Chapter 12 Other Plantations Under My Control

Initially I had only one main plantation under my control,it was not a huge plantation and solely rubber but after I took over I began to show my stuffs and with those success I was allowed to replant other low yielding fields especially those low yielding clonal seedling PBIG fields.All converted to Oil Palm.

I do not know whose luck it was,mine or the Boss's because the palm Oil prices kept on rising.Even our young crop were fetching in profits or at least better those profits brought in by rubber.Encouraged by such outcome the Boss ordered more areas to be replanted into Oil Palm.So all the low yielding fields were to be replanted from then on.

With that I was requested to take over Paradise Estate with the retirement of the Conductor in charged,a Chinese man.I place of him I promoted a junior conductor who was under him but it was to no avail as the young man being ambitious had other plans of his own and thus applied for other more prospective jobs.With him leaving I send in another junior conductor from my plantation.

He was an Indian and a son of a worker so the Boss at first doubted his abilities.Nevertheless he allowed my judgment be.After a year he accepted I was right beside he being a junior conductor he need not be highly paid as a Senior conductor,after all the plantation was only about 300 acres. Newly trained junior we soon found out had no tricks up their sleeves.That of pleased the Boss.Most important to me was he was a hard worker,obedient and honest.

With his presence there,I was instructed to replant all the areas into Oil Palm,with St.Andrew Estate preparing the nursery.With a short stretch of five years the whole plantation was under Oil Palm.There was little trouble as we slowly retrenched the tappers concerned.The Union made hell of a noise but what can they do???.So long as we were able to offer them other jobs in the fields which they refused to accept,they just had to go.

As Paradise Estate was extremely near to the town the workers off springs worked in town.The parents continued working for us so as to secure housing from us.With their refusal to accept jobs offered as we replant they had to go,no brute used and this was easily done.My conductor was able to tell them so.So bit by bit all the workers were retrenched without any hitch.

The plantation was situated adjacent to the road.The plantation proper on one side of the road,the office and smoke house and stores on the other together with the old labor quarters.The conductor's house was only a stone throw away further up the road.

When due for harvesting,the harvesting were initially on estate payroll.but later converted to contract rates.With oil palm there were lesser workers to control.The smoke house and small factory were converted into stores to store my Boss's things.

That plantation was prime land,and the prospect of it turning into a huge housing was very promising,and I think it did.Actually I had little knowledge of it because I had left the Company by then.

There were two other smaller properties under my wings,both were in Kerling,Selangor.THe bigger of the two ,one was inside the interiors of Kerling Estate.There was a government passing by the side of Kerling Estate,I can either go through this road to that plantation or come by a shorter way throngh Minyak Estate,then Nigel Gadner Estate,both under Socfin.Passing through these plantation I had to stop by to pay courtesy calls on the plamters there.Ignoring them will be impolite,don't you think so?

By passing through them I too learned a lot especially their tapping systems and out of curiosity stopped by to have a view.When I does that I kept their Manager informed,that man instead of being grateful I kept him inform.his reply really stuck me stunned.He said,"Next time you better informed me first".Okay,next time I don't tell him to save all troubles.No doubt that was their road but the public had been using it from time unknown.

That plantation road leads into the jungle reserved where there was a road leading to the Kerling Estate road,but only that later road was trarred and stones.They had a gate at that crossing into the jungle reserved and would be closed by six in the evening.So there when using that road had to adhere to its timing.Going from the main road will be more than two hours but through here it was nearly an hour,saving of an hour.

The estate under me was about one hundred and fifty acres.All matured rubber being tapped on contract basis.The tappers here had to coagulate the latex into sheets and smoke in the estate smoke house.The smoke house watchman takes care of the smoke house as well as acting as jaga of the plantation.Cured sheets were sold to a local rubber dealer,so when rubber were sold I must be present there.

Then there was another fifty acres plot with matured rubber as well and tapped on contract as the other,Similarly rubber were also smoked by a small smoke house.Rubber similarly sold to the same rubber dealer.Kerling was a one main road town surrounded by a tiny new village.
Nothing much in this town and I never stop in any other shop here accept the rubber dealer's shop.

Funny with small town guy,he was buying rubber from both small plantations and the Boss kept him as his spy around.He was to act as eyes for him,reporting anythings to him.He tried to bride me a few times but I did not accept his baits as I knew that he was in the payroll of my Boss.He needed both plantations' rubber to survive.Of late, I passed by his shop seemed to be vanished with times.