Chinese in Fiji - History

History

The history of Chinese people in Fiji dates to the 1850s, when Moy Ba Ling, also known as Houng Lee, reached Fiji in a sail boat from Australia and settled in Levuka. He later returned to China, before bringing his relatives and some others to settle in Fiji, in connection with the gold rush. Later arrivals came looking for sandalwood and beche-de-mer. According to Dixon Seeto, the current President of the Chinese Association of Fiji, the first shops in rural areas of Fiji were opened by Chinese merchants.

Chinese people were enfranchised for the first time in 1964. The former European roll was redefined to include other minority groups and renamed the General Electors roll. Despite being only a splinter of the electorate, General Electors were then allocated 10 of the 36 seats in the Legislative Council, as the legislature was then known, though this figure has gradually been reduced since independence in 1970.

Around a thousand Chinese settled in Fiji in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and in February 1995, the Fijian Cabinet approved a plan to allow up to 7000 Hong Kong Chinese to immigrate to Fiji. Conditions included payment of F$30,000 to the government, and investment of F$100,000 in government-approved projects. Many of these invested in restaurants, retailing, and market gardening (mostly in Kalabu, Tamavua, Delaivalelevu, Vikoba, Sawani and Waibau), and have intensified horticulture around Suva. A further wave of Chinese has arrived since the late 1990s, many of them from the northern part of China. Many of the more recent immigrants have opened bakeries and other food outlets in Fijian villages, creating employment for local people, says Fiji Times editor Samisoni Kakaivalu.

The exact date of Moy Ba Ling's arrival is not known, but on 17 September 2005, the Chinese community celebrated the 150th anniversary.