Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T09:03:52.488Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Neglected Story: Christian missionaries, Chinese New Villagers, and Communists in the Battle for the ‘hearts and minds’ in Malaya, 1948–1960

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2013

LEE KAM HING
LEE KAM HING*
Affiliation:
Social and Behavioural Sciences Research Cluster, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

During the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960), the colonial authorities resettled an estimated half a million rural dwellers, mainly Chinese, from the fringe of the jungle, to cut them off from contact with armed members of the Malayan Communist Party. The re-location led to political alienation among many resettled in the nearly 500 New Villages. Winning their support against the insurgency therefore was urgent. At this juncture, foreign missionaries were forced to leave China following the communist takeover in October 1949. Many of these missionaries were Chinese-speaking with medical or teaching experience. The High Commissioner of Malaya, Sir Henry Gurney, and his successor, Sir Gerald Templer, invited these and other missionaries to serve in the New Villages. This paper looks at colonial initiatives and mission response amidst the dynamics of domestic politics and a changing international balance of power in the region.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 6 , November 2013 , pp. 1977 - 2006
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Short, Anthony, The communist insurrection in Malaya, Frederick Muller Ltd, London, 1975, p. 400Google Scholar.

2 Stubbs, Richard, Hearts and Minds in Guerilla Warfare: The Malayan Emergency, 1948–1960, Oxford University Press, Singapore, 1989, p. 161Google Scholar; Koon, Heng Pek, Chinese politics in Malaysia: History of the Malaysian Chinese Association, Oxford University Press, Singapore, 1988, pp. 79–80, 101–104Google Scholar.

3 Peng, Chin, My side of history,Singapore: Media Masters Ltd, 2003, pp. 268–272.Google Scholar

4 Chin, C. C. and Hack, Karl (eds), Dialogues with Chin Peng: New light on the Malayan Communist Party, Singapore, Singapore University Press, 2004, pp. 153–155.Google Scholar

5 Harper, T. N., The end of empire and the making of Malaya, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

6 Carpenter, Kathleen, The Password is Love: In the New Villages of Malaya, London, Highway Press 1955Google Scholar; Alan Cole, R., Emerging Pattern: CIM work within the Diocese of Singapore and Malaya. London, China Inland Mission, 1961Google Scholar; James, G. D., Missionary Tours in Malaya, Malaya Evangelistic Fellowship, Singapore, 1962Google Scholar; McIntosh, Amy, Journey into Malaya, London, China Inland Mission, 1956.Google Scholar

7 Porter, Andrew, Religion verses empire: British Protestant missionaries and overseas expansion, 1700–1914, Manchester and New York, Manchester University Press, 2004, p. 4Google Scholar.

8 Roxborogh, John, ‘Christianity in Southeast Asia’, in McLeod, Hugh (ed.), World Christianities, Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 9, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 436–449Google Scholar; Gascoigne, John, ‘Introduction: Religion and Empire, an Historiographical Perspective’, Journal of Religious History, Vol. 32, No. 2, June 2008, pp. 159–178CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Porter, Andrew, ‘Evangelical visions and Colonial Realities’, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Vol. 38, No. 1, March 2010, pp. 145–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

9 Richard Stubbs estimated that there were 1,500 European planters in Malaya during the Emergency period. R. Stubbs, Hearts and Minds in Guerrilla Warfare, p. 85; A. Short, The Communist Insurrection, p. 507.

10 Report of committee appointed by His Excellency the High Commissioner to investigate the squatter problem, Council paper no. 3 of 1949, Kuala Lumpur, Government Printers; The squatter problem in the Federation of Malaya in 1950, Council paper no.14 of 1950, Kuala Lumpur, Government Printer.

11 Anthony Short, The communist insurrection in Malaya, pp. 173–205, 231–253.

12 Means, G., Malayan Politics, University of London Press, London, 1970, p. 121Google Scholar; Heng Pek Koon, Chinese politics in Malaysia, pp. 109–113.

13 Frank T. Cartwright, ‘Protestant missions in Communist China’, Far Eastern Survey, vol. 18, no. 26, 28 December 28, 1949, pp. 301–305; Tucker, Nancy B., ‘An unlikely peace: American missionaries and the Chinese Communists, 1948–1950’, Pacific Historical Review, vol. 45, no.1, February 1976, pp. 97–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

14 Lacy, Creighton, ‘The Missionary exodus from China’, Pacific Affairs, vol. 28, no. 4, December 1955, pp. 301–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

15 Daniel H. Bays, ‘From Foreign Mission to Chinese Church’, Christian History and Biography, no. 98, Spring 2008, pp. 6–13; Levenson, Joseph R., ‘The changing character of Chinese opposition to Christianity’, in Lutz, Jessie G., (ed.), Christian missions in China: Evangelists of what?, Boston, D. C. Heath and Company, 1966, pp. 90–94.Google Scholar

16 ‘Recruitment of Chinese-speaking officers for Malaya: Extract from Lord Munster's [Under Secretary of State for the Colonies] Brief for House of Lord's Debate, 27 February 1952’, Colonial Office 717/209/4, henceforth referred to as CO. National Archives, London.

17 Sir Henry Gurney to Higham, Colonial Office, 13 March 1951, CO 537/7270.

18 Hood, George, Neither Bang nor whimper: The end of a missionary era in China, Singapore, The Presbyterian Church in Singapore, Singapore, 1991, p. 151Google Scholar.

19 Cloake, John, Templer: Tiger of Malaya, London, Harrap Ltd, 1985, pp. 274–277Google Scholar.

20 Commissioner-General for Southeast Asia, Malcolm MacDonald, to Secretary of State for the Colonies, 28 August 1950, CO 717/203/3.

21 Sir Gerald Templer, High Commissioner of Federation of Malaya, to Commissioner-General for Southeast Asia, Malcolm MacDonald, 2 April 1953, CO1022/379.

22 Sir Gerald Templer to Secretary of State for Colonies, 27 September 1952, CO 1022/379.

23 Alan Cole who recorded the work of the China Inland Mission in Malaya taught for a year in Sydney after completing his studies in Dublin. From there he sailed to Singapore to join the mission work in Malaya. Alan Cole, Emerging Pattern: CIM work within the Diocese of Singapore and Malaya.

24 Secretary, Joint Malaya Group to Reverend S. H. Dixon, Secretary, Conference of Missionary Societies, London, 3 April 1952, CBMS Archives, London (H-6095) Box 461 E/T Malaya 3, Malaya (7–8), Asia Committee (no 26) National Archives Singapore 00015.

25 Secretary, Church Missionary Society to Colonial Office, 4 September 1950, CO 717/209/3.

26 George Hood, Neither Bang nor whimper: The end of a missionary era in China, pp. 145–153.

27 Ibid., [2]

28 Colonial Office, London, to Governor of Singapore, 19 March 1951, CO 717/209/4.

29 A. Grantham, Governor of Hong Kong, to Malcolm MacDonald, Commissioner-General of Southeast Asia, 11 May 1953. CO 1022/379.

30 Apostolic Delegate to Colonial Office, 11 December 1950, CO 717/209/3.

31 Sir G. Templer to Secretary of State for Colonies, 4 November 1952, CO 1022/379; College of Propaganda to send 40 missionaries; Holy See to Foreign office, London, 27 October 1952, CO 1022/379; G. Etherington Smith, British Legation, to Holy See, 9 February 1953, CO 1022/379.

32 ‘Record of conversation between Father O'Brin and Mr Etherington Smith on 10 July 1953’, CO 1022/379 (Father O'Brin was responsible in the Vatican for re-locating ex-China missionaries).

33 Asia Secretary, the Church of Scotland, Foreign Mission Committee and Women's Foreign Mission, to Colonial Office, 31 August 1950, CO 717/209/3.

34 Sir Gerald Templer to Commissioner-General for the United Kingdm in Southeast Asia, 21 April 1953, CO 1022/379.

35 Secretary of State for Colonies to Sir Gerald Templer, 11 April 1953, CO 1022/379.

36 Holy See to Foreign Office, 8 July 1953, CO 1022/379.

37 Tim Harper, The End of Empire and the Making of Malaya, p. 186.

38 Dr J. Cameron to R. J. Minnitt, Colonial Office, 14 January 1952, CO 1022/378.

39 Ray Dawson from the Baptist Missionary Society studied Chinese in the London School of Oriental Studies and served in north China from 1936 to 1941. He was unable to return to China after the war because of the uncertain political conditions there. R. Dawson to Colonial Office, 5 September 1950, R. Dawson to Secretary, Conference of Missionary Societies of Great Britain and Ireland, 31 December 1950, CO 717/209/3.

40 R. J. Minnitt, Colonial Office, to Dr J. Cameron, 11 January 1952, CO 1022/378.

41 Secretary, Conference of Missionary Societies of Great Britain, to Colonial Office, 26 September 1950; Secretary, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, to Colonial Office, 9 October 1950, CO 717/209/3.

42 Governor of Sarawak to High Commission, Federation of Malaya, 16 May 1953, CO 1022/379.

43 Ho, Daniel, ‘Malaysia’, A Dictionary of Asian Christianity, in Scott, W. Sunquist (ed.), Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2001, pp. 512–514Google Scholar.

44 ‘U.S. told: Send missionaries to help in new villages. Methodist tour of Malaya ends’, The Straits Times, 14 May 1952, p. 3.

45 Home Director, China Inland Mission, to S. H. Dixon, Conference of Missionary Societies, Britain, 4 April 1952, CBMS Archives, London (H-6095) Box 461 E/T Malaya 3, Malaya (7–8), Asia Committee (no 26) National Archives Singapore 00015.

46 R. Alan Cole, Emerging Pattern: CIM work with the diocese of Singapore and Malaya, pp. 24–27.

47 Malayan Christian Council Progress Report No 7, Minutes of the 22nd Meeting of the Federal Co-ordinating Committee for Work in New Villages, Ref: 1967/,0000435, National Archives, Kuala Lumpur.

48 Malayan Christian Council: The New Villages in Malaya: A survey of needs and opportunities, November 1957, International Missionary Council Archives, Geneva (H-10, 016) Box 26.5.116, Malaysia, Country Files No. 5, NAF 00182, National Archives Singapore; Malayan Christian Council: The New Villages in Malaya: A survey of needs and opportunities, August 1958, International Missionary Council Archives, Geneva (H-10, 016) Box 26.5.116, Malaysia, Country Files No. 5, NAF 00179–18, National Archives Singapore.

49 Dr H. Lester to R. J. Minnitt, 14 June 1953, CO 1022/378.

50 Dr J. Cameron to R. J. Minnitt, Colonial Office, 14 January 1952, CO 1022/378.

51 R. Alan Cole, Emerging Pattern: CIM work with the diocese of Singapore and Malaya, p. 27.

52 ‘Malayan Christian Council: A survey of the New Villages in Malaya, 1958’, International Missionary Council Archives, Geneva (H-10, 016) Box 26.5.116, Malaysia, Country Files No. 5, NAF 00179–18, National Archives Singapore.

53 F. Mitchell to R. J. Minnitt, 6 March 1952 CO 1022/378.

54 Sir Gerald Templer to Secretary of State for the Colonies, 30 December 1952, CO 1022/379.

55 Chew, Maureen K. C., The journey of the Catholic Church. Kuala Lumpur, Catholic Research Centre, pp. 117–119.Google Scholar

56 ‘Report on a month's tour in Malaya, October 1957, George Henderson, Secretary, The Bible Societies in Malaya’ BSA/D8/4/11/3, Bible Societies Collection, Cambridge University Library, Cambridge.

57 Meeting of the Chief Secretary's Co-ordinating Committee of representatives of churches, missionary bodies and voluntary organizations, 29 February 1952, Ref: 1967/,0000435, National Archives, Kuala Lumpur.

58 Sng, Bobby E. K., In His Good Time: The story of the church in Singapore, 1819–1992, Singapore, Graduates’ Christian Fellowship, 1993 (Second edition), pp. 234–237Google Scholar.

59 Minutes of the 22nd Meeting of the Federal Co-ordinating Committee for work in New Villages, 21 January, 1955, Ref: 1967/,0000435, National Archives, Kuala Lumpur.

60 Secretary, Joint Malaya Group to Reverend S. H. Dixon, Secretary, Conference of Missionary Societies, London, 3 April 1952, CBMS Archives, London (H-6095) Box 461 E/T Malaya 3, Malaya (7–8), Asia Committee (no 26) National Archives Singapore 00015.

61 Frank T. Cartwright, Associate Secretary, Board of Missions and Church Extension of the Methodist Church, New York, to Reverend H. B. Amstutz, president of the Malayan Christian Council, Singapore, 31 March 1951, CBMS Archives, London (H-6095) Box 460 E/T Malaya 2, Malaya (48), Asia Committee (no 12) National Archives Singapore 00013.

62 Catholic Welfare Services Annual Report 1954, Reverend Father A. Khaw, 6 January 1955, Minutes of the 22nd Meeting of the Federal Co-ordinating Committee for work in New Villages, 21 January, 1955, Ref: 1967/,0000435, National Archives, Kuala Lumpur.

63 W. L. Blythe to Commissioner-General, 20 April 1953, CO 1022/379.

64 Aljunied, Syed Muhd Khairudin, Colonialism, violence and Muslims in Southeast Asia: The Maria Hertogh controversy and its aftermath, London and New York, Routledge, 2009, pp. 1–24Google Scholar, Gordon Means, Malaysian Politics, p. 119.

65 Director of Medical Services, Penang, to the Colonial Office, 4 June 1952, Colonial Office 1022/378.

66 Ghazali Basri, ‘Christianity in Malaysia: Quest for greater role’, unpublished paper to International Conference on Islamic Da'wah in Southeast Asia: Cultural and Human Dimensions (15–17 February 1993: Kuala Lumpur).

67 T. Harper, The end of Empire and the making of Malaya, p. 186.

68 Minutes of the 21st meeting of the Federal Co-ordinating Committee for work in the New Villages, 26 November 1954, Ref: 1967/0000435, National Archives, Kuala Lumpur.

69 Eusoff, Dato Haji Mohamed, Proceedings of the Federal Legislative Council (Third Session), 19th April 1950, p. 117, Government Printers, Kuala LumpurGoogle Scholar.

70 Onn, Captain Hussein, Proceedings of the Federal Legislative Council (Third Session), 19th April 1950, p. 119, Government Printers, Kuala LumpurGoogle Scholar.

71 Governor of Sarawak to High Commission, Federation of Malaya, 16 May 1953, CO 1022/379.

72 G. Etherington Smith, British Legation, to Holy See, 9 February 1953, CO 1022/379; British Legation to the Holy See, Rome to Chief Secretary's Office, Federation of Malaya, 16 June 1953, CO 1022/379.

73 G. Means, Malayan Politics, pp. 16–17.

74 Eusoff, Dato Haji Mohamed, Proceedings of the Federal Legislative Council (Third Session), 19th April 1950, p. 117, Kuala Lumpur, Government PrintersGoogle Scholar.

75 Tim Harper, The End of Empire and the Making of Malaya, p. 186.

76 Fui, Lim Hin and Yong, Fong Tian, The New Villages in Malaysia: The journey ahead, Kuala Lumpur: Institute of Strategic and Policy Research, 2005, pp. 128–139.Google Scholar