Update on the Place

The penghulu or head of the Jah Hai settlement. Modernities have crept into the lives of these simple folk. Shy of their nakedness, they have now opted for hand-me-down clothes.

The trip back to Temenggor should have brought much memory flooding back to the good times we spent 2 years ago at the lake. Things change in the tropics as quickly as seasons change in cold temperates.

For many years now, the million year old forest of Belum have been fighting against the mighty force of change. Of the fierce roars of bulldozers that force down its trees and frightening away its inhabitants, displacing them from their natural environment. Some adapt. And for those who don't, they are perilously left to the hands of merciless fate. In the meantime, truckloads of logged timber make their journey along the quiet winding highway that cuts through the forest.

Already parts of the forest have been converted into plains. We were told that some of these areas are actually very close to the village of the Orang Temiar at Sungai Chiong. Pollution has laid its damaging route all the way to the lake. "Kalau mandi air tasik, nanti habis badan gatal", an Orang Temiar complains to us that she has to use only the water from an unaffected river, because her body gets all itchy if she washes up in the lake.

A fairly common occurrence amongst the Orang Asli is to make a trek through the jungle into the border of Kelantan, going all the way to Gua Musang. Many Orang Asli still prefer to take the jungle route, trekking up and down the hills through the lush jungle, and stopping by the river to drink, or wash, or even for a short invigorating plunge in the cool clear water. Early last year, the experience was quite the opposite. One village elder who went on the trek laments that they were walking mostly on logging tracks which used to be deep virgin forests not too long ago. No more canopy to shelter them from the harsh sun, and they could no longer use the now brown river as a dependable source of water.

And recently, there are talks amongst the locals about more logging concessions to tap the resources found in the vast areas of the Lower Belum Valley.

The good news is that all these activities have not seem to affect the elephant population in Belum. Some say there is a herd of 15. Apparently there is a lone male who have not quite been accepted by the herd. It is his bad temperament, we were told. The Orang Asli gave out a helpless sigh when we mentioned the word elephant. The elephants have the happy habit of entering into the Orang Asli plantation helping themselves to the greens there. That might not be a good sign at all because that might mean that there isn't enough food elsewhere. But then again, it could also mean that the Orang Asli plantation has encroached into the elephant's path. We were thrilled to see 4 wild elephants while we were there. 2 big ones and 2 round young ones. Being the dry season, these gentle creatures descended to the lake and stayed close to the water source.

We are also delighted that we had a near encounter with a tiger. We were trekking and some members of the group smelt the scent of a wild beast. Our guide later confirmed that it was a tiger. We had to cut the trek short, but it was worth the sacrifice. We wonder how many more of them still roam the jungles.

The Orang Asli are still there, the Orang Temiar and the Orang Jahai. Like the jungle, they too, have seen and made many changes. The Temiars have relocated their village three times within a period of five years. And the Orang Jahai have decided that they will start cultivating their land; however, not now. Later perhaps.

Technology is not something unfamiliar to the Orang Asli these days. Solar power plates propped up by poles stand upright by their homes. There are altogether three television sets in the small community of the Orang Jahai. It is really hard to gauge how much of this development they are grasping. They have simply leap-frogged several (generations) stages of development, right from tree bark to plastic. Can they psychologically manage this change?

While tapioca still remains to be their staple diet, they have learnt to make tea and have developed new tastes for other food that not long ago was foreign to them. In fact a young man from the Jahai tribe contended that all this new food has made his body weak. " Dah rasa gula. Dah rasa beras. Badan pun dah lemah." Rice and sugar seems to have taken the hunter gatherer out of him.

The lure of modernity is strong, and it is not hard for them to be enticed by its pleasures. While some Orang Asli have successfully found themselves quite comfortable with the modern way of life, a lot of them are still struggling between wanting to be modern and having the heart (and soul) to be modern. Men, both young and old, have found jobs in towns, but more often than not they cannot stay long in employment. A village headman told us with despair written on his face that all his attempts to work resulted in failure "9 to 5 just does not suit me." And the same goes to many others who cannot cope with the stress.

The best thing must be to return to the jungle then? Perhaps, because that is what a lot of them do. But when they return home, they find themselves in more of a situation, because there is no work there! In the end, they find work with logging companies around the area. It seems like a cruel turn of events, because aren't they working towards destroying their jungle, their home? This is a place so sacred to them, and a place they respect as their ancestral hunting grounds. Would working with loggers be a long term solution that would in the end benefit them?

The Orang Asli have learnt to receive visitors into their villages. They are quite quick to hand their visitors book for us to sign our names in, but whether or not they are happy to have strangers coming into their homes is not within our knowledge. This is after all their home, and they are not there to be on display. While they give us the obliging bashful attention, we should show a higher respect to them for letting us intrude into their private space.

Perhaps, we should not even be going into their homes. But, that is what we seem to be doing to them. Entering in to their lives and showing them new technology, and telling them that this is a much better life. But really, is a better life good for them? The Orang Asli are unique. They have developed a lifestyle which have suited them for centuries. And they like this lifestyle, and would love to continue to live this way. It is fair to say that they do like some aspects of the new world. And if they choose our life, can they still continue living their life, and yet have the best of both worlds? What would be good for them is that the modernity that they choose (as opposed to one obliged or impressed upon them) would work to their advantage, and not against them.

There is a small number of the Orang Asli who have found their own answer to this. We were told that there are small pockets of tiny communities of the Orang Asli in the deep jungles of Belum who denounce modernity. They are very happy with their chosen isolation from the outside world. And bravo to them!

Having said all this, there is one poignant moment that put a smile on our faces. We were walking towards an open space, and found a whole group of women, just doing nothing. There they were contentedly squatting around on the hot orange earth. Nearly all women had a child on their laps. Just like their mothers, and their mothers before them. In this picture, the only thing that is missing are the loin-clothes. And that would not make a difference at all. Because something tells us that in their minds they wear it on them all the time.

 

back to the temenggor dam story...

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