Akar Nusa
A teacher in Kuala Lumpur holds up a chart with three boxes: Semang, Senoi, Proto-Malay. A student from a Temiar family looks at it and says, "That is not how my grandmother talks about us." Both are right. The chart is useful, and the chart is incomplete.
The story
When officials and scholars of the colonial period wrote about the Orang Asli, they sorted them by body features, language and way of life. The result was three categories that are still used today.
- Semang or Negrito. Small groups, mostly in the north, who traditionally lived by hunting and gathering. Some scholars prefer the name Semang. The older word "Negrito" was given by outsiders, and COAC notes that its meaning is not a kind one. We use "Semang" where we can and the group's own name where we know it. Their languages belong to the Northern Aslian branch of the Austroasiatic family.
- Senoi. The biggest category, about 54 percent of Orang Asli in the figures COAC gives. They speak Austroasiatic languages. COAC describes them as descended from the Hoabinhian hunters and later farmers.
- Proto-Malay. About 43 percent in those figures. They live mostly in the south and speak Austronesian languages, with two exceptions (Semelai and Temoq, who speak Austroasiatic ones). COAC describes them as groups who traded with, and sometimes mixed with, sea-going Austronesian speakers 2,000 to 3,000 years ago.
Please note that these figures are older than the 2010 total of 178,197, so the shares are only a guide.
Why do we say the boxes are not neat? The COAC page says that the sameness of the Orang Asli was first imposed by outsiders and was not something the groups chose. The genetics agree that the lines blur. A 2015 study of the three groups found that they sit on a continuum. The Senoi and Proto-Malay look like mixtures of Negrito-like and East Asian ancestry. An earlier study found that the Proto-Malay mother lines include some that are unusual or rare elsewhere, including one, R9b, that may come from Indochina.
In short, there was probably a long, gradual mixing of old Peninsula peoples, mainland farmers and island sea travellers, not three clean waves.
Where you can still see it today
- In languages. Aslian languages in the north and centre, Austronesian dialects in the south. A language map is a good way to see the groups.
- In place names. Many rivers and hills in Perak, Pahang and Kelantan carry Orang Asli names.
- In community-run cultural events. Look for events organised by the communities themselves.
- In the official list. The Federal Constitution and the Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA) use the 18-group list.
What DNA can tell, and what it cannot
DNA studies of living Orang Asli give region estimates and mother-line and father-line clues. In general, Semang lines go back very far in the Peninsula, Senoi lines show both old Peninsula and mainland roots, and Proto-Malay lines show both mainland and island links.
DNA cannot tell you which of the three official groups a person belongs to, and the groups are not biological races. It also cannot decide race, religion or bumiputera status. Whether someone is Orang Asli is a matter of community and law.
