Customary Land Rights Of Orang Asli: A Case Study In Kampung Parit Gong, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

The Orang Asli group forms a minority community in Peninsular
Malaysia, whose livelihood mostly depends on their land and the
surrounding area. Dispute over customary land rights of Orang
Asli has been continual in Malaysia although Malaysian Courts, in
several cases, have upheld the Common Law rights of Orang Asli
to their customary lands. This poses a challenge to some Orang
Asli communities and State Governments. Based on focus group
discussion, profiling survey, and library research methods, this paper
analyses the land rights of Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia, by
placing focus on Orang Asli in Kampung Parit Gong, Jelebu, Negeri
Sembilan. The findings indicate that the Kampung Parit Gong Orang
Asli community has been strictly adhering to the customs of ‘Adat
Perpatih’ since yesteryears, and that they highly value the land, both
through usage of land and by inheritance. Several important concerns
were raised by the Orang Asli in Kampung Parit Gong, particularly
on the security over their rights on the said customary land and the
guarantee of their future generations’ socio-economic well-being.
Having said that, this paper proposes several legal and administrative
measures to not only address the uprising issues, but also to ascertain
that the rights of Orang Asli residing in Peninsular Malaysia are
safeguarded.