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to foreigners. Much of its people did not go outside of their forests due to several
reasons, such as physical distance, customary prohibition, and a lack of interest in
the outside world. Due to a lack of records and literature on the Semoq Beri people
in Pahang, much is unknown about their history.
Physical Appearance
The skin color of the Semoq Beri people varies widely compared with the Negrito
and Proto-Malay tribes (Fig. 5). A study conducted by Ang et al. (2012) on the skin
variations of the Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia based on a molecular approach
revealed that the Senoi tribes have the widest distribution of skin color compared
with the Negrito and Proto-Malay tribes. Below are the faces of the Semoq Beri
people at our study site. They are of different ages and gender. Their hair varies
from curly and wavy, to straight (Ang et al. 2012).
Fig. 4 The caves used by the ancestors of the Semoq Beri people in Pahang for refuge and religious purposes
Fig. 5 The people of the Semoq Beri in Pahang
M. A. B. Abdul-Latiff et al.