Muffled strains of a pop song from a beat-up transistor radio with a missing aerial sets the Orang Asli children bobbing their head to the rhythm. Someone sings a native tune and switches stations to accommodate a more traditional repertoire.And just as quickly the children switch to playing catch with each other, fighting good-naturedly over balloons, their cheerful laughter carried along by the cool breeze. A bucolic setting indeed for any poet or artist.
But this is not the truth of what life really is like in this Orang Asli settlement. The reality pales in comparison to the poetic setting.
To say that the Orang Asli community in Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s Pekan constituency is impoverished, would be putting it mildly.
The typical scene that greets a visitor to the Orang Asli settlement in Pekan or for that matter any one of the numerous aboriginal settlements that litter Pahang will reveal dilapidated houses with flimsy floors and spartan interiors.
In these villagers, hungry and malnourished children are a norm and their audibly growling bellies often bite into the stillness of the long afternoons.
The Orang Asli village in Pekan, Pahang, is one of the many forgotten settlements around the country.
So don’t expect an eco-tour should a visit be organised as there is nothing pretty about what awaits.
read more at FreeMalaysiaToday.com
