If all the Chinese were to leave the country tomorrow, Malaysia will be in deep

harizs

Cheers to Chinese contribution to Malaysia’s growth

Article by A. Kathirasen -January 28, 2020 7:00 AM
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I was glad to receive and watch a number of video clips of people singing the Chinese New Year song that we are so familiar with, or playing the tune on musical instruments. What’s so special about these? The people in the clips were from various Malaysian races or just Indians or Malays. There was also a clip showing a young Malay girl beating the drums for a lion dance.

I wish to thank those who shared it with me. This is the way to not only spread the joy of the celebration but also enhance racial harmony. The non-Chinese who made these clips and participated in them certainly deserve our praise.

The number of Malays who have come forward to wish the Chinese well should persuade the Chinese, and others, that only a few small-minded people consider them “pendatang” and that most Malays are wonderfully hospitable and friendly.



The Chinese New Year, I think, is a good time to remember the contributions of the Chinese community to the nation.

They came from China, many with hardly any money, to Malaya to mainly work in the tin mines in the 1800s and 1900s. It is a tribute to their dexterity and backbreaking work that they prospered, with some building fortunes for their descendants.

Tin and rubber are the foundations on which the Malayan, and later Malaysian, economy and progress were built. In fact, most of our towns and infrastructure, such as roads and railways, were built with tin and rubber money.

While Indians worked in the rubber estates, the Chinese worked in the mines.

In the very early days when there were no dredges, these miners had to dig the earth and descend about 25 to 30 metres on rough wooden ladders to mine tin ore. How many of us, sitting in comfortable air-conditioned houses today, have the ability, persistence or courage to do something like this?

Many of our major cities and towns were built around mines, with Kuala Lumpur as the classic example. Other well-known towns that tin mining built include Ipoh and Taiping in Perak and Bentong in Pahang.


Take Kuala Lumpur. Frank Swettenham, the first resident-general of the Federated Malay States who wrote extensively about Malaya, said that in 1872 Kuala Lumpur was “purely a Chinese village, consisting of two rows of adobe-built dwellings, thatched with palm leaves”.

Many Chinese played a role in its development, including the first Kapitan China Hui Siew and the better-known Yap Ah Loy, the third Kapitan China. I don’t have to say much about Yap Ah Loy, as everyone who has read Malaysian history should know about him.

Another big name is Loke Yew, whose mining activities gave rise to Bentong. He started his first mine in Kamunting, Taiping, but went on to establish mines in other parts of Perak and in Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Pahang. He planted rubber and coffee and brought in some of the first cars in the country. In fact, the first motor car to travel in Pahang belonged to Loke Yew who drove it along the Tras-Bentong road, which he built, in 1900.

There were many other towkays who slogged to build their fortunes and in the process help build the country. They include Kapitan Chung Ah Quee and his son Kapitan Chung Thye Phin, who are better known in Perak and Penang.

Thye Phin was a Perak State Council member in the 1900s. In fact, he is probably one of the earliest persons to ask the British, at a State Council meeting, to publish all enactments in the languages spoken in the country, not just in English.

There were others too, such as Foo Choo Choon known as the tin king of Perak and reputed to be the richest Chinese in the world then.

Sure, they brought along their secret societies and triads, and their clan fights, to Malaya’s mines. But the Chinese, as a community, have matured. We no longer hear of secret society clashes or of, say, deadly fights between Hokkiens and Teochews, as happened in the past.

The Chinese also contributed to the growth of the rubber industry, led by such luminaries as Lee Kong Chian of the famous Lee Rubber group, and Tan Kah Kee. Many Chinese entrepreneurs owned rubber estates, and some still do today.

They also played, and continue to play, a key role in the palm oil industry. Names such as Ngan Chin Wen, Lee Loy Seng, Lee Shin Cheng and Lam Soon will be familiar to businessmen and those in the oil palm industry.

But the Chinese have contributed in other areas too, including education, sports and the arts. And we are, of course, familiar with the immense contribution of politicians such as Tan Cheng Lock, H S Lee, Tan Siew Sin and Lim Chong Eu.

Today, too, the Chinese continue to play a major role in the development of the nation, especially its economy. If all the Chinese were to leave the country tomorrow, Malaysia will be in deep trouble as many of the businesses are run by them and most of the government’s tax revenue comes from them. All government servants should bear this in mind, as should others, especially those who tell the Chinese to leave if they are not happy in Malaysia.

But it is not just the Chinese who have contributed to the nation’s peace and prosperity: Malaysians of all races and religious faiths have done so. If we remember this, we can learn to live in harmony.

As first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman used to say, this is a beautiful country. And if I may add: there is ample place for all of us here. We just have to learn to accept each other’s ways, enjoy the commonalities and respect the differences. Unity in diversity should be the watchword.

Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.


https://www.freemalaysiatoday.co ... MmYyTIdg4-MSKWeKcLA

Buritan

Merajuk la plk

Bedah.Cun

Gi mamposlah mxm la msia neh kayacurrency tahap jepon pon masa kaw ada

harizs

dipersilakan balik ke negara yg ada byk virus tu...

KIM.K

Nipu biggest taxpayer

kabukiman

Aku Tak paham apsal penulis so karthigesan ni Tak di dakwa bawah akta hasutan.

People are just minding their daily business, enjoy the lunar New year festivities as they see fit (terutama sekali non Chinese).

Datang beruk pundek SiAL ni, bawak propa nak kasi momentum kpd sentiment perkauman.


What.

The.

Fucking.

Fuck.



SiAL.

Meiizu

tak abis2 claim depa paling byk bayar tax, lhdn takpenah (tak sanggup sebenarnya malay kahkahkah) kluarkan data pun. perasan! pegilah balik oiiiiii ... kami hepi2 jaaa ampa takdak

cmf_almondpecan

Tanpa ambil kira tepat atau tidak statement yang dibuat pasal tax tu, setiap komuniti termasuk masyarakat berketurunan Cina warga Malaysia memang telah banyak menyumbang kepada pembangunan negara. Bukan sahaja warga Malaysia, malah warga asing yang bekerja di Malaysia juga banyak sumbang mereka seperti tenaga kerja dari Indonesia dan Bangladesh misalnya. Terima kasih kepada semua yang telah membangunkan negara.

dudaberhias

Ni la masalahnya bila negara totally bergantung kepada satu negara. Tapi itu la, rakyat china merupakan pembayar tax terbesar sebabnya kebanyakan syarikat adalah milik mereka. Oppo, vivo, huawei semua tu. Syarikat besar2 pulak tu.

Jakel yang besar tu pun ambil kain dari China jadi china adalah sumber income mereka.

Susah sangat kalau jadi macamni

Buritan

KIM.K replied at 28-1-2020 12:50 PM
Nipu biggest taxpayer

Kann.. totap mulayu jugak yg plg tinggi

damsel_fiji

dudaberhias replied at 28-1-2020 01:00 PM
Ni la masalahnya bila negara totally bergantung kepada satu negara. Tapi itu la, rakyat china merupa ...

yg dimaksudkan dalam artikel ni chinese malaysian rasanya sister

shida81

ini pandai2 la gomen handle .. ko mkn gj puluh2 ribu x kan x boleh pikir luar kotak...

orgsepang

Kalau negara dilanda bencana kaum inilah yang paling ramai pergi, sama macam mereka meninggalkan negara asal demi kepentingan diri. Akak rasa walaupun negara ini kurang maju tapi lebih bagus sebab tidak dijarah secara rakus.

haruslah

betul
internet pon bleh down kalau cina balik mainland
jgn memain oiii
sigh

annehuda

iyolah tu org cina gigih berniaga, tapi yg consumer terbesar tu sape kalau bkn melayu? tu yg gigih kan non-muslim punye produk berebut pakai tulisan jawi sbb nk lakukan produk.

brand cosmoderm milik melayu, brand safi tu non-malay yg punye. mana lagi nampak melayu pd mata korg? tang ni tak malu plak

ang_bess

Perasan nyer la chinkies..malaysia ni makmur dan maju sebab minyak jer..mainly terengganu, sabah n sarawak. Kestabilan yg di bwak kerajaan terdahulu yg mbawak ramai Pelabur yakin dan masuk melabur. Thailand, vietnam indon banyak jer chinkies.. x maju pun. Silap2 kalau korang kluar malaysia boleh jadi macam brunai. Semua melayu dapat benefit macam brunei. Xperlu share banyak2

dudaberhias

damsel_fiji replied at 28-1-2020 01:15 PM
yg dimaksudkan dalam artikel ni chinese malaysian rasanya sister

entah lah.. tapi susah betul bila negara bergantung pada satu negara lain
eco tu pun barang2 china... mr diy pun barang2 china... kalau sekat... rakyat pulak susah

dino

berangan la hahs

pokaibanktokyo

Ethnic chinese are maids in malay homes. Ethnic indians are gardeners at malay houses