Orang Asli attend Upko meet for the first time

Dressed in their distinctive traditional headgear, five Upko division chiefs of Tapah, Gopeng, Parit, Tanjung Malim and Kampar from Perak, led by Suki Mee, Tanjung Malim division chief, were among the delegates.

Suki said they were here to bring the aspirations of their people through the party of their choice.

He said they would be taking part in the party convention today (Sunday).

According to him, they applied to join Upko in 2001 and were only granted approval early this year.

"We've been looking for a platform for our struggle. We feel that our voice and our difficulties have not been viewed seriously," he said.

He said Upko's focus on defending the indigenous people in Malaysia was the key reason for the Orang Asli being attracted to Upko.

The Orang Asli, according to Upko President, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, were accepted into the party since they were also of the Pasokmomogun groups despite most of them being in peninsula.

"We also took into consideration the socio-economic achievement of the Orang Asli who are still lagging behind even though they receive assistance from the Orang Asli Affairs Department," he said.

Of the 150,000 Orang Asli in the peninsula he said not many are in possession of land titles.

In fact, where land matters are concerned, the problems faced by the Orang Asli are almost similar to the Pasokmomogun communities in Sabah.

"In this respect, Upko cannot promise anything to our Orang Asli brothers and sisters from the peninsula.

"What we have is only a political party that has only its voice É but we will strive to find solutions to the various communal issues," he assured.

He also said Upko formed its divisions in Perak, Selangor and Johor at the insistence and persistent request from people there. Initially, Upko started as only clubs in Semarang, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia and in Kuala Lumpur.

But when the club in Semarang became non-active, the club in Kuala Lumpur decided to form an Upko Division in Shah Alam, Selangor.

"Early this year, upon requests from the Orang Asli in Perak, the party's Supreme Council made the decision to approve their application to join us É this after several series of briefings were held in Perak," he said.

Dompok said the party is acutely aware of the implications that might arise from Upko's decision to accept the Orang Asli into the party.

Nevertheless, he stressed that as a party, Upko could only voice the Orang Asli's aspirations, complaints and feelings in the various forums and opportunities organised by the party and would bring the matters up to the higher ups.

He said just like other Upko leaders, the Orang Asli must also be ready to share the responsibility in the party's struggle.

Just as the Kadazandusun in Sabah and Dayak in Sarawak have already formed their respective chambers of commerce, he said the Orang Asli are also in the process of setting up their own entity.