 The Hainanese were a small group, unable to communicate easily with other Chinese groups due to dialect differences and were both illiterate and poor.These circumstances forced them into the service sector, where they found work as rubber tapers, waiters, and more popularly, cooks and domestic servants in rich European and Peranakan households.From the late 1920s to early 1930s, the economic downturn incentivized the Hainanese to turn to the hotel, bar and restaurant landscape due to lower rental rates.