Ethnic Chinese as Southeast Asians The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) was established as an autonomous organization in 1968. It is a regional research centre for scholars and other specialists concerned with modern Southeast Asia, particularly the many-faceted problems of stability and security, economic development, and political and social change. The Institute's research programmes are the Regional Economic Studies Programme (RES) including ASEAN and APEC, Regional Strategic and Political Studies Programme (RSPS), Regional Social and Cultural Studies Programme (RSCS), and the Indochina Programme (ICP). The Institute is governed by a twenty-two-member Board of Trustees comprising nominees from the Singapore Government, the National University of Singapore, the various Chambers of Commerce, and professional and civic organizations. A ten-man Executive Committee oversees day-to-day operations; it is chaired by the Director, the Institute's chief academic and administrative officer. ____ t h n i c C h i n e s e as S o u t h e a s t • s i a n s edited by Leo Suryadinata St. Martin's Press-New York Palgrave Macmillan Published by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Heng Mui Keng Terrace Pasir Panjang Road Singapore 119596 Internet e-mail: [email protected] World Wide Web: http://www.iseas.ac.sg/pub.html First published in the United States of America in 1997 by St Martin's Press Scholarly and Reference Division 175 Fifth Avenue New York, N.Y. 10010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. © 1997 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1997 978-0-312-17576-4 Library of Congress Catalog~ng-in-Publication Data Ethnic Chinese as Southeast Asians/edited by Leo Suryadinata. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and Index. ISBN 978-1-349-61695-4 ISBN 978-1-137-07635-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-07635-9 l. Chinese--Asia, Southeastern--Ethnic identity. 2. Chinese- Asia, Southeastern--Economic conditions. 3. Investments, Foreign- China. 4. Asia, Southeastern--Ethnic relations. I. Suryadinata, Leo. DS509.5.C5E85 1997 305.895' l059--dc2l 97-12113 CIP ISBN 978-981-3055-50-6 (softcover, ISEAS, Singapore) ISBN 978-981-3055-58-2 (hardcover, !SEAS, Singapore) For Australia and New Zealand, a softcover edition (ISBN 1-86448-463-2) is published by Allen & Unwin, Australia. For the USA and Canada, this hardcover edition (ISBN 0-312-17576-0) is published by St Martin's Press, New York. Typeset by International Typesetters Pte Ltd Contents Preface vii Contributors X l. Ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia: Overseas Chinese, Chinese Overseas or Southeast Asians? Leo Suryadinata 1 Comments by Tan Chee Beng 25 2. The Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia: Issues of Identity Mely G. Tan 33 Comments by A. Dahana 66 3. Malaysian Chinese: Seeking Identity in Wawasan 2020 Lee Kam Hing 72 Comments by Ahmat Adam 108 4. Ethnic Chinese in Myanmar and their Identity Mya Than liS Comments by Khin Maung Kyi 147 vi Contents 5. The Ethnic Chinese as Filipinos Teresita Ang See 158 Comments by Renata S. Velasco 203 6. From Overseas Chinese to Chinese Singaporeans Chiew Seen Kong 211 Comments by A. Mani 228 7. From Siamese-Chinese to Chinese-Thai: Political Conditions and Identity Shifts among the Chinese in Thailand Supang Chantavanich 232 Comments by Anusorn Limmanee 260 8. Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam and their Identity Iran Khanh 267 Comments by Ta Huu Phuong 293 Appendix Women and Chinese Identity: An Exchange at the Closing Session of the Workshop Mely Tan, Wang Gungwu, Leo Suryadinata and Tan Chee Beng 296 Index 301 Preface Since the introduction of an open-door policy, many Chinese entrepreneurs outside China have begun to invest in mainland China. Attention has again turned to the Chinese in other parts of the world, including those in Southeast Asia, and writers, both in the West and Asia, have started to use the term "Overseas Chinese" and "Chinese overseas" to refer to these Chinese outside mainland China. This mainland China-centric view has confused the position and identity of the Chinese in Southeast Asia, with serious political implications as Southeast Asian Chinese are still considered to be "Chinese overseas" or "Overseas Chinese", not Southeast Asians. In the light of this new development, a workshop was held on the theme of "Ethnic Chinese as Southeast Asians" to discuss the perception of the Southeast Asian Chinese in terms of their position in the respective Southeast Asian countries, their relationship with China, their self-identity, as well as the perception of "indigenous" Southeast Asians towards the ethnic Chinese in their countries. viii At this workshop, only six ASEAN states and Myanmar were covered. Paperwriters were requested to include the following aspects with regard to their studies on their respective countries: l. The indigenous and ethnic Chinese notion of a nation (nation state) and the position of the ethnic Chinese in such a nation. Is the nation racially or culturally defined or both7 2. The relationship between China and the ethnic Chinese oversees - is this a problem for the integration of the ethnic Chinese (or for nation-building)7 3. Is culture and the economic position of the ethnic Chinese a problem for the integration of the ethnic Chinese in their country of domicile 7 With the rise of ethnic consciousness world-wide, is there national disintegration rather than national integration in Southeast Asia? Does this trend affect the Chinese communities7 4. Prospects of the ethnic Chinese in national integration - are ethnic Chinese "Southeast Asians" or "Overseas Chinese"7 Two groups of scholars from Southeast Asia were invited. One group consisted of ethnic Chinese (or of Chinese descent) and the other group comprised "indigenous" or non-Chinese scholars. The interaction of these two groups of scholars have provided a more comprehensive picture about the ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia. In the past, most of the works (for example, Suryadinata's work) were based mainly on one country They were also not done in conjunction with both ethnic Chinese and indigenous scholars. Thus, this volume aims to be a major regional study incorporating a variety of regional perspectives on common themes relating to the question of the Chinese identity This volume consists of eight chapters. Each chapter is ac companied by a brief commentary by a discussant. The Appendix is based on the workshop discussion on the role of women in shaping ethnic Chinese identity It is not a full-length paper but is included here with the hope that others may pursue this under studied topic. It should be noted here that the title of the workshop was "Ethnic Chinese as Southeast Asians". Southeast Asians here refer to people in the individual Southeast Asian states, and not a Preface ix collective regional identity. The editor is fully aware that a regional identity has not yet emerged, but identification with an individual country has been in existence. The editor would like to take this opportunity to thank all the workshop participants, especially the paperwriters and discussants, for their contributions and co-operation. Special thanks also go to Professor Chan Heng Chee, then Director of ISEAS, and Professor Wang Gungwu, Chairman of the Institute of East Asian Political Economy (lEAP E), for their kind support. We have all benefited tremendously from their full participation in the two-day workshop. Leo Suryadinata