PIRACY STILL RIFE IN MALAYA

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5310, 24 January 1947, Page 2

PIRACY STILL RIFE IN MALAYA

— ♦ ■ ■ FOUCE PqR'OE CORRUPX MANY INSTANCES OF SEAGOING ROBBERIES. The .other day Police and Army sta^ed a combi(nied ^fea-iland-and-air raid on the south coast of Penang Island, arresting a few suspects and a few, pirates, and gathering in thousands of rounds of ammunition and one solitary rifle. Normally, pirates have little to fear from the police, for the native constabulary can he ibrihed or intimidated, and there are few Edropeans available for the tropical seiwices. This may Ihe a good openirtg for ex-service-men — and they are hadly needed. The Indian and Malayan natives cannot be relied npon, since the Japanese occupation, for either loyalty or honesty. This is due to the topsyturvey conditions during- the \yar, and to disturbirig propaganda from India and Indonesia. There are also the 'bad effects of food pshortage, and high black-market prices, conducive to smuggling, and tempting poorly-paid Govemment servants to accept bribes in. order to keep their families. .

Two Main Ports. The 'Malay Pensinula has two main ports — Singapore at the southern ex- , tremity, and Penang at the northern end, on the road to India and to Europe. Both cities are on islands only a mile off the mainland of 'Malay a and hoth harbours are f ormed by the straits. A few miles to the westward lies the great island of Sumatra, and it is from there and from Java that a stream of trade comes, hoth legitimate and otherwise. The merchant-adventurers are all Chinese, though they are British subjects from Malaya. The vessels used are called "Tongkangs," and include all lands of junks, isampans, prows, and ex-military landing craft. The actual trading is 3 one by barter, and in exchange for textiles and manufactured goods the Indonesians supply raw. prod'uicts su)ch as rice, sugar and rubber, as well as looted prdperty "inherited" from the Japanese. The Dutch navy has recently beer stopping a 'fot of these vessels foi examination. Some have been seized. and their cargo coriiiscated when import and export licences were not produced and duty paid. There is no doubt that many cargoes had been smmggled into Malaya, as they comprised controlled items intended for the ever-hungry hlackmarket. Robbed at Pistol Point. The Dutch blockade has brought this trade under control from tbc ports of Java and southern Sumatra. but theVorthern section, adjacent tc Penang, will be diffieult to police, because of the long coastlines and number of islands. This is where the supcessful traders are intercepted by pirates. The heavily-laden tongkangs are caught when they near the coast, and at pistol-point are deprived f whai cargo is wanted. Sometimes the vesse! itself is commandeered. The stoler goods hnd their way easily to the blaek-market, where no questions are asked. The victims are often loth to repor the piracy because of their owi smiUiggling activities, and they ar further discouraged by threats of as sassination, 'Decause prosperous Chinese are very afraid of losing theii lives. They enjoy the pleasures of thc world while alive and wealthy, anc' at the same time are aware of the . low value which bandlts place on othei peoples' lives. Even overseas ships in Penang Harbour receive discreet attention froir, the pirates, for these awe-inspiring , visitors come aboard to inqniire ahout details of the cargo. If they want any of it they bribe and coerce the tally-clerks to overlook what goes into a sampan, or lighter, whose crew earn extra dollars by looking after the cargo until it can .be landed during the night. Occupants of the police launch have to be brihed to keep out of the way, and the rickshamen oi lorry-drivers also get a cut of the profits before the goods reach the shops. Flour in Demand. Recently a shipload of Aiustraliar flour was over a thousand bags short by the time it was discharged into lighters and transferi-ed ashore.. Floui has recently become a staple item on the black market, because the acute shortage of rice has forced the Asiatie population to ea* bread and other substitutes for their beloved rice. After loading rubber all day into our own ship we found that the men refused to keep their lighters alongside during the night, and wanted to take them ashore for safety. They were afraid of pirates and only agreed to stay provided- we kept floodlights over them all night. Next day there was a shortage of 10; bales in another lighter,' equal to one ton in weight, and worth 5000 Straits dollars. « Confldential inquires showed that the loss had not occurred at the ship, but was an attempt by a storekeeper ashoi'e to balance his books, as he was 15 bales short from another shipment. - The pirates work from flshing villages, - and consist of some localborn Malays, a few displaced Javanese, and a . larger . number of Chinese.This is a matter of grave concern to the respectable1 Ghinese who form the commercial backbone of- Malaya. ■ - ; ]?olice Inadequate.

'The police are making valiant efforts" to ' stop banditry on land and sea, but are ihandicapped by the same two factors that operated in bT.S.W. in- the days of the ibju^hra^ers— y ineffibiency - of the police force- itself and lack of coroperation by the.public, . The Govemment recently impos'ed the "death /periah# for persTohS caught carrying arms, and since thfe first few ex^cutiohs Iftakes a very brave'person tbfcg&^rv: a -revolver or.even tcv to sell