The Plantation - Di Morrissey [43]
Roland introduced Bette and Margaret to a striking looking Chinese couple, Tony Tsang and his beautiful wife Mai Ling. Both were quite tall, very attractive and dressed immaculately. Tony Tsang wore a white suit and his wife was in a silk cheongsam. Her sleek dark hair was pulled up into a chignon held up with a jewelled pin and she wore exquisite jewellery of jade and diamonds.
‘Tony and I were at university together,’ said Roland.
‘And you live in Penang? asked Bette.
‘I’m in the family business,’ said Tony.
‘He’s the smart one. Sits in an office and doesn’t have to trudge around plantations,’ said Roland affably.
Later, Roland explained to Margaret and Bette that Tony and Mai Ling came from what were known as Peranakan families. Their ancestors had come to the Malaccan Straits from China in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and, because they were now born locally and weren’t new immigrants, they were called Peranakan. The men were referred to as baba, while the women were called nyonya. This community was very loyal to the British, because the law and order the British imposed on the colony meant that their livelihoods were secure, but they also adopted some of the ways and dress of the Malays. The basis of their wealth came originally from the sea trade their ancestors had established throughout South East Asia and many of the families were very wealthy. Mai Ling was a nyonya from a rich family that originally came from Hokkien. Tony’s family were among those Straits elite who decided that the best way forward for their families was to have their sons educated in England, and Tony had made his family very proud by winning a scholarship to Cambridge. He was, Roland assured the sisters, a very progressive businessman.
‘He certainly must be,’ said Margaret, quietly to Bette, ‘if Mai Ling’s beautiful jewellery is anything to go by.’
‘Malaya is certainly a mix of races, isn’t it, Roland?’ commented Bette.
Coming from an Anglo Saxon middle-class background, with little exposure to such diversity, Bette found it all fascinating and exotic. ‘I mean, there are native Malays, the Chinese, the Tamils from India who work on the plantation and Europeans. Your plantation seems to be a microcosm of this mix. Where do your workers come from?’
‘Heavens, Margaret, your sister is inquisitive. You never asked me these kinds of questions. Well, there is a household hierarchy. The Chinese houseboy, Ah Kit is number one in my house. The amahs are also Chinese. They are usually single women who devote themselves to the family. Kim, my old amah, still works for Father. Ah Min, Philip’s amah, is relatively young. Most of the menial work is done by Indians. The coolies who work on our plantation are Tamils while our guards tend to be Sikhs. The majority of Europeans have Malays as drivers, but Father would never have anyone except Hamid. I grew up with him and we used to play together when we were young.’
‘So loyalty is a two-way street,’ said Bette, thoughtfully.
The Tsangs had several horses running and they invited the sisters to go and see their stables. Margaret, who was sitting with a group of ladies dressed in hats, gloves and very high heels, sipping champagne beneath a vine covered trellis at the edge of a terrace, accepted the invitation and the two followed the Tsangs to the stables.
‘Do you ride?’ Tony asked the two women.
‘I had lessons when I was young, in my pony club phase,’ said Bette. ‘But I haven’t had the opportunity since then. Actually, I’d rather like to try again.’
‘It’s quite popular here. There are a lot of equestrian clubs in the highlands where it’s cool for the horses. Tony and Roland are excellent riders and polo players,’ said Mai Ling in a very clipped British accent.
‘I’d love to watch them some time,’ said Bette.
‘Me too,’ said Margaret. ‘I had no idea that Roland was a good rider.