Por, Heong Hong
(2021)
Contested Colonial Metrological Sovereignty: The Daching Riot And The Regulation Of Weights And Measures In British Malaya.
Modern Asian Studies, 56 (1).
Abstract
Drawing on materials from the National Archives of Malaysia, newspapers, literature
on historical metrology, and the colonial history of Malaya, this article weaves a social
history of Malaya’s colonial metrological reform by taking into account the roles of
both European and Asian historical actors. Prior to the 1894 reform, people in
Malaya used customary scales and weight units, which varied across districts, for
commercial transactions. Initiated by colonial administrators, the reform was both
welcomed and resisted. In 1897, a riot against the Sanitary Board broke out in
Kuala Lumpur for its attempt to mandate that previously exempted traders use
only government-verified and -stamped scales. The colonial government managed
to maintain order and restore its authority at the end of the riot, but four types of
merchants goldsmiths, silversmiths, opium dealers, and drug sellers managed to
remain exempted. Metrological reform continued to be contested in the following
century, but the central concerns of the regulation moved from easing taxation,
facilitating cross-district trade, and taming Chinese traders to protecting consumers.
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