No they weren't. There were a handful who were good traders but that was about it. The rest of them made a living as small time sole proprietors running provision shops or hawking food. Most were labourers, dockhands, rubber tappers, nightsoil carriers, black and white amahs, sumsui women etc.
I did not mean all of them. But enough of them to make a difference in the lives of Sporeans. Pioneers like Tan Kah Kee, Tan Tock Seng, Narana Pillai, P Govindasamy Pillai, Eddie Tessensohn, Mohammed Eunos Abdullah. Certainly more destinguished people then, than what we have seen in the last few decades. And the reason? Read my previous post.