AS any attempt to chronicle the rise and progress of
British influence in Malaya must necessarily deal first with the Crown Colony
in felicitously styled the Straits Settlements, so the record closes on the
original point of departure. The colony already had many years of life, under
greatly varying conditions, and an interesting history behind it when
circumstances drove the British Government to consent to an extension of
British control to a region till then unknown to the western world. The English
character and special aptitude for solving difficult administrative problems
has wrought something like a miracle in the Federated Malay States, and the
inquirer will naturally ask what was the effect of this sudden development of
the Malay States on a neighbour so close and so intimately connected with them.
The territory of this friendly rival may be said to lie
wholly between Pinang and Singapore ; it has grown in thirty years from
practically nothing to a position of prosperity which places it ahead of all
British Crown Colonies ; it has developed an annual trade of thirteen millions
sterling, the whole of which passes through the colony ;
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FUTURE OF BRITISH MALAYA Page 331
its population has advanced from under 300,000 to over
800,000 ; and the colony supplied from its own service some of the men on whom
fell the burden of devising the system of administration which is responsible
for the results obtained. These circumstances were certain to have a profound
effect, and it is pertinent to ask whether the rise of the Malay States has
injured or benefited the British possessions, and in what way.
The answer is that the colony has gained enormously and in
every respect by the development of the hinterland. The effect of Malay
expansion and the measure of the colony's gain can be judged by the following
figures, showing the revenue, expenditure, and trade of the colony from the
first full year of its existence as such, and then, at intervals of five years,
from the commencement of the residential experiment.
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The first complete year under colonial regime was 1868, and
by 1874, the year of the appointment of British Residents in the Protected
States, the revenue of the colony had increased $150,000 in round numbers. But
in the very next year (1875), the first full year of the working of the new
experiment, the colony's revenue went up $80,000, and for the next three
quinquennial periods there were substantial advances. The remarkable increase
in 1904 was obtained by a revision of the conditions on which the excise farms
were leased for a new period of three years ; but in comparing the revenue
returns of the Straits with those given for the Federation in chapter XII, the
reader must bear in mind that the Malay States were answering to the spur of
heavy expenditure on works designed to develop their rich resources, while the
colony had settled down into its stride after eighty years or more of British
government. Without an alteration in the basis of taxation the only causes
likely to affect the colonial revenue will be a greater volume of trade and a
larger population. The trade returns are certainly remarkable, even when due
allowance is made for the constant depreciation in the gold value of the silver
dollar. In the seven years from 1868 to 1875 the dollar value of trade rose
from 80 to 125 millions, but for the three last periods of five years and the
final period of four years the figures are 275, 371, 576, and 710 millions
respectively. The last-named amount was equal to about 71 millions sterling,
and nearly one-fifth of it represents the value of real imports into and real
exports from the Federated Malay States, for the trade of the colony is in the
main a passing trade. The dollar value of the trade of the Malay Protectorate
in 1905 was therefore more than equal to the dollar value of the entire trade
of the colony in 1875, and the handling of such a volume of imports and exports
must mean employment and profit to a large number of Straits people of all
classes and nationalities.
FUTURE OF BRITISH MALAYA Page 333
It may fairly be claimed that the issue of notes by the
Straits Government is due to the Malay States, and the face value of the notes
in circulation in 1904 exceeded 17 million dollars. The northern settlement
(Pinang and Province Wellesley) has, since 1900, been connected by railway with
the Protected States, and, as the direct result of the impetus thus given to
trade, large smelting works have been built in Province Wellesley, and an iron
pier for ocean-going steamers has been constructed in Pinang. Similarly the
fact that Singapore possesses the largest tin-smelting works in the world is
due to the development of the Malay States. An American attempt to transfer
this tin-smelting to American soil, and so obtain, in time, complete control of
Malay tin production, was frustrated by imposing a prohibitive duty on the
export of tin ore and giving an equivalent rebate on all ore smelted in the
Straits Colony, Thirty years ago the European community of Singapore decided
that a railway across the island must be immediately constructed, but there is
something in the atmosphere of the place which raises objectors to every large
scheme of improvement, even after the details have been practically settled.
There is no other means of satisfactorily explaining the fact that this railway
was only begun and completed within the last few years. The trade of Singapore
has grown so rapidly that the Singapore River will no longer accommodate the
immense number of cargo boats engaged in serving that portion of the shipping which
makes use of the roads, or in conveying cargo by sea to and from the wharves at
Tanjong Pagar and Keppel Harbour. After taking local evidence and consulting
the most experienced harbour engineers, a scheme was adopted for providing
Singapore with a protected harbour 1300 acres in extent, with a long quay wall
for the accommodation of coasting steamers, and a reclamation that would in
time have paid almost the entire cost of the work. Just when it appeared
certain
Page 334 BRITISH MALAYA
that Singapore had satisfactorily solved the urgent question
of finding shelter for the traffic and lying-in of cargo boats, but was also to
secure protection and free wharfage for its considerable fleet of coasting
steamers by a scheme that would pay for itself by the sale of reclaimed land,
the usual objectors came forward to denounce the engineer's proposals as
extravagant and needless, and if the Government adheres to its decision to
carry out the work, or any modification of it, a great deal of valuable time
has already been lost. If Singapore is to maintain its position as the premier
port and market in the Archipelago it must keep abreast of modern requirements,
and so improve the docks and harbour that it need fear no competitors. The town
of Singapore now contains 250,000 inhabitants, and careful people have
expressed the opinion that, with the continued development of the Malay States
and the natural advance of a place so favourably situated, these numbers will
in time reach a million. It is therefore necessary to look well ahead, to
calculate the effect of present and future railway extensions, and not merely
to apply a temporary remedy to relieve an ailment which is not the result of
infirmity or decay, but the natural growth of a vigorous constitution.
Quite recently the Government wisely decided to take over
the great wharf and dock establishment of the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company, and
to spend the large sum necessary to extend the premises to meet the urgent
requirements of the port. It is, however, difficult to understand the method
adopted by the Colonial Office for determining the price to be paid to the
Company, or to justify the heavy costs which will be thrown upon the colony by
this policy .1
1 Since
writing the above the award of the Umpire in the Tanjong Pagar Dock Arbitration
has been made public. According to replies given by the Under-Secretary of
State for the Colonies in the House of Commons, the effect is that the Straits
Settlements has to pay about £3,319,000
to the Dock Company. The colony has also to pay the costs of arbitration which,
FUTURE OF BRITISH MALAYA Page 335
It is certain that the prosperity of the Straits Colony is
due to three factors: (1) The geographical positions of Singapore and Pinang
and the facilities afforded for the coaling, watering, and repair of ships ;
(2) the fact that all the ports of the colony are free; (3) the development of
the
though not stated, are
estimated to exceed £40,000, but that estimate is not authoritative. The award
works out, at the present 2s. 4d. dollar, to $755 per share of $100 ; but when
the Government elected to go to arbitration the dollar was worth less than 2s.,
and the award is, therefore, equal to $880 per share. Before notice of
expropriation had been given to the company the Government of the Federated
Malay States purchased about 3000 shares at prices varying from $315 to $350,
and the latter figure may be taken as the market price at that time, though the
Under-Secretary stated in the House of Commons that, after notice had been
given, the shares were for a short time quoted at $240, and it is difficult to
understand why the Government did not buy every share they could get at that
price. The Government, with the fullest knowledge of all the facts, appear to
have made an offer of $240 a share to the Company, and state that this was met
by a demand for $700 a share. No effort was made to settle the matter by
amicable arrangement, but the Colonial Office decided to go to arbitration,
with the result stated. The shares were quoted in Singapore on 21 June at $485
(sales), and the award was not known till 14 July. There is good reason to
believe that there would have been no difficulty in coming to terms with the
Company without arbitration, and that the colony---which has to pay both the
award and the costs of arbitration---would have been saved about ;if £1,750,000
--- a large sum for a place with a total annual revenue of half that amount.
Comment is needless ; but as it will cost about £1,500,000 to put the docks in
thorough order and provide the extra wharfage required by the needs of the
place, this note is added to qualify my statement that it was right for the
Government to acquire the property and spend a sum which the company could not
afford to put the undertaking on a thoroughly satisfactory footing. It would
have been to the interest of the colony to have acquired the docks by
guaranteeing 12 per cent interest on the nominal value of the issued shares, or
by paying up to $400 or even $500 a share at a time when the sterling value of
the dollar did not exceed 2S. To pay double that price, when the cost runs into
millions, is a different thing, and how the Government is going to saddle the
undertaking with the interest on the capital they must now borrow to pay the
award and carry out the improvements (it will exceed £5,000,000) and still make
the business a financial success, without raising the dock charges, is a
problem which can only be solved by the "experts" who deliberately
sought arbitration in preference to an amicable arrangement, which, besides
being far cheaper, would have saved much bitter feeling and all the heavy
expenses. Moreover, the Government fixed the sterling value of the Straits
dollar at 2s. 4d. , with this award hanging over their heads, when the dollar
had for seven years been worth 2s. or less, and for about six months had, for
not very evident reasons, risen above that figure.
Page 336 BRITISH MALAYA
Malay hinterland. To maintain the advantages hitherto
enjoyed it is necessary to spare no trouble or expense to attract shipping by
offering every convenience which modern trade requirements can reasonably
expect. That the ports of the colony should continue to be free is obvious,
and, so far as the colony can exercise any influence in the matter, the further
development of the Malay Peninsula is of immense importance. In the early years
of the Malay revival much of the success gained was due to the assistance
rendered by coasting steamers owned in Singapore and Pinang, and a considerable
fleet of small boats has been built and devoted to this service, to the mutual
benefit of the owners and the States whose needs they served. The Malay
railways are the property of the Malay Government, and, when the trunk line
reaches Johore, there must be competition between it and the coasting steamers
for the carriage of passengers and goods, but it will be a mistake if the
railway is regarded as a commercial undertaking worked with the intention of
making large profits as a first object. What might appear to be the gain of the
railway as a dividend-earning investment, would probably result in damage to
the Malay coast ports and all the surrounding country which has no railway
service. It has been one of the features of the Malay Administration to
encourage the growth of small towns all over the States, at district centres on
the coast as well as inland. If the coasting steamers found it no longer
profitable to call at these places, the welfare of the planting and fishing
industries on the coast could hardly fail to suffer. There are on the west
coast many rivers navigable to small steamers, and all of them fall into the
sheltered waters of the Straits of Malacca. On the east coast it is different ;
the mouth of every river is barred by sandbanks, and during the north-east
monsoon there are heavy breakers right along the coast. At one place only,
Kuantan in Pahang, the conditions are rather more favour-
FUTURE OF BRITISH MALAYA Page 337
able, and there it would be possible to provide protection
at a moderate cost. The advantage of having such a port is manifest, and as the
Federated States have plenty of funds, and the project has been under
consideration for some years, the necessary works will probably be undertaken
shortly.
The interests of the colony and the Malay States are not
identical on every subject ; for instance, the colony's currency, --- the
Straits dollar, the subsidiary silver and copper coinage, and the Government
currency notes ---constitutes the only legal tender in the Federation. It has
recently been decided that the gold value of the Straits dollar shall be two
shillings and fourpence. Until within the last few months, the exchange value
of this coin has, for many years, been only two shillings or less. It is clear
that a two-shilling dollar would be much more agreeable to the miner and
planter of the Peninsula than a dollar with a sterling value so high as two
shillings and fourpence. The colony, however, produces practically nothing for
export to gold-using countries, but it is a considerable advantage to all
property-owners, bankers, and others who have money invested in business in the
colony, to find that the dollar, so long worth only two shillings, has appreciated
by over 16 per cent. Still speaking generally, the interests of the colony and
the Protectorate are so nearly at one that they must stand or fall together,
and neither can afford to adopt a policy which would seriously damage the
other. In one respect the Malay States have an advantage : they are not open to
the direct attack of an enemy, because no very large vessel can safely get to
the shore at any point on the Malay coast. No enemy would find the railway of
much use to him, for it would be easy to make it impassable, either by
defending a given point or by destroying a bridge, and any attacking troops or
blue jackets who landed and penetrated to any considerable place in the
Page 338 BRITISH MALAYA
interior would have a poor chance of returning. The Malay
States fully recognize that their own position of comparative safety does not
entirely safeguard their interests or cover their obligations, and they are
therefore prepared to assist in the defence of Singapore should it ever be in
danger of attack from an enemy of the Imperial Government.
It may seem strange that, in an account of the results of a
policy which owes its initiative to a Secretary of State for the Colonies, so
little reference has been made to the Colonial Office. The explanation is
simple if the reader remembers that the instructions from Downing Street were
that the functions of the Resident were to be confined to the giving of
influential and responsible advice. Having laid down that policy the Colonial
Office could not well interfere, and, beyond the fact that the Secretary of
State kept in his own hands the appointment of the Residents, he was satisfied
to hear from the Governor that unexpected success was attending the new
experiment, and to read in the annual reports of the Residents the details of
the gradual evolution of a scheme of administration the efficiency of which was
proved by the results. If the advisers were exceeding their functions there was
no reason to complain, so long as every one concerned appeared to be satisfied
and the States found means to meet all their liabilities. The terms of
Federation empowered a British officer, the Resident-General, to exercise a
very large control over the protected States, and from that date (1896) the
Colonial Office has, in some important matters, made its authority felt.
Reference has already been made to the construction and control of railways,
and the relations of the Crown Agents and consulting engineers to the Federated
Malay States in regard to these matters. Speaking broadly, the Colonial Office
confines its interference to questions dealing with the appointment, promotion,
and salaries of European officers selected for service in the Malay States. The
whole
FUTURE OF BRITISH MALAYA Page 339
scheme for the reorganization of the various branches of the
Government service and for the payment of salaries in sterling was submitted
to, and received the approval of, the Secretary of State. There were two very
excellent reasons why this should be so : first, because the salaries of all
European officers in the Straits service were similarly revised at the same
time, and were also placed on a sterling basis ; and, secondly, because it was
then laid down that the officers in both services should be interchangeable,
and that all of them should thus be granted the benefits of a wider field of
employment and promotion. All the members of the covenanted services of the
colony and Federated States are now selected after competitive examination by
the Civil Service Commissioners. One examination is held for admission to the
Home, the Indian, the Malay, and the Eastern Colonial Services (the last
include Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, and Hong Kong), the papers for all
candidates are the same, and successful competitors are posted to the various
services in the order in which they pass the examination. The test is a severe
one, and, if it is admitted that competitive examination is the best means of
recruiting the Government services in these places, no exception can possibly
be taken to the present system; but, having regard to the special circumstances
of the Malay States, (which are not British possessions) it is probable that
the most satisfactory method of filling vacancies in that service would be by
nomination, followed by competitive examination, at fixed annual periods,
amongst those nominated. The conditions as to age, etc., and the scheme of
examination should remain as at present, but if all competitors had first to
receive a nomination from a responsible authority, say the Secretary of State
or the High Commissioner, there would be less chance of the appointment of any
one who was really unfitted to hold a Government Office in the Malay States.
Page 340 BRITISH MALAYA
What are known as the Colonial Office Regulations are
supposed to have force in the Malay States, though it might be hard to find any
sufficient authority for their observance. These regulations were framed many
years ago, and though occasionally revised in some details, they are expected
to apply equally well to places so different as Ceylon, Malta, British
Honduras, and Sierra Leone. It is not necessary to criticize them further than
to say that the Governor of a colony with a population of several millions and
a revenue of millions sterling cannot grant a week's leave to a clerk without
consulting his Executive Council, and cannot sanction the unforeseen
expenditure of sixty pounds without obtaining the sanction of the unofficial
members of the Legislative Council, The Federated Malay States have no
constitution of the Crown Colony type, and, therefore, they have been able to
spend their funds without these restrictions, to the great benefit of the
country. The Crown Colonies are, of course, on a different footing, but it is
probable that amended regulations could be framed for the important colonies
which, while providing all necessary safeguards, would give greater liberty of
action and better results. It is perhaps curious that Great Britain, with so
many colonies in different parts of the world, has never adopted any system,
such as that which obtains in the French colonies, by which the best methods of
administration are carried from one colony to the other by one or two
inspecting officers, who periodically visit the colonies and advise the
Governors and heads of departments as to the introduction of reforms. Such men,
of high standing, liberal views, and large experience, would become most
valuable advisers to the Secretary of State and his assistants, and would
supply the necessary link between the most distant dependencies and the
controlling authority in the Mother Country.
There is one subject which touches the distant worker
FUTURE OF BRITISH MALAYA Page 341
more nearly than is perhaps realized ; it is the great value
which these exiled servants of the King attach to the dispensation of honours.
After all, it is not unnatural that a man should highly prize this public
recognition of good service, and when he spends all the best years of his life
thousands of miles from his country, his home, and his friends, often in an
unhealthy climate, always deprived of many things which make for happiness, he
is apt to feel some bitterness when he sees that others, with less effort and
less reason, have gained some coveted distinction denied to him. There is no
need to discuss the feeling or how far it is worthy ; it is there, and not less
strong if seldom expressed. To men who unite character with the acknowledged
performance of great services, the best reward is the consciousness that they
have made life better for others, have accomplished something that will last,
that will bear good fruit long after they have passed. To these the failure to
obtain this kind of recognition means less ; but even they cannot altogether
avoid some heart-sickness when others, with less claim, obtain the public
recognition which never comes to them. If there were no dispensation of honours
for services such as these, there would be no feeling of bitterness. If such
distinction were only conferred for great and special services, no reasonable
man could complain. The soreness and the sense of neglect, possibly even some
jealousy, are caused by what looks like the uneven distribution of loaves and
fishes. It is no doubt difficult to decide between the merits of those whose
names are, for various reasons, put forward for recognition, and others who
have lived their lives out of sight and hearing, on the frontiers of the
Empire, striving earnestly to better the lot of an alien and unattractive race.
So many of England's sons, no better and no worse than others, but still men
whose whole hearts are in their work, who give everything they have to drive
the littlest of the wheels of State, proud of
Page 342 BRITISH MALAYA
their opportunity and determined to make the most of it, so
many of these die exiled, unhonoured and unknown, and lie buried thousands of
miles from kith and kin, without ever tasting most of the pleasures which
others will not sacrifice, that one is fain to wonder whether the Colonial
Office ear is sometimes deafened to distant murmurs by the importunate cries of
those at the door.
Compared with large questions of public policy and the
common weal, a plea for the recognition of individual merit sounds trifling.
But is it so ? We know that the best ships and the best guns are useless
without the right men to handle them, and that is the case in the equally
exacting, if far less exciting life of the exiled civilian. The country does
not want eye service and lip service --- just enough to satisfy outward seeming
; it asks for all his time and zeal and ability, and to get it the servant
should feel that good work will be rewarded.
The facts already recorded lead unmistakably to the
conclusion that the future of the Straits colony depends upon the observance of
principles which have brought it to its present position of prosperity, and
that is even more true in the case of the Malay States. Free trade and
facilities for shipping are necessary to the expansion of the colony, which is
essentially a place of business, a market, a port of call, the Clapham Junction
of the Eastern seas. The future prosperity of the Malay States depends upon a
continuance of that special sympathy and consideration for Malays which those
who were entrusted with their fortunes in the past insisted upon as a duty and
came to regard as a pleasure. There must be even justice for all, a liberal
land policy, the encouragement of immigration, especially from Southern India
and China, the expenditure of public funds on great and carefully considered
works of development and public utility. Lastly, the high standard of the
public service must be maintained, the right class of man must be attracted to
give his life and
FUTURE OF BRITISH MALAYA Page 343
energies to an administrative task of profound interest, and
the Government must continue to insist that its servants learn the languages of
those whose affairs are placed in their keeping, must consult their interests
first, and always remember that "they are there for the benefit of the
people of the country."
Only a few months ago there died in Perak a man who cannot
be replaced. He was the Raja Muda, the cousin and natural successor of the
Sultan. He cannot be replaced because he was in the prime of life, of fine
character, experienced in all the affairs of State, able, energetic, just and
high-principled, honoured and loved by his countrymen, and deeply respected by
all Europeans who were fortunate enough to know him. It will be necessary to go
to another generation to find a Raja Muda ; the choice is not large, and men of
the type of the late Raja Musa1 are rare. His loss will be keenly
felt by the Sultan of Perak, who himself stands for all that is best in the
Malay ruling class. Sultan Idris has all the qualities possessed by his cousin
with a higher intelligence, a wider experience, and while Raja Musa was shy and
retiring, the Sultan has great charm of manner and is a fluent speaker. The
Sultan is a very earnest Muhammadan, without a trace of bigotry, and he is
recognized as a high authority on questions of Muhammadan law and religion. In
all the Malay States there is no one who, by his authority, influence, and
direct assistance has done so much to promote the success of the new system of
administration as Sultan Idris, on whom the Prince of Wales conferred the Grand
Cross of St. Michael and St. George, when His Royal Highness visited Singapore
on the memorable colonial tour of 1901.
Amongst the Perak chiefs, men with great influence and a
wide authority, there are not a few who have
1 Raja Muda
is the title of the heir apparent ; Musa was the name of the late Raja Muda of
Perak.
Page 344 BRITISH MALAYA
proved their capacity to hold high office. One must be
mentioned, the Dato Sri Adika Raja, I.S.O., the ablest Malay in the four
States, and who in his sphere has been to British officers as loyal and firm a
friend, as valuable an adviser and assistant as the Sultan of Perak, his
master. There are earnest and capable Rajas, loyal and energetic chiefs, in all
the States. It would be wrong to try and name them, for an accidental omission
could not be remedied. It is enough to know that they are there, and the three
I have mentioned suffice to prove that the Malay must not be regarded as a
negligible quantity in his own country. The Sultan of Perak, the late Raja
Musa, and the Dato Sri Adika Raja were in no sense the product of English
education. None of the three ever had any experience of an English school, but
all of them learned much by a keen observation, by a desire to serve their
country, and by a close association with British officers in all that has been
done to bring the Malay States to their present position. A Far Eastern race
which can produce men like these, who, under such circumstances, develop
principles as high as those which guide the best Europeans and strive to live
up to them, is not to be despised or dismissed as useless.
We have learned by long experience, by our own blunders, and
by such success as has attended our venture in Malaya, that when you take the
Malay --- Sultan, Raja, chief, or simple village head-man --- into your
confidence, when you consult him on all questions affecting his country, you
can carry him with you, secure his keen interest and co-operation, and he will
travel quite as fast as is expedient along the path of progress. If, however,
he is neglected and ignored he will resent treatment to which he is not
accustomed and which he is conscious is undeserved. If such a mistake were ever
made (and the Malay is not a person who is always asserting himself, airing
grievances, and clamouring for rights) it would be
FUTURE OF BRITISH MALAYA Page 345
found that the administration had gone too fast, had left
the Malay behind, left him discontented, perhaps offended, and that would mean
trouble and many years of effort to set matters right again.
All is well now, and a reasonable consideration for the
people of the country will keep it well. The danger is that the legitimate
aspirations of a people who are too reserved to complain aloud may be
overlooked. If this record, with its lessons of the past and the experience of
a long and close intimacy with Malays, serve to warn others to avoid that
danger, the purpose of the book is gained.
Time means progress and expansion for all that part of
Malaya which comes under British influence. It will continue to make rough
places smooth and to attract strangers of all colours and nationalities to a
country big with possibilities of great development. But time will not change
the Malay character, or alter the fact that the Malays are " the people of
the country " whose confidence we have gained by making their interests
our first consideration.
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