The Plight of Malaysia's Indigenous Peoples

Although Malays tell the Chinese they were there first, the country’s true natives are marginalized

By: Murray Hunter

The Orang Asli, the 170,000-odd indigenous peoples of the Malaysian peninsula, who for decades have remained mostly sidelined from social, economic, and cultural life, are coming under extreme pressure from both federal and state governments. They face multiple efforts to evict them from customary lands, destruction of their heritage si…