The sad cases of bonded workers is covered by NST yesterday. I think this issue have been annually highlighted for quite sometime, and we can read about cases in Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, and even Selangor. Sadly, there seems to be no concrete effort to solve this problem. As in other industries, there are bound to be some bad apples who in this case are the contractors who provide workers to the estate. This workers are more often than not Indians. They are not given any education, practically live in seclusion, and have no idea at all of what’s happening in the outside world. Not sure if the know who is Samy Vellu 🙂

The work is handed down via generations, as the contractors condition the children of the workers to the same lifestyle – no education, forced into alcohol drinking, and long working hours. Generations of practically free labor. Slavery in Malaysia. Read what Lecthumy’s children faced:

WHILE most teenagers attend school and play with friends, life for “slave children” is miserable.All that Letchumy’s children did, from dawn to dusk, was toil in the fields. From the age of 4, they were forced to work in states and did not know what school was.

Letchumy says some of the estate children are just skin and bones.One of her sons, Kumar, 14, says he has become immune to pain as he has been beaten so many times.Though illiterate, he harbours hopes of getting vocational training and leading a normal life.”All I have known is hardship, pain and torture. I pray that this will come to an end soon and we will be able to live like normal children.”I have been forced on numerous occasions to consume cheap alcohol which tastes like kerosene and I am worried about the harm this has done to me.”

With tears, he says he only has his parents and siblings to cling on to.”All of us in the estate have thought of suicide as it would be much less painful to die than go through what we were facing.”We had no proper food, beds or anything. Even animals have better lives.”

Kumar says he worked more than 12 hours a day in the fields and would be whipped if his employers found him taking a rest.”At times, we were only given one meal of watered down rice. When we complained of hunger, they would give us cheap alcohol which burned our throats.”

Lecthumy’s case is a bit different as she and her husband joined the contractor for supposingly better wages in 2001. however, it was one of the worst decisions of their lives:

LETCHUMY (not her real name) says their ordeal began in 2001 when she and her husband were promised higher wages of between RM500 and RM600 a month if they agreed to work under a new contractor in the estate.

This decision turned out to be her worst nightmare when they treated like slaves and given only RM100 to RM150 monthly. After several months, the contractor stopped paying them.

“We took up the offer because we wanted to earn more money to give our children a better life. However, as soon as we started work, the contractor forced us to work long hours with hardly any rest in between. “There were numerous times when we fell sick and asked for time off, but were instead beaten and forced to go back to work. Even my children, the youngest who is 11 years old, were not spared.”

Letchumy says they were repeatedly beaten and tortured. “I could not bear to see my children being tortured. At times when we were not given proper food, they would give the men alcohol as payment.

“Whenever we asked for our salary, they would say that we owed them money for staying in the estate and gave other excuses. They would tell us that we had debts to settle with them when in fact we owed them nothing.”

She says she and two of her children were sent to the contractors’ “prison” in Bahau as punishment for a year-and-a-half after they took some days off. “The ‘prison’ was in a residential area. They fed us with spoilt food and on some days, they would wake us up at 2am and take us to the estates to work. Women were also sexually abused.”

She says after enduring this living hell for seven years, she sneaked out of the estate and lodged a police report. The contractor was detained but released two days later. “I knew he would come for me and that was when we decided to escape. That night in March, we hid in a nearby jungle. “We then hitch-hiked on lorries until we reached Malacca.”

And that’s how they escaped. Not due to some enforcement officers or checks by authorities. (Note: Contractor released two days later.)

More details on Lecthumy’s ordeal:

HAVING recently celebrated 51 years of independence, it would be beyond one’s imagination to think that slavery still exists in this country. The shocking truth is, it is happening right under our noses.

A family of eight had been enslaved for seven years before finally gathering enough courage to escape from their “masters”. The family had been kept in an estate in Segamat, Johor. They were forced to toil in the fields from 6am to 1am daily with no pay and, at times, with just one meal a day.

According to Letchumy (not her real name), she, her husband, 35, and their six children, all teenagers now, were subjected to mental and physical abuse by their employers.

“We were beaten with rubber hoses, sticks and everything else they could lay their hands on. Women were raped, men were forced to consume alcohol and children from as early as 4 years old were made to work.

“Our employers even have a ‘prison’ in Bahau (Negri Sembilan) where they send workers in punishment if they refuse to work.”

She says her family gathered the courage to escape from the estate five months ago.

“My son was whipped so badly that he almost died. We could not take it any more and decided that even death was better than this. We decided to risk it all and run away. I lodged a report once, but nothing was done and no one came to see what was going on.”

She says they hitch-hiked to Malacca and hid in a cemetery before someone found them and took them to a church. “The pastor has been very kind to us and is risking his life by looking after us. My children don’t have any identification documents and have never been to school.

“I pray that this nightmare will come to an end soon and my children will be able to lead a better life away from this slavery.” She says they are living in fear as their contractor has found them and is harassing the pastor. “The pastor has been constantly threatened and we fear that they may harm him. I pray that someone can help us and also the other families who are living a life of hell in these estates.”

She says the contractors supply labour to several estates throughout the country and a majority of these workers are not paid wages.

“We were treated like animals. Some had even died of hunger, exhaustion and sickness in the estate. We did not know what was happening in the outside world. “Children born in the estate grow up not knowing anything else except working as slaves.”

She says these contractors would lure workers from other estates by offering them better wages. Once the workers were there, they would hit them and force them to work. “No one dared to fight back as the contractors were very cruel and would not hesitate to hit us with anything they could find.

“I appeal to those concerned to do something soon and free the other families living in this life of hell.”

According to Human Resource Minister, Dr S.Subramaniam there is syndicate involved. Even the location of Lecthumy’s hideout was found out, and the pastor who gave shelter was threatened. Since now the ministry is enforcing registration of workers, only time will tell if this new requirement can be circumvented or manipulated by such syndicates. Without proper systems in place, such rules will provide avenue for bribery:

DESPITE numerous reports in the past of estate workers fleeing from merciless employers in Johor, Negri Sembilan and Malacca, the problem has persisted.

It is believed that this is happening under the watchful eyes of a syndicate. This was recently confirmed by Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, who said he had information that some contractors, who were believed to be related to each other, were heading the operations in the three states.

He said numerous police reports had been lodged by workers who escaped and that the matter was under investigation. The case of Letchumy is probably the tip of the iceberg. Based on accounts of other workers who escaped, there are still many being exploited and forced into estate slavery.

The pastor who is caring for Letchumy and her family says he has received threats from the contractor and his men, and has been asked to hand over the family to them. “Several men came to my place and shouted at me to release them, saying they belonged to the contractors and I had no right to keep them. “They threatened to harm me and said they would get the family back at all costs.”

The pastor says he is shocked that the contractors are able to trace the family so quickly. He says he will move them to another location to ensure their safety. “There is no doubt that these contractors are well-connected and I am very afraid for the family’s safety. Someone is giving them information. Something must be done soon to stop this atrocity.”

He says he has met state executive councillor and Asahan state assemblyman R. Perumal over the matter. Perumal has been helping to feed the family and has promised to help the children get proper documents.

On Aug 1, the Human Resources Ministry implemented a registry making it mandatory for contractors to register their workers. A committee consisting of representatives from the ministry, police and registration and welfare departments was formed to oversee the well-being of such workers.

The police conveniently gave excuses when queried on the allegations of slavery in estates:

POLICE confirmed that they have received reports on alleged slavery from estate workers.

However, Negri Sembilan police chief Datuk Osman Salleh says investigations have led to a dead end as police were unable to find substantial evidence to support the allegations. He says the complainants are reluctant to co-operate with police due to fear and this hampers investigations.

“The police are aware of the complaints. We have also heard of this ‘prison’ in Bahau but none of the workers want to show us where it is. “We received a report last year and another one earlier this year. Upon investigation, we found no evidence of the alleged slavery and abuse. The complainant went missing immediately after lodging the report.”

Osman urged those with sufficient evidence supporting such allegations to come forward and work with the police. “We will act but we need strong evidence as the allegations are very serious.”

Probably now Lecthumy and her family have to become private investigators and collect their proof before making more reports. Why not use the ISA’s section 73(1) to “protect” the complainants? 🙂 Or just go to the estate, catch the supervisor, and detain him under the Act? Very easy since we have the mighty ISA. Anything also can do.

In Negeri Sembilan, state assemblyman Mogan, who is in charge of Estate Affairs, Human Resources, Environment and Public Complaints, said that a new ruling is in place to ask employers to tregister their workers with the Labour Department. This will protect the workers. They workers will also be helped to obtain identity cards so that benefits like EPF and SOCSO deduction are provided:

Estate managers in Negri Sembilan have until the end of the year to absorb Malaysian contract work-ers as their staff.

State Estate Affairs, Human Resources, Environment and Public Complaints Committee chairman V.S. Mogan said the move was to curb abuse among workers by eliminating the third party contractors. “We are giving the managers until the end of December to absorb their current contract workers.

“This way, the estate managers will be held directly responsible for their workers, instead of them being subjected to abuse by contractors who often get away with it,” he said, adding that managers were required to register with the Labour Department.

He also said 124 managers in Negri Sembilan have registered themselves with the department since April and had agreed to absorb their respective local workers. “We are expecting more to register soon as these managers had agreed that this is a win-win situation and, most importantly, the workers’ welfare are being taken care of.

Mogan was commenting on the New Straits Times report yesterday on a family of eight local estate workers who had escaped from a rubber plantation in Sg Senarut, Segamat, in Johor, alleging they were treated like slaves and abused by their contractors for over seven years.

“There are a number of cases in the state but the reports are very few. I was told that the workers are afraid to lodge reports against the abusive contractors.”

He said union leaders in the state were also helping to trace local workers who have yet to obtain their birth certificate or identification cards . “It’s a pity to see Malaysians being treated in such a manner. It is also worrying that some don’t even have identity cards. “We hope that by helping them get these documents, they will be entitled to EPF and Socso contributions, including other benefits as staff.”

Besides this, Mogan also said that young children who were forced to work in estates would be put in schools according to their level of competancy.

Meanwhile, Malacca state executive councillor and Asahan state assemblyman R. Perumal said the state’s Manpower Department was looking into the welfare of estate workers.

As I said earlier, this is another long-standing issue. I still remember reading such stories back in the 1990s. We have to wait and see if the new ruling are effective, or merely lip service.