Abstract
The Chinese minority is one of the largest ethnic groups of foreign origin living in Indonesia. While
almost all of its members are Indonesia-born and speak Indonesian, often along with one of the local
languages, many of them up-hold traditions from their ancestors’ land. Furthermore, all but a few follow
one of the minority religions in a mostly Muslim country. That, together with a long and complicated
history of relations of the Chinese minority with the local population, results in mutual distrust and
isolation of modern indigenous Indonesians and those of Chinese origin.
The article is an attempt to describe and explain briefly those relations as part of complex Asian
ethnic reality. However, as Indonesian society consists of hundreds of local ethnic groups and acknowl-
edging the differences among the Chinese communities from various parts of the Indonesian archi-
pelago, the article concentrates on one chosen example of West Sumatra. The present ethnic relations
between the local Chinese community and Minangkabau, the indigenous ethnic group predominant
in the province, are shown in the context of local social history (beginning with the Dutch era) as well
as in the national politics in independent Republic of Indonesia. The article tells about the religious,
cultural, identity and economic aspects of the problem. It also shows how the ethnic situation affects
the urban space of Padang, the capital city of the West Sumatran province. Although it is a case study
of the ethnic relations of two particular groups, it highlights the broader phenomenon of which those
relations are a part, showing both – what is common in the Chinese Indonesians’ situation in various
regions and what is specific for West Sumatran case.
References
Colombijn Freek 2006, Paco-paco (kota) Padang. Sejarah sebuah kota di Indonesia pada abad ke-20 dan penggunaan ruang kota, Ombak, Yogyakarta
Erniwati 2007, Asap hio di ranah Minang: komunitas Tionghoa di Sumatera Barat, Ombak, Yogyakarta
Fitri Andalusiana 2009, Perayaan Imlek orang Tionghoa Islam di Padang masa Reformasi, nie-publikowana praca magisterska napisana na Wydziale Historycznym (Jurusan Sejarah) Universitas Negeri Padang, na kierunku Nauki Społeczne (Fakultas Ilmu-ilmu Sosial), pod opiekądr Erniwati
Hadler Jeffrey 2004, Translation of antisemitism: Jews, the Chinese, and violence in colonial and post-colonial Indonesia, Indonesia and the Malay World, Volume 32, Number 94, s. 291–313, (http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713426698)
Handinoto 2009, Perkembangan arsitektur Tionghoa di Indonesia [w:] Peranakan Tionghoa Indonesia: sebuah perjalanan budaya, [brak redaktora], Intisari Mediatama, PT. Komunitas Lintas Budaya Indonesia, Jakarta, s. 72–91
Lestari Siska Dian 2004, Cina Muslim di Padang (1998–2003), niepublikowana praca magisterska obroniona na Wydziale Historii i Kultury Muzułmańskiej (Jurusan Sejarah Dan Kebudayaan Islam), Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN), Imam Bonjol Padang, na kierunku Kultura (Fakultas Adab)
Olszewska Dobrochna 2010, Poza indonezyjską „jednością”. Mniejszość chińska w Indonezji, Nurt SVD. Półrocznik misjologiczno-religioznawczy, Wydanie specjalne: Pierwsze Etnologiczne Spotkanie Indonezyjskie, Olsztyn, 14–15 kwietnia 2010, s. 61–78
Purdey Jemma 2006, Anti-Chinese violence in Indonesia, 1996–1998, Singapore University Press, Singapore
Sidharta Myra 2001, In search of my ancestral home, [w:] Cultural curiosity. Thirteen stories about the search for Chinese roots, red. J. M. T. Khu, University of California Press, Berkeley, s. 145–159
Viaro Alain 1992, Les Cahiers de la Recherche Architecturale, Architectures et cultures, nr 27–28, s. 139–150
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2010 Etnografia Polska