Portrait of YOUNG Sou Lum (b. 1889, d.1961)

The man in this photograph is YOUNG Sou Lum, b. 1889, d.1961. He was born in Pong Woo village, Poon Yue county (now a district of modern Guangzhou), China and came to New Zealand in 1908 at the age of 19.

Sou Lum worked on market gardens in the Horowhenua and Hawkes Bay areas, and later as a fruiterer in Lower Hutt. Although Sou Lum was unable to bring his family in China to New Zealand to settle with him, he remained in contact with them, returning to China for a family visit in the early 1920s and again in the early 1930s.

Sou Lum's 14-year-old son, William (Bill) Shing Baw Young, would join him in New Zealand as a student in 1939 and later qualify as a motor mechanic. The rest of the family: Sou Lum's wife and mother to William, Chue Shee, and his children, Mabel Tse Tim and Dat, were finally reunited with him in New Zealand in 1952—this timing is significant as it was not until 1951 that the government permitted Chinese to apply for permanent residence or naturalisation again after stopping it in 1908. Sadly, Sou Lum passed away only a few years after bringing his family together. The family now has members from five generations living in New Zealand.

The Chinese Poll Tax

On his arrival in 1908, Sou Lum was required to pay a Poll Tax of £100. The Poll Tax, which was imposed solely on Chinese, was introduced along with tonnage restrictions via The Chinese Immigrants Act 1881. Originally fixed at £10, the tax was raised to £100 in 1896. In line with procedure at the time, Sou Lum’s thumbprints were recorded as part of measures introduced to deter poll tax evasion and illegal immigration. He would also have had to pass an English-language reading test introduced under The Chinese Immigrants Amendment Act 1907.

Family ties: Young’s trips to and from China

For each of his visits to his family in China, Sou Lum would have had to apply for a Certificate of Registration. These were re-entry permits required to prove one’s right to re-enter and were only required by those who needed a permit to initially enter New Zealand.

Before The Immigration Restriction Amendment Act 1920 was passed, re-entry permits were only required for Chinese; subsequently, they were required by all non-British or Irish residents. However, Chinese were uniquely required to provide identifying information such as fingerprints and photographs, which were attached to the certificates. Singling out of this nature only ceased after 1934 when the Poll Tax stopped being implemented (it was officially repealed in 1944).

Bringing Bill to New Zealand

Sou Lum’s son, Bill, who came to New Zealand as a student in 1939, benefitted from earlier Chinese efforts to re-establish a student entry concession—introduced in 1911 but abolished in 1920. The government granted this concession in 1930 with several conditions, including that the student had to be over ten years old, their father had to be permanently resident in New Zealand and they had to leave New Zealand after they reached 24 years of age. Although temporary entry permits of between six months to two years were still allowed, the issue of permanent entry permits for Chinese was banned in 1926, leaving the student concession as a vital avenue through which Chinese could bring in their children or relatives for extended time periods. Depending on their age at arrival, students could remain in the country for up to 14 years.

In 1947, the position of Chinese staying in the country on a temporary basis was reviewed and Cabinet approved the granting of permanent residence to those students from China who had been in New Zealand for at least five years and who had finished their schooling. Eventually, all students were allowed to become permanent residents.

References

Yong, Won Lum, Certificate of Entry Butt (Poll Tax), R23676416, ACGV, 8836, W1514, L24, 2/L24/17 347, Archives New Zealand.

Yong Hon Lum, Certificate of Registration under the Immigration Restriction Amendment Act 1920, dated 26 July 1921. Copy viewed courtesy of Glynis Ng.

Yong Hon Lum, Certificate of Registration under the Immigration Restriction Amendment Act 1920, dated 15 July 1931. Copy viewed courtesy of Glynis Ng.

Te Papa, email correspondence with Glynis Ng, grand-daughter of Young Sou Lum, July-August 2020.

Nigel Murphy, Guide to laws and policies relating to the Chinese in New Zealand 1871-1997 (Wellington: New Zealand Chinese Association, 2008).

Ruth Lam et al, Fruits of our Labours: Chinese Fruit Shops in New Zealand, Volume 2 (Wellington: Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust, Department of Internal Affairs, 2018).

Ann Beaglehole, 'Immigration regulation - 1881–1914: restrictions on Chinese and others', Te Ara - the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/immigration-regulation/page-2 (accessed 18 September 2020).

Note: Young Sou Lum’s Poll Tax certificate receipt and Certificates of Registration were issued to him under English transliterations of his name which differ to his known name, such as Yong Won Lum and Yong Hon Lum. However, photographs, Young’s name in Chinese characters (recorded on these documents) and administrative links to the same initial file confirm that they all refer to the same individual.