Orang Kanaq
Total population | |
---|---|
238 (2010, Population & Housing Census)[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Malaysia: | |
Johor | 139 (2010, JHEOA)[2] |
Languages | |
Orang Kanaq language, Malay language | |
Religion | |
No religious system (originally and predominantly),[3] Christianity, Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Jakun people, Orang Kuala, Orang Seletar, Temuan people, Orang Laut |
Orang Kanaq are one of the 18 Orang Asli ethnic groups in Malaysia. They are classified under the Proto-Malay people group, which forms the three major people group of the Orang Asli.[4] The Orang Kanaq are considered as the smallest Orang Asli group with the population of approximately 90 people only.[5]
Despite its negligible numbers, most representatives of the micro-ethnos have well maintained their identity. However, the sad dynamics of the Kanaq people's population show that there is a real threat of disappearance over their unique language and culture. It continues to exist only because of the low level of contact with other people since its traditions do not approve of mixed marriages with other ethnic groups.[6]
Indigenous inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia have a special status, which is enshrined in the legislation of the country. They use the special term Orang Asli, which means "ancient inhabitants", "original peoples", "first peoples", "aborigines" in the Malay language. They were sponsored by the state Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA) until 2011 when it became the Department of Orang Asli Affairs (Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli, JHEOA). The purpose of the department is to raise the living standard of the indigenous people to the country's average.
The Orang Asli do not form a united community, but it is a conglomerate of different origins, culture, way of life, language and racial features of tribes and peoples. For ease of administration, JHEOA divides them into 18 tribes, uniting in 3 groups of 6 tribes in each. This group are the Negritos, the Senoi and the Proto-Malays. Kanaq people belong to the last of them.
Despite belonging to the indigenous population, the Kanaq people are relatively recent inhabitants of the country. They have lived on the
The Kanaq people are the least studied group of Orang Asli. Usually, they avoid contact with other people and so researchers have paid little attention to them.[6] Only recently have Malaysian scholars published a number of materials devoted to this tribe.
The spoken language of the Orang Kanaq resembles Malay but with a distinct coarse accent. Its population of the Orang Kanaq is dwindling,[8] bit according to the Center of Orang Asli Concern, the Orang Kanaq language has still managed to survive.[9]
Settlement area
Currently, they are situated at Kampung Sungai Selangi, located northeast of Mawai, within the Kota Tinggi District, in the eastern Johor state.[10] Out of the 147,412 Orang Asli from 18 tribes in Malaysia, the Kanaq people make up the smallest number. The inhabitants of the Sungai Selangi village comprise 87 Orang Kanaq people, including 3 Malays, from 23 families. The village took shape in 1965, with only 40 Kanaq residents from 10 families.[11] In addition to them, only a few Malay people live in Sungai Selangi.
Population
The data available in various sources allow to a certain extent to observe the dynamics of the Kanaq people's population:-
Year | 1952 (Williams-Hunt)[6] | 1960[12] | 1965[12] | 1969[12] | 1974[12] | 1980[12] | 1996[12] | 2000[13] | 2003[13] | 2004[14] | 2008[2] | 2010 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Population | 34 | 38 | 40 | 40 | 36 | 37 | 64 | 73 | 83 | 83 | 85 | 139 (JHEOA)[2] / 238 (Population & Housing Census)[1] |
The census, conducted in 2008 among the
According to the Department of Orang Asli Affairs (JHEOA) in 2010, 29 families of Kanaq people lived in Malaysia numbered at 139 people (2010, JHEOA). They made up 0.18% of the Proto-Malay people and 0.1% of the Orang Asli's total population.[2]
Language
They speak Orang Kanaq language, which belongs to the Malay group of Austronesian languages. Little is explored about the Orang Kanaq language. In the early 2000s, Mohammad Sharifudin Yusof in the course of field research, for the first time he composed a list of words of the Orang Kanaq language and presented it in phonetic form. Using these records, the reader will be able to pronounce Kanaq words correctly, even if one has never spoken to native a speaker.[15]
In general, Orang Kanaq language is very similar to Malay language, especially in vocabulary and sound system, but it has a special accent and some other features. Sometimes it's called a coarse dialect of Malay language.[16]
Most Kanaq people speak their native language well. But Orang Kanaq language is under increasing pressure from the standard Malay language, this tendency is especially noticeable among the younger generation. Malay language for the Kanak people is the language of schooling. Given the small number of Orang Kanaq language speakers, it can be argued that it is in serious danger of disappearance.[16]
Religion
Most Kanaq people continue to adhere to traditional beliefs, which are a complex set of different cults and rituals. They believe in the existence of spirits and souls, believe in the power of spirits, which, if necessary, become a source of help for them. Numerous taboos, passed from generation to generation, regulate the daily lives of Kanaq people. These people have a whole set of myths and legends associated with faith in supernatural deities. Traditional shamans act as mediums that communicate with invisible forces.[17]
As a result of missionary activity, part of the Kanak population has already adopted Islam or Christianity. Joshua Project estimates the religious composition of the tribal members as follows: 81% support traditional beliefs, 15% Muslims, 4% Christians.[17] At the same time, JHEOA statistics say that almost all Kanaq people are Muslims: 65 people in 1997.[12] Islamization of the people is associated with active government policy in this direction, which was carried out in the 1980s.
History
As part of the Orang Laut
The Orang Kanaq were originally one of the
The 1699 rebellion in
The further political situation was not in favor of the
After 1862, there were no more signs of the presence of the Kanaq people in the Gulf of Sekana (Sopher, 1965). Instead, they are mentioned in the list of
Relocation to Malay Peninsula
The date and reasons for the resettlement of the Kanaq people from
The Kanaq people themselves argue that their ancestors numbered about 150 people at one time sailed in small boats to the coast of
In one way or another, the Kanak people consider Lebak Mincin as their new homeland, and it is here that their traditional forest lands are located.[10] They are considered to be one of the country's earliest inhabitants even though they have been living on the Peninsula for only about 200 years.
Eviction in Selangor
Initially, the Kanaq people settled more or less calmly in the village at Mawai Lama,
The Kanaq people become experimental subjects in the hands of the special department in the Department of Aboriginal Affairs at the new place created in 1950. In order to "best preserve the natural environment", the Kanaq settlement, which occupied only 1.2 hectares of land, was covered with barbed wire around it and was placed under protection. The department employees were able to "study" this group of people and conduct experiments on them. As noted by Williams-Hunt, an employee of the department, the Mawai Lama Kanaq people grew almost nothing. Their traditional way of life included the collection of forest products, including rattan,
Return to Kota Tinggi
Realizing the complete failure of their resettlement policy, the British authorities in 1955 turned the Kanaq people back to Johor, in the same Kota Tinggi District, but several times they had to change their place of residence. Originally settled in the village of Semangar, the Kanaq people were dissatisfied with this settlement, because it was located only 230 meters from the settlement of Jakun people, another indigenous Orang Asli people of Peninsular Malaysia. They lived in Semangar until 1959, after which they moved to the Batu 9 in Jalan Mawai. Finally, in order to mitigate the situation, the government specially allocated Kanaq people for allocating 28 hectares of land for housing and agricultural land from the state reserve, and in the year 1964, 10 Kanaq families (about 40 people) settled in Sungai Selangi, where people still live.[6][7]
The events of the Malayan Emergency marked the beginning of the modern history of indigenous Orang Asli peoples of Peninsular Malaysia. Since then, they have received serious attention from the government. Initially their affairs were dealt with by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After Malaysia received independence in 1957, this structure was transformed into the Department of Orang Asli Affairs, and after the reorganization in 2011 it became known as the Department of Orang Asli Development. As in the case of other indigenous Orang Asli communities, a special Field Assistant officer was assigned to the Kanaq people, who had to bring the decision of the government to the tribe. A representative from the tribe served as the elder.[3]
Culture
Lifelihood
The current Kanaq people are not at all like their ancestors- the
The gathering of rattans in the life of the tribe is of paramount importance, since it is the main source of their income. In 1965 the Kanaq people collected as many as 20 trucks of rattan. The collection of this plant involves groups of families, which they would go together in the jungle for a few days. Before going into the woods, they would hold a great ceremony, spells, trying to receive blessings and protection from the jungle spirits in order to make a successful journey. The great distances that must be overcome and the reduction of rattan stocks due to its excessive cutting are the reasons why this occupation has become less attractive for the Kanaq people in recent years.[6]
Fishing is also common, there are plenty of fish in local rivers. In addition, hunting of small wild animals in the jungle is carried out with the use of blowguns with poisonous darts.
The total area of land allocated for the settlement of Kanaq people is 27.92 hectares, namely, the village occupies only 0.6 hectares. The rest of the territory are used by the people to plant their crops, although the land is not fertile here. They grow cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, and most of these products are consumed in the same place.[6][2]
In the past, the Orang Kanaq were slave workers tapping trees in rubber plantations.
The desire to get money from time to time prompts Kanaq men to get hired to work on neighbouring private plantations, logging companies, and state land projects. However, hired labour did not become a permanent occupation for them. There are situations when they abandon their work without notice, for example, during the season of maturation of fruits in the jungle. On the other hand, business employers are not always honest in their relations with the Kanaq people, where the money they earn is either not paid on time or not fully paid.
They are also lagging behind in modern technology and education and are still working as labourers in rubber and shrub plantations.
Housing
In recent years, the Kanaq people lived in cottages that looked more like chicken coops. But the state government under the program of Housing Maintenance Scheme (Skim Perumahan Kesejahteraan Rakyat, SPKR) has built 23 new housing huts in Sungai Selangi.
Society
All those who have encountered the Kanaq people would noticed of their extraordinary shyness. They usually avoid contact with strangers. When they see the outsider of the village on the street, the Kanaq women flee back home into their house, and then they would watch from the windows until the stranger leaves their settlement. It takes a lot of time to get in touch with these people, and they need years to make them trust a stranger.[16] And in general, the Kanaq people prefer to remain in the company exclusively of their own tribesmen.
To this should be added also the age-old tradition of tribal endogamy. The Kanaq people avoid marriages with outsiders. It is difficult for the close-knitted Orang Kanaq community to be separated as they avoid marrying outsiders. They believe that such unions will bring a curse on their tribesmen.[17] On the other hand, this tradition has allowed them for many years to maintain their identity, despite the low birthrates that have caused their numbers to dwindle over the years.[17]
The Orang Kanaq have long puzzled outsiders for being able to maintain their small population at 30-40 for generations.[21] This is because they have practiced birth control with traditional methods by drinking a herbal drink called "jarak anak", and even more recently with modern medications.[8]
The crowd is headed by a village head, or tok batin. He is a community representative in relations with the state government, he distributes help among members of the tribal community with the assistance they regularly receive from the government, he negotiates with outsiders who address specific issues in the community. The tok batin has the final say as a decisive factor in permitting the issuance of rattan cutting licenses and other work carried out within the jungle area reserved for the tribe. The position elected by seniority, but in real life, the position is usually inherited by a man's line.
It is difficult for the Kanaq people to form a relationship with other people. They, if not the largest of all indigenous Orang Asli peoples of Peninsular Malaysia, were once involved in the processes of forced relocation, restriction of freedom and free use of natural resources. This had negative consequences not only for the social and economic life of the community, but also for the moral state of these people. Mistrust of the government, sown in previous years, remains relevant to this day. This is one reason why JHEOA efforts to "modernize" the tribe were not very successful.
The Kanaq people traditionally have closer contact with Chinese traders who are called tauke as intermediaries, of whom they are trusted more than the government officials. In the early twentieth century these taukes provided the Kanaq people with the opportunity to sell the products that they gathered in the jungle. The local Chinese people continued to provide such services, besides giving out loans to those who are in debt, and hired them to work in their plantations. Middleman constantly tricked and cheated the Kanaq people, using their ignorance, and used them as cheap labour, and resell their products at a much higher price. Excessive dependence and trust in the local Chinese people is the reason that the Kanaq people are ready to sell to them their licenses issued by the Forest Department of Johor for harvesting and processing of jungle products.[6]
Modernisation
The Malaysian government, through the Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA), is trying to change the lives of Kanaq people, to overcome their lagging socio-economic, and to implement specific community development programmes to this day. JAKOA and other institutions provide the Kanaq people with a variety of education, health care, financial assistance, agricultural subsidies and livestock subsidies, free housing and business opportunities. Almost every family has received from the state government some kind of domestic economy. Kanaq people also receive a share of FELCRA's palm oil sales, monthly free food, clothing and other basic necessities.[2]
However, the Orang Asli themselves do not always have a positive response towards these transformations. In particular, the Kanaq people would rather avoid accepting them, and they continued their traditional way of life, had free access to their native land and jungles, and could hunt and collect timber there.
Nevertheless, in recent years, the efforts of government structures to integrate Kanaq people into the Malaysian society have begun to bring results. Asphalted roads were paved into the village, a mosque, a public hall and a kindergarten were built in Sungai Selangi. Parents began sending their children to a public school. Part of the Kanaq people have accepted Islam, and mixed marriages are no longer surprising. The standard of living of the people began to increase. Some members of the tribe bought motorcycles and electric home appliances began to appear in homes.
Unfortunately, the living standards of the Kanaq people are still very low, and the help they receive often does not have the desired effect. This is confirmed by the results of a survey conducted in 2012 between the two communities of Orang Asli in the state of Johor, namely, the Kanaq and Orang Kuala. Characteristically, Kanaq people by absolutely all indicators are considerably inferior to the Orang Kuala.[2] The reason for this, according to specialists, is due to the lack of an appropriate interest among the Kanaq people themselves. These people are used to being small and feel comfortable with this. State aid provided to them for many years are mainly used to meet urgent needs. Such assistance cannot change the lives of people in such a way that they could provide themselves with consistent stable income and thereby have the opportunity to improve their financial position.
The same applies to the education system. Kanaq children attends public primary school (Sekolah Kebangsaan, SK) in Mawai and secondary school (Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan, SMK) in Felda Bukit Aping Barat. However, their parents do not take seriously the importance of education, and therefore many children drop out of school, especially in the first few years of study.[7]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-99-716-9861-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g Mustaffa Omar & Nor Hafizah Mohd Fizer (2015). "Kelestarian Hidup Ekonomi Komuniti Orang Kanaq Dan Orang Kuala, Johor: Suatu Penelitian Dari Aspek Penguasaan Ke Atas Modal Kewangan". Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
- ^ OCLC 3640505.
- ISBN 978-98-386-1550-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-98-386-1932-5.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Mahani Musa (2011). "The Socioeconomic History Of The Orang Kanaq Of Johor" (PDF). Universiti Sains Malaysia. Archived from the original on 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b c d e f "Bilangan orang Kanaq terkecil di dunia". Utusan Malaysia. 27 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-08-21. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b "Suku Orang Asli Kanaq semakin pupus". Utusan Malaysia. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
- ^ Colin Nicholas. "Orang Asli Language-Loss: Problems & Prospects". Centre For Orang Asli Concerns. Archived from the original on 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ OCLC 119934616.
- ^ "Gomalaysia.net is for sale".
- ^ a b c d e f g Nobuta Toshihiro (2009). "Living On The Periphery: Development and Islamization Among Orang Asli in Malaysia" (PDF). Center for Orang Asli Concerns. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
- ^ a b "Basic Data / Statistics". Center for Orang Asli Concerns. Archived from the original on 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
- ISBN 11-341-0076-0.
- ISBN 978-9-67-344343-7. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
- ^ a b c Mohd Sharifudin Yusof (2015). "Bahasa orang Kanaq kian terancam". Utusan Malaysia. p. 21. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Orang Kanaq in Malaysia". Joshua Project. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
- ISBN 978-49-016-6800-2.
- ^ "World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Malaysia : Orang Asli". Refworld, UNHCR. 2008. Archived from the original on 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Hamimah Hamzah (2013). "The Orang Asli Customary Land: Issues and Challenges" (PDF). Journal of Administrative Science, Universiti Teknologi MARA, UiTM. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
- ISBN 96-259-3179-1.