There's more to life: Rubber Tapping

Old MacDonald Had A Farm

E-I-E-I-O

And on his farm he had a Rubber Tree

E-I-E-I-O

With a Rubber Rubber here

And a Rubber Rubber there

Here a Rubber, there a Rubber

Everywhere a Rubber Rubber

Old MacDonald had a farm

E-I-E-I-O

That’s right folks. You see rubber products everywhere as far as the eyes can see. Sole of the shoes, end of pencils, car tyres, wires, pipes, balloons, balls, gloves, rubber bands, door stoppers and lots more.

The Rubber industry has provided livelihoods to many people, especially the Indian community in Malaysia.

The rubber latex is collected by making an incision into the bark and collecting the fluid in vessels. This process is known as "tapping" rubber. The latex is led into the cup by a galvanised "spout" knocked into the bark.

Initially the half shell of coconut was used as the collection container for the latex. Then it was glass bowls, subsequently glazed pottery, thereafter aluminium and finally it is now plastic cups.

The cups are supported by a wire that encircles the tree. This wire incorporates a spring, stretching as the tree grows.

The first cut is called “buka Jalan” open the road. There is an art to cutting the rubber tree. It cannot be too deep as to cause the trust to be damaged and it cannot be too shallow as not to produce latex.

Tapping normally takes place early in the morning, when the internal pressure of the tree is highest. A good tapper can tap a tree every 20 seconds on a standard half-spiral system, and a common daily "task" size is between 450 and 650 trees.

Sample of a plastic cup used to collect the latex (sticky, milky colloid fluid). Picture from the internet

A recent addition to my private collection. Glass vessels used to collect the latex. They were utilized in Malaya during the 1920’s, before embarking to pottery vessels.

The antique dealer that I had purchased the items from, informed that he stumbled upon the items in a chicken barn in one of the village houses, near the railway station in Bahau, Negeri Sembilan. It was used by the owner’s son as feeding bowl for his chicks. To the untrained eyes it was an unwanted item that could be used as a feeding bowl but the dealer knew what they were and it’s value