Southeast As£an Stud£es, Vol. 21, No.3, December 1983

The Chinese of Sarawak: Thirty Years of Change
T'IEN Ju-K'ang*

Editor's Note
During the period 1948-1949, the author of this article visited Sarawak to study thesocial structure of the Chinese community in Kuching. After a lapse of 32 years, aninvestigation based on published materials has been made to assess social mobility withinvarious dialect groups in Sarawak and to compare the present situation with that of 30
years ago. As a result of advances in communication and the extension of marketing,the successive layers of middlemen, in whom social and political power was invested, havebeen forced out and a new elite recruited from minor groups has emerged. The focus of
the ethnic Chinese has gradually shifted from their traditionally narrow, localized interests
to the welfare of the country in which they have settled. This trend can be seen in
Chinese communities throughout the world.

Since

Sarawak

gainedindependence

reshuffling of the power structure in the
Chinese community.

In the colonial period

from Great Britain and became integrated
into Malaysia in 1963, the Chinese com-economic strength was the path to social

munitypower.

there

has

undergonesocial and economic change.

profoundIn view ofthe striking complexity of the

A wealthy towkay who had once

won the government's favour would auto-

Chinesematically gain a high social position which,dialect groups who live there Sarawak

together with political privileges, would in

is a good place to study social mobility

turn bring increased wealth.

within the various dialect groups and tocompare the present situation with that ofdenying that the system of patronage still
plays a decisive role in Sarawak's politics

30 years ago.

It is hoped that this analysis
may contribute to discussions on the future(as, for example, in the allocation of timber
licences to certain merchants on a politi-

of Chinese communities of a similar naturecally partisan basis) [Leighin other Southeast Asian Countries.

Nevertheless, the stronghold of the erstwhile

There is no

1974: 108].

power monopoly has been broken in the

Decline of the Traditional Power
Structure
The most prominent change has been the* EE &~ ;History,
Fudan
Department of
University, Shanghai, People's Republic ofChina

courseof

economIC

development

anda breach has been opened for new competitors.
I t has been the common expenence In
Sarawak, and in Southeast Asia in general,that the struggle for power in any Chinese
community occurs usually between two275

dialectgroups--the

Teochews(~1i'l)Street, Indian Street and so on, where theof Kwangtung (J.'{:!tO and the Hokiens(Fukien)(~~).

The former have con-centrated mainly on the grocery and rubber
trades, as middlemen between the rural
shops and the export firms in the large
ports, whereas the latter, besides having
a finger in the same pie as the Teochews,
gradually gained a strong position in thefinancial world. It may be said that thepower of the Hokiens lay in their monetarystrength, while that of the Teochews wasin their number of business units. Despite
the weakening of their economic dominance,l) the Teochew leaders were still able
tomaintainaninfluential

position In

Kuching because no other dialect groupleaders were powerful enough to competewith them.
In the colonial period, when the Westerncompanies needed middlemen to collectraw materials and promote the sale ofmanufactured products, the Teochew grocers fitted in perfectly with the demands oftheeconomy.

However,followingtherapid post-colonial economic development,
and especially, in Sarawak, with advancesin communication and the extension ofmarketing, the role of such middlemen,
which is speculative m nature, has been
forced out. 2 )In Kuching 30 years ago, just as atpresent, the Teochew grocery shops wereclustered in Gambier Road and Java Street.
Of the 67 shops in these two streets at thattime, 38 were Teochew grocery shops.
Although urban Kuching has been greatly
extended and rebuilt recently, the mainstreets, such as Main Bazaar, Carpenter
2761) There are many theories on the nature of theChinese Associations, all emphasizing the aspect of internal co-operation. One tends toforget that there are a great many institutionalized ways of dealing with the various
problems concerned with social relationships
within a certain community without organizations being formed, if the specific aim is onlyinternal co-operation. This is evident from thehistory of the Foochow Association in Sibu.
At the beginning of this century, when Hwang
Nai-Chung ('1tt.JJ;&), the pioneer of the Chinese
communities of the Third Division, led 1,000
and 70 Foochow speaking immigrants to settlein Sibu, no association was formed, and evenafter 10 years, when the number of Foochow
peasants had increased to 8,000, there was still
no association. It is interesting to note thata rudimentary F oochow Association was finallyinitiated by a Foochow immigrant when he had
accumulated ten thousand dollars from his
labours. It seems incredible that a person with
10,000 dollars was able to initiate an associationand to place himself at the head of it.
Due to the shortage of financial resources in
the Foochow community, the Foochow Association was not properly registered in Sibu
until 1941, when the population of the Foochow
community had increased to 23,000, and was
only officially set up in 1946, when the number
had reached 38,867, almost one quarter of thewhole Chinese population of Sarawak. Thisdelay was apparently due to lack of external
competition in the Sibu area and inadequate
financial backing from the Foochow community. See Liu Tze-Cheng [1979: 272-273],
Hsu T'sung-Szu [1952: E65].
2) The decline of the Teochew grocery shops in
Singapore started as early as after the FirstWorld War. Before that, the Teochew people
almost monopolized the grocery business in
Singapore and Malaya as well as the trade with
Siam and Indo-China. Between 1905 and1949, in 25 elections held by the Chinese
Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, Teochews
were elected as presidents nine times and as
vice-presidents 10 times. Over a period of
30 years (about 1920-1950), half the Teochew
cloth shops in Singapore closed down. See
Pang Hsing-Nung [1950: 41-67; 1980: 230].

T'IEN J. K.: The Chinese of Sarawak

shops of the Hokien, Tapu<j(fffl) , Hakka <~*) andother dialect groups areconcentrated, remam thesame.

The one prominentcontrast is the decline andnear elimination of Teochew grocery shops everywhere.

During the last

30 years, 17 of the 38 suchshops in Gambier Road
and Java Street have goneout of business.

Even in

Main Bazaar, which is the
Hokien businesscentre,nine grocery shops haveclosed down, six of them

Fig.!

The Provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien Showing Approximate Place of Origin of Different Dialect Groups

being owned by Teochews[Panduan Telefon 1981;
Yang Ch'ing-Nantime, three of the minor dialect groups,

1963].

Following the decline, and in many cases
elimination,of their major

activities,

traditionalcommercial

previously

excluded

from

the

power

structure, began to compete for leadership.

of

In order to show this strong current of

Teochews and Hokiens in the Chinese com-change, it is necessary to give a brief accountAt the sameof the former status of these three groups:

thedominance

munity was greatly weakened.

Fig. 2Business Center of Kuching

277

(1)

group.

facilities,3) these two sub-groups had al-

Ch'aoan is a district in Fukien province

ready been feuding for a long time whennear the Kwangtung border, where a dialectemigration

III

The

Ch'aoanseveralrespects

midwaybegan.

They

carriedtheirbetweendeep-rooted hatred to Kuching and when

Peoplethey initially lived together in Blacksmith

Teochew and Hokien is spoken.

from this group came to Sarawak around

Road often exchanged blows.

Eventually,

1846.

Some of the earliest immigrants

sub-group B, with the colonial government's

first settled at Sekama, on the southernbank of Sungai Sarawak, on the outskirts

help, moved to Sungai Apong. Subsequently, sub-group A also moved, toof Kuching.

They were mainly wharf

Bintawa fishing village.

Thus, the twolabourers (70%of the total number before

groups lived quite far apart.

Even now theWorld War II), pig-breeders, and poultry-

older members of these groups are not onmen, whilst a number were masons andspeaking terms, although the long-standing

carpenters for the Kuchingenmity has gradually been diminishing

contractors(many of whom spoke the same dialect).

among the younger generation.

The women, if employed, tended to beboth groups engaged in fishing, as they had

maidservants.

done in China, but the hardship and severe

On the whole, they weremanual labourers.
(2) TheHenghua

Initially

competition within the dialect group forced(jt!1~)

group.

some of them to eke out a living by pulling

Henghua is the historical name for a prefec-

rickshaws when they were unable to go toture of southern Fukien covering the present

sea.

districts of Put'ien(~EEl)As they gave up fishing, they cameand Hsienyu

into contact with some of the simpler

In Sarawak the Henghuas aremechanical jobs and began to monopolize

often regarded as a small group because of
the size of their population and the strength

the trade in selling and repairing bicycles,of their financial resources.

the 1970 census they totalled 10,642, ofindispensable medium for such transactions
everywhere. After a long struggle, to be

whom 4,806 were in Kuching. Eighty
percent of the Henghuas came fromelaborated in a later section, the Henghuas
have now gained control of 95% of this kind

Hout'un (J§-*) and Kianghsia CUr)villages in Put'ien district (hereafter calledof business in Kuching.
(3) The Hakka group.

({iliV#).

According to

sub-group A), the rest (20%) from
Shangt'ien Cl:::r.5) , Hsiangch'eng (*~)
and several other small villages in theneighbourhood of Hout'un and Kianghsia(hereafter

calledsub-group

B).

They

came to Sarawak as late as the beginningof this century. Owing to historical disputes over fishing rights and irrigation

278

thus making the Henghua

dialect

theThis is the3) In most parts of Fukien, where irrigation depends mainly on mountain streams, the villagers
inhabiting the upper reaches of a stream
always try their best to monopolize the water,while those on the lower reaches wish to shareit on equal terms. A struggle over water
conservancy facilities might be carried out for
many years, even centuries. So might feuds
between different parties for the fishing rights
in ponds and coastal seas.

J. K.: The Chinese of Sarawak

T'IEN

largest group

Sarawak.

Not a single important elective, or so-called

The first big wave of settlers were miners'representative' post, had ever been held

coming from Pontianak, West Borneo, inby these minor groups in 1946.

Their

about

social status was looked down upon.

For

1850.

of Chinese

In theIII

1970 census

theytotalled 91,610 of whom 69,471 were living

example,in the First Division, more than half the

Hainantotal of all the other dialect groups in thatby the large wealthy groups

district. 4)

generally tabooed by some of the con-

Kuching Hakka can be roughly

divided into four sub-groups.
andsocially

prominent

The largest

group

contains

those from the Tapu district of Kwangtungintermarriage(;?f~rl¥i)peopleoforigin was not favoured

servative Teochew
the most

withtowkays.

and wasExceptunusual circumstances,III

socialmobility was almost completely blocked.

and from Hoppo(jPJ~),

a big town

III

The following life story of a Henghua

western KityangO~~)county, also intowkay is a good example of the kind of

The latter live mostly on the

strip of territory along the roads fromhard endeavour that was required to breakout of this "dialect-origin trap". Like somemilestone 4.5 to the termini at Bau andof the others, he has traveled a long route,

Serian, comprising from 9°!cJ to 84%

ofstarting by pulling rickshaws, advancing

the Hakka inhabitants in the various settle-

to the trishaw, introduced also by thements along the way [T'ien Ju-K'ang

Japanese, after the war, and finally became

1980: 30-33].

successful with the penetration of Japanese

Kwangtung.

The former are scatteredin the municipal area, mainly in Carpentermotorcars into Sarawak in the early '60s.

Street and India Street, managing shops

He was born in Put'ien in 1902 and wentand selling various manufactured household
supplies.

to Singapore when he was about 17 years
old, hoping to make his fortune as a rickshaw puller.

A Case of Social Mobility

After two years he took hissavings back to his home village to getmarried, but later, forced out by financial

Formerly economic stagnation resulteddifficulties,

hereturnedtoSingaporein a limitation on the division of labour.

a second time, also pulling rickshaws. 5)

The members of minor dialect groups wereI t took him five years of really hard labour

confined to professions often looked upon

to save enough money to come to Kuchingas degrading by the large dialect groups.

to start a new career.

4) The Hakkas are said to have migrated from thenorth to the south of China, especially to
Fukien and Kwangtung, in several waves since
the beginning of the fourth century A.D., toescape foreign rulers. The name Hakka is
the Cantonese pronunciation of the word
pronounced 'K'o-chia', in Mandarin; it means
guests or sojourners, and is used to distinguishthem from the Pen-ti (*!&) (local dwellers).

he worked for more than 15 years as a shop

From 1926 onwards5) Rickshaw pulling still existed in Kuching aslate as 1950. The pullers were Fuch'ing (1Illm)(a district near Foochow) and Henghua speaking. See Elizabeth Sollard [1972: 108]. In
1977 there were still five Henghua labourers
driving trishaws m Miri; see T'ien N ung[1977: 72].

279

assistant, car and lorry driver and so on,of tropical forests and swamps, depended

until he was able to open a bicycle shop ofvery much on communication by river.

his own.

This rickshaw puller ultimately

In 1948-1949 there were 112 launches

made his fortune during World War II(ranging from four to 56 tons) in Kuching(1941-1945) when the shortage of petroleum

but only 35 private bus owners on themade bicycles the only means of trans-

registry, some of whom presumably had

portationgone

available.

Thereafter,fromout of business

Ju-K'angdealing m motorcar spare parts andaccessories to becoming the agent of petro-roads linking Kuching with other big

leum service stations, he began to amass

out-stations was about 50 miles.

enough money to secure aas 1953 the whole of Sarawak had only

respectable

position in the Chinese community.
1970

he

organizedabus

1980: 66J.

[T'ienThe total length of passableIn

95 milesof all-weather

company.

concretesurfaced roadAs latebituminous or(J ackson

1968:

Through his financial influence he was elect-164].

ed Chairman of the Kuching Henghua

from 1962-1967 was obviously a reflection

Association and a member of the schoolof indigenous economic development.

board of Chunghsing Middle School (lfl 00

1965, about 1,000 miles of roads of all types

lfl ~) . His long cherished dream of be-

had been completed.

coming rich and respectable had at last been

three chief towns, Kuching, Simanggang

realized [Ts'eng Hsin-Ying

and Sibu, were linked by a new road 287

1970: 170J.

The speeding up of road construction

Early in 1967, themiles long [Lee Yong-Leng

The Impact of Road Development
Sarawak, being a sparsely populated landBy

1970: 128].

Road development greatly motivated theHenghua people to expand their control of
the transport business, with which no otherdialect group was believed
to be familiar.

At thesame time, drivers and bus
owners of both Ch'aoan
and Hakka origin began
tocompete,standing

its

nature.

Whennotwithcutthroat
the

big

financial leaders of otherdialect groups discovered
the profitability of this newenterprise, it was too late
for them to participate init.
Fig. 3280

General Map of Kuching, Sarawak

The boom in the motor

T'IEN J. K.: The Chinese of Sarawak

vehicle business started as early as the
middle '50s.

In 1956, the number of new

car company.
(4)

KW,

once the president of thecars registered in Kuching was 398, and in

Kuching Fishing Kotak Association and1957, 301 [British Colonial Office

1957:

vice-president of the Kuching Henghua

118J, representing 70 percent of the whole of

Association, was also originally a fisherman.

Sarawak.

In the immediate post-war years,

He is at present concentrating on the timber

84°,10 of the bus drivers in Kuching came

export business, having accumulated hisfrom the Henghua, Ch'aoan and Hakka

initial capital through motorcar dealings.

groups[T'ienJu-K'ang

1980:

48-49J.

(5)

With so many new models of European andfigureJapanese cars racing around Kuching, some

He too started as a fisherman, began hisof the drivers managed to get ahead in thebusiness in Miri as a motorcar agent andcommercial competition, leaving the others

later became an authorized dealer for thefar behind.

A typical example is the riseJapanese Colt and Prince trade marks.

of the following five members of the Kueh

His commercial success made him an elected(:$G) clan of the Henghua fishing groupmember of the Council Negri at the end of[Ts'eng Hsin-Ying 1970: 143-145, 151-

1957, when the colonial government started

153J.

to include representatives of the minor

KV is the most prominent leadingof theHenghua dialectgroup.

KS, initially the owner of a shop

Chinese groups in its legistrative body.

selling incense sticks and candles to his

KV is at present the honourable President

fellow fishermen, caught the boom in theof the Kuching Henghua Association andmotorcar business and organized the Chin

President of the Association of the Kueh

Liang

Clan in Kuching.

(1)

Long

Motor

VehicleCompany(flf:ii[)£R.~pN-0'P]), which,atthebeginning of 1952, was one of the small

franchised bus companies in the Kuchingarea.

New Outlook for the Minor Groups

Today he is chairman of the board

Amid all the hustle and bustle of the earlyof directors as well as general administrativedays of trading in European and Japanesemanager of the company.

Naturally, themotorcars, some of the Henghua fishermen,

Kueh clan association in Kuching elected

mainly from the younger generation, left

him as their vice-president.

Bintawa fishing village and squeezed into(2)

KT had a career similar to that ofother trades in which they had no previous

KS.

He is now a director of the same CLL

experience.

In

1947-1948,

apart

from

Company and chairman of the Kuchingfishing,Henghua Association.

businesses in the whole of Kuching [T'ien

(3)

there

were

only

35

Henghua

KH, another director and manager

Ju-K'ang

1980: 46J (not including thoseof the CLL Company, was also originallyindividual

drivers

a fisherman and, omitting the rickshaw

running private or joint enterprises [ibid.:pulling stage, became an agent of a motor-

49].

who

claimedtobe

But by 1977 there were 91 Henghua281

enterprises in Kuching.
tribution

wasas

The detailed dis-follows[T'ienN ung

1977: 55]:

members are to be found in almost every
trade, not only in Kuching but in the wholeof Sarawak, especially in Miri.

1947-1948

The first

prominent change that can be seen is in

Fishing boats

253

1977
315

Bicycle shops

27

52

Ch'an eEB) clan of this group had 107

Grocery shops

5

4households living in Sekama, constituting

Barber shops

3

3

88°;6 of the Ch'aoan people residing in that

Tyre retreading business6

area [T'ien ]u-K'ang

Battery charging business5

old days, only the richer descendants of thisFishing supply shops

3

clan could afford to live in the municipal

Marine products shops

4

area; the rest were mostly concentrated at

Building firms

3

Sekama.

Photo studios

2family members from Ch'aoan living in theTravel agencies

1

municipal area [Panduan Telefon

Timber companies

4

The diversification of their occupations inPetrol stations

1

Kuching indicates the acceleration of their

Furniture stores

2social mobility.

Coffee shops

1

In the immediate post-war years, ordinary406

Ch'aoan folk ran only 11 of the 705 shops

Total

288

In 30 years Henghua bicycle shops,
instead1980: 24].

In theIn 1981, there were 209 Ch'anin Kuching [T'ien ]u-K'ang

1981].

1980: 46].

strengthening their monopolistic position

present situation of Ch'aoan shops, butfrom 84% to 950/0'

The new business of

no one can have any doubt as to the Ch'aoan

tyre retreading and battery charging areachievement in entering trades of all kinds.

completely under their control [Ioc. cit.].

In the early 1950s, three bus companies

One must take into consideration that thehadbicycle shops of 1977 are quite different
now

operating 63 buses in 1956 [British Colonial
Office 1957: 119]. Henghua, Ch'aoan

include the sale and repair not only ofand Hakka all had the same opportunities,

bicycles, but also of cars, taxi cabs, and so

but after a period of severe competition,

of

have

the dominant

There are no figures to help us assess thethosedecreasing,In 1947-1948,

increased,

from

of

residence.

1947-1948.

They

In

the

Kuchingarea,

however

CS of Ch'aoan eventually won the race by

they are all still called Henghua bicycle

establishing the Sarawak Transport Com-

shops.

pany.

on.

According to local usage

franchises

Starting with two small buses in poor

The reorganized transport system also

condition, he gradually built up his company

motivated the Ch'aoan group to abandon
its traditional manual work and join the newuntil, In the early 1970s, he owned moretrade.

The achievement of thisminorgroup is rather difficult to trace as its
282

than

a

hundredlarge,

air-conditioned

coaches, running a distance of 120 miles
between the First and Second Divisions,

T'IEN ]. K.: The Chinese of Sarawak

where the greater part of the road development

hadtaken place.

The

Henghua

Consequencesgroup dominated the Chin Liang Long
Motor Vehicle Company, as mentioned
above, covering municipal routes,

The extension of the roadtransport

while

serVIce greatly improved the hitherto un-

stilldeveloped exchange relations, limiting theCh'aoanroles of successive layers of middlemen andbuses in other Divisions, though they areenabling traders of other dialect groups to

not as powerful within the former wharf

share the economic advantages.

labourers' domain.

there are 48 different kinds of shops operated

theHakka group are,formidable

competitorsof course,tothe

In spite of their large numbers,

theAt presentby the Hakka clan named Chai

(~)

(all

Hakkas had to be content with manual

originally from Hoppo) in the Kuching

work in the rural areas because of lack ofrural area, of which 17 are in the bazaar

capital.

In the period 1947-1948, there

near the 7th mile--the exclusive domain

were only 18 second grade Hakka groceryof the Teochews in the old days [Panduan

shops out of a total of 167 such shops owned

Telefonby Teochew and Hokien merchants in the

Chai from Hoppo was elected as an execu-

First Division [T'ien J u-K'ang

tive of the K uching Chamber of Commerce

1980: 56].

1981].

In 1966 a certain Mr.

were

because of his successful import and export

situated in a rather remote area towards

business, an unprecedented event in thethe end of the 32 mile Simmanggan Road.

Chinese community.

Moreover, these 18 Hakka shops

Owing to the Teochews' supremacy 30

The introduction of political parties III

years ago, no Hakka grocery shops could

Sarawak has given further impetus to social

be found along the upper part of themobility among these small Chinese dialect

Simmanggan Road (from Kuching to thegroups.

24th mile) nor was any Hakka appointeda Western model of popular voting which

as headman in this densely populated Hakka

gives the opportunity to use propaganda

region.

and agitation.

Instead, the three headmen at

Politics today are conducted on

The old leaders of thethat time were all Teochews [Hsu T'sung-Chinese community, who used to wieldSzu

social power because of their

1952:

(Te)

23].

Judgingbythefinancialwritings of the old inhabitants; not evenresources and the political patronage of thethe Hokiens were powerful enough to set

colonial government, did not need to pay

up business in the bazaar near the 10th

attentionmile.

population--in the First Division the

Actually one man did, but he was

to

the

huge

rural

Hakka living in

Chineseeventually squeezed out by the collective

numerous

outstations.

action of the Teochews [Chu Hung-Sheng

Therefore, when elections were introduced,

1966: 66, 104].

they were completely puzzled as to whatshould be done to influence the masses,
especially the younger generation.

There

283

is no denying that electioneering in Sarawak

between Kuching and the outstations

is still supported to some extent by politicalboth of these Divisions and extend as far as

donations.

Sarikei in the Third Division.

However, elite control of theIII

A greatold type can no longer be maintained, formajority of the drivers, conductors andthe previously degraded dialect groups,

ticket sellers come from thewith a great number of long-dissatisfied

Ch'aoan and Hakka groups and they arepeople, have now severely circumscribed thealso enthusiastic members of the party.

leaders' ambitions to control the whole

The bus company,

Chinese community at asingle stroke.

supplies S UPP with money, but also helps

The former elite entirely misjudged the new

the party workers to reach remote areas

situation.

with information,

For

example,theSarawak

People's

Party(SUPP),

Henghua,

therefore,

notpropaganda

onlymaterials

Unitedand newspapers [ibid.: 20J.

gainedis the fact that in the fiscal year 1966-1967,

much popularity in Sarawak during thethe larger creditors to the party included theearly period of party formation, challenged
the old convention of elite control based onfollowing enterprises and individuals [ibid.:which

dialect differences and championed the new

19].
(1)

concept of electioneering on a mass basis.
In the central committee election in 1966,

Noteworthy

Kwong Lee (J{;fIJ) Company-a Cantonese family bank.

(2)

Sarawak Transport Company--

S UPP adopted the principle of proportional

the proprietor is of the Ch'aoan

representation.

Of the 28 Chinese mem-group, engaging also in shipping

bers

the

as

and the sago business, and has been

follows: Hakkas 13, Hokiens 9 (4 froma public officer of the party for many

Ch'aoan),years.

elected,proportions

Foochows

3,

were

Hainanese2,

Cantonese 1 [Leigh 1974: 19J. It is
worth noticing that the Hakkas were not(3)

A certain Hainanese--the party's
treasurer and the owner of the

only well represented but were also pro-Southern Company which produces

moted to the leading rank,

soft drinks in Kuching.

while

not

a single Teochew was elected.
The people of the various minor groups

New Grouping of Associations

worked together, mobilizing all their meansAs

As a consequence of the weakening of

Leigh points out, the Sarawak Transport

the old structure, the leadership of theCompany operated by Ch'aoan proprietors

dialect associations inevitably had to be"has played a very important role both asa source of funds and as a conduit forreshuffled. The creation of the post of
Honourable President can be seen as anchannelling S UPP influence through theindication of the irresistable nature of thisfirstchange.

in an attempt to win the election.

and

the

seconddivisions."

The

company's buses ply almost every route284

The former leaders, who owed

their position to being either wealthy men

T'IENJ. K.: The Chinese of Sarawak

or original founders, were no longer able toamaintaindifferent now.

their

importance

among

the

members, so they were kicked upstairs (innoble purpose, but things are quite
At one time or another,

all the successful politicians of this dialect

most cases by being granted a seemingly

group have served the Ch'aoan Association

prestigious title as compensation) and werein minor offices quite inappropriate to theirforced to hand over their controlling powersocial status in the community at large.

to the new elite.

For example:

For example,

Henghua

The treasurer--a deputy chief minister

Association and the Fishing Kotak Associ-and state minister for communica-

ation were controlled by the same man, andtion of the Sarawak Barisan National

shared the same building and the same

Government.

staff.

This

initially,thepowerful towkay,

originallyIn

chargeofgeneralaffairs--thea fisherman who later accumulated wealthgeneral manager of Sarawak Trans-

by brokerage, had been their chairman

port Company, and the publicity

since before the war.

officer of SUPP.

As a result of thefishermen splitting into two sub-groups

Chinese secretary--the executive(especially when some of them had madethefortunes[Ts'eng Hsin-Yingbyshifting

to

motor

vehicleofcentral committee of SUPP
1970: 147].

dealing), it seems that the old associations

This new spirit of offering assistance to thefailed to keep up with the new develop-

welfare of one's fellow countrymen withoutments.

This led to the separation of theconsidering the nature of the post never

two associations and they were thoroughly

existed in the minds of the older generation.

reorganized, electing the elite of the motor-

At the same time, new associations havecar dealings to be their leaders.

split off from the main ones to justify theConspicuous changes have also occurredintheCh'aoan

Association.

From its

localization andmembers.

distinctiveness of their

The establishment of the Hoppo

inception in 1946 onwards, its leader had

Association can be cited as a good example.

always been elected neither for his wealth

The Sarawak Hakka Association had long

nor his political influence, but for his
seniority. But the post-colonial upheaval

been considered a very loose organizationin the community made leadership of thiskind unacceptable to the members. Re-

originating fromorganization was inevitable. An analysisof the staff list of this minor association

distinct in profession. A special association
representing the distinctive features of theover a decade shows a surprising change

numerous

occurring in the Chinese community as

Division had long been felt a necessity.

a whole.

In

In the old days, it would havebecause it covered a wide range of Hakkas
both K wangtung andHokien (Fukien) 1 similar in dialect but

China,

Hoppo Hakkas in the
Hoppo,amarketFirst

town inbeen unthinkable for any leading figure to

Kityang county, is under the administrative

condescend to take a minor post, even fordivision of Ch'aochou

U~1'Ii)(Teochew),285

Kwangtung, but, because of their small

seen continuously for more than 10 years.

numbers and special agricultural identifi-

In 1965, however, a new body, the As-

cation, the Hoppo Hakkas in Malaysia
have in some cases been rejected forsociated Sarawak Chinese Chamber ofmembership of the Teochew Association

to replace the conventional mouthpiece of[Pang Hsing-Nungthe Chinese community.

1950: 50].

Recently,

Commerce, was established and soon began

and particularly since 1976, the Hoppo
Hakkas in Western Malaysia have begun

tions in this newly rising force are mostly

to set up a separate association to look after

politically inspired instead of economicallytheir own interests in agricultural products.

motivated.

They have also sent representatives to makeelection (1980-1981) gives a completely

contact with the well-known large group of

new look to this leading Chinese body intheir fellow countrymen in Sarawak.

a result, a Hoppo Association was set up

Sarawak. The president is a powerfulman, a local born Hokien, too wealthy toin Miri [Mace Research Corporation

1980:

have any economic interest in Sarawak.

70-71], and a Sarawak Hoppo Association

One of the vice-presidents is the Ch'aoanAs

was established later in the same year.

It

Successive presidencies show that elec-

proprietor

For example, the most recent

of

the

Sarawak

Transport

would be wrong to view the emergence ofCompany, information about whom hasthese minor associations merely as adding

been given in the above section.

extra numbers to the 100-odd associations

vice-president is a

registered.

businessman

On the contrary, it providesm

The othersmall Tapu Hakka

Sibu.

The

secretary-clear evidence of social mobility in the rural

general is a local born Ch'aoan lawyer,

Hakka community, especially III thedominant Chai clan along the main roads

a graduate of Lincoln's Inn, who issecretary-general of S UPP as well. The

It istreasurer is the president of the newly

from Kuching to Bau and Serian.

also interesting to note that among the 26

emerged Hoppo Hakka Association.

officers elected in Kuching, 12 have therest of the executive board represent othersurname 'Chai' [ibid.: 70], a fact which

dialect

reveals how large a diversification andadopted during the past few years, it seems

urbanization these once almost exclusively

that stress has always been laid on therural Hakkas have achieved.

welfare of the whole community.

Finally, there is the case of the reorganization

of

the

Chamber of Commerce.

Sarawak

ChineseSince 1946, thisgroups.

From

the

The

resolutions

Whatevershortcomings there may be, a correct orientation like this will assuredly lead to further
improvement.

leading body had held its annual electionin accordance with the rule of allocatingprestige according to the amount of financial
resources accumulated and the number ofproteges collected.
286

The old faces had been

Summary and Conclusion
During the past 30 years, the Chinese
community in Sarawak has

undergone

T'lEN J. K.: The Chinese of Sarawak

a tremendous change.

The whole process

can be seen in the life stories of some of theleading towkays--from rickshaw pullingto motorcar dealings and from a very
narrow localized interest to the welfare of
the country in which they have settled.
This initial analysis of the social development of the Chinese community in Sarawak,
though inadequate III many respects, may
perhaps serveasastarting

point

for

consideration and further detailed analysis
by social scientists and others.

To theauthor it seems that the last two decades
have indeed seen the realization of theearnest wish he hadIII1948 when hewrote: "Only by giving the immigrantsachancetodevelop

a

stake

III

the

country--can one begin to create a new
set of circumstances which will make itpossible for the immigrant community todevelop a new set of sentiments towards theland of their adoption" [T'ien Ju-K'ang
1980: 88].
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