Native Life in the Malay 
‘Peninsula. 
By IVOR H. N. EVANS, M.A. 
I N this little pamphlet I deal with only the every- 
day life of the native-bred people of the Malay 
Peninsula, but, for the sake of those who do 
not know, or have not read about, the country, it 
is necessary, by way of an introduction, to speak 
also of the recent foreign invaders of the soil. 
Foreign The last twenty to thirty years, and 
immigration especially the years since 1906, when 
into Malaya, the boom in rubber began, have seen 
tremendous changes take place in the 
Malay States. The population of the western states 
of Negri Sembilan, Selangor and Perak has increased 
enormously owing to the immigration of natives of 
India and China, directly or indirectly, in connexion 
with the tin-mining and rubber industries, while the 
islands of the Dutch East Indies, Java and Sumatra 
in particular, have also added their quota to the 
population. Probably the greater part of the Indian 
and Chinese population is floating, and a large pro- 
portion consists of unmarried males. 
In times of depression this population tends to 
decrease, for the closing down of estates and mines 
throws large bodies of Tamils and Chinese out of 
work, and the immigrant population of the towns 
is also affected by bad trade. The foreign Malayan 
(including Javanese and Ranjarese) population of 
6 > 2 .~ 
