The Founding And Development of The Rubber Industry

Rubber

How did rubber came to Malaya?

• Rubber was not indigenous to Malaya• Coffee was flourishing in Peninsula• 1871 Henry Wickham, 70000 from Brazil to London (only few

grows).• Seeds were then sent to India then Ceylon, but the climate

was not really suitable.• Then 22 seedlings (young plant) were forwarded to Singapore.• Some were planted at Hugh Low’s residency and Singapore

Botanical Gardens (Study of plants).• 1877 rubber came to Malaya.

What were the reasons for rubber industry to grow?1. The failure of coffee.• 1870s coffee was thriving (successful) in the agricultural industry.• In Malaya it was planted in Selangor• HOWEVER it was devastated (destroyed) by Bee Hawk moths

from Ceylon to the Malayan States.• 1895 to 1903, BRAZIL then produce coffee in vast (massive/huge)

quantity.• It kills the coffee industry through dramatic (sudden) decrease in

price and the Malayan farmers were out of business.

Map of the Coffee producers

If it’s COFFEE… Don’t mess with Brazil.

2. Who was “Rubber Ridley”?• Henry Nicholas Ridley was the director at Botanical Garden in 1888. • His contribution were in public relations (public interest) and

improvements in cropping techniques.• He was an excellent propagandist (One sided) for rubber industry.

Never failed to take the opportunity to encourage Malay farmers to grow rubber. He gave rubber seeds to farmers and was called ‘Mad Ridley’ or ‘Rubber Ridley’ due to his enthusiasm .

• He experimented how to tap the tree. Tapping of the tree to produce the latex.

• By 1897 he perfected ibidem or herring bone, and this method allowed for tapping of a single tree to go on for as long as thirty years.

• Transporting seedlings (young plants) wrapping them in moist charcoal can help to transport in high temperatures.

• Plantation of rubber on a large scale (grow better in larger spaces).

Rubber Ridley

3. Intervention by the Government.• Federated Malay States government encourage rubber

growing by:-Low land rents and low duty on rubber.Money was provided to conduct (running) experiments to

improve techniques for growing rubber.

4. The growth of demand (request/claim/want)• Early development

1896, some of the few investors and planters were Kinderlsley brothers in Selangor, W.S. Bennett. T.S. Hill in Negri Sembilan, Stephens and McGillivray in Perak.

• Increased demand1839 – Goodyear found Vulcanization (mixture of rubber and

sulphur to strengthens it).1889 – J.B Dunlop develop pneumatic (air-filled) tyre. Increased

demand for cars and bicycle tires.1910 – America produces 8 million cars per year using pneumatic

tyres. Thus there was an immediate shortage of rubber and a boom in price to $5 a lb.

• Rapid developmentHarrisons and Crosfield of London founded Petaling Rubber Estates

Syndicate.1903 – Anglo Malay Rubber Company was established.Dunlop and United States rubber Company also planted rubbers.1910 – There were 122 out of 144 rubber states in Malaya owned by

company.1911 – Malay produces 100,000 tons per year.1919 – Malaya was the world’s largest producer of rubber.

5. The availability of cheap labour.Tin mining have a large number of Chinese workers.Rubber industry, the workers were mostly immigrants from southern

India. (Good workers & difficult condition in home country.

Indian cheap labour

The rubber depression1. (1914-1918) - Reduction in demand, rubber was stockpiled in

Malaya, Indon, Ceylon and China due to the 1st world war. 2. 1920 - After the end of the war, there was a dramatic drop in

prices due to the surplus (extra) of rubber. Price drop from $5 to 30 cents.

3. 1922 - Restrictions of production to increase the price using Stevenson Restriction Scheme. British producers in Ceylon and Malaya used to be 70% which drops to 50% to 38%, whereas Indonesia had increased from 25% to 40%. It didn’t work.

4. 1920s - Increased ($2) demand as wider uses for rubber were discovered such as bed and cushions.

5. 1930 - World recession (decline/collapse) had a devastating effect. American demand for cars drop significantly. No rubber.

6. International rubber regulation scheme to reduce production again, between Britain+Holland+France+Siam except for Indon.

7. In 1941 Japan invaded South East Asia, made rubber production on halt (stopped).