Tag Archive for 'Malaysia'Page 2 of 3

02
May

Underreported Struggles for April

The short-lived trend of corporate social responsibility came to a grinding halt in April, reminding us yet again that they have no intention of changing voluntarily, atleast, not as long as their wants take precedence over rights and the needs of others.

And of course it was business as usual for Nation States - especially Canada, America and Bangladesh, who jumped at the chance to attack Indigenous people and illegally invade and usurp their lands.

Now for the depressing truth: In the coming months, there will be more invasions and offensives, more arrests and abuses, more displacement and land theft, more cultural and environmental destruction. And we’ll see it get worse. More aggressive, more invasive, more damaging.

Should we expect anything less? This is how it’s always been, and there’s no reason to think it’s going to change any time soon, providing, of course, that we …

Published on
May 2, 2008
  0 Comments 831 views

08
Jan

Kelesau Naan found dead, tensions on the rise.

Just days after a group of Penan came forward to report the disappearance of Kelesau Naan, a respected 79-year old activist and leader from the Penan settlement of Long Kerong in Malaysia, his body was found near Sungai Segita– about a two hours’ walk from Long Kerong.

According to Malaysiakini, the Penan found evidence that he was assaulted. “His hand was broken and looked as if it had been hit by a sharp object,” Matin Bujang told Malaysiakini while en route to lodge a police report.

“While shocked at the gruesome finding, Matin said the villagers were not completely surprised as tensions had escalated in recent months over the issue of logging in the Upper Baram region.

Last September, Matin pointed out, disturbances broke out near Ba’ Lai which led many to fear further troubles.

This is in addition to …

Published on
January 8, 2008
  4 Comments 1,023 views

24
Dec

Penan Headman Kelesau reported missing

A group of Penan from the Upper Baram region of the East Malaysian State of Sarawak have reported Headman Kelesau Naan has vanished without a trace. He was last seen on October 23, 2007.

According to a media release by Bruno Manser Fonds, “The Penan leader, who was in his 70s, was last seen on 23 October 2007 in the vicinity of his village in one of Sarawak’s last intact rainforests. After two months, the Penan have decided to break the silence and have lodged a police report.”

The Penan fear he may have been murdered because he “is one of four plaintiffs and a key witness in a major Penan land rights claim that has been awaiting trial since 1998. He was one of the leading figures in the Upper Baram Penan communities’ struggle against the …

Published on
December 24, 2007
  0 Comments 896 views

12
Nov

Development, Law, and the Traditional life of the Orang Asli

During the 14th Malaysian Law Conference, held two weeks ago in Kuala Lumpur, it would seem the lawyers got a bit of an education about indigenous life and the challenges facing the Indigenous People of Malaysia.

In the morning of the final day of the conference, there was a session entitled “Orang Asli and Our Constitution – Protecting Indigenous Customs and Cultural Rights.”

The first speaker in the hour was Dr. Ramy Bulan, from the Centre for Legal Pluralism and Indigenous Law at the University of Malaya. Dr. Bulan explained to the roomful of lawyers that the preservation and maintenance of the Orang Asli’s culture was fundamental to their existence and identity–that it must be safeguarded, and that the government must ensure they benefit from development projects.

Then, Tijah Yok Chopil, a woman simply listed as an Orang Asli representative from Bidor, Perak …

Published on
November 12, 2007
  3 Comments 1,095 views

08
Aug

Rohingyas shown they cannot be safe or free anywhere

For Years, Malaysia has been considered a sort of a safe haven for refugees coming from Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal and elsewhere — but now the government of Malaysia is making it clear that most of these refugees will not be finding any safety or freedom in this country.

Last month, Kuala Lumpur began a campaign to round up approximately 500,000 refugees from the above-mentioned countries. To date, close to 10,000 refugees have been picked up and sent off to detention camps where they wait for their imminent return to the conflict- and poverty-stricken lands they’ve fled from.

This past weekend, Malaysia arrested up to 300 Rohingyas from Myanmar (Burma), and reports are coming in that the government is caning them—that is, beating them with a metre-long stick as punishment. The refugees are considered to be illegal immigrants, therefore criminals. …

Published on
August 8, 2007
  0 Comments 753 views

05
May

Rumah Nor: A Land Rights Test for Malaysia

In this video, an Iban Dayak community in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo describes ten years of struggle to protect their ancestral rainforests, using letter writing, blockades, community mapping and court action against Borneo Pulp and Paper and the Sarawak government.

In 2001, they won a landmark court case, where it was agreed that Rumah Nor did have a native customary land rights over their traditional territory (”pemakai menoa”) — including the “disputed area” which was being destroyed by Borneo Pulp Plantation, a subsidiary of Borneo Pulp & Paper and Asia Pulp & Paper.

Their victory was partially overturned in 2005 by the State Appeals Court, who said there was insufficient evidence to prove the “occupation of the disputed area”. Their rights over lands outside the area, however, continued to be acknowledged.

The community is appealing this decision in Federal Court. Once a decision is made, it will set an important …

Published on
May 5, 2007
  0 Comments 1,031 views

25
Apr

Encroachment of Semai Land

“Government policies pay scant attention to the long-term welfare of not only the Semai people but all indigenous people in the country. To them golf courses, housing development and theme parks are more important than the welfare of the original people of the land.”

Last week I put together a post about the Indigenous People of Malaysia, collectively referred to as the Orang Asli. Nearing the end, an article from Forbes titled Indigenous Tribe Hinders Malaysian Park was briefly mentioned.

IPS News just published another article about that particular development scheme, a 300 hectare botanical garden the government wishes to create — a gift to Prince Raja Nazrin Shah — nearly half of which would exist on Semai Land.

The article begins - One day in March, tractors and earthmovers suddenly appeared in their settlement near this town and began mowing down fruit trees and rubber plants the Semai people …

Published on
April 25, 2007
  0 Comments 919 views

Video activism and the Chiapas Media Project

In the following presentation, Claudia Magallanes-Blanco from the University of Western Sydney talks about the role of video activism as a world-wide tool for empowerment and the Chiapas Media Project, a collaborative effort based in Mexico that provides indigenous Zapatistas in Chiapas and peasants in Guerrero with training and equipment to produce their own videos.

Since forming in 1998, CMP has distributed over 6000 videos, including: Zapata’s Garden, a film that looks at the society the Zapatista’s are building; …


I Am A Defender of the Rainforest

Known as ‘Soy defensor de la selva’ in Spanish, I am a Defender of the Rainforest is an award-winning documentary that was filmed, edited, and directed by members of the Sarayaku community in southern Ecuador.

The film shows how the …


Underreported Struggles #19, October 2008

In this month’s Underreported Struggles: 400,000 Guatemalans Reject Development Model, Philippines Indigenous People Unite for the Land, Riot Police Target Algonquin Blockade, Chagos Islanders Denied the Right of Return, and 17 other stories …


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