Chinese Schools in Peninsular Malaysia: The Struggle for Survival

1. The Years before the Pacific War

1 1 THE YEARS BEFORE THE PACIFIC WAR To฀understand฀why฀there฀were฀and฀still฀are฀Chinese฀schools฀in฀the฀Malay฀ Peninsula,฀we฀need฀to฀know฀how฀the฀land฀became฀a฀British฀dependency฀ between฀the฀eighteenth฀and฀twentieth฀centuries฀for฀there฀were฀few฀Chinese฀ living฀there฀before฀the฀British฀arrived฀and฀even฀fewer฀Chinese฀schools฀ worth฀noting.฀The฀Chinese฀followed฀in฀the฀wake฀of฀the฀British,฀arriving฀to฀ seek฀a฀better฀living฀which฀the฀British฀could฀provide.฀The฀British฀initiated฀ ฀ vast฀economic฀developments฀which฀necessitated฀extensive฀utilization฀of฀ manpower.฀In฀addition฀to฀the฀attractiveness฀of฀the฀land฀under฀British฀rule,฀ China,฀from฀where฀the฀Chinese฀came,฀was฀ravaged฀by฀wars฀with฀foreign฀ ฀ powers฀as฀well฀as฀civil฀conflicts฀from฀about฀the฀middle฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀ century,฀which฀made฀life฀very฀difficult฀for฀ordinary฀people. The฀first฀Chinese฀to฀come฀to฀the฀Malay฀Peninsula฀actually฀arrived฀ in฀the฀fifteenth฀century฀during฀the฀days฀of฀the฀Malacca฀sultanate,฀but฀ they฀were฀insignificant฀in฀numbers฀compared฀with฀those฀arriving฀later.฀ Francis฀Light฀and฀Stamford฀Raffles฀set฀up฀trading฀stations฀in฀Penang฀and฀ ฀ Singapore฀in฀1786฀and฀1819฀respectively,฀and฀these฀stations฀became฀great฀ magnets฀for฀Chinese฀traders฀as฀well฀as฀labourers.฀In฀1826,฀the฀British฀also฀ acquired฀Malacca฀from฀the฀Dutch฀and฀used฀it฀for฀trading.฀This฀former฀ sultanate฀had฀fallen฀to฀Portuguese฀rule฀in฀the฀fifteenth฀century฀and฀then฀ to฀the฀Dutch.฀Penang,฀Singapore,฀and฀Malacca฀were฀then฀formed฀into฀one฀ administrative฀unit฀named฀the฀Straits฀Settlements.฀Then,฀beginning฀from฀ 1874,฀the฀British฀moved฀northwards฀from฀Singapore฀into฀the฀hinterland,฀ 01฀CSPM'sia.indd฀฀฀1 12/28/10฀฀฀10:17:26฀AM 2 Chinese Schools in Peninsular Malaysia to฀the฀states฀of฀Perak,฀Selangor,฀Negeri฀Sembilan฀and฀Pahang฀which฀they฀ formed฀into฀a฀federation฀called฀the฀Federated฀Malay฀States฀in฀1896.฀The฀ metal,฀tin,฀was฀found฀to฀be฀abundant฀in฀Perak฀and฀Selangor,฀and฀this฀was฀ what฀drew฀the฀British฀northwards.฀In฀1909,฀the฀British฀and฀the฀Thais฀ ฀ reached฀an฀agreement฀to฀divide฀between฀themselves฀some฀Malay฀states฀ straddling฀the฀present฀border฀between฀the฀peninsula฀and฀Thailand,฀and฀so฀ the฀British฀also฀took฀over฀Kedah,฀Perlis,฀Kelantan฀and฀Trengganu.฀Later,฀ another฀state฀just฀north฀of฀Singapore,฀Johor,฀was฀also฀acquired.฀All฀these฀ later฀acquisitions฀became฀collectively฀known฀as฀the฀Unfederated฀Malay฀ States.฀By฀that฀time,฀the฀Malay฀Peninsula฀had฀come฀to฀be฀known฀as฀a฀land฀ especially฀suitable฀for฀the฀cultivation฀of฀rubber.฀Thus,฀by฀the฀early฀years฀ of฀the฀twentieth฀century,฀the฀whole฀peninsula฀had฀been฀taken฀over฀by฀ ฀ the฀British. Penang,฀Singapore,฀and฀Malacca฀attracted฀Chinese฀immigrants฀because฀ of฀trade.฀The฀rest฀of฀the฀peninsula฀became฀interesting฀to฀them฀because฀of฀ tin฀and฀rubber.฀Drawn฀by฀these฀attractions฀and฀pushed฀by฀the฀difficulties฀ of฀life฀in฀China,฀they฀emigrated฀to฀the฀Malay฀Peninsula฀in฀ever฀greater฀ numbers฀after฀the฀British฀moved฀into฀the฀mainland.฀ Along฀with฀their฀ ฀ arrival฀was฀the฀establishment฀of฀education฀for฀their฀children.฀ Table฀1.1฀shows฀the฀influx฀of฀Chinese฀immigrants฀into฀the฀Malay฀ Peninsula฀from฀1871฀to฀1941,฀and฀the฀percentage฀of฀these฀immigrants฀of฀ the฀total฀population฀in฀the฀country฀over฀those฀years. Table 1.1 Chinese Immigration into the Malay Peninsula, 1871–19411 Year Total฀Population Chinese฀Population %฀of฀Chinese 1871* 308,097 104,615 34 1891 910,123 391,418 43 1901 1,227,195 583,396 48 1911 2,644,489 914,143 35 1921 3,338,545 1,179,551 35 1931 4,345,503 1,703,528 39 1941 5,545,173 2,418,615 44 Note:฀‘1871*’:฀This฀line฀refers฀only฀to฀the฀Straits฀Settlements. Source:฀See฀note฀1. 01฀CSPM'sia.indd฀฀฀2 12/28/10฀฀฀10:17:27฀AM The Years before the Pacific War 3 EARLY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS In฀the฀early฀days,฀there฀were฀three฀kinds฀of฀institutions฀which฀afforded฀ ฀ Chinese฀children฀an฀opportunity฀to฀learn฀their฀mother฀tongue.฀The฀first฀were฀ those฀established฀by฀the฀Chinese฀settlers฀themselves฀and฀which฀may฀be฀called฀ old-style฀schools.฀The฀second฀were฀those฀founded฀by฀Christian฀missionaries,฀ and฀the฀third฀were฀what฀came฀to฀be฀called฀the฀free฀schools. Old-Style Schools An฀old-style฀school฀was฀known฀in฀Chinese฀terminology฀as฀a฀sishu.฀It฀was฀ modelled฀after฀what฀prevailed฀in฀China฀during฀the฀days฀of฀the฀Manchu฀ Dynasty. An฀old-style฀school฀could฀be฀started฀by฀a฀family฀hiring฀a฀tutor฀to฀ come฀to฀the฀house฀to฀teach฀its...