Public perception of the orang asli (indigenous people) tends to be negative due to problematic media coverage of their issues, Center for Orang Asli Concerns coordinator Colin Nicholas said today.

"(Due to problematic media coverage) the people think that the orang asli are beneficiaries of charity," Colin ( photo ) said in a talk titled 'Covering the Native' at the Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS) office in Petaling Jaya.

He was referring to instances where it was reported that orang asli were given help from the government or from charitable bodies.

In contrast, there was no coverage of the orang asli helping their own community through their own initiatives, he lamented.

He also argued that this problematic media coverage had contributed to the perception that orang asli are not worthy of their bumiputera privileges.

"Orang asli are portrayed as primitive and refusing to change so that they are seen as unworthy," he said.

While it is true that the orang asli want to preserve their culture and way of life, they are not opposed to development, he stressed

"The orang asli want development but they want it on their terms," he said.