Varsity planning orang asli homestay project for tourists

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

Woven with love: Dr Rais checking out some of the Orang Asli products during his visit to the settlement in Gombak.

GOMBAK: The orang asli of Gombak will soon house tourists once the International Islamic University Malaysia kicks start a project to raise the community’s income through tourism.

University president Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim said the project would be initiated with the Orang Asli Development Department.

“University volunteers as well as graduates, will assist the orang asli to promote the visits and their handicrafts,” he said when asked about the plan after an interaction session on orang asli’s cultural heritage yesterday.

“For a start, they would identify five to 10 houses for the visits and would see if the stream in the village could be made an attraction,” Dr Rais said.

The former Information, Communication and Culture Minister, said the project organisers would also be promoting nose-flute artiste Raman Bah Tuin as well as the orang asli museum.

“This will enable tourists to understand the orang asli way of living and their cultural heritage,” he said.

The Gombak orang asli village head Ulang Sipang said the concept was a good one.

“We started it in Ulu Yam and some tourists have started to visit orang asli houses there,” he said, adding that an estimated 200 orang asli families are living in Gombak.