Legacy of Slavery and Indentured Labour

Linking the Past with the FutureConference on Slavery, Indentured Labour, Migration,

Diaspora and Identity Formation.June 18th – 23th, 2018 , Paramaribo, Suriname

Org. by IGSR, Faculty of Humanities, IMWO, in collaboration with National Archives Suriname , NAKS, Federasi fu Afrikan

Srananman CUS, NSHI and VHJI.

The immigration of Chinese contract workers in the Caribbean, especially in Suriname and Guyana

Jerry Dewnarain

Introduction

The period of contract labor has also been an important phase in the history of the Caribbean. As is known, after the abolition of slavery, various attempts have been made to maintain the plantation economy through the immigration of contract workers.

Much has been written about the immigration of British Indians, while in Suriname little is known about that of the Chinese. In this presentation I will highlight the immigration of Chinese contract workers in the Caribbean, in particular in Suriname and Guyana.Guyana was chosen as a reference country because Guyana and Suriname had a similar history and, in terms of geographical circumstances, also resembled each other.Some questions that come up are:

1. Under what circumstances did immigrants live and work in Suriname and Guyana?2. For what reasons did Chinese contract workers oppose?3. How did the socio-economic integration of the Chinese in the Surinamese and

Guyanese society take place?

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Research method

This presentation is based on both literature and source research. The investigation showed that little was written about this certainly interesting subject. Also, much literature is not or very difficult to find with regard to the history of Chinese contract workers in Guyana. As far as that of the Chinese contract workers in Suriname, the case looks better. Most of the literature dealing with the Chinese immigration in Guyana, was fortunately available from drs. Hassankhan on the I.M.W.O.

Structure of the presentation

The presentation consists of five chapters. The first chapter deals with the background of Chinese immigrants with regard to immigration.

The second chapter deals with the regulation regarding recruitment by China, England and the Netherlands. Attention is paid to the recruitment in practice and the crossing of the immigrants.

In the third chapter, Chinese contract labor is discussed in practice. In this way an insight is gained regarding, among other things, the working hours, wages, the contract conditions, the legal position and treatment of the Chinese contract workers.

In chapter four the resistance of the contract workers is discussed. The forms and causes of the resistance are discussed here.

The fifth chapter deals with the socio-economic integration of the Chinese in both Suriname and Guyana. This presentation is also a comparative study.

My presentation finally includes a conclusion, in which the different lines come together and are placed in a coherent framework.

Chapter 1: Background of immigration

1.1 Introduction

Soon after the beginning of white colonization in the Caribbean, negroes from Africa were brought in as slaves to do the heavy work on the plantations. However, the maintenance of the plantations in the Caribbean remained dependent on the supply of new workers from Africa. The mortality rate among these people was in fact higher than the birth rate. Until the beginning of the 19th century, this supply of slaves could take place undisturbed.

In 1808, however, the official slave trade was abolished. After the end of the slave trade there was a shortage of cheap labor. The large agriculture that experienced a crisis from the end of the 18th century, namely declined rapidly. After the abolition of slavery, an even quicker decline of the plantations was expected. After all, it appeared in the British and French colonies that the freed slaves did not want to return to the plantations as workers. That is why they started looking for contract workers before the abolition of slavery. Everywhere in the

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colonial literature it is alleged that if the Dutch colonial government had taken charge of immigration on a large scale immediately after the abolition of slave labor, Suriname would have come to prosperity and development in accordance with developments in neighboring Guyana.

A question that arises is how people came up with the idea of getting Chinese to Guyana and Suriname. Immigration attempts with Dutch farmers, inhabitants of the Portuguese islands and negroes from the Caribbean were a failure for several reasons. In Suriname, a number of planters at the government in 1853 applied for support in recruiting workers from China, Java, Calcutta or elsewhere. This did not express any preference. The government in Suriname arranged for the supply of the first two groups of Chinese, in 1853 and 1858. Subsequently, recruitment and supply were left to the private initiative. Then England and France closed their colonies for recruitment of contract workers other than for their own possessions or colonies. As a result, the West Coast of Africa and the British East Indies fell, and in fact only China remained, where since the 1940s a huge amount of workers had been taken away by the Western powers, and with which the Netherlands had concluded a contract in 1860 to regulate the recruitment of laborers. The first group of Chinese who arrived in Suriname in 1853 consisted of 14 Chinese1.

Like other categories of contract workers who came to the English section of the Caribbean after the abolition of slavery, the immigration of the Chinese to Guyana was again, according to the colonial literature, a direct consequence of the need for a regular supply of cheap labor. For sugar plantations. In their desperate attempts to find workers, Guyanese plantation owners were especially prepared to "tap out" new workers' sources in all parts of the world. After 1834, in the 19th century, contract workers came from different places: the Caribbean colonies, the United States of America, West Africa, the Portuguese Atlantic Islands, the British Isles and the European Continent, Malta, India and ... China . In Guyana, the Chinese also arrived in 1853, a group of 647 contract workers2.

1.2 Overview of Chinese immigration

1.2.1 Purpose and motives of the emigrants

China had for a long time managed to protect itself against external influences through an absolute ban on foreign trade and emigration. The southern provinces of Fukien and Kwantung, however, were able to smuggle with this: they also had a centuries-old migration tradition. Due to pressure from especially England, China was "broken open" by the treaty of Nanking in 1842. China had to open up some ports for foreign trade and Hong Kong pledged to England3. In 1850 emigration, where the death penalty stood before,1 J. Ankum-Houwink(1985), p.181;Man A Hing (1982), p.42,44.

2 B.L. Moore (1984),p.2.

3 Opium usage had penetrated all layers of the Chinese population in the 19th century and was imported by the English East India Company. In 1839, the imperial commissaire in Kanton ignored a quantity of opium, which led to disturbances and armed intervention by the English, who occupied a number of coastal cities. China lost the war and by the Treaty of Nanking (1842) they were given a decision on five free ports for foreign trade and emigration. Furthermore, China had to hand over Hong Kong to the United Kingdom. And in 1850 emigration, where the death penalty had arisen before, was legalized. Large-scale laborers for plantations and mines were

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legalized. On a large scale, workers for plantations in the Caribbean, and mines, were recruited for the largest part in Fukien and Kwantung.

Emigration was generally rejected by the wealthy Chinese in China. Most emigrants, however, came from the poorest and deprived populations that formed 4the outcasts of society. Due to floods, famines, overcrowding and heavy taxes, in the period before that thousands had gone to the still absolutely industrialized cities, which could not absorb this influx at all. The only way out was migration, through the opened Chinese ports, Portuguese Macao and British Hong Kong5.

- The main motive: the economic necessity6; the impossibility of being on the Dutch soil, even though it was still so scanty to exist. Natural and human factors worked together in an ill-fated way to make life a fruitless and densely populated agricultural area for a considerable percentage of the population.

- Natural factors: the excessive pressure on the soil deprived countless people of having a piece of land themselves. The irregularity of the harvests due to climatic influences (such as drought) mainly caused a scarcity of foodstuffs.

In addition to the main motive, individual cases and also other motives played a role:

- Sigh for adventure7. Finally, a thirst for adventure drove some young people to say goodbye to the monotonous existence of country life, without knowing their parents, and to respond to the romantic call from afar.

- Another group that "liked" emigrated were the refugees. As a result of the T'ai Ping war between China and England, many refugees arose who soon chose8 emigration.

1.2.2 The recruitment areas

recruited in "the West", mainly from the provinces of Kwantung and Fukien, which became known as notorious infamous recruitment areas. There were, according to Ankum-Houwink, 26 two known places for these practices: Macao with its play holes and Swatau, center of the opium trade. The people were chased into debt (Macao) and intoxicated (Swatau) respectively. Only after complaints about gruesome abuse by Spanish, English and American recruiters did China make definite attempts to put an end to this situation. Ankum-Houwink: 24 "In 1859, China issued a proclamation, in which it was urgent for urgent migrants to go to an emigration home and to rush the contract with the recruitment agents and the Chinese official who was specifically charged with this. This was where the site of the topography had to be, where incidentally, the hand was sometimes lifted ". Furthermore, the terms of service agreed upon by both parties had to be described in a properly formulated contract under the supervision of the Agent and Chinese official, so that the circumstances of each case appeared to be clear and all abuses of fraud were eradicated.4 K.O. Laurence (1971),p. 36.5 J.C. Ankum-Houwink (1985),p.182.6 E.Azimullah (red),p.207 C. Clementi (1915), p. 3288 B. L. Moore: Race, Power and Social segmentation in colonial society Guyana after 1838-1891 university of West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica, p.162

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Chinese immigrants mainly sailed from Canton, Whampoa, Amoy and Namoa in Southeast China. Although most came from the provinces of Fukien and Kwantung, they were different. They formed the Hakka and Punti (Cantonese) population groups. In Guyana and Suriname these differences disappeared and made way for a close-knit racial unity. This has been necessary to be able to maintain itself as a small population group in a relatively hostile and strange environment. According to Clementi, C9. the provinces of Kwantung and Fukien proved to be suitable recruiting areas for the sugar plantations of Guyana. The Kwantung province had an area of 100,000 square miles and a population of 318 per square mile: it was the most densely populated region of the western river basin of China. The Fukien province, however, had an area of 46,332 square miles and a population of 493 per square mile. It was the smallest of the 18 provinces, but given its population density it took fourth place.

1.3 Immigration in Numbers

To get a clear picture of the Chinese arrivals in Suriname, Table 1 gives a good overview. According to table 1 we see that between 1853 and 1869 2,515 Chinese landed in Suriname. While between 1872 and 1874 115 free Chinese came as free immigrants in Suriname. As the last Chinese migration to Suriname, in 1873-1874 the government introduced a group of a small 94 Chinese from Java. After that, no Chinese or Chinese workers came to Suriname anymore.In Guyana, according to Clementie (1915, p. 328), between 1453 and 1879, 14,002 Chinese immigrants landed. Since 1879 no organized attempts have been made by government (in Guyana) to bring Chinese to Guyana.

Table 1: Numbers of Chinese contract laborers in Guyana and Suriname between 1853 - 1879

Year Guyana Suriname1853-18741853-1879

14.002

2.636

Source :

- Man A Hing, W.L., Overview of the Imports of Chinese Contract Workers in Suriname. In: Announcements Surinamese Museum, no. 36, 1982, p. 36-46.

- Laurence, K.O. Immigration into the West Indies in the 19th Century. In: Barbados, 1971, p.328.

As a result of this relatively small immigration, the Chinese population in Guyana represented only 3.5 percent of the total population. After 1871, the number of Chinese dropped from 6880 to 3714 in 189110. This was not only caused by the cessation of Chinese immigration, but apparently also due to the small birth rate and the emigration of Chinese after 1870 to

9 C. Clementi(1915), p .354 and 35510 C. Clementi (1915),p. 328

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other areas. Because of this, the Chinese population could not sustain themselves in the last years of the 19th century.

Chapter II: The recruitment and crossing

The regulation regarding the recruitment by China

The recruitment of Chinese workers happened in the beginning without any regulation and it did not differ much from the slave trade. This applied in any case for:

- The prisoners in the many clan wars, who were sold by the victors according to ancient custom. This use also occurred in Africa, which stimulated slavery in the same way.

- Kidnapped slum dwellers.

- Those who were lured aboard just prior to departure of the ship with a list and beautiful words11.

- According to Ratzel (1876), besides these three categories of emigrants, there were also two other, namely12.

- The person obtained through the mediation of an official recruitment agent who returned the emigrant alive or dead to their own maintenance.

- They went to their own costs, mostly traders.

The actual recruitment was done by recruiters, who needed the permission (license) from the Protector or Emigrants. They were hired by the sub-agents and paid by them from their own contribution. The recruiters sought the provinces in China (mainly Kwantung and Fukien) to trace candidates for emigration. They prefered to stroll along busy roads and shopping districts of large cities. They faced those who wandered aimlessly and from whom they could suspect that for some reason they had left their home or home village. Most emigrants, however, came from the poorest and needy population groups that formed the outcasts of society13.

The recruited persons were taken to the depots by the recruiters, where they were provided free of charge with foodstuffs and cooking and eating utensils. A few depots in China from where the Chinese sailed to Guyana and Suriname were Amoy, Swatau Hong Kong14. If a sufficient number of contracted persons were present in a depot, they were boarded before departure. For this they had to be for the Protector or Emigrants and the Emigration Agent declare that are voluntarily emigrating. Even those who voluntarily longed to go to a foreign country to seek work, had to go to the emigration house personally to give a clear explanation, where the Chinese official and the immigration agent had to ensure, through careful interrogation and investigation, that the notifying were indeed voluntary emigrants and not the victims of the cunning plans of scammers. If all this was clearly proven, then it was possible to agree on the terms of service and their future destination. A formal contract was then drawn

11 J.C Ankum-Houwink (1985), p. 182.12 J.C Ankum-Houwink (1974), p. 53.13 B.L Moore (1984), p.4.14 C. Clementi (1915), p. 120-121.

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up15. It was not until 1860 that China signed a treaty with a few colonial powers, namely England and France, where the recruitment of counter workers was arranged. The provision of this treaty also applied to the Netherlands.

2.2 Recruitment in practice

The practice, however, was different because of the enormous corruption in the civil service, so that the ports were closed for contract migration after long urging from China in 1875. China itself had already banned all contract migration when, in a last attempt to get the case under control in 1866, it had concluded a new treaty with England and France. The right to free return was established and the death penalty was imposed on people robbery. The recruitment of workers without state supervision was forbidden, and it could only be free emigrants who undertook the journey at their own expense. This, too, did not yield anything. In 1875, recruiters admitted during a trial that 60 percent went involuntarily16. According to Gottwal H. (1903), actual changes occurred in recruitment practices in 1903. In Funkien there was no governmental control at all anymore and there were four large and different small Chinese 'firms' charged with weaving activities, operating with sub-agents in China. No contracts were signed with me the place of destination was also no longer mentioned. The only precautionary measure taken by the recruiting agents was to ensure that the future emigrant had the permission of the village council to circumvent the right to human exploitation17. Despite the fact that the Chinese government was trying to protect its inhabitants, it no longer had any power against Western superpowers that violated the staggering Chinese empire or against its own corrupt officials.

2.3 The crossing

The transport of the Chinese contract workers to Suriname was done with Dutch and British ships18. In Guyana this was done by English (British) ships19. Upon embarkation, the Emigration Agent had to hand over to the skipper a state called monster roll in duplicate. The names, first names, gender, age, occupation, religion and last residence of every emigrant were listed on this. Furthermore, the captain also had to receive documents showing that the emigrants were familiar with the place of destination and the nature of their office, that they freely left for Suriname, that they were physically fit for their future task and that for sufficient foodstuffs. and drinking water on board was taken care of20.

When the emigrants went on board, they were hung a tin plate around the neck, the number of which corresponded with the number for their name on the monster roll. In order to promote a good course of events, at the beginning of the trip, certain persons were selected from the emigrants who were assigned tasks, such as foremen, barbers, patient sitters, cleaners. On arrival in Suriname they received a fee from the Agent-General for their services. Furthermore, an interpreter and a European doctor had to be present on every ship21. The

15 Gon Netcher N.D. of (1863), p. 10.16 Idem.17 J.C. Ankum-Houwink (1974), p.52.18 See table 1.19 C. Clementi(1915),p.12720 C. Clementi (1915), p. 821 Special legislation, article 14, p. 24

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immigrants were disembarked at Paramaribo and Georgetown. The Agent-General as head of the Immigration Department received all documents concerning immigration, such as the so-called monster role and the state of change by birth or death during the crossing22. He inspected everything on board, accompanied by a doctor and an interpreter, and inquired with the contractors themselves about the treatment received during the trip. After the on-board inspection, the immigrants were disembarked and housed in the so-called Cooli depot buildings where they were registered by the Agent-General. They were re-examined and sick people were sent to the hospital.

Before the Agent-General, the assignment of the contractors took place in the depot, that is to say the plantations or land on which the immigrants would work according to their agreements. The Agent-General had to take care of the assignment that no man was separated from his wife, nor parents or guardians of their children under

15 years. The wish of the immigrants to be allocated together had to be met as much as possible23.

Chapter 3 Chinese contract work in practice

3.1 The contact conditions

The employment contract of the first group of Chinese in Suriname contained the following conditions:

1. The duration of work

The immigrants had to work for five years, six days a week, working 10 hours a day.

2. The reward of labor

For sf. 0.35 per day worked. The reward was the same for everyone. During Chinese immigration it was forbidden to bring women or children. This provision came from the Chinese government itself. Furthermore, no special measure was taken for overtime.

3. Nutrition

The employer did not have to meet the living needs of the contract labor. The workers had to pay for everything themselves24.

In Guyana, all Chinese were "imported" as contract workers. In 1864 the contract period was extended from three to five years with the option to extend the contract for a period of five years. The duration of contract work therefore became the same as that in Suriname. The provisions concerning the diet were also the same25. Failure to comply with their duties could result in trial in court, fine or imprisonment26.

22 Special legislation , article 14, p.24.23 Special legislation, article 20,p.30.24 Abbenhuys(1943), p.165.25 B.L. Moore(1984), p.9.26 Idem

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3.2 Working hours and wages

One of the conditions of the contract was the duration of the work. The immigrant had to work for five years, six days a week, and they were obliged to do five types of work every week for five shillings per week. Sunday was a free day27. A full day job was set at eight hours for field work and 10 hours for factory work. Contractors who had worked only three or three and a half hours a day were considered to have performed ⅓ of a day job, while six to six and a half hours of work was paid as a ⅔ day. To a contractor who, in the supervisor's view, "worked lazily" only ⅓ or ⅔ of the daily wage was paid, even though he had performed a full day job of eight or 10 hours28. For a full day job the wage was 0.39. The wages of the contractors in the year 1859 were f76, - and was therefore quite low which is not surprising, however, given the small number of working days worked in that year.

3.3 Housing

The first Chinese who arrived in Suriname and Guyana in 1853 were placed in the slave barracks (negro yard). Some existing homes were adapted for the first Chinese who would lodge in Catharina Sophia29.

In 1854, new homes for the Chinese contractors in Catharina Sophia were built from 150 feet of land in 15 feet wide, divided into 15 rooms. A kitchen and a toilet were also built. The dimensions per room were 3x 4.5 meters. Occasionally extra work was carried out on the home of the Chinese: for example, in 1859 the houses were provided with blinds by freed negroes. Letters from 1860 show that not all Chinese people lived in the houses built for them, but also in buildings where artisans stayed30.

Some plantation owners later started to build wooden or mud huts where two families could live. There would have been a case of housing the Chinese separately. However, there were also the same problems and inconveniences as the other plantation workers, namely small living quarters, poor ventilation, poor drainage systems, poor water supply, poor and dangerous cooking facilities, uncertainties, etc. It was argued, however, that poor housing was better was then what the Chinese had left behind in their motherland. Many of them had never lived in a house before and this shabby housing was already a luxury.

3.4 Causes of the failure of Chinese immigration as a colonization attempt in Suriname and Guyana

The failure of Chinese immigration in Suriname and Guyana had about the same causes, namely.

1. Shortage of women.

One of the causes of the failure of Chinese immigration is undoubtedly both in Guyana and Surinam, that there was a big shortage of women. The total proportion of Chinese women in Guyana was only 14.2 percent. The requirement of the Dutch government that 20-25 percent of the groups should consist of women was therefore soon withdrawn as entirely 27 J.C. Ankum-Houwink(1985), p. 176.28 Idem 29 Idem 30 B.L. Moore (1973), p.200-205.

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unachievable. Also because this so-called emigration was a clear purely labor immigration of short duration. The shortage of women was also caused by infanticide practices in China and also the old tradition of maiming the feet of women, making them difficult to walk and unable to do fieldwork. It was also believed that through this immigration, the women would be forced into prostitution. Regardless of how people view it, many Chinese women would not be able to perform the tasks assigned to them.

2. Lack of communication between China and Guyana.

The main cause of this failure was also the apparent economy due to the absence of a return trip for Chinese contract workers to China. As a result, no contract workers who had worked in Guyana arrived in China. Guyana was thus known in South China as a country from which no one ever returned and it was this fact that the Chinese government pretended to suspend emigration for many years. The planters not only wanted to withhold "return tickets" from the Chinese contract workers, but they were not granted the following. The allocation of part of the Chinese premium intended for family members in China was abolished. As a result, the Chinese contract worker lost all his acquaintances and relatives in his mother country. In Suriname we see that Chinese contract workers usually returned to China after completing their contract due to an extremely small number of women. Coming back to the foregoing, it did not matter how successful this contract worker might be in his new environment, his successes were not known to the Chinese in China, so that perhaps they too might get inspired and then decide to immigrate to Guyana as soon as possible. "Rich". (Clementi (1915), pp. 329 and 331).

3. The fact that the Chinese rarely extended their contract. (Ankum-Houwink (1985), 185).

4. That if they were already, practically never as a farmer, but as a retailer, which the planters did not need. (idem).

5. The very high costs of recruitment and transportation of Chinese contract workers. (idem)

6. The high opium usage was found to be very lewd. This was probably also a consequence of the women's shortage, as well as prostitution, polyandry and homophilia. These cases were also perceived to be cruel to the Netherlands as well as to England (idem).

7. Fluctuation in the annual supply of Chinese contract workers. There was contempt for those who volunteered for field labor or slave labor. Moreover, the Chinese came from a so-called "half-culture" and they were more than half barbaric coolies according to the views of certain Europeans. (idem)

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Chapter 4: The resistance of contract workers

Forms of resistance

With resistance, the following distinction must be made, namely between passive and active forms.

A. Passive forms of resistance are forms in which the result of the act committed by the contractor was not immediately visible. The purpose of these resistance forms was usually to slow down the production process. Passive forms of resistance include:

1. Pretending disease. In doing so, the contractor impeded the labor process on the plantation31.

2. Duty absence. The assigned tasks were not completely executed or executed incorrectly.

B. Active resistance forms are the forms in which the contractor was directly involved in the resistance act. The result of his action is therefore visible. With active resistance forms are:

1. Murder, individually or collectively committed to the plantation staff.

2. Individual attack on the supervisor or director32.

3. Arson in factory buildings and warehouses as a protest against the rigorous practices prevailing on the plantations33.

4. Destruction of the plantings, for example the felling of coffee plants, sugar cane planting.

5. The strike. The contract worker was obliged to make labor power available to the planter / capitalist for five years. Every refusal of work was therefore an infringement of the signed contract. By engaging the judiciary, the army and the police, the contractor was forced to work. Strikes occurred frequently, some with serious forms.

Chapter 5 The influence of Chinese immigration with regard to the socio-economic integration of the Chinese in the Surinamese and Guyanese society

5.1 From contract immigrant to retailer

A large part of the Chinese arrived left Suriname and Guyana after the contract. They returned to their homeland or went to settle elsewhere. A small proportion of the others remained on the plantations as single workers, but the majority of these enterprising Asians started to focus on the more rewarding retail trade, usually with success. As a result, they became an important economic factor in Surinamese and Guyanese society.

31 Idem, p. 19732 B.L. Moore (1984), p.12.33 B.L. Moore, note 16, p. 172-173.Plantation Leonara.The resistance took place in August 1869 when armed police officers and military forces were called in to restore the peace on the plantationDevonshire Castle.Another case also occurred at plantation Devonshire Castle in September 1872, where five people were killed on the part of the contractors. The cause of the resistance on these two plantations was the disagreement about wages.

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The Chinese had success in retail despite the domination of the Portuguese. This success was due to the fact that they were in a trade sector where Portuguese trade was promoted34. By the end of 1870 they could have arranged their lives in such a way that they were less dependent on the import companies. In the 1890s the Chinese already took important commercial centers in important parts of Guyana and Suriname. In Guyana: New-Amsterdam in Berbice and Georgetown, the capital. In Suriname, the Chinese retailers settled in or near the city of Paramaribo, where most of the stores are currently being driven by Chinese people. The shopkeepers have a big preference for corners of streets. "Omu Snesie on the corner" has become an indispensable link in Surinamese society. Descendants of the former immigrants have brought it to great prosperity over the years and have become wholesalers or industrialists35. In Guyana, the Chinese were also involved in other professions. Some became butchers, chemists, "traders in something for which a market could be found," trolleys, etc. All these activities were indirect competition for the Portuguese. Others became hairdressers, washers, blacksmiths (gold and silverware)36.

The table below shows the number of permits allocated to the Chinese in Guyana at the end of the nineteenth century.

Permits assigned to Chinese in 1899-190037

Type Number

1 Bars 25

2 provision, butchery,pharmacies,shops 425

3 Wine and malt 191

4 Opium and ganja 83

5 advertising and designers 10

6 donkey and muidercarts 82

7 horses, donkey’s,mules 108

8 ships,boats,corals etc.. 140

For Suriname it is unfortunately very difficult to get the above data, because the above

investigations have hardly been done among the Chinese. Both in Suriname and in Guyana,

the Chinese succeeded in improving their social position. This enabled them to increase their

standard of living even though many of them did not receive proper training. They were

diligent, independent and simple. At the end of the 19th century, the Chinese possessed

properties in Georgetown worth $ 93,150, in New Amsterdam worth $ 71,375, and in the rural

34 B.L. Moore (1984), p. 19 en E.A. Streefland (1969).35 Idem, p. 22.36 E.A. Streefland (1969), p. 2537 B.L. Moore (1984), p. 25.

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areas they owned assets worth $ 24,056. These were the essential land prices which generally

were between five and twenty-five dollars per acre38. Chinese possessions were equally

distributed throughout Paramaribo and the districts. For wherever people lived and something

was to be earned, the hard-working Chinese lived and worked far into the forest land39. The

Chinese had even created small villages in various parts of Guyana.

5.2 The relationship between Chinese and other population groups

Variety differences existed in the pattern of life of the Chinese community. In general, the

new contract workers were already separated from the rest of the residents from the

beginning. The new immigrants had to stay on the plantations, while other inhabitants (other

population groups) lived in the cities or villages. At the plantation they had the habit of

reserving separate "houses" for each breed instead of letting them live together40. With the

Chinese in Guyana, the racial difference was very pronounced in comparison with Suriname.

In Guyana this came to the fore through the existence of Hopetown as a settlement especially

for the Chinese41. The black (Creole) loggers who had previously put the charcoal on the

market had to leave that area to make room for the Chinese. This event drew attention to the

integration of the Chinese with the other population groups in society. A few factors seemed

to delay this process in Suriname. The Chinese and other immigrants arrived in Guyana and

Suriname during the political struggle over the immigration issue. Immigration was a curse

for the colored people. They objected that their tax revenues were used to bring in foreigners

who would become their competitors in the work on the plantations, causing wages to fall.

During the smooth Chinese immigration at the end of the 1850s, there were already problems

for the Creoles, which meant lower wages42. It was reflected in the relationship between the

varieties43. Tribe prejudice thus became a major obstacle to social integration. However, this

was not determined unilaterally. The Chinese immigrant had an aversion to interfere with the

Creoles, because he walked around thinking that all colored people were barbarians, ill-

mannered and uneducated. This aversion to the Chinese against the 'blacks' was so great in

Guyana that in 1861 the then governor deemed it necessary to prevent plantation managers

from having Chinese workers work under 'black' overseers44.

38 J.C. Ankum-Houwink (1985), p. 174.39 see appendix three40 Hira (1982), p. 53.41 E.A. Streefland (1969), p. 27.42 E.A. Streefland (1969), p. 26.43 B.L. Moore (1984), p. 29.44 Guiana Times, 28/7/1866

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The Chinese man had a great aversion to marry a Creole woman, not just because of the tribe

prejudice. In their homeland, the Chinese were married by the parents, so they had ended up

in a difficult marriage situation as immigrants. Before a Chinese left his homeland, he first

had to fulfill his duty to his parents and ancestors, that is, he could not leave before he was

married and a son was born. This changed in the later years. This was because the large

shortage of Chinese women forced some Chinese to push aside their tribe prejudice and enter

into relationships with Creole women, both in Suriname45 and in Guyana46.

In 1871, even in Guyana, a scandal occurred between O-Tye-Kim, a Chinese missionary, and

a coloring who became pregnant. This scandal was proof that for the Chinese the bachelor life

was difficult to sustain and also that in the 19th century marriages between different races

were strange. In daily life the relationship between the Chinese and the Creole was very

hostile and this was often accompanied by violence. I could not check this in the available

literature about the Chinese in Suriname. In Guyana, the Chinese often had to collect insults

on the streets and were assaulted by the Creoles, both children and adults.

5.3 The Chinese traditions

The Chinese were a closed part of society and found their center in their terms of Suriname,

association "Kong-Ngie-Tong-Sang", which owns a societal building at the end of the

Maagdenstraat47. The oldest Surinamese Chinese association Kong-Ngie-Tong-Sang was

founded in 1876. Other associations were also founded: the Chung Fa Foei Kon, Li Tse Sa,

the Chinese trade association Fa Kjauw Song Foei, a division of the Kwo Ming Tang. They

have their own well-maintained buildings with portraits of the father of the Chinese Republic,

Dr. Sun Yat Sen, and Marshal Tsjang Kai Chek. They have their Chinese schools, where the

children can get Chinese lessons three afternoons a week and are formed by the Chinese

spirit, tied to the old Chinese community. The Chinese have their own newspapers, their own

cemetery and also a few parties48. The Chinese could be recognized by the national costumes

that were used for both men and women, namely loose jacket and blue long pants.

There was only one important holiday that was celebrated by the Chinese in the colony. The

highlight was the Cheng Tueh Shin Wo, the old "moon party" that was celebrated on the 15th

of the first month49. The illuminated lampion was the symbol of happiness that the family

45 B.L. Moore (1984), p. 29 en 31.46 C.K. Kesler (1932), p. 31947 W. Eberhard (1958), p. 4.48 M.C. Yang (1948), p. 90-92.49 B.L. Moore (1984), p. 32.

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hoped for and the chase of unhappiness50. Every year the Chinese marched in long rows

through the streets of Georgetown with beautiful lanterns of various kinds, shape and color for

example in the form of birds, fish etc. The parade accompanied by fireworks and loud music

played or bagpipes, gongs and drums51. The above activities were the most striking

characteristic of the Chinese New Year in Guyana and Suriname. The fireworks symbolized

the expulsion of the devil and thus the arrival of happiness52.

5.4 The lifestyle of the Chinese

Depending on the conditions of the country and those in which a small number of Chinese

people were on various plantations, some traditions were still retained. These traditions also

threatened to disappear by stopping Chinese immigration after 1879 in Guyana. In Suriname,

the group of 1869 was the last, because then Hong Kong was closed for recruitment other than

for British colonies. As the last Chinese immigration, the government in 1873-1874 still led a

group of 100 Chinese from Java. After that no Chinese workers came to Suriname anymore53.

There were also not enough women to expand the Chinese community. The Chinese traditions

were also supplanted by Christianity that was distributed by the Europeans in schools and in

churches. Christianity in the 19th century was the means of exercising control over the

workers, spreading the idea that whites were better than colored people and enforcing

obedience to white rule.

For all colorists, these objectives also applied to the Chinese. In Indonesia and Singapore, a

close-knit social and political power unit could be secretly formed among the Chinese.

Christianity should fight these power units in the colony. That the Chinese wanted to confess

the Christian faith, because some of them had already been converted in China by European

missionaries before they emigrated to Guyana. As a result, some faithful church visitors have

been since the inauguration of the Christian religion on the plantation in 185354. In Suriname

already in 1890 the Chinese helper Fu A Hing started the missionary work among the

Chinese. It was not until 1947, however, when a pastor, Hugo van Dalen of the Brotherhood,

started regular missionary labor among the Chinese. In 1948 a local community was

organized with Brother Ng A Foe as a predecessor. The center of this spiritual life was the

Tshoeng Tsien church in Paramaribo, inaugurated on 2 March 1958. During the meetings,

50 C.K. Kesler (1932), p. 31951B.L. Moore, Race, power and social segmentation in a Colonial Society-Guyana after 1838-1891 University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica, p. 162. 52 J.C. Ankum- Houwink (1985), p. 183.53 54

15

Chinese and Dutch were often used. The Sunday school had a "Chinese" and a "Dutch" class.

The importance of the language for the Chinese in Suriname was to be deduced from the

increasing number of Roman Catholics that the former Reverend Chan to Kuen received

during the seventies.

In Guyana, about which more information is available, the Chinese Christians were placed at

the request of a German missionaries, Reverend Lobscheid, on closely related Guyanese

plantations, namely Skeldon, Eliza and Mary, all in Berbice. They formed a small

congregation led by a Chinese minister who led the church services in Chinese. They also

read church books and tracts in Chinese.

By the arrival of O-Tye-Kim in 1864 the Christian faith quickly spread among the Chinese

population. This minister was tireless in his attempts to convert as many Chinese as possible.

In February 1865 he had formed a congregation with 120 members. Many had to travel long

distances and attend Sunday-day services in Georgetown. He was officially appointed

missionary of Chinese immigrants in August 1866 with a government salary of 300 shillings

per year. He made an important contribution to the success of the Chinese to get land and a

state loan for the Hopetown settlement. The inhabitants of Hopetown mainly consisted of

Chinese from the plantations Skeldon, Eliza and Mary. The Christian foundation was firm.

Conclusion

We may conclude that the Chinese had a very difficult time both in Suriname and in Guyana

during their contract period. The conditions under which he had to live and work were

miserable and differed widely from the terms of the contract. In most cases, they often had no

faith, because these persons ultimately chose the opposite party for their own sake or for

profit. The fact that a contract worker also wanted to live in a clean and hygienic

environment, to earn enough to be able to provide for his livelihood and that of his family,

were high requirements for the white rulers. That's why it bothered the contract worker who

walked around in rags and lived in the dirty slave barracks to see how every day the product

of his hard labor, low wages was received by a well-fed director, who only managed to give

orders. In the dirty "negro yard" surrounded by mud pools that attracted all kinds of insects,

the contract worker could increasingly feel the humiliation of the inaccessible director or

supervisor. In a short time the Chinese learned that the director had set limits on his freedom

of movement, that the plantation supervisor acted as the planter's mouthpiece, that the district

commissioner was the detective of the director and that he had to take his right from the

planter's hand, he wanted to bring some change in his living conditions. That is why he came

16

in opposition to the simplest "weapons" he possessed. Through work absenteeism he did not

make his labor power available to his exploiter. He received a punishment for that, but the

fact that he had caused his exploiter a disadvantage by his act made the punishment good

again. He resisted, despite the fact that the opposing party had army and police. He knew

perfectly well that these forces could be turned against him by the opposition, but if all his

means of finding justice were exhausted, he dared to face the confrontation. The Chinese in

Guyana and Suriname showed that he was not a coward, but a formidable opponent, as

witnessed by the fact that the planter needed assistance with weapons when he resisted, while

he did not have these weapons. He has shown that he wanted to risk his life for a little bit of

justice. The claims that were issued by the government with the aim of slightly improving the

living and working conditions of the contract workers show, finally, that the contract workers

have fought for a just cause. Their contribution to the economy in the colony of Guyana and

Suriname was not only in the area of large agriculture. Private individuals had expanded the

trade sector and started small-scale farming as an alternative to large-scale agriculture. Their

share in the economic aspect, however, was not accompanied by large participation in society.

The Chinese kept themselves at a distance, but increasingly merged with other groupings or

populations in Suriname and in our western neighbor. It was a requirement in a colonial

society with racial hatred that isolated foreigners as much as possible. In order to ensure their

survival they therefore had to unite as a population group by, among other things, maintaining

their (Chinese) traditions and culture.

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