THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

36 Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain
sophisticated Malay intelligentsia or entrepreneurial class would only
create problems the British did not care to handle.
To celebrate festivities and weddings, many economically backward
Malays, who would rather “lose their children rather than forsake tradition,”
1 resorted to the suicidal practice of borrowing from avaricious
chettiars (Indian moneylenders, mostly from Tamil Nadu in India), only
to find they could not meet the repayment schedule involving exorbitant
interest rates. Consequently, they lost their collateral – plots of land which
were often their only assets – and their homes which were sitting on these
plots. Sad to say, the loathsome chettiars had willing Malay accomplices
who acted as lures to encourage other Malays to borrow.
Alarmed by these economically debilitating chettiar land transactions,
the British introduced the Malay Reservations Enactment, first mooted
by Frederick Belfield, Legal Adviser to the Government. Despite reservations
by certain non-Malay quarters, the Sultan of Perak agreed to this.
Malay Reservation Grants – popularly known as ‘Red-ink Grants’ – were
not to be sold to non-Malays. Yet, there were Malays willing to allow
chettiars to use their names on legal sale and purchase documents.
To reverse the tide, the British suggested another measure – setting
up co-operatives. This measure was initially opposed by Muslim religious
officials, but the far-sighted Sultan – who saw the danger of more Malays
losing their land to chettiars – intervened and called for a policy review
that gave birth to the co-operative movement.
Malay estate workers in the Matang Jambu Estate worked under a
Malay mandore named Chik who was answerable to the English Estate
Manager, Mr Spellwinde, or ‘Mr Spollen’ to the Malays. Spellwinde was
succeeded by a small-built, taciturn Mr Jack, who had lost a hand in an
accident. According to the Malay estate workers, their white managers
were fair and kind to them.
If the Chinese had operas and the Indians their Indrasabbas, the
Malays had boria groups, a singing group presentation still popular today.
There were two boria groups in Matang, one led by Mohd Yatim from
Matang Jambu Estate and the other by Pak Ban, an engine operator on
the Matang Road Estate.
Boria shares many features with Christmas carolling. It was performed
once a year, at night, during a certain month, and attracted a lot
of young children. Boria groups were active during Safar, the second
month of the Muslim calendar. After weeks of practice, boria groups
would travel from house to house, performing in front of the homes. They
were invariably followed by an enthusiastic audience of chatty sarongclad
kampung boys.