The aboriginal people of Peninsular Malaysia : from the forest to the urban jungle

To date, most studies of Malaysia's aboriginal people, the Orang Asli, have studied the community in either the rural or forest settings. This book, however, outlines the dynamics of Orang Asli migration to Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia's most urbanised region – and explores the lived experiences of these individuals in the urban space. The book begins by charting the history of the Orang Asli under British colonial rule followed by the community's experiences under the Malaysian government, in an attempt to provide a deeper understanding of the economic and social complexities facing the Orang Asli today. Based on extensive original research, the book goes on to discuss the interesting changes taking place among urban Orang Asli migrants with regards to gender dynamics, while exploring the unique ways in which these urban indigenous migrants maintain close links with their home communities in the rural spaces of Peninsular Malaysia. The book concludes by assessing how research on the urban Orang Asli fits into broader studies of urban and contemporary indigeneity in both Malaysia and abroad. Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Glossary of terms -- List of abbreviations -- 1 Introduction to the Orang Asli -- The Klang Valley -- The Orang Asli -- Education -- Employment opportunities and income -- Health and medical services -- 2 Early and recent Orang Asli history -- The slave trade of 18th- and 19th-century Malaya -- British Malaya and governance -- The Orang Asli in post-independence Malaysia -- Sloth and heathen folly: the Orang Asli within Malaysia's modernisation narrative -- Malaynisation through Islamisation -- Orang Asli NGOs and indigenous activism -- 3 From the settlements and into the city: investigating Orang Asli experiences -- Administrative classification of Orang Asli settlements -- Migration and urban-village relations -- Maintaining urban-rural connections -- Marriage and divorce -- The sociality of sharing -- 4 Contextualising indigeneity -- Indigeneity in Malaysia -- Orang Asli and early Malay polities -- 5 Orang Asli and the question of gender -- Gender narratives and perceptions of gender roles in recent Orang Asli history -- The office of midwife -- Gender in Orang Asli leadership structures -- The gedo semaq of the Semelai -- The puyang of the Semelai -- 6 Inequality: the fragmentation of egalitarianism among the Orang Asli -- JAKOA and Orang Asli leadership -- Who holds the purse strings? Gender anxiety: development and implications of a cash economy -- Contemporary notions of gender roles among urban Orang Asli migrants -- Who wears the apron? Gender roles in the domestic sphere -- 7 Narratives on the Orang Asli and key considerations -- The big man speaks: governmental narratives -- The scholar speaks: academic narratives -- Reimagining the lines in Orang Asli studies -- Key considerations of this book -- Index