Lost melodies from the plantations

The Star

After H.N. Ridley brought rubber trees to Malaya in 1877, the British imported Indian labourers who endured hard plantation conditions, many died from overwork and disease.   Despite their suffering, these workers preserved their stories through folk songs, which brothers Kumanavannan Rajendran and Gogularaajan Rajendran are now using to create a documentary about Malaysian plantation life.  The project, which began in 2021 traces the experiences of Indian immigrants through these century-old melodies.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00After botanist H.N. Ridley introduced rubber trees to Malaya in 1877, the British brought

00:08in Indians to work the rubber plantations. Life for these indentured labourers was gruelling.

00:14They worked from dawn to dusk, clearing jungles, planting seedlings and tapping rubber all for

00:19a pittance. Many were worked to death, while others died of malnutrition and incessant tropical

00:25diseases. Despite it all, they kept telling the stories of their lives through music, writing

00:31and singing folk songs about their plight. This was unveiled by brothers Kumanavanan Rajendran

00:38and Gogularajan Rajendran, who are spearheading a documentary about Malaysian plantation life.

00:44They are using the folk songs of old to trace the lives of those who came over from India

00:49more than a century ago. The documentary began to take shape in 2021 through the brothers'

00:56research for a fictional film on plantation life under their production company, Om Sakti

01:02Films.

01:03I was writing a fiction film and it was based in the plantation, the story, so I wanted to

01:11do research for that fiction. So we started by interviewing labourers who used to work and live

01:21in the plantation. And it's only then I noticed like, wow, there's so much stories that just

01:28waiting to be told. And like some of the grandmothers I met, I'll just ask like, how are you? And

01:37then they'll be talking for two hours. So they have so much stories to tell, and they are getting

01:43old. And these are like so important stories. So yeah, that's why we thought like there is a necessity

01:49to fill this void. So we took it upon.

01:54Gogularajan said their fiction film research led them to Professor Dr. R. Dandayutham's work,

02:00a University of Malaya professor from India who documented Malaysian folk songs in the 80s.

02:05So the people I interview with, most of them have moved out of the plantation. So when they're

02:14telling me the stories, they are really good, but there is a distance in their memory. One is the

02:22distance in the space and distance in time. So I was craving for something, exploring different forms

02:31like how to tell these things. And, and I found the folk song. And when I read one of the

02:37songs from Dr. Dandayutham's collection, it's actually this, this song. It's

02:42so simple, but it just puts you in that. What does it mean? To tap a rubber tree, we boarded

02:49it on an old ship. For 45 cents, he's breaking my back. For 35 cents, he's bending my joints. We

03:04miss that emotional experience of their life, which makes them human. So I think it is important to

03:25reclaim that. And the songs gives you just that emotional experience of the Indians.

03:32Dandayutham's book titled Malaysian Folk Songs contained over 500 plantation songs collected

03:39from workers, but the melodies were missing. During his weekend, he would go to plantation and

03:45he would tape songs. He was doing it out of passion. But then before he could complete his work,

03:54he passed away. His family transcribed them and published it into a book. In the 500 folk songs,

04:02there are just so many things. Even though it was collected in the 80s, because it's oral history,

04:11it is transmitted from generations. So it tells a story that spans a long history.

04:19Gogularajan said Dandayutham's folk song compilation painted a detailed picture of plantation workers'

04:26daily struggles and survival. From the early immigrants who came from the famine and the boat journey

04:34and how they were tricked into this. And when they arrived at the forest and then their homesickness

04:41and then how they evolved. Like if you arrange them in a timeline, it tells a whole story from the

04:47early immigrant to independence. And they sang it in song. All the 500 songs, even though it's singing

04:55about something happy, there is an underlying pain. The 80-minute long musical documentary titled

05:03Araro Ariraro will be filmed in Banting and Curling Plantations and is expected to be released in March

05:102026. The brothers have roped in 10 people who lived in estates to star in their documentary.

05:17So we couldn't use all the 500 songs, but we are using around 15 songs.

05:24We pick our 15 songs that best reflect the life and best for recreating into image.

05:34Gogularajan described the documentary as their offering to plantation residents,

05:39ensuring their history remains alive for future generations.

05:43A queen of 15th music is the full of 15th music.

05:46The mother of 15th music is the full of 15th music.

05:50Now they are speaking to the 80-year-old women.

05:52They are speaking to the 80-year-old women.

05:53But the African-American women up and the women is the full of 15th music.

05:56The 2000s is the same time for the 18th music,

05:57and the feeling of 15th music.

05:58We all know that the African-American women's魔術

06:10is the same usage as their own and the Dutch music is so much as their own.

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