4 
MALACCA. 
Philippines, where the Chinese are not nearly so numerous owing to restrictions put upon 
them by the Dutch and Spanish governments, you may notice changes in their dress, and 
in their manner they are decidedly more courteous to Europeans. The Dutch and 
Spaniards keep the Chinese from overrunning their colonies, and in that way benefit the 
native. We welcome the Chinese and swamp out the hereditary owners of the soil. The 
result of this toleration in Singapore to the pig-tailed Celestials has been to give more 
scope to their secret societies, and therefore an impetus to riotous behaviour, which has 
at times had serious results to the very nation which protects and pampers them. 
Street riots used to be not an unusual occurrence in Singapore, during which it would 
be dangerous for a European to drive through the town, where he would receive a warm 
reception of stones and brickbats. These little peculiarities of the Chinese are generally 
brought about by some edict issued by the governing powers for the good of the community 
at large; that does not quite suit Johnnie, so he holds a meeting, and makes the streets of 
Singapore impassable for a day or two. There is no denying the fact that the Chinese are 
the life and soul of Eastern commerce and are an absolute necessity to the building-up 
of our Eastern colonies, but at the same time they should be treated by our ruling powers 
with great firmness. 
As servants these peculiar people are most useful, nearly all the domestics in 
Singapore being Chinese; they are one and all called “ boys,” though many are old boys 
indeed. Your boy does all the marketing, cooking, washing, and performs a hundred other 
duties; but for all their usefulness I love them not. Honesty and truthfulness are traits 
that seldom exist in a Chinaman; they will rob the unsuspecting “ Mem ” in a thousand 
ways: a bachelor master must be as good as an account at the bank to most Chinese 
servants. As Mr. Thomas Plush celebrates his mistress’s evenings out by balls below 
stairs, so John Pigtail holds gambling-parties up to all hours at night, for which probably 
you yourself have provided the counters; and, finally, after many years in your service, you 
will find all kindness has failed to make the least impression on the mind of your placid¬ 
faced domestic: give him a chance, and, if the stakes are sufficient, he levants. 
The wealthy Chinese merchants are swells indeed; they drive out of an evening in the 
best turned-out carriages, and may be seen sitting, fat and contented, bedecked in mauve 
and other coloured silks, watching the—to them—idiotic Englishmen playing cricket and 
other games. They live in large houses surrounded by high walls, with their harems, 
where they eat the best of food, get fat, and rich by speculation. Many of the wealthy 
Chinese have been for generations in Singapore, and have shaken off many of their country 
ties. Most of the vegetables are grown by Chinamen, and they are without doubt 
wonderful gardeners. Poultry and ducks, especially the latter, they rear in thousands—• 
a small bamboo enclosure will be so stocked that the ground is as though paved with a 
tumbling mass of quacking ducks. 
Chinese cemeteries are curious, but I should imagine expensive, each defunct 
Chinaman requiring a large space, which is built round in a semicircle, in the centre of 
which is a granite tablet; on it is deeply cut an inscription in Chinese in letters of various 
colours and sizes. Some of the hill-sides in Singapore are covered with these graves, which 
later on will be opened and the bones packed off to China. 
