i would say bravo to the 12 orang asli members who made it to the court in kelantan. this is what we need. people who stands up for what they believe in. the ruling government now has never felt such a threat from the indigenous members of the society. last time, the politicians want us to think like them, now they want us to be bow to their religion.

frankly peeps, these orang aslis have every single right to kick us out from their land (in which case, i will kick out the annoying freaks if they were in Sabah). and the fact that a preacher gets rm10,000, an SUV and all craps (probably some nice OGAWA chair in the paradise too) by converting OA to islam comes out on the news… how cheap can the religion be?

lo and behold.. take courage my brothers and sisters in Christ. you know that your hard work is never in vain.

This is a brief and very late follow up of what happened after the demolishment of the Orang Asli church in Gua Musang went public. First of all, I found this video on Youtube that went on the scene to…

bcos in the name of jesus is nothing possible as long as we believe it…. and 1 more thing ,for me personally i think that, as we live in christianity win or lose there nothing to be worried ……… they can do what ever they want,they can said anything also about us (orang asli), but there’s nothing that can change what GOD HAS SEEN INSIDE US

we are not even important here,but there’s always something that we done that other just enjoy it now………

who ever read it…just chil n pray

god bless all of us

AMEN

At the very least, these disruptions
compel us to delve deeper into our own motivations and programming!

Can I give a hearty Amen to that?

I can appreciate your sense of skepticism here. All I can say for my own defence is that I was informed of this incident, pointed to a chronological account of the event and then proceeded to recount it in a narrative format. The person who informed me and one of the protagonists in this incident are people I have no reason to distrust.

As a blogger who doesn’t make a living from this activity and one who is also counted as a follower of one of the faith groups in this controversy, I do not make any claims of objectivity (although I do try) and one has to expect some level of nuance from my account of the events. I do have to insist that I have generally reproduced in my narrative the account as faithfully as I could with the information that I have on hand.

It is also unrealistic, as you have acknowledged, for me to provide the perspectives of the womenfolk in my blog. But I am glad that at the very least, this post has generated some interest towards this incident (which is just one among many that involves a lot of other minority faith communities in this country) to initiate further and deeper inquiry by interested parties.

I would also agree that there is a need to re-examine our own ethics and re-evaluate the purpose of outreach to the Orang Asli. They are not souls to be pawned to Heaven. Unless a more wholistic and inclusive approach is taken in engaging the various communities, the moral high ground that any party might assume here is shaky at best.

I’d also like to add that there are peculiar socio-cultural and socio-political elements at play here, elements of which are also true of the other recent tensions between ethnic and religious groups in Malaysia. A romanticised and simplistic view of this incident is not very helpful in dealing with the multiple problems faced by the Orang Asli community and the other marginalised communities.

Certain root problems, perspectives and worldviews need to be identified, engaged and the political will and courage mustered to deal with these issues.

As a whole, I really appreciate the diverse perspectives and point of views presented here.

As a friend of the Orang Asli, and all people everywhere, there is state hegemony (1) get it off our backs, there is religious co-optation from two sides (2) can it monitor its own ethics instead of focusing so much on conversion at any cost, whether it be intimidation or charity?, and there is what the community really wants and/or needs in their own words (3)? I don’t see the (3) yet on this blog, and while recognizing some of the obvious reasons why this is hard to come up with on a blog, Antares and Bob Dentan are both capable of finding and broadcasting this as best they can in a way I trust. If you want support and attention on this, you need to show me you are a voice of the Kampung Jias in a way I can trust. Right now, you aren’t. Let me hear from the council of mothers and grandmothers, who truly care for their children’s future on this planet, not just their future in an afterlife.

While I do not want to give the impression that I do not give any credence to spiritual warfare, the Christian community must also bear some of the blame. We generally do not get ourselves concerned institutionally and theologically with issues of social justice unless it directly affects Christians. This selective response allows such abuses to occur as we do not deem it necessary to respond prophetically en bloc and keep those who seek to abuse power in check.

Antares,

You have been engaged intimately with the Orang Asli community for a long time. In a sense, I can attempt to understand where you come from and the sense of outrage and cynicism that you have.

Part of the problem with the Christian community’s effort to convert the OA is precisely that – conversion. Conversion of a community becomes the primary motivation and usually the end-all in itself. There’s also a strong element of socio-cultural imperialism which seeks to replace the expressions of OA culture; which is by itself already very diverse; with a middle class, westernised expression of popular Christianity rather than seeking to contextualise what some would sincerely hold as a faithful response to Providence/God/et al with the community that they’re working with.

Robert,

Thanks for highlighting the fact that many Christians seem indifferent to the material, cultural and social welfare of the OA. I think you might have hammered at least one of the nails on the right spot. The problem is not merely about being ignorant to the fact but that in many circles, their theology and worldview encourages indifference or at least subordinate those concerns to conversion.

Having said all that,

There’s a lot to think about here, especially in view of the response from you folks.

I’d also like to point out that its not just OA Christians that are being discriminated against, but also animists, Hindus and in some places, Taoists and Buddhist, Ahmadiyas, Shias et al.

There’s much, much more to this than what we’d sometimes allow ourselves to believe.

Christians might want to have a look at Fr Jojo Fung’s paper on Practical Theology for some insights and re-examination on how we ought to approach communities.

(2003) Ideas Redeem but Political Memories Do Run Short: Islamicization in Malaysia.
Social Justice: Anthropology, Peace and Human Rights Journal 3(3-4): 153-189.

There is a semi-indigenous Christian church in Malaysia, the misi Sengoi, headquartered in Kampar & run by Semai Christians. They understand how to deal with the JHEOA in a way that foreigners often don’t. The situation for Christian churches is increasingly perilous, and especially for the indigenous people, who are supposed to be proteges of the Muslim Malays and thus destined for Islam. The Christian missionaries themselves are often wilfully ignorant of the politics involved and often seem indifferent to the material, cultural and social welfare of the people. I’d like to say that, as an outsider, I could tell you who the good guys and the bad guys are in this situation but the instances I’ve encountered just leave a bad taste in my mouth.