Anti-Opium Movement, Chinese Nationalism and the Straits Chinese in the Early Twentieth Century

This paper is a study of the anti-opium movement organized by the Straits Chinese leaders in Malaya in the early twentieth century. As the Chinese were the largest group of opium smokers, they were seen as a primary source of government revenue. The leading Chinese medical practitioners in the movement aimed not only at the prohibition of the opium trade but also the cure for opium smoking by medical treatment. As there was no effective cure for the addiction, the idea was radical but unrealistic. The movement leaders believed that if they could treat opium smokers, they could also help China to rid itself of the curse of opium that was forced upon it by Western powers. The rationale behind the antiopium movement was more than for social or economic reasons but was an indirect show of support for Chinese nationalism in China.