Program Overview

In this course participants will acquire knowledge of Malaysia’s indigenous people, also known as Orang Asli, who represents 0.7% of the total population. Despite being a minority, the Orang Asli are not a homogeneous culture. There is an incredible diversity of groups that have their own languages and cultures, and perceive themselves to be different.

During the program taught by University Kebangasaan Malaysia, participants will get the chance to interact with the Orang Asli community in Cameron Highlands, Pahang, and experience first hand a traditional culture largely untouched by modernisation. The Orang Asli are mostly farmers and hunter-gatherers who also trade forest produce and handicraft for modern consumer goods. They are determined to preserve, develop and transmit their ancestral territories and identity to the future generations as the basis of their continued existence.

The first week of the program is spent at UKM’s Bangi campus, where you are introduced to the cultures of the Orang Asli, and of the natives of Sabah and of Sarawak.

During the next 2 weeks, you get to travel to the Cameron Highlands in the states of Pahang and to the beautiful states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo. There you get the chance to enjoy the amazingly rich biodiversity and geodiversity of Mount Kinabalu and the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, while observing the lives of the Kadazan – Dusun and the Iban.

1. You return to Kuala Lumpur for the last week of the program to work on your assignments before doing a presentation to the group.