Baba Hokkiens, Big Business, and Economic Dominance in Penang and Its Region, 1840s-1900s

Authors

Yee Tuan WONG, History and Heritage, Penang Institute, MalaysiaFollow

Abstract

This paper intends to reconstruct the transnational, cross-ethnic, and multifaceted experiences of the Southeast Asian Chinese past by centering on the Baba Hokkien business elites in nineteenth-century Penang. These business elites emerged as a preponderant force in the regional economic arena centred around Penang for most of the nineteenth century. How were these Baba Hokkien elites able to achieve such ascendancy in the colonial and indigenous milieux? The answer is that the Baba Hokkien elites successfully established vertical and horizontal strategic alliances not only with the Hakka and Cantonese elites but also the colonial powers, the grassroots, and the indigenous chieftains and royalty and these alliances enabled the Baba Hokkien elites to secure and mobilize labour, capital, power, and network to gain control of a highly diversified range of major businesses that constituted the pillars of Penang's regional economy.

Recommended Citation

WONG, Yee Tuan (2013) "Baba Hokkiens, Big Business, and Economic Dominance in Penang and Its Region, 1840s-1900s," Malaysian Journal of Chinese Studies: Vol. 2: No. 2, Article 5.
Available at: https://mjcs.newera.edu.my/journal/vol2/iss2/5