Indonesian Chinese
Published by Sylvia Giacinta April 30th, 2009 in me and sylv.thinking();. 6 CommentsIndonesian Chinese
Chinese Indonesian
Chindo
Indochina
Cokin
Tong ngin
Tionghoa
Cina
There are a lot of things people use to call me and similar people : a person of Chinese descent/ancestry who was born and raised in Indonesia.
But in English-speaking world, I always choose to call myself “Indonesian Chinese”.
Sometimes I don’t use it at all, fearing discrimination or sorts. But most of the time, I’m proud of using it. Really.
Never mind about the grammatical rule or anything. Perhaps it should have been Chinese Indonesian, since an adjective should be placed in front of a noun, yes? But then both Chinese and Indonesian can be both adjectives or nouns so.. I don’t know. I’ve found at least two books in SMU Li Ka Shing Library about people like me using different terms : Chinese Indonesian or Indonesian Chinese.
But I chose to use Indonesian Chinese because of this : I’m always an Indonesian first, then a Chinese. Chinese is merely my ancestry, my heritage. Granted, I grew up in a Chinese culture too, being always pushed for the best and punished for being ordinary. But above all, I consider myself an Indonesian. Always. And will always be. (okay honestly I should see in some years’ time, that if they continue to make it difficult for me to travel overseas just because of my citizenship, i’ll seriously consider changing citizenship for practical reasons)
I know May 1998 incidents might have supposedly made me against my country and the so-called indigenous people (how can you say I’m not indigenous too when I was born on the same land as you?). But I didn’t. I don’t know why. I can list a lot of cheesy reasons like how Indonesian nature captivates me, how I love Indonesian food, how Indonesian people are so friendly, and the blah. But no. I love my country, and just like any other type of love, does it really need a reason?
So to so-called native/indigenous Indonesians that refuse to recognize me and others as Indonesians, remember. Indonesia is a melting pot. Living in a melting pot is not the same with, say, a cupboard? In a cupboard you sit and live together with other things, but in a melting pot, we become one. OK I know cupboard is a silly analogy but you get what I mean (I hope).
Whatever happened to Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, man.
Oh and, no, not all of us are rich. Believe it or not, at my very first room in Singapore, the maid employed in the apartment is an Indonesian Chinese.
And where else did you think your “mi ayam” and “siomay” come from?
photo by Midori
photo by Chandra
I know. Yum.
And to people who think that I’m not Chinese because I can’t speak or read Mandarin or because I don’t do things in a Chinese way, this post is my answer. I’m always an Indonesian first then a Chinese. After all I don’t wanna be a Chinese that demeans and teases other people like you.
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ehh. i just had to comment on this sentence:
“Chinese is merely my ancestry, my heritage.”
altho i tell people I am a Malaysian-Chinese, i don’t think Chinese is merely my ancestry, my heritage.
cos above all, I am Chinese. i don’t consider myself a citizen of any country, but a citizen of the world.
i don’t feel as much for Malaysia, as I feel for Singapore or Indonesia, countries I’ve lived in for a decade or more each. But for each, I can say, i feel only as much as my good memories of the place remain. no nationalistic or patriotic feelings, at all.
So above all… I am Chinese.
we’re so different ah? 
Yup we’re different like that
No…. U all are mixed up….. No such thing as malaysian chinese, indonesian chinese, and the word indochina means Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, nothing to do with indonesian….. Just always remember, we are all chinese and we must help each other no matter where we are……….
HF Lim, I don’t know if you’ve read my piece, but clearly I was not talking about Indochina at all. And my point is Indonesian Chinese is the term I use to describe Indonesians of Chinese descent like myself.
I’m sorry to say this, but I would prefer to help my fellow Indonesians, regardless of ethnicity, to help other Chinese whom I got no connection to.
I am Indonesian Chinese too, same like you.
But our analogy is different.
Although I was born and raised in Indonesia, I never feel like Indonesian.. and I don’t feel like Chinese too.
I was trying to be accepted by Indonesian fellow but it’s useless. Don’t get me wrong, I got plenty of Indonesian friends and Indonesian Chinese friends. But in the end I am different.
My brother married with chinese from mainland so I know now that chinese from mainland never think of us, overseas chinese, as chinese anymore.
They think of us as foreigners.
So right now, I feel like I lost my identity of which country should I serve and give my heart too.
But, ‘coz May 1998′s trauma, I will never consider my self as Indonesian citizen.
I got many chinese indonesian friends that already can’t speak mandarin and their culture become more and more like javanese. Don’t get me wrong, I got 2 ex-girlfriends that are chinese indonesian from java island and their culture, how they were raised seems odd and not right to me.
They tend to spoiled and money oriented. Medan girls are also like that. I wonder why.
Ex : My ex fight with her mom and her mom stopped her monthly income until she’s apologize to her mom. I was like WTH !! is that how they raise their children. With money, not advice or rotan or what so ever.
Regards,
I think home is where you choose to be in. In the end our nationality doesn’t matter. If you can’t choose Indonesia to be home, that’s perfectly fine. I sincerely hope you’ll find the place you can call home in one way or another