Chaptter 15 St.Andrew Estate,Batng Berjuntai

It was indeed a blessing to have a good testimony from the first Manager.The Manager whom I had worked with since I first joined planting in Hurst Estate and also in Bentong Estate.He gave me that testimony in good faith when I resigned from him to join Kumpulan Guthrie.

It was armed with that, I secured that position in St.Andrew Estate,Batang Berjuntai,Selangor.I never had the full support of Guthries.Had I any thing it would had been  nothing but rubbish anyway.Any references to them by any employer would certainly spelled disastrous for me.

I am optimistic I would prevail in any Chinese owned concerned.For Chinese Company wanted only people who could perform with honesty.Most important could make profit for them.Most believe those from the Agency houses were rubbish and corrupted.

They also believed that most plantation planters and their subordinates  were heavy  drinkers.Admittedly I am not sociable by their standard because I do not drink and mixed around freely.For all I know planters were supposed to work in the interest of the Company And that does not include social drinking or fooling around in clubs.Drinking leads to all other vices without a doubt.

Heavy drinking promotes corruption.Nothing is free in this world and  know all Contractors of plantations were ever willing to buy all the planters or their staffs a drink anytime any where,if you are game they were ever ready to serve you..These were often adhere to favors in all future tender for contacts in their plantations.Work performed badly could be adjusted by a few drinks.

With my knowledge and experiences in Chinese owned concerned I was pretty sure I was a force to reckon with and to survive  under them were just simply  child's play. To be able to toy with their spies and informers were doubtlessly fun requiring a little bit of wits to out outsmart them.

With the removing of the young joker from the Manager's position in St.Andrew Estate I took over the whole set up.For a starter I had the great flood of Kuala Selangor to contend with.That flood came in late Dec.1970.Fortunately where we stayed stood on high ground,so were all the other quarters.

Water,water every where.As we were caught red handed without food supplies we had to purchase them from town.Like us the town proper of Batang Berjuntai was situated on a small hill,thus safe from the flood.All other areas under water.

No small vehicles could endured the high level of the flooding water.There were little sign that the water would be recede within the next few days.With food ration running low we were forced to make a trip to town.Our plantation's lorry came in handy as it could traveled in those flooded estate's road.

Along with us we also had several of our workers.They could be useful just in case we find ourselves in trouble on the way out.Anyway many of them also wanted to replenish their food rations.We were happy we made it to town safely.

Despite the flood the market had its supplies of vegetables,fish and meat.All the sundry shops were opened for business as usual.What a great relief for all of us.The flooding water actually subsided within the next week end.

With the flood gone it was to be followed with cleaning up in the fields.Missing latex cups had to be replaced.Many of them being washed away when the flooding water receded.There were rubbish of broken branches and leaves littering around the base of trees which had to be cleared.Tappers paths and roads also to be cleared properly.

The trees had also to be rested ,thus allowing time for them to recover from the flooding shock,before we resume tapping them.Many new latex cups were purchased to replace those washed away.or buried in mud.The first few days of tapping yielded only a small quantity of latex because the dried up cuts ought to be shaved off first.

When I went there most of the mature fields were established with PBIG seedlings which were extremely low yielding.Then we had slightly better yielding clones such as GT1,PB 86 and RRIM 605.Fortunately we we had some high yielding young fields of clone RRIM 600 and P.B. 5/51.

With such planting materials the crop was therefore not very impressive.The low rubber price did not help then.It did improved after I joined them but the profit obtained was never pleasing to the Bosses.

There was no way you could squeezed extra crop from those present clones.The price although had improved but that meant nothing much because our yield were comparatively low.I even adhered to extra tapping but to no avail..So I suggested to the Bosses to replant all those low yielding fields to Oil Palm which was becoming a crop to watch then.

However, they were  doubtful of my capabilities.Any way there was a neglected field of old rubber which was long overdue for replanting.It was there they tested me.Replant that field to Oil Palm without any any estimates.

Oil Palm germinated seeds were ordered by a supplier for the D x P germinated seeds.I created a nursery for those germinated seeds  by the canal sides.It was in the middle of the estate and only source of water for the seedlings.When the seeds came in we had them planted in the pre-nursery in tiny polythene bags.

With them healthy with three to four leaves stage we had them transplanted into bigger polythene bags.They were spaced out in the nursery proper and watered by daily sprinkling of water from the canal.

My concentration was on clearing the field for transplanting.The field had a rubber stand of old seedling trees and left in neglected for countless years.The girth of those trees were extremely huge in circumferences.I estimated that we had about eighty trees per acre.

Having been left in a lurch for years the field was over grown with plenty of wild rubber seedlings growing wildly within its inter-rows.Just imagine some of its stand had attained tappable sized.How awful? Having such condition my first thought were to slash them down but with that there  be plenty of regenerations of the seedlings That could be more disastrous..

With that out of question next was to  poison them with 2-4-5 T tree killer.We gave it a trial but proved costly and futile.Time was running out and in haste I decided to fell those old rubber stand first.Rubber timber was not in demand then.No contractors appeared interested in our job.

So I went on to fall those trees by employing the chain- saws men ourselves.Fortunately I had the support of the Boss to proceed with that.Chain saw workers were recruited to perform those felling on a daily paid basis.

Those people were quite ruthless as they demanded we supply them the fuel also.With alternative we supplied them the petrol.What they did not anticipate was my presence in the field most of the time.Nevertheless work went on smoothly .The old stand were thus cut down with many breakdown cuts of those fallen trees.

The fallen trees were left in the field to dry by itself in the hot sun.In the meantime I also had a "chokra" gang of Javanese workers stacked those broken down cuts.Actually very simple stacking of those which could be carried onto the bigger tree trunks .It was just a simple stacking where ever possible.

When dry sufficiently we set fire to it according the direction of the wind.The  fire was very kind to me as it brunt away furiously.It gave me a fantastically good burnt besides it also destroyed a major part of those wild seedlings together with it.Most important the fire killed those wild rubber seedlings far below its root .With that no regeneration of those seedlings were possible.

Following a re-stacking was done on those branches not burnt away.On running through that the remaining wild seedlings were chopped down below ground level and chopped seedlings stacked on to the unburnt plies and again set on fire to burn.The whole process were repeated again and again until we had the whole field cleared just before the rainy season set in.

The cost of the whole clearing job was done below the expected cost comparatively.The drains constructed to suit the planting of rubber when they newly planted that field were left intact.Nevertheless,we left those as they were.

On lining the field we found those drains not a hindrance to the new lining for Oil Palm.Neither did we deepened those drains thereafter or allowed them to be filled up by nature.A simple road system were laid out for that field.

With the onset of the rainy seaon transplanting was planned.The Boss thought it wised to consult with some other planters.They send in you know who?. A certain Lee shin Cheng.Yeah it was him but he was little known then.

Of all bullshit I had to fetch him from town.I waited until he turned up and drove him immediately to the transplanting field.On arrival his immediate reaction was jumping down from the land rover like a hero.

Walked proudly towards a first palm planted and gave it a kick."Look!!! not planted firmly:,he said harshly."Of course it was not,because I had to fetch you first before coming to this field.What do you expect?". Workers were workers they had to instruct them on the spot.I have learned before it does not work that way.Should want it properly done you had to be there.Never depend on your conductors or kanganies.

I hated his guts to be frank for no planter in his right sense  would ever kicked the palm as he did.He utterly had no respect for anything as though he was smart.I told him straight in the face,"If you want my job,just take it,and you don't have to do it like that". There after he toned down.The palm was tightly packed thereafter and all other planting rectified.

Those days in 1972 that fellow was not even the Manager Of Bidor Bahru Estate,Bidor.Later I learned that he was just a petrol kiosk owner and his station was directly in the middle of the old Klang Road.Presently no more existing.He told then he was just a pineapple planter on his own plot of land in Klang..

However not long later he took over his cousin in Bidor Bahru Estate.How I know? Because I was his cousin's friend.
That estate was wholly a rubber plantation,yet he talked as though he was an expert.Without a doubt his fortune were excellent that why he was what is today.So Lee what?  No big deal.That was the sole contact with this so called big man,he was  fortunate I was not his superior otherwise he would be nothing.