Govt Committed To Empower Orang Asli Education, Employment And Standard Of Living - Ahmad Zahid

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- The government has assured it will continue to empower the Orang Asli community through amendments to the law and new approaches so that they can stand on an equal footing with other races in the country, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Ahmad Zahid who is also the Minister of Rural and Regional Development, said his experience when visiting the Orang Asli Maori community in Rotorua, New Zealand, provided inspiration on how the rights of the indigenous community there were restored to the point where they were able to control the dairy, plantation and agricultural industries that are exported abroad.

"God willing, we will do the same, not only through amendments to the act, but also several new approaches so that the standard of living of the Orang Asli community will increase," he said when answering in the question-and-answer session at Dewan Negara, today.

He was replying a supplementary question by Senator Manolan Mohamad who wanted to know the government's target to increase Orang Asli staff in the Orang Asli Development Department (JAKOA).

Ahmad Zahid said positive developments could also be seen when the number of professionals among the Orang Asli increased, including more than 20 doctoral degree holders (PhD), more than five professors, as well as engineers, accountants and various other fields.

"This means that there is no marginalisation, on the contrary, in terms of education, we give priority to the Orang Asli and want them to be involved with full commitment," he said.

He said the government also provided continuous support to Orang Asli students in primary and secondary schools, including transportation facilities, a pocket allowance of RM4 per day and other assistance that could promote social mobility.

"With this, the careers they will obtain will enable them to be on par with other races in this country. I also express my gratitude because the plans and programmes implemented have received support from all parties, including the Orang Asli professionals themselves," he said.

Meanwhile, when replying to Senator Shahrol Wizan Sulong's original question who wanted to know the government's steps to raise employment opportunities for Orang Asli youth in various sectors to strengthen their socio-economic status, Ahmad Zahid said three main approaches have been formulated to strengthen their participation, namely through the academic, technical education ecosystem and entrepreneurial courses.

"These three categories will channel youth to work either in the public sector, GLC, GLIC or the private sector. The ministry together with other ministries has arranged these channels so that Orang Asli youth can get employment opportunities," he said.

According to him, from 2021 to 2024, a total of 2,913 Orang Asli youths have been placed as community rangers under the Peninsular Forestry Department, while another 37 have been placed in other agencies including HRD Corp, Koperasi Akademik Binaan Malaysia (KOBINA) and UOA Akademi since 2023.

“In the Malaysia Aviation Group, a total of five Orang Asli youths were accepted as cabin crew last year. In the private sector, 45 people work at Sony as production operators, 12 security guards at HRD Corp and 20 people at KOBINA in 2024,” he said.

In the field of entrepreneurship, Ahmad Zahid said the involvement of Orang Asli entrepreneurs continued to increase, including through the Rural Entrepreneur Carnival (KUD) programme, where last year alone, 243 Orang Asli entrepreneurs were involved in KUD and the Orang Asli Entrepreneur Carnival (KUOA) with sales of RM839,000.

“MARA also, through the Biz Network platform and the MARA Business Digitalisation programme (Digital Biz), implemented e-commerce training to strengthen the competitiveness of Orang Asli entrepreneurs. In fact, under MARA’s Gate to Global, several entrepreneurs have been brought to market their products internationally,” he said.

In the context of public services, Ahmad Zahid said the government, through the Public Services Department (JPA), intended to produce more Orang Asli figures to fill senior positions in government departments, including in the Orang Asli Development Department (JAKOA).

He also stressed that the Orang Asli Act 1954 (Act 134), which is already 71 years old, needed to be amended so that the rights of the community were restored.

"This is because the rights of the Orang Asli must be restored and educational opportunities must be strengthened. In 2023, we targeted 400 Orang Asli children to enter university, but managed to achieve 418 people. In 2024, the target was 450 people, the achievement was 456 people. This year until July, out of the target of 500 people, 150 have been successfully accepted and I am confident that the figure will exceed the target by the end of the year," he said.

-- BERNAMA