NAVIGATING INDENTURE: EXAMINING THE POLITICS OF LABOUR IN THE COOLIE TRADE IN BRITISH MALAYA, 1870-1910

Abstract

Despite knowledge of coolie abuse on plantations, the colonial government in Malaya was hesitant to embark on labour reforms or regulations to implement safeguards for the coolies. This thesis studies the reasons behind the colonial governments’ reluctance, focusing on how the politics of labour in colonial Southeast Asia had hampered the government’s ability to enact labour bills or ordinances that could alleviate the plight of the coolies. By examining news reports, colonial correspondences and labour bills, I illustrate the concerns and priorities of the colonial government, and how it resulted in their action (or lack thereof) in regulating the labour trade. I highlight how the colonial government had prioritised economic profits over the wellbeing of coolies. Additionally, I illustrate how the intervention of other stakeholders such as planters and businessmen had pushed the government towards action (or inaction). Through this thesis, I argue that the regulation of coolie labour was made difficult and largely inefficient by the interaction of labour politics that resulted in government handicaps in regulating labour.