عنوان

A dilemma of identity :

Number

TLets444548

Title Proper

A dilemma of identity :

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Koon, Huat Kin.

Title Proper by Another Author

the overseas Chinese in Malaya and the quest for nationhood, 1930-1949

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2007

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

Text preceding or following the note

2007

Text of Note

This thesis is a historical study of the internal politics of the overseas Chinese in BritishMalaya from 1930 to 1949 as it shaped and was in turn being shaped by the quest for anational identity, emphasised as it was by the transition of the community as meresojourners into permanent settlers. Where once blind patriotism and loyalty to China onthe basis of the indivisibility of one's nationality from his country of origin had nourishedthe principal values underpinning Chinese nationalism in all its forms and variations, theywere now being challenged by an intensifying bond linking the Chinese to their adoptedhomeland of Malaya led largely by a progressive minority intent on cementing their placein the future destiny of an emerging state. To this end, this thesis will study the contestbetween the `Sino-centrics' and the `Malayans' over the object of overseas Chinesenationalism as it developed into an ideological battle over the primacy of `nation' or'community'. The inability to agree on and chart a common path vis-ä-vis their futuremagnified the sub-group differences between them and accelerated the contest tochampion the Chinese nationalist cause, variously defined, which served only to highlightthe persistent divisiveness that had constantly plagued the community as a whole, thatthey lost sight of the higher goal of political equality on the basis of a common Malayancitizenship. This thesis will argue that the disparate nature of the overseas Chinesecommunity thus allowed external agencies and forces, no less the British colonialauthorities, to influence the form and substance of Chinese politics and in so doing play asignificant part in laying the foundations for a subordinate political role for the Chinese ina new Malaya

Koon, Huat Kin.

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y