Interculturalism, Empire and the Nation State: A Portrait of the Lim Cheng Ean Family

Late 19th century George Town, the capital city of Penang, a state inpresent-day Malaysia, began as an “inter-cultural” space based upon trade.Trade brought regional centrality to the city as different ethnic groupsbrought with them their trading networks. As they lived side by side, thecity became a site of transactions between them. Trade may have been thebasis for their interface but it was a common English education and civilactivities that gave rise to inter-cultural activities. This paper begins with abrief description of George Town’s development as a regional hub for education,culture and politics. Taking one example of a Penang Straits Chinesefamily, particularly one branch of the Penang Lim family, this paper is anattempt to describe how the “interface” of cultures produces exceptionalism.Whilst Lim Cheng Ean was already a cultural hybrid, the son of an immigrantChinese father and a local-born nyonya mother, he was exposed toBritish colonial culture through English education. His marriage to theBritish Guyanese-born Roslind Hoalim created a home environment thatwas truly distinct in colonial George Town. It is no wonder that his childrenall made their own mark as products of their “cultural interface”. Goingbeyond mere historical description, this paper will conclude with a sectionanalyzing the values that made this family’s exceptional history.Session statement 2: We and the Other in Cultural Interfaces: Peranakan,Indigenous Taiwanese, and Yunnanese Muslim Migrant