The Chinese Of Sukabumi A Study In Social And Cultural Accommodation

Study of the Chinese minority in Indonesia has formed a considerable part in the work of the Cornell Modern Indonesia Project since its establishment in 1954. The results of the valuable research undertaken by Donald E. Willmott in this field have already seen publication. Miss Giok-Lan Tan’s study of the Chinese of Sukabumi (centering on the Peranakan section of the community) represents a significant addition to the published material on this subject and an important contribution to the continuing work of the Cornell Modern Indonesia Project. This study of the Chinese community in West Java complements that of Dr. Willmott on the Chinese of Semarang, Central Java, published three years ago, and the forthcoming M.I.T. sponsored study by Edward J. Ryan of the Modjokerto Chinese of East Java. Having this amount of published material available, we can begin to comprehend the range of variation, and the same time the underlying unity, of the Peranakan culture in Java. With the publication during the next few years of professor G. William Skinner’s research (sponsored by the Cornell Modern Indonesia Project in 1956–1958), the picture will undoubtedly become even fuller and clearer. Miss Tan, a Peranakan who lived briefly in Sukabumi during the Second World War, undertook this study in 1956–1957 while a student at the Sinological Institute of the University of Indonesia in Jakarta. Her research war carried out under the direction of Professor Skinner, who was then in Indonesia. After completing her research in Indonesia, and following completion of her study at the Sinological Institute, Miss Tan came to Cornell University to do graduate work in anthropology. She was awarded her M.A. degree in 1961. Following her return to Indonesia, Miss Tan has undertaken further field research among the Chinese. She has designed and directed a project which studied a number of desa in the Tangerang area (West Java) with special emphasis on the social interaction between Peranakan and indigenous farmers. Currently Miss Tan is an instructor in sociology at the Catholic University in Jakarta, and beginning in May 1963 was appointed research assistant in the National Economic and Social Research Institute of the Council for Sciences of Indonesia.  George McT. Kahin, Foreword.

Histories, Cultures, Identities deals with two central questions relating to the Chinese community in Malaysia. First, how has being Chinese shaped the responses of this community to political, economic, and social developments in the country? And second, how have their experiences in Malaysia affected the way in which immigrants from China and their descendants identify themselves as Chinese?

The George Hicks Collection focuses on four main subject areas – Southeast Asia, China, Japan and overseas Chinese – spanning the disciplines of history, sociology, economics, political science and anthropology. The body of works in the Collection reveals Mr Hicks’ profound interest in Asia and his scholarly pursuits over the decades.

The disintegration of Indonesia's New Order regime in 1998 and the fall of Soeharto put an end to the crude forms of centralised authoritarianism and economic protectionism that allowed large Chinese conglomerates to dom- inate Indonesia's private sector. Contrary to all expectations, most of the major capitalist groups, though damaged considerably by the Asian Crisis, managed to cope with the ensuing monumental political and economic changes, and now thrive again albeit within a new democratic environment. In this book Christian Chua assesses the state of capital before, during, and after the financial and political crisis of 1997/1998 and analyses the changing relationships between business and the state in Indonesia. Using a distinct perspective that combines cultural and structural approaches on Chinese big business with exclusive material derived from interviews with some of Indonesia’s major business leaders, Chua identifies the strategies employed by tycoons to adapt their corporations to the post-authoritarian regime and provides a unique insight into how state-business relationships in Indonesia have evolved since the crisis. Chinese Big Business in Indonesia is the first major analysis of capital in Indonesia since the fall of Soeharto, and will be of interest to graduate students and scholars of political economy, political sociology, economics and business administration as well as to practitioners having to do with Southeast Asian business and politics.

“. . . The fullest and most comprehensive ethnography of the Baba community in Malaysia. . . . The author is a meticulous ethnographer, and provides three chapters of richly detailed information on Baba kinship and marriage practices, ancestor worship, Chinese folk religion and festivals and a variety of Baba social patterns and organizations. . . . This is certainly a necessary and pleasurable reading materials for scholars of Malaysia, and for those interested in ethnicity more generally.” Professor Judith Nagata, Pacific Affairs 62(2), 1989. Based on a long-term ethnographic study, the new edition of this book provides a comprehensive description of Baba culture and identity in Melaka, Malaysia. Tan Chee-Beng’s landmark study analyses the term Baba, the development of Baba society, their distribution in Melaka and overt features of identity, the Baba Malay dialect, customs and religion, kinship and social interactions – all of which tie in to changes in Baba identity. By discussing cultural change and ethnic identification of a Chinese Peranakan community in Malaysia, the reader can gain a more complete understanding of this unique minority group within a minority in a rapidly changing Malaysian context.