Turning Tide of Poverty and Oppurtunity: The Chinese of the Second Wave

Elsa Mattson Junior Division Individual Website

During the 19th and 20th Century, China was changing. Poverty and ineffective government caused internal strife which lead to more people falling into the lower classes. Some Chinese took this chance to leave China for Malaya in what is now known as the Second Wave. Malaya presented the poor Chinese with plantations and new communities. The Second Wave proved to be a turning point by changing Malayan politics, culture, demographics, and economy. This process of change included the Chinese separating themselves from other groups as they became a major ethnic group in Malaya. After independence, both Malaysian and Singaporean politics were affected by ethnic divisions between Chinese and other groups. However, by standing up for their interests, the Chinese played a key roll in mixing cultures in the newly independent nations. Upon finding that the theme for this year was Turning Points in History, I immediately decided to go with the arrival of the Chinese in Malaya. My ancestors were some of the many migrants who left Southern China for Malaya (present day Malaysia and Singapore), and the cultural changes of that time period affect my everyday life. Also, learning about how the Chinese maintained some of their traditions despite centuries of attempted assimilation interests me. At first I started researching using library books, consisting of multiple primary and secondary sources emphasizing in detail the reasons for the Second Wave and how life was changed not only for the immigrants but also for the indigenous people in Malaya. Early in the year I interviewed my grandfather, Lee Tong Ban, and his cousin, Lee Wei de, both of whom

lived in the later years of the Second Wave. Some Internet sources I used were from the eResources section at National Library Board Singapore. I started piecing together the facts I found about the people and events of the time, and using the template my teacher gave me, I began by working on my website. I used 5 main pages and over 10 subpages to describe in detail the reasons and impact of the Second Wave, as well as information on key figures such as Yap Ah Loy and Tan Kah Kee. I started with information on why Chinese migrated to Malaya in the first place. My design originally had pale colors, so I had to change my design to a darker theme that was more related to the poverty addressed in my topic. After choosing my design, I added multimedia. I couldn't edit one of my videos, so I ended up updating my software to QuickTime Pro. Chinese immigrants to Malaya during the Second Wave sacrificed their lives to support their families back home and in their new countries. They wanted to change their own fates, but in the end changed both their fates and a nation. Their perseverance in forming communities and their mark on the world is still present today.