Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 07-01-08 23:51
Cutting off the pigtails caused a riot in Kuala Lumpur
Dr Sun Yatsen (孫中山) overthrew the Qing Government on the 10th of October
1911. In order to show their support of Dr Sun, the Chinese in Malaya cut
off their queues or pigtails as the Chinese called them. However, the Europeans
in Malaya found it very appealing that the Chinese servants should wear
queues because it was a sign of respect the Chinese showed to their European
Masters. When the Hailam or Hainanese servants of the Europeans had their
queues cut off or forcibly being cut off by other Chinese the European Masters
objected to their removal of their queues. To the Europeans the queues and
a small cap signified adherence to traditional Chinese subservient manners
and customs. To the Chinese it signified a desire to be done with the old
ideas and free from Manchu (滿族) rule.
On January 1, 1911, Dr Sun Yat-Sen was elected the Provisional President
of the fledging Republic of China. The Chinese New Year in 1912 was in February.
During this New Year period there were riots in Kuala Lumpur, the capital
of Malaya that lasted for nearly a week and twelve people, all Chinese,
lost their lives.
The disturbance began as supporters of Dr Sun Yat-sen's revolution, who
had cut off their queues, attacked those Chinese who still wore queues and
forcibly cut off their queues. ACThen there were fighting between the Hakkas,
who were the most enthusiastic revolutionaries, and the Hokkiens. Then
there were also fighting between the Cantonese, who were the supporters
of the revolution, and the Hokkiens. It had been going on like that for
nearly a week and normal business of Kuala Lumpur came to a halt. The most
serious moment during the riot occurred when a group of rioters attacked
the Central Police Station trying to free some prisoners.
The prominent Chinese leaders in Kuala Lumpur at that time were Loke Yew
(陸佑), Loke Chow Thye (陸州泰), Yap Hon Chin (葉漢進), the elder son of
Yap Ah Loy (葉亞來). The British Administration appealed to these prominent
Chinese to calm the situation, but of no avail because the Chinese leaders
no longer had the same influence over their fellow countrymen as they had
in the 1890s. Since the British Authorities abolished the posts of Kapitan
China in 1901 there were no Chinese leaders to govern the Chinese population.
In the 19th century the Kapitan China and other Chinese leaders had great
influence over the Chinese community. Usually the Kapitan China and the
British Authorities tackled jointly any major problem that cropped up among
the Chinese. Now the British Authorities had to deal directly with the Chinese
population. The British Authorities used the police force and the Malay
State Guides helped by European volunteers to bring the riots under control.
After the riot the British Authorities tended to put some of the blame on
Chinese leaders for the events at Chinese New Year, but these leaders were
surprised that the government had been slow to quell the rioting.
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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