By Janice Fredah Ti
The 1996 World Food Summit defined food security as existing when all people at all times have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet the dietary requirements for a productive and healthy life.
In 2016, Malaysia ranked 35th on the Global Food Security Index (GFSI). The following year, Malaysia’s ranking dropped to 41st out of 113 countries. Malaysia’s GFSI score fell by 3.2 points, from 69.4 (2016) to 66.2 (2017), putting us among the top 10 countries with the highest drop in GFSI score.
According to The Statistics Portal (www.stastita.com), the import value of food in Malaysia from 2012 to 2016 is as follows:
2012: RM36.09 billion
2013: RM38.86 billion
2014: RM42.64 billion
2015: RM45.34 billion
2016: RM46.77 billion
Amid these worrying statistics, it is puzzling to note the alarming rate at which Malaysia’s farmers and livestock farmers are being evicted and treated unfairly by the authorities using state arms for personal and selfish agendas.
In Perak alone, across 24 areas covering 10,000 acres, 800 farmers are affected and deemed illegal or undocumented. Most have been in the farming industry for a long time. However, not only do their contributions towards state and national food security appear to be underestimated, given the recent farming land grabs, eviction orders and other problems, their livelihoods have also been directly threatened.
No one knows this better than Chin Kwai Leong, 45, who has been fish farming for 15 years in Menglembu, Perak. Over the years, he has seen and experienced first-hand the difficulties faced by both crops and livestock farmers across the state. As a result, he set up Gabungan Selamatkan Petani dan Penternak Perak (GSPP), or the Coalition to Save Farmers and Breeders in 2014 together with his brother, Chin Kwai Heng, and other farmers.
Kwai Leong, who had been a farmer since the age of 27 after graduating from Taipei University of Technology, was never interested in politics. But he soon learned that politics plays a big part in one’s life. He soon learned that existing laws can be used to suppress the farming community who toil to supply food to the public. He despaired when farmers’ applications for proper land titles were abused or at best, ignored, resulting in them being labelled “illegal”, “haram” or “penceroboh”.
While he maintains that the word “undocumented” should be used instead, his primary concern remains the uncertainty faced by the farming community regarding the right to land to continue producing food for the nation. He fears that the livelihoods and dignity of farmers are greatly compromised by the ongoing and continuous land issues they have to deal with. For him, the question is this: if the farmers are considered illegal, is the food they produce also illegal?
An incident involving 1,500 acres of farming land further drove home the realisation that something serious had to be done. In 2012, the said piece of land was offered by State Secretary Incorporation (SSI) to 39 farmers at the price of RM25/month/acre. Seven farmers signed the contract. But barely two years down the road, it was revealed that Menteri Besar Incorporated (MB Inc) had taken over. The leasing price was now RM80/month/acre. The matter was later challenged in court and to this day, an appeal is pending.
This, and many more cases, led Kwai Leong to the realisation that existing laws are insufficient to protect the farming community. Bad experiences trying to seek help from both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition partners also left him disillusioned and disappointed.
He felt the time was right for the farming community to seek representation in the Perak state assembly, so that their voices could be heard in a more conducive manner. If existing laws did not do justice, he thought, then they needed to be changed. More than that, he felt the issue of national food security should not be taken for granted.
Therefore, Kwai Leong decided to stand for office in the Perak state assembly. He will contest the Menglembu state seat while his brother Kwai Heng will contest the Tronoh state seat.
In their journey to seek solutions for farmers across Perak, and after failing to get help from either BN or PH, the brothers were introduced to Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM). That was in 2014. Since then, PSM has been working with GSPP in its attempt to correspond with the state government to resolve farming land issues. Some readers may recall news of stunning, and sometimes hostile, protests and confrontations between PSM and GSPP members and the authorities in their attempt to meet the menteri besar of Perak to resolve these issues.
It was only part of a natural progression for the Chin brothers to stand for election under the PSM banner. After all, PSM remains the only political party which shows genuine concern for the environment as well as the issues faced by the common people.
Kwai Leong said he has had enough of sending endless memorandums and ending up in lock-ups after confrontations with the authorities – it is time to take things up a notch. But he admits it is not easy and that he needs the help of the people.
The land issues remain far from resolved despite intervention sought from the agriculture and agro-based industry ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office. This is also despite the Prime Minister’s Office sending a letter to the Perak menteri besar’s office asking it to engage with GSPP, a copy of which was also sent to GSPP.
If successful, the brothers would like to see each farmer being given five acres of farming land. They would also like to implement a policy where farming land titles cannot be changed. Whenever farmers fail or give up, the land will be given to another farmer. This way, farming and food security can be maintained and sustained.
Let us remember that the opposite of food security is food insecurity.
Janice Fredah Ti is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.