Dasar Pentadbir British Terhadap Penanaman Kelapa dalam kalangan Orang Melayu di Negeri-Negeri Melayu Bersekutu Semasa Penjajahan, 1874-1940 (The British Administrators’ Policies Towards Coconut Cultivation among Malays in Federated Malay States During Colonisation, 1874-1940)

Abstract

This article discusses the policies of British administrators towards the Malays’ coconut cultivation as a commercial crop for export purposes. In commercial coconut cultivation for export purposes, the British administrators not only refrained from hindering but also encouraged the Malays to continuously plant coconuts. However, the British administration’s policies towards Malays on coconut cultivation is not detailed in past writings. On the contrary, previous writings only focused on British effort in commercialising coconut products and the socio-economic effects resulting from the development of coconut cultivation. Therefore, this study will concentrate on the British administrators’ policies towards Malays coconut cultivation, why the British administrators adopted such a policies and the efforts made to ensure that Malays continue to cultivate coconuts. This writing argues that the British administrators endeavored to encourage and influence the Malays to continue planting coconuts in order to diversify agricultural products for export, thus reducing dependence on rubber cultivation and subsequently increasing income through exports. Additionally, this effort aimed to meet the needs of the manufacturing sector within Malaya itself. The British administrators’ efforts to promote coconut cultivation among the Malays were not only through positive encouragement but also implemented through coercion. This writing uses a historical approach, specifically the method of analysing primary sources in the form of official records of the British administrators, such as the Year Book And Manual of Statistics, Malayan Agricultural Journal, Federated Malay States Gazette Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits and Federated Malay States, and other related records.