But the new capitalistic industry required a large labor force. The
British did not regard Malays as reliable workers. They preferred
Malays to keep to their traditional peasant agriculture and fishing. The
British instead imported workers from India to work in the plantations.
They also brought in Sri Lankan Tamil to work as clerks, supervisors
and technicians. The British also encouraged large scale Chinese immigration
to work the mines, mills and docks. Soon, towns like Singapore,
Penang and Ipoh were majority Chinese. Kuala Lumpur, which was
founded as a mining centre in 1857, also had Chinese majority. By
1891, when the country’s first census was taken, the states of Perak and
Selangor had Chinese majority. By early 1920s, Chinese outnumbered
Malays in the Peninsula. In 1930s, Chinese formed 64% of population
in the Federated Malay States of Perak, Selangor, Pahang and Negeri
Sembilan.