The shift in financial power from the United States to the East has led to increasing academic attention on the history of Asian economies. The booming 'tiger' economies of the late twentieth century have their origins in the colonial period when many of their industries and much of their infrastructure was first established. This primary resource collection focuses on the economic development of the areas of South East Asia with which Britain had a trading relationship - Borneo, Brunei, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Covering the main period of development (1880-1939), the economic growth of the region is revealed through a selection of rare documents organized thematically with sections dedicated to agriculture, mining, industry, trade, labour, finance and infrastructure. The collection provides an opportunity to observe the trade and business links for the region as a whole rather than just the stories of individual nations. It charts changes in the growing and processing of key commodities such as tea, rice, coconuts, palm oil, opium and rubber, as well as covering finance, construction and the development of the region's transport and communications systems. The social and economic impact of inward migration from China, Indonesia and India and the effects of white settlement on native populations are also documented. It will be an important resource for those researching Asian history, empire and colonialism and economic history.
Volume 1: Agriculture The abundant nature of South East Asian agriculture offered many opportunities for exploitation by the British. During the period of British involvement in the region agriculture went from a system of subsistence farming to one of highly developed cash crops destined for an international market. Production methods and the economics of agriculture went through a period of exponential change which still has legacies today. This volume collates documents surveying and assessing the potential of rice, timber, rubber and opium amongst other crops. Sources cover both methods of agricultural production and marketing. Editorial matter explores the reasons each crop was cultivated and the differences between indigenous and Western production methods. Land laws: Grist, D. H., Nationality of Ownership and Nature of Constitution of Rubber Estates in Malaya (1933); Watson, R. G., The Land Laws and Land Administration of the Federated Malay States (1908); The Land Regulations of British North Borneo, 1894: Approved by the Court of Directors of the British North Borneo Company (1894); Grist, D. H., Malaya: Agriculture (1929). Rice: Shaw, G. R., Malay Industries. Part 3. Rice Planting (1907); Report of the Rice Cultivation Committee, Volume 1 and 2 (1931), excerpts; Noel-Paton, F., Burma Rice (1912). Rubber: Macfadyen, Eric, Rubber Planting in Malaya (1924). Timber: Cubitt, G. E. S., Wood in the Federated Malay States: Its Use, Misuse and Future Provision (1920); Annual Report on Forest Administration in Malaya including Brunei (1939); Forestry in Brunei: A Statement Prepared for the British Empire Forestry Conference (1935); Burma Teak (1935); Birch, E.W., A Report upon British North Borneo (1903); 'Notes on forest exploitation and the forestry service in British North Borneo and Dutch N.E Borneo' [1937]. Oils: Coghlan, H. L., Coconut Industry in Malaya (1924); Report of a Committee Appointed by His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government of the Straits Settlements and High Commissioner for the Malay States to Investigate and Report on the Present Economic Condition of the Coconut and Other Vegetable Oil Producing Industries in Malaya (1934); Grist, D. H., Malaya: Agriculture (1929). Tea: Bigia Estates Ltd to Ramsey MacDonald (1932). Opium: Statistical Tables Relating to Excise and Opium in the Province of Burma (1928). Cloves: Kirsepp, G. D. and Bartlett, C. A., Report of a Mission Appointed to Investigate the Clove Trade in India and Burma, Ceylon, British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies (1933). Sugarcane: Economic Survey of the Sugarcane Industry in the East Central, Tenasseria and Northern Agricultural Circles (1926). General: General Cultivation (1924); Notes on Perak with a Sketch of its Vegetable, Animal and Mineral Products (1886). Fishing and animal husbandry: Maxwell, C., Preliminary Report on the Economic Position of the Fishing Industry of the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States (1919); Winstedt, R., Malay Industries. Part 2 Fishing, Hunting and Trapping (1909); German, R. L., Handbook to British Malaya (1927) Volume 2: Mining, Industry and Trade One of the driving forces of colonialism was the need for raw materials and traded goods for Western industry and consumer markets. The South East Asian mining sector was governed by British demand as well as the techniques that were available, whilst indigenous industries were substantially undermined by cheap Western imports. Manufacturing was gradually replaced by the processing of primary exports and the beginnings of service industries. Sources cover the major mined minerals, the extraction methods used, patterns of ownership and legislation, the business landscape and the major industries. Trade between the regions had a major effect on the economic growth of Britain, India and South East Asia. The types of goods that were traded evolved over time, as did the methods of exchange and the commercial relationships that development.
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