Labour Abuse in Singapore

Background Information

The demand for Chinese coolies in the mid 19 century around the world was increasing due to a need for workers in
plantations and mines. This caused the coolie trade to grow very quickly causing Singapore to become one of the
major centers for coolies.

Watch the following video to find out about the influx of migrants into Singapore: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=uvef_-ngLUw

Refer to page 97 of your textbook. How do coolie agents recruit their coolies? Please provide 2 reasons
The coolie ships were often described as “floating hells” with hundreds of men crammed aboard a junk meant for a
fraction of the number. The overcrowded conditions often cause immense suffering due to the lack of food and
water. To prevent escape, many coolies were locked up in cramped and unhygienic houses guarded by gangsters
until employers were found.

There were 2 kinds of migrants. Refer to page 96 of your textbook and explain what the differences in processes for:

Those with no money Those with money

Which group would be the group that is being abused? _______________________________________

Look at the Sources below.

Source 2: Adapted from a report that William Pickering, Protector of the Chinese in Singapore submitted to
the Legislative Council in Singapore on February 1877.

The coolies are mostly from the countryside of China. They all cried out for protection. They declared that they
had been tricked to leave their homes by promises that they would be brought to Singapore and receive good
wages as labourers and craftsmen. There was a promise that after paying a low sum for their journey, they would
soon save enough money to send to their friends or to return home with. Instead, they had heard that they would
be sent to work in the tin mines of another country. We went to inspect a house in Telok Ayer, where the coolies
had been confined. We found the place to be unfit even to keep pigs. Many men were confined here without
notice.

What can you infer about the treatment of the coolies?

Inference
[logical guess]
Evidence
[proof]
Explanation
[how does your
proof show you the
inference]

Source 3: Adapted from an account given by a coolie named Lew Ship Yit to William Pickering, Protector of
the Chinese in Singapore, in the late 1870s.

A friend of mine suggested I leave China by saying, “Look how poor you are here. If you follow me, I can take
you to Singapore, where you will get such good employment. Very soon you will pay off the small amount of
passage money required and will save a lot of money.” On arriving in Singapore, we were taken to a shop upstairs
and were locked up, only having very little rie and saltfish. We could not go out for anything. I don’t complain
 much about food, as long as I can get some work to make money. But we were not allowed to speak up or know
what was being done with us.

What can you infer about the coolies in Singapore?

Inference
[logical guess]
Evidence
[proof]
Explanation
[how does your
proof show you the
inference]