ABSTRACT
This chapter will explore the Orang Asli experience of slavery in 18th- and 19th-century Malaya, and the implications of colonial British rule on the sedentarisation of Orang Asli communities. Furthermore, it will discuss the role of the colonial administration in shaping early notions of a consolidated Malay ethnie. Following this, it will examine post-independence Malaysia’s development plans for the Orang Asli as reflected within the Malaysia Plans – the country’s economic blueprints for modernisation – through Orang Asli sedentarisation. The central role of Islam in defining Malayness within the framework of Malaysia’s indigeneity discourse, as well as governmental initiatives at Islamic proselytisation among the Orang Asli, will also be discussed. It will conclude with an exploration of Orang Asli initiatives at establishing grassroots civil society organisations founded by the community.
