favour of Sagong Tasi, who represented the Orang Asli, and this decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal. Nevertheless, customary land disputes between Orang Asli and the state government still occurs from time to time. In 2016, the Kelantan state government was sued due to a dispute over land by Orang Asli. The department has broad powers, including controlling the entry of outsiders into the areas of Orang Asli settlements, the appointment and dismissal of village heads (batins), the ban on planting any specific plants on Orang Asli lands, the issuance of permits for deforestation, jungle harvesting produce, hunting in traditional areas of Orang Asli, as well as determining the conditions under which Orang Asli can be hired. When appointing village elders, JAKOA focuses primarily on the candidate's knowledge of the Malay language and his ability to follow instructions. The final decision in all matters concerning the Orang Asli are decided by the authorized state official, the General Director of JAKOA. The department is the de facto "landowner" of the Orang Asli territories, it also shapes the general decisions of the communities, and essentially effectively keeps the Orang Asli in the status of its "children", acting as their state guardian infantilising them in ways not applied to the Malays or natives in Sabah and Sarawak. While Malays have been considered a "native people" in Malaysia since colonial times, the Orang Asli, according to local notions, are communities of "primitive" people who never formed an "effective statehood" and were dependent on the Malay state with political status determined by the practice of Islam, knowledge of the Malay language, and compliance with the norms of Malay society preferring that the Orang Asli "masuk Melayu" which is "to become a Malay."The Malaysian state government does not recognise the Orang Asli as a "people" at all in the sense as defined in United Nations documents. The Orang Asli's "nativeness" is their attempt to defend a broader political autonomy. Recently, some Orang Asli groups, with the support of volunteer lawyers, have made some progress in asserting their constitutional rights to customary lands and resources in the courts. They demanded compensation in accordance with the principles of common law and the international rights of indigenous peoples. In the early 1970s, the government began to introduce New Economic Policy (NEP), as part of which created a new class of people "bumiputera", "prince of the land". The