A Malay laborer rejected a planter’s authority as extending only over workers he employed.

Evidence

Mr. Luhmann refused to pay the extra sum but finally gave in; then they refused to work at all. Having paid the advance Mr. Luhmann got angry and said: “You think you can fool me? If you refuse to work I’ll send you to jail.” Then one of the Malays laughed at Mr. Luhmann, who then kicked him, but as he states, without hitting him. According to a Malay version … the Malay was kicked down the stairs. Angered, the man ran off, and Djamal said to Mr. Luhmann: “kenapa toean bikin begitoe ini boekan toean poenja orang, kalau dia bikin salah saja jang boleh poekoel” [Why did you do that, sir, he’s not yours to deal with (literally, he doesn’t belong to you), if he did something wrong it’s I who should hit him]. The next day Djamal returned to say that the man had complained to Mr. van Benthem under whose protection he put himself, and that Mr. Luhmann should expect trouble (soesah). — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1152

Categorization

• XREF: Djamal’s assertion that the Malay ‘doesn’t belong to you’ sharply illustrates the labor-contract boundaries of colonial authority — parallels the reader’s interests in how colonial subjects contested planter jurisdiction.