KyotoKyotoUniversity University

Southeast Ast'an Stadies, Vol. 26, No. 2, September 1988

Women, Land and Gender Relations in Negeri

Sembilan: Some Preliminary Findings

AzlzAH KAsslM*

adet). That was when the matrilineal so-

ciety was dependent on a peasant economy. I Introduction It is now more than sixteen years since This paper is an attempt to examine the the writer's previous fieldwork in Seri

nature of female land hbldings in the matri- Menanti and since then a number ofchanges

lineal Adat Perpatih society in Negeri have taken place. Of these the most rele-

Sembilan and the implications of such vant as far as womeii's role is eoncerned

ho]dings on male-female relationship within are the spread of education and the shift

the househeld/family unit and the lineage in the economic base of Adat Perpatih

group. The paper is based on fieldworki' society. The peasant economy, which was

carried out by the writer throughout the dependent on rice cultlvation and rubber

rnonths of October, November and Decem- tapping, has given way to one heayily de- ber 1986 in Mukim of , in the pendent on wage employment and remit-

Kuala Pilah district, and draws heavily from tance from urban areas. This shift affected

the writer}s own experience as a'rnember the use, and in many cases led to disuse,

of and living in an adut community until of ancestral land, especially rice fields. De- ' the early 1960s. pendence on ancestral land thus declined, The writer has elsewhere [Azizah Kassim and the economic value of this land also 1970] established that gender relations in fe11. If gender relations are influenced by Adat Perpatih society are tilted in favour women's control over rneans of production, of women: they control the means of sub- how does this new phenomenen affect their sistence production, especially rice fields position vis-a-vis men? Thi$ is the main and orchards, as well as homestead lands, problem addressed in this paper. which are ancestral property (lanah pusaka The fieldwork for this paper was carried out in ten traditiona12' villages (kampairg):3) * Jabatan Antropologi dan Sosiologi, Universiti "traditional Malaya, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2) The term villages" is used here (Visiting Research Scholar, The Center for to differentiate them from newly formed vil- Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, lages or kamPung baharu, which are found in from March to September 1988) rural and elsewhere in Pen- 1) The fieldwork was funded by the Universiti insular Malaysia, and from squatter villages Malaya through its Vete F Research fund, which are found in seme urban settings. "kg." and conducted with the help of two research 3) Kampung in Malay is abbreviated as asslstants. which form wi11 be used hereafter.

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AzlzAH KASSIM: Women, Land and Gender Relations in Negeri Sembilan

Kg. Taniung Sepam, Kg. Bukit Lintang, aspeets of the Adat and its people. Much

Kg. Mertang, Kg. Merual, Kg. Padang of the writing points to the importance of

Biawas, Kg. Umer, Kg. Seri Menanti, women within the matrilineal seciety: they

Kg. Galau, Kg, Buyau and Kg. Sungai ensure its perpetuity, and to them is en-

Layang. Six of these were the site of the trusted the ancestral land, the anchor of

writer's previous fieldwork in 1969. Admin- the (traditional) Adat Perpatih economy and

istratively,these villages come under five polity. Despite women's central position

separate Village Development and Security within the adat ideology and secial organi-

Cemmittees (1izwatankerasa Kemnjuan tian zation, few writers have ventured to examine 2reselaneatan Kampungt, known in short the adat from female perspectives and study as the of JKKK), i.e., JKKK Kg. Merual, women's status in the matrilineal context.

Kg. Seri Menanti, Kg. Pulau, Kg. Buyau To date, works on women in Adat Perpatih and Kg. Mertang, with a tptal of 598 society are few and far between. Perhaps

households and a of 2,357 population (see among the first to make a passing reference Section Two hundred households were M). to women in Negeri Sernbilan was M.G.

interviewed, accounting fbr 33.4 ef percent Swift [1963: 267-286] in a brief paper on the total ofthe villages concerned. pepulation men and women in Malay society. Since

As the focus of study is women, the ques- then few have followed his fbotsteps. Apart tionnaires were addressed to the housewives. from my own work on the position of However, discussions were also held with women in the district of IAzizah the menfolk to cross-check the women's Kassim 1970; 1974: 69-72; !976: 41-57; infbrmation and to find out their views of 1985: 44-53; 1986: 1-8] others who have

male-female relationships in society. dealt with the same topic at some length

are Asis Ujang [1975], Maila Stivens [1981, II Studies on Women in Adat Per- n.d., 1985] and M. G. Peletz [1987]. Stivens patih Society in Negeri Sembilan and Peletz did their fieldwork in the dis-

Adat Perpatih society with its matrilineal trict of . Stivens concerns herself

social organization has been extensively with female autonomy and women's land

studied and written about, as evidenced by rights in the midst of capitalist develepment

the impressive list of publications on it and agrarian change, while Peletz deals

compiled recently [Tunku Noraidah T.A. with female heirship and autonomy. Asis

Rahman 1984: 22-34]. The list is by no Ujang, who did his fieldwork in Kampung

means complete. Nevertheless, it demon- Terusan, Kuala Pilah, examined the position strates the censistent interest ef many in of women from two perspectives: the Adat

studying Adat Perpatih society over the Perpatih and Islam.

last eight decades or so. Academics of If work on Adat Perpatih women is various inclinations and laymen alike have relatively lacking, it is because women's

all contributed to the wide range of pub]i- studies itself is something new, which began

cations now available, touching on difflerent to gain rnomentum in the United States and

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Europe only in the 1970s. In Malaysia, hectares, on which are scattered about sixty

toe, women's studies began to take off only traditional villages of various sizes. Some

in the last decade. Much of the existing of these villages are too smal1 (with twenty

literature remained unpublished, and much to thirty households, for example) to be

ef that which was published deals with oMcially recognized. For administrative

women in relatien to urbanization and purposes, the District Office groups together

industrializatien. It is the women in the several small adjoining villages and regards

forma] economic sector, namely, the factory them as one, referring te them by the name

workers, their migration process and their of the largest viliage in the grouping. A

adaptation problem in the urban context good example is one of the villages under

which have been the major focus of study, study, Kg. Merual. As far as the Kuala

and significantly, these studies have been Pilah District othce is concerned, Kg. Merual

done by women thernselves. Interest in the is an administrative unit, albeit the smallest

study of rural women (including those in the one in the state administrative hierarchy,

estates) began to take shape only in the with a ketua kampu?rg (viilage head). Kg.

Iate 1970s and 1980s.`) , There is evidently Merual as an administrative unit comprises

a dearth of serious work on rural women four villages, Kg. Merual, Kg. Bukit

in Malaysia, especially from anthropological Lintang, Kg. Umor and Kg. Sungai

perspectives, and it is hoped that this study Layang; and as far as the inhabitants of

will way overcoming short- go some to this these karnpung are concerned, their villages

cpmlng. are distinct from one other, each with a

definite boundary, and its own separate III Seri Menanti and Its People: . commumty. A Profile The administrative centre of Seri Menanti

The mukim (sub-district) of Seri Menanti is a small petty trading centre known locally is the traditional seat of the royal household as Pekan, i.e., Pekan Seri Menanti, where of Negeri Sembilan. Situated in the south the home (istana) of the royal household is

central part of the state, it occupies a valley located. In the pre-independence period,

fed by the now silting Muar river. This this royal enclave was no more than a new

mukim and ten others together form the istana built in the 1920s, two rows of (duerah); and Kuala dilapidated wooden shophouses with Pilah, along with the districts of Rembau, thatched roofs, a clinic (known then as "dispensary" Jelebu, Jempul, , Pert Dickson by the locals), a mesque, a and , constitutes the state of Negeri police depot attached to the istana, two ' Sembilan. primary schools (ene Malay medium and Seri Menanti covers an area of 7, 769. 971 the other English), an old wooden istana

built in the eighteenth century and a couple 4) Fer a comprehensive account of works on of brick houses belonging to members of women in Malaysia, see Fan Kok Sim [1984: 234-312] Ariffin 93-100]. the royal farnily. There was no electricity, and Jamilah [1984: 134

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AzlzAH KASslM: Wonien, Land ancl Gender Relationsin Negeri Sembilan

Ro piped water supply, and no telephones, cent) of them are Malays, with a sprinkling except in the clinic, pelice post and the of Chinese and Indians. The latter twe

royal households. ethnic categories are confined to the pekan,

The post-independence period saw much especially Seri Menanti and Taajung Ipoh,

physical development in the mukim. All and are involved mainly in business, while

old bui]dings in the area except fbr the two the former dominate the villages. The

istana have been demolished and new ones Malays trace their origin to Minangkabau

built in their stead. The Pekan Seri migrants who carne to the area in the

Menanti now comprises two rows of newly eighteenth century, and it is to this ancestory shophouses, built two schools (one primary, that they owe their matrilineal kinship

one secondary), a post ocace, a cornmunity organization: the Adat Perpatih. The adat, hall,a health centre, a mosque and a royal which is still practised today, has undergone

golf course. Piped water and electricity considerable changes; but there are some

are available, along with and public private basic principles which have remained con-

telephones. stant. These are:

In areas Pekan Menanti, outside the Seri a) Division of Adat Perpatih society into some of the facilities mentioned above are twelve matriclans, the suha, with each also available on a lesser scale. Most clan headed by a lembaga. The clan villages have their own community hall, a is further divided into lineages called surau or a mosque or both; and there are perut, and each perut (maximum line- also small health centres and rural clinics age) is headed by a buapak. The posts in three other places, Tanjung Ipoh, Kg. of lembaga and buapak are held by Tengah and Gunong Pasir, which are also men but are transmitted matrilineally. r trading centres. Piped and petty water b) Each clan owns a specified amount electricity have been introduced gradually of ancestral land, known legally as

since the 196es, so that 1986, by 90 percent customary land (tanah pzasaka adat), of the population have access to electricity which is registered in the name of its and 85 percent to piped water. A main temale members and transmitted

road, which in the pre-independence days matrilineally through them. Male mem-

was a narrow dirt track and which since bers have usufructory rights over such the 1960s has been enlarged and paved, Iand.

runs across the mukim, thus easy (;) providing Thesocietyobservesrulesofexogamy. access to inost villages. A Qf the public However, what constitutes an exogamic bus serves the area, but its unreliability has unit eould be a lineage or a clan,

induced many to mode purchase their own depending on the demographic size of

of transport, of which bicycles, motorcycles the clan ¢ oncerned.

and cars are the most popular. d) Postmarital residence is matrilocal, Seri Menanti has a population of 5,474 with the husband moving into the wife's in 1,388 households (1986). Most (98 per- mother's place.

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The Adat Perpatih social organization Perpatih society was engaged in a mixed

has its roots in an agricultural seciety ini- economy dependent mainly on rice culti-

tially dependent on subsistence farming, in vation for subsistence and rubber tapping

which rice growing and the cultivation of for cash. There were also other sources of orchards were of paramount importance. cash incorne, such as animal husbandry on Thus the majority of the ancestral land, a very small scale, poultry keeping, and which in 1986 amounted to 34,565 acres for co11ection and sale of forest products, chief the whole of Negeri Sembilan, is padi land of which were cane and damar. Such an and areas earmarked for homesteads (tanak economy persisted until the 1960s, when

kampang), while a smaller area is in or- agricultural activities in the mukim began

chards, rubber plots and fish ponds (tebat). te decline. In the 1970s, the decline was

These land were first registered in the drastic, as manifested by large tracts of

names of wornen, according to the Mukim idle land (tanah terbiari consisting of

Registers in Kua]a Pilah, in the 1870s. kampung land, rice fields and rubber plots.

"72znah Capitalist penetration with the coming of terbiar" (lit. neglected land) is pre-

the British rule in the nineteenth century sently a very common feature in the mukim

brought with it rubber growing. By the as well as in other Adat Perpatih areas ef beginning of the twentieth century (around Rembau, Jelebu and Tampin. According

1912), large tracts of land in the mukim to oficial statistics6) at least 1,160 acres of

were opened for rubber cultivation, and agricultural land in Mukim Seri Menanti

these land, in parcels of five acres er less, have been uncultivated for the last five to

were initially registered in the names ofmen. ten years. The writer will not elaborate on

Since then, two kinds of land ownership the reasons for the decline in village agri-

as this has been have prevailed in the district, with two cultural activities here, separate patterns of inheritanee. The an- dealt with at length elsewhere.7) SuMce it cestra] (customary) Iand is transmitted ac- to say at this juncture that among the cording to Adat Perpatih Law, as explained reasons normally put forward are migratfon

earlier, while the rubber land registered as te the city and to Iand development schemes,

Malay reservation land5) is transmitted ac- ]ack of development in the agricultural

cording to the Islamic Law of inheritance, sector, and in the case of rice fields the

the Faraid, under which both men and indiscriminate felling of ttees which caused

women are entitled to inherit. Women the fields to silt.

therefore found themselves in a favourable 6) Report by the Jawatankuasa Kemajuan dan position, having access to both categories Keselamatan Karnpung (Village Development Committees) for 1985, District Ocace, Kuala of land. Pilah. Adat Aftercultivation of rubber began,the 7) See, for example, proceedings of Seminar Kebangsaan Adat Perpatih and Wilayah 5) Transfer and transmissionofMalay reservation Budaya Negeri Sembilan (3rd-5th May 1984, land is confined to Malays only. Such land Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, Serdang, therefore has a limited market. Selangor).

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AzlzAH KAsslM: Wornen, Land and Gender Relations in Negeri Sembilan

The last two decades or so have seen a very close kin, starting with a minimal

number of changes in Adat Perpatih society; lineage. Such transfers are usually regarded

and some of these changes, the physical as gifts (pemberian), although they invariably ones, are easily observable while ethers are involve monetary payment on the part of "donor," not. It is to the less observable changes the recipient to the and are done -those which affbct social relations-that with the consent of the lineage and clan

we now turn. head, the buapak and lembaga. Thus,

although adat law prohibits the sale of adat

land, this does occur very infrequently. IV Women, Land and the Economy The closed market for such land ensures

As a]luded te earlier, the practice of both only a token price for it and provides Iittle customary . and Islamic laws of inheritance inducement for the owner to sell. However,

enables women to inherit both types of this is not the only disincentive fbr a women

land, i.e., customary as well as non-custornary to part with her adat land. Land is kept land. However, not every woman own both particularly fbr its symbolic value. Owner-

types of land. While all the respondents ship of land is one of the many indices of

under study own adat land of varying sizes, prestige and status; one without land is inherit some from their or are expecting to seen as an object of pity, and anyone whe

mether, the same cannot be said of rubber parts with her tanah Pusaka adut often

land. As shall be explained subsequently, faces strong public criticism. It is generally

very few women own rubber land or any believed that those who sell customary land

other types of non-customary land.8' will incur the wrath of their ancestors

(`dekumpah nenek mayaug). Hence it is the IV-i Customa2tJt Land(7kenah Pusaka vffdet) : duty of everyone to keep her plet of land OwnemshzP and Slelae 17roim'nszs of within the family. Ownership of adat land Membership ef a matriclan guarantees a is seen as proof of her link with the woman the right to a piece of land desig- matrilineage and the matriclan, and defines nated to her clan; the land could be regi$- her roots within the society. Such roots tered under her name or one of her close are also deerned important to the men of

matrikin. Restrictions en commoditization the lineage!clan. They establish men's

ef adat land ensures this right. Such land right to hold adat orace, of which there are cannot be sold or transferred to anyone many, and of which the post of undang outside the clan; even within the clan, i,e., the head of a luak (a territorial unit transfers can only be executed between within the traditional Negeri Sembilan pol-

ity) is the mo$t prestigious."' Other posts 8) Other types of non-customary ]and may take the form of orchards (duszan) and, of late, 9) ln terms of status within the present political land designated for housing in urban areas. hierarchy at the state level, the Undang is This last affects those who were once migrants immediately below the Yang Dipertuan Besar, and lived in tewn areas. However, ownership the head of state of Negeri Sembilari.There of such land is regligible. are four Undang, one eaeh for the Luak of/

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Table l Sizeof LandHoldingsand Prespective LandHoldings

Size of Rictlfields No. of Kbmpung Land Ne. ef Hbldiprgs No. of H,oS,",ff1181161151141!31!23!41IJ6 No. of Prospective No･ of Prospective No. of Prospective Owners Inheritors Owners InheritorsRubber Owners Inheritors

2 1121810276232327 i1 2 2

10932 1813021912 26 144 - liI 27322 2

tEt 23 1836215 4 -

1va1%22% 1 131 7 9 3

2va2%33% 1 1

2 1 2 1 12 2

3va3%4 1 1 - - 1 2 62432 :'i'1 4va5678 -- 1 2 2

'f 1

TotalNe 89 (44. 5%)zz("%) 106(5ElfS) 86(43%) ii (41. 5%) 16(8%) l83

Land 23 (11. 5%) 8(4%) 101 (50, 5%)

include that of the lembaga and buapak, However, it is not symbolic value alone

and numerous others with elaborate titles that Adat land offers; such land also has

and which are very much sought for the economic value or potential economic value.

prestige they confer to the incumbents and It may not be of much worth in monetary

their families.ie) terms now, but it offers a kind of security

X Rembau, Jelebu, Sungai Ujung and . 10) These traditional titles are recognised by the The position is held for life by a male member state, but the office-bearers are enly given a a hundred Malaysian do- of specific elans within a particular Luak and yearly stipend of few is transmitted matrilineally. The incumbent Ilars･ Hence such posts are of little economic eiljoys a generous four-figure monthly allow- value. Nevertheless, when an adat post be- ance and other privileges such as a place of comes vacant, competition for it is very stiff resldence, official car, etc. paid for by the with much antagonism between the contend- state. ing parties.

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against times of dire hardship. Hence, tew of the respondents own tebcvt (large fish women want to part with their share of ponds), which are between a quarter acre Adat land; only those with several pieces and half an acre in size, and all of which may part with one or two parcels, but not comes under customary land.

with all of them. So there is always some Compared with 1969 [Azizah Kassim

stock of land, especially land for hornesteads 1969: 188-200], it is evident that the size of

and rice fields within a family, ensuring customary land holdings has declined. The

everyone of its members a piece of land er smallest holding for both rice and kampung an acre in 1969, the right to use one. land was one quarter of In the villages under study, only 44.5 now it is one eighth; and the largest holding

percent of the respondents have rice fields then was seven acres and six acres for rice

registered in their name, 44 percent expect land and kampung land respectively, while

to inherit some, while the rest claim their now it is enly five acres for both categories

expected inheritance is too minute to be of ]and (see Table 1). This decline can

worth considering and thus pronounce them- only be accounted for by the increase in selves landless. Of those who have rice population while the tetal size of adat land

land, the size of their hoidings varies be- has remained constant. In fact, according

tween one eighth of an acre and five acres, to eihcial sources,ii) customary land has

been subjected to acquisition by the state with 67.6 percent having one acre or less.

Among those who expect te inherit rice authorities for purpeses of physical develop-

fields, 81.8 percent said they will get only ment, such as widening roads and road

between one sixth of an acre and one acre reserves, building community halls, mosques,

suraus, etc. It can concluded that the (Table 1). be

s{ze of shrunk slightly. The percentage of ownership for kampung Adat land has

land is higher than for rice fields, Le., Members of Adat Perpatih society can

increase the acreage of adat 53 percent. Four percent oftherespondents, land by for similar reasons as in the case of saevath changing the status of non-adat land in

customary ownership, claim to be landless, while 43 their possessioninto land. How-

percent expect to inherit in the future. ever, none has shown interest in doing so.

Holdings are small, from one eighth of an This has itsroots in the ambivalent attitude

of some towards the rule of inheritance in acre.to five acres, with 73.6 percent of

those with kampung land having only one Adat Perpatih. While they appreciate the acre er less (see Table 1). need to protect the interest of women by Only 21.5 percent own orchards (largely making them trustees of adat land, they

are also concerned by the misconception of planted with durians, langsat, and mango- steen), which are from a quarter of an acre some women of their right to the land. te one acre in size. Half of the orchards There is E tendency among women now to

are not customary land but registered under 11) Interview with the Assistant District Land Malay reservatien. Two-point-five percent Administrator, Kuala Pilah.

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treat adat land as their individual or private loss. So several years are allowed to lapse; property rather than communal property and it is only when sorrow over the death [Azizah Kassim 1986: 1-8], and conse- has clearly gone that family members get quently they ignore the usufructory rights together to talk about land transmission.

their male kin have on such land. In short, Secondly, when the time comes fbr land

there is abuse of adat land to the disad- transmission, the inheritors are eften dis-

vantage of its male members, causing some persed geographically and it will take some- to be wary of adat laws of inheritance. time to bring them together so that the

Hence the refusal by some to increase the necessary bureaucratic procedures can be

stock of customary land. carried out.

In addition there are some, especially When there are more than one inheritor, men, who think adat law is contrary to the piece of land owned under a single

Islamic law and call for its abolition. Such title by the deceased is never physically people, together with a few modern ones sub-divided (Pecah batec) into separate titles. who believe in equality of the sexes and Land holdings are small, in general less

who want both their daughters and sons than five acres, making sub-division cum-

to inherit in equal proportion, are not in- bersome, and cest of sub-division is pro-

terested in changing the status ef their land hibitively high by vi11age economic stand-

(non-adat) into customary land. Hence the ards. The cost of one sub-division is at

acreage of adat land remains constant, and least M$ 1,200, which is equivalent to six

with inerease in members of the Adat times the average monthly income of a

Perpatih society, land holdings of individual rural household in Malaysia. Furthermore,

members must decline in size. the administrative procedures invoived are

Access to customary ]and is largely often complicated and time-eonsurning, through inheritance, and transmission occurs takinga year or two to complete. Given some years after the owner's death. My these cireumstances and the existing regu- study of land registration at the Kuala lation prohibiting sub-division of agricultural

Pilah Iand office reveals that in most cases land into holdings of less than an aere, the

Iand is transrnitted some five to ten years villagers have little choice but to retain the

after the owner's demise. In a few cases old title; Qnly the name ef the late owner

in mukim Seri Menanti, transmission is cancelled and replaced by all her inher-

occurred twenty to thirty years after the itors. This process is referred to as alih owner's death, and in two cases transmission nama (change of narne). The inheritors'

has never occurred, even though the owner names are listed, and after each name her

died decades ago. This delay is attributable share in the property is clearly indicated` to two factors. First, it is considered bad rt is only when there are few girls in the

taste even to discuss property division in family and the deceased had several parcels

the wake of the owner's death, when family of customary land with separate titles that

members are expected te grieve over her multiple ownership is avoided. But such

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AzizAH KASslM: Wornen, Land and Gender Relations in Negeri Sembilan

cases are rare: only three among the writ- refuse because the land is not solely theirs.

er's respondents. Multiple ownership is There is always the fear that once the land

therefbre quite widespread. is put to economic use(e.g., turning kampung In cases where women expect te inherit land to orchards) the coDwners may come

land, the mother has often died (with her to claim the produce. This is especially so

land awaiting transmission) or is already old. when, at the time of transmission, no at-

In such cases, it is the daughters who take tempt is made by an elder (Lembaga or

over responsibility for their mother's land. Buapak) to define to each owner the bound-

Multiple ownership, which refiects the aries of their respective shares. However,

minute land holdings of the villagers, is when such boundaries are clearly defined,

one of the main contributory factors inducing each owner quite eften maintains and works some of the villagers to migrate. Earlier, only her share of the plot. Few problems in the pre-independence period, it was not arise unless the other co-owners are absent

uncommon for people to migrate and open from the village. In this case, the absentee's

up new land elsewhere (menebus as it is portion will rernain idle and may become

referred to loca]ly) or to seek employment overgrown with bushes, making it a haven

with the gevernment, especially in the arrned fbr wild animals (especially wild boar), which

forces. In the post-independence era, the in turn will damage crops in the village.

destination of migrants is either land devel-

opment schemes implemented by the gov- IV-ii 7Vontzastomaiy Land

ernment or urban areas. Non-adat land takes various forms: Joint ownership also creates enormous rubber boldings, orchards and newly opened

problems for land management, maintenance kampung land, whi ¢ h are usual]y Malay

and utilization. When there are rnany reservation areas; and, what is referred to

"tanah co-owners and some are no longer resident as locally ,gverzxn palih" (lit. white in the kampung, it is sometimes unclear grant land), i.e., land with freehold titles maintain who should pay the land taxes and without ownership restrictions. Of these,

or work the land. Very often, those whe rubber smallhQldings are the most popular,

are leftbehind are saddled with the land and their total size has slowly been in-

sorne others taxes; pay them grudgingly, creasing recently with the state's fringe

do not. Evasion of land taxes, according alienation scheme. Land acquired under

"tanath Pilah to sources at the Kuala land orace, this scheme, known as Pi71gszle," is

is common, causing the land office to sum- invariably turned into rubber plots.i3) mon the varieus owners to pay up or be 12) Demographically, the majority of adults in subject to a fine or confiscation of their the villages under study are above fifty years land by the state. old.

13) In Mukim Seri Menanti, 541 acres had been Similarly it is the resident co-owners who alienated under the Tanah Pinggir scheme are obliged to take care of the land. Many until 1988. Total number of lots is 166, each cannot do so because of old age,i2) others of which was allecated to one male owner.

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As alluded to earlier, non-eustomary land As shown in Table 1, in the majority of is transmitted according to Islamic law of cases (53 percent) land holdings are between

inheritance, which favours men, and as such one and two acres. As commoditization of

restricted to it is not surprising that very little of such rubber land is allowed (though

land is in wemen's hands. Arnong the Malays only), smal1 shareholders of a piece

respondents, only 20.5 percent inherited of rubber land will often sell off their rubber land, with plots between a quarter shares. There are two ways by which such

of an acre and five acres in size, of which shares are disposed oft firstly, to one of

the majority are below two acres. Twenty- the other co-owners if he can affbrd the

one percent claim to have bought rubber price and is interested in buying; and plots (between one and a quarter acres and secondly, in the event that none of the

seven a ¢ res). However, it is unclear if these owners wants to keep the land or can affbrd

plots are registered in their name. It is to buy the others' shares, they might agree possible that the purchased rubber plots to look for a buyer, sell the land en bloc, are in the husband's name; it is the practice and share the proceeds arnong themselves.

in the villages under study for the husband The second method seems to be the most

to register newly bought Iand in his name popular, and the writer has witnessed many

rather than his wife's. Nonetheless, the dispose of their land this way. It appears

newly acquired Iand, considered as kamta that men are more prone to sell off their

carzlan (Iand acquired during the span of shares in a piece of inherited property. This a marriage) is regarded by the wife (and tendency finds its roots in matrilocality, the husband) as partly hers, for in the event which takes men away to their wife's moth- of a divorce she is entitled to half of it. er's place after marriage. As many family

While 8 percent of the respondents expect plots are sited in the vicinity of the natal

a man, after marriage, finds it to inherit some rubber land, 50.5 percent village, manage or neither own nor expeet to inherit any. diffcult to work inherited land,

especially if his wife's village is far off from Islamic patterns ofland inheritance, unlike mother's. many men made customary land inheritance, which confines his Thus are

transmission to women, accentuate fragmen- landless and are dependent on their wife's

writer not make a survey tation, with the result that most rubber property. The did of land ownership by men, but discussions lands are jointly owned by many. Evidence

with many villagers reveal a consider- of such ownership abounds in the iand that

able number of are registry at the Kuala Pilah District eMce. men landless.In Kg.

Merual, for example, over 90 of For parcels ef Iand of five acres or less, percent the number of owners can vary from two the men have no Iand at all. Of late, a

to thirty with individual shares ranging few harve disposed of their land because

from ene half to one hundredth of an acre. they feel it to be more of a liability than

However, in the villages under study, acute an asset. Rubber land is no longer pro-

fragmentation seems to have been avoided. ductive; in many cases the trees are old

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and need replanting, and even if the trees Similarly, the size of holdings has declined.

are young, there is no labour in the village Previously, the smallest rubber holding was to work the plot. Even when income from half an acre, while the largest holdings was

the land is not forthcoming, land taxes ten acres. New the smallest holding is a

must be paid at the beginning of each quarter acre and the largest seven acres.

calender year. In this category, it is those Besides rubber smallholdings, other types

without an heir who are most inclined to of non-adat land owned are negligible.

se]1. There are, as mentioned in Section N-i,

Life's exigencies also act as intervening some orchards owned by women which are

circumstances compelling1and owners finally under Malay reservation. There are alse

to part with their land. For sorne, as shalI two parcels of freehold land of two and

be explained in Section N-iii, village life four acres owned by two households. Such

is hard, and occasions often arise when land too is registered in the name of the

money is urgently needed: to buy school male household head.

uniforms and books for children at the

beginning of the year, to pay fbr a daugh- 17-iii The h77Zige Econenry ter's wedding, to pay medical expenses, or According to othcial statisties (1985),i4) to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, etc. the majority (52.9 percent) of household

Land is often sold to cope with such exi- heads in Mukim Seri Menanti are abeve .gencles. the age of fifty-five years. In the villages Fragmentation and commoditization of under study, the age structure of the house-

rubber land have had the combined effect hold heads and their respective spouses

of making some men landless and leaving seems to be of a similar pattern: 47 percent 50. 5 percent of the female respondents with- of both men and women are above fity-six out such land. At the same time they lead years old, which is pensionable age in

to a coneentration of rubber land in the Malaysia. With a high number of elderly

hands of a few. Table 1 shows that 34.9 people in the villages, it is not surprising percent of rubber land owners have between that only 52.5 percent of the household three and seven acres. They also place heads are economically active.

rubber ]and in the hands of absentee vil- Economic activities take various forms:

Iagers, who are in paid employment, espe- seme are selfemployed, others in paid em- cially in the urban areas. ployment In the former category, the most

"farm Compared with seventeen years ago common is rubber tapping and work" [Azizah Kassim 1970: 196-200], it is clear (ke,zlke kampu7zg), which accounts for 30.5 that the number ef wornen with rubber percent of the households; petty trading, smallholdings has decreased. In 1969, especially operating sundry sheps (5.5 per- 27.1 percent ef the sample had inherited 14) Jadual-Jadual Banci Taraf Pertanian, Daerah rubber plots from their parents, while now Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, Jabatan the percentage has fallen to 20.5 percent Pertanian, May 1985.

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Table 2 Sources of Household Income estimates show that such income varies from

No. of M$30 to M$150 a month. This range of Sources Households ' income also applies to other in the Income from househotd heEd's work 4738128M3719311 jobs

selfemployed category. Household head's work+Remittance Household head's work+Pensions Other sources ef income include pensions

Household head'swork and rernittances from the urban areas. +Remittance+Pensions Pensiens+Remittance Thirty-six-point-five percent of household Remittance heads receive monthly pensions ranging from Pensions M$77 to M$700. They were in the public Remittance+State wetfare aid sector, working especially in the armed Remittance+State welfare aid +Household head's work for¢ es (police, army, navy, airforce) and as

State welfare aid teachers; labeurers with the Irrigation De-

Total 200 partment and with Malayan Railway; drivers

with National Electricity Board; etc. Re-

cent); and house-building and carpentry mittance, on the other hand, comes from

(2 percent). In the latter category are a close family members working in urban multitude of jobs in the private and public areas, especially from children (98 per¢ ent). sectors: drivers, teachers, security othcers, The amount ef remittance varies from

labourers, othce and hospital attendants, M$20 to M$700 a month depending on

salesmen, gardener, supervisors, waitors and the number of children in paid employment

of their It is not army personnel. They work mainly in Pekan and the nature jobs. Seri Menanti, or in Kuala Pilah and uncornmon to see parents receiving three

Seremban town, commuting to the two or four remittances monthly.

towns daily. Many heuseholds depend on more than It is significant that while 30.5 percent one source of income: 19 percent, for ex-

of the households are engaged in agriculture, ample, depend on income of the household as only 14 percent are solely dependent on it head from his current employment, well fbr their livelihood. Besides rubber tapping, as his pension from his previous employ-

the agricultural activities are mainly vege- ment; 17 percent on remittances (especially table gardening and poultry rearing (espe- frem children living in towns and cities) cially chickens), which are Iargely for home and pensions; 4 percent from household

consumption. In addition, some are involved head's pension and his income from current in the cultivation of fruit trees and animal employment in addition to remittances. A husbandry (especially cows) for sa]e. Padi very small nurnber, 2. 5 percent, are depend- growing has been abandoned almost com- ent on state welfare aid. They are usually and alone, pletely; in seme villages for the last eleven the elderly without children living years, in others since the 1980s. or divercees with young children. (Table 2).

between Income from agricultural activities is difi Total heusehold income varies ficult to assess. However the villagers' M$50 or Iess and M$2,200 a month. The

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Table 3 Household Income

Monthly lncome No. of Economic Level i:n M$ Househelds Relation to PoVerty Line

p.., ,ili }g: lll]4s% '""'"'''''''"''"'"""'""""Peverty Line 865% iill ii9/ i; ]4is% Abeve the poverty Line, 501- 600 8)

601- 7oo 5i

701- 800 4> 9.5% Rich sol- goo 1[ goi-i,ooo iJ

1,OOI-1,1oo 1>

1, 101-1, 200 l i

1, 201-1, 300 1

1, 301-1,400 I L 4% Very Rich llgg:]go,g ll Il?gi,i;];:: IJ

majority (86. 5 percent) have M$500 or less. will be examined subsequently. Those with a household income above M$ V Gender Relations in Adat 1,OOO are all salaried public service ern- Perpatih Society ployees, especially teachers. In the house- hold with the highest income, both husband Women's roles today have changed dras-

and wife are secondary school teachers. tically from those of the 1960s. When the

Those in the middle income bracket, i.e., economy was dependent on rubber and rice

between M$501 and M$1,OOO a rnonth, productiQn, men dominated the former and are usually pensioners who have fbund women the latter. Rice production and - - ) alternative lu- seen as womens megor jobs,thus giving them two precesslng were crative sources of income (Table 3). task. Although men did expend some The village economy, therefore, is no labour in the rice fields, they did so only

longer dominated by agricultural activities when they were not engaged in rubber

as it was in the late 1960s. It is more of tapping or other forms ef activities for cash.

a remittance economy now, dependent on Hence there was a kind of dualitv i in house-

income from urban occupations. How this hold economic activities, whereby women

changing economy affects male-female roles provided the staple, i.e., rice through sub-

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sistence farming, and men cash income.iS) Now agriculture has ceased to be of much This staple (women) and cash (men) duality relevance to the viHage economy. Women was also prevalent in the heuseholds where no longer toil in the rice fields, nor are

men were in paid employment. In a few they involved in much agricultural avtivity.

cases where women and their children were The maj'ority of the respondents (90 per-

left in the village, they were involved in cent) defined their occupation as sun' rzcmah

r!'ce production while their husbands lived (lit. housewife), while a smal1 number (8 elsewhere, sending cash home regularly and percent) gave their occupation as housewife returning home only frorn time to time. and rubber tapper or housewife and petty Thus, within the then peasant economy, trader. It is the women in the Iatter

women were contributing significantly to category who are economically active. Hew-

household income. There was, between ever, the nature of theirjob is supplementary

rnen and women, a kind of ecoriomic com- to their husband's: invariably they work

"unpaid plimentarity, which according to some old as labour" in the family's economic

women was the basis for a sound and enterprise such as rubber tapping and

lasting marriage. Husband and wife were retail trading. For the majority, their role

on a somewhat equal footing despite the is confined to household chores; house-

prevalence of Islamic ideology, which em- keeping, cooking, washing, and most impor- phasises male superiority. The equal stand- tant ef all, taking eare ef the young, some ing of the spouses, at least in economic of whom are their grandchildren left with

sphere, is made explicit in the society's them by parents working in the urban

traditional term for spouses, kawan (lit. areas.i6) In more than 10 percent of the friend), which was widely used up to the househelds, grandmethers are entrusted with

1960s. Hence women's important economic the care of such children, some of school

function, coupled with their control ever age, others younger. Hence some women

rice fields and kampung land, as well as are house bound and take minimal part in matrilocality, gave them an advantage over whatever little agricultural activities remain.

their husbands. These are factors accounting Only a few de vegetable farming and rear

"relative for their autonomy" (to borrow poultry; much of this work is now done by Stivens' term [1985]). Men's position then men, who have little else to do, having a can be considered to have been precarious; guaranteed monthly income from pensions

the Ionger the marriage was, the longer and remittances. There is also a trend

they were removed from their natal village

There is an acute shortage of domestic help and matrilineage, and the more precarious 16) and childcare centres in the urban areas. their position was. Working mothers engaged in low-income jobs often leave their young children with relatives, 15) This differentiation in male-female roles is especially their parents in the countryside. also observed by M.G. Swift [1965: 37], The writer found this phenomenon very D. K. Lewis [1962: 257--258] and M. G. Peletz common among the squatters she studied in [1981: 22-23]. the cEpital city of KuaJa Lumpur.

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among men to keep their women (wife, What now seems to be of relevance is her

daughters, sisters) away from agricultural achievements in education and in the job

work, which is seen as demeaning and a market, besides her industry, looks, deport-

symbol of low status. ment and the general consensus about her

conduct. In a future husband too, it is his Economically, village women (unless they

are themselves wage-earners) can be said educational attainment that is closely related

to be marginalized, and this marginalization to economic worth, which is stressed so

process is further enhanced when children's much that, in some marriages, one of the

"a remittances are channeled through the fa- questions asked of him is whether he is ther. Women now control few economic graduate." His other qualities or handicaps resources (especially cash), contribute Iess are often ignored. to the household econorny and thus are With the increasing importance of paid

dependent economically on their husbands. employment in the village economy, agri-

This dependence, in the case of wives of cultural underdevelopment and the dec]ine

pensioners, continues even after the hus- in ecenomic value of ancestral land, it is

band's death, when the widow is entitled interesting to note the society's changing

to receive part of the husband's pension. attitude towards children. Previously, female The wife's dependency on the husband children were highly prized, not only to

affects the balance ef power between them. ensure the perpetuity of the lineage group

Wemen, as Stivens observes in the case of and with it the ance$tral land, but also as

Rembau, have lost some of their relative somebody to care for and comfort parents age. Now autonomy [Stivens 1985: 42]. The balance in their old there seems to be of power has now swung in faveur of the a shift towards gender egalitarianism. Cou- men, and their position in their wives' ples without daughters no longer seek a

matrilineage has become entrenched. Sav- female child for adoption, and male children

ings made by the husband while in paid are also sometimes adopted. Withthe high

employment and from children's remittances rate of migration involving both men and

are used to build, rebuild, or repair the women, having a daughter no longer guar-

family house sited on the wife's land, to antees the welfare of the parents in old age;

purchase consumer goods to boost the fam- and with ancestral land acutely fragmented ily's prestige, and to maintain that prestige. and economically wQrthless, offSprings' sex

The higher the standard of living the hus- is of no consequence. In fact, there are

band can maintain, the rnore the wife is seme who believe that harving sons may

dependent on him. be better. Sons are believed te have better

There is also a change in the way future chances to enter the job market and hence brides are assessed. The family ef a pro- be in a goed position to suppert parents spective husband ne longer relates a girl's financially, while girls may get married to

worth to her family's Iand ownership, as a non-local and be taken away by their

was the practice in the 1960s and earlier. husband.

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Outside the boundary of the immediate Adat land may have little economic value family, relations between a woman and her now, but its future economic potential and

matrikins are semewhat distant Among symbolic value are not dismissed. Multiple

the occassions which brought the matrikins ownership indicates land scarcity, hence

of a matrilineage together were agricultural many Adat Perpatih women hold en to

activities through mutual-help institutions their land passionately even if they do net

known locally as ,gotong-rayong or lelon?- maintain or work it. Some, due to igno-

telb2agran [Azizah Kassim 1970: 220-224], rance of Adat Perpatih land regulations/ especially in rice production (padi replanting laws, tend to regard the land as private and harvesting) and rice processing (padi property, ignoring the usufructory rights of drying, winnowing and pounding). Now their male kin. This quite often leads to

that rice is no longer grewn and is usually dissension between siblings and close

bought, few occassions arise to bring people matrikin (cousins, for example) of the op- together. Previously, life's hardships im- posite sex. Sometimes a kind of distrust

posed by the uncertainties of a peasant exists between them, inducing many men

economy also induced viliagers to come now to insist that their names be registered

together to form sueh voluntary socie- in land titles as usufructory co-owners.

"syanvaat" econornic organizations as the Nonetheless, at the extra-househald level

(lit. company), whereby cash was pooled male-female relationships with respect to

to buy goods such as tents, water drums, land are influenced by various factors, es- crockery, cooking utensils, etc., for common pecially men's economic position. When use during kend"ri (feasts). Syarikat are they have a relatively steady inceme, adat

no longer formed, while those formed in land becomes irrelevant. It is when they

the 1950s and 1960s no longer function. are farmers and dependent solely on agri-

With assured monthly income from pensions culture for their liveliheod that such small and remittances, most people feel Iess need parcels of land matter. for this form of communal organization. In conclusion, it can be said that the Individualization is taking place among the village economy is no lenger a peasant

vi11agers, which is further accentuated by economy but is based on remittances and

the introduction of basic amenities and pensions. This economic shift, which took

consumer goods. The supply of piped place in the last one and a half decades,

water to individual houses makes water has reduced the importance of adat land holes (1)ertlgi), the rneeting place of village and had a marked effect on social relation- women, redundant; televisions keep people ships in the village, especially male-female at horne for most of the time, giving them relationships, where the balance of power little time for communal activities; and ac- is ,now weighted in favour of the males. cess to gas and kerosene ¢ ookers deny

women and men sorne of the co-operative

effbrts involved in gathering firewood.

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-----. 1970. Some Facts and Fallacies with Peshion Men Bibliography Regard to the of in Adat Perpatih. Fedb7ration Musettm lburnal (Na- Abdul Kahar Bador. 1960. Adat Perpatih di tional Museum, Kuala Lumpur) 15: 101- Tanah Mengandong. Academic Exercise. 120. Department ef Malay Studies, Universiti Peletz,M.G. 1981. SocialHistor:7andEvolution Malaya. in the interorelationship of Adet and lslam . 1963･ Kinship and Marriage among in Rembau, IVlegeri Sembilan. Research notes the Negeri Sembilan Malays. M.A. Thesis, and Diseussion Paper No.27. Institute of London School of Economics, University of Southeast Asian Studies. Lendon. ------･-. 1987. Female Heirship and the Au- Asis Ujang. 1975. Penyesuaian Adat Dan Sara' tonemy of Women in Negeri Sembilan, West Bagi Kedudukan Wanita Beradat Perpatih di Malaysia. Research in Econemic Anthro- Kg. Terusan. Academic Exercise. Jabatan Pelczg;, 8; 61--101. Antropologi dan Sosiologi, Universiti Malaya. Stivens, M. 1981. Women, Kinship and Capi- Azizah Kassim･ 1970. Kedudukan Wanita di talist Development･ ln oj thrricrge and the dalarn Masyarakat Adat Perpatih di Negeri thrket, edited by Young K. et al. London: Sembilan. M.A. Thesis, Jabatan Pengajian C.S.E Books. Wbmen's Melayu, Universiti Malaya. . n.d. The Fate ef Land . 1974. Kedudukan Wanita Dalam Rights: Gender, Matriliny and Capitalism in Kedua Masyarakat Adat Perpatih dalam abad Rernbau, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. pp.1- Puluh. imnusia den Mdsyarakat. Jabatan 34. (Typescript) Malaya, in Rembaee: Antropologi dan Sosiologi, Universiti . 1985. Sexual Politics pp- 69-72. Female Autonamp, Mbtrilimp,, and Agrarian . 1976. A Matrilineal Society in the Change in 7Vlegeri Sembden, ?e4alaysia. Occa- Context of Development. Federation Museum sional Paper No.5. CSEAS, University ef lburnal (Natienal Museum, Kuala Lumpur) Kent at Canterbury. 21 (New Series): 41-57. Swift, M.G. 1963. Men and Wbmen in Malay . 1985. va'bnttra don thsyurakat. Kuala Society. In PVbmen in IVlew Asia, edited by Lumpur: Utusan Melayu PubTications. Ward, B., pp.267-286. Paris: UNESCO. -- --. 1986. Wanita dan Pemilikan Tanah -' 1965. MalayPeasantSocielyin.llelebza. dalam Masyarakat Adat Perpatih di Negeri London: The Athlone Press. Sembilan. IZmza Mliparakat [Journal of Tunku Noraidah T.A. Rahman. 1984. IVegreri Malaysian Social Science Associatien, Kuala Sembt7an: A 1)Veliminary Bibliqgve`iplp,. Lumpur] April-September: 1-8. Kuala Lumpur: Perpustakaan Universiti Awalludin Hassan. 1984. Adat Perpatih Dari Malaya. Perspektif Islam di Rembau, Negeri Sernbilan. Academic Exercise. Pengajian Islam, Jabatan Roportsllmpers Universiti Malaya Banci Taraf Pertanian, Daerah Fan Kok Sim. 1984. Women in Malaysia-A 1. Jadual-Jadual Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, Bibliography. In RokiZ h Talib and Mng Ai Jabatan Pertanian Semenanjung Malaysia, 1985. Yun [Wbmen in Malaysia]. Kuala Lumpur: Pelanduk Publication. 2. Taklimat Ringkas Pejabat Kesihatan, Kuala Jamilah Ariffin. 1984. Women in Malaysia- Pilah!Jempol, Negeri Sembilan, 13hb Oktober, Priority Research Issues･ llm" thsp,arakat 1986. [Journal of Malaysian Social Science Associ- 3. Taklimat Pembangunan Bagi Pejabat Daerah, ation, Kuala Lumpur] October-December: Tanah dan Majlis Daerah Kuala Pilah 93.100. Sempena Lawatan YIB Setiausaha Kereq'aan Lewis, D. 1962. The Minangkabau Malay of Negeri Sembilan pada 20hb Ogos 1985. Negeri Sembilan. Ph.D. Thesis, Cornell 4. Proceedings of Seminar Kebangsaan Adat University. Perpatih and Wilayah Budaya Negeri Sem- NordinSelat. 1982. SistemSesialAddtJPle,Patih bilan (3rd-5th MEy 1984, Universiti Pertanian Kuala Lumput: Utusan Melayu Publicatiens. Malaysieq Serdang, Selangor).

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