1. The Malay term “Orang Asli” (original people) is now preferred by the Malaysian Government instead of the more familiar “Aborigine.” The latter, in common with other names formerly given to the Orang Asli, is considered to have derogatory connotations. See report in The Straits Times, 06 10, 1967. p. 7.Google Scholar

2. These introductory remarks are based to some extent upon information contained in two official documents prepared under the auspices of the Commissioner for Orang Asli Affairs. Statement of Policy Regarding the Administration of the Aborigine Peoples of the Federation of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur: Department of Information, Federation of Malaya, 1961)Google Scholar. Carey, Iskander Yusof, The Malayan Orang Asli and Their Future (Kuala Lumpur, 1961).Google Scholar

3. This is a gross over-simplification. There are at least twenty different subgroups, some speaking their own languages, and they cannot be said to have been reliably investigated.

4. For a full discussion of shifting cultivation see Pelzer, K. J.'s two studies: Pioneer Settlement in the Asiatic Tropics (New York: American Geographical Society, 1945)Google Scholar. “Land Utilization in the Humid Tropics,” The Proceedings of the Ninth Pacific Congress, vol. 20, 1957. pp. 124–143.Google Scholar

5. Polunin, Ivan, “The Medical Natural History of Malayan Aborigines,” The Medical Journal of Malaya, vol. 8, no. 1, (09 1953), p. 89.Google ScholarPubMed

6. Ibid., p. 62. According to Doctor Polunin, “Typical modern Malays differ from the Aboriginal Malays in that the former are mixed with other Malaysians from Indonesia, with Indians and Arabs and with female Chinese adopted by Malay families.”

7. A government officer with long and varied experience of Orang Asli informed me that lie heard a group of Proto Malays speaking in a language which he could not understand and which he is certain was not archaic Malay. On being questioned the Orang Asli concerned admitted that they spoke a language other than Malay but “only in the house.” Conversation with Abdullah, M. Ruslan, 02 20, 1967.Google Scholar

8. This commercial activity is commented upon by many pre-war observers. See, for example, Noone, H. D., “Report on the Settlement and Welfare of the Ple-Temiar Senoi of Perak – Kelantan Watershed,” Journal of the Federated Malay States Museum, Part 1, vol, XIX. (12 1936).Google Scholar

9. Federated Malay States., Pahang, Annual Report, 1900, p. 12.Google Scholar

10. For comments on the traditional exploitation of Proto Malay communities see Downs, R. E., “Malay,”Google Scholar in Lebar, F.M. (and others). Ethnic Groups af Mainland Southeast Asia, (New Haven: Human Relations Area Files Press, 1964), pp. 253–266.Google Scholar

11. Typical comments on the subject are included in the following documents: Selangor Secretariat Files, nos. 13 and 522, 1881Google Scholar; no. 342, 1885; no. 665, 1889.

12. A neat summary of the various slave classes in nineteenth century Malaya is given in Baki, Aminuddin bin, “The Institution of Debt-Slavery in Perak,” Peninjau Sejarah, vol. 1, no. 1, (06 1966).Google Scholar

13. The social, economic and political implications of slavery in traditional Malayan societies are analysed in the excellent study by Gullick, J. W., Indigenous Political Systems of Western Malaya, (London: The Athlone Press, 1958).Google Scholar

14. Maxwell, W. E., “The Aboriginal Tribes of Perak,” Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, no. 4, (12 1879), p. 46.Google Scholar

15. Many such references are included in the fascinating reports, letters and other papers enclosed in the following: Great Britain. Parliamentary Papers by Command, C-3285,* Straits Settlements; Correspondence Respecting Slavery in the Protected Malay States, 1882Google Scholar. C-3429, Further Correspondence Respecting Slavery in the Protected Malay States, 1882Google Scholar. C-4192, Correspondence Respecting the Protected Malay States, Including Papers Relating to the Abolition of Slavery in Perak, 1884.Google Scholar

16. Quoted in McLarty, F. M., Affairs of the Colony Being a History Concerning the Straits Settltments and the British Protected States of the Malay Peninsula (Penang: Pinang Gazzette Press, 1893), p. 129.Google Scholar

17. The recollections of Dato Mahmud bin Mat are of interest in this respect. See “The Passing of Slavery in East Pahang,” The Malayan Historical Journal, vol. 1, no. 1, (05 1954).Google Scholar

18. See, for example, Schebesta, Paul, Among the Forest Dwarfs of Malaya, translated by Chambers, Arthur, (London: Hutchinson & Co., Ltd., 1927), p. 41Google Scholar. Also Evans, Ivor H. N.. The Negritos of Malaya, (Cambridge: The University Press, 1937), p. 33.Google Scholar

19. The Collector and Magistrate of Ulu Selangor not untypically remarked to the Resident that “… the Sakaies always show a greater partiality for the Chinese.” Selangor Secretariat Files, no. 665, 4 02 1889.Google Scholar

20. According to Williams-Hunt, P. D. R. in his Notes on the Administration Welfare Recording of Technical Data Relating to the Malayan Aborigines, (Kuala Lumpur, 1951), pp. 31–32.Google Scholar

21. One official solemnly reported the deadly accuracy of the Orang Asli blow – pipe over a range of sixty yards. Selangor Secretariat Files, no. 59, 9 04 1887Google Scholar. It is apparent to anyone with any experience of the Orang Asli that the report greatly exaggerates the range of the blow-pipe.

22. Among them were Hugh Clifford, James Low, C. N. Maxwell, W. E. Maxwell, F. A. Swettenham, and R. J. Wilkinson.

23. Most notably by C. O. Blagden, I. H. N. Evans, R. Martin, H. D. Noone, P. Schebesta, W. W. Skeat and L. Wray.

24. Williams-Hunt, , Notes on the Administration, p. 31.Google Scholar

25. Williams-Hunt, P. D. R., An Introduction to the Malayan Aborigines, (Kuala Lumpur: Government Press, 1952), p. 76.Google Scholar

26. An outline of Anker Rentse's Malayan career is given in his obituary notice written by Tweedie, M. W. F., Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol XXIV, part 1, (02 1951), pp. 192–193.Google Scholar

27. Polunin, , “The Medical Natural History of Malayan Aborigines,” p. 160.Google Scholar

28. For both sides of the story written by two of the senior men involved, see (Lieutenant-General) Percival, A. E., The War in Malaya, (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1949)Google Scholar and (Colonel) Tsuji, Masanobu, Singapore: The Japanese Version, translated by Lake, Margaret E., (Sydney: Ure Smith, 1960).Google Scholar

29. The remarkable story of an English vicar's daughter is particularly interesting in this respect. Thatcher, Dorothy and Cross, Robert, Pai Naa: The Story of Nona Baker, (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1959).Google Scholar

30. There is a good summary of the various Chinese groups involved in The Federation of Malaya and Its Police, 1786–1952, (Kuala Lumpur: Police Publication, 1952), pp. 27–29.Google Scholar

31. Williams-Hunt, , Notes on the Administration, p. 31.Google Scholar

32. A British officer has written an excellent account of life in the jungle during the Japanese Occupation. Chapman, F. Spencer, The Jungle is Neutral, (New York: W. W. Norton and Co., Inc., 1949)Google Scholar. See also the second-hand account of Holman, Dennis, The Green Torture: The Ordeal of Robert Chrystal, (London: Robert Hale Ltd., 1962).Google Scholar

33. Federation of Malaya Annual Report, 1953. (Kuala Lumpur, 1954), p. XIIIGoogle Scholar. The Plan was named after Lieutenant-General Sir Harold Briggs, then Director of Operations.

34. The most prominent of the medical personnel concerned were Dr. I. Polunin and Dr. P. H. A. Sneath. Some of their important findings were published in medical journals and various other learned periodicals in the early 1950's.

35. Including the whole of the Orang Kanaq, one of the smallest ethnic groups, who were moved from the Mawai area of Johore. See Federation of Malaya Annual Report, 1951, (Kuala Lumpur, 1952), p. 185.Google Scholar

36. Federation of Malaya Annual Report, 1952, (Kuala Lumpur. 1953), p. 195.Google Scholar

37. Federation of Malaya Annual Report, 1953, (Kuala Lumpur, 1954), p. 212.Google Scholar

38. Polunin, , “The Medical Natural History of the Malayan Aborigines,” p. 160.Google Scholar

39. Williams-Hunt, , An Introduction to the Malayan Aborigines, p. 32.Google Scholar

40. Williams-Hunt, , Notes on the Administration, p. 37.Google Scholar

41. Williams-Hunt, P. D. R., “Evacuating Aboriginal Communities,” Malayan Police Magazine, vol. 11, no. 3, (03 1950)Google Scholar. See also Notes on the Administration, pp. 32–39.Google Scholar

42. Federation of Malaya Annual Report, 1954, (Kuala Lumpur, 1955), p. 254.Google Scholar

43. There were ten jungle forts in 1960. See “Police Role in the Emergency,” Malayan Police Magazine, vol. XXVI, no. 3, (09 1960), p. 163.Google Scholar

44. The writer served with Second Police Field Force (1955–1958) and acted as Fort Commander for several months.

45. Federation of Malaya Annual Report, 1954, (Kuala Lumpur, 1955), p. 253.Google Scholar

46. Ibid.

47. Keeton, W., (ed.), The British Commonwealth: The Development of Its Laws and Constitution. Vol. 9, Sheridan, L. A., (ed.), Malaya and Singapore: The Borneo Territories, (London: Stevans and Sons, Ltd., 1961), pp. 345–346Google Scholar.

48. For a discussion of mild disagreements see Slimming, John, Temiar Jungle: A Malayan Journey, (London: John Murray, 1958)Google Scholar. Slimming was an Assistant Protector of Aborigines.

49. Federation of Malaya Annual Report, 1955, (Kuala Lumpur, 1956), p. 280Google Scholar

50. Federation of Malaya Annual Report, 1956, (Kuala Lumpur, 1957), p. 288.Google Scholar

51. Polunin, , “The Medical Natural History of Malayan Aborigines,” pp. 159–160Google Scholar. This is also touched upon by Noone, H. D. in “Report on the Settlements and Welfare of the Pie-Temiar Senoi of Perak-Kelantan Watershed.”Google Scholar

52. Federation of Malaya Annual Report, 1955, (Kuala Lumpur, 1956). p. 280.Google Scholar

53. Reported in The Malayan Monthly, (06 1958).Google Scholar

54. I am indebted to M. Ruslan Abdullah, Commanding Officer of the Senoi Pra'aq, for discussing this point with me.

55. Noone, R. O. D., quoted in The Malayan Monthly, (06 1958).Google Scholar

56. Quoted in The Malay Mail, 04 24, 1961.Google Scholar

57. Statement of Policy Regarding the Administration of the Aborigine Peoples of the Federation of Malaya, pp. 3–5.Google Scholar

58. A more recent newspaper article by a Deputy Commissioner for Orang Asli Affairs is equally ambiguous concerning the meaning of integration. Raffie, Baharon Azhar bin'i, “Schemes to Help the Orang Asli Pay Off,” The Sunday Mail, 09 3, 1967.Google Scholar

59. Carey, Iskander Yusof, Ranchangan Lima Tahun (A General Explanation of the Five Year Plan). (Kuala Lumpur: Jabatan Orang Asli, 1961).Google Scholar

60. First Malaysia Plan 1966–1970, (Kuala Lumpur: Government Press, 1965), p. 186, paragraph 577.Google Scholar

61. Malaysia: Buku Rasmi Tahunan 1965 (Official Yearbook), (Kuala Lumpur: Government Press, 1967), Vol. 5, pp. 112–113.Google Scholar

62. First Malaysia Plan 1966–1970, p. 186, paragraph 577.Google Scholar

63. Malaysia, originally a federation of fourteen states, came into existence on September 16, 1963. Singapore withdrew from the Federation on August 9, 1965.

64. See “Malaysian Federation Constitution: An Alphabetical Analysis,” Malaysia: Buku Rasmi Tahunan 1964, Vol. 4. p. 597.Google Scholar