From the falling price of palm oil, rising cost of living, the 67-year-old oil palm smallholder is struggling, especially after his wife, Saraswatti Govindaraju, had a fall recently and is confined at home. The new village is under the Ayer Hitam parliamentary constituency, a predominantly agricultural community where a majority are oil palm smallholders. A smallholder for the last 40 years, he said the prolonged low palm oil price this time has caused hardship among both the young and old. With no sign of recovery for the palm oil sector in the near future, Mok said he was worried about continuing to maintain his oil palm trees. Wong Choo Teh, 70, said oil palm smallholders with less than 10 acres were badly affected.

Source: The Star May 08, 2019 02:03 UTC