The First People Of Peninsular Malaysia

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HISTORY: TOLD AS IT IS | “Orang Asli”, a term officially coined in 1960, collectively refers to the original or native people of Peninsular Malaysia. Currently numbering about 200,000 (about 0.6% of the total Malaysian population), the Orang Asli are the “first people” or oldest inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia.
In the words of Colin Nicholas, a leading authority on the Orang Asli, the Orang Asli “are descendants of the earliest known inhabitants who occupied the Malay Peninsula before the establishment of the Malay kingdoms.”
In a similar vein, Harry Lake - the then Johor government’s mining engineer writing in 1894 - states that the forefathers of the Orang Asli “roamed the jungle long before the advent of the Malays”.
This fact was acknowledged by Abdul Rahman, the then secretary to the Johor sultan (Sultan Abu Bakar) as follows: “The aborigines were the possessors of the soil before we [the Malays] came to the peninsula.” Indeed, two reputable historians - Mary Turnbull and Leonard Andaya - have described the Orang Asli as “the oldest known inhabitants” of the Malay Peninsula and “original people in the land”.
Sadly, the above historical fact regarding the Orang Asli is missing in our current school history textbooks. Indeed, the role and significant contributions of the Orang Asli community have not been adequately portrayed in our history textbooks. Hence, this article seeks to throw light on the Orang Asli community, their historical role and significant contributions towards nation-building.
The Orang Asli are generally classified into three main groups: Negrito, Senoi and Proto-Malay or Aboriginal Malay. Each main group has six different ethnic groups, with their own language and culture. Thus, in total there are 18 Orang Asli ethnic groups in Malaysia.
The Negritos are the earliest settlers and original coastal inhabitants of what is today Peninsular Malaysia. They lived in the past as nomadic hunter-gatherers. According to Nik Hassan Shuhaimi, the Negritos probably descended from the toolmakers of the Mesolithic or Hoabinhian cultural period beginning from about 10,000 years ago. The Senoi and Proto-Malays arrived later during the Neolithic period around 4,000 years ago.
During the era of the Malay sultanates, many of the Orang Asli retreated further inland to avoid contact with outsiders due to the trade in Orang Asli slaves. There have been reports of raids on Orang Asli settlements by some Malay slave traders to capture women and children to be sold as slaves.


Currently, the Negritos form about 5 percent of the total Orang Asli population and are mostly found in Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Pahang. They live on the fringes of the forest, coastal foothills and inland river valleys, with a small number still being semi-nomadic subsisting on forest produce and hunting. Many of the Negritos live in permanent settlements although they customarily enter the forest for food and forest resources.
The Senoi, who in the past were generally shifting cultivators, form about 54 percent of the total Orang Asli population in Malaysia. They are a Mongoloid people, being a little taller and fairer than the Negritos. The Senoi consists of two main tribes: Semai and the Temiar.
The Semai is the largest Orang Asli group and inhabit both slopes of the Titiwangsa Range in Perak and Pahang, and the lowland areas of Perak. The Temiar live in the upper reaches of the rivers in the remote interior mountains of the Main Range in Perak and Kelantan.
The Senoi’s economy is based mainly upon shifting cultivation (tapioca, hill rice, millet and maize), fishing and hunting. Many of the Senoi today are involved in permanent agriculture, owning rubber and oil palm estates. They also trade in petai, durian, rattan, bamboo, wild honey and resin to earn cash income.
A significant number of the Senoi (particularly the Semai) live in urban areas and are engaged in waged and salaried jobs besides being professionals and entrepreneurs.
The Proto-Malays, who form about 43 percent of the Orang Asli population, are found mainly in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, central and south Pahang, and Johor. Both in terms of their physical appearance and way of life, they are almost similar to that of some Malays. Indeed, they speak an archaic form of Malay.
Historically, the Proto-Malays had close contacts with the Malay community and many are Muslims. Currently, the Proto Malays are a highly settled people engaged in agriculture, riverine or coastal fishing, wage market, and entrepreneurial and professional occupations.
About 70 percent of the Orang Asli practise traditional animist religions, about 10 percent are Christians and 15-20 percent Muslims. It should be noted that the percentage of Orang Asli (particularly Proto-Malays) who are Muslims has been steadily increasing with the passage of time.
Significant role
Historically, the Orang Asli have played a significant role in the Malay Peninsula’s economic history as early as the first millennium A.D. As stated by Leonard Andaya, the Orang Asli “had an economically important function in international trade” as collectors of forest products and became “indispensable to the coastal trading kingdoms”, particularly in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula. The main forest products sought by foreign traders were resin, rattan and aromatic wood.
The Orang Asli also played a significant role in promoting international trade by serving as porters and guides for the transhipment of goods since several transpeninsular routes passed through the lands occupied by them. Many traders preferred to use these inland routes to avoid the menace of piracy in the Straits of Malacca.
Furthermore, the Orang Asli also served well as the fighting force of the Melaka sultanate and the kingdom of Johor.
A little-known fact is that the Orang Asli played an important role in helping the colonial British government to maintain the security and peace of the country, particularly the efforts to suppress the communist insurrection. The British government was worried because several Orang Asli groups provided labour, food and intelligence to the Malayan National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Malayan Communist Party during the Malayan Emergency of 1948-1960.
To win the hearts and minds of the Orang Asli, the British formed an Orang Asli paramilitary unit known as the Senoi Praaq (“war people” in Semai) in 1956. The Senoi Praaq was a highly effective fighting force due to the bravery, endurance and expert tracking skills of the Orang Asli. It was also instrumental in winning over support of members of the Orang Asli who were pro-communists.
Despite their enormous past contributions, the Orang Asli community today face tremendous hardships. Currently, about 34 percent of the Orang Asli live in hardcore poverty. To make matters worse, their way of life has been threatened by the increased denudation of the jungle through logging and plantation agriculture besides encroachment into their native land by greedy developers.


Fortunately, the Malaysian government has outlined several measures in the 12th Malaysia Plan to upgrade the livelihood and wellbeing of the Orang Asli community. Among these measures are increasing their accessibility to higher education and enhancing their income-earning capabilities.
To conclude, the Orang Asli community occupies a special place in the history of our nation by being the “first people” of Peninsular Malaysia. Additionally, the Orang Asli contributed significantly to the early development of international trade and played a significant role in combating the threat posed by the communist guerrillas during the Malayan Emergency of 1948-1960.
But the community today is confronted with numerous economic and social challenges. Acknowledging their historical contributions would be one way we can genuinely help the Orang Asli to be part of mainstream Malaysian society. - Mkini

RANJIT SINGH MALHI is an independent historian who has written 19 books on Malaysian, Asian and world history. He is highly committed to writing an inclusive and truthful history of Malaysia based upon authoritative sources.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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