Need for Chinese museum in Sabah — UM professor
KOTA KINABALU: There is a need to establish a Chinese heritage museum or cultural centre in Sabah, said the Professor of History in University of Malaya (UM), Professor Danny Wong Tze Ken.
Wong, who is also the Director of the Institute of China Studies in UM, said there was a Hakka Museum in Jakarta that was officially sanctioned as the Indonesian Chinese Museum to document the contributions of the Chinese forefathers to Indonesia.
He said there had been talks about setting up a Chinese museum in Sabah but the plan has yet to materialize.
“This is something the community leaders should pay attention to. Perhaps one day we will have a (Chinese museum) here.”
Wong said this in his public lecture entitled ‘From Huagong (Chinese labourers) to Citizens: The Chinese Experience in Sabah’ organized by The Sabah Society on Thursday.
Wong, a renowned Kota Kinabalu-born Sabah History authority, said the past contributions of the Chinese in Sabah must not be forgotten.
The idea of war and Kinabalu Guerrillas was an importart part of the Chinese in Sabah, he said.
But people have begun to forget about the Chinese role in the Kinabalu Guerrillas uprising because the topic was no longer taught in schools, he said.
“Kinabalu Guerrillas was part of the History textbook in the 1980s but it is no longer so today.”
He said there was a need to remind people that the Chinese played an important role, not only in business and finance, but also in the defence of the State.
“They (the Chinese) worked together with other races, shedding blood for their homeland, not only in Kinabalu Guerrillas, but also in the Brunei Rebellion and Konfrontasi.
“Many of them joined the police, armed forces and Sabah Rangers,” he said.
Wong added that the Chinese also used to play the role of kingmakers since the 1967 state elections until 1994.
“The Chinese support was crucial for any party to form a government.”
Although the Chinese had lost their kingmaker role, they remained a force to be reckoned with, he said.
Today, Wong said the number of Chinese in Sabah had increased but the percentage of population had actually declined due to low birthrate and migration to West Malaysia and beyond.
“The declining percentage of population is a worrying trend as it could affect the community’s standing.”
Nonetheless, Wong pointed out that the Chinese here who have migrated abroad considered Sabah as their homeland, not China.
“For my relatives who have moved abroad, the homeland they talk about is Sabah rather than China.
“China is their ancestral land. Their homeland is always Sabah. This is the only homeland they know.”
Earlier in his lecturer, Wong has elaborated on the theoretical framework of the Chinese diaspora, which is divided into huagong (Chinese labourers), huashang (Chinese merchants), huaqiao (overseas Chinese) and xin yimin (new migrants).
In the mid-19th century, the Chinese came in as huagong, or Chinese labourers.
“The first group of Chinese labourers landed in Labuan in 1846. The reason Labuan was chosen was because of coal. It was the beginning of the widespread use of coal to fuel steam engines,” he explained.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, he said Chinese merchants began to arrive in large numbers from the Straits settlers and directly from China via Hong Kong.
“These merchants started their business mainly as grocers, then they became agents for shipping and western food while others ventured into timber and mining.
“Many take on leadership roles,” he said.
The term overseas Chinese came about in the 1930s to 1960s when the Chinese Government began the registration exercise for overseas Chinese.
In the case of Sabah, he said the post-1960s experience of the Chinese was different as they were becoming citizens of a new nation-state.
“The Chinese did not organize political activities up till when Tunku Abdul Rahman announced the plan to establish Malaysia.
“After that, many established political parties to champion different causes, including the Chinese.
“After becoming part of Malaysia, the Chinese became important part of the civil service and contributed to the protection of Sabah.”
Wong is also the Director of UM’s Global Planning and Strategy Centre.
He attended Shan Tao Primary School and La Salle Secondary School before pursuing his tertiary education at UM.