No response from Orang Asli department, donation to cover funeral, says activist

Two members of the Orang Asli community speak to Siti Zabedah Kasim (not in picture) in this YouTube screenshot. The activist says the Orang Asli Affairs Department has not entertained pleas from families to help with funeral expenses for the children who were found dead in the jungles of Kelantan. – Youtube pic, October 23, 2015.

As there was no monetary help from the Orang Asli Affairs Department (Jakoa), an activist said donation from the public will be used for the funeral of the four Orang Asli children who died after getting lost in the jungle recently.

Lawyer Siti Zabedah Kasim said the funeral will take place on Sunday and Monday at Kampung Penad and Kampung Gawin in Gua Musang, Kelantan, after a donation drive which she started collected about RM8,000 so far.

Siti Zabedah told The Malaysian Insider that she was targeting RM10,000 to pay for transportation and funeral rites according to the Temiyar customs.

"The money is still trickling in, but having a little bit more would be good so that we won't have a headache," she said, noting that transportation from Gua Musang to the villages would cost about RM450 a car.

Jakoa is providing the coffins, but requests by families of the Orang Asli children for funds for funeral rites so far have not yielded results. Jakoa had told the families they would need approvals and pass through bureaucratic red tape before the fund is released.

"I knew if we relied on Jakoa, it will be delayed, or they will tell the families that they can't help. That is why I started the public donation drive," she said.

She said Jakoa officials have not been entertaining requests from the families but are instead more hospitable if activists make calls on behalf of the families.

"They are not entertaining the families, but when I or someone else calls them, they will say they are ready to accommodate," he said.

"This is not your common death. This is a serious issue, by right they should be assisting immediately," she added.

Siti Zabedah posted the plea for donations on her Facebook account on October 19 and furnished her bank account details along with it.

She said she was bearing the costs of the families' accomodation in hotels in Gua Musang as they wait for post-mortem and DNA results of the four children.

Two of the four children have been identified, while another two will be identified as DNA results are due today, she said.

"They are now waiting to sign the release letters," she said.

Post mortem results have yet to be released, though Siti Zabedah said the families would go ahead with the funeral as they did not suspect any foul play in the death of the children.

"This was based on what the surviving children have narrated to us - they genuinely got lost in the jungle," Siti Zabedah, who is also a member of the Malaysian Bar's Human Rights and Orang Asli Rights Committee, said.

Seven Orang Asli children went missing from SK Tohoi on August 23, apparently fearing reprimand after being caught swimming in the river near the school.

The children remained missing for over a month until early October when two of them found alive in a malnourished state, while four bodies were found.

Another child remains missing to date.

Norieen Yaakob, 10, and Miksudiar Aluj, 11, the oldest in the group of children aged between 7 to 11, were found alive.

The expected expenses for the funeral includes tents, tarpaulin and seven days of food in both villages, according to funeral customs of the Temiyar people.

- TMI