Sources, Agencies and Manifestations of Oversea Chinese Nationalism in Malaya, 1937-1947

Sources, Agencies and Manifestations of Oversea Chinese Nationalism in Malaya, 1937-1947 highlighting the political, social and economic backgrounds of the development of overseas Chinese nationalism in Malaya before the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese war in 1937. Various milestones such as the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), the May 4th Incident (1919) and the Mukden Incident (1931) are highlighted. It goes on to examine the organisational infrastructure created by the Hua-chiao in Malaya before and after 1937 for the mobilisation of their national salvation movement against Japan. This book also emphasized the China’s rise as a political and economic powerhouse after its long and arduous struggle against Western and Japanese imperialism. The vast majority of Malaysian Chinese are descendants of Chinese immigrants who migrated here in the 19th and early 20th century. Although many factors caused them to migrate to Malaya, the most cogent was to seek livelihood opportunities that did not exist in China.

Their homeland was engulfed in a period of political, economic and social upheaval caused by rebellion, corruption, unemployment, famine and opium addiction. However, even as they were forced to leave, the Chinese migrants did not cease to maintain emotional ties with their motherland. In this context, they regarded themselves as Overseas Chinese nationals (Hua-ch’iao or Chinese sojourners abroad). Their sense of belonging to China became the paradigm that shaped their political imagination, loyalty and devotion. Events and developments in China could quickly cause jollification or apprehension among them. Such a political construct was complemented by the fact that the host-authorities in Malaya (the British Colonial Administration) did not regard the Chinese labour migrants as its subjects.