The Mah Meri are an ethnic group native to western part of
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, ...
. They are one of the 18
Orang Asli
Orang Asli (''lit''. "first people", "native people", "original people", "aborigines people" or "aboriginal people" in Malay) are a heterogeneous indigenous population forming a national minority in Malaysia. They are the oldest inhabitants of ...
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
Sungai Pelek is a town in Sepang District, Selangor, Malaysia. The town is located about 20 minutes from the Sepang International Circuit and about 25 minutes from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The town is near Bagan Lalang beach and Go ...
up to
Pulau Carey, although there is at least one Mah Meri Community on the other side of the
Klang River
The Klang River ( ms, Sungai Klang) is a river which 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 t ...
.
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
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
) 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, Hma’ Btsisi’, Ma’ Betisek, and “Orang Sabat” (pejorative term), is an Austroasiatic language spoken in the Malay Peninsula. Along with Semaq Beri, Semelai and Temoq, Mah Meri belongs to the ...
means "Jungle people" (''Mah'' = people, ''Meri'' = jungle)., while in another term the meaning of the name means Bersisik (meaning, "scaly" in
Malay language
Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Rejang script, Rencong: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spo ...
) or Persisir (meaning, "coastal" in
Malay language
Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Rejang script, Rencong: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spo ...
). 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 ma ...
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 as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...
to the coastal shores of
Selangor
Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...
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
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The te ...
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
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