Mapping Chineseness on the landscape of Christian churches in Indonesia

• Main Author: HOON, Chang Yau
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: Chinese Indonesians; Chineseness; Christianity; identity; Indonesia; religion; Asian Studies; Race and Ethnicity; Religion
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2103; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3360/viewcontent/MappingChinesenessChristianChurchesIndonesia_2016.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Scholarship on the Chinese Indonesian community has largely been concerned with the tensions between the community and the majority non-Chinese (or pribumi). The fault lines were usually examined against the background of Suharto’s assimilation policy, the 1998 anti-Chinese riots, the stark imbalance of the nation’s wealth within this minority group, and Chinese loyalty – or chauvinism – in the time of nation-building, and in the face of the rise of modern China. Little attention has been given to Christianity as offering a shelter for the inconspicuous propagation of Chineseness; particularly in terms of the conduct of services in Chinese, the teaching of the language, and business-management leadership. The network of Chinese churches locally, and extending internationally beyond Indonesia, represents a rich field for further scholarship. This article sets out an epistemological map in the service of such research.