BN or PKR: It’s a matter of trust for Orang Asli

By Marc Jitab
KUALA KUBU BARU: The ongoing political campaigning and the presence of high-powered leaders from both sides of the political divide in Hulu Selangor for the past two weeks belies a sad truth — that the Orang Asli here continue to be out of touch with political pulse of the constituency vis-a-vis the state.
This is evident in the fact that a good deal of people from the 16 Orang Asli villages in Hulu Selangor still do not know that Pakatan Rakyat have taken over the Selangor state government and have been in power for the past two years.
“We find ourselves going into these villages, needing to explain to the folks that there has been a change in government from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan.
“There is an initial sense of surprise as for a good 50 years BN's presence has been firmly established,” said Rozlina, an aide of Selangor exco member Elizabeth Wong who is in charge of Orang Asli affairs.
The change in government, she said, was news to them and initially they were apprehensive about Pakatan's desire to make inroads into the Orang Asli community here.
“This stems from the long-standing trust these folk have in BN. There are still many in these villages who want to support BN.
“At the start, they were apprehensive of us but they have since warmed up to the state government under Pakatan Rakyat, “she said.
Roslina said the Asli community now know that Khir Toyo is no longer the menteri besar and that it is now Khalid Ibrahim.
“You have to understand they are trusting people. Now they feel somewhat caught between BN and Pakatan and they need to find out who to trust,” Roslina said.
Key voters
Pakatan's involvement with the Orang Asli has brought to light the fact that they are still lacking in basic facilities such as electricity and water as well as houses which have deteriorated over time.
There are also health issues among the young and old and rampant malnutrition among children has been reported.
The Orang Asli in Hulu Selangor are in a rare situation. Their 1,000 strong voter community is now as important if not key to a political neck-to-neck sprint between the ruling federal government BN and state champion Pakatan.
The Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat fell vacant following the death of PKR’s Zainal Abidin Ahmad last month. In the March 2008 general election Zainal wrested the seat from four-term MP G Palanivel (MIC deputy president) with a 198-vote majority
Bearing in mind how tight the race is, both BN candidate P Kamalanathan and PKR’s Zaid Ibrahim are wooing the Orang Asli vote.
The dawn of each new day and the visit of each candidate is empowering the community a little more.
But on whose hands they eventually place their trust will only be known come April 25, by-election day.