A Note on Marginalisation as an Alternative Approach in the Study of Poverty of the Orang Asli Communities in Peninsular Malaysia

Poverty among the Orang AsHis still a serious problem. The 1999 PovertyRate puts the rate for this group at 50.9 % and the hardeore poverty rateat 15.4 %. Research done before this relates poverty to the attitude andthe cultural problems of these people. This group ofpeople was said tobe la:::y, lack discipline, having no enthusiasm to progress and beingcomplacent with their life. Further more, they were also found to beexploited by middlemen. These two approaches fa explain poverty oftheOrang Asli, are however, no longer suitable. Firstly, ifwe still insist toblame attitude for the poverty ofthe Orang Asli, the government wouldbe less enthusiastic in their efforts to develop these people. Next. theexploitative activities ofthe middlemen have greatly been stifled by theJabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli. This paper intends 10 reveal the existenceof other factors which would be more significant to explain povertyamong these indigenous people. The factor is the marginalisation ofthese people. This refers to the lack of enthusiasm on the part of theauthorities in helping the Orang Ash This happens not only economicallybut also in the other aspects ofthese indigenous people s life.