Arise, Sir Tap

A few years ago, my wife used to say that when she is ready to retire from her present work, she would not mind being a rubber tapper for her own estate of a few acres. Only a couple of hours work early in the morning and she can have the rest of the day to herself.

Our son used to joke whenever he was asked about his mum’s occupation: “rubber tapper” which was usually taken with a pinch of salt.

Just a couple of days ago, my friend told me that his friend has decided to plant rubber trees instead of oil palms for his 20-acre lot. Using a rough comparison, he said oil palm fruit fetches only 26 sen per kilo compared with Rm5.50 per kilo for latex. Besides less maintenance, the old rubber trees fetch good price too. Even Indonesian workers prefer to work in rubber estates than oil palm estates.

The Chinese used to say “Feng shui loon lau cheen” which translates into “every person or industry has his/its turn for good fortune”.

To cap it all, today’s New Straits Times features Lat’s cartoon showing a man dressed like a country squire, complete with tie, flatcap and wellies, and carrying a tapping knife, telling his chauffeur, “nanti pukul 7 datang ambil saya.” (later come and fetch me at 7) and he replied, “baik, tuan” (yes, sir).

I know of a Datin who used to be a rubber tapper and another who used to be a construction labourer. But these are cases of husbands having made good later in life. Fast forward a few years and if rubber prices continue to rise, we might be able to see a tapper getting his datukship!