While the original Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) settlers may not have understood their agreement with the colossus given that it was in English, their children are now educated enough to question if the agreement is fair.

As such, says Yaacob Omar, the settlers themselves are now more aware due to their children having a proper education.

Yaacob was one of the some 300 Felda settler protesters who turned up at Parliament in Kuala Lumpur to handover a memorandum concerning the government-owned plantation conglomerate.

“If we do not sell to Felda, they would not get profit, so now they force us to sell to them,” he said.

“The settlers may have been stupid in the past as they could not understand the agreement as it was written in English. Now our children are smarter and they say the agreement we have is unfair,” he said.

Sell direct

The 62-year-old Yaacob was on hand with other settlers to handover a memorandum to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board ask for a license to allow them to sell their palm oil directly to a factory and not through Felda.

He was among those who gathered as early as 9am to meet with the MPs.

Another settler Bostamin Bakar, from Felda Jengka, told Malaysiakini that they came mostly from Pahang early this morning to relate their predicament to the lawmakers.

“The settlers are forced to sell their fruits to Felda factories at a lower price. With a license, we can sell directly to the factories. This is why we are in parliament today to complain to our lawmakers,” he said.

Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers led by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim were on hand to meet the group of settlers at 11.30am.