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The Foochows Of Sitiawan (10) - A Brief History
This article written by our donor was first published in the Perak Heritage Society "Heritage News". It is repeated here to publicise little-known Perakean attractions that are well worth a visit.
The photograph shows the original Kampong Sitiawan, Courthouse, part of the first Foochow Settlement.
The Foochows of Sitiawan
I have written often before about Perak and its virtually unknown heritage sites, but even I was surprised on a recent heritage walk with the Perak Heritage Society when they took me to Sitiawan. “Why on earth do I need to get up early on Sunday morning to visit Sitiawan?” I thought. I have been there dozens of times! But surprise, surprise, Sitiawan actually has an unusual past that is rarely spoken about. They have the Foochows. Foochow (Fuzhou) is the capital of Fujian province in China and it was surprising to learn that on 9th September 1903 (known locally as “double nine day”, an auspicious day for local Foochows), 303 Christian immigrants landed at a jetty in the Sitiawan River, with 60 more arriving one week later. These were recruits of a scheme run by three Methodist missionaries (The Pioneers). More surprising was the fact that these missionaries were contracted by the British administration, led by FMS High Commissioner Sir John Anderson GCMG KCB, to bring in up to 100,000 recruits to grow padi. This was how the British planned to feed the hundreds of coolies working in the Perak tin mines. The Foochows were to be given land to live and grow the rice in the fields around the river. However the scheme failed at once because no more volunteers actually followed the first 363 on their journey to Perak.
The 363 men, women and children were eventually given individual family lots of land of 3 acres (in Foochow they were promised 6 acres) within the government allocated missionary land, but true to tradition, the plots were not ready and there was only seven longhouses available, some 3 to 4 miles away from the jetty, through thick jungle. This, their first settlement, called Kampong Sitiawan, still (just) stands today (see photograph above left). It would make an ideal riverine resort for an entrepreneur with vision, although not with 50 guests to one longhouse in the style of the early Foochows!
Nonetheless, while living in crowded conditions for the next six months, these settlers started work, cutting their plots out of the jungle and building their new homes. Thanks to the missionaries and their colleagues it was in 1904 that a church, a school and an orphanage were built, all business being conducted in the Foochow dialect.
However, the British never did their homework well enough, for with only three acres of non-fertile land, the rice harvest was far from abundant and the programme suffered its second failure, leaving the settlers with no livelihood. Consequently 57 ran away to the tin mines in Kinta Valley (less than 80Km away) and the remainder struggled on. Fortunately, for the suffering settlers, this was the beginning of the period of rubber plantations in Malaysia and the remaining families transferred their attentions to this new crop with great success.
Jumping ahead about 100 years, if you talk to any born and bred Christian Chinese in Sitiawan today, they are probably descendants of those original 363 immigrants, for there are many of them. This has given them a tradition of their own, which in turn has given them a focus on their past that many Malaysian groups would be jealous of. This has also kept the families together and in Kampung Koh they have established a memorial garden dedicated to the original settlers and the Pioneers that brought them here. Within this garden there is the 1927 Settlement Church with its Private Museum (by appointment only) depicting the history of the settlers and their descendants. A senior citizens’ centre, a children’s nursery and a multi-purpose hall complete the complex. This is a great achievement for today’s small group of some 300 parishioners and shows just what can be done for heritage if the will is there. Behind the church is an unusual cemetery serving both Christians and non-Christians where one of the Pioneers, Reverend Ling Ching Mi, is buried. If you wish to visit the museum and church, you should call 05 692 0612 to make an appointment. Groups are requested to give two weeks notice.
If all this heritage has made you hungry then ask the way to the King Yew Restaurant in Kampung Koh where 12 of us shared a truly heritage lunch of eight excellent traditional Foochow dishes with air-conditioning at a magnificent RM10 each – amazing!
Finally, if this short account has interested you, then you may like to know that a descendant of those settlers has just published an excellent new book. It is the first available publication that tells the story in detail of the Foochow immigrants and their descendants. It is called, aptly enough, “The Foochows of Sitiawan” (ISBN 983-41824-0-6) and retails at RM49.00.
Another interesting book on Perak (or part of it) has also been published recently. “Kinta Valley” (ISBN983-42113-0-9) is a more expensive hardbound volume that tells of the history of that central area of Perak where the famous tin mines were. With 384 pages, this retails at RM180.00 in MPH.
To read about the Reverend Ling Ching Mi, click here.
To read about Sir John Anderson, click here.
To read about the book, The Foochows of Sitiawan, click here.