The Chinese boycott: A social movement in Singapore and Malaya in the early twentieth century

Abstract

This paper discusses the causes, developments, characteristics, and significance of the 1905 anti-American boycott movement in Singapore and Malaya. The author argues that the Chinese in Singapore and Malaya in the first decade of the twentieth century should not be simplistically classified into two camps, the supporters of the Reformists and those of the Revolutionaries, as conventional wisdom has suggested. In 1905, Chinese with different political ideologies all worked together to boycott American goods for their self interests. They were concerned about their rights of residency and work in the British colonies. They feared that should the anti-Chinese policy prevailed in the United States, the British government would adopt a similar measure against the Chinese in Singapore and Malaya. The author also argues that the boycott movement was one of the earliest popular movements in the region because the Chinese from different social strata were all mobilized. More significantly, the 1905 boycott laid the foundation for popular support of the revolutionary movement in the subsequent years.