lands in effect works towards removing the very basis on which Orang Asli culture, spirituality and identity are dependent upon. For it has to be understood that to the Orang Asli, their traditional homeland is more than a collection of water, animals, plants and landforms. It is the basis of their spirituality and the source of their identity. It is also in this specific ecological niche that each community derives its history and its culture—and as such, it is also the schoolhouse of their children. Thus, because the mainstream education system does not incorporate Orang Asli culture, history, language and spirituality, and because Orang Asli transmit al these to future generations by oral tradition and by practical exposure, the maintenance of the traditional territory is crucial not just for the material survival of the community but for its spiritual and cultural health as well. 2.4.2 Islamisation and Assimilation When first advanced in 1961 as a state policy, the aim was to integrate the Orang Asli with the Malay section of the community. It has since been restated as the “integration with the wider national society”. Over the years, nevertheless, there have been calls for the Orang Asli to be categorised as Malays. Towards this end, the Orang Asli have become the target of institutionalised Islamic missionary activity, particularly after 1980 when a seminar on Islamic dakwah among the Orang Asli was organised by the Malaysian Islamic Welfare Organisation (Perkim).7 The recommendations were largely implemented as strategies to achieve the two-prong objectives of “the Islamisation of the whole Orang Asli community and the integration/assimilation of the Orang Asli with the Malays” (JHEOA 1983: 2). The dakwah programme involved the implementation of a ‘positive ORANG ASLI – RIGHTS, PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS 75