Eminent Indonesian Chinese

Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia where there is a significant number of ethnic Chinese, many of whom have played an important role. This book presents biographical sketches of about 530 prominent Indonesian Chinese, including businessmen, community leaders, politicians, religious leaders, artists, sportsmen/sportswomen, writers, journalists, academics, physicians, educators, and scientists. First published in 1972, it was revised and developed into the present format in 1978, and has since been revised several times. This is the fourth and most up-to-date version.

Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia where there is a significant number of ethnic Chinese, many of whom have played an important role. This book presents biographical sketches of about 530 prominent Indonesian Chinese, including businessmen, community leaders, politicians, religious leaders, artists, sportsmen/sportswomen, writers, journalists, academics, physicians, educators, and scientists. First published in 1972, it was revised and developed into the present format in 1978, and has since been revised several times. This is the fourth and most up-to-date version.

This sourcebook aims to introduce to English readers the political thinking of the Chinese minority in Indonesia spanning almost a century from 1900-1995. Comprising the writings, speeches, letters, and memoirs of Indonesian Chinese leaders or individuals who have been significant in the development of Chinese minority thinking in Indonesia, translated from Peranakan Malay, Indonesian, Chinese, or Dutch, this volume thus presents the voices of eminent Indonesian Chinese. This updated and expanded edition of the book first published in 1979 includes several new articles of material bringing post-1997 developments up to date, significantly till 1995, the year of the Bali Declaration, when the Chinese tycoons were asked to help solve the Indonesian economic problem.

This book examines how the Indonesian Chinese who were born after 1966 negotiate meanings about their culture and identity through their collective memory of growing up in a restrictive media environment that specifically curtailed Chinese language and culture. The restrictive media environment was the result of a series of policies administered during the Suharto era (1965-1998). According to the regulations, the Indonesian government closed all Chinese-language schools and prohibited the use of Chinese characters in public places, the import of Chinese-language publications, and all public forms and expressions of Chinese culture. In the past century, and particularly in the past decade, much attention has been given to China and its rising status as a world economic power. Scholarship on overseas Chinese has also shed light on their relationship with their 'mythic homeland', China. In their work, scholars discovered that the Chinese of Southeast Asia have created a prominent economic, political, and cultural presence in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. In the 1960s, scholars such as George Kahin, Ruth McVey, and Benedict Anderson were drawn to the political upheavals in Indonesia and the various roles that the Chinese of Indonesia have played in the economic, political, and cultural arenas of their country. In later years, Charles Coppel and Leo Suryadinata have published extensively on various aspects of the Chinese in Indonesia, such as their religious affiliations and education. Despite the considerable attention given to the Chinese of Indonesia, scholars have not specifically studied, through the lens of the media, how a certain group of Chinese Indonesians grew up in a restrictive media and cultural environment during the 33 years when Indonesia was ruled by Suharto. This book takes the first step in examining this generation's collective memory of growing up in a state-controlled environment that has had a significant impact on their identity formation, maintenance, and the (re)negotiation of 'Chineseness' in their everyday lives. This book will appeal especially to media, cultural studies, and Southeast Asian studies scholars, researchers, and students.

The ethnic Chinese minority in Indonesia is a heterogeneous group. Many have been acculturated and have generated an Indonesian Chinese culture that is unique and yet deeply rooted in Indonesian society. In education, literature and the press, the ethnic Chinese have been largely assimilated into local society. In religion, assimilation has taken on a different form: Chinese minority religions are highly Indonesianized while retaining some Chinese characteristics. Ironically, the success of the ethnic Chinese in the economic field can be attributed not to their acculturation, but to their migrant culture and ethos, as well as the Chinese networks in Southeast Asia and beyond. The ten papers in this book some previously published, all substantially revised and updated to include recent developments adopt a thematic and historical approach in examining the developing of ethnic Chinese culture and society in Indonesia.

The ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, numbering more than six millions, constitute the largest single group of ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia. They are economically strong, culturally diversified, and socially active. This book presents the profiles of leading figures in the Indonesian Chinese community in the twentieth century in the economic, political, religious, cultural, academic, and social fields. This is the first systematic and comprehensive book of its kind. It is useful for scholars interested in research on Indonesia or Chinese minorities in Southeast Asia generally. First published in 1971, it was revised and developed into the present format in 1978 and has since been revised several times. This is the third and most up-to-date version.