THE LONDON DAWN RAID AND ITS EFFECT ON MALAYSIAN PLANTATION WORKERS

摘要

The London Dawn Raid refers to the attempt by the Malaysian government to take control of the plantation giant, Guthrie Corporation at the London Stock Exchange on 7 September 1981. It was part of a strategy by which Malaysia acquired controlling interest over flagship companies owned by European plantation companies, such as Dunlop Estates and Harrisons & Crosfield (subsequently known as Golden Hope Plantations), and the export agricultural sector. These companies then started selling their shares to the newly formed Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB, National Equity Corporation), Malaysian government's investment agency. With PNB's takeover of foreign-owned plantations, the plantation workers (most of whom were Indians) had hoped for security in terms of tenure, better wages and working conditions. Their hopes were crushed as the new management was only interested in multiplying profits and ensuring wages remained low. It also started recruiting labour from Indonesia and other countries. This article examines how the change in management affected plantation workers, especially Indian labourers and the predicament faced by the latter from the early 1980s until early 2000s.View full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2011.648999