The Mah Meri are an ethnic group native to western part of

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

. They are one of the 18

Orang Asli The Orang Asli are a Homogeneity and heterogeneity, heterogeneous Indigenous peoples, indigenous population forming a national minority in Malaysia. They are the oldest inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia. As of 2017, the Orang Asli accounted f ...

groups named by the Malaysian government. They are 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 peninsula ...

subgroup. Most of the members of the Mah Meri tribe live along the coast of South Selangor from Sungai Pelek up to Pulau Carey, although there is at least one Mah Meri Community on the other side of the

Klang River The Klang River () flows through Kuala Lumpur and Selangor in Malaysia and eventually flows into the Straits of Malacca. It is approximately in length and drains a basin of about . The Klang River has 11 major tributaries. Because the river flo ...

. According to the Orang Asli Office of the Malaysian government, they numbered around 2,200 in 2005. Most of the Mah Meri live in small villages ( kampungs) on the fringes of other cities and on Pulau Carey, which has five separate villages of Mah Meri. The Mah Meri people of Pulau Carey are internationally well known for their traditional wood carving skills.

History

Their ancestors are believed to be associated with the arrival of Austro-Asiatic migrants associated with the emergence of fire-cutting agriculture on the Malay Peninsula and the emergence of rice. Due to cultural exchanges and trade, some Mah Meri and Senoi have intermixed with local Negrito tribes.

Population

The changes in the Mah Meri population are as the following:

Definition

Mah Meri in

Mah Meri language Mah Meri, also known as Besisi, Cellate, Hmaʼ Btsisiʼ, Maʼ Betisek, and pejoratively as Orang Sabat, is an Austroasiatic language spoken in the Malay Peninsula. Along with Semaq Beri, Semelai and Temoq, Mah Meri belongs to the Southern As ...

means "Jungle people" (''Mah'' = people, ''Meri'' = jungle)., while in another term the meaning of the name means Bersisik (meaning, "scaly" in

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

) or Persisir (meaning, "coastal" in

). They are also considered as

Orang Laut The Orang Laut are several seafaring ethnic groups and tribes living around Singapore, Peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian Riau Islands. The Orang Laut are commonly identified as the Orang Seletar from the Straits of Johor, but the term may a ...

due to them residing in settlements that are nearby seasides and work as fishermen. They are believed to have migrated from the islands in southern

Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...

to the coastal shores of

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

in order to escape from their enemies. Today Mah Meri community has undergone changes in terms of mentality and development as a result of integrating with other neighbouring communities.

Language

The Mah Meri language, also called Besisi, is an

Austroasiatic The Austroasiatic languages ( ) are a large language family spoken throughout Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. These languages are natively spoken by the majority of the population in Vietnam and Cambodia, and by minority popu ...

language. It is part of Southern Aslian sub-branch of

Aslian languages The Aslian languages () are the southernmost branch of Austroasiatic languages spoken on the Malay Peninsula. They are the languages of many of the ''Orang Asli'', the aboriginal inhabitants of the peninsula. The total number of native speakers o ...

, and is related to Semelai, Temoq and Semaq Beri. There are an estimated 3,000 people still speaking the language, but it is seriously endangered.

Culture

Carving

Many among them are skilled in carving statues that are made from wood. Their carvings include deities, humans, flora and fauna figurines. These carvings have gained recognition from the UNESCO. Handicrafts produce of the Mah Meri community in Sungai Bumbun,

Kuala Langat The Kuala Langat District is a district of Selangor, Malaysia. It is situated in the southwestern part of Selangor. It covers an area of 858 square kilometres, and had a population of 307,787 at the 2020 Census (exclude foreign). It is bordered ...

have high artistic value and the potential to be recognised at an international level.

Traditional dances

* Sewang dance * Tarian Jo'oh (Jungle dance) * Tarian Topeng (Mask dance)

Political organization

In common with other Orang Asli Villages, each kampung elects its own ''Batin'' (Village Headman) and a council of "elders" to represent the people living in the kampung. The ''Batin'' is paid an annual salary by the Malaysian government. The ''Bomoh'', who functions as a shaman in their society, plays an important role in the kampung. ''Main puteri'' (meaning "Playing princess"), a dying ritualistic form of treatment due to Islamisation; is performed by the Mah Meri shaman to rejuvenate patients with emotional depression, physical fatigue or psychological problems caused by metaphysical forces.

Settlement area

Geographical location of Orang Asli communities recruited in the study

Major settlements of the Mah Meri people are:-

References

External links

* http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage) * http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-66E2-7@view Mah Meri in RWAAI Digital Archive {{Authority control Indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia Ethnic groups in Malaysia Orang Asli