Looking-for-money : simple commodity production in the economy of the Tapah Semai of Malaysia
Date
1986
Authors
Gomes, Alberto G.
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Abstract
This thesis examines the nature of the articulation of the economy of the
Tapah Semai, a Malaysian aboriginal (Orang Asli) group, with the wider
Malaysian economy. Its primary aim is to document the extent of the
market linkages to demonstrate that the prevailing image of the people as
subsistence farmers with limited involvement in the market economy is misleading.
This view is portrayed in the literature and is held by the
Malaysian government which bases its policies in respect to Semai (and other
Orang Asli) upon it. On the basis of an indepth village study and a regional
socio-economic survey covering all the Semai villages in the Tapah region, it
is demonstrated that the Tapah Semai are now deeply enmeshed in simple
commodity production as well as commodity consumption.
In a detailed examination of how a sample of six households in the study
village, Sempak, allocated their time to production, it is demonstrated that
the people spent treble the time on commodity production, such as fruit collecting,
forest product gathering and rubber tapping, tha* they spent on subsistence
production such as swiddening, fishing and hunting. It appears that
the villagers allocated more time to commodity production because it was
more efficient and productive than subsistence production. For the sample
households in Sempak, it was found that in terms of imputed market value,
subsistence production produced only one eighth the value of a equal amount
of time spent in commodity production. As a result of its low productivity
relative to commodity production, subsistence production is in decline. It appears that the villagers’ current focus on commodity production is also
linked to their ever increasing desire and dependence on market goods. These
market relations are underwritten by a pervasive system of credit and indebtedness
which is necessary for the maintemcnce of regular trading relations
with several middlemen. A detailed examination of the expenditure of the
sample households indicates that about half of their total expenditure was on
foodstuff which formed almost all of their food consumption.
The commoditisation of the Semai economy is seen to have engendered
several changes in intravillage social relations such as the development of
private property, the ascendancy of appropriative practices, the appearance of
intravillage entrepreneurial enterprises, the commodification and decline in
sharing and labour cooperation, all of which are creating incipient social differentiation.
This thesis ends with a discussion of the future of the Tapah Semai as
simple commodity producers. Although the Semai economy is quite resilient,
given its broad nature and flexibility, its continued viability is dependent
upon several factors beyond the people’s control. The most crucial factor is
legal tenure to an adequate land area. However unless the Malaysian government
recognises the current nature of the Tapah Semai economy, the future
of simple commodity production among the Tapah Semai is precarious.
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Thesis (PhD)
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