As Malaysia advances, it is vital that every community, especially the indigenous Orang Asli, receive the support they need to thrive. The Orang Asli Bateq communities, spread across Taman Negara in Pahang and Kelantan, face unique challenges when living deep in the jungle, such as limited access to education and other essentials.
As hunter-gatherers, they rely on the produce they can harvest in the forest—a practice they have been carrying out for thousands of years. Nowadays, however, resources in the forest are becoming scarce, which is taking a toll on their health. Meanwhile, when it comes to education, the children have limited access to a school, and Kampung Cangkung is located deep in the forest of Taman Negara—the closest school being a two-hour boat ride away.
“When we enter a community, we have no intention to change their lifestyle but merely to understand their struggles,” said Johan bin Halid, CEO of Yayasan Food Bank Malaysia. Yayasan Food Bank Malaysia has been working closely with the Bateq Orang Asli community at Kampung Cangkung in Taman Negara since 2018, carefully building rapport with the community to gain their trust and understand the challenges they face, namely, access to education, malnutrition, and health. “Once we understand their challenges, we’ll try our best to support them as long as they’re open to it,“ expressed Johan.
“A lot of them, adults and children, were malnourished, and the children can’t read, write, or count. After discussing with the Bateq community members, we finally agreed to launch the Kelas Literasi Rimba Bateq.”
By ‘bringing’ the school to the children who reside deep in the jungle, the programme aims to empower the young ones with essential skills like writing, reading, and counting. But beyond education, the community is also given access to nutritious food, healthcare, as well as water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities.
Supported under the Hasanah Special Grant (HSG) by Yayasan Hasanah in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, it was hoped that the programme would significantly improve the community’s well-being—and it did.
The community’s health has significantly improved thanks to Johan and his team, who brought in health experts to share knowledge on hygiene practices and provide necessary medication. Additionally, Yayasan Food Bank Malaysia has been consistently supplying nutritious food to the community, helping them regain their weight.
Norazida Azhar, Grant Manager of Yayasan Hasanah, also witnessed notable progress in the Literasi Rimba Bateq Programme. “Our partner, Yayasan Food Bank Malaysia, demonstrated exceptional skill, particularly in engaging with the children. We’ve seen a noticeable increase in the children’s enthusiasm for school, with more new students eager to join the various activities. We hope for this intervention fulfils its intended purpose of enhancing the well-being of the children, without imposing changes to their way of life,” said Norazida.
“I don’t think we could have achieved what we have today without the support from Yayasan Hasanah and the Ministry of Finance. Initially, funds were limited, and we could only visit the community once a month. However, the funding enabled us to increase our visits to weekly and provide the necessary support,” Johan added.
Johan hopes for continued collaboration between the community and Yayasan Food Bank Malaysia. “The children are the future, so we aspire for our partnership with the community to endure, enabling us to provide them with the education necessary to empower members of their community,“ he concluded.