Malaysian Chinese or Chinese
Malaysians also known as:
Bahasa
Malaysia: Kaum Cina Malaysia
Chinese: trad 馬來西亞華人, simp 马来西亚华人, pin Mǎláixīyà Huárén
Chinese is
the second biggest ethnic group in Malaysia. They are the descendants
of the Chinese people who arrived in Malaysiain the 15th to mid 20th
centuries.
Waves of Chinese
emigration (also known as the Chinese Diaspora 中国流亡zhōng guó liú wáng ) have
happened throughout history. The mass emigration occurred from the 19th century
to 1949, was mainly caused by wars and starvation in mainland China,
invasion from various foreign countries, as well as the problems resulting from
political corruption. Most immigrants were illiterate, or average/poorly
educated peasants and manual labourers, historically
called coolies (Chinese: 苦力kǔ lì , translated
as "hard labour"), who emigrated to work in Malaysia.
The coolies that worked at Malaysia
during 18th century.
There are 5 main waves of Chinese immigration occured.
First wave:
15th century
The friendly diplomatic
relations between China and Malacca culminated
during the reign of Sultan Mansur Syah, who married the Chinese
princess Hang Li Po. A senior minister of state and five hundred youths
and maids of noble birth accompanied the princess to Malacca. The
descendants of these people, mostly from Fujian 福建 fú jiàn province,
are called the Baba 峇峇bā bā (men) and Nyonya 娘惹niáng rě (women).
Second wave:
1651-52
The massacre in Fujian when the Manchu 满族 mǎn zú took over China. The Fujian
refugees of Zhangzhou resettled on the northern part of the Malay peninsula
while those of Amoy厦门shà mén and Quanzhou
泉州quán zhōu resettled on the southern part of
the peninsula. This group forms the majority of the Straits
Chinese who were English-educated.
Third wave:
Late 19th century- Early 20th
century
A much larger wave of immigrants,
mainly from the controlled port of Fujian and Guangdong 广东guǎng dōng
provinces through the administration of the British, this is due to the First
Opium War of Battle of Amoyand Battle of Canton (May
1841) resulting Canton and Amoy being captured by the
British to enhance their trading of the orient namely Old China Trade. Their
immigration to Malaya and Straits Settlements was encouraged by the British,
who used the Chinese to work in tin mines and rubber plantations. This
group established Chinese Schools and were mostly Chinese-educated.
Forth wave:
1911 – 1949
In the Chinese civil war, most of
the Chinese migrated outside of Republic of China due to warring period due to arising
warlord at the peak of declining state of Qing Dynasty empire.
During Kuomintang mission to united whole of China, came along
the Communist Party of China and are considered one of the biggest
threats towards Kuomintang中国国民党zhōng guó guó mín dǎng of Republic of
China中华民国zhōng huá mín guó (1912–49), between
the period of 1911 - 1949. Many Chinese citizen who hold Republic of China
citizenship are forced to
migrate because of insecurity, high demand food and business opportunity due to
war. In Post-war, Kuomintang's supporter and member migrated outside
of mainland during settled down in Malaysia and automatically gain Malaysian
citizenship in 1957 and 1963 as
this country gained independence.
Fifth wave:
1990s
A much smaller wave came after the
1990s, holding the citizenship of People's Republic of China, most of them
came to seek for business
opportunity.
