Editing Semang (section)

==Name and status==

In [[Malaysia]], the term Semang ({{Lang|ms|Orang Semang}} in Malay) is used to refer to the hunter-gatherers, that are referred to more generically as ''Negrito,'' [[Spanish language|Spanish]] for 'little negro'. In the past, eastern groups of Semang have been called '''Pangan'''. Semang are referred to as Sakai in Thailand, although this term is considered to be derogatory in Malaysia.<ref name=Hajek>{{cite journal  | last = Hajek | first = John | title = Unraveling Lowland Semang | journal = Oceanic Linguistics | volume = 35 | issue = 1 | pages = 138–141  |date=June 1996  | doi = 10.2307/3623034 | jstor=3623034}}</ref>

In Malaysia, the Semang are one of three groups that are considered to be [[Orang Asli]], the hunter-gatherer people of the Peninsula. The other two groups are the [[Senoi]] and the [[Proto-Malay]] (Aboriginal Malay). The Semang have six sub-groups: [[Kensiu]], [[Kintaq]], [[Lanoh people|Lanoh]], [[Jahai people|Jahai]], [[Mendriq]] and [[Batek people|Batek]]. The Malaysian federal government has designated the [[Department of Orang Asli Development]] (''Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli'', JAKOA) as the agency responsible for integrating the Orang Asli into the wider Malaysian society.

The three category division of the indigenous population was inherited by the Malaysian government from the British administration of the colonial era. It is based on racial concepts, according to which the [[Negrito]] were seen as the most primitive race leading the vagrant way of life of [[hunter-gatherer]]s. The [[Senoi]] were considered more developed, and the [[Proto-Malay]] were placed at almost the same level with the [[Malaysian Malays|Malaysian Malay]] Muslims.

In [[Thailand]], the terms Semang and [[Orang Asli]] are replaced by the terms ''Sakai'' or ''Ngopa'' (''Ngò 'Pa'' or ''Ngoh Paa'', which literally means 'curly/frizzy (haired) people').<ref name="SO">{{cite web|url=https://www.everyculture.com/East-Southeast-Asia/Semang-Orientation.html |title=Semang - Orientation |publisher=World Culture Encyclopedia |access-date=2018-12-12}}</ref> The first term is derogatory in Malaysia, with the connotation of savages, subjects or slaves.<ref name="SO"/> The Semang have had a degree of patronage from the royal family of [[Thailand]].