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The resourcefulness of the Orang Laut
The Orang Laut were seafaring gatekeepers of Southeast Asia’s seas.
By Prof. Kim Jong-ho (Institute for East Asian Studies at Sogang University)

Stilt houses of the Bajau people living on the island of Bodgaya, Malaysia

The oceans of Southeast Asia, which span the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, Maluku Islands, and the Philippines, contain countless islands and wash ashore at coastlines that are very difficult to navigate. They are also home to multiple ethnic groups and their rich diversity of languages, religions, and cultures.
The geographical and cultural complexity makes it particularly difficult to find one’s way around this region. During the age of commerce, i.e., the period from the 15th to 17th century, ships from Arabia, China, England, India, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain came to Southeast Asia in droves to obtain the region’s native spices. In order to be able to do business locally, foreign merchants were desperately in need of the help of the Orang Laut, a number of seafaring ethnic groups, who traveled easily from island to island and from one coastline to another. According to records by a 17th century Dutch person, the Orang Laut, whose name in Malay literally means “sea people,” traveled the seas itinerantly, with no fixed home, since ancient times and went wherever the monsoon winds took them via established Southeast Asian sea routes, from the South China Sea to what is today Taiwan, northern Australia, and as far as the Indian Ocean. In the 17th century, the Orang Laut fulfilled many roles: they were first and foremost fishers, but also seasoned merchants, pirates, and mercenaries. This is important because, at the time, Southeast Asian waters were the site of intense international competition over spices. Based on the high demand for their services, the Orang Laut played a crucial role in the sea trade, serving as guides and merchants for foreigners who needed supplies and profitable goods. The Bugis people, who were based in Sulawesi and made their livelihood on the seas of Borneo and the Malay Peninsula, and the Bajau people, who mostly lived on Indonesia’s eastern islands and the southern parts of the Philippines, are the most well-known divisions (known as “suku”) of the Orang Laut. Some divisions that grew strong by serving an international clientele took over islands and founded their own countries. A small number of Orang Laut descendants continue towork and live as their ancestors did: their way of life is known to us today through occasional instances of media coverage.