11MP falls short in meeting Orang Asal overall needs, says economist

Source: The Malaysian Insider

Recognising the Native Customary Rights (NCR) of the Bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak is one benefit of the 11th Malaysia Plan, but there is little else to help the various indigenous communities in the two states. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, June 27, 2015.
Recognising the Native Customary Rights (NCR) of the Bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak is one benefit of the 11th Malaysia Plan, but there is little else to help the various indigenous communities in the two states. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, June 27, 2015.

The Orang Asal should have been given a national development blueprint of their own in the 11th Malaysia Plan said a Sarawakian economist, adding that piecemeal measures listed in the plan are inadequate for helping the community who are among the poorest Malaysians.

Assoc Prof Dr Madeline Berma said the lack of specific initiatives for Orang Asal communities in Peninsular and East Malaysia would hurt the 11MP’s aim of lifting the incomes of the Bottom 40% (B40) of households.

This is because a majority of Orang Asal communities in the Peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak are at the bottom of the B40, said Berma, an economist with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

“I was disappointed with the 11MP’s policies for indigenous groups as we expected something that could be a big push for the community as it is behind everyone else,” said Berma, who teaches in UKM’s faculty of economics and management.

She, however, praised the 11MP’s aim to recognise tribal land claims in Sabah and Sarawak by giving Native Customary Rights (NCR) land titles to them.

“Giving them individual land titles would at least give them some form of assets. We hope that this process is expedited,” said Berma, who has done research on poverty among Orang Asal communities and rural development.

Orang Asal projects

Berma’s comments follow reactions from social activists who claim there is distrust between Putrajaya and the vulnerable communities it wants to help over the 11MP.

Putrajaya has got the nod from Parliament to spend RM260 billion on the 11MP which is the government’s final push to bring Malaysia to high-income nation status.

About a third of the 11MP is focused on inclusive growth, including raising the incomes of the B40, reducing costs of living, supporting the disabled and building rural infrastructure.

One of the main focus is also on closing the income gap between and within different communities, which are often the source of political tension between the country’s bumiputera and non-bumiputera groups.

Among the measures that are expressly targeted at the Orang Asal are K-9 schools which have hostels and financial aid for the community’s children who live in remote areas.

The K-9 or Comprehensive Special Model School concept ensures that students complete the first six years of primary-level education as well as three years of secondary school up to Form Three at the same school.

Skills training programmes will also be intensified for the community and more healthcare services such as mobile clinics and flying doctors will be set up.

The Pan-Borneo highway would also be upgraded to link Sabah and Sarawak while more rural roads would be built.

Beyond schools and roads

But Berma said the 11MP had to move beyond just providing schools and rural roads to really boost the livelihoods of Orang Asal.

“We expected more than just these piecemeal efforts. There needs to be a national indigenous policy that is holistic and which deals with their cultural, social and economic needs.

“Just like the Indian community is getting a blueprint, there should also be a blueprint for the Orang Asal because their needs are different from other communities,” Berma said, referring to the action plan that is part of the 11MP.

The Orang Asal she said, needed a big initiative such as the industrialisation policy of the 1980s that transformed Malaysia’s economy from one heavily reliant on agriculture and commodities to one based on manufacturing.

A holistic indigenous peoples’ plan would also deal with intra-bumiputera discrimination that happens when aid schemes are carried out.

“In the Peninsular, sometimes government officers question whether Sarawakian and Sabahans are real bumiputera,” said Berma, giving the example of housing loans which usually come with a 7% bumiputera discount.

“Sabahan and Sarawakians have problems getting their loans approved because people question their bumiputera status,” she said.– June 27, 2015.

 


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