The Malaysian Insight

THE Jahai tribe in Perak have put their livelihood to one side as they focus on the search for one of their own, a young girl who went missing in the rainforest two weeks ago.

Asok, 47, the village head (Tok Batin) of Kampung Selaor in the Temenggor forest reserve said the villages made money from foraging for rattan in the rainforest.

“When the Covid-19 pandemic started, we could barely make any money because we couldn’t go into the forest to forage for rattan due to the lockdowns imposed by the government,” Asok told The Malaysian Insight.

“At the time, even when we were able to sneak into forage in the jungle, there was no one who could come into the village to buy the items from us.

However, he said that since January 13, they have spent their time searching for nine-year-old Kamiliah Anab, or Ayeng, who went missing after joining her family on one such expedition to collect rattan.

“Even though we have started to make money, this little girl has gone missing so all our energy is going towards finding her.

“We don’t feel good about (foraging for rattan) because we don’t know the fate of the child.”

The village is only accessible via four-wheel drive and is 15km from the nearest road.

It has been more than two weeks and no trace of Ayeng has been found. Search and rescue teams from the police, Fire Services Department, Orang Asli police tracker unit Senoi Praaq, World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and Department of Orang Asli Affairs (Jakoa) looked for her for six days but called off the search on January 19, finding no sign of her.

However, the Orang Asli villagers will keep looking.

Meanwhile with no money coming in, Asok said the village, which is home to 25 families or around 170 people, is now depending on goodwill donations and the sale of vegetables for income, along with readily available rattan near the village.

Each rattan can be sold between RM4 to RM6 depending on size.

“We used to sell it every two weeks when we had enough. That gives us around RM400 to RM600 income every month.”

Now that they no longer have income to buy food, Asok is worried that they will have to go back to eating tapioca to sustain themselves.

“For two years, all we had to eat was tapioca because we didn’t have an income, now it is back to that.

“Luckily, we have planted some vegetables such as brinjal, long beans, winged beans and tapioca so that we can survive.

“Outsiders have also donated items such as rice, instant noodles and sugar to the villagers, but we can’t depend on this forever.”

While Asok’s main concern is finding Ayeng, he worries about the long-term future of the community, which relies on rattan as a staple source of income.

“I hope we can find her soon. All our time is devoted to organising rescue groups to ensure that there is someone out there looking for her every day.” – January 29, 2022.