page_title: Sibu
section_title: Chinese Foochow settlement
hierarchical_section_title: Sibu / History / Chinese Foochow settlement
caption_attribution_description: English: Wong Nai-siong in around 1911 Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄: Uòng Nāi-siòng diŏh 1911 nièng cō̤-êu 中文: 黄乃裳在1911年前后
context_page_description: Sibu is an inland town in the central region of Sarawak. It is the capital of Sibu District in Sibu Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The town is located on the island of Borneo and covers an area of 129.5 square kilometres. It is located at the confluence of the Rajang and Igan Rivers, some 60 kilometres from the South China Sea and approximately 191.5 kilometres north-east of the state capital Kuching. Sibu is mainly populated by people of Chinese descent, mainly from Fuzhou. Other ethnic groups such as Melanau, Malay, and Iban are also present, but unlike other regions of Sarawak, they are not as significant. The town population as of 2010 is 162,676.
  Sibu was founded by James Brooke in 1862 when he built a fort in the town to fend off attacks by the indigenous Dayak people. Following this, a small group of Chinese Hokkien people settled around the fort to carry out business activities safely in the town. In 1901, Wong Nai Siong led a large scale migration of 1,118 Foochow Chinese people from Fujian, China into Sibu. The first hospital in Sibu, as well as the Sibu bazaars, were built by the Brooke government.
context_section_description: Wong Nai Siong, a Christian scholar from Gutian County, Fujian, China, learnt about Sarawak and the White Rajahs through his son-in-law, Dr Lim Boon Keng. Disillusioned with the Qing Dynasty's heavyhanded approach against the Boxer Rebellion, where Chinese Christians were specially targeted for murder, Wong decided to search for a new settlement overseas, focusing on areas in South East Asia. Before arriving in Sarawak, Wong had looked for other areas in Malaya and Indonesia to settle, albeit unsuccessfully.
  Wong got an approval from Charles Brooke to look for a new settlement in the Rajang basin. In April 1900, Wong travelled 13 days up the Rajang River before he decided to choose Sibu as the new settlement for his Foochow clansmen, due the area near Rajang delta being suitable for growing crops. An agreement was signed on 9 July 1900 between Wong Nai Siong and the Brooke government in Kuching to allow Chinese settlers into the area.
  On 21 January 1901, the first batch of 72 settlers arrived at Sibu and settled at the Sungai Merah area, about 6 km from the town of Sibu. On 16 March 1901, the second batch of 535 settlers arrived - the day that they settled is now known as "New Foochow Resettlement Day". In June 1901, a final batch of 511 settlers arrived in Sibu, which brought the total number of Foochow settlers to 1,118. Wong Nai Siong was appointed as "Kang Choo" (港主, "port master") for the Foochow settlement in Sibu. The settlers planted sweet potatoes, fruits, sugar cane, vegetables, and coarse grains at high grounds and rice in wetlands. Following their work in Sibu, most settlers choose to stay and called the place their new home. Together with an American pastor, Reverend James Matthew Hoover, Wong became involved in the building of schools and churches in Sibu, including the Methodist church in 1902 and Ying Hua Methodist school at Sungai Merah in 1903. From 1903 to 1935, James Hoover helped to build 41 churches and 40 schools in Sibu. Between 1902 and 1917, 676 Cantonese people arrived in Sibu.
  In 1904, Wong opposed the sale of opium and the building of a casino in the Sibu area, proposed by the Brooke government. He was later expelled by the Sarawak government due to a failure to repay debt. Wong and his family left Sibu in July 1904. Rev. James Hoover took over Wong's role of managing the Sibu settlement and introduced the first rubber seedlings to Sibu in 1904. He built a Methodist church in 1905, which was later renamed to Masland Methodist church in 1925. Hoover stayed at the Rajang basin for another 31 years until his death from malaria in 1935 at the Kuching General Hospital. The construction of Lau King Howe Hospital was completed in 1936 to accommodate the growing population of Sibu. The hospital served the people of Sibu for 58 years until 1994 when a new hospital was constructed in Sibu.
  By 1919, the influence of Chinese Civil War had spread to Sarawak when the Kuomintang set up its first branches in Sibu and Kuching. The Rajah at the time, Charles Brooke opposed such political activity by the local Chinese and had expelled several local Kuomintang leaders. However, his son, Charles Vyner Brooke, was more receptive of such activities by the local Chinese people, who had also participated in a donation drive to aid the Kuomintang in its fight against Japanese invasion on the Chinese mainland. After World War II ended, local Kuomintang leaders supported the cessation of Sarawak to the British as a Crown Colony, which was met with opposition from the local communist leaders. Clashes between the communists and Kuomintang supporters were common. The Kuomintang branches in Sarawak were finally dissolved in 1949 when the party lost the Chinese Civil War to the Communist Party and retreated to Taiwan. However, clashes between the both sides continued until 1955 when the Kuomintang's newspaper was banned by the colonial British government in May 1951; while the communists' newspaper ceased to exist in 1955 due to financial difficulties.
caption: Wong Nai Siong brought 1,118 Foochow Chinese into Sibu in 1901.
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