91-Year-Old Great-Grandmother Has Been Fighting For 50 Years To Reclaim Her Family's Land
The piece of land symbolises her family's legacy and holds great sentimental value to them.
By Kay Ng — 20 Dec 2022, 12:50 PM
91-year-old Sandramadi Adaikan has fought for more than half her life to recover a piece of land in a remote village in Raub, Pahang.
The plot is only half an acre in size, but to her, it's an invaluable part of her grandfather's legacy.
The land title was issued in 1911 and has been passed down through the generations in Sandramadi's family, who are descendants of indentured Indian labour brought to Malaysia by the British in the mid-1800s.
"My grandfather bought it using his hard-earned money from working in estates. It was given to me as a gift of love in 1970 by my brother, who was the trustee," Sandramadi told Free Malaysia Today.
However, the land office seized the property 50 years ago, claiming the title, held by Sandramadi, was not valid.
The 91-year-old has since been in and out of court to get back the piece of land that symbolises not only her heritage but at its heart, the shared struggle of the Indian diaspora in their bid to take root in Malaysia.
"The records are all there. The matter is in court now and I will accept the judgment eventually," she said.
Sandramadi has 11 children, all of whom were born on that piece of land, and all of whom have never stopped fighting to reclaim it
They took their case to the Temerloh High Court but lost, and the 91-year-old had to sell another piece of land to pay for the legal fees. However, a glimmer of hope remains for Sandramadi.
"In February this year, the Court of Appeal decided unanimously that there was merit in my application and sent it back to the High Court for a retrial. I am praying hard, but I will leave it to the court to decide," she said.
The latest hearing began on 9 December, and is set to continue for two days from 21 December, with the great-grandmother saying that she can only hope for the best.
Her 62-year-old son, Maheswaran Kandasamy, said that despite it being only a small fraction of land, it holds an inestimable amount of sentimental value to their family.
"All my siblings have tried our best to negotiate with the land authorities over the decades, but we have failed. So let the courts decide on the fate of the land," he said.
