e or difficulty in earning cash will cause fewer people to use bigger outboard engines unless necessary.... But outboard engines will be one durable that will be sustained as they are currently one of the most important measures of living standards among the Kenyah. The ability of the Kenyah to prevent a significant drop from their current standard of living depends on their ability to adapt. However, the expected event is not completely new to the Kenyah. This will be the second time.... Another vital consideration is the Kenyah perception of the industry as essentially a transient economic 'bonus'. There is evidence to show that the Kenyah are already adapting to prepare for this eventuality.
On the other hand, the traditional economic systems of the Kenyah would not be able to resolve their long-term economic problems, especially their objective of keeping abreast with their neighbours, or to sustain their present level of economic achievement. For these, they will have to rely on outside sources. There is no doubt, for instance, that development in social fields such as education is vital if the Kenyah hope to live beyond the level of bare subsistence; steps are being taken towards this end. Kenyah parents now encourage some of their children to work in the urban areas.
Responses to the problems of the threatened peoples of south-east Asia
South-East Asian governments have employed various means to solve the problems faced by the impoverished sections of their countries. For those in the rural areas, the solutions involve a wide range from 'quick fix' measures to patient assistance. The former include the relocation of traditional subsistence farmers and tribal people into resettlement projects which have been established throughout the region, and the creation of reserves for some remote tribal communities such as the Orang Asli reserves in Peninsular Malaysia. The latter entail various informal forms of social and economic assistance, and giving tribal people or social groups some form of autonomy over their affairs, as has happened in the Philippines.
Most South-East Asian countries have also created agencies responsible for administering the affairs of tribal people and other weaker social groups, such as the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli (Aborigines Affairs Department) in Peninsular Malaysia and the Office of the Presidential Assistant on National Minorities (PANAMIN) in the Philippines. Unfortunately, these agencies were, in most cases, created more out of government concern for some broader national issues rather than the problems of these weaker and vulnerable societies. Both agencies mentioned above were created to safeguard national security; they are not efforts geared largely towards improving the livelihood of the societies concerned. In most cases, these are 'front agencies' with 'tribal tags' to justify activities undertaken by the government. It is not surprising that very few, if any, of these bodies have been successful in enhancing the economy, and winning the desired co-operation of the threatened people involved. Even after a few decades of its existence, during which it was allocated millions of dollars in funds, the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli has had little success in improving the economic well-being of the people it was established to assist (Jinnin, 1987).
The Orang Asli communities remain the most impoverished in Malaysia, poorer even than the tribal societies of Sabah and Sarawak, who did not receive nor were given such concerted attention. Apart from Malaysia, where the achievement of some of its landdevelopment projects is fairly impressive both in the social and economic fields, this cannot be said for many similar efforts carried out in the regions affected by the transmigration programme in Indonesia, especially those in Kalimantan.
These projects and agencies, however, did achieve some of the desire,d objectives of the government, especially those for which they were specifically targeted. The creation of the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli contributed in some ways to the success in fi