Siew-Min Sai & Chang-Yau Hoon, ed., Chinese Indonesians reassesed: history, religion and belonging (original) (raw)

Chinese Indonesians Reassessed

The Chinese in Indonesia form a significant minority of about 3 percent of the population, and have played a disproportionately important role in the country. Given that Chinese Indonesians are not seen as indigenous to the country and are consistently defined against Indonesian nationalism, most studies on the community concentrate on examining their ambivalent position as Indonesia's perennial "internal outsider." Chinese Indonesians Reassessed argues for the need to dislodge this narrow nationalistic approach and adopt fresh perspectives which acknowledge the full complexity of ethnic relations within the country. The focus of the book extends beyond Java to explore the historical development of Chinese Indonesian communities in more peripheral areas of Indonesia, such as Medan, the Riau Islands and West Kalimantan. It reveals the diverse religious practices of Chinese Indonesians, which are by no means confined to "Chinese" religions, and the celebration of "Chinese" ethnic events. Presenting a rich array of his torical and contemporary case studies, the book goes beyond national stereotypes to demonstrate how Chinese Indonesians interact with different spaces and environments to establish new Chinese Indonesian identities which are complex and multi-faceted. The book engages with a larger global literature concerned with diasporic Chinese identities and practices and offers sophisticated and empirically grounded insights on the commodification of ethnic cultures and religions.

Citizenship, Inheritance, and the Indigenizing of "Orang Chinese" in Indonesia

The national motto of Indonesia is Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, roughly translatable as “Unity in Diversity,” but the segment of the Indonesian population composed of “Chinese” is often excluded from the moral community of the nation because of their supposed absence of “roots” on Indonesian soil. Sharing formal citizenship status and many cultural practices with other Indonesians, the Chinese are nonetheless ideologically constructed as aliens and often used as scapegoats. The events of 1998 brought to the fore the highly problematic position of Chinese persons in relation to the Indonesian nation. This article seeks to understand the history that has indigenized and concomitantly alienated the Chinese in Indonesia by retracing the trails of the controvertible word Cina, the interminable forks on the citizenship road, and the seeming dead ends on the lifespan of wealth and capital accumulation.

Dewi Anggraeni - Does multicultural Indonesia include its ethnic Chinese

2011

Her latest non-fiction works have been published independently in English and Indonesian and were entitled, Breaking the stereotype; Chinese Indonesian women tell their stories (Melbourne: Indra Publishing, 2010) and Mereka bilang aku China; Jalan mendaki menjadi bagian bangsa (Yogyakarta: Bentang Pustaka,

Rethinking the Position of Ethnic Chinese Indonesians

This article examines the position of ethnic Chinese Indonesians from the pre-colonial period to the post-Suharto era, and factors that were at play. Chinese Indonesians experienced various discrimination and attacks ever since the Dutch colonisation period and, most severely, during the Suharto's presidency (1966-1998). Under Suharto, the state perceived them as the potential 'fifth column' for China; thus, imposing upon them forced assimilation, restriction from politics, public service, military and entrance to public universities, and to finally coerce them to abandon their ethnic and cultural identity. Furthermore, attacks against the Chinese reached its climax in May 1998 amid the Asian financial crisis when riots against the Chinese broke out in many parts of the country. However, the condition of the Chinese improved significantly after the end of the Suharto regime on 21 May 1998 and following the rise of open-minded Indonesian political leaders as well as the rise of China as an economic power. This article concludes that the position of ethnic Chinese Indonesians was shaped by not only the interests and agendas of the power-holders but also the anti-communist politics associated with the Cold War, the rise of open-minded Indonesian political leaders, Indonesia-China relations and the globalisation of the economic position of China.