Being British in Malaya, 1890–1940

Beefeaters, British History and the Empire in Asia and Australasia since 1826

“…Conferences, holidays, and state ceremonies exposed residents to the symbolism of the British Empire. 65 But she does provide significant evidence of a failure by local people to engage fully. In 1887, William Evans, the collector of land revenue in Malacca was appalled when local people refused to sign a congratulatory address to Queen Victoria on the occasion of her golden jubilee and elsewhere, in Perak, participation in the jubilee events linked residents more to their Malay or Chinese roots.…”

Discipline and delegation: colonial governance in Malayan towns, 1880–1930

“…They were willing to toast the king and celebrate Empire Day, identifying themselves as British subjects. 52 Many men and women of middling status saw advantages in British control of the region. Of course, this did not block their continued loyalty to kinsmen, religious authorities, Malay sovereigns or the Chinese government.…”

The Development of British Commercial and Political Networks in the Straits Settlements 1800 to 1868: The Rise of a Colonial and Regional Economic Identity?

“…Lynn Hollen Lees shows that this mixture of British racist rejection, fear of, and economic dependence upon the Chinese, influenced the development of a wider sense of British identity in the Straits and of what became British Malaya. 50 In order to prosper in the multi-ethnic environment of the Straits Settlements, intermediary entrepreneurial ethnic groups such as the Chinese had to make themselves acceptable to different communities; effectively 'switching identity' in order to do business. 51 Lees argues that in time, this developed into a 'two-tier' notion of 'Britishness' in Malaya: a version based on strict racial and cultural separateness held by the white British elite, and another based upon a more egalitarian notion of the 'British subject' encompassing all those under imperial rule and contributing to the benefits of empire.…”