Parenting Practices of Orang Asli culture
"Orang Asli" means "original people"
or "first people. They live on the Peninsular of Malaysia. Most of them
still live in the rain forest or jungle, hunt with blowpipes for birds and
little monkeys. Some live along or near the coast. Only a few of them also live
in urban areas and are engaged in both waged and salaries jobs. They have their
own language and culture, and perceives itself and different from the others.
(Ben van Wijnen, 2015)
Orang Asli which transliterates as 'original peoples' or first peoples.
Socialization
Most of the Orang Asli married when still young age. A men who is aged 18 years old is the most appropriate age for getting married. When women were aged 16 years and shall be not more than age men. Marriage is done by parent prospective bride. There are also among the Orang Asli who were engaged at an early age. Normally, men and women have relationships such as brother or cousin or second cousin has the same ethnic groups. It is not an offense if the prospective groom to marry a woman from another tribe. The wife must enter the husband’s ethnic groups. (Joraiha Zakaria, Loh Hoay Ping, 2009)
Orang Asli wedding ceremony
Traditional dances of Orang Asli are strongly rooted in their spiritual beliefs. Dances are commonly used by witch-doctors as rituals to communicate with the spirit world. Orang Asli parents teach their children traditional dances such as Genggulang of the Mahmeri tribe, Berjerom of the Jah-Hut tribe and Sewang of the Semai and Temiar tribes. (Official Website of Tourism Malaysia, 2015)
Sewang dance of the Semai and Temiar Tribes.
Discipline
According to an Orang Asli teacher, Jenita Engi said that Orang Asli children are difficult to teach and discipline. Besides that, Batin Ek Cantan said that the punishment and disciplinary methods meted out on the children were unfair and not understood by the Orang Asli children. Since most of their parents are illiterate, they sent their children to the school and hoped the teacher will take their job seriously and discipline their children. (Center for Orang Asli Concerns, 2015) Discipline is seen as another problem as Orang Asli children are used to the freedoms of the forest. The children are not physically disciplined by their parents and tend to reach badly when smacked by teachers. The children may stop going to school (Spice Martin, 2008) For example, there are cases that deaths of five Orang Asli children in Gua Musang, Kelantan. The children ran away from their schools because of fearing disciplinary action (Lim Huey Teng, 2015).
Educational
There are many Orang Asli children don’t have the opportunity to go to school as there are none nearby and making many of them are illiterate. (Lim Huey Teng, 2015). Although there are much effort has been made to enable Orang Asli to acquire education at all levels, the task of providing a formal education for Orang Asli has faced difficulty as Orang Asli community have a low level of awareness of the importance of formal education. Thus, their parents do not give priority to the education of their children. (Arumugam A/L Raman, Allison Lee Gin Wah, Amareson A/L Manusamy, 2009). The children who come from interior villages which have no schools, which had forced their parents to send them to the nearest residential schools despite their young age. (The Malaysian Insider, 2015). Due to their culture that stresses the importance of learning, the Orang Asli people are represented in the educational professions, with many of them being teachers, scholars and doctors.
Life
Children are taught to use blowpipe to hunt small animals such as monkey and squirrels. Their villages hut are simple which is with palm-thatched shelters. A hut lives one for each family group or with several family groups are usually staying together. (Han Travel Sdn Bhd, 2012)
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| The blowpipe that used by Orang Asli to hunt animals. |
Orang Asli’s proud of their culture, customs and beliefs that the community does not have to worry about matters of economy. This is because children were bought up to sustain their life without being dependent on money. Their customs teach children to respect the balance in nature where they want development in their villages but if it separates us from their history and culture, they do not want to become like city folk. (John Ahni Schertow, 2007)
The boys leave home at the age of 7 and live in a surau which is a prayer house & community centre to learn religious and cultural teachings and they only return home during long school holiday (Asian Inspiration, 2015)
Goals
Orang Asli did not expect much on their children. Some of the children does not achieve better academic as the Orang Asli children did not get much help from parents in their studies at home. This is because almost all the parents are ignorant and illiterate. They are unable to teach, coach, and guide their children even in the basic skills of reading and writing. Besides that, Orang Asli parents are always away from house as they hunt and gather food from the jungle to feed the family. Thus, children’s academic is not given priority. In fact, parents do not show concern or take interest on children’s studies. For instance, when asked what they hoped their children after schooling, many answered they hoped their children could play football well. (Arumugam A/L Raman, Allison Lee Gin Wah, Amareson A/L Manusamy, 2009)
Reference
Reference
Lim Huey Teng. Suhakam:
Stop violating Orang Asli right to education. Malaysiakini. Oct15, 2015. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/315819#ixzz3tdbCtG7e
The Malaysian Insider. Protect Orang Asli Children. Suhakam tells
Putrajaya. Oct15, 2015. http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/protect-orang-asli-children-suhakam-tells-putrajaya
Asian
Inspirations. 10 interesting cultural facts about Orang Asli. 2015. https://asianinspirations.com.au/asian-culture/10-interesting-cultural-facts-about-orang-asli/#sthash.1HCGpDGa.dpuf
John Ahni
Schertow. Development, Law and The Traditional Life of the Orang Asli. Nov 12,
2007. https://intercontinentalcry.org/development-law-and-the-traditional-life-of-the-orang-asli/
Center
for Orang Asli Concerns. Education for the Orang Asli, the community way. Nov
2, 2015. http://www.coac.org.my/main.php?section=news&article_id=211
Martin
Spice. Land and freedom at issue. May 12, 2008. https://www.tes.com/article.aspx?storycode=30980
Han Travel Sdn Bhd.
Orang Asli Village. Nov, 2012. http://han-travel.com/places/orang-asli-village.html
Joraiha
Zakaria, Loh Hoay Ping. Wedding ceremony in Malaysia: Orang Asli Wedding. 2009.
http://ethnicabudaya.blogspot.my/2010/03/orang-asli-wedding.html (Accessed
Dec 7, 2015)
Official
Website of Tourism Malaysia. Music and Dance. 2015 http://www.tourism.gov.my/en/us/about-malaysia/culture-n-heritage/music-and-dance
oh..! now i understand the parenting practices of orang asli culture!!!
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