Kuala Lumpur: The Rural Development and Orang Asli Empowerment Cluster held an engagement session attended by over 200 delegates, including from Sabah and Sarawak, to get feedback on the direction and new approach of the Bumiputera agenda in preparation for the Bumiputera Economic Congress (KEB).
Attendees comprised academicians, representatives from non-governmental organisations and social enterprises, village chiefs, including Tok Batins (Orang Asli village chiefs), the Orang Asli Village Development and Security Committee members, and government agencies.
The cluster Chairman, Datuk Seri Dr Md Alwi Che Ahmad, said the proposals presented in the engagement session would be reviewed and submitted to the Economy Ministry before being presented during the congress.
“This session is crucial as it provided insights from village chiefs, including the Tok Batins and villagers. We collected all available data and compared them with the data from the Ministry of Rural Development in Sabah and Sarawak,” he told Bernama after the session at a hotel here recently.
They discussed seven scopes at the session, namely community socioeconomic development, human capital development and education, infrastructure services and utilities, Orang Asli empowerment, entrepreneurship, enhancing leadership, and strengthening the roles of youth and women in rural areas.
Md Alwi hoped the proposals would be given attention and prioritised in the coming years to safeguard the welfare of the Orang Asli.
“This is to ensure that no more communities (of Orang Asli) are marginalised. Our proposals are achievable; they are not fantasies. What we want to do is what we can do; we want to move forward.
“In Sabah and Sarawak, the indigenous communities are still lagging behind. There are things we have to improve and really do, that is our priority,” he said.
