaysian jungle, but they also incorporate cultural and historical sites. The Brunei Times
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source URL:
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/classification/life/2007/07/06/rolling_on_an_off_road_trek
Published on The Brunei Times
Rolling on an off-road trek
Liz Price
KUALA LUMPUR
Friday, July 6, 2007
LET'S ROLL! This was the familiar message given by our commander when it was time for the convoy to start moving. The convoy kept in contact via walkie talkie, each car having a call sign such as Alpha 1, Bravo 2. The commander could ensure that all cars were moving and the sweeper would inform him when all cars had cleared obstacles such as traffic lights and road junctions.
We were in a group of 11 vehicles on an introductory off-road adventure with MORE (Malaysia Off-Road Explorer), a group of dedicated and experienced 4WDrivers who organise light, medium and semi-hardcore off-road outings. For our group of German visitors it was a perfect way to experience Malaysia's off-road terrain and nature, namely plantations and jungle.
The journey from Kuala Lumpur to Slim River in Perak was smooth and we then headed for the first off-road section designed as a familiarisation stage. This took us through a rubber plantation and the drivers were able to explain the basics of driving off-road. After a while we stopped to see the process of rubber tapping. This is the natural source of the expensive tyres our cars were using. We were shown how the tree is cut so that the latex drips down into the cup. It's hard to imagine that this sticky white liquid is used to make the familiar hard black rubber used on vehicles worldwide.
Our next stop was the hot springs at Ulu Slim. With a water temperature of 104C, these springs are reputed to be the fifth hottest in the world. Steam was rising off the surface of the water, and the pond was a mix of colours with green algae and shades of brown from minerals, but there was only a very slight smell of sulphur. One of the drivers had brought along some eggs, and they soon cooked in the super-hot water. A concrete walkway gives access to the main source of the spring, where even the rocks are almost too hot to touch.
We went past a lake with wallowing buffaloes, and then the real fun began. We headed off-road onto a sandy track and began to drive on rough terrain, where the participants were given the chance to drive.
Unfortunately there had been no rain so the track was very dry, meaning that even the steep hills posed little problem. I can imagine they would be a real challenge when wet and muddy. There were three metre deep ruts on one side and a steep drop down the hillslope on the other. My car had one interesting moment when the driver tried to change gear going up a steep hill and stalled. It took a lot of revs to get us going again; luckily we didn't roll back too far!
We stopped at an oil palm plantation and as we passed a trailer laden with bunches of oil palm fruits, everyone was keen to take photos. I always think these clusters of fruits resemble porcupines. The plantation gave way to jungle and at one point we were driving close to a stream which had clear water and looked quite beautiful. The orange flowers of the Saraca trees provided a contrast to the jungle greens and the blue sky.
A river crossing was the next challenge. It was fun to watch each car go through, some drivers approaching quite gingerly whereas others rushed it, making a big splash. By now everyone was ready for lunch.
We turned into the MORE campsite and I was surprised to see men in chef's hats putting the final touches to a table laden with food. The campsite is ideally situated at the confluence of two streams. It has running water transported by bamboo pipes and even flushable toilets and a shower! No need to dig holes in the ground here. The food was delicious and there was plenty of it, and everyone was happy.
After lunch one driver was thrown into the river. He was on his maiden voyage with MORE, so this was his initiation dunking. He took it in good spirit and was soon joined by others. After the obligatory group photo, it was time to head back.
We had some fun on the second river crossing, when one car went into a deep section and then had to be winched out. At least this gave us a chance to see winching in action. Other drivers decided to chicken out and went over the bridge instead.
On the return we stopped at an Orang Asli settlement. The people are a mix of Semai and Sewang. They are used to seeing the 4WD convoys pass through, although some of the younger children still hid from the cameras. We gave some goodies to the children and it was a satisfying end to an excellent day.
MORE runs a variety of 4WD packages, from one day to about 10 days. These are adventure tours in the Malaysian jungle, but they also incorporate cultural and historical sites. The Brunei Times
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source URL:
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/classification/life/2007/07/06/rolling_on_an_off_road_trek
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