The Colonizer and the Immigrant: Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, Sir Cecil Clementi and Singapore Chinese Societies

• Main Authors: Chen, Che-wei, 陳哲維
• Other Authors: Lee, Ying-hui
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/11028606425432405297

碩士 === 國立暨南國際大學 === 歷史學系 === 99 === By examining the development of the Societies Ordinance of the Straits Settlements, this thesis aims to investigate the following issues: how the British colonizers ruled Chinese immigrants and their societies in Singapore, how Chinese societies functioned under this Ordinance, and how complex the relationship was between the colonizers and the immigrants. In the history of the Societies legislation in the Straits Settlements, there were two important and famous ordinances made during the reigns of Sir Cecil Clementi Smith and Sir Cecil Clementi. Therefore, this thesis strives to discuss thoroughly their policies on suppressing secret societies and the Kuomintang of China (KMT) and analyzes the influences of these policies, and the Chinese responses. Chinese secret societies had always been a crucial problem for the British administrators and people in Singapore. The Dangerous Societies Suppression Ordinance, 1869 was the first attempt of the Straits Settlements Government to deal with the menace of them. By virtue of this ordinance, secret societies were first time under registration. The Government also utilized the method of “ruling Chinese through Chinese” and collaborated with headmen of secret societies to keep their men quiet and amenable to the law. In 1877, the Chinese Protectorate was established to manage Chinese affairs. In 1882 and 1885, the Societies Ordinance was amended twice. However, secret societies still threatened people’s lives and property and constituted a serious danger to the peace and good order of the colony. They even tried to murder a colonial official who revealed their viciousness. Sir Cecil Clementi Smith arrived at Singapore in October 1887 as the new Governor of the Straits Settlements and implemented reforms on dealing with the problem of dangerous Chinese secret societies without delay. He adopted a policy of total suppression of them. In February 1889, a new law called The Societies Ordinance 1889 was passed. All secret societies were declared to be unlawful. Other societies of ten or more persons whatever their nature or objects should be legally registered as exempted societies or registered societies. Lat Pau, the most influential Chinese newspaper in the late nineteenth century Singapore, supported this law and became a communication bridge between the Government and the Chinese. The Societies Ordinance 1889 indicates that the Straits Settlements Government decided to rule with an iron hand. Even though the Societies Ordinance was amended many times in 1893, 1901, 1909, 1911, and 1921, and renamed as Ordinance No. 116 (Societies), the strong determination and position of the Government to rule all societies was never shaken or changed. After secret societies were suppressed, the KMT was the next target of the colonial Government. In February 1930, Sir Cecil Clementi, the former Governor of Hong Kong, who disliked the KMT because of the Canton-Hong Kong strike, assumed duty as Governor of the Straits Settlements and immediately issued an order to clamp down on the KMT and its activities in Malaya. A mere and domestic society question in the colony became an international and diplomatic affair between Britain and China. The British Minster to China had to negotiate with the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs. Finally, they reached the compromising “Wang—Lampson Agreement” in April 1931. The China Government stated that the KMT did not propose to establish central or branch party offices (tangpu) in Malaya. The Straits Settlements Government amended the Societies Ordinance for the KMT and passed Societies（Amendment）Ordinance, 1931. For the British colonizers, establishing an imperium in imperio in the colony was undesirable. Since both secret societies and the KMT were severe dangers and threats to the paramountcy of the Government, suppressing them was the action that must be taken by the authorities for self-defense. As for other Chinese societies, most of them could function freely as long as their activities were obedient to the law and innocuous to the peace of the colony and the colonial administration.