Planting Empire, Cultivating Subjects: British Malaya, 1786–1941

380 Pages·2018·11.367 MB·English

by  Lynn Hollen Lees

Planting Empire is a stimulating contribution to the burgeoning literature L
e
e
on the Indian Ocean World. Using hitherto untapped sources, Lees deftly
s
explores the creation in colonial Malaya of a distinctive society focused
both on plantation agriculture and thriving cosmopolitan towns. P
l
a
Thomas R. Metcalf, University of California, Berkeley
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t
i Planting Empire,
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Carefully researched and written, this book narrates how British Malaya,
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ruled by imperial plantation interests and divided by legally enshrined
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Cultivating Subjects
racial boundaries, was shaped into a multicultural project by its colonial m
subjects. The author shows how the buoyant rubber and tin economy p
i
r
offered many an opportunity to enter a growing multi-ethnic middle class
e British Malaya, 1786–1941
,
and share in the desire of being part of modernity. This highly accessible
C
book is a tribute to cosmopolitanism. u
l Lynn Hollen Lees
Ulbe Bosma, The International Institute of Social History (IISH) t
i
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a
t
Lynn Hollen Lees is co-director of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute of
i
n
Management and International Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. g

Her research centers on European cities, their social organization, and S
u
their welfare institutions, with recent publications including Global Society:
b
The World since 1900 (2013), with Pamela K. Crossley and John W. Servos. j
e
c
She is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the
t
s
American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the
Humanities, and the Rotary Foundation. She has also spent time as an
exchange professor at University College London, Catholic University of
Leuven, Belgium, and the University of Diponegoro in Indonesia.
Printed in the United Kingdom Cover image: (((to come)))

Planting Empire, Cultivating Subjects
PlantingEmpire,CultivatingSubjectsexaminesthestoriesofordinary
people to explore the internal workings of colonial rule. Chinese,
Indians,andMalayslearnedaboutbeingBritishthroughtheplanta-
tions,towns,schools,andnewspapersofamodernizingcolony.Yet
they got mixed messages from the harsh, racial hierarchies of sugar
andrubberestatesandcosmopolitanurbansocieties.Empiremeant
mobility, fluidity, and hybridity, as well as the enactment of racial
privilege and rigid ethnic differences. Using sources ranging from
administrative files, court transcripts and oral interviews to period-
icals and material culture, Professor Lees explores the nature and
developmentofcolonialgovernance,andthewaysinwhichMalayan
residents experienced British rule in towns and plantations. This is
aninnovativestudydemonstratinghowempirebroughtwithitboth
oppression and economic opportunity, shedding new light on the
shifting nature of colonial subjecthood and identity, as well as the
memoryandafterlifeofempire.
LynnHollenLeesisProfessorofHistoryEmeritaattheUniversityof
Pennsylvania and a Past President of the Urban History Association.
She has written extensively on cities and social history in Europe and
elsewhereHer recentpublicationsinclude TheSolidarities ofStrangers:
TheEnglishPoorLawsandthePeople,1700–1948(1998),Citiesandthe
Making of Modern Europe, 1750–1914 (2007) with Andrew Lees, and
GlobalSociety:TheWorldsince1900(2013)withPamelaK.Crossleyand
John W. Servos. She has received fellowships from the Guggenheim
Foundation,theAmericanCouncilofLearnedSocieties,theNational
EndowmentfortheHumanities,andtheRotary Foundation.She has
beenanexchangeprofessoratUniversityCollegeLondon,theCatholic
University of Leuven Belgium, and the University of Diponegoro in
Indonesia.

Planting Empire, Cultivating
Subjects
British Malaya, 1786–1941
Lynn Hollen Lees
UniversityofPennsylvania
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107038400
DOI:10.1017/9781139814867
©LynnHollenLees2017
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2017
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Lees,LynnHollen,author.
Title:Plantingempire,cultivatingsubjects:BritishMalaya,1786–1941/
LynnHollenLees,UniversityofPennsylvania.
Description: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge
UniversityPress,[2017]|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2017018418|ISBN9781107038400(alk.paper)
Subjects:LCSH:Malaya–History–Britishrule,1867–1942.|
Plantations–Malaysia–Malaya–History.|Agricultureandpolitics–
Malaysia–Malaya–History.|Cosmopolitanism–Malaysia–Malaya–
History.|Imperialism–Socialaspects–History.
Classification:LCCDS596.L442017|DDC959.5/103–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2017018418
ISBN978-1-107-03840-0Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
For my friends in the Perak Oral History Project,
the Perak Heritage Society, and the Perak Academy,
who taught me to love Malaysia.

Contents
ListofFigures pageviii
ListofMapsandTables x
Acknowledgements xi
Glossary xv
ListofAbbreviations xvii
Introduction 1
PartI TheNineteenthCentury 17
1 TheBirthofPlantationColonialisminMalaya 21
2 BodyPoliticsinaPluralSociety 62
3 NewTownsontheMalayanFrontier 101
4 UrbanCivilSociety 135
PartII TheTwentiethCentury 167
5 RubberReconstructsMalaya 171
6 CosmopolitanModernity 218
7 ManagingMalayanTowns 251
8 MultipleAllegiancesinaCosmopolitanColony 278
Epilogue:RepresentingEmpire,Remembering
ColonialRule 313
SelectBibliography 332
Index 347
vii
Figures
1.1 Caledoniaplantationsugarmill,ProvinceWellesley,c.1863
ReproducedbypermissionoftheDepartmentofSpecial
CollectionsandUniversityArchives,W.E.B.DuBois
Library,UniversityofMassachusettsAmherst page28
1.2 SirJohnWilliamRamsdenandhisfamilyatBulstrode,
theirestateinBuckinghamshire,c.1899
CourtesyofIonaFrost-Pennington 33
1.3 OverseerandTamillabourerstransportingsugarcane,
WestMalaya,1907
ReproducedbykindpermissionoftheSyndics
ofCambridgeUniversityLibrary 53
2.1 ManagersofthePenangSugarEstatesrelaxingtogether,
c.1875
CourtesyofIonaFrost-Pennington 69
2.2 Tamilworkgang,PenangSugarEstates,c.1875
CourtesyofIonaFrost-Pennington 72
3.1 HughLowStreet,Ipoh,1887
ReproducedbypermissionofIpohWorld 105
3.2 PolicestationinthetownofJaning,Perak,1890
ReproducedbypermissionofIpohWorld 112
4.1 EntrancehallanddiningroomintheHanChinPet
SooHakkaminers’clubinIpoh,Perak
ReproducedbypermissionofIpohWorld 136
4.2 Anglo-ChineseSchoolinIpoh,1938
ReproducedbypermissionofIpohWorld 147
4.3 StreetdecorationsinPenanginhonourofQueen
Victoria’sJubilee,1897
CourtesyofthePenangStateMuseumBoard 158
5.1 ManagerandChineserubbertapperscollectinglatex
onaPerakplantation,1901
ReproducedbypermissionofIpohWorld 189
viii