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This is among the most heartbreaking news I read this year.  I really don’t know what to say!

But I know what to do:

Those who want to contribute can send cheques to the Maragatha Ambiga Fund, c/o Negeri Sembilan MIC, Jalan Tuanku Antah, 70000 Seremban or contact Rajagopalu at 019-6612337 or 06-7622609 or Tampin MIC division chairman R. Rajendran 013-3532526.

Imagine getting up at 3am and until night no rest. How would the poor girl cope with the studies? Lack of sleep, lack of rest, lack of nutrition, lack of money, peer pressure. God, if she gets good results, have to salute her! Also, I respect her for not abandoning her studies or her family. Bravo!

This should serve as a wake up call for parents and adults. Take care of your health. Don’t be a burden to your family and make them suffer.

Why her plight went unnoticed for more than a year? She kept quiet? None of her friends knew? No teachers knew? How about the people in the estate? Or the local politicians in the estate? Since the family received RM200 (not mentioned from who) for schooling assistance, there could have been some way to extend it to welfare and medical assistance as well.

SPM candidate Maragatha Ambiga wakes up at 3am to tap rubber for three hours before rushing to school.

This is what the Fifth Former, 16, has been doing since her parents fell ill in August last year.

She would ride a motorcycle to the 4.6ha rubber estate in Bukit Jalor, about 10km away, and help a neighbour tap rubber for three hours before returning home at 6am.

She would then clean up and head to SM Bukit Jalor which is 3km away.

She gets RM20 a day tapping the rubber. If it rains, she would not get any money.

Student breadwinner: Rajagopalu (left) taking a look at Ambiga’s SPM’s revision books. With them are her father Ramasamy (right), mother Tamil Shelvy and brother Suriya. Looking on is Tampin MIC division chairman R. Rajendran (second from left).

He mother V. Tamil Shelvy, 42, became asthmatic in August last year and was unable to work. Her father P. Ramasamy, 48, was a lorry driver before joining his wife to tap rubber. He also had to stop working because he is a diabetic and has high blood pressure and heart problem.

She has a brother, Suriya, 10, who is studying in a Tamil primary school.

Ambiga’s plight was brought to the attention of Negri Sembilan MIC chairman Datuk T. Rajagopalu who visited the family in Taman Air Kuning Selatan, near Gemen-cheh about 75km from here.

Tamil Shelvy said her daughter’s rubber tapping provides the only source of income for the family in addition to the RM200 welfare assistance for the children’s schooling.

She said that her family members had refused to help her out and instead, had asked her to get her daughter married off.

“I want my daughter to study hard and be somebody in life.

“I have confidence in her,” she said.

Ambiga, who is currently sitting for her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations, said she had to work for the sake of her family.

“I am confident of passing and hope to secure a place to attend teacher training course as I want to become a teacher,” she said.

Rajagopalu said he would assist the children with their education.

He had also made arrangement for Ambiga’s parents to receive treatment at Seremban Hospital and for a contractor to do some repairs to their house.

Those who want to contribute can send cheques to the Maragatha Ambiga Fund, c/o Negeri Sembilan MIC, Jalan Tuanku Antah, 70000 Seremban or contact Rajagopalu at 019-6612337 or 06-7622609 or Tampin MIC division chairman R. Rajendran 013-3532526.

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Last week, NST wrote on slavery in estates, citing the case of a family who escaped from one such estates. Then, MIC-owned YSS gave the following comments via its assistant director Vanita Ramany, who said YSS had brought cases to the police, but not enough attention was given:

She cited a case where an 18-year-old worker escaped from an estate in Bahau, Negri Sembilan, in March after enduring years of abuse.

“The girl sought our help and we referred her to the Bahau police. But till now, nothing has been done.

“She is currently under the care of a welfare home,” said Vanita, who added that she had contacted Negri Sembilan police chief Datuk Osman Salleh over the matter.

While Osman was helpful, she said some policemen did not share his enthusiasm.

Vanita also referred to one case in Malacca which was reported to the police. But the victim was arrested for armed robbery when he showed the scars on his body.

“The next day, he was released after the police realised they had made a mistake.”

Vanita said there were also six other estate workers who had sought help but they never “showed up at our office again”.

More recently, the YSS, MIC and Negeri Sembilan police had a meeting to further discuss this problem:

Police met representatives of several bodies recently to discuss how they could work together to resolve the problem of “slavery” in several estates in the country. They included the Welfare and Manpower Departments, MIC’s Yayasan Strategik Social (YSS) and state executive councillor for estate affairs V.S. Mogan.

State police chief Datuk Osman Salleh said they were committed in their efforts to put an end to such incidents and would work closely with the various bodies and political parties concerned.

“We want to get to the root of the problem and resolve it once and for all. We have yet to establish the extent of the problem as we were unable to get sufficient information from the few alleged victims who came forward.”
Osman said their investigations revealed that some such alleged cases were linked to bad debts between the workers and their employers, which carried on from one generation to another.

“These cases of bad debts are prevalent in many estates and sometimes the next generation is made to work to pay off the earlier loan taken by the person’s father or even grandfather.

“However, we are determined to get to the bottom of this and put an end to such things.

“We are in the process of investigating how these debts originated and how they grew to such enormous amounts. We are also hoping that someone from the estates allegedly involved will come forward to help us.”

He said the recent call by the government for all estates to register their workers would be a great help to the police and Manpower Department as it would enable them to keep track of any untoward activities in estates.

From 2005 till now, he said police had received five reports on estate slavery, of which three had been investigated and the papers handed over to the deputy public prosecutor.

“However, these three cases were marked as NFA (no further action) after the DPP was unable to find sufficient evidence to prosecute.

“As for the two other cases, they are still under investigation.”

On the meeting with YSS and Mogan, he said the MIC had expressed its appreciation to the police for their co-operation in investigating such cases.

“The YSS and state MIC leaders are working closely with us. We assure you that such cases of slavery in estates will be a thing of the past.

“We will continue to hold regular meetings with the agencies and bodies concerned and together we will resolve this problem.”

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Good news announced by the BN-led Negeri Sembilan state which is similar to Perak and Selangor (and Penang and Kedah too? - need to check). It seems that the step was taken earlier, but only recently announced by the Chief Minister.

All government schools in the state will pay a nominal sum of RM1 in quit rent and a RM1,000 one-off premium.

These rates are much lower compared to what some schools, especially larger ones, have paid in the past.

All the schools have to do to qualify is to apply to the Land and District office in their area. This includes government religious schools and vernacular schools.

“The yearly quit rent for these schools were high, depending on the size of the school and location. That is why it was decided that we impose a nominal rate of RM1 across the board,” said Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan after chairing the State Executive Council meeting at Wisma Negeri.

This is to reduce the costs incurred by the school management, he said after contributing RM100,000 to the state Malaysian Chinese Association Hall chairman Lau Chee Boon at his office yesterday.

“The state government wants to see these schools properly managed without being burdened by a high quit rent. We hope the schools will concentrate on providing quality education,” he said.

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