Beyond the Tin Mines: Coolies, Squatters and New Villagers in the Kinta Valley, Malaysia, c. 1880-1980

In the 1880s, an estimated 4,000 people lived in the Kinta District of Malaya. Twenty years later, with the discovery of tin deposits, the population had increased to 123,000, comprised mainly of Chinese immigrants who found employment as coolies in the open-cast mines. Although the tin industry was gradually brought under the control of the British colonial government, the lives of the workers largely remained beyond its reach. This study of the Chinese working people in Kinta over a 100-year period explores how their lives have been affected by these changes and how they have adjusted in order to meet the challenges posed by changing situations.