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Ohio Ris Southeast Asia

The Orang Asli in the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960

By: John D. Leary

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Paperback | 1 September 1995 | Edition Number 1

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254 Pages

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Violence and the Dream People is an account of a little-known struggle by the Malayan government and the communist guerrillas, during the 1948-1960 Malayan Emergency, to win the allegiance of the Orang Asli, the indigenous people of the peninsular Malaya. The author argues that the use of force by both sides in their attempts to woo or coerce the jungle dwellers to support one side or the other in the conflict, caused tensions among the Orang Asli that resulted in counter violence against the interlopers and internecine killings in the tribal groups.

This study challenges the depiction of the Orang Asli as naïve innocents, unwittingly manipulated by outsiders for their own purposes. Heavily outnumbered, they looked to their own resources to survive, in the face of relocation, conscription, random bombings, and haphazard killing. Leary argues that they were shrewd enough to recognize the winning side and backed their judgment with force where necessary.

Violence and the Dream People is an important study of a much neglected facet of the Malayan Emergency and of the history of the indigenous peoples of the Malay Peninsula.

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Glossary and Abbreviations
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Orang Asli - The Emergency	p. 1
Historical Background	p. 18
Resettlement	p. 42
Violence 1948-1953	p. 71
1953 The Fateful Year	p. 96
The Senoi Pra'aq	p. 140
Merdeka and Bureaucracy	p. 160
Conclusion: Perpetuating the Myth	p. 183
Appendix A Military Units That Served in the Emergency	p. 195
Appendix B Replies in Selangor	p. 199
Appendix C The Aboriginal People's Ordinance	p. 203
Appendix D Bukit Betong Statistics	p. 217
Appendix E Evacuating Aboriginal Communities	p. 219
Bibliography	p. 221
Index	p. 231
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

Ohio Ris Southeast Asia

The Orang Asli in the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960

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Paperback

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