Finding Jeram: The Story of James Smart, Rubber Planter by Linda Covill (review)

When Linda Covill's father passed away, she came into possession of a large cache of letters written by her late grandfather, James Smart (1889-1970). Through detailed and painstaking research—involving not only the letters, but also news articles, obituaries, photographs, government publications, literature, and numerous other sources—Covill (née Smart) was able to piece together the narrative of her grandfather's fascinating life. The research is a labour of love that took the author eight years to complete. Finding Jeram: The Story of James Smart, Rubber Planter is the culmination of that labour. Part biography, part family memoir and part colonial history of Sumatra and Malaysia, Finding Jeram offers an intriguing glimpse into the daily trials and tribulations of a British man dedicated to the management of rubber plantations in colonial Southeast Asia.

The narrative starts with the birth of James Smart (Jimmie) to a poor rural family in Aberdeenshire. It then follows him through his apprenticeship as a banker, first appointment abroad to a rubber plantation in the Dutch East Indies, long years away from home and family and his return to read for a Bachelor of Commerce and get married. From here he moves on to his second appointment to a rubber plantation—this time in British Malaya—his numerous ocean journeys back and forth between Asia and Britain, his narrow escape from Singapore on the heels of the Japanese invasion, his return to post-War Malaya, a stint in Southern Africa and final return to Britain. This is all then brought to a touching denouement with his peaceful death as an eighty-year-old en route to visit family in New Zealand and his burial at sea. In all, James Smart had been on nineteen ocean journeys, which amounted to spending two years of his life at sea. Few people, it would seem, have lived such an adventurous life.

Apart from the fascinating vicissitudes of Smart's life, Covill's beautifully written account gives a rare look into the challenges faced by those managing enterprises in the distant corners of the colonial empires. A major problem, of course, was the long distance from home. This meant not only months at sea, but also that home-leave was granted only after several years of service. In Smart's case, this meant working for five years before United Serdang (Sumatra) Rubber Plantations, Ltd granted him five months home-leave, two of which were spent on the sea journeys between Sumatra and Britain. In some cases, the European workers would bring their families, but generally, the conditions and facilities in Sumatra were considered unsuitable for Western women and children. Indeed, some of the companies even forbade planters to bring their families. Things were different in Malaya. There Smart was happy to have his family with him at the Buloh River and Jeram estates. Even so, he thought it best they returned to Scotland during his next home-leave.

In Sumatra, the lonely life of the planters led to the further problem of, as Covill puts it, life without the moderating effects of wife and family. In these conditions, the European planters often lived somewhat uncontrolled lives, squandering and drinking away their hard-earned income.

And the income was indeed hard earned. The norm was twelve-hour workdays with a one-day holiday every fortnight. As one European planter in Sumatra put it, "Sometimes I felt as if I could not take another step… as if I must die, must lie down in the cleared forest and not bother about anything anymore" (44). In addition, there was the problem of a European having to manage many workers from cultures distinct from his own. Smart was in sole charge of 250 labourers on the Sumatran estate. These consisted of Javanese, Sundanese, Malays, Tamils and Chinese who themselves were all from different cultures. Tensions and misunderstandings were common and occasionally violence would erupt. In one case, a labourer who had been dismissed for theft, returned to the manager...