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    Medicine and Imperialism: A History of British Colonial Medicine in the Malay Peninsula: 3, #1
    Medicine and Imperialism: A History of British Colonial Medicine in the Malay Peninsula: 3, #1
    Medicine and Imperialism: A History of British Colonial Medicine in the Malay Peninsula: 3, #1
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    Medicine and Imperialism: A History of British Colonial Medicine in the Malay Peninsula: 3, #1

    By Hairudin Harun

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    This book is a historical account of the British colonial medical establishment, health policy and medical science research in the Malay Peninsula (currently West Malaysia). The account here, in three volumes, is based on a study of primary and secondary historical colonial sources found in the U.K. and Malaysia, and it covers the period of British imperialism in the Peninsula between the mid-eighteenth and the early twentieth century.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAaron Quill
    Release dateDec 24, 2017
    ISBN9781386053255
    Medicine and Imperialism: A History of British Colonial Medicine in the Malay Peninsula: 3, #1
    Author

    Hairudin Harun

    An academician since the 1980s, he taught and lectured in Universities in Malaysia, Europe, and America. He has authored several books in the history of science especially in the Malay language. He was a contributing author to the  Encyclopaedia of the History of Science Technology and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures.  

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      Book preview

      Medicine and Imperialism - Hairudin Harun

      VOLUME I

      BRITISH MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION

      IN

      THE MALAY PENINSULA 1786-1918

      Copyright © 2017 Hairudin Harun.

      LEGAL NOTES

      NAMES, CHARACTERS, places, illustrations and incidents cited in this book are in the public domain, unless otherwise indicated.

      THIS BOOK IS LICENSED for the purchaser’s personal use only. This book may not be re-sold.

      COPYRIGHT © 2017 HAIRUDIN Harun.

      All rights reserved. Including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced without the express written permission of the author.

      SYNOPSIS

      THIS BOOK IS A HISTORICAL account of the colonial medical establishment, health policy and medical science research in the Malay Peninsula (currently West Malaysia). The account here, in three volumes, is based on primary and secondary historical colonial sources found in the U.K. Malaysia, and Singapore covering the period between the mid-eighteenth and the early twentieth century.

      British imperialism in the Malay Peninsula began in 1786 via the East India Company's occupation of Penang. By 1830 the Company had also acquired Singapore and Malacca. The three states in the Peninsula would later be styled as the Straits Settlements, indicating direct British colonial dominion. The latter would soon act as perfect staging posts for continued British imperial expansion into the Malay hinterland.

      In 1874, Perak, a prosperous tin mining state, was subjected to British Residential rule, a form of proxy colonial rule where the native ruler was subjected to act only on the advice of a British Adviser. By 1895, four of the wealthiest Malay States in the Peninsula were under British indirect rule or proxy influence. Under such rapid expansion, Britain needed more colonial staff to man the newly acquired dominions. They had to come from the motherland as well as other parts of the British Empire as administrators, laborers, soldiers, and doctors. The period too, saw the number of Britons sent to the tropical Malay Peninsula increased exponentially.

      The Peninsula's tropical climate and geography, however, could be harsh on those unfamiliar either with its heat or its flora and fauna. Europeans, since the arrival of the Portuguese in the Malay Archipelago in the 16th century, were only too aware that for each exotic surprise there was a price to pay, not unusual in the form of disease or even death. With the increase in the number of officials and merchants in the region, there came an increased demand for the colonial medical services.

      Also, British colonialism in the Malay Peninsula involved the importation of foreign indentured laborers, coolies, who were crucial for economic as well as political reasons. The Malay Peninsula’s severe climate soon took a grave toll on the coolies, many of whom were then decimated by still unknown tropical diseases. The result was a loss of productivity and a suspension of economic projects. Health, or the lack of it, among officials, settlers and coolies thus acquired an economic imperative. Owing to the latter, Britain was a leader in building a sophisticated and extensive network of pioneering medical research and health services throughout her Empire. Nowhere were the latter best seen but in the Malay Peninsula.

      The year 1900 saw the establishment of the Pathological Institute (later styled as the Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur), the first research institute outside Britain and in the Malay Peninsula, devoted to the study of tropical disease. Just before the outbreak of World War I, the British continued to establish throughout the Empire various specialized research and medical agencies to manage colonial public health. These included the Health Department, the Sanitation Board, the Malaria Advisory Board, and the Malaria Bureau.

      The period between 1786 and 1918, saw the development and expansion of colonial medical services correlated with the increased intensity of British imperialism in the Malay Peninsula. It is the finding here based on colonial documents that Britain actively and ultimately used colonial medicine in the Peninsula in service of her imperial agenda.

      Hairudin B Harun

      London & Kuala Lumpur

      ©1988 & ©2017

      CONTENTS

      TITLE PAGE 

      LEGAL NOTES

      SYNOPSIS

      CONTENTS 

      ABBREVIATIONS 

      CURRENCY 

      GLOSSARY

      PREFACE 

      PART ONE: COLONIAL MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION IN THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS, 1786-1880 

      Chapter 1. The Genesis of British Malaya in the Malay Peninsula

      1.1. Introduction

      1.2. The Foundation of a British Medical Administration

      1.3. Medical Administration under Bengal between 1786 and 1817       

      1.4. Prince of Wales' Island Medical Service as an Indian Medical Service (1817-1825)

      1.5. The Straits Settlements Medical Service (1826-1918) 

      (i) The First Presidency, 1826-1830 

      (ii) The Residency under Bengal, 1830-51

      (iii)The Second Presidency, 1851-67

      (iv) The Crown Colony, 1868

      PART TWO:  CONSOLIDATION OF THE COLONIAL MEDICAL SERVICE, 1874-1918

      Chapter 2. Pax Britannica and the Malay States   

      2.1. Introduction

      2.2. The Foundation of the Colonial Administration in the Malay States

      2.3. Medical Administration and Establishment: More than a Doctor   

      2.4. The Foundation of the Malay States Colonial Medical Service, 1874- 1896.

      2.5. The Colonial Medical Service in the FMS, 1895-1918

      2.6. The Colonial Medical Service, the Chinese Department, and the Coolies.

      2.7. Tin and Coolies: Factors in Medical Expenditures

      PART THREE: A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORIOGRAPHICAL OVERVIEW

      PART FOUR:  APPENDIXES OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS

      I: RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE SUBORDINATE MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS

      II: REGULATIONS AS REGARDS TO MEDICAL APPRENTICES AT MADRAS

      \

      III: AN ORDINANCE TO PROVIDE THE REGISTRATION OF MEDICALPRACTITIONERS IN THE COLONY

      IV: AN ORDINANCE TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT SINGAPORE

      BIBLIOGRAPHY 

      ABBREVIATIONS

      AR: Annual Report

      CO: Colonial Office

      DT: Daily Times

      E.I.C.: East India Company

      FMS: Federated Malay States

      FMS Med. Arch.: Federated Malay  States Medical Department Archive

      IO: India Office

      JIA: Journal  of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia

      JMBRAS: Journal  of the Malayan Branch Royal Asiatic Society

      JSBRAS: Journal  of  the Straits Branch Royal Asiatic Society

      PG: Penang Gazette

      PRO: Public Record Office

      SFP: Singapore Free Press

      SS: Straits Settlements

      SSR: Straits Settlements Records

      ST: Straits Times

      Studies: Studies from the Institute for  Medical Research Federated Malay States.

      VOC: Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company)

      CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS

      BEFORE 1906 (APPROX.)  : Rupees 220 = $100* = £220

      After 1906 (fixed): $1 - 2s. 4d.

      *British colonial Dollar/Ringgit

      GLOSSARY

      MALAY:ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS

      ATTAP: Building materials made out of palm leaves

      Ayam:Fowl

      Bidan:Traditional Midwife 

      Bomor: Malay Medicine man

      Bukit: Hill

      Demam: Fever

      Demam Kura:Malaria

      Gunung: Mountain

      Hoey: Chinese secret society

      Ikan Kering: Dried or Pickled Fish

      Kampung: Village

      Kapitan China: Chinese leader

      Kongsi:Coolies' barracks

      Lauk: Side dish/food

      Negeri: Province or State

      Pawang: Malay Folk doctor

      Penawar: Neutralizer

      Penghulu: Village elder or leader

      Pulau: Island

      Sen-seh: Chinese medicine man

      PREFACE

      The history of British colonial medicine and the history of tropical medicine in the Malay Peninsula, (later British Malaya) are inseparable. It is also related, arguably, to the history of military medicine, which is part and parcel of the history of British colonialism and imperialism in the Far East.

      Three perennial factors were crucial in determining the successful outcome of Imperial powers to expand and consolidate their empires - (i) sea-power, (ii) colonial settlers and (iii) diseases. The nation that controlled the sea could destroy harbors and occupy distant lands with ease. In the event of a conflict, it could intercept and prevent vital supplies from reaching rival colonies. Occupying nations encouraged pioneering settlements of immigrants because they could support large bodies of regular troops and which the authorities could quickly turn into a base for defense or attack.

      The role of diseases was also of immense importance and was one of the prime factors in determining colonial expansion in the tropical regions.[1] Diseases could inflict a heavy toll on the army, officials, colonial settlers, and their laborers or slaves. Diseases like malaria and yellow fever reportedly entirely wiped out some of the military bases and colonies in Africa. In the case of the Malay Peninsula, malaria, as well as beriberi, decimated colonial coolies (indentured laborers); resulting in loss of working hours and abandonment or suspension of many imperial projects.

      Thus an imperial nation that could check diseases in her colonies could maintain and venture into areas where her rivals would not dare to go. Indeed some authors have suggested that, at the beginning of the twentieth century, there was a direct link between the development of professional public health and the needs of imperialism and neo-imperialism.[2] In furthering British empire in India the Jacob's Memorandum, for instance, noted that the value of medicine has been abundantly proved[3] and that a doctor is worth half a battalion of soldiers.[4] Whether this was the case or otherwise in the foundation of colonial medicine in the Malay Peninsula, also known as the Golden Chersonese, is part of the subject of this study.

      Many historians see the late nineteenth century, as a period of resumption of western imperialism and colonial expansion in the East. It was a period that has been described by Rupert Emerson as symptomatic of the new imperialist spirit which beginning to be felt at the time.[5] Although this was a century where the liberal philosophy of laissez-faire held sway and in many ways permeated the political and economic thinking of Britain; several other factors were also at work both at home and abroad to bring about a change in British foreign policy.[6]

      The most visible expression of this policy was in the vigorous annexation of tropical territories particularly in Africa and the Malay Peninsula. Of the entire British Empire -excluding India - at its most significant extent, more than a third of the area and more than quarter of the population were acquired in the years between 1870 and 1900. The economic rivalry of the period between the industrial powers of Europe was among the reason frequently advanced to explain the exponential pace of British imperial expansion.

      British colonialism in the Malay Peninsula commenced with the acquisition, in 1786, by the East India Company (E.I.C.) of Penang, an island north-west of the Peninsula."[7] Between 1800 and 1825, Singapore was ceded by the Ruler of Johore and Malacca by the Dutch to the E.I.C.; collectively the three territories were known as the Straits Settlements ruled by the Company until 1858. Soon after London dissolved the latter and the Company’s possessions were taken over by Whitehall and its affairs were put under the purview of the  India Office.  Later, in 1867 the control of the Straits Settlements was transferred to the Colonial Office, and the latter constituted the Settlements as a Crown Colony.  Until then the British presence and activities in the Malay Peninsula were primarily confined to the Straits Settlements.  The British did not outwardly interfere in the affairs of the independent Malay States or the native rulers.

      However, in a dispatch of 20 September 1873, the British Government communicated to the Straits Colonial Government a change of policy. Britain unilaterally announced the end to the so-called policy of non-intervention in the Malay Peninsula.  Soon the period is known to Malaysian historians as the British Forward Movement, a euphemism for aggressive British colonial expansion, in the Malay Peninsula took center stage. Through subtle and at

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