The revenge of the Bantamese : factors for change in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, 1930-1978

Abstract

In November 1985, John Cecil Clunies-Ross left the Cocos (Keeling) Islands to reside in Perth, Western Australia, after almost 40 years' residence in the Islands. During most of that time, he had been in control of the economic destiny of the Cocos Malays of Horne Island. The Australian media had called him the "King of Cocos", but his political authority over the Islanders had been eroded over several years by the increasing involvement of the Australian Government in Cocos affairs, culminating in the purchase of Clunies-Ross's land and assets in 1978 for $6.25 million. There had, however, been weaknesses in the economic and political domination of the Cocos Malay people by the CluniesRoss family, weaknesses that had existed for many years beforehand. It is important to see the breakdown of CluniesRoss rule in terms that give due weight to long-term processes. This approach has the added advantage of teaching us about the Cocos Malay community itself. In terms of approach, this thesis, unlike previous research, does not treat the Clunies-Rosses and Government as the only active pla1ers on Cocos. I show that the momentum of events was also determined to a considerable extent by developments within the Home Island community itself. I give due weight to the social dynamics of the Cocos Malay community in bringing about the collapse of Clunies-Ross rule, and point out that, at significant points, notably times of economic hardship, there were three players in the game, although the final resolution in 1978 was between Tuan John and the Australian Government. My research approach has made this explanation possible. Together with more conventional historical and anthropological materials, I have made use of oral accounts by Cocos Malay elders who lived through the events described in the thesis. My supervisor, Dr Milner, directed my attention to mainstream Malay culture in the Peninsula and the Archipelago. There I found the roots of Cocos Malay political culture, and came to grips with the sometimes quite significant differences in religious and social practice between Cocos and the wider Malay world of the twentieth century. Within the conditions set out in a "social contract" between the Cocos people and the Clunies-Ross family in 1837, the family shaped a society that bore a number of likenesses to a traditional nineteenth century Malay state. Their rule provided food, clothing, shelter and protection for all, under a system of total political and economic dominance by the family. Under George Clunies-Ross (who ruled 1871-1910), social and economic control was attained through isolation of the Cocos Malays, a closed economy, use of indentured labour from the