Method for exploiting petroleum resources is falling into the same category by using mining industry’s technology. Earlier
in time before oil was firstly discovered in Pennsylvania, method in dredging tin for production had been copied by oil and gas industry from the extensive use of mining machinery and equipments in drilling purposes. In Malaya, by producing tin commodity in large quantity, the British used steam for dredging.
Chinese
businessmen who had experienced running tin business in China were invited by the British to Malaya for taking part in mining industry investment for the expansion of the commodity production. The new dredge method which using electric power were owned by European companies, though Chinese and others, of course, were free to invest in the shares of these companies. Through this, Chinese then became acquainted with mining industry technologies and equipments which later the experience put them in strong command for investing, purchasing and maintaining network in oil and gas business equipments with FOC after Malayan Independence.
Chinese labour had opportunities in operational manufacture skills in mining industry did not prevent them to seek more bright opportunities in preserving Chinese’s direct participation in the British’s socio-economic development. They established mining equipment supplies networks from China which other business enterprises and organizations were very hard to explore. Kapitan Chinese businessmen will lend the opening capital to the peripheral Chinese business community to establish mining equipment shops and stores for maintaining business networks and creating more funds that profit from money lending business.
The growth of Chinese capital was surge out to Chinese community in the mid of twentieth century weather they were small or medium-sized had been served by prominent Chinese businessmen. Kapitan Chinese who possessed lucrative tin mining enterprise was supported with better financed and politically favored British enterprise. A number of Chinese like Lau Pak Khuan and Yong Shook Lin, had come to dominate the tin mining industry before the advent of the dredge tilted the balance favors of the bigger British mining companies. The Chinese Chambers of Commerce (CCC) were the largest and most important organization who led by most of Chinese business men were primarily responsible for the advancement of Chinese business network and Chinese community welfare.
For the Malay community, prior to Independence, they were totally separated from the colonial industrial environment. Most Malay villagers inherited their family occupations as fishermen and peasants. Those Malays had proper British educational system were served as British government official. However, this position did not have chances for them to involve in mining industry business network because lack of operating capital fund even though mining labors after eighteenth century was principally Malays. They had operational knowledge and skills in mining industry but because of Malay businessmen were not yet in the creation for funding tin business capital, the Malays ownership in this industry remained barren until Malaya got thirteen years Independence from the British after questioning Chinese’s substantial ownerships.
After the end of World War II and prior to British’s decolonization policy by permitting Malaya to be governed by its local people, the British had given a significant condition of Malay self-governing to form a coalition government which required the non-Malays participation especially Chinese. By suggesting Chinese to have sharing
political power with Malays, the British would continue business relationship with Kapitan Chinese and in the same time westerns’ products could dominate progressively in Malaysian market.
Western scholars would never confess that Chinese direct involvement in Malaysian political interest was a full complement of colonial capitalism’s status quo for the interest of maintaining colonial’s asset and business protection in Malaya. On the contrary, by manipulating and shifting the truth of colonial’s intention, they framed Chinese community had been marginalized from being a legitimate citizens who also supposedly had legitimate rights like the other Bumiputeras to live in with owned property and initiated for self-governing for the sake of ‘colonial political heirs’ and freedom of equal rights.
In early 1950 before Independence, the wealtheist Chinese businessman and professional in the country, some of whom had also been associated with the British through their appointments on various consultative bodies. In fact, all sixteen members of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA)’s first central committee were also members of the British-formed Federal Legislative Council, and the party’s first president was Tan Cheng Lock, a Malacca-born rubber baron who spoke only English and Malay. The overriding concern of the new party and its members was to ensure that the economically privileged position of the Chinese mercantile class was protected through political action.
Without Chinese’s active participation in Malaysian politics, British’s aspiration to propagate neo-colonialism agenda in her former colony would be dreamless. British capital ownerships in Malaya were still endured and definitely it was impracticle for the British to cease capital from Malaya as this was their main factor of willingness to promulgate colonial’s decolonization policy. It was better that the colonial monopoly over all industrial sectors during colonialism could be transferred 20 per cent of total foreign capital share to the Chinese to ensure smooth establishment of business networks in the region with Western countries.