We have often covered here how colonial periods often bring in new ethnicities into a place. In Malaysia’s case, Chinese came in to then Malaya to mine for tin. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
Todays stamp shows a gravel pump tin mine in Malaysia. Water is sprayed forcing up the gravel and allowing the tin to be filtered out. It is a fairly old tech, low cost way of mining for tin. Showing an older way harkens back to when the industry was started in the 19th century by Chinese emigres. This activity is what made many of them rich and indeed the capital Kuala Lumpur started as an important tin mining town.
Todays stamp is issue A50, a 15 cent issue of Malaysia on October 31st, 1974. It was part of a three stamp issue in various denominations that displayed the local tin industry in honor of that years International Tin Conference in Kuala Lumpur. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents used.
Tin mining was started by Chinese emigres in then Malaya in the early nineteenth century. At the time, tin mining was extremely labor intensive as it mainly consisted of manually digging and separating out the tin. The importation of the Chinese laborers was handled by the Chinese themselves. While some deals were struck with local Malayans and their Sultans, there were also some turf wars as the Malayans sought their share of the bounty. There was also trouble between various Chinese Tongs over who would control the opium trade and brothels that grew up around the mines.
The British used this instability as an excuse to formalize their control over Malaya. This allowed the Chinese to become more entrenched in Malaya and enjoy their new found wealth in more stable and fast growing Kuala Lumpur. The British saw the opportunity to install more modern dredge style tin mining, that had higher yields and was less labor intensive. The Chinese did not have the capital to install their own dredges and so fell behind.
Over time tin mining has become less important. The easily recovered tin is mostly exhausted leaving reserves that are more complicated to exploit. Tin prices on the world market are quite cyclical, favoring low cost producers. There is also the issue that it would be no longer possible to import large numbers of Chinese to work new mines. It has reached the point that Malaysia is a net importer of tin.
Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the Chinese in Malaysia. It must have been quite a challenge to go to a new land and build a new life with the Malayans and the British always trying to take their share of any accomplishment. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.