Patterns of Land Ownership and Inheritance in Negeri Title Sembilan: Some Implication for Agricultural Development

Author(s) Azizah Kassim

Citation 東南アジア研究 (1989), 27(3): 317-338

Issue Date 1989-12

URL http://hdl.handle.net/2433/56374

Right

Type Departmental Bulletin Paper

Textversion publisher

Kyoto University Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 27. No.3. December 1989

Patterns of Land Ownership and Inheritance in Negeri Sembilan: Some Implications for Agricultural Development

AZIZAH KASSIM*

among people of the Adat have decreased I Introduction drastically, just as they did elsewhere in the state and in Malaysia as a whole. The Malays in the state of Negeri Over 800,000 hectares of agricultural Sembilan, Malaysia, are noted for their land in the country are either idle i.e. matrilineal kinship organization known not worked for more than three years, in the vernacular as Adat Perpatih. or under-utilised; but it is in Negeri However, not all Malays in the state Sembilan, particularly in the five districts practise Adat Perpatih (which henceforth mentioned above, where the rate of ag­ will be referred to as the Adat); adher­ ricultural decline is the highest, and the ents of the Adat are concentrated most affected crops being rice and rub­ largely in five districts i.e. Kuala Pilah, ber. In 1981, 63.6 percent of the rice Jelebu, Rembau, Jempul and Tampin. fields in the state were categorised by the Their Adat, as shall be explained in Sec­ State Department of Agriculture as idle tion III, has some distinctive features: land (referred to locally as tanah terbiar) descent, which is traced through the fe­ while the percentage of idle rice land for male line is used as the basis for the the whole country was 17.9 percent. In formation of clans and lineages; resi­ addition, 34.25 percent of the rice land dence after marriage is uxorilocal; and was officially considered under-utilised the clans "own" plots of land which are i.e. not worked during the off-seasons, registered in the name of their respective while the percentage for under-utilised members. Transmission and transfer of rice land for Malaysia was 22.1 percent such land is subject to Adat land rules [Zulkifly Hj. Mustafa and Shaik Mohd and regulations. Noor Alam 1985: 40J. In absolute terms The Adat society is rural based and the total area of idle rice land in the its economy has long been dependent on state in 1981 was 9,386 hectares and that small scale agriculture especially on the cultivation of rice for subsistance, and which was under-utilised 5,040 hectares. There are no recent statistics on the size on rubber-tapping for cash. Since the of idle and under-utilised rice land in early seventies, agricultural activities Negeri Sembilan; officials in the State * Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Malaya, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Department of Agriculture believe that Malaysia the situation remains the same as it was

317 in 1981. There are also no correspond­ formation of mInI-estates, as stipulated ing figures on the size of idle and un­ in the National Agricultural Policy 1984 der-utilised rubber small-holdings, how­ (see Fifth Malaysia Plan 1986-1990 [1986: ever, their presence is very conspicuous 294J). to visitors to the state. What is the nature of land ownership Agricultural development is one of the among adherents of the Adat? What two pillars of economic development categories of land are subject to Adat under the Malaysian New Economic Pol­ rules and regulations? How is "Adat" icy implemented in 1971, and the decline land transmitted, managed and utilised? in agriculture as seen in Negeri Sem­ Are Adat land rules and regulations con­ bilan has caused great concern to politi­ ducive to agricultural development? Can cians and government administrators modern commercial agriculture through alike. Many, including academicians, es­ large scale farming as proposed by the pecially those in the social sciences and government be implemented successfully in agriculture, have attempted to ana­ among the people of the Adat? These lyse the cause of this phenomenon, and are some of the problems to which this in Negeri SembiIan it is common to find paper addresses itself. some ofthese analysts identifying the Adat This paper is based on fieldwork car­ as one of the major factors contributing ried out in the mukim of Seri Menanti, to agricultural decline. Among those in the district of Kuala Pilah, Negeri of this persuasion are Arif Hussain and Sembilan, an area which can be consi­ Nyanen Thiran [1980J, Mohd Shah Hj. dered the stronghold of the Adat by vir­ Lassim and Norhalim Hj. Ibrahim [1984J, tue of its being the seat of the Negeri A. Rahman Razak and Sariah Meon Sembilan royal household. The fieldwork [1984J; and Mohd Haflah Piei [1984J. Yet was carried out in stages, between Sep­ few have attempted to examine empiri­ tember 1986 and February 1987; inJanu­ cally the relationship between the Adat ary and February 1988; and in October and agricultural decline. 1988. Ten villages were chosen with a In this paper, the writer tries to exa­ random sampling of 200 households, ac­ mine that aspect of the Adat which has counting for over thirty percent of all a direct bearing on agriculture viz. its households in the area studied. The pattern ofland ownership and inheritance writer also complemented the fieldwork with a study of land registration records and the implications of such a pattern i.e. the Mukim Registers, at the Kuala on agriculture and its development. Pilah Land OfficeY This study is carried out in the light of the government's attempts to arrest agri- cultural decline among the smallholders 1) The Mukim Register is a record of land holdings under ten acres within each mu­ and to modernise and commercialise this kim. For more information, see Wong sector through group farming and the [1975: 73-79J.

318 AZIZAH KASSIM: Patterns of Land Ownership and Inheritance in Negeri Sembilan

which is the main partner in the ruling II Seri Menanti and Its People: An Barisan Nasional, or a high ranking Outline official in it. Likewise, the ]KKK is mainly composed of officials of the local Seri Menanti is one of the mukim in UMNO branch or staunch supporters of the district of Kuala Pilah, which, along the party.3) with six other districts i.e. Rembau, Together with eleven other mukim, ]elebu, Tampin, Seremban, ]empul and Seri Menanti forms the Kuala Pilah dis­ Port Dickson, forms the state of Negeri trict. Located in the central part of Sembilan. Each district which has an Negeri Sembilan, it functions as the administrative chief known as the Dis­ seat of the royal household, which was trict Officer (DO), comprises smaller established in the eighteen century. The units called mukim, which in turn are mukim covers an area of 7,769.971 hect­ headed by an administrative functionary, ares, with about 60 traditional villages the Penghulu Mukim. A mukim is fur­ of differing sizes. Some of these villages ther divided into traditional villages, the are very small, with only twenty or thirty number of which varies depending on households. For administrative purposes, various factors such as the geographical the district office groups together small and population size of each village.2) At adjoining villages and considers them the village level, administration is un­ as one administrative village, referring dertaken by the ]awatankuasa Kemajuan to them by the name of the largest dan Kese1amatah Kampung (jKKK, kampung in the grouping and putting lit.: Village Committee for Development them under one ]KKK. and Security). There are 83 ]KKK in Seri Menanti had a population of7,471 the district of Kuala Pilah; each ]KKK in 1986, distributed over 1,388 households, has under its administration a varying thus the average household size is 5.4 number of traditional villages, depend­ which is higher than the national average ing on the population size of these vil­ of five [Fourth Malaysia Plan 1981-85 lages. The chairman of the ]KKK is 1981: 221]. Almost all of its population the village head (ketua kampung) and gen­ (99.7 %) are Malays with a small num­ erally he is either the chief of the local ber of Chinese and Indians. Distri­ branch of UMNO (United Malay Na­ bution of population by age in the dis­ tional Organization), the political party trict of Kuala Pilah, according to a sam­ ple survey by the Ministry of Agricul­ 2) The term "traditional village" is used to differentiate such a village from other ture in 1980, is 38.9 percent below the types of villages found in Malaysia, viz., newly opened villages in the Federal Land 3) The close link between the JKKK and Development Authority (FELDA) schemes, the local branch of the ruling party is also new villages (kampung baru) opened during found by Scott [1985: 130-132J in Kedah, the emergency period, and squatter vil­ and is implied to prevail in Selangor by lages in urban areas. Shamsul [1986: 206-208J.

319 age of 18 years, 39.4 percent between 19 Income vanes from M $ 50 to M $ 2,200 and 44 years, and only 21.7 percent over -45 percent having less than M$ 200,41.5 55 years of age [Jadual-Jadual Banci Ta­ percent between M$201 and M$ 500; 9.5 raf Pertanian Dearah Kuala Pilah 1985: percent between M$501 and M$I,OOO; 14J. while 4 percent have between M$ 1,001 The non-Malay section of the popula­ and M $ 2,200. (For more information tion, who are confined to the small town on their economy, see Azizah Kassim centres (pekan) of Seri Mananti and Tan­ [1988: 144-145J.) jung Ipoh, are involved primarily in The cost of living in the kampung is trading. The Malays occupy the surround­ much cheaper than in the towns. Every ing countryside. Some are self-employed, family owns the house it lives in and engaged in rubber-tapping; cultivation therefore pays no rent. Most villages of rice and orchards on a small scale; produce some of the foodstuffs they con­ rearing of cows and poultry, carpentry, sume, and even those they buy cost or petty-trading. Others are in paid much less than in the urban centres. employment, working In the public Social facilities made available to them sector as teachers, policemen, attendants are subsidised by the government (for at the district general hospital in Kuala example, kindergarten classes; the weekly Pilah, clerks or other lower rung admin­ women's domestic science classes run by istrators with government agencies such Kelas Kamajuan Masyarakat (Kemas) as the Police Department, National and religious classes under the auspices Electricity Board, Post Office, etc. Yet of the religious department; as well as others are pensioners and/or dependent free meals and books for primary school on remittance from salaried relatives children). It is therefore possible for an (mainly children) working largely in the average family of five to aquire their ba­ urban areas. One very dominant feature sic minimum needs for food, clothes and of the economy is the dependence on shelter for M$ 200 a month. If one takes remittance and paid employment, and this figure as the poverty line for the the very small number relying solely on villagers, then, based on the income farming for their livelihood. Out of the figures specified earlier, 45 percent of the 200 respondents in my research, only households are below poverty line. 23.5 percent are totally economically de­ pendent on agriculture, 18.5 percent on III Matrilineal Kinship SystelD remittance, 8 percent on pensions; and (Adat Perpatih) the other 50 percent have multiple sources of income, based on various The Malays in Seri Menanti are de­ combinations of remittances and pensions scendants of Minangkabau migrants who and/or income of household heads from are believed to have come into Malaya paid employment. Household monthly as early as the sixteenth century. It is

320 AZIZAH KASSIM: Patterns of Land Ownership and Inheritance in Negeri Sembilan

Table 1 Customary Land by District in Negeri Sembilan (acres)

]elebu K. Pilah ]empul Rembau Tampin Total

No. of lots 64 9~950 809 8~261 1~ 103 20~097 No. of titles 63 9~ 973 751 8,587 992 20,366

Total size 96 18~000 l~ 669 12~698 2~072 34,565

Note: There is no customary land in other districts. Source: Adapted from Mohd Shah bin Hj. Lassim and Norhalim bin Hj. Ibrahim [1984: 9J. The authors used figures from the Seremban Survey Department. No date was given. Because the size of customary land is fixed the absence of a date is irrelevant. from these ancestors that they derive officially designated "customary land" their matrilineal kinship system, the Adat and comprised mainly ricefields (sawah) Perpatih. When the early settlers came, and land for homesteads (kampung). land was abundant and they had free This land can only be transmitted and access to it. They cleared the forest for transacted in accordance with the Adat homesteads and for the cultivation of law and with the consent of the respective rice, which was their main crop. On the clan elders. land they opened they established usu­ Presently there are approximately 34,565 fructuary rights which were held commu­ acres (13,988 hectares) of customary nally by matrilineal clans. land in Negeri Sembilan (see Table 1), The coming of the British colonial au­ accounting for less than 0.3 percent of thorities saw the introduction of a new all agricultural land in the state. More form of land law and administration in than half of this is found in the district the 1960s and with it the concept of pri­ of Kuala Pilah where customary land vate property which was antithetical to totals 18,000 acres (7,284.4 hectares) ac­ the indigeneous idea of land "ownership" counting for about 6 percent of the total and management. Land registration was area of the district. No mukim-based introduced and in the district of Kuala figures on the size of customary land are Pilah in Negeri Sembi1an, registration available. of native holdings began in 1887. The Apart from land for rice cultivation earliest local land register at the district and homesteads, the people in Negeri is called the Malay Grant in which is Sembilan also opened land for other recorded the approximate size and loca­ kinds of cultivation as determined by tion of a land holding, the name of the owner (s), his or her clan, and the title notes that in the Malay Grant for the of his/her clan chief.4 ) Such land was district of Kuala Pilah, some customary land was initially registered in men's 4) Before the introduction of the Mukim Re­ names. However, by the beginning of the gister in 1890, registration of land hold­ twentieth century~ all registered owners of ings by Malays in Negeri Sembilan was customary land were women, in accor­ done in the Malay Grant. The writer dance with Adat Perpatih.

321 the state.5) The most popular was rub­ plots of Malay Reservation land which ber which they began to grow in the have other cultivation conditions, e.g. it early twentieth century. The first rubber must be used for orchards (dusun), fish­ land in Seri Menanti was registered in ponds (tebat), for homesteads, and for 1913. Soon after, Malay rubber small­ rice fields, while a small number have holdings began to be sold to the non­ no cultivation conditions imposed. Ma­ Malays, especially to the Chinese. To lay Reservation land is not subject to stop Malays from losing their land, in Adat Perpatih (land) regulations; how­ 1915 the British colonial government im­ ever, in practice its transmission, as shall plemented the Malay Reservation En­ be seen later, is very much affected by actment (1913) in Negeri Sembilan. Un­ the Adat ideology. At present there are der this Enactment land under rubber 83,600 hectares of land registered as Ma- cultivation was categorised as Malay lay Reservation land in Kuala Pilah Reservation land (Tanah Simpanan Melayu) accounting for 70.4 percent of all land in which could not be sold to non-Malays. the district (Taklimat Pembangunan Bagi After 1915, one rarely sees the registra­ Pejabat Daerah, Tanah dan Majlis Daerah tion of customary land in the mukim of Kuala Pilah [1985: 4J) .7) As in the case Seri Menanti anymore. But, registration of customary land, no figures on the size of titles as Malay Reservation increased of Malay Reservation land for the mu­ steadily as rubber small holdings became kim of Seri Menanti are available. popular. Yet registration of such titles The customary land known as tanah began to ease off in the thirties. After pesaka adat was, and still is, the corner­ the Second World War, in the fifties, stone of the Adat. Yet, as shall be ex­ some plots of land under rubber were plained later, most rice fields, and even again registered.6) some kampung land are left idle. This Besides rubber, there are also some tendency evidently has depressed the 5) Alienation of land by the state is subject economic value of land. Nonetheless its to substantial conditions limiting them to symbolic value remains significant. Land one of three categories of land use i.e. agriculture, building or industry. Land ownership determines one's clan and lin­ designated for agriculture is further sub­ eage within Adat society and with it ject to cultivation conditions as decided by the state. The nature of crops to be his or her roots; and for some i.e. the planted is written on the land titles (see Wong [1975: 90-94J). 7) As for the breakdown of land according 6) Malay Reservation land registered in the to its cultivation conditions and its uses, fifties is known as "Tanah Lesen," a refe­ there is a discrepancy between figures rence to its earlier status as land alienated given by this report and those given by on temporary occupation license (TOL) other government agencies such as the for the purpose of food cultivation after Jabatan Pertanian Daerah (District De­ the period of Japanese administration. partment of Agriculture). I chose to use This land which lay on the fringes of the land office statistics in the belief that rubber holdings then, was later planted this is the most accurate as the said office with rubber. deals in land administration.

322 AZIZAH KASSIM: Patterns of Land Ownership and Inheritance in Negeri Sembilan male members, their eligibility to hold (b) Each clan owns a specified amount traditional political posts such as Buapak, of ancestral land (tanah pesaka Adat) Lembaga, Undang, etc. for which the go­ which is registered in the name of vernment provides a monthly stipend of its famale members and transmitted varying amounts. The most prestigious matrilineally through women. Male and highest paid post is that of the four members of the clan have usufruc­ Undang - of Rembau, ]elebu, Sungai tuary rights over such land. Ujung and ]ohol-with each incumbent (c) The society observes rules of exog­ being given by the state, among other amy; however, what constitutes an things, an official residence, a car, and exogamic unit could be a lineage or a monthly salary of about M$5,OOO a a clan, depending on the demo­ month.8) graphic size of the clan concerned. The Adat, however, is not just about (d) Residential arrangements after mar­ land; it regulated almost all aspects of riage are matrilocal, with the hus­ village life in the years gone by. Now band moving into the wife's mother's with the onslaught of modernization and place immediately after marriage. westernization that comes with "develop­ ment," the Adat has undergone several IV Patterns of Land Ownership and transformations; yet some of its basic Inheritance principles remain unchanged. These ba­ sic tenets have implications for land uti­ Besides the two types of land men­ lization and subsequent development, tioned above, the Malays in Adat Perpatih and hence must be understood from the society have little other land. In the outset: survey I conducted there are cases of (a) Adat Perpatih society IS divided households owning freehold land (land into matriclans called suku, of which that can be be freely transmitted or there are twelve. Each suku which transferred), but their number is negli­ has a distinctive name is headed by a gible. Such plots of land are not for Lembaga. The clan comprises lin­ agricultural purposes but for housing eages known as perut; and each perut and are located in urban areas where the is headed by a Buapak. The posts owners once worked. This being the case of Lembaga and Buapak are held this land will not be discussed, as the by men and are transmitted matri­ focus here is on agricultural land. I will lineally. now examine the pattern of land owner­ 8) There are hundreds of traditional political ship and inheritance in Seri Menanti. posts in the five districts where the Adat society is found. In Kuala Pilah alone there are seventy-eight. Apart from the 1 Customary Land (Tanah Pesaka Adat) U ndang, all the office bearers are given In the absence of detailed figures on small monthly stipends ranging from M $ 37.85 to M $400. customary land at the mukim level, I

323 examined 61 plots of customary land in constant since it was first registered. To the traditional villages in an attempt, the best of my knowledge any member among other things, to see the pattern of of the society is free to add to the stock distribution, cultivation conditions, the of customary land; however, I found no size of holding and number of owners. evidence ofanyone doing so. It is not All the plots comprise rice fields (55.7 easy to increase the size of customary percent) and kampung land (44.3 per­ land. A member of Adat Perpatih so­ cent). However, in the rest of the vil­ ciety can do so in two ways. Firstly, lages studied, there is also customary he can apply to the land office to change land vested with other conditions ViZ. the status of whatever land he owns orchards (dusun) , rubber holdings, and into customary land. This will involve fish-pond (lebat), but its total size is ne­ formidable bureaucratic processes which gligible. only a few dare to undertake. Secondly, Customary land, as mentioned earlier, he can apply to the land office for a is held by women, and is passed to their new plot of land and subsequently, have daughter (s). In the absence of daugh­ this plot registered as customary land. ters, the land goes to the sister's daugh­ But land alienation to Malays in Kuala ters, and if one has neither daughters Pilah (and in other districts with an nor sisters, the land goes to the matrili­ Adat Perpatih population) in the last neal (female) cousin's daughter. The thirty years has been confined mainly to land cannot be transmitted or transacted the Fringe Alienation Scheme (Rancan­ to people outside one's clan. Theoreti­ gan Tanah Pinggir); and participants in cally, the land cannot be sold, but in this scheme have not been given the ti­ g practise it is done, though very rarely, tles to their land yet. ) Only when the when the owner sells it to close kin. title is conferred can application be Quite often the transaction is not refer­ made to the land office for the plot to be red to as a sale, but an act of gift (beri) registered as customary land. Given the for which the recipient gives a token formidable bureaucratic processes, as al­ sum of money to the donor in return. luded to above, and the growing uneas­ This is only done under special circum­ iness among some men in Adat Perpa­ stances: a woman may have more than tih society about Adat Perpatih land re­ one plot of land, no direct heir, and gulations (which discriminate against she is in dire need of money. She then them), it is probable that none of the approaches her would-be inheritor for participants in the Rancangan Tanah financial help, in return offering her Pinggir may want to have their respec- land, thus making a pre-mortem trans­ 9) In the mukim of Seri Menanti, 541 acres miSSion. had been alienated under the Tanah Pin­ ggir Scheme by 1988. The total number One salient feature of customary land of lots is 166. Land opened under this is its size, which has remained somewhat scheme is planted with rubber trees.

324 AZIZAH KASSIM: Patterns of Land Ownership and Inheritance in Negeri Sembilan tive plots of land registered as Tanah When a land owner dies, her name 1n Pesaka Adat. the land title is cancelled and replaced While land S1ze has remained un­ by the name of her inheritor(s); only changed since 1913 or so, the members of in a few cases is transmission not ex­ Adat Perpatih society have grown in ecuted at all (the title still in the origi­ number, thus the pressure on land is nal owner's name), or done while the great. To begin with, the plots registered owner is alive. Post-mortem transmis­ were small in size - for kampung land, sion is often done years after the own­ the smallest measures 1 rod and 25 er's demise; in some cases thirty or poles (equivalent to about one quar­ forty years later. ter of an acre or 0.10 hectare), and the In most cases customary land is jointly biggest, 2 acres and 3 rods (about 1.13 owned. Seventy-nine percent of the hectares); and in the case of rice fields, plots studied are held in common by the smallest was also 2 rods and 25 several members of a lineage group (80 poles, and the biggest plot measured 4 percent for rice fields; and for kampung acres 2 rods and 5 poles (approximately land, 70 percent). Common ownership 1.83 hectares) )0) is avoided only if a female member of In the last one century, the plots have the clan has more than one plot of kam­ been transmitted at least twice, in some pung or rice land, or if the family has cases more, depending on how a partic­ only one female child at each generation ular family proliferates. In all cases of - both of which are not uncommon oc- transmission, no plot was ever subdi­ curances. vided. The size of the holdings in itself Based on the number of registered own­ prohibits subdivision, so does its cost ers, the average size of land each owner which is rather expensive by kampung is entitled to, In the case or nce economic standards and the lengthy time plots, is 2 rods and 30 poles (about half that such an exercise takes. In addition, an acre or 0.23 hectare) and for kam­ there is now a regulation which prohibits pung plots, I rod 22 poles (about a subdivision of agricultural land of one quarter of an acre or one tenth of an acre and less.I }) hectare). However, these figures are

10) 40 poles equal 1 rod and 4 rods make one exaggerated and therefore misleading. acre. 2.471 acres is equivalent to one Many of those whose names appear in hectare. the land registration record may have 11) According to a surveyor, Hj. Maidin bin Hj. Manap, from a firm of the same name, died by now, leaving behind numerous the current rate for the subdivision of heirs -children, grandchildren and great agricultural land is: M $ 600 basic charge plus M $ 25 per chain of work done, in grandchildren. So the size of land, addition to a minimum fee of M $ 825 per job done (personal communication as per sum for the villagers. The length of time letter from the said company dated 29 Feb. taken for subdivision to come through, 1988). Thus, for subdivision to be done, according to officials at the land office, IS it would cost at least M $1,450, a hefty at least two years.

325 Generation I

Generation 4

Generation 5

Household 1 Household 2 Household 3

1. Range of ages in each generation Generation 1: Generation 2: 63-78 years 6 Male Generation 3: 28-62 years Generation 4: 17-41 years o Female Generation 5: 6 months - 16 years 2. Shaded figures represent those who now o Dead reside in the village Fig. 1 Ebah's Lineage

to which each adult member of Adat those in generation 2 & 3, and whose Perpatih society is entitled to presently, names appear in the land title, to get is much lower. Below I present a typical together and transmit Odah's and Kiah's case, Ebah's lineage, to illustrate this share to their daughters. But this cannot point (See Fig. 1). be done just yet as Ebah's descendants A plot of land for a homestead, grant are spread all over Malaysia, one living number SN 1753 which measures 1 acre, as far away as Sarawak. Getting them 2 rods and 15 poles was registered in the together is a gargantuan task. Some are name of Ebah in 1903. When she died not keen to get back merely to settle an in the late fifties, the land was transmit­ inheritance issue from which they have ted to her four daughters. One daugh­ very little to gain, while others who are ter died, leaving no issue, before regist­ keen, find it difficult to arrange a suita­ ration of joint ownership was made. ble time for leave to enable a family Hence the land is now registered in the meeting to take place. name of Ebah's other three daughters, Ebah's lineage now comprises forty-six with each having an equal share. In 1986 people, twenty-two of whom are females Ebah's daughter Odah died, followed by who will be her heirs. When the last of her daughter Kiah in 1988. Ebah's daughters dies, which may be Now the time has come again for older soon as she is now in her seventies and members of Ebah's lineage especially paralysed, this piece of ancestral land

326 AZIZAH KASSIM: Patterns of Land Ownership and Inheritance in Negeri Sembilan will be divided among her eight female lineage is typical of land ownership and grandchildren (Generation 3), a few of utilization in Seri Menanti. Multiple whom are now in their early sixties. ownership creates problems for land man­ Each will be entitled to about 32 poles agement and utilization - everyone's (about one tenth of an acre). In the land is in fact nobody's land. No one fourth generation, it will be shared feels responsible for it or feels commit­ among ten heirs including the one who ted to work it, yet at the same time the has died whose share will be transmitted owners are reluctant to part with their to her daughter. Their individual shares respective shares, even when there are will doubtlessly be smaller. offers from close kin to purchase them. In 1913, Ebah also registered two par­ Hence many plots of ancestral land or cels of rice fields in her name - SN 1754, parts of such plots in Seri Menanti have measuring 2 rods, 10 poles; and SN been left idle or under-utilised; resident 1755, measuring 2 acres, 1 rod, and 25 owners quite often only work land that poles. As in the case of the kampung is considered their share, leaving the plot, these rice fields too will be trans­ shares of the others unattended. In some mitted to all of Ebah's female descend­ cases all owners have left for good. In ants, each getting a miniscule share. one of the villages studied, for example, Since the 1950s the lineage members out of thirty plots of kampung land, have been fully aware of their state of SIX are now deserted, leaving behind semi-landlessness; many have moved out empty houses, of which a few are now and some have settled permanently 10 already dilapidated. land development schemes belonging to FELDA, while others have moved into 2 Malay Reservation Land towns where they have bought houses Malay Reservation land (MRL) IS and where they have been settled for the referred to as tanah pesaka when it IS last thirty years. The ancestral kampung inherited, but that which is acquired land has now only five houses, belonging through purchase, is known as harla carian. to Tiut, Tiaman, Ijah, Iyah and Alang. The latter becomes harta pesaka to the Iyah and Alang have been away from children of the purchaser. Although the village since the sixties leaving their MRL is at times referred to as tanah respective houses in a state of disrepair. pesaka, it is always seen as separate from The rice fields have been left to lie fal­ tanah Pesaka Adat (customary land) for low for the last fifteen years. Only three MRL lies outside the domain of the elderly widows Tiut, Tiaman and Ijah Adat. This category of land has various are left to head the three households, cultivation conditions - for orchards,fish and only eight of Ebah's descendants pond, rice, homestead, and rubber, while now live in the village (See Fig. 1). some have none. However, the largest The case of land ownership in Ebah's acreage is for rubber which accounts for

327 Table 2 Malay Reservation Land: Size and Distribution

Cultivation Total Acreage Ownership % No. of No. of per Person Condition (A.R.P·) Plots Owners (acres) Rubber 468-1-22.8 75.0 182 373 1.26 Rice 17-0-31 2.8 11 22 0.77 Kampung 51-0-34.8 8.1 27 63 0.82 Orchards 28-1-08.4 4.5 10 44 0.64 Kebun (?) 3-2-20 0.6 2 4 0.87 Fishpond 4-1-26 0.8 3 5 0.85 Mixed (rice & kampung) 7-2-19 1.2 3 6 1. 25 None 43-2-29.5 7.0 17 38 1.14

Total 624-1-31. 5 100.0 255 555 1. 12 Source: Survey sample Note: A=acres R=rods P=poles

75 percent of total MRL holdings (see ]elebu, another Adat Perpatih strong­

Table 2). Ideally, transmission of MRL hold.12) For the rest of the MRL, at­ follows the Islamic law of inheritance, tempts are made to adhere to Islamic known as the jaraid, which is in favour law. Nevertheless, there is a tendency of the male i.e. the female issue's share to favour women over men. Of the 255 of inheritance is half that of the male's. plots of MRL examined in my study, This being the case, one would expect 59.9 percent are held by women, and the male members of the society to have many parcels of land which were initially more MRL registered in their names. registered in the men's names are now But, a close study of land records at the held by women)3) This tendency to de­ Kuala Pilah land office, which shall be viate from faraid law is also noted by explained subsequently, indicates other­ Stivens [1985: 21-22J in her study of wise. Evidently, in practice, the faraid another group of matrilineal people in law has not been followed strictly. the neighbouring district of Rembau. MRL designated for rice and home­ Here too, Stivens notes that most of the steads is in most cases transmitted to rubber holdings (MRL) are being held women as if these parcels of land are by women, a process she refers to as customary land. Such a practice, it ap­ feminization of land. This tendency to pears, is not confined to Seri Menanti endow women with land at the expense only but is also found in the district of of the men must be explained in terms

12) Interview with the Undang of Jelebu and his two subordinate clan chiefs from the 13) 0 ut of 255 plots studied, 177 were initially Luak of Jelebu at the Undang's official registered in a male's name. 71 (40 per­ residence in Kuala Kelawang, November cent) of these plots are now held individ­ 1986. ually by women.

328 AZIZAH KASSIM: Patterns of Land Ownership and Inheritance in Negeri Sembilan of the Adat ideology and practice. have a piece of land inherited from his The society, in general, sees women as natal family, it is likely that he will use custodians of the Adat and of the land. the proceeds or produce thereof for the At the same time they are also seen as benefit of his wife's family. Hence, from being weak and incapable of supporting his parent's point of view, it is more ad­ themselves, hence many a male in Adat vantageous to themselves to transmit society feels it is his duty to endow his land to his sisters. After all, it is the female kin, especially daughters and sis­ sisters who will stay put and who are ters, with property. Men often forgo expected to take care of their parents in their share of inheritance in favour of their old age. A son is generally consid­ their sisters, or sell off their share to ered almost lost once he gets married; them for a token price; and fathers pre­ perhaps it is not a mere coincidence that fer to give their land to daughters rather the term used to refer to a son's marri­ than to sons. The latter, it is argued, age ceremony is "melopeh" (lit: to lose, or can venture out - merantau, in search of to free). fortune, but women are handicapped by Very often, MRL owned by a particu­ their sex. What is more, in days gone by lar family is located close to ancestral when agriculture was the mainstay of the land where the family lives. When a economy, for a girl to be eligible for man marries he goes away, the further marriage and for her to get a good mar­ his wife's family is the further will he riage partner, she should ideally have be from his natal family. Hence, matri­ land because after she got married, it locality would make it difficult for him was feared that her husband might die, to manage or work any land he inher­ become incapacitated, or she might get ited from his parents. Therefore the al­ divorced, any of which might make her ternative for him is either to give or to destitute. Thus, there was a need to in­ sell his share to his sisterIs; in some sure her against such eventualities. Giv­ cases it is sold and with the proceeds he ing her whatever little land the family buys another piece of land at the wife's had, was one way of doing so. The same village and registers it, usually, in the kind of ideology still prevails today. wife's name.l4) The prevailing concept of marriage Based on land office records, the size and the matrilocal residence also induces of MRL, as in the case of customary feminization of land. When a son mar­ land, is small. The smallest piece at the ries, he is expected to live henceforth date of registration is less than an acre, with his wife's kin, at the latter's ances- while the largest is 9 acres, 2 rods and tral home. After marriage, his produc­ 14) Swift, in his study of ]elebu, also found tive as well reproductive capacities are the practice among his respondents and according to him, this is done by the hus­ transferred to the wife's familyIlineage band to avoid any suspicion that he is (see [Peletz 1987: 460J). Should he planning to divorce his wife [1965: 106J.

329 Table 3 Rubber Holdings: Size Distribution by Types of Ownership

Size (acres) Plots: Types of Ownership: No. & Percentage Multiple Single

Less than 1 9 ( 3.87) 2 7 1-1. 9 58 (32.60) 23 35 2-2.9 71 (39.23 ) 30 41 3-3.9 21 (11. 60) 13 8 4-4.9 11 ( 6.08) 8 3 5-5.9 5 ( 2.76) 5 0 6-6.9 4 ( 2.21) 3 1 7-7.9 0 ( ) 0 0 8-8.9 1 ( 0.55) 1 0 9-9.9 2 ( 1. 10) 2 0

Total 182 (100) 87 95 Source: Survey samples

2 poles. It is rare that one finds plots has relatively little symbolic value, hence, larger than five acres; the available big the ease with which it is disposed of. lots invariably belonged initially to Sometimes a sale is made to avoid joint members of the local royal family or ownership, either one of the owners buys people close to it. A large number of off the share/s of the co-owners or the the holdings are between one and three land is sold off to others and the pro­ acres. Today, the size of these plots has ceeds shared between the many owners. not changed much as subdivision is also Based on the land records, the average rarely carried out. The manner of trans­ size of per capita ownership for MRL is mission is similar to that of customary 1.14 acres or less than half a hectare (see land. However, multiple ownership, es­ Table 3). For jointly held plots, the pecially in the case of rubber holdings, number of owners varies from two to is not as extensive or intensive as in the nine, each one entitled to differing sizes case of customary land - only 48 per­ of shares from one half to one twenti­ cent of the 182 rubber plots studied are eth. Compared to ownership patterns in jointly owned (See Table 3). other mukims in Kuala Pilah, land in The relatively high number of singly Seri Menanti is less fragmented. I found owned rubber plots is attributable to acute fragmentation in other mukims commoditization - land is occasionally where a plot may have up to over twenty sold for a number of reasons such as to owners, with some co-owners having a finance one's children's education or one-hundredth or one over two-hundredth their weddings, to pay for the pilgrimage share. As in the case of customary to Mecca, etc. MRL has a wider market land, some of the registered owners of compared to customary land, though MRL died long ago and transmission limited to Malays only; and such land has not yet taken place. Therefore the

330 AZIZAH KASSIM: Patterns of Land Ownership and Inheritance in Negeri Sembilan number of owners is much higher than pattern of land ownership in Adat Per­ shown in the land records. This means patih society differs in several ways: that per capita ownership of MRL is average per capita holding is lower, more much lower than indicated In the land land is held by women, there are no register. landless households, and land distribu­ The number of single ownerships, as tion is more equitable (there are a few alluded to earlier, is relatively high. It large holdings over five acres in the is significant to note that a large number hands of a few). The Adat ensures that of the single owners are women (53.8 each one of its female members has land, percent in the case of rubberland in my no matter how little. The poorest fam­ survey). Concommitant with this is the ily is assured of at least a place to stay. high number of men without land. In A man may not possess land, but his one of the villages studied, almost 90 wife on whom he depends, almost always percent of the married men have no land does. Should his marriage break down registered in their name, their families and he can no longer live in his wife's depending on land belonging to the ancestral home/land, he can always re­ wife. Evidently, landlessness among men turn to his ancestral land over which he is not a new phenomenon nor confined has usufructuary rights. to Seri Menanti. In Jelebu too, Swift [1965: 54J found that among his samples V Implications for Agricultural of men in the late fifties, almost 50 per­ Developrnent cent were without land. When one compares land ownership in Some of the basic features of land this mukim with other areas in Peninsu­ ownership in Seri Menanti are limited lar Malaysia such as Kedah, Kelantan market for land due to Adat Perpatih and Melaka as presented by Ramli Mo­ and the Malay Reservation enactment, hamed [1984: 122-123J, Scott [1985: 68­ dominance of female ownership, multi­ 71J, and Kuchiba et ale [1979: 67-69, ple ownership, absentee owners, and 147, 256J, one finds a common pattern small size of holdings. All of these, to­ i.e. the plots held by smallholders are gether with other factors, have the com­ mainly below three acres (slightly over bined effect of making land administra­

one hectare) in size.I5) However, the tion, management, utilization and main­ tenance problematical in Kuala Pilah 15) I am fully aware that this comparison is and elsewhere among the adherents of rather inappropriate due to time differ­ ences in the study periods and the different Adat Perpatih. It is ironic that when so emphases given by these writers as opposed to mine. My focus is on plot size held by although a woman may have shares or own individuals, while theirs is on household many types of land i.e. rubber, orchard, holdings. Nevertheless, in the case of Adat land for homestead and rice fields, the Perpatih society, holdings held by women total holding is usually less than three can represent household holdings, and acres.

331 many people own so little land, most of formation of mini-estates. Under the the land is left idle and neglected. group farming scheme, seven or more From the administrative point of view, farmers whose adjoining plots of idle or joint ownership to the extent found in under-utilised land total more than twenty Kuala Pilah makes collection of land acres are encouraged to develop their taxes immensely difficult. When a piece land as a single unit. This is to enable of land has several owners, usually no the use of modern farming techniques one pays the land dues, while in other (e.g. the use of tractors and other cases some owners are not resident in machinary, the construction of roads for the mukim or the state and hence can- easy access, etc.) at a lower cost than if not be reached by post or by notice ser­ each farmer were to develop his respec­ vers. To date, land owners in the state tive plot individually. The group farm­ owe the government six million ringgit ing project is to be financed by the in back taxes, and much of this, accord­ government, but the responsibility of ing to our informants at the land office, developing the land lies with the land is owed by people in districts where the owners. The mini-estate scheme, how­ Adat prevails. In Kuala Pilah, during ever, differs from group farming in at our research in January and February least two ways: the size of land involved 1988, some members of staff at the land is larger i.e. more than one hundred office were made to work extra hours to acres, and the land owners let the gov­ prepare and send out more than 6,000 ernment agency or a semi-government final notices to landowners to pay their agency develop the land for them and taxes or face confiscation of their land maintain the developed land for a speci­ by the government. During this period fied amount of time. too, two pieces of land were auctioned It is under such development schemes to the public, but there were no takers. that a stretch of rice land (which has It seems that the problem of land admi­ dried up and turned into a secondary nistration, especially collection of land jungle after almost fifteen years of ne­ taxes, is so acute in Kuala Pilah that few glect), in one administrative village, is government officers cherish the idea of to be planted with palm oil. And in being posted to the land office in this another administrative village, some district. stretches of old rubber holdings are to If land administration is difficult, then be replanted. implementation of agricultural develop­ When officials of various implement­ ment schemes is even harder. Small ing agencies and local politicians discus­ scale holdings are seen as uneconomic sed the projects with the respective vil­ and some government agencies have pro­ lagers, some of the problems of redevel­ posed to develop idle land in Seri Me­ oping this land were raised: there is no nanti through group farming and the labour in the village, the villagers lack

332 AZIZAH KASSIM: Patterns of Land Ownership and Inheritance in Negeri Sembilan capital and the technical know-how, and of land which are equally neglected and for some very old villagers, they do not similarly in need of redevelopment. even have the desire to develop this land Even if such pieces of land could be as their children are no longer in the vil­ found for a mini-estate, or for group lage and are probably not returning to farming, contacting the numerous land settle there. The answer to all this, it owners who are scattered all over Malay­ seems, is to allow the implementing sia to get their consent to the project is agency to develop the land for them un­ a monumental task. Migration is not a der the mini-estate scheme. The consent new phenomenon. Like their Minang­ of the landowners is needed so that the kabau counterparts in Sumatra [Kato agency can borrow capital on their be­ 1982: 22-23J, the matrilineal people of half, develop the land and later maintain Negeri Sembilan have long sent their it by using contractors; and when the sons out in search of fame and fortune land eventually becomes productive the even before the advent of industrializa­ owners will receive their share from the tion in the seventies. Hence there are expected profit. When the loan is fully some who have been away from their repaid after fifteen years, the land will villages for thirty or forty years, now be returned to the respective owners. settling elsewhere, yet who still keep The plan sounds good on paper, but im­ their land in the village. Some of them, plementing it is not so simple. as explained by the land officers dealing To start a rubber mini-estate, there in land taxes, are not easily or cannot must be at least one hundred acres of be reached. Such difficulties slow down adjoining parcels of land to be devel­ and even halt the land development proc­ oped. This is hard to find as some ess. Hence in the case of the proposed rubber smallholders had previously re­ rehabilitation of rubber land, it has been planted their rubber plots under the almost three years since the project was government sponsored smallholders re­ mooted but, the implementing agency is planting scheme. Thus one finds plots no nearer to getting the consent of all with new rubber trees alongside plots the land owners. Absentee land owners, withneglected ones, and the owners of some of whom are doing rather well else­ the former will have no need for further where, are the least interested in and redevelopment. Hence the alternative is concerned with redevelopment of agri­ group farming which requires less land. culture in the village; yet they are the Because the landowners are old and are ones who need to be sought and con­ not able to work the land themselves, vinced of the need to develop the land, they are allowed to use contractors to so that their consent to the projects can develop the land for them. Even for be obtained. group farming the same problem is These problems are not insurmounta­ encountered, i.e. to get adjacent pieces ble. Officers of the implementing agency

333 could track down the owners if they projects, but getting the consent of the were really keen to have the projects off clan elders is not an easy task, particu­ the ground, but it appears that they are larly now when the Adat Perpatih admi­ not. After all, it is not their land that nistration in Negeri Sembilan is torn by is to be developed. To them, the re­ conflict.l6) To complicate matters even sponsibility of tracking the absentee land further, incumbents of Adat (i.e. tradi­ owners is that of their kin/co-owners who tional) posts and officers of the village are resident in the village. The vil­ administrative (Le. modern) structure lagers can, if they want to, resort to ob­ and the JKKK (through which most taining a power of attorney from the ab­ development projects are introduced to sentee landowners to allow them to de­ the people) are verY'often at loggerheads velop the land on their behalf. But with each other. there seems to be some kind of inertia Quite often too, government officers among the villagers when it comes to entrusted with development of agricul­ these projects that come from above. ture on Adat Perpatih land have little or They see the projects as government no knowledge of the Adat, its power projects and, in spite of explanations by structure and jurisdiction. In their ea­ officers of the implementing agency, they gerness to implement their projects, these neither fully understand nor are con­ officers very often, ignore the views of the Adat chiefs. The case of the tradi­ vinced of the benefits that may accrue tional villages under the JKKK Kg. to them. Hence the problem of getting Merual is a very good example. Since the consent of the absentee landowners early 1986 attempts have been made by remain unsolved. the JKKK to develop idle rice fields In the case of rice fields, which are (customary land). Initially the local generally considered customary land, farmers association, i.e. the Pertubuhan there are no problems in getting adjoin­ ing plots of idle land for large scale 16) Frequent conflicts occur within Adat Per­ patih society, of late most of them are development, as over 95 percent of rice over the appointments of clan chiefs, both land in Seri Menanti has not been culti­ major and minor. Such conflicts are widely vated for the last fifteen ,-years or so. publicised in the national dailies (see for example New Straits Times, 8 March But the difficulty in reaching the land­ 1987). During our fieldwork in late 1986 owners because of multiple and absentee and early 1987, we witnessed one such in­ cident in Luak Gunung Pasir, where the ownership, as found in the case of rub­ appointment of a minor chief was chal­ ber land, still applies. In addition there lenged on the grounds that the appointee are yet other difficulties. Such land, as was not well-versed in the Adat law and that he had got his appointment through stated earlier, can be transacted or trans- corruption. The antagonism between the mitted only with the consent of the clan supporters of the said chief and his oppo­ nents spilled over into other village mat­ elders, i.e. the Buapak and the Lembaga. ters affecting the functions of the village Individual owners might consent to the JKKK.

334 AZIZAH KASSIM: Patterns of Land Ownership and Inheritance in Negeri Sembilan

Peladang Kawasan (PPK) Tanjung Ipoh - Pertubuhan Peladang Kawasan Tg. agreed to develop it into a cocoa plan­ Ipoh [1984J) which covers villages in the tation. The PPK later dropped the mukim of Seri Menanti, only 21 percent project due to a shortage of capital, and of the members are women. A close subsequently in 1988 Federal Land Con­ look at names of these women shows solidation and Rehabilitation Authority that they are not genuine farmers (some (FELCRA) took over the land for de­ are retired school teachers and wives of velopment, deciding instead to plant retired salaried men who have never palm oil on the grounds that this crop been involved in farming before) but is best suited to the local soil. While they have become members by virtue of FELCRA is still struggling to get the their position in the local political party consent of the landowners, some Adat or because they are married to party leaders in the area, in January 1989, ex- activists. What is more, they rarely pressed their opposition to the project attend meetings, and when they do, their because they were not previously con­ function seems to be peripheral- they sulted by the officers of the implementing are present not to get involved in discus­ agency. Now action has to be taken to sions at the meetings, but to prepare and appease the Adat chiefs.I ?) serve food to the predominantly male Another aspect of land holding which participants. Thus it is the husband who may be peculiar to Adat Perpatih society is usually given the new ideas on farm­ is the dominance of female ownership. ing, on new method and new crops, This in itself creates problems for agri­ but quite often he has no land to try cultural development. Most, if not all these ideas on, and he mayor may not development programmes are male ori­ succeed in persuading his wife to try entated: they assume men own the land them on her land. In addition, a hus­ and that they do most of the agricultu­ band's performance on his wife's agricul­ ral work. Hence information on agricul­ tural land leaves much to be desired, as tural development is channelled to the I have noted in my earlier work [Azi­ men. Farmers' organizations, through zah Kassim 1970: 202]. which much information regarding farm­ ing techniques and other forms of as­ sistance is disseminated, are largely com­ VI Conclusions posed of males. For instance, in the It is evident that agricultural develop­ Tanjung Ipoh farmer's organization (see ment among the matrilineal people is Mesyuarat Agung Tahunan Kali Kelima replete with problems. The Adat laws,

17) Interview with Dr. Ramli U jang, who re­ particularly the land rules and regula­ presents the state constituency of Seri Me­ tions which keep land in the hands of nanti in the Negeri Sembilan State Legis­ lative Council, on March 1989 in Kampung women, induce acute fragmentation and jawa, Kuala Pilah. multiple and absentee ownership, all of

335 which make land management, utiliza­ conducive to modern and commercial­ tion, and development diffIcult. I am ised agricultural development? They are aware that some of the problems faced not, as the Adat land laws were designed by the adherents of the Adat are found to accommodate subsistence farming. elsewhere in the country. However I Modern commereialised agriculture, as contend that the existence of the Adat proposed by the National Agricultural ideology and its practice exacerbates Policy, necessitates some pre-requisites, these problems in Negeri Sembilan. Agri­ one of which is a free land market to cultural development in line with the allow accumulation of land for large National Agricultural Policy thus be­ holdings. For the New Agricultural comes more difficult, especially when such Policy to be successfully implemented issues are accompanied by other setbacks among the matrilineal people, it must faced by the smallholders, such as poor begin with some kind of land reform so as to free land from multiple holdings,lB) soil and, in the case of rice cultivation, inadequate water supply; shortage of absentee ownership, acute fragmentation capital and labour; lack of access to and control by clan elders. Such reform technical assistance; negative attitudes requires much courage and a great deal to farming; political interference, etc. ofpolitical will on the part of the govern­ ment. The pattern of land ownership and inheritance among the Adat people clearly Bibliography has a negative influence on the devel­ Ahmad Nazri Abdullah. 1985. Melayu dan Ta­ opment of agriculture in the state al­ nah. Media Intelek Sdn. Bhd. though the size of customary land is A. Rahman Razak; and Sariah Meon. 1984. small compared to the total acreage un­ Pemodenan Pertanian Didalam Masyarakat Adat di Negeri Sembilan. Paper submitted der agriculture. It must be remembered to the national seminar on Adat Perpatih that among the matrilineal Malays in the & Wilayah Budaya Negeri Sembilan, Univer­ siti Pertanian Malay~!ia, Serdang, Selangor, five districts - Jelebu, Jempul, Tampin, May 1984. Rembau and Kuala Pilah, the land hold­ Arif b. Hussain; and Nyanen Thiran. 1980. ings comprise only customary land and Factors Contributing to Non-utilization of Paddy Lands in Negeri Sembilan. Paper Malay Reservation Land and that custom­ submitted to the workshop on Development ary land is subject to Adat land rules, of Idle Land, 1980, MARDI, Selangor. while Malay Reservation land is affected Azizah Kassim. 1970. Kedudukan Wanita di dalam Masyarakat Adat Perpatih di Negeri by them. The negative impact of Adat Sembilan. M.A. thesis, Department of Ma­ land regulations on the development of lay Studies, University of Malaya. ---. 1976. A Matrilineal Society in the agriculture among the smallholders in Negeri Sembilan must be taken seri­ 18) Some measures to avoid fragmentation ously. have already been indroduced in the FELDA schemes where transmission of Is the pattern of land ownership and holding can only be made to anyone inheritance among the Adat people then child in the settler's family.

336 AZIZAH KASSIM: Patterns of Land Ownership and Inheritance in Negeri SembiIan

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338