Like their father and grandfather before them, Lim Ah Tong and his brother Lim Sak Teow survive on a three-hectare orchard of guava, lemons and mangoes.
Until now they have not owned the land, but have just been the occupiers who could be evicted at short notice. It changed for the brothers and 1 million other Malaysian-Chinese after the opposition's success in the March 8 polls in Perak state.
'For 40 years we have been applying for titles,' Lim Sak Teow, 42, said at his Bidor farm. 'Our dreams have come true, we are very thankful.'
'We had lived fearing eviction but now we feel safe,' said Lim Ah Tong, 52, who also rears ornamental fish for sale in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers in the northern state are overjoyed by the Islamist-led state government's decision on Friday to issue titles to farmers. Many of them are descendants of former communists who were forcibly resettled in rural areas five decades ago.
The offer has undercut Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's ruling National Front, which had long promised to resolve the problem.
Before previous elections, a few hundred farmers would be given land titles. This was the case in February when Mr Abdullah went to Bidor, 200km north of the capital, to give titles to 870 farmers.
