ALTHOUGH Malaysia’s education indicators such as literacy rates and school enrolment ratios are comparable to industrialised countries, there are still pockets of children who do not have proper access to education. The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) says the children at greatest risk in Malaysia are non-Malaysian children born in Malaysia. These include refugee children […]
Orang Asli
Land rights key to survival
By Koh Lay ChinTHE problems the Penan and other indigenous communities face can sometimes seem overwhelming and complicated. In this interview with The Nut Graph conducted via e-mail in late September 2009, Koh Lay Chin speaks to anthropologist Kelvin Egay, whom she met while visiting the Orang Ulu in Sarawak. She asks Egay, who has researched these communities […]
Outraged by inaction over plight of Orang Asal
By the Joint Action Group for Gender EqualityFOLLOWING the release of the task force report confirming allegations of sexual abuse of Penan women and girls, we greet Malaysia’s 46th birthday with a renewed sense of outrage. We are gravely disturbed not only over the Penan girls and women whose rights were violated, but also over how their situation reflects the overall state […]
Can Malaysians practise civility?
By Shanon Shah(Source: GuelphMercury.com) “CONFLICT is prevalent in all multicultural settings,” says Associate Professor Dr Alberto Gomes, an anthropologist at Australia’s La Trobe University. Quoting studies by other researchers, Gomes says it is common for different groups to have stereotypes about, or even dislike, each other. This question of conflict and civility between different groups is relevant […]
Murugiah shocked by 11-, 12-year-old mothers
PETALING JAYA, 3 July 2009: Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk T Murugiah had a cultural shock when he visited the Cameron Highlands Hospital maternity ward recently and found Orang Asli mothers as young as 11 and 12 years old. What worried him more was that these minors were ignorant that they needed […]
Orang asli take demands to Parliament
By Zedeck SiewKUALA LUMPUR, 29 June 2009: Representatives from an indigenous community have submitted a memorandum to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) parliamentarians to protest the Pahang government’s refusal to gazette traditional Orang Asli lands. The memorandum today also protested the state government’s go-ahead for estate owners to open plantations on traditional Orang Asli lands. “It is our […]
PKR gives Manoharan time to decide
SHAH ALAM, 4 May 2009: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) will give Internal Security Act detainee M Manoharan time whether to vacate his Kota Alam Shah seat, said the party’s Selangor liaison chief Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim. PKR and PAS would not intervene in the decision because Manoharan was a state assemblyperson from DAP, he […]
Bar Council: More must be done for Orang Asli
By Ragunath KesavanTHE Bar Council is heartened by the Selangor government’s decision to withdraw its appeal to the Federal Court with respect to the Sagong Tasi case, which involves the 1995 acquisition of 38.477 acres of customary land in Bukit Tampoi, Dengkil that belongs to the Temuan tribe. Sagong Tasi of the Temuan (Pic courtesy of Suaram); […]
JOAS applauds S’gor decision in Temuan case
By Gan Pei LingPETALING JAYA, 23 April 2009: The Indigenous Peoples Network of Malaysia (JOAS) commended the Selangor government’s decision to withdraw its Federal Court appeal in the Temuan land acquisition dispute yesterday. In a statement today, JOAS president Adrian Lasimbang said the move is the “first step in recognising indigenous rights”, and showed that political will is […]
S’gor to withdraw appeal in dispute with Temuans
By Gan Pei LingSHAH ALAM, 22 April 2009: The Selangor government will withdraw its appeal to the Federal Court over the Sagong Tasi case involving the Temuan tribe’s land rights. In a statement today, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the decision was made at state executive councilor (exco)’s meeting today. He said the state legal […]
