Transcending boundaries, conjoining communities : Tan Kim Ching’s business career in colonial Singapore, the peninsular Malay states and Siam (1850 – 1892)

This study examines how Tan Kim Ching’s business transcended political frontiers and conjoined communities, networks, and polities in Southeast Asia during the nineteenth century. By looking at his business ventures in the peninsular Malay states and Siam, this essay illuminates the interconnectedne...

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Main Author: Lim, Chun Hong
Other Authors: Tapsi Mathur
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/137587
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1375872022-07-14T06:18:15Z Transcending boundaries, conjoining communities : Tan Kim Ching’s business career in colonial Singapore, the peninsular Malay states and Siam (1850 – 1892) Lim, Chun Hong Tapsi Mathur School of Humanities tapsi.mathur@ntu.edu.sg Humanities::History::Asia::Singapore Humanities::History::Asia::Malaysia This study examines how Tan Kim Ching’s business transcended political frontiers and conjoined communities, networks, and polities in Southeast Asia during the nineteenth century. By looking at his business ventures in the peninsular Malay states and Siam, this essay illuminates the interconnectedness and interdependence of political, economic and social developments in the Straits Settlements, Malay states and Siam in the nineteenth century, as well as the multifaceted interplay between the local political elites, the British colonial administration, Chinese merchants and the Chinese labour in shaping the new colonial political economy of the region. As an effective intermediary between these key actors, Tan Kim Ching was able to gain special privileges in advancing his business interests. His success in building a trans-regional enterprise in this environment was largely due to his ability to transcend and mediate these categories and ambiguous frontiers. However, his business interests did not always coincide with the other actors’ interests which limited his business expansion and success in the region. Nevertheless, his career highlighted the fuzziness of ethnic and state boundaries, and of distinctions between politics and business, during a formative period in the history of colonial Southeast Asia. Bachelor of Arts in History 2020-04-03T03:39:31Z 2020-04-03T03:39:31Z 2020 Final Year Project (FYP) https://hdl.handle.net/10356/137587 en application/pdf Nanyang Technological University
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Humanities::History::Asia::Singapore
Humanities::History::Asia::Malaysia
spellingShingle Humanities::History::Asia::Singapore
Humanities::History::Asia::Malaysia
Lim, Chun Hong
Transcending boundaries, conjoining communities : Tan Kim Ching’s business career in colonial Singapore, the peninsular Malay states and Siam (1850 – 1892)
description This study examines how Tan Kim Ching’s business transcended political frontiers and conjoined communities, networks, and polities in Southeast Asia during the nineteenth century. By looking at his business ventures in the peninsular Malay states and Siam, this essay illuminates the interconnectedness and interdependence of political, economic and social developments in the Straits Settlements, Malay states and Siam in the nineteenth century, as well as the multifaceted interplay between the local political elites, the British colonial administration, Chinese merchants and the Chinese labour in shaping the new colonial political economy of the region. As an effective intermediary between these key actors, Tan Kim Ching was able to gain special privileges in advancing his business interests. His success in building a trans-regional enterprise in this environment was largely due to his ability to transcend and mediate these categories and ambiguous frontiers. However, his business interests did not always coincide with the other actors’ interests which limited his business expansion and success in the region. Nevertheless, his career highlighted the fuzziness of ethnic and state boundaries, and of distinctions between politics and business, during a formative period in the history of colonial Southeast Asia.
author2 Tapsi Mathur
author_facet Tapsi Mathur
Lim, Chun Hong
format Final Year Project
author Lim, Chun Hong
author_sort Lim, Chun Hong
title Transcending boundaries, conjoining communities : Tan Kim Ching’s business career in colonial Singapore, the peninsular Malay states and Siam (1850 – 1892)
title_short Transcending boundaries, conjoining communities : Tan Kim Ching’s business career in colonial Singapore, the peninsular Malay states and Siam (1850 – 1892)
title_full Transcending boundaries, conjoining communities : Tan Kim Ching’s business career in colonial Singapore, the peninsular Malay states and Siam (1850 – 1892)
title_fullStr Transcending boundaries, conjoining communities : Tan Kim Ching’s business career in colonial Singapore, the peninsular Malay states and Siam (1850 – 1892)
title_full_unstemmed Transcending boundaries, conjoining communities : Tan Kim Ching’s business career in colonial Singapore, the peninsular Malay states and Siam (1850 – 1892)
title_sort transcending boundaries, conjoining communities : tan kim ching’s business career in colonial singapore, the peninsular malay states and siam (1850 – 1892)
publisher Nanyang Technological University
publishDate 2020
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/137587
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