The Kings Chinese: From Barber to Banker - Daryl Yeap - 9789672165590 - SIRD

"The Straits British Chinese - a community which emerged in the
colonial Straits Settlements (Penang, Melaka and Singapore) -
constituted a truly unique blend of Chinese, Southeast Asian and
European cultural identities, manifesting the tradition of hybridity
which has long marked coastal populations along the Straits of Melaka.
The subjects of this volume, Yeap Chor Ee and his family members, were
key figures in this cultural milieu from the first half of the 20th
century, an age when the community flourished. The central thread of
this book - the life of Yeap Chor Ee, the "merchant prince of Penang"-
touches on a multitude of people, events and businesses which extended
from trading to banking, and sugar refining to property development.
Locating this account ofYeap Chor Ee in the pulsing commercial centre of
pre-war Penang, and in a Malayan peninsula which was undergoing rapid
change, Daryl Yeap has sketched a portrait not only of this famous
towkay, but of a society. By introducing us to the prominent Penang
families, to family politics and practices, education, cultural
hybridity, festivals and food, and placing these in the wider context of
the social changes and political events affecting both the island and
the region, she provides us with both a Yeap family history and a
broader story of Penang. Together these present an enthralling and
edifying contribution to Malaysian history."
- Geoff Wade
Historian, author and translator