76 MALAY LAND TENURE. 



so imsuited to the native mind as the introduction of English 

 real-property law has been dreamt of. Why 'was the policy of 

 Indian Administrators as regards Malacca directly con- 

 trary to that pursued in British India ? Principally, I think, 

 because it was not soon enough discovered that the conditions 

 of Malacca— an ancient Malay kingdom and then successively 

 a Portuguese and Dutch Colony — differed fundamentally from 

 those of the modern Settlements of Penang and Singapore, 

 which had no population prior to their acquisition by the East 

 India Company, and to which, therefore, any law of land tenure 

 might be applied without the fear of disturbing existing rights, 

 interests, customs, prejudices or superstitions. Malacca has 

 never been the seat of Government during its occupation by 

 the British, and the land laws and regulations formulated from 

 time to time by officials, more conversant with the English 

 practice introduced into Penang and Singapore, than with 

 native lav/ and custom, have never really fulfilled their pur- 

 pose. 



Within the last nine years, certain Malay States on the West 

 Coast of the Peninsula have fallen under the direction of 

 British Officers subordinate to the Government of the Straits 

 Settlements, and the latter are, therefore, to some extent, in a 

 position similar to that of the Malacca officials earlier in the 

 century. Unless future generations of public servants are to 

 be confronted by a Perak, a Salangor, or a Sungei Ujong 

 " Eand Question," it is difficult to exaggerate the importance 

 of studying very closely, and understanding very clearly, the 

 nature of native rights in land. There is even a danger of 

 imbibing and conveying erroneous ideas on the subject by the 

 use of English technical terms. 



The- first proclamation about land issued in Perak under the 

 advice of a British Resident contained such terms as " fee 

 simple/' and in Larut, as early as 1876, land was being trans- 

 ferred and mortgaged with all English legal technicalities by 

 the aid of two or three ignorant scribes who brought printed 

 forms from the nearest British Settlement — Penang ! It is 

 perhaps doubtful if, to this day, the Malay law of land tenure 

 and Malay thought and feeling regarding land are properly 

 understood by Europeans in Native States, and, if not, there 

 may be reason to fear difficulties in years to come. 



