Category: Estate

The DAP National Estates Sub-Committee – the conscience and champion of Malaysian estate workers

Message by DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, for the inaugural meeting of the DAP National Estates Sub-Committee at DAP Headquarters in Petaling Jaya on Friday, 24th March 1972 at 2 p.m.

The DAP National Estates Sub-Committee – the conscience and champion of Malaysian estate workers

The inaugural meeting of the 18-member DAP National Estate Sub-Committee today marks yet another milestone in the DAP’s fight for a democratic socialist Malaysia where the poor, whether worker or peasant, can lead a good, meaningful and fulfilling life. Continue reading The DAP National Estates Sub-Committee – the conscience and champion of Malaysian estate workers

DAP forms National Estates sub-Committee to fight for cause and rights of estate workers

Speech by DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, when addressing the Sungai Siput DAP Branch in Sungei Siput on Sunday, 12th March 1972 at 4 p.m.

DAP forms National Estates sub-Committee to fight for cause and rights of estate workers

In the last ten years, about 100000 workers were retrenched from the rubber estates, constituting nearly 30 per cent of the total rubber estate work force. When we take their dependants into account, about 500000 people are involved. Continue reading DAP forms National Estates sub-Committee to fight for cause and rights of estate workers

DAP calls for special department to look after the fate of 500000 estate workers and their dependents retrenched by estates

Adjournment Speech by Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang in the Dewan Ra’ayat on Thursday, 3rd February 1972

DAP calls for special department to look after the fate of 500000 estate workers and their dependents retrenched by estates

In the last ten years, about 100000 workers were retrenched from the rubber estates, constituting nearly 30 per cent of the total account, about 500000 are involved.

The yearly retrenchment of 10000 rubber estate workers is a very grave problem in Malaysia, as the majority of them will not be able to find alternative means of employment with the already very high rate of unemployment in the country. Continue reading DAP calls for special department to look after the fate of 500000 estate workers and their dependents retrenched by estates

Call for Special Scheme to help kampong people and tappers hit by collapsing rubber price

Speech by DAP Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Ra’ayat in the Committee stage debate on the Ministry of Commerce and Industry allocations under the 1972 Development Estimates on 16th December 1971

Call for Special Scheme to help kampong people and tappers hit by collapsing rubber price

The price of rubber has been hitting the rock bottom for the most part of this year, creating great hardships to the kampong people, new villagers, tappers, workers, hawkers and the people all round.

The fate of the kampong people and the new villagers is even worse off than the prices quoted on the market. Continue reading Call for Special Scheme to help kampong people and tappers hit by collapsing rubber price

Fragmentation of the Suffolk Estate, Sitiawan

The Member of Parliament fro Bandar Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, today issued the following statement:

Fragmentation of the Suffolk Estate, Sitiawan

The Minister of Labour, Tan Sri V Manikavasagam, has many times, inside and outside Parliament, declared that the Alliance Government is opposed to fragmentation of estates because of its adverse social effects in creating unemployment and causing hardships and suffering to estate workers. Un-fortunately, these words do not seem to be accompanied by deeds.

I refer to the illegal fragmentation of the twice-sold Suffolk Estate near Sitiawan. When the 1,158-acre estate, which originally employed 243 workers, was first sold in 1969, 157 workers were retrenched while some resigned. Continue reading Fragmentation of the Suffolk Estate, Sitiawan

Fragmentation of estates

Press Statement: 5 Dec 1968

The DAP Candidates for Serdang State By-election and DAP organising Secretary, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, today issued the following statement:

At long last, the Alliance government seemed to have woken up to the seriousness of the problem of fragmentation of estates, which over the years have thrown tens of thousands of workers out of employment.

Fragmentation of estates is a major social problem, and the Democratic Action Party, both inside parliament, through its M. P. for Bangsar, Mr.C. V. Devan Nair, and outside, have consistently pressed for legislation to control fragmentation to ensure that the interests and welfare of the workers are protected. Continue reading Fragmentation of estates

Commission of Inquiry into the activities of the National Land Finance Co-operative Society

The DAP Organising Secretary, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, today (6.8.68) issued the following statement:

More than 40 former workers of the Belata River Estate in Kerling, and their families, are picketing outside the offices of the National Land Finance Co-operative Society and the Malaysian Indian Congress in Jalan Brickfields in an effort to get back their old jobs.

The Belata River Estate was bought over from an European management by the National Land Finance Co-operative Society on July 18. Continue reading Commission of Inquiry into the activities of the National Land Finance Co-operative Society

Growing unemployment and mass retrenchments in the rubber industry

Talk by DAP Organizing Secretary, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, at the Batu Pahat DAP Branch first anniversary dinner in Batu Pahat, Johore on Sunday, July 21 at 8 p.m.

Over the months, thousands of estate workers have lost their jobs. At present another 5,000 are facing imminent retrenchment.

The retrenchment of workers in the rubber industry has reached crisis proportion. It is deplorable that the government has failed to take concrete, vigorous and imaginative action to deal with this problem, either by reducing the scale of retrenchments of finding alternative means of livelihood for the retrenched workers. Continue reading Growing unemployment and mass retrenchments in the rubber industry

Crisis in the Rubber Industry

Talk by DAP Organising Secretary, Mr.Lim Kit Siang, to the Slim River DAP Branch on Saturday,18th May 1968 at 5 p.m.

For over a year, there has been a crisis in the rubber industry.

When rubber price dropped to a 19-year-old low of 47 cents on September 13 last year, the government went into a frenzy of activities and won a lot of publicity by announcing its intervention in the rubber market until “a fair price” was obtained.

One assumed that the fair price the government had in mind then was fifty-five cents.

However, despite the reported sum of $10 million which had been allocated to the Government Rubber Trading Trust Account to stockpile rubber, the price of rubber had averaged below 50 cents since. Continue reading Crisis in the Rubber Industry

Strike by Tappers & Workers in Johore

Strike by 1,700 tappers and workers in Johore Labis Estate, Cha’ah

A major strike began in Cha’ah Johore,yesterday involving 1,700 tappers and workers of the Socfin-owned Johore Labis Estate and its oil palm and rubber processing factory.

It all began over a dispute over two months ago when a Socfin sub-contractor, Mr.Sim Kim Chong, unilaterally stopped the ten-year-old practice of providing transport for the tappers to and from their places of work.

There are a number of disquieting features about the dispute :

Firstly, why was a dispute over the unilateral cessation of free transport to tappers allowed to escalate into a major strike involving 1,700 workers and tappers? Continue reading Strike by Tappers & Workers in Johore