IN the days leading up to the Kuala Kubu Baharu (KKB) by-election, some quaint names of plantations have cropped, among them Ladang Nigel Gardner, Mary, Oil and Sungai Tinggi.
These plantations in the spotlight recently when the estate workers, who were promised that they would be re-settled in new houses more than two decades back, had decided to ask the contesting candidates to sign statutory declarations (SDs) to honour their election pledges.
Fortunately, their plight was brought to public attention and according to news reports Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Khor Ming, has helped to resolve this long-standing issue.
There are also similar issues when plantations are taken up for development and the workers are housed temporarily in long houses.
The estate workers have to put up with deplorable housing conditions when there are decades-long delays or unfulfilled promises.
The four plantations mentioned above together with the others nearby. Sungai Rambai and Batu Arang estates were once owned by Socfin Group, which had exited Malaysia more than two decades ago.
In addition to these plantations the company also possessed the Bangsar Estate on Jalan Damansara, Kuala Lumpur where the company had its headquarters.
Bangsar Estate was on prime land and it was developed in the mid-1960s into an upscale residential area.
Additionally, it also owned the Sungai Ular Estate in Penang and the Labis Estate in Johor, which during the pre-Felda days was the largest plantation in the country.
The company decided to opt out of the plantation business due to changing circumstances and because local plantation groups were buying up all the estates available for sale at a good price.
Many old-timers from the Socfin estates in KKB fondly remember the company, which was one of the best managed firms that treated its workers well and also provided proper housing and good sporting facilities in the estates.
The company had pro-active managers, among them M. P. Marshall who deserves special mention. Hailing from France, he was much guided by French socialist principles and was considerate to the estate workers’ demands and needs.
Another distinguished person from Socfin was the late A.V. Karthayah, who was president of the All Malaysia Estate Staff Union and also a DAP parliamentary contestant.
A pioneer of the company, Henri Fauconnier, initiated the planting of oil palm in the country and it was first introduced in the Tennamaram estate in 1917 in Bestari Jaya.
The Oil Palm Centennial was celebrated grandly in 2017 in Bestari Jaya. The Oil Palm Industry is now contributing billions of ringgit and is a major component of the national economy.
The 245 estate workers are possibly some of last batch of local estate workers in the area as now most of the manual labour is done by migrant workers.
At one time the large pentangular area between Kapar, Kuala Selangor, Rawang, Sungai Buloh and Kepong was a huge concentration of rubber and oil palm estates where thousands of locals were employed.
Most of these estates were owned by European firms, and the managers were mostly from the United Kingdom.
From the 1970s onwards there was increasing Malaysianisation of the plantations sector as local firms bought these estates and the locals also began to be involved in management at all levels.
This was also the time when more estates opted for the more profitable oil palm cultivation, which also used less workers as compared to rubber estates.
Possibly, the housing problem of the affected workers could be traced to the time when the Socfin Company sold the estate to locals.
The Ijok state constituency, which shares a border with the KKB constituency, had an Indian voter majority about two decades ago, perhaps the only one in the country then.
However, over the years with Indians leaving the estates for employment elsewhere and the Ijok constituency lost this unique feature.
The by-election in 2007 for the Ijok state seat between the Barisan Nasional/MIC’s K. Parthiban and Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim (who later became Selangor’s menteri besar) evoked much excitement and hope and it was one of the turning points for the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. – May 10, 2024
Main pic credit: Bernama
