How has colonial rule changed the natives’ lives? IMPACT of Colonial Rule

Political - Malaya Pre-colonial Malaya Sultans and Malay Chiefs ruled Traditional rule was based on RELIGION Sultan was seen as the protector and propagator of the Islamic faith Informal rule: the Malay Chiefs collected taxes for the Sultans and could pocket some amount of the taxes

Political - Malaya Indirect rule was applied to colonial Malaya British residents were attached to the Sultans –Supposed to advise the Sultans on matters excluding religion

Political What happens when Western bureaucracies replaced traditional structures? Malaya: Residential System Straits Settlements Federated Malay States Unfederated Malay States

Malaya’s Residential System Residents were supposed to “advise” the Sultans But they ended up making the decisions  political powers shifted from the Sultans and Malay chiefs to the Residents Sultans and Malay chiefs became salaried employees

Administrative Hierarchy High Commissioner Resident-General = Durbar Heads of Federal Departments State Councils of States States Departments Where are the sultans?

Economic changes Transformation took place in the region –From subsistence and self-sufficiency to commercialized and profit motive –From a closed world to one which was closely linked to the global market –Plantations and industries sprang up and dotted the landscapes of Southeast Asia

Economic - Malaya Pre-colonial Malaya –No rubber plantations, only tin industries –Tin industries were controlled by the Malay chiefs, then small Chinese capitalists –Tin was mined periodically to supplement incomes between rice harvests

Economic - Malaya Colonial Malaya Rubber plant was brought in for production –Suitable climate and sufficient land –Provided a constant yet cheap supply of rubber Rubber plantations sprang up –By 1970s, rubber plantation accounted for 65% of the land Increase in revenue due to increase in export earnings

Economic What happened when only the Europeans could afford the technologies for the plantations and industries? Malaya: Tin mining industries Malaya : profits

Tin mining in Malaya Economic alienation of the Chinese small capitalists The Europeans could afford modern technology such as tin dredge to effectively mine more tin While the Chinese could not Hence, Europeans slowly replaced the Chinese small capitalists in the tin mining industries HERITAGE: An old tin dredge. In the days of old when tin mining was booming, these structures could be seen afloat on mining pools in Perak and Selangor. The dredge scoops sand and earth from the bottom of the mining pool, processes them and separates the tin ore in the dredge itself. Source: New Straits Times Online (Malaysia)

Profits Although revenue of Southeast Asian countries increased due to her export economy Much of these profits were channeled to the home countries of the colonial powers so… who actually benefited more?

Effects What happened when Southeast Asian economies were closely linked to the global economy? –The region exported most of her products elsewhere Case study: The Great Depression

The Great Depression impacted Southeast Asia because of the region’s close links with the global market Had great economic and social impacts on the Southeast Asian natives Effects –Falling prices –Falling revenues –Retrenchment –Poverty

Case study: The Great Depression Falling prices Rubber prices on the London market plummeted from to 2.3 pence per pound from  Fall in value of rubber exports in FMS What happens when the tire bursts?

Case study: The Great Depression Falling revenue State revenues of the Federated Malay States

Case study: The Great Depression Retrenchment –Cost cutting measure –Malaya: 30-40% of the plantation community were retrenched between 1930 and 1933

Case study: The Great Depression Poverty –Due to fewer jobs and less/little/ no wage –Falling prices affected those who owned land/ were involved in the export economy  No money to pay debts  Land fell in the hands of the debtors which went uncultivated  no land, no money  how to survive?

Infrastructure development of roads, rail, telegraphs & harbour wharves railway line linking Province Wellesley to Johor Bahru and extended to Singapore rubber plantations & tin mines well-served by roads

Rubber & tin-mining areas in Perak

Maritime Trade & Services Export trade : tin & rubber 1870s, Singapore assumed status of premier port in SEA - opening of Suez Canal (1869) increased traffic passing through Straits of Malacca - use of steamships – harbour of Singapore upgraded

Opening of the Suez Canal, 1869

Social changes Western education due to the civilizing mission New and heavier taxes imposed on the natives –Centralization of taxes and controlled by the colonial government –Tax for revenue to carry out public works Land alienation –More land was allocated for plantation purposes –Seizure of land from village communities

System of Law & Order/Justice British system of justice - equality in the eyes of the law Attempt at law and order – policemen - did it cut down corruption?

Social - Malaya Western education Frank Swettenham: “teach on a need to know basis” Western education for members of the Malay aristocracy –Malay college to train and prepare sons of the Malay chiefs for the British administration Vernacular education for the masses –Sultan Idris College to train teachers for kampong schools Malay college

Growth of towns & population rise of towns eg Ipoh, Taiping, Kuala Lumpur – urbanisation increase in population – availability of jobs - demand for cheap labour – influx of Indian & Chinese migrants

Land Ownership new laws passed which curtailed Malay farmer’s free use of land – Sultans owned all land Issue of land titles – use of specific plot of land – encouraged farmers to settle down and plant crops, reduce shifting cultivation Malay Land Reservations System – defined land reserved for Malays only – ensured Malays do not lose all land to non-Malays

Social What happens when you educate the uneducated? “As a result of Western education, students acquired new language and new ideas to combat the colonial rule that possessed their own society and determined their disadvantaged position within it” —Nicholas Tarling