160 of the Constitution of Malaysia. The article defines specifically a "Malay" as a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language and conforms to Malay custom. The Malaysian government also has taken the step of defining Malaysian Culture through the 1971 National Culture Policy, which defined what was considered official culture, basing it around Malay culture and integrating Islamic influences. The government has historically made little distinction between "Malay culture" and "Malaysian culture". Although it has been a subject of criticism even by the Malays themselves, the notion of becoming a Muslim means Masuk Melayu (entering Malayness) remains popular. This could have been caused by the centuries-old unclear distinction between "Islamisation" and "Malayisation", for there is a high tendency of the new revertees having eventually Malayised by the dominant Malay-Muslim culture. Peninsular Malaysia is home to a small indigenous tribal populations, collectively known as Orang Asli. The Malayic speakers among them, already share a common cultural-historical background with the Malays, who can therefore easily see them as "incomplete" Malays, requiring only Islam and an acceptance of social hierarchy to make them "complete". There are also those who speak languages unrelated to Malay, such as Aslian-speakers, are not quite so easily seen as incomplete Malays, but the gap can be closed to a considerable extent by conversion to Islam. Governmental agencies, both state and federal, including for many years the JHEOA (now known as JAKOA) itself, have accordingly spent much effort in converting the Orang Asli to Islam. The motivation for this is sometimes authentically religious, but it is more usually seen primarily as the means of Malayisation. Governmental policy towards Orang Asli has long proposed their integration into the broader Malaysian community should be brought about by assimilating them specifically into the Malay community, which by local custom and national law is Sunni Muslim by religion. JHEOA officers have been heard to comment that the Orang Asli "problem" - usually defined as that of poverty - would disappear if they became Muslims, and hence Malays. In September 1996, for example, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Land and Co-operative Development, Nik Mohamed Zain Nik Yusof, gave the following justification for the Federal government's newly announced review of legislation relating to Orang Asli land rights: "If these amendments are made, Orang Asli can be more easily integrated into Malay society. It will help them to