This book was the first of its kind as it attempted to provide a complete picture of the Chinese in Malaya by analysing the social, political, economical and cultural aspects of the community from the 1780s to 1946. Purcell, who worked closely with the Chinese community as a member of the Malayan Civil Service from 1921 to 1946, wanted to heighten the status of the Chinese in Malaya by controversially declaring in this book that modern Malaya was a joint creation of the British and Chinese and without the Chinese, Malaya would still be as it had been 80 years ago.
