The Empowerment of Orang Asli Women in the Tourism Industry in Lenggong, Perak

Abstract

Women, particularly those of the Orang Asli community, without a doubt play an important role in the family. These duties and roles include organising household affairs, giving birth and raising children, tending to the house, preparing meals for the family and sorting out their children’s school affairs. However, their roles are not limited to duties or daily routines that are done only at home. In fact, women (especially Orang Asli women), are capable of far more activities that can empower them, especially in the Lenggong’s tourism industry. This paper explores Orang Asli women empowerment through tourism industry with anthropological perspective. The empowerment of Orang Asli women can be seen from the aspect of skills that they already have which can be turned into tourism products, as well as to increase their source of income in supplementing their family expenses. Among the skills that can be highlighted are making handicrafts, being tourist guides, promoting traditional cuisine and dances as well as finding and brewing wild plant roots for medicinal purposes. The women of the Orang Asli who originally only served as housewives, can now change their family’s way of life by doing all sorts of activities which can generate new sources of income, by venturing into activities that can be used as attractions and new tourism product markets, especially in Lenggong, Perak.