Kam Hing Lee

Surviving Financial Crises: The Chinese Overseas in Malaysia and Singapore

Abstract Most studies of financial crises focus on the impact on states, and the states’ responses. Few, if any, have focused on how these crises affect communities within the state which do not have control of the state apparatus. These groups, left out of decision-making processes and calculations by the state, suffer the most. In pre-war British Malaya and Malaysia, these groups were the Chinese overseas, Indians and some Malay minorities. A study of the impacts of the Great Depression and the Asian Financial Crisis on the Chinese overseas may help to illustrate how such groups, left on their own, coped with such crises. A study of the Chinese overseas is not insignificant because the community wielded considerable economic influence in the 1930s and in 1997. This paper argues that despite the obvious differences in circumstances, there are common threads to the narratives of both crises. These include the roles played by exchange rates and banking institutions which the Malayan Chinese helped to establish in the two countries.

The internationalisation of family firms: case histories of two Chinese overseas family firms

Internationalisation is an important part of the business history of both non-family and family firms. The discourse regarding both is based on the mainstream microeconomic theories of the firm. This article, through examining the case histories of two successful Chinese overseas family firms, shows that explanations of internationalisation need often to venture beyond the confines of existing theories, especially where contextual factors are influential in shaping decision-making. The experiences of these firms point to the role of the state as a major contextual factor. The case history approach is the most relevant in this and other instances where context matters.

Developers and Speculators: Housing, Ethnic Chinese Business and the Asian Financial Crisis in Malaysia

Abstract Housing has played a central role in both the Asian and global financial crises, a decade apart. While there are major differences with respect to these roles, there are also similarities, the most obvious being the links with the banking system. The impact of these crises on the housing sector has been extensively researched, but findings have been overwhelmingly based on aggregate or sector data. Using firm-level data from Malaysia on the Asian financial crisis, this article argues that such findings can yield a distorted picture of what actually occurred in real estate markets where contextual factors played a major role. A study of ethnic Chinese businesses, which dominated the Malaysian housing sector, show that the severe impact was primarily on businesses that were over-leveraged and/or that speculated on housing in the expectation of reaping quick returns. They were small compared to the large property businesses that, though affected, survived. Non-residential real estate continued unaffected, fuelled by manufacturing to meet healthy export demand. This, and a political/economic environment accentuated by affirmative action which drove ethnic Chinese businesses toward real estate development, speaks powerfully to the importance of context in understanding specific housing markets during crises.

From Patrimonialism to Profit: The Changing Flow of Funds from the Chinese in Malaysia to China

ABSTRACT Unlike the period before World War II, the Malaysian Chinese no longer look towards China as a home they will ultimately return to. This is seen in the flow of funds to China from the Malaysian Chinese. Before the war the motivation was patrimonial. The funds were in the form of patriotic bonds and collections and remittances that went to the home provinces of the Malaysian Chinese mostly in Fujian and Guangdong. Since the 1990s the funds flow has mainly been in the form of investment meant for gaining profit. This motivation was not different from that of business investors from other nations investing in China. It is important to demonstrate this motivation in order to allay suspicions by indigenous Southeast Asians that the Chinese who live in Southeast Asia are diverting funds meant for Southeast Asia to China.

Chinese popular music as a musical heritage and cultural marker of the Malaysian Chinese

Abstract Chinese popular music, inspired by pre-war Shanghai music known as ‘shidai qu’ (时代曲) (songs of the era) and evolving to include Canto pop and Taiwanese Mandarin songs, has always been popular among the Chinese in Malaysia. This music is featured on radio, television, karaoke, and performed by orchestras such as the Dama Chinese Orchestra (大马) to enthusiastic reception. The songs have a broad appeal that transcends time, generation, and place. Of significance is the observation that the music has become a cultural marker and musical heritage for Chinese in Malaysia and in the region. The paper looks at factors behind this development.

Aceh-Penang Maritime Trade and Chinese Mercantile Networks in the Nineteenth Century

Le commerce maritime Aceh-Penang et les reseaux mercantiles chinois au XIXe siecle. En tant que premier producteur mondial de poivre au XIXe siecle et exportateur de noix d’arec, Aceh a eu des contacts commerciaux longs et soutenus avec Penang. Vetements, riz, opium et armes a feu figurent parmi ses importations majeures de Penang. Le commerce avec Aceh entraina la montee d’un groupe riche d’uleebalangs capables d’affirmer leur statut autonome vis-a-vis du sultan d’Aceh. C’est a Penang que de nombreux Acihais trouverent refuge lorsqu’eclata le conflit entre le sultanat et les Neerlandais a la fin du XIXe siecle. Penang devint l’acces principal d’Aceh vers le monde exterieur, non seulement sur le plan commercial mais aussi sur le plan diplomatique, du fait qu’Aceh sollicitait une intervention etrangere dans son conflit avec les Neerlandais. Les Chinois ont joue un role important dans cette relation dynamique entre Aceh et Penang. Cet article retrace la cooperation et la competition interethniques et transnationales dans ce commerce maritime qui va profondement influer sur les paysages commerciaux et politiques d’Aceh et de Penang au XIXe siecle.