180
as camphor and gaharu) collected by different Orang Asli groups in Peninsular
Malaysia and for other trade items (silk and spices) from Chinese, Arab, Persian and
Maluku traders (Hussein et al. 2007; Musa 2006; Andaya 2002; Manguin 1993).
This period was followed by the arrival of Islam (largely via trading and intermarriage between Indian traders and local people) as early as from the eleventh
century in the northeast (Pahang and Terengganu) of Peninsular Malaysia (Nor et al.
2012; Hussein et al. 2007; Hussin 2004;). During the Melaka Sultanate, the Chinese
admiral, trader and explorer Cheng Ho, representing the Ming Emperor, led an
expedition to Malacca and many of the members settled down with the locals, marking the beginning of a unique Chinese-Malay melange in Melaka called the BabaNyonya culture (Lee 2008). This has also proved that the Chinese had arrived in
Peninsular Malaysia long before the European colonisation from the fifteenth to
nineteenth century. The effects of the European colonial era can also be readily seen
with the existence of Portuguese–Eurasian influence in Melaka (Pillai et al. 2015).
Both, Baba-Nyonya and Portuguese–Eurasian cultures are products of socioeconomic interactions in Melaka that emerged as unique ethnicities with sociocultural characters that closely resembled a hybrid of their original populations
(Chinese, European and Malay). Later in the nineteenth century, even larger numbers of Chinese and Indian labourers were brought to Peninsular Malaysia during
the British administration to supply the workforce at tin mines, rubber plantations
and timber mills. It was also at this time that the role of Orang Asli as main suppliers
of jungle products began to decrease (Andaya 2002). These are all the contributing
factors to not only on the observed complex genetic make-up, but also on the demographic changes in the Peninsular Malaysia.
Overall, the demographic history in Peninsular Malaysia matches well with the
Malaysian Genetic Layer Cake Model we proposed (Norhalifah et al. 2016a), which
includes waves of prehistoric migrations (by the Semang, Senoi and Proto-Malays)
and socio-economic relationships since the first century in Peninsular Malaysia. In
this review, new and compelling evidences from material cultures and beliefs are
also included in the revised and expanded version of the model make it more inclusive, if not yet fully complete, account of human prehistory in Peninsular Malaysia.
Summary and Conclusions: Future Prospects for the People
and Recommendations for Further Studies
In preceding sections, an account was presented with hope that it properly reflects
the totality of received wisdom on the biology and culture of the Orang Asli. The
picture that emerged is one of three distinct lineages of people who arrived at different times from three different directions – ancient Semang from the south, Senoi
with Asian affinities from the north and Proto-Malays from the east. This ancestral
history and geographic dispersal pattern have resulted via a direct set of causal
mechanisms in the suite of genes, languages and culture that can be observed in
these groups today. Thus, we hold that the extensive genetic, linguistics,
A. T. Ahmad et al.
as camphor and gaharu) collected by different Orang Asli groups in Peninsular
Malaysia and for other trade items (silk and spices) from Chinese, Arab, Persian and
Maluku traders (Hussein et al. 2007; Musa 2006; Andaya 2002; Manguin 1993).
This period was followed by the arrival of Islam (largely via trading and intermarriage between Indian traders and local people) as early as from the eleventh
century in the northeast (Pahang and Terengganu) of Peninsular Malaysia (Nor et al.
2012; Hussein et al. 2007; Hussin 2004;). During the Melaka Sultanate, the Chinese
admiral, trader and explorer Cheng Ho, representing the Ming Emperor, led an
expedition to Malacca and many of the members settled down with the locals, marking the beginning of a unique Chinese-Malay melange in Melaka called the BabaNyonya culture (Lee 2008). This has also proved that the Chinese had arrived in
Peninsular Malaysia long before the European colonisation from the fifteenth to
nineteenth century. The effects of the European colonial era can also be readily seen
with the existence of Portuguese–Eurasian influence in Melaka (Pillai et al. 2015).
Both, Baba-Nyonya and Portuguese–Eurasian cultures are products of socioeconomic interactions in Melaka that emerged as unique ethnicities with sociocultural characters that closely resembled a hybrid of their original populations
(Chinese, European and Malay). Later in the nineteenth century, even larger numbers of Chinese and Indian labourers were brought to Peninsular Malaysia during
the British administration to supply the workforce at tin mines, rubber plantations
and timber mills. It was also at this time that the role of Orang Asli as main suppliers
of jungle products began to decrease (Andaya 2002). These are all the contributing
factors to not only on the observed complex genetic make-up, but also on the demographic changes in the Peninsular Malaysia.
Overall, the demographic history in Peninsular Malaysia matches well with the
Malaysian Genetic Layer Cake Model we proposed (Norhalifah et al. 2016a), which
includes waves of prehistoric migrations (by the Semang, Senoi and Proto-Malays)
and socio-economic relationships since the first century in Peninsular Malaysia. In
this review, new and compelling evidences from material cultures and beliefs are
also included in the revised and expanded version of the model make it more inclusive, if not yet fully complete, account of human prehistory in Peninsular Malaysia.
Summary and Conclusions: Future Prospects for the People
and Recommendations for Further Studies
In preceding sections, an account was presented with hope that it properly reflects
the totality of received wisdom on the biology and culture of the Orang Asli. The
picture that emerged is one of three distinct lineages of people who arrived at different times from three different directions – ancient Semang from the south, Senoi
with Asian affinities from the north and Proto-Malays from the east. This ancestral
history and geographic dispersal pattern have resulted via a direct set of causal
mechanisms in the suite of genes, languages and culture that can be observed in
these groups today. Thus, we hold that the extensive genetic, linguistics,
A. T. Ahmad et al.