Heathen Slaves and Christian RulersAndrew, Elizabeth Wheeler
History
Heathen Slaves and Christian Rulers
Andrew, Elizabeth Wheeler
Prostitution -- China -- Hong Kong
kidnaping or forcible detention would induce men to run so great
a risk. On arrival at Singapore the broker is again on the _qui
vive_ to see that his captives do not jump into the sea, and as
each coolie ship arrives at the wharf, a small force of police
is in waiting to keep a space clear and prevent any attempt at
escape, while the officers of the Protectorate board the ship,
accompanied by a further force of marine police, for the purpose
of inspecting the coolies. When permission is given to disembark,
the unpaid passengers are made up into small parties and marched
through the town to the depots under the escort of the brokers and
several of their assistants, with much yelling and good deal of
rough handling, and an occasional halt while a straggler or a
would be runaway is brought back to the party. That the coolies
are frequently successful in their attempts to escape is shown
in the Report of the Chinese Protectorate, 160 being returned as
'absconded either when landing or at depot' in Singapore, and 101
at Penang, or about 1-3/4 per cent of the "unpaid passengers". On
arrival at the depot, the coolies are probably surprised to find
themselves securely confined in houses which look uncomfortably
like prisons, and the passer-by may see the dirty and unkempt
_sin-khehs_ or "new men," as these emigrants are called, peering
out between the thick wooden bars of the windows. The coolies
are thus forcibly detained at the depots until the brokers are
successful in finding employers who are prepared to pay the price
per head which they demand, a sum of about £10. In the meanwhile
however, it appears from the Report that nearly 4-1/2 per cent of
the inmates of the depots are discovered and redeemed by their
friends, the numbers being 414 at Singapore, and 278 at Penang,
and a further 1-3/4 per cent, or 236 at Singapore, and 55 at
Penang, are shown under the headings "released and returned to
China," having presumably been discovered to have been kidnaped.
Of the total number of "unpaid passengers" arriving at Singapore
and Penang, about 91 per cent eventually sign contracts and are
made over to their employers or their agents, the majority of
these being shipped off, under escort as before to the Native
States of the Malay Peninsula or other neighboring countries, to
labour for a fixed term of years after which the coolie is free to
return to his native land or to seek such other employment as he
may see fit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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