The Gradual Disappearance of Untouchability in Singapore 1825-1965
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IDENTITY EVOLUTION IN A DIASPORA COMMUNITY: THE GRADUAL DISAPPEARANCE OF UNTOUCHABILITY IN SINGAPORE 1825-1965 JOHN SOLOMON A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) School of Humanities and Languages University of New South Wales 2014 ! ! ! ! Abstract Untouchable migrants made up a significant proportion of Indian labour migration into Singapore in the 19th and 20th centuries. During this period, they were subject to forms of caste prejudice that powerfully reinforced their identities as untouchables overseas. Today however, untouchability has disappeared from the public sphere, replaced by other notions of identity, leaving unanswered questions as to how and when this occurred. This study takes this “disappearance” as a starting point to examine a history of untouchable migration and identity negotiation in Singapore amongst Indians who arrived in Singapore between its modern founding as a British colony in the early 1800s through to its independence in 1965. I argue that that practices of untouchability evolved in close relation to growth of translocal solidarities amongst migrants, their responses to life overseas in a plural colony, and the spread of transnational ideologies and movements. Untouchable identity was negotiated in relation to the development of competing Indian and Tamil identity discourses in Singapore during the colonial period, the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and the post-war period of decolonisation. In this study I argue that caste identities amongst Tamil migrants were eventually replaced by a linguistically defined ethnic Tamil identity in the 1950s and 1960s that was shaped by the emergence of the Dravidian movement in Singapore in the 1930s. This process intensified within the post-colonial logic of the emerging independent Singaporean state’s policies governing inter-racial relations. ! i! Acknowledgments I would first like to thank my supervisor Kama Maclean for all her invaluable support and guidance and for being generous with her time throughout my candidature. I would also like to thank my co-supervisor Ursula Rao for her help, guidance and important feedback. Various other academics gave me their time to discuss my research and offer valuable advice in their offices, at conferences, workshops and at various archives. In alphabetical order they are; Albert Lau, Anoma Pieris, A.R. Venkatachalapathy, Brij Lal, Charu Gupta, Clare Anderson, Dinesh Sathisan, Ernest Koh, Gnana Aloysius, Rajesh Rai, Robin Jeffry, Subramanian Thinnappan, Sugata Bose, Sunil Amrith and Vineeta Sinha. Earlier versions of two sections in this present study have appeared in South Asia: The Journal of South Asian Studies, and will appear in a published volume, The Pacific War: Aftermaths, Remembrance and Culture (Routledge: 2015). I would like to thank the editors and reviewers whose feedback on my work helped to inform the direction of these chapters. This project would not have been possible without the help of my interviewees who shared their memories with me with a candor, openness and hospitality that made the interviewing process one of the most enjoyable parts of my research. I would like to thank my parents for instilling a love of learning in me from a young age and for their kind support and encouragement. My fiancé Anisha took time away from her own work to give me valuable feedback on my drafts. Thank you for your help, friendship and encouragement. My candidature was also made far more enjoyable by the friendship and company of other postgraduates like Eve. Lastly, I extend my gratitude to UNSW for the opportunity to pursue this project full time with a University International Postgraduate Award and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences for additional funding. ! ii! Dedicated to Guru. I will miss you always, old friend. ! iii! Table of Contents Page Abstract i Acknowledgments ii Dedication iii Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations viii List of Images ix Introduction 1 I.1 Why conduct a historical study of the Untouchable community? 3 I.2 Challenges to studying Untouchability in the Singaporean context 6 I.3 Scope 19 I.4 Who are the Untouchables in this study? 25 I.5 Sources 30 I.6 The Structure of the Study 35 Chapter One: Penal Transportation and Cultural Ruptures 41 1.1 Indian Transmarine Convicts and British Notions of Caste 43 1.2 Caste and Penal Policy in the Straits 48 1.3 The Convict Class System and the Allocation of Labour 49 1.4 Standardised Clothing 56 1.5 Reformative Labour Discourses: Implications on Policy and Identity 62 1.6 The Effects of Penal Culture on the Reintegration of Convicts 67 1.7 Liberal Legacies and the Changing Constitution of Indian Society 74 Chapter Two: Characteristics of Indian Labour Migration and the 76 Introduction of Caste Practice: Policies, Discourse and Social Effects from the Late 19th to the Early 20th Centuries 2.1 Immigration trends, Indian Labour Welfare and Governmental 77 Differences 2.2 Push Factors for Untouchable Labour Migrants 81 ! iv! 2.3 Discourses on Indian Labour Migration, the Welfare of Indian 88 Labourers and the Retention of the Caste System 2.5 The Dialogical Shaping of Labour Recruitment: Policies and Culture 95 2.6 Different Systems of Labour Recruitment and Management and their 96 Effect on the Continuity of Cultural Practices Overseas 2.7 Tamil Labour: Discourse and Practice 109 Chapter Three: Caste, Untouchability and Public Practice in Singapore 111 3.1 Untouchability in Singapore: An Overview 111 3.2 The Translocal Sphere of Cultural Practice: Kinship Networks and the 118 Self- Policing of Caste 3.3 Networks and Identity 121 3.4 Demographic Trends and the Introduction of Caste Prejudice 126 3.5 Diversity in Caste Practice 130 3.6 Coffee Shops, Caste and Others 132 3.7 Caste and Occupation 135 3.8 Establishing Caste Practice 143 3.9 Caste and Class 144 3.10 The Persistence of Caste Consciousness 146 Chapter Four: Identity Narratives and the Beginnings of Diasporic 148 Consciousness 4.1 Widening Identities and Changing Outlooks 149 4.2 Indian Nationalism and the Dravidian Movement in Malaya 153 4.3 Ideologies and Caste in India 156 4.4 Social Reform in Malaya 164 4.5 The Indian Association in Singapore 170 4.6 Pan-Indianism and the Indian Association’s Increasing Identification 173 with the Congress Movement 4.7 The Social Programmes of the Indian Association 178 4.8 The Indian Association in Singapore and Tamil Hindu Conservatives 180 4.9 The Limited Success of the Indian Association’s Social Agenda 185 ! v! 4.10 The Tamil Reform Association and Dravidian Ideology in Singapore 187 4.11 A Broadening World View 194 Chapter Five: Coercion and Consent: Racialised Subjectivities and the 196 Performance of “Indianness” in Malaya During the Japanese Occupation 5.1 Untouchables and a new Pan-Indianism 197 5.2 Indian Unity: Memorialising the Independence Movement in Occupied 199 Malaya 5.3 Diversity and Divisions within Malaya’s Indian Community 201 5.4 Managing Pluralism: The Japanese Encounter with Malayan Society 204 5.5 Racial Classification Under Occupation 206 5.6 Assessments of Indians in Malaya 209 5.7 Performing Indian Identity 211 5.8 Conditional Support and Pan-Indian Unity 213 5.9 The Appropriation of Indian National Congress Symbols 216 5.10 Tamil Nationalism and Tamil Separatist Tendencies 218 5.11 Other Communities 221 5.12 North Indian-Centric Racial Normativity 223 5.13 Untouchables during the Occupation 225 5.14 The Effects of the Occupation 235 Chapter Six: The Post-Dravidian Era and the Replacement of Untouchable 239 Subjectivities with Singaporean Tamil Ethnicity 6.1 Racial Policies and the Singaporean State 241 6.2 Tamil Reform and Tamil Ethnic Identity Assertion, 1948-1965 247 6.3 From Adi Dravidas to Tamils 255 6.4 Transnational Cultural Agendas, Localised Contexts 267 6.5 Contexts and Outcomes 278 ! vi! Conclusion 281 C.1 Responses to Structural Conditions Overseas: Caste as a Register of 282 Migrant Agency C.2 Identity Orientations: Translocal Connections, Diasporic 284 Consciousness and Citizenship C.3 Identity Discourses and Ideology 286 C.4 Reflections and Areas for Future Study 287 Appendix 290 Bibliography 292 ! ! vii! Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations Adi Dravida Sangam - A Tamil untouchable association BL - British Library Changkol - A Malay term for digging implement used in agriculture Cheri - An untouchable hamlet usually situated next to a caste- Hindu village. CIAM - Central Indian Association of Malaya CMIO - “Chinese, Malay, Indian and Other,” the unofficial term for a racial classification system used to govern racial difference in the Singaporean state. CPM - Communist Party of Malaya DK - Dravida Kazhagam DMK - Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam IA - Indian Association IIL - Indian Independence League INA - Indian National Army INC - Indian National Congress IOL - India Office Library IOR - India Office Records Jati - A sub-caste. Kangany - ATamil overseer and labour recruiter MIC - Malaysian Indian Congress NA (UK) - National Archives (UK) PAP - People’s Action Party NAS - National Archives of Singapore PWD - Public Works Department Rattan - A wooden cane used for corporal punishment SDK - Singapore Dravida Kazhagam SDMK - Singapore Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam SSG - Subaltern Studies Group TRA - Tamil Reform Association TRC - Tamil Reform Council Ur - A caste-Hindu village Varna - The general tiers of caste within which sub-castes are hierarchically organised. ! ! viii! List of Images Figure 1: Convicts in various types of uniform. Figure 2: An image of a convict prison in the Straits Settlements. Figure 3: Tamil labourers and an overseer engaged in roadwork in Singapore in 1880. Figure 4: Public Cleansing Division employee in the Jalan Besar area in 1964. FigureA Public 5: Cleansing Division employee cleaning a drain in Lorong Lalat 1964. Figure 6: A copy of Munnetram. Figure 7: Cover pages from two copies of the Young India. Figure 8: INA enlistees in Singapore in 1943.