it. A clear example of the current situation is the case when in June 2001 one of the Orang Asli senators raised in the Malaysian Dewan Negara Senate the question of the inexpediency of spending funds that the state government directed to the introduction of the Semai language in school. Modernisation Since independence in 1957, the Malaysian government has begun to develop comprehensive Orang Asli community development programmes. The first stage, designed for the period 1954-1978, focused on security aspects and aimed to protect the Orang Asli from the influence of the communists. In the second phase, which began in the late 1970s, the government began to focus on the socio-economic development of the Orang Asli communities. In 1980, the state began creating Orang Asli settlements under the so-called Rancangan Pengumpulan Semula (RPS), a "regrouping scheme". There were established 17 RPS with 6 in the state of Perak, 7 in the state of Pahang, 3 in the state of Kelantan and 1 in the state of Johor; totaling of 3,015 families that lived in them. The RPS scheme targeted remote and scattered settlements and was to organise Orang Asli agricultural activities as their main source of livelihood. Programmes for the introduction of commercial crops, such as rubber trees, oil palm, coconut palm, and fruit trees, were implemented. These programmes were implemented mainly by two government agencies, namely the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA) and the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (FELCRA Berhad). Each family received up to ten acres of land as part of large plantations and two more acres for housing and homesteading. JHEOA provided people with tools, seedlings, herbicides and fertilisers for farming. Eventually, the RPS became a model for modernising the Orang Asli economy. In 1999 a restructuring of village project called Penyusunan Semula Kampung (PSK) was approved and implemented, which provides for the modernisation of basic infrastructure and public services in existing Orang Asli villages, whose residents began to receive the same incentives and benefits as the RPS participants. As of 2004, the project covered 217 Orang Asli villages. 545 Orang Asli villages (63%) were supplied with electricity, and 619 villages (71%) received water supply. A 2,910 km of rural roads was also built, and they provide access to 631 (73%) Orang Asli villages. Recently, economic development has spread to inland areas. A special programme Program Bersepadu Daerah Terpencil (PROSDET) is focused on the