THEY may comprise less than 2% of Perak voters, but some Orang Asli have left Umno for another Barisan Nasional party and warned that if they continue to be denied land rights, they will not hesitate to ditch the ruling coalition in the next general election.

A few thousand Orang Asli have joined the Sabah-based United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko), but their leaders say their support for BN is far from guaranteed unless land disputes are resolved before GE14.

“We cannot guarantee votes for BN. We will help campaign, but during the election, we will vote according to our sentiments,” said Parit Upko division chief Anjang Sadong a/l Itam.

Statistics from the 2013 general election show that there are about 20,885 Orang Asli voters (1.5%) in Perak. That year, many Orang Asli had reached out to Upko for representation after losing much of their land.

Land matters, which are the biggest concern of the Orang Asli, fall under the purview of the state, and decisions to grant land titles lie with the office of the menteri besar and state exco.

Community leaders say they are watching closely the developments in Orang Asli land disputes in other states before deciding on who to support in the polls.

Anjang said the opposition-led Selangor had resolved some 80% of Orang Asli land disputes.

“When Pakatan Rakyat was the government in Perak for 11 months, some Orang Asli land in Tanjong Malim received titles,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Former Perak menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said 120 acres of Orang Asli land was awarded titles during his tenure after the 2008 general election.

This means that permission from the state is needed before any plot of land could be sold.

Pakatan Rakyat ruled Perak for less than a year before three of its state assembly representatives became independents aligned with BN, ultimately resulting in the ruling coalition retaking control of the state government.

Anjang said after BN took over, all land title applications were left hanging.

“The issue was not discussed (at the) exco (level). We face eviction at any time as we have no rights to the land that we have lived on for decades.”

It was this disappointment in Umno that drove a group of Orang Asli to approach Upko and its founder, Bernard Dompok, to help the Orang Asli in Perak.

Dompok, who did not contest in the 2013 general election, is currently Malaysia’s ambassador to the Vatican.

“We saw Dompok speaking up for the Orang Asli at a higher level.

“It was not easy for Upko to come to Perak, but we asked them to. They are Sabah-based, but they want to help the Orang Asli,” said Anjang, a former Kampung Sungai Perah Umno branch chief.

He said the Orang Asli in Perak had always solidly backed BN, but their frustrations at having their land issues largely ignored had driven them to seriously reconsider their loyalties.

“Prior to this, most Orang Asli were Umno members, but our plight was not brought forth. The resolutions from Umno’s Orang Asli branches were not brought to the division level, let alone central,” said Anjang.

“We are disappointed that Umno did not take our plight into account. We are not angry, but disappointed.”

He said Upko president Wilfred Madius Tangau had visited Orang Asli villages and met state government representatives, but had not been successful when it came to resolving land matters.

Perak’s Orang Asli are prepared to deny BN their votes, but being small in number, it remains to be seen whether this is enough to make the state government take heed of their concerns. – August 25, 2017.