The basis was the classic three member scheme of division among the indigenous population of the Malay Peninsula on physiological and cultural-economic grounds, which was used during the British colonial rule. The Negritos (short dark-skinned nomadic hunter-gatherers with curly hair), the Senoi, taller than the Negrito and wavy-haired people who were engaged in slash-and-burn agriculture and periodically changed their place of residence) and the aboriginal Malays (dark-skinned, of normal height, with straight hair, are usually settled farmers). This division does not claim to be scientific, and it is easy to detect its shortcomings on almost any of the grounds, but it operates at the official level.