per cent of the 42 mothers who died during home births in 1994 were Orang Asli (Sunday Star, 29 September 1996), the Minister responsible for Orang Asli Affairs immediately ordered that the seven existing Orang Asli healthtransit centres be turned into Alternative Birthing Centres (ABCs) (John 1997, 2004). This official order may appear to be decisive and prompt, but on the ground, it had drastic repercussions. For one, Orang Asli mothers-to-be were ‘warded’ for about a month before the delivery date to ‘wait out’ their time. Not only was this psychologically stressful for the women, it also placed a heavy burden on the rest of the family, especially for those families living near subsistence. Home births were discouraged and in some cases forbidden by local health staff. Orang Asli mothers still prefer home delivery because institutional delivery not only creates problems for the rest of the family, it is also culturally ‘unfriendly’. It may be true that by encouraging institutional deliveries, maternal death rates will decline, but a more sensitive way of implementing this policy would be to create conditions that allow Orang Asli mothers to feel more secure and comfortable, as well as mitigate the problems faced by families. Another way to reduce Orang Asli maternal mortality is to train resident midwives and make available telephone and transport services. But these options were not considered. The State of Orang Asli Healthcare today The Orang Asli health care services is now made up of 125 treatment centres (designated locations where a mobile clinic visits periodically), 20 transit centres (centres where patients and accompanying persons are housed while waiting to be transferred to a hospital for treatment), and 10 health clinics (JHEOA 2005). There is an understanding between the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the JHEOA’s Department of Health and Medicine, whereby the MOH provides 46 ORANG ASLI – RIGHTS, PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS