The Population of Singapore (Third Edition)

4. Migration

55 4 Migration Until August 1965 Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia were treated as a single unit governed by common laws in matters relating to migration, and persons entering one territory could proceed to the other without any restriction at all. These two countries have been important areas of migration since the establishment of British colonial rule in the early nineteenth century. The large and sustained immigration was engendered by the demand for labour in the public works and agricultural plantations, by the good prospects for trade and commerce, and by the law and order attendant on British rule. Such forces of attraction, coupled with liberal immigration policies, were reinforced by equally strong repelling forces in the immigrants’ countries of origin. Natural calamities, political upheavals, poverty and population pressure were the decisive factors that induced the immigrants to leave their countries. There were essentially three main streams of immigration into Singapore before World War II, namely, the northern stream from China, the western stream, from the Indian sub-continent, and the less important southern stream from the then Dutch East Indies. In the early days, the immigrants from these regions would usually leave their families behind and come to Singapore not as permanent settlers but as “birds-of-passage”, sending regular remittances home, making occasional visits and eventually returning to their countries after acquiring some wealth, or on retirement. In the course of time, however, an increasing number remained permanently, although the transient character of the population persisted for many decades until the outbreak of war in Singapore in late 1941. Since then, the Japanese occupation and the subsequent strict immigration control have put an end to large-scale immigration, while at the same time the pre-war immigrants were increasingly regarding Singapore as their permanent home. 56 POPULATION OF SINGAPORE CHINESE MIGRATION While Chinese contacts with Singapore date back to ancient times, it was after the establishment of British rule on the island in the early nineteenth century that marked the beginning of a long period of continuous Chinese migration. Despite the opposition of the Chinese Government to the emigration of its nationals to overseas territories, thousands of Chinese managed to come into the country during the first half of the nineteenth century.1 By far the largest group were those who came to work as labourers in the pepper and tapioca farms and the gambier and sugar-cane plantations. By the mid-nineteenth century, the immigration of Chinese had evolved into a well-organised system.2 Potential immigrants were recruited in South China, particularly Kwangtung and Fukien provinces, by a returned immigrant known as kheh thau (headman), or by a professional recruiter. The kheh thau usually carried out the recruiting in his own village among persons known to him, and accompanied his sin kheh (new recruits) to Singapore where he handed them over to a particular employer for whom he acted as an agent. As for the professional recruiter, he accompanied or sent his recruits to lodging-houses at the Chinese ports from which they were shipped to Singapore. On arrival, the recruits were met by an agent of the lodging-houses in Singapore, and eventually handed over to employers or labour contractors. The lodging-house owners acted as brokers, raking considerable profit from the recruitment and distribution of the immigrant labourers. Whichever of the two methods the immigrants came by, they had their passage and other expenses paid for them by their employers who later recovered the amount from them, and they were therefore in debt on arrival. The system of Chinese immigration at that time was known to suffer from many evil practices, such as ill-treatment and exploitation. The first attempt at protecting and regulating Chinese immigration was made on 23 March 1877 when the colonial government enacted the Chinese Immigration Ordinance 1877. Under this Ordinance, a Chinese Protectorate Office was established in 1877. Conditions on board ships were improved, depots for receiving immigrants were set up, and recruiters were licensed.3 A more important outcome was the emergence of Chinese indentured immigrants who signed formal contracts according to the provisions of the Ordinance in return for protection from the law. However, a large number of immigrants still preferred not to sign contracts, remaining legally free but still in the clutches of their employers as long as their debts remained.4 In the 1880s, the proportion of indentured immigrants to total Chinese immigrants was [3.145.23.123] Project MUSE (2024-04-16 17:40 GMT...