tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-564826827484078485.post1568450138281071645..comments2024-03-29T16:33:28.012+08:00Comments on Tony Johor Kaki Travels for Food · Heritage · Culture · History: Gambier, Pepper, Chu Kang & Mother of Singapore Hawker FoodTony Johor Kakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14657499743670386282noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-564826827484078485.post-62258684272429921852020-09-20T19:55:13.799+08:002020-09-20T19:55:13.799+08:00Gambier plantations in Singapore. Source of Articl...Gambier plantations in Singapore. Source of Article: Singapore Infopedia https://bit.ly/3hO9Xwc <br />""When the British arrived in Singapore in 1819, there were about 20 gambier plantations in Singapore, run by the Chinese and Malays. Most of the produce was exported to China. In 1836, a group of enthusiasts, mainly Europeans, started to experiment with growing crops in Singapore. The only two crops found to be viable as plantation crops were gambier and pepper.[4] These were always grown together, as gambier waste provided an essential fertiliser for pepper plants. Similarly, boiled gambier leaves also were also used as fertiliser for pepper.[5]<br /><br />There was much demand for Singapore's gambier in the British dyeing and tanning industry in the 1830s. Increased gambier prices boosted the opening of new plantations by the Chinese, who occupied and cleared the land, especially in the northern and western regions of Singapore.[6] By the late 1840s, there were 600 gambier and pepper plantations under cultivation, employing some 6,000 Chinese labourers.[7] <br /><br />king of gambier<br />Gambier and pepper plantations could be found in the Nee Soon area along the Seletar River in the mid-19th century. The "king of gambier", Seah U Chin, or Seah Eu Chin, had huge plantations in Upper Thomson Road, Sembawang and Mandai. He also owned a well-known gambier trading house along the Singapore River.[8] Seah was deemed the first person to have cultivated gambier and pepper on a large scale in Singapore.[9]<br /><br />Unfortunately, within 15 years, the soil in the gambier plantations became infertile; it could no longer sustain further growth of the gambier plants. Consequently, from the late 1840s onwards, the plantations were moved to other Malayan states, mainly to Johor; more were moved in the 1860s.10 In 1883, there were reportedly 4,000 gambier-producing factories in Johor.[11] Around 1905, gambier and pepper lost favour among the Chinese planters, who turned to growing pineapple and cultivating rubber due to the increasingly high demand for these crops.[12] .""<br />BobcatSysOp YKChanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03404851265319924876noreply@blogger.com