The tragedy of Musang King - Broad daylight "robbery" for gold

TMI:

The tragedy of Musang King



THERE is never an easy fight, and this will definitely be a tough fight, particularly when we consider the Pahang government’s strict stance towards durian farmers.

In the face of the powerful government and the conglomerate, the farmers do not hope for complete victory, but only wish that they will not lose everything. The court order that we obtained on August 28 could do nothing more than “temporarily calm” the farmers’ worries and their sense of helplessness.

Being a state assemblyman in Raub, it is my responsibility to join and lead the durian farmers’ fight. But it was my conscience as a human being that prompted me to speak up for the farmers.

This “illegal farms” fight has been a fight between an egg and a high wall right from the start. It has also opened our eyes to the flaws in land policies and agricultural policies in Malaysia that can easily and mercilessly destroy people’s livelihoods that have been built up for generations.

I was shocked that some continuously see and treat the “illegal farms” as the original sin of the farmers. They made an issue out of this without considering the historical context and the flaws in our system, but blindly blamed the farmers for occupying the land for durian farming.

Moreover, who should define the word “illegal”? When you were in university, the university management ordered you not to join any “illegal” student organisation and social movement, while the police also warned you against joining any “illegal” assembly. And when you have been growing durians for decades, the government suddenly announced that your farm is “illegal” and has to be seized.

On the other hand, is being legal equivalent to being logical and reasonable? Take the example where the state government said it is ready to gazette a 202ha piece of land for Lynas to build a permanent disposal facility (PDF). The government’s decision is indeed legal, but is it logical and reasonable?

The hotspots of these “illegal farms” are Sg Ruan, Sg Klau, Sg Chalit and Tras. As the communists were once present in the mountains behind these areas, some elements of mysteries and legends have been added to the background story of the “illegal farms”. Up until the 1980s when the Malayan Emergency ended, some areas were still under curfew. Gua Kechil, near the new village of Sg Ruan, was the hideout of communists. The history of communists here is interesting and certainly worth reading.

In the 1970s, the second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein actively promoted agricultural development under the Green Book programme by encouraging the people to cultivate idle land for the purposes of improving food production and achieving self-sufficiency. The villagers who were relocated to the rural areas of Raub answered the government’s call in order to feed themselves and their families. Some of them were given land for farming under the Rancangan Tanah Belia and were then encouraged to apply for land titles from the Land Office.

Being a new village that was under the government’s strict control and isolated from the town areas of Raub and Bentong, the villagers could hardly go out at night and certainly did not have other options of economic activities. Therefore, the mountain behind their village was the only place to support their livelihoods. In the old days, it was nothing unusual or strange for the people to support their livelihood by depending on the seas and mountains. Plus, with the government’s tacit approval, the villagers answered to the call to engage in farming activities.

During the same period, the government had also initiated a series of development plans, including Felda and Felcra. Nevertheless, the resources were unequally distributed under the plans as not everyone could enjoy the same privilege. Sg Ruan, Sg Klau and Sg Chalit are villages surrounded by Felda settlements in Raub and Bentong, yet the villagers did not receive any support from the government since their areas are not considered Felda settlements. Therefore, in order to support their families, the villagers had no choice but to be independent by farming in the hilly areas, with various types of plants from rubber trees to oil palm, from banana trees to cocoa trees, and from D24 durians to Musang King durians. When faced with low crop yields, the farmers decisively chopped down their plants in order to grow new plants. They could only tighten their belts and some even had to borrow money just to survive.

What we see today is the success of Musang King, and so we think that all farmers are millionaires or billionaires. But how many of us understand the blood, toil, tears and sweat put in by the farmers in the past decades?

They worked at sunrise and rested at sunset. As there were no Hilux cars in the old days, many farmers could only ride on their motorbikes to go to their farms. As Raub is blessed with fertile land and streams that nurture the land, durian trees could grow well and flourish in the hilly area. With a sweet flavour and a hint of bitterness as well as a thick and creamy texture, the golden fruits that grow from the trees have eventually become the most sought after Musang King. The farmers’ livelihoods have finally been improved and their hard work paid off as a result. However, as most of the farmers are just small farmers, only a few managed to become wealthy. Plus, even if the farmers have gotten wealthy from farming durians, they should not be exploited by a private corporation as the former and the latter are entirely two separated matters.

But the farmers know deep down that their land is never secure without land titles. For the past decades, they had been going to the Land Office and the Forestry Department numerous times just to request for land titles or temporary licenses. How many so-called runners claimed that they could help obtain land titles? How many political leaders cheated them by claiming that the Forestry Department will soon issue land titles? And how many political promises were made before elections? Sadly, their hopes perished every time. Certainly, some who depended on connections and political interests did manage to obtain land titles, but the majority of the famers without the “privileges” were totally neglected.

What should they do without land titles? As the durian market is gradually expanding, their current land size could not satisfy the needs. With no clear policy direction from the state government and with seeming acquiescence from the enforcement agencies, the farmers cleared their nearby land to continue farming and growing Musang King. Some might think that this is controversial, yet the government’s incapability does not mean that the people should not be independent and self-reliant.

If the state government planned ahead and dealt with the issue early with a systematic approach, such as by treating Musang King durians as valuable assets, leasing more agricultural land to farmers, and formulating regulations to protect the environment and water catchment areas, the entire durian industry could be developed even further while the present conflict could also be avoided.

The farmers built the entire Musang King hub from scratch, and thus should be considered an invaluable treasure to Pahang and Malaysia as a whole. On the other hand, take a look at the so-called megaprojects that were funded by the government but failed in the end. For instance, the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) project that received more than 2,000ha of land had wasted RM70 million of taxpayers’ money. Another example of a megaproject funded by the government that shocked Malaysians the most is the notorious 1MDB corruption scandal.

Does our country value the small farmers who have contributed a lot to the nation? Now, their farms are targeted by unscrupulous businessmen while the state government continuously smears them with the “illegal farmers” label. Some political parties and pressure groups also used the issue to stir up racial sentiments on social media, thus rendering them helpless against all sorts of slander.

There will be no Musang King without the so-called “illegal farms”. The farmers have been growing durians throughout their life, yet their hard work was not valued and no equal treatment was given in return. Their last remaining option would perhaps be abandoning the Musang King hub, and both sides will be losers as a result.


* Chow Yu Hui is DAP’s Tras assemblyman