ABSTRACT
Lowe Kong Meng, a Chinese merchant of Melbourne, had a reputation throughout Australasia. By Kong Meng’s time, Chinese merchants in Malaya had well-developed connections with Chinese merchants in South China, familiarity with British port and shipping systems and well-established processes for recruiting labourers and their supplies from China. Kong Meng always claimed he was a British subject, by right of birth and upbringing in a British colony. His family background was one of active participation in the British governance system in Asia and support for British interests. An approach to the scale of Kong Meng’s trade is to consider the volume of gold he shipped out to pay for imported goods. Kong Meng engaged with the European business elite of Victoria in founding new enterprises, particularly as an avid investor in Victorian joint-stock companies, an institution novel to Chinese society of the day.
