In view of the recent Chinese New Year celebrations, I thought it will be appropriate to write a bit on the history of the Chinese population in Malaysia specifically the Chinese migration into Malaya in the 19th century. Below is a summary version of a paper I have written previously in my university days and if you feel like reading the full version of it, please go to my academia page, here

The Chinese migration into Malaya basically began in the 15th century when General Zheng He established diplomatic ties with Malacca. By the 19th century, the number of Chinese in the Straits Settlement of Penang, Malacca and Singapore numbered a staggering 227,000 in 1871. (Del Tufo, 1947) So why were there mass migrations of the Chinese population into Malaya?

From a demand side, 19th century Malaya was colonized by the British because of its strategic location at the centre of the trading route between India and China and its vast natural resources in tin. The Malay aristocracy in cooperation with British interests, demanded high amounts of Chinese labors for its tin mines because of the severe pervasive plagues in the mines. (Raja Petra, 2010) Back then, the Malay aristocracies were very wary of the spread of diseases from the mines into the communities and were reluctant to employ local Malay laborers, which would mean a spread of diseases into the local population. The Chinese on the other hand, almost exclusively stayed in the mines, with the kongsi system binding them to the place.

The economics and political situation in China also served as a reason why so many Chinese migrated to Malaya. Opium, the national drug for China in the 19th century, drained its vast silver reserves, when Western forces sold large amounts of opium in exchange for silver. Because of the status of silver as the monetary base for China at that time, this had severe deflationary consequences for China as prices for agricultural products dropped. This rendered a decline in income and employment in the Chinese economy.

The Qing dynasty in the 19th century experienced a severe decline in power because of frequent rebellions and wars, mainly the Taiping rebellion and Opium wars. Heavy taxes were instated to fund these wars, causing huge social discontents and the opening up of Southern China to Western powers.

The losses of the southern regions of China, lead to establishment of port cities which facilitated the Chinese migration into Malaya. The desperate economic and political conditions in China, lead Chinese men to pursue mining opportunities in Malaya, often agreeing to slave contracts. The huge demand for Chinese laborers lead one of the biggest recruitment drives by the various Malayan kongsi societies in these regions. As these kongsis offered credit facilities and logistical services, many Chinese were attracted to the tin mining prospects in Malaya. But ultimately these were all slave contracts in which most laborers could not repay their contracts, and the system in place in these mines were geared towards making the laborers more and more indebted to the kongsis.

M. V. Del Tufo, “Malaya: A report on the 1947 Census of Population”, 1947

Raja Petra Kammarauddin, The True History of Malaysia, 2010

Photo: http://www.ipohecho.com.my