Dr. Colin Nicholas

Colin Nicholas is the Founder and Coordinator of the Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), since its founding in 1989. The center is involved in advocacy work as well as capacity-building programmes that aim to get the rights of Orang Asli – the indigenous minority peoples of Peninsular Malaysia – recognised and respected.

Colin received his Ph.D. (with distinction) in Orang Asli Politics, Development and Identity from the Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, in 2000.

He has also authored several popular and academic articles as well as published several books on Indigenous and Orang Asli issues. Colin was also an expert witness for the Orang Asli in several land rights cases, several of which were precedent-setting.

He also served as an Independent Consultant to the National Inquiry on Indigenous Land Rights conducted by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, SUHAKAM. He is also a close associate of the Chiangmai-based Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) which he help co-found in 1988.