a senator not from your own community? it could only be the work of UMNO!

the report from malaysiakini ‘orang asli cry foul over senatorial selection‘ refers.  (CnP below – click on ‘read the rest of this entry’ to read)

this came to me as no surprise at all, when it mentioned:

There have been six senators appointed from the Orang Asli community to date and the most recent five have something in common – they are all Umno members and Muslims.

why are the senators not selected from among the orang asli community itself? why should it be umno members? well, i’m sure you and i know why.

i said i was not surprised at all because i heard of this straight from the horse’s mouth 2 years ago when i had a chance to interview one of the orang asli tribe, the temiar.

please read this post ‘the marginalised people’. at the paragraph under ‘group 3 – orang asli” you’ll see it was mentioned:

The Penghulu was chosen by the Jabatan Hal Ewal Orang Asli (JHEOA), and not by the orang asli people themselves. Provisions from the government for the Orang Asli were handed to JHEOA, who in turn, passed it to the penghulu, and more often than not it just stop there – at the penghulu – and did not reach the Orang Asli at all.

please also read my related posts:
orang asli: forgotten and marginalised
orang asli: forced conversion?

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Malaysiakini

Orang Asli cry foul over senatorial selection

Andrew Ong
Dec 9, 09
7:10pm

There have been six senators appointed from the Orang Asli community to date and the most recent five have something in common – they are all Umno members and Muslims.

This has caused the Malaysian Peninsular Orang Asli Association (POASM) to question the selection criteria and effectiveness of senators of Orang Asli origin.

Their disapproval of the selection criteria was raised in a memorandum to the Prime Minister’s Office today by POASM president Majid Suhut.

“It is clear that the main criteria used is Umno membership… in addition, the candidate must be Muslim,” read the memorandum, that was signed by Majid and 10 tok batin (community leaders).

“The focus on Orang Asli senators being Umno members and also being Muslims gives the impression that they are Umno proxies and not real representatives of the Orang Asli.”

According to the signatories, the political appointments go against the spirit of 1Malaysia and do not reflect Article 45(2) of the federal constitution, which stresses that Orang Asli senators must have the ability to represent the community’s interests.

The memorandum added that the Orang Asli community is not consulted over such appointments, as the government only considers the opinions of the state-run Orang Asli Affairs Department.

“This not only disrespects the rights of the Orang Asli, but also fails to reflect democracy and transparency in the appointment process,” it states.

‘Warning’ to government

The group said the government should allow the Orang Asli to choose their senators, such as by means of a referendum, and also expand the number of Orang Asli senators to reflect the three major ethnic groups – Negrito, Senoi and Melayu Proto.

Speaking to reporters later, Majid said POASM’s memorandum was prompted by the unhappiness of the Orang Asli community over the appointment of Mohamed Olian Abdullah as a senator this morning.

He said that the Mohamed Olian is unknown to the Orang Asli community and has no track record.

“We do not see him as a representative of the community. He has not provided any kind of service. He is a representative of a political party… this does not reflect the needs of the Orang Asli,” he said.

Majid also pointed out that since Independence 52 years ago, the Orang Asli community has had only one lawmaker in form of a senator in the Dewan Negara, and that the number must be increased to reflect the size of the community.

“We are worried that the long term effect is that the Orang Asli might grow less confident with the government. Moreover, how does the government intend to pass its message to the Orang Asli (without proper representation)?” he asked.

Majid said POASM has a membership of 25,000 throughout Peninsular Malaysia.