Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Standing tall outside the Department
of Lands And Mines in Kuala Kangsar is one of the oldest rubber trees in the
country, grown from an original seedling brought into the country (New Straits
Times (Malaysia) 16 February 2010).
Before palm oil, Malaysia's
"golden crop", the country was blessed with rich "milk"
that never ceased to flow - latex that oozed from rubber trees.
But it has been decades since rubber
was the No 1 or even a major contributor to the economy though it was rubber
and tin that laid the foundation for the country's economy.
Although rubber prices have improved
and many smallholders are returning to their plots to collect latex, the days
of rubber as a pillar of the country's economy are unlikely to return.
Nevertheless, rubber will always have
a special place in our history. Museum Negara, for instance, has a special
mention of it. The story of rubber and how it came to the then Malay Federated
States is a fascinating one, starting with a "crazy Englishman" Henry
Nicholas Ridley. The botanist earned his "crazy" reputation because
he was always stuffing rubber seeds into the pockets of everyone he meets,
hoping they will plant the seeds.
The English had smuggled rubber seeds
out of Brazil (then under Portugal) for planting in their colonies so that they
would have their own supply of rubber.
Today, one of nine seedlings brought
to this country by Ridley is still standing tall in Kuala Kangsar, the royal
town of Perak. The tree is located just outside the office of the Department of
Lands And Mines (Federal). It was planted there in 1877 and is said to be one
of the two oldest rubber trees in the country.
This tree signalled the start of the
rubber plantation era in the late 19th-20th Century, and turned the country
into the world's largest producer of rubber at one time.
The story began in the 1870s with
British administrators in India. Henry Wickham collected 70,000 rubber seeds
from the Amazonian rainforest in Brazil and sent them to London's Kew Gardens
to be germinated.
The seedlings were sent out to the
British colonies and in 1876, nine were planted in Kuala Kangsar. The trees
that came from the original Wickham stock were used to start the first
plantation. For this, credit must go to Ridley, then director of the Singapore
Botanic Gardens.
The "rubber revolution" of
the early 20th Century saw virtually all other cash crops being brushed aside
to make way for rubber plantations. In the 1930s, our rubber industry dwarfed
that of Brazil's. The demand then for natural rubber worldwide, notably for
making tyres for the newly-invented motorcar, gave the industry room to expand
and rake in huge profits.
If you have difficulties locating the
oldest rubber tree in the country, make your way to the Kuala Kangsar Tourist
Information Centre right in the heart of town. Or call 05-777 7717.
If you're in Taman Tun Dr Ismail,
Kuala Lumpur, visit the Kiara Park where there are many rubber trees. You can
even pick up rubber seeds to plant in your garden... or be a Ridley and give
them to your friends as a reminder of what an important role rubber played in
the history of this country.
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