British Policy and the Chinese in Singapore, 1939 to 1955 examines the policies and methods employed by the British in their administration of the colony of Singapore during a period when dramatic changes were happening there. The transformations were brought about by events which included a worldwide economic depression, the Second World War, a tumultuous postwar recovery and the birth of a Chinese Communist nation. The Chinese constituted the most populous ethnic group on the island. Before the war, Chinese, who were members of the British empire because they were locally-born, were a minority. To bring both the local-born and China-born Chinese within the pale of British administration and jurisdiction, the authorities relied on intermediaries, that is, men who acted as the channel of communication between the British and the Chinese.