ABSTRACT
Consequently, Chinese business and power relationship could not confine themselves to the micro-level of the family firm as such, but transcended the grander boundaries of state, region and ethnicity. Behind the family facade were rich capitalists, influential business lobbyists, powerful interest groups, the local press, the wider community followers, the Siamese consul, a legitimate Malay state and the British authorities. In between British Penang and the Malay sultanate of Kedah, according to
circumstances and family business needs, resources could be mobilized to play off one against the other. Therefore, access to resources such as capital, labour, knowledge and contacts were ‘appropriated’ by certain leading families, and in turn these families ‘appropriated’ total leadership of the Chinese community and a monopoly of representation to the local state and society.
