Black Europeans, the Indian Coolies and Empire: Colonialisation and Christianized Indians in Colonial Malaya & Singapore, C
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Black Europeans, the Indian Coolies and Empire: Colonialisation and Christianized Indians in Colonial Malaya & Singapore, c. 1870s - c. 1950s By Marc Rerceretnam A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Sydney. February, 2002. Declaration This thesis is based on my own research. The work of others is acknowledged. Marc Rerceretnam Acknowledgements This thesis is primarily a result of the kindness and cooperation extended to the author during the course of research. I would like to convey my thanks to Mr. Ernest Lau (Methodist Church of Singapore), Rev. Fr. Aloysius Doraisamy (Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Singapore), Fr. Devadasan Madalamuthu (Church of St. Francis Xavier, Melaka), Fr. Clement Pereira (Church of St. Francis Xavier, Penang), the Bukit Rotan Methodist Church (Kuala Selangor), the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Singapore), National Archives of Singapore, Southeast Asia Room (National Library of Singapore), Catholic Research Centre (Kuala Lumpur), Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Mr. Clement Liew Wei Chang, Brother Oliver Rodgers (De Lasalle Provincialate, Petaling Jaya), Mr. P. Sakthivel (Seminari Theoloji Malaysia, Petaling Jaya), Ms. Jacintha Stephens, Assoc. Prof. J. R. Daniel, the late Fr. Louis Guittat (MEP), my supervisors Assoc. Prof. F. Ben Tipton and Dr. Lily Rahim, and the late Prof. Emeritus S. Arasaratnam. I would also like to convey a special thank you to my aunt Clarice and and her husband Alec, sister Caryn, my parents, aunts, uncles and friends (Eli , Hai Long, Maura and Tian) in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang, who kindly took me in as an unpaying lodger. I would also like to acknowledge the immeasurable support given to me by my best friend and wife Merethe and our daughter Helena, who also tried to help me financially and made an otherwise tedious task tolerable. Lastly I would like to dedicate this thesis to my late grandmother Lily Agnes Sebastian (nee Ponnusamy). Her inner strength helped me find direction in my adult life, for which I am eternally grateful. Marc Rerceretnam Sydney, Australia Nov. 2001 List of Tables: a. Population of Christians in India, 1881-1951 36 b. Population of Christians in Ceylon, 1881-1946 38 c. Map of Malay states and Straits Settlements, 1786-1941 38a d. Map of political divisions of Malaya (states and districts), 1957 38b e. Map Of India (showing political divisions), 1957 38c f. Indian population in the Roman Catholic (RC) church of Malaya and Straits Settlements, 1922-1952 56 g. Estimated percentage of Indian Roman Catholics to the total Indian population of Malaya and the Straits Settlements, 1922-1947 57 h. Indian population in the Methodist church ofthe F. M. S. and Straits Settlements, 1891-1921 59 i. Composition of total Indian labour immigration into Malaya, 1844-1941 70 j. RaciallReligious Breakdown of South Indian Hindu/Christian, Chinese and Malay Civil Servants in the Straits Settlement, 1873-1933 78 k. Population of different Indian religious groups permillage (per 1000) in Malaya and Singapore, 1921 and 1931 80 I. Number of individuals and occupations held by Christian South Indians of the civil service in the Straits Settlements, 1873-1946 81 m. Number of Christian South Indians in individual S.S. government departments, 1873-1946 82 n. Number of Christian Indians civil servantslreligious denomination in the Straits Settlements, 1873-1946 84 o. Breakdown of Christian Indian communities by Dialects & State employed in the Straits Settlements civil service, 1873-1946 86 p. Number of Christian South Indians in the Straits Settlements government departments by gender, 1873-1946 88 q. Government expenditure on Education in the F. M. S., 1875-1900 141 r. Distribution of Students in Singapore Government and Grant-in-Aid Schools, 1919 144 s. Percentage of Student Enrolments in Mission Schools, Singapore 1905-1938 145 I. Caste of Roman Catholic and Protestant Indian Christians in the Madras Presidency, 1871 229 u. Breakdown of Caste groups in the Church of SI. Francis Xavier (Roman Catholic), Penang, 1916-1931 235 v. Breakdown of Caste groups in the Church of SI. Francis Xavier (Roman Catholic), Penang, 1935-1941 237 Abbreviations: AMESU All-Malaya Estate Staff Union BN Barisan Nasional (National Front) CBS Christian Brothers Schools CHD Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus CIAM Central Indian Association of Malaysia CO 273 The Colonial Office's (London) Straits Settlements original correspondence. FMS Federated Malay States flU Federated Trade Union IlL Indian Independence League INA Indian National Army KL Kualar Lumpur MCA Malaysian Chinese Association MCP Malayan Communist Party MEP Mission Estrangerers de Paris (Paris Foreign Mission) MIC Malaysian Indian Congress MPAJA Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army MPAJU Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Union MTUC Malayan Trade Union Council (later renamed Congress) NAS National Archives of Singapore PAP People's Action Party SGI (Taiping) St. George's Institution SIA Singapore Indian Association SJI (S'pore) St. Joseph's Institution SJI (K. L.) St. John's Institution SS Straits Settlements SSAR Straits Settlements Annual Report SSBB Straits Settlements Blue Book SXI St. Xavier's Institution UMNO United Malay National Organization UMS Unfederated Malay States Glossary of Terms Brahmin Sanskrit; member of the highest or priestly caste. Cathecist assistant to priest or missionary. Coolie Chinese; term used to describe any manual labourer Conductor supervisor of all estate kanganies. Confession Roman Catholic practice of forgiveness of sin. Kampong Malay; rural settlement. Kangani Tamil; a foreman, supervisory labourer or recruiter. Kerala Malayalam; a large South western coastal state in South India. Kling Malay; native of Madras or Southern Indian. Kerani Malay; clerk. Kshatriya Sanskrit; category of second highest caste group, warrior castes. Merdeka Malay; freedom or independence. Padi Malay; rice. Pastor Protestant minister or clergyman with reference to their congregation. Priest Ordained Roman Catholic clergyman. Ramasamy Tamil; a common name, used as a paternalistic term to describe a South Indian person. Usually used by European estate managers. Rosary Roman Catholic pray beads. Sacrement Visible sign divinely instituted to confer grace or mercy. Sam-fu Traditional attire for Chinese women (side-buttoned blouse and long pants). Sari Traditional dress for Indian women. Sudra Sanskrit; category of lowest caste group. Tamilnadu Tamil; the largest state in South India Toddy Tamil; alcoholic drink made from the palmyra tree. Vama Sanskrit; colour, shade or class, usually denoting the different levels of the caste heirarchy. All currency denominations used in this study refers to the Straits Settlement dollar. The Straits dollar was valued at $60 to 7 British pounds ($8.5 to 1 pound) in 1906.1 1Arnold Wright, Twentieth Century Impressions ofBritish Malaya, (England: Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Co. Ltd., 1908), pp. 138-139. Table of Contents Acknowledgements List of Tables Abbreviations Glossary of Terms Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Black Europeans and the Indian Coolies 2 1.1.1 Christianity in British Malaya and the Straits Settlements 7 1.1.2 Indian labour migration 8 1.1.3 Period of study 9 1.1.4 Aim of the study 10 1.2 Ethnicity and the Race-Class Dimension 14 1.2.1 Ethnicity 15 1.2.2 Class and Race 16 1.2.3 Gender relations 17 1.2.4 Ethnicity and Race 19 1.2.5 Caste 20 1.3 Migration Statistics and the definition of South India and Malaya 21 1.3.1 Definition of Christianity 23 1.3.2 Survey of Chapters 24 1.3.3 Sources 27 1.4 Conclusion 29 Chapter 2 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 2.1 Historical background 30 2.1.1 South Indian influences in the Malay archipelago 30 2.1.2 European interest in the Malay archipelago 31 2.2 Christianity in India 34 2.2.1 The arrival of the Europeans in South India and Ceylon 35 2.3 Precursor to migration: Economic hardship in South India, 1870's - 1950's 38 Chapter 3 TRANSIENCE AND ESTABLISHMENT IN BRITISH MALAYA 3.1 Indian labour migration to the Malay peninsula 42 3.1.1 The establishment of Christianity in the Malay archipelago 43 3.1.2 The establishment of the Roman Catholic church 44 3.1.3 The establishment of an Indian-based Anglican church 49 3.1.4 The establishment of an Indian-based Methodist church 51 3.1.5 Establishment of other Protestant churches 53 3.2 Indian Christian populations in British Malaya 54 3.3 Government policy and Indian immigration 60 3.3.1 Rural communities: Methods of recruitment 61 3.3.2 Urban communities: The Civil Service & South Indian immigration 65 3.3.3 Constructing bureacracies: Development of the urban 'middle classes' 69 3.3.4 Subordinate populations in the civil service 77 3.4 Conclusion 89 Chapter 4 THEORIES OF CONTAINMENT: CONTROLLING THE EMPIRE AND IMPERIAL ATTITUDES, 1900-1941 4.1 Concepts of racial superiority 92 4.1.1 Political opportunism and the conveniences of racial hierarchies 94 4.1.2 Colonial profitability and the moulding of British public compliance 95 4.1.3 'Scientific' racism 97 4.1.4 British cultural hostilities to non-'Aryan' South India 103 4.1.5 Liberalism and its co-existence with colonialism 105 4.2 James Bryce: Moderate and pragmatic racist 106 4.2.1 Bryce's intellectual legacy to colonial Malaya 109 4.2.2 British racism reinterpreted in Malaya III 4.3 Conclusion 113 Chapter 5 CONFORMING TO COLONIAL HEGEMONIES, 1900-1941 5.1 Learning subservience: The use of social distance 115 5.1.1 Urban communities: The Benevolent guise of Colonialism