ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book was originally part of a multimedia project initiated by Magick River 

as a tribute to the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia.

The first phase was a 52-minute documentary, Guardians of the Forest, 

wholly funded by Andrew Bird, a pioneer member of the Magick River community. 

Produced by Mary Maguire and directed by Alan D’Cruz in 2000, 

Guardians documented the tribulations endured by a specific Orang Asli 

community in the face of relentless urbanization.

This was followed by the release in August 2002 of Akar Umbi’s CD, Songs of the Dragon. 

The album, featuring the healing songs of Temuan ceremonial singer Minah Angong, 

was co-produced by Antares and Rafique Rashid, and funded by the Japan Foundation.

The writing of this book was sponsored, in part, by a timely grant from the 

Swedish Foundation for the Internationalization of Higher Education (STINT), 

facilitated by Latif Kamaluddin, former director of Research and Education for Peace (REPUSM), School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang.

The publication in 2007 of Tanah Tujuh: Close Encounters with the Temuan Mythos by Silverfishbooks marks the completion of a project that began in 1992, 

with the launching of the Magick River community arts experiment.

On behalf of Magick River, I wish to thank everybody who has encouraged 

and supported our work from start to finish.