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The Chinese in Malaya/Malaysia (01)

Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 03-12-06 05:01

The Chinese in Malaya/Malaysia (01)
Chinese tin mining in Larut, Perak Malaya

http://yn.chung.id.au/Malaya.Malaysia.jpg
Traditionally, the head of a Malay state before British rule, was the Sultan
who was the symbol of the state's unity. However, the Sultan had only limited political control over his state which was divided into districts. Each
district was ruled by a chief. Although, periodically, a chief had to pay
obeisance to the Sultan, he enjoyed a great deal of independence within
his district. The chief had the freedom to raise and spend his own revenues
as he wished. A chief administered justice within his own district. The power of a Sultan was confined to his own district.

Rich tin deposits were discovered in the district of Larut, Perak. Since
1850 Larut District had been governed by the district chief Long Ja'far
and then by his son, Ngah Brahim. Mining right was given to the Hakkas controlled Go-Kuans, (五館 or 五群= Five Associations, comprising Hakka groups representing their native districts in south China = (1) Huizhou 惠州 (2) Dapu 大埔 (3) Yongding 永定 (4) Zenglong 增龍 (5) Jiaying 嘉應). They all belonged either to the Hai San (海山) or to the Toa-Pek-Kong (大伯公) societies, in Pulau Pinang, a British Straits Settlement. The leader of Go-Kuans was Chung Keng Kwee (鄭景貴 1829 - 1916). In 1860 Chung Keng Kwee began to operate his tin mines in Larut District.

The district chief also gave the mining right to Si-Kuans or 4 Associations
(四館) of the great Ghi Hin Traid Society (義興私會黨) belonging to the
Cantonese. The leader of the Si-Kuans was Lee Ah Ken (李亞勤), who also
lived in Pulau Pinang. By around 1870 there were 40,000 Hakka and Cantonese Chinese mine workers in the mining region of Larut district. The mining areas between the two groups were not far from each other.

The Kuala Lumpur (KL) Hai San (Haishan Kongsi 海山公司) leader was Yap Ah Loy (葉亞來). The Perak Hai San Kongsi leader was Chung Keng Kwee (鄭景貴). The Perak Ghi Hin (Yixing Kongsi 義興公司) leaders were Chen Ya Yan (陳亞炎) and Xu Wu An (許武安)

In Feburary 1872, an illicit love affair started the fights between the
Hakka and Cantonese groups. Lee Ah Ken was caught committing an adultery with the niece of Chung Keng Kwee. The adulterer and adulteress were sentenced to death by drowning by Chung Keng Kwee. They were put into a pig basket (豬籠) and thrown into a disused mining pond. They were drowned. Chan Ah Jim (陳亞炎) then became the leader of the Si-Kuans.

After this unhappy incident, antagonisms existed between the Go-Kuans and Si-Kuans. Occasionally, there were sporadic fights among the members of the two groups.

Si-Kuans formed an alliance with Raja Muda Abdullah who usurped the throne from Ismail, the Sultan of Perak. [Note: Ex-Sultan Ismail lived in Blanja. He owned four tin mines in Papan, near Pusing, the Hakka town
http://yn.chung.id.au/PusingSayap.jpg). Raja Muda Abdullah became the Sultan of Perak. The usurpation caused the wars between the groups in Lower Perak and Upper Perak. The historians called this conflict the Wars of Larut. More than forty thousand Chinese, including the members of the Go-Kuans and Si-Kuans, were engaged in the fratricidal war which also involved members of the Malay royal family in Perak.

Eventually, the British came in to mediate on the conflict. They invited
all the parties involved to Pangkor Island to have peace talks. Many conferences were held. The end result was that a treaty called the Pangkor Engagement* was signed by all the parties on 20 January 1874. The treaty settled the dispute over the succession to the throne in Perak. The new Sultan was Raja Abdullah who agreed to accept a British Resident in Perak.

The title of Kapitan China (華人甲必丹 or the leader of the Chinese community) was bestowed upon both Chung Keng Kwee and Chan Ah Jim by the British. The town of Larut was renamed Taiping (太平 or Great Peace).

Text of The Pangkor Treaty Held on 20 January 1874

(1) Raja Abdullah was acknowledged as the legitimate Sultan to replace Sultan Ismail who would be given a title and a penchant of $1000 a month.

(2) The Sultan will receive a British Resident whose advice had to be sought and adhered to in all matters except those pertaining to the religion and customs of the Malays.

(3) All collections and control of taxes as well as the administration of
the state had to be done under the name of the Sultan but arranged according to the Resident's advice.

(4) The Minister of Larut would continue to be in control, but would no
longer be recognized as a liberated leader. Instead, a British Officer,
who would have a vast authority in administrating the district, would be
appointed in Larut.

(5) The Sultan and not the British government would pay the Resident's salary.

Source:
From the book titled "揭開私會黨 Unveil the Secret Societies"
By 郭仁德 Guo Rende, A Malaysian author.

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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The Chinese in Malaya/Malaysia (02)

Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 03-12-06 09:11

The Chinese in Malaya/Malaysia (02)
Yap Ah Loy (葉亞來 1837 to 1885 )

Yap Ah Loy (葉亞來) was born on 14th of March 1837 in Zhou Tian Xiang (周
田鄉) village near a town called Dan Shui Zhen (淡水鎮) in the county of
Hui Yang (惠陽縣) of Guangdong province (廣東省). He was named Yap Te Loy
(葉德來), but people called him Ah Loy. Eventually he was known as Yap Ah
Loy. His parents had five children; three boys and two girls. Yap Ah Loy
was the Lao Da (老大 the eldest). When Yap Ah Loy was five years old his
father sent him to study in the village school. At school he studied the
Three-Character Classic (三字經) and Thousand-Character Classic. However,
due to poverty, two years later his father could not afford to send him
to school. In order to lessen the burden of feeding the five children his
father got him a job as a cowherd to look after the neighbour's buffalo.
At that time Yap Ah Loy was eight years old.

In 1840, there was the Opium War which was fought in Guangdong province.
Yap Ah Loy was only three years old. The Taiping Heavenly Revolution was
in 1851 and Yap Ah Loy was fourteen years old. When he was 17 Yap Ah Loy
heard that the Malay States in the Malay Peninsular required labour force
to develop the land.Yap Ah Loy asked his parents permission to go to Nanyang.

When the contractors came to Zhou Tian Xiang village to recruit workers
to work in Nanyang Yap Ah Loy signed up, not knowing that he had signed
away his freedom for two years. Under the conditions of the contract he
had to work for the contractors for two years without any pay, but food,
shelter and clothing were provided. The contractors would pay for his passage
to get to Nanyang and he would be free to embark upon his own undertakings
after he had given two years of free labour to his contractors - indentured
labourer or Mai Zhi Zai (賣豬仔). The parents of Yap Ah Loy received twenty
silver-coin dollars from the contractors. Yap Ah Loy's parents were happy
to receive the payment but sad to see Lao Da (the eldest) leaving home.

Leaving Home, Yap Ah Loy said goodbye to his parents, younger brothers and
sisters. Shouldering a bundle of his old clothes, Yap Ah Loy walked to the
assembling place in the town of Dan Shui Zhen.

The contractors took Yap Ah Loy and many others from the region to Hong
Kong,which became a British colony and from there Yap Ah Loy embarked on
a British steamer and set sailed to a strange land, Nanyang.

After sailing for several weeks Yap Ah Loy arrived in a strange country.
The contractors arranged Yap Ah Loy to work in Malacca which was one of
the British Strait Settlements; the other two were Singapore and Penang.
Yap Ah Loy was assigned to plant pepper corns. Thus Yap Ah Loy began his
new life as an indentured labourer in a foreign country. Life was harsh
but Yap Ah Loy was tough and strong. However, it was estimated that there
were about four thousand Chinese in Malacca and Yap Ah Loy was able to maintain
his Chinese way of life in a new land.

Soon after, the two years was over and Yap Ah Loy was free from the slave
bondage. In 1854 Yap Ah Loy went to work in a place called Durian Tunggal
(榴鏈冬加), about ten kilometers north of Malacca. He was employed by a
man to dig a pond to rear fish. Yap Ah Loy did not like this kind of job.
So he resigned after four months and went to Jasin (加山) and worked as
a shop assistant in a grocery shop which belonged to a distance relative
called Yap Ng (葉五) who came from the same village as Yap Ah Loy.

In 1856 Yap Ah Loy went with Yap Foo (葉福), who was the younger brother
of Yap Ng, to work as a cook in a tin mine at a place called Lubok China
(蘆骨). For three years Yap Ah Loy worked as a cook and had managed to save
a bit of money. Using the saving as his capital Yap Ah Loy began to become
a businessman. His new enterprse was to transport life pigs and tin ore
to Sungei Udang (雙溪烏戎) to sell.

In the early of 1800s there were already many Hakkas in undertaking tin
mining in the Malay States of Perak, Negri Sembilan, Selangor and Malacca.
It was estimated that in 1847 there were about four thousand and six hundred
Chinese in the two tin mining areas of Lubok China (蘆骨 in Negri Sembilan)
and Sungei Udang (雙溪烏戎in Malacca). In the State of Malacca in 1850 there
were about four thousand Chinese working in the tin mines. In 1857 there
were 87 indentured labourers went to work in the first tin mine in area
of Kuala Lumpur. Within two months 70 of them died of tropical diseases.
That was the horrible page for the indentured labourers (豬仔).

In 1859, Yap Ah Loy arrived in Seremban (芙蓉). He became a friend of Liu
Ren Guang (劉壬光) and Yap Shi Ji (葉石繼). Yap Ah Loy was appointed the
second in command of the security forces in Sungei Udang. The Kapitan China
in Sungei Udang was Sheng Ming Li (盛明利). In August 1860, due to a dispute
over the right of mining tin in Sungei Udang two Malay Chiefs went to war
with each other. Sheng Ming Li was killed in the battle and Liu Ren Guang
was wounded. Liu Ren Guang went to work for Qiu Xiu Shan, the Kapitan China
of Kuala Lumpur. When peace returned to Sungei Udang Yap Shi Ji was appointed
the Kapitan China of Sungei Udang. Shortly after Yap Shi Ji resigned his
position as the Kapitan China and Yap Ah Loy was appointed as his successor
as the Kapitan China of Sungei Udang.

In 1861 Liu Ren Guang became the commander of the security forces in Kual
Lumpur. Qiu Xiu Shan died in 1862 and Liu Ren Guang succeeded him as the
Kapitan China of Kuala Lumpur.

In 1863AD Liu Ren Guang invited Yap Ah Loy to Kuala Lumpur to help him to
administer his two tin-mines in Kuala Lumpur and the import and export business
in Klang (巴生). In 1869 Liu Ren Guang died of illness and Yap Ah Loy was
officially appointed by the Sultan of Selangor as the third Kapitan China
of Kuala Lumpur. He was the supremo of Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding
area. Later Kuala Lumpur became the capital of Malaysia.

Yap Ah-Loy died in 1885 and was succeeded by Yap Ah-Shak (葉亞石) as Chinese
Kapitan. Yap Kuan Seng (葉觀盛) took over the Chinese Kapitanship after the
death of Yap Ah-Shak in 1889. When Yap Kwan-Seng died in 1902 the post of
Chinese Kapitan was abolished.

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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