Betau Orang Asli chiefs roll out blue carpet for Najib

CAMERON POLLS | Villagers in Pos Betau, the largest Orang Asli settlement in the Cameron Highlands constituency, turned up in droves today to welcome former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

He was honoured with the mulang (woven) headdress and sash as he arrived. Many of those present swarmed Najib with requests for handshakes, selfies and even hugs.

On stage, the former premier was flanked by Pahang Menteri Besar and state BN chief Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail. Both Najib and Wan Rosdy were dress in t-shirts with the word "Malu apa bossku."

Also on stage were 18 tok batin (village chiefs) from the settlement, all dressed in BN colours.

At least three of the tok batin attended the contentious dialogue with Pakatan Harapan lawmakers on Jan 11, where PKR senator Bob Manolan Mohd said that Orang Asli who were not supportive of the ruling coalition should be removed or denied their wages.

Harapan blamed 

After the emcee led chants of "Hidup BN!" (Long live BN) and "Mati PH!" (Death to Pakatan Harapan!), Kampung Betang village chief Ahmad Selu took the stage.

"To the chiefs in Jelai, do not give Harapan a chance because they have accused us of accepting bribes which caused the (results of) the general election to be voided.

"They said we accepted bribes, they humiliated the village chiefs in Jelai," he said.

Twelve Orang Asli, some of them tok batin, previously testified to the Election Court in Kuala Lumpur that they had been paid money by BN before the 14th general election.

The Cameron Highlands re-election was triggered after the court established that vote-buying had led to MIC vice president C Sivarraajh's win on May 9.

Ahmad, who is also the Umno Pos Betau division chief, urged chiefs to not allow Harapan to campaign in their villages.

"If they come, halau! (shoo them!)

"If they come to our kampungs, do not entertain them,” Ahmad told those present, which numbered more than 400 people and who were mostly dressed in BN-blue.

Najib accuses Harapan of bribery

Najib later thanked the enthusiastic crowd for their reception and similarly accused Harapan of "belittling" the Orang Asli.

"The Orang Asli have honour! Do not treat the Orang Asli like fools. Do not belittle the Orang Asli or threaten the Orang Asli.

"They accuse us of all sorts of things, Ahmad says they accused the Orang Asli of accepting money.

"They are the ones secretly distributing money," he alleged. "They accuse of us all sorts of things, but they are worse than us."

The crowd was later treated to a simple free lunch.

Less than two days of campaigning remain, and many predict that the Orang Asli vote will ultimately determine whether BN’s Ramli Mohd Nor or Harapan’s M Manogaran wins the seat come Jan 26.

Just under a quarter of the Cameron Highlands electorate are Orang Asli, amounting to about 7,500 people.

In Pos Betau alone, there are about 1,095 Orang Asli voters.

During GE14, BN won almost 80 percent of the votes in this polling district, while Harapan managed less than 10 percent.

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