The Plantation - Di Morrissey [56]
‘It’s odd that one half of your family stayed put in Brisbane while the other half stayed in Malaysia.’
‘It’s how things worked out, I suppose. But because this side of the family have lived here in Brisbane for so long, I have such a strong sense of family tradition and history for this place, which is why I couldn’t bear to see this house bulldozed.’
‘I don’t know how many of the old houses round here have had four generations of the one family living in them,’ said David. ‘But even if a new family has just moved in, they must appreciate the style, the beauty and history of these houses. They don’t build them like this any more. What are your plans for Malaysia? I’d like to help, if I can.’
Emails flew back and forth between the cousins in Malaysia and Brisbane. Shane, the older brother, seemed to be the main contact and he wrote, if somewhat formally, to Julie giving her information about travel, some history of the plantation and what she might expect.
We are very much in a work routine here but of course we would hope to be able to take you around the district and show you some of the places with which our grandparents were connected. However, there are no ‘bright lights’ near us, so perhaps you might like to arrange to see other parts of Malaysia while you’re here. My brother and I will be happy to meet you in KL and drive you back to Utopia. I have made arrangements for you to stay in the main guesthouse near to us. It will be a chance for us to exchange information about our families and we look forward to meeting you!
‘Are you sure you won’t come with me, Mum?’ persisted Julie. ‘This is where you were born and where your mother spent her early married life.’
‘No, darling, not at the moment. I really want to stay on top of the bypass business. And I think you need a holiday, I can’t remember when you last had a proper break. Are you going to meet up with David and get him to show you around a bit? He seems very knowledgeable about the country.’
‘I don’t really know. Perhaps we’ll hook up at some stage,’ said Julie.
‘David’s work sounds interesting,’ said Caroline. ‘He was telling me that he’s involved in several different projects up there.’
‘You’ve seen a lot more of him than I have these past few weeks,’ said Julie.
‘Don’t forget, if it wasn’t for David’s research you wouldn’t have become interested in Utopia and meeting your cousins,’ Caroline reminded her.
‘That’s the thing, Mum. I don’t know all that much about our family connection to the plantation. I think it’s odd that Gran never spoke to me about it and she hardly talked to you about it at all. I just sense that there’s a story behind it,’ said Julie.
‘Well, I have to agree. It would be interesting to find out what your cousins know,’ said Caroline.
Despite what she said to Caroline, Julie did agree with her mother that it would be wise to pick David Cooper’s brain, so she accepted an invitation from him to go to dinner for a briefing on her trip.
‘I understand that you want to see Utopia but, if you have the opportunity, you have to see some other places. Malaysia’s such an intriguing place. It’s made up of several states and every state is a little bit different – and proud of it. I’m sure your cousins will show you around,’ he said over a pre-dinner drink.
‘They sound very hospitable but I think they are very bound up in running Utopia, so I don’t want them to feel obliged to drop everything for me.’
‘I wish I could visit their plantation again. You know, you can’t help but see palm oil estates everywhere you go, but most of the big companies are very protective, in fact almost secretive, about what they’re doing. They’re not tourist stops, that’s for sure.’
‘You sound critical,’ said Julie.
‘Julie, palm oil is such a contentious subject. There’s so much of it in our food. Do you know that you ate about ten kilos of palm oil last year and you probably weren’t even aware because often it’s not labelled? Not just that, palm oil plantations are causing havoc for the wildlife and forests. While Utopia is trying to be a modern,