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CORNELL 

UNIVERSITY 

LIBRARY 




Cornell University Library 
BV 3320.A1F35 

In rubber lands :an account of the work 



3 1924 023 048 931 



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IN RUBBER LANDS. 




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INDIAN 1 I[K1-.|JAN NL'Ksl- AND HO^il'lTAt. ISAUV. 



IN RUBBER LANDS. 



An account of the work of the Church in Malaya. 



Edited by 
C. E. FERGUSON-DAVIE, M.D., B.S. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
Foreign Parts, 

15 TuFTON Street, Westminster, S.W. 1. 
1921. 



tV A 



•■ •< f CJ , 

V 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface 7 

Chapter. 

I. Malaya — the country, its history, and people 9 

II. Work amongst Europeans and Eurasians 18 

III. Work amongst the Chinese 31 

IV. (i.) The Malay States and their industries 51 
(ii.) Mission work amongst the Tamils 58 

V. The work of Medical Missions - 62 

VI. Education — 

(i.) Its place in tropical countries 72 

(ii.) Education in the Colony and the 

Federated Malay States 76 

VII. The future of the Church in Malaya 81 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Indian Christian nurse and hospital baby- Frontispiece 

Opposite page 

A Malay house - 16 

St. Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore 16 

Wat Sukat, the golden mount, Singapore - 28 

Children at St. Mary's School, Bangkok 28 

Some of the staff of St. Andrew's Church Mission 40 

St. Andrew's School, Singapore - - 40 

Tapping rubber 52 

One of the first Para rubber trees planted in the 

Federated Malay States - . 52 

Tamil coolie lines - 58 

St. Faith's School, Taiping - - 58 

Medical Mission house, Malacca - 64 

Doctor seeing patients at the dispensary - 64 



PREFACE. 



An attempt has been made in this little book to give 
some idea of the work of the Church in the diocese of 
Singapore — the little that is being done and the vast 
amount that remains to do. 

The book is not all by one hand, for it has been 
thought best to obtain, as it were, expert information, 
by allowing those engaged in different spheres of work 
to describe their own activities. Chapter VII. is contri- 
buted by the Bishop of the diocese, and Chapter VI. by 
the Rev. J. R. Lee, Head Master of St. Andrew's 
School, Singapore. In Chapter III. the Rev. R. 
Richards has written about the Chinese. The descrip- 
tion of the industries of Malaya in Chapter IV. has been 
contributed byaweU-known planter, Mr. J. Beckingham. 
While endeavouring, as far as possible, to combine 
these various contributions into one homogeneous whole, 
the editor has left each contributor free to express his 
own ideas, and any divergences of opinion which may 
be noticed are attributable to this fact. 

The editor wishes here to express her thanks to the 
contributors to the book and also to those friends who 
have assisted her by reading the proofs. 



CHAPTER I. 

Malaya — the country, its history, and people. 

Nowhere in the world can more beautiful scenery of a 
tropical character be found than in the country of Malaya. 
The Peninsula, which is roughly 500 miles long- and 200 
miles broad at its widest part, is divided lengthwise by a 
chain of mountains into a narrow western area on the one 
hand, where are most of the centres of industry and popula- 
tion, and where the thick natural jungle has in many places 
been cleared to make room for cultivation or plantation; 
and on the other hand the much less known and more 
sparsely populated region of Pahang on the east. 

Besides the beauties of mountain and coast, and of 
numerous tree clothed islands dotted over a tropical sea of 
brilliant blue, the country is remarkable also for its magnifi- 
cent rivers, long and broad, but usually too shallow for the 
passage of vessels of any great size. This characteristic, 
as well as the bars, which on the east coast are heaped up 
at their mouth by the violence of the north-east monsoon, 
greatly diminishes their value as means of traffic. The most 
important of these rivers are the Perak River, flowing south- 
west for 150 miles and navigable by shallow-draft boats for 
about fifty miles; the Kelantan River flowing north and the 
Pahang River flowing east, both these latter being similarly 
navigable by flat-bottomed boats for about half their length. 

Thick forest covering the hills; groves of coconuts 
bordering the sea, with Malay huts nestling beneath them; 
stretches of padi (rice) land in the plains; gardens of tapioca 
or sireh vine; orchards of plantain, mangosteen, rambutan 
or durian; rubber plantations or tin mines — such are a few 
of the scenes whidi meet the eye in passing through this 
rich and beautiful country. 



10 In Rubber Lands 

In order to understand properly the peoples of Malaya, 
its mixture of races and the characteristics of its indig"enous 
inhabitants, a study of its position on the map is of the first 
importance. Situated at the south-east corner of Asia, 
Singapore is the point round which all ships must turn on 
their way from Europe to China or Japan. Lyingf between 
India and Ceylon on the west, and China and Japan on the 
east, it is not surprising- that we find in Malaya representa- 
tives of the inhabitants of all these countries, the most 
numerous being the Chinese from South China and the Tamils 
from South India. It is this cosmopolitan character, with 
its necessary adjunct of numerous vernaculars, which (as 
will be fully explained later on) makes missionary work in 
the Malay Peninsula of quite extraordinary difficulty. 

Noticing again that Singapore lies only ninety miles north 
of the equator, it is natural that the Malay Peninsula should 
have a tropical climate, that tropical growth of palm, and 
jungle should be its outstanding physical feature, and that 
the Malays should lack the enterprise and energy which are 
the product of cold or temperate climes. 

The climate of the Malay Peninsula is extraordinarily 
equable, with very little seasonal variation and no extremes 
of temperature. Moist heat is its general characteristic, 
the shade temperature varying from about 74 to 94 degrees, 
with a mean temperature of 80 or 85 degrees. The average 
yearly rainful of the lowlands is 90 to 100 inches, fairly 
evenly distributed throughout the year, but in hiUy districts 
this may be far exceeded, the fall being sometimes torren- 
tial — ^a truly tropical downpour. 

The densely wooded hiUs abound in animal life. The 
seladang (or bison) is the acknowledged king of the Malayan 
jungle and a great prize to the big game hunter; but elephant, 
tiger, tapir, panther, rhinoceros, and crocodile are to be 
found, as well as wild pig and some varieties of deer. Of 
birds the beautiful argus pheasant is the most notable; and 
snipe, teal, and pigeon attract those in search of sport. 

From the point of view of government, the country is 
divided into three parts — the Straits Settlements, ihe 



Malaya — country, history, people 11 

Federated Malay States, and the Non-federated States. 
The Straits Settlements comprise Singapore, an island 
situated at the extreme south of the Peninsula, and containing- 
the capital city and port of the same name; Malacca, a 
district and town on the western coast some 100 miles north 
of Singapore; and Penang, or Prince of Wales' Island, an 
island and town at the north-west of the Peninsula. Two 
strips of territory on the mainland are also included — 
Province Wellesley, opposite Penang, which was originally 
annexed to protect that port from the depredations of the 
Malay pirates who* infested the rivers and were ever on the 
look-out for trading vessels entering or leaving the harbour; 
and the Bindings further down the coast, a district which 
may come into greater prominence in the future if its harbour 
facilities are developed and made use of. 

The Straits Settlements (S.S.) form a Crown Colony 
under the Colonial Office, and are administered by a Governor 
(who is also the High Commissioner of the Federated Malay 
States), assisted by an Executive and a Legislative Council. 
Their joint population is now about 1,000,000, and comprises 
Europeans, Eurasians, Chinese, Malays, and Indians, 
besides a sprinkling of other races. Except amongst the 
Eurasians and Malays, there is a large preponderance of 
males over females in each race. 

The Federated Malay States (F.M.S.) are four in 
number — Perak, Selangor, Pahang, and Negri Sembilan; of 
these Pahang, though the largest in extent, occupying as it 
does most of the centre and east of the Peninsula, is at 
present the least developed. These States came under 
British protection at different dates, the most important of 
which is that of the Treaty of Pangkor in 1874. The federa- 
tion was completed in 1896. 

General control is exercised by the High Commissioner 
and the Federal Council, and a British Resident is attached 
to each State. Each State has, however, its own Malay 
Sultan, on whose State Council the Resident has a seat, 
and a number of English officials assist in the administration. 

It is important to note that though the Treaty of Pangkor 



12 In Rubber Lands 

promises to the Malays the control of all matters connected 
with the Mohammedan religion, there is nothing in its pro- 
visions to restrict the work of missionary effort in the country. 

The Non-federated States which make up the rest of the 
Peninsula are less closely attached to British rule, though 
each has a British Adviser to assist in the management of 
the State; they are Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Trengganu, 
and the small State of Perils. Johore has always been an 
independent kingdom, but the other States have only of 
recent years (1909) been taken over by Britain from the 
suzerainty of Siam. 

Though now somewhat thrown into the background by 
the more virile immigrant races, the Malays, as the natives 
of the country, are the people who first claim our notice. 
There is considerable doubt as to the source and original home 
of the Malays; a question on which their language, which 
is distinct from the Indo-European and Mongolian families, 
throws little light. Whatever their place of origin may 
have been, in the earliest historical times they inhabited the 
highlands of Sumatra, and from thence spread to the adjoin- 
ing countries. They were not (so much we know) the 
original inhabitants of the Peninsula, but gradually 
supplanted the aboriginal tribes, remnants of which still 
remain as the Sakai, Semang, and other Negrite tribes of 
the interior. "These aborigines who lurk in the recesses 
of the forests, or on the thickly wooded mountain sides, 
can tell us nothing of the early days of the Peninsula. ' '* The 
Sakai are a shy harmless race, comparatively few in numbers, 
wearing little clothing, and killing their prey by means of 
arrows shot from long blow-pipes. They are found mostly in 
the more remote districts of Pahang, and come little into 
contact with civilization, only a few Europeans having 
succeeded in gaining any acquaintance with their language; 
"Unlike India, Ceylon, Burma, Siam, or Java, the Malay 
Peninsula has no ancient monuments, no archseological 
remains of any value, no records of its early history."* In the 
stories of the first Malay princes it is difficult to disentangle 

* "British Malaya," published by Malay States Information Agency. 



Malaya — country, history, people 13 

history from legend, but it seems probable that somewhere 
about the middle of the fourteenth century a great war of 
conquest was carried on by the powerful Javanese empire of 
Majapahit, which resulted in the settlement of the Malays in 
Malacca. The religion of the Malays, from the time of the 
conversion of the first king of Malacca, has been Moham- 
medanism. Early in the fourteenth century Arab traders 
had brought their religion tO' Sumatra, from whence it spread 
to Java and to the Malay Peninsula, the method of propa- 
ganda being through the intercourse with Arab and Indian 
traders who settled amongst the people and intermarried 
with them. Only in the Island of Bali to the east of Java are 
stUl to be found a few thousand heathen whose religion is 
reminiscent of the previous Hindu period, while in Sumatra 
large numbers of the Batak tribes have clung to their 
primitive animistic beliefs, until the coming of Christian 
Missions has in the last few years pointed them to a more 
uplifting faith. During the periods of Portuguese and Dutch 
ascendancy the Mohammedan Sultans of the Malay States 
preserved their complete independence, and though towards 
the end of the nineteenth century British influence became 
supreme, the religion of the people remains free from Govern- 
ment interference. Malayan conquest has not stopped short 
at the Malay Peninsula; a seafaring folk, and long dreaded 
as intrepid and dangerous pirates, the Malays have spread 
to Borneo and the islands of the Malay Archipelago, and 
even so far afield as Ceylon and South Africa colonies of 
them are to be found. Their numbers in the Straits Settle- 
ments and Federated States, as given in the census of 1911, 
amount to 633,828, while in the Non-federated States, though 
no exact figures are obtainable, they probably number about 
800,000. That they are not a dying race is proved by the 
increase of 27 per cent, since the previous census, while in 
Perak, which has the largest population of Malays, their 
number has practically doubled in the last twenty years. 
The characteristics of the Malays are such as we should 
expect to find in the dwellers of "a land where it is always 
afternoon," and an August afternoon at that. Polite, 



14: In Rubber Lands 

friendly, and easy going, they are very attractive to the 
casual traveller, but their best qualities are superficial. One 
such traveller describes them as follows : — "They are slow 
and circumlocutory of speech (indeed, they make of conversa- 
tion a fine art), courteous and dignified, seldom quarrelsome, 
but jealous of any encroachment on personal freedom, 
domestic, and fond of children; they take life easily and 
seem to be free from care." For energy and industry ihey 
have little need, as a bounteous nature provides at their doors 
nearly all that is requisite for the maintenance of life. It 
is said that a Malay can find within the area of half a square 
mile all that he requires to build his house — wood for the 
posts and piles (on which it is raised above the ground); 
bamboo, which is split to form the floor and walls; rattan 
or cane to bind these together; and palm leaf to form the 
attap or thatch for the roof. A strip of padi (rice) land, 
a few coconut and plantain trees — these, with the fish which 
teem in sea and river, suffice for his simple needs. For two or 
three months while the rioe is being transplanted, irrigated, 
and harvested there is indeed plenty of work to be done, 
the larger part of this falling to the share of the women ; 
but for the rest of the year there is little but fishing that calls 
for activity, and where fish abound in every stream and pool, 
plenty of leisure is left for smoking and gossiping in the 
viEage meeting place. 

Their dress, like their houses, is simple, consisting for 
the men of loose trousers, a loose jacket, the sarong or skirt, 
a coloured kerchief deftly twisted into a head-dress, and, in 
full dress, a kris or dagger stuck into the belt. The women 
wear the sarong without the trousers, and sometimes use a 
second one to cover the head or to conceal the face when 
walking out of doors. This sarong, the characteristic article 
of Malay dress, consists of a strip of coloured material, 
usually cotton, two yards long and one wide, which is sewn 
up into a skirt, drawn round the waist, and twisted in with 
the fulness in front. Even the cheapest are of good colour 
and pattern, with a panel design at the back; while those 
used for festivals or state occasions are often extremely 



Malaya — country, history, people 16 

beautiful, some being- dyed by an elaborate process peculiar 
to Java; others, woven on the looms of Treng-g-anu, Kelantan, 
or Pahang", are of richest silk sometimes interwoven with 
gold thread. Very few Malays can be engaged as household 
servants; they prefer an outdoor life and will work in the 
police, as peons or messengers, as gardeners, or in the 
thoroughly aristocratic occupation of a chauffeur, while in 
anything connected with boats they are completely at home. 
Formerly clever hunters and trackers of game, they now 
engage little in such occupations. "The older generation 
of Malays is passing away and the younger men are not as 
their fathers, where hunting and woodcraft are concerned."* 

In education they are backward, though by vernacular 
schools the Government do all in their power to advance it. 
Of the girls a small proportion can read or write. Until 
their conversion to the Mohammedan religion the Malays 
had no script; with the religion they adopted the Arabic 
character, which by a few modifications has been adapted 
to express the sounds of the Malay language. 

Of special importance for our present consideration is a 
study of the religious beliefs of the Malays. "For close on 
a hundred years the Straits Settlements have belonged to 
the British Crown, and yet not even the first beginnings of 
a Christian Church have been gathered in from amongst the 
native inhabitants of that land. Why, one wonders, while 
China and Japan have been the objects of constant interest 
and activity, has this portion of our own empire remained 
(so far as its indigenous people are concerned) to so large 
an extent outside the pur\'iew of all missionary agencies ?"t 
Several reasons may be suggested : — 

1. The official and the traveller have, as a rule, little 
sympathy with efforts to Christianize the Moslem. "Many 
Europeans who know Islam only from the outside are 
impressed by Mohammedan piety, the superficiality of which 
they do not gauge at all. They idealize this mysterious 

* "Sport in Malaya," published by Malay States Information Agency, 
t "Mohammedanism in Malaya," published by S.P.G. 



16 In Rubber Lands 

relig-ioo which they know only from a distance,"* while the 
evils of Islam are, on the other hand, felt more and more 
by those who come into intimate contact with it. 

2. The difficulties of reaching Mohammedans are 
strongly felt by all missionary workers, and it is, therefore, 
not unnatural that, when these workers are so lamentably 
few, they should turn to the more promising fields amongst 
the Chinese or Tamils, where an existing Christian com- 
munity gives a nucleus to work on, and should leave on one 
side the claims of the Mohammedans. 

3. The Malays themselves, from their racial character- 
istics, no less than from their religious beliefs, seem a 
peculiarly difficult people to deal with. The spirit that 
can leave all to follow Christ, or that is willing to suffer 
hardship for His sake, is so alien to the naturally indolent' 
and easy-going temper of the Malay, that only the miracle 
working Spirit of God can produce the change. 

The special characteristics of Mohammedanism as it 
appears in Malaya have been fully discussed in a pamphlet 
called " Mohammedanism in Malaya," and need only be 
briefly summarized here. The most striking is the persistence 
beneath a veneer of Mohammedanism of the belief in spirits 
of earth or air or water which the Malay inherits from his 
animistic forefathers, so that the pawang or witch-doctor 
is a person of enormous power in every kampong (i.e., village 
community) and drives a thriving trade in the sale of charms 
and amulets, or the exorcism of evil spirits. 

Though the purdah system, which elsewhere characterizes 
Mohammedan countries, has never been introduced into the 
Malay Archipelago, the Malay wife has frequently tO' endure 
the ignominy of being superseded by a second wife, and 
among the rich polygamy may be carried to a greater extent 
than this. She is not often divorced, because she is 
frequently the owner of the house occupied by the family, a 
position which she owes, not to Mohammedanism, but to 
a survival of the pre-Mohammedan matriarchal system of 
the country. Large numbers from the Malay Peninsula and 

* " Mohammedanism in Malaya," publisiied by S.P.G., price 2d. (post free 3d). 




^rAT.AY HOUSE. 




ST, ANDREW'S CATHEDRAL, SINGAPORE, 



Malaya — country, history, people 17 

from the Dutch Indies take part in the annual pilgrimage 
to Mecca, the Hadj, and imbibe there the fuller knowledge 
of the tenets of their faith and a conception of the Pan-Moslem 
ideals, which spread from them throughout the community 
on their return to their native country. 

What then has the Church been doing to bring these 
people to the knowledge of Christ ? 

About the middle of the last century Rev. B. Keasberry, 
of the Baptist Mission, carried on for many years zealous 
work amongst the Malays of Singapore, but as no successor 
followed up his labours, only few traces of his work now 
remain. The same may be said of the once flourishing 
Malay Mission of the Roman Catholics in Malacca. Later 
on the Rev. W. Shellabear, of the American Methodist 
Mission, did much for the Malays, especially in the 
important province of literature, having translated and 
printed many books and pamphlets which will be of the 
greatest value to all future workers in this field. The 
Medical Mission in Malacca, which will be fully described in 
a subsequent chapter, is up to the present the only effort 
of our own Church to reach the Malay. But the Medical 
Mission was meant to be a pioneer agency to open the way 
for other methods of work; how grievous then that nothing 
has yet been done to follow it up ! Evangelists, both men 
and women; teachers, especially of industrial work to attract 
the women and girls; students of Islam who can meet and 
answer the Arab teachers — all these are needed if a strong 
Mission to the Mohammedans of Malaya is to be established. 
The agents of the Bible Society, who go about amongst the 
villages selling portions of the Bible which have been trans- 
lated by that Society into their language, report that these 
books are now more readily saleable than ever before. Is 
it not a reproach to our Church that there are no missionaries 
living amongst these people — our own fellow subjects — to 
explain to them the meaning of the books which are thus 
put into their hands? "Whom shall we send, or who will 
go for us?" Do we not seem to bear the question asked? 
Is there none to reply, "Here am I, send me." 

B 



CHAPTER II. 

Work amongst Europeans and Eurasians. 

As early as the fifteenth century intercourse between Europe 
and the Malay Peninsula (the "Golden Chersonese" as the 
travellers of those days called it) first began. The fabled 
riches of gold and minerals, and the actual products of spices 
and condiments were the attraction to those early adventurers. 
But though "for 400 years Europeans dwelt at one or two 
points on the western coast, they were content to remain on 
the fringe of the Peninsula, and it is a noteworthy fact that 
sixty years ago there was only one white man resident in 
the interior lying between Singapore on the southern 
extremity and Bangkok in the north. ' '* 

It was under the leadership of the famous Admiral 
Albuquerque that the Portuguese, who in the fifteenth and 
sixteenth centuries built up such a widespread empire, first 
landed on Malayan soil and established themselves in Malacca. 
The picturesque gateway of Albuquerque's fort and the ruins 
of the Portuguese church on the hill overlooking the harbour 
still remain to bear witness to the period of Portuguese rule. 
On the southern wall of that church a small tablet records 
that the body of St. Francis Xavier, the first missionary to 
Malaya, was brought from China, where he had died and his 
body had been embalmed, and was buried in this church. 
The body was subsequently transferred to Goa, the first 
scene of his missionary labours, where it lies, enclosed in 
a silver shrine, in the handsome church attached to the 
monastery of St. Francis, in the now deserted city of Old Goa. 

The next race of adventurers to seek the treasures of the 
Far East were the Dutch, who, about the middle of the 

*"British Malaya— Trade and Commerce." published by Malay States Information Agency 

18 



Work amongst Europeans and Eurasians 19 

seventeenth century, dispossessed the Portuguese and made 
themselves masters of Malacca, for it is in Malacca that 
the historical interest of the country centres ; compared with 
it the now better known and more prosperous settlements 
of Singapore and Penang are but of modern growth. 

Much still remains to mark the period of Dutch ascen- 
dancy. The walls of the massively built fort, the substantial 
Stadt-haus, the church, now used for the services of the 
Anglican Church, are all in complete preservation ; while even 
the streets, with their names of Heeren Street and Junker 
Street, remind us of their former inhabitants. So also do 
the names of many of the resident families — the Baumgartens, 
the Minjoots, and others; while the D'Almeidas and 
da Souzas take us back to the times of the Portuguese. To 
quote again from the Malayan Information Agency — "The 
Portuguese and Dutch pioneers of Western civilization in the 
Far East did nothing to develop the resources of the country. 
Whatever development took place between the first contact 
of Europeans with the country and the latter part of the 
nineteenth century was due to the industry and enterprise 
of adventurous Chinese, who mined gold and tin in a rough 
and ready fashion and lived in a state of society bordering 
on anarchy. It was not till after 1873, when the British 
Colonial authorities intervened in the internal affairs, that 
order was evolved out of chaos and the real government of 
the country was established on a firm and lasting basis. ' ' 

The rise of British influence in the Malay Peninsula was 
very gradual. Owing to the growth of their trade with 
China it became of importance to the East India Company to 
possess a station in the Malay Archipelago, and they, there- 
fore, commissioned their agents to look out for a suitable 
harbour and to take steps to acquire it. In this quest Mr. 
Light was successful. He negotiated with the Sultan of 
Kedah for the cession of Penang Island, and on August 11th, 
1786, hoisted the British flag in that place. About ten years 
later Malacca was taken by the British from the Dutch, but 
it was not till 1824 that we finally retained possession of it. 
Meanwhile, another far-sighted empire builder had seen the 



20 In Rubber Lands 

necessity for a port in the south of the Peninsula, and in 1819 
Sir Stamford Raffles, on behalf of the East India Company, 
took possession of Singapore, which was ceded to him by the 
Sultan of Johore. It was considerably later that British 
influence spread from these settlements to the Malay States. 
Owing to internal difficulties their rulers on different occasions 
applied for aid from the British power, and in 1896 the four 
Protected States were united into a Federation and brought 
into formal relation with the British Empire. 

Since those early days the flow of Europeans eastward has 
been continuous; at first in small numbers for purposes of 
trade, shipping, tin mining, or coffee planting, and during 
the last twenty years, which have seen the rise and develop- 
ment of the rubber planting industry, in much larger numbers. 

The total population of British Malaya, as shown by the 
census of 1911 (now nearly ten years ago), was 2,659,262, 
and was made up as follows : — 

The Straits Settlements 722,075 

The Federated Malay States ... 1,036,999 
The Non-federated States ... 900,188 

This population is made up of Europeans, Eurasians, 
Malays, Chinese, and Indians, with a small admixture of 
other races. The number of Europeans is given as 10,500, 
but will probably be considerably larger at the next census. 

In the larger towns the Europeans are engaged principally 
in business houses and in professional life, but there are 
besides this numerous planters and communities of planters 
scattered throughout the country, chiefly on the western side 
of the Peninsula, but now in increasing numbers even in 
the less developed districts of the eastern coast. The 
Eurasians number slightly more than the Europeans (10,600), 
and are mostly resident in the towns, engaged in all manner 
of pursuits, and sometimes rising to high positions in pro- 
fessional or other walks of life. Of first importance from the 
point of view of the Church in Malaya is the provision for 
the spiritual needs of the British who come to the East to 
plant, to trade, or to mine; and of the Eurasians, born in 



Work amongst Europeans and Eurasians 21 

the country, speaking our tongue and sharing our faith. 
For the latter the question of education is also a pressing one, 
as their children are for the most part educated in the country 
and only a very few are able to proceed to Europe for higher 
studies. This question of education, as it concerns the 
Church, will be discussed in a subsequent chapter. The 
number of Asiatic Christians in the Malay Peninsula exceeds, 
however, the combined Europeans and Eurasians, being 
29,000. The care of these, therefore, occupies much of the 
time and thought of all clergy working in the country. 

The Diocese of Singapore includes not only the Malay 
Peninsula, but also "the British residents in Siam, Java, 
Sumatra, and the adjacent islands." The needs of all these 
have, therefore, to be considered in arranging for the work 
of those clergy who minister principally to the English- 
speaking community. The word "principally" is used 
advisedly, for all clergy take some part, more or less accord- 
ing to the conditions of the district in which they are working, 
in ministering to Asiatics. The number of priests available 
for the work has been seriously reduced by the war, when 
new workers could not come out to fill the vacancies that 
inevitably occurred; but the normal staff for this "European" 
work may be taken to be — in Singapore five priests, including 
one port chaplain and one chaplain to the forces ; one each in 
Malacca and Penang, in Java, Sumatra, and Siam; six in 
the Federated Malay States and one travelling chaplain — a 
total of seventeen. The work to be done in Singapore itself 
is very varied; the cathedral requires a staff of three if the 
work is to be really overtaken, and there is also the daughter 
Church of St. Matthew, which for a long time back has had 
no priest in charge. Johore Bahru, on the adjacent mainland, 
is visited from Singapore, and it is hoped to build, at no 
very distant date, new churches both there and at Tanjong 
Katong, five miles along the sea coast east of Singapore. 
The site for the latter has already been given. Work 
amongst the sailors who visit the port of Singapore is greatly 
needed, and though taken up from time to time, there has 
never been a priest available to make this his permanent 



22 In Rubber Lands 

charge. The following- is an account given by the last 
chaplain who was able to give his time to this branch of the 
work (report for 1919) : — 

"As port chaplain I just began to get an insight into 
what might be a vast work. On the first ship I visited 
(in fear and trembling, wondering what would befall me) I 
received such a welcome as would have cheered the veriest 
faint-heart who ever worked for God. It took me three 
hours to get oif that ship, and I left with the unsolicited 
promises of some five or six men to come to the Eucharist 
at the cathedral the following morning. As a matter of 
fact only two came, but the rest would have come had there 
not been a strike of the firemen on board the ship, which 
upset everything. From that time forward for the six 
months I was at the work I never regretted a visit to a ship, 
and I was almost invariably welcomed with the greatest 
heartiness. I have arrived at the definite conclusion that 
the seafaring man may not be a great Churchman, but he 
has a great regard for God and respects and welcomes the 
ministers of His Church. With all the ships, both local 
and deep sea, in and out of Singapore, there should most 
certainly be a man giving his whole time to this work and 
living somewhere in the neighbourhood of the docks." 

Several of the chaplains — e.g., in Penang — ^have the over- 
sight of Chinese or Tamil congregations in addition to their 
work amongst Europeans; in other places there are Asiatic 
priests in charge of the Christians of their own race. Nearly 
all, especially in the Federated Malay States, have out- 
stations to visit at considerable distances from their centre, 
where, sometimes in small churches, sometimes in a club 
or a private house, services are held for the benefit of the 
planters and others scattered in all parts of the country. 
A travelling chaplain is much needed to visit the more distant 
of these outlying places, such, for instance, as those on the 
east coast, where no chaplain is stationed. His work would 
be full of interest and variety, and all who have taken part 
in it speak of the welcome which they always receive from 
those whom they visit in this way. 



Work amongst Europeans and Eurasians 23 

This is wiell shown in the following extract from an 
account of one of these visits to the east coast : — • 

"Experiences such as these linger long in the memory. They are 
full of refreshment. My heart warms at the thought of the kindly 
hearted people in this lonely valley, who, Churchmen and non-Churchmen 
alike, extended such a ready welcome to the minister of Christ. It 
would only be the simple truth to say that I should feel abundantly 
satisfied with the belief that my visit there had conveyed to them one 
half of the help and encouragement which it did to me. I was there 
as one who received ; they were the givers — often, maybe, unconsciously, 
which is the best kind of giving — of many good things without money 
and without price. In another sense also they were givers, for they 
raised between them a generous contribution of $78 for the Medical 
Mission at Malacca. One is happy to think that theirs, too, is the 
special blessing — 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" 

Another, tellingf of a visit to Kelantan, at the north-east 
corner of the Peninsula, writes as follows : — 

" During my visit I had held nine services, and the persons who 
attended one or more of them numbered fifty-six, while fourteen made 
their Communion. I cannot thank sufficiently my kind hosts and 
hostesses, and I much appreciated the kind welcome extended to a 
stranger. Many things stand out in my mind — the night journey up 
to Kuala Krai ; calling at the little station rafts ; trumpeting our 
approach ; the only visible sign of life a light moving quickly down 
to the river bank ; the bag containing the longed for home mail handed 
over to the watchman, the same to be hurried up to the manager's 
bungalow ; then on to the next station, with darkness all about us 
and no sound but the working of the motor engine. Next the setting 
of that bungalow at Kuala Pergau, particularly as you approach it and 
see the black silhouette of Bukit Setang in the fading light of evening. 
Passing over many others, let me recall, in conclusion, that strange 
figure of the Tungku Bada at Kota Bahru. He is a brother of the 
Sultan and claims anything he lays his hands on, saying 'Bada'_ over 
it. It all suggests a fairy tale. He laid his royal hand on nothing of 
mine, so I forfeited nothing. A truly strange prerogative even for 
royalty. The twentieth century ! Yes, but this is well off the beaten track ! 
Such things will pass and some will regret them, and one of these will 
be the Tungku Bada." 

The Dutch Indies — Java and Sumatra. — As has 

been already mentioned, the British residents in the 
Dutch Indies are included in the charg-e of the Bishop of 
Singapore. A chaplain is stationed in Java, and it has 
long been the hope of the Bishop to station one also in 
Sumatra, but owing to the shortage of men this has never 



24 In Rubber Lands 

yet been possible. The Dutch Indies are islands of great 
beauty and of marvellous fertility owing- to the volcanic dust 
mingled with their soil. Besides rice they produce sugar, 
tea, coffee, tobacco (principally in Sumatra), quinine, rubber, 
pepper and spices, rattan cane and teak wood, as well as other 
commodities of less importance. 

Java is an island 600 miles long lying parallel with the 
equator, and roughly 50,000 square miles in area. Its popula- 
tion has grown from about 3,000,000 in 1800 to 32,000,000 
to-day. Of these 20,000 are Europeans (principally, of 
course, Dutch), 400,000 Chinese, and the rest the native 
inhabitants — Javanese, Malay, Soudanese, &c. "The early 
culture of Java can be traced to India, and many remnants 
of ancient edifices and relics of Hindu and Buddhist worship 
are still to be seen — such as the Hindu temple at Brambanan, 
where giant sculptured figures griard the doors."* The 
most famous of the remains is the Boro-Boedoer, the temple 
of the "many Buddhas." This marvellous edifice of the 
ninth century, built in pure Buddhist style, consists of 
galleries built over the top of a hUl, each gallery being 
covered with most elaborate carvings illustrating the life 
of the Buddha. This temple, which had been overwhelmed 
by volcanic dust, was laid bare during the British occupation 
of Java. Besides the dialects in use in Java, the ancient 
classic language is still known to scholars. "In this language, 
called Kawi, the date and origin of which are uncertain, 
fables, poems, records, and inscriptions on stone were 
written. The acting of these poems, narrating the mytho- 
logical and fabulous doings of Hindu heroes, accompanied 
by the music of the gamalan, is still extremely popular."! In 
the fifteenth century the Mohammedan invasion overthrew 
the Hindu empire of Majapahit, and now nearly one-sixth 
of the Mohammedan world is to be found in the island; but' 
though Mohammedans, the people are as ignorant and super- 
stitious as any heathen people. "The ignorance and 

• "Java and its Challenge," by Miss Brooks. 
+ "Java, tlie Pearl of the East," by S. J. Higginson. 



Work amongst Europeans and Eurasians 25 

immorality, superstitious fatalism, and fanaticism which so 
often characterize Mohammedan lands are to be found here 
also. Arab teachers constantly visit and travel through 
Java, and thousands of pilgrims annually make the pre- 
scribed pilgrimage to Mecca — the Hadji on his return being 
an eager defender of his faith."* For the conversion of 
this people our Church is at present doing nothing, but Dutch 
and German Missions have been at work there for many 
years, and since 1905 the Methodist Episcopal Church of 
America has established a strong and growling Mission in a 
number of centres throughout the country. So long as we 
have only one chaplain in the island it is impossible for him 
to do more than minister to the British residents there. 
Towards the western end of the island is situated the capital, 
Batavia, where the chaplain makes his head-quarters, as it 
contains the only English church in the country. About 
180 Britishers are to be found there and about an equal 
number at Sourabaya, towards the eastern end, where a 
church is much needed. Samarang, between the two, and 
Banjawangi, at the extreme eastern end of the island (a 
station of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Co.), have 
smaller numbers, and others again are scattered in small 
groups on plantations in every part of Java. It is easy to 
imagine how much travelling is necessary in order that the 
chaplain may visit in turn all these his scattered parishioners. 
He describes his work in a report, from which the following 
extract is taken (February, 1918) : — 

"Looking back through the register for 1917, it appears that during 
the past year there have been sixty-eight celebrations of the Holy 
Communion and one hundred other services of one kind or another held 
in Java by the chaplain. This does not include sixteen baptisms and 
two weddings ; neither does it include the regular Sunday Evensong in 
Batavia taken by Mr. Keen in the absence of the chaplain. This is 
really extraordinarily little when one realizes how scattered the British 
population is and takes into account Holy Week, &c. , and the fact 
that when the chaplain is in Batavia there are four services every 
Sunday. We want at least one more chaplain, and we want a nice 
little church in Sourabaya instead of that ugly room in the Masonic 
Hall." 

* "Java and its Challenge," by Miss Brooks. 



26 In Rubber Lands 

The island of Sumatra, 1,100 miles long by 250 m^iles 
broad, lies to the west of the Malay Peninsula, and is 
separated from it by the Straits of Malacca. A chain of lofty 
mountains runs down its entire length nearer the western 
than the eastern border, and only the land to the east of 
this is opened up to any large extent. Its population does 
not approach that of Java, being only about 4,000,000, of 
whom 5,000 are Europeans; amongst these are 300 Britishers 
engaged in planting tobacco and rubber, side by side with 
the Dutch. In the fifteenth century Sumatra came under 
Mohammedan influence; the traces of the former Hindu 
civilization in buildings or ruins, though numerous, are less 
important than those in Java. There are, however, some 
tribes, such as the Battaks, which have never become 
Mohammedan, and amongst these the Dutch and German 
Missions have had considerable success. 

Sumatra is the reputed home of the Malay race, and 
Raffles speaks as follows of his visit to Menangkabu, "the 
ancient capital of the Malayan kingdom. We here found," 
he says, "the wreck of a great empire, the evident source 
whence all the Malay colonies now scattered over the Archi- 
pelago first sprang. To me it is quite classic ground." 
Sumatra was taken by the Dutch in 1667, and in 1685 the 
British established a footing at Bencoolen, a beautiful spot 
on the south-west coast, where later Sir Stamford RafHes 
had his residence as the representative of England. This 
close neighbourhood with the Dutch was, however, the 
cause of considerable friction, so that it was a wise arrange- 
ment by which, in 1825, this settlement was handed over to 
the Dutch in exchange for Malacca. Until Sumatra can 
have an English "padre" of its own it has to be visited 
quarterly from the Federated Malay States, and the follow- 
ing is an extract from the account of one such tour recently 
undertaken (1919) : — 

"My next spell of itinerant work was the longest and the most 
interesting of any during the year. On June 16th I sailed for Belawan- 
Deli. Twelve months had passed since my last visit to the east coast 
of Sumatra. On this occasion I was able to pay a personal call on 
nearly all the British residents of Medan. The Dutch Reformed 



Work amongst Europeans and Eurasians 27 

minister, as usuah, Icindly allowed me the use of his church and we had 
English services at Medan on two Sundays, June 22nd and 29th. 
Between those dates I had visited three other districts, holding services 
at Tandjong Bringin, Brahrang, and Begerpang. Those who were able 
to attend were most grateful to receive once more the ministrations of 
the Church. News reached Medan on June 29th that the Treaty of 
Peace had at last been signed, and in the evening a great thanksgiving 
service was held, at which practically the whole of the British com- 
munity and not a few friends of other nationalities were present. On 
July 1st I left for the Sumatra tea district of Siantar and held a service 
at a private bungalow, when two children were baptized." 

Siam. — The work of the Church of England is at the 
present time carried on regularly only in Bangkok, the 
capital, although the Presbyterians have many Mission 
stations in other parts of the country. Bangkok is a wonder- 
ful city, often called "the Venice of the East" on account 
of its numerous water-ways, little canals (called klongs) 
leading off in all directions from the great river, the Menan, 
or "Mother of Waters," on the sides of which the town is 
built. 

The Siamese are Buddhists, and in all directions may be 
seen the wats or temples erected as a work of merit by the 
religiously minded. Very brilliant and ornate are they 
shining in the sun and reflected in the water, and some are 
really beautiful throughout, but others appear somewhat 
tawdry on a nearer view. 

Work in Siam was begun and carried on for many years 
by Canon Greenstock. There are now two priests in 
Bangkok — one in charge of the English congregation at 
Christ Church, in theEuropean suburb; the other at St. Mary's 
Mission, in the city, where also English services are held 
for those who live in that neighbourhood. The chief activity 
of the Mission is a large and growing school for girls of all 
races, with a smaller branch for boys. The school now 
numbers some 130 children, of whom seventy are boarders. 
Having outgrown the building in which it is at present 
housed, a new site has recently been acquired, on which a 
school will in course of time be erected. There is a large 
Eurasian element in the population of Bangkok and the 
school is doing most valuable work amongst these children. 



28 In Rubber Lands 

In the north of Siam there is a considerable number of 
Engflishmen working in the teak forests, and these were 
visited last Christmas for the first time by a priest of the 
Church of England, when the Rev. and Mrs. Simmons made 
an exj>edition to Chengmai, and he was able to hold services 
for them in several centres. It is hoped that now that the 
means of communication are less difficult than formerly, 
such a visit may become at least an annual event. 

The following are extracts from Mr. Simmons' account 
of the tour in North Siam : — 

"Our first purpose was to get to Nakon Lampang, the end of the 
second day's railway journey from Bangkok. We arrived there on 
the evening of December 23rd. . . . 

" We visited the club on Christmas Eve and introductions began. 
It was arranged that we should have a Celebration at 7.30 and Mattins 
at 10.20 on Christmas morning. I was the first Anglican padre to 
visit the north, so this was the first celebration of Holy Communion 
according to the use of the Church of England there had ever been up 
there. The boys from the village school came at 5 a.m. and sang 
carols under our window and then we began to get about. Wasn't it 
cold? Our teeth chattered and we needed all the warm clothes we 
had with us. If there had been snow outside it would have seemed 
perfectly natural. 

"Missionary work is more encouraging among the Laos than it 
is in the south ; but it is a very slow, patient work in any part of this 
kingdom. 

"On January 5th we left Lampang for Chieng Mai We 

were in Chieng Mai for a month altogether. On our first Sunday there 
we had a service (Mattins) in the Consulate at 10 a.m. AH the 
Britishers were present. On our third Sunday I celebrated the Eucharist 
in the Consulate at 8 a.m. — there were three communicants — and that 
same evening we had Evensong in the American Mission Church. The 
missionaries were very anxious to come. On the other Sundays we 
were taken over to services in the villages outside Chieng Mai by the 
American missionaries. It was very interesting to see this village 
work. We gained quite a new impression of the people, who were 
very devout and earnest. One of the churches we visited was called 
Bethlehem. It was a kind of harvest thanksgiving, and the poor 
village people were making a special offering. Some of them had no 
money to offer, but they brought baskets of paddy (rice) and presented 
that 

"The great charm of Chieng Mai is its beauty and the pleasant 
contrast it affords to the alluvial plain which surrounds Bangkok. 
There are hills, valleys, and mountain streams. The jungle is all around 
you with its alluring air of mystery. You hear of panthers and tigers ; 




WAT bUKfclT: THE GOLDEN MOL.N'I, B\M_,KOK, 




CHILDREN AT ST. MAKV S SCHOOL, BANGKOK. 



Work amongst Europeans and Eurasians 29 

you see elephants quite commonly. You are amid a great variety of 
interesting peoples. You see Karens and Musos and Burmese ; you see 
Haws travelling in caravans of pack mules, going to and fro between 

the interior of China and Burma and Middle Siam 

"So ended our visit to the north. We had been able to visit most 
of our lonely brethren whose lives are spent in the forest ; we had 
seen something of the work of the American missionaries ; we had seen 
the beautiful north country with its interesting people and its picturesque 
scenery, the mountains and streams and woods ; and we had had a rest 
from our busy life in Bangkok in really cold weather — 48 degrees is 
cold out here. As we look back upon this journey we cannot but feel 
very deep and real gratitude that it was made possible for us to spend 
six and a half weeks so profitably and enjoyably. " 

What then can friends at home do to help forward this 
work amongst their sons and brothers in the Far East? 
Contributions of money are not asked for this side of the 
work, for Englishmen abroad are able and willing to support 
their own clergy, and money subscribed at home is mainly 
devoted to work amongst Asiatics. But apart from money 
there is much that may be done to help, and that urgently 
requires to be done. 

1. First and greatest is the need for prayer. We need 
to realize the conditions under which many of these men are 
living; the loneliness of a planter in an isolated district; the 
difficulties of a non-Christian environment, far from all the 
good influences of home; and the temptations that inevitably 
beset a solitary life. We can use frequently the prayer "For 
absent friends," or in words of our own remember them in 
constant intercession. 

2. We must never let them feel that they are forgotten^ 
but write often and regularly, so that they may knowthat 
they are never far from our thoughts. People living 
at home, with two, three, or four postal deliveries a day, do 
not realize sufficiently the hunger for letters from home 
that attacks the resident abroad, where mails arrive 
at best but once a week. 

.3. When a friend is going abroad his full name and 
address and, if possible, the name of the firm for_ which he 
is going to work should be sent to the chaplain of the 
district, so that he may find a welcome on entering his new life. 



30 In Rubber Lands 

A Prayer for Absent Friends. 

(By Bishop Selwyn). 

O Lord our God, Who art in every place, from Whom 
no space or distanoe can ever separate us; we know that 
those who are absent from each other are still present with 
Thee, and we therefore pray Thee to have in Thy holy 
keepingf those from ■whom we are now separated; and grant 
that both they and we, by drawing nearer to Thee, may be 
drawn nearer to each other, bound tog'ether by the unseen 
chain of Thy love, in the communion of Thy Spirit, and the 
holy fellowship of Thy saints, that whether or not we meet 
tog'ether again on earth, we may surely meet again at the 
resurrection of the just, and go in together to that house 
•of many mansions, which Thou hast prepared for them 
that unfeignedly love Thee, throug"h Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 



CHAPTER III. 

Work amongst the Chinese. 

Singapore, the "Gateway of the Far East," is the seventh 
in order of importance of the ports of the British Empire, 
and owes its position in the list to its splendid situation on 
the sea highway between Europe and India on the one hand 
and China and Japan on the other. The harbour, with its 
blue waters sparkling in the sun and crowded with shipping 
both Eastern and Western in type, forms a picture rich in 
beauty of form and colour; while the town is a combination 
of busy traffic at its centre and tropical vegetation on its 
outskLrts. It was to the genius and foresight of Sir Stamford 
Raffles that the Empire owes the possession of this important 
colony, and its rapid growth is due "to three factors — (1) 
its geographical position; (2) the fact that in accordance with 
the policy of its founder it is a 'free port,' where import 
duty is levied only on opium., tobacco, wine, and spirits; 
and (3) the development of the Malay hinterland."* Facing 
the harbour, and adding to the variety of the scene, are the 
islands of Pulau Brani and Blakan Mati, taking an important 
share in the defences of the port and occupied by part of 
the garrison. On Pulau Brani are situated also the largest 
tin-smelting works in existence, through whose furnaces 
passes annually more than half the total output of the world. 
The island of the same name on which the town of Singapore 
stands is twenty-seven miles long by fourteen miles broad, 
and separated from the mainland by the Straits of Johore, 
across which a causeway is now in course of construction; 
the south-western shore of the island is fringed with coral 
reefs. The red laterite of the roads contrasts pleasantly with 

* "British Malaya," by Swettenham. 
31 



32 In Rubber Lands 

the green of the foliage, but the luxuriant forest which 
formerly covered its rising grounds has now been mostly 
cleared to make room for rubber, and to a lesser extent for 
pineapples, the "canning" and exporting of which is one 
of the chief industries of the town. The temperature of 
Singapore ranges from about 76 to 90 degrees, the mean being 
slightly over 82 degrees; while the rainfall is about 100 
inches, nearly half the days of the year having some rainfall. 

The early history of Singapore, for which we are 
dependent on the "Sejara Malayu," in which it is extremely 
difficult to disentangle fact from fiction, goes back to a period 
many centuries ago, when a Malay prince known as Sang 
Separba established himself first in Sumatra and then in 
Java, and his son Sang Nila Utama in 1160 crossed over 
to the island of Singapore and founded there a city, which 
in the course of years became a great trading mart. About 
a century later it was, however, attacked and conquered by 
the Javanese Raja of Majapahit, the town was destroyed 
and the survivors fled to Malacca, which from that time 
became the centre of Malayan history. When Singapore, 
on January 29th, 1819, was ceded by the Sultan of Johore to 
the East India Company it was but a jungle-covered island 
with some 150 inhabitants, supporting themselves by fishing 
and piracy, but Raffles on taking possession looked back to 
its former glories and wrote that he was hoisting the Union 
Jack in the ancient city of Singapura. 

Sir Stamford RaflBes. — It is impossible here to give more 
than a brief outline of the life of Raffles the Empire builder, 
but a few of the main points may be noted. The son of a 
ship's captain, he was born at sea in July, 1781, and at the 
early age of fourteen was entered as a clerk at the East 
India Company's House. "I have never," he wrote later, 
"ceased to deplore the necessity which withdrew me so early 
from school, and the deficiencies of my early education have 
never been fully supplied." It is doubtful if any reader of 
his life would agree with this latter opinion, as there were few 
subjects with which Stamford Raffles, by his own study and 
observation, did not make himself widely acquainted. From 



Work amongst the Chinese 33 

the first days of his apprenticeship he devoted his leisure to 
the study of French, science, and literature. Later, during 
his voyages to and from the East, which in those days occupied 
many months, he apportioned his time between Latin, Greek, 
and Hebrew, and in each country that he visited he set him- 
self to master the history, archaeology, and natural history, 
as well as the language and characteristics of its people. 
His interest in natural history led to his laying out (as 
he himself writes in 1823) " the botanic and experimental 
garden," which is still one of the chief points of interest in 
Singapore; and later, after his retirement from the East, to 
his being the founder and first President of the Zoological 
Society and Gardens in London. 

After serving for nine years at the East India House, 
Raffles was sent out in 1805 as Secretary to the Government 
at Penang, and his powers thus got the needed opportunity 
to develop and to show their worth. Having made a careful 
study of Malay he passed rapidly from one position of trust 
to another, and became the intimate friend of such Oriental 
scholars as Marsden and Dr. John Leyden. From Penang, 
in 1808, Raffles was transferred to Malacca; in 1811 he 
accompanied Lord Minto, the then Governor-General of 
India, on his expedition to Java, of which island Raffles 
was himself appointed Governor. During the five short 
years of his administration Raffles effected changes in the 
government which amounted to a revolution, overthrowing 
the old and vicious system of commercial monopoly and 
forced labour so effectually that it was never afterwards 
restored by the Dutch. His " History of Java," replete 
with valuable information, is, writes Crawfurd, a lasting 
monument to his ability and industry. By the Peace of 
Vienna (1818) Java was restored to the Dutch, and Raffles 
then became Governor of Bencoolen, in Sumatra, but his 
thoughts were at once turned to the establishment of the 
British in some central position which should compensate in 
some measure for the loss of Java and prevent British 
influence being ousted entirely from the Far East. It was 
this determination which led to the foundation of Singapore 



34 In Rubber Lands 

in 1819, -which was first gfoverned from Bencoolen, later 
from Bengal, and finally in 1826 was incorporated with 
Penang and Malacca to form a Presidency, which later 
became the Colony of the Straits Settlements. 

Before his retirement in 1823, Sir Stamford Raffles had 
the satisfaction of seeing his beloved colony making rapid 
progress both in population and in commerce. In all his 
plans for its development Raffles showed himself not only 
a far-sighted statesman, but a high-minded and earnest 
Christian, "promoting," as the citizens in their farewell 
address acknowledged, " intellectual and moral improve- 
ment, and advancing the cause of humanity and civilization." 
He set himself to put down what he found to be the pre- 
vailing evils of piracy and slavery, of gambling and opium. 
"In the course of my public duties," he writes, "neither the 
cause of the slave nor the improvement of those under our 
influence has been forgotten. ' ' 

The slavery here referred to is the system of debt-slavery, 
which prevailed throughout aU Malay countries at that time, 
and was not finally abolished till 1884. "This custom con- 
sisted in the forcible detention of persons said to be indebted. 
Very often there was no real debt; the creditors invented 
one or imposed a fine for an offence never committed, and 
then compelled the reputed debtor with his wife and family 

to enter his service and treated tliem aU. as chattels 

All menial work was done by debt-slaves, and forced labour 
could be requisitioned by any Sultan or Raja for either public 
or private work. The Mohammedan law does not recognize 
that a Mohammedan can be a slave, but there was practically 
no difference between this system and slavery."* The first 
act of Raffles in Sumatra was to emancipate all the Govern- 
ment slaves, thus giving, as he himself explains, "an earnest 
of the principles on which his government would be con- 
ducted." "It has been a disaster for Singapore that, while 
piracy and slavery have been effectually put down, the 
enlightened policy of its founder in regard to gambling and 
opium was not followed by his successor in the government, 

* "British Malaya," by Swettenham. 



Work amongst the Chinese 35 

with the result that these evils have not been entirely eradi- 
cated even to the present day."* But beyond even these 
moral questions, Raffles took an active interest in education 
and the virork of Christian Missions. "I am far from 
opposing- missionaries," he writes; "the more we have of 
them the better, but let them be enligfhtened men." And 
again, "The arrival of the missionaries is most opportune, 
and I hope they will in time complete what they have so 
successfully begun." To his interest in the Bible Society, 
and especially in the translation of the Scriptures into 
Chinese by Dr. Morrison, of China, and Dr. Milne, of 
Malacca, his letters bear abundant witness, and in the 
foundation of the Raffles Institution, with its lofty aims "for 
the education of the higher order of natives and for research 
into the history and literature of the Further East," it was 
Dr. Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China, who 
co-operated with him. Of Mission work in Singapore, 
whether of our own Church or of the Roman Catholics, the 
Presbyterians, or the American Methodists, it is still that 
amongst the Chinese which takes the foremost place. 

Singapore to-day is a cosmopolitan town, representatives of 
practically every nationality being found amongst its inhabi- 
tants ; but its prevailing character is that of a Chinese town. 
The Malays are a rural people and live only on the outskirts 
of the city; the European residences, too, are in the suburbs; 
but in the town itself the great mass of the people are 
Chinese, and it is, therefore, amongst the Chinese that the 
largest amount of Mission work is being done. 

The churches of Singapore belonging to the Church of 
England are four in number — the Cathedral, its daughter 
Church of St. Matthew, St. Peter's Mission Church, and 
Tanglin Church for the use of the garrison. 

St. Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore, is the successor of an 
earlier church with the same dedication. The present edifice 
was consecrated in 1862, having taken eight years in building. 
The plans were made by Colonel Macpherson, R.E., Director 

* "Sir Stamford Raffles,'* by Bethune Cook. 



36 In Rubber Lands 

of Public Works, during- a year's furlough in England, a 
g'ood many of the architectural details being copied from 
Netley Abbey. Colonel Macpherson superintended the work 
till it had reached the summit of the arches of the nave, 
and it was completed by Major MacNair, R.A., who 
succeeded as Director of Public Works. To Major MacNair 
is due the erection of the spire, which exjierts had pronounced 
to be impracticable, the foundations being considered incap- 
able of bearing the weight. The difficulty was overcome by 
having hollow bricks specisJly made for the purpose. The 
church was built by convict labour (Burmese convicts) and 
at the expense of the Government, which had failed to keep 
the former church in repair. The dimensions of the building 
are — length, 225 feet; breadth, not including the porticoes, 
56 feet; height to ridge of main roof, 75 feet; to top of 
spire, 220 feet. 

On Whit-Sunday, 1862, the year when the church was 
consecrated, St. Andrew's Church Mission was founded to 
be the instrument through which the worshippers in the 
church might offer the Gospel of God to the Oriental races 
in Singapore. 

The history of the see is somewhat curious. The Straits 
Settlements were in the Diocese of Calcutta from the first 
occupation by the British till the year 1869, when. Sir Harry 
St. George Ord being Governor of the Straits Settlements, 
and Dr. Milman, Bishop in Calcutta, the colony was transferred 
to the neighbouring See of Labuan and Sarawak. Dr. 
McDougall, the first Bishop to be appointed here, was suc- 
ceeded in the newly arranged diocese by Dr. Chambers who, 
in 1870, made St. Andrew's Church the Cathedral. In 1907, 
Sir John Anderson being Governor and Dr. Hose, Bishop, 
active steps were taken to divide the unwieldy diocese con- 
stituted in 1869. The business was completed 
in 1909, and Dr. Ferguson-Davie was consecrated 
Bishop of Singapore in St. Paul's Cathedral on St. Bartholo- 
mew's Day in that year, Dr. Hose having retired in 1908 
after an episcopate of twenty-seven years. 



Work amongst the Chinese 37 

Pdnang. — As the name of Raffles is indissolubly connected 
with Sing-apore, so is that of Francis Light linked to the 
history of Penang. Having been instructed by the East 
India Company to look out for a station suitable for the 
anchorage of ships, Captain Light decided in favour of 
Penang, and in 1786 he concluded an agreemenl^ with the 
Sultan of Kedah, by which the island (then almost 
uninhabited) was ceded to the East India Company. Ten 
years later Province Wellesley, on the mainland, was pur- 
chased by the Company from the same ruler. Like Singapore, 
Penang was for some years a penal settlement for Burmese 
and Indian convicts. In 1826 Singapore and Malacca were 
incorporated w^ith it into a Presidency under the Government 
of India, and Penang continued to be the seat of Government 
until, in 1867, the three settlements were severed from Indian 
control and formed into a Crown Colony with Singapore as 
the capital. 

The name of "Pulau Pinang" signifies the "Island of the 
Areca-nut," and this and coconuts are its chief products, while 
in Province Wellesley rice is largely cultivated. Penang 
owes it special beauty to the hiU that rises behind the town, 
and which is a favourite resort for those whO' wish to- escape 
from the heat of the plains below. 

St. George's Church, Penang, was built by the East India 
Company. The foundation stone was laid in 1817 and the 
church was consecrated in 1819. It was the first building of 
the Church of England consecrated in Malaya. Christ's 
Church, Malacca, which had been built by the Dutch, had 
been used for many years for Church of England worship 
before its consecration, which, like that of the first church 
in Singapore, took place in 1838. 

St. George's Church is used by the English congregation 
and also by the Chinese and Tamils, but the latter have, in 
addition, a small chapel close to the church, in which many 
of their services are held. An English chaplain, a Tamil 
priest, and a Chinese catechist are in charge of their respec- 
tive congregations. Penang, which at one time was a 
stronghold of Church; education, has now fallen behind other 



38 In Rubber Lands 

places in the Peninsula in this matter. The Church Girls' 
School was many years ago handed over to Government, 
and later even the Church Hostel, for boarders attending 
the school, has been given up. For lack of efficient teachers 
the Tamil boys and girls' schools have also been closed, so 
that the Church in Penang is to-day doing nothing for the 
education of its own children. That we have in this matter 
been going not forward, but backward, should surely be 
cause for grave concern to all Church people of Penang who 
care for the welfare of the young. Let us trust that it is only 
a case of "riculer pour mieux sauter." 

Province Wellesley, on the mainland opposite Penang, 
is the strongest centre in the diocese of work amongst Tamils. 
A Tamil priest is in charge there, and at Bukit Tengah there 
is a boarding school for Tamil boys, in which large numbers 
are receiving a useful education. Unfortunately, the diocese 
is still without a school for Tamil girls, a need which has 
long been felt, as it is difficult for many reasons to mingle 
Tamil with Chinese children in a boarding school, though in 
a day school all are encouraged to mix and learn side by side. 
The whole subject of the Tamil Mission work will be 
described in Chapter IV. 

In both Singapore and Penang the Chinese form by far 
the largest element in the population; they are by nature 
industrious, and a large part of the trade of the country is 
in their hands. From very early times there had been con- 
stant intercourse between China and the Peninsula, the 
Chinese coming down to mine tin as well as for purposes of 
trade. But in the early days no women were allowed to 
leave China (a restriction now retained only by the natives 
of Hainan), and many Chinese in consequence intermarried 
with Malays and settled down in the country of their 
adoption. Thus arose the class of "Baba" or "Straits- 
born" Chinese, most of whom speak Malay in preference to 
their own tongue, while the women also adopt the dress of 
the Malays. Amongst these are many long-established 
families, British subjects, wealthy and respected; and 
amongst them, too, are not a few Christians. Missionary 



Work amongst the Chinese 39 

effort is, however, by no means confined to the Straits 
Chinese, but extends to all the different races which come 
down from South China to the Malay Peninsula. The 
Mission work begun during- RafHes' lifetime in Malacca and 
Singfapore was stopped by the transfer in 1842 of the 
missionaries to China, and for many years from that date 
little was done except by the Roman Church. Our own 
Church is now taking- a somewhat more adequate share in 
the evangelization of the Chinese, as the following accooint 
of the work by one of those engaged in it will show : — 

Chinese Missionary Work in the Diocese of Singapore. 

The earliest beginnings of missionary work amongst the 
Chinese in the Diocese of Singapore were laid, it is believed, 
in the city of Singapore itself in the year 1856. It is not 
intended to deal in this article with the work accomplished 
throughout that long vista of years, but with the work 
that is being done now. Let us take the three centres of 
the work which is being carried on in the three principal 
towns of Malaya — Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang. 
Beyond these places there is, as yet, no Chinese missionary 
work, except the indirect though very valuable kind done 
by the Malacca Medical Mission. The bulk of the pouulation 
in these places, as indeed almost everywhere throughout the 
diocese, is Chinese, and work amongst them is rendered at 
once both difficult and interesting through the multiplicity 
of tongues. 

1. Singapoire. — In this huge city there are 300,000 
members of the Chinese race, and immigration from China 
goes on at the rate of 70,000 a year. The majority of the 
immigrants hail from Amoy and Swatow, but the total 
includes the following varieties or clans, : — Hokkiens, 
Cantonese, Teochews, Hailams, Khehs, Foochows, 
Hockchias, Hinghwas, Shanghais, Chian-angs, and others. 
These differ so widely in speech that they may almost be said 
to speak different languages. Missionary work amongst 
this heterogeneous mass is carried on through the agency of 
the St. Andrew's Church Mission, which employs two Chinese 



4:0 In Rubber Lands 

priests, four catediists, two Bible-women, and one honorary 
lay reader, besides the Engflish missionary of the S.P.G., 
who, it may be remarked, is the sole European exponent of 
Christianity in the Chinese language throughout this huge 
diocese. The work is immense and necessarily slow. 
Opposition there is, but it is chiefly of the passive kind 
arising from indifference juid the intense conservatism of the 
Chinese. But, while there are disappointments, there is also 
much to encourage — workers are received and listened to 
with respect, there are friendly discussions on the claims of 
Christianity, families remove the paraphernalia of heathen 
worship from their homes, women unbind their feet in 
obedience to Christian teaching, heathen clubs are lent as 
Christian schools, heathen children are permitted to enter a 
Christian church, and so on. All this shows that the Chinese 
are beginning very, very slowly it is true, but yet surely, 
to detach themselves from time-honoured cults and idol 
observances, and to appreciate the fact that most of what 
they have been accustomed to regard as important is not 
only useless, but harmful. It is interesting to know how 
thoughtful Chinese themselves view the Christian religion. 
Mr. Chen Tu Sen, a well-known progressive scholar and 
thinker in China, in a recent article in The China Review, 
gives his considered judgment thus — "Christianity has 
become an influential factor in the spiritual life of our people, 

and indirectly also in our national life In my opinion 

the rational attitude towards Christianity is to treat it 
seriously and study it as a subject of great social signifi- 
cance." Our Mission has definite accessions by baptism 
of about forty adults a year. The number is not large, but 
a severe sifting process is necessary previous to baptism. 
Our catechumenate roll is always considerably over 100; 
thus for 1920 it numbered 140 from as many as seven 
different clans. 

We have recently organized a method of out-of-door 
preaching, but the conditions of life in Singapore do not 
seem to be favourable to the propagation of the faith in this 
way, and we are not very hopeful of results. At 5.30 one even- 



Work amongst the Chinese 41 

ing, provided with lamps (darkness sets in at 6 o'clock) and 
suitably inscribed banners, we took our stand in the People's 
Park, where hundreds of Chinese (chiefly Cantonese) cong-re- 
gate to ply their various trades — ^barbers, vendors of a 
thousand different kinds of wai as, exponents of the bewitching 
art of jugglery, and stump-orators. The melodious tones of an 
accordion accompanying the singing of a hymn soon drew 
around us a crowd of nearly 300, who, like the Athenians 
of old, were ever ready "to hear some new thing," and 
preaching began and was continued * for an hour. The 
crowd was orderly and no opposition was offered. Thus, 
once a week on Saturday evenings, out-of-door preaching 
has been placed on its trial here, though we agree with the 
late experienced missionary. Father Benson, of the Cowley 
Fathers' Mission in India, who writes (in a book of his 
letters recently published) : "I have not much faith in out- 
of-door preaching except to prepared hearts." It is, 
undoubtedly, the quiet, persistent, and prayerful dealing 
with individual souls which tells. This method of appeal 
our Mission possesses in the large number of what (for lack 
of a better name) may be called "cottage meetings," which 
are attended by non-Christians as well as by those already 
Christian. We have nine such meetings during the Week, 
held in private houses or shops in as many parts of the 
city, each attended by its own clan — Cantonese, Foochow, 
Hokkien, Hinghwa, &c. It is through these meetings that 
we are able to fix first our hearers, then our catechumens. 

Previous to 1902, when the writer was transferred from 
North Borneo to Singapore after thirteen years' work in the 
former place, only one Chinese service was held on Sundays 
in our Mission church (St. Peter's), which was in the Hokkien 
tongue — for all comers, irrespective of their language. This 
was, obviously, most unsatisfactory. There have since been 
added three Sunday services in Chinese — Cantonese, 
Foochow, and Hinghwa. Sunday services are also held at 
our out-station church — St. John's, twelve miles from 
Singapore — in the Teochew language. 

Over 500 Chinese pass through the two churches and 



42 In Rubber Lands 

our church hall as worshippers on Sundays. The Foochow 
service is arresting-. A spirit of great reality and devotion 
pervades it. AU make the responses in firm and earnest 
tones, and the volume of sound produced thereby is thrilling; 
but their singing ! — ^the voice of the Foochow is like to the 
voice of the crow, raucous and harsh, yet by this very defect 
they are enabled to attain to the ideal of the psalmist, for 
they certainly do " make a merry noise unto the God of 
Jacob." Having regard to the humble status of the members 
of this congregation — rickshaw coolies, servants, cooks, 
water carriers (with a sprinkling of shopkeepers and others 
in the higher walks of life) — it is characterized by quite a 
remarkable degree of intelligence. On one occasion a 
rickshaw puller read the lessons, a cook played the organ, 
while another rickshaw puller preached the sermon. The 
Rev. Dong Bing Seng — a very worthy man — ordained to the 
priesthood on September 22nd, 1918, is in charge of this 
congregation. He has worked in the Mission since July, 
1910. A good linguist, able to preach in three languages 
besides his own — viz., Hokkien, Hockchia, and Mandarin — 
the extent of his influence is greatly increased. 

While the work going on amongst the Cantonese is 
typical of that being done amongst the other clans, yet 
the Cantonese work is unquestionably of a still more pro- 
g-ressive nature. The Cantonese people, more than Einy 
other, seem to be open to the appeal of Christianity. They 
are of a higher type, both socially and intellectually, not 
a few amongst our congregation being doctors and photo- 
graphers. The work amongst them is finely organized, with 
committees, men and women voluntary workers, Bible 
classes, cottage meetings, open-air meetings, Sunday 
schools, choir (with sweet voices !) — all the necessary 
adjuncts, indeed, of a well ordered parish in England. The 
congregation aims at making its work eventually self- 
supportingf. A highly commendable feeling of esprit de 
corps and much power of initiative is evident. These things 
exist amongst the other sections of our work, but to a much 
less deg-ree. The Cantonese priest is the Rev. Chan Wing 



Work amongst the Chinese 43 

Tsuen, who has worked ten years in the diocese with great 
acceptance, successively as catechist, deacon, and priest. 
He was ordained to the priesthood together with the Rev. 
Dong Bing Seng, and has now the assistance of a catechist, 
Mr. Mo Yung In, who arrived from Canton in March, 1920. 
This catechist has been definitely recommended to our Bishop 
by the Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong, as one worthy of being 
advanced to the ministry. In this connection the hope may 
be expressed that others of our catechists may eventually be 
ordained — the writer has especially in view the Hokkien 
worker, Mr. Ng Ho Le, who is able and earnest, young, a 
good organizer, a persuasive preacher, and respected by his 
people. 

It is impossible, in the space at our disposal, to deal with 
the work being done amongst all the different clans embraced 
within the Mission, but a word may be said about the 
Hinghwa section — the latest to be brought within the scope 
of its activities. The Hinghwas are very numerous in Singa- 
pore, numbering about 10,000; they speak a dialect peculiarly 
their own and earn their living largely as rickshaw puUers. 
The Christian Hinghwas who from time to time come here 
from their homes in China are mostly members of the Church 
of England, having been reclaimed from heathenism, by the 
C.M.S., which has a flourishing Mission in Hinghwa city. 
We were able to begin our work amongst these people in 
1912 largely through financial help given by the then Superin- 
tendent of the C.E.Z.M.S., Miss Abel. The work is 
encouraging though progress is slow. The Hinghwas are 
a difficult people to influence because of their tenacious hold 
on superstition and idol worship. They are also quarrel- 
some in their own country, where, dividing themselves into 
opposing" camps, the white flags are for ever engaging in 
ferocious struggles with the black. Locally, this tendency 
is held in check through a wholesome awe of the Govern- 
ment. We had, until recently, a flourishing Hinghwa 
Mission school of nearly 100 pupils held in the Hinghwa 
church hall (a disused heathen temple). Largely owing to 
the great expense of running it and through lack of sufficient 



44 In Rubber Lands 

accommodation, we have, unfortunately, been compelled to 
hand it over to- an influential non-Christian syndicate with 
plenty of cash. The principal, however, an ex-minister of 
the Methodist Church, remains, and many of the pupils still 
attend our Hinghwa services and meetings in the temple on 
Sundays and weekdays, the parents, though passively 
hostile, offering no opposition to this. The catechist, Mr. 
Guoh lu Gong, is a devout and scholarly man, and able to 
preach in several Chinese languages. 

The Mission possesses four very hopeful Sunday schools, 
containing 160 scholars, for Hinghwa, Hokkien, Cantonese, 
and Foochow Chinese. 

A word should be said here about the Baba Chinese, who 
are also included in the work of St. Andrew's Church Mission. 
The Babas are Straits-bom Chinese, descendants of the 
original Chinese settlers in this country, and their 
language is a corruption of the native tongue (Malay). The 
dress of their women (sarong and kabaya) approximates to 
that of the pure Malay. Though Chinese many, to their 
acknowledged regret and loss, 'are unable to speak that 
tongue. The Babas are very numerous throughout Malaya, 
and their speech, of which they are very tenacious, is one, 
comparatively speaking, easily acquired. Baba-Malay, as 
it is called, may almost, indeed, be said to be the lingua 
franca of these parts. Europeans largely use it when 
addressing Asiatics, and other Chinese resort to it when 
they do not happen to know one another's native tongue. 
The Methodist and Presbyterian missionaries specialize in 
work amongst the Babas and the number of their followers 
is considerable. One explanation of their success is that 
they possess a good staff of women workers. Without the 
aid of women missionaries it is impossible to appeal to the 
Chinese women, for a Chinese man (or any man other than 
the husband) who is seen in earnest conversation with a 
Chinese woman becomes suspect in the eyes of the non- 
Christians. We have, as yet, no method of intimatfe 
approach either to Baba, Hokkien, or Hinghwa adult women 
folk, and two other great sections — Cantonese and Foochow — 



Work amongst the Chinese 45 

have only one female worker each. Our work amongst all 
Chinese women is thus seriously hampered. We need a 
whole army of female workers who will visit and teach the 
women in the seclusion of their homes; but, alas ! there are 
no funds wherewith to engage them. But to hark back for 
one moment more to the Baba. The gentleman Baba has, 
as a rule, a very great idea of his own importance, and is 
inclined to look with a sort of supercilious pity on his brethren, 
the other Chinese. He is thus a difficult person to influence, 
and, if influenced, almost as difficult to retain. The Baba lady 
is usually rotund and amiable, shy and even suspicious at first 
of strangers, but with a heart which expands and responds 
to the touch of sympathy. The Mission has a fair following 
from this class of Chinese, and includes from 80 to 
100 communicants. Our Book of Common Prayer, in 
Malay, is that translated some six years ago by our former 
Bishop, Bishop Hose, and the writer has in hand a revised 
and extended edition of the Malay hymn-book which is now 
in use. 

We must pass on to speak, shortly, of the two other 
centres of our work in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. 

2. Euala Lumpur. — This is the highly prosperous inland 
capital town of the Federated Malay States. Its large 
population is predominantly Cantonese Chinese, but, as in 
Singapore, the Chinese languages spoken are very hetero- 
genous — Hokkien, Kheh, Amoy, Hai-tan, and others. 
Missionary work was commenced here many years ago 
through tJie agency of some of the Christians themselves, 
and afterwards carried on by catechists, but little progress 
was made until the arrival of the Rev. Chan Wing Tsuen in 
1914, who received his "title" to Kuala Lumpur on his 
ordination to the diaconate in that year. In 1917 an English 
priest, the Rev. C. F. C. Elvin, who had acquired the 
Cantonese language in China (the first English priest to take 
up work among the Chinese in the diocese for a generation), 
was appointed. Unfortunately, his health broke down and 
he was forced to return to England in August, 1918, having" 
laid, however, the foundations of a thriving Chinese Mission. 



46 In Rubber Lands 

Mr. Lau Cong De, a Foochow priest, succeeded Mr. Elvin, 
and is now in charge. He has no paid staff, but several 
voluntary workers, both men and women. His knowledge 
of languages other than his own — e.g.. Mandarin, Hokkien, 
and Malay — is a valuable asset in his work, but he finds 
himself handicapped by his lack of knowledge of the 
Cantonese language. He sadly needs the help of a Cantonese 
catechist, for two-thirds of the population speak that tongue. 
His Sunday congregations are increasing; they now average 
eighty, and are composed of four clans of Chinese. The 
service . is read in Mandarin, and the sermon delivered, 
sentence by sentence, first in Foochow, then in Mandarin, 
these sentences being then translated by an interpreter into 
Cantonese. It is a cumbrous method, but it is the only 
one available where it is impossible to hold more than one 
Chinese service in the church on Sundays. Many Christians, 
living in outlying districts, long distances from the town, 
are unable to attend the Sunday service, and these are visited 
regularly every month for teaching and prayer. The priest 
holds several evangelistic evening meetings in the town during 
the week, and conducts also a night school for the teaching 
of Mandarin. 

3. Penang. — Penang, as everybody nowadays knows, 
is the most beautiful island in the Far East, and is remark- 
able for the rich luxuriance of its tropical vegetation. Being 
also a port of call for boats outward and homeward bound, 
its trade, lilie that of Singapore, is very great. There is, 
consequently, here a magnificent field for Chinese missionary 
work, but, so far, through many years, we have only been 
able tO' employ a catechist. The great potentialities of the 
work here call for at least one Chinese priest with two or 
three catechists under him. The thousands of Chinese are 
mostly Hokkien speaking, hence the language difficulty, so 
persistent in other places in the diocese, is reduced to a 
minimum. The congregation which assembles in the English 
church (St. George's) on Sundays reaches nearly 100, one- 
half of whom are communicants, and this service is supple- 
mented by three meetings on weekdays in the Mission hall. 



Work amongst the Chinese 47 

But it is time to draw attention to the general outlook 
and to some of our outstanding needs. As to the latter, first 
and foremost, more and more Chinese priests are needed to 
open up and shepherd work in other parts of this huge 
diocese. The town of Ipoh, the second largest town in the 
Federated Malay States, should claim our next attention in 
any projected plan of extension, though there are numberless 
places where we could set down priests if we had them. As 
will have been gathered, we have at present only three 
Chinese priests for the whole diocese, which comprises, not 
only Singapore and the other Straits Settlements (Malacca and 
Penang), but all the Malay States, Federated and Non- 
federated (Kedah, Kelantan, Trengganu, Perak, Pahang, 
Selangor, the Negri Sembilan, and Johore) ; and includes the 
whole of the Dutch East Indies and the Kingdom of Siam. 
What are three Chinese priests in such a vast extent of 
territory? But the species has to be slowly produced, and 
the diocese has, at present, no machinery for producing 
them. Catechists may from time to time be advanced to 
the ministry, but this method is, obviously, not ideal. What 
seems to be needed in such a diocese as this is some central 
institution, college, or seminary (small and unpretentious, 
it may be) into which likely young men might be drafted for 
testing of vocation and training, and from which the diocese 
could, without fail, draw its supplies. At present we are 
in the position of having to find our workers, haphazard and 
anywhere (thus, three out of the only five Chinese catechists 
in the diocese came to us from Nonconformist Missions), 
and this method of obtaining them has not in times past been 
invariably attended with success. It is difficult, at present, 
to see from what source we could draw recruits for a train- 
ing college. Purely English schools have now been estab- 
lished many years, but not one has ever produced an embryo 
missionary, though, presumably, the ideal is held up before 
the scholars in schools where the Christian religion is taught. 
One or two instances there have, indeed, been where youths 
have come forward to be trained, but they have eventually 
withdrawn. It would seem that the atmosphere in our 



48 In Rubber Lands 

English schools, utilitarian and materialistic as it tends to 
be, militates against a call to work in the Church. A know- 
ledge of English and secular things is regarded, simply and 
solely, as a valuable medium for getting on in life and coining 
the almighty dollar. A padre, giving a Scripture lesson in 
one of these English schools recently, asked his class what 
their object was in learning English. The inevitable answer 
came — "To make money." Neither can the character of the 
Chinese boy be said to be improved by the associations of 
a purely English school. He tends to become conceited and 
self-opinionated, to lose the traditional politeness and rever- 
ence of his race, and to despise both the language and the 
customs of his forebears. Such a soil, it must be granted, 
is not one in which the Christian religion may be expected 
to find root, or, finding it, to bring forth, much fruit. If it 
were possible (and it has been rendered impossible through 
the recent taking over and financing of all English secular 
education by the Government) to convert our English schools 
for Chinese into seed plots for the planting of Christianity, 
and to dethrone the purely secular side from the first place 
that it now holds and to- relegate it to a second place, what a 
vast spiritual force they might become ! We plead for a 
more intense and purely missionary propaganda in the 
vernaculars of the people. But the position being what it is, 
we look not here for our future missionary workers. A 
much more hopeful source lies in boarding schools or hostels, 
w^here young Chinese boys are kept continuously under the 
direct guidance and supervision of a missionary priest, pro- 
vided the boys are also taught Chinese and encouraged to 
remain Chinese; and these should be developed as much as 
possible. But we look chiefly to our converts who have 
kept themselves unsullied by contact with so-called Western 
civilization and have refused to succumb to the process of 
denationalization, so largely fostered by tlie English schools. 
Thousands of Chinese in these parts have no intention what- 
ever of becoming Europeanized, and are making determined 
efforts to maintain their own language and the distinctive 
national characteristics of their race. They have schools 



Work amongst the Chinese 49 

everywhere (there are thirty in Singfapore averagfing- 300 
scholars each, with many others of smaller pretensions), 
and, while English is taught in most, if not all, of them, 
the first place is gfiven to the teaching of Chinese literature 
and Mandarin, the official languag^e of China, which it is 
hoped will in time become the binding link between the 
many clans, each of which has now its own distinctive 
speech. 

The Straits Government is contemplating- the establishing 
of a University of Singapore in memoiry of Sir Stamford 
Raffles, the founder of the colony. It would be a gracious 
thing, and also an eminently diplomatic one, if the Govern- 
ment were to endow a chair of Chinese literature and 
Mandarin-Chinese, as is being done now in educational 
institutions outside China — e.g., in Lyons College, France, 
w^here, it is understood, 300 Chinese students will be taught, 
in addition to French, their own language and literature by 
teachers of their own race. When the Mandarin tongue 
becomes universal amongst the Chinese it will be a manifest 
blessing, not only tO' themselves, but also to the Church. 

All this, though somewhat of a digression, will serve to 
introduce and emphasize our third need — English priests (a 
small number, three or four, would do, if itinerating), 
learned in the Chinese language and things Chinese, who 
might, under the Bishop, guide the policy of the future great 
Chinese Church of this diocese. While the English work 
throughout the diocese is staffed with many priests (though, 
alas ! these all too few), the Chinese work, which is a 
thousand-fold greater, both in its extent and possibilities, 
has only one Englishman engaged on it. This is a purely 
missionary diooese, and the fact must be recognized that, if 
we are to do any real good, we must have priests (not only 
Chinese, but English priests also) who' are able to minister 
to the peoples in their own tongues. Speaking from a thirty 
years' experience in this and the neighbouring Diocese of 
Labuan and Sarawak, the writer holds this to be a 
matter of the highest importance, and one which cannot be 
too much insisted on. "A man should be ministered to," 



50 In Rubber Lands 

said Dean Vaughan, "in the language in which on his 
death-bed he would commend his soul to God." Can 
anyone doubt what that language would be for the conser- 
vative Chinese in that supreme moment? Further, the 
heart of the Chinese immediately warms to one who can speak 
his tongue, and he becomes singularly confiding and 
responsive. But we need not labour the point. English 
priests are sorely needed in this diocese who will devote their 
lives, or the best part of their lives, to purely Chinese work. 
To the lack of these must be attributed, in large measure, 
the pitifully small advance which missionary work amongst 
the Chinese has hitherto made. The work is strenuous, no 
doubt — 'tis hot, one does perspire, and the cassock may have 
to be hastily sun-dried between the short intervals of many 
Sunday services — but to men of grit, patience, perseverance, 
and spiritual strength the work of building up the Chinese 
Church beyond the confines of the Chinese Empire, but 
linked up with the "Tiong Hoa Seng Kong Ho" (the Holy 
Catholic Church of China), will possess an irresistible attrac- 
tion and will appeal with ever-increasing force. The future 
of the Chinese Church in this diocese is assured given the 
right sort of workers in sufficient numbers, with sufficient 
funds to carry on the work. 



CHAPTER IV. 

(i.) The Malay States and their industries, (ii.) Mission 

WORK AMONGST THE TAMILS. 

The circumstances which led up to British intervention 
in the Malay States cannot be detailed at length here. Feuds 
in Selangor and Sungei Ujong (one of the Negri Sembilan 
States), faction fights amongst the Chinese miners of Perak, 
and the increase of piracy consequent on these disturbances, 
combined to bring about a conference between the British 
Governor, Sir Andrew Clarke, the Malay chiefs, and the 
Chinese headmen in 1874. By the Treaty of Pangkor, 
then concluded with Perak and shortly afterwards extended 
to the other States of the Federation, a British Resident was 
accredited to each court, "whose advice must be asked and 
acted upon in all questions other than those touching Malay 
religion and custom." The murder of Mr. Birch, the first 
Resident of Perak, in the following year led to a military 
expedition to bring to justice those concerned in this crime, 
and "the lesson was' thus taught that British authority could 
not be flouted with impunity. From this period may be 
said to date the introduction of the Pax Britannica into Malaya, 
and from this time onward the States have made rapid progress 
in development and prosperity."* Twenty years later (1896) 
the scheme which had been drawn up by Sir Frank 
Swettenham for the Federation of the four States of Perak, 
Selangor, Pahang, and Negri Sembilan was approved by the 
Colonial OfBce, and came into force, Kuala Lumpur being 
selected for the capital. This town has since that time 
grown with marvellous rapidity and has now 47,000 inhabi- 
tants, fine buildings, and busy streets. 

It is only right that it should also be a centre of Church 
life, and, until the diminution of staff consequent upon the 
war, it had two chaplains — one to work in the town itself 

• "The Malay Peninsula," by A. Wright and T. H. Reid. 
51 



52 In Rubber Lands 

and the other to- be responsible for the surrounding- district, 
which contains the three daughter churches of Klang-, 
Kajang, and Kuala Kubu. There are also two priests — a 
Chinese and a Tamil — to minister to their respective country- 
men, both in Kuala Lumpur itself and in the many out- 
stations scattered! throughout Selangor. Within the last 
few years a large piece of ground has been acquired for 
Church purposes, and on this a parsonage and a girls' school 
have been built. This school is a growing institution and 
large schemes' for its further development are projected. 
Another school, for boys, in Pudu, a suburb of Kuala 
Lumpur, is also making satisfactory progress. 

There are eight other churches in the Federated Malay 
States — at Ipoh, Gopeng, Batu Gajah, Teluk Anson, Parit 
Buntar, Taiping, aind Kuala Kangsar, in Perak; and at 
Seremban, in Negri Sembilan. Pahang has not as yet a 
church within its borders, its population being very small 
compared with the other States. 

These eight churches are in the charge of five priests, 
each of whom has a very large district allotted to him.. The 
average length of a "parish" in the Federated Malay States 
is about forty miles, so that only a motor-car or motor-cycle 
makes it possible for the padre to visit the planters scattered 
over so large an area. 

It was not till 1909 that the Non-federated States of 
Kelantan, Trengganu, Kedah, and Perlis were transferred 
from Siamese tO' British suzerainty in exchange for the 
renunciation by Great Britain of the right of extra territorial 
jurisdiction in Siam. A British Adviser is attached to the 
court of the Sultan of each of these States, and other British 
officials assist in the administration of the country. The 
majority of the inhabitants are Malays, who are here seen 
in their natural surroundings, engaged in their normal pur- 
suits and enjoying their favourite sports of bull fighting, cock 
fighting, and boat racing. Kedah, owing to its proximity 
to Penang, has perhaps made the greatest advance, and 
there is now considerable rubber planting and mining, as 
well as padi cultivation within its area. Kelantan, however, 



The Malay Straits 53 

exports rubber, copra (the product of the coconut), rice, fish, 
and cattle; while both it and Trengg-anu show the native arts 
of sarong- weaving and metal work in their greatest perfection. 
There is no church and no chaplain on the east coast of 
the Peninsula, but there are small colonies of Europeans 
scattered along it at various points — at Mersing, in Johore; 
at Kuantan, Pekan, and Sungei Lembing, in Pahang; at 
several places along the Kelantan River ; and a few in 
Trengganu. To minister toi such scattered communities 
will be the work of a travelling chaplain when one becomes 
available. In the meantime they can only be visited when it 
is possible for one of the stationary padres to leave his proper 
work for a time for this purpose. One such visit has been 
described in Chapter II. 

Not only the English padres, but the Chinese and Tamil 
priests also have to do a considerable amount of travelling 
in order tO' seek out scattered members of their flocks. This 
is particularly the case with the Tamil priests, one of whom 
is stationed at Kuala Lumpur and another at Ipoh; both of 
these visit a large number of estates, on which smiall bodies 
of Christians are amongst the coolies working on the rubber. 
The following is a typical account of one such visit : — 

"During the last quarter I visited the Cluny Estate Christians 
twice and held services for them. On November 13th I had the 
happiness of holding an opening service at the new chapel, which 
was tastefully decorated with palm leaves. The service commenced 
at 5 p.m. by the pastor leading the congregation in procession, with 
the singing of lyrics, beating of tom-toms, and firing of crackers, 
from the old place of worship (a room in the coolie lines) to the 
new chapel. The congregation counted eighty-three, mostly men. 
Next day at 9 a.m. I celebrated the Holy Eucharist. It is the desire 
of the people to dedicate the chapel to the Holy Trinity. Again on 
St. Stephen's Day I held Evensong for tv/enty-one people, and next 
morning (St. John's Day) celebrated at 4 o'clock, the congregation 
being ten. During the same quarter the following places were 
visited : — ^Tapah, Bidor, Bikam, Sungkai, as well as scattered 
Christians on other estates." 

The industries of British Malaya. 
It is always interesting to know what are the chief pro- 
ducts of a country about which we wish to learn, and as we 
are now concerned with the Diocese of Singapore, we shall 



54 In Rubber Lands 

wish to know something- as to what world-needs the products 
of this country satisfy, and what occupations absorb the 
energies of the majority of its population. It is a diocese 
which contains a great amount of natural wealth, and 
its soil is so rich that it produces a variety of crops in 
abundance. 

Tin and gold, timber and coal are some of its natural 
wealth; rubber, tea, sugar, tobacco, coffee, coconuts, and 
spices grow in abundance. The tea, sugar, coffee, and 
tobacco are chiefly cultivated in Java and Sumatra — Dutch 
islands which form part of the diocese. (In former days 
sugar and tapioca estates were common in the Malay 
Peninsula, but with the advent of rubber these have 
disapjjeared). 

The most important sphere of diocesan work is the Malay 
Peninsula, and the main products of this area are rubber 
and tin — products of world-wide utility, which give to Malaya 
an importance far in excess of its actual size. 

The story of the development of the rubber industry reads 
like a fairy tale. Until about 1908 the bulk of the world's 
rubber came from Brazil and the Congo, only 5 per cent, 
came from Malaya. But at that time the uses of rubber 
were not so numerous as they now are, and the world's out- 
put was small compared with what it is to-day. Then came 
the great demand for rubber which produced the boom of 
1909. The soil of Malaya was found to be peculiarly suitable 
for the growth of the rubber tree, and at once vast areas were 
brought under cultivation. 

This tropical country grows dense jungle, and it is, there- 
fore, necessary to remove this virgin growth before a rubber 
plantation can be cultivated. Most of the early work of 
felling the forest is done by Chinese labourers. First of all 
the undergrowth has to be cut dovsm, then the smaller trees 
are felled, and, lastly, the great giants of the forest. What 
had been thick tropical jungle is thus reduced to a close mass 
of wood some five feet high. This is allowed to dry during 
the two to three hot months, and when it has become dead 
and dry, fire is set to it and a mighty blaze results. 



The Malay Straits 55 

If the burn has been good the land is now more or less 
fit for planting-; holes are dug at about twenty feet intervals, 
these are filled with refined soil, and thus a bed is formed 
for the young rubber sapling. These are raised from seeds 
in nurseries, and when about a year old they are fit to be 
planted out into the prepared holes. Under normal conditions 
the tree will take five years before it is large enough and 
sufficiently matured to allow of its being "tapped." This 
latter process means that an incision is made into the bark 
of the tree with a "tapping" knife, and from the cut flows 
the white fluid known as "latex," which is the raw rubber. 
The amount of bark excised is very thin and, with a well 
thought out system, a tree can be "tapped" daily for years. 
The bark requires about six years to renew before it can be 
tapped again. 

Malaya now produces about 85 per cent, of the world's 
output of rubber. 

The initial work of opening up new land is (as above 
explained) generally undertaken by Chinese, who are stronger 
and more fitted physically for heavy work; but later on, when 
the work becomes steady routine, the Tamil coolie — imported 
from South India— is found more suitable. 

Before rubber took so important a place in the life of 
the country the chief export was tin. Rich alluvial deposits 
had been worked in different parts of the Peninsula from 
early times and, a long time before the arrival of the English, 
Chinese came down from their own country to search for 
this precious metal. Of what they found the Malays, who 
were then in control of the country, took heavy toUs. 

Most of the land which is now being worked by big 
European companies (in some cases by underground shafts, 
in others on the surface by means of hydraulic monitors or 
of the dredge) has already been partly worked by the pioneer 
Chinaman with his pick and shovel. 

The tax levied by Government on the export of tin has 
in great measure provided the railway and the excellent roads 
which run through the country. 



56 In Rubber Lands 

Practically all the labour employed on tin mines is Chinese, 
and many of the larg-est and most valuable mines are owned 
by Chinamen. They are an extremely hardworking- and 
enterprising people, and many of the richest towkays (i.e., 
leading Chinamen) of to-day came to the country in the first 
place as unskilled coolies. 

It will have been observed from what has been said that 
the labouring classes are comprised mainly of Chinese and 
Tamils. The natives of the country, the Malays, do little 
wage-earning work, as they have their own little plots of 
land, the produce from which provides them with a livelihood 
without much effort. 

The conditions under which the coolies— Chinese and 
Tamils — live in Malaya are good. The Government of the 
country are solicitous for their welfare — and very rightly so. 

The owners of estates and mines (rubber and tin) are 
obliged by law to provide suitable, ample, and sanitary 
housing accommodation. This generally takes the form of 
a building raised some five feet from the ground, partitioned 
into rooms of ten by twelve feet ; one room being allowed for a 
married couple or for three bachelors. The walls are of planks 
and the roofing of either tiles or attaps (i.e., dried palm 
leaves). The manager of an estate or mine is held largely 
responsible for the adequate feeding of his laboucers, and 
ample water supply, hospital accommodation, and medical 
attention are obligatory. As the supply of labour is very 
much below the demand, the first object of a manager is to 
make his labourers contented, and the rule is to do for them 
more rather than less than that required by law. 

Some estates which employ a large Tamil labour force 
run schools for the children, and many have a system by 
which a bonus is paid to the parents for each child born and 
reared on the estate. This helps largely to reduce infantile 
mortality. 

A request has lately been made to the Medical Mission 
to train and supply to the estate hospitals Eurasian and 
native midwives. This would be a most excellent plan and 
their work would be invaluable. The type of woman required 



The Malay Straits 57 

is not easily found, however, in a country where the elder 
women either have their own homes or are not anxious at 
their age to learn a new profession and to work for others. 
Young- women would not be suitable. At present the estate 
hospitals are practically without midwives, and it is most 
earnestly hoped that the Medical Mission will see its way to 
satisfy this need. 

The average number of days in a month upon which a 
coolie works is about twenty-four, and the wages which he 
receives are sufficient to enable him to make big savings; 
so much so that, on an average, each coolie returns tO' India 
for a hohday at the end of every two years' work. 

Reference has been made in this chapter to the managers 
of the mines and estates, and as they are for the most part 
of our own nationality, we shall wish to know something 
more about them and their organizations. First, there is the 
manager. Those directly under him are called divisional 
assistants. The number of the white staff of an estate 
depends upon the acreage— an average of one white man 
to every 400 acres is usual. Their bungalows are built in 
the middle of their estate or division. These bungalows are 
generally built on posts some four or five feet from, the ground. 
They are naturally of an open design — ^plank walls and either 
attap or tUe roofs. They are generally Surrounded by a 
verandah, and the kitchen and servants' quarters are built 
away from- the main building though connected with it by a 
covered way. Each bungalow would have three native 
servants — house boy, cook, and water carrier — all men. 

The life is generally a lonely one, though of late years 
with car or motor-cycle it is in most oases possible to be in 
touch with some planters' club. 

A large percentage of the planters are now married, a 
fact which makes all the difference in the world to the home 
life of our men in this distant portion of the Empire. It 
is, however, a very lonely liferfor the white womian, and she 
generally finds the climate more trying than the man, as most 
of her time is necessarily spent in the bungalow. 

When the children are old enough to be educated in 



58 In Rubber Lands 

England there comes the inevitable break up of the home life; 
the children either having to forego the parental influence 
or the wife having to remain in England with them and thus 
be parted from her husband. 

The daily life of the planter is spent chiefly out of doors, 
and the length of his day's vs^ork depends very largely upon 
the stage of development which the estate has reached. 
Usually his day begins before 6 o'clock, when he musters 
his labour force and, with breaks for breakfast and tiffin, 
he goes on until 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon. 

The average Englishman in Malaya is a good Imperialist, 
and just and kind to his coolies. 

The Church does its best to keep in touch with the white 
people, though the task is very difficult owing to the distances 
to be covered and the scattered nature of the congregation. 
The padre travels round and services are held from time to 
time in clubs or out-station bungalows, and these are well 
attended and much appreciated. As on many estates work 
is continued on Sundays as well as weekdays, it is often 
almost impossible for the planter to attend a service held in 
a church situated at a distance from his estate. Efforts to 
induce the companies to diminish Sunday labour are, how-* 
ever, being made, and it is hoped that an improvement in 
this direction may be looked for. 

The life of the Malayan planter is a good and healthy one, 
but he needs to be the right type of man for the work and to 
take his calling in a big spirit. 

Work among the Tamils. 

By far the largest amount of missionary work among the 
Asiatics in the diocese is that carried on amongst the Tamils 
from South India. They come for the most part from the 
Diocese of Tinnevelly, where the Church of England has 
over 100,000 Tamils in her congregation and something like 
100 ordained clergy of that race. The ordinary Singapore 
diocesan staff for ministering to them comprises five Tamil 
priests and six Tamil catechists, whilst there are a good 
many honorary lay readers who take services where there is 




TAMIL CdOI.IK I.INFS. 




ST. faith's school TAIPINGi 



Work among the Tamils 59 

no priest. The result is that, wherever there is any consider- 
able congregfation of Tamils, there is a service in that 
langfuage every Sunday. 

The coolies who work on the estates are almost all from 
South India, as also are the priests, though some of the 
best educated of the race are found among the Jaffna Tamils 
of Ceylon. 

Indians have come to the Malay Peninsula for a very 
large number of years. In fact, the Malay language has in 
it many words derived from Sanskrit and from Persian, which 
indicate a connection with India going back for many 
centuries. At the present time Indians from North India 
are to be found everywhere as watchmen and in the police, 
while Bombay shopkeepers carry on their trade in the big 
towns. In the Government offices, and also in the offices of 
many business firms, there are clerks who come either from' 
South India or from Ceylon, and on most rubber estates a 
proportion and sometimes the whole of the labour force is 
recruited from South India. Of these workers a certain 
number are Telugus, but the great majority are Tamils. It 
is South India that has the largest proportion of Christians. 
The result is that of the total Tamil population of the Malay 
Peninsula about 7 per cent, are Christian. The Church in 
South India has a good deal of vigorous Church life in it, 
as a visit to the Tinnevelly district would show. Nine- 
tenths of its clergy are Indian, and the whole of their salaries 
is provided by the Indian Christians of their congregations. 
One result of this is that when the Indian Christian goes 
to the Malay Peninsula he expects to find services and clergy, 
and he is ready to take his part in contributing to the 
necessary salaries. The amount of support which is given 
in this way differs considerably. Some congregations are 
backward, others prefer to send their contributions to their 
home Church in India, a feeling which is rather natural, as 
the Indian coolie only stays for a comparatively short time 
in the Malay Peninsula, and he is always thinking of the 
village where he was born and to which he hopes to return 
in order to settle down amongst his relations. In at least 



60 In Rubber Lands 

one congregation it is an understood thing that each member 
contributes 2 per cent, of his monthly salary. In one case 
three-fourths of the congregation give regularly 3 per cent, 
of their earnings — a system which, if it obtained in England 
-would solve the present financial difficulty of the Church there. 
In nearly every big town there is some Tamil — either priest, 
catechist, or lay reader — who takes services. Fortunately, 
there is no colour bar inside the Church building in the Malay 
Peninsula, so it is the ordinary thing for these services to 
be held in the church where English congregations worship. 
In this way Church life is kept up amongst the Tamil 
congregations. 

But it must not be supposed that the Tamil Christian 
is any more free from the temptations of the world, the flesh, 
and the Devil than is the English settler. In any case, the 
Indian Christian lives amongst a population which is largely 
non-Christian, and he is in closer touch with it than is the 
case with the European. There is always, therefore, for 
him a very special danger of lowering his standard to that 
of the surrounding non-Christian ideals. And if he is living 
on an estate to which the visiting Tamil padre can only come 
once in two or perhaps four months his spiritual difficulties 
are obviously increased. Moreover, on account of the cost 
of living in British Malaya, the Tamil Christian often finds 
it convenient to leave his wife and children in India, and 
in that case he is brought intO' closer touch with the wrong 
side of heathen worship and life than would be the case at 
home. There are some cases where almost all the Tamil 
Christians on a rubber estate have left their families in India, 
and undoubtedly tliis adds to their spiritual difficulties. The 
Tamil clergy, of whom the ordinary staff for the diocese 
is five at present, travel about as much as many European 
planters' padres, and even so it is very difficult 
for them toi keep in touch with all the members of their flock 
as they would like. In places like Penang, Nibong Tebal, 
in Province Wellesley, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, and Singapore 
there are fair size congregations of Tamils. Most of the 
members come from the Tinnevelly district, in South India, 



Work among the Tamils 61 

or from Jaffna, in Ceylon. In either case they have probably 
been connected with the Church Missionary Society in their 
own home. In many cases they have joined the Methodist 
Mission in the Malay Peninsula at a time when the Church 
work was weak on the Tamil side, and this has led to certain 
obvious difficulties in the religious life of the Tamil Christian 
community. 

At the present time there are no European clergy in the 
diocese who have a knowledge of Tamil, but the Tamil clergy 
and catechists have a knowledge of English, so the chaplain 
in any station is able to help the work and at times to superin- 
tend part of it. The lack of knowledge of Tamil on the 
part of the European clergy is a weakness, but it leads to one 
strong point — namely, that the Tamils themselves take a more 
definite part in Christian work than would possibly be the 
case if they felt that they had to depend upon these mission- 
aries. Perhaps the weakness of the work is that the Tamil 
clergy and catechists are so taken up with pastoral work 
that insufficient time and trouble are given to evangehstic 
work amongst the non-Christians of their race. In the State 
of Selangor an evangelistic society was started amongst them 
a few years ago, and some very definite results were shown 
in the conversion of some non-Christian famihes to 
Christianity, completed in their baptism. 

On the whole there is a good deal of hope for the Tamil 
work. An obvious weakness is that at the present time we 
have no ladies, either English or Indian, doing missionary 
work amongst the Tamils, but on the men's side a good 
deal is being done although there is room for a great deal 
more still. The special point in which we should like to see 
an advance is in the ordination of young Tamils brought up 
in British Malaya. Two out of the five Tamil priests were 
ordained in the diocese, but they both received their education 
in their native lands of India and Ceylon. It would be a 
great thing when young Indians, who have been born and 
brought up in the Peninsula, give up prospects of worldly 
advancement in order to evangelize their own fellow country- 
men. 



CHAPTER V. 

The work of Medical Missions. 

Around Malacca, as has been explained in previous chapters, 
centres most of the history of Malaya. "There is," writes 
Swettenham, "a romance of age, of experience, of a full 
life lived, which remains with Malacca to-day as the heritage 
of her history. She has drifted into the backwaters of time, 
out of the stream of endeavour, away from the struggle for 
riches and greatness, but for the lover of beauty, and for 
the student, her attractions are greater than those of the 
sister settlements. Singapore has a history too, but of her 
ancient glory not a stone is left, and there is little more than 
tradition to establish the fact of her former greatness."* 
The date of the foundation of Malacca is uncertain, probably 
early in the fourteenth century, but it was from the time when 
ancient Singapore was overthrown, and its inhabitants forced 
to flee to Malacca, that the latter town began to rise in 
eminence until it became a name renowned throughout the 
East. 

It was first visited by a European (Ludovigo Barthema) 
in 1503, and in 1511 was taken by Albuquerque, a previous 
expedition against it under Lopez di Siquera having been 
unsuccessful. Over a century later it was taken by the 
Dutch (1641), and in 1824 (after having changed hands 
several times between the Dutch and British) it finally became 
the prof>erty of Great Britain, in exchange for the settlement 
of Bencoolen, in Sumatra. 

It is the stiU remaining traces of this past history which 
lend a special interest to Malacca, which none of the more 
modem towns can claim. The old Portuguese church on the 
hill overlooking the harbour reminds us of Albuquerque and 
of St. Francis Xavier; the Stadt House near the landing place 
testifies to the enduring character of seventeenth century 
Dutch architecture. The Dutch church, which was handed 

* "British Malaya," by Swettenham. 
63 



The work of Medical Missions 63 

over to the British with the town on the condition that it 
should be preserved for its proper use of Christian worship, 
is now reg'ularly used for the services of the Church of 
England. The principal streets also retain a distinct air of 
those of an old European town — in fact, the town of Malacca 
bears everywhere the impress of the men who have influenced 
its history. 

Once pass outside the town intO' the surrounding- 
country of the territory of Malacca, however, and we come 
to scenery which is typical of cultivated Malaya at its best. 
"On either hand there will be rice-fields, emerald green when 
newly planted, golden when ripe, or brown when fallow. 
These are studded by topes of lofty palms shading a few brown 
huts. The distance is shut in by hills of a marvellous blue. 
Sometimes the road runs along the edge of the coast, with 
palm groves and villages on the one side, and on the other 
spaces of water, coloured green, blue, or silver by the varying 
lights of the Eastern day or night. There are no Malay 
villages, no country scenes more picturesque than those of 
Malacca, and a wedding party in bullock carts, or a fishing 
fleet at sunset will form a picture which will live in the 
memory of the traveller for all time."* 

It was on account of its character as the centre of an 
agricultural district inhabited by Malays, that Malacca was 
chosen as the most suitable position for the commencement 
of the Medical Mission which was designed to reach the 
Malays. In earlier years a Mission to Chinese had been 
inaugurated in Malacca by Dr. Milne, who on the invitation 
of Sir Stamford Raffles took up his residence there in 1814 
and remained until his death in 1822. His work is com- 
memorated on a tablet in Christ Church, Malacca, in the 
following words : — 

"He resided at this settlement as Principal of the Anglo-Chinese 
College, educating Chinese and Malay youths, composing useful 
and religious tracts in their respective languages, and officiating 
in this church as a faithful minister of Christ. The chief object 
of his labours, in co-operation with Dr. Morrison, was the trans- 
lation of the Holy Scriptures into Chinese." 

* "British Malaya," by Swettenham. 



64 In Rubber Lands 

Work amongst Chinese in Malacca is to-day principally 
in the hands of the Roman Catholics, who have large schools 
both for boys and girls, but the American Methodists also 
have a smaller school. Both these bodies have large educa- 
tional establishments at nearly every large centre of 
population in the Peninsula. 

The Medical Mission, Malacca, has been an attempt to 
inaugurate Mission work among the Malays. It was com- 
menced on April 18th, 1911, by the opening of a dispensary 
in Banda Hilir, on the outskirts of Malacca town. The work 
was carried on in these premises for some years, an annexe 
being built to the house when the Mission outgrew its original 
quarters. The staff during the first year consisted of Dr. 
Mildred Staley and three assistants, one of whom was a 
trained Chinese Christian nurse from Hong Kong. During 
the first year a branch dispensary was opened at Klebang, on 
the other side of the town, to reach the Malays in that direc- 
tion ; and during the second year two other dispensaries were 
built^one at Alai and the other at Tangga Batu, eleven miles 
from Malacca. 

In her first report Dr. Staley writes as follows : — "We 
have paid eighty-seven visits to kampongs in six months 
and receive a warm welcome everywhere, and some of these 
kampongs already send for us in cases of serious illness and 
seem to trust us fully. We are able to teach the people in 
their own homes valuable lessons of cleanliness and hygiene, 
how to nurse their babies and tend the sick." 

During 1912 Dr. Elsie Warren and Nurse Satchell came 
from England to join the staff, and at tlie end of her two 
years of promised service Dr. Staley handed over charge to 
Dr. Warren and resigned the work. That the confidence of 
the Malays had been won is shown by the fact that of 6,700 
attendances at the dispensaries over 5,000 were Malays. 
There were forty-five in-patients and many operations were 
performed. Since she has been in charge Dr. Warren has 
made the training of Asiatic assistants a prominent part of 
her work. 




MEDICAL MISSION HOUSE, MALACCA. 




DUCTOR bKkliNG rA'lIENTb AT THE DIbl'ENSAIiy. 



The work of Medical Missions 65 

In 1914 the move was made to the present quarters, which 
are much more suitably situated for work among- Malays. 

The house is! a substantial building-, standing in a coconut 
plantation on the sea front. It is some little distance outside 
the town and in close proximity to several Malay kampongs. 
In this house are the dispensary and oratory on the ground 
floor, wards for maternity cases, and rooms for some of the 
staff. An annexe, to provide the necessary accommodation 
for the Asiatic nurses, is being erected. In the compound two 
wards for general cases have been built — one for Malays, the 
other for Chinese; the latter was a generous gift of a Chinese 
resident in Malacca. A third ward, for Tamils, is also con- 
templated. A few extracts from the last report (1919) will 
show the character of the work done : — "We have paid over 
830 visits to patients' houses, most of these being to maternity 
cases at distances varying from two to thirty-three miles. 
We have usually three qualified midwives on the staff, and 
one sister could be usefully employed in superintending the 
outside work alone. During the year three pupils were sent 
to Singapore for the Government examination in midwifery 
and passed successfully. There has been an increase in 
Malay patients coming to the hospital. One batch of women 
who arrived at the dispensary said that they had risen at 
4 a.m. and walked six miles without food. After getting 
their medicine they had to return on foot. Many come in 
bullock carts even greater distances', often sixteen or twenty 
miles. We are very anxious to purchase a motor ambulance 
so that we can go to the help of those who are too ill or too 
poor to come to us. There have been six baptisms during 
the year — four of orphans adopted by the Mission, one of a 
patient, and one of a servant. ' ' 

Owing to ill-health Dr. Warren was obliged to sever her 
connection with the Mission, which has in consequence been 
for two years without a resident doctor. Most kind and 
generous help has, however, been given by one of the local 
practitioners, which has made it possible to carry on the 
work without interruption. The Mission, however, needs a 
resident doctor giving her full time to the work, and it is 



66 In Rubber Lands 

hoped that one may beg-in work at the end of 1921. Miss 
Cumber, after four years of devoted work, has now 
been obliged to leave the Mission and has been succeeded 
as sister-matron by Miss Hesseltine. The sister in a small 
Mission hospital like this has in her hands, not only the care 
of the patients, but also the most important work of training- 
the Asiatic nurses,' who are Christian girls from the Mission 
schools. If properly trained these nurses may be of enor- 
mous help to the people amongst whom they live and work, 
and by their lives, as well as by their words, may bear witness 
to the meaning of Christiani^ — "living epistles known and 
read of all." 

The following anecdotes of some of her Malay patients 
were told by Dr. Mildred Staley when she was in charge of 
the Malacca hospital : — ■ 

I. — In a distant kampong, one of the first in which we had treated 
patients last year, lived Mina, wife of a man who was fairly well off, 
and usually a kind husband. Of her six beautiful children one only 
had survived, a bright little girl of six, whom we treated at times for 
various small ailments. 

Though not much over thirty years of age, care and sorrow had 
aged the mother, and she had lost her good looks. Her husband had 
lately "bought a new cow," so she told me, a phrase signifying' the 
marrying of a younger wife, and he had another house somewhere near 
Tampin. There he spent most of his time, leaving his ancient mother 
as duenna with Mina, who never left the house when alone. 

Last year, after returning from my holiday, I called in to see my 
old friend when passing by her kampong to see another patient, and 
found her in sore grief. "Where have you been," she cried, as she 
flung herself on to me weeping, "and why did you not come and see 
me last month?— then my child need not have died." 

Thus she wailed and poured out her sad story. While her husband 
was away for two months — she knew not where — with his younger 
wife, the little girl got severe continuous fever for ten days. The 
distracted mother, who had lost all faith in pawangs' or hajis' treat- 
ment, besought the neighbours to send someone to call me, but no 
one would trouble to do so ; they merely told her that according to her 
"fate" the child would live or die, and sat comfortably still. So on 
the tenth day the child died. Then came in the police and suggested, 
on viewing the spotless little body, that "suppressed small-pox" was 
the cause of death, and that $50 fine was to be imposed for failing to 
report the case for removal to the isolation hospital. 

It was not till a fortnight later that the father returned from the 



The work of Medical Missions 67 

other house to hear of the tragedy and of the payment of the $50. 
Whereupon, naturally incensed, a severe castigation followed, the pain- 
ful marks and bruises from which were still visible on the poor mother. 
Bitter were the reflections of this poor woman. "Is a man not 
supposed to take care of his wife and family? Can he do it if he 
stays away for months, leaving us shut up alone here to die? Can he 
give his whole care equally to two families?" 

I gently pointed out that the man was hardly to blame in taking 
advantage of what his religion expressly sanctions — i.e., even four 
separate wives and families, for whom he is bidden to care equally 1 
But for such sorrow as Mina's, with all the bitter sense of injury 
and outraged motherhood, what comfort is to be found in Islam? 
After nearly a year this mother has found none, since she does not 
believe that "The All-great is the All-loving too." 

II. — Fatima is very poor. She supports her whole family by making 
baskets for tapioca, &c. ; she earns 1 cent on each, and may even make 
15 to 20 cents a day. When these do not sell well she varies her 
occupations by trying to sell sarongs. Walking four miles to Malacca, 
she takes a heavy bundle of these from some shop where she is known 
and trudges with them round ten miles or so of kampongs. On a good 
day she may sell five or six, earning 5 cents on each one ; but often 
she has only sold one or two after tramping fifteen to twenty miles 
altogether. Few and hard indeed are the means by which the poor 
Malay woman can make a living, since the old industries have died 
and new ones are not being widely taught. The family thus fed (for 
the house is her own) consists of a lazy husband, two small children, 
and a helpless epileptic sister, for whom our aid was first sought when 
she had fallen into the fire in a fit and got badly burned. Of Fatima's 
six children four died in infancy, and the husband is only a care and 
expense. One day I found her weeping. The man had some time 
before indulged himself in the luxury of a concubine, a delicate girl 
living quite close by, so that Fatima could not fail to know what 
presents, jewellery, &c., were lavished upon her. To add insult to 
injury, the man now demanded that his wife should take over the 
whole care of the girl's child, which he feared would not live if it 
remained with its mother. Fatima thought she might be forced to 
accept this charge, but we were able to strengthen her resolution and 
si'o resisted the imposition. 

The man kept out of the way, but providentially we attended a 
serious case at the house of his father, and so were able to express 
a strong opinion on the whole affair. The old man only laughed and 
agreed his son was lazy ; but other arrangements were made for the 
babe and no punishment followed. 

III. — Esa is a dear old widow who lately came into this hospital 
to have a tumour removed. 

Long ago she lost eleven of her thirteen children, as well as her 
husband. One tiny boy and girl were left to her. 



68 In Rubber Lands 

The girl she gave away, hoping to save both children. Unlike 
the Chinese parent who cheerfully throws away his girl babies, it is 
very rare for a Malay to part with a child unless it is a twin. 

But Esa thought "this girl is probably ta sa-rasa with myself (i.e., 
out of harmony, incongruous), and will die if I keep her, whereas 
if placed in another family she will live ; and the boy I will keep to 
be the support of my old age. " 

But, alas ! the son grew up selfish and unloving ; he abandoned his 
mother directly he married, and she still has to earn her living. When 
she first came to our dispensary for treatment and we told her she 
must come into the Malacca hospital, the neighbours warned her she 
would surely die if she did so. After thinking it over for some months 
she decided after all to come in, since to die was just what she desired ! 
No one needed her and it was a constant struggle for life. 

Accordingly she presented herself again at the branch dispensary, 
from which we drove her ourselves in to Malacca. When operation 
day came she meekly sniffed up the chloroform and prepared to die. 
But presently she found herself very cheerfully alive, and leaving the 
hospital to return to her kampong in rather a triumphant spirit, and 
intensely grateful, after all, for the "gift of life." 

It may be noted that in each family here described there is a 
terribly high death rate among the children of these kampong Malays. 
Out of these twenty-five children only five survived beyond one year, 
many dying at birth, or in their first two months, of bad feeding, 
tetanus, venereal, and other diseases. This surely "gives one to think," 
because there is the same waste of young lives to the community going 
on still unchecked, as statistics plainly show. 

The St. Andrew's Medical Mission, Singapore, was 
initiated in 1913 with the object of giving' to the Asiatic 
w^omen of Singapore the advantage of treatment by a doctor 
of their own sex, and to co-operate with other Mission agencies 
in spreading a knowledge of the Gospel in that place. On 
St. Luke's Day (October 18th), 1913, the first dispensary, 
that in Bencoolen Street, was opened by the Lady Evelyn 
Young. There followed an opening service and an address 
by the Bishop of Singapore on the aims of a Medical Mission, 
to an audience of both Europeans and Chinese. From that 
time to the present the dispensary in Bencoolen Street has 
been opened three mornings a week, and is attended by 
patients of very varied nationalities — Eurasians, Jews, 
Armenians, and Malays, mingling from time to time with the 
Chinese and Tamils who, naturally, form the bulk of the 
clientfile. 



The work of Medical Missions 69 

In February, 1914, the Mission was permitted by the 
Government to make use of the empty Cross Street school 
buildings for the purpose of a dispensary and women's 
hospital, and for four years the main part of the work was 
carried on there. But in March, 1918, as Government 
wished to demoUsh the old school and sell the site, the 
Mission had to vacate the Cross Street buildings and move 
into a small hired house in New Bridge Road, which is far 
too cramped, as well as in other ways unsuitable, for the 
requirements of the work. These quarters can be regarded 
only as a temporary expedient, and as soon as the war was 
over an appeal was made for funds to build a hospital for 
women and children in which the work of the Mission might 
be properly carried on and extended. A digest of this appeal 
is given in the Appendix, as the necessity for help in carrying 
out the scheme is still pressing. 

As very few Malay women will come as yet to a hospital 
in the town, a dispensary for Malays was opened in 1915 
in a Malay kampong at Pasir Panjang, about five miles out 
of Singapore, where a small house for the purpose was kindly 
lent by the Rev. W. Shellabear, of the American Methodist 
Mission. To undertake satisfactory work amongst Malays 
necessitates, however, much visiting in their homes, and 
would require a far larger staff than the Mission has had 
up tO' the present. When there is an adequate building it 
will be possible to have a double staff of nurses — one to tend 
the sick in the hospital, the other to visit patients in their 
homes. Work amongst Malays may then be expected to 
go forward. 

Since its inception the following doctors have worked for 
a longer or shorter period on the staff of the Mission : — 
Dr. Bartlett, Dr. LyaU, Dr. Bume, Dr. Dexter Allen, Dr. 
Williams, Dr. Ferguson-Davie, and Dr. Hoaheng. The 
Mission has never had a resident doctor giving full time 
to the work, which is very necessary if it is to grow 
and expand. This need is, however, before long to be 
supplied. The Mission has been fortunate in its nursing 
sisters — Miss Thompson (who was in charge for the first two 



70 In Rubber Lands 

years) and Miss Satchell (who was transferred from Malacca 
to succjeed her). They have lived amongst the people, and 
for them, with ungrudging devotion. 

The Asiatic staff includes a compounder, an interpreter, 
a Bible-woman, and Chinese and Indian nurses. In 1919 
there were over 7,000 attendances at the dispensary, and 
these patients, as already indicated, are of very varied 
nationalities and tongues. The interpreter translates 
Chinese into Malay, the Tamil nurses translate Tamil into 
English; Hindustani is useful for the Sikhs and sometimes 
for the Jewesses. The diversity of tongues certainly adds 
greatly to the difRculties of the work, and especially of the 
evangelistic side of it; but, even though direct communica- 
tion with them is thus limited, many of the patients become 
the very good friends of the members of the Mission, and 
some have been brought to the knowledge of Christ through 
what they have learned in the hospital or dispensary. 

Quite a number of children, permanently incapacitated 
for the battle of life, have been handed over to the Mission, 
sometimes by Government, sometimes by relatives unable or 
unwilling to care for them. These children are baptized and 
brought up as Christians. Some of them are cripples, others 
are blind. 

One of the schemes for future development which the 
Mission has in view is to found a blind school in Singapore, 
similar to those which are doing such excellent work in India 
and China. Most of these children were brought to the 
Mission in a state of great neglect and suffering. Little Ah 
Kow was too weak to stand and almost blind, but, fortu- 
nately, it was found possible to save one eye. Ah Soh, a 
blind girl, had been sold to a woman to use for begging; 
a neighbour heard her being ill-treated and ran for help to 
the Mission. Both these children are now strong and happy. 
Three cases of tubercular hip disease were sent to the Malacca 
Medical Mission for several months for change; one bene- 
fited greatly by the sea batbingf and fresh air and has been 
returned in good health to her parents; the other two are 
still with us and, having been handed over to the Mission 



The work of Medical Missions 71 

by their relatives, have recently been baptized. Through 
the kindness of some Chinese and Indian gentlemen in Singa- 
pore it has recently (1920) been made possible to move the 
children away from the hospital, which is unsuitable as a 
permanent environment. A house to accommodate them 
has been rented for two years and they are now comfortably 
established in it, with plenty of space to run about and play, 
both indoors and out. A small school was started three 
years ago for the hospital waifs, and is now attended also 
by some thirty-five children from the surrounding district. 
The report for 1919 says : "The Medical Mission school 
is doing well. It is thoroughly missionaryj and one little 
scholar has been baptized with the consent of her mother. 
The children are well taught by their Chinese teacher and 
always look bright and happy. Many of them attend the 
Sunday school, which is, of course, quite optional." It is 
now necessary that the Mission itself should be properly 
housed in a suitable hospital adequate to the needs of the 
work. A site for this has been granted by the Government, 
the plans drawn, and a considerable sum of money collected 
for the building fund. Owing to the rise in all prices, how- 
ever, the sum originally estimated is now found to be 
insufficient, so that some £5,000 is still required. It is to be 
hoped that a scheme so valuable to the city and the com- 
munity; so useful to those most in need — the women and the 
children; so important for the extension of the Kingdom of 
Christ may not long be held up for want of this sum of 
money. Could it be spent in a better cause? 
" Can it be, O gracious Master, 

Thou dost deign our alms to sue, 
Saying by Thy poor and needy, 
' Give as I have given to you'? " 

The aim of a Medical Mission is to follow, in however 
humble a manner, the example of Him Who "went about 
preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and healing all manner 
of disease and sickness"; to obey His command Who sent 
forth His disciples "to preach and to heal." It rests with 
those who have the cause of Missions at heart to help, by 
their gifts and prayers, to make it possible to fulfil this aim. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Education — (i.) Its place in tropical countries. 

The acquisition of territory by any country must always carry 
with it certain obligations and responsibilities. In all cases 
the land is occupied by the external power, either because of 
its actual or else because of its potential value. In the latter 
case it has to wait for its development untU there is a popula- 
tion capable of dealing- with its resources. In the former 
there is usually some population that can at once be turned 
to useful account. But there are also countries in which the 
two situations are found together. The tropical lands of the 
Malay Archipelago are a good example of this. In British 
Malaya there was a small population when the Union Jack 
was first hoisted over the various portions of territory *hat 
make up the Straits Settlements. At the same time there 
were possibilities of development that far exceeded the limits 
of the population of that date. So there arose the great 
streams of immigration, which have gone on increasing in 
volume with the gradual development of the Federated Malay 
States and the demand for labour of every kind. Although 
at present the British territory in this part of the world is 
at a much earlier stage of development than that of the Dutch 
island of Java, some conception of the wonderful expansion 
of population possible under a wise and strong administration 
can be gained from the history of that island. At the begin- 
ning of the nineteenth century Java was supposed to contain 
3,500,000 people. To-day it contains a number not far short 
of 40,000,000. It is with a somewhat similar growth, and 
all its accompanying problems, that the British Administra- 
tion in the Straits and in the Federated Malay States may 
have to reckon. 

Among these problems education is one of the most 
urgent, because of the climatic and geographical conditions 

7i 



Education 73 

of the area. The control of the tropics has become a 
necessity for the continuance of Western civilization. Con- 
ditions prevail to-day which were quite unknown through 
the past ag-es of history. In the old days men went tO' the 
tropics for luxuries. The navy of Tarshish brought back 
from tropical Africa* gold, ivory, apes, and peacocks. These 
are all commodities desired by a civilization that has an 
ample store of the necessities of life and desires to indulge 
in display. Later on in European history the tropics became 
the great source of the spices which tickled the palate of 
the European during his long course of salt meat throughout 
the winter months. Like the cigarette habit of to-day its cost 
was vastly out of proportion to its benefit. But it was a 
very popular trade since it yielded rich profits to the 
merchants, and was for many years the recognized way of 
making money quickly. Incidentally, it helped to revolu- 
tionize European society by enabling a new class of wealthy 
merchants to occupy the lands of the impoverished feudal 
nobility. 

But to-day the great steamers that ply between the East 
Indies and the ports of Western Europe carry products, very 
different from spices. Pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 
cloves are very small items in their cargoes. They rely now 
on freights of rubber and tin — the first a necessity of modem 
transport, the second a necessity for the preservation of 
food. They bring also copra, which is now so valuable to 
countries where soap is a household requirement and where 
margarine has to take the place of butter. They bring rice, 
sago, tapioca, coffee, tea, cocoa, cane sugar, and, in fact, a 
very large proportion of the articles of consumption that are 
tinned groceries. It would be difficult to exaggerate the 
extent to which the workers of the Western world depend 
upon them. It is not an exaggeration, therefore, to say 
that it is the control of the tropics that enables Western 
civilization to continue. 

But this contribution made by the tropics to the needs of 
life in the thickly populated districts of Europe is not in 

* The exact place is open to dispute, but recent evidences point to Central Africa. 



74: In Rubber Lands 

itself a fact on which the obUgation to education rests. There 
is another point of much greater importance in this particular 
respect. The tropical lands can never become the home 
of the European, for he cannot rear healthy children in a 
climate so different from his own. Nor can he hope to 
acclimatize his stock there by a succession of generations 
bred under tropical conditions. For the history of tropical 
races, so far as it is known at present, shows that the 
climate of perpetual summer always tends to lack of vigour 
and of initiative — physical, mental, and moral. As Lord 
Acton says in his "Lectures on Modern History" (page 70), 
"The prodigality of nature was too much for tropical society, 
and it accomplished nothing of its own for the mind of man. ' ' 

This is a true statement of all races who have become 
tropical, but there are, of course, very great variations 
in the influence that the climate exerts on different peoples. 
For there are sub-tropical races that can retain their vigour 
against the enervating influences of the climate for a very 
much longer period than the white races of Northern Europe. 
This is especially the case with the Chinese, to whom the 
development of the Malayan Archipelago, whether in Dutch 
or British territory, owes so much. Like the Indian they 
are able to labour in the heat of the tropical sun, but they 
come of a more vigorous stock and possess a greater share of 
energy. 

The custom, which many of them practise, of returning 
to China to find wives for their sons helps to keep the stock 
vigorous and staves off the enervating effect of the climate. 
Thus very much of the hardest work of developing the 
country and opening' up trade falls to their lot. As well as 
the Chinese, Indians make good immigrants, and, although 
less vigorous, they are very useful in many branches of 
labour and also in administrative work. 

Now it is this fact that offers the great justification for 
the education of Asiatic races in Malaya. Their co-opera- 
tion is a necessity for the development of lands, the products 
of which contain the requirements of European civilization. 
If it be objected that, by education, competitors are equipped 



Education 75 

to do the work of the European, it must be remembered 
that the supply of Europeans is utterly inadequate to the 
needs of these tropical lands. What the countries of 
Europe require, with their great industrial populations, is the 
adequate supply of food and raw materials at the lowest 
possible cost, and it is a wise economy to utilize to the 
utmost the services of those races who are best fitted to make 
the tropical lands productive. One great effect of their 
success is the increase of the markets for European goods, 
and the opportunities for an intercontinental exchange which 
shall bring with it mutual benefits. 

But besides this economic reason for a great interest to be 
taken in the education of those whose help is invaluable for 
the development of tropical lands, there is also to-day a 
further reason that has a world-wide application. The time 
is one of great ferment in the minds of men. Everywhere 
the old foundations of society are being questioned, and men 
are endeavouring to find out a way to introduce new prin- 
ciples. That they should act wisely and cautiously is of the 
utmost consequence, and yet to expect them to do this with- 
out the help of a good education is foolish in the extreme. 
In dealing with the great population of cities and provinces 
in the Far East, the task of giving a good general education 
to the mass of workers lies at present outside practical 
politics. Tasks that have been consistently shirked in the 
past cannot be carried out at a moment's notice, no matter 
how urgent that moment may be. But, at least, what may 
be possible should be done without delay, and that is to give 
the best possible education to the few who will be the 
political and intellectual leaders of the next generation. 

For Christians there is, indeed, a yet higher reason than 
either of these. Christ came to give fulness of life, and if 
His Gospel is to receive the welcome to which it is entitled, 
there must be continual effort on the part of those who 
proclaim it to show in what way it is capable of carrying 
out its promise. With the advent in the East of Western 
methods of business and the Western competitive system, 
there is only too much reason So fear that men and women 



76 In Rubber Lands 

•will be rooted up from their old conditions of life and planted 
in others where there will be less liberty and less fulness, 
where the oJd means of self-expression will be impossible 
and the new way wiU lead them intO' a harder and narrower 
existence. It will be no wasted task if the Christian Church 
can take the lead in pointing out to the East the evils against 
which she has had to struggle, and still has to struggle in the 
West, and in so doing can emphasize to the utmost of her 
power the vast distinction between what is Christian and 
what is Western. 

(ii.) In the Colony and Federated Malay States. 

With the founder of Singapore education held a very 
important place, and it was his intention that the new town 
should enjoy good facilities for this purpose. But in this 
aim he was an exceptional administrator and his policy never 
received much encouragement from his successors. To a 
large extent education in the colony has depended on mission- 
ary societies and on individual enterprise. A certain amount of 
Government help was given to the schools which made 
English the chief study, and on many occasions Government 
grants have been given towards school buildings; but there 
has been in the past very little attempt to grapple with the 
problems of educating the increasing population and of train- 
ing a local staff of teachers, so essential in a land to which 
European teachers could only come in small numbers. So 
long as the existing schools more or less met the demand 
for a fairly large output of poorly educated clerks to fiU 
the places in Government offices and businessi firms, the 
educational system of the colony was held to be satisfactory. 
How poor was the standard attained became very manifest 
when a medical school was founded some twelve years ago, 
and the unhappy lecturers had in many cases to teach students 
who were too poorly equipped to benefit from the teaching. 

It is only fair to state that much better work has been 
done by the Government for the Malay section of the popula- 
tion. The Malays being the ruling race when the British 



Education 7T 

took possession, a sense of duty compelled that they should 
be more carefully dealt with. For them there is a regular 
system of elementary education, with opportunities for pass- 
ing on to the secondary departments of the Government 
schools. There is also a Malay collegfe somewhat on the 
lines of an Enghsh public school for the sons of rajahs and of 
leading- Malays in the Federated Malay States. 

For the larger part of the population, however, the work 
of education has fallen on voluntary schools, either missionary 
or otherwise. In the work of these English-teaching 
schools English j>eople have taken a very small share. Much 
the larger part has been done by the American Wesleyan 
and the French Roman Catholic Missions, though one very 
excellent school at Penang owes its success to the support 
of the Chinese of that town. Besides the English schools 
there are a very large number of Chinese schools, in some 
of which a little English is taught. But these Chinese 
schools are not under Government inspection, nor do they 
earn any grant. They have developed very much in the last 
few years and owe a great deal to the liberality of some 
of the leading Chinese merchants. 

It is not really difficult to account for the apathy towards 
education of the average Englishman. He takes so little 
interest in the subject in his own country, that on arrival in 
the East he quickly falls into the prevailing view of his 
fellow countrymen that the education of native races must 
be a mistake. In his office also he is very likely brought 
into touch with the product of a starved and inefficient 
educational system, and he condemns the whole process with- 
out considering the question as to its possible improvement. 
No attitude towards the problem could be more unfortunate, 
for there can be little doubt that in a British colony a 
British system of education should be paramount. National 
characteristics must come to the front in any educational 
system, and with aU its many faults and deficiencies there 
are certain factors found in a British school which are worth 
planting in a country that forms part of the Empire. To 
leave a very large proportion of the native population of a 



78 In Rubber Lands 

British colony to receive so great a gift as education from 
foreigners may eventually lead to m,any difficulties. In any 
case it is hardly fair dealing to the splendid heritage of 
literature and scientific knowledge with which the past 
generations have endowed the English men and women of 
to-day. 

The small share taken by English people in this volun- 
tary work is borne almost entirely by the Anglican Church. 
The work is confined to a few centres. In Singapore there 
are two schoolsi — one for boys, which is a diocesan institu- 
tion, and one for girls, which is supported by the Zenana 
Mission. To-day both these schools are in need of better 
accommodation for their boarders. In Kuala Lumpur there 
is now a diocesan school for girls, which could do very good 
work if it were better staffed. The difficulty here lies in the 
fact that, being a very small school, it can only earn a small 
grant, and yet has not the staff to enable it to charge higher 
fees than the much larger girls' schools of the town. There 
is another girls' school at Bangkok, which has made good 
progress, but has, like all these schools, suffered a great 
deal from lack of a trained staif. At Pudu, a suburb of 
Kuala Lumpur, an elementary school has been started 
within the last few years, and its strength is increasing in 
numbers. Lastly, in Province Wellesley, there are several 
poor little Mission schools, which have both inadequate 
buildings and staff and cannot be said to do very much good. 
Still they are not without hopes of some future if money 
and time could be devoted to them. 

It is clear from this account that the present position 
is not a very satisfactory one. But the time is propitious for 
new efforts, for, on the one hand, the Government is more 
favourably disposed towards educational work than it has 
been for many years, and it is prepared to give very much 
more help to voluntary schools; and, on the other hand, 
there is a very considerable movement in the whole area for 
higher English educatiom, which is finding scope for its 
goodwill in tfie foundation of Raffles College as the big 
memorial for the centenary, celebrated in 1919. These are 



Education 79 

both most hopeful signs. It is, however, necessary to 
draw the attention of Church people to one most important 
point. Education which is carried on by the support of the 
Church is always religfious education. It exists in the first 
place only because of the opinion that the Christian revelation 
is a fundamental base on which to build up the education 
of men. But it is quite obvious that this axiom cannot be 
acted upon by the Government, for it collects its education 
rate from men of every religious denomination — Buddhists, 
Hindus, Parsees, Confucianists, &c. It has no rig'ht to use 
their money to propagiate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It 
can only use it for the purposes of a secular education. 
When men feel that something- more than this is necessary, 
they must show the strength of their convictions by the taxes 
they impose upon themselves in the shape of donations and 
of service towards the definitely Christian sidte of education. 
Let us thank God that this is the case. If at times Lt seems 
to act as a handicap and urgfently needed schemes are long 
delayed, it does in the end secure that most priceless of all 
conditions — reality in the relig^ious work. 

The following is a list of the educational establishments for which 

the Church of England is responsible in the Singapore Diocese : — 

Singapore, — St. Andrew's House, for boys (50 boarders*). St. Mary's 

Home, for girls (60 boarders). These are residential hostels for 

children (principally Eurasian) being educated in Singapore. The 

girls attend the Government school, the boys St. Andrew's School. 

St. Andrew's School, for boys (600 day scholars, 20 boarders), 
teaching up to the Senior Cambridge Local Standard. This school 
has increased greatly both in numbers and efficiency in the course 
of the last few years. 

C.E.Z.M. School, for girls (60 boarders, 60 day scholars). An 
old established boarding and day school. The girls receive a 
religious and practical education. 

Medical Mission School (30 day scholars). A small elementary 
school run in connection with the Medical Mission. 

Hengwa Day School, for boys. 
Kuala Lumpur. — St. Mary's School, for girls (70 day scholars). A day 
school, teaching up to the Junior Cambridge Local Standard. It 
has its own grounds and buildings, which it is hoped to extend 
soon for the accommodation of boarders. 

Pudu Mission School (70 day scholars). An elementary day 
school, attended principally by Chinese boys. 



80 In Rubber Lands 

Taiping. — St. Faith's School (90 day scholars). A day school for Tamil 
boys taught in Tamil. 

Province Wellesley. — Bukit Tengah School (40 boarders, 50 day scholars). 
A boarding school for Tamil boys. Teaching in English. Also 
schools (English teaching) at Prai and Butterworth. 

Bangkok. — St. Mary's Mission School (55 boarders, 70 day scholars). A 
boarding and day school for girls, which has grown rapidly in the 
last five years. A new site has just been acquired on which its own 
buildings can be erected for the school. 

Boys' Mission School (15 boarders and some day scholars). A 
smaller school for boys under the same management as the girls' 
school. 

*The numbers given for the different schools are approximate, as 
they are, of course, liable to constant variations. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The future of the Church in Malaya. 

What is to be the development of the Church's work in 
"Rubber Lands" in the future? That is a difficult question 
to answer at a time when the future of the whole world, 
and particularly the future of Asia, seems more uncertain than 
it has been for centuries. That the Church of Christ will 
increase no Christian can doubt, even though history tells 
of temporary and local losses by the Church just as it does 
of gains steadily acquired on the whole. So to forecast 
how the increase is to come is more than ever difficult just 
now. Indeed, it is only the belief that the Holy Spirit of 
God is working- His purpose out which enables hope to 
exclude depression. 

The European work is not likely to alter much. The 
acquisition of hill stations in Malaya may make the period 
of the Europeans' stay longer than it is at present. The 
opening up of fresh land for rubber, especially on the east 
side of the Peninsula, may increase the number of Europeans 
slightly. But in the main no big change can be expected in 
European work. The clergy must be continuously recruited 
from Europe. We hope that as the shortage of clergy in 
Great Britain diminishes, Malaya may again have her full 
complement, and that the European residents, even in the 
outlying parts of the diocese, may have the ministrations of 
the Church regularly in their midst by resident or visiting 
clergy. The establishment of the Diocesan Pension Scheme, 
already begun, and the opening up of Bukit Eraser as a 
sanatorium in the near future may enable European clergy 
to stay out for longer periods at a time, and for a total 
number of years larger than has hitherto been the rule. 
The advantage of this is very obvious. Otherwise there is 
not any considerable change to be contemplated In European 
work. 

81 F 



82 In Rubber Lands 

If more workers could in future years be obtained from 
among the Eurasian members of the Church, it would be, 
a gain to the Church. The Eurasian community is growing 
in power and independence. We may hope that from 
amongst them may come many who will devote their gifts to 
the work of the Church. Their special knowledge of Asiatic 
languages would give them a special value for this work, 
and we should look forward to fellow workers, both male 
and female, from this community for our schools and 
Medical Missions. 

But it is on the Asiatic side that the largest increase may 
be expected. The first thing for which we must hop>e is the 
increase of the Asiatic ministry. In the middle of 1918 the 
Asiatic clergy had risen to nine compared with the two 
who were working in the diocese in 1909. Fhis 
is a step in the right direction, and its effect is 
shown in the strengthening of the congregations of Tamils 
and Chinese. It is the natural step in the growth of the 
Church that all the branches should produce their own 
ministry and should support their own clergy. As an illustration 
of this there is no more hopeful mark of the stability of 
the Church in South India than the fact that the Indian 
clergy now form the greatest part of the ministry there, 
whilst the English clergy (at least in the case of a diocese 
like Tinnevelly) are only a small proportion of the whole. 
The consecration of an Indian in 1913 as Bishop of Dornakal, 
and the great amount of financial responsibility willingly 
accepted by the Indian Church, are most w^elcome signs of 
progress. 

In the Diocese of Singapore we have not reached that 
position yet; indeed, the weakest point of our work is the 
small number who have been ordained from among those 
who have been born and brought up in our midst. Nearly 
all Asiatic candidates for ordination have hitherto been men 
born and brought up in India or China. 

Again, the position of a catechist should be that of a 
candidate for ordination. The profession of catechist should 
not be regarded as one of a lifelong character. It should 



The future of the Church in Malaya 83 

be rather a stepping-stone to the ministry, except in cases 
where a teacher adds the work of a catechist to his duty 
as a teacher. Here the question naturally arises, can we 
expect a theological college for the diocese soon ? It is very 
desirable that theological colleges should give in each diocese 
the opportunity of training men for the ministry, and there 
are few more important kinds of work for which an English 
priest can offer himself in the Mission Field than that of 
training candidates for the ministry. But in some parts of 
the world the idea has been carried too far, and there are 
in those parts small theological colleges for each diocese, 
whereas far better results would be obtained if a few dioceses 
would work together and have one strong college for them 
aU. 

In our case the language difficulty makes it practically 
impossible to have a theological college. A man surely 
needs to learn his theology in a language he knows quite 
thoroughly. As our catechists speak at the present time five 
Asiatic languages, the staff of a theological college in the 
diocese would need to be enormous. It would be impossible, 
in fact, to maintain an adequate one. For some time, 
therefore, we must contemplate sending our Indian candi- 
dates for ordination to the Tinnevelly Diocese, and either 
training our Chinese candidates by attaching them personally 
to experienced priests, or sending them to South China for 
part of their training and then bringing them back here for 
the final months before ordination. 

A new set of circumstances is being brought into being 
by the increase of the knowledge of English. It is true that 
at present English is mainly used for commercial purposes, 
but it is probable that as the number of young men who can 
speak English increases, it will be used much more as their 
ordinary medium of communication. This will be more 
particularly the case in families where both the man and 
wife speak English, as happens when both have been educated 
in a Mission school. In such instances there may be some 
who, in a few years, will know sufficient English to receive 
theological training in that language. At the present time 



84 In Rubber Lands 

a Chinese Christian from here is arranging to go to King's 
College, London (at his own expense), for the theological 
course. That is the first Asiatic candidate for ordination 
in our diocese who has had a sufficient knowledge of English 
to profit by such teaching. One swallow does not make a 
summer, but it tells that summer is near even if there may 
be some frost still left. 

Then as regards women's work. The Chinese and Tamils 
have shown their worth as teachers and as nurses in the 
Medical Missions. Asiatic women, especially among the 
Christians, are bound to get more independence in the future 
than in the past. We can only hope that the Christian 
character will be strong enough to enable some of them to 
take posts of responsibility in the Church's work. Already 
one non-Christian Chinese and two Christian Tamil .women 
have qualified at the Singapore Medical School. It will be 
a great gain when we have Christian medical graduates born 
in the diocese to work as doctors in our Missions as Miss 
Martha Hoa Heng (M.R.C.S. and M.R.C.P. Ed.) has been 
doing in 1920. But, indeed, a great deal has to be done to 
make the women's work equal to the men's work. This 
has been, and still is, a distinct weakness in the work of the 
diocese. The S.P.G. has begun to realize it, and that is the 
first step towards a better condition of things. 

In the outlying parts of the diocese — -Siam and the Dutch 
East Indies — we may hope for a strengthening of our work. 
In Bangkok the progress made by the Mission school and con- 
gregation augurs well for the future. In Java it is doubtful 
whether the work can ever attain to proper size until mission- 
ary enterprise becomes a very definite part of the work. The 
troubled conditions of the last few years have hitherto pre- 
vented this, for tlie present Java chaplaincy had only been in 
existence four years when the Great War started. But there 
is no reason why we should not soon make plans for a real 
advance in that fertile land. 

But in Malaya there is stUl one race (and that the most 
numerous) which has not yet been touched by the Church — 
that is the Malay race. The Malays have always been less 



The future of the Church in Malaya 85 

accessible than the Tamils or Chinese, and the result is that, 
though there have been many clergy of different religious 
bodies working among these two latter peoples, there has 
only been one missionary in 100 years, as far as is known, 
who has devoted himself to Malay work. He had an 
independent Mission, and, therefore, when he died, more 
than half a century ago, there was no one to continue the 
work in which he had gained some distinct success. 

The climate of the Malay Peninsula makes accuracy of 
thought very difficult, and so there has sprung up an idea 
that the Government has in some treaty or other bound itself 
to keep the highest of all truths from the Malays. This, one 
is glad to say, is a false idea, as all who have studied the 
treaties know. Anyone who holds the Christian faith and 
who really cares for Mohammedans (and they have some 
attractive qualities which show themselves even in the very 
imperfect Mohammedanism of Malaya) must wish to give the 
Malays what is so dear to himself. Will it be the privilege 
of the English Church to do this ? We can only hope it will — 
but when God alone knows. Our hopefulness on such a point 
depends, not on our having at the present time any great 
scheme for doing this, but on the fact that our race and 
Church seem to have been given something of the qualities 
which are necessary if we are to be successful in bringing 
such a race to Christ. 

Two points of hopefulness may be mentioned as regards 
the future. First there is not, in the Church buildings at 
any rate, the distinction between members of different races 
which exists often in other countries. It is usual to see 
members of all races at the same service, though, for the 
convenience of those who do not know English, services are 
held, and will for a long time be held, in various Asiatic 
languages. This fact is hopeful, for the independence of the 
Asiatic is obviously growing, and he will be able to take his 
place of responsibility in the future Church of Malaya, not 
with the feeling of pride or even conceit at having just 
gained a new privilege, but in a natural manner as a member 
of Christ among Christian brethren; and the members of 



86 In Rubber Lands 

what has been the predominant race will not find it so hard 
as in some other countries to give him his right position. 
We may look for harmony and mutual trust among the races 
as the Church develops. 

Secondly, as our grants from Government or from 
missionary societies are comparatively small and our endow- 
ment nil, we have been learning to support ourselves to a 
large extent. At the present time the Government supplies 
only one-third of the salaries needed for European work, 
and missionary societies supply about one-quarter of the 
amount needed for our Asiatic workers. This gives a 
strength and a general interest to Church life which is often 
lacking where the Church depends on endowments, and it 
enables the Church to escape the difficulties of its workers 
not receiving an adequate pay as happens in England at the 
present time. 

On these two grounds there is hope for the 
future, though the great spiritual temptations of Malaya 
prevent us from any careless optimism. The temptation of 
"the world" — mainly the temptation to let the desire for 
wealth drive out all higher interest — is ever with us. Only 
a spiritual Church can be a truly successful Church. We 
are probably being driven to face this fact. Therein lies 
more hope for the future than in any wealth or organizing 
power. It may be that this very temptation vsoll call out a 
brotherhood of clergy and lay workers (not by any means all 
European) who will temporarily have no money of their own, 
and thus preach by example the superiority of Christian life 
and joy to any pleasure that wealth can bring. 

"Then march we forth in the strength of God, with the banner of 

Christ unfurled, 
That the light of the glorious Gospel of truth may shine throughout 

the world. 
Fight we the fight with sorrow and sin, to set their captives free, 
That the earth may be filled with the glory of God as the waters 

cover the sea." 



APPENDIX I. 



Resume of pamphlet appeal issued on behalf of the 
Building Committee in 1919 re proposed St. 
Andrew's Hospital for Women and Children. 



The attention of the public has lately been drawn to the 
heavy loss of life, especially infantile life, amongst the 
population of Sing-apore, and to the need for special efforts 
to diminish this high mortality. Thus in his report for 1917 
the Deputy Municipal Health Officer, Dr. Glennie, says : — 

"The death rate at all ages (35' 75 per mille) was the 
highest recorded since 1012. The excess of deaths over 
births showed an increase of l,71fS as compared with 
1916. The largest increase occurred amongst Chinese 
and Malays; infantile deaths in these two nationalities 
showed an increase of i.S9 or "28'5 per cent." 

In the report of the Singapore Housing Commission 
(1918) the Commissioners recommend that — 

"the employment of lady doctors giving special attention 
to maternity cases is a most important branch of the 
Health Department, should receive every encouragement 
and he developed as highly as possible." 

The Commission also emphasizes the importance of educat- 
ing the Asiatic community in municipal and domestic hygiene, 
stating that — 

"educational methods would be of the greatest value m 
regard to tuberculosis, care of infants, and other 
subjects." 

87 



88 In Rubber Lands 

St. Andrew's Medical Mission meets the needs referred 
to overleaf in the following special points : — 

(1) It provides treatment for Asiatic women by a doctor of 
their own sex, as recommended overleaf. 

(2) It pays special attention to the instruction of mothers in 
the care of their offspring, and of the patients in general 
in matters of public health. 

(3) It pays special attention to infants and young children. 

(4) It helps the poor who cannot afford to go to a private 
practitioner, and would, therefore, often go untreated. 

(5) It cares for the halt and maimed. 

The Staff. — At present consists of — 
Mrs. Ferguson-Davie, M.D., B.S. 

Dr. Mabel Dexter Allen (Temporary Consulting 
Physician). 

Miss Williams. 

Miss Satchell. 

Six Asiatic nurses, dressers, &c. 

What has the Mission already done? — The Mission has 
been at work for five years, having been first opened in 
October, 1915. It began with a dispensary only. It has 
now a small hospital and three dispensaries at 144 New 
Bridge Road, 220 Bencoolen Street, and (for Malays) at 
Pasir Panjang. 

Inclusive total of cases treated— (1914) 7,512; (1915) 
8,514; (1916) 11,205; (1917)12,136. 

What are its needs? 

(1) A site in the more crowded quarters of the town easily 
accessible to the poor for whom it exists. 



Appendix I. 89 

(2) A sum of $100,000 to erect a hospital capable of 
accommodating — 

(a) About twenty-five beds and cots. 

(b) A dispensary and operating room, with accessories. 

(c) A staff of one house surgeon, one nursing sister, and 
six Asiatic nurses. 

The Prospects. — A suitable site has been promised by 
Government and plans for an adequate building are being 
drawn up. This building when completed will be vested in 
trustees and there will be a local distinguished Committee of 
Management. 

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (S.P.G.) 
has promised after the war to do its utmost to secure a 
permanent medical staff. It was under this Society that Dr. 
Mildred Staley, Dr. Warren, Dr. Ferguson-Davie, Nurse 
Thompson, Nurse Satcliell, and Nurse Cumber first came to 
the East, all of whom have been at work for the benefit of 
the poorer women of Malaya. 

Why should you Help? 

(1) Because this is the first time the Mission has made a 
public appeal for funds. 

(2) Because the work is limited and hindered by its present 
inadequate accommodation. 

(3) Because the Mission helps those who cannot help them- 
selves, without distinction of race, language, or creed. 

(4) Because the numbers given on page 88 show that it has 
won the confidence of those for whose benefit it exists. 

(5) Because in giving to the Mission you are giving to the 
poor, the sick, the halt, maimed and blind, and to the 
children, whose appeal should never be in vain. 



APPENDIX II. 



Singapore Auxiliary Diocesan Association 

(S.A.D.A.). 

Chairman : 
The Rev. Canon Simpson, D.D., St. Paul's Cathedral, E.G. 4. 

Secretary : 
Miss M. Sharp, 113 The Grove, Wandsworth, S.W. 



The S.A.D.A. exists for helping- at home the diocese 
of Singapore. It appeals for help in offers of prayer, work, 
and financial support to all who have interests, personal or 
financial, in British Malaya, Siam, Java, or Sumatra. New 
members of the Association are urgently needed. The mini- 
mum subscription is 5s. a year. Full information can be 
obtained from the Secretary, Miss M. Sharp. 

Offers of service in the diocese should be made to the 
Chairman or to the S.P.G. Offers of financial help and 
general enquiries about details of the work should be sent to 
the Secretary. The S.A.D.A. Quarterly Leaflet will be sent 
free to all subscribers. 



A New S.P.G. Missionary Atlas. 

Containing nineteen Maps printed in colour. 



In stiK boards, cloth back, 2s. 6d. net (by post 2s. 8d.i 
In paper covers, Is. 6d. net (by post Is. 8d.). 



This popular Atlas, ■which provides information relating to the 
Missions supported by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
in Foreign Parts, will be of use to all interested in Missions overseas. 
Included is information and statistics relating to the dioceses in which 
the Society helps to support work. The maps have been specially 
prepared, and both editions are issued at the lowest possible price in 
order to secure a wide circulation. 

LIST OF THE MAPS. 



I. 


British Columbia. 


X. 


Gold Coast. 


II. 


Qu'Appelle and Saskatchewan. 


XI. 


North-West India. 


III. 


Newfoundland. 


XII. 


Bengal. 


IV. 


British Guiana. 


XIII. 


South India. 


V. 


West Indies. 


XIV. 


Tinnevelly and Ceylon 


VI. 


Cape Colony. 


XV. 


Burma. 


VII. 


Transvaal and Natal. 


XVI. 


Singapore. 


VIII. 


Southern Rhodesia and East 


xvir. 


Sarawak and Labuan. 




Africa. 


XVIII. 


North China. 


IX. 


Madagascar. 


XIX. 


Japan and Corea. 



This Atlas should prove of great value to all readers 
o! S.P.G. Literature. 



[Copy.] 



BiSHOPTHORPE, York. 

December 1Hh, 1920. 



Pray let me thank you for your kindness in sending me a copy of the S.P.G. 



Atlas, which I am very ^lad to have, 
hope it may have a large circulation. 



I think it will be exceedingly useful, and I 



Yours very sincerely, 

COSMO EBOR. 
[Copy.] London House. 

32 St. James' Square, S.W. 1, 

December 13th, 1920. 

Once again the Bishop of London has to thank you very much for a kind gift. 
He is very interested to see the S.P.G. Missionary Atlas, and is glad to have a 
copy of so useful a book. He heartily wishes that the Atlas may have a thumping 

circulation. 

With kind regards, yours very truly. 

K. G. AVERILL 



S.P.G. Office, 15 Tufton Street, Westminster. S.W. 1. 



2m/038558 



London; 

H. B. Skinner & Co., 

Printers, 

124/6 Denmark Hill, S.E. 5. 



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