Wednesday, April 16, 2014

ISKANDAR CAREY OF CAREY ISLAND


I first heard of Carey Island during one of the ragging days when just joining Kolej Pertanian Serdang in 1970.

"So you are a Harrison & Crossfield scholar hah?" a tall well built and handsome Chinese third year senior with full sideburns said while looking at my freshie nametag. "You should go to Carey Island for vacation training and try the abelons," he continued.

"Yes, sir," I answered meekly. For one thing I didn't know what abelons really were and thought they were mushroom. Secondly, I could not remember his name. If he found out I was afraid that I would be ragged by doing pumpings or other funny things.

Apparently, Carey Island (Pulau Carey) to the southwest of Kelang got its name from Iskandar Carey, an anthropologist who spent much time among the Mah Meri orang asli there.



Mah Meri craftsman fashioning a sculpture of a spirit from wood.


Mah Meri girls in their traditional dress preparing for a dance.


Carey's work on orang asli:

Carey, Iskandar. 1961a. Tengleq Kui Serok: A Study of the Temiar Language, with an Etnographic Summary. DBP, K Lumpur
1961b. The Orang Asli in Malaya. Seed 2(1)
1968. The Orang Asli and social change. Federated Mus. J. n.s. 8:57-64
1970a. The Orang Asli and social change. Fed Mus J XIII
1970b. The Kensiu Negritos of Baling. JMBRAS 43(2)
1971. Some notes on the Sea Nomads of Johore. Fed Mus J XIV
1976. Orang Asli: The Aboriginal Tribes of Peninsular Malaysia. Oxford Univ Press, Kuala Lumpur
(nd). The Malayan orang asli and their future
(nd). Methods of cultivation among the Kelantan Temiar. In Symp Impact of Man on Humid Tropic Vegetation. Government Printer, Canberra


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