Chinese Migration to Sabah before World War II
The Chinese can date their presence in Sabah to the Han Dynasty(206 BCE to 220 CE). At the time, they were limited to trade missions and travel to the South Seas. There is no evidence of any early Chinese settlements. However, some speculate that the names for the large mountain, Kinabalau, and a river, Katabangan, are of Chinese origin, adopted by the many Dayak dialects.
The British realised that to develop Sabah, more people were needed. The Chinese were targeted not only because of their industriousness but because their habits of opium smoking, gambling and drinking could provide taxes for the government coffers.
In one of their first efforts, 25 Macao Cantonese were brought to Sanadakan in 1881. They were engaged in a monthly salary of $2.50 and free meals. This did not work out because they did not work as hard as they could have because of the steady $2.50 rate.
From 1881 to 1941, the Chinese were brought to Sabah from China through three different schemes: The Sir Walter Medhurst Scheme, the Basal Missionary Society scheme and the Free Passage Scheme.
Medhurst Scheme
Sir Walter Medhurst, the Commissioner for Immigration, was given $50,000 to recruit people for settlement in Sabah. Ignoring the advice from the Governor of Sabah, the colonial governor of the Malay State of Perak, and Sir Alfred Dent, the chairman of the North Borneo Company who was financing this venture, five shiploads arrived under his scheme.
Recruiting people from Hong Kong, he offered free passage to Sabah to those who wanted to start a new life. However, he did not select people with particular skills, as many people urged him, but just anybody who would come aboard the boat.
The first batch arrived at Melpai, 50 miles up the Kinabatang River, where a clearing and houses were constructed for them. Medhurst sent four more ship loads, but they were of the wrong professions. Sabah needed people to clear land and to plant and harvest crops. Medhurst sent cobblers, petty traders, shoe makers, laborers and others. The infrastructure was not yet built, nor was there a population for these craftsmen.
The Basal Missionary Scheme
In 1905, two successful pioneers were sent back to China to encourage their fellow countrymen to emigrate. They returned with 150 Hakka men, women and children who were given land and financial assistance. The North Borneo Company resettled them on the west coast. The first eight months of 1906 saw the arrival of 884 free Chinese at Jesselton(now Kota Kinabalau), many of whom were Hakka farmers and were extended relatives of the first 150.
In 1912, global rubber prices collapsed. This caused a decline of Chinese emigration into the state. The outbreak of World War I caused European estate managers to return to England to fight the war, further limiting emigration. However, many free labourers enter the State through relatives. These were mainly Hakka Christians.
The government of Sabah and the Basal Missionary Society entered into an agreement where the society would recruit agricultural Christian Hakkas. The accord included, among other provisions, that each family will receive 10 acres of land, the government will be responsible for temporary residences, half the land will be devoted to cash crops such as rice, while the other half will be for personal subsistence use. The government will provide tools on arrival and housing before relocation to their personal abode.
In March 1913, 26 families or 111 Hakka Christians were brought to Inanam and resulted in the cultivation of 500 acres. 53 other families arrived in Menggatal, and another 30 families came to Telipok.
The Hakka small farmers soon became important rubber small holders, although not on the scale with the large European estates. They were important contributors to the development of the economy of Sabah.
Free Passage Scheme
The number of Chinese in Sabah by the early 1920’s had amounted to 30,000. The idea of having an even greater Chinese labour force was a widely accepted notion among the Europeans. The pass system was then introduced. This system was aimed at attracting settlers instead of laborers. The settler would put more land under cultivation and therefore pay more taxes as opposed to the labourers who just worked in the rubber estates and other agricultural endeavours, such as tobacco fields.
The system worked like this: A pass would be issued to a bona fide settler already in Sabah. The settler would then send the pass to his relatives in China. The person with the pass would present himself to the company’s agent in Hong Kong. The company would then pay his passage to Sabah. On arrival, or shortly thereafter, he would receive five acres. He would stay with his relatives until he was able to farm and harvest his first crop.
Despite its attractive terms , only 24 passes were issued in 1921 because of the sharp drop in rubber prices following the war and the collapse of the copra market. From 1921 to 1924, many Hakka Chinese who came in under other schemes sold their land and left. However, as the 1920’s continued, there was a major up tick of Chinese into Sabah under the scheme.
One of the most remarkable occurrences was the major increase in Hakka female emigrants. There was an over 50% increase in ladies from 1921 to 1931 using the scheme. This could indicate the Chinese males were seeking wives to settle with or other possibilities.
The Chinese Labourers
The Chinese labourers, as opposed to settlers, were treated quite harshly with the opening of the tobacco plantations in the early 1880’s. Men were housed in filthy conditions. They were poorly paid. Maltreatment by estate managers was common. Many were left without medical treatment. The death rate was as high as 25% of the workers died. One estate had a mortality rate of 70% from 1890 to 1891.Upon completion of their contracts, many left for Singapore or Hong Kong.
The tobacco industry collapsed when the Americans passed the McKinley Tariff Act. This halted the import of Sabah tobacco to protect the Virginia planters. Finding other markets, the tobacco concerns became viable again in the 1900’s and conditions for the Chinese workers vastly improved. The opening of rubber estates and copra plantations provided a competitive working environment.
The North Chinese
Most of the Chinese who came to Sabah were from the south of China from Guangdong and Fujian provinces. One group came from Hebei province near Mongolia to the north.
This pioneer group was brought in by Sir West Ridgeway, Chairman of the North Borneo Company. Watching these people work from a train en route to Beijing in 1913, he thought they would make good pioneers for Sabah.
An agreement was reached with the Chinese Republic Government on terms similar to the Basal Agreement. A forwarding company arranged for the first batch of 107 families or 430 families to Sabah.
The Northern Chinese were settled at the foot of the hill on Reservoir Road (Jalan Kolam Air). The land was not as fertile as given to the Hakka Christians, but they began to produce sufficient food for themselves. Unlike the Hakka Chinese, the northern Chinese had to spend three days a week working on public projects and the railway. The work was hard, and some of them returned to China.
The establishment of a school was different from the Hakka. Whereas the Hakka and others used their own dialects and readers, the National Chinese Reader was written in Mandarin, and the language was the language of the school. The names, Dong, Fan, Fang, Gong, Han, Nie, Shi, Zhuang and Xu were also different. The Northern Chinese also intermarried with the local women, especially the Dusun people.
However, there was a barrier between the Hakka Christians and the Northern Chinese. The Northern Chinese spoke Mandarin, but the Hakka did not. The Northereners readily married into the local population while the Hakka did so when there were no other Chinese females available. Socially, they remained incompatible.
The boom years of the 1920’s gave way to the global depression of the 1930’s. Rubber prices plummeted, and many estates were forced to close. This forced many Chinese to leave the state. The Japanese invasion of China caused thousands to pour into Sabah and Hong Kong. Finally, the Sabah government had to place entry fees on those entering.
Since 1881, the Chinese have been brought into Sabah in great numbers by the North Borneo Company. Immigration was dependent on the Chinese taking up agricultural duties. One important feature was the Borneo Company’s efforts to attract pioneers and agriculturalists. This was extremely effective in attracting the Hakka dialect group.
The number of Chinese who entered Sabah since 1881 was about 70,000, of which 30,000 were women. The number of women suggests the Chinese had decided to make Sabah their permanent home long ago.
From
Danny Wong Tze Ken Chinese Migration to Sabah before the Second World War Archipel 1999
Tom McLaughlin for BorneoHistory.Ne