The Straits Philosophical Society & Colonial Elites in Malaya: Selected Papers on Race, Identity and Social Order 1893-1915
Date of publication:
2023
Publisher:
ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Number of pages:
462
Code:
LH29
Soft Cover
ISBN: 9789815011333
Reviews
Reviewed by Carl Vadivella Belle, June 2023. Click here to read the review.
Reviewed by Azly Rahman in the Eurasia Review. Click here to read the review.
Reviewed by Loh Wei Leng in The Sun ipaper, 27 March 2023. Click here to read the review.
Reviewed by Azly Rahman in the The Edge Malaysia. Click here to read the review.
Reviewed by Diana Wong of New Era University College, May 2023. Click here to read the review.
About the publication
Founded in Singapore in 1893, the Straits Philosophical Society was a society for the “critical discussion of questions in Philosophy, History, Theology, Literature, Science and Art”. Its membership was restricted to graduates of British and European universities, fellows of British or European learned societies and those with “distinguished merit in the opinion of the Society in any branch of knowledge”. Its closed-door meetings were an important gathering place for the educated elite of the colony, comprising colonial civil servants, soldiers, missionaries, businessmen, as well as prominent Straits Chinese members. Notable members included the botanist Henry Ridley, the missionary W.G. Shellabear and Straits Chinese reformers like Lim Boon Keng and Tan Teck Soon.
Throughout its years of operation, the Society left behind a collection of papers presented by its members, the vast majority of which conformed to the Society’s founding rule that its geographical position should influence its work. This produced a large corpus of literature on colonial Malaya which provides important insights into the logic and dynamics of colonial thought in the period before the First World War. In reproducing a collection of these papers this volume highlights the role of the Society in the development of ideas of race, Malayness, colonial modernization, urban government and debates over the political and socio-economic future of the colony.
By republishing these papers, The Straits Philosophical Society & Colonial Elites in Malaya seeks to contribute to the intellectual history of colonial and post-colonial Malaysia and Singapore, and to expand our understanding of the ways in which colonial thought has shaped governing systems of the past and present.
"The editors of this thoughtful collection remind us how much Malaya’s past could be differently evaluated with generational change. A small collection of the papers had first been published when the British Empire was at the high point of imperial confidence. After two World Wars, in the face of an unforgiving anti-colonialism, most of the papers were forgotten and nearly lost. Reading them in the twenty-first century, we can see how many of the problems of race, identity and social order that were discussed a century ago are still with us. I recommend that the papers be read afresh. With this selection, the editors have done us a favour by inviting us to ask ourselves: Have we become wiser? Do we have better answers? For that, they deserve our thanks."
Wang Gungwu, University Professor, National University of Singapore
"What a treasure Lim Teck Ghee has unearthed! To complement the dry official record of CO273 and the public pleading of the newspapers, we can now peer into the private passions and prejudices of the British (and some Chinese) elite at just the period they began to see themselves as architects of a new colonial social order. Their views were often well-informed, and ambitious to bring the latest theories to bear on Malaya. Robustly controversial, they were not politically correct even by the standards of the times. The editors deserve much praise and gratitude for having not only assembled these twenty-seven short papers but made them handily available to readers and provided an insightful introduction."
Anthony Reid, Professor Emeritus, Australian National University
Contents
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The Straits Philosophical Society & Colonial Elites in Malaya: Selected Papers on Race, Identity and Social Order 1893-1915
[Whole Publication, ISBN: 9789815011340], by Lim Teck Ghee, Charles Brophy, editors -
Preliminary pages
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1. Introduction
- PART I: THE IDEOLOGICAL BASIS OF COLONIAL RULE
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2. Dutch and English Administration in the East
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3. The Influence of Europeans Abroad Upon Native Races
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4. The Doctrine of the Survival of the Fittest as Applied to Man
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5. The Disadvantages of Education for the Lower Classes
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6. East and West
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7. Utilitarianism
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8. The Influence of Climate on Character
- PART II: GOVERNING THE COLONY: RACE, CRIME, OPIUM, AND LAW
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9. On the Contagious Diseases Acts
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10. The Opium Problem in the Straits Settlements
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11. The Relation of the Opium Traffic to Local Revenue
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12. The Prevention and Repression of Crime
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13. The Application of English Law to Asiatic Races: With Special Reference to the Chinese
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14. The Administration of Law and Order in the Colony in Its Early Years
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15. The Reformation of British Malaya
- PART III: THE COLONIAL ORDER AND THE CHINESE
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16. Chinese Local Trade
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17. Local Educational Problems
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18. Opium versus Alcohol
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19. The Chinese in British Malaya
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20. The Chinese Revolutionary Movement in Malaya
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21. Socialism Amongst the Chinese
- PART IV: STUDYING "THE MALAYS" AND THEIR RELIGION
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22. “Latah”
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23. Christianity and Mohammedanism
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24. Our Duty to the Malays
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25. The Future of the Malay Race
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26. The Influence of Modern Civilization on the Malay
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27. Moslem Influence on the Malay Race
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28. Mohammedanism, as Revealed in Its Literature
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29. Conclusion: The Afterlives of the Straits Philosophical Society
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Index
