BRITISH MALAYA.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 78, 1 April 1922, Page 22

BRITISH MALAYA.

A LITTLE-KNOWN TERRITORY. PROSPEROUS AND CONTENTED. (By FREDERICK STUBBS, F.R.G.S.) (All Rights Reserved.)

British Malaya extends from Singapore, ldeg 15m X. of the Equator, to the sixth degree N., where it meets the south of Siam. The peninsula consists of a narrow tongue of land, 4G_ miles long And 216 mile- broad, and is the most southern extremity of the Continent of Asia. It is very mountainous, rising to 7156 feet, and, except where it has been cleared for mining or cultivation, is covered with dense tropical forest. About two-thirds of the country is still jungle. The climate, is, of course, hot, but not oppressively so, for the peninsula has the 6ea on three sides, and there is generally a breeze blowing from either the sea or "the mountains. It is difficult for a visitor to understand the political geography of Malaya —it comprises so many States under different government, though all under the supremacy of Britain. There is a British governor and administration over the whole. The principal cities, all of which I visited, are Singapore (population about 381,000), Penang (155,000), Malacca (158,000), Kuala Lumpur (81,000), Ipoh (37,000), Taiping (22,000). The country produces tin, rubber, wolfram, copper, sugar, rice, tapioca, areca nuts, etc. The revenue of the Straits Settlements and the F.M.S. combined is about £13,000,000. THE STRUGGLE FOR MASTERY. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to found settlements on the peninsula. They were followed by the Dutch, and last "of all, in the nineteenth century, came the British, who have come, we hope, to stay. There was a struggle for 200 years between England and Holland for the mastery of these States, and it was not until the beginning of last century that the withdrawal of England from Java and Sumatra and the cession of Malacca by Holland, laid down the principle of British supremacy in the Peninsula and Dutch-supremacy in the Archipelago. The keynote of Dutch policy was monopoly and exclusion; that of Britain free trade and immigration, and both have succeeded. RESULTS OF BRITISH RULE. British rule has given justice and security; abolished slavery, piracy, smallpox and cholera; provided free education, built hospitals, constructed over 2500 miles, of excellent metalled roads and 800 miles, of railway, and has enormously enriched the country by opening up mines and planting rubber and cocoanuts. The Sultan of Perak, who kindly outei*tained mc at his palace at Kuala Kang6ar, spoke in the highest terms of the benefits derived by his country from the British Government which advises his administration. The States contributed 1000 officers to the army and navy during the recent war, besides one superb dreadnought (the Malaya), 30 to 40 aeroplanes, and £"2,000,006" war loan. This was a fine illustration of loyalty, and a further striking testimony to the security, justice and order which British government confers, is offered by the way the Chinese flock into the country. THE MALAYAN PEOPLE. '_i_like mc not for my complexion. The shadowed Uvery of the burnished sun." The Malays are coffee-coloured, with abundant black hair, brown eyes, nose rather flat and wide, square chin, good teeth. They are of medium stature, and all wear a sarong—a long cloth, usually ••with check pattern —below the waist, and are either naked above or irear a cotton jacket. The velveteen or cloth cap on the head shows they are Mohammedans. They are excellent swimmers. They are by no means obsequious and like to be treated by the Brit-ili as equals. Some of the younger men are inclined to swagger, but are polite enough when treated with civility. Young children wear no clothing, are hardly ever chastised, and eat and sleep "w_en they pleaee. T_ c boy. have to learn the Koran; it is unnecessary in the caee of girls, as is any kind of booklearning. The Malayans' only sports appear to be cock-fighting and gambling. Since the 13th century they have been Mohammedans, but not very strict. Most Malays live on the land, either as owners or cultivators, but many are employed as motor car drivers, clerks, police, any light employment. Heavy or hard work they will not do. Practically all the manual labour of the country is done by Chinese or Indians —mostly by the former, who form 60 per cent of the population, and who by their industry—and vices—furnish 74 iper cent of the revenue. They are miners, •market gardeners, artisans, shop-keepers, contractors, financiers. The Malay on the other hand can live with very little labour and prefers to sit and -watch others work. I sometime- feel & little that way myself! It may surprise some of my readers to learn that there are few tropical countries of any commercial importance in which the work is not 'being done by imported labour. If you try to get the work done by native labour 'by means of increased wages, the native simply reduces his output of labour, for his needs are few and easily met. He plants a little rice and a few fruit trees, does a little fishing— and what more does he need? Up to the point where he wishes to gratify some acquired taste in food or clothing, the native of the tropics finds himself furnished by Nature with all he needs at a very small expenditure of energy— and this usually his wife's! THE MALAY HOME. A Malay house is similar to that of the Philippines and of Burma. It is built of bamboo with raughly-made supports, and entrance is "gained by means of a short ladder. The roof is thatched with the leaves of the Nipa Palm, a species of palm grown solely for this purpose. This roof lasts for four or five years. There is a rough floor where washing and cooking are done, with apertures between the boards or canes through which the water drops to the ground beneath. In a poor man's Ihouse there is a cooking and diningroom containing a few cooking utensils, but hardly any other furniture, and a 'bedroom, the latter having a door, according to Mohammedan ideas of female seclusion. The Malays are not a bity people, their civilisation being adapted to a country rather than a city life. The Kampong, or village, is their unit of society and contains from 2000 to 1000 inhabitants, and in each Kampong there is a Pnghulu, or _eadman, whose office is hereditary, and who is the political and social head of the community, a sort of perpetual mayor. Then there is the Imam, who conducts reHgifms ceremonies and teadhes the Koran. In some places, in Malacca, •-g., w_-_ I visited, every boy is required to £Q to edhool, and *_ere _> » Malaj

college where teachers are trained. Being Mohammedans, the Malayan men are privileged (?) to have four wives, but I believe most of them—like some Australians find it sufficiently difficult j to support and manage one. i MALAYAN SUPERSTITIONS. ! Like all primitive peoples, the Malayans are superstitious. They believe in witchcraft; make wax figures to, represent an enemy and then stick pins j into it in the belief that their enemy; will get sick in that part of tho body. A Kapal Hantu, or' Boat of Spirits, about five feet long and fully rigged, is built and launched with great ceremony and believed to carry away all sickness from the village. They also have great faith in charms. Sir Frank Swettenham says that during a cholera epidemic he j found that there had been a good many deaths, but remarked the absence of I the usual panic. On inquiry he found that a Medicine Man had appeared and sold a cholera speciiic at a dollar. Sir, Frank asked to -see it. All held out their hands and showed a small piece of 6tring tied round the wrist. "Is that all?" "Yes, that is all." "Where is the Medicine Man?" "He has left Vhe district." "How many people bought the specific?" "About 500." "Well, the man' ■has robbed you." "Why?" "Because the thing he sold you is useless—only a bit of string." "We told him so, but he promised that if anyone who bought a charm was attacked by cholera and died j he would refund the dollar!"