This puts Malaysia in a very good position internationally since rubber is an example of what we might call a post-industrial industry. Well, what do you, what do you mean by that? Er, excuse me, yes, what does that mean? What is a post-industrial, erm, society?

Most manufacturing industries are based on fossil fuels, for example, coal and oil. Now, the problem is that these will not last forever. They are finite. Sooner or later, they will run out, Now rubber is a natural product. The energy source involved in its creation is sunlight. Now sunlight, we hope, will outlast coal and oil and best of all, sunlight is free.

So, it is much cheaper to produce natural rubber which as we all know comes from trees, than to use up all those fossil fuels, both as fuels and as raw materials, in making synthetic rubber in factories. Rubber is one of the world's strategic product, so you can see what a good position Malaysia is in, and it would help if she could produce more. Er, well, what stands in the way then? Ah, well, it's the way they go about cultivating it.

You see, I remember in my day just after...Yes, most people have this image of vast estates, centrally run, but that's just not the case, even if almost a quarter of the population is involved, one way and another, with the production of rubber. Yeah, well, that's if you count the families. Yes, yes, yes, almost 3 million people are involved, but the picture is a very fragmented one.

Do you realize that there are 2 million hectares of land under cultivation for rubber in Malaysia, but that 70% of this area is divided amongst small-holders, half a million of them, who between them produce 60% of the country's rubber. Well, there's nothing wrong with that in terms of quality of life, though I remember, yes, quite right, just after the war there was... Yes, quite right.