orang asli

Friday March 23

Orang Asli pupils' Chinese education endangered
Ng Boon Hooi

9:00pm, Fri: Every morning, before sunrise, Asmadiana Alim, 12, and Assree Alim, 8, ride pillion on their father’s motor-bike along a muddy path to get to their school - the Chung Hwa Chinese Primary School in Muar.

For three decades, the Temuan Orang Asli at Kampung Sungai Mering, Tangkak, had sent their children to this Chinese primary school, which is one of the schools nearest to their village. Apparently, the Orang Asli who work for the Chinese at Bukit Asahan, a town nearby, understand the importance of education.

Kampung Sungai Mering, situated at the foothill of the legendary Gunung Ledang, has 24 families and a total population of 170. The Temuan’s income comes mainly from rubber tapping at their small-holdings, plus collecting of honey and cane, which does not amount to much.

No wonder their children, who cannot afford to pay for transport, walk about 13km to school.

But a tragedy in 1978 virtually stopped all of them from attending school. Koh, a member of the Chung Hwa board of governors, said that one of the children died on the way back from the school.

"The day was very hot and one of the children drank some water from a drain, which was contaminated by pesticide," said Koh.

It took the school board seven years to persuade the Orang Asli to send their children back to school again.

But getting an education can be costly business.

"Tahun ’93 dulu, ramai tak sampai Darjah 6, tak mampu (Before 1993, not many children reached Standard Six, we could not afford it)," said Aslim Ulai, 34, a rubber tapper, who has five children, two in primary school and another in secondary school.

Abruptly stopped

According to the book The Orang Asli and the Contest for Resources by Colin Nicholas, coordinator for the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns (Coac), on average, 94.4 percent of the Orang Asli schoolchildren who registered in primary one never reached the end of secondary schooling 11 years later.

With an average income of RM150-350 monthly, the Orang Asli can hardly survive, let alone afford to send their children to school.

However, this does not stop the Ulai family from sending their children to school. Aslim's brother Amin Ulai, 31, who has seven children, has his eldest son, Sahir Safar, 7, at school.

However, Amin bitterly complained that the Department of Orang Asli Affairs (JHEOA) does not offer any assistance to them.

"Tak tahu kenapa tak dapat elaun dari Jabatan Orang Asli, tapi yang masuk sekolah Melayu dapat elaun untuk bersekolah (We do not understand why we do not receive any allowance from JHEOA, but those who send their children to Malay schools get it)," said Amin.

The subsidies given to the schoolchildren going to the Malay-medium schools are in the form of school bags, uniforms, shoes, textbooks and transport.

According to Koh, the families did receive such education subsidies from the Johor JHEOA but this was abruptly stopped in 1991.

"The reason given by the department was that those attending a Chinese-medium school were disqualified from receiving assistance," he said.

Mohd Zamri Mustajab, an education unit officer at the JHEOA in Selangor conceded that only Orang Asli who enrolled in national-type schools are qualified for the subsidies.

He pointed out that exceptions are made in cases where only Chinese schools exist in Orang Asli areas.

“We want to encourage the Orang Asli to study in national schools where they can learn their own tradition and culture,” said Zamri when contacted by malaysiakini.

Sharp jump

However, Nicholas said that the curriculum offered to Orang Asli in national-type schools is no different from elsewhere, and there is no special focus given to the study of Orang Asli culture.

He said that the denial of education subsidies to Orang Asli is widespread.

“As far back as the mid-1960s, it has been the practice of the government not to give education subsidies to those who do not enter Malay-medium schools as a means to integrate and assimilate them,” said Nicholas, who has worked to highlight the plight of Orang Asli since1983.

He pointed out that although the government has raised the education budget for Orang Asli from about RM60 million in 1999 to RM100 million in 2000, they had nevertheless continued not to offer education subsidies to many of them.

"The withdrawal of the subsidy has resulted in a sharp jump in the dropout rate last year," said Nicholas. His book reveals data that shows a gradual decline in the Orang Asli student dropout rate over the years until 2000 when there was a sharp increase.

Zamri, however, insisted that the government has continued to offer education subsidies to the Orang Asli. He said that RM10 million has been allocated this year for education subsidies alone.

“We don’t give to all of them. We give to the majority who are poor, who make up 80 percent of the Orang Asli population, while the remaining 20 percent who are those in the cities and much better off do not receive it,” said Zamri.

Asked whether the JHEOA will change its education subsidies policy, Zamri said the department was prepared to take a look at it.

Secure future

According to Lila Chin, a teacher at Kg Mering’s kindergarden, JHEOA officers once came to persuade the Orang Asli to transfer to Malay-medium schools.

"Ibu-bapa tak suka pergi ke sekolah Melayu kerana sudah biasa dengan sekolah Cina (Parents do not like to send their children to Malay-medium schools because they are used to Chinese schools)," said Lila.

Nicholas said that some Orang Asli prefer to send their children to Chinese schools because they are nearer to their villages.

"Besides, they don't want the children to be poor like them. They want them to become the businessmen like the Chinese, who are seen as being successful," said Nicholas.

Human rights group Hakam vice-president Yang Pei Keng said the regulation on the education subsidies violates the right of parents to choose the type of education they want for their children.

“Chinese primary schools and the national-type schools are alike. They are both under the national education system. The government should treat them as equals,” said Yang.

Yang stressed that since the Orang Asli make up the poorest community in the country, their education should be subsidised.

“It costs parents RM40 to buy textbooks for one child every semester, and for those who have many children they cannot afford paying for all of them. Hence many of them drop out of school,” said Lila.

Last year, nine Temuan children attended the Chong Hwa Chinese school and three of them have gone on to secondary schools this year, Aslim said.

This year, eight Orang Asli children from Kg Mering study at the local Chinese school, while another 23 aged between 7 and 12, do not attend any classes at all, according to data collected by Koh.

However, if they receive assistance from the JHEOA, these Orang Asli children will have the opportunity to obtain an education, and ultimately a more secure future.

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NG BOON HOOI is a malaysiakini journalist.