The Plantation (15 page)

That evening after the races, Bette, the Elliotts and their friends dined at the E&O hotel. The elegant white building on the seafront was packed with partygoers, formally dressed and enjoying the opulent surroundings. Seated on the terrace verandah under a starry sky as the moon rose over the fronds of tall palm trees, the water lapping against the seawall, Bette whispered to Margaret, ‘This is so romantic. It’s like a scene in a film at the pictures!’

Margaret gave a satisfied smile. ‘This is life out here. We’re very lucky.’

Seated around a large round table, their group was served lavish food, including strawberries flown in from Australia and French champagne. After covering the race day events, the talk turned to the war in Europe.

Lighting a cigar, one of the well-known rubber planters commented, ‘The Nazi invasion of France has been a disaster. I would love to go and fight for England but, of course, we have to stay to make sure that the rubber production continues.’

‘It must be dreadful living at home now. Of course, it is much worse in France and the Low Countries. No one would want to see their country invaded,’ replied a woman opposite Margaret.

‘Did you hear how Peggy Harrison went to England to get her children out? They had to travel across the Atlantic to Canada on a blacked-out ship, and then set out to Vancouver by train and then take another ship across the Pacific to get to Malaya. It was very brave,’ said the planter’s wife.

‘Of course, it must be awful for those parents who can’t get their school children out of England,’ said another of the guests.

‘I’m afraid that Charlotte is still there,’ said Eugene. ‘I would so love her to come here where it’s safe, but she has to stay with her parents. She can hardly leave them at a time like this.’

‘I’m not that sure that we are all that safe,’ said Roland.

His comments were immediately howled down.

‘Who are we going to fight in Malaya?’ asked a red-faced man sitting next to Bette. ‘It won’t be the Germans.’

Roland gave him a quizzical look. ‘I think that we’ll have trouble with the Japanese.’

‘Nonsense, old boy. Everyone knows that the Japanese are short-sighted. They won’t be able to see us. And besides, their planes are rubbish, can’t fly,’ boomed one of them, setting off a ripple of laughter round the table.

‘Well,’ said Roland. ‘The Japanese have been very aggressive in China. They want to expand their empire, reach the oil in the Dutch East Indies and what’s to stop them?’

One of the women scoffed at the suggestion. ‘What about the British Navy? Everyone knows that we will be protected because the rubber supplies have to be maintained. Lord knows it’s about time that we started to make some money out of rubber. The last few years have been lean and now the war has meant that the good times are here for us, finally.’

Margaret was somewhat irked by Roland’s remarks. As far as she was concerned, they were all doing their bit for the war effort in England and Roland should not be making such unsettling comments. She was knitting like mad. In fact, in Perak, there was a network of knitters and several hundred garments had already been created and sent to England for the soldiers.

‘We’re doing our bit,’ she said.

‘That’s true,’ replied another woman. ‘The Patriotic Fund organises lots of mah jong parties and afternoon teas to raise money, but I think that the administration should be looking at doing more to defend us, if the need arose.’

‘The Chinese community has raised a lot of money, too. It’s not just the British who are doing the right thing,’ commented Tony Tsang.

Roland began to look exasperated. ‘Look, I know that a lot of what I’m saying isn’t generally accepted because the authorities are often busy covering up things that they don’t want made public, but there are suspicious things happening. I have heard, more than once, that the Japanese have been measuring our beaches, swamps and jungles for some time. Why would they do that?’

‘Who knows?’ replied the planter beside Margaret. ‘But our enemy is Germany, not the Japs and, as my wife says, we’ve got the navy.’

‘Well,’ said Roland. ‘I don’t think that’s enough. I think we need professional troops on the ground, a lot more than the volunteers that we have training now. If you ask me, we’re all too complacent and sometime in the near future we’re going to be very sorry that we have been.’

Margaret attempted to change the conversation. ‘Oh, Roland, you really are a wet blanket. We’ve had a wonderful day and we’re here with good friends, can’t you think of something happier to talk about?’

Roland gave a small shrug and smiled at his wife. ‘Tell me, what plans have you got for tomorrow?’

‘Yes, Margaret, what are we doing?’ asked Bette.

Margaret and several ladies had planned to go shopping the following day and Bette agreed to go along.

‘Though I’m more interested in seeing the city than the markets and the jewellers and tailors,’ Bette confided to Eugene Elliott.

‘Then come with me, dear girl. I’m visiting a few old friends, a few business calls in George Town. You’re quite welcome.’

‘I won’t be in the way?’

Eugene shook his head. ‘I’ll enjoy your company. You might want to bring that sketchbook of yours.’

When Margaret heard of their plan she decided to join them too, as she said to Bette, ‘He is my father-in-law.’

And so the sisters were shown parts of the old capital that even Margaret, who had been to Penang a few times, didn’t know existed. Bette was intrigued by Eugene’s intimate knowledge of George Town.

‘Penang was part of the kingdom of Kedah but became a British trading post in the late eighteenth century when Captain Light landed at the fort and claimed the island for the East India Company,’ Eugene told them, as Hamid drove along Light Street. ‘The story goes that, to clear the land, he had a canon filled with coins and fired it into the jungle. In the rush to find the coins the natives cut down the jungle in record time and so George Town was founded. See that little fenced-off corner under the fran-gipani trees? That’s where Light’s buried. The Christian cemetery. Looks a bit neglected, I’m afraid.’

‘This doesn’t look as organised, or planned, as Singapore,’ said Bette. ‘I like the way the streets spill out in every direction.’

‘A lot of the streets were allotted to particular groups: the Chinese traders, the Eurasians, Europeans, Indians, and later Armenians, Achenese and Sumatrans. And you see their cultures in the street. You could spend a day going around to the various temples, mosques and churches,’ said Eugene.

‘I do hope I can come back here,’ said Bette. ‘I could walk and walk and walk.’

‘And you must stop and try all the different foods, so you can keep walking,’ said Eugene.

‘I don’t think I’d like to do that,’ said Margaret. ‘Surely food cooked on the footpath can’t be very hygienic.’

Bette laughed. ‘Oh, Margie, where’s your spirit of adventure? It sounds like fun.’

Eugene spoke to Hamid, who nodded and turned down a side street.

‘Just going to take a small detour,’ said Eugene.

They stopped in a narrow street filled with intriguing shops. Eugene got out and went over to a leather shop. He greeted the owner who was standing outside smoking and the two women looked at the small display in the window. Beaded and embroidered shoes and slippers were lined up.

‘Look, Margaret, those are the pretty shoes I’ve seen the Chinese women wear with their cheongsams.’

‘The Malay women wear them with their sarong kebayas. You know, some of the Chinese women also wear the sarong kebayas,’ said Margaret authoritatively.

‘They’re just lovely shoes,’ said Bette.

‘Come inside,’ said Eugene as the shop owner hurried ahead, treating Eugene with deference.

‘You like see shoes?’ The owner bowed to the sisters.

‘Show him your foot, Bette,’ said Eugene.

Bette was startled as the owner pulled out some larger sized shoes wrapped in brown paper. ‘Oh, look at these scuffs!’ She fingered the little green silk slip-on sandals, beaded and embroidered with a flower pattern. ‘Aren’t they beautiful.’

‘Try them on,’ said Eugene.

‘Have leather sole, very strong,’ said the shop owner.

‘They’re gorgeous,’ said Bette reaching for her change purse in her bag. ‘I must buy them.’

Eugene stopped her hand. ‘Allow me this small indulgence. Charlotte is also very fond of these shoes, and they will be something nice for you to take back to Brisbane.’ He reached into his pocket as the shopkeeper spoke in rapid Chinese. He may have been trying to negotiate a price, though it seemed to Margaret, he wasn’t trying very hard. Clearly he wanted to please Eugene.

‘Show them the old shoes,’ Eugene instructed.

The shopkeeper pulled out a box and unwrapped some tissue paper to show the women a pair of the tiniest brocade boots they’d ever seen. Each was the length of the palm of Margaret’s hand, laced up with leather shoelaces and made with a leather sole.

‘They look like doll’s shoes,’ said Bette.

‘This cobbler’s shop has been making shoes for the bound feet of Chinese ladies for more than a century,’ said Eugene. ‘Terrible practice. Supposed to make the women more attractive, but the bones of the feet were broken and the foot was kept bound so that it couldn’t grow. So cruel.’

After they returned to the hotel and the sisters had thanked Eugene for the outing, Margaret listened in silence while Bette told Roland how much they’d enjoyed their morning with Eugene.

‘Father has certainly taken to you, Bette. As everyone has. The Oldham girls are quite a hit out here. And how did you enjoy it, Margaret, dear?’ asked Roland.

She shrugged. ‘Well, I can’t say that I was as enthusiastic as Bette. I don’t really like those pokey little Chinese shops. I thought it was nice of your father to buy Bette those slippers. He must have known the shopkeeper quite well, because I could tell that the Chinaman didn’t want to take any money. Anyway, this afternoon we’re off with some of my friends. The Penang girls have such beautiful bungalows. One of them has a beach house at Batu Ferrinhgi. Sounds divine. Roland, perhaps that might be something we could look into – a beach house.’

‘No time for beach holidays, my dear. And Utopia
’s
too far away from Penang. We have places where we can relax closer to home.’

‘It’s not very social,’ said Margaret.

‘You mean the pagar and jungle cabin you told me about?’ said Bette. ‘That sounds fun. I mean really exciting and different. Why don’t we do that, Margie?’asked Bette.

‘I have a small child, Bette. I don’t think it’s safe to take him out where there are wild animals and unfriendly natives,’ retorted Margaret.

‘Oh, come on, dear. Philip adores getting out.’

‘Roland! It’s jungle! With marauding killer beasts of all descriptions,’ said Margaret. ‘It isn’t like a walk in the botanic gardens.’

Roland shrugged. ‘My son will have to learn to deal with these things. Just as I did.’

‘We’ll all be there to keep an eye on him. I’d so like to go and see some of the up-country areas,’ pleaded Bette. ‘It might be my only opportunity, Margie. Oh Lord, there seems so much I haven’t seen of this country and time is running out.’

‘I always need to go and check out the areas mapped for the expansion of the plantation, talk to the local people, so we might as well all go,’ said Roland. ‘You ladies could be quite comfortable for a few days if we go up to the pagar. It would certainly give Bette a sense of the real bush country,’ said Roland. ‘It’s still very tribal.’

Margaret rolled her eyes. ‘Tribal! That’s the last thing we want to see. Headhunters and scary animals. If I had my own transport, I could go where I wanted. I could take Bette to much more interesting places. Like Ipoh.’

Neither Bette nor Roland leapt at the idea.

‘Isn’t Ipoh a big tin city? I’ve just been to a city,’ said Bette. ‘I didn’t come all this way to go to the pictures and sit in shops and hotels,’ she said, adding carefully, ‘Even though I’ve loved Penang.’

‘You’d be surprised by what’s in Ipoh. But it’s all a moot point as we have no means of getting there. It’s simply too hard to get Roland to take us as he’s busy and I really can’t ask Mr Elliott if we can borrow Hamid and his car all the time. There just has to be a solution.’

No more was said until Gilbert, Roland’s friend who’d been best man at the wedding, called in at Utopia.

‘I’m going down to look at a small estate. It’s a holding that went bankrupt. I bought it from some ex-army officer who was given a land grant after the Great War, and couldn’t make a go of it.’

‘There are not enough big plantations and I think that too many of those individual holdings are too small to really work, especially when times are tough,’ said Roland. ‘That’s why many are selling out to concerns like ours. As you know, we’ve amalgamated a few of these small estates into one large outlying division that we’re trying to turn over to oil palm.’

‘Experimenting, eh?’ said Gilbert.

‘I think we should be expanding our horizons. Father’s not so keen. Wants to hold off until the war situation has sorted itself out, and he might be right in that.’

Over tiffin, they talked about the fun they’d had in Penang at the races and Bette added how much she’d loved the city, saying that she would like to explore it some more. ‘Margaret wants to take me to see Ipoh and Taiping as well.’