THE bad memory of palm oil prices bottoming out in 2018 during Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) rule could influence the vote of small oil palm growers in the Johor elections.

Small oil palm plantation owners in Johor who were severely impacted by low prices in 2018 still blame PH, although they acknowledge that there were other external factors involved. 

But they said they cannot trust PH as the federal government, then under prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had offended China and India, two of the largest importers of Malaysian palm oil, adding Dr Mahathir and PH had made the situation worse. 

The Barisan Nasional rhetoric to blame the rival political coalition seems effective, conveniently ignoring external factors that suppressed prices. 

Smallholders in Yong Peng and Paloh in Johor told The Malaysian Insight that this unhappiness may affect how they vote in the upcoming polls. 

Others felt that PH did not help oil palm planters enough despite knowing their hardship due to the low commodity price then. There were calls back then for the federal government to institute a floor price for oil palm.

Tham Kian Wan, 59, who owns a 15-acre (6.07ha) oil palm plantation in Yong Peng, said when prices slumped two years ago, he suffered zero income from his plantation and became a hawker instead to feed his family.

He said plantation owners are realistic people when it comes to voting. 

“No matter who is in power, as long as they can assist us, we will support them,” Tham said. 

“I already know who I’m voting for.” 

He knows, however, that palm oil prices are now high following Covid-19 pandemic, due to external factors and international demand.

Low prices during PH’s federal rule were among the topics BN has been using against PH in campaigning for the Johor elections.

Another Chinese smallholder in Yong Peng, Ng Sing Chuan, said the price was RM270 per metric tonne in 2019, and has shot up to RM1,200 per metric tonne this March.

“At least now we won’t lose money even when the price of fertiliser has gone up from RM110 to RM170. We can continue to fertilise our crops as long as palm oil prices remain high,” said the 53-year-old, who owns 20 acres.

When prices crashed in 2018, Ng said planters blamed PH for making policies that were not conducive for Chinese businesses. 

He recalled how banks denied loans to planters due to the high risk.

Another plantation owner, Paul Wong, 58, also from Yong Peng, said Chinese voters are happy as long as they are able to put three meals on the table and that government policies are fair.

“We will not comment on whether the government is right or wrong, as long as they can help small plantation owners, we will support them,” Yong, who owns 125 acres.

Paloh plantation owners unhappy with PH

In Paloh, a planter who only wanted to be known as Yang, 55, said when palm oil prices fell, they were afraid to fertilise their crops for fear there would be no demand.

Now, however, there is a new problem – though prices are soaring, planters do not have enough workers to harvest the fruit. 

Another planter, a woman who wanted to be known as Wu, 63, recounted that when prices crashed, small owners like her were unable to get bank loans, to the point where she almost had to abandon her plantation.

“What did the government do for me at the time?” she asked.

Tan, the wife of a smallholder, said she gave PH a chance but it did nothing for the people.

“My children are working in Singapore. As long as they keep their jobs there, I can stay here. What future do they have here?” asked the 43-year-old mother of three. 

Her strongest memory of PH rule is that it focused on “small things like the colour of school shoes”, she added.

Prices are better now, but the one thing smallholders worry about is that they won’t get a share of the 32,000 foreign workers that the government has approved entry for the plantation sector.

Big plantations are more likely to benefit, they said.

The cost of applying for foreign workers has also gone up from RM7,000 to RM8,000, they noted. 

A major factor in 2018 and 2019 when palm oil prices took a severe hit included the European Union’s restrictions on palm oil imports from Malaysia and Indonesia due to environmental and deforestation concerns. 

This saw prices fall to US$450 (RM1,882.13) per tonne in 2018.

Now, with the Ukraine-Russia conflict, crude palm oil has hit an all time high of RM6,000 per metric tonne due to supply concerns. – March 10, 2022.