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Interethnic Perceptions of Ethnic Boundaries in Penang Malaysia

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Interethnic Perceptions of Ethnic Boundaries in Penang Malaysia INTERETHNIC PERCEPTIONS OF ETHNIC BOUNDARIES IN PENANG, MALAYSIA A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN ASIAN STUDIES AUGUST 2012 By Saiful Anwar Matondang Thesis Committee: Cathryn Clayton, Chair Person Barbara Watson Andaya Uli Kozok Keywords: Ethnic Boundaries, Urban Enclaves, Global Culture Space, Official Ethnic Categories 1 2 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge funding from the Ford Foundation International Fellowship Program (IFP) New York and the East West Center Honolulu (June 2010 – August 2012). I am deeply grateful to many people who already assisted me to complete my study in Graduate Program of Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii and finish this thesis. I owe a special debt to Prof Barbara Watson Andaya as the chair of my thesis committee when I wrote a proposal until the first draft. Prof Andaya as the former Director of the Center for outheast sian tudies at the niversity of awai’i introduced me to the cope and Methods in Asian Studies. I thank to Dr Cathryn Clayton who was acting as the chair person of my thesis committee when I defended and finalized this thesis. Dr Clayton taught me about the Chinese Diasporas in Southeast Asian cities and the ethnographical analysis of Chinese and local (host) communities. I am grateful to Dr Uli Kozok, who often explained the Malay culture in Southeast Asia and this region relationship to India. Dr Uli spent hours to check the language use of this thesis. I also acknowledge that Prof Charles Blake of Anthropology Department at the niversity of awai’i has given me an insightful comment about plural societies and showed me how to do an ethnographic study. Here I also appreciated the ideas of Dr Terrance Bigalke (Director of Education Program at East West Center Honolulu), which opened my mind to thinking about plural societies in the Indo-Malay Archipelago. It would not have been possible for me to know much about Penang, Malaysia without the assistance of Khoo Salma Nasution and A R Lubis. I would like to express my gratitude to them and to the Penang Heritage Trust. I also acknowledge that Dr Irid Agoes, Ms Mira Sambada, Mbak Nurwening, and Marni have facilitated and supported me as an IFP 3 fellow of Indonesia. Finally I am indebted to my own family, especially my wife Syafianna Simbolon and my two beloved sons Mahendra and Ramdhany who have encouraged me to study abroad. I dedicate this thesis to the Department of National Education and Culture Indonesia, the Indonesian International Education Foundation (IIEF) Jakarta and other institutions which serve people who are interested in the cultural development of the Malay World within the Globalization Studies. Hale Manoa, Honolulu, 23 May 2012 Saiful A Matondang 4 Abstract Interethnic Perceptions of Ethnic Boundaries in Penang Malaysia Saiful Anwar Matondang This case study was conducted to address questions of ethnic boundaries and the dynamics of urban communities in Penang, Malaysia. An ethnic boundary study is based on a systematic set of rules that governs a person’s behavior and actions in interethnic relations: it generates and maintains ethnic groups (Barth, 1969:10). It also emphasizes the processes and situational conditions in order to identify boundaries in social interaction. The members of a given society are divided on grounds of race, religion, language, culture, ethnicity, history, ecology and social organization, separately or together (Furnivall, 1956). Culture includes and subsumes language, religion, conceptions of race, ethnicity, kinship, ecology, community and normative models of social organization and conduct (Smith, 1991). The research questions are formulated: How do people with ideological preconceptions interact within and among different ethnic groups? How do the people in Penang perceive and exhibit their ethnic identity based on beliefs, house-forms, and social associations? How do contemporary ethnic groups in Penang perceive the social life in terms of interethnic relations? How do the people of Penang retain their ethnic identity in response to the new formation of such communities? How do the people of outside official ethnic categories perceive their identities? An anthropological ethno-history (Sturtevant, 1966:14) was conducted to highlight and understand the earlier situations experienced by the first and second generations of Penangites. The use of collective and self-identity of Penagites in contemporary context is also examined. This research finds that the urban enclaves, the names of streets, religious buildings and cultural events reflect a poly-ethnic of Penangites. Then, the hybrid culture and cross cut the conceived ethnic boundaries occur when the awareness of social class and attachment to global culture are mingled. The upper class of different ethnic groups could live in a modern neighborhood. Moreover, identities of the Penang Baba, Penang Jawi Pekan, Jawi Arab and Penang Eurasians are not static, but more dynamic because of education, professions, and globalism. The next generation of Peranakan groups does not strictly follow the identities of previous one. However, those Peranakan fall outside the official categories of the 2010 census, and are categorized as Chinese, ndia or simply “ ther”. Since the official categories of the 2010 census do not acknowledge the realities of ethnic identities, the civil rights in terms of politics, economic, and education opportunities as Malaysians might be ignored. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page Thesis Evaluation (Form III) 1 Thesis Submission (Form IV) 2 Acknowledgements 3 Abstract 4 Table of Contents 5 List of Plates (Maps and Pictures) 8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 9 1.1. The Background of the Research 9 1.2. Organization of the Thesis 14 1.3. The Creation of Penang as an Entrepôt 17 1.4. Ethnic Identity and Urbanizing Penang 19 1.5. Research Questions 23 1.6. Research Method 24 CHAPTER 2: THEORIES OF A PLURAL SOCIETY AND ETHNIC BOUNDARIES IN PENANG 28 2.1. Theorizing a Plural Society 28 2.2. Emerging Plural Society in Penang 31 2.3. Grouping Jawi Pekan and Arab Descendants in Penang 32 2.4. Characterizing Penang Chinese Identity and Associations 34 2.5. The Nanyang Connections of Penang Chinese with the Capitalist System 37 2.6. Making Boundaries: Belief Systems and Cultural Identities 39 CHAPTER 3: UBAN ENCLAVES OF PENANG: PERCEIVED CULTURAL SPACE 47 3.1. Urban Ethnic Enclaves of Penang 47 3.2. A Grid Pattern of Colonial Urban Penang and Its Spatial Impacts 53 6 3.3. Penang as a Port City Penang within Local and International Communities 58 3.4. Penang Cultural Boundaries and the Spatial Analysis 61 3.5. The Boundaries of Socio-religious Buildings 66 3.6. Perceived Symbolic Meaning of Chinese Shires and Shophouses 70 3.7. Perceived Cultural Identity of Indian Muslims 77 3.8. Global Culture Space and Dispersal of Ethnic Communities in Penang 84 3.9. Final Remark 94 CHAPTER 4: THE STATE AND PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF OFFICIAL ETHNIC CATEGORIES 98 4.1. The State, Census and Ethnic Categories 98 4.2. Problematizing Ethnic Classifications 103 4.3. The Jawi Peranakan (Pekan) 109 4.4. The Penang Baba or Straits Born Chinese 110 4.5. The Jawi (Mixed Arab and Malay) 116 4.6. The Penang Eurasians 118 4.7. Concluding Remarks 119 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 121 5.1. Urban Enclaves and Penangites 121 5.2. Ethnic Identities and Boundaries 123 5.3. The Metamorphosis of Ethnicity within Global Culture 123 5.4. The Consequences of Religious and Race-Based Boundaries 124 References 126 Glossary 135 Appendixes 137 7 LIST OF PLATES (Maps and Pictures) page Plate 1 Map of Penang Island 10 Plate 2 Plan of Fort Cornwallis with the Town on the East Point of the Island 56 Plate 3 Map of Penang Urban Development in 1840 66 Plate 4 Map of George Town 80 Plate 5 Nagore Shire in Chulia Street 84 Plate 6 Map of Penang Development from 1960 until 1970 90 Plate 7 Sungai Dua Desa Airmas Condominium 140 8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of the Research As the oldest British settlement1 in Malaya, Penang is an important location in which to carry out a study of interethnic perceptions of ethnic boundaries because of its urban setting and ethnic diversity. My interest in conducting research in Penang was motivated by the unique diversity of ethnic groups that exists there. Penang is simultaneously an island that is home to immigrants from the East and West and a state that is experiencing the dynamics of urban development. The transformation of Penang from a British colonial port into a post- colonial industrial and tourist-oriented cosmopolitan city has seen the continuation of ethnic identity formation which results in a mosaic of cultural expressions. Moreover, the contemporary emerging culture that shapes urban enclaves of Penang has a symbiotic nexus to transnational and global cultures. As a result, I focus on and analyze the dynamic changes of ethnic identities from the early formation of township until presently cityscape. Penang is situated on the north-west coast of Peninsula Malaysia, and has been a major growth center in the country. According to the Municipal Council of Penang Island (MPPP, 1987), Penang is an island of about 293 sq. km (113 sq. miles). The population of Penang in the 2010 census was 1,526,324. The total number of households was 387,180. The 2010 Census of Malaysia officially divides the population of Pulau Penang into six categories; 1 Penang was ceded to Captain Francis Light (the East India Company) in 1786 by Sultan Abdullah of Kedah Kingdom. In relation to British Settlement, Matthew Lange et al (2006: 1427) divide four types of British Colonies. The most extensive form is the British settler colonialism, where permanent residents transplanted a broad range of institutions from Britain into the colonies without preserving pre-colonial arrangements.
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