Rubber Tree and Politics

1877... Sir Henry Wickham... the first seeds of the rubber trees made their way to Malaya.. and the rest is history. By the 1950s we were the undisputed number one rubber producer in the world.

My grandfather was brought to Sitiawan in one of those early 20th century immigration waves and like many of them, he turned to rubber cultivation for a living. I remember vaguely seeing him and many others coming back in the mornings with latex in huge metal containers saddled behind their bicycles. Those days, they would tap rubber by the flickering kerosene (I think) lights mounted on their foreheads. These later gave way to the battery powered headlights. Rubber tapping was a tough job... but it brought much wealth to our young nation. But much of this labour was provided by the Indians who were brought in to this country in droves.

My friends used to tease me that Fuchow ladies of old were very tough... I guess so. Cos apart from running the household, they also had to help their husbands tap rubber and make the rubber sheets. The making of the rubber sheets also involved stepping on them. And it did their feet great injustice as the rubber had lots of formic acid... Also, putting those sheets through the rolling machine required a lot of energy and work. So, they had to be tough... there was no room for the petite and gentle ladies those days.

Hence also, the reason for big portions in Fuchow food servings. One comment which I usually get when my friends talk about food in Sitiawan is the size of its servings. Well, that's part of the rubber legacy. A lot of energy is needed to tap the rubber to producing the rubber sheets. One of the things I think I missed from my grandma's cooking is probably the egg porridge that she cooked for breakfast. And the serving would be huge..... egg porridge with lard! It has this appetizing smell as well.

So, the wealth of our nation is built on this... the white blood of the rubber tree, not native to this land. And the hands, the toil and sweat which turned this white blood into gold... they too were not native. Many of these lives were lost to the wild animals, snake bites .... dangerous places those plantations were in the early days.

So like the tree flung from the Amazon which has taken root in this land and feels so native to its adopted land, the people who toiled it also came from afar.. and they too have grown roots and call this land home. So, home is where we toil and sweat... where our hearts and roots are. There's no need to divide us by the colour of our skin.... The Brits divided to rule us. The BN also went along that line, albeit a little more refined. But the reason for that is clear.... divided we fall, united we stand and those in power remain in power unchecked even when they abuse the system to their own benefit.

We each have our own calling card, and on it is written Anak Bangsa Malaysia.