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Articles 31 - 38 of 38
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Celebrating Community: A Chinese Temple Procession Brings Chinese Culture To Life In Jakarta’S Streets, Margaret Chan
Celebrating Community: A Chinese Temple Procession Brings Chinese Culture To Life In Jakarta’S Streets, Margaret Chan
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Chinese temples from all over Java staged what was probably Jakarta’s largest ever Chinese religious festival. Accompanied by musicians, lion and dragon dancers, hundreds of devotees paraded through the streets of Glodok, Jakarta’s Chinatown.
Chinese New Year In West Kalimantan: Ritual Theatre And Political Circus, Margaret Chan
Chinese New Year In West Kalimantan: Ritual Theatre And Political Circus, Margaret Chan
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Since 2002, when Chinese New Year became a national holiday in Indonesia, spirit medium parades on the fifteen day of the New Year (called Cap Go Meh) have been growing in size in certain West Kalimantan towns, especially Singkawang. This parade in particular has become a major tourist draw-card. Referring to local history, Chinese popular religion and Hakka culture, this article applies a performance analysis methodology to dissect this contemporary phenomenon from religious, historical and inter-ethnic perspectives. It shows how the parades have become enmeshed in current inter-ethnic politics in West Kalimantan, as well as revealing the way that adaptations …
More Than A Cultural Celebration: The Politics Of Chinese New Year In Post-Suharto Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon
More Than A Cultural Celebration: The Politics Of Chinese New Year In Post-Suharto Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In the aftermath of the May 1998 riots that forced President Suharto to step down, ethnic Chinese received unprecedented freedom to assert their long suppressed cultural and religious identity. Following the transition from assimilation to multiculturalism, for the first time in over three decades Chinese culture became more visible and ethnic Chinese could finally enjoy the freedom to celebrate Chinese New Year (Imlek) publicly. This article focuses on the politics of the re-emergent Chinese New Year celebration in the Indonesian public sphere. It demonstrates the significance of Imlek as an ethnic symbol to Chinese-Indonesians. Borrowing Hobsbawm’s concept of “invented tradition”, …
The Politics Of Imlek, Chang Yau Hoon
The Politics Of Imlek, Chang Yau Hoon
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Imlek is a time for colourful parades featuring dances of the lion and other puppets, and performances of Chinese folk rituals on the streets and in Chinese temples. Imlek is also celebrated at Sunday mass in a Catholic church with performances of Chinese songs and dances. The church is decorated in lucky colour red from its carpet to its candles, including the priests’ robes. Decorations and ornaments in the lucky colour red, representing Chineseness, together with Chinese cultural performances like the dragon and lion dances have become products of mass consumption in post-Suharto Indonesia. Major shopping malls decorate their interior …
'A Hundred Flowers Bloom': The Re-Emergence Of The Chinese Press In Post-Suharto Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon
'A Hundred Flowers Bloom': The Re-Emergence Of The Chinese Press In Post-Suharto Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
During the whole 32 years of Suharto’s regime (1966–98), Chinese publications and the use of Chinese language in public were officially banned in Indonesia. As a result, printed matter in Chinese characters that entered Indonesia was classified as ‘prohibited imports’ (Heryanto 1999: 327). This prohibition came to an end after the fall of Suharto, as part of the process of democratization and Reformasi. The post-Suharto era of Reformasi is thus celebrated for the dramatic revival of the freedom of the press and media in Indonesia and many previously banned as well as new publications have emerged since Suharto’s fall. The …
Assimilation, Multiculturalism, Hybridity: The Dilemmas Of Ethnic Chinese In Post-Suharto Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon
Assimilation, Multiculturalism, Hybridity: The Dilemmas Of Ethnic Chinese In Post-Suharto Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The dominant discourse in accommodating the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia during Suharto's regime was one of assimilation, which forcefully aimed to absorb this minority into the national body. However, continuous official discrimination towards the Chinese placed them in a paradoxical position that made them an easy target of racial and class hostility. The May 1998 anti-Chinese riots proved the failure of the assmilationist policy. The process of democratization has given rise to a proliferation of identity politics in post-Suharto Indonesia. The policy of multiculturalism has been endorsed by Indonesia's current power holders as a preferred approach to rebuilding the nation, …
Questioning Proximity: East Asian Tv Dramas In Indonesia, Charlotte Setijadi
Questioning Proximity: East Asian Tv Dramas In Indonesia, Charlotte Setijadi
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The study of transnational cultural flows has been of continuing interest among media and communication researchers, with recent studies focusing on cultural flows within geographically and culturally adjacent nations. It is often suggested that the level of “cultural proximity” that exists determines the success of cultural exchange between countries regarded to possess similar cultural traits. This notion, that local audiences will have preference for cultural commodities from countries with which they share cultural ties in recognition of their own culture, has enjoyed much intellectual currency in recent times, especially in relation to analyses of regional media markets. The danger of …
How To Be Chinese: Ethnic Chinese Experience A 'Reawakening' Of Their Chinese Identity, Chang Yau Hoon
How To Be Chinese: Ethnic Chinese Experience A 'Reawakening' Of Their Chinese Identity, Chang Yau Hoon
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The post-Suharto era is an exciting period for Chinese Indonesians and other minority ethnic groups in Indonesia. After over three decades of cultural and political repression, Chinese Indonesians are now being given the opportunity to express their identity. The re-emergence of Chinese religion, language, and press in Indonesia since the end of the New Order, has had a significant impact on the development of ethnic Chinese identity. The strongly anti-Chinese sentiment expressed in the May 1998 riots in Jakarta and elsewhere in Indonesia, including the looting of Chinese-owned shops and businesses and the racially-motivated rapes, drastically altered the position of …