The Chinese needed Malaya; Malaya did not need the Chinese

Raja Sara Petra

It irritates me like hell to read the comments in the social media that the Malays would still be living in trees and would still be eating tapioca (ubi kayu) if the Chinese had not come to Malaya in the 1800s to help develop the country. Malaysia is what it is today because of the Chinese, they keep telling the Malays.

That is not true. First of all, Malays are a seafaring race who never lived in trees. Secondly, the Chinese may have developed the towns by building bangunan batu. But that was possible only because the Malays gave the Chinese the land to build them on. If not, the Chinese would have had to build their homes and shops on stilts in water like at Pulau Ketam.

More importantly, the Chinese came to Malaya in the 1800s not to do the Malays a favour by helping to develop the country. It is because of the 1810, 1811, 1846, 1849, 1850-1875, 1876-1879, 1896-1897 and 1907-1911 famines that took 115 million lives.

Yes, 115 million Chinese starved to death over 100 years from 1810 to 1911, which was why the Chinese migrated to Malaya where there was plenty of food to eat. So, it is not true that if the Chinese had not come to Malaya the Malays would not have been able to eat. Hence please stop displaying your ignorance by posting nonsense.