Anti Chinese Sentiment 1840-1900
John Chinaman
How the Europeans and later, the Malays and Dyaks, viewed the Chinese were contained in a caricatures of the Chinese known as John Chinaman. Published in Punch magazine in April 1858, the term John Chinaman was referred to in official publications of the Brooke government and the Sarawak Gazette. This helped to spread the misconceptions about the Chinese._____________________________________________________________________________
Let’s get our geography straight. At the bottom of west Borneo in Java Sea we have the Dutch Navy. Moving north, we have the Sultanate of Sambas. Next, again moving north, the Lo Fanh Pai Hakka nation which encompasses the goldfields. Moving north again, we have the Kongsi of Bau located on the Kiri Sarawak river and finally the James Brooke possession of Sarawak.
Beginning in around 1819, the Dutch took control of the the Malay Sultanate. However, they could not seem to push north into the Lo Fanh Pai nation. In the 1850’s Brooke hopes the Bau Kongsi will accept his rule from his forces on the Siniawan side of the Sarawak Kiri river just across from Bau. Later, from Sambas, the Dutch attack the Lo Fanh Pai Hakka nation in greater force. This pushes some Hakkas into the Bau Kongsi. The Hakkas entering Sarawak as a result of the Dutch campaign are termed as “criminals who are escaping prosecution” by both the Dutch and James Brooke, when in reality, they are traders and settlers. (Runciman, in his book The White Rajahs calls them criminals)
James Brooke imposed a tax on opium in the Bau region. He calculates the tax on how much they should be smoking not how much they actually were consuming. He feels a nebulous group known as the “secret society” were smuggling opium into the Bau kongsi from Sarawak. The leaders of the Bau Kongsi protest but Brooke held fast to the tax.
In 1852, the Bau Kongsi tried to stop a Brooke officer from arresting an officer of the Bau Kongsi. The Tuan Muda sends an army unit of Malays and Dyaks and forces the Bau Kongsi into submission. The Kongsi delivered the man to the Brooke forces. Brooke then ordered the Kongsi to build a fort, Belidah, near Siniawan, and to pay for his troops with food and salary.
The import of opium continued to fall and so did the revenues collected by the Brooke regime. The Brookes also noticed a great increase in population from the Lo Fanh Pai Hakka Nation who were being attacked by the Dutch to the south and forced them to move north into Bau. The Brookes imposed a fine of $150.00 on the Kongsi for the “secret society” smuggling of opium.
After 1852, rumours about the British, James Brooke and the Chinese abound. The Chinese in Singapore attempted a rising but were suppressed. Tales persisted about how the British were massacred in Canton. James Brooke was being tried in Singapore for his role in the pirate controversy. The Kongsi at Bau were convinced the British would never back Brooke in case of an attack.
Meanwhile, groups of Chinese, with the Rajas permission, began to arrive in the early 1840’s-1850’s. Ong Ewe Hai arrived with his group of Hokkiens. Law Kian Huat arrived also in the 1840’s and received permission from the Rajah to bring a group Teochew. Chan Kho brought in his group of Chao-an. These three groups had Kapitans to control them and they were loyal to James.Brooke had no control over the Hakka Bau Kongsi, except for the small fort.
In 1857 the independent nation of the Bau Kongsi attacked the Brooke forces and captured Kuching. Brooke retaliated with a force of Dyaks and pushed the Bau attackers back to Bau and finally dispersed the Hakkas south to the Lo Fanh Pai Kongsi.
Distrust of all Chinese including those brought in by Brooke prevailed during the 1860s as seen through government publications. The Sarawak Gazette began publishing in 1870 and wrote the following stories. (The issues of the Sarawak Gazette from 1870-1873 are missing from the Sarawak Museum Library. These are taken from reports in the Hipkins manuscript.)
10th September 1870″Rumor a massacre of all Europeans at Canton. It is not generally believed. However, it is reported that the Chinese are collecting large bodies of armed men at Tientsin.”
15th October 1870″We have had experience in Sarawak at the readiness with which popular feeling of hostility to Europeans can be excited and made to lead to most atrocious of crimes.”
13th March 1871″With Chinese children, the traditional native mode of teaching seems to consist of incessant repetition of the words til they are known by heart, has something to do with this. A Chinaman who can read a column of printed book with ease will often tell you, if asked for the meaning, that it is impossible to give it until he has repeated the sound a half a dozentn times: This want of intelligence he will of course retain when he is taught in another language. To rid of this defect should be the first object of the teacher”
As Malays and Dyaks were brought into government service, these attitudes of Brooke intolerance towards the Chinese were transferred to them. The suspicion, mistrust and contempt of the Chinese were passed on.
The amazing thing is that through the years that the Chinese were under suspicion, the government encouraged settlement. A proclamation by Rajah Charles in 1874:
“I Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, do hereby engage and stipulate on the part of the Sarawak Government that the following points will be enforced in good faith on all Chinamen who may come into our territory of Sarawak for the purpose of making gambier and pepper gardens.1. They shall have land free of all payment and to any extent if they engage to bring it under cultivation however generally.2. That coolies who stipulate to serve masters for certain periods will be obliged to do so or incur punishment.3. That the leading Chinaman of each river shall hold power from the government to exercise authority over the coolies.4. That no tax shall be levied on exports of gambier or pepper for the first six years and in the event of a tax it is not to exceed 20 cent per pikul.5. Gambier and pepper garden shall have salt and tobacco free of duty for six years.6. The government will help and runaway coolies.
One will notice that the conditions of Chinese authority in #3 came from the experiences with the three Kapitans of an earlier period. However, instead of ruling over a family group, it was expected they would control and entire river. Both James and Charles understood that only the Chinese could control the Chinese.Still, the Brookes did not trust them.
The concessions were generous. The Chinese were eager to make their fortune. Sarawak appeared as a plum ready to be picked.”
By 1900 the system seemed to work in that Rajah Charles agreed to the landing of Foo Chows in Sibu.
From: A Perspective on the Chinese Settlement in Sarawak by James Hipkins in The Sarawak Museum Journal December, 1971 p.125
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