Wu-Ling Chong
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9789888455997
- eISBN:
- 9789888455508
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888455997.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Asian Politics
This chapter focuses on the involvement of Chinese Indonesians in electoral politics in post-Suharto Medan and Surabaya and how this intersects with their stereotypical position as businesspeople. ...
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This chapter focuses on the involvement of Chinese Indonesians in electoral politics in post-Suharto Medan and Surabaya and how this intersects with their stereotypical position as businesspeople. The opening up of a democratic environment in post-Suharto Indonesia has prompted many Chinese Indonesians to get involved in electoral politics. Some of them become electoral candidates in order to push for reform and positive changes in Indonesia and reject approaches of support for their campaigns in return for political and business favours. But there are also those who become actively involved in politics with the aim of gaining political protection for their business instead of fighting for the interests of the general public. Ironically, the latter often have a higher chance of getting elected, because of the increased cost of campaigning in direct elections introduced during the democratisation process. Their own wealth, or the willingness to accept support from corrupt businesspeople, often Chinese, ensures enough funds to obtain party support and to bribe voters. In this way, Chinese businesspeople continue to establish corrupt and patrimonial relationships with aspiring politicians in exchange for political favours for their business.Less
This chapter focuses on the involvement of Chinese Indonesians in electoral politics in post-Suharto Medan and Surabaya and how this intersects with their stereotypical position as businesspeople. The opening up of a democratic environment in post-Suharto Indonesia has prompted many Chinese Indonesians to get involved in electoral politics. Some of them become electoral candidates in order to push for reform and positive changes in Indonesia and reject approaches of support for their campaigns in return for political and business favours. But there are also those who become actively involved in politics with the aim of gaining political protection for their business instead of fighting for the interests of the general public. Ironically, the latter often have a higher chance of getting elected, because of the increased cost of campaigning in direct elections introduced during the democratisation process. Their own wealth, or the willingness to accept support from corrupt businesspeople, often Chinese, ensures enough funds to obtain party support and to bribe voters. In this way, Chinese businesspeople continue to establish corrupt and patrimonial relationships with aspiring politicians in exchange for political favours for their business.
Wu-Ling Chong
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9789888455997
- eISBN:
- 9789888455508
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888455997.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Asian Politics
This chapter explains the objectives, theoretical framework, literature review, scope of research, methods of research, and chapterisation of this study. This study adopts a combination of Anthony ...
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This chapter explains the objectives, theoretical framework, literature review, scope of research, methods of research, and chapterisation of this study. This study adopts a combination of Anthony Giddens’s structure-agency theory as well as Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of habitus and field as a framework for examining the strategies and tactics that Chinese Indonesians adopt to safeguard their business and personal interests as well as their ethnic and cultural identities in the post-Suharto era. Medan and Surabaya were selected as field sites for this study because both cities are economically and politically significant. Moreover, there are certain interesting contrasts in regard to their Chinese populations. The methods used in this research are library research, individual interviews, and participant observation.Less
This chapter explains the objectives, theoretical framework, literature review, scope of research, methods of research, and chapterisation of this study. This study adopts a combination of Anthony Giddens’s structure-agency theory as well as Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of habitus and field as a framework for examining the strategies and tactics that Chinese Indonesians adopt to safeguard their business and personal interests as well as their ethnic and cultural identities in the post-Suharto era. Medan and Surabaya were selected as field sites for this study because both cities are economically and politically significant. Moreover, there are certain interesting contrasts in regard to their Chinese populations. The methods used in this research are library research, individual interviews, and participant observation.
Wu-Ling Chong
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9789888455997
- eISBN:
- 9789888455508
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888455997.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Asian Politics
This chapter explores the origins of the ambivalent position of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia. Historically, the Chinese have their ancestral roots in China and do not have particular regions in ...
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This chapter explores the origins of the ambivalent position of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia. Historically, the Chinese have their ancestral roots in China and do not have particular regions in Indonesia to identify with. During the Dutch period, the colonial regime’s divide-and-rule policy, the granting of economic privileges to the Chinese, and subsequently the emergence of nationalist sentiments oriented towards China in early twentieth-century Dutch East Indies effectively prevented the Chinese from integrating into the wider indigenous population. The Chinese therefore began to be perceived as an alien minority associated with various negative attributes, occupying an ambivalent position in Indonesian society.Less
This chapter explores the origins of the ambivalent position of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia. Historically, the Chinese have their ancestral roots in China and do not have particular regions in Indonesia to identify with. During the Dutch period, the colonial regime’s divide-and-rule policy, the granting of economic privileges to the Chinese, and subsequently the emergence of nationalist sentiments oriented towards China in early twentieth-century Dutch East Indies effectively prevented the Chinese from integrating into the wider indigenous population. The Chinese therefore began to be perceived as an alien minority associated with various negative attributes, occupying an ambivalent position in Indonesian society.
Wu-Ling Chong
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9789888455997
- eISBN:
- 9789888455508
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888455997.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Asian Politics
This chapter provides an analysis and summary of the active role of ethnic Chinese in reproducing and perpetuating their ambivalent position as well as in shaping Indonesia’s political, business, and ...
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This chapter provides an analysis and summary of the active role of ethnic Chinese in reproducing and perpetuating their ambivalent position as well as in shaping Indonesia’s political, business, and socio-cultural environment in the post-Suharto era. The chapter also suggests that studying the Chinese in Indonesia may direct us to rethink the effect of democratisation on ethnic minorities and the role that those minorities may have in how transformative democratisation can be both for their situation and the betterment of the wider society. Effective enforcement of the rule of law as well as an education system that promotes inter-ethnic understanding and solidarity could promote more open- and reform-minded people, including those from resented, economically dominant minorities, such as the Chinese in Indonesia.Less
This chapter provides an analysis and summary of the active role of ethnic Chinese in reproducing and perpetuating their ambivalent position as well as in shaping Indonesia’s political, business, and socio-cultural environment in the post-Suharto era. The chapter also suggests that studying the Chinese in Indonesia may direct us to rethink the effect of democratisation on ethnic minorities and the role that those minorities may have in how transformative democratisation can be both for their situation and the betterment of the wider society. Effective enforcement of the rule of law as well as an education system that promotes inter-ethnic understanding and solidarity could promote more open- and reform-minded people, including those from resented, economically dominant minorities, such as the Chinese in Indonesia.
Wu-Ling Chong
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9789888455997
- eISBN:
- 9789888455508
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888455997.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Asian Politics
This book examines the complex situation of ethnic Chinese Indonesians in post-Suharto Indonesia, focusing on Chinese in two of the largest Indonesian cities, Medan and Surabaya. The fall of Suharto ...
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This book examines the complex situation of ethnic Chinese Indonesians in post-Suharto Indonesia, focusing on Chinese in two of the largest Indonesian cities, Medan and Surabaya. The fall of Suharto in May 1998 led to the opening up of a democratic and liberal space to include a diversity of political actors and ideals in the political process. However, due to the absence of an effective, genuinely reformist party or political coalition, predatory politico-business interests nurtured under the New Order managed to capture the new political and economic regimes. As a result, corruption and internal mismanagement continue to plague the bureaucracy in the country. The indigenous Indonesian population generally still perceives the Chinese minority as an alien minority who are wealthy, selfish, insular and opportunistic; this is partially due to the role some Chinese have played in perpetuating corrupt business practices. As targets of extortion and corruption by bureaucratic officials and youth/crime organisations, the Chinese are neither merely passive bystanders of the democratisation process in Indonesia nor powerless victims of corrupt practices. By focusing on the important interconnected aspects of the role Chinese play in post-Suharto Indonesia, via business, politics and civil society, this book argues, through a combination of Anthony Giddens’s structure-agency theory as well as Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of habitus and field, that although the Chinese are constrained by various conditions, they also have played an active role in shaping these conditions.Less
This book examines the complex situation of ethnic Chinese Indonesians in post-Suharto Indonesia, focusing on Chinese in two of the largest Indonesian cities, Medan and Surabaya. The fall of Suharto in May 1998 led to the opening up of a democratic and liberal space to include a diversity of political actors and ideals in the political process. However, due to the absence of an effective, genuinely reformist party or political coalition, predatory politico-business interests nurtured under the New Order managed to capture the new political and economic regimes. As a result, corruption and internal mismanagement continue to plague the bureaucracy in the country. The indigenous Indonesian population generally still perceives the Chinese minority as an alien minority who are wealthy, selfish, insular and opportunistic; this is partially due to the role some Chinese have played in perpetuating corrupt business practices. As targets of extortion and corruption by bureaucratic officials and youth/crime organisations, the Chinese are neither merely passive bystanders of the democratisation process in Indonesia nor powerless victims of corrupt practices. By focusing on the important interconnected aspects of the role Chinese play in post-Suharto Indonesia, via business, politics and civil society, this book argues, through a combination of Anthony Giddens’s structure-agency theory as well as Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of habitus and field, that although the Chinese are constrained by various conditions, they also have played an active role in shaping these conditions.
Margaret Kartomi
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252036712
- eISBN:
- 9780252093821
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252036712.003.0009
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
This chapter focuses on the performing arts of four main musico-lingual groups in Bangka, South Sumatra: the Malays, the Suku Lom forest-dwellers, the Suku Sekak sea-boat-dwellers, and the Chinese ...
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This chapter focuses on the performing arts of four main musico-lingual groups in Bangka, South Sumatra: the Malays, the Suku Lom forest-dwellers, the Suku Sekak sea-boat-dwellers, and the Chinese Indonesians. According to some performing artists and community elders, today's Malay people are descendants of former Bangka Malay chiefdoms, while the Suku Mapur or Suku Lom people are animists who prefer to live in relative isolation in the forests. The Suku Sekak people are also animists who prefer to live in boats at sea when the weather permits. The Bangka Malays, the Suku Lom, and the Suku Sekak speak varieties of Malay, while the Chinese Indonesians normally speak varieties of Hakka or Hokkien in addition to Malay. To understand how Bangka's four musico-lingual subgroups came into being as well as their musical arts, the chapter examines the history of foreign exploitation of their tin and cash crops by the sultans of Palembang (seventeenth–eighteenth centuries), Britain (1812–1816), Holland (ca. 1817–World War II), and Indonesia (1949 to present).Less
This chapter focuses on the performing arts of four main musico-lingual groups in Bangka, South Sumatra: the Malays, the Suku Lom forest-dwellers, the Suku Sekak sea-boat-dwellers, and the Chinese Indonesians. According to some performing artists and community elders, today's Malay people are descendants of former Bangka Malay chiefdoms, while the Suku Mapur or Suku Lom people are animists who prefer to live in relative isolation in the forests. The Suku Sekak people are also animists who prefer to live in boats at sea when the weather permits. The Bangka Malays, the Suku Lom, and the Suku Sekak speak varieties of Malay, while the Chinese Indonesians normally speak varieties of Hakka or Hokkien in addition to Malay. To understand how Bangka's four musico-lingual subgroups came into being as well as their musical arts, the chapter examines the history of foreign exploitation of their tin and cash crops by the sultans of Palembang (seventeenth–eighteenth centuries), Britain (1812–1816), Holland (ca. 1817–World War II), and Indonesia (1949 to present).
Robert R. Bianchi
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- February 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190915285
- eISBN:
- 9780190915315
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190915285.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
With Indonesia, the Chinese are doubly vulnerable. Racial and religious prejudice against Indonesians of Chinese descent threatens both government and private business deals. At the same time, ...
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With Indonesia, the Chinese are doubly vulnerable. Racial and religious prejudice against Indonesians of Chinese descent threatens both government and private business deals. At the same time, Jakarta is determined to project maritime power and to lead the creation of a broader Pacific community—ambitions that openly contradict China’s desire for preeminence in East Asia. Indonesian politicians can use the threat of Islamic militancy to great advantage, seeming to restrain it when Beijing is pliable and quietly encouraging it when China becomes overbearing. President Joko Widodo skillfully challenges China on maritime disputes while enlisting its economic support to fend off hard-line Muslims and nationalists. But in the capital city of Jakarta, the incumbent governor—a Chinese Indonesian—was ousted by an openly racist campaign that many mainstream Muslim leaders failed to denounce.Less
With Indonesia, the Chinese are doubly vulnerable. Racial and religious prejudice against Indonesians of Chinese descent threatens both government and private business deals. At the same time, Jakarta is determined to project maritime power and to lead the creation of a broader Pacific community—ambitions that openly contradict China’s desire for preeminence in East Asia. Indonesian politicians can use the threat of Islamic militancy to great advantage, seeming to restrain it when Beijing is pliable and quietly encouraging it when China becomes overbearing. President Joko Widodo skillfully challenges China on maritime disputes while enlisting its economic support to fend off hard-line Muslims and nationalists. But in the capital city of Jakarta, the incumbent governor—a Chinese Indonesian—was ousted by an openly racist campaign that many mainstream Muslim leaders failed to denounce.
