LETTERS: I would like to highlight Kerala Estate in line with Ravindran Raman Kutty's narrative in this paper (NST July 9).
Many outside Kelantan do not know how Duff Company Ltd established the estate, the pioneer in planting rubber in Kelantan.
Robert William Duff was a police officer in Pahang in 1890. He left the force and met Sultan of Kelantan Mohammad IV.
The sultan had just succeeded his uncle, Sultan Mansur, and fortunately for Duff, he was a ruler with enterprising ideas.
The sultan affixed his decorative seal to an agreement that granted Duff Company the right to develop two considerable areas in the north and east of the state.
The boundaries started from Labak, on the east of Sungai Kelantan, and cut across to the west, brushing part of Tanah Merah until it hit the edges of Perak.
Duff Company created rubber estates for British subjects who were experts in rubber planting.
Most were along the plains and valleys of Sungai Pergau, Sungai Negeri and Sungai Lebir.
Planters living along the streams named their estate after the streams, such as Kuala Geris Estate, Kuala Hou, Sungai Nal, Tebing Tinggi and Bukit Jaki.
The biggest estate that Duff Company operated was the Kerala Estate.
Most Malays in Kelantan knew nothing about rubber planting, much less tapping rubber trees.
Duff and other British planters facilitated the migration of Indian workers from Kerala, India.
During Duff's time, the access to rubber estates in Ulu Kelantan was through rivers and streams. Due to this, no traders or hawkers could approach estate workers.
However, the planters allowed a sundry shop in every estate. The proprietors were local Chinese, selling food, bottled drinks, biscuit, cigarettes and first-aid medicine.
Today, Kerala Estate and all those former British rubber land are more than 100 years old.
Though Malaysian companies took over the estate and planted oil palm, the names of the estates remain, so do the workers, who are predominantly Indians.
Many descendants of the early workers have spread out to other states.
They speak the Kelantan dialect whenever they gather, which baffled Malays and Indians in Kuala Lumpur.
They have an association and a motto, written in simple and pure Kelantan Malay dialect, "Kelantan Sokmo", which means "Kelantan All The Time".
Indeed, they are proud to be Kelantan Indians.
Unfortunately, many Kelantan Malays do not know this motto, which can infuse people with a sense of loyalty to the country.
Almost every year, Kelantan Indians return to celebrate Thaipusam. Many third-generation Kelantan Indians are still working in the estates.
They live in quarters provided by the management.
However, they had to vacate their quarters once they stopped working. In those days, Duff took them back to India.
In terms of their existence here, they had to stay and work in the estates since they had no other place to live.
Them being sent home to India was a sad ending. They were loyal citizens and contributed to the economy.
The authorities should allow Felda and Felcra to acquire the estates and change their status to land settlement schemes, where workers are allowed to taste the fruit of their labour.
ABDULLAH SANI
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times