Books by David P. Quinton
This is the story of a Temiar community in the Kelantan hinterland. Never before has it been told in such detail and clarity, even though anthropologists have been intrigued with the Temiars for over a hundred years. It is a story of their survival in the deep rain forest of the Malayan Peninsula, from time immemorial to the present, living according to a ritual and social system taught to them through dreams, whereby they could placate the adverse spiritual entities of the wild and live peaceably as part of a strong ethnic group. Their dependence on natural resources has bonded them to the forest for millennia, and this is the lifestyle they seek to preserve today. Ten years of interaction with these true guardians of the forest has enabled David P. Quinton to piece together the facets of an unseen belief system and learn what makes them at one with their environment. He has also uncovered a wealth of knowledge that the Temiars possess of natural species and their uses.
VOL. 1:
VOL. 2:
Click to look inside !
Jump to the Puyan River gallery!
This is the story of the Temiars, an indigenous people group of Malaysia, that has never before been told in such detail.
VOL. 1 (232pp) describes the traditions and rituals that have been practiced for millennia, that have enabled the Temiars to keep in balance with the souls of nature, that are often antagonistic toward the human realm. A belief system that was learned through the dreams of the ancestors. Secondly, the old way of life is described, and their modes of survival in the deep rain forest.
Includes 545 photographs, 12 colour illustrations of traps, and a list of 1000 names of species known to the Temiars.
VOL. 2 (212pp) describes their recent history, from the times of peace in the 1930s, through the Communist insurgency of the 1950s until the 1970s, and the subsequent years of logging in their river valleys, up until 2016. All of which caused much disruption to the traditional way of life they have led for centuries, which is totally dependent on the natural resources of the rain forest.
Includes 415 photographs, 12 detailed colour maps, and a list of 1000 names of places in the territory with their origins.
VOL. 1 includes chapters 1-4, Appendix I
VOL. 2 includes chapters 5-11, Appendix II
| Chapter | Description |
|---|---|
| Preface | Explanation of book origins and description of content. |
| 1. Spiritual Harmony Among The Souls Of The Wild | Detailed description of the Temiar belief system, and their interaction with souls of natural entities, through dreams and ritual invocation. |
| 2. Temiar Taboos | Detailed definitions of 12 classes of taboos; list of 100 animal/plant species that cause harm; list of safe animals. |
| 3. The Old Homeland (pre-1950s) | Methodical description of the old way of life, from home-building and food foraging, to their use of natural materials. |
| 4. Temiar Animal Trapping | Trapping techniques used by the Temiars, with illustrations. |
| 5. Herbal Medicines Of The Temiars | Categorical survey of over 90 herbal remedies in use by the Temiars, complete with images. |
| 6. Sakaaᵏ: Temiar Customary Land | A definition of the word sakaak and its significance to land ownership; the origins of place names in Temiar territories. |
| 7. Origins and Ancestry Of The Puyan Temiars | A record of the farthest known ancestors of each kin group, with their descendants, complete with maps of settlements (pre-1950s) and family trees. |
| 8. The Communist Insurgency | The Temiars during the Emergency: their relocation downriver and later return, the fort at Goob, with maps of their journeys. |
| 9. Settlements In The Present Era | The resettling of the original homeland, at Goob, from 1970s-present, with maps. |
| 10. A History Of Logging In the Puyan Valley | The story of deforestation in the Puyan, from 1990-2018, with its detrimental effects to the environment and the Temiars’ way of life. |
| 11. The Puyan Temiars In The Present Day | Outside forces affecting the Temiars in the present day. |
| Appendix I: Species of the forest known to the Temiars | A categorical list of species known to the Temiars, from trees and plants, to fish, birds, mammals, reptiles, snakes and insects. |
| Appendix II: List Of Place Names in the Pos Goob Territory | 1000 place names gathered from the territory with their meanings. |
| Paperback 978-1-7391344-1-9 |
Hardcover 978-1-7391344-3-3 |
| Paperback 978-1-7391344-2-6 |
Hardcover 978-1-7391344-4-0 |
In Malaysia, our book can be found in various national book stores. Otherwise, it can be ordered from our distributor, Gerakbudaya, at the link below. They will also ship it internationally. You can also find it on Amazon, although the retail price will be double that of Gerakbudaya’s, unless they make price cuts to finish off their “print on demand” stock. It is helpful to us if you order from Gerakbudaya (also NUS in Singapore) because we have printed stock in Malaysia to sell and the proceeds go towards needs of the Senoi community at Pos Goob, in Kelantan.
The book on Amazon is practically the same, except for some corrections made in May 2023, an added taboo in chapter 2, and some additional side-notes. If you have no idea who the Senoi people are, the original November 2022 print sold by Gerakbudaya will certainly tell the story of an amazing people. The updated version should be sought after by anthropologists, historians and the like. The hardback was published in 2023 and is only available on Amazon.
Order from:
If you feel the urge to help promote our book, you could request your library to order it (either from Gerakbudaya, in Malaysia, or from Ingram, elsewhere). You could also send a copy to your university’s anthropology department!
The main purpose of the book, stated in the preface, is to have a go at painting the picture of the Temiars (the second largest ethnic group of the Senoi) in more vivid colours. Many research papers have been published before, but never anything in such complete detail or accuracy, and certainly not with colour images of their culture. Some of the said papers even carry erroneous details and are lacking in accuracy. The book aims at preserving the identity of the Senoi and especially the Temiar community at the Puyan River, giving evidence for their continual residence in the valley since ancient times. Officially, the Senoi peoples are treated as having no land of their own, and they have been struggling to prove otherwise.
And that’s how the book began its life in a bare-bones draft of the Temiar’s ancestry. Back in 2010, the many Senoi communities had started plotting their homelands with GPS mapping techniques. The Puyan community kicked this off in 2013, taking the author around the valley’s boundary made of mountain walls. They then proceeded to plot the former forest dwellings of 100 years ago, accumulating over 250 sites. It was the author’s task to investigate the names of these places with their etymology, and to dig up pieces of history that the Temiars held only in their memories. Well, the historical work wasn’t enough to make a compelling book, and more inspiration was needed to expand the description.
That inspiration came in 2018, in the form of Geoffery Benjamin’s book, Temiar Religion (2014), which attempted to describe Temiar spiritual beliefs. It didn’t fare well, however, with the Temiars the author interviewed, and there were numerous mix-ups found, along with incorrect conclusions, such as a purely good versus evil dialectic making up the fabric of Temiar beliefs.
Thus, chapters 1 and 2 were written, describing the Temiar belief system in more accurate detail, the theme being human versus the wild, and clearing up information about taboos. Adding to this, chapter 3 was made to describe the life skills of the Temiars inherited from ancient times, with chapter 4 dedicated to trap-tying skills. Chapter 5, that created the split into two volumes, was written to describe the vast knowledge of herbal medicines still held by the Temias, while chapter 6 was added to address the meaning of land inheritance to the Senoi. Thereon followed the historical record and a chapter on logging damages and a final chapter on the present day.
None of this development might have happened without the support and funding of the Small Grants Programme of the UN, which enabled so many things to happen, not to mention the purchase of new solar modules and all the publishing costs. It was Colin Nicholas of COAC who made the author aware of it in the first place and also who put the author with such a good book designer as Tong Kar Yew. He also arranged for two artists to create the cover collage.
It was NUS Press, back in 2017, who advised that the historical description would not draw the readers if published alone. But once the manuscript had begun to take shape, they also couldn’t take on the publishing costs of a potentially large book from a completely unknown author. So the author took it to the printers (as well as to IngramSpark), and in 2023, reached out to Malaysian distributors. The response from Gerakbudaya was immediate and full of enthusiasm for the book, and it only took a week to sign on to their terms. They have been working hard to promote it locally until now.
A memorial to the Temiars who passed on to the other world during the compilation and writing of this book.
David P. Quinton, from the UK, has lived with the Temiar people of Malaysia for ten years, studying their language and culture. He is married to a Temiar and together they live near Pos Gob with their two children.