a visit to an Orang Asli settlement

Taman Negara trip continued....


Despite the morning rains, the afternoon was perfect for a river cruise, with blue skies and happy, fluffy clouds.  We headed to the settlement of the Orang Asli, Malay for "Original People".  About 200 indigenous folk still live in Taman Negara's rain forest, in settlements of about 20-30 people.  

bamboo huts with a nipa roof

Only the semi-nomadic Orang Asli are permitted to hunt within the protected Park.  Most Orang Asli are very shy, live deep in the jungle and have no interest in dealings with the outside world, except for the group we visited at the river's edge.  These people welcome visits to their home in exchange for money to buy provisions and supplies.  They participate in market day with the regular Malays, which explains the tarps.  By far the most modern settlement of Orang Asli, the women are still in sarongs, but the men wear shorts instead of the traditional tree-bark loincloth.  No books, no generators or electricity, no refrigeration or lights, and certainly no computers or television.  

Orang Asli settlement on the Tembeling River

We learned that the average life expectancy is only 45 or 50, likely the result of their hard life and the lack of access to doctors.  As such, everyone marries very young: 13 for girls, usually, and about 15 for boys.  Their leader is the shaman and healer; he delivers the babies and diagnoses and treats the ill among other things.  Orang Asli rely on the forest and the river for their every need - the jungle is both pharmacy & grocery store.  Our guide told us their diet is meat-based, supplemented by the rice they are able to purchase because of the tours they give.  Although they do collect plants to eat, they don't actively cultivate a garden.

Aron trying out the blow gun

It was fascinating to watch as an Orang Asli man started a fire in no time flat.  First, he prepared the kindling by sprinkling sawdust in the middle of a bundle of dried palm leaves.  He used a cork-like wood with a small hole punctured in the middle, and a thin rope of rattan.  The up and down flossing motion created friction and heat, and an ember formed in the hole.  Once the ember was large enough he used it to light the kindling, blowing on the palm leaves to produce a flame.  We were also given a demonstration of how they make darts for their blow guns.  Orang Asli use poison from a local tree, unlike the Amazon indigenous who harvest poison from the famous poison dart frog.  The flight is artfully carved from an extremely light wood, as weightless as Styrofoam.  It's then rounded & smoothed into shape using a scratchy, dried leaf.  Who needs 220-grit sandpaper?  At the end, we had an opportunity to try the blow gun, which was great fun. 

Taman Negara, the home of the Orang Asli

We have a deep respect for these people who have such a connection with, and understanding of, our natural world.  Our guide told us of an Orang Asli friend of his, who, as a young man, decided to quit his simple life and venture out into society.  Nothing could have prepared him for his first day in Kuala Lumpur.  He freaked out at the sights and sounds: huge buildings, speeding cars, crowds of people.  The noise, the frenzy and the apparent chaos drove him back to his rain forest home.  

P.S.  Please check out our YouTube link for a video showing the Orang Asli man making a fire.