Description
Book SynopsisDiscusses how Britain replicated the "Singapore model" - the use of imported "industrious" Chinese labour - to other parts of its empire, with varying degrees of success. The transformation of Singapore, founded by Stamford Raffles in 1819, from a trading post to a major centre for international trade was a huge commercial and colonial success for Britain. One key factor in all of this was the recruitment of Chinese migrant labour, which by the 1850s made up over half of the population. The transformation, however, was not limited to Singapore. As this book demonstrates, colonial administrators saw that the "model" of whathad been done in Singapore, especially the use of Chinese migrant labour, could be replicated elsewhere. This book examines the establishment of the "Singapore model" and its transference - to Assam in India, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), Mauritius, Australia and the West Indies. It examines the role of the key people who developed the model, including the Hong Kong merchant houses and their financial expertise, discusses central ideas which lay behind the model, notably free trade and the use of "industrious" Chinese rather than "lazy" natives, and assesses the varying outcomes of the different colonial experiments. The themes discussed - economic opportunities and globalisation; theneed to find labour without recourse to slavery, indentured labour or convict labour; migration, ethnicity and racism - all continue to have great significance at present, as does the idea that Singapore, still, is a model to be replicated more widely. STAN NEAL is Lecturer in Modern British Imperial History at Ulster University.
Trade ReviewThis book's focus on Chinese migrant labor within the British Empire is not only an important contribution to British Empire studies but a fine contribution on the Chinese diaspora as well. Recommended. * CHOICE *
Stan Neal's intriguing, well-researched book should be essential reading for anyone interested in indenture, nineteenth-century Chinese migration, and wider Anglo-Chinese relations. -- Rachel K. Bright * Journal of British Studies *
Table of ContentsIntroduction The Singapore Model The Chinese Character: Race, Economics, Colonization Crossing the Indian Ocean: Chinese Labour in South Asia and Beyond From Singapore to Sydney: Race, Labour and Chinese Migration to Australia Hong Kong Versus Singapore: The Dawn of Mass Migration Conclusion Bibliography Index
