‘Orang Asli willing to be forest rangers’
KUALA LUMPUR: Feeling slighted over claims that they are involved in poaching, the Orang Asli are offering their services as forest rangers.
Shafie Dris, a community activist, said the indigenous people had been custodians of the forests for thousands of years and were best suited for the job.
“This will put their skills in tracking and ranging to good use.
“It will help them earn a decent income to sustain their families,” he said, adding that the recommendation was made by Suhakam before.
Shafie, Pahang coordinator for Jaringan Kampung Orang Asli Semenanjung Malaysia, said he would raise the matter with the government again in response to claims that the aborigines were used by poachers to trap and kill animals.
Malaysia’s age-old poaching problem surfaced last week when images of a dead tiger being cut open went viral.
A nature group representative had pointed out that the creature was killed in a snare trap traditionally used by Orang Asli.
“I heard of such cases involving Orang Asli but they are rare and don’t involve those living in rural areas.
“They are Orang Asli living in urban areas who have been exposed to material greed and modernisation,” said Shafie.
“They are being lured by greedy folk. These errant Orang Asli cut themselves off from their ancestral obligations to their land,” said Shafie, adding that the tiger was sacred to the Orang Asli as it was the spirit companion to shamans as well as pets and vehicles for their departed ancestors.
Jaringan Kampung Orang Asli Semenanjung Malaysia chair Tijah Yok Chopil could not confirm whether Orang Asli were involved in such activities.
“This is news to me as we are forbidden to eat tiger meat or speak disparagingly about them due to their mystic qualities,” she said.
Tijah took the Wildlife and National Parks Department and the Forestry Department to task.
“It is very convenient to twist facts and point fingers at Orang Asli. There are forest rangers and cameras have been placed in the parks. It’s their (the authorities) duty to monitor wildlife,” she said.
“The fact that there is extensive and unchecked logging also diminishes the tiger’s already slim chance of survival.
“Logging also opens up avenues for opportunistic hunting.”