By 1900, the British controlled much of the Malay Peninsula; many Chinese traders and enterprises flourished within the new political and economic order. William Tai Yuen's book Chinese capitalism in colonial Malaya clearly aims to try to address the dearth of literature on the development of Chinese capitalism during the first four decades of the twentieth century ‘within the context of a colonial economy’ by ‘tracing its trajectory in some major industries, trades and services’ (p. 9). Tai also asserts that ‘this book examines the growth of capitalism in Malaya in its world context and within the political and socioeconomic framework of Malayan society’ (p. 9). Based on his Ph.D. dissertation submitted to the University of Hong Kong, it is a thoroughly researched project, with an extensive use of primary sources held in London, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

After an introduction, the book is divided into nine chapters. Chapter 1 gives an overview of Chinese capitalism in colonial Malaya by examining the arrival of the Chinese for trade in Malaya before the arrival of the British and the early development of Chinese capitalism in Malaya in the nineteenth century. Chapters 2 to 8 deal with a specific industry in Malaya in the first half of the twentieth century — tin mining, rubber, secondary industries, industrialisation, shipping, pawnbroking and banking — and the Chinese role as compradores for British traders. Each chapter looks at the Chinese entry into these industries, the challenges they faced working with colonial authorities and European traders, zeroing in on specific Chinese companies through an examination of their founders and leadership. The impacts of the Great Depression and other economic downturns on the Chinese-dominated industries are also examined. Chapter 5, in particular, looks at the role of Tan Kah Kee as an overseas Chinese merchant and the early attempts at industrialisation in Malaya. The author rightly notes that firms managed by Tan Kah Kee produced a wide range of rubber products through his own research and development efforts, which paid off as his goods entered the international market, ‘a feat no other Chinese business in Southeast Asia had ever achieved’ (p. 274) before 1941. Tai also notes the specialisation of industries by the various dialect groups, a trait common in Malaya due to the mutual unintelligibility of the languages spoken. Thus, Tai notes the dominance of the Hakkas and Cantonese in tin mining and rubber planting (pp. 102 and 139), Hokkiens in rubber processing (p. 182), and the Henghuas and Hokchias in road transport (p. 216). Tai notes that these merchants established new businesses wherever opportunities arose; he also notes the role of their families although he makes it clear that he does not intend to look at the culture of Chinese family businesses.

While the book is immensely useful in helping readers understand the role played by Chinese capitalism in British Malaya until 1941, there are some weaknesses related mainly to some of the sources used and the structure of the book. Little is said about how these businesses actually operated as their business records appear to be largely unused; this may not be Tai's fault as many of these records are missing due to war or were possibly discarded. The records of the Registry of Companies only reflect the concerns of the British colonial administration. Based on the bibliography, some notable works on the Chinese in Malaya and Singapore were not used by Tai, however. For instance, in the section on the role of the Henghuas and Hokchias in road transport (pp. 216–27), James Francis Warren's Rickshaw coolie: A people's history of Singapore is not mentioned. Instead, Tai draws on a paper published by the History Department at Nanyang University in 1971. I have my own doubts concerning the findings of these papers as there seems to be little verification of information. While oral history recordings and colonial papers are useful, the publications by the Henghua and Hokchia clan associations themselves appear not to have been consulted. The chapter on Tan Kah Kee is heavily dependent on Tan's own memoirs (published in 1950 with excerpts translated by Ward and others in 1994) and a series of personal notes (published in 1994), C.F. Yong's Tan Kah-Kee: The making of an overseas Chinese legend, and the oral history recording by Kah Kee's son, Tan Kok Kheng. Each of these sources presents a biased view of Tan Kah Kee. His memoirs and personal papers absolve him of any business and personal mistakes, Yong glorified Tan as the ideal overseas Chinese, and Tan Kok Kheng would not criticise his father too much in an oral history interview. Tai could have used these sources but further probed Tan Kah Kee's business decisions. Nonetheless, the author is to be commended for putting together a book on Chinese capitalism in colonial Malaya, a topic that has not been extensively researched, given the difficulty of retrieving primary sources from the old Chinese businesses.