This study provides the reader with a straight forward, realistic account of Malaysia= s legendary special force unit, the Senoi Praaq. The unit, originally a creature of British military intelligence, was set up in 1956 to fight communism during the Malayan Emergency. Its troopers fought in the deep jungle as Special Air Service (SAS) proteges, eventually replacing them upon Malayan independence from Great Britain. They then served as mercenaries employed under South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)/United States Central Intelligence Agency (USCIA) auspices in Vietnam, and they later fought on Borneo during Malaysia= s own undeclared war with Indonesia.
Today the unit, largely comprised of non-Malay tribal peoples known collectively as the Orang Asli of peninsula Malaysia, remains under arms and heads up a large paramilitary apparatus maintained in conjunction with conventional military forces. I contend in this research that the Senoi Praaq played a pivotal role in Malaya= s transition from colony to independent nation and remains today a unique fighting force upon whom Malaysia must rely to preserve her national security interests both within Malaysia proper and along the perimeter of the vital international passage route, the Malacca straits.
The evidence and argument put forward in my analysis drawn in important measure from interviews with veteran Senoi Praaq commanders and troopers refutes the contentions of social activist researchers who hijacked the persona of the Orang Asli tribes in the 1960's and continue to this day to depict Malaysia= s indigenous peoples as primitive, lost and helpless victims of modernization who are disgruntled wards of the state. Their publications harm the very peoples they purport to champion. Nonetheless, beefed up political pamphlets are hustled towards just such an end thinly disguised as academic scholarship and published by a variety of institutes and centers for this or that Orang Asli concern. The authors of these works only replicate in Malaysia a pattern, spun by advocacy oriented writers in other countries around the world vis a multitude of indigenous peoples but hardly applicable in Malaysia. A discerning observer understands however that the Orang Asli peoplesC albeit a disadvantaged ethnic group C constitute an absolutely indispensable human resource which needs to be cultivated and channeled over time into productive rather than confrontational relations with the state.
While my study pays the Orang Asli their due as a people it also shatters the passive and shameful stigma which marks their public image.
Death Waits in the Dark is not a wholesome book about nice people, friendly places and quaint things. Ambushes, assassinations and assorted dirty deeds, the very essence of irregular warfare in counterinsurgency operations, are taken to chilling extremes by the unit= s Orang Asli, Malay and British personnel. Their story is a fast paced and often graphic account of a virtual killing machine in action. Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo and Singapore are all venues of Senoi Praaq operations where the business end of the intelligence game is brought to bear played to the max.If the Orang Asli embody the altruistic qualities often associated with Jean Jacques Rousseau= s much heralded noble savage they likewise exhibit any number of dark Hobsian traits conveniently ignored by some researchers. This ugly truth points up admirably the fact that there is no anthropological or sociological Shangri-la wherein resident peoples are incapable of being taken and trained either to kill or to kill more efficiently. Killing for that matter comes easy in the jungle.
. The evidence assembled in this research corroborates the paradigm in Orang Asli studies first put forward by John D. Leary, who brought us Violence and the Dream People, and extended by myself in several studies of the Orang Asli polity. These texts make one point perfectly clear: The Orang Asli peoples give as good as they get. They are not stereotypical patsies. Time and time again they prove themselves able to achieve satisfaction in return for their troubles whether they be political or military.
Many people were helpful in the preparation of this book. Some do not wish to be acknowledged in the usual manner since they remain active professionally and are involved in sensitive matters. In these instances a generic thank you to the Royal Malaysia Police is in order. However, several individuals now retired or otherwise employed may be thanked for their most helpful contributions. These men are of different nationalities and come from a variety of backgrounds but they all share an abiding interest in the Orang Asli. They deserve a special thank you and include Ruslan Mohamed Iskandar bin Abdullah, Sambut Anak, Haji Ahmad bin Khamis, Mike G. Jones, Charles H. Ley, Desmond Lawrence, and Mat Nor.
Finally, I am particularly indebted to Clint Thomas, Professor Emeritus, Eastern Michigan University and formerly Professor Indiana University Shah Alam, Malaysia who once again constructed the necessary maps and helped in countless other ways. This is the third book he has helped me pull together and there really is no way to adequately acknowledge such support in words but I can tryC thank you Clint.
Roy Davis Linville Jumper
Kuala Lumpur 2001 Return to Home Page