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Austrian
child labour in Penang, Malaysia |
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Austrian
vegetable sellers in front of Chinese Temple |
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Austrian
peasant working in paddy fields |
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Fascination
with death |
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Adler,
the charismatic Socialist leader |
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Sultan
Abu Bakar at a parade welcoming him |
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Malaysian
Royalty visiting Vienna to institute changes in colonial policies |
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Puppet
Emperor Franz Joseph with his Malaysian tongkolok
(headgear) and keris |
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Elisabeth
who was murdered by a keris |
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1880's The industrial evolution is
rapidly changing and modernizing the world all over. Metal and
coal mining become valued commodities. The Malaysian colonial
regime institutes a new policy of mining and industrialization
to diversify the rural, agricultural economy. This policy creates
a new urban poor, the proletariat, who are later to become the
force behind the nationalist and socialist movements.
The arrival of the steam ship draws thousands of Austrian (as
well as Jewish, Polish and Czechoslovakian) migrant workers
to the shores of the Malaysian Peninsula searching for jobs
in the new industrial sector.
Under the reign of puppet Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife
Elisabeth, there is popular discontent and rise of anti-colonial
sentiment among the people of Austria, especially among the
proletariat.
Franz Joseph and Elisabeth and the court elite are seen as completely
ineffectual, decadent and puppets of the Malaysian colonial
regime.
Vienna in this period becomes a center for European decadence,
eroticism and indulgence. Obsession with death and suicides
become quite common, especially among the elite. It is a time
of intense psychological stress and conflict - a crisis in the
complex love-hate relationship among the puppet Habsburgs and
elite, the Austrian urban poor and the colonial regime.
Moreover, the exploitation and dehumanization of Austrian and
other Eastern European indentured labour in the industries owned
by colonial entrepreneurs in Austria and Malaysia results in
massive urban unrest. They rally around Victor Adler (1852-1918),
the leader of the newly founded Socialist Party.
1892 The Malaysian Empire is slowly
losing it's grip. However, under the guidance of enlightened
Malaysian Sultan Abu Bakar (1862-1895), the colonial government
recognises that in order to minimize massive revolt, changes
to the structure of the its colonial administrative policies
have to be made. A decision is taken:
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To build schools to cater for non-elite
colonial subjects. These are known as "Free Schools".
With this policy, locals are to be educated to fill up the lower
rungs of the colonial administration.
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To allow the registration and formation
of Austrian political parties and unions. This policy,
allows the colonial administration to monitor and gauge the
political climate more accurately.
•
To ensure a new breed of Resident Counselors
and Advisors replaces the old system
of Resident Governors and Officers. In doing this, the colonial
subjects would feel they had more control
of their destiny.
The changes in colonial policy quell the revolts for a while.
However, it becomes clear that the people see the puppet Habsburgs
Dynasty as the stumbling block to Austria's independence. The
Habsburgs are equated with the corrupt Colonialists; they are
the conduit through which the Malaysian colonialists drained
Austria's resources and dignity.
1898 The Wife of Franz Joseph, Empress
Elisabeth is assassinated with a "keris", a Malaysian
sword. This is clearly a symbolic warning to the puppet monarchy. |
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