There recently was some controversy surrounding the declaration by the Sultan of Johor for the Johor state government to classify all Orang Asli settlements and reserves in the state as sultanate land. 
He said that was due to disappointing cases where some Orang Asli had turned state forest reserves into large-scale oil palm and rubber plantations.
He believed this to be the work of outsiders who tried to take advantage of Orang Asli rights - some of whom allegedly made unreasonable kawasan rayau (roaming area) claims.
This suggestion saw some pushback from Johor Network of Orang Asli Villages (JPOAJ) chairperson Dolah Tekoi, who said the community's land reserves are already protected under the Aboriginal Peoples Act and the National Land Code.
The Orang Asli, the indigenous peoples of the Malaysian peninsula and number around 170,000, have long been marginalized in social, economic, and cultural aspects of life.
One of the challenges they face is that their status as the original inhabitants of the peninsula, predating ethnic Malays by centuries, has been politically eroded.
As a result, the Orang Asli lacked the strength and support to assert their rights. These rights have been held paternalistically by non-Orang Asli ministers in charge of Orang Asli affairs within the Ministry of Rural Development.
The national land code (NLC) does not recognize customary land, and the Orang Asli have been mismanaged by those with a hidden assimilation agenda.
Now this may be controversial to say in some circles, but this is a viable move to at least mitigate the impact of outsiders on the Orang Asli community.
While Orang Asli lands are already protected under the Acts listed above, the problem lies in a lackadaisical attitude from local governments to protect such lands.
For instance, a new dam is being built at Nenggiri in Kelantan, a mountainous state on the east coast, to produce hydroelectricity. There are fears by the local Orang Asli communities that the dam will destroy their heritage sites, which include sacred caves, ancestral burial grounds, customary land areas, water resources, crops, and access routes. They have been forced to move by authorities.
In addition, the Pakatan Harapan government in Selangor has announced the intention to de-gazette a significant part of the Kuala Langit North Forest Reserve, considered Orang Asli customary land, to construct an industrial estate. Also in Selangor, residents of an Orang Asli village along the coast in Sepang are being evicted to make way for the expansion of a resort owned by Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd (PNSB), a Selangor state government investment company.
These are not actions of authorities who respect the heritage and life that are practised by the Orang Asli.
Additionally, Johor MB Onn Hafiz has stated that under this change, the custodian of the reserve land will be the Sultan of Johor, who will need to protect the rights and interests of the Orang Asli in Johor and has already expressed a commitment to protect said rights in many other previous statements.
That is not to say that the “Sultanate Land” proposal will be a silver bullet to the ails of the Orang Asli community in Johor and will require oversight on the part of all parties - but it is an admirable, right step forward to protect one of the most maligned communities in the country by providing the community with another pillar of support that will make state governments think twice before wantonly trampling on their lands.
He believed this to be the work of outsiders who tried to take advantage of Orang Asli rights - some of whom allegedly made unreasonable kawasan rayau (roaming area) claims.
The Orang Asli, the indigenous peoples of the Malaysian peninsula and number around 170,000, have long been marginalized in social, economic, and cultural aspects of life.
One of the challenges they face is that their status as the original inhabitants of the peninsula, predating ethnic Malays by centuries, has been politically eroded.
As a result, the Orang Asli lacked the strength and support to assert their rights. These rights have been held paternalistically by non-Orang Asli ministers in charge of Orang Asli affairs within the Ministry of Rural Development.
The national land code (NLC) does not recognize customary land, and the Orang Asli have been mismanaged by those with a hidden assimilation agenda.
Now this may be controversial to say in some circles, but this is a viable move to at least mitigate the impact of outsiders on the Orang Asli community.
While Orang Asli lands are already protected under the Acts listed above, the problem lies in a lackadaisical attitude from local governments to protect such lands.
For instance, a new dam is being built at Nenggiri in Kelantan, a mountainous state on the east coast, to produce hydroelectricity. There are fears by the local Orang Asli communities that the dam will destroy their heritage sites, which include sacred caves, ancestral burial grounds, customary land areas, water resources, crops, and access routes. They have been forced to move by authorities.
In addition, the Pakatan Harapan government in Selangor has announced the intention to de-gazette a significant part of the Kuala Langit North Forest Reserve, considered Orang Asli customary land, to construct an industrial estate. Also in Selangor, residents of an Orang Asli village along the coast in Sepang are being evicted to make way for the expansion of a resort owned by Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd (PNSB), a Selangor state government investment company.
These are not actions of authorities who respect the heritage and life that are practised by the Orang Asli.
Additionally, Johor MB Onn Hafiz has stated that under this change, the custodian of the reserve land will be the Sultan of Johor, who will need to protect the rights and interests of the Orang Asli in Johor and has already expressed a commitment to protect said rights in many other previous statements.
That is not to say that the “Sultanate Land” proposal will be a silver bullet to the ails of the Orang Asli community in Johor and will require oversight on the part of all parties - but it is an admirable, right step forward to protect one of the most maligned communities in the country by providing the community with another pillar of support that will make state governments think twice before wantonly trampling on their lands.
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