Modern day slavery in Malaysia

“Life as a bonded labourer meant working at all hours, being a servant to the owner at all times and quietly receiving punishments for the simplest of mistakes.”

That was the response from 42-year-old Rosamah when asked about her life as a bonded labourer.

Her husband Avadiar was more brutal. He said: “Life was hell.”

About three weeks ago I went looking for this family, along with two video journalists from malaysiakini, all the way to a Felda plantation in Tementi, Pahang. This family has just escaped from the clutches of their ruthless owner and was experiencing freedom in almost the first time in a decade.

We also spoke to the employer/owner, located some 60km from Tementi, in a place called Kampung Serampang Indah, about 30km away from Bahau, NS. He, naturally, denied everything and blamed the family as being lazy and addicted to beer.

We also spoke to a young man who played a vital role in bringing out the Avadiar family to freedom.

It is a sad tale and malaysiakini has been running a special report on this issue since Wednesday, with video coverage too.

Click here to watch the first video and the first story on the escaped family.

And here to watch the second video and read a follow up story on the owner/employere.

And finally a video here on the good Samaritan and his story here.

My final analysis:

This is not a fiction. This is Malaysia - the other side of it. Fifty years after Merdeka, we still have bonded labourers without any rights and this is just a tale of one such family.

Many who read the story too felt very upset. Read their comments here.

p/s: Watch the videos at these links as they are free, free and free, and have the written articles as well!