EIGHT years ago, on a March night, Ami Along set in motion events that led to the Gua Musang Orang Asli blockade that has today captured the attention of even the prime minister.

That night, Ami and the elders of eight villages around Pos Simpor and Pos Tohoi unknowingly signed letters of support, allowing plantation companies access to their communal land deep in the Balah forest.

Ami and his fellow chiefs trusted an influential figure in the Temiar tribe, who deceived them and later sold them out.

The episode is not unique to the Temiar people in Gua Musang. Orang Asli pressure groups said it is a familiar tale in most conflicts between indigenous communities and agri-businesses nationwide.

Orang Asli villagers who collaborate with logging and plantation companies at the expense of their community is the unseen factor at the root of these battles, said Indigenous People’s Network of Malaysia (Joas) president Yusri Ahon.

“It happens all over the country, in many villages. It usually involves village chiefs who lease Orang Asli land to companies for personal gain. This is how these companies get access,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

These individuals are usually desperate for cash to pay for their lifestyle, said Yusri, a member of the Jahut tribe from Jerantut, Pahang.

For instance, a village chief who is not used to getting a monthly allowance suddenly goes out to buy a car with the money received.

Village chiefs, called either “penghulu” or “tok batin”, depending on tribe and state, get a monthly allowance from the federal or state government.

“But then, they can’t maintain it (their lifestyle), so they have to look for another source of money. They take the easy way by leasing customary land to plantations or loggers.”

Yusri, of Kg Sungai Mai, said this has occurred even in his own village, where members are currently fighting against encroachment by loggers and planters.

Duped by influential personality

Kuala Betis in Gua Musang has been the scene of tense confrontations between Temiar villagers and plantation companies said to be destroying communal forests.

The conflict reached its peak when a group of chainsaw-wielding men destroyed a wooden blockade that villagers had put up on an access road from Kuala Betis to the rubber, pineapple and durian plantations.

Activists from the Indigenous Peoples Network of Kelantan said the companies had illegitimately breached forests, which supplied villagers with food and clean water.  

The planters, however, said they had letters signed by the community’s chiefs, stating that the villagers themselves supported the companies’ operations.

Ami, of Kg Jadel in Pos Simpor, said he was there when the letters were signed, and that he and the other elders had been conned by an Orang Asli personality they respected.

His story is corroborated by another villager, Azmi Badul, who said he helped the individual process the letters.

On the night the letters were signed, Ami said, the collaborator first explained to the chiefs that the documents were to oppose logging in the surrounding forests.

“He explained to us our rights to communal land, and how we could protect it. Everyone was attracted to the idea and supported him.”

At midnight, and by the light of kerosene lamps, the collaborator brought out a stack of about 10 letters, said Ami.

At first glance, the letters were addressed to 10 plantation companies, and stated that the community opposed their plans.

“So, the chiefs signed the letters, thinking each was a duplicate. What we did not realise was that the letters at the bottom of the stack were support letters.”

The ruse was only realised the next day by Azmi, who, at the time, was working to help the collaborator.

“He was an influential person among the Temiar. He was widely known, charismatic and articulate. He interacted with the outside world. I looked up to him.”

Azmi saw the support letters among the objection letters. He put two and two together when he saw a map outlining the plantations’ operation area.

“At the time, I didn’t know what to do with the information I had. But after discussing with the village chiefs, we lodged a report with the Orang Asli Affairs Department (Jakoa).

“That was one month later. But they didn’t do anything,” said Azmi, now a Joas activist.

Hanif Mohd Kudus, a spokesman for two of the plantation companies involved, denied that the community was deceived.

“The letters were endorsed by Jakoa. The department would not have endorsed the letters if they were not legitimate,” said Hanif, representing KPF Maju Entreprises and Fleet Precision Sdn Bhd.

The companies run rubber, timber latex clone and pineapple plantations close to the Orang Asli villages in Gua Musang.

Hanif is also involved in a 400ha project to plant Musang King durians in the same area.

“These projects were legally approved by the state government, and we have the support letters. We do everything according to the law.” – August 12, 2018.