KUALA LUMPUR: The government remains committed to empowering the Orang Asli community through legislative amendments and new approaches to achieve parity with other ethnic groups in Malaysia.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi stated that his visit to the Orang Asli Maori community in Rotorua, New Zealand provided inspiration for restoring indigenous rights and economic control.
He confirmed that positive developments are already visible with over 20 Orang Asli PhD holders and five professors emerging alongside professionals in engineering and accounting.
The government provides continuous support to Orang Asli students through transportation facilities and a daily RM4 pocket allowance to promote social mobility.
Three main approaches have been formulated to strengthen Orang Asli participation through academic, technical education, and entrepreneurial ecosystems.
From 2021 to 2024, a total of 2,913 Orang Asli youths have been placed as community rangers under the Peninsular Forestry Department.
Another 37 have been placed in agencies including HRD Corp, Koperasi Akademik Binaan Malaysia, and UOA Akademi since 2023.
Five Orang Asli youths were accepted as cabin crew in the Malaysia Aviation Group last year while 45 work as production operators at Sony.
In entrepreneurship, 243 Orang Asli entrepreneurs participated in last year’s Rural Entrepreneur Carnival and Orang Asli Entrepreneur Carnival with RM839,000 in sales.
MARA provides e-commerce training through its Biz Network platform and Digital Biz programme to strengthen Orang Asli entrepreneur competitiveness.
The government intends to produce more Orang Asli figures for senior positions in government departments through the Public Services Department.
Ahmad Zahid stressed that the 71-year-old Orang Asli Act 1954 requires amendment to properly restore community rights.
Educational opportunities have strengthened with 418 Orang Asli children entering university in 2023 against a 400-person target.
The 2024 target of 450 university entries was exceeded with 456 achievers while 150 of 500 targeted have already been accepted this year. – Bernama
