The Orang Asli Literacy Project - Combining Research and Social Responsibility in a Technological University

In this paper I share my challenges and experiences as a researcher in an academic institution where the research project which initially began as part of an academic research initiative expanded to helping a marginalized community in need. As a social science researcher in a technological university which emphasizes natural science research, opportunities and motivation to carry out social based research is hard to come by. This then becomes a challenge. Furthermore, being a minority among academics from the Engineering and Technology disciplines, obtaining funding and carrying out social based research is difficult. In this paper, I share the conception of the “Orang Asli Literacy Programme” and share the challenges faced in executing this project.

Note: In this paper, the pronoun “I” refers to the first author and “we” and “our” will refer to the first author and co authors
Keywords—Research; Orang Asli; Literacy; community service