The Plantation - Di Morrissey [44]
‘Well, we’ll have to arrange an exhibition for you ladies,’ said Tony Tsang. ‘Now I think I’ll place a bet or two. Have to show my faith in my own horses, right?’
That evening after the races, Bette, the Elliotts and their friends dined at the E&O hotel. The elegant white building on the seafront was packed with partygoers, formally dressed and enjoying the opulent surroundings. Seated on the terrace verandah under a starry sky as the moon rose over the fronds of tall palm trees, the water lapping against the seawall, Bette whispered to Margaret, ‘This is so romantic. It’s like a scene in a film at the pictures!’
Margaret gave a satisfied smile. ‘This is life out here. We’re very lucky.’
Seated around a large round table, their group was served lavish food, including strawberries flown in from Australia and French champagne. After covering the race day events, the talk turned to the war in Europe.
Lighting a cigar, one of the well-known rubber planters commented, ‘The Nazi invasion of France has been a disaster. I would love to go and fight for England but, of course, we have to stay to make sure that the rubber production continues.’
‘It must be dreadful living at home now. Of course, it is much worse in France and the Low Countries. No one would want to see their country invaded,’ replied a woman opposite Margaret.
‘Did you hear how Peggy Harrison went to England to get her children out? They had to travel across the Atlantic to Canada on a blacked-out ship, and then set out to Vancouver by train and then take another ship across the Pacific to get to Malaya. It was very brave,’ said the planter’s wife.
‘Of course, it must be awful for those parents who can’t get their school children out of England,’ said another of the guests.
‘I’m afraid that Charlotte is still there,’ said Eugene. ‘I would so love her to come here where it’s safe, but she has to stay with her parents. She can hardly leave them at a time like this.’
‘I’m not that sure that we are all that safe,’ said Roland.
His comments were immediately howled down.
‘Who are we going to fight in Malaya?’ asked a red-faced man sitting next to Bette. ‘It won’t be the Germans.’
Roland gave him a quizzical look. ‘I think that we’ll have trouble with the Japanese.’
‘Nonsense, old boy. Everyone knows that the Japanese are short-sighted. They won’t be able to see us. And besides, their planes are rubbish, can’t fly,’ boomed one of them, setting off a ripple of laughter round the table.
‘Well,’ said Roland. ‘The Japanese have been very aggressive in China. They want to expand their empire, reach the oil in the Dutch East Indies and what’s to stop them?’
One of the women scoffed at the suggestion. ‘What about the British Navy? Everyone knows that we will be protected because the rubber supplies have to be maintained. Lord knows it’s about time that we started to make some money out of rubber. The last few years have been lean and now the war has meant that the good times are here for us, finally.’
Margaret was somewhat irked by Roland’s remarks. As far as she was concerned, they were all doing their bit for the war effort in England and Roland should not be making such unsettling comments. She was knitting like mad. In fact, in Perak, there was a network of knitters and several hundred garments had already been created and sent to England for the soldiers.
‘We’re doing our bit,’ she said.
‘That’s true,’ replied another woman. ‘The Patriotic Fund organises lots of mah jong parties and afternoon teas to raise money, but I think that the administration should be looking at doing more to defend us, if the need arose.’
‘The Chinese community has raised a lot of money, too. It’s not just the British who are doing the right thing,’ commented Tony Tsang.
Roland began to look exasperated. ‘Look, I know that a lot of what I’m saying isn’t generally accepted because the authorities are often busy covering up things that they don’t want made public, but there are suspicious things happening. I have heard, more than once, that the Japanese have been measuring our beaches,