The Orang Asli are Malaysia's earliest inhabitants, and this was an interesting if saddening little trip.

The museum is out in Gombak, and it's a very pleasant bus ride to what feels like the countryside, even though the KL towers are still visible.





But there are fewer than 200,000 Orang Asli on the peninsula. That number gives them little political power, and they have been subject over the years to many of the stereotype-driven and paternalist politics that have beset large numbers of the world's other indigenous minorities (and Southeast Asia's remote ethnic minorities more generally).

So, while you admire the art, culture, religious expression, and environmental knowledge displayed in the museum, and appreciate the good intentions behind the museum, and the adjacent hospital and library, you do have to wonder: What did these people really want for themselves and their descendants? And is there any chance now that they will get it?