The Making of ‘British’ Malaya, 1874–1919

Abstract

Although commonly accepted as a convenient means of demarcating the beginning of Malaysia’s colonial period, the Pangkor Treaty does not signify a radical change in British imperial policy. Governor Andrew Clarke may have concluded the treaty on his own initiative, but it did not cause great consternation in the Colonial Office, where the possible appointment of a British agent in the western Malay states had been under discussion for some time. Nor does the Pangkor Treaty stand as a clear break between two different phases of economic development. Despite the expectations of the commercial community in the Straits Settlements, European enterprise was only slowly established in the peninsula. Chinese predominance in the Malay economy continued in beth tin mining and most forms of plantation agriculture, and not until the 1890s did the initiative pass to Europeans.