Cheq Wong people are an indigenous Orang Asli people of the

Senoi The Senoi (also spelled Sengoi and Sng'oi) are a group of Malaysian peoples classified among the Orang Asli, the indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia. They are the most numerous of the Orang Asli and widely distributed across the peninsu ...

branch in

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

. Although they have the physical appearance of the

sub-group, the Cheq Wong language that they speak is closely related to the

Northern Aslian languages The Northern Aslian languages (also called Jehaic or Semang) are a group of Aslian languages spoken by about 5,000 people in inland areas of Peninsular Malaysia, with a few pockets in southern Thailand. The most distinctive language in the group ...

Language

Cheq Wong language is part of the

. It borrows about 4% of loan words from the

Kensiu language Kensiu (Kensiw) is an Austro-asiatic language of the Jahaic (Northern Aslian) subbranch. It is spoken by a small community of 300 in Yala Province in southern Thailand and also reportedly by a community of approximately 300 speakers in Wester ...

, despite these two indigenous peoples being separated by a long distance. However, the Cheq Wong language also has features of a Senoic-type language. High rates of loan words from Southern Aslian languages especially from

Semaq Beri language Semaq Beri (Semoq Beri) is an Austroasiatic language spoken in the Malay Peninsula in the states of Pahang and Terengganu. It belongs to the Southern division of the Aslian The Aslian languages () are the southernmost branch of Austroasiatic ...

(which was also largely influenced by

) indicates that the ancestors of the Cheq Wong people came into contact with Proto-Southern Aslian speakers such as the

Semelai people Semelai people are an Orang Asli people of the Proto-Malay people group found in Negeri Sembilan and Pahang states of Malaysia. Settlement area They are divided into two major groups, namely:- * The Semelai people in Kampung Sungai Sampo and Ka ...

and

Temoq people Temoq people belong to the Proto-Malay of the Orang Asli ethnic group that are found in Pahang, Malaysia. Settlement area The Temoq people that are officially recognized are known to settle in two kampungs; on the eastern side of Tasik Bera an ...

, except the

Mah Meri people The Mah Meri are an ethnic group native to western part of Peninsular Malaysia. They are one of the 18 Orang Asli groups named by the Malaysian government. They are of the Senoi subgroup. Most of the members of the Mah Meri tribe live along the c ...

Settlement area

They were originally found in only two areas, namely

Krau Wildlife Reserve Krau Wildlife Reserve is the largest wildlife reserve covering 60,349 ha located in the Titiwangsa Mountains, central state of Pahang, Malaysia that was established during the British Colonial Administration. It is located nearby Benom Mountain i ...

and

Raub District Raub District is a district in Pahang, Malaysia. Located in the west of Pahang, the district bordered Lipis District, Jerantut District, Temerloh District, Bentong District and Hulu Selangor District of Selangor clockwisely. Raub district con ...

Pahang Pahang (; Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a sultanate and ...

. Other Cheq Wong villages are also found in areas including

Temerloh Temerloh is a municipality in central Pahang, Malaysia. Temerloh has been proven to be the "centre of Peninsular Malaysia" (Malay: ) 3TS, which is situated at Kampung Paya Siput, Lanchang. Located about from Kuala Lumpur along the Kuantan–Kua ...

and

Jerantut District The Jerantut District is a district in north-eastern Pahang, Malaysia. Jerantut is home to the National Park. Being the largest district in Pahang, it bounds the northern states of Kelantan and Terengganu, in the south, Temerloh District and M ...

. Recent developments have caused the settlement areas of the Cheq Wong people to be exposed to the outside world via logging, roads and an elephant sanctuary for tourism. Some of these developments have led to flooding and pollution of river in their area.

Population

The population change of the Cheq Wong people in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

History

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, many of the Cheq Wong people were killed by the Japanese army, which is one of the factors that led to the small population of the Cheq Wong people today. During the war, the

Malayan Communist Party The Malayan Communist Party (MCP), officially the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), was a Marxist–Leninist and anti-imperialist communist party which was active in British Malaya and later, the modern states of Malaysia and Singapore from ...

sought help from them in the Communists' fight against the Japanese army. After the war ended, the Cheq Wong people's homelands were declared a "black area" due to the presence of the

rebels during the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

. The government then informed the Orang Asli out of fear that they were helping the communist rebels. Many Cheq Wong were killed by the Communist rebels who suspected them of helping the government, while some were also attacked by the government military who thought that they were helping the Communist rebels.

Religion

The Cheq Wong people traditionally adhere to a form of

animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...

that makes a distinction between species that possess ''ruwai'' (meaning "soul" or "consciousness") and those that do not. There is even a shamanic song that refers to the Japanese war planes flying over the jungle during

as ''ruwai''. Similar to the

Semaq Beri people Semaq Beri or Semoq Beri people are the native Orang Asli people belonging to the Senoi branch, who live in the states of Pahang and Terengganu in peninsular Malaysia. The Semaq Beri language is a language spoken by the people, is an Austroas ...

's ''talan'' and the

Temuan people The Temuan people ( Temuan: ''Uwang/Eang Temuan'', Malaysian: ''Orang Temuan'') are a Proto-Malay ethnic group indigenous to western parts of Peninsular Malaysia. They can be found in the states of Selangor, Pahang, Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Mal ...

's ''celau'', the Cheq Wong people have a sacred law called ''talaiden'', where any form of transgression including even laughing or teasing committed against any animals is forbidden. Such offenses result in the punishment of the storm (or snake) ''talaiden'', where storms, rain and thunder will be sent as a form of punishment. Another form of ''talaiden'' that the Cheq Wong people believe is the tiger ''talaiden'', where an incorrect mixing of foods or things will result with the offender being attacked by a tiger.

Culture

The Cheq Wong people are regarded as one of the peaceful and non-violent groups among the Orang Asli. They have a proverb that says, "To be angry is not human; but to be fearful is." The saying underlines the Cheq Wong belief in avoiding conflicts and fleeing from dangers as a natural defensive measure. Cheq Wong people practice a form of simple

shifting cultivation Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cul ...

, as well as

hunting-gathering A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

. They are also known for making

blowgun A blowgun (also called a blowpipe or blow tube) is a simple ranged weapon consisting of a long narrow tube for shooting light projectiles such as darts. It operates by having the projectile placed inside the pipe and using the force created by f ...

s and using them for hunting. However the art of making blowguns is threatened as people now go to the market for meat and no longer need to hunt as frequently as before. They also practice a traditional form of agroforestry by cultivating fruit orchards among existing tree species with minimal damage to the jungle, unlike palm oil estates or commercial fruit orchards. This method of cultivation has positive impact on the ecosystem by enriching the variety of flora and providing food for the fauna.

References

{{Authority control Indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia Orang Asli Ethnic groups in Malaysia