The Dynamics of Chinese Diaspora in Semarang, Indonesia

The Dynamics of Chinese Diaspora in Semarang, Indonesia

Chinatown in Semarang [ Image source]

China is a country which has a lot of population around the world. According to United Nations Projections, China’s population in 2018 is 1,42 billion.  This country has an estimated population density of 145 people per square kilometer or 375 people per square mile. The great quantities of China’s population have long been a hot issue in China.

There are an estimated 30 million ethnic Chinese living outside China. In the 1990s such expressions as ‘The Chinese Diaspora’ or ‘Global Chinese’ are widely heard, and some countries have at least a small ethnic Chinese population. (Wickberg, E. 1994) According to Boldurukova (2014), the spread of the Chinese all around the world is the result of the process lasted for less than one century. It especially started from the middle of the 19^th century, The Chinese moved to Southeast Asia, Australia, and Northern America to earn more in the new places. The report from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council People’s Republic of China states that there are approximately 40 million Chinese Diaspora worldwide and more than 7 million  in each of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

The first arrival of Chinese people in Indonesia occurred in the early 15^th century. The came with the mariner Cheng Ho who arrived at the northern coast of Java. After the Dutch expropriated Jakarta (Batavia) in the 17^th century, the Chinese immigrants were increase along the north coast of Java. The Dutch tried to enhance the economy by seeking a large number of Chinese to handle the trading business. The migration did a little success and it gave a good impact on economic.  The Chinese people are widespread around many cities in Indonesia, such as Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Singkawang, and Semarang. Many of them didn’t return to China. They got married and lived sedentary in some cities.

Chinese is a country which has a lot of culture and the people keep holding their belief and culture wherever they are. According to Wickberg (2007), the Immigrant Chinese bring a variety of their own Chinese cultural context of which they have been a part, whether in China or somewhere else. They come to the global city and form groupings or communities. Therefore, as a result of mass immigration of Chinese, there are some Chinatown in some cities in Indonesia. It is known as “pecinan” in Indonesian. The Immigrant of Chinese live in a community. They usually have a family business that is inherited from generation to the next generation.

Semarang is the second of Indonesia’s most Chinese city after Singkawang. Since it has been developed as a port city, it is visited by variety of ethnic group including Chinese and this city become the trading center in Central Java. There is a Chinatown in this city. It has a multifunction, not only a settlement area, but also for economic center around this area. (Widiatuti, Rahmat, Aseani, 2014) Therefore, Semarang has a strong feature of characteristic value of Chinese culture and still can be identified until nowadays.

Acculturation of Chinese and Javanese Culture

Acculturation of Chinese and Javanese culture came as a result of interaction between the immigrants and the local people. Mostly, this social phenomena occured because of the marriage between the chinese immigrant and the indigene. The evidence of this acculturation can be found in many aspects such as names, dialects, architecture, arts, and food. It is emphasized with the study that was conducted by Widodo in 2015 that the combination of the personal and communities name between the name of Chinese people and the name of indigene Javanese of personal shows the existence of this phenomena. It was developed from the perspective of socio-cultural function. The immigrants who settled permanently usually change their names into Indonesian language in order to socialize easily with the indigene Javanese. For instance, the name of Gian Kie was changed into Giantoro. The people around Semarang Chinatown also use the particular dialects that is different with the people outside Semarang. The dialect sounds like Javanese, but it doesn’t look like the original Javanese. In some cases, they often use the Indonesian language rather than Javanese.

Some of buildings and arts in Semarang can be identified as the inheritance of this acculturation. The house of Chinese can be identified by the different shape and different ornament. It also has many functions, not only for living but also for trading. The first floor has a function as a shop and the second floor as the house where they are living. Obviously, the building with the thick Chinese characteristic is “Chinese shrine”, the local people call it as “Klenteng”. There are many China shrine that is scattered around this city. The greatest is Sam Poo Kong China shrine. In the aspect of arts, potehi puppets (Wayang Potehi ) comes as a combination of the Chinese and Javanese culture. This performance can be seen in the Chinese shrine in certain festival as an entertainment. It uses Chinese and Javanese letter. This performance has a function as a tool of unity between Javanese and Chinese.

Food is also being a part of this acculturation. Semarang has a special food that is very well known by people either inside and outside  Semarang. It is called lunpia.  Originally, it is a kind of food that was brought by the Chinese immigrants. Then, it was modified with some Indonesian spicies or flavors. It becomes a very popular food and we can find it easily in Semarang.

The problems of ethnicity

The existence of the Chinese people in Indonesia were facing some problems. One of them is about the stereotype towards the Chinese Immigrant of the new order era ( Soeharto era) until 1998. The Chinese people were descriminated and they couldn’t get a job in the governmental area. There was a distinction between the indigene and the immigrants because the Chinese lived in a group or communities, it seems like the communication didn’t run well. It happened because of the misunderstanding and there is a lack of tolerance. As the time passed by, those problems fade away gradually. Especially after the reformation era, the indigene has been acknowledged on the existence of the Chinese people and also their culture and their beliefs.

            It should be admitted that the Chinese diaspora in gave effect in some aspects, such as economic, social and culture. It also teaches people to live in the diversity.  Living in a diversity with many kinds of culture is wonderful. It helps people learning another culture, another customs, and the acculturation might happen in some ways.

References

 Boldurukova, N. B. (2014). Potency of the Chinese Diaspora. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 143, 576-580.

 ‘China Population 2018’. World Population Review. www.worldpopulationreview.com/countries/china-population/ . Sighted March 13, 2018.

Harani, A. R., & Motic, K. (2017). Pengaruh Fasade Bangunan Terhadap Karakter Visual Kawasan (Studi Kasus: Pecinan Semarang, Malaysia Dan Singapura). Jurnal Pengembangan Kota, 5(1).

Wickberg, E. (2007). Global Chinese migrants and performing Chineseness. Journal of Chinese Overseas, 3(2), 177-193.

Wickberg, E. (1994). The Chinese as overseas migrants. In Migration: The Asian Experience (pp. 12-37). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Widiastuti, R., Rahmat, A., & Aseani, W. (2015). Conservation and revitalitation in Semarang Chinatown (Klenteng “chinese shrine” as physical characteristic in Semarang Chinatown). Procedia Environmental Sciences, 28, 549-556.

Widodo, S. T. (2015). Interethnic Acculturation in Java: The Names of Chinese People in Lasem–on the North Coast of Java. Asian Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities Vol, 4, 4.