Yap Ah Loy
(1837–1885), Chinese leader in Malaysia. Yap Ah Loy was born in Guangdong Province, China, on 14 March 1837, the son of a peasant. He arrived in Melaka, Malaysia, about 1854 and became Malaysia's most famous Kapitan Cina (a Malay word meaning "Chinese captain"). He also was head of the Hai San secret society in the state of Selangor and rose to fame by siding with Sultan Abdul Samad in the succession war in that state during the 1860s.
The title of Kapitan Cina acknowledged Yap Ah Loy and wealthy Chinese merchants like him as spokesmen or leaders of the Chinese immigrants then living in British Malaya. Through the appointment of the Kapitan Cina, the British recognized the separateness of the Chinese and their ability to govern themselves. In the first few decades of colonial rule, the British continued to rely on the Kapitan Cina–secret-society leadership system to administer revenue farms for opium, spirits, and gambling, develop the tin and plantation industries, and keep peace among the fractious Chinese dialect groups. Under Yap Ah Loy's stewardship, tin mining and other commercial activities in the Kuala Lumpur area developed rapidly. These activities transformed the previously backwater area into the nation's leading center of commerce and industry as well as the nation's capital city. He also contributed to the development of the city by supporting the building of schools, hospitals, churches, and facilities for the aged.
Further Reading
Middlebrook, S. M., and J. M. Gullick. (1983) Yap Ah Loy: 1837–1885. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Pann, Lynn, ed. (1998) The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas. Singapore: Chinese Heritage Centre.
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