Orang Asli Land and Resource Rights in the Malay States, 1874–1939

Abstract

The Orang Asli (Malay for ‘Original People’) are the indigenous minorities of Peninsular Malaysia. Today they are among the poorest and most disadvantaged category of Malaysian citizens. Their problems are based in large part on their lack of secure rights over the land on which their ancestors lived and supported themselves. In this article, we argue that their land issues are rooted in the relevant concepts, policies and regulations introduced by the British when they colonized the mainland Malay states of the peninsula beginning in 1874. Based on an examination of colonial policies and laws regarding state land, aboriginal reserves, private land ownership and interests, Malay reservations, forest reserves and wildlife reserves, we argue that the colonial government classified land ownership and development rights in ways that prioritised plantation agriculture, forestry, mining, wildlife, and the needs of Malay peasants over those of the Orang Asli. Moreover, the laws, policies, and practices of the colonial administration are little changed in the present day and are in need of government-led legal, institutional and practical reform if Orang Asli are to gain secure land rights and the protections guaranteed to them under the Federal Constitution.