Attempts to document the languages of indigenous communities which are facing the
threat of extinction in linguistically diverse countries like Malaysia have given rise to
numerous ethical issues, partly due to the disadvantaged and illiterate statuses of these
minority communities. This paper explores some of these concerns such as that of obtaining
informed consent, privacy and intrusion, withholding of information, data abuse, monetary
rewards and cultural sensitivities in documenting the languages of six Orang Asli or
indigenous groups in Malaysia. The study is based on the narratives of researchers in the
field who were asked to introspect on their experiences in documenting the languages of
the Orang Asli.