There is a place in Langkawi called Bukit Malut which is "home" to a dense community of muslim Burmese refugees known as Peshu. The Peshu is said to be descendents of the early Malays of the northern states of Malaya who fled the country to Burma during the war between Siam and Kedah before the independence of Malaysia. The existence of the Peshu was discovered by a Malaysian engineer who visited a palm plantation on the Burma Ranong border in the early '80s who then informed the Malaysian government about these people, whereupon the transfer of the Peshu to Malaysia began. This is probably the justification for the Malaysian government to bring in new immigrants as new voters for Barisan Nasional, the ruling political party of Malaysia. The Peshu were then given Malaysian identity card and basic social benefits but apart from this, they still struggle for their survival. These people are mostly an isolated group, shunned by the local community and labeled as untrustworthy and dangerous.
Bukit Malut where the Burmese refugees live, is just a ten minutes drive from Kuah town, the business district of Langkawi. If you are not looking for it, you will not realize that this place exists.
Originally 500 in number, the population of the Burmese refugees in Bukit Malut have swelled to over 5,000 marginalised humanity living in overcrowded and extremely unhygienic conditions. A visiting doctor to the settlement said, "This place is not even fit for my pet dog to live in ... "
Homes are just temporarily put up shacks made up of used plywood, zinc , old wood, bamboo frames and anything else that is available. Power lines streaked dangerously across the community linking individual "homes". Some shacks do not have electricity at all. There are no sanitation facilities. Waste water and garbage is swallowed up by the sea. This is grossly unacceptable and a terrible pollution to the surrounding sea water, not to mention a continuous health hazard to the refugees living there. Water supply runs through PVC pipings from a main pipe at the entrance to the settlement. 
Shacks built over the sea are linked by wooden walkways which have deteriorated over the years. The Burmese refugees still use these walkways to move about daily. They just do not have the money to repair these walkways or build new ones. Young children have been known to have fallen through these dangerous walkways at night during high tides and have drowned. 
The womenfolk of this Burmese refugee community help out with the household expenses by sorting ikan bilis or anchovies for RM6 per day at the nearby anchovy factories. Women with very young children are allowed to sort the anchovies at home as children are not allowed in the factories. It is really back-breaking work to peel each anchovy to remove the entrails and for such little income, less than USD2 a day. Young children who have no access to schooling, also work at the anchovy factory. Other enterprising womenfolk sells snacks and drinks to their own people in the community itself, while others sell groceries or have a small tailoring business. However old folks who are not able to work, depends on the goodwill of their neighbours for their daily needs. 
Most of the menfolk are small time fishermen.However the catches are small and irregular. On good days, they can make enough money for their daily needs and have something left over for a rainy day. However their livelihood depends a lot on the weather and seasons for different marine life. Theirs are not an easy lifestyle, going out to sea, getting burnt almost black daily, being exposed to the winds, storms and other elements. Other menfolk do odd jobs outside the settlement for paltry payments as contract workers, doing work which other people would not touch, dangerous work at times. Wives would sometimes work alongside their husbands in construction sites as general laborers. The lives of the Burmese refugees are really a struggle. 
Some of the womenfolk are single mothers with two to three very young children. It is difficult for them to find work outside their homes as there is no one to look after their children. Their situations are so bad that on many occasion there is no money to buy milk for the young ones. Some mothers feed young babies with biscuits softened in water so that the babies don't go hungry. There is no money to treat medical problems and no proper health care. There was a mother who used cheap lipstick to treat a rash on her baby's face... We help by providing food and medical aid to the poor, elderly and infirmed of this community.
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