Originally, one British pound was equivalent to the value of a pound or 453 grams of Sterling silver containing 92.5 percent silver. That is where it got the name British pound sterling.

The high purity and quality of the sterling silver not only became a value pegging for currency but also for work performance. Someone who has done a good job that’s far above the quality that others could produce is often said to have given a sterling performance.

Uncontrolled state expenditure caused the coffers of King Henry VIII to be so depleted that he resorted to trickery. Henry diluted the silver content of the British coins to less than a third of what it should have been and replaced it with copper. The fake coins lost their silvery hue and revealed their reddish copper content after being rubbed with acid, thus giving birth to the term acid test.

Tremendous number manipulations were done by substituting coins containing 92.5 percent silver with those containing 70 percent copper while retaining the face value of the coinage. The resulting loss of trust in the true value of British coinage took a long time to overcome.

The messing up of number, quality and work performance that King Henry VIII of England did 600 years ago came to mind when I met Sani Gani, 17, last weekend. Sani is an Orang Asli of the Bateq tribe from Kampung Cangkung in Sungai Keniam, Pahang.

As Kampung Cangkung is situated in the Pahang National Park and is about a 30-minute boat ride upriver from Kampung Pagi, the nearest village with a school, it is not surprising that Sani did not go to school and does not know how to read or write. It is sad and lamentable that in the year 2023 some Malaysians still do not have access to basic education, but there is another thing more shocking.

Sani does not have a Malaysian identity card.

And Sani is not alone as there are many more in Kampung Cangkung who share his plight.

“My villagers and I took part in identity card registration exercises by the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) a long time ago but we still have no news about when we will get our identity cards,” he said.

Kampung Cangkung’s bomoh (shaman) Ijan Sahak, 35, said Jakoa officers came to their village seven times for the purpose of identity card registration.

“Not only that, the villagers who have no identity cards came to meet Jakoa officers at Kampung Pagi for the same purpose eight times.

On the last registration exercise a few years ago, about 10 boatloads of around 40 to 50 people, came to Kampung Pagi. We have done all we can to get our identity cards but until now the result is zero,” he said.

Ijan hailed from  Kampung Yong and only moved to Kampung Cangkung after he married his wife, a Kampung Cangkung resident.

“I found out that my wife did not have an identity card when she could not claim her Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) monies. Later I discovered that many people in the village do not have identity card,” he said.

Yayasan Food Bank Malaysia Chief Executive Officer and Sahabat Jariah Malaysia president Johan Halid who has gone to numerous Orang Asli settlements all over Peninsular Malaysia to give food and education aids said the situation in Kampung Cangkung is baffling.

He said although Kampung Cangkung is only accessible by boat, it is not as remote as some of the orang Asli settlements that he had been to.

“Even in good weather, it takes at least eight hours to drive with 4WD vehicles to reach Pos Gob in Gua Musang, Kelantan and all the people of the Temiar tribe who live there have identity cards.

The lack of road access also cannot be the reason as all the Jahai people in the Royal Belum State Park in Perak have identity cards. Their settlements are also only accessible by boat,” he said.

Jakoa should be commended for taking the effort to go to Kampung Cangkung seven times, followed by eight times more to Kampung Pagi just to get the Bateq people of Kampung Cangkung their identity card. However, the result so far, according to the Kampung Cangkung residents, is a resounding zero. Therefore, Jakoa should be given all the help they needed to overcome any obstacles that have caused the delay in getting the Bateqs of Kampung Cangkung their identity cards.

My interview with Izan the shaman and Sani ended as they excused themselves to help volunteers from Yayasan Food Bank Malaysia and Sahabat Jariah Malaysia set up the makeshift classroom where the two non-governmental organisations were to teach Bateq kids to read, write and count.

As they learn to count and do basic mathematics, we should prove to them that 7+8 is not zero. Nobody can claim to have given a sterling performance if we fail to give the Bateqs of Kampung Cangkung the proof that they are Malaysian citizens.