THE ENCHANTED FOREST: EXPLORING THEMES OF AGENCY IN AN ANIMATED LANDSCAPE

This chapter explores themes on re-claiming authority and legitimacy in indigenous knowledge through Orang Asli reanimation of their customary landscapes. Materials for this paper will be sourced from academic articles, indigenous storytelling and adapting Orang Asli stories into children storybooks.

The forest in Orang Asli epistemology is hardly a void with meaning given only to material with productive value. Rather, it is a lively place with the Orang Asli, flora and fauna existing in symbioses without necessarily placing man on top of the hierarchy.

Drawing among others, on a Semai narrative of visiting a Spirit Familiar in the forest of the interior in Gopeng, the Tiger tales from the Jahai in Royal Belum, the Temiar narrative of Heaven as a garden of fruit trees with the King tiger, and the retelling of Orang Asli stories published as children storybooks by GAMUDA edited by Mahat Akiya, this paper aims to offer a decolonised perch from which to engage with nature.

Dr. Kamal Solhaimi Bin Fadzil

Universiti Malaya

Kamal Solhaimi Fadzil, PhD is a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya. His main area of research is on Indigenous minority rights, particularly related to the Orang Asli communities living in Conservation Areas. He also contributes as an expert witness in court for Orang Asli customary land cases. In addition to working on Orang Asli customary rights, Kamal also engages in participatory research on the topic of undocumented children and access to schooling. He also works on different media platforms advocating for the sensitisation towards people living with HIV/AIDS.