here are basically two other reasons for the Chinese men to flee from South China, and they are because of their involvement in the Triads and for being hounded by the Manchus, especially on those who were strong supporters of the Ching Dynasty ruler who lost to the Manchus to rule China.

In understanding any sort of immigration, we have to consider two types of factors: push factors, and pull factors.

Push factors are those that usually take the form of negatives in a person's place of origin: natural disasters, lack of job opportunities, political unrest etc back in China.

Pull factors are those that take the form of incentives in the destination of immigration: job opportunities, political stability, social mobility etc in Malaya.You also should understand that Chinese immigration to Malaya started long, long ago and that there are 5 waves, immigration in the 19th century was only the Third Wave.Anyway, back to the question in terms of push and pull factors and British policy.Pull factors are fairly easy to explain. Malaya in the 19th century was a centre of booming industry and was actually the worlds largest producer of tin and rubber: these two commodities drove the Industrial Revolution back in the UK. As such, there was an ample number of job opportunities ranging from civil officers under British administration, to the kapitans who were Chinese captains of industry to the coolies who laboured tin mines of Malaya.

A Malayan tin mine. Source: Luxley, V (2006) The Malaysian Tin Industry. RDX-2006-09. RDX e-Publishing.

One must remember that there were two types of Chinese immigrants. The first were those who were fairly well off, most often educated via the British system, well connected to the traditional Straits Chinese merchants. And then there were those who came with barely nothing and were subjected to less than savoury conditions under the lopsided contract system which essentially indebted desperate poor with an exorbitant travel fee from China and subjected them to harsh labour conditions.

Chinese coolies in Northern Malaya, Penang. Source:

Push factors on the other hand, were also a result of British policy. The Opium Wars and the Battle of Canton in 1841 resulted in British dominion over Canton and Amoy (part of Fujian province). The wars resulted in very poor living conditions for the Chinese and opium addiction was a scourge that crippled the Chinese economy. The true impact of opium however, is a bone of contention, on far widespread opium addiction was etc. Refer toWhen Britain made war on Chinafor more. Incidentally, this is also why many Malaysian Chinese today claim descent from Cantonese and Hokkien/ Fujian clans, and the dialects remain spoken today in modern Malaysia.

British sailors towing warships toward the besieged city of Canton on 24 May 1841. Source:mit.eduMIT Visualizing CulturesThus, British policy was a concerted plan to pull cheap Chinese labour to Malaya while also, as a byproduct of imperialism in Mainland China, pushing the Chinese back in the southern provinces out of China. This push and pull effort resulted in a huge flux of Chinese into Malaya, and most Malaysian Chinese claim descent from ancestors in this era.Written28 Dec, 2013.Upvote19