The Malays inhabiting the lowland valley and coastal areas traditionally regarded the Orang Asli as inferior; the term commonly used in reference to them was Sakai, which carries the connotation of “slave”, and indeed they were exploited by the Malays as slaves, causing them to retreat even deeper into the jungle areas. They were largely ignored by the British authorities although there was a certain amount of Christian missionary work in the aboriginal regions. The Catholic Church established a small community in Negri Sembalan in 1847 and Methodists began work with the remote Sengoi people in 1930. This work was resented by the Malay royalty who saw it as an infringement of their authority over the Orang Asli. The Methodists agreed not to baptise any Orang Asli for a period of ten years although they continued to run medical and educational services; however, the 10-year period was ended by the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the situation was left unresolved.