最近有报导指，原住民发展局（JAKOA）和致力于打造民主和平等社会的非政府组织──大马社会传播中心（KOMAS）将联合举办，原住民土地大会。
根据大会议程，首相安华将出席此次活动。会议参与者（以及许多其他关心原住民社区者）都会想知道首相能为原住民带来怎样的政策改革。
在这之前，我们举行了无数次会议、研讨会和大会——可能达到数百场——以讨论和解决国内超过20万原住民所面临的问题。这些包括了与土地权、基础设施使用权、教育、健康、数码鸿沟、青年赋权等有关的课题。
早在2019年初，我就写过以下内容：
（当时）副首相旺阿兹莎在访问金马仑时宣布，政府正在研究是否需要根据国际劳工组织（ILO）第107号公约，关于土著和原著民权益，即鼓励原住民参与政府发展项目，并为保护原住民提供指导，而制定一项全面的发展计划。
如果了解到这宣布与当时面临著的金马仑国席补选联系起来，或许就能明白这项宣布意义。在金马仑选区约3万2000名选民中，原住民选票占了20%以上，这被视为（当年）1月26日举行的备受关注的补选之关键因素。
希盟又一个失守的承诺？
但考虑到希盟在竞选宣言中提出关于保护原住民传统土地权利和关注原住民福利和发展的承诺，原住民选民和广大社群可能会对新政府有所期待。
这会否是希盟的选举承诺中，其中一项可在没有太多拖延和争议情况下实现的？
毕竟，在检视原住民现有经济和社会文化指标，包括婴儿和儿童死亡率、预期寿命、教育水平、收入水平等——对于这个少数群体来说，这些指标是毫无争议的——表明了可耻的现实，即独立60年后，原住民群体——毫无疑问是马来半岛最早的民族——仍然是最贫穷、最边缘化，同时在家园、土地、生存空间、历史、语言、文化和身份上惨遭剥夺的群体。
为了加速原住民重新融入社会主流的进程，我们必须放弃旧模式的解决方案，并建立新的参照点，以恢复原住民的权利和地位。
新起点
以下是希盟政府（以及通过选举赢得金马仑国席的任何人）需要考虑的3项建议：
1.签署国际劳工组织关于土著和原住民的第169号公约，以取代60多年前推出的国际劳工组织第106号公约。第169号公约于1991年生效，但马来西亚尚未签署，这是有必要改进的，尤其世界各地土著和原住民的发展状况日益恶化。我国有必要采用新的国际标准并消除早期公约的同化主义倾向。
国际劳工组织第169号公约：第169号公约代表了关于土著和原住民在其居住的民族国家内的权利以及政府保护这些权利的责任与共识。这是建立在尊重土著的文化和生活方式的基础上，承认他们对土地和自然资源使用的权利，并由他们自己决定发展优先事项。公约旨在解决对原住民歧视性做法，并让原住民能够参与影响其生活的决策
2 通过承认原住民社区对传统土地和祖传土地的所有权并为其提供永久地契，解决他们的土地问题。这可以先从分析土地局、测量、测绘、森林局和英国殖民统治时的其他档案记录，以及独立后政府的记录，以界定原住民传统定居点以及狩猎采集地区；在殖民时期，这些地区都被划定为原住民领土。
3.承认原住民在这国家的合法地位，恢复原住民尊严，并对历史上原住民面对的不公正遭遇，通过官方道歉或政府领袖发表类似遗憾声明；承诺纠正过去在殖民和后殖民时代犯下的错误；以及承诺采取行动，为原住民社会建设一个可持续且有意义的未来。
迄今，澳洲、纽西兰、加拿大、美国、挪威和瑞典已对原住民过去的遭遇，作出官方的道歉或遗憾声明。最近在拉丁美洲一些拥有原住民族群的国家，其政治领导人也做出了类似的表态。
发表类似官方声明，将让马来西亚成为东盟中第一个如此做的国家，也将会是亚洲国家或地区中继台湾之后第二个，提出如此政治倡议的国家。
研究向原住民道歉这一课题的学者将会把政府的这一举动视为愿意正视过去错误，并作为调和与纠正国家政治文化中道德缺陷的前奏。
对我来说更重要的是，官方表述将表明国家尊重人权、维护正义、平等和非歧视的承诺。
我们现有的新一届希盟政府，能否让我们看到官方政策的改变，为推动原住民的权利提供一个新的起点？或者更多的是同样的空话和未兑现的承诺？
林德宜《原住民发展：安华能做什么？》原文：Orang Asli Development: What Can PMX Do?
In the news recently was an announcement of a forthcoming Orang Asli land conference co-organized by Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli Semenanjung Malaysia (JAKOA) and KOMAS, an NGO working on democracy and non-discrimination.
According to the conference programme, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will grace the event. Participants in the meeting (and many others concerned with the future of the community) will be wondering what he can bring to the policy reform table for the Orang Asli.
We have had numerous meetings, workships and conferences - the number perhaps running into the hundreds - to discuss and resolve the issues faced by the more than 200,000 Orang Asli in the country. These issues include those relating to rights to land, infrastructure access, education, health, the digital gap, youth empowerment, etc.
Earlier in 2019 I had written the following:.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail during a visit to Cameron Highlands declared that the Government was studying the need to create a comprehensive development plan in line with that of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 107 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples which encourages governments to involve Indigenous People in development projects and provides guidance on the protection of tribal people.
Observers may be forgiven if they have linked these announcements to the coming Cameron Highlands by election. Orang Asli votes comprise over 20% of the estimated 32,000 voters for this parliamentary constituency and are perceived to be a key swing factor in the much watched election taking place on 26 January.
Another Ditched Pakatan Harapan Promise?
But perhaps the Orang Asli voters and the larger community in the country may want to give the benefit of the doubt to the new government in view of the promises contained in the Pakatan manifesto on the preservation of Orang Asli customary land rights and concern for their welfare and development.
Will this be one key election promise made by Pakatan that can be realized without too much delay and controversy?
After all, examination of the economic and socio-cultural indicators available including infant and child mortality, life expectancy, educational levels, income levels, etc. - and there can no dispute over them in respect to those of this minority community - point to the shameful reality that 60 years after independence, the Orang Asli community - indisputably the first peoples in the Malay Peninsula - remain the poorest, the most marginalized, and the most dispossessed of home, land, means of subsistence, history, language, culture and identity.
To expedite the process of reintegration of Orang Asli into the mainstream of society, it is imperative that the old template for resolution of the community’s problems be discarded and a new starting point of reference is established to restore the rights and status of our first peoples.
New Starting Point to Correct Past and Present Wrongs
Here are 3 suggestions for the Pakatan government (and for whoever wins the Cameron by election) to consider:
1.Ratify ILO convention 169 on indigenous and tribal peoples in place of ILO convention 106 which was introduced more than 60 years ago. The newer convention 169 which came into force in 1991 but which Malaysia has yet to sign on has been found necessary in view of the worsening developments in the situation of indigenous and tribal peoples in all regions of the world. This has made it appropriate for countries to adopt new international standards and to remove the assimilationist orientation of the earlier convention.
ILO Convention 169：Convention No. 169 represents a consensus on the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples within the nation-States where they live and the responsibilities of governments to protect these rights. It is based on respect for the cultures and ways of life of indigenous peoples and recognizes their right to land and natural resources and to define their own priorities for development. The Convention aims at overcoming discriminatory practices affecting these peoples and enabling them to participate in decision-making that affects their lives
2 Resolve the land problems of the Orang Asli communities by recognising their ownership right to customary and ancestral lands and providing them with permanent titles. This can begin with analysis of land office, survey, mapping, forestry and other archival records of British colonial rule as well as the records of the post-colonial government which can establish the boundaries of areas where the Orang Asli have had their traditional settlements and hunting-gathering territories; and which,during the colonial period, were demarcated and regarded as Orang Asli territories.
3.Honour the Orang Asli by recognizing their rightful place in this country through a national apology or a similar declaration from the highest level of government expressing regret for the historical injustices done to the community; pledging to right past wrongs committed during the colonial and post-colonial era; and promising action to build a sustainable and meaningful future for the community.
To date national political apologies or official expressions of remorse have taken place in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States of America, Norway and Sweden. Similar expressions have also been recently made by political leaders in some Latin American countries with indigenous communities.
A declaration to this effect would comprise a significant first for Malaysia in the ASEAN Community while we would be the second nation after Taiwan in Asia to provide such a political initiative.
This move has been seen by scholars researching the topic of apologies to indigenous peoples in comparative perspective as having the merit of putting things on record and as a prelude to reconciliation and correction of ethical flaws in the state political culture.
More importantly to me, an official expression would demonstrate the nation’s commitment to respecting human rights, and upholding justice, equality and non-discrimination.
We now have a new Pakatan Harapan government. Can we see a change in official policies so as to provide a new starting point for advancing the rights of the Orang Asli? Or will it be more of the same empty rhetoric and unfulfilled promises?
