MELAKA COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTED TO MALAYAN INDEPENDENCE TALKS AND CHINA REVOLUTION 100 YEARS AGO

10th. October 2011

Most Malaccans may not know the fact that the Malaccan community contributed financial donations to the Chinese revolution in 1911 headed by Chinese leader, Sun Yat Seng.

When I first visited China in 1988 especially to Quongchou, in the Sun Yat Seng Park, there is a monument erected there that showed overseas Chinese contributions to the Chinese republic cause then against the Ching dynasty. The top contributor to the Chinese cause was the Community of Malacca. I was surprised to see the granite block on top of the monument! Malaccans did their part in contributing to the setting up of the Republic of China 100 years ago.

Without the financial support of overseas Chinese residing all over world, the political world map will be very different today.

During the quest for Malayan Independence in 1950s, at one of the Town Hall meeting at Malacca Meng Seng Charitable Hall, a spontaneous fund raising event was carried out to raise funds for Tunku and his delegation to travel to England for negotiation with the British for independence of Malaya. Malaccans responded at once with whatever they had then. As the saying goes, the rest was history.

Some points to ponder about the inter-related world we live in today.