geopractice

TCP - Why immigrants in mining and estate?

From Ting Chew Peh phd page 18/392:

The expansion of and rubber industries created a great demand for labour. Because of their tradition-bound subsistence economy, the Malays could not be attracted to these newly created economies. The answer had to be found elsewhere.

China and India readily provided unlimited supplies of mobile labour who as people from economically or commercially more advanced areas, were more familiar to money economy than the native Malays. This large-scale Chinese and Indian immigration stimulated by British colonialism has had far reaching results.

Chinese and Indian immigrants were brought to Malaya through different recruiting systems. In the case of Chinese immigrants, broadly speaking, there were two categories based on the degree of freedom they possessed. The first category included those who had sufficient means to make their voyage from their homeland to Malaya. These immigrants had no obligations whatever to anyone on arrival in Malaya, and could move freely and look for whatever employment they were competent.

A category of relatively 'un-free' immigrants emerged through the much-abused credit-ticket system and later through the system of private recruitment. Both of these systems were a form of indenture whereby the coolies had to work for their employers for a period of time until the cost of their passage together with other expenses had been paid off.

to continue page 56/392

Ipoh Old Town 

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posted by geopractice @ 7:16 AM