The Orang Asli of Malaya

 

Orang Asli means the native or aboriginal people of Malaya. It refers to indigenous and oldest inhabitants of Malaya or Peninsular Malaysia. According to Department of the Development of Indigenous People (JAKOA), officially there are 18 Orang Asli sub-ethnic groups, categorized according to their different languages and customs. They are divided into three major races.

• Negrito, generally confined to the northern of Malaya
• Senoi, living in the central region of Malaya
• Proto-Malaya, mostly living in southern and west coast of Malaya

The first two main races speak in Austroasiatic or Mon-Khmer languages inhabited Malaya long before others came. The Proto-Malays who speak Austronesian languages migrated to Malaya between 2,500 to 1,500 BC. The Proto-Malays were originally considered as Malays before reclassification as Orang Asli by the British colonial authorities due to the similarity of their socio-economic and lifestyles with the Senoi and Negrito races.

 

There are Orang Asli museums in Malacca and Gombak which is about 25 km north of Kuala Lumpur.

• Brief History of Orang Asli
• Demography of Orang Asli 
• Languages of Orang Asli 
• Social and Legal Status 
  

References

• Orang Asli Archives, Keene College, Antioch University, New England, the US (Online)
• Orang Asli Health and Well-Being, Webminar, Vivek Venkataraman, 10 November 2020, Session 1 (Youtube); Session 2 (Youtube)
• Orang Asli, Minority Rights Group International, UK (Online)
  
• Mohd Tan'im bin Tajuddin, A Visit to Temuan Villages, 22 December 2016 (Blogspot) 

Malaysian Federal Constitution

 

The Federal Constitution of Malaya, which came into force in 1957, is the supreme law of Malaya. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, in 1963 when the States of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore became part of the Federation.

The Constitution establishes the Federation as a constitutional monarchy having the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Head of State whose roles are largely ceremonial. It provides for the establishment and the organization of three main branches of the government:

• Parliament, the bicameral legislative branch which consists of the House of Representatives or Dewan Rakyat and the Senate or Dewan Negara;
• Executive, led by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers; and
• Judicial, headed by the Federal Court.  

Reference

• Reid Constitutional Commission, National Archives of Malaysia, Ministry Tourism, Art and Culture Malaysia (online)
• A Duty to Protect Federal Constitution, Aliran, 17 Nov 2017 (online)
• Loh Foon Fong, "Malaysian Bar: All legislation must adhere to Federal Constitution", the Star Online, 4 Feb 2018 (online)
• Syahredzan Johan, Understanding the Federation of Malaya, the Star Online, 2 Nov 2015 (online)
• Dr. Shashi Tharoor, British Colonial Divide and Rule Policy in Malaya - Echoes of India, Economic History of Malaya (online) 

Formation of Malaysia

I have been living my whole life in Malaysia. In fact, I was born in Malaysia and raised here. My family members and grandparents are all natives of a recognized state of Malaysia. However, I never feel any urge to speak about my country of origin because I feel discriminated due to racist treatments that I received while living in the state of Selangor. I was born in the state of Kedah in the northern region of Malaysia. I moved a lot following my father's transfer between central and northern regions during my childhood and teenage life. I think people, especially from the southern region of Malaysian Peninsula are ignorant and people from Borneo side of Malaysia mostly generalize us as a single entity because we are in 'Malaya'.

The Federation of Malaysia

So to cut this short. Malaysia's history starts only on 16 September 1963. It was when Malaysia was formed with the participation of Malayan Peninsula and two British colonies in Northern Borneo i.e Sarawak and Sabah. People widely aware of how Sarawak and Sabah held a referendum before joining the Federation of Malaysia. However, people tend to ignore on what happened in Malaya simply because the first Prime Minister of the Federation came from my state of origin. To begin with, I am going to state down on what comprises Malaya. Borneo Malaysia would be explained later because many already discussed them in mass media. The structure that I am going to elaborate below is what we are today. People may see what kind of conflicts that we have to encounter in this country and why I do not feel that Kuala Lumpur or any other state in Malaysia is my 'home'.  

A) The Federation of Malaya

The Federation of Malaya or Persekutuan Tanah Melayu was formed in 1948 after the subjects of Malay kingdoms or sultanates in Malaya raised their voices to oppose the formation of Malayan Union by British colonial government. The states in British Malaya are traditionally classified into three:

• Federated Malay States
• Non-federated Malay States
• Straits Settlements

(You may click on the highlighted phrase above to see what it says)

In my view as a native of Malaya, there was nothing different between the Federation of Malaya and Malayan Union. The differences are just terms and the jurisdiction of Malay kings on their Malay subjects who happen to be, Muslims. No vote, no referendum nor democratic participation on the part of subjects in all regions mentioned above. They were represented by their kings and their kings were forced by the British authority to sign the agreement for a Federation under British colonial administration. Straits Settlements were directly placed under the British Crown so it might not be the case for them.

B) Independence of Malaya

Many Malaysians are not aware about the fact that 31 August 1957 was not the Independence Day of the whole Malaysia. It was the Independence Day of the Federation of Malaya which was formed in 1948 by the Great Britain. Check out the Merdeka Day here. This happens because probably it is not a pride of the newly formed and fragile nation or because the citizens of Malaysia are not keen to know about their own country due to the lack of patriotism, which is not really their fault. 

Source of the map: Australian Government, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade    

Persekutuan Malaysia

Persekutuan Malaysia atau Malaysia adalah sebuah negara di rantau Asia Tenggara. Ia merupakan sebuah negara persekutuan yang beraja serta mempunyai 13 buah negeri. Selain itu, ia terbahagi pula kepada dua bahagian yang dipisahkan oleh Laut Cina Selatan iaitu Malaysia Barat atau Semenanjung dan Malaysia Timur di Borneo yang terdiri pula daripada Sabah serta Sarawak.

Malaysia Barat berkongsi sempadan daratan dan lautan dengan Thailand serta sempadan lautan dengan Singapura, Vietnam, dan Indonesia. Malaysia Timur pula berkongsi sempadan daratan dan lautan dengan Brunei dan Indonesia, serta sempadan lautan dengan Filipina dan Vietnam.

Kuala Lumpur menjadi ibu negara Malaysia dan merupakan kota metropolitan di Malaysia. Ia menjadi kerusi untuk cawangan perundangan bagi kerajaan persekutuan. Putrajaya pula menjadi pusat pentadbiran, yang mewakili kerusi bagi kedua-dua cawangan pemerintahan atau eksekutif dan kehakiman bagi kerajaan persekutuan. Populasinya yang melebihi 34 juta orang menjadikan Malaysia sebagai negara yang ke-43 mempunyai kepadatan penduduk di dunia. Dalam pada itu, Malaysia juga adalah sebuah negara khatulistiwa yang beriklim tropika serta salah satu daripada 17 negara yang mempunyai kepelbagaian flora dan fauna terbesar di dunia. Ia menjadi habitat asli bagi spesis endemik yang pelbagai. Tanjung Piai di negeri Johor menjadi titik paling selatan bagi plat benua Eurasia.

• Pengenalan mengenai Malaysia
• Etimologi Nama Malaysia
• Sejarah Ringkas Malaysia
• Kerajaan dan Sistem Politik
• Bahagian Pentadbiran Utama
• Hubungan Luar dan Diplomatik
• Pertahanan dan Keselamatan
• Hak Asasi Manusia
• Geografi
• Ekonomi
• Demografi
• Kebudayaan 

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