PARTI Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) is known for fighting for urban settlers and plantation workers in semi-urban seats such as Semenyih and Kota Damansara.

But in the next general election, it plans to make a foray into a rural seat, deep in Cameron Highlands, Pahang, where it will field a candidate from the Orang Asli – a community which has traditionally supported the ruling Barisan Nasional.

The decision shows that PSM is spreading its influence despite its small size, in a political landscape that is dominated by two large coalitions Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan.

PSM’s socialist ideology may still be controversial among some quarters, as seen in how a talk about Marxism in July was shut down by the police.

But this has not stopped the party from gaining the trust of the Orang Asli, an umbrella term used to describe the peninsula’s many indigenous tribes, who have been politically marginalised.

If he contests, Mohd Nor Ayat will be one of the handful of Orang Asli activists running for elected office.

The 44-year-old from Pos Lanai, popularly known as Mat Nor, is no stranger to politics, as he has campaigned for PAS in the 13th general election.

He and other Orang Asli activists were instrumental in getting a big chunk the community’s vote for PAS’ Abdul Karim Nor, in a seat where they made up 33% of its 11,000 voters.

In 2013, Mat Nor’s efforts had led to Barisan Nasional losing the Orang Asli vote in the Titom polling district, which had historically always supported the ruling coalition.

BN’s Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail ultimately won the Lanai state seat by a 3,182-vote majority, mostly on the back of the constituency’s Malay Muslims who make up 66% of voters.

But according Mat Nor, Wan Rosdy has never forgotten those lost Orang Asli votes.

“He still talks about this when he is on the campaign trail,” said Mat Nor.

Uphill battle

The Orang Asli are made up of 18 main tribes in Peninsular Malaysia, but only comprise 0.5% of the country’s population.

Although opposition parties, such as PKR, have fielded Orang Asli candidates in past elections, none have won, even when they contested on their home turf.

For instance Long Jidin, who was a Senator from 1997 to 2000, had contested in the Bandar Muadzam Shah state seat in 2004, but was defeated by BN’s Maznah Mazlan by 3,232 votes. 

Besides PSM, PH’s Amanah has announced that it plans to field an Orang Asli candidate in one of the state seats under the Gua Musang parliamentary seat.

PSM’s Mat Nor was spurred to take up the challenge as he was tired of watching his community get uprooted and pushed off their ancestral lands, such as what occurred when the Jelai dam was built.

“The dam has been completed but the villagers appear to have been forgotten.”

He was attracted to PSM after seeing how active the party has been in Cameron Highlands for the 14 years.

“I didn’t plan on being a candidate, I just wanted to be a supporter. But my friends have urged me, and I felt that I could not decline.

“If I declined, who else would it be? So, I thought I should take up this responsibility.

“The Orang Asli know me, and I believe I can be a better voice for them compared with BN.”

Although he is confident of some support from his community, Mat Nor realises it is an uphill battle to win the state seat, especially when it comes to getting the Malay vote who make up 66% of voters.

“Its difficult to penetrate the Malay areas. We focus on distributing leaflets, there’s not much interaction with voters. They are mostly either with Umno or PAS.”

Although he hopes to get strong backing from the Temiar tribes of Pos Lanai, Pos Lenjang, Pos Titom, Pos Senderut and Pos Betau, Mat Nor is not being complacent.

He realises that among the roughly 3,000 Orang Asli voters, there are still many who still support BN.

“BN gives out 5kg bags of rice before the election and the Orang Asli automatically vote them out of gratitude. That’s why it’s important for me campaign really hard.” – November 14, 2017.