Book Review: The Chinese in Southeast Asia
| Author | Robert Holland |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205100600317 |
| Date | 01 September 1951 |
| Published date | 01 September 1951 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
250
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
tation
of
labour
was
the
answer
before
the
war-what
is
going
to
be
the
answer
now?
The
book
traces
in
great
detail the
growth
of
the
labour
movement;
the
development
of
new
interest
in
unionism; agitation
for
wage
stabili-
zation and better
working
conditions.
Undoubtedly
great
strides
have
been
taken
in
each
of
these respects.
At
the
same
time
one
cannot
help
but
wonder
if
the rank
and
file
have
much
more
than
a
very
meagre
idea
as
to
what
it
is
all
about.
Indeed
one
doubts
whether they
even
know
to
what
union
they might
belong.
The
above
does
not
deal
fairly
with
a
book
that
has
been
compiled
with
a
great
deal
of
care
and
presents
the
student
with
much
valuable
material to
study,
Toronto,
June
1951.
H.
D.
Johns
THE
CHINESE
IN
SOUTHEAST
ASIA.
By
Victor
Purcell.
1951.
(London,
Toronto:
Oxford.
xxxvii,
801
pp.
$9.25,
members
$7.40.)
This
is
a
monumental
book
which
will
have
enduring
value
as
a
work
of
reference.
The
writer
describes
it
as
"an
impressionistic
volume,"
but it
is
in fact
the
epitome
of
a
lifetime
interest
and study,
compiled
by
an experienced
administrator
who
is
also
an exceptional
linguist
and
an
able
scholar.
Dr.
Purcells
conclusions
have
particular
importance
at
the
present
moment
when
China
is
the
spear-point
of
Communist
advance
and
when
rebellions
in
Burma,
Malaya
and
Indochina
have made these
countries
vulnerable
to
outside
aggression.
The reader
who
is
inclined
to
faint
at the
size
of
the
volume
may profitably
concentrate
his
attention
on
the
"Preface," the
"Introduction,"
the
"Conclusion"
and
the
"Post-
script."
The
phenomenon
for
study
is
"the
overflowing
from
the
southern
lip
of
China's
vast
bowl
of
population
of
eight
to
ten
million
of
its
people
into
Southeast
Asia."
In
Far
Eastern
countries,
a
revolution
set
in
train
by
Western
ideas
now
seems
directed
against
Western
individuals
and
nations.
Chinese civilization
is
based on
ancestor
worship-the
family
system-,
and
on
Buddhism
and
Taoism
which
are,
however,
in
decay
as
moral
forces.
Will
the
age-old
"familism"
be
able
to
withstand
the
force
of
Communist
propaganda?
Will capitalism
or
communism
eventually
make
the
stronger
appeal to
the
Chinese
of
China
as
the
surest
means
to
survival?
To
what
extent
and
in
what
manner
is
the
constitutional
and
ideological
upheaval
in
China
affecting
the
aspirations
and
behaviour
of
the various
Chinese
emigrant
groups
in
Southeast
Asian
countries?
In
each
of
these
countries (Siam,
Burma,
Malaya,
Indonesia,
Borneo,
Indochina,
the
Philippines)
the
problem
assumes
a
different
form.
Dr.
Purcell
says
of
Malaya-
To continue reading
Request your trial