Bateks in Malaysia - the Way of Living and Sustenance - Research Paper Example

Running head: BATEK OF MALAYSIA Introduction The Bateks are one of the several indigenous groups of people living in the peninsular region of Malaysia. Bateks are popularly known among the Malaysians as ‘Orang Asli’ which is defined as original people. (Endicott 1978) The Bateks make up about 0.5 percent of the entire original people community of Malaysia which comes around an estimated 100 thousand people. Irrespective of all the people belonging to a same structure of living, all of these people are divided and subdivided into multiple groups and hence the way of living is extraordinarily unique with respect to each group. Each of the groups has their own way of living, their own culture to follow, their own language and even unique modes of sustenance. But, as the urban development spreads its roots, the advancements in technologies and science have pushed the boundaries of these unique life styles and have merged most of the culture together, desperately done by the original people in order to sustain these tremors of modern life. Yet, the Bateks are still an exception to all these changing scenarios. They have gripped onto their culture and tradition and have sustained their living through their own traditional ways. The thesis, thus taken up here focuses on exploring the culture of Batek, identifying the unique characteristics of this tribal group of people and to divulge more about their way of living and sustenance. A background According to census taken in the year 1995, there are approximately 700 to 800 people of Batek, who are currently living. With the emergence of urbanization, the numbers may have been reduced more. During the years of 1970, the Bateks lived in the Malaysian states called as Kelantan and Pahang. Their physical appearance is similar to those tribes of Africa and hence former European researchers came to a conclusion that they are remnants of those African tribes. Their tribe name came from the Austronesian speakers who settled in those regions. Their basic language for communication is the Mon-Khmer language. Primary mode of sustenance The Bateks have their connections with the Hoabinhians, from 8000 BC. The Hoabinhians are basically foragers and hence foraging as a means of existence became one of the primary mode of subsistence for the Bateks. As years progressed, horticulture came into picture during 2000 BC. Later, the Batek started to trade with outsiders and it remained as one of important business aspect of the Bateks during the period between 6th and 13th centuries. Slavery crept into the tribe when Malays started invading the Bateks. With the government intervening, the Bateks were freed from slavery in 1920 and came under the direct supervision of them in 1954. (Endicott 1978) With the population dwindling and with the urban growth expediting at a rapid pace, the Bateks settled in the valleys and at the groundside of hills because, higher the altitude, difficult it becomes to forage. Irrespective of the fact that the Bateks have explored several numbers of options to gather food, foraging remains to be their primary and best option. The reason for such a trend is due to two reasons. Firstly, the advantages of foraging allowed them to gain access to food wherever they went as there was no permanent place of living for the Bateks. The second reason, actually being the source of the first reason, is that, foraging allowed them to maintain their life as well as integrity even in the most precarious situations they had faced during the time of immigration of the Malay people - when they started restricting the boundaries of the Bateks. Slavery and intrusion endangered the lives of the Bateks and always kept them on the move, thus denying them of harboring any notions of existence except foraging. (Endicott 1978) Impact on Social and Political Organization Although life among the Bateks is a closely knit one, individual, nuclear families form the basic building blocks of the entire community. Husband and wife with sons and daughters form that particular nucleus of family. They live and move together and involve all family members in decision making process. But, as a whole community, their relationship ties are pretty strong. The parent of both the husband and wife are strongly connected and the close kins and cousins are strongly bonded towards helping each other out. Such a strong relationship actually has a direct tie-up with the concept of food sharing between them. The necessity to survive and their means to it has definitely dictated terms in their past to make them work together and share food. As a result, these bonds and building blocks of social life are formed. Social and political organization The Bateks principle of living is quite unique and eclectic when compared to the normal mode of living among the humans. There is no concept of ownership among the Bateks and they are always of the opinion that every piece of land is for equal use among all. Probably, such a concept has been extended from sharing food to even land ownership because of their primary mode of subsistence. Wherever they camp themselves, they take care of the land and its surroundings, but there is no thought of owning the land for their own use. There are no written institution codes to be followed and obviously they have no roles for leadership purposes. According to them, everyone is let to be on their own and any decision that needs to be made has to be done after the discussions with the family members. Even in case of conflicts or disputes, the Bateks do not go for any formal system, they just put forth their side opinions towards the public and request for support. If the tensions in the conversation rises up too much, either one of the member just walks out of the discussions until the condition returns back to normality. But, there are certain instances where the leadership plays its part. For example, in case of any food searching missions, such as getting fish, the person who is an expert in poisoning the fishes leads the ways to the rest of the people. Yet, such kind of leadership is never extended to other quarters at any cost. Similarly in case of decision making, the experience and age of certain people are respected and advice is taken from them. But they are not given the role to lead any of their groups. Any aggressive actions done physically are seriously condemned in the group and the involved people are severely punished. After the government had taken control of the Batek society, they have appointed a headman for the Batek society just for managing the relationships between the government and the society, but they have no role as such within the society. Like every organization, they too have some exceptions. There are some things that are considered to be personal properties. Items like, guns, tobaccos and other individual materials are considered to be personal properties and are respected in such a way that others would not lay their hands on them until permitted. (Endicott 1988) Economic organization Similar to the complexities and uniqueness involved with the social and political organization of the Bateks, their economic organization too follows the same trend. As primary foragers, there encampment at a particular place totally depends on how long the natural and wild resources are available for them to feed on. Once those resources are done and completely harvested, they make arrangements for reproduction and begin shifting to a new location. Wild yams are the primary source of vegetarian food for them. Their economic activities are such that they venture into the forests in search of food in the early morning, gather them and return to camp as early as possible. Fishes also form as their basic source of food. Their economy primarily depends on trading. The foragers trade the forest products with the outside farmers and traders. By trading they increase their chance of sustainability with the help of buying rice, flour, sugar and other basic items in exchange. Mobility and sharing of collected foods form the basic crux of their success in trading economy. As the number of people living every day in a camp constantly varies, the knowledge of resources available in their nearby surroundings is constantly updated. Foraging has played an integral part in providing a structure to the economy of the Bateks by instilling in them the importance of sharing food. (Dentan 1991) Beliefs and Values According to the Bateks, their living place - the Earth, is a spherical piece of land engulfed within the seas and created by the supernatural forces. As explained above, due to constant troubles from other people, they have come to believe that the supernatural forces that created humanity has specifically separated them from others and made them unique. Also, because of their movement, they believe that the sources of food such as the plants and animals are established by those powers to help them sustain. They believe the superhuman forces and look forward to them in case of curing illness or sickness. They are always obliged to serve others when they are requested as they believe that neglecting such requests would cause trouble for them by the superpowers. Conclusion The Bateks are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain their life with the continuous encroachments from other people and lack of proper rules from the government to support them. Their lives are hanging on the concept of mobility and flexibility. They believe that with such kind of existence, agriculture is never going to satisfy their basic requirements and hence always look forward for deriving results that are achievable in a short time. Hence, foraging is expected to continue in their lifestyles, defining and restructuring all aspects of their organizations. The culture of Batek has been explored with the unique characteristics of this tribal group of people being identified. Their way of living and sustenance has been explained and its influences on the several organizations of the Batek society have also been discussed. References Dentan, R. (1991). Potential food sources for foragers in Malaysian rainforest; Sago, yams and lots of little things. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 147(4), pp.420-444. Endicott K. (1988). Property, power and conflict among the Batek of Malaysia. Retrieved from http://peacefulsocieties.org/Archtext/Endic88.pdf Endicott K.(1978). The Hunting Methods of the Batek Negritos of Malaysia. A Problem of Alternatives. Amazonia Peruana Lima. 2(3). Pp. 7-22. Read More