Sun Yat-Sen, Nanyang and the 1911 Revolution

7. An Historical Turning Point: The 1911 Revolution and Its Impact on Singapore's Chinese Society

148 7 AN HISTORICAL TURNING POINT: THE 1911 REVOLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON SINGAPORE’S CHINESE SOCIETY Ching Fatt Yong Introduction Chinese฀nationalism฀in฀Singapore฀began฀in฀1877฀with฀the฀establishment฀of฀ a฀Chinese฀consulate-general,฀the฀first฀in฀Southeast฀Asian฀Chinese฀history.฀ From฀1877฀to฀1894,฀the฀emergent฀Chinese฀nationalism฀was฀more฀cultural฀ in฀content฀with฀Consul-General฀Tso฀Ping฀Lung฀(1850–1924)฀playing฀an฀ enlightened฀but฀pivotal฀role฀in฀stimulating฀the฀intellectual฀awakening฀among฀ the฀Chinese-educated฀immigrants฀and฀English-educated฀Straits฀Chinese.฀ During฀his฀term฀of฀office฀(1881–91),฀he฀promoted฀a฀Confucian฀movement,฀ chaired฀debates฀among฀the฀Straits฀Chinese฀on฀current฀affairs฀and฀lectured฀ the฀Chinese฀immigrants฀on฀Chinese฀culture฀and฀civilization.฀Besides,฀he฀ personally฀awarded฀students฀who฀composed฀the฀best฀essays฀or฀classical฀ Chinese฀poems฀graded฀by฀himself.฀Coupled฀with฀the฀late฀Qing’s฀diplomatic฀ drives฀and฀the฀sales฀of฀Qing’s฀titles฀and฀degrees฀to฀the฀higher฀echelon฀of฀ the฀Chinese฀society฀for฀improved฀prestige฀and฀social฀mobility,฀Tso’s฀cultural฀ endeavours฀bore฀fruit฀in฀the฀form฀of฀a฀pro-Qing’s฀cultural฀nationalism.฀ However,฀all฀these฀efforts฀of฀the฀Qing฀Government฀and฀officials฀were฀undone฀ 07฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀148 8/24/11฀฀฀2:38:43฀PM The 1911 Revolution and Its Impact on Singapore’s Chinese Society 149 by฀the฀defeat฀of฀China฀at฀the฀hands฀of฀the฀Japanese฀in฀the฀first฀Sino-Japanese฀ War฀(1894–95)฀which฀resulted฀in฀the฀ceding฀of฀Taiwan฀to฀the฀victor.฀ From฀1894฀to฀1911,฀there฀blossomed฀forth฀a฀political฀nationalism฀with฀ two฀diverse฀and฀opposing฀strains,฀one฀led฀by฀K’ang฀Yu-wei฀(1866–1929),฀ a฀pro-Qing฀and฀pro-monarchist฀reformist฀and฀the฀other฀by฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀ (1866–1925),฀an฀anti-Qing฀revolutionary฀and฀a฀staunch฀republican.฀Both฀ K’ang฀and฀Sun฀made฀Singapore฀an฀important฀base฀in฀Southeast฀Asia฀for฀ enlisting฀Chinese฀support฀for฀their฀respective฀political฀causes.฀To฀these฀ ends,฀K’ang฀helped฀to฀organize฀a฀semi-secret฀society,฀the฀Pao฀Huang฀Hui฀ [Emperor฀Protection฀Society]฀in฀1900฀to฀promote฀his฀movement,฀while฀ Sun฀initiated฀the฀formation฀of฀a฀Singapore฀branch฀of฀the฀Tongmenghui฀ (TMH,฀the฀United฀League)฀in฀1906฀to฀rally฀public฀support.฀Both฀societies฀ utilized฀print฀media฀(such฀as฀TMH’s฀Chong฀Shing฀Yit฀Poh฀versus฀reformists’฀ Union฀Times)฀to฀propagate฀their฀respective฀ideologies฀which฀often฀resulted฀ in฀political฀polemics,฀involving฀such฀issues฀as฀revolution฀and฀reformism฀as฀ panacea฀for฀China’s฀problems.฀Being฀largely฀from฀the฀upper฀echelons฀of฀the฀ mercantile฀society,฀K’ang’s฀supporters฀made฀the฀Singapore฀Chinese฀Chamber฀ of฀ Commerce฀ (SCCC)฀ its฀ stronghold฀ since฀ its฀ formation฀ in฀ 1906.฀ By฀ contrast,฀Sun’s฀supporters,฀being฀less฀well-established฀and฀prominent,฀found฀ support฀from฀Chinese฀of฀lower฀classes.฀In฀addition,฀the฀TMH฀had฀a฀number฀ of฀reading฀rooms฀(such฀as฀the฀Sin฀Chew฀Reading฀Room,฀founded฀in฀1903฀ and฀the฀Tung฀Teh฀Reading฀Room,฀formed฀in฀1911)฀as฀its฀front฀organizations.฀ These฀reading฀rooms฀served฀as฀venues฀for฀disseminating฀revolutionary฀ ideologies฀and฀recruitment฀of฀new฀members฀for฀the฀TMH.฀On฀the฀whole,฀ the฀British฀authorities฀seemed฀to฀be฀more฀lenient฀toward฀reformists฀vis-àvis ฀Sun’s฀supporters,฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀himself฀suffered฀the฀humiliation฀of฀being฀ deported฀in฀1900฀for฀a฀period฀of฀five฀years.1 ฀However,฀the฀British฀were฀unable฀ to฀stamp฀out฀rising฀Chinese฀nationalism,฀fuelled฀by฀political฀rivalries฀and฀ increasing฀sympathy฀for฀Sun’s฀cause฀by฀the฀local฀Chinese฀population.฀Chinese฀ nationalist฀fervour฀boiled฀over฀when฀news฀of฀the฀outbreak฀of฀the฀Doubletenth ฀Revolution฀in฀Central฀China฀reached฀Singapore.฀With฀a฀realistic฀ possibility฀of฀a฀regime฀change,฀the฀political฀rivals฀in฀Singapore฀mapped฀out฀ new฀tactics฀and฀strategies฀for฀challenges฀ahead฀of฀them.฀ Short-term lmpact The฀Singapore฀TMH฀members฀and฀sympathizers฀came฀out฀en฀masse฀to฀ celebrate฀the฀downfall฀of฀the฀Qing฀dynasty.฀Their฀first฀action฀was฀the฀burning฀ of฀the฀imperial฀dragon฀flags฀as฀an฀open฀and฀ceremonious฀defiance฀to฀the฀ 07฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀149 8/24/11฀฀฀2:38:43฀PM 150 Ching Fatt Yong Qing฀regime.2 ฀The฀new฀revolutionary฀flags,฀a฀white฀sun฀floating฀across฀the฀ blue฀sky฀to฀redden฀the฀Earth฀all฀over฀as฀the฀design,฀were฀hoisted฀in฀many฀ Chinese฀shops฀and฀houses฀in฀Singapore.฀A฀second฀casualty฀was฀the฀voluntary฀ or฀forced฀clippings฀of฀Chinese฀pigtails,฀then฀known฀as฀towchangs,฀a฀symbolic฀ ending฀to฀foreign฀subjugation฀of฀Chinese฀people.3 ฀A฀third฀casualty฀was฀the฀ street฀sweepers,฀employees฀of฀Singapore’s฀Municipal...