The Plantation - Di Morrissey [175]
‘Poachers. The orangutan camp is a target for them because the apes are tame. Quickly, can you show us where you saw them?’ asked Leonard. Bette pointed to the direction where she had seen the men, and Leonard set off at a fast jog, with Tony and Bette following him.
*
The subsequent events were defining moments for Bette. Her heart ached, and she tightly held Tony’s hand as the boat sped back down the river towards Kuching. The death of the mother orangutan and the disappearance of its infant had shocked and saddened her, and she vowed that somehow, one day, she would try to teach people the value and uniqueness of these gentle creatures.
When Bette and Tony told Tom about the poachers, he was furious.
‘Things are changing so rapidly around here, it’s difficult to exercise control over poaching and illegal logging,’ he said.
‘I expect that things will be better if Sarawak becomes one of the Federated States of Malaya,’ said Tony.
‘I don’t know,’ replied Tom. ‘I know that the communist Emergency has ended on the Malay peninsula, but they are still causing trouble for us on the Indonesian border.’
‘On the peninsula, independence has changed things, and I think for the better. Malayanisation is taking place rapidly as the British move out and their places are being taken by the locals,’ said Tony.
‘I don’t think everyone is happy about it. Three years ago my Chinese friends were upset at the British going and leaving a Malayan government in their place. I kept out of the way when the flag came down,’ commented Tom.
‘We went to the padang, the open space on the Penang waterfront on the eve of independence and there were thousands of people of all races celebrating,’ said Bette. ‘I was amazed. It was quite moving and very respectful.’
‘Yes,’ said Tony. ‘My hope is that the different races will work well together. The ruling Alliance Party is made up of Malays, Chinese and Indians, and they want to spread the wealth and responsibility among everyone.’
‘Well,’ said Tom, ‘when things change here, I think I’ll try to stay out in the jungle and at the caves as much as possible,’ he grinned.
Tony nodded. Later he told Bette that he didn’t imagine there’d be a lot of opportunities for the hard-drinking, bossy, sometimes arrogant Englishmen for much longer. To Tom he said, ‘The British have left behind a lot of goodwill, and I think that the transition has been quite well organised.’
Bette glanced at her husband, knowing that already his company had taken advantage of Malayanisation to buy into big, former British industries and trading houses, and especially the tin mines. The house of Tsang seemed to be doing well under independence.
When they thanked Tom for his hospitality, he said, ‘Come back any time. I’m not going anywhere.’
Several years later, Tony’s optimism about the future direction of Malaya changed. For Bette, Tony was his usual loving self, but he spent long hours at work and often people came to see him at the house, where he closeted himself in his study with them. Bette noticed that frequently the cars that came belonged to high-ranking government officials and even to the sultans. Finally she asked Tony about what was going on.
‘It’s to do with this Malayanisation,’ he said. ‘The government is insisting that Malays have preferential treatment. This policy has created power struggles between the Malays and the Chinese, and, to a lesser extent, the Indians. Now that Singapore has chosen to become independent from Malaya, many Chinese businessmen have decided to move there, but I have decided to stay here in Penang and adjust. I have promoted Malays onto my board.’
‘What do you think will happen?’ asked Bette.
Tony sighed and kissed her cheek. ‘We have to hope commonsense will prevail, and all this ethnic rivalry will eventually stop and everyone will work in the best interests of the country. Unfortunately, a lot of these problems are to do with the control of the rich natural resources of this part of the world. It always comes down to power and money and