シンガポールの海峡華人と「追放令」

植民地秩序の構築と現地コミュニティの対応に関する一考察

抄録

In Singapore during the 1890s, local-born Chinese asserted themselves as “Straits Chinese” and became active in political and social movements. Their activities included the formation of the Chinese Philomathic Society in 1896, the publication of the Straits Chinese Magazine in 1897, and cutting off their queues in 1898.
However, at the beginning these movements, led by the younger intellectuals, did not gain popularity and were not smoothly developed. Their attempts were often criticized or ignored by the older establishment. In addition, around this time, the organization of the whole Chinese community in Singapore, regardless of dialect group or the place of birth, against interference from the Straits Settlements Government was more broadly desired than the organization of just the local-born Chinese.
Nevertheless, the Straits Chinese established a large-scale organization, the Straits Chinese British Association, which limited its membership only to British subjects in 1900. It was supported by a much larger number of local-born Chinese than any previous organization. The conflict between younger intellectuals and the older establishment seemed to have disappeared, both realizing a grand coalition under the Association.
In the research to date, the reason why this grand coalition was realized and solidarity strengthened in 1900 has been attributed to the “privilege” of being a British subject. The logic is as follows. This privilege shared among Straits Chinese automatically gave rise to common interests. To assure such interests, they needed to overcome conflict and general indifference, and finally reached integration. Additionally, given such privilege, Straits Chinese came to appreciate the Straits Settlements Government and were eager to show their appreciation.
Nevertheless, what this privileges was has not yet been determined exactly. This article examines this point and finds that there were no large basic differences between the rights of British subjects and those of foreigners, except for the Banishment Ordinance and its amendment in 1899, which greatly threatened the local-born people.
Originally, banishment was solely applied to aliens, not to natural born subjects like the Straits Chinese. And even if a Straits Chinese was issued the order, he could avoid it as long as he could submit evidence proving that he was a natural born subject. However, the amendment of 1899 determined that the order of banishment “shall be conclusive evidence in all Courts of Justice and for all purposed that the person thereby ordered to be banished is not a natural born British subject.” Though it was provided that the Ordinance would not prevent a person ordered to be banished from submitting evidence before the Governor to prove his nationality, there were no guarantees that such evidence could overrule the executive decision. This means that British subjects could possibly have been subject to the ordinance.
Straits Chinese were thus faced with uncertainty over their status as British subjects at the end of 1890s, rather than enjoying “privileges” or superior status. Recognizing, the uncertainty of their status, they strove to unite themselves and strengthen their voice against the Straits Settlements Government, while at the same time showing their loyalty as British subjects.