When 100 years of existence doesn’t matter

The Hakka Village in Mantin, Negeri Sembilan, traces its history back to 1860, but now its residents are classified as squatters and forced to make way for development

COMMENT

By S Arutchelvan

The first Monday in October has been designated by the United Nations as World Habitat Day. The purpose of celebrating this date is to reflect on the basic rights of all to adequate shelter. The UN has dedicated this day to highlighting the plight of people fighting for a decent shelter and a home as it is one of the most fundamental of human rights.

With this in mind, let me argue the case of Kampung Hakka in Mantin, Negeri Sembilan. When I first stepped into Kampung Hakka a year ago, I was amazed to encounter a Chinese new village complete with temple, community hall and a school.

I was further shocked to learn that all the people living there have been declared as illegals just because some rich company has bought their land. Looking at the building structure of their homes and their lifestyle, I was convinced that these villagers had a history to talk about having lived here for decades.

Most of the villagers were elderly as their children have left for the urban town centres. Their economic activity varies, with most of them being petty traders and self employed.

I met up with a group of the residents in their community hall. I was warmly welcomed and they readily related their plight. I listened and posed two major questions to them which will determine my own intentions if I want to continue working with them.

The first question was if they think that they have a right to stay in their current homes and the second, if someone else claims to have the grant titles of their land, will they move out?

They responded strongly saying that they have rights. They spoke about how their forefathers came many years ago and how the village was built. They stated that they will fight stay on here.

I was shown a photo of the village taken in the 1960s when there were only two buildings in Mantin town which I recognised. The rest of the town must have come up after the village was set up.

Looking at all angles, I was convinced of their plight. Together with friends from Community Front (CF) a front of PSM, we decided that the people have a legitimate right to their struggle and that they have a genuine case.

‘Where do you want us to go?’

During discussions we learnt of many disturbing issues one being that some villagers have already taken compensation and left. The amount given ranged between RM 1,500 to RM 7,500 – a low figure by any standard.

Many claimed that they were either cheated or threatened into accepting the amount. When asked what their demand would be, the remaining villagers wanted to stay on the current land failing which, they want to be given a plot of land or a house in the same location. I thought their request was reasonable.

The Hakka villagers claim that their village is more than 100 years old. They traced their history right back to 1860. Most of them came from Hui Zhou, China and were brought over to Malaya by the British to work in the tin mines.

They settled in a village in Mantin known as Kampung Attap because of its roofing. Today the same village is known as Kampung Hakka. They have a temple, Tokong Tan Gong and a school, SJK Chi Chi Mantin, both with a hundred-year history.

Today these same people are being humiliated as squatters, illegals’ and being chased away. The private developer, Mega 9 which began its existence in 2005 is now calling them squatters. These squatters was equated to criminals by former Lord President Azlan Shah. They were defined as people who illegally build houses on Government land.

In the case of Kampung Hakka, these villagers were given TOL (Temporary Occupation Licence) by the Seremban land Office since the 1960s. They have been paying quit rent to the local Municipal Council, even till now. Looking at all this, there is no way that they can be called squatters or illegal.

But sadly, going by experience, we have one big problem in this country. It is how our Judiciary and legal system defines who has rights and who does not. It is narrowly defined that those who hold the land title are the legitimate owners.

Sometime in 1987, the Kampung Hakka villagers heard that their land was to be taken away to make way for a development project. All became clear in 2005, when the local Government sold the Kampung Hakka land to a private developer, Mega 9, with the objective of building a mixed development project that includes 374 houses, 116 low cost houses and shop lots.

Therefore Mega 9 which came last to the land has overnight become the King whilst the people who initially built the village and settlement are condemned as squatters and illegals. This is the sad reality where might is decided by money and corruption. Justice is buried under a paper called “geran tanah”.

On Aug 26, 2013, the villagers lost their case in the Seremban High Court. The decision was made in chambers while the villagers waited in open court. The court only saw who had the land title and it was decided that the villagers must give vacant possession of it to Mega 9.

Unbelievably, Mega 9 made an Order 89 application and was successful. Under normal circumstances, the court should have reject the application and order for a full trial. Order 89 is a summary proceeding which is normally done in clear cut trespassing issues.

High-handed action by the authorities
For Kampung Hakka, a trial is warranted as there is a long history of the villagers’ existence. This not a simple case of someone trespassing or not paying rent. The High Court narrowly interpreted the issue.

This is an issue of equitable rights, this is an issue of rights to shelter and this is an issue of rights to livelihood as enshrined in the Federal Constitution Article 5. But the court seems to have chosen just to see who has the land title and gave the death sentence to the villagers.

The lawyers for the villagers applied for a stay of execution and obtained a court date to hear the stay on Oct 17, 2013. On Sept 25, Mega 9 served notices to the villagers, giving them seven days to vacate the land. But within five days, they came in with the full might of the police force, TNB and court bailiffs to evict the people.

Why the hurry when there is a court date pending on the 17th? Why the hurry when there is an appeal? Why couldn’t the bailiff just wait another 30 minutes to allow the villagers’ lawyer to be present?

The lawyer, a State Assemblyman was in the Dewan Negeri and advised that he will be there by 11.30am. In spite of this the bailiff, citing higher orders, carried on with the eviction. The police used excessive force to arrest, injure and humiliate those protecting the houses.

Thirteen people were arrested and three houses were destroyed. The demolition machine only stopped when the lawyer arrived 15 minutes later. An interim stay was granted till Oct 17, 2013. We (those detained) greeted this news with applause while we were at the Mantin police lock-up. At least, the entire village was not in ruins.

As we celebrate world habitat day, I hope the State government will come to its senses. It is the role of the State to ensure its people are given adequate housing. In this case, how could it approve a development plan without first resolving issues faced by the Kampung Hakka villagers. Isn’t this policy called profit before people?

Why can’t the state resolve the housing issues or better still, why not make this a heritage settlement? It seems the authorities have been paid off handsomely by the developer. This is the only logical explanation I can come up with and many people feel likewise.

As the remaining villagers pondered their future, I repeated the question to them. “Do you want to surrender or fight on?” They replied that they have no choice but to fight on. More villagers have now come forward after the rude awakening they got on Sept 30.

As for us in the PSM, this is a class war between the powerful rich against the poor. The policemen recording my statement after my arrest asked if I lived in Kampung Hakka or if I had relatives there. For him, it was a joke that among the 13 people arrested, there were six Malaysian Indians caught protecting Chinese villagers.

I told him that, I have been arrested before for supporting the plight of Palestinians, so what is the big deal in supporting affected people in Mantin, Negeri Sembilan. Feeling embarrassed he soon started to speak our language – the language of the poor.

While there are people who keep arguing on the technical issues of whether the villagers were right to defend their homes and why didn’t they take the compensation, etc., the bigger issue remains that a 100 year-old-village and its people are being forcefully evicted because some big company has made a move and some big people have taken a cut.

The rest of us have a choice on where we want to stand in this dispute. For those who want to support, the Kampung Hakka struggle, please contact Ghandi at 0166862080.

The writer is PSM’s secretary general