Foothills Estate was a lovely place

Abstract

This photo essay chronicles the life of my grandfather, C. Rajah, who travelled from India to British Malaya in or around 1920. He eventually made his home in a rubber estate in the north of the Malay peninsula called Foothills Estate, Kulim. There, he grew his family and built a life that was, by all accounts, a good one. The story I tell is based on tales I heard about him and Foothills Estate, documents in my possession and some items I inherited. It is an attempt to counter the stereotype in modern Malaysia that those who come from the estates are to be regarded as ‘uncultured, illiterate and poor’.