Wheels of administration in the past
I READ with interest the letter “Malaysia’s heady ethnic brew” ( The Star, Aug 17), which mentioned the contributions made by various communities in the past to the development and prosperity of Malaysia.
One community, however, was left out – the Eurasians – and I would like to highlight the significant contributions, both direct and indirect, that this community has made to this country.
Going back to 1786, when the British first made their presence felt in Malaya through the founding of Penang by Captain Francis Light, Eurasians were involved in helping to ensure that this new settlement could grow and thrive. It may be recalled that Light was attracted to a Portuguese-Siamese Eurasian lady named Martina Rozells, whom he married in Kedah according to Malay Custom, as recorded by his second-in-command, Elisha Trapaud, in his book A Short Account of the Prince of Wales Island.
As a founding community, Eurasians assisted not only Light but also the subsequent governors who came to Penang in important administrative duties.
They were recognised by the governors as the “wheels of administration” whose help was invaluable.
Among the Eurasians who first came to Penang was a French Catholic priest, Father (later Bishop) Arnold Garnault. To see to the educational needs of the boys, a Malay-medium mission school was established in the Eurasian settlement.
As enrolment of students grew, the priests who came after Bishop Garnault found that they needed professional help. They brought in the De La Salle Brothers, a teaching congregation for boys founded in France, and the Holy Infant Jesus congregation for girls, also from France.
For years, the local teachers in these schools were mainly Eurasians. Little was it realised at that time how important a role these two congregations, and the Eurasian teachers, would play in the education of Malayans over the years to come.
The British had the tendency to establish “buffers” between themselves and the rest of the population for safety and strategic reasons.
In the early days of Penang, the Eurasians were the buffer between the British and locals. While the British lived around Fort Cornwallis, the adjacent area was a Eurasian area known until today as Bishop Street and Church Street.
After these two streets came China Street, Little India, Armenian Street, Aceh Street and Malay Street. These streets are all part of the core heritage zone of Penang today.
To protect their commercial interests on Penang Island from attacks from mainland Malaya, the British negotiated and obtained a piece of land opposite the island in 1798, which they called Province Wellesley. This buffer area was the first territory the British had in peninsular Malaya.
Later, when British interests expanded to tin mining and rubber plantations, yet another buffer area was established. This time the northern Malay states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu, which were under Siamese control, were ceded to the British under the Bangkok Treaty in 1909.
During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, these four states were returned by the Japanese to Thailand in 1943, only for this arrangement to be undone by the British in 1946 under an AngloThai Peace Treaty, which made the four states once again part of Malaya.
It may be speculated that if a Eurasian lady had not attracted Francis Light to Kedah, the British would not have come to Malaya, and if they did not have any interest to protect, the shape and size of the country when it gained independence in 1957 could have been very different.
If the French priest had not followed the Eurasians to Penang in 1786, the La Salle schools and the Convent schools throughout the country would not have been established either.
To all visitors who come to Penang today to see the statue of Captain Francis Light standing proudly at the entrance to Fort Cornwallis ( pic), it should be noted that what they see is actually a statue of William Light, his Eurasian son who founded the Australian City of Adelaide 50 years after the founding of Penang.