They came in a yellow pick-up truck. Four men, three were youngish and their leader was probably in his forties with longish hair. They brought with them familiar tools: a total station, parangs and a map. The head was constantly yelling at his young charge to move the station a little further this way or that way or to cut some foliage that obstructed his view.
Boy: Akak boleh potong ka ini pokok?
Me (Akak?): Pesal apa? Ini pokok sudah lama tau, you tak boleh potong, kalau nak potong kena bayar.
Boy: Sikit saja, susah mau nampak la nak ukur...
Me: Tak boleh. Ini pokok dalam saya punya tanah la...
Boy: Tak tau lagi..belum ukur.
Me: Kita sudah ukur la...
Boy: Tapi kena ukur 200 meter.
Me: You ukur dari belakang sana sampai sini, kemudian you ukur dari sini sampai depan sana la.
Boy: OK, nanti saya bincang sama boss.
I suspect the boss said CUT because when I came back later I found cut several slashed twigs on the ground outside our fence. The tree will no doubt grow back but the fiasco signaled a beginning of a much bigger destruction: soon the entire belukar (see previous blog entry) that I grew up with will be destroyed to make way for houses. My sister told me about this when I went inside the house to tell her about the stuck-inside-fence tree. My heart just sank.
So many questions needing answers:
1. Why sell an 18-acre multiple ownership Malay reserved land to a couple of non-Malays to build as many as 100 houses?
2. Where would the animals go?
Boy: Akak boleh potong ka ini pokok?
Me (Akak?): Pesal apa? Ini pokok sudah lama tau, you tak boleh potong, kalau nak potong kena bayar.
Boy: Sikit saja, susah mau nampak la nak ukur...
Me: Tak boleh. Ini pokok dalam saya punya tanah la...
Boy: Tak tau lagi..belum ukur.
Me: Kita sudah ukur la...
Boy: Tapi kena ukur 200 meter.
Me: You ukur dari belakang sana sampai sini, kemudian you ukur dari sini sampai depan sana la.
Boy: OK, nanti saya bincang sama boss.
I suspect the boss said CUT because when I came back later I found cut several slashed twigs on the ground outside our fence. The tree will no doubt grow back but the fiasco signaled a beginning of a much bigger destruction: soon the entire belukar (see previous blog entry) that I grew up with will be destroyed to make way for houses. My sister told me about this when I went inside the house to tell her about the stuck-inside-fence tree. My heart just sank.
So many questions needing answers:
1. Why sell an 18-acre multiple ownership Malay reserved land to a couple of non-Malays to build as many as 100 houses?
2. Where would the animals go?
