The challenges encountered in studying the history of Chinese in Malaya: diversity of sources and confusion in phonetic transcription of dialects

Abstract

The Chinese in Malaya has always been perceived as homogenous whereas in actual fact, they are greatly heterogeneous in nature. They are primordially different as they came from difference parts of China and speak different dialects. They are also different in terms of the localities they choose to settle in Malaya. This would have bearing on their status and that of their offspring. For instance, Chinese born in the Straits Settlement were British subjects, whereas those who were born in the Malay States were considered stateless. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the diversity that existed amongst the Chinese in Malaya which poses challenges in the studying of the history of the Chinese in Malaya.